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Meet 2 New Spider Species: 'Skeletorus' and 'Sparklemuffin'
Two gorgeous new species of peacock spiders nicknamed "Skeletorus" and"Sparklemuffin" have been discovered in Australia, according to a new report.
Peacock spiders are so-named because of their bright colors and their dancelike, courtship rituals.
The two new species were found in southeast Queensland by Madeline Girard, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley who studies peacock spiders, and a friend who went with her into the field. Girard affectionately gave the nickname Sparklemuffin to one of the species, Maratus jactatus, which has bluish and reddish stripes on its abdomen.
She nicknamed the other species Skeletorus for its white markings on a black background, which make it look a bit like a skeleton. Sparklemuffin looks similar to three previously discovered species in this group of peacock spiders, whereas Skeletorus looks very different from all the other known species in the group.
In fact, Skeletorus, officially named Maratus sceletus, "looks dramatically different [from] all other peacock spiders known to date, making me think that this group is perhaps much more diverse than we had thought," said Jürgen Otto, an entomologist who specializes in photographing the arachnids and who co-authored the report. [Incredible Photos of Peacock Spiders]
"Despite the large number of species we have discovered just in the last few years, I can't help feeling that we may have just scratched the surface of this most exciting group of spiders, and that nature has quite a few more surprises in store," Otto told Live Science.
The first peacock spider was discovered in the 1800s, said study co-author David Hill, the editor of the journal Peckhamia, which published the new report on Jan. 20. But then, "for more than 100 years, almost nobody looked at these animals," until Otto started photographing them and recording their courtship displays, Hill said. The spiders are very small, measuring between 3 and 7 millimeters (0.1 to 0.3 inches) long, he added.
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Both Sparklemuffin and Skeletorus, along with the three other known species that belong to the calcitrans peacock spider group, share certain similarities, some of which have a lot to do with the way the arachnids perform their characteristic mating dances. For instance, the males display a flap-like body part called a fan that is adorned with a pattern of bold, transverse stripes, according to the report. They also raise a single leg, displaying it to the female.
Otto said he watched Skeletorus perform its mating dance. "When [the male] got within a few centimeters of the female, he exploded into a firework of activity," he told Live Science. "The spinnerets were extended and flicked around at an amazing speed, one of the legs was flexed like he wanted to show off his muscles, and he moved constantly from one side of the grass blade to the other."
Otto admitted that because Sparklemuffin was somewhat similar to other peacock species he had seen before, he was not too excited about it at first, but then he became fonder of it. "It was in particular its docile nature and soft teddy bearlike appearance that really charmed me," he said. "It was a fun spider to work with."
Follow Agata Blaszczak-Boxe on Twitter. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science.


text: Economic systems: Challenges of digitalization, globalization and climate Von PR Berlin Mittwoch, 26.05.2021 Allgemein Keine Kommentare Competition for the best jobs and the best workers worldwide. Digitization, globalization and automation are transforming economic systems and thus society. The transformation in the world of work affects companies, managers, employees and lifelong learning - in conversation with Oliwer Mikus,... [Weiterlesen...]

subset: commoncrawl


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A Sumerian water and sky god myth collides with a modern high school.
Ayanna is a math nerd, logical and rational, even cold, but Calder makes her feel things she never had before. Somehow, she's able to accept it when she discovers he's a reincarnated Sumerian water god. Will she be able to accept the full truth, that the story of Enki and Inanna has been reborn in a modern Ohio high school?
About the Author:
M.S. Kaye has several published books under her black belt. A transplant from Ohio, she resides with her husband Corey in Jacksonville, Florida, where she tries not to melt in the sun. Find suspense and the unusual at www.BooksByMSK.com.
To receive news on upcoming releases, sign up for email updates on her website.
Contact M. S. Kaye at:Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Google+ ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ TSU ~ Pinterest ~ LinkedIn


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Carrie Underwood Needed 'Between 40 and 50 Stitches' Following November Accident
Carrie Underwood's November fall outside of her Nashville-area home was even more serious than the country superstar previously indicated. In a recently posted letter to her fan club members, the singer shares that, in addition to breaking her wrist when she fell, she severely injured her face -- an injury that may have caused a permanent change in her appearance.
In her note, Underwood "spare[s] you the gruesome details," but does share that, when she underwent surgery the night of her Nov. 10 fall, "the doctor told [Underwood's husband] Mike [Fisher] that he had put between 40 and 50 stitches in" (quote via Rare Country). Underwood admits that she hasn't publicly discussed her accident much in the weeks since because she "[hasn't] been ready to talk about [it] since I have still been living it and there has been much uncertainty as to how things will end up."
"It's crazy how a freak random accident can change your life," Underwood adds. "Even though I've had the best people helping me, I'm still healing and not quite looking the same. I honestly don't know how things are going to end up but I do know this: I am grateful. I am grateful that it wasn't much, much worse."
Carrie Underwood + Mike Fisher's Cutest Moments
According to the initial report about her fall, Underwood was left with a broken wrist and some cuts and abrasions. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released; her husband returned to Nashville overnight to be by her side. However, a few days later, Underwood shared that she had undergone surgery to help fix her broken wrist; in the letter for her fan club, Underwood notes that she is still undergoing physical therapy to help heal that injury.
Underwood laid low career-wise for most of 2017, but in her fan club letter, she says she'll kick off 2018 by heading into the studio.
"When I am ready to get in front of a camera, I want you all to understand why I might look a bit different," Underwood notes. "I'm hoping that, by then, the differences are minimal, but, again, I just don't know how it's all going to end up."
Carrie Underwood's Best Single and Album Covers
Unforgettable Carrie Underwood Moments


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Obama's Patent Actions Will Harm U.S. Tech Industry
Yesterday, the Obama administration rolled out a sweeping set of executive actions and legislative recommendations that are supposed to "protect innovators from frivolous litigation" and improve America's patent system in support of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act the President signed into law in 2011.
The White House Fact Sheet also takes aim at so-called patent trolls that drain the economy, "leverage and hijack" people's ideas, and try to "extort some money out of them," in the President's words.
If you didn't know any better, you'd probably think that sounds great. And maybe you'd be right. But there's a very good chance you wouldn't be. There's a very good chance that the law of unintended consequences will ultimately prove what I've said for years, that legislation and regulation are bad for business. And this is no exception.
You see, the war over patent reform goes back a good many years. Most of America's technology giants like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HP), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) lobbied heavily in support of the legislation. Just about all the big banks did, too.
But historically, the biotech and pharmaceutical industries as well as 3M (NYSE:MMM), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), and The National Venture Capital Association have all fought against it.
The reason for the war between these corporate giants is simple. The legislation was good for one side's business model and not the other's. It was all about business. And it still is.
Granted, the final legislation did have quite a bit of compromise compared with earlier versions of the bill or it never would have passed after failing so many times in the past. And I'll admit that some of it, and some of the President's actions and recommendations, may make sense. Some, but not most.
You see, if you don't know a whole lot about how American companies innovate and the wars they fight with each other and foreign competitors over intellectual property rights, it's easy to think this is all pretty straightforward. But the truth is it's anything but that.
Intellectual property, at least in the high-tech industry, is very, very complicated. I should know; I was deeply involved with it for a good many years. And here are a few things that the average person doesn't realize about the possible unintended consequences of tightening up our patent laws and targeting so-called patent trolls.
For one thing, there's no clear definition of a patent troll.
I bet you didn't know that Qualcomm, one of America's most valuable technology companies and one of its most important innovators, was once considered a patent troll. That's right, the very same company that invented CDMA and has a dominant patent position in advanced 3G and 4G wireless technology had to spend years and millions embroiled in one court battle after another to protect its intellectual property and gain fair license fees for the technology it spent a fortune to develop.
The same is true of Texas Instruments and IBM (NYSE:IBM), both of which have made billions licensing their technology to other companies, worldwide. Not to mention dozens of small technology companies that develop breakthrough technology but lack the scale to actually manufacture products. That's why a licensing model works best for them.
You see, the problem is that big technology companies don't just write eight, nine, or ten figure checks when you show up at their doorstep and ask for license fees. Even protracted negotiation often leads to impasse. In that case, the only choice is litigation.
In other words, there are indeed times when technology companies have to litigate to be fairly compensated for their technology. And the problem is that the courts have no way to distinguish between legitimate companies and trolls. Well intentioned as it may be, neither can legislation or executive actions.
If you make it harder for companies to assert their patents in court, you do that for everyone, not just the trolls. Likewise, if you make it easier for companies to challenge patent holders in the Patent and Trademark Office – as the legislation and recommendations do – that affects all patent holders, not just the trolls.
Some of President Obama's actions and recommendations include making it harder for companies to use the International Trade Commission to stop infringing products at the border, a relatively quick and common way for innovative companies to pressure infringers to come to the negotiating table and sign license agreements.
In many cases, the ITC is the only leverage small, innovative companies have over multinational giants with war chests that can fund decades of protracted litigation.
I wish it was otherwise, but the patent reform legislation and Obama's executive actions and recommendations will probably make it harder for American innovators to compete on a global scale against giants from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Europe.
And that means the next Qualcomm will have a much harder time bringing its innovations to market and surviving, let alone thriving and growing to become a $150 billion giant in its own right. After all, that was hard enough before the reforms.
Lastly, the White House Fact Sheet says that companies engaged in the smartphone patent wars are spending more on acquiring patents and litigation than on research and development. It implies that the President's actions will help to stop that drain on the American economy.
No, it won't.
Before he died, Steve Jobs very much regretted inviting then Google CEO Eric Schmidt to sit on Apple's board. According to Walter Isaacson's biography, Jobs said, "I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."
Had Jobs known that Schmidt would betray his trust and Google would more or less clone the iPhone, Apple wouldn't be embroiled in those costly and distracting smartphone patent wars with Google, Motorola, Samsung, and others. And that's the only thing that could have changed the outcome.
The White House task force on high-tech patent issues will not change a thing. One thing has absolutely nothing to do with the other. That sort of overstatement, that overreaching rhetoric that the Obama administration uses so consistently, should give you a clue as to the legitimacy of its actions.
While I wish it were otherwise, I'm afraid that the Leahy Smith America Invents Act and the President's actions yesterday are likely to weaken the rights and the leverage of U.S. patent holders, both domestically and overseas. They will probably weaken the ability of small, innovative companies to grow and succeed over the long haul. And I believe they will ultimately harm the competitiveness of our technology industry on a global scale.


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One trick to living well on less is to think one step ahead.
Easter baskets get harder to find & more expensive in April.
I washed this dusty trio ($2) with warm water and a squirt of detergent.
At the same store, my mom and I bought a fleece coat to layer over Elise's spring dresses ($4).


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Rim fire's effects likely to last for decades to come
TUOLUMNE, Calif. — Tourists stopped at the Rim of the World overlook on California 120 earlier this month to take photos of the panoramic view — just as they always have.
But they stared in silence at the ashen hues of a landscape swept by the largest wildfire to burn in the Sierra Nevada in more than a century of recordkeeping. Steep canyon walls and mountain slopes that had been robed in chaparral and oak were now draped in black, spreading to the horizon in a funereal scene.
To the north, miles and miles of forest were still and lifeless, the earth scoured by flame. Millions of charred trees stood naked, their needles incinerated.
The huge Rim fire, ignited Aug. 17 by a hunter's illegal campfire, is likely to have transformed large swaths of the Stanislaus National Forest for decades to come.
Remote sensing satellite images indicate that virtually all of the vegetation is dead on nearly 40% of the area of the 401-square-mile blaze, which burned from the national forest into the western portion of Yosemite National Park, where it continues to smolder.
Burned chaparral and oak will quickly resprout. But where large patches of trees were killed, ecologists say it could take 30 to 50 years for the forest to reestablish itself in the shrub fields that are the first to grow. If there are more fires in the meantime, the land could permanently convert to chaparral.
"You're looking at a huge area that doesn't have any living conifers," said Hugh Safford, regional ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service. "The big question really for managers and the public is what's that landscape going to look like in 50 to 100 years. It's going to look really different."
The fire started in chaparral midway up Jawbone Ridge on a Saturday afternoon not far from the Rim overlook — thus its name. Flames sprinted up the canyons into higher elevations. On a couple of days with high winds, the blaze grew explosively, racing through more than 30,000 acres in a single day.
The fire chewed through expanses of ponderosa pine and other conifers. It charred young tree plantations that had been planted after previous wildfires. It scorched some of the last remaining old growth in the Stanislaus, downed power lines and crept up to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the source of San Francisco's water.
Like all wildfires, it was temperamental. Sometimes it burned furiously, sometimes slowly and sometimes barely at all. That has left a mixed palette of black, brown and green within the fire boundaries.
About 29,000 acres were largely untouched by flame, according to the vegetation survey, which compares remote sensing images of the burn area with images taken before the fire.
Two weeks ago, dozens of federal scientists from around the country set out to assess the damage and plan emergency recovery efforts. They fanned out across the forest, digging holes to see if the soil would hold water or repel it in erosive sheets. They checked trails and roads and known archaeological sites.
They tramped through plantations and forestland that had been previously thinned or burned in managed fires to see if the treatments had succeeded in taming the flames.
Curtis Kvamme, a Forest Service soil scientist who was on his fifth day of poking in the dirt, took a shovel to scrape a thin layer of ash from the ground in an area of badly burned timberland. With his gloved hands he carefully exposed the soil, then squirted water in a zigzag pattern onto the ground and watched what it did. It beaded.
"High repellency starts at about 3 inches," he told his colleague, Kellen Takenaka, who was recording the information in a small hand-held computer.
Kvamme's verdict: The soil had burned at high severity, meaning there is a greater chance of erosion. Instead of seeping into the earth, rainfall or snowmelt could wash in torrents downslope, potentially contributing to flooding.
"This is cooked, a lot of acres burned pretty intensely," said Todd Ellsworth, a Forest Service watershed manager who oversaw the post-fire survey, known as Burned Area Emergency Response. The team will recommend steps, such as straw mulching, in areas with a high potential for erosion and runoff that could damage roads or clog streams and rivers with sediment.
When the soil survey results were released a few days later, the findings were better than expected. The soil had burned at high severity in only about 7% of the Rim blaze. The ground burned at low severity or was unburned in 56% of the acreage.
But those numbers don't reflect what happened above ground. Satellite imagery reveals hardly a speck of green on one block of 33,593 acres of trees and shrubs. On one 16,445-acre patch of conifers, nothing appears to have survived.
Severely burned tree patches that big leave a paucity of seed sources, making it that much harder for the forest to regrow.
"We have … miles and miles of mortality," said botanist Jennie Haas, who has worked in the Stanislaus for more than three decades. She has seen some seeds floating through the ghostly landscapes — what she called "little rays of hope."
"But if we don't intervene, it will convert to brush," she added.
Intervening means salvage logging, clearing out the charred trees that are of no value and replanting. The process is opposed by many environmentalists who point out that a thriving post-fire ecosystem emerges in burn areas, drawing bird and other species found only in blackened forests.
Allen Johnson, a retired fire management officer for the Stanislaus, and Morris Johnson, a research fire ecologist with the Forest Service, stood on a ridge overlooking a large bowl. It had burned in the 1973 Granite fire, was salvage-logged and then replanted with ponderosa pines. The nearly 4-decade-old trees now resembled an army of black sticks marching across the slopes.
"You look right here and it killed everything," said Allen Johnson. Then he gestured behind him to a stand in which the pines still had their needles, although they were almost entirely brown, scorched by the fire's heat and unlikely to survive.
In the scorched stand, the flames had been only a few feet high. In the bowl, which resembled the inside of a doused campfire, the fire had been much more intense, consuming the tree crowns.
The difference, at least in part, could be explained by the fact that about six years ago, the scorched stand was thinned to reduce tree density. "Did it change the fire behavior? Yes, it did," said Allen Johnson. "Did it save the trees? No."
The two men had spent days driving in smoky haze around the Rim burn area to examine stands that had previously been thinned or had undergone prescribed burns to reduce fuel levels. They will prepare a report as part of a new Forest Service program that is evaluating the effectiveness of such treatments in wildfires across the country.
The Rim is the latest in a string of fierce blazes that have hit the Sierra and the Southwest in recent decades, the result of what scientists say is a combination of factors.
Extensive logging in the last century and late 1800s removed most of the big, old-growth trees that are the most fire resistant. The government's war on forest fires, launched in the early 1900s, put an end to the frequent, low-intensity wildfires that for millennia had kept fuel levels in check in much of the Sierra. Warming temperatures and drought are lengthening the fire season and drying out fuels, leaving wild lands more flammable.
Analyzing fire scars in the stumps of ancient giant sequoias in the Sierra, Thomas Swetnam has compiled fire records going back 3,000 years showing that wildfire frequency plummeted with the arrival of the settlers.
"What's missing in these forests really has been the surface fires," said Swetnam, director of the University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. "It's true enough that high severity, stand-replacing fires are not totally abnormal. But it's the size of them and the extent of them that is unusual."
Safford expects more Sierra fires like the Rim.
"We're going to see a bigger one than this at some point," he said.
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Stock Up on Home Gadgets This Black Friday
Value Vault is a participant in the Target Affiliate Marketing Program, an affiliate advertising and marketing program that pays advertising fees to sites that advertise and link to Target.com.
As Amazon Associates, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Update your home with gadgets that make everyday tasks easier to handle. This handy list will make cleaning and hosting a breeze this season!
You'll have the smartest (and cleanest) home on the block with this robo vacuum and Echo Dot bundle! Control them both with your voice for maximum convenience.
Buy it: https://amzn.to/2CI9A4p
You don't have to worry about having enough slack when you're cleaning with the powerful cord-free Dyson V7 Motorhead Origin. Tidy up your hardwood floors, carpets and even ceiling corners!
Buy it: https://goto.target.com/QgZzA
Let Roomba clean all of your carpets and hard floors with the ease of the iRobot HOME App. Busy with guests? Last-minute festivities at your home? You can set a schedule or even start it remotely!
Buy it: https://goto.target.com/JaeRR
Purify your home of 99.7% of allergens and pollutants with this Dyson Pure Cool Link Air Purifier. It even has a night-time auto mode that enables quiet settings and dims the LED display.
Buy it: https://goto.target.com/be4yk
Don't let your guests suffer on a creaky old fold-out couch. Host overnight visitors in a snap with this great raised air mattress, complete with internal AC Pump for easy inflation.
Buy it: https://goto.target.com/ZDnm1


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In addition to the many Louisiana festivals that take place near our Lafayette Bed and Breakfast, there are other fantastic opportunities for experiencing the local culture and flavors of Cajun Country. Here are just a couple of our top Lafayette events:
- The Museum at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette is currently displaying beautiful Icons by artists Rev. Rex Broussard & Lynda Mitchell. For more information, contact Jan McNeil at 337-232-1322.
- Guests who enjoy sports events can watch the Southern Professional Hockey League team, Louisiana IceGators at the Cajundome. Contact Liz Webb at 337-265-2323 for details
These events are both easily reached within a short distance of Maison D'Memoire, our Bed and Breakfast in Louisiana. Check them out and let us help you relax after a day of excitement.


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Pre-Nurture & Career Foundation (PNCF) courses at ALLEN Bengaluru are designed in such a way that the students' understanding transforms from basic to the highest possible level and ensures a great success in school level education and upcoming competitive examinations.
ALLEN's PNCF division for class 6th to 10th students imparts meticulously designed quality coaching and sets them for School and Boards together with several competitive and scholarship exams like NTSE and national or international Olympiads (NSEP/B/C/A, JSO, NMTC, RMO, IMO, NSO, ANCQ, NSTSE, etc.). Our courses are considered to enhance aptitude, reasoning, logical thinking and problem solving skills of the students from the beginning and geared up them for upcoming academic challenges.
We nurture young brains with the supreme care and dedication in this competitive era. This is the grounds; we begin building up the concepts and knowledge from the very basic level, so that by the time the student of class 6th to 10th gets ready to appear and perform well in competitive, entrance and scholarship examinations and able to shine in this competitive world.
Students can discuss their individual problems in doubt removal session with the teachers. Regular tests are conducted to evaluate the performance of the students, understand their strengths, identify their weaknesses and guide them accordingly. We make parents aware of the performance of their ward.
The student has to be attentive of the most up-to-date examination patterns, put efforts in the right direction, and continuously assess himself against others to be convinced to succeed. Thus, ALLEN has taken the accountability of bringing the best mentors underneath one roof and builds a knowledge pool par excellence.


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Elevator Graphics in Plymouth
Ready to discuss your needs?
Raise your branding with custom elevator graphics for your building.
Elevator graphics allow you to reach visitors and employees with important marketing messages as they wait to change floors. Whether for wayfinding, promotional messaging or branding purposes, our custom vinyl graphics can be applied directly to the elevators doors or to surrounding walls to ensure your message gets noticed.
Specific elevator safety signage is required by several building, municipal, fire and ADA codes, so don't take chances by winging it. The pros at Signs Now keep up with all the regs and changes required in maintaining elevator certification and safety standards. Whether you have one passenger elevator or a dozens of freight elevators, we'll review your code requirements and provide a complete solution, including design, fabrication and installation. We can also develop elevator waiting area signage that instructs guests on the access and use of buttonless destination elevators, office locations and emergency stairs. Keep common areas safe but still functional during elevator maintenance and outages with safety signs, out-of-use temporary signage, pit warnings, equipment cautions, freight-only and any custom signs you need for your facility's elevators.
Signage Options:
- Multilingual Translations
- ADA-compliant Braille signage
- Permanent or Temporary Mountings
- Custom Vinyl Graphics
- Glass-enclosed Elevator Graphics
- Portable A-Frame Stand-up signs
- Maintenance Crew Signage
- Escalator Signs
- Door and Stairwell Signs
- Off-the-shelf and Custom Designs and Materials
Branded Signage
It may be a stretch to call them a captive audience, but elevator passengers often appreciate something to look at during their brief rides. Elevator signage not only keeps them safe, but also informed and entertained with custom graphics, art and posters in and around your elevators.
Extend the look and feel of your brand with colorful, semi-permanent graphics applied to elevator walls and waiting areas. Promote company news, events and morale with consistent messaging placards at the front of each elevator. Or get creative with fun floor stickers, rear wall murals or even can't-miss door stickers.
Signs Now Will Never Let You Down
Signs Now is your one-stop solution. Contact us to arrange a no-obligation introduction to our teams and services.
Call Signs Now Plymouth at (763) 746-0020 for more information.


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In order to join the celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHOT) we organized the talk "Equality of Rights and Opportunities for all, a pending task. Situation of the LGBTI community in Venezuela and the world" in Caracas in June 2016 by the Congresswoman Tamara Adrián, Deputy to the Venezuelan National Assembly.
Tamara is the first ever elected transgender congresswoman; she is also an activist of the LGBTI rights, the Representative of IDAHOT in Venezuela and an expert in the issue of sexual diversity.
She presented a background of their history and explained the not-easy legal and social situation of this community in Venezuela. However she said that from her political position now, she can talk on behalf of them and make the necessary changes in the legal field.
Together with the talk we created a contest called: 'Love Words for inclusion' and invited students and general public to participate by sending their letters on this topic. Read the winner letter here


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Animal Ear Cleaning in San Antonio
When it comes to your pet's ears, you really can't be too careful. Unlike humans, animals' ears are extremely sensitive and need to be cleaned regularly to ensure that they are not at risk of infection or damage. While some San Antonio pet owners may feel that this is a treatment that they can carry out themselves, the fact of the matter is that to ensure optimal results, a professional touch is needed. So, if you are based in San Antonio and feel that your cat, dog or rabbit could benefit from an advanced ear cleaning service, then why not call the experts you can count on. We promise that you won't be disappointed.
Leave it to the Professionals
The thing about cleaning your pet's ears is that it is extremely important but also a treatment that very few pets enjoy. Finding the right balance is often difficult for San Antonio pet owners to achieve and because of this many cats, dogs and rabbits in the city never receive the proper ear care that they need. The other issue with attempting to clean your pet's ears yourself is that if you do it incorrectly, you can cause serious and lasting damage to their hearing. With all these things considered, it makes sense that this treatment would be better served being left to a professional team that can deliver optimal results without endangering your pet's health in the process.
A Positive Approach
The certified team of pet professionals at Paws With Purpose Inc. know that to achieve optimal results for your pet's ears, we need to make this difficult process as enjoyable and engaging as possible. It is for this reason that we always bring treats to this treatment so as to ensure that your pet can associate it with something positive. For optimal results, our team always has a bag of delicious treats at the ready for when your pet cooperates.
The Perfect Set of Tools
When it comes to professional pet care, we are firm believers that failing to prepare properly is merely setting you up to fail. This is especially important when it comes to the tools used to clean your pet's ears. We ensure that our staff are equipped with the best and most up to date tools that ensure the ear cleaning treatment is as effective and painless as possible. The ear rinse solvent that we use is a very important part of the ear cleaning process. We use a trusted and reliable solvent that contains no traces of alcohol, steroids or toxic materials of any kind. This commitment to excellence will ensure your dog endures as little discomfort as possible during the treatment. In general, we recommend bringing your cat or rabbit for an ear cleaning once or twice a year. For dogs, we usually recommend two to three visits each year.


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New Accessories from Over
The new collection from Over covers almost all needed staple items for this upcoming Fall/Winter season, with a capsule full of dynamic graphic art and applique on t-shirts, sweatshirts and much more.
In this new season, Over also unveils some new products such as Jogger pants, long sleeve shirts and beanies. Among everything mentioned, the new collection will also feature some of their iconic accessories such as leather wallets and socks. The new release is due to drop in early November, and will be available online on their web shop, and their select retailers.
Without it's current name, concept and the thought of a wide audience consumption, the whole t-shirt story began it's life in 2005, through a small scope of people who would preorder the tees as they circled around in an email attach. As the people wore them, a desire from the larger crowd came along, which became a deciding factor for the project going public in 2012.


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This post goes out to all fellow Indians around the world with whom I wish to share a proudly INDIAN moment..
This is on the occasion of the commissioning of India's first home-built aircraft carrier IAC VIKRANT which was launched on the 12th of August 2013 – around the eve of 67th year of Indian Independence..
Below is a press release from the Indian Navy's website..
Mera Bharat Mahaan
Jai Hind
Happy Independence Day to all Indians around the world
Amidst chanting of hymns from the Atharva Veda, Vikrant, India's first aircraft carrier, decommissioned on 31 January 1997, was reborn today as Smt Elizabeth Antony, wife of the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony, christened India's first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) as 'Vikrant' meaning "courageous" or "victorious" in Sanskrit.In a colourful ceremony filled with traditional pomp and fervour at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Smt. Antony launched 'Vikrant' in the presence of Shri AK Antony, the Defence Minister, Shri GK Vasan, the Minister of Shipping, Admiral DK Joshi, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, the F-O-C in C Western Naval Command, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Commander-in-Chief Southern Naval Command, Commodore (Retd) K Subramaniam, Chairman and Managing Director, CSL, and other officials of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Shipping. In addition, a multitude of Naval officers, yard workers and a few members of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the manufacturers of the indigenous warship grade steel, were also present.
At the launch, marking the end of Phase- I of the project, the imposing ramp of the 37,500 tonne Short Take off but Assisted Recovery (STOBAR) Carrier boasted the indigenous design and build capabilities of the country. The ship has attained its designed length of about 260 m and is almost at its maximum breadth of 60 m. The main landing strip is ready. Over 80% of the structure, containing about 2300 compartments has been fabricated, over 75% has been erected, all the major machinery, such as the two LM2500 Gas Turbines developing a total power of 80 MW, the diesel alternators capable of producing about 24 MW and the main gear box have been fitted. Soon after Vikrant floated perfectly upright, she was launched out into the Ernakulam Channel in a pontoon assisted precision manoeuvre. Vikrant was moved out of the building dock to be positioned in the refitting dock where the next Phase of outfitting will be completed.
Describing the occasion as a 'momentous' one, Shri Antony said," Today's launching of the IAC marks just the first step in a long journey, but at the same time, an important one." He said it was indeed a proud moment for the country to witness our efforts at achieving self-reliance in the field of warship design and construction, as only a very few advanced countries in the world possess the capability to design and build aircraft carriers.
Shri Antony said we must continue the process of strengthening indigenous capability towards securing our maritime interests. 'Our Navy must continue to maintain high operational readiness at all times to ward off any likely misadventure against our national interests', he said.
The Defence Minister urged the Indian industry to participate whole-heartedly in our shipbuilding programmes and further consolidate our strength in this field.
Speaking on the occasion, the Shipping Minister Shri GK Vasan said by launching this great warship which is one of the most important ships for the Indian Navy, Indian shipbuilding has demonstrated its technical capability and expertise.
The design and construction of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier was sanctioned by the government in January 2003. The keel of the ship was laid on 28 Feb 2009 by Shri AK Antony. Vikrant marks a special feather in indigenous defence capabilities- this being the first ever aircraft carrier to be designed by the Directorate of Naval Design of the Indian Navy, the first warship to be built by Cochin Shipyard Limited and the first warship to be built entirely using indigenously produced steel. The construction of the ship is a truly pan Indian effort with active participation of private and public enterprises. The steel has come from SAIL's plants in Raurkela in Orissa, Bokaro in Jharkand and Bhilai in Chattisgarh; the Main Switch Board, steering gear and water tight hatches have been manufactured by Larsen and Toubro in its plants in Mumbai and Talegaon; the high capacity air conditioning and refrigeration systems have been manufactured in Kirloskar's plants in Pune; most pumps have been supplied by Best and Crompton, Chennai; Bharat Heavy Engineering Limited (BHEL) is supplying the Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS); the massive gear box is supplied by Elecon in Gujarat; the tens of thousands of electrical cable is supplied by Nicco industries in Kokatta; Kolkatta is also where the ship's anchor chain cable is manufactured.
Vikrant will be capable of operating an aircraft mix of the Russian MiG-29K and LCA (Navy) fighters being developed indigenously by HAL. Its helicopter component will include the Kamov 31 and the indigenously developed ALH helicopters. The ship's ability to sense and control a large air space around it will be enabled by modern C/D band Early Air Warning Radar, V/UHF Tactical Air Navigational and Direction Finding systems, jamming capabilities over the expected Electro Magnetic (EM) environment and Carrier Control Approach Radars to aid air operations. Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR SAM) systems with Multi-Function Radar (MFR) and Close- In Weapon System (CIWS) will form the protective suite of the ship. All weapon systems onboard the carrier will be integrated through an indigenous Combat Management System (CMS), being manufactured by Tata Power systems. The ship's integration with Navy's Network Centric Operations will provide force multiplication.
Design of this prestigious ship has been undertaken by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND)of the Indian Navy. Created in 1956 as the Corps of Naval Constructors, to realise the dream of being a builder's Navy through indigenisation, DND has successfully designed over 17 different classes of warships, to which around 90 ships have already been built within the country. The Delhi class destroyers, with a displacement of about 7000 tonnes, were the biggest warships designed by DND so far. Designing of the Vikrant, at almost 40,000 tonnes speaks of the maturing of the capabilities of DND and represents a feather in the cap of the designers particularly as it is the first aircraft carrier of its size in the world with some unique features such as Gas Turbine Propulsion.
The seamless hull and smooth lines of the ship stand as testimony to the high production standards of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). CSL, a mini Ratna PSU, has earned a reputation for quality construction and timely delivery. Till now, CSL had the distinction of building the largest ship in India i.e., 93,500 tonne Aframax tankers. However, this complex integrated construction project enabled by a Rs 200 Crores infrastructure augmentation plan involving large cranes, workshops and heavy duty machinery has seen the shipyard maturing into a competent warship builder.
Vikrant will now enter the second phase of construction which will see the outfitting of the ship, fitment of various weapons and sensors, integration of the gigantic propulsion system and integration of the aircraft complex (with the assistance of M/s NDB of Russia). The ship will then undergo extensive trials before she is handed over to the Indian Navy by around 2016-17.
About INS Vikrant .
It may be recalled that at the time of attaining our Independence, our visionary leaders saw the centrality of a powerful Navy and set us on the right course by envisaging an aircraft carrier centred Indian Navy. INS Vikrant, India's first aircraft carrier was acquired from Great Britain and commissioned on 04 Mar 1961. In its 36 years of glorious service INS Vikrant was at the centre of action in the 1971 operations for liberation of Bangladesh. Having seen many years of service as a CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off but Arrested Recovery) carrier working an angled deck and operating Sea Hawks, Alizes and Seakings, INS Vikrant was transformed into a STOVL carrier to operate Sea Harrier jump jets. INS Vikrant was decommissioned on 31 Jan 1997, after 36 years of glorious service under the Indian ensign. With the launch of IAC, 'Vikrant' the Indian Navy is well on its way to demonstrate its comfort with the practiced art of trapped landings and angled deck operations.


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An AXII 5.8GHz antenna with a flexible coax that neatly exit the side of the case, terminated by a mmcx connector.
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Updated January 3, 2023 at 9:12 PM ET
Ken Block, an action sports legend who co-founded DC Shoes and Hoonigan Racing, died on Monday at age 55 after a snowmobile accident.
Hoonigan first announced the death on social media. The Wasatch County Sheriff's Office later confirmedthat Block was riding a snowmobile near his home in Utah around 2 p.m. when he tried to navigate up a steep slope, causing the craft to fall back on top of him. Officials pronounced him dead at the scene.
"Ken was a visionary, a pioneer and an icon. And most importantly, a father and a husband," Hoonigan wrote in the statement. "He will be incredibly missed."
Block co-founded DC Shoes, a popular skateboarding and shoe brand, in 1994,building the brand into a global success through strategic sponsorships and athletes' endorsements.
After selling the company in 2004 for $87 million, he became better known as a rally car legend, winning 16 national titles in the sport from 2005 to 2014.
He also earned five medals in the X Games and became one of only four Americans to score points in the World Rally Championship.
Block was also competitive in motocross and skateboarding, but his true call to fame was documenting his automotive aeronautics on social media.
His YouTube page, which amassed over 1.95 million subscribers, credits itself for driving America's burgeoning appreciation for motorsports.
Block had shared pictures about the heavy snowfall at his Utah ranch on social media hours before the accident, writing, "hell yeah!" across an Instagram photo of snowmobiles.
This is how some mornings at my ranch in Utah look this time of year – freshly coated with snow! Luckily we have the Ski-doo sleds, @CanAm Mavericks (one on tracks!) and Defender, and the Kubota machinery to dig us out and keep the property maintained. pic.twitter.com/LXJG1A6yPr
— Ken Block (@kblock43) December 29, 2022
Tributes to the icon were pouring in across his platforms on Tuesday morning.
"Ken was truly an idol and inspiration for me, getting me into rally. [...] I've never been hit so hard by someone's passing," wrote Facebook user Troy Dawson.
Dave Smith, a YouTube commenter wrote, "I never understood the draw to extreme sports until watching one of his videos. HE was the draw."
Block's legend is likely to live on through the rally racing success of his family. His 16-year-old daughter, Lia, has been competing for Hoonigan racing since age 11 and his wife, Lucy,made her all-wheel-drive rally debut this year.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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From towering high rise condo buildings to secluded and picturesque estate homes in gated communities, Houston real estate offers something for nearly every taste and budget.
Some of the most expensive real estate can be found throughout River Oaks and Memorial, although there are a number of pricey communities and properties in the Uptown/Galleria section, the Inner Loop and West Houston.
The median appraisal values for some of Houstons most upscale neighborhoods ranges from more than $1 million to nearly $4 million.
River Oaks Tall Timber Median home price $3,711,446
River Oaks Country Club Estates Median home price $3,049,000
Rivercrest Median home price $2,751,753
Stablewood Estates Median home price $2,112,115
Sherwood Forest Median home price $2,080,558
Memorial Drive Manor Median home price $1,380,162
River Oaks Median home price $1,336,472
River Oaks
When it comes to Houston luxury real estate, River Oaks still reigns supreme. In fact, it is the most exclusive residential area in Houston. It is not uncommon to find large estate homes, complete with expansive, manicured lawns and maids quarters. Ideally located inside Loop 610, River Oaks features about 1,100 properties and some of the wealthiest residents of Houston. Some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the community of River Oaks are River Oaks Country Club Estates and River Oaks Tall Timber.
River Oaks, in addition to its exclusive Houston real estate options, is home to a number of upscale restaurants and shops. The deed restrictions of River Oaks are very strict, thereby eliminating much of the commercial construction found throughout other communities in Houston. The River Oaks Homeowners Association ensures that properties in this exclusive community meet certain standards.
Rivercrest Estates
Located in West Houston, Rivercrest Estates features Houston real estate that is upscale and quite impressive, as each home site generally sits on more than two acres of land.
Stablewood Estates
Stablewood Estates is an exclusive, master-planned community, which is located just outside Loop 610 at Memorial Drive and Post Oak Lane. Residents of Stablewood Estates enjoy a close proximity to Memorial Park, as well as Houstons Uptown/Galleria section. Many residents of Stablewood work in Houstons downtown business district and the Texas Medical Center.
The architectural integrity of the homes of Stablewood Estates is secured through Stablewoods strict deed restrictions. With just 137 lots, Stablewoods value stands at nearly $221 million, which equates to the highest per-square-foot-value in the Houston residential market.
Stablewood Estates is protected by a 24-hour manned entrance gate, and children of this community attend the highly acclaimed Spring Branch Independent School District.
Houston real estate in Stablewood Estates is both luxurious and highly secluded, as most homes enjoy large lots and exquisite landscaping.


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Wondering how things are progressing in the Modern June and Oilcloth Addict studio?
Well... It's coming along, slowly but surely! As of yesterday we have a wonderful Swiss cheese ceiling that reminds me of a Dr. Who set. I am happy that we will soon have some very good lighting in the near future.
I've gone back and blogged about the reno's progress over at the Modern June blog.
As you can see things are not at all ready for us to open back up. Oh how I wish I could give an exact day-- it really kills me not knowing. I asked the contractor to be out of the studio by the end of November but we shall see if that is really possible. After all, there is still a major holiday between now that then and things are what they are.
Please sign up for our newsletter so are the first to know when we are back open! See the right hand sidebar for the sing up app, it's up on the top of the blog. ---->


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Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation: Runaway stars are massive stars traveling rapidly through interstellar space. Like a ship plowing through the interstellar medium, runaway star HD 77581 has produced this graceful arcing bow wave or "bow shock" - compressing the gaseous material in its path. Located near the centre of this European Southern Observatory photograph, HD 77581 itself is so bright that it saturates the sensitive camera and produces the spiky cross shape. This star is over 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Vela, and appears to move at over 50 miles per second. What force could set this star in motion? A clue to the answer may lie in its optically invisible companion star, an X-ray bright pulsar known as Vela X-1. This pulsar is clearly the remnant of a supernova explosion ... which seems to have given this massive star and its companion a mighty kick!
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.:
Jay Norris.
Specific rights apply.
A service of:
Michigan Tech. U.


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Many narratives about "GMOs" leave out the people side, presenting it instead as some faceless, monolithic phenomenon devoid of human inspiration, intention and influence. Thats not how it happened. Other narratives about "GMOs" demonize those who made biotech crops a reality. Such portrayals are neither fair or accurate. The real stories of these people matter, because trust in a technology is greatly influenced by what people believe about those behind it.
That is why I'd like to write about what I have observed about these real and trust-worthypeople over the years. I'll start with the period 1976-1982.
It Started On "The Farm"
Stanford has the nickname, "the farm" but its no Ag School! |
I first heard of genetic engineering in 1976 while a senior at Stanford University in a graduate level biochemistry class. The professors lecturing on the exciting new science of molecular biology were Paul Berg, Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer. These basic researchers were doing purely lab work with no commercial motivation, but in the process, they ended up inventing "recombinant DNA technology." At the point of my introduction, the science was still young (key experiments started in 1971). The Stanford researchers discovered the enzymatic "tools" to cut and paste genes and other key pieces of DNA. From the beginning it was clear that these discoveries had a huge range of potential applications in basic research, medicine, pharmaceuticals, bio-materials and bio-processing. It also had potential for agriculture. It was an exciting time, but it took many years for all this to unfold in practical applications. Berg later received the Nobel Prize for his work and the patents that came from the work of Cohen and Boyer became some of the most widely licensed in history (they became a huge source of research dollars for Stanford). Genetic engineering, GMO if you will, started in the labs of people who were focused on academic research.
Safety First
It is significant to note that these and other early genetic engineering researchers took special precautions from the very beginning to make sure that they were not creating something in their labs which could be dangerous. Paul Berg was instrumental in organizing the 1975 Asilomar Conference, a gathering of scientists designed to carefully consider all the ramifications of this new science of "genetic engineering." The outcome of that conference helped guide the NIH (National Institutes of Health) to set guidelines for lab safety regarding biotechnology. The original rules were severely restrictive, and were only relaxed a bit after much experience and increased understanding. I'd be interested whether any of my readers are aware of other technologies for which such precautions were taken at such an early a stage? This standard of thoughtfully trying to anticipate any risks or issues carried forward as the science developed.
Off To Davis To Become An Aggie
Many biology students from my generation went on to pursue the various applications of genetic engineering. Although I was fascinated by what I had learned about this basic science, I was interested in a much more applied science called Plant Pathology - the study of diseases of plants. So, in 1977 I started graduate work at the University of California, Davis - an actual ag school. My research was field oriented and I got my first exposure to farming and farmers. However, one aspect of my project involved lab work, and the particular equipment I needed was in the adjoining labs of Dr. Robert Shepherd and Dr. Tsune Kosuge. Both labs worked on topics which were of great importance to the brand new science of plant genetic engineering. So, my education about biotech continued.
My lab-mates at Davis were pursing very basic research needed to answer two key questions: "How can we get new genes into the nucleus of a plant cell?" and "How will we get those genes to express" - to be turned on in the cells of the plant as desired?
A Virus Disease of...Cauliflower?
My little bit of bench space was in Shepherd's lab which worked on virus diseases including Turnip Mosaic and Garlic Mosaic Virus (the smell of the later often permeated the lab as samples were ground up for analysis). The lab was also one of a few around the world that worked on CaMV (Cauliflower Mosaic Virus). That is a rather minor disease, but it was of interest because it is a DNA plant virus while most plant viruses are RNA viruses. Several of my lab mates were "sequencing" that virus, meaning that they were figuring out the pattern of A,T,G and C bases in its genetic code. The methods they used are humorously crude by modern standards and it took them more than a year to get the sequence - something that would probably take less than a day with modern equipment. In any case, there was a hope that once the genetic code of CaMV was understood, it might be possible to use that virus as a way to move a new, desired gene into a plant. After all, the virus manages to do that for its own purposes. That goal never materialized because the virus protein capsule was too small to "package" a useful gene, but CaMV turned out to be important for a different reason.
You can't fit much DNA in these little virus particles |
A gene "promoter" is a part of the DNA sequence that sits in front of a gene and tells tells cells how and when to express that gene - usually meaning to have the cell make the protein for which it codes. It turned out that a promoter from CaMV called "35S" eventually became the most widely used promoter for transgenic crops of the first generation - both in research and commercial use. At the time, however, the team in the Shepherd lab was just doing basic research, mainly with the hope of getting out some good publications. 35S was actually first described and patented by a group at Rockefeller University.
Nature's Genetic Engineer
The neighboring lab (Dr. Kosuge's) also had equipment I needed. The graduate students, technicians and post-docs there all worked on a soil microbe called Agrobacterium tumifaciens which causes a disease of many plants called "Crown Gall." Agrobacterium is nature's "genetic engineer." When it gets into a plant injury it is able to inject a circular piece of its DNA (a plasmid) into the exposed cells. Then, the genes from the bacterium start functioning in the plant. The bacterium "engineers" the plant to provide itself with both a protective home and an exclusive food supply based on two unique amino acids only it can use.
Many labs were trying to figure out the details of how Agrobacterium does that, and Kosuge's group was one of them. The goal was to "disarm" that "Ti Plasmid" so that it would no longer make the plant sick, but maintain its natural function of inserting genes. Only by understanding the detailed regions of the Ti plasmid would it be possible to only insert desirable genes. Other approaches were being tried in other labs. Ultimately, a tamed version of Nature's genetic engineer became the most desirable way to put new traits into a plant. The researchers in Kosuge's lab were all just making small contributions to that ultimate development. Many labs around the world were working on the same thing.
The atmosphere in both of these labs was one of excitement about a distant goal of making a positive contribution to the future food supply, but it was also a group of people excited about being on the cutting edge of a field of science. Commercial applications were a distant concept at that point. As with those at Stanford, these researchers were concerned about making sure their work was safe. Dr. Kosuge was instrumental in convening a major conference of "Risk Assessment in Biotechnology" that was held in Davis in 1988 and which I'll describe later. Most of the people coming out of these labs went on to the sort of academic jobs all of us were shooting for at the time, but some moved on into the next chapter of plant biotechnology which began in the very early 1980s - the small, start-up companies. I hope to write about that phase sometime soon.
You are welcome to comment here and/or to write me at email@example.com
You are welcome to comment here and/or to write me at firstname.lastname@example.com
Asilomar State Beach image from Wikipedia
UC Davis water tower image from the UC Davis website
Agrobacterium graphic from Nature
Grape crown gall image from Bill Moller of UC Davis (he was one of my advisors there)


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You lost me at inside!
Stories like these do make me feel a little bit weak willed.
"they'd probably call me a sissy if I broke out a Razor scooter and started scooting around Seattle."
If they don't, I will. Pointing and laughing. Yup.
BTW, is the Walden tag a nod to Doonesbury. =)


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Nov. 16, 2017
Fourteen signs your daughter may have ADHD
When asked to describe a typical child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), most people would describe a young boy who climbs on things, is impatient and does not do what he is told. Few people would describe a bubbly young girl with lots of friends, who works hard to get good grades.
It may be, however, that the girl does experience ADHD symptoms that interfere with her daily life — and that these symptoms are overlooked by the adults around her.
Undiagnosed ADHD has long-term consequences including an increased likelihood of engaging in risky behaviours — such as unprotected sex and substance use — as well as academic underachievement and low self-esteem. Perhaps most alarmingly, girls who struggle with ADHD for a long period of time can suffer from mental health problems.
As a psychologist in clinical practice, I used to see many older girls and adult women with ADHD who had already been prescribed medication to treat anxiety and depression. Early diagnosis then is vital.
Assessment scales use data from boys
Individuals with ADHD exhibit three main clusters of symptoms: hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention. Although three times as many boys are diagnosed with ADHD in childhood than girls, the diagnostic rates in adults are more equally divided between males and females. This suggests girls go unnoticed when they are younger.
As a disorder traditionally seen as affecting males, and with males referred more often for a diagnosis, research to assess ADHD has been based on samples largely consisting of boys. It has been argued that the rating scales developed to assess ADHD have been based on the behaviours observed in the mainly male research samples.
ADHD can look different in girls than boys. A boy who is hyperactive might have trouble sitting in his seat in the classroom — so he sits with one knee on the seat and one foot on the floor. It is likely, given his constant shifting and unequal balance on the seat, that the back legs of the chair will eventually lift up and the chair pitch forward causing the boy to fall to the floor.
In contrast, a hyperactive girl may be out of her seat but have taken on the role of classroom helper, wandering around to different desks. A teacher completing a rating scale might rate the boy higher on hyperactive questions than the girl because the second example is not seen as disruptive. Thus, girls do not score as high as boys on these scales and are underrepresented because they do not meet criteria for a diagnosis.
Not only do symptoms of ADHD look different in boys but boys also have a tendency to be more hyperactive and impulsive than girls. Because hyperactive and impulsive behaviours are more disruptive in the classroom, teachers are more likely to notice boys as a problem and refer them for attention challenges.
Lastly, symptoms of ADHD in girls are sometimes masked because they work hard to meet adult expectations. Without meaning to, adults have different expectations of girls than boys. In my clinical experience, adults expect girls to be tidy and organized, achieve good grades and to be easygoing. In turn, girls are more likely to want to obey social norms and not cause trouble. They will work extra hard to achieve success by staying up late to finish homework or tidying their rooms when asked.
Sometimes, when adults encounter girls who have difficulty meeting their expectations but the girls are agreeable, they excuse the behaviours by describing the girls as "ditzy," "dramatic" or "artsy."
Signs that your daughter might have ADHD
There are many symptoms of ADHD shared by both boys and girls. The following are examples of how they can manifest in girls:
Homework takes longer than it should. She forgets about it or is distracted by surfing the internet or texting her friends and ends up staying up late the night before an assignment is due to finish it.
She is an inefficient student. While she appears to study for tests, her performance does not seem to match the time spent studying.
She has weak reading comprehension. She can get facts from a text but does not make links between the ideas she reads. She misses details in instructions on assignments and tests.
She struggles with friendships because she does not read social cues or follow conversations. Peers start to reject and isolate her or make fun of her.
She forgets things she needs (e.g. dance shoes or soccer cleats). This is a classic sign but agreeable girls with ADHD will often have friends or adults who compensate for them (for example sharing a pen because she doesn't have one).
She misplaces her things regularly (for example her phone, keys or bank card).
She talks, and talks and talks.
She does not run and climb about like boys but is the classroom helper and is social and chatty in class.
She has lots of friends because she is fun to be around but when she tries to organize activities she seems anxious and indecisive. Her friends help her make decisions, find her things and keep her organized.
She has great ideas and wants to start acting on them right away but does not finish projects or follow through.
She is chronically late or is not ready when she needs to be.
She channels hyperactivity by being involved in many extracurricular activities like swimming, school clubs and soccer.
She does not seem to learn from consequences.
She has wide swings in mood. One moment she is on top of the world and the next moment she is crushed because of a casual comment that is taken as harsh criticism.
If you think your daughter might have ADHD, you should consult with a psychologist or pediatrician who is familiar with ADHD and can provide an in-depth assessment


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Dave Lombardo was fired from Slayer in a joint band decision after a disagreement over contract details, frontman Tom Araya has revealed.
Lombardo left the band earlier this year, being replaced first by Jon Dette and then Paul Bostaph.
Araya told Steppin' Out: "Dave had been jamming with us for a while as a working member of the band, but he wasn't a partner. You have to have agreements so nobody feels cheated. We had ongoing issues, and finally he put us in a position where we had to find someone to replace him.
"He wasn't happy so he decided to have his Facebook rant, and told the world about things that are legally binding and private. Kerry, Jeff and I got on the phone and made a collective decision: we let Dave go and gave Paul a call."
Since his departure from Slayer Lombardo has been working with his side project, Philm. The band had been due for a UK show this August, but cancelled the gig due to unforeseen circumstances.


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By Sarah Brenner, JD
Director of Retirement Education
Follow Us on Twitter: @theslottreport
You have likely heard of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and you may even understand the basics of how an HSA works. These accounts are really not too complicated. If you have a qualifying high deductible health plan, you may contribute to an HSA. Then, you can take tax-free distributions to pay for qualified medical expenses.
Beyond these basics, there are many advantages that an HSA can offer that many people are not aware of. Here is a list of the surprising benefits that you get with an HSA.
Qualified medical expenses include more than just doctor bills. Qualified medical expenses include those that would generally qualify for the medical expense deduction under the Tax Code. This means you can take a tax-free distribution from your HSA to pay not only medical expenses like doctor and hospital bills, but also medical supplies, prescription copayments, dental care, vision services, and even chiropractic expenses.
Your family can benefit too. You can take tax-free distributions from your HSA to pay for your spouse or child's medical expenses, even if they are not covered by your high deductible health insurance plan.
Reimburse yourself years later. You can take a tax and penalty-free distribution from your HSA in 2023 to pay for medical expenses in a previous year, as long as the expenses were incurred after you established your HSA. That means you do not have to make an HSA withdrawal every time you have a medical expense. You can pay that expense out of your pocket and let your account grow, or decide to reimburse yourself in a later tax year.
HSAs can help even after contributions have stopped. Even if you no longer have a high deductible health plan and you are no longer contributing to your HSA, you can keep the HSA and continue to take tax-free distributions from it to pay for your qualified medical expenses for you, your spouse, and your dependents. However, you cannot contribute to an HSA once you are enrolled in Medicare. But you can keep your existing HSA and still take tax-free distributions for qualified medical expenses.
Gain new benefits in retirement. When you reach age 65, you also gain some new benefits with your HSA. Generally, insurance premiums are not considered qualified medical expenses. However, after age 65 and enrollment in Medicare, certain insurance premiums can be paid tax-free with HSA distributions. You can take tax-free distributions from your HSA to pay for Medicare premiums, excluding Medigap.
Benefits for your spouse. If your HSA beneficiary is your spouse, after your death, she can maintain the HSA in her own name and can continue to access the funds. Distributions for qualified medical expenses will be tax free just as they would have been to you.


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In March, a Frontier Airlines flight was headed from Phoenix to Las Vegas when a female passenger stopped breathing. The flight attendant yelled in the cabin for help.
A passenger who was trained as a wilderness first responder, Seth Coley, jumped into action and found the woman was unresponsive and had a weak pulse. Coley dug through the plane's medical kit but couldn't find an oropharyngeal airway, a tool that was supposed to be there and that he needed to help the woman breathe. Instead, he cleared the airway by manipulating her neck.
Afterward, Coley sent a message to Denver-based Frontier Airlines via an online customer service form: "I saved somebody's life on one of your flights," he wrote. "I would like to speak about the medical kit you guys have on your flights. You are missing some very valuable and simple things. She almost died."
Americans are flying at levels reaching pre-pandemic numbers. While covid-19 ushered in new health and cleaning protocols designed to make airplane travel safer, incidents like Coley's raise questions about airlines' readiness for medical emergencies because of incomplete or insufficient medical kits and the training of flight crews, who often rely on other passengers in emergencies.
Frontier did not respond to KHN's requests for comment about that incident or its emergency kits. But Coley's experience illustrates the risks travelers take every time they board a flight. For every 20,000 passengers who take a flight on a U.S.-based airline, there is one medical event — defined as any health-related incident, not only emergencies — according to estimates from airplane medical services company MedAire.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial aircraft to carry at least one sealed emergency medical kit containing a minimum of 25 specified instruments and medications, plus first-aid kits and automated external defibrillators. But the FAA does not track data on the use of those kits during in-flight medical emergencies. Instead, the agency leaves it to the airlines to inspect the kits and replace them if the seals are broken.
"Ensuring complete, sealed emergency medical kits are present is part of the cabin crew's preflight inspection," FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor said in a statement.
But, as Coley and other passengers who have responded to an in-flight emergency have found out, an item required in a medical kit can sometimes be missing. Some items the FAA doesn't require, such as the overdose reversal drug naloxone, are carried voluntarily by some airlines. The agency has issued guidance recommending items to add to the kits, but they are not yet mandated.
Gregor said the FAA investigates all reports of issues with medical kits and ensures any concerns are addressed. He did not respond to a KHN request for details on the number of reports investigated, their outcomes, or whether the emergencies described in this article were among those investigated.
In June, Boston surgeon Dr. Andrea Merrill was aboard a Delta Air Lines flight when she assisted in a medical emergency and found the kit fell short of what she needed.
It needs "a glucometer, epi pen, and automatic blood pressure cuffs — it's impossible to hear with a disposable stethoscope in the air," Merrill tweeted to Delta after the incident. "Please improve this for passenger safety!"
After Merrill's tweet went viral, Delta followed up with her, saying it would switch to automatic blood pressure cuffs and "real" stethoscopes, as well as consider glucometers at gates. Merrill declined an interview request.
KHN asked U.S. airlines to detail their medical emergency protocols and the contents of their medical kits. Seven responded with limited information: Alaska, Allegiant, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Sun Country, and United. All said that their kits meet or exceed FAA requirements and that they train their staff to respond to medical emergencies. Many airlines also contract with a MedAire service called MedLink that connects flight crews with a medical professional on the ground in an in-flight emergency.
Allegiant officials said passengers with medical conditions should not assume their planes will have everything they need in an emergency. "Although our crews are trained to respond to a wide array of unplanned medical emergencies, we want to remind readers who have anticipated medical needs to bring their own medical supplies in carry-on luggage and not rely on aircraft emergency equipment," Allegiant spokesperson Andrew Porrello said in a statement.
Delta, along with American, Frontier, and Spirit, did not respond to requests for comment. A 2019 article on the Delta website said its flight attendants are given training in first aid and CPR. Additionally, Delta wrote that its medical equipment exceeds FAA requirements. The airline mentioned it uses STAT-MD, a service that lets flight crews consult with trained personnel at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The FAA requires flight attendants to receive specific medical training, but medical professionals who have intervened as passengers during an in-flight emergency said the crew is not always quick to respond.
"Passengers believe that there are probably more safeguards in place than there actually are," said Dr. Comilla Sasson, a Denver-area emergency physician and associate clinical professor at the University of Colorado.
Sasson was on a United Airlines flight in 2018 when a passenger passed out. When she volunteered to help, crew members asked for proof that she was a doctor as she mobilized to check the passenger's vital signs. Sasson questioned the extent to which crew members are trained to help in medical emergencies, saying other health care providers have told her about their own experiences of aiding a passenger in need while the flight personnel stood aside.
"It's interesting to me that the airlines really kind of depend on the kindness of strangers in a lot of ways, much more so than I would think," Sasson said.
The goodwill of a fellow passenger is something Bay Area resident Meera Mani is thankful for after a 2011 experience. She was on a United flight from Toronto to San Francisco when her now-deceased father, then in his 80s, began showing concerning symptoms: The right side of his face and arm drooped. Worried her dad was having a stroke, Mani shouted for help but was frustrated by flight attendants' slow response.
"And then finally, I said: 'Is there a doctor on the flight?'" Mani recounted.
There was. The doctor used a defibrillator to stabilize her father.
"It was very clear to me that the [flight] staff were completely flummoxed," Mani said. "They had the equipment, they took it out, they gave it to him, but the doctor took care of it."
United helped organize an ambulance to meet Mani and her father on the ground at the San Francisco airport and later called to see if her dad was OK. He ended up being diagnosed with a condition that could lead to fainting.
MedAire, which runs the MedLink consulting service, said it covers around 70% of the U.S. market but declined to specify airlines. Dr. Paulo Alves, MedAire's global medical director of aviation health, said 98% of medical events are managed on board and are non-life-threatening, while 2% are serious cases that might divert a flight.
Alves said his company also provides medical consultations before passengers board a flight.
"An airplane — although I love aviation — is never the best place for you to have a medical event," Alves said. "The first line of prevention is actually preflight."
Alves also defended the contents of airlines' medical kits. The medically trained volunteers who step in to help fellow passengers in an emergency may expect resources available in a hospital, but "the airplane is not a hospital. You cannot carry everything," he said.
Mani said she would like to see airlines disclose which medical emergencies they're trained to address — potentially on flight safety cards. Sasson said it would be helpful if airlines clearly shared information about what medical supplies are available on board.
"I think the general public doesn't realize how much of a crapshoot it is when they're up in the air that somebody with some sort of medical training will know what to do, if something were to happen," Sasson said.


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Old Bones Never Die by Lesley A. Diehl
Old Bones Never Die (Eve Appel Mystery)
Series: Eve Appel Mystery (Book 5)
Publisher: Camel Press (March 15, 2017)
Paperback: 272 pages
About The Author –Synopsis
Just before Walter Egret is killed in a hit-and-run, he phoned his half-brother Sammy to report that he'd unearthed their missing father's pocket watch, along with a pile of human bones. The project is put on hold until it can be determined if the site is an Indian burial ground. Then the bones disappear.Now Sammy and his brother's three orphaned children want Eve Appel to go pro, applying her innate snoopiness to the trade of private investigator.Eve already has her hands full with her two consignment stores. What is she going to do? Sammy and Walter are Miccosukee Indians, and Walter was employed as a backhoe operator on a construction site for a sportsmen's resort. Was Walter's death murder or an accident? If the bones belong to Sammy's father, how did they get there? Delving into these mysteries, Eve is aided by her usual crew of friends and family. This adventure will not only up the stakes for Eve as an investigator, but it will also open her eyes to life possibilities she never imagined.
Lesley retired from her life as a professor of psychology and reclaimed her country roots by moving to a small cottage in the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York. In the winter she migrates to old Florida—cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. Back north, the shy ghost inhabiting the cottage serves as her literary muse. When not writing, she gardens, cooks and renovates the 1874 cottage with the help of her husband, two cats and, of course, Fred the ghost, who gives artistic direction to their work.
She is the author of a number of mystery series (Microbrewing Series, Big Lake Mystery Series, Eve Appel Mystery Series and the Laura Murphy Mysteries), a standalone mystery (Angel Sleuth) and numerous short stories.
Visit her on her website: www.lesleyadiehl.com
Blog: www.lesleyadiehl.com/blog
Twitter: @lesleydiehl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesley.diehl.1
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text:
Cat's face and paws are used as a part of Japanese traditional KARAKUSA (swirl patten) design in this mug. Can you spot them? All of cat coffee mugs are designed with love by Nyagomidokoro. Whether you're drinking your morning coffee, evening tea, or something in between – this mug's for cat lover! It's sturdy and glossy with a vivid print that'll withstand the microwave and dishwasher. Design printed on both sides of the mug – so everyone can see how cute it is no matter which hand you're holding it in!
- 11oz
- Ceramic
- Color rim, inside and handle
- Dishwasher and microwave safe
- White and glossy
- Printed and shipped directly from print supplier in the US or in Europe
- Unfortunately, we don't offer any gift wrapping.
- Colors may vary slightly between online viewing and the actual printed product.
- Mugs are made to order and ship in 3 – 5 days after purchase. This item will be ship directly from US print supplier.
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Products eligible for free shipping (mugs, etc) are made to order. Since the production begins straight after receiving the order, we can't accept cancellation.


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Hajime no Ippo
Hajime no Ippo summary:
Hajime no Ippo manga is japanese manga written by George Morikawa
Several bullies directed by Umezawa got into the practice of picking on him, because he kept to himself. One day, he was given a somewhat serious beating by these bullies. A middleweight professional fighter who was passing by to treat his wounds and took the wounded Ippo to the Kamogawa Gym,owned by retired fighter Genji Kamogawa, stopped the bullies. After Ippo woke to the sounds of fighters training, the fighter who saved him, Mamoru Takamura, strove to cheer upward Ippo by letting him vent his frustrations on a sandbag. It was then that they had their first peek into Ippo's gift for boxing.Main char in Hajime no Ippo manga
Next event, Ippo gave lots of idea to the scenario and determined he want to start a job as a professional fighter. He gets verbally reprimanded when he shares this message to Mamoru Takamura: Takamura believed professional boxing was being taken by Ippo too softly. Nevertheless, Takamura believed he could not instantaneously deny Ippo, particularly since his accomplishment of hitting the sandbag considerably more difficult than anybody else in the fitness center (except for Takamura).
Nevertheless, following a week of training that is demanding, entailing hours that are nightly, Ippo manages the technique in the nick of time. Ippo is invited by Takamura back.Hajime no Ippo manga
When they got back to the fitness center, Takamura, wasn't in any way impressed by the dearth of fighting spirit of Makunouchi, and for that reason, challenged Genji Kamogawa, the trainer to possess a training spar against an associate of the fitness center. Nevertheless, Kamogawa determines to give a serious challenge to Ippo and tells him to spar with Miyata, who's 16, the same age as Ippo. Miyata is called a boxing prodigy and is among the future expectations of Kamogawa health club. Takamura gets incredibly stressed with this particular prospect, as Miyata ability is far over the four-rounder professional fighter. Trainer Kamogawa determines he has great fighting awareness and nature and decides to coach him to finally get to be the Japanese winner having a world position while Miyata became the OPBF (Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation) Champion. Both are likely to reach full of the ranks and, eventually, fight with each other.Hajime no Ippo Manga transform Anime
Ippo has a custom of giving him the opportunity for more information about their histories, running into his adversaries before matches as well as sympathize together. Ippo is an exceptionally afraid and humble man who never supposes he is not weak enough. Courage is instead drawn by him from understanding that he's in a position to stand up to it and seeing the effectiveness of his adversary. His friendly competition with Miyata and ippo is the primary draw in the first portion of the show. That later changes to the path of Ippo toward the world championship and eventually the Japanese Featherweight Championship. Along how the crowd is given glimpses to the other characters' histories, relationships to others motivations, and present boxing trials. The series is rounded out by a brilliant cast of supporting characters and adversaries along with side stories concerning their courses.
You may also like:KingdomGintama mangaToriko manga
Title | Date Added |
Hajime no Ippo 1463 | 16 Jul 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1462 | 2 Jul 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1461 | 25 Jun 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1460 | 18 Jun 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1459 | 11 Jun 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1458 | 4 Jun 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1457 | 28 May 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1456 | 16 May 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1455 | 7 May 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1454 | 23 Apr 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1453 | 2 Apr 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1452 | 18 Mar 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1451 | 12 Mar 2024 |
HAJIME NO IPPO 1450 | 5 Mar 2024 |
HAJIME NO IPPO 1449 | 20 Feb 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1448 | 13 Feb 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1447 | 30 Jan 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1446 | 23 Jan 2024 |
Hajime no Ippo 1445 | 16 Jan 2024 |
HAJIME NO IPPO 1444 | 26 Dec 2023 |


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Stirner's Critics
translated by Wolfi Landstreicher
With an introduction by Jason McQuinn.
Max Stirner's 1844 masterwork, Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum (The Unique and Its Property), is one of the most subversive, radical and extreme texts in all of history. It can also be described as one of the most misread, misinterpreted and misunderstood books in the history of modern Western thought. This should not be unexpected. Subversive, radical and extreme texts will always obtain hostile receptions from those targeted by their critiques, whether the critiques are accurate and justified or not.
The book is rather simply – though very cleverly – written with very little use of technical terminology. And Stirner goes out of his way in an attempt to use common language wherever possible, though he often does so very creatively and idiosyncratically. It is also a fairly demanding text for anyone (including nearly every contemporary reader) who is unfamiliar with the cultural background within which it was conceived, written and published. It is possible for it to be read and appreciated without knowledge of this background, however the prospect of adequate understanding – not only of the central points but also their extensive implications – definitely recedes the less a reader is familiar with topics like nominalism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, analytical and dialectical logic, and critiques of religion, ontology, epistemology, ideology and language that were current in Stirner's day.
From the moment Stirner's text first appeared, it directly and fundamentally challenged every religion, philosophy and ideology. It didn't just politely challenge every existing historical religion, philosophy and ideology, which would already have been enough to have made its author many enemies. It also blatantly and scathingly challenged every existing contemporary religion, philosophy and ideology of the day. This, unsurprisingly, made its author persona non grata for all theologians, philosophers and ideologists busily working to perfect or put into practice their grand ideas and theories.
Thus the stage was set for over a century and a half of (most often successful, because most often unopposed) mystification of Stirner's intentions by his many critics from 1844 through the present. Even the great majority of self-proclaimed proponents of Stirner's work too often tended to add to the mystification through their own misunderstandings and unself-critical oversimplifications.
from the introduction
Publisher: LBC Books
Buy: January 2013
148 pages, Digest
Purchase at Little Black Cart