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ASBMB members in the news this month include David Ginsburg, Michael F. Holick, Gideon J. Davies, Carol Robinson, Sharon Tooze, Roger J. Davis, Elaine Fuchs, Thomas D. Pollard and Chi-Huey Wong. We also look back on the lives of Gerald C. Mueller and Mark Smith.
David Ginsburg, the James V. Neel distinguished university professor of internal medicine and human genetics at the University of Michigan Medical School, received a Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The annual AAMC award was established in 1947 and recognizes outstanding clinical or laboratory research by a medical school faculty member. The research generally is related to health and disease that has contributed to the substance of medicine.
Ginsburg, who also is a Life Sciences Institute research professor and an investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, studies the components of the blood-clotting system and how disturbances in their function lead to human bleeding and blood-clotting disorders. Specifically, he and his colleagues are looking at the blood-clotting protein von Willebrand factor and how molecular defects in the protein are responsible for many of the less common subtypes of von Willebrand disease. He also studies diseases involving coagulation factor V, a central regulator in the early phases of blood clot formation, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and PAI2, both of which regulate the fibrinolytic system that breaks down blood clots.
Michael F. Holick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics and director of the General Clinical Research Unit at Boston University School of Medicine, is the recipient of the 2010 Van Slyke Award from the American Academy for Clinical Chemistry New York Metro Section. The award acknowledges outstanding contributions to the science of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine.
Holick, who also is director of the Bone Health Care Clinic at Boston Medical Center, was chosen to receive the award for his seminal contributions to laboratory medicine. He helped pioneer several assays for vitamin D and its metabolites. The assays now are used worldwide to determine a patient's vitamin D status and to evaluate disorders of calcium and bone metabolism. Holick also helped establish global recommendations for sensible sun exposure and vitamin D intake for children and adults.
The European Molecular Biology Organization has awarded the life-long honor of EMBO membership to seven American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology members. They are among 63 life scientists from 14 countries who received the honor this year.
The 63 scientists represent a broad cross section of research covering classical areas of molecular biology as well as rapidly developing fields such as systems biology, neuroscience and cancer biology. More than half of the EMBO members contribute by serving on advisory editorial boards for the organization's four scientific journals, mentoring young researchers, providing expertise to EMBO programs and taking the lead on new initiatives.
The newly elected ASBMB members are:Gideon J. Davies, professor, Structural Biology Laboratory, department of chemistry, The University of York, United Kingdom
Carol Robinson, Royal Society research professor and Dr. Lee's professor of chemistry, department of chemistry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Sharon Tooze, head, Secretory Pathways Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, United Kingdom
Roger J. Davis, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor, department of biochemistry and pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, United States
Elaine Fuchs, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Rebecca C. Lancefield professor, Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, Rockefeller University, United States
Thomas D. Pollard, Sterling professor of molecular cellular and developmental biology and of cell biology and of molecular biophysics and biochemistry, Yale University, United StatesChi-Huey Wong, professor, department of chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, United States, and president, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
Gerald C. Mueller passed away on Nov. 7, 2010. He helped to establish the international reputation of the McArdle Laboratory and build a strong foundation of basic cancer research on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Mueller was born in 1920 and raised in St. Croix, Wis. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he worked part time in the laboratory of Harold P. Rusch studying the biochemical actions of chemical carcinogens and ultraviolet radiation.
Mueller enrolled in medical school at the University of Wisconsin and received his M.D. in 1946. He then carried out an internship at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.
In 1947, Mueller returned to Wisconsin to pursue a doctoral degree in biochemistry and oncology. After graduating in 1950, he accepted a position as an assistant professor at the university.
For the next 40 years, Mueller pursued various scientific interests, from the molecular processes regulating animal cell replication and differentiation to the role of phosphatidylethanol synthesis in alcoholism. He was a pioneer in the development of a practical method for the synchronization of mammalian cell populations and one of the first investigators to show that in each cell cycle, the units of DNA replicate in the same time sequence.
Mueller also significantly affected cancer policy in the U.S., participating in numerous study sections, advisory committees, and editorial and review boards throughout his career. He served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for both the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, as president and member of the Board of Directors for the American Association for Cancer Research, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society.
Mueller became professor emeritus of oncology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research in 1991 but remained active in the department for more than a decade after that.
Mark A. Smith, professor of pathology at Case Western Reserve University, died Dec. 19 after being struck by a car in suburban Cleveland.
Smith was a renowned Alzheimer's disease researcher whose work focused on understanding how and why neurons cease to function in neurodegenerative diseases. He also was a Journal of Biological Chemistry editorial board member, co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and executive director of the American Aging Association.
Smith studied molecular biology and biochemistry at Durham University's Hatfield College in England and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1986. He then attended Nottingham University, where he received his doctorate degree in 1990. After two years as a postdoctoral biochemist in the division of immunodermatology at Sandoz Forschungsinstitut (now Novartis) in Vienna, Austria, he began working at Case Western Reserve University.
Smith quickly drew attention and accolades, becoming one of the most prolific and cited faculty members on the Case Western campus, numerically accounting for more than 1 percent of publications and 4 percent of citations during the past several years (data from Institute for Scientific Information). He published more than 800 peer-reviewed articles, and his work was cited more than 21,000 times. In 2007, Smith was named the 21st most-cited author (of 3,170) in the fields of neuroscience and behavior during the previous 10 years. In 2009, he was named the No. 3 Alzheimer's investigator in the world in a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
You can learn more about Mark Smith's research and career and read the recollections of his friends and colleagues using the links below:
• The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
• Alzheimer Research Forum
• Smith's faculty webpage
Smith received numerous awards and honors, including two Ruth Salta Junior Investigator Achievement Awards from the American Health Assistance Foundation, making him the first individual ever to receive the honor more than once. He also earned multiple campus awards for teaching and mentoring, such as the 2009 J. Bruce Jackson, M.D., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring, one of the highest honors given to a member of the Case Western faculty. Most recently, Smith was named the recipient of the 2011 American Society for Investigative Pathology Outstanding Investigator Award and the 2011 Goudie Lecture and Medal.
"Mark Smith's passion for scientific discovery was matched by his complete dedication to students and colleagues," Case Western President Barbara R. Snyder said in a press release. "His death is a tragedy for his field, for Case Western Reserve and, most of all, for his family. We extend our deepest sympathies to all who are grieving this terrible loss."
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subset: commoncrawl


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[Aiden rant]No mostly out of protest to these sites.I can't go out with my friends without them having to "facebook" that they are eating a cheeseburger or their status is "full after eating at hodads" or some other mundane bullshit they assume people care about. Using your phone while I am out with someone is a WHOOOOOLE other peeve/rant so I won't go into it. I also disagree with how my family parades their dirty laundry and drama in it. And honestly, any time your parents do something...I automatically think it is uncool. My mom is on facebook, my siblings and cousins and I hate their irresponsible behavior. My young female family members dressing up to provocatively for their age and having to read those comments people make. If I like you as a person, then I stay in contact I don't need facebook to do so. OHH you where in my science class for three week in junior year? Ohh yea I totally want to stay in touch with you now. Fuck you. I hate Facebook.[/Aiden rant]
I love my FB. I'm really lazy when it comes to contacting people I don't see on a daily basis or would invite to a party, like relatives, long-distance folks, and my more conservative/busy friends. FB lets me keep up on them in a parallel way that isn't intrusive for either of us. Also I do some political carousing there as well.And I like playing the stupid little games to death.
So here's another question, though it's probably already an obvious answer:Do you use your real name for your facebook page?
Do you use your real name for your facebook page?
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Today after finding John Dowd (Doud) and Catherine Fitzmorris I stumbled up GLINSK BAPTISM RECORDS and it does indeed have Baptism records including the ones of my Great Grandfather Thomas Dowd.
This is part one of three but it also has listed a few siblings of Thomas. John Dowd 4 April 1862. Maria Dowd 28 August 1864, Catherine Dowd 2 July 1868 and Honoria Dowd 21 August, 1870. There is allegedly a brother Michael who moved to Cleveland or Chicago after emigration. I have to find him…..
Thomas had two women who I had a theory that were his sisters, Catherine and Nora. There were about the same age and married here in the USA. Catherine married Thomas Mulroy and Nora married Cummins Finnerty. They were sponsors for Thomas and Bridgets children and at one time lived next to each other in North Braddock PA.
One of my Cousins said that the family would visit some relative in New Jersey PA, and I am wondering of that was John Dowd who was three years younger than Thomas.


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Iraq is ready to give all the help it can to alleviate the sufferings of the Lebanese people after last week's Israeli attacks on the country, the official INA news agency reported Monday.
The Iraqi Red Crescent is "ready to use all its capabilities to take part in any action aimed at easing the sufferings (of the Lebanese) in the aftermath of the Zionist bombing," the association's director, Hisham Salman al-Saadun said in a message to the Lebanese Red Cross.
Israel bombed two power stations in Lebanon in the early hours of Friday morning in reprisal for a rocket attack launched from Lebanon on its northern territory, which killed one soldier and injured a number of civilians.
The rocket attack was itself a response to earlier Israeli air raids that had killed two Lebanese civilians and injured 14 – (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


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Care, Care & Community in Kenya by Bronagh Hennessy
I've seen people I know volunteer in countries all over Africa. Seeing their photos and hearing their stories made me realise that it was something I'd like to do. I said it to some friends and they all agreed that it sounded like a good idea. Unfortunately they were not as keen as I was, and when it came to it they backed out. However I was determined. I then decided I would travel alone.
The reason I chose Projects Abroad was because they offered the 2 Week Specials programme. For me this was perfect as this placement was for people aged 16-19, and at 17 and volunteering alone I wanted to be with people my own age. My parents were worried about me travelling to Africa alone, however the Kenyan office kept in contact with us before I departed through phone calls and emails which gave my parents a sense of security.
Arriving in Nairobi
When I arrived at Nairobi airport I was greeted by four members of the Projects Abroad team who then took me to the guest house where I stayed overnight before heading to Nakuru. I must admit I was a little intimidated by the barbed wire and the guards who stopped us on our way to the guest house, but I got over it.
The next morning, accompanied by a member of the Projects Abroad team, I took a matatu (Kenya's public transport) to Nakuru where I was introduced to my host mother Miriam, who owned a private hospital in Nakuru. Miriam welcomed me and the four other girls into her home with open arms - she really made us feel comfortable in her home. Lynette, Miriam's housekeeper prepared us with delicious meals each day. Chipati, an African dish, was a big favourite.
My Care & Community project
As I mentioned I took part in the 2 Week Specials project and this meant that I would be in a group of teenagers aged between 16-19 years old. Unlike ordinary volunteers we were picked up each morning and driven to Ronaken Education Centre where we completed the "community" end of our placement. We were then brought back to our host home for lunch and driven out again to partake in our Care placement. This project also meant we were under supervision from a member of the Project Abroad team anytime we left the house.
When we first arrived in Ronaken, we were given a quick tour of the school. We were introduced to the students who were very excited to see us. We were then shown the classroom, which we would be renovating. There were no doors or windows, just frames, the floor was uneven and full of holes and the paint was chipping off the wall. Needless to say the classroom needed a lot of work. I remember thinking to myself how would we ever finish in just two weeks.
However us five girls put the hard work in - we sanded down the walls, chipped and relayed the floor, inserted windows and a door, and painted and decorated the walls, and managed to get it all done in time. After applying the final touches we went out to the van to get school supplies we had brought for the children.
We heard the children screaming and shouting and we couldn't help but wonder what was going on. However, we went back into the classroom where we found all the children, and even the head mistress, jumping up and down with happiness. They were all so thankful for the work we had done - the feeling of accomplishment was indescribable.
In relation to the Care placement, we visited Ronaken, Hope Children's Ministry and Kardesh-ber-nea baby orphanage, where most of the children have had horrific pasts; some left abandoned at the hospital, others by a ditch and some were rescue cases.
All the children at these centres have people to look after them however they do not have anyone to play with so that they could have fun and forget about the different situations they were in, and this is where we came in. We were not there to cook or educate them; our purpose was to engage them in games and activities.
We even held a bit of a sports day in Hope Children's ministry, where we organised different races like egg and spoon races and sack races - some of the children got very competitive! All the children were fascinated by us and were especially interested in my freckles. When we would drive to our placements children would often chase the van screaming "mazunga, mazunga!"
Overall Experience
My two weeks in Kenya was not all work. On the weekend we got to visit Lake Bogoria where we took a boat trip around the lake, seeing crocodiles and visiting an island where a tribal family lived. We also visited a snake farm where I held a snake, and Lake Nakuru National Park, where we went on safari and saw many of different animals such as baboons, zebras, rhinos, buffalo and giraffes!
Kenya has exposed me to many different cultures and showed me how the Kenyan people live. Although being the only Irish girl in a house with four Americans meant it wasn't only the Kenyan culture I was exposed to. I even celebrated my first Fourth of July with them!
Overall my experience in Kenya is one I will take with me forever. I made many friends from Kenya and America, and I will never forget all the memories. Leaving Nakuru was sad - I'd definitely like to return in the near future, to volunteer and catch up with the friends I made. For me two weeks of Kenya was just not enough!
Bronagh Hennessy
Ce témoignage de volontaire peut faire référence à des actions impliquant des orphelinats. Retrouvez plus d'informations sur la vision actuelle de Projects Abroad au sujet du volontariat dans les orphelinats et la réorientation de nos actions vers des projets d'aide à l'enfance à dimension communautaire.
Ce témoignage est basé sur l'expérience unique d'un volontaire à un certain moment donné. Nos projets s'adaptent constamment aux besoins locaux, ils évoluent au fur et à mesure que des volontaires s'impliquent et s'adaptent aux saisons, ainsi votre expérience sur place pourra être différente de celle décrite ici. Pour en savoir plus sur cette mission, vous pouvez consulter la page de ce projet ou bien contacter l'un de nos conseillers de volontaires.


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As important as it is to understand the fundamentals of financial planning, the reality is most of us don't have the time, knowledge and/or interest to create, implement, monitor and update a comprehensive financial plan.
Working with a qualified financial professional can help take the burden off you to figure it all out. But financial professionals can differ dramatically—from their background and methodology to how they get paid and what products they offer.
Read: What's the difference between a broker, financial planner and financial advisor?
If you choose to work with a financial professional, plan on interviewing at least three candidates to make sure you get the right fit. Here are 10 questions to ask:
What experience do you have?
Ask them to explain their work experience both in financial services and out, if applicable, and how it relates to their current practice. Certified Financial Planners™ (CFPs) must have a minimum of three years experience in the financial planning process.
What are your qualifications?
Ask them to explain what licenses they have and the training they have completed, and any designations they may have. Also ask about continuing education and how they stay current with changes and developments in the financial services industry. Every professional has a certain amount of continuing education "credits" they must complete at various intervals to maintain their licenses and certifications. Keep in mind that financial professionals generally cannot sell insurance or investments like mutual funds, stocks or bonds without proper licenses, or give investment advice unless registered with state or federal authorities.
What financial services do you offer?
Financial professionals can offer different services depending on their credentials, areas of expertise and interest, among other things. Some professionals only manage money and don't do comprehensive planning, some do both, and some may focus on a particular area like wealth management, insurance or estate planning. Keep in mind that no one person can be an expert in every aspect of financial planning, so if a candidate tells you that he/she is, beware. Some professionals partner with other professionals who specialize in particular areas, which they should disclose up front.
What is your approach to working with clients?
Financial professionals should begin every client relationship with some kind of Q&A regarding the client's particular goals and concerns, investment experience and risk tolerance (and the more thorough the better!). Some professionals meet with clients only once or twice a year, while others will make themselves available to clients at all times. Some prefer to meet with clients in person while others are comfortable communicating remotely. The important thing is to make sure you are comfortable with the proposed arrangement.
What is your approach to investing?
The professional's investing philosophy should make sense to you and seem suitable for your needs, and should not feel too cautious or overly aggressive. Find out how they will carry out their financial recommendations and whether they will invest and manage money for you or refer you to someone else who will.
What types of clients do you typically work with?
Keep in mind that some professionals prefer to work with certain types of clients (such as business owners, teachers, retirees, widows or divorcées) and often have something in common with them. Find out if and how the candidate relates to your specific situation. Also, some professionals will only work with clients whose investible assets fall within a particular range, such as $250,000 — $1 million, or require you to have a certain net worth to work with you. So, it's important to make sure the professional is a good fit for your individual financial situation.
Will you be the only one working with me?
Some professionals work with their clients solo, and others use a team approach. You should know this upfront and have the chance to meet everyone you'll be working with before committing to anything. And if consultants such as insurance agents, estate attorneys, CPAs or bank lending representatives may be involved, you should get a list of their names and affiliations upfront to check on their backgrounds.
What do you charge and how will I pay for your services?
Although what you pay will depend on your particular needs, they should be able to provide you with a cost estimate based on the work to be performed. As part of your agreement, the financial professional should clearly state in writing how they will be paid for the services to be provided. Financial professionals can be paid in several ways:
- A salary paid by the company for which the professional works. Their employer receives payment from you or others, either in fees or commissions, to pay the professional's salary.
- Fees based on an hourly rate, a flat rate or a percentage of your assets.
- Commissions paid by a third party for the products sold to you to carry out the financial planning recommendations. Commissions are usually a percentage of the amount you invest in a product.
Are there any potential conflicts of interest I should know about?
A professional may have some business relationships or partnerships that could benefit her/him monetarily and affect her/his judgment to act in your best interest. For example, financial advisers who sell insurance policies or mutual funds have a compensation arrangement with the companies that provide these financial products. Ask the professional to provide you with a description of potential conflicts of interest in writing. Professionals who are CFPs have agreed to abide by a strict code of professional conduct and have an ethical obligation to put your needs above their own.
Do you have a clean record?
Several government and professional regulatory organizations, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), your state insurance and securities departments and CFP Board, keep records on the disciplinary history of financial planners and advisers. Any documented violations should be disclosed to you upfront, but you should also do your own homework, including checking their FINRA record at brokercheck.finra.org and googling them.
It may seem like a lot of questions to ask. But if you're going to invest your nest egg with someone, it's worth investing the time and effort to make sure you choose the right person. Finding an adviser who understands your needs as well as your finances can do wonders for your peace of mind—and your portfolio.
Jocelyn Black Hodes is DailyWorth's resident financial adviser.
The story "10 questions to ask a financial adviser" originally appeared on DailyWorth.com.
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Actor arrested with Jackie Chan's son released
BEIJING (AP) — A Taiwanese actor arrested along with the son of Hong Kong film star Jackie Chan on drug charges has been released after two weeks in detention.
Kai Ko emerged early Friday morning from a Beijing detention center into a scrum of reporters from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Followed to his hotel by the press pack, he challenged one reporter to a fight before retreating inside an elevator.
Ko, whose real name is Ko Chen-tung, rode to fame after his 2011 coming-of-age film "You Are the Apple of My Eye."
The 23-year-old was arrested on Aug. 14 along with Jaycee Chan, son of the Hong Kong martial arts superstar.
Police said both actors tested positive for marijuana and admitted using the drug. Jaycee Chan remains in detention.
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Date of birth
Manute was born on 16th October 1962,in either Gogrial or Turalei,South Sudan (formerly part of Sudan).
Place of residence
Manute lived in the United States of America,Sudan,South Sudan and Egypt.
Date of death
Manute died from complications of Stevens Johnson Syndrome on 19th June 2010 in Charlottesville,Virginia,United States of America
1.He is a famous former specialist NBA Basketball Player.
2.Manute was of South Sudanese Dinka origin.The Dinka ethnic group feature some of the world's tallest people.
3.He was an activist who founded the 'True Ring Foundation' in 2001 to help raise funds for Sudanese Christians during the Civil war. He is also known for reportedly donating a large majority of his wealth to South Sudanese causes.
4.He also mentored a young Luol Deng,who now plays for the Chicago Bulls.
Manute played in the NBA for ten years (1985-1995) for:
Washington Bullets
Miami Heat
Philadelphia 76ers
Golden State Warriors (where he ended his career)
Happy Birthday Manute Bol,may you rest in peace.


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Premium Partners
First Partner
Further Partners
Thank you and goodbye!
The IBO 2013 has ended. An intensive week is now finished. We thank all who have been involved in this adventure and say au revoir, auf Wiedersehen, arrivederci, sinseveser!
Final Report
Have a look back: the exhaustive final report IBO 2013 is available here (PDF).
Final Ranking
Charles Gleason from the USA is the winner of the IBO 2013 - congratulations!
The detailed ranking is available here.
Welcome to the IBO 2013!
The IBO 2013 takes place from 14 – 21 July, 2013 in Bern.
Any interested person who is not a competitor or a jury member, but still would like to be part of the IBO is very welcome at the public events. Be our guest at
About the IBO
The IBO is an international competition for secondary school pupils whose interest in science and biology goes way beyond the school program. The Scientific Olympiads take place every year in another country and in many different fields as for example biology, chemistry, informatics, mathematics, philosophy and physics. They do not only focus on scientific knowledge and accomplishments but also promote the dialog between cultures and people from all over the planet.
Switzerland participates since 1987 in the Scientific Olympiads. From 14 - 21 July, 2013 Bern will host the first International Scientific Olympiad to take place in Switzerland. We expect about 60 delegations consisting of 240 highly talented participants and over 240 jury members, scholars and scientists.
© 2010 ibo|suisse | powered by strix v 0.7 | queries to DB: 7 (1.984ms) | build time ≈ 82.627ms, | page size: 10760 bytes


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While other apps for learning Indonesian may be restricted to a limited number of thematic topics, our software comprises 140 topics covering a wide range of everyday situations.
There are 3 levels of difficulty, for beginners, intermediate learners, and advanced students. The Beginner level comprises 1,000 words of vocabulary. After mastering these, the Intermediate level unlocks, giving you access to another 2,000 words. Finally, upon completion of the Intermediate level, the Advanced level will unlock with yet a further 3,000 words.
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Learn the most frequently used 5000 Phrases. Cover your travel needs speaking and writing in a language you want. Test your proficiency skills any time, any place. Just complete the missing words, find mistakes in a phrase and make sentences by your own.


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We know that at the heart of at least two ocean basins—the North Pacific and the North Atlantic—tiny plastic fragments the size of confetti or smaller are accumulating on the sea surface by the tens of thousands, the remnants of discarded grocery bags, cups, bottles and other waste.
Last year a group of researchers publishing in the journal Science reported a mystery: during a 22-year survey of plastic accumulation in the western North Atlantic, the scientists saw no increase in the amount of plastic, despite a surge in annual global plastic production from about 75 million to 245 million metric tons over the same period. Where was it going? New research shows marine microbes may be feasting on the debris.
On a recent cruise to the North Atlantic's Sargasso Sea, scientists from the Sea Education Association (SEA) in Woods Hole, Mass., collected bits of plastic that, to the naked eye, looked relatively smooth and clean. But when they zoomed in on the one-centimeter-size slivers using an electron microscope, a new world appeared. "We saw that they were just covered with microbes," says Tracy Mincer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
What's more, he observed individual microbes sinking into the plastic's surface, eroding a footprint roughly twice their diameter. "They look just like hot coals burning through snow," says Mincer, whose colleague presented the findings at the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu in March.
Mincer cautions that these observations are preliminary, but if they are confirmed, they would be the first evidence of marine microbes able to degrade plastic at sea. Whereas Mincer notes that bacteria's ability to digest plastic in the warm, moist, nutrient-rich clime of landfills is well established, the ocean's surface has long been considered too inhospitable an environment for biodegradation to occur. It is cold, turbulent and, particularly in the Sargasso Sea, devoid of nutrients.
The new research is crucial to understanding the fate of plastic at sea, says Kara Lavender Law of SEA, who is lead author of the Science paper that first reported the missing plastic. "If we can find how it's broken down into its molecular components, that's a really important revelation," she says.


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You run the rivers in the morning, send routes at the crag in the afternoons , and spend evenings chasing the sun on your mountain bike. You need your roof rack to be just as versatile as you are. That's where Kuat's Skinny basket comes in. Its distinct design provides the same load surface as traditional cargo racks while leaving half of your useable crossbar space for, you know, whatever you need. It includes a faring, a quick-release bike mount, and locking roof bar mounts that fit most factory and aftermarket crossbars.
• 1 Bike Capacity (50 lb bike, 9mm skewer)
• Roof bar mounts come equipped with lock cores
• Fairing included with copper accents
• Mounts to most factory & all aftermarket cross bars
• 160 lb. capacity with bike & gear (always adhere to cross bars posted weight limits)
• Max crossbar size: 4.5" x 1.75" (width x height)
• 3 piece design allows optional outside dims: 68" x 23" x 7", or 82" x 23" x 7"
Part Numbers


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Some parents screw their kids up incrementally. Bev and Neeva Parsons manage to cram a life's worth of trauma into a matter of days during the summer of 1960.
The couple's misadventures are told by their son Dell in "Canada," Richard Ford's 10th book.
The hapless father, Bev ("He never conceded that Beverly was a woman's name in most people's minds"), and the bright but empathy-bereft Neeva dominate the first half of a riveting tale of lost innocence.
The saga begins with the bank robbery Bev sees as his salvation from debt incurred through an ill-gotten business venture.
He enlists Neeva to drive the getaway car. The scheme culminates in a quick arrest that effectively turns Dell and his twin sister, Berner, into 15-year-old orphans.
"Leading up to then, time had been almost seamless, the durable order of family life," Dell says. "Even now I can sometimes think the next two days didn't happen, or that I dreamed them, or misremembered them. Though it's wrong to wish away even bad events, as if you could have ever found your way to the present by any other means."
The durable order of family life disappears entirely in the second half of a book that transports Dell from the simple but familiar home he shared with his parents and sister in Great Falls, Mont., to a pair of desolate Saskatchewan prairie towns -- one as dreary as the next.
There, Dell falls under the "care" of a cross-dresser and a ne'er-do-well with a mysterious past. Petrified and abruptly deposited in a country he knows nothing about, Dell's dream of joining the Great Falls chess team gives way to abject survival.
Ford excels on a canvas that lends itself to sparse, weighted dialogue and observation. Tempered by fear and violence, his Canadian outback is a place where nothing seemed "reasonable or logical, based on what anyone would believe they knew about the world."
Dell Parsons bears little emotional connection to Frank Bascombe, the self-absorbed protagonist at the center of the epic trilogy "The Sportswriter," "Independence Day" (the first book awarded the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award in the same year) and "The Lay of the Land." In 2005, Ford received the St. Louis Literary Award for his body of work.
Ford forges an irresistible connection between the reader and a narrator who at one point is counseled to "pay attention to the present. Don't rule parts out, and be sure you've always got something you don't mind losing. That's important."
Winsome, complex and gritty, Dell represents the quintessential voice of one of the best American novelists of our time.
"Canada" is Ford's first appearance on the new-book shelf in six years.
In every way, it was worth the wait.
A novel by Richard Ford
Published by Ecco, 420 pages, $27.99


text:
Philippe becomes king of Belgium
BRUSSELS (AP) -- Belgians shouted "Long live the king" Sunday to welcome their new monarch to the throne on a sunny national holiday. But several legislators from northern Flanders boycotted King Philippe I's coronation, highlighting longstanding feuding between the nation's Dutch-speaking Flemings and Francophones -- the biggest challenge the new monarch will face.
In his first speech as king shortly after his father King Albert II abdicated, Philippe made no attempt to paper over those cracks, instead casting the country's division between its 6 million Dutch-speaking Flemings and 4.5 million Francophones as one of its strengths.
"The wealth of our nation and our institutions consists in turning our diversity into a strength," he said after taking his oath of office at the country's parliament.
The ceremony capped a day of transition which started when Philippe's father, the 79-year-old Albert, signed away his rights as the kingdom's largely ceremonial ruler at the royal palace in the presence of Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, who holds the political power in this 183-year-old parliamentary democracy.
Less than two hours later, the nation got its seventh king when Philippe, 53, pledged to abide by Belgium's laws and constitution.
While crowds of well-wishers cheered the royal family's every move Sunday, far from everybody in Belgium was happy with the new king.
One Flemish separatist group, the Flemish Interest party, boycotted the parliamentary ceremony, while the legislature's biggest party, the N-VA New Flemish Alliance, sent only a limited delegation.
"We are full-blooded democrats and the purest form of democracy is the republic," said Jan Jambon, the parliamentary leader of the alliance, which has surged to become the main opposition party seeking Flemish independence through democratic transition. It wants the new king not to have any role in coalition negotiations to form a new government, not be head of the armed forces and not sign any laws.
The small N-VA delegation highlighted one of the biggest challenges Philippe will face in his reign -- how to remain relevant as a unitary symbol in a nation ever more drifting apart between the prosperous northern Flemings and the economically struggling southern Francophones.
Briefly, at least, the differences took a back seat Sunday as the new royal couple appeared on the palace's balcony cheered by some 10,000 well-wishers braving the relentless sun and 30C (86F) heat.
Flanked by huge bouquets of white roses, lilies and gerbera, King Philippe kissed new Queen Mathilde's hand and got a peck on the cheek in return.
President Barack Obama sent the new king congratulations.
"The president also sends his heartfelt appreciation to King Albert II for his warmth, service, and leadership as he steps down after nearly 20 years," the U.S. government statement said. "Belgium is a valued friend of the United States, and the president looks forward to continuing to deepen this bond in the years to come."
Unlike a disturbance during the oath-taking by King Albert II 20 years ago, when one legislator shouted "Long live the European Republic," Sunday's ceremony in the packed legislature went off without a hitch, with Albert and Philippe's wife, Queen Mathilde, looking on as he confidently took the oath.
Philippe has long been contested as a worthy successor of Albert, but after years of wooden and timid public performances, the silver-haired, bespectacled monarch came over as poised on the day he had been groomed for all of his adult life.
"Belgium is modernizing itself and it gives me joy," Albert said as he signed away his rights as the kingdom's largely ceremonial ruler at the royal palace.
Albert announced his abdication plans less than three weeks ago, so there was little time to turn the occasion into a huge international event. No foreign royals were at the ceremony. Since the royal transition coincides with Belgium's national day celebrations, a military parade had already been planned.
Philippe will face a tough task in the coming months. The nation holds parliamentary elections in June 2014 amid calls, led by the N-VA for even more autonomy for the language groups. And perhaps even less power for the king himself.
Up to now, the monarch is still involved in government formation talks by picking go-betweens and brokers to set up multiparty coalitions reaching across the linguistic divide.
Anti-royalists consider even that too much power. "There is only one place where he belongs and that's in fairytales," said Michel Mischeenaker, an anti-royalist activist who stood outside the church where Sunday's ceremonies started.
After the last elections in 2010, it took a record 541 days to form a government amid bickering about how much more power should be sapped from the central state to profit the separate language groups. Then, as likely next year, the N-VA will play a key role.
Unlike his five predecessors, Albert tried to avoid politics as much as possible and Philippe is expected to do likewise.
Philippe has prepared for the monarchy as a leader of foreign trade delegations over the past two decades.
"He is a very wise person, a person who is very well prepared," said EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who attended the ceremony. "He knows the politics of Belgium and Europe very well."


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You know, for a cooking show, MasterChef New Zealand spends an awful lot of time talking about maths.
"Tonight 24 must become 16," the voiceover man tells us. Simon Gault expands: "A third of you will be going home today."
45 seconds later I've forgotten how many people are standing there. Ray comes to the rescue. "There are 24 of you standing there, one of you will be New Zealand's next MasterChef."
I'm looking forward to next week when - hopefully - all this padding out and clichéd voiceover is replaced by useful cooking information. Did you know standards were at an all-time high? Do you wonder who will make the cut? Get the chop? If you have 24 apples, and you only need 16 apples, how many apples do you need to throw at the TV?
But at least we're in the MasterChef kitchen now, where the shelves look like a wedding present registry and the pantry is full of "every ingredient you could possibly imagine." I'm possibly imagining horsemeat.
I don't know what Josh Emett is imagining but it sounds truly awful. "You'll have to cook your heart's out in some of the most grueling conditions you can imagine." Cripes where are you taking them this year, North Korea? Afghanistan?
Auckland. "You'll be divided into four groups of..." Oh I know this one.. six?
Josh Emett, who rather strangely sounds just like Dr Boyd Rolleston on Shortland Street, lights up like a fan boy when describing the first chef - Simon Precision Wright of the French Café. But that's nothing compared to the amateur dramatics from the contestants as they react to the rest of the roll call - confirming for all of us that yes they have indeed heard of them. Whether they have or not.
That is until they get to The Langham's Volker, who receives the kind of canned laughter more at home on TV3's The Radio.
I do feel sorry for Volker. The man obviously knows his stuff but whenever this show trots him out it seems more for comic relief.
But it's Ben Bayly who delivers the most honest line I've ever heard on any Masterchef episode.
"The primary role of a chef is to buy a product, jazz it up and sell it for a profit. If you can't do those three things then what are you, you're not a chef." Brilliant! Now I'm the fan boy.
Watching Ben fillet the Snapper reminded me that I'd be completely screwed on a show like this. Like many of you, I'm okay at a few things but pretty useless at everything else. I think filleting a fish will be my task for this week.
Last week's task was to make that beer bread Kris the Builder whipped up in his audition. OMG! Never has an hour in the kitchen been so satisfying.
Homemade bread is one of those things food-wankers like myself long to conquer, second only to the construction of an outdoor pizza oven. In fact it was only weeks ago I pronounced to my wife that I was going to bake a different kind of bread every week this year for a blog called Fifty Shades Of Whey. Kneadless to say nothing eventuated.
Anyhoo the bread could not have been easier. In the comments from last weeks blog Kris suggested Speights but I ended up going with Tsingtao. It was, how do you say it, "on special". The whole experience was an hour from start to finish. My wife didn't appreciate the smell. My son concurred, "it smells like poo", but Chris Badenoch would be proud.
Meanwhile the knife skills test was sorting the wheat from the chaff. We learnt that you can peel peas, that you should use the whole edge of the knife when cutting (Ganesh: "everything I had built in my head, was just taken away"), and that Michael's dining room is dominated by an oversized tribute to Kozmic clothing.
We also learn more about David. He must be sticking around for a while because it's the second week that we get a video about life outside the competition, and he wisely uses it to let potential future employers know he'd like to be a food writer.
Or perhaps they're introducing us to more contestants simply because the knife competition is actually pretty boring. The four chefs may be trying their damndest to create a sense of urgency - I guess it's hard to muster when you're not actually cooking anything. Maybe Paula can liven things up?
"Me and the person next to me are the slowest and I'm like oh God, oh God, oh God."
Yeah nah.
Next we meet Raheel. She seems nice enough so it's a surprise to learn she's a real-estate agent. Perhaps to fight that impression she explains that she likes to take baking to her elderly neighbour.
"Oh you've got some, ahh, another loaf for me." Yes, another. She has baked for you before right?
Finally the challenge is all over. "My mise en place is mise en crap," says Dana.
A few more education puns later and we're getting closer to the final 16. I can't decide if I'm going to miss Trent and his blind optimism or not "I still think it could have been used in a restaurant", but his exit should show those cynics who suggest people are kept in for the drama.
"I feel like Mr Trump just fired me. Trent, you're fired."
Actually, Trent on The Apprentice. Now there's an idea.
Mystery box time, and after a quick once-around the contestants to hear the different pork plans it seemed no one was particularly on their game. True I'd be stumped with a pork chop too, but the ideas from the wannachefs are all so pedestrian I'm crying out for a Nadia Lim. Someone who is equal parts batty and brilliant.
Corinna thinks it's a good idea to start plating up half an hour out from the end, "I'm going to make a little route of, ah, pleasure," but alarm bells ring for me. Won't it get cold? Are they allowed a little pre-judging warmup? (Contestants are you allowed to say?).
Temperature is also troubling Tracey. The pressure cooker, perhaps knowing it's a bad idea to pressure cook a pork chop, throws Tracey a lifeline by "turning off during the cooking, somehow." Looking broken she puts the pork under the grill to try and save it. I always thought you were meant to leave the oven door open during grilling? That's not me being a smart arse, I'm really asking - answers in the comments please.
Jennis is first to the judging table with her dish, the tenderly named Sticky, Stuffed & Stacked, and I'm quite sure the stuffed tomato is going to get torn apart by the judges, and not in a good way. I'm wrong and not for the first or last time this episode.
Next up I'm wrong about Raheel's grilled pork sandwich, I thought it looked great. McVinnie, "it's death by relish."
After both Shushil and Kris breeze through the judging it seems adding pecans to anything is a free pass. Except perhaps for Tracey, who I am quite sure is about to get routinely roasted for the star anise sitting atop her chop.
Emett, ever the charmer, breaks the ice with a casual how you doin?
"It's yet to be seen, I'm curious to see what state of cookness the pork is."
Never having used a pressure cooker in my life I thought Tracey's idea to use it to tender up the pork was reasonable enough. Emett sets us straight. "I think you absolutely buggered the pork.
Blooming heck. If last week's viewer reaction to Gault's use of the word "bloody" was anything to go by, then any mention of pork buggery is bound to send a few Nanas in search of a new channel.
Meanwhile, Ray's comment to Ella was telling. "You've AGAIN shown us you're good with flavour." Now I'm thinking she's one to watch. In a cooking competition, flavour is bound to be important.
He also must be a fan of Corinna. Despite "three bad things" in her Route Of Pleasure he still turns a blind eye to the star anise for the second time. My world is falling apart. There was a time when such an offense would have resulted in a death Ray.
Up till now I had thought the show was being edited to make Johnny's dish rise like a phoenix, but no, it turns out it really was a bit of a shitter. If would have to be a pretty great piece of meat to overcome that suburban seventies salad.
As we see Kelly's dish the music goes all positive, so it's a good bet she's going to be ok. McVinnie loves it. "You're the first person to give me extra sauce, I haven't had enough sauce all day." Amen brother.
For some reason I assumed the pork-chop-pie was a bad idea. I had visions of judges saying it was a waste to cut up a chop like that for a pie. My cooking creativity confidence is at an all time low.
So finally 24 became four, and the remaining 20 became 12, before the four joined the 12 to make the final 16. No major surprises really. Sure I hoped Johnny would go through but hey he won 14 grand so he probably had a good Christmas. In fact the most disappointing thing of all is Gault's insistence on trotting out the red herrings.
"I'm sorry. But you're both going to have to phone your families and give them the bad news...
... that you're not going to be seeing them for a while." Yes we knew they were going through, and so did they by the faux-worried looks on their faces.
From what I've seen so far there are plenty of adequate contestants, but no real Nadias or Pos. Gault disagrees. "From what we've seen so far you're an incredibly talented bunch. So we are convinced the competition this year is going to be really tough."
Convinced? Who are you trying to convince.
Episode 2
Best line: "You've absolutely buggered the pork." Josh Emett pays homage to Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror.
Worst line: "I'm sorry. But you're both going to have to phone your families and give them the bad news... that you're not going to be seeing them for a while." Simon Gault serves up a double helping of Herring.
Current favourites: David, Corinna, Ella
-NZ Herald Online


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Technical Support Rep – Swedish
Respond now!
Company profile
One of our client, who is located in more than 18 countries, with worldwide offices which is helping customers in almost 50 languages, is looking for new colleagues for the location in Belfast. This company is leading global clients from all over the world. Their workers are happy and satisfied with working in an open oriented culture. Would you like to join them and became one of the lucky ones who are working in a positive environment? Please read below for more about this great job opportunity.
Sharing Technical & Computer Savvy Skills in our Multicultural Team: Ability to immerse yourself and your family into an English-speaking environment, while working closely with others with similar cultural backgrounds.
The job
• Accepting requests through different communication channels, logging and identifying the problem;
• Responding to customers via phone and/or email. Manage customer expectations by taking into consideration customers' entitlement and customer issue;
• Keeping customers informed setting and following up on commitments, keeping precise case documentation and case ownership;
• Meeting deadlines and delivering services according to customers' service level agreements;
• Developing working knowledge of supported products and technology as well as applicable technical support tools
We ask
• Fluent in written and spoken Swedish
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Experienced in telephone and email-based customer service or technical support
• Experienced in maintaining detailed updates in database / customer management systems
• A positive person with an attitude towards learning new skills
• Adaptable to change and multi-tasking
• Computer savvy
Then, come and join our talented Belfast team!
Work permission:
Yes, I am a national of a EU/EEA country
We offer
• Competitive annual base salary plus bonus based on performance
• Excellent relocation package to assist you in moving to Belfast (Including flight assistance and 7 nights hotel accommodation).
• Continuous paid training on the latest technology
• Private Health/Medical Insurance, Dental Plan and Eye Care Reimbursements
• Private Pension and Life assurance
• On site canteen
• 25 Annual leave days, increasing with service
• Potential for rapid advancement in many fields, and throughout 17 countries!
To apply for this job please visit the following URL: https://www.careersineurope.eu/index.php/page/applicants/command/applyforjob/vid/726610/bb/1/SiteId/3 →


text:
Does anyone have any sprite sheets they can post? Looking for anything particularly. I also need any demon sheets if you have.
I know this is old but I ply Warcraft 2 and looking to do some customs.
Thanks In advance
Sprite sheets
Got resources you'd like to share? Want to request some help with scripting or graphic creation? Then this is the place to be.
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text:
Pacific Investment Management Co., the world's biggest bond manager, named four deputy chief investment officers in an overhaul of its leadership team after Mohamed El-Erian's decision last week to step down as chief executive officer.
Mark Kiesel, global head of the corporate bond management group; Virginie Maisonneuve, global head of equities; Scott Mather, head of global fund management; and Mihir Worah, head of the real return group will join Dan Ivascyn and Andrew Balls as deputy CIOs, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pimco said in a statement today.
Pimco has reorganized its senior leadership to emphasize the depth of its investment talent after the resignation of El-Erian, who shared the role of co-chief investment officer with co-founder Bill Gross. El-Erian was widely viewed as Gross's heir apparent and had led Pimco push to diversify beyond bonds into equities and non-traditional fixed income.
"Going forward there will be more focus on strategy and markets rather than policy, and these are the people on the front lines of strategy and alpha,"Gross said in a telephone interview today. "You can't just do what you want, but you will be able to react to markets a little quicker rather than wait for the investment committee to meet at noon," Gross said, referring to the group that sets investing guidelines for funds.
Pimco rehired Sudi Mariappa as a generalist fund manager, who will take over responsibilities for Marc Seidner, who is leaving Pimco to return to Boston, Gross said. Mariappa will return to Pimco from GLG Partners Inc., where he has been since 2012 and has managed an absolute-return bond offering.
Charles Lahr, an equities manager, is also departing from PIMCO, the firm said in the statement.
Check out El-Erian's PIMCO Exit: A Game Changer? on ThinkAdvisor.


text:
veloc.it/y necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 87 diseños de 21 diseñadores freelance.
I'm innovation curious. Got tons of project in the making. Love social media experiments, love engaging, innovation, great design and I love excellent food and wine with friends outside on a summer night.
In design I like the Scandinavian minimalism spiced up with the right colors and a surprising humorous positive optimistic we-believe-in-the-future touch. Chrome, steel and glass is not my thing! Too cold, too inhuman. Batik coloring and tree-hugging now my thing either ;)
Positivity, fun and be-all-you-can-be-ish
As a tester described it: "Mac support is a requirement. Otherwise these Mac-loving coffee house hipsters will go all emo-whining in forums".
These Mac-loving coffee house hipsters that want more out of life and is seeking to have the biggest impact are my target audience and I'm proudly one of them :-D
I need a logo for the web site http://www.veloc.it/y
(note current design is mine and it's awful - don't take that into consideration)
- must be scalable to use in various situations
- must exist in both color and black/white
- must be very simple - I like the 99 design logo style for example
- Avoid obvious metaphors like race cars...
- I would love if the word velocity becomes clearly visible in the url as an idea
- need photoshop or illustrator file
- need all rights to use result in any way I see fit
- I become the owner of submitted material
- It's my decision to use it or not
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Free The Network
Most likely, it means one of a handful of telecommunications providers is middlemanning your information from Point A to Point B. Fire off an email or a tweet, broadcast a livestream or upload video to YouTube, and you're relying on vast networks of fiber optic cables deep underground and undersea, working with satellites high above, to move your data around the world, and to bring the world to your fingertips.
It's an infrastructure largely out of sight and mind. AT&T, Level 3, Hurricane Electric, Tata Indicom – to most these are simply invisible magicians performing the act of getting one online and kicking. To many open-source advocates, however, these are a few of the big, dirty names responsible for what they see as the Web's rapid consolidation. The prospect of an irreparably centralized Internet, a physical Internet in the hands of a shrinking core of so-called Tier 1 transit networks, keeps Isaac Wilder up at night.
Powered by WPeMatico


text:
Venture Patrol Letter
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
|Venture Patrol Letter has been discontinued. (See Discontinued awards.)
| This article is about the Emblem for Venture Patrols.
For the 'V' emblem awarded to youth and adult Varsity Scouts see Varsity Scout Letter.
|Venture Patrol Letter
The letter is attached at the bottom front
corner of the merit badge sash.
The letter may also be worn on
the red wool Boy Scout Jac-shirt.
A Venture patrol letter may be earned by Boy Scouts in a who participate in an ultimate activity or sporting activity.
A Venture patrol is an optional patrol within a Boy Scout troop for youth 13 to 17 years old. The Venture patrol's youth leader is the Venture patrol leader. The Venture patrol letter is administered by the Assistant Scoutmaster-Venture. A Venture patrol can be a full-time, part-time, or one-time activity.
Venture patrol letter
The Venture patrol letter is awarded to members of the Venture patrol who participate in an "ultimate activity." Ultimate activities are high-adventure or sports activities that are preceded by training sessions.
Confusion over whether the BSA quietly stopped allowing Venture patrols to earn Venture letters and activity pins persists due to a response to a letter in a 2005 Scouting magazine where the question is asked: "...can youth in a Venture patrol earn the letter available to youth who are members of a Varsity Scout team?". The editor's reply was:
Only Varsity Scouts can earn the program's Varsity letter and Denali Award, although Varsity Scouts also can work toward the Eagle Scout rank and achieve other Scout awards and recognitions.
The response, although technically accurate that Venture patrol members cannot earn a Varsity letter, is misleading in that it omits the fact that Venture patrol members can earn a Venture letter. This is confirmed by the April 17, 2007 Official Boy Scout/Varsity Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet which specifies the official placement of the Venture letter on the merit badge sash.
(Comment: there is no separate letter at this time, nor has there been one at least as far back as year 2000. Research is ongoing. ---Steve Hanson, Austin TX)
Sources: "Confused About Venture Patrols" Letters to Scouting Magazine, May 2005
Official Boy Scout/Varsity Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet, Official Placement of Insignia
Venture patrol letter requirements
|— {{{2}}}
Sources: Venture Rock Climbing and Rappelling Pamphlet no. 33480, copyright 1991
Venture patrol activity pins
|— The Boy Scout Handbook (33105)*, Boy Scout/Varsity Scout Uniform Inspection Sheet (34283)*
Remember that a Venture Patrol is NOT part of Venturing and as such cannot wear Venturing Green or Green Shoulder Loops.
Help with these requirements
External links


text:
Sunday, December 7, 2008
I'm back
click here to see the original wreath, and the instructions for how to make one
Well - I'd just like to announce that I'M BACK
My home has been treated to a much more suitable wreath... which better reflects the people inside! It's a little smaller than the last one, but I love it.
I have to say a big thank you to Mrs S... who I know stops by this blog from time to time. Thanks for thinking of me when you sorted through your fabric stash. Those scraps which were useless to you, have created my wreath. I even used the cardboard box (which you sent them in) to cut the base from. I thank you... and my front door thanks you!
The wreath just needed a little something extra... so 'borrowed' a bell from our Christmas tree, to complete the look.
16 comments:
- beccasauras said...
THAT is gorgeous! That's more me, too, I couldn't imagine doing the other one, but this I can. So festive!
- December 7, 2008 at 9:27 AM
- Sherryknit said...
Colorful. More festive. LOVE IT
Great Job
- December 7, 2008 at 10:20 AM
- CurlyPops said...
Aha much more festive and gorgeous. I love it!
- December 7, 2008 at 10:22 AM
- Devi said...
looks good. keep it up!
- December 7, 2008 at 10:33 AM
- KAF said...
I was going to say "Oh that's gorgeous", but beccasauras already used that same word - LOL - because it's so apt!
That wreath is spot on. I'm so glad you put your colourful self back on show. Thanks to the enabling Mrs S!! Thanks to you for the post - a stand out bright spot in my Sunday morning internet browsing.
- December 7, 2008 at 1:56 PM
Wow! I'm speechless, couldn't be more beautiful. Very festive!
UK's search & save shopping
- December 7, 2008 at 4:04 PM
- laughing purple goldfish said...
thanks everyone :) I'm really loving this one!
- December 7, 2008 at 8:29 PM
- AuntieElle said...
Oooohhh! I love this wreath! Wonderful wonderful!
- December 7, 2008 at 8:33 PM
- Sam said...
I love it too. It's bright, cheery, festive and so much more you than the other one. :-)
- December 7, 2008 at 9:44 PM
- Julie said...
So, I read this post about an hour and half ago and my daughter is now putting the finishing touches on our rag wreath. Thanks! It only took us about an hour. I ripped, she tied. A fun, quick project. Of course, we made it in her colors, blue, purple, pink, and white. So, I think I'll make one more suitable for me in black, white, and shades of gray. I think we may make a few mini wreaths as well.
- December 8, 2008 at 8:11 AM
- Julie said...
I made a mini to satisfy my inner goth.
Rag Wreaths
- December 8, 2008 at 9:17 AM
- cats-rockin-crochet said...
Oh Yes! Very xmasy. LOve it!
- December 8, 2008 at 10:47 PM
- laughing purple goldfish said...
elle - thank you :)
sam - couldn't agree more
julie - glad that you and your daughter could work on this together... and I know what you mean about the inner goth, except that mine is an inner hippy!
cat - 'tis the season :) thanks
- December 9, 2008 at 2:40 PM
- misha said...
This looks great, but I must say I liked the old one too.
- December 9, 2008 at 6:17 PM
- donna said...
love it! much better with bright colours
- December 10, 2008 at 4:46 AM
- laughing purple goldfish said...
misha - thanks, it's amazing how different they are :)
donna - thank you
- December 11, 2008 at 1:57 PM


text:
Citizen Fire Academy
The Citizen Fire Academy program equips participants with the knowledge they need to improve fire preparedness and resiliency on their own properties and in their communities.
Land Steward Program
The Land Steward Program helps owners learn how to better utilize and take care of their land. The multi-disciplinary program covers a broad range of management topics including wildfire risk reduction, woodland and forest management, encouraging (and controlling) wildlife, stream ecology, pasture management, soil health, rural acreage systems and infrastructure, economics and enterprise on your land, stewardship planning and more. Program offerings include field-based training, online short course, evening classes, land tours, workshops and the regional Living on Your Land Conference.
Tree School
Regional Tree School events held each year throughout Oregon provide important opportunities for continuing education and building community, helping support the success of family forest landowners.
Women Owning Woodlands Network
The Women Owning Woodlands Network (WOWNet) is a diverse, enthusiastic, group of women who are interested in woodland management. WOWNet allows women to come together to learn about forest management, share their forestry and natural resources experiences, and exchange personal knowledge in a unique peer-to-peer learning environment. The group encompasses many different knowledge sources and diverse management goals. WOWNet women are working in forests, they are owning forests, and they are actively engaged in land management!


text:
Next Health, LLC located in Rowayton, CT is a medical manufacturer of a state-of-the-art "no lift" patient transfer system. Next Health's "AgileLife" transfer system, due to be released in the 1st quarter of 2012, will allow patients with limited or no mobility to move from their bed to a chair or commode with the press of a button. We'll call it--for now--the alternative to a Hoyer Lift, but once in full production, this new product will make the "sling" method of lifting patients a thing of the past.
Levin Associates, Inc. The premier publisher of reliable and timely business intelligence on M&A and finance in health care and seniors' housing has launched a new web site.
ShopNewCanaan.com is the premiere shopping site for the town of New Canaan, CT. Stroll the streets, and visit your favorite stores on the web. Contact us to suggest other towns.
Chef Luis is expanding! and will open his new restaurant. The restaurant will boast a new look, new menu and new logo and web site designed and built by CyberSidewalks.com
Christine Simmons a local New Canaan photographer. Check out her web site, which previews much of her portraiture.


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in Photoshop Brushes tagged Skulls and Bones on Jan 5th, 2010
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Just when you thought it was impossible to find that perfect car, the Ministry of Magic saw fit to release this gem upon the Muggle world. Quit waiting for MTV's Pimp My Ride to visit your home. It's available on Autotrader in the U.K.
In addition to a stereo system that would make Xzibit say daaaamn, the Harry Potter-themed 2001 PT Cruiser features a manual transmission and a custom paint job festooned with Harry Potter characters.
This magical car can be yours for 7,000 pounds ($11,306). It might cost extra to ship it overseas, unless you know someone with a wand and an appropriate spell.
Photo credit: AutoTrader
(Hat tip to Tispower!)


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Pau Gasol's pivotal role in the Lakers-Celtics NBA finals epitomizes the shift that has occurred in the NBA's supply-chain for international basketball players over the past several decades.
Mr. Gasol, a Spaniard drafted in 2001, comes from Western Europe – the source of many of today's best international basketball players.
Fellow top players Dirk Nowitzki (drafted in 1998) and Tony Parker (drafted in 2001) come from Germany and France, respectively. All three are among the few non-Americans with repeated appearances on the NBA All Star Team in the past decade.
Sasha Vujacic, the Los Angeles Lakers' shooting point guard, is from Slovenia, but started his professional basketball career at age 16 in Italy. And teammate Didier Ilunga-Mbenga was born in Congo, but fled at an early age to Belgium.
Such Western European dominance is a trend of the past decade, whereas in the 1990s and 1980s the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia provided the wellspring of basketball greats.
And now, scouts are trying to gauge where the next shift might appear.
In May, the National Basketball Association (NBA) opened its first office in Africa, in South Africa's capital of Johannesburg. In the past year, the league launched the NBA in Arabic and the NBA in India. In addition to 16 offices already in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, the league plans to set up offices in India, Russia, and Brazil by the end of 2010. While most offices are geared toward bringing in new NBA fans, there's nothing that draws fans like a star from their own country.
"We're doing a real big push right now in India," says an NBA spokesman.
Some see something special in Africa.
The next hotbed for basketball stars?
"To me, the most interesting thing is Africa," says Jack McCallum, who has covered the NBA for Sports Illustrated since the mid-1980s and is now writing a book about the 1992 Dream Team. That year, the NBA had only 21 international players. Now, it has 79; one in five NBA players is from outside the US.
Mr. McCallum says NBA scouts are constantly searching in Africa for the next Hakeem Olajuwon or Dikembe Mutombo. "It's just unbelievable. There, you're literally working around revolutions," he says.
It may well be worth the hassle. As basketball has gained international popularity, foreign players are now recognized for having a deeper skill set than American players – and are of increasing importance to NBA franchises.
"The players in Europe tend to be raised with a team-first mentality, while the US players tend be raised with a me-first mentality," says Ian Thomsen, a basketball columnist and senior writer for Sports Illustrated.
In the United States, says Mr. Thomsen, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) dominates teenage basketball, but it's more focused on playing games than building skills. Many players then leave college early to join the NBA (or, like Kobe Bryant, skip college altogether).
"The system in Europe works at the opposite end of the spectrum," Thomsen says in an email interview. "There, the best players sign with professional clubs in their mid-teens and many of those clubs have them practicing twice per day. The pro clubs in Europe are run very much like college programs, with the club deciding when and what the players eat at team dinners, having them sleep at hotels the night before road AND home games, and holding them accountable for winning games."
It's perhaps no surprise that Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitski excel at shooting and passing even at 7-feet-tall.
But before the Western Europe wave, players from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union dominated the NBA's international contingent.
What happened to Yugoslavia and USSR?
Croats Toni Kukoč and Dino Raja both started playing in the NBA in 1993, and fellow countryman Peja Stojaković joined in 1998. Lithuania sent Žydrūnas Ilgauskas to the NBA in 1996 and Arvydas Sabonis in 1995. The NBA drafted Serbia's Peja Stojaković in 1996 and Vlade Divac in 1989.
All were top players, and their might was displayed in the Olympics. In 1988, the Soviet Union won gold medal in basketball, defeating the US and making them the only other team to tally more than one gold in the history of the event. The USSR, Yugoslavia, and US remain the event's three most winning countries.
"The Soviet Union had a machine to develop athletes in all sports across the board," says Thomsen of Sports Illustrated.
Then the Berlin Wall fell, bringing the communist countries' basketball glory down, too.
"After the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union fell apart, that apparatus was lost," says Thomsen. "This has been a problem for the new Russia and its sports administrators are trying to build a new development system, but clearly the days of state-run sports in that part of the world are over."
Spain, Italy, France, and Argentina have since become the strongest basketball challengers to the US at the Olympics. And while Lithuania has still been able to place in the Top 4 in every subsequent Games, no Eastern Europeans or Russians are playing on teams in the NBA Finals, further signaling those countries' waning basketball prowess.
For now, it appears that Western Europe will retain the NBA's principle source for international players. Only a handful of Africans have made it to the NBA, according to Amadou Gallo Fall, head of the NBA's South Africa office and former scouting director for the Dallas Mavericks.
"Without much of an infrastructure on the ground, there have still been 22 [Africans] who have made their way to the NBA," Mr. Fall told ESPN in a recent interview. "You see all this tremendous potential coming out of places where there is little infrastructure."
(Editor's note: This article originally misspelled the name of Dirk Nowitzki.)


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As the fourth quarter started Sunday at FedEx Field, with the Washington Redskins' offense and the third quarterback of the Mike Shanahan era struggling mightily, the burgundy-and-gold-clad crowd started to boo, and one fan in earshot of the press box yelled, "We want Norv Turner back!"
On the same day that the Redskins celebrated their annual "Homecoming Game" and introduced stars of years past during the pregame celebration, the announced 78,032 found itself left wanting again. There was nothing even close to the glory Joe Gibbs directed in his initial reign as coach, or the mediocre results Turner oversaw. Sunday's 19-11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers featured a performance much uglier than the score indicated.
At the 7:23 mark of the fourth quarter, the already thinning crowd shrank considerably. Wide receiver Terrence Austin fumbled at the 34-yard line, San Francisco linebacker NaVorro Bowman, a Forestville native, recovered, and the mass exodus began.
"Right now you take a look at the offense, and it's tough to take. It's tough to take for me," Shanahan said. "But I understand how this thing works. We've got a lot of young guys with talent, and we're not all collective on the same page right now. . . . Everybody wants wins. . . . Everybody wants the answer. I wish I had the answer, but that's as close as I can get."
On the field, Shanahan's Redskins weren't close to solving their problems. A week after they were shut out in Toronto by the Buffalo Bills, the offense wasn't much better. Washington, which fell to 3-5, eked out three points on a 59-yard field goal by Graham Gano, the longest in team history, and eight more on a late touchdown pass from quarterback John Beck to wide receiver Jabar Gaffney that was followed by a two-point conversion.
But Beck, a former Ravens backup, struggled again in his third start. He couldn't find receivers deep, he led receivers over the middle poorly (getting picked off on one such throw) and only had success on short screen and dump-off passes to rookie running back Roy Helu, who had 14 catches, a total that broke the team record for receptions in a game, a mark that had been held by Art Monk and Kelvin Bryant.
For the game, Beck went 30-for-47 for 254 yards, a touchdown and an interception. None of his passes traveled longer than 16 yards. And a 17-yard gain came when Helu caught a batted ball and scampered up the field before he was run out of bounds.
The offense generated only 303 yards and did not get closer to the end zone than the San Francisco 37 until Beck completed his 9-yard touchdown pass to Gaffney with 1:10 left. Beck then hit Leonard Hankerson on the two-point conversion.
"Looking back on the flow of the game," Beck said, "we obviously didn't get things going the way we wanted to in the first half and into the third quarter. … There's a lot of things I can improve on as a player, that I can do better and that's my main focus right now."
Asked about the offensive struggles, Gaffney said: "It keeps the crowd out of it, and it keeps the confidence down on our sideline. We have to do something to keep that confidence up and stop playing like we're seeing ghosts out there."
Washington's defense surrendered 100-plus rushing yards for a fourth straight week, allowing Frank Gore to run for 107 yards on 19 carries to lead San Francisco. The 49ers amassed 323 total yards. But the Redskins' defense played well enough to win, according to Shanahan, limiting San Francisco to just 15 first downs, denying the visitors on both trips inside the red zone and forcing coach Jim Harbaugh's team to settle for four field goals by David Akers.
Washington's defenders refused to fault the other side of the ball for the team's fourth straight loss. "We're not doing the blame game," said linebacker Brian Orakpo, who had five tackles and a sack, increasing his team-leading sack total to 51/2 this season. "There's always things we can work on. A lot we can get better at defensively, and the offense will eventually get it going."
Eight games remain, but on Sunday Shanahan started looking to the team's future to produce answers now. For the first time all season, the Redskins started three rookies on the injury-riddled offense.
Fourth-round pick Helu, who previously had served as the change-of-pace back, started at running back. Third-round pick Hankerson, who until Sunday had appeared in two games, started at wide receiver opposite Gaffney. And seventh-round pick Maurice Hurt, who hadn't taken a snap all season and opened the year on the practice squad, started at left guard.
Helu's 146 total yards (105 receiving, 41 rushing) accounted for nearly half the offense, and Hankerson had four catches for 34 yards, but the Redskins needed much more. Their offense struggled from the start, and self-inflicted wounds proved crippling throughout the game.
On its third possession, Washington picked up three first downs, but on second-and-10 from his team's 38-yard line, Beck threw an interception to safety Dashon Goldson, who had tight end Fred Davis blanketed in coverage.
The 49ers cashed in with a 52-yard field goal by Akers that gave them a 3-0 lead with 12:43 left in the second quarter.
Another self-inflicted wound killed Washington's chances on the next possession. On third-and-8 from the Redskins 49, Beck got cornerback Chris Culliver to jump offside and fired a quick 10-yard pass to Gaffney. But as the play ended, left tackle Trent Williams drilled defensive tackle Justin Smith from behind in retaliation for Smith's taking an extra shot at Hurt. Williams was flagged for unnecessary roughness, bringing on third-and-23. Shanahan immediately yanked Williams from the game.
After another field goal by Akers — this time a 34-yarder — Washington needed to go 81 yards in 1:41 to reach the end zone before halftime. But on first-and-10 from the 19, Williams jumped, backing up Washington another 5 yards. Two plays later, Helu caught a screen pass from Beck but fumbled, giving the 49ers the ball at the 30.
San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith promptly fired a 30-yard touchdown pass to wide-open fullback Bruce Miller. The extra point extended San Francisco's lead to 13-0 with 1:09 left in the half.
The Redskins managed to end the dismal half on a positive note. After back-to-back screen passes to Helu and two incompletions by Beck, the team chose to go for a 59-yard field goal. Gano, a former Raven who last week had a field goal blocked, drilled his franchise-record field goal to put Washington on the board and end a string of more than six conscecutive scoreless quarters.


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Employers value the experience of an internship. The Haworth College of Business Career Center can assist you with planning a strategy for finding and securing an internship. Western Michigan University students seeking academic credit for internship will work with a faculty member before the internship begins.
For the management major, internship credits count as business elective credits. You can find internships in a variety of ways, including BroncoJOBS, career events or referrals. The internship eligibility and learning component must first be approved by the Department of Management. All business internship courses are at the 3000- or 4000-level. Contact the department or a faculty member for additional requirements.


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………………….Modern whoredom mainstream media promulgates a very erroneous and popular misconception. It's the same damning misconception which is promoted by even modern apostate Christianity. That egregious misconception is, that "belief" (assent) to the Biblical Scripture message of the Gospel of John 3:16 is the "formula" for everlasting life as opposed to everlasting (hereafter) damnation in hell.
The Gospel of John 3:16 Scripture is taken out of its Verse 1 to Verse 21 context. Belief entails actions. godly actions. Genuine belief springs from being "born from above." True belief is encapsulated in being Christ's disciple. Detrick Bonhoeffer stated it this way [paraphrase]:
"He who believes, obeys; and he who obeys, believes."…………………..


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I trawled around rather wistfully in my wishing well of ideas for this editorial on the biggest problem and the best solution for America's ailing public schools.
What would it be? Creating a world-class universal pre-school system so every child has a chance of entering kindergarten on a level playing field?
Or, how about halting our runaway obsession with high-stakes standardized tests so that schools can be free to teach, and not just chase numbers? I could imagine tackling either of these with equal gusto.
But wait. What's the point of promoting anything when economic inequality tends to thwart most big-think policies anyway? Instead, let's rethink our school district boundaries so each has a shot at having a healthy balance of incomes and races in their schools. That would provide a radically improved foundation for other changes. The mind boggled with all the possibilities – all of which were sure to generate an overheated response.
That's when I realized, as I caught my breath, that I was missing the biggest problem of all. It lay in the question itself — what's wrong with our public schools and how do we fix it? It presumes there is one overarching ill in the complex quest to educate every American child that can be vanquished by one silver bullet. It feeds into our pugilistic need to identify one idea, decide whether it's conservative or liberal, form camps on either side, and begin to duke it out. We all love a good battle; especially journalists. No wonder we seem to tread water year after year with our education progress.
So I've decided to instead dedicate the rest of this op-ed to what's wrong with our conversation about public education in America, in the hopes that my fellow journalists will take heed and watch their language in the future.
In short, we talk about all the wrong things, in all the wrong ways. Our vocabulary about schools has become ever more polarizing and oddly jarring over the decades. It is language culled from the lexicon of business, not from the realities of the classroom. We talk about students "performing" and "achieving," as if the holistic world of learning is a contact sport or a musical production. We talk about giving teachers "incentive-pay" to do their jobs, as if they are trading in a simple commodity. Schools are held "accountable" to governments, but not necessarily the other way around. The federal government encourages states to design "value-added" algorithms to rank its teachers.
Experts know that children learn best in collaborative, egalitarian settings. Yet our language is all about competition; it's combative, not cooperative. It presumes a need for winners and losers, for either's and or's. One either believes that small class sizes are the answer, or quality teachers. Considering both is not an option. Back in the day, one either embraced phonics or whole language as the best way to teach reading. Most educators know a blend of both is best. The problem with public education is either high poverty, or the strangle-hold power of the teachers union. The discussion narrows into a fight over competing statistics.
A list of vocabulary misfires cannot be complete without considering "education reformer"—one of the most misused terms in this debate. Lately, it has been adopted by those who believe teachers' unions' are the key impediment to change and charter schools are the answer to education excellence for disadvantaged children. Anyone who takes issue is "anti-reform," or "pro-status quo." Hedge fund financier Whitney Tilson (who also helped to found Teach for America, Democrats for Education Reform and New York City's Knowledge is Power Program network of schools), goes one step further, adding the word "genuine" to the label. He, of course, counts himself among the "genuine reformers," implying that anyone who criticizes his agenda is somehow less than genuine. Not much wiggle room for consensus, there.
I was never more aware of how strange, and ultimately toxic our conversation had become until I visited schools in Finland last spring. I was there to try and understand how its schools continually ranked at the top in the world on the PISA exams for the last decade, while America's muddled around in the mediocre middle. Reporting for a story in Smithsonian Magazine took me to several unusual schools with high concentrations of new immigrant and special needs children.
At one point I asked a lively group of teachers about accountability. Finnish children famously start school at age 7, spend fewer hours in the classroom than those in most industrial nations, and take only one standardized exam at the end of their high school career. And yet the schools consistently produce more students than most other industrialized countries who are creative problem solvers, literate in several languages, and have mastered higher concepts in math and science.
"Since you don't have test scores to compare how your students are doing with other kids," I said to the group, "how do municipalities hold you accountable?"
The teachers' lounge went silent as they tried to figure out what I was talking about.
"Do you have this word – accountability – in Finnish?" I asked, trying to be helpful. I could barely believe a group of public school educators didn't worry about it on a regular basis.
The answer was no, not really. No word for accountability. "Maybe in banking," one teacher offered, looking around the room for the English teacher to rescue her. "We have bank accounts."
Finnish teachers are required to complete five-year masters' degrees in education before setting foot in their own classrooms. Schools provide them consistently with small class sizes, autonomy to teach as they see fit, and a team of professionals to help them with students who may be falling behind. Their "incentive" to "perform" well, so to speak, is wrapped up in their professionalism. They do not seem to need a wall of external monitors and test scores to "hold them accountable."
As a result, Finns have a completely different way of thinking and talking about their public schools. There is consensus that teachers are as highly respected in Finland as doctors and lawyers. Parents tend to trust their children's schools and teachers. Equity and collaboration are important to all schools, not competition between them. Finland's schools are known for having the most equal resources and equal results between them of any other schools in the world. Teachers talk about preparing students for life, not for exams, or for global competition.
In one conversation with Principal Kari Louhivuori, I began explaining the battery of tests New York City children take every year, and the way the numbers are used. Scores from these exams are used to give letter grades to schools, to rank teachers, to compare one school to another.
Bewildered, Louhivuori finally had to interrupt: "What does all that have to do with the children learning?" Exactly right. It's the conversation we should be having.