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Road Hazard
A traffic hazard or road hazard is any condition, object or defect that could present a hazard to road users.
Traffic Hazard Examples
The following items could present a hazard to road users. (Please feel free to add to the list)
- Materials fallen from vehicles
- Dead animals
- Wet clay and other slippery substances
- Accumulation of dirt or other granular materials on the traffic lane of sealed roads
- Ponding of water
- Fallen trees
- Oil spills
- Stray livestock
- Pavement or Surface Defects
- Potholes
- Deformations
- Edge drops
- Damaged /missing drainage lids, surrounds, grates, in pedestrian areas or traffic lanes
- Tree limbs or trees that are in immediate danger of falling and causing a danger to the public
- Trees, shrubs or grasses that have grown to restrict design sight distance to intersections or restrict viewing of safety signs
- Vegetation intruding within an envelope over roadways from the back of shoulder and/or kerb and a minimum of 4.5m height clearance over pavement and the trafficable portion of shoulders
- Vegetation hazard over pedestrian/bicycle paths, intruding into a clearance envelope between the edges of path and a minimum of 2.0m height clearance over path
- Missing, illegible or damaged safety signs
- A missing or damaged guidepost at a critical location.
- Missing or damaged safety barriers, guard rails and/or fencing at a critical location.
- Vertical Footpath Joint Displacements
- Missing, illegible or confusing pavement markings at a critical location
- An inoperative or confusing traffic signal
- Abandoned or damaged vehicles
Related Pages
The following site members have contributed to this page:


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Read Time:9 Second
Another excellent video from Lee leFever over at Common Craft. This one explains Social Media in plain English.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE&w=425&h=355]
About Post Author
Stephen Dale
I'm a life-long learner with an insatiable curiosity about life. I love travel, good food, and good company. I'm happy to share what I know with others….even the interesting stuff! My outlook on life is pretty well captured in this quote from a book about the legend of King Arthur:
"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."
― T.H. White, The Once and Future King
So much to learn, so little time!

subset: commoncrawl


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President Barack Obama on Feb. 9 will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.
The first 10 states to receive the waivers are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The only state that applied for the flexibility and did not get it, New Mexico, is working with the administration to get approval, a White House official told the AP.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the states had not yet been announced. A total of 28 other states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have signaled that they, too, plan to seek waivers — a sign of just how vast the law's burdens have become as a big deadline nears.
No Child Left Behind requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Obama's action strips away that fundamental requirement for those approved for flexibility, provided they offer a viable plan instead. Under the deal, the states must show they will prepare children for college and careers, set new targets for improving achievement among all students, reward the best performing schools and focus help on the ones doing the worst.
See also:
ED: States applying for NCLB waivers should do more for students
In September, Obama called President George W. Bush's most hyped domestic accomplishment an admirable but flawed effort that hurt students instead of helping them. He said action was necessary because Congress failed to update the law despite widespread bipartisan agreement that it needs fixing. Republicans have charged that by granting waivers, Obama was overreaching his authority.
The executive action by Obama is one of his most prominent in an ongoing campaign to act on his own where Congress is rebuffing him. No Child Left Behind was primarily designed to help the nation's poor and minority children and was passed a decade ago with widespread bipartisan support. It has been up for renewal since 2007. But lawmakers have been stymied for years by competing priorities, disagreements over how much of a federal role there should be in schools and, in the recent Congress, partisan gridlock.
For all the cheers that states may have about the changes, the move also reflects the sobering reality that the United States is not close to the law's original goal: getting children to grade level in reading and math.
Critics today say the 2014 deadline was unrealistic, the law is too rigid and led to teaching to the test, and too many schools feel they are labeled as "failures." Under No Child Left Behind, schools that don't meet requirements for two years or longer face increasingly tough consequences, including busing children to higher-performing schools, offering tutoring and replacing staff.
As the deadline approaches, more schools are failing to meet requirements under the law, with nearly half not doing so last year, according to the Center on Education Policy. Center officials said that's because some states today have harder tests or have high numbers of immigrant and low-income children, but it's also because the law requires states to raise the bar each year for how many children must pass the test.
In states granted a waiver, students will still be tested annually. But starting this fall, schools in those states will no longer face the same prescriptive actions spelled out under No Child Left Behind. A school's performance will also probably be labeled differently.
The pressure will probably still be on the lowest-performing schools in states granted a waiver, but mediocre schools that aren't failing will probably see the most changes because they will feel less pressure and have more flexibility in how they spend federal dollars, said Michael Petrilli, vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank.
While the president's action marks a change in education policy in America, the reach is limited. The populous states of Pennsylvania, Texas and California are among those that have not said they will seek a waiver, although they could still do so later.
On Feb. 7, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said states without a waiver will be held to the standards of No Child Left Behind because "it's the law of the land."
See also:
ED: States applying for NCLB waivers should do more for students
Some conservatives viewed Obama's plan not as giving more flexibility to states, but as imposing his vision on them. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., who chairs the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the president allowed "an arbitrary timeline" to dictate when Congress should get the law rewritten and set a dangerous precedent by granting the education secretary "sweeping authority to handpick winners and losers."
Duncan maintained this week that the administration "desperately" wants Congress to fix the law.
In an election year in a divided Congress, that appears unlikely to happen.
A Senate committee last fall passed a bipartisan bill to update the law, but it was opposed by the administration and did not go before the full Senate for a vote.
Kline released a draft of a Republican-written bill to update the law, earning the ire of California Rep. George Miller, the committee's ranking Democrat. Miller said such partisanship "means the end" to No Child Left Behind reform in this Congress. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the Senate committee with jurisdiction over education, has said he believes it "would be difficult to find a path forward" without a bipartisan bill in the House.
- 'Buyer's remorse' dogging Common Core rollout - October 30, 2014
- Calif. law targets social media monitoring of students - October 2, 2014
- Elementary world language instruction - September 25, 2014


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Updating Profile |
At some point during your stay, you may decide you need to update some information such as your instant messenger information, your password, or perhaps you need to change your email address. You may change any of this information from your user control panel. To access this control panel, simply click on the link in the upper right hand corner of most any page entitled "user cp". From there, simply choose "Edit Profile" and change or update any desired items, then proceed to click the submit button located at the bottom of the page for changes to take effect. |


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Retrofit & Accessories
For greater safety, efficiency and comfortWith 85 standard series and over 6,000 standard equipment variations, Linde Material Handling has the right solution for every logistics task. However, the equipment requirements for forklift trucks and warehouse handling equipment may change over time, for instance due to new safety regulations, modified logistics processes, or the comfort requirements of operators who operate the trucks on a daily basis. In the majority of cases, a simple retrofit helps, for example, to adapt a forklift to the new requirements without an expensive conversion or to upgrade it to the latest state of the art. You can also provide the same equipment features uniformly for your entire fleet. Linde supplies the necessary retrofit solutions and accessories for the areas of safety, efficiency and comfort. For example, these include the Linde BlueSpot™ driving path warning device, components for the automatic recording and transmission of operating hours and a practical holder for smartphones.
There is no room for compromise when it comes to safety in the workplace. That's why Linde provides retrofit solutions from the visual warning signal through to the driver assistance system, which increase safety for operators and pedestrians in the plant. This also includes the Linde BlueSpot™ for improved visibility of approaching trucks, the Linde OrangeBelt for guaranteed fastening, and the Linde Speed Assist driver assistance system.
SpeedAssist stops speeders
Fast operation with a forklift truck means high productivity, but this must not be at the expense of safety in the workplace. Often, forklift operators are not even aware of their excessive speed. The SpeedAssist assistance system developed by Linde supports operators by automatically reducing their speed upon entry into the warehouse and production halls – in other words, wherever an adapted speed helps to prevent accidents. The range, sensitivity, and response time of modern radar sensors can be individually adapted to suit the surroundings and customer requirements. This ensures, for example, that the forklift does not inadvertently brake when travelling under bridges in outside areas. The Linde Speed Assist is easy to install, improves safety indoors, and maintains the customary high levels of efficiency of the forklift outdoors.
The range of solutions provided by the Linde fleet management system connect: turn warehouse handling equipment and forklift trucks into an intelligent fleet. connect: links your trucks and supplies information to guarantee efficient and safe operation. You get an overview of the truck utilisation and the servicing status, and have control over the access rights. Where necessary, Linde can supply selected connect: products as retrofit solutions for existing and third-party trucks.
Forklift operators spend many hours in their trucks every day, making it all the more important to ensure optimum working conditions. This contributes to efficient operation and maximum comfort for operators. Numerous accessories allow modern Linde operator cockpits to be adapted to suit special requirements where necessary. For instance, Linde supplies reinforced padded seats and retrofitted holders for electronic devices. This enables the truck equipment to be perfectly aligned with the operator's necessary movements and their ways of working.
Wooden handle for joysticks
The wooden handle for Linde joysticks is a stylish way of enhancing and customising the workstation. It is available for single lever controls, central and cross lever controls. The non-splintering hardwood has numerous advantages to offer compared to standard plastic handles. Apart from the pleasant feel, it is less susceptible to contamination and protects against plastic allergies. Every wooden handle is a one-of-a-kind product made in Germany.
Terminal holder
The retrofit solution for terminal holders allows existing fleets of forklifts to be easily adapted to enable use of electronic terminals. The sturdy, height-adjustable holder is simply mounted to the forklift's right A-pillar and can be tilted as required. It has a power connection and a power shut-off time for uninterrupted operation of the monitor.
Seat Covers
Forklift seats are exposed to high levels of stress due to contamination and frequent mounting and dismounting. Depending on their degree of wear, covers can become unsightly as well as uncomfortable for operators. Seat covers with micro-fibre velours are extremely resilient and easy to maintain. Side inserts made of artificial leather provide additional protection against wear.
Phone Holder
A cellphone holder means that an operator always has the display in sight and can operate it with ease. The holder, which is easy to attach via a clamp or suction cup, is suitable for all types of truck.
A traditional clipboard ensures enhanced organisation and efficiency in the operator's cab at no great effort or expense, with faster access to work documents and optimum legibility thanks to the LED lighting.


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With a rather mild slap on the wrist, Columbia Journalism Review suggests in its Sep/Oct issue, in an un-bylined editorial, that the national media failed to do their job in reporting on the disasterously irregular 2004 Ohio Presidential Election.
No kidding. Do ya think?!
The CJR piece is published this week, just a touch over a month before our next national election. The decline of democracy has grown exponentially worse across the entire nation, every single day since 2004's Presidential Election (as we have been tirelessly covering on these pages since 3am or so of November 3rd, 2004) and yet CJR has waited until now for it's gentle hand-wringing over the lack of coverage on these matters in the national media.
They go so far as to describe The New York Times as "typically strong on voting controversy" before softly suggesting they haven't done enough to cover these matters. Never mind that it was the Times who, perhaps single-handedly, instructed the nation that nothing at all went wrong in Ohio in 2004 when they characterized the efforts of those of us trying to investigate what happened on Election Day as little more than "the conspiracy theories of leftwing bloggers" on Nov. 21, 2004.
We wrote at the time about that article:
The following day we constructively offered them 15 hard news items concerning "irregularities" in the 2004 election that merited their investigation, rather than their condescension. To this date, we're aware of them having investigated none of them.
"Typically strong on voting controversy?" To what decade might CJR be referring?
In the meantime, nothing has been found to suggest that those of us "leftwing blogging conspiracy theorists" were anything but absolutely right in our concern, dilligence, and attention to the matter.
The "paper of record" sets the tone for America and for all of the other media. They failed this country abysmally.
CJR bills themselves as "America's Premier Media Monitor." In other words, their job is to be the watchdog of the watchdogs. And yet, they've taken two years to admonish the national media for having failed to cover the very dissolution of our democracy, in plain sight and before our very eyes, in a tepid little editorial this month.
Consider us the watchdog watchdog watchdog.
NEWS FLASH FOR CJR (feel free to face this criticism two years from now if you wish): While your spanking the national media for failing to do their job on this most crucial topic, you have utterly failed to do yours in the meantime. Glasses houses, much?
Finally, the ironically condescending little CJR editorial (which mentions some of the few outlets who have covered the issue sparsely, while leaving out those who have reported on it every single day since November 2nd, 2004 --- what, me bitter?) concludes thusly:
Uh, no. Sorry, guys. The "time to think about that" was years ago. Now, it's pretty much too late to do a damned thing to "guard the democratic process." At least for the 2006 election. You have failed as miserably as those whom you have finally decided to criticize (gently).
See you in September of 2008...when you all decide to give a damn about this issue the next time.
email@example.com; Click">firstname.lastname@example.com\">Click here to Email CJR


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The Best of 2011 - My Favorite Paintings
(at least according to me ...)
OK. So I realize selecting my favorite paintings of 2011 is completely subjective. I am sure you might disagree with some of my selections and if you want to take a look at the entire collection from the year, click here. But these are my favorites ... and not just because they sold or I like the colors. Some of them were painted quickly, others took days. Some sold and some did not. In fact, the ones that are not sold are: the "two sailboats" and "rooster" in the top row, the "under the umbrella" painting in the second row and the "yellow umbrellas" and "reflection of the pavilion" in the bottom row. Some are 6" x 6" and some are 11" x 14". The most interesting fact about my choices ... less than half are paintings of boats! So, what do you think? Which is your favorite?
Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.


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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former Florida Department of Health analyst Rebekah Jones has turned herself in after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
Jones was fired from her post in May after she questioned the validity Florida's public COVID-19 data.
She has been an outspoken critic of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state health agencies on social media since she was fired.
At a court hearing on Monday morning, a judge set Jones' bond at $2,500. Court records show she bonded out of the Leon County Jail at 10:58 a.m.
Florida authorities, who have been investigating an alleged hack into the state's emergency response system, raided Jones' home on Dec. 8.
To protect my family from continued police violence, and to show that I'm ready to fight whatever they throw at me, I'm turning myself into police in Florida Sunday night. The Governor will not win his war on science and free speech. He will not silence those who speak out.
— Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) January 16, 2021
Agents served the search warrant on her Tallahassee home after a complaint from the Department of Health regarding unauthorized access to its emergency alert system.
"Agents believe someone at the residence on Centerville Court illegally accessed the system," Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.
Details from the @GeoRebekah criminal complaint, detailing what authorities allege they found after searching her computer. Jones is accused of unauthorized computer access after someone breached state systems in Nov. sending messages to state employees urging they speak out. pic.twitter.com/ypTM4ezZH0
— Forrest Saunders (@FBSaunders) January 18, 2021
"The agent told my lawyer there would be only one charge, but emphasized that speaking out or going to the media may result in police 'stacking' additional charges," Jones said Saturday on Twitter. "All of this just to silence a critic of a governor who failed to do his job and got thousands killed as a result."
"A potential condition of my release may be no access to computers, internet or electronic devices," Jones continued. "Bogus charges designed to silence and now jail me for being a scientist critical of the government. That's the textbook definition of #censorship."
Her tweet at 2:33 p.m. Saturday appeared to indicate that she was going to turn herself in.
"Saying goodbye to my family just now is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," she tweeted.
Saying goodbye to my family just now is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
— Rebekah Jones (@GeoRebekah) January 16, 2021
Jones will appear in court at 11 a.m. ET on Monday.


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Voopoo - Argus GT Kit
The VOOPOO ARGUS GT kit is inspired by racing bikes to create something that's lightweight, powerful, and stylish. Utilising dual 18650 batteries to output up to 160W of power, the ARGUS GT can handle various vaping tasks easily, without the need to upgrade. A vibrant colour screen displays all the current settings in an easy to read menu, plus the USB-C fast charging greatly reduces charging times.
The GENE.TT chipset features cutting-edge technology for fast coil activation, intelligent SMART mode and a host of VT settings to truly customise the vape experience. The ARGUS GT uses the PnP Pod Tank, which is not only easy to use, but can produce clouds of vapour and great flavour from the PnP coil range. The PnP Pod is magnetically attached to the tank base, which allows for quick coil replacements and refilling when required, plus the 'infinite airflow' can be fine-tuned to suit personal preference.
The VOOPOO ARGUS GT is great for existing vapers that are in need of a powerful kit that is simple to use and rugged enough to withstand all day vaping with ease.


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Piroll – Minimal and Modern Portfolio WordPress Theme. The Piroll is designed for any type of portfolio: as well as for designers, photographers, web agencies and studios, freelancers and so on. The theme is easy to use with bundled visual page and portfolio builders.
Features List
- 200+ Options using WordPress Customizer
- Custom options for single Page, Posts and Works
- Visual Portfolio builder
- 15+ Portfolio Styles
- 3 Navigation Types – top menu, split menu and fullscreen menu
- WPBakery Page Builder (save $34)
- ACF Pro (save $19)
- MailChimp Integration
- Contact Form 7
- WP Google Maps
- Visual Color Changer
- Smooth Parallax for Images and Video (you can turn-off or customize them)
- Social Sharing Buttons
- Google Fonts
- Typography Control
- Modern & Minimal Design
- 1-Click Demo Importer
- Translation Ready
- 100% Responsive
- Retina Ready
- Automatic Theme Updates
Note: the images that can be seen in the preview will not be included in the download package. These are for preview purposes only.


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Designing for the emergence of new connections between elderlies & youth
Simón Sandoval Guzmán
Design for Democracy, Systems Oriented Design 2016
Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Collaborator: The Municipality of Tønsberg
In partnership with the Municipality of Tønsberg, Træleborg senior centre and Færder Videregående skole in Tønsberg, the project tested out a process to facilitate conversations between elderlies living at Træleborg Senior Center & youth studying at Færder skole. Afterwards, this process was designed and shaped as a program: a process of 3 workshops to facilitate the emergence of new connections between groups of elderlies living in senior centres and youth studying in high schools. This process aims to make them aware of each other to finally create and envision together how they could be more connected in the future in order to contribute with each other.
By this, the project explores how by making new connections between different groups of people we can enhance awareness and empathy with each other, and by this, give a small step towards the shaping of a more democratic culture.


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PDF Extra is your all-in-one PDF editor. It has everything you need to view, edit, annotate and protect PDF files. You can also fill and sign your Adobe Acrobat PDF documents or convert them to Word, Excel, and ePub.
EDIT pages, text, images & designs in PDF documents. Convert PDFs to Word, Excel & ePub.
FILL & Digitally Sign PDF Forms. 5 GB MobiDrive cloud storage included.
VIEW and Annotate PDFs – Intuitive viewing experience & document commenting and mark up.
PROTECT and Encrypt PDFs to restrict opening, editing or printing. Advanced Digital Certification included.
LIFETIME License for 1 Windows PC or Laptop.


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MEASUREMENTS ARE IN CM S bust 78 length 79 M bust 82 length 80 L bust 86 length 81
1.Refer to the measurement chart and ensure that you have chosen the correct size(s).
2. There may be a 1-3cm difference in measurement as our products are not made-to-measure.
3. Make sure that you have entered the right shipping information when you checkout.
Any inquiries about order please send an email to email address below :firstname.lastname@example.com


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For Upstate, the last few years have been a time of profound exploration and self-discovery. As the band knocked off milestone after milestone on the road, their sound, their lineup, and even their name all underwent dramatic metamorphoses. Challenging and thrilling all at once, those changes have finally culminated in the sextet's dazzling new album "Healing,' a collection that showcases both their remarkable growth and their adventurous blend of folk, R&B, jazz, gospel and rock and roll.
Recorded primarily over six days at the Clubhouse studio in Rhinebeck, NY, 'Healing' is Upstate's first release with new member Allison Olender, their first with four contributing songwriters, and their first since shortening their name from Upstate Rubdown. It's also their first project to be produced by The Wood Brothers' percussionist Jano Rix, who helped the group embrace their transformation and lean in to their unique lineup without sacrificing any of the gorgeous harmonies, eclectic, purely acoustic arrangements, and unforgettable performances that have defined the band since their earliest days.
Upstate first emerged from New York's Hudson Valley—a region often referred to by NYC folk as upstate New York thus the band's moniker—in 2015 with their debut, 'A Remedy.' The Poughkeepsie Journal raved that the group "need[s] nothing more than their voices to channel rhythm and stoke your emotions," while Chronogram hailed their "infectiously sunny organic stew," and The Alt called them "toe-tapping, contagious, and fun." The album earned the band festival performances from Mountain Jam to FreshGrass, as well as a slew of national headline dates and support slots with everyone from The Felice Brothers and Phox to Marco Benevento and Cory Henry.


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Special Program
Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day
Advancement Toolkit Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day
Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day is an all-day fundraising event, calling on the University of Florida alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and families and friends to come together to support UF and all of its areas of positive impact in our state, nation and world.
Thank you for contributing to what will be another successful Giving Day. We have put together this toolkit to help you with your communications efforts with ready-made graphics as well as templates for adding your individual touch.
Giving Day Communicators Workshop
The communicators workshop is our annual presentation to provide you with information about Giving Day and the tools available to you, including this toolkit.
Workshop Presentation
Giving Day introduction, overview of tactics, and communicator actions for before, during, and after Giving Day.
We'd Like to Hear From You!
Questions about Giving Day? Something you'd like to see on this toolkit? Would you like to share something you've create for Giving Day? Visit our feedback form.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out – we're here to help.
Thanks again for your support of Stand Up & Holler: Gator Nation Giving Day!
David Houder
Executive Director of Marketing and Creative Media


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The Women In Rupert Murdoch's Life
LatestThe ongoing scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. involves a lot of high-profile women. Today we take a look at some of the most famous ones — and a few less well-known women in Murdoch's life.
Rebekah Brooks
You may have heard a lot about Brooks in recent weeks — she was, until last Friday, the CEO of News International, News Corp's British newspaper company. She was also the editor of News of the World, the newspaper accused of hacking the voicemail of a murdered girl and making her family think she was still alive. The paper has now closed, and Brooks was arrested Sunday on charges of corruption and hacking. In a hearing before the House of Commons today, Brooks maintained she knew nothing about any hacking at the News of the World. She called the Milly Dowler allegations "probably the most shocking thing I've heard for a long time and certainly the most shocking thing I'd heard about potential journalists who work for News International."
Wendi Deng
Murdoch's third and current wife, Deng made news today for smacking a man who threw a pie at the mogul (watch it here). Headlines included obnoxious "tiger wife" and "crouching tiger" jokes referring to Deng's Chinese ancestry. Deng had been in the US quite a while by the time she married Murdoch, her third husband, but the story of her early years in the country is sort of interesting. From the Daily Beast:
When her family relocated to Guangzhou in southern China, she changed her name to Wen Di, enrolled in medical school but quit, and then befriended an American family, the Cherrys. Like her own father, Jake Cherry was a factory manager and an engineer. Wendi learned English from him and his wife, Joyce. Their friendship grew and the Cherrys agreed to sponsor the 19-year-old Chinese woman to come to the U.S. for undergrad courses at California State University in Northridge. There Wendi lived with the Cherrys, sometimes sharing a room with their young daughter. She eventually moved out, and two years later, in 1990, married Jake, who by that time had divorced Joyce. After a marriage that lasted long enough for Wendi to obtain her U.S. green card, Wendi divorced Jake, who is three decades her senior.
Deng appears to have a fondness for older men — when she married Murdoch, she was 30 and he was 68. Now 43, she's been called "a de facto diplomat on behalf of NewsCorp in China." She also served as a producer on the movie version of Lisa See's novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
Anna Murdoch Mann
Anna Murdoch Mann, nee Torv, was married to Murdoch from 1967 until 1998. Of their divorce, Mann said,
I think that Rupert's affair with Wendi Deng –- it's not an original plot –- was the end of the marriage. His determination to continue with that. I thought we had a wonderful, happy marriage. Obviously, we didn't.
She added,
I don't want to get too personal about this… but [he] was extremely hard, ruthless and determined that he was going to go through with this, no matter what I wanted or what I was trying to do to save the marriage. He had no interest in that whatsoever.
During their marriage, two men kidnapped the wife of another NewsCorp exec, murdered her, and fed their body to pigs, all the while thinking she was Anna Murdoch. They each served 20 years in prison. Murdoch Mann is also a novelist — her first novel, In Her Own Image, was "a lusty tale of two sisters in love with the same man on an Australian sheep farm." Published in 1985, it hit No. 2 on the Australian bestseller list.
Anna Torv
Anna Torv is Anna Murdoch Mann's niece, making her Rupert Murdoch's niece by marriage, at least before the divorce. She's also an actress, appearing on the TV show Fringe. Of her connection to Murdoch, she said, "I hate that that even comes up."
Patricia Murdoch
Murdoch's first wife Patricia was married to him from 1956 to 1967. She was the mother of his first child, Prudence, and died in 2000.
Elisabeth Murdoch
Murdoch's daughter with Anna, Elisabeth is now "the strongest family contender to take over at the helm of her father's empire," at least according to the Guardian. Her brother James has been embroiled in the hacking scandal and may have to resign from his position as head of BSkyB, a broadcasting company in which NewsCorp owns a controlling stake. Elisabeth, on the other hand, allegedly called for Rebekah Brooks's resignation, which could put her on top of a post-hacking hierarchy. One writer apparently overheard her say, "James and Rebekah fucked the company." Elisabeth Murdoch is currently CEO of TV production company Shine Limited. She's also married to Matthew Freud, great-grandson of Sigmund Freud.
Live-Blogging The Hacking-Scandal Hearings [NY Mag]
The Battle Cry Of The Tiger Wife: Wendi Deng Saves Frail Husband From Evil Pie-Thrower [Telegraph]
Ex–News International CEO Rebekah Brooks Arrested In Murdoch Hacking Scandal [NY Mag]
Live Blog: Murdochs, Brooks, Police Testify In Phone-Hacking Scandal [CNN]
Hacking: Rebekah Brooks 'Told Allegations Were Untrue' [Independent]
Crouching Tiger, Flying Murdoch [Daily Beast]
Elisabeth Murdoch Comes To Fore As Family Argue Over Phone-Hacking Crisis [Guardian]


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- SPLIT SYSTEM COOLING UNIT – Low-Profile Wine Cooling System.
- SSL cooling systems consist of a remote condensing unit and an evaporator unit and they are connected by a liquid line and an insulated suction line.
- SSL evaporator/fan units are designed to provide chilled air to a wine cellar and are designed for ceiling mount.
- SSL evaporator/fan units have a special coil coating and provide two-way air supply for better operation.
- SSL condensing units can be located away from the wine cellar up to 75 ft so that noise and compressor vibrations are isolated.
- SSL condensing units shall not be exposed to temperatures higher than 110°F or lower than 50°F. If the exhaust ambient temperature exceeds 110°F, one size larger unit must be used.
- Low ambient kit for below 50°F cold weather operation
- TEMPERATURE: The WM-8500SSL cooling unit is designed and used to provide a stable temperature between 50~65°F for a properly insulated and sized space.
- AMBIENT TEMPERATURE RANGE: The ambient temperature range for WM-8500SSL should not exceed the temperature of the cellar by more than 25°F. Cellar walls should not receive direct sun or strong wind. Lighting should be low wattage and installed on a timer to ensure that lights are not left on when the cellar is unoccupied.
- HUMIDITY CONTROL: The refrigerated space will maintain humidity within the range of 50~75% RH. We use an innovative method to provide additional humidity.
- DISPLAY: Digital display with easy push-button controls
- NOTIFICATIONS: Display notifications provide alerts help to protect your wine cellar and alert you when maintenance is required.
- CONTROL PANEL: Control panel includes digital display, manual defrost button, up and down arrows to adjust temperature as well as browse parameters, power button, and SET button.
- Ceiling mount installation: This split low-profile cooling system can be mounted on the ceiling for hidden and inexpensive installation.
- Outdoor enclosure is included with condensing unit
- WARRANTY: 1-year warranty on parts, 1-year labor.
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Wine-Mate split cooling systems use EC fan motors that meet federal regulation of 10 CFR 431.306 and are required by the federal law.
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This condensing unit can be placed up to 75ft away, providing for a much quieter operation.
Add The Wine Bottle Probe & Wi-Fi Thermostat
The probe provides an accurate reading of the temperature of your wine, and the thermostat helps maintain a wine cellar at perfect temperature for long term storage of wine.
1) Air temperature in the cabinet may fluctuate, but the wine temperature in the bottle is constant.
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AVAILABLE OPTIONS and CONFIGURATIONS:
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- Touch button temperature controller with bottle probe or touch screen WiFi thermostat with humidity monitoring
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- EVAPORATOR UNIT DIMENSIONS: 64-1/4"W x 18-1/4"D x 9"H
- EVAPORATOR UNIT WEIGHT: 80 lbs
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- NOISE: 56 dBA
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- ELECTRICAL REQUIREMENTS: Evaporator Unit 115V 60Hz 2A, Condensing Unit 115V 60Hz 15A. The power cord must be plugged into a 3-prong grounding-type wall receptacle, grounded in accordance with the National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA 70 – latest edition and local codes and ordinances.
Important information regarding Prop. 65 for CA residents.
Prop. 65 Warning Label (PDF)
(Click image to enlarge PDF)
Note: These cooling systems require professional installation by licensed refrigeration technicians. Purchase does not include copper tubing.
Built to order. Please call for more information. Thank you.


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Earbuds are awesome. They provide you with a way to tune out all the noise connected to the world and lose yourself in music, white noise, audiobooks and podcasts. Earbuds fit snugly into your ear so that you don't have to worry about anyone being disturbed by what you're listening to.
What you might not know is that California does have some earbud laws that could impact you.
Cars and Earbuds
The first is you aren't allowed to drive with earbuds in your ears. Not even if you're using them to use your cell phone. The reason driving with earbuds in both of your ears is strictly prohibited in California is because lawmakers believe that the noise-cancelling features of earbuds make it difficult to identify and react to outside stimuli that could prevent you from getting into an accident. It's also possible that having the sound pumped directly into your ears, rather than coming from your radio speakers serves as a distraction.
There is some wiggle room. The law reads that you can't restrict both ears, but doesn't say anything about having an earbud in a single ear.
It's worth noting that even if you don't have anything pumping through the earbuds, you still can't drive with two earbuds.
If you are caught driving while wearing earbuds, the experience will cost you. The traffic violation will cost $160 plus court costs, plus any other violations the traffic officer is able to cite you with.
California Bikes and Earbuds
Don't assume that just because you're on a bike, you can get away with wearing earbuds. The same law that applies to drivers also applies to bikers. You can have an earbud in one ear, but not in both. If you're caught with both ears covered, you will be ticketed.


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Home / Older Categories / Democratic National Convention 2004
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Check out A Student Pundit's Venture Into Poli-Cyberspace in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It's an interview and profile of Pandagon blogger Ezra Klein about his blogging at the DNC in Boston. It's available free to non-subscribers for five days, so read it soon.
Several blogs are providing their final thoughts on their convention blogging experience. Here are a few:
- Ezra at Pandagon
- Bill at Liberal Oasis gives out awards.
- Buzzflash
- Jay Rosen of PressThink wants to debrief bloggers.
Positive Mainstream Media Wrapups:
I think that the DNC bloggers did a wonderful job, and I personally found their work quite valuable.
This year, a host of Internet bloggers enlivened the online version of the convention, which included video and audio streams and exhaustive information. For the truly plugged in voter, the Democratic convention took place not in Boston but in the electronic ether.
Post-convention polls show a solid boost for John Kerry.
The Newsweek poll released on Saturday said Kerry, who has been running in a virtual dead heat with Republican President Bush, gained a four-point boost in the polls from the Democratic National Convention held last week in Boston.
In the poll conducted on Thursday and on Friday, Kerry received 49 percent of the vote to Bush's 42 percent and 3 percent for independent candidate Ralph Nader. In early July, Kerry led Bush 47 percent to 44 percent, with Nader at 3 percent. Without Nader in the race, Kerry led Bush in the new poll by 51 percent to 45 percent. The poll of about 1,000 registered voters had a 3 percent margin of error.
Kerry told Fox News Sunday this morning he's not paying attention to the polls because they are bound to go up and down. Everyone expects Bush to gain a few points after the RNC.
Many pundits believe that the key to this election lies with 7% or so of undecided voters. That's a very small number. According to this article, only 2 out of 10 voters say they might change their preference.
We think it also will turn on getting out the vote. While we were at the convention, we spoke with a Rock the Vote staffer at a Comcast/MTV party who told us that by Wednesday, they had registered over 400,000 new voters. Their goal is one million. Obama resonates so well with youth that he will be a big key. Both John Edwards and Obama attended the Rock the Vote party in Boston and were treated like rock stars. But, P.Diddy isn't impressed with Kerry or Bush's outreach to young voters.
If the Dems can get out the youth, particularly in urban areas, and minorities and former felons, we think that will put him over the top. Of course, we don't expect the campaign to be enlightened enough to seek out the former felon vote--it would be perceived as being soft on crime--so keep your eye on the polls that show which way the youth and minorities are leaning.
Update: USA Today says Kerry got no bounce. Digby has the analysis.
I'm back from the Democratic National Convention. It was one of the best experiences I've had in years. Seriously. There was not a moment of downtime or boredom. The comraderie among the bloggers, most of whom had never met in person before this week, was outstanding. I give the adventure/experiment an A-.
Weblogs are as diverse as their authors. Their goals in covering the convention varied. Some wanted to cover the media. Some wanted to cover the delegates and speeches. Others wanted to make the convention alive for readers, so they could feel they were present. Most of the bloggers announced their goals before arriving in Boston. Here were mine, followed by some personal thoughts as to whether I achieved them:
"I'm committed to seeing Bush out of office in November and want to do what I can to help," says Jeralyn Merritt, a Denver defense lawyer who writes the TalkLeft blog. "To me the purpose of a convention is solidarity and getting strength from each other and renewed commitment to a joint purpose. I am a cheerleader. I am a partisan. I am an advocate. My goal is to get everyone else stirred up."
My general strategy is to provide news with attitude and enthusiasm. I want my readers to feel like they are there with me. I hope to capture and convey the sense of unity, enthusiasm and resolve among Democrats to win in November. I will concentrate on civil liberties, terrorism, criminal-justice issues and the war in Iraq. I also will report on the convention process and the mainstream media. I will be an advocate and critic rather than a neutral observer of what I report.
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The week before the convention we wrote of Boston's plan to install over 100 security cameras on buses and around the Fleet Center. On the third day of the convention we wrote about the lawsuit over Boston's plan to search all passengers on mass transit. We said:
So, to the citizens of Boston, whom the media has reported as being "fine" with the searches, remember that what you don't object to now, may stick around a lot longer than you think. Once we give the Government new powers, it rarely gives them back.
The prophecy has been fulfilled:
An array of security measures that raised the hackles of civil libertarians, but that law enforcement officials believe make the city safer, are also likely to stay. The Boston Police Department plans to move its new surveillance cameras from around the FleetCenter to high-crime neighborhoods around the city. The MBTA says it retains the right to search the bags of passengers, although it doesn't expect to do so with any regularity.
The mainstream media may or may not appreciate the blogger coverage of the convention. We're happy we made #1 of Radiofree Bloggerstgan's 10 best list, written by Liza:
1. Jeralyn Merritt hits it right out of the park. Her writing is outstanding, vivid in imagery yet succint in detail. When I read her posts, I feel like I am there. These are going to be invaluable "snapshots" of this historic convention.
TalkLeft: The Hall is Packed
"We just got back with our double strength espresso. We're wired and ready to go. This hall is packed to the gills. There are people sitting in the stairwells. Getting out now would be next to impossible. For the first time, we bloggers are all hunched over our computers and the gabbing has stopped. The delegates are listening to the speakers."
"Joe Biden's speech is too long, but they don't care. They are standing and clapping. When we think Biden, we think Rave Act and how he snuck it into the Amber child alert bill. We wouldn't support him for dogcatcher. We can't even fathom that he was almost a contender for President. But, the people here seemed to really like him."
All of these are more than just reporting at it's best. They go beyond journaling, reporting and memorializing. What we have in these blogs is definitely a new form of expression and witnessing. Even, maybe, a new literary form. So who's on your list?
As we said before we arrived in Boston, our goal was to convey the energy and resolve to win --to make our readers feel like they were experiencing what we were experiencing. Thanks to Liza for making us feel like we succeeded.
Off to the airport. More later...Much more.
Update: We just found this nice compliment from Dave Cullen at Conclusive Evidence on Liza's top ten pick:
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The New York Times is ready if Osama is captured tonight. [link via Instapundit]
We're sitting in the bar at the Onyx Hotel near the Fleet Center. It's packed, and there's wi-fi. It's midnight Boston time, and all we hear is "great speech."
We've got an early flight home so we passed on the parties--and instead will bring you some reactions from the bloggers:
First, the Conmmand Post has the transcript up. Alan has been doing the difficult job of blogging objectively.
Ezra Klein at Pandagon:
I believe, truly, that this is the perfect speech for John Kerry. It addresses every slander against him and absorbs the vulnerable edges into positive portions of a great man. This is phenomenal.
Stunning. He did it. I didn't think he could, not after Obama and Clinton and Edwards and Cleland. But he did it. He gave the perfect speech for this moment, for this race, for this crowd. He couldn't rely on his charisma and so he instead told the country where it needed to go. He couldn't do flash so he did substance...and he did it. There's nothing I can say beyond that...I'm sorry...I just don't have the words for it. I'm inspired. I'd forgot what this felt like.
The negative: Instapundit wasn't impressed. He even thought the delivery was bad. But, what a break with tradition. Instapundit is allowing comments on the post.
More to follow. Add your own favorites in the comments.
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Kerry is here. He's pumped. He's happy. Check out his face. The crowd is wild. Everyone is on their feet shouting "Kerry, Kerry, Kerry." The bloggers are all typing fast and furious now.
I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty."
We're here to make America stronger at home and respected in the world. Tonight I am home."
He's passionate. He clicks with the audience.
His delivery is perfect. We've never seem him this good. He's done it. He's over the top with this crowd:
I will be a commander-in-chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a Secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders. And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States....."My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of our lifetime. The stakes are high...
He's preaching to the choir now.
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The film bio was well-received. We liked the parts about Teresa best. Now the war brothers are coming out. All are dressed the same, what's up with that? Navy shirts and tan slacks. Now Lieutenant Jim Rassman is speaking. "No one asked me to join this campaign. I volunteered."
"He will make a great commander in chief." There's that phrase again. A clear intent by the campaign to let the voters know that Bush doesn't own the phrase or the title or the job. It works.
Max Cleland comes on now. Great reception. The crowd comes alive. More than alive.
Max wants to tell us how he came to know and love John Kerry. It's a speech filled with passion, passion that grows as the speech continues. Early on:
The Bible tells me that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. John Kerry's fellow crewmates--the men I am honored to share the stage with--are living testimony to his leadership, his courage under fire, and his willingness to risk his life for this fellow Americans. There is no greater patriotism than that.
My fellow Americans - John Kerry has never let me down. he'll never let you down. He is an authentic American hero. He is the next captain of our ship of state. And he will be the next President of the United States.
The crowd cheers wildly. Mission accomplished.
George Bush certainly can't match that kind of military patriotism and courage. Most of America believes he was awol. A rich kid protected by his admission to the National Guard. And even then, he may not have shown up.
When it comes to patriotism, Kerry wins hands-down over Bush. Bush the pretend Texas cowboy. Kerry the hero and leader.
It's our choice.
Vanessa Kerry is first. She's sure of herself and polished. "My father loves this country and is ready to lead it." and "At my father's core is integrity."
Alexandra comes next. She begins with a funny story about her father once saving her hamster. The sisters have different styles but both are warm and emotional. They're a hit with the crowd.
They certainly help to humanize their dad and they bring some warmth to the campaign. They and Teresa show their personalities, something Laura Bush and her twins have not done so far. Will it be too late? Will the voters become attached to the more approachable and open Kerry women? Or do the women behind the man not really matter in the final analysis?
It's the last night. Here's an open thread to discuss the convention. What did you think? Were you satisfied or disappointed? Was there enough discussion of substantive issues or was it too focused on personalities? What was missing? What did they do right?
Next 12 >> |


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§ 555.202 Classes of explosive materials.
For purposes of this part, there are three classes of explosive materials. These classes, together with the description of explosive materials comprising each class, are as follows:
a.(a) High explosives. Explosive materials which can be caused to detonate by means of a blasting cap when unconfined, (for example, dynamite, flash powders, and bulk salutes). See also § 555.201(e).
b.(b) Low explosives. Explosive materials which can be caused to deflagrate when confined (for example, black powder, safety fuses, igniters, igniter cords, fuse lighters, and "display fireworks" classified as UN0333, UN0334, or UN0335 by the U.S. Department of Transportation regulations at 49 CFR 172.101, except for bulk salutes).
c.(c) Blasting agents. (For example, ammonium nitrate-fuel oil and certain water-gels (see also § 555.11).


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February 20, 2013 | celebrity | editor | 0 Comments
If you had to describe Christina Ricci to someone who had never seen her, I admit it might sound a little disastrous, but in real life, when you put everything together, she's just awesome. She's not pretty, might even be a little weird, but god I cannot get over how badly I wanna have sex with her.
These are not lines I would use to try and hit on her if I were you, by the way.
(image source of ricci at the marc jacobs show = getty)


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Did the U.S. Military Plan a Nuclear First Strike for 1963?
by James K. Galbraith and Heather A. Purcell
Notes on National Security Council Meeting
July 20, 1961
General Hickey, Chairman of the Net Evaluation Subcommittee, presented the annual report of his group. General Lemnitzer stated that the assumption of this year's study was a surprise attack in late 1963, preceded by a period of heightened tensions.
After the presentation by General Hickey and by the various members of the Subcommittee, the President asked if there had ever been made an assessment of damage results to the U.S.S.R which would be incurred by a preemptive attack. General Lemnitzer stated that such studies had been made and that he would bring them over and discuss them personally with the President. In recalling General Hickey's opening statement that these studies have been made since 1957, the President asked for an appraisal of the trend in the effectiveness of the attack. General Lemnitzer replied that he would also discuss this with the President.
Since the basic assumption of this year's presentation was an attack in late 1963, the President asked about probable effects in the winter of 1962. Mr. Dulles observed that the attack would be much less effective since there would be considerably fewer missiles involved. General Lemnitzer added a word of caution about accepting the precise findings of the Committee since these findings were based upon certain assumptions which themselves might not be valid.
The President posed the question as to the period of time necessary for citizens to remain in shelters following an attack. A member of the Subcommittee replied that no specific period of time could be cited due to the variables involved, but generally speaking, a period of two weeks should be expected.
The President directed that no member in attendance at the meeting disclose even the subject of the meeting.
Declassified: June, 1993
THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, NUMBER 19, FALL 1994, PP. 88-96. COPYRIGHT (c) 1994 BY NEW PROSPECT, INC. PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO COPY AND CIRCULATE FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES ONLY, PROVIDED THAT THIS NOTICE ACCOMPANIES ALL COPIES MADE.
During the early 1960s the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) introduced the world to the possibility of instant total war. Thirty years later, no nation has yet fired any nuclear missile at a real target. Orthodox history holds that a succession of defensive nuclear doctrines and strategies from "massive retaliation" to "mutual assured destruction" worked, almost seamlessly, to deter Soviet aggression against the United States and to prevent the use of nuclear weapons.
The possibility of U.S. aggression in nuclear conflict is seldom considered. And why should it be? Virtually nothing in the public record suggests that high U.S. authorities ever contemplated a first strike against the Soviet Union, except in response to a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, or that they doubted the deterrent effect of Soviet nuclear forces. The main documented exception was the Air Force Chief of Staff in the early 1960s, Curtis LeMay, a seemingly idiosyncratic case.
But beginning in 1957 the U.S. military did prepare plans for a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S.S.R, based on our growing lead in land-based missiles, And top military and intelligence leaders presented an assessment of those plans to President John F. Kennedy in July of 1961. At that time, some high Air Force and CIA leaders apparently believed that a window of outright ballistic missile superiority, perhaps sufficient for a successful first strike, would be open in late 1963.
The document reproduced above is published here for the first time. It describes a meeting of the National Security Council on July 20, 1961. At that meeting, the document shows, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the director of the CIA, and others, presented plans for a surprise attack. They answered some questions from Kennedy about timing and effects, and promised further information. The meeting recessed under a Presidential injunction of secrecy that has not been broken until now.
The Real Missile Gap
In 1960, claims of a "missile gap" favoring the Soviets had given the Democrats a critical election theme, and many millions of Americans entered the Sixties feeling intensely vulnerable to the new Soviet ICBM threat. But as Richard Reeves has recently written, intelligence based on satellites launched in August of 1960 soon challenged the campaign assessment and public view. (Reeves, 228) The United States had beaten the USSR to an operational ICBM and enjoyed clear, and growing, numerical advantage. We were far ahead, and our military planners knew it.
Kennedy was quickly convinced of this truth, which was further confirmed as new satellites brought back new information. Later in 1961, a National Intelligence Estimate came through showing only 4 Soviet ICBMs in place, all of them on low alert at a test site called Plesetsk. By fall, Defense Undersecretary Roswell Gilpatric was to acknowledge in a public speech that US forces (with 185 ICBMs and over 3,400 deliverable warheads at that time) were vastly superior to those of the Russians.
It was in this context, of an increasing nuclear edge based on a runaway lead in land-based missiles, that Kennedy faced his first nuclear-tinged crisis, which erupted over Berlin in July of 1961.
The Berlin Crisis
The July 20th meeting took place under conditions of unusual tension. Only three months before, Kennedy had suffered the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion and his loss of confidence in both the CIA and the Joint Chiefs. One month before, he had been shaken by his Vienna confrontation with Nikita Khrushchev. Now, the Soviets were threatening to turn control of access to West Berlin over to the East Germans, and to conclude a separate peace treaty with that satellite state.
At the crucial National Security Council discussion of the brewing Berlin crisis on July 13, Secretary of State Dean Rusk had opposed negotiations with the Soviets until the last moment (Newman, 115). As Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., then a special assistant, later summarized for the President, adviser Dean Acheson had prepared a paper arguing that
"we are in a fateful test of wills, that our major task is to demonstrate our unalterable determination, and that Krushchev will be deterred only by a US readiness to go to nuclear war rather than to abandon the status quo. On this theory, negotiation is harmful until the crisis is well developed; then it is useful only for propaganda purposes..." (Foreign Relations, XIV, 173)
Kennedy favored negotiations over conflict. While not directly challenging Acheson, he encouraged Schlesinger to produce an unsigned memo critical of Acheson's stance.
Schlesinger advised caution. In a passage especially pertinent to the larger issue, he wrote:
"The [Acheson] paper hinges on our willingness to face nuclear war. But this option is undefined. Before you are asked to make the decision to go to nuclear war, you are entitled to know what concretely what nuclear war is likely to mean. The Pentagon should be required to make an analysis of the possible levels and implications of nuclear warfare and the possible gradations of our own nuclear response." (Foreign Relations XIV 173)
It is possible (though we do not know) that the decision to bring the Net Evaluation to Kennedy occurred in response to the raising of these concerns. At any rate, the meeting occurred.
The Burris Memorandum
The memorandum reproduced here was written for Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who did not attend the meeting, by Colonel Howard Burris, his military aide. Declassified only in June of 1993, it has not previously received any public attention so far as we have been able to determine.
The first paragraph introduces General Hickey and his group, the Net Evaluation Subcommittee. Although the Subcommittee report is described as "annual," this would be the first one given to President Kennedy and his advisors, and it is not clear whether President Eisenhower received such reports in person. General Lyman Lemnitzer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, stepped in to explain the "assumption" of the 1961 report: "a surprise attack in late 1963, preceded by a period of heightened tensions." The question arises: A surprise attack by whom on whom?
The following paragraphs answer the question. The second paragraph reports that after hearing the presentations, President Kennedy asked the presenters "if there had ever been made an assessment of damage results to the U.S.S.R. which would be incurred by a preemptive attack." Kennedy also asked for an effectiveness trend since "these studies have been made since 1957." Lemnitzer responded that he would later answer both of the President's questions in private.
Paragraph three records Kennedy asking a hypothetical question: what would happen if we launched a strike in the winter of 1962? Allen Dulles of the CIA responded that "the attack would be much less effective since there would be considerably fewer missiles involved." Lemnitzer then cautioned against putting too much faith in the findings since the assumptions might be faulty. The discussion thus provides a time-frame. December of 1962 was too early for an attack because the U.S. would have too few missiles; by December of 1963 there would likely be sufficient numbers.
Paragraph four reports one more Kennedy question: how much time would "citizens" need to remain in shelters following an attack? The President receives a qualified estimate of 2 weeks from a member of the subcommittee. The group was clearly talking about U.S. citizens protecting themselves from the globe-encircling fallout following a U.S. nuclear attack on the U.S.S.R.
Paragraph five adds to the intensity of the document with Kennedy's directive "that no member in attendance disclose even the subject of the meeting."
Other Accounts of the Meeting
So far as we know, the official record of this meeting remains secret. The excellent Foreign Relations of the United States, volume XIV, "Berlin Crisis 1961-1962," published in late 1993, though replete with memoranda detailing the nuclear aspects of the Berlin confrontation, makes no mention of it. The only official reference we know of is the agenda for the National Security Council issued on July 18, 1961, declassified in 1977, which reads, simply "The Net Evaluation Subcommittee (NSC 5816; N.S. Action No. 2223) ... Presentation of the report by the Chairman of the Subcommittee." (The most detailed discussion of the Net Evaluation Subcommittee we have found is in Desmond Ball's Politics and Force Levels (pp. 192-3), which identifies the larger task of the Subcommittee as the preparation of revised targeting plans.)
On the other hand, the fact of a meeting, and Kennedy's personal reaction to it, has been reported. The President was displeased. But no account yet published has told what he was displeased about.
For example, Arthur Schlesinger's Robert Kennedy and His Times gives this account:
"...Kennedy received the Net Evaluation, an annual doomsday briefing analyzing the chances of nuclear war. An Air Force General presented it, said Roswell Gilpatric, the deputy secretary of defense, "as though it were for a kindergarten class.. Finally Kennedy got up and walked right out in the middle of it, and that was the end of it. We never had another one." (p. 483)
McGeorge Bundy evidently refers to the same meeting in this passage:
"In the summer of 1961 [Kennedy] went through a formal briefing on the net assessment of a general nuclear war between the two superpowers, and he expressed his own reaction to Dean Rusk as they walked from the cabinet room to the Oval Office for a private meeting on other subjects: "And we call ourselves the human race." (p. 354)
(Dean Rusk's memoirs repeat Kennedy's remark, though they place the meeting "shortly after our assuming office." Richard Reeves, for his part, does not mention the July meeting, and attributes Kennedy's remark to a later briefing in September, 1961.)
Numerous other apparent accounts of the meeting exist, though they do not refer to it by name or date. All agree on Kennedy's reaction. But none reveal what was actually discussed. Theodore Sorenson's Kennedy, published only four years later, presents an understandably benign version:
"That briefing confirmed, however, the harsh facts [Kennedy] already knew: (1) that neither the Soviet Union nor the United States could 'win' a nuclear war in any rational sense of the word; (2) that, except to deter an all-out Soviet attack, our threat of 'massive retaliation' to every Communist move was no longer credible, now that it invited our own destruction; and (3) that a policy of 'pre-emptive first strike' or 'preventive war' was no longer open to either side, inasmuch as even a surprise missile attack would trigger, before those missiles reached their targets, a devastating retaliation that neither country could risk or accept." (p. 513)
Unfortunately, the critical third point was not yet true. As UnderSecretary of State Roger Hilsman wrote in 1967:
"As the intelligence community looked at their estimates in 1958, 1959, and 1960, and even through the first half of 1961, they saw a missile gap developing that would come to a peak about 1963." (p. 162)
What Hilsman does not say explicitly is that the estimated missile gap was in America's favor. The Soviets had virtually no operational ICBMs in 1961, a fact known to American intelligence at least by the end of 1960. And it appears the Russians did not solve their fundamental technical problem, namely building a hydrogen bomb small enough to be carried by a missile of manageable size, until years later. (Sorenson, 524; Bobbitt, 61).
Dean Rusk describes the meeting as an "awesome experience" in his memoirs, As I Saw It, published in 1990.
"President Kennedy clearly understood what nuclear war meant and was appalled by it. In our many talks together, he never worried about the threat of assassination, but he occasionally brooded over whether it would be his fate to push the nuclear button... If any of us had doubts, that 1961 briefing convinced us that a nuclear war must never be fought. Consequently, throughout the Kennedy and Johnson years we worked to establish a stable deterrent..." (p. 246-7)
What Rusk does not say is that the problem of a "stable deterrent" in 1961 did not lie in an insufficiency of American missiles. It lay, rather, in the need for the Soviets to develop sufficient effective ICBM forces, to deter us. That is an ugly but unavoidable fact. Rusk goes on, a page later, with comments that appear almost anguished, and for which his own account of the meeting gives no apparent rationale:
"...the United States has never renounced possible first use of nuclear weapons. I personally think that the United States is committed to a second strike only, after we have received nuclear weapons on our own soil. Under no circumstances would I have participated in an order to launch a first strike, with the possible exception of a massive conventional attack on Western Europe." (p. 248)
The July 25 Speech on Berlin
Nuclear conflict was very much in the air that week. Another document of the time indicates the directions Kennedy's nuclear thinking was actually taking quite the Cold Warrior, but at the same time far removed from pre-emptive strikes and the inflexible all-out attack envisioned by the Joint Chiefs. This is a paper entitled "Nuclear Strategy in the Berlin Crisis," by the economist Thomas C. Schelling, which was sent to Hyannis Port over the weekend of July 21, 1961 and which, as Bundy noted, made a "deep impression" on the President. In it Schelling presented arguments for a capability, which did not then exist, to wage limited nuclear war:
"the role of nuclears in Europe should not be to win a grand nuclear campaign, but to pose a higher level of risk to the enemy. The important thing in limited nuclear war is to impress the Soviet leadership with the risk of general war - a war that may occur whether we or they intend it or not....We should plan for a war of nerve, of demonstration, and of bargaining, not of tactical target destruction." (Foreign Relations, XIV, 170).
Schelling also advocated centralization of the control of weapons in the hands of the President so as to
"permit deliberate, discriminating, selective use for dangerous nuclear bargaining. This means preventing any use, by anyone, not specifically authorized as part of the nuclear bargaining plan...This is a controlled strategic exchange." (op. cit., 172)
Schelling's paper thus called attention to a key concern: the diffuse character of nuclear command and control in 1961 did not assure that the President in fact enjoyed the full authority over the bomb which most Americans assumed to be the case. Establishing such control became a priority for Kennedy in the months that followed. (Desmond Ball, 193).
The cumulative impact of this diverse advice can be seen in Kennedy's televised address to the nation on July 25, 1961. "We cannot and will not permit the Communists to drive us out of Berlin, either gradually or by force" Yet Kennedy also stressed the dangers: "miscommunication could rain down more devastation in several hours than has been wrought in all the wars of human history" (Newman, 115). He asked for increased military appropriations and called out 150,000 reserve personnel. But he did not engage the Soviets. The wall was allowed to remain intact when constructed in August of 1961, a symbolic column of soldiers was sent through to West Berlin, and a fallout shelter program was undertaken in the United States.
With the Burris memorandum, the reasoning behind the fallout shelter program now begins to fall into place. As a civil defense measure against a Soviet nuclear attack, the flimsy cinderblock shelters Americans were told to build were absurd. But they could indeed protect those in them, for a couple of weeks, from radiation drifting thousands of miles after a U.S. pre-emptive strike on the Soviet Union. It is known that Kennedy later regretted this program.
Down the Road: 1962 and 1963
The U.S. was far ahead in the arms race. Yet the military continued to press for a rapid build-up of strategic missiles. Curtis LeMay had asked for at least 2400 Minutemen; Thomas Powers of the Strategic Air Command had asked for 10,000. All were to be unleashed in a single paroxysm of mass annihilation, know as SIOP, the Single Integrated Operating Plan.
SIOP was a recipe for blowing up the world, whether in a first or a second strike. As McGeorge Bundy wrote to the President on July 7, 1961:
"...All agree that the current strategic war plan is dangerously rigid and, if continued without amendment, may leave you with very little choice as to how you face the moment of thermonuclear truth. We believe that you may want to raise this question with Bob McNamara in order to have a prompt review and new orders if necessary. In essence, the current plan calls for shooting off everything we have in one shot, and is so constructed as to make any more flexible course very difficult." (quoted in Kaplan, 297)
During that summer of 1961, the Defense Secretary ordered an overhaul of SIOP carried out by RAND analysts (including Daniel Ellsberg) and quickly approved by the JCS. (Bobbitt, 48) Kennedy and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara eventually imposed a limit of 1,000 Minuteman missiles, angering the Chiefs. Kennedy also launched efforts to gain operational control of the nuclear force, then far from being securely concentrated in the President's hands.
The Burris memorandum may help to explain both the military's drive for a vast U.S. nuclear build-up, despite the fact that America was already far ahead, and the resistance from JFK and McNamara. The Net Evaluation Subcommittee had offered the Pentagon, the CIA, and President Kennedy a glimpse of the opportunity that lay ahead in the winter of 1963: U.S. nuclear superiority so complete that a first strike might be successful. But it also alerted Kennedy to a danger. American nuclear superiority might then be so complete, that rogue elements from the military and intelligence forces, seeking to precipitate an American first strike, might not feel deterred by fear of Soviet retaliation. What was the dispute over the numbers of land-based ICBMs really about? To be sure, at some level it involved the sufficiency of deterrence. But there may also have been an even graver concern: the offensive capabilities of the nuclear force, at a time when the President could not be sure of his control over the nuclear button.
By October of 1962, the U.S. nuclear lead remained strong, though perhaps not yet air-tight, given the number of Soviet bombers and the risks to Europe. Twenty years later, Anthony Cordesman described the picture:
"During the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, the US had approximately 1500 B-47s and 500 B-52s, and had already deployed over 200 of its first generation of ICBMs. In marked contrast, the Soviet strategic missile threat consisted of a few token ICBM deployments whose unreliability was so great that it was uncertain exactly whom they threatened. Soviet long range bomber forces consisted only of 100 Tu-Bears and 35 May Bison, whose range and flight characteristics forced them to fly at medium and high altitudes, and which made them extremely vulnerable to US fighters and surface-to-air missiles." (p. 7, cited in Bobbitt)
Kennedy resisted strong pressures to test this advantage in October of 1962, as he might have had to do, had he agreed to launch bombing raids on the Cuban missile installations. Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs, published in 1970, tell of graphic fears expressed by Robert Kennedy to the Russian ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin at the peak of the crisis:
"Even though the President himself is very much against starting a war over Cuba, an irreversible chain of events could occur against his will... If the situation continues for much longer, the President is not sure that the military will not overthrow him and seize power. The American military could get out of control." (p. 497)
Not even the American editors of Khrushchev's memoirs took these remarks seriously at the time they were first published. A rare editorial note reads: "Obviously this is Khrushchev's own version of what was reported to him. There is no evidence that the President was acting out of fear of a military take-over." (Khrushchev, 498).
Looking down the road, the Net Evaluation calendar of 1961 implied that the period from Cuba to Dallas and just after was, perhaps, critical to the survival of the world. Had tensions escalated or been aroused in some violent way in late 1963, the President might have faced an excruciating choice - to strike first, or to give up "victory" during the last brief moment in all history when it could conceivably have been won.
We cannot say whether Kennedy believed the Net Evaluation calendar, or indeed, perhaps equally serious, whether he believed that others in the government might believe it. We do know that the last year of his life saw repeated initiatives to settle conflicts and reduce tensions: the normalizaton of Berlin, the withdrawal of missiles from Turkey, the no-invasion pledge on Cuba and the effort, only partially effective, to end to the covert campaign (OP/MONGOOSE) against Castro, the test-ban treaty, and - though the point is disputed - the order in October 1963 to begin a phased withdrawal from Vietnam. By November of 1963, the potential for "heightened tensions" leading to uncontrollable pressures to strike first had indeed been reduced. And, some time later, the Soviet Rocket Forces did evidently shut the window, building ICBMs more rapidly than the U.S. could target them; the Soviets also improved their submarine force. From that point, the world probably became a good deal more secure. But exactly when this happened is not clear.
And Lyndon Baines Johnson, the recipient of Burris's note, was still uneasy on the point when he assumed office on November 22d, 1963, amid swirling rumors connecting Lee Harvey Oswald, falsely as we now know, to the KGB. David Wise, then Bureau chief of the New York Herald Tribune reports hearing Johnson tell in late 1963 of recruiting Earl Warren to head the Warren Commission in the following terms:
"...when Warren came to the White House, [LBJ] told the Chief Justice he knew he had been a first lieutenant in World War I, and he knew Earl Warren would walk across the Atlantic ocean to save the lives of three Americans, and possibly a hundred million lives were at stake here..." (p. 292)
Whose lives, exactly?
One meeting, even in the White House, does not establish that first-strike was in fact the nuclear policy of the United States. Kennedy's recorded response, moreover, indicates his personal determination, shared by his civilian advisers, that it never become so. But we do know, from Howard Burris's notes, that a first strike plan had authors close to the decision center. Kennedy's subsequent actions and Johnson's eerie remark are consistent with the possibility that the calendar and risks of a first-strike window remained in the minds of both men as late as November, 1963 and possibly in Johnson's mind for a good deal longer.
In any event, the fact that first-strike planning got as far as it did raises grave questions about the history of the Cold War. Much more needs to be known,: about nuclear decisionmaking under Eisenhower and Nixon, about the events of late 1963, about later technical developments such as MIRV and Star Wars. Surely it is now time to declassify all records on this and related history.
Desmond Ball, Politics and Force Levels: The Strategic Missile Program of the Kennedy Administration, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
John Baylis and John Garnett, eds. The Makers of Nuclear Strategy, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
Philip Bobbitt, Democracy and Deterrence, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.
Philip Bobbitt, Lawrence Freedman and Gregory Treverton, U.S. Nuclear Strategy, New York: New York University Press, 1989.
McGeorge Bundy, Danger and Survival: Choices About the Bomb in the First Fifty Years, New York: Random House, 1988.
Grant Burns, The Nuclear Present, Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1992.
Anthony Cordesman, Deterrence in the '80s, London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1982.
Foreign Relations of the United States 1961-1963, Vol XIV, Berlin Crisis 1961-1962. Washington: United States Department of State, 1993.
Lawrence Freedman, U.S. Intelligence and the Soviet Strategic Threat, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.
David Goldfisher, The Best Defense: Policy Alternatives for Nuclear Security From the 1950's to the 1990's, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Fred M. Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991.
Roger Hilsman, To Move a Nation: The Politics of Foreign Policy in the Administration of John F. Kennedy, New York: Doubleday, 1967.
Lyndon B. Johnson, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1971.
Nikita S. Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers, Boston: Little Brown, 1970.
John M. Newman, JFK and Vietnam, New York: Warner Books, 1992.
Richard Reeves, President Kennedy, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Dean Rusk, As I Saw It, New York: WW Norton, 1990.
Arthur Schlesinger, jr. Robert Kennedy and His Times, New York: Ballantine, 1978.
David Schwartzman, Games of Chicken: Four Decades of U.S. Nuclear Policy, New York: Praeger, 1988.
Theodore C. Sorenson, Kennedy, New York: Harper and Row, 1965.
David Wise, The Politics of Lying, New York: Random House, 1973.
Heather A. Purcell and James K. Galbraith are at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin.


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Catch him at the X with OG at a Yankee game
This is Tom Cruise in London today wearing a Yankee cap amid reports that he's looking to buy another place in New York, no longer willing to stay in the home he used to share there with Katie Holmes. Apparently he intends to spend a lot more time in NYC. Next thing you know he'll be sitting next to Jay-Z tripping referees, doing riding his dance motorcycle on centre court.
No, the cap isn't new for him. But given that Katie's trying to claim the city as her territory, it's an interesting choice of head-wear.


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2011 Cervelo S3 Review
Cervelo is known worldwide for its cutting edge technology and top of the line performance. The S3 is no exception. I tested the S3, which was equipped with the SRAM Red groupo, Zipp's 404 tubular wheel set, Fi'zi:k's Arione saddle and Rotor cranks.
Roadcycling.com reviews the 2011 Cervélo S3 road bike.
In my 12 years of riding and racing I have heard nothing but good comments about Cervelo bicycles and I was looking forward to reviewing the latest Cervelo S3. Cervelo is known worldwide for its cutting edge technology and top of the line performance. The S3 is no exception. I tested the S3, which was equipped with the SRAM Red groupo, Zipp's 404 tubular wheel set, Fi'zi:k's Arione saddle and Rotor cranks.
In the area where our office is located it seems the wind is always blowing hard, with few trees on the open prairie to offer protection for cyclists. For my first test ride with the S3 I picked a flat stretch of road on the prairie. The wind was blowing 20-25 mph and was mostly a dead-on cross wind. My goal was to do an hour tempo ride with some 2-minute intervals at the end. The first thing I noticed was how easily the S3 is pushed laterally when riding in the cross winds, I had to fight to keep the S3 upright any time I turned into the crosswind. The S3 has a wide down tube (3") which really catches the crosswind; the bike is also equipped with Zipp 404 wheels that are high profile. Combine the two together with high crosswinds and you are going to have a bit of a fight on your hands. Even a crosshead wind tended to push the bike a little.
When it came time to do the 2-minute intervals I picked a more sheltered area from the wind so the lateral pushing I had been experiencing wasn't a problem. I had my power meter on and as I hit the gas on the first interval my first thought was: This is a fast bike! I wasn't surprised when I looked at my power meter and it confirmed my feeling.
After I finished the ride I downloaded my ride data and I could see I was able to generate more power during the tempo (+12 watt average) and interval (+8-10 watt average) portion of the ride than I was able to do with the bike I normally ride during these same type of rides. Some other things I noticed during this ride were: 1) the comfort of the ride, the road I did the tempo ride on is rough and has numerous cracks that can beat you up. The S3 really dampened the harshness of the road and made the ride comfortable so much so I was able to produce higher power numbers than I normally do. 2) When I was doing the intervals I noticed how rigid the rear of the S3 was. When I stomped on the pedals the Cervelo S3 really responded quickly. I could see the extra power in my power meter CPU immediately.
The next test I put the Cervelo S3 through was my criterium test. A short course around a city block that provides me with the same conditions you might experience in a criterium, including high speed corners and out of the saddle jumps. After a good warm-up I hit the first corner at about 20 mph. The S3 cornered like a dream and it seemed effortless to turn the handlebars and steer tube. Feeling confident I decided to push up the pace a little so I hit a number of corners at 30 mph plus, I didn't feel any pushing or skipping like you can sometimes experience when cornering at high speeds.
I threw in some out-of-the-saddle stomps to thrill the onlookers; I found the bike really jumped forward when I stood on the pedals. I also made it a point to rock the bike laterally to see what that felt like. The S3 was very smooth laterally. It seemed to take all the power I was giving it and distributed it evenly to where it was needed. I've said this before, I'm not a sprinter, but I felt like I could be one with the S3 under me. Team Garmin-Cervelo's Thor Hushovd became World Champion on the Cervelo S3, which should vouch for the S3's great performance in pro road cycling sprints.
On my next ride I was going to see how the S3 performed on long climbs and on long, fast descents. The climb I rode is a monster, 2.5 miles long at an average grade of 8.5%. I usually start the climb conservatively knowing that it gets more difficult as you approach the summit, so I did the same this time. I varied my riding style from in the saddle to out of the saddle numerous times during the climb. The major thing I noticed during the climb was that the S3 was not as responsive as it was during the interval session or the out of the saddle stomps on my crit course. The S3 seemed a little sluggish and it didn't seem to jump forward when I put power into the pedals even when I stood on them. Maybe it was me as I neared the top of the 8.5% grade. I wasn't too disappointed because I knew the really fun part of the ride was ahead of me. The descent down from the mountain!
This is a whopper of a descent. More than 2.5 miles long with grades from 5% to 15% with a couple of lazy corners. I was going to find out real quickly how the S3 handled itself at high speeds. I hit the descent as I always do pedaling up to about 20 mph. Before I knew it I was going 45, my speed topped out at 54 mph about half way down. I was really impressed with how the Cervelo S3 descended. The first part of the descent is about 15% for about ½ of a mile and then the grade slowly falls off to 5% the further down you go. The S3 handled like a dream, not a bit of frame chatter or head tube shaking. I was worried about how the cross winds would affect the S3 on the descent but the wind was relatively calm. The S3 really held its speed nicely as we got to the lower slopes of the descent, the aerodynamic tubing on the S3 really seemed to help cut through the wind as the speed of the bike increased.
Overall I would rate the Cervelo S3 at the top of my list of the bikes I have ridden. The Cervelo S3 is able to provide everything a rider would want in a high-end racing bike. There are only a couple of things I would have liked to have seen from the S3; 1) more get up and go on long climbs, maybe I was having an off day but I just didn't feel the spunk climbing like I usually feel and 2) I would also have also liked to see less lateral pushing in crosswinds, but the wide aero down tube is one of the reasons the S3 is so fast into the wind. Beyond that, the S3 performed extremely well in all areas. It handled well at high speeds, cornered like a Formula 1 race car and was responsive during out of the saddle stomps and sprints.
The S3 also did an excellent job dampening road vibration, many of the roads I ride are rough and have cracks in the surface, but I didn't notice the normal road chatter I am accustomed to. The SRAM Red component group which the Cervelo S3 can be equipped with is top the line and works well with the bike. The S3 also has very distinctive look. It is primarily black with white accents, the wide down tube and deep dish Zipp 404 wheel set really makes the S3 jump out in a crowd. Cervelo placed its logos in highly visible areas on the top tube, down tube and chain stays, which really helps to catch people's attention.
The Cervelo S3 is a must to anyone who wants a high-end bike that is aerodynamic and super responsive. If you would like more information about the Cervelo S3 or other Cervélo bikes visit www.cervelo.com.


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Magic Moments 101
Feb 01, 2012
As a follow-up to the prior "theoretical" part, I want to give you four simple ideas for a food and wine tasting that demonstrate acidity in action. We are going for similarity (Tart + Tart = Pavlovian response), or opposition (as in "opposites attract" -- like buttery luxurious cheese and intense, vervy and highly acidic Champagne).
Besides being perfect tools for "wine ed", these yummy appetizers are great for entertaining. So if you are not a wine guy/gal, you can still enjoy the canapes!
Sauvignon Blanc and goat cheese
Simple but brilliant! The quickest "party trick" for this pairing involves stuffing golden pappadews straight out of the jar with fresh goat cheese.
You also can use goat cheese in a tart or frittata, and I especially like using individual-size ramekins for an intimate get-together. All you need to do is mix together the cheese, green pepper, chives, a couple of eggs, a little cream, pop the ramekin in the oven, and you are done. Or try the pure, unadulterated chevre on a bed of greens with a simple vinaigrette dressing (if you can, make it with Meyer lemon juice and good quality olive oil). Try these little treats with a Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley, France (a Sancerre or Quincy). Another crisp Sauvignon Blanc (e.g., from New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) will also work nicely.
Note: if you choose to play with a Sancerre AND a New Zealand Sauvignon blanc (there's a thought!), you will undoubtedly observe the stylistic differences between the two Worlds (subtle, lean and minerally vs. in-your-face and fruit-forward).
Champagne and popcorn/sea salt potato chips/triple cream brie
Don't worry if buying caviar is out of your reach; there are plenty of other fantastic and inexpensive ways to enjoy a sparkler. Pair French Champagne or another sparkler (Spanish cava, Italian prosecco, Alsatian Cremant d'Alsace, etc. ) with popcorn, sea salt potato chips, and a decadent triple-cream brie (such as Brillat-Saverin or Pierre Robert from Fromagerie Rouzaire, Rouge et Noir from Marin in California, or perhaps a Canadian Goat Triple Cream from Woolwich Dairy). You can typically find those at a Whole Foods store; or better yet, look for them at a nice specialty cheese shop such as Cheesetique in Old Town Alexandria, or Arrowine in Arlington (I highly recommend either one).
Italian Barbera with oven roasted tomatoes
Slice cherry tomatoes in half, and roast in the oven for 10 minutes (line a baking dish with foil, pre-heat the oven to 400F, season with olive oil, salt and pepper). They are perfect for making super fast canapes by piling the tomatoes into phyllo cups (I prefer Athens Mini Fillo Shells), with a little bit of good quality feta (French, Bulgarian,Greek, etc.), and popping them into a toaster oven for a couple of minutes, right before you are ready to serve.
The bright acidity in Barbera -- the quintessential red grape of northern Italy -- is just one of the things that I love about it. Its natural acidity, combined with its ripe red and berry fruit flavors, gives it a wonderful versatility, and makes it a great match for the bright, tangy flavors in our appetizer.
Pinot Noir with mushrooms
I love mushrooms as much as I love Pinot Noir-- it's an earthy match made in heaven!
Here is a great opportunity to put those phyllo cups to work once again. This time, we will fill them with mushrooms sauteed in butter, with a touch of thyme and sour cream. I really like the deluxe "exotic" mushroom packs that you can buy at Whole Foods (crimini mushrooms, or baby bellas, would work just fine). Grate a bit of Pecorino sheep's milk cheese on top (I prefer "genuine" Sini Fulvi DOP Pecorino Romano, from Italy's Lazio region). It is salty, intense, and pleasantly briny, and just like phyllo cups, it's a staple in my kitchen. A couple of minutes in the toaster oven, and they are ready to be served. The pairing works, first of all, because of their shared earthiness, as it always translates directly into food and wine pairing affinity. On top of that, the acidity in the Pinot Noir cuts the richness of sour cream like a knife, and is complimented nicely by the saltiness in the Pecorino.
Buon appetito!


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What socioeconomic benefits can be attributed to nursing and midwifery with respect to: mental health nursing, long-term conditions, and role substitution? In order to address this question, we carried out a Systematic Rapid Evidence Assessment (SREA) involving a focused review of systematic reviews with a limited search.
Policymakers, research commissioners, practitioners and researchers.
The review was undertaken to inform the work of the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery. The Commission covers England only, and considers midwifery and all branches of nursing, in all settings, services and sectors. Its website is available here.
Thirty-two systematic reviews were identified. Most related to care provided by nurses and only two reviews looked solely at the role of midwives. Most of the reviews provided findings relevant to role substitution between nurses, midwives and other health professionals (n=22), or to long-term conditions (n=18). Only five reviews included findings on the role of nurses or midwives in mental health. Review activity on nursing and midwifery provision is recent: only four of the reviews were published before the year 2000, and half were published within the last five years.
The review found examples of the benefits of nursing and midwifery in primary care through home visiting interventions, specialist nursing and general practice based nursing including prevention and treatment. Hospital at home and in-patient care were also addressed in the included studies.
There was evidence of the benefits of nursing and midwifery for a range of outcomes. This was accompanied by no evidence of difference (where statistical tests failed to demonstrate a significant difference between nurse/midwife-delivered interventions and those provided by others) for other outcomes.An important finding of this review was that nursing and midwifery care when compared with other types of care was not shown to produce adverse outcomes. The included reviews rarely provided cost or cost-effectiveness data.
The review was used to inform the work of the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery which is due to report in March 2010.
We searched a number of sources identifying 1741 original records. After screening the title and abstract of these records using our inclusion criteria, 306 full reports were sought and screened for relevance, quality and the presence of appropriate data. Thirty-two systematic reviews were available for inclusion within the review. Screening of full reports, assessment of quality and data extraction conducted separately by two reviewers who then met to compare findings. The findings from reviews with similar topics were grouped and synthesised using a narrative approach. Where possible, these syntheses presented review authors' pooling of data. Often, authors had presented findings in a narrative form. The individual syntheses for this rapid review often needed to call upon findings from more than one review. As a result, this rapid review's syntheses are themselves narrative in form.
This summary was prepared by the EPPI Centre.
This report should be cited as: Caird J, Rees R, Kavanagh J, Sutcliffe K, Oliver K, Dickson K, Woodman J, Barnett-Page E, Thomas J (2010) The socioeconomic value of nursing and midwifery: a rapid systematic review of reviews. London: EPPI Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London.