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NICEVILLE � Northwest Florida State College has recognized superior scholastic achievement of students completing the Summer 2013 term by naming them to the president's list and dean's list.
NICEVILLE � Northwest Florida State College has recognized superior scholastic achievement of students completing the Summer 2013 term by naming them to the president's list and dean's list.
President's list students had nine or more credits and earned a 3.8 to 4.0 grade point average. Dean's List students had nine or more credits and a 3.5 to 3.79 GPA. Some 322 NWF State College students were named as honors students this summer.
North Okaloosa honors students are as follows:
�Wanda J. Anderson and Virgina Kennedy, all of Baker.
�Nicholas G. Allen, Johnny V. Boling, Christopher J. Brim, Jerald A. Bullard, Gaurab Chatterjee, Sean Connolly, Kenneth R. Dale, Sonya M. Demoulin, David T. Dobson, Kayleigh S. George, Veronica N. Graham, Ashley E. Grice, Tyler Hilderbrand, Kristan N. Howard, Katerina P. Huff, Tyler S. Jones, Melissa Kannapel, Bridget M. Leavins, Charlene M. Matthews, Jennifer L. Mccranie, Jose L. Pereira, Kirstin R. Peterson, Jennifer L. Pope, Eric Rowland, Heather R. Scruggs, Matthew J. Self, Veronica L. Smith, Evan M. Stegner, Joshua K. Tapp, Jessica E. Teasdale, Rachael A. Thompson, Andrew C. Wirth, Ian R. Villaluz and Alexa L. Zeller, all of Crestview.
�Ronald S. Bouchard of Holt.
�Jessica A. Esterberg of Laurel Hill.
�Autumn M. Ball, Jon G. Givens and Ronald W. Westerfield, all of Baker.
�Bonnie J. Appleby, Jamie L. Appleby, Alycia M. Berry, Jordan Cline, Judah C. De Graaf, Larey E. Dunn, Autum M. Edgerton, Rachael M. Edmond, Timothy D. Farrell, Terri Y. Goodson, Jacob W. Haines, Omar Hammad, Kelly L. Hansel, Eugene W. Harris, Crystal M. Henderson, Melanie A. Kennedy, Bettye J. Krasch, James H. Lewis, Francis P. Locicero, Steven R. Marshall, Adam Martin, Nicole Mojica, Michael Mullins, Craig S. Ness, Robert M. Payne, Clayton W. Reed, David E. Rose, Olivia K. Rossel, Stefan Sanguyo, Teresa G. Smith, Cassandra J. Sullivan, Yumi Terrell, Heather N. White, Jennah White, Shaun T. Williams, Diana M. Wonch and Tiffany Zapata, all of Crestview.
�Nickolas H. Nicoll and Tracy D. Palmateer, both of Holt.
�David S. Hatfield, Steven W. Lewis, Robert D. Lowry and Kaitlyn R. Mckenzie, all of Laurel Hill.


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Oprah, Suze Orman Stage Octomom Intervention
Oprah, Suze Orman Stage Octomom Intervention
Octomom won't accept help from a porn king -- but she's open to a little financial advice from Suze Orman and Oprah Winfrey.
Suze and Nadya will be guests on Friday's show, which is billed on Oprah.com, saying, "Controversial octomom Nadya Suleman says she's financially destitute. Now, Suze Orman intervenes."
Nadya is in danger of getting the boot from her home if she doesn't fork over some serious cash soon.
"You get a balloon payment! You get a balloon payment! You get a balloon payment!"
Waiting for your permission to load the comments.

subset: commoncrawl


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Construction Engineers provides general contracting services and integrated project delivery methods such as Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) and Design-Build (DB), along with pre-engineered metal buildings. We place a priority on quality, schedule commitments, and budget control. Our team commits to successfully executing each project on time and within budget, to ensure complete owner satisfaction.
Construction Engineers strives to exceed expectations, regardless of the complexity of each project. Our broad experience provides the basis for the best service in the industry for your commercial offices, educational establishments, healthcare centers, and public facilities, as well as industrial projects. Historically, our service area includes North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota.
At Construction Engineers, we feel it is our job to provide our clients with solutions. Our Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) process focuses on collaboration with the design team and owner, while our Design-Build (DB) process allows us to work as the client's single point of contact for both design and construction. Our industry experience allows us to offer increased value to each project, while delivering quality workmanship and maintaining budget and schedule.
The team of professionals at Construction Engineers truly understands every aspect of the construction process. Each highly skilled team member is very approachable and responsive. We take a straightforward, honest approach to working with our customers throughout the building process.


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Promotora-based Latino Family CVD Risk Reduction
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01714271
Recruitment Status : Unknown
Verified October 2012 by William J. McCarthy, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles.
Recruitment status was: Recruiting
First Posted : October 25, 2012
Last Update Posted : October 25, 2012
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Heart Disease Cancer
|Behavioral: Home environs-based lifestyle counseling Behavioral: Cancer early detection
|Phase 2
This is a randomized controlled trial involving non-diabetic residents of East Los Angeles, most of whom are low-income, mostly immigrant Mexican Americans. The family environment-focused health behavior change intervention is being carried out by extensively trained community health workers (promotores) familiar with the community in East Los Angeles. The comparison condition is a more traditional health education approach to teaching residents about practical early cancer detection strategies designed to reduce risk of death from cancer.
The hypothesis being tested is that home environment-focused health behavior change will reduce risk of arterial stiffness, an early-in-life predictor of heart disease. The community health workers will provide most of the health promotion counseling. The promotores will provide up to 16 counseling sessions to a designated adult family member without diabetes. The sessions will focus on improving the home environment in order to reduce television viewing, increase fruit and vegetable intake, decrease intake of refined carbohydrates, prompt more frequent monitoring of body weight and increase daily physical activity. The lifestyle change goals will be tailored to the families' capacity for change and will be consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, especially the MyPlate.gov messages, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and at least 30 minutes of daily moderate physical activity.
Secondary outcomes include: aerobic fitness, fruit and vegetable intake as assessed by food frequency questionnaire, endothelial function, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, a metabolic syndrome score, and quality of life. Relative to the cancer early detection condition, the lifestyle change intervention is expected to improve fitness, increase fruit and vegetable intake, improve endothelial function, improve BMI, reduce excess waist circumference, improve blood pressure, and improve quality of life.
If results confirm hypotheses, the results will support investing more public health resources into environmental and policy strategies design to make it easier for populations to adhere to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Estimated Enrollment :
|240 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|Single (Outcomes Assessor)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Promotora-based Latino Family CVD Risk Reduction: Remaking the Home Environment
|Study Start Date :
|October 2010
|Estimated Primary Completion Date :
|October 2014
|Estimated Study Completion Date :
|October 2014
Experimental: Home environs-based lifestyle counseling
Home environs-based lifestyle counseling Involves Spanish-speaking community health workers interacting with intervention subjects in home visits and phone calls - 12 contacts overall. The counseling focuses on promoting subject adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (PAGA) with special attention devoted to changing the home environment to make it optimally supportive of the lifestyle choices consistent with the DGA and PAGA. Study participants will also be provided 4 group education sessions that will be devoted to improving subject adherence to the DGA and PAGA.
Behavioral: Home environs-based lifestyle counseling
Social learning theory-based behavior modification embedded in a social ecological framework is used to shape both the home environment and the lifestyle choices of the study participants to optimize their adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
Experimental: Cancer early detection
Cancer Early Detection Spanish-speaking health educators will interact with study participants via a home visit and four telephone calls. The focus of the health education will be on practical strategies to detect cancer early to help prevent death from cancer. Cancer sites of interest will be: breast, cervical, skin, colon, prostate and testicular cancers. In addition, study participants will be provided two group education classes that will focus on the basics of the cancer process and why early detection and intervention can be life-saving.
Behavioral: Cancer early detection
Conventional health education is used to increase study participant knowledge of practical strategies for detecting and treating common cancers early, before cancers have metastasized. Additional instruction is devoted to the biology and physiology of the cancer process. Although some mention will be made of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight for minimizing lifetime risk of certain cancers, most of the focus will be on episodic cancer screening, e.g., mammograms, PAP smears, colonoscopies, etc. for prevention of death from cancer.
- Change in arterial stiffness as measured by pulse wave velocity [ Time Frame: baseline, 6, 12, 24 months follow-up ]Pulse wave velocity is a measure of arterial stiffness that is sensitive to changes in health-related lifestyle changes.
- Change in arterial stiffness as measured by the Augmentation index [ Time Frame: baseline, 6, 12 and 24 months follow-up ]Augmentation index is another measure of arterial stiffness, also sensitive to changes in health-related lifestyle behaviors.
- Change in fasting glucose [ Time Frame: baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]Fasting blood glucose
- Changes in glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) [ Time Frame: baseline, 6, 12, 24 months follow-up ]Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c. Measure of glucose control over several months.
- Changes in answers to MyPlate evaluation questions [ Time Frame: baseline, 6, 12, 24 months follow-up ]Self-report questions about adherence to MyPlate.gov recommendations. These include questions about daily fruit intake, vegetable intake, replacement of sugary beverages with water, effort to make at least 1/2 of grain intake whole grain, effort to seek out lower sodium options, and daily intake of non-fat or low-fat milk.
- Changes in food frequency measure of fruit and vegetable intake [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months follow-up ]Block Food Frequency assessment conducted in Spanish by interview. Information will include estimate of total fruit and vegetable intake over the last 6 months.
- Changes in waist circumference [ Time Frame: baseline, 6, 12 and 24 months ]Measure of waist circumference, a common predictor of cardiovascular risk
- Change in aerobic capacity [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]Bruce protocol treadmill test. Estimate the VO2max (maximum aerobic capacity) using Foster's equation.
- Change in metabolic syndrome score [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]
Metabolic syndrome marker levels. The ATP III criteria for metabolic syndrome markers include:
- sex-specific excess waist circumference (men > 102 cm, women >88 cm),
- fasting plasma triglycerides >= 120 mg/dl,
- fasting plasma HDL(men)<40 or (women)<50 mg/dl,
- blood pressure >=135/85,
- fasting glucose >=110 mg/dl). Each subject's metabolic syndrome marker level can range between zero and five, with zero representing no metabolic syndrome risk and five representing maximum risk. The a priori expectation is that each marker will be treated as equally important but this study will provide the opportunity to examine this assumption critically.
- Change in plasma lipids [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]Plasma lipids to be measured include LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglycerides. Blood samples will be obtained by venipuncture.
- Change in blood pressure [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]Blood pressure will be assessed in study participants sitting quietly by trained personnel using regularly calibrated sphygmomanometry.
- Change in physical activity assessment [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]International Physical Activity Questionnaire - short form (IPAQ-short). Questions ask about the number of days in the last 7 days that the participant exercised vigorously or moderately vigorously. Follow-up questions query the participant about the time (minutes & hours) spent per day in doing vigorous or moderately vigorous physical activity on those days when they exercised.
- Change in body mass index (BMI) [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]Body mass index (BMI) obtained by taking the ratio of measured weight (kg) to measured height (m). Weight is obtained using a regularly calibrated balance beam scale. Height is obtained using a stationary stadiometer.
- Change in quality of life [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 ]The SF-12 is a well-accepted short form of the well-known SF-36 quality of life instrument.
- Change in weight loss strategies [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 ]Questionnaire includes 11 items that query the participant about weight control strategies used in the last year, including: exercise, restricting calories, fasting, diet pills, vomiting / laxative use, joining a gym, joining a commercial weight loss program such as WeightWatchers, meal replacement products, herbal medicines, diet bars, restriction on TV watching.
- Change in endothelial function [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]Flow-mediated dilation is the most widely used non-invasive test for assessing endothelial function, that is, the functional status of the inner lining of the major blood vessels. This technique measures endothelial function by inducing reactive hyperemia (blood volume expansion) via temporary arterial occlusion (blocking blood flow with inflated blood pressure cuff) and measuring the resultant relative increase in blood vessel diameter via ultrasound.
- Change in self-efficacy to adhere to DASH-style dietary pattern [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 months ]List of 10 self-efficacy items that assess the study participant's confidence that she/he can adhere to various features of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
- Change in mental health status [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6, 12, 24 ]Mental health index-5 (MHI-5) consists of 5 questionnaire items designed to assess emotional well-being.
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Resides in East Los Angeles
- Home includes family member (spouse or 1st degree relative)who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
Exclusion Criteria:
- Any condition that prevents engaging in daily physical activity / walking;
- pregnant;
- breast feeding;
- cardiovascular (CVD) event within 12 months;
- cancer requiring chemotherapy;
- other medical condition requiring active lifestyle intervention/dialysis;
- severe CVD or other disease known to significantly limit life expectancy.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01714271
|Contact: Valerie Ruelas, LCSW
|United States, California
|Roybal Comprehensive Health Center
|Los Angeles, California, United States, 90022
|Principal Investigator: Anne Peters, MD
|Principal Investigator:
|William J McCarthy, Ph.D.
|University of California, Los Angeles
|Responsible Party:
|William J. McCarthy, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01714271 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
1P50HL105188 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|First Posted:
|October 25, 2012 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|October 25, 2012
|Last Verified:
|October 2012
Heart Diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases


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CEOs who tweet authentically
Companies have a major role to play in social media, and eClincher is here to help. But at root, of course, we're talking about something "social", i.e. between people. Thorough presence is accomplished when employees present themselves personally online in voices that are both authentic and consistent with company objectives […]Read More


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Yannick Le Devehat necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 176 diseños de 36 diseñadores freelance.
V3 Ventures is a mix of venture capital firm and business accelerator. We invest money, expertise and talent into future successful entrepreneurs, to help them bring their business concept to the next level. V3 Ventures is result oriented, we put all our contact and resources to the service of the entrepreneur, and contribute to speeding up time to market. Practically, it takes the form of a program, where future entrepreneurs come to work on their company project at our premises for nine months, and interact with us and with other entrepreneurs on various aspects of day-to-day business.
We are not consultants or civil servants. We are entrepreneurs, we had techno startup ourselves that we sold when appropriate, and made success stories. We've been there, we got that, we bought T-shirts, and now we want to share what we've learn.
Our clientele is mostly constituted of university graduates or researchers in technological fields, that our looking for the right support to bring their plan to change the world to fruition.
"V3" in V3 Ventures stands for "Veni (I came), Vidi (I saw), Vici (I conquered)". We are looking for a LOGO that will reflect the spirit of V3 Ventures, that logo can gravitate around the following themes:
- V3-Ventures
- VVV-Ventures
- Veni Vidi Vici Ventures
We are truly legitimate when saying Veni Vidi Vici. The logo should reflect that, not arrogant but assumed, and certainly not funny. That been said, WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY compared to traditional VC's. For one, we pay the entrepreneurs to participate in the program, so that they can focus on the important stuff, and can put into action what they learn. It's the total opposite for business incubators. For two we don't ask equity for the cash given at first (rather unusual for a VC, right?). We rather keep a first right of refusal for the first round of financing into the companies that come out of the program. We grow seed into promising sprout.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Laramie County Library System The Library is located in Cheyenne at 2200 Pioneer Avenue. Located with its Genealogy Department is the LDS Family History Center. This joint facility is unique, but is very helpful to researchers. The Genealogy Department can be reached at 307-634-3561 Ext. 5339Laramie County Clerk The Clerk's office is located at 309 West 20th Street in Cheyenne. Phone number is 307-633-4253.Wyoming State Archives This record repository is located in the Barrett Building at 2301 Central Avenue in the State Govenrment Complex. Telephone is 307-777-7826, and fax is 307-777-7044. You can also contact them at email@example.com Wyoming Newspaper Project - Discover the stories that formed Wyoming, through the Wyoming Newspaper Project. For the sheer volume of information they contain, newspapers are the single most important printed record of human activity. Historians, genealogists, and other scholars rely on them to provide a first-hand and sometimes the only account of local news. Available through this website are all the newspapers printed in Wyoming between 1849 and 1922, in an easily searchable format. Wyoming State Historical Society The Wyoming State Historical Society began in 1953 and provides direction and support for historical research and preservation in Wyoming. Made up of members across Wyoming, as well as from outside the borders of Wyoming and the United States, the Society is open to any individual interested in history of Wyoming and the West.
Albany County Genealogical Society - Laramie, WyomingLarimer County Genealogical Society - Fort Collins, Colorado
Natrona County Genealogical Society - Casper, Wyoming
Natrona County Genealogical Society - Facebook pageSheridan County GenWEB Site - Sheridan, WyomingWyoming Tales and Trails - an extensive compilation of photos and photo links of Wyoming


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Intermedia AnyMeeting + PayPal Integrations
In a matter of minutes and without a single line of code, Zapier allows you to connect Intermedia AnyMeeting and PayPal, with as many as 12 possible integrations. Are you ready to find your productivity superpowers?
It's easy to connect Intermedia AnyMeeting + PayPal and requires absolutely zero coding experience—the only limit is your own imagination.
Triggers at the end of a meeting or a webinar to send information about your attendees.
Creates a new meeting.
Triggers when a new webinar is scheduled in AnyMeeting.
Creates a new webinar.
Triggers when a customer's recording ready.
Registers a person for your webinar.
Triggers when a person registers for one of your webinars.
Only successfully completed payments trigger this (with line item support).
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During New York's Advertising Week last week, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg joined Charlie Rose and Marc Andreessen for a keynote interview.
Toward the end, Rose asked Sandberg if the rumors were true that she wants to leave the company and join the Obama administration's second term.
Sandberg told Rose: "I love my job and I'm staying. I love what we do. What excites me is, we have 950 million Facebook [users] and Facebook changes your life."
That should be a good enough answer.
And yet, it's the one Sandberg has been giving for months and the questions have not gone away.
In the past few weeks, the New York Post and Politico reported Sandberg is being eyed for key positions in government.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg can't seem to convince doubters that she is staying at the company for the long haul.
How come?
Four reasons:
- Her background. Sandberg once worked in Bill Clinton's administration—for Larry Summers in the Treasury Department. Beltway insiders can't believe anyone would ever NOT want to be what they want to be—powerful Beltway insiders—so they tell reporters that former Beltway insiders are always on their way back in.
- She has causes beyond Facebook. Sandberg has a very visible public persona. She's written a book. She's frequently giving commencement speeches and appearing at conferences, and it's not always to talk about Facebook. Sandberg is a particularly eloquent advocate of women in business. Unfortunately, her willingness to put energy and time into causes outside of Facebook has a side effect of making people wonder if she'd rather be doing something else in the long term. Also, her effectiveness at pursuing her causes makes some people wish she'd take on more, full time.
- Facebook is a failure. Facebook went public at a $100 billion valuation and now it's down to $50 billion. "Somebody's head has to roll," one industry source observed.
- Facebook is a success. When Sandberg took over Facebook in 2008, it was a frat house with minimal revenues. Four years later, it has 3,000 employees, is worth $50 billion and has $5 billion in annual revenues. Some wonder if Sandberg has anything left to prove at Facebook.
So, will she stay or will she go?
If Facebook's IPO had gone as well as many thought it would, perhaps Sandberg would feel her work was done, and that she could move on to bigger and better things.
Supporting this: We've heard her book has been done for a year, and that she put off publishing it until this fall in order to take advantage of Facebook's huge IPO success. Perhaps she was planning other moves to take advantage of a huge IPO, as well.
But Facebook's IPO did not go that well. If Sandberg were to leave now, it would look awful for her and it would leave the company's business side headless at a time when it needs (and is doing) everything it can to reaccelerate ad-revenue growth.


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trillaaa necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 43 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
My name is Ron P. and this is my 7th 99designs.com contest. I am setting up my insurance lead generation business online, and I know that quality designs are the key to differentiate myself with the competition.
My #1 competitor is NetQuote.com. They have the best insurance lead generation site around today, and I'd like to have a site design that rivals theirs or is even better.
The page examples shown in the video are:
My website is for people who are looking to buy new or change their insurance polices for auto, home, health, life, and business.
Please watch these videos!
I explain what I'm looking for in terms of site design with visual examples. I like to think that me "talking" about my desires is a whole lot better than my desires written in text.
Let me know what you think.
For the logo space in the top left, just make it so that a logo in the future can be put inside. I'm looking for the web layout here that catches my eye, and when it's ready, I'll create a logo to work with the layout.
A professional website design of a homepage and internal page. A homepage design that can be manipulated and changed to cater to a specific industry easily. A design that presents a company that's savvy and up to date with technology. Color schemes that make the customer's feel that they've come to a friendly and helpful business.
Required Items - Home Page
*Zip code entry box
*Insurance type drop down
*Why use us? section
*In the news section
*Agent resources section
*Today's news section
Required Items - Internal Page
*Matches with the homepage's theme
*Internal page being more like a WP blog. The same header as the home, two side bars, and footer.
*The internal page has an area below the header but above the body copy, where users can get insurance quotes by inputting their zip inside.


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Brussels Grandma!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Posted by Dulce at 6:23 PM 0 comments
Positive Energy!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Posted by Dulce at 6:13 PM 0 comments
At war with myself/the new me!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Well, I have finally reached the point of having to make some changes in my life regarding how I take care of myself! I need to listen to my body and not my mind! I've been rebeling and in denial by not working with the Therabite. Well it got to where I can barely get my mouth open to put food in it (I know, I know ....) because I wasn't working with the Therabite - so I don't have a choice! Unfortunately, since I have a little paralysis on the left side, it's a little tricky to get it going, but it has already helped in just 2 days! Plus, I was always staying up as late as possible because I was enjoying what I was reading so much, but no more! When I drop the Nook or magazine, and my eyes start drooping - stop! I was trying to lead as normal a life as possible, but there is just no way with the horrid avm. I've had to take a step back and say it's ok to put the book down @ 10:30 p.m., instead of 1:00 a.m. I've been @ war with myself, refusing to give in to the fact that I can no longer function in a normal way! I don't know what I was thinking putting myself through staying up so late and not getting the rest I need in order to heal! I realized as well, that after that bleeding incident @ the restaurant, I was very "weak". I was b-a-r-e-l-y getting by as far as my work day. I recently told Celia about how I was feeling and she was the one that came up with the word "weak" - I had not even thought about it, but that is exactly the word I needed. Remember that poster of the kitten holding on to the knot @ the end of the rope? That was/is me!
First, a great day for me is no bleeding. Ahhhh, that is a fantastic day for me! Actually, I am having a slight problem related to that. I don't know whether it is fear that I may bleed, or psychosomatic (sp?) that I read in the hospital discharge papers that the patient may have a hard time breathing due to a possible blood clot in the lung? Every once in a while, I feel out of breath and I stop and take a deep breath and relax a few minutes. It's like I forget to breathe - I have to stop and tell myself to take in a deep breath.
Ok, so I get home after dealing with my work day, greet my babies that are super excited that Mommy is home .... get in my jammies and relax! Mark is usually home right before I am, so he gets out of his uniform, puts on some shorts and gets the kiddos ready for a good walk! While I'm napping, the kids are on their walk with Mark and he later comes in and starts getting our dinner ready. After dinner & watching TV, we try and get our things ready for the following day. I start getting sleepy and now I'm ready for bed right then! I used to ignore how I felt, thinking I could stay up (and would) until 1 or 2:00 a.m.! What was I thinking? Yikes!! I now go to sleep @ 10:00 or so and sometimes wake up @ 2:00 a.m. I'll read a few minutes and go back to sleep and maybe wake up @ 5:00 a.m. I'll read again a few minutes and drop back off to sleep until the alarm goes off @ 6:45 a.m. I am listening to what my body wants to do, due to medication or whatever.
I was due for a haircut a couple weeks ago, and told my hairdresser I needed something quick and easy! Nothing is going to make my avm look better and the least amount of time I spend in the shower the better! So now I have a cute, short cut that makes my life easier!
You know, a couple of my co-workers tell me they can't get over how cheerful I am, considering what I'm going through. I'm always in a good mood and trying to enjoy the day. One co-worker said I was remarkable. Well, I'd like to think that avm or not, I am a pretty happy person! None of that happened overnight of course, and it's not so much that I'm remarkable, but I surround myself with fantastic people! My support group is phenomenal! I've got prayers that give me the strength to endure my situation. From my amazing husband that tolerates me, cares for me, makes sure I have all my equipment/medical supplies. Our entire family contributes not only monetarily, but emotionally, and spiritiually! Having their support - and this means friends too! - enables me to carry on with my day! My friends always make sure I know they care - just by being in their thoughts and prayer and I get surprises sometimes like a cheery card/e-mail, or Starbucks gift card! All these things put a smile on my face and make this "hell" I'm going through a little easier! I must say that I never envisioned my sister Celia stepping up the way she has. She truly knows the meaning of being a good Christian and showing her love in so many ways. Celia is always busy taking care of something/someone, either helping her husband Greg with their business, doing something for the boys, or choir and friends. She still makes herself accessible to me/us whenever we have needed her. It is a huge help when she goes w/me on the trips to CO - but she gives something she has little of and that is time! Celia has found time to make sure I'm ok. Not only assuring me with words, but taking me to appts., picking me up after having a bleed, staying an extra Mass so that she can join us - just overall being there, giving up her time to help me! So, with everyones help, I can have some happy moments, knowing that I'm not alone while we wait for this avm to be overwith! I'll be seeing Dr Yakes again during the first week of May - yeah, I'll be spending my 50th birthday with my second family @ Swedish Medical Center!
Thanks again everyone for all your love and support! All of you together help me function in as close to "normal" way as possible! I still have so much to do - a lot of correspondense to catch up with! Take Care!
Posted by Dulce at 7:22 PM 0 comments
Are you tired of me yet?
Good Morning everyone! Thanks for checking in - I really enjoy writing and keeping all of you up on the latest! Some time this weekend, I want to post a photo of me w/my babies! We'll see if I can accomplish that!
I was so happy to have made it through the entire work day Thursday w/no bleeds - yay! Got home, and started having pain in my left knee. I've been diagnosed w/a torn miniscus but have put off taking care of that for obvious reasons. I've neglected too many other things my body needs to have done due to this darned avm! I remember on my wedding day, trying to shift my weight off my left knee during Mass, since the pain was a little distracting. I would periodically have these pains, but being on such great pain meds, I was able to dismiss getting anything done. Well, actually about a year ago, I got as far as getting a cortizone shot and an MRI and an ortho appt., but just didn't schedule the surgery! Unfortunately dropped the ball on all that, probably due to some avm emergency. Back to Thursday night - went to bed and by 4:30 a.m., was in so much pain on my left knee, that Mark wanted to take me to the ER. Told him no way, I would wait a few hours for my PCP to open than to sit in the ER - this way @ least I could be somewhat comfortable in my bed!
Took another pain med. that let me sleep the next few hours! Called in to work, got in to see my PCP, got a cortizone shot and an appt. for an MRI @ 2pm. Arrived for the MRI, had asked whether I'd be stuck in the tube due to my claustrophobia. Really, from the neck up, I was outside the tube. I did run into some problems though - of course! Since we arrived early for the MRI appt. to fill out paper work, read magazines in the lobby until my turn, etc. Well, problem #1 was having to lay flat on my back - where I "normally" sleep almost sitting up. Plus, I should have checked the time on my pain meds - I was almost 2 hours late in taking that - causing me alot of anxiety! Since I was not propped up in a sitting position, my sinus's were draining to the back of my throat and I was going into withdrawls from wanting the narcotic in my system for pain. I called out for help but of course no one heard me! I had already been praying alot and just could not take it anymore! Finally was heard and the tech didn't want to let me out of the tube, saying he only had a few more minutes to go! Yikes! My mouth was so dry, I was pulling my hair out and going crazy! Was so happy to finally get out of there and get my situation under control! Whew! Went home to rest in bed - propped up - after having a snack. My knee was finally tolerable between my pain meds, the steroids I'm still on and the cortizone shot!
Woke up and didn't find Mark - thought he went to the grocery store, so called him on his cell. He was outside talking to our neighbor, and another neighbor had stopped by to talk and asked how I was. After Mark told her what we had been going through, she came back and handed Mark a plate full of home made tacos for our dinner! OMG! This was the perfect, neighborly, Christian thing she could have ever done! What a blessing! Gave Mark a break in having to cook and they were delicious!!! I told Mark that when ever I was well again, I wanted to really make concious decisions like that in always going the extra mile to help someone in need! Had our tacos as we relaxed and watched tv. Got read for bed and I realized Bella threw up! Had to remove the bedspread, thought she was ok, but nope! Threw up again - there goes the top sheet! Poor baby girl! Mark gave her a little "mylanta" that we had gotten from the Vet last time Hanz needed it. Bella still threw up a little more - but seems ok now. I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. trying to relax and to kinda watch Bella - but all seems well this Saturday morning. I'm going back to bed - just wanted to let you in on the latest! Take Care!
Got a disc of photos from the MRI - waiting for the Ortho appt. and will set up surgery for torn miniscus. Not letting this go this time - having to follow it through and will have to take care of it between CO trips and all!
Posted by Dulce at 7:40 AM 0 comments


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1. When was the FICA Refund claim filed on behalf of SINAI and affected residents
HAI filed the FICA refund claim on behalf of SINAI and all affected residents on November 30th, 2010. We have been advised by the IRS unit which is auditing these refund claims that SINAI was one of the first hospitals to successfully file its FICA Refund claim.
2. What is the review process now that the FICA claim has been filed?
This is a "first-time ever" program for the IRS. Accordingly, the IRS itself has been pursuing something of a "piece-meal" approach to the review process of these claims. As of the end of April, 2011, the IRS auditor assigned to SINAI's claim has confirmed that the initial review of the SINAI claim has successfully been completed (and SINAI did not, for example, need to provide additional or clarifying information regarding the claim). However, at this juncture, the IRS auditors themselves are waiting for instructions on the "next step" of the review process. We have been advised that the delay the IRS (and by extension SINAI and affected residents) is experiencing is a combination of certain difficulties generated by the computer software program they are using for this project, and certain matters that must be reconciled internally as between the IRS and the Social Security Administration.
We have been advised to check back with the IRS audit unit for the FICA Program in July for an update, if they have not sooner contacted us. We will be doing so, and will update all interested parties at that time.
3. When is the IRS expecting that they will complete their audit and review of the refund claims?
As noted above, the IRS itself has not yet been able to confirm when they will be able to complete their review, in part due to the computer problems and the review of certain internal matters by counsel for both the IRS and the SSA. We will be checking back with the auditor assigned to SINAI's claim in July and will update all interested parties at that time.
4. When does the IRS expect that the refund checks will actually be issued?
When SINAI's claim was originally filed in November, 2010, we were advised by the IRS that they were expecting to process the claims in approximately 120 days following submission. This estimate has now been substantially modified.
When we began checking with the IRS on a monthly basis starting in December 2010, we were advised to start following up with the IRS on a monthly basis for continual updates. We have done so, and from time to time, have updated SINAI and residents regarding the status of the audit, advising that SINAI had cleared the first review process, etc.
However, in a call on April 18th, 2011 with the IRS auditor assigned to SINAI's FICA claim, we were advised that the payments for the FICA Refund claim might not be issued until April 2012.
We have provided the IRS with everything needed, the claim has passed its initial audit, and at this time, the IRS auditors themselves are awaiting input from more senior staff members at the IRS as to what the next step in the refund process is going to be.
While this information was contrary to the estimates which were originally provided to us by the IRS (and by us to all of you), there are some positive elements to come out of this news, as follows:
A. The SINAI IRS auditor has advised us that the claims are being processed in the order in which they were filed, and since SINAI was closer to the top of the claims filed, we should be one of the earlier claims processed.
B. In addition, no matter when filed, a claim can still move up in the rotation, if other claims have difficulties which need to be resolved. As noted above, SINAI's claim has already cleared this hurdle, so there is a possibility that SINAI's claim will be able to move ahead of other refund claims for priority of processing.
C. Despite the frustration of this additional delay, the IRS has confirmed that they will remitting the FICA refund, with interest, and the passage of time will bring with it additional funds in the form of the accruing interest on the refund.
D. We have been advised that the interest rate to be paid on the refund will be the "individual" refund rate for the residents, which is superior to the "corporate" rate (which is the rate to be applied to the hospital's "share"). With interest continuing to accrue, the IRS should remain motivated to get these claims processed and paid.
E. We have been advised that this current delay may, in the end, ultimately accelerate the processing of the claims, for once the IRS works out the final bugs in the computer program which is processing the FICA claims, the auditors hope it will allow them to process the claims quickly; once they are given the final go-ahead to do so.
5. Is the claim in danger of being dismissed or otherwise not paid?
No. Nothing has happened that in any manner indicates that the claims are not going to be paid (with interest). As we pointed out in our last update, even the recent Supreme Court decision did nothing to affect the validity of these claims, or to alter the IRS' intentions to honor the claims. It appears the delay is purely a function of the noted computer problems, and some internal issues that need to be resolved by the IRS and the SSA, due to the size and scope of this first-of-its-kind program.
6. What is the next step?
We hope to hear from the IRS auditor in the very near future. If we do not sooner hear, we will be contacting them again in July 2011 and will provide an update for all interested parties. In the meantime, everyone is encouraged to simply wait to hear from Healthcare Affiliates, Inc., for our last conversation with the IRS was explicit: They are now expecting a substantial delay in processing these claims, for the reasons set forth above. We will keep everyone posted as news becomes available.
2401 W. Belvedere Ave. Baltimore, MD 21215


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NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – The crisis which broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 was the worst since independence. In the five weeks before a ceasefire was signed on Jan. 23, nearly 690,000 people were displaced and thousands killed.
So what's next for South Sudan? What impact will the conflict have on South Sudan going forwards? What are the root causes of the violence? What is the role of the international community, and will bringing perpetrators of abuses to justice do more harm than good?
Following is an edited transcript of an online discussion held on Jan. 22, the day before a ceasefire was signed between the government and rebel representatives.
The debate is part of Thomson Reuters Foundation's reporting on the crisis in South Sudan. Thomson Reuters Foundation journalists Katy Migiro, East Africa correspondent, and Alex Whiting, London correspondent, organised the debate, and the panellists were:
- David Deng - research director, South Sudan Law Society (Juba)
- Sara Pantuliano - head of Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute (London)
- Joshua Craze - researcher, Small Arms Survey (Geneva)
- Don Bosco Malish - programme officer, Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (Juba)
- Heather Pagano - regional information officer, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Juba)
- Challiss McDonough - spokeswoman, World Food Programme (Juba)
Q (From Katy Migiro): Challiss, the U.N. says that only just over 40 percent of the internally displaced have received any aid. Why are you having such a problem responding to this humanitarian crisis?
MCDONOUGH: Partly because of the extreme levels of insecurity -- it's hard to distribute aid in the midst of active fighting. It can be dangerous not only for the aid workers but for the civilians we're trying to help.
But the displacement in this crisis is also pretty unusual -- normally people run away from an area where there's fighting, and you can assist them where they arrive, but in this case people have sought shelter in UN compounds in the midst of active conflict zones, and those compounds are not designed as IDP camps.
There are many more people in places that agencies can't reach. These are populations on the move -- they have fled their homes to a place of safety, but then the front lines shift and they have to flee again. So it's a matter of actually getting food or other aid items to people where they are -- and that has been changing, often very quickly.
DENG: Also complicating things are Sudanese refugees from Southern Kordofan and Southern Blue Nile who were in camps near the border. They are now trapped between two war fronts without anywhere to turn.
MIGIRO: Challiss, WFP is used to delivering food aid to parts of South Sudan that are in conflict, such as Jonglei State. What makes it worse than previous years?
MCDONOUGH: Something else that's been happening in this conflict on a much larger scale than in the previous conflicts in Jonglei is the looting of humanitarian goods - including thousands of metric tons of food, aid agency vehicles, medical supplies. You can't distribute aid that's been taken.
DENG: Humanitarian presence is also unfortunately being politicized. Government questioning whether UNMISS considers itself to be a parallel government in South Sudan. Inflammatory statements like these are just adding fuel to an already volatile situation.
MIGIRO: Heather, what kinds of challenges is MSF facing in providing medical care during this conflict?
PAGANO: Right now we at MSF face two major challenges in providing humanitarian medical care. One is the sheer scale of the needs on the ground. Not only are we extremely concerned for those directly affected by the violence, the war-wounded, but also for those indirectly affected – for the displaced, for those hiding in the bush too afraid to go in search of care, and for those who have zero access to healthcare given the high level of insecurity in many areas.
Half a million people have been displaced from their homes, fleeing from one desperate situation to another. Most fled with nothing and the conditions in the displaced camps are very difficult, without enough water, food or shelter. Disease outbreaks in squalid conditions in the camps are of serious concern.
The second major challenge we face is the appalling lack of respect for humanitarian facilities and staff. Despite that all sides have committed to respecting humanitarian activities & MSF's willingness to scale-up operations & do more, on the ground MSF has had to evacuate staff on five separate occasions due to insecurity, and two facilities (Bentiu & Malakal) have been looted, leaving thousands of people without desperately needed healthcare. We need respect from all warring parties for the neutrality of health facilities, and the safety of patients and staff, or we simply can't do our job.
MIGIRO: Heather, do you think we need a ceasefire to improve humanitarian access?
PAGANO: We believe the delivery of humanitarian aid should not be linked to any political process and should be respected at all times in conflict. While of course we would welcome a ceasefire, humanitarian access cannot be conditional to the cessation of hostilities. In fact, humanitarian access is even more important during hostilities, when so many people are affected by the conflict.
MEGAN ROWLING, JOURNALIST: How much damage do you think the recent conflict has done to development gains since South Sudan became a new nation? How damaging could this be for donor confidence? Will they walk away from development projects?
NDUNGU, PLAN INTERNATIONAL: I believe this conflict will set back development for many years. Image is what counts when it comes to attracting FDI. Right now the country's image has taken a major hit.
DENG: South Sudan has been put back to square one. Most harmful impact is the division of society. Friends and former colleagues have become enemies. The situation is very polarized. Those of us in the middle risk becoming the enemy of both sides. Only a carefully designed and well resourced process of truth, justice and reconciliation can begin to heal these wounds.
PAGANO: After 30 years of conflict, the healthcare system was devastated - it would have taken years to rebuild in any case. Logistically it's a bit of a nightmare too - not many roads, really difficult to deliver supplies, the rainy season presents a whole other difficulty in providing care. MSF is an emergency organisation - and we've been working in South Sudan for 30 years and it's our second biggest country of intervention worldwide... that suggests there is quite a lot to do in terms of building up the health system, even before the current conflict.
MIGIRO: What the last five weeks of fighting mean, in terms of people's ability to eat and get health care?
PAGANO: Even before the conflict broke out, South Sudan's health system was extremely fragile - 80% of the health services were provided by international organisations - so for MSF the current conflict exacerbates an already dire situation.
In many areas, the healthcare system has collapsed due to the conflict – the clinics have not be re-supplied and the medical staff have fled, leaving women without a safe place to give birth or sick children with nowhere to turn. We also see that host communities are increasingly affected by the huge numbers of displaced that have arrived in their areas – for example Awerial in Lakes State was home to 10,000 people and now more than 85,000 displaced now call it their home too.
Even if hostilities cease tomorrow, South Sudan will continue to face a critical humanitarian crisis for a long time to come. In addition to the physical needs of people, such as food, water and healthcare, entire communities have been devastated. The damage that has been done cannot be undone by a cessation of hostilities.
MCDONOUGH: This conflict broke out during what in many of the affected areas is still the harvest season, so people have been unable to harvest their crops, and that will affect them for months to come. Even those who harvested earlier have had to abandon their harvests, leaving them with basically nothing at a time of year when food security is usually strongest.
Before the conflict, some 4 million South Sudanese were affected by food security at some point during the year. It's still a bit too early to tell how many more will be unable to get enough to eat, but it is certain to be many more. Probably more than half the population of the country will see their food security affected by this conflict – either because of the direct loss of crops, or the rising prices for staple goods.
Markets have been burned, transport corridors disrupted -- which means that the impact of the crisis will be felt beyond the areas where fighting is actually taking place.
AIMEE BROWN, OXFAM: I agree. The needs due to this conflict are not only immediate. Thought must also be given to the emerging long-term needs essential for people getting back on their feet - like income and livelihood generating support.
GRACE CAHILL, OXFAM: The regional impact on trade is huge - far fewer goods coming from Uganda, oil production down by 1/3. This will cause further long-term damage for poorest and most vulnerable.
PLAN RESA: Some children have been recruited as child soldiers, young women and girls have been attacked & abused. The trauma of witnessing this is long-lasting and trust between groups in the country diminished. Some estimate the conflict has set back a generation – and it is true the impact upon a country with already very low education, will be huge. Furthermore, the international community's and business world's faith will have been diminished.
DENG: Sad thing is that the people at the negotiating table appear immune and indifferent to the people's suffering.
RACHEL GORDON, FEINSTEIN: I wonder about the idea of "rebuilding" livelihoods - what/when was the stable norm to which people can supposedly return, and how would they get there now even if desirable? Support for livelihoods will be critical, as it was already. But what does that mean in a context in which livelihoods s were already very insecure?
MIGIRO: Let's cross now to Addis, where the peace talks are taking place. Don Bosco, can you tell us why the two parties are finding it so hard to agree to a ceasefire?
MALISH: The current difficulty experienced in securing a cease fire in the South Sudan Crisis is largely due to the intervention of foreign forces in the internal conflict in South Sudan especially Uganda. Uganda's intervention made IGAD to have double standard and bias in leading the mediation process. Uganda's presence acts as an invitation for regional actors to intervene – which is largely due to ego. We are not sure how many are already on board.
My feeling is that parties should really think about the suffering of their people. The damage is done and an immediate ceasefire may not translate into peace but it would grant the people some space to create an enabling environment.
To unlock this current situation two options come to mind. One, the cease fire agreement must include a clause for Ugandan troops to withdraw; or two, another body takes up the mediation process as IGAD will be viewed bias, distrusted and having double standards.
NDUNGU: I believe there is no military solution to this problem. A political solution however is quite possible. If the two main protagonists come to an agreement the rest of the country will follow.
ABRAHAM RADIO: The background to this conflict is complex and some of the key issues go back many decades. The issues which have triggered this crisis are political, economic, historic and ethnic. The sticking point still seems to be around the events of last summer (when the cabinet was sacked). It is positive that parties are involved in talks and we all hope they will be fruitful – it is essential that dialogue remains open.
SKYE WHEELER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: A quick end to the conflict is of course what everyone wants but concerned that space is made for justice and accountability - or else we risk seeing a repeat of the serious violations -- including widespread ethnic targeting and killing of civilians -- down the road.
Are diplomats, other regional leaders, and SS leaders on both sides of this terrible conflict taking justice and accountability seriously enough?
NDUNGU: I disagree with those who are demanding justice and accountability at this time. They are important but will likely just polarize things a lot more. For now an unsatisfactory accommodation that allows the country to find peace and stability is more important than laying blame on one side or the other.
CRAZE: Ndungu --I agree. A messy compromise agreement without much atonement (never mind justice and reconciliation) seems like the most likely way out of the current situation.
NDUNGU: If peace is to start and take hold we (the international community) must avoid all acts that seem to apportion blame. I know this flies in the face of all norms of justice and human right, but it may be the price that all must pay if this sad chapter is to be closed. The issue of justice and reparations should be left to a future where such efforts are not likely to recreate conflict.
DENG: Interestingly enough, the negotiating parties and relevant third parties are all recognizing the need for accountability (publicly at least). Challenge will be making sure that it's not one-sided justice. There will be a strong push from both sides to focus on atrocities committed by the other.
WHEELER: On the peace vs justice and accountability question - some believe that much of the violence is happening in the form of reprisals, esp. for ethnic killings. If there was an alternative to "rough justice" - perhaps a impartial, international commission of inquiry into the violations since Dec 15, 2013, would that not help reduce tensions, reduce violence and in fact open the way for peace ... perhaps a more lasting one?
CRAZE: What I don't quite understand, with the discussions about commissions of inquiry, is why we are even talking about them yet, when the fighting is ongoing, and surely any commissions of inquiry, and their extent, can only be discussed once the post-conflict political landscape is clearer. Or am I missing something?
PANTULIANO: A longer term process must come out of the short term mediation around immediate issues, or South Sudan risks facing the same problems due to the deeper rooted issues which have yet to be addressed. Deeply entrenched divisions, unaddressed grievances and other drivers of instability must be addressed through an inclusive mediation process, reconciliation and nation-building. But I agree that stopping the violence immediately is the priority now, and these issues will need to be addressed long-term.
WHEELER: The commission of inquiry HRW and others envisage would include a proper investigation into human rights violations - this means gathering testimony, doing forensic work etc. The sooner the better for these kinds of investigations. And the sooner there's some serious truth telling about what's been happening the better too. We can't wait until the end of the conflict to get this going. It also sends a strong message to leaders on both sides that this time around the world's not going to ignore or give abusive commanders/leaders a "pass" when war crimes and HR violations are committed.
MIGIRO: What do you think can be done to unlock the peace talks?
CRAZE: The situation on the battlefield will 'unlock' the peace talks. Clashes and negotiations are not opposed. They are part of a continuum of options for both sides.
PANTULIANO: International and regional governments need to continue to engage in the mediation with patience, humility and perseverance. There is no magic bullet.
NDUNGU: I believe the presence of the international community and the continued media attention to this crisis will help with the peace process. It is important to remember that this conflict is a major embarrassment to the leadership of the county, one they would want to see end. I also believe both sides know that no military solution is possible even in the short term.
Joshua, I agree with you. It is too early to talk about commissions and tribunals. Right now the priority is to save lives and seek a political resolution that brings some peace. The rest can follow.
I am not an expert in peace negotiations but one important point: the negotiators must find a way to allow Riek to come to government with some dignity. Otherwise the national polarisation that has occurred will continue even after an agreement is signed. Remember also that signing an agreement and implementing (as we have seen in the past in this region) are two different things.
KILLEN OTIENO: Protection of innocent civilians should be on top of the agenda for the regional bodies and the international community.
ABRAHAM RADIO: I agree. The first step is to bring peace and resettle IDPs.
ALEX WHITING, JOURNALIST: What role does oil play in this conflict?
CRAZE: Oil isn't directly a stake in the political struggles underlying the conflict, but control of the oil fields, as during the second civil war, is a potentially crucial resource, and oil flows determines the way a bunch of international actors (from China to Sudan) align themselves. The economic and humanitarian costs of the lost oil revenue are of course immense.
JENNY, DEVEX: I have three questions for the panellists: One, how do we know that South Sudan is truly headed toward a prolonged civil war?
CRAZE: One indication that this will last for a long-time is that while [South Sudan's President Salva] Kiir is both militarily ascendant at the moment, and largely backed by the international community (and Uganda), to the extent that a [former vice president Riek] Machar-led government seems like an impossibility, he is also extremely unpopular, and has lost legitimacy with vast swathes of the population, indicating that we could see a grim repetition of the second civil war, with the government holding the urban centres, this time with Sudanese and Ugandan support, while the rebels dominate the bush.
PANTULIANO: The violence has created a cycle of revenge and fear which will be extremely damaging for the future cohesion of the country in any case. The longer the violence continues, the more difficult it will be to stop the country from sliding in a protracted all-out war.
NDUNGU: I believe South Sudan can avoid a civil war, in fact I bet they will. What comes next is the question. One way or the other we must help the country to stabilise and then develop. In short the people must see there is greater benefit to peace than war. This means the issue of youth alienation and deprivation must be addressed as a priority.
JOHN MUSTAPHA KUTIYOTE: South Sudan can only avoid a prolonged civil war if the current situation is solved peacefully around a negotiating table not through violence.
JENNY: Two, If it's headed toward a prolonged civil war, I would think that aid groups' long term development plans would be disrupted and would have to shift to emergency work. Is this correct? If so, any back-up plans? What will happen to donors' funds specifically meant for long-term development work?
PANTULIANO: The key is to avoid the 'pendulum swing' in the aid response. Some governments are already threatening to reduce/cut long term aid programmes, which remain essential in large parts of the country. The response needs to be tailored to the different realties on the ground, and will need to combine both humanitarian and development interventions.
PAGANO: I would argue that there was already in a humanitarian crisis in much of South Sudan before this conflict began. There should be space for both development aid AND humanitarian aid like MSF's in the country. Before the crisis both were needed - and now during and after this conflict ends, development aid to rebuild the country and humanitarian aid to keep people alive during the building process will both be desperately needed.
PANTULIANO: Heather, 100% agreed. The problem is that the conventional aid architecture has proven once again to be ill equipped to cater for a situation that spanned humanitarian and development needs. As in many 'post-conflict' countries, from the beginning South Sudan still needed support for direct service delivery, alongside support for the building of government capacity, but the latter was prioritised in the name of state building de facto leaving a number of communities poorly served if at all.
JENNY: Three, the paper "Aiding the peace" talks about how donors sort of failed to grasp the idea that providing services, more aid, to South Sudan is not the answer to lasting peace. If this is the case, then what is the answer to lasting peace in South Sudan?
NDUNGU: The present situation is not terminal. If Riek and Kiir find an accommodation to work with each, other the people will follow and quite soon. Neighbouring Kenya is a good example that even ethnic divisions can be bridged and quite quickly if the leaders want to. The next step then will be re-engaging the nation in the positive project of rebuilding and development.
CRAZE: Ndungu, agreed. Despite the levels of violence, it is instructive (and hopeful) to see how quickly people can live in peace again. The second-civil-war SPLA split, and the subsequent reconciliation in South Sudan, is instructive. It may have been superficial, on many levels, but, pragmatically, it worked. At least for a while. The most powerful way to mend the damage is for people to be able to get on with their lives.
SAM ROSMARIN, OXFAM: Jenny, after peace is restored, we need donors to focus on revitalising the national dialogue that existed before independence. There are deep-seated issues that must be addressed at the community level and between communities. The South Sudanese must lead this process, but donors can support it.
PANTULIANO: Critical issues identified back in 2005 are still unaddressed, such as youth alienation and specific tensions around water and land which that were exacerbated by the poor process of reintegration of demobilised soldiers and the enormous return of populations from Khartoum and abroad since 2005. These issues have ended up being a fertile ground for today's political rivalry to spiral into a widespread conflict and will need to be at the centre of any future aid response.
NDUNGU: I agree with Sam. One way the international community could help assure long term stability is in building credible national institutions that will enable South Sudanese to disagree without resulting to the force of arms. But the country is likely to remain on a humanitarian crisis footing for many years so I don't know if this will be donor priority.
WHITING: Are the govt threats to curb/cut aid having an impact on the mediation process?
PANTULIANO: The idea is that the threat of cutting aid would offer some leverage, same as the sanctions that are being talked about, but I am personally sceptical that either will have any leverage, and in the case of aid cuts it will only end up further affecting communities in great need.
GORDON: Do you think there's space for donors to use aid as leverage, while avoiding the pendulum swing? I'm thinking specifically of justice and reconciliation processes, but perhaps also for other longer-term stabilization mechanisms that the political players seem unlikely to pursue without some compelling reason.
NDUNGU: I would strongly oppose the idea of using aid withholding as threat. With so many people in dire straits, and likely to remain so, this would be equivalent to dancing on the graves of the dying.
PAGANO: I'm always nervous to see aid used as any kind of political leverage. Humanitarian aid should never be subject to political processes. We argue body and soul against this kind of narrative, as it politicises aid & makes doing our job much more dangerous.
PANTULIANO: The short answer is no!
GORDON: I should have clarified that I didn't mean humanitarian/emergency aid, but was thinking more of long-term institutional support and other aid. Ideally it's not politicised of course, but realistically (in my admittedly limited experience) it seems that nearly everything is at least viewed as political in South Sudan. How can donors deal more effectively with that reality (if it is that)?
WHEELER: UN and others should consider targeted sanctions like asset freezes on individuals who have been credibly accused of committing violations.
NDUNGU: Skye, I hear you. But I think you are jumping the gun here (sorry for the unfortunate phrase). Cessation in hostilities first, some stabilization and return to normalcy next and then the question of justice can be addressed. Even then it will end up being an unsatisfactory effort - in an atmosphere of polarisation and a highly militarised society with a weak government, forgiving and forgetting may end up being the only solution.
CRAZE: The problem of targeted sanctions is that they could recall the case of the Darfur sanctions, where the UN did not have the power to ensure that the sanctions were properly implemented, they could not make the sanctions regime coherent, and they broke their own rules, and ferried people about, despite being under their own sanctions! Sanctioning the leading players in this conflict will only make a sustainable political settlement more unlikely.
Jérôme Tubiana has a good short piece explaining some of the issues faced by the Darfur sanctions, and which are likely to be even more problematic in the case of South Sudan, in which the leaders that need freedom of movement to negotiate, are precisely the people who should be sanctioned. www.opendemocracy.net
ROSMARIN: On justice, I don't think you can separate the long and short term. The UN mission must be able to bear witness and collect information on violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Ivan Simonovic warned of violations during his visit.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Beckett's Endgame Runs Through Saturdayby Jim Amidon • February 21, 2012 Share:
A talented troupe of four veteran actors, stunning costumes, grizzly makeup, and a simple, dark setting come together under the direction of Dwight Watson in the Wabash College Theater's production of Samuel Beckett's absurdist play, Endgame.
The Wabash production of Endgame runs at 8:00 p.m. through Saturday in the Experimental Theater in the Fine Arts Center. Tickets are free, but may be reserved by emailing the box office or phoning 765-361-6411.
The play's title, Endgame, is taken from the game of chess when almost no pieces are left and the outcome is obvious. Beckett's play focuses on Hamm, a blind tyrant, and his servant, Clov, and their constant bickering as, presumably, the end of the world nears. Hamm and Clov live near a waterless sea under a lightless sun; there is no food, no comfort, no future.
Senior Gus McKinney provides, perhaps, his finest stage performance as a Wabash man. He plays to perfection the gruff, blind, master forever confined to a chair. Freshman Joe Mount, in his second main-stage production, delivers a knockout performance as Clov, who answers Hamm's every request with dutiful precision. Hamm, who cannot walk, and Clov, who claims not to be able to sit, fight constantly, but are so entwined neither can relent his position.
The only other two characters in Beckett's masterpiece are Hamm's parents, Nagg and Nell, who have no legs and live in trashcans. While their parts are secondary to those of McKinney and Mount, senior Jordan Plohr and sophomore Chris McCloskey deliver brilliantly as they emerge from the trashcans to natter on about something and nothing, starving to death in this desolate place.
While the acting is superbly executed under Watson, much praise should be given to sophomore Josh Lutton, who under costume supervisor Andrea Bear, shines brightly as costume and makeup designer. Lutton left no detail overlooked and his costume design greatly enhances the grave, diseased condition of the characters.
James Gross once again provides a thought-provoking scene and lighting design, which adds mightily to the isolated, desolate existence the characters endure.
Endgame was originally written in French by Beckett, and opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1957. Watson, like other scholars, believes Endgame is Beckett's "greatest, most profound play."
Wabash College Theater's Production of Samuel Beckett's Endgame
Wednesday, February 22 through Saturday, February 25, 2012
Experimental Theater, Fine Arts Center (tickets are free; phone 765-361-6411)
Directed by Dwight Watson
Starring: Gus McKinney as Hamm, Joe Mount as Clov, Jordan Plohr as Nagg, and Chris McCloskey as Nell
Scene and Lighting Design by James Gross
Costumes by Josh Lutton with supervision from Andrea Bear
Stage Manager Joe Reese
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Wabash College Theater's Production of Endgame


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A banner of a swastika flew over Coney Island and Long Island beaches on Saturday.
The organization promoting the banner, Proswastika.org, aims to reclaim the swastika as a symbol of a peace, its meaning long before it became associated with the Nazis.
The banner shows the swastika over the Star of David. It flew as part of Swastika Rehabilitation Week starting July 5, according to the group's website.
"The swastika symbol is one of the oldest symbols on the Earth and can be found in all religions and traditions, on all continents!" according to Proswastika.org.
But Mark Treyger, the New York councilman who represents Coney Island, is not buying that argument.
"I will not accept their twisted logic. And I am also going to speak out against sending chilling messages of fear and intimidation to residents," Treyger told CBS New York.
The Las Vegas-based International Raelian Movement paid for the banner, according to Proswastika.org.
Raelians believe extraterrestrials created humans thousands of years ago. The group is not anti-Semitic, Raelian spokesman Thomas Kaenzig said in an interview with USA TODAY Network.
"We are a pacifist, peace-loving organization," he said.
Kaenzig said the goal of the banner is not to offend people, but to educate the public.
Follow @JolieLeeDC on Twitter.


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If you've doubled your vehicle's power-output or you're out-driving the current rotors/pads on your vehicle, then the heat that is being generated can no longer be dissipated quick enough by stock-sized brake components. You need larger thermal capacity and that comes in the form of larger two-piece rotors, brake calipers and brake pads. Read on to the full description by clicking product name above...
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Subscribe To KG-200, KG-300 Headsets Announced For PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 But Not Xbox One Updates
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Some decisions will really come back to bite you in the butt. I'm guessing the decision to ensure that all third-party peripherals are certified according to a proprietary standard is making the execs at the Redmond offices in Washington cringe with burning fury right about now, as Klipsch has announced a new line of high-end peripherals for game consoles... well, each major console except for the Xbox One.
Klipsch announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that the KG-200 and KG-300 are inbound for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 4 and home PCs. Obviously, there's a missing console in the line-up. Wonder why that is? Well, if you're not a registered peripheral manufacturer under the house of Microsoft, then you can't make devices for the Xbox One. This was mandated back during Microsoft's reveal of the Xbox One in May, where they shortly thereafter made it known that only registered peripheral makers would be allowed to put their junk on the Xbox One. In simple terms: Your Xbox 360 headsets don't carry over and aren't compatible with the next-gen Xbox.
This hasn't stopped Klipsch from moving forward with their new headset technology, with Chris Aiello, headphone product manager for Klipsch commented in the press release that...
"Following the success of our bestselling ProMedia 2.1 multimedia speakers, we have undoubtedly gained the necessary expertise to bring new products to the gaming market," ... "For years the focus has been on the evolution of gaming graphics, but developers and studios are now emphasising a quality audio experience. With decades of industry-leading audio developments, our new headsets will be the quintessential audio accessory that best brings the gaming experience to life."
The KG-300 is a wireless beast with modifiable settings via equalizer controls, chat volume, mic monitoring, and ergonomic design so it fits comfortable on whatever geometrically shaped head that rests atop your neck.
The KG-200 is a wired beast that offers all the same things as the KG-300, with the exception that the KG-200 is wired down to keep you in close proximity to your console like a parole wearing an ankle tether to keep them from venturing too far away from their parole officer. If you're down with that (as well as a lower price) then the KG-200 is your best bet.
Both the KG-300 and KG-200 are available for pre-order right now from the official Klipsch website.
The thing is, this says a lot more about Microsoft their idea of a closed-garden ecosystem than it does the competition or peripheral providers. With Microsoft losing massive market share against both Sony and Nintendo in the eighth generation of gaming, and coming in behind the curve technologically to gaming PCs and the PS4, it speaks volumes about the potentiality of the Xbox One when it's also limiting what kind of accessories and third-party hardware will be compatible with the hardware over the long haul.
Hopefully Microsoft has some other alternative in mind, because right now it's going to start looking bad on them when the PS4 will get a bunch of unique accessories that won't be made available on the Xbox One.


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SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - American commuters, on average, spent more than a full work week stuck in traffic in 2011, a sign gridlock is making a comeback as the economy recovers from recession, a study released on Tuesday said.
Traffic jams on the way to or from work ate, on average, 38 hours of commuters' lives that year, up from 34 hours the year before, researchers from the Texas A&M University Transportation Institute found in an annual survey. That's nearly four hours longer than the average workweek.
Washington, D.C., where drivers spend 67 hours per year in traffic, was the most congested urban area for the second consecutive year, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston, the researchers found.
Traffic congestion reached its peak in 2005, when drivers spent an average of 43 hours a year in traffic.
"Prior to the economy slowing, congestion levels were much higher, and we really expect to see the conditions of congestion ... really go up as the economy improves," Bill Eisele, a TTI researcher and the co-author of the report, told Reuters.
The reduction in congestion had more to do with job losses than any coordinated effort by cities to move to alternate forms of transportation, Eisele said.
He said that peak congestion nationwide was on Friday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. while more than one-third of all delays occurred in the middle of the day.
The report found that 60 percent of delays occurred on streets and 40 percent on highways.
The congestion brought with it a hefty price tag: Traffic congestion cost American motorists $818 each in 2011 - more than is spent on Christmas presents - from wasted gasoline to lost productivity to increased vehicle maintenance costs, the study found.
Drivers on average wasted 19 gallons of fuel in 2011, the report found.
Clearing vehicle crash sites more quickly, better synchronizing of traffic signals and improved notification of traffic delays to motorists would all ease congestion, Eisele said
"As this report demonstrates, travelers are paying the price for this inadequate response," Eisele said.
Editing by Edith Honan and Steve Orlofsky


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Over the years cocktails with a lot of drinks have been popular. Sort of compendiums of the state of the cocktail art, as it were. The first of these may have been "The Savoy Cocktail Book." Other big ones include the various Mr. Boston Guides, Cocktail Bill Boothby's "World Drinks and How to Mix Them," and one of the most influential modern drink bibles, "Jones' Complete Bar Guide."
They tend to be long on recipes, but short on instructions, details, or information.
In his annually published DiffordsGuides to Cocktails, Simon Difford has been a bit different. He usually has a good section on methods, pictures for each cocktail, origin details for many cocktails, and little articles about featured cocktails. He also has an exceptional index of ingredients and recipes which include them. Not to mention a short list of some of the world's best bars.
Now up to DiffordsGuide # 7, in many bars these annually released books have become the go to guides for young bartenders, especially those of the European persuasion.
In number of recipes, DiffordsGuide #7 does not let us down. Including over 2250 drink recipes, you're not going to run dry any time soon.
One of the nicest things about Difford's Guides is that they not only include drinks from American bartenders, but also from Europe and the world. It includes relatively recent cocktails from San Franciscans Jacques Bezuidenhout and Dominic Venegas, along with many of the leading lights of modern Europe's bar scene.
I find it interesting that, as in all Mr. Difford's books, there are rather a lot of very sweet sounding cocktails and many layered shots, (or "Shotails" as Mr. Difford likes to call them.)Â I'm not sure if this is a difference between West Coast and European taste, or just Mr. Difford's preference.
Still there are enough interesting old and new classics in Difford's Guide #7 to keep any person entertained for, well, the rest of their life. Certainly no cocktail enthusiast would complain if they found one under their Christmas, (or Valentine's Day,) tree.
Full disclosure: When I read on the Spirits Review Blog that a new Difford's Guide had been released, I sent a note to Christopher Carlsson asking how he had got his sweaty little hands on a copy. He suggested I contact them. I did, and they were kind enough to send a copy for review.


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Danielle Robinson scored on a driving layup with 8.4 seconds remaining to lift the San Antonio Stars a 72-69 win against the Sparks on Sunday.
Robinson got the ball at the top of the key and converted from the left side. The Sparks missed a field goal attempt inside and were forced to foul on their next possession.
Robinson also scored on a drive to tie it at 69-69 with 40 seconds left as the Stars (7-6) won their third game in a row.
Robinson and Danielle Adams each scored 13 points and Becky Hammon had 11.
Nneka Ogwumike led the Sparks (4-8) with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Candace Parker had 17 points and eight rebounds and Jantel Lavender had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Ogwumike scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a bank shot that gave the Sparks a 69-67 lead. San Antonio missed its next four shots, and Ogwumike got a block on Adams on another possession.
The Sparks committed a season-high 23 turnovers.


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Who is… Laurie Hernandez
Gymnastics Beginnings
Lauren Hernandez was born on June 9, 2000 in New Brunswick, NJ. Her parents put their 5-year-old daughter in dance and ballet classes, but it wasn't holding her attention—her parents had to bribe her with sugar cookies to make her go to class. One day, a more exhilarating sport caught her eye.
"My earliest memory was watching gymnastics on live TV, and wanting to do what the 'big girls' did," Hernandez said. "I started a gymnastics class at five years old, but it became serious at seven."
Hernandez began taking recreational classes, and also gained the nickname Laurie because there were other Lauren's at her gym. Soon she was spotted by Maggie Haney, who has now been her coach for nearly 10 years. Haney hadn't coached an elite gymnast before, but the two learned and grew together as a team.
When Hernandez was nine, Haney started looking into getting her promising young gymnast into USA Gymnastics' national development camps. She could attend if she had a high enough score in the Talent Opportunity program (TOPs), which measures basic gymnastics skills and physical aptitude. According to ESPNW, when Haney's contact at USA Gymnastics looked up Hernandez's TOPs score, she said, "Oh, she's the No. 1 TOPs kid in the country. She can come."
Breakout Moment
Hernandez rose quickly through the ranks of junior gymnastics—in 2012 she finished 21st in the all-around at the national championships and in 2013 13-year-old Hernandez finished second and won event medals on uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
But then she was hit by injury, first fracturing her wrist early in 2014 and then dislocating her right kneecap, tearing her patella ligament and bruising her MCL all on one bad vault landing that same year. The knee injuries required surgery and a piece of a cadaver's ligament was attached to her own.
She didn't compete at all in 2014 as she worked her way back to full strength. She had no trouble making up for lost time in 2015: she went undefeated in the all-around over all four of the competitions, two domestic and two international, she entered that year. At the national championships, she not only claimed the all-around gold but won medals on all four events: gold on uneven bars, silver on floor exercise, and bronzes on vault and balance beam.
Still just 15 years old, Hernandez burst into the conversation surrounding possible Olympic teams. Luckily, she became age-eligible to compete in the Rio Games when she turned 16 in 2016.
Major Competitions
Hernandez made her senior debut at the 2016 City of Jesolo Trophy, a friendly international competition in Italy. She fit right in with the older, more experienced gymnasts, helping the U.S. women to team gold and winning beam gold, vault silver and all-around bronze.
Hernandez put in a more than solid performance at her next competition, the Pacific Rim Championships. Three-time world champion Simone Biles won the all-around, with 2012 Olympic floor champion Aly Raisman finishing second—and then just 0.100 points behind Raisman was Hernandez.
Laurie Hernandez competes on floor with attitude at Pac Rim
Hernandez then had to hit pause on her training to treat another knee injury, and she only competed on two events at the Secret U.S. Classic. After using Classics as a tune-up meet, Hernandez showed her strongest gymnastics yet at the 2016 P&G Championships. She again finished just behind Biles and Raisman to claim all-around bronze, and finished third on three events.
Olympic Trials highlights
Hernandez was at her best at the 2016 Olympic Trials, showing no signs of struggling with the immense pressure on her shoulders. She finished second in the all-around and earned the highest scores on beam.
2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics
On August 7, Hernandez competed in the Women's Qualification at the 2016 Summer Olympics where the top 8 placing teams get to advance to the Team All Around Finals. Hernandez scored a 15.200 on the vault, a 15.366 on the balance beam, and a 14.800 on the floor exercise, qualifying to the balance beam event finals. Hernandez was unable to compete in the All Around Finals because there is an Olympic rule stating that only two athletes may represent their country in All Around Finals. August 9 was the Team All Around Finals, meaning each country had 3 girls compete on each event and all scores counted. The US team, known as the Final Five, won the gold medal in the Team All Around. On August 15 during Event Finals, Hernandez won a silver medal on the Balance Beam with a score of 15.333. She placed ahead of teammate Simone Biles, who placed 3rd with a score of 14.733 and behind Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands, who won gold
Hernandez competes with no shortage of expressiveness and personality, especially on the floor exercise. International Gymnast Magazine called Hernandez the "Human emoji" and gymnastics podcast Gymnastic nicknamed her "baby Shakira." With her early dance training and inimitable style, Hernandez always puts on a show when she performs.
After her gymnastics career ends, Hernandez says she'd love to keep performing—but as an actress.
Outside the Gym
Hernandez has been homeschooled since the third grade, and is planning to continue both her education and her gymnastics career as an NCAA student-athlete at the University of Florida.
For fun, Hernandez enjoys learning dances off YouTube, doing her nails, and reading—she names The Maze Runner as her favorite book. She also shows her creativity by writing poems, sketching and using Photoshop to edit photos.
25 Things you don't know about me!
- My hidden talent is doing the robot.
- I can't live without my phone!
- My biggest fear is spiders.
- My athlete idol is Usain Bolt. He's inhumanly fast!
- My teammates make me laugh and giggle until I can't breathe.
- People would be surprised to know I had a flip phone until 2015. (LOL!)
- The musician I love the most is Tori Kelly.
- I have overcome injuries in the sport of gymnastics.
- My greatest inspiration is my coach Maggie Haney.
- Before Rio, I was most excited to spend four weeks straight laughing and working out with the girls!
- Jennifer Lawrence is my favorite actress.
- On Sundays, I just love to go to church and then relax the whole day!
- Right now, my biggest celeb crush is Dave Franco.
- A rough memory from gymnastics was going to a selection camp and ripping two pairs of grips in one day.
- I must have these five things in my gym bag at all times: grips, tape, wrist guards, knee brace and my calming peppermint oil.
- My motto in life is to embrace every moment.
- I say "Yo!" way too much.
- I am terrible at turns; hence my single passé turn on floor and beam.
- My most memorable gymnastics moment was being named to the 2016 Rio Olympics team!
- I pamper myself by using bath bombs.
- The first thing I plan to do after the Games is stay up all night celebrating with my teammates!
- My coach and my family keep me grounded through this journey.
- My advice for young girls pursuing a dream is to never give up, no matter what!
- I cheer for the New York Giants because my dad tells me to.
- My cheat meal was an In-N-Out burger after the second day of Olympic trials.


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Incorporating Pilates into Your Everyday Life
Even if you were to do Pilates for an hour every day, you wouldn't get the profound results that Pilates has to offer if you reverted to bad postural habits for the rest of your day. Some people naturally take what they learn from Pilates and bring it to their non-Pilates activities.
Do the Basic Cat stretch every morning: If you were a cat, you'd do the Basic Cat every morning without even thinking about it. Start your day with a spine stretch to get the blood circulating and to get the kinks out before starting your day. The Basic Cat is a particularly good stretch for the morning because it's very safe and gentle and doesn't put unnecessary strain on a stiff spine.
Think of a golden string pulling you up from the back of the top of your head: Holding an image in your head can help you change your body dramatically. Working out with a regular Pilates routine does wonders, but thinking about proper alignment for the rest of your day does even more. Try to remember to stand up with the back of the top of your head pulled up towards the sky, thereby lengthening your spine.
Keep your shoulders relaxed and pulling down your back: It's easy to unconsciously hunch your shoulders. This movement is one of the most common misuses of muscles, and working at a desk or computer exacerbates this tendency. Relax your shoulders, and keep pulling the shoulder blades down and away from your ears.
Think of using the muscles underneath the shoulder blades to keep the shoulders in their proper dropped position. Doing so works wonders for your neck!
Remember to breathe deeply: Take a moment each day to breathe deeply and slowly. Most people use only about half of their lung capacity. Try to take a breath that fills up the lowest portion of your lungs.
This style of breathing is relaxing and good for your health. Lungs are three-dimensional and extend as far back as your ribs go. Breathing wide into the ribs, instead of up and down, can actually stretch the back and release muscle tension.
Get a lumbar support pillow for work and your car: A lumbar pillow supports your lower back and helps you maintain Neutral Spine while you work and drive. Remember that improper posture is the number one reason for back pain.
You can buy lumbar support pillows at most large pharmacies, variety stores or back care stores. You simply place it in the small of your back and, voilà, you can feel your posture improving effortlessly!
Sit up tall when working: If you don't have a lumbar support pillow, then you must support your back all by yourself. You can do so just by thinking the right thoughts. Most back pain is due to faulty posture and sitting incorrectly. Sit up tall, trying to lift up from the lower back, so that you have Neutral Spine when sitting. Your head should be balanced in a straight line on top of your hips, not jutting out in front.
Get a cervical pillow for your bed: A cervical pillow (or neck pillow) looks like an oversized hot dog and goes behind your neck when you're lying on your back or on your side. The pillow functions to support the natural curve of your neck. Chronic neck soreness often results from an improper sleeping position. This type of pillow is especially useful if you wake up with neck pain.
Walk the right way: Imagine that you're a supermodel on a catwalk. When you stride down the street, think of walking with a long stride, initiating the movement from the hips and butt, not just the knees.
This way of walking increases the length of your stride while stretching out the front of your hips (your hip flexors). Walking with long strides helps reverse the tightness in the hips and back that comes from long bouts of sitting.