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BACKGROUND: The recent death of Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov has led his successor Shavkat Mirziyoyev to draw back from some of Karimov's most contentious domestic and regional policies while retaining the foreign policy of balancing relations with outside powers. While Uzbekistan is not going to transform itself magically overnight into a democracy, it has moderated the Karimov-era tensions with all of its neighbors and has already released some prisoners whose incarceration violated human rights. The government is now even talking of currency liberalization, which has caused optimism amongst regime critics, and is also reorganizing the political structure of the state. Undoubtedly, U.S. and other foreign firms will benefit from this major policy change if it is implemented.
Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev's announcement of reducing his powers in favor of the legislative branch and the government also opens for a freer play of political and economic forces from which the U.S. could benefit by its superior economic clout and by Kazakh elites' understanding that Washington's presence balances that of Moscow and Beijing.
Both Kazakhstan's and Uzbekistan's liberalizing and tension-reduction policies also play to the strongest cards of the U.S. in the great power competition for influence in and over Central Asia – namely its willingness to continue fighting for security and stability in Afghanistan, as well as the potential for much greater use of U.S. economic power. The U.S. army and NATO are still engaged in fighting the Taliban and the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Afghanistan, which both pose threats to Central Asian states. Moreover, all Central Asian states crave U.S. business, trade, and investment support in order to allow them to balance between the hegemonic inclinations that Beijing and Moscow constantly display towards them. An increased U.S. presence would be welcomed in Central Asia, and with it could come private initiatives to further reform in both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which could also ameliorate human and civil rights deficits in both countries and by example among their neighbors
Moreover, if the U.S. were to disengage completely from Afghanistan, great power rivalry would probably reemerge quite rapidly. Russia is clearly playing a double game in Afghanistan, ostensibly supporting the government but also visibly building ties with the Taliban and Iran. Russia, China, and Pakistan are advocating peace talks but, as reported by U.S. commanders, Moscow and Tehran are also promoting the Taliban. Thus Russia supports the Taliban against ISIS as part of a future government in Afghanistan that would leave a divided country open to Russian (and presumably Chinese) influence while curtailing the U.S. presence.
While these tactics hardly benefit either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, not to mention the smaller Central Asian states, they comport with Russia's main goals, namely to check the growth of ISIS while retaining its influence in Central Asia.
China will also join with Russia to curtail U.S. influence in Central Asia, including Afghanistan. But China is also clearly undertaking a more tangible military and security presence in Central Asia, no doubt aware of Russia's double game while also seeking to protect its huge regional investments.
IMPLICATIONS: Given these great power machinations, the Trump Administration should support the new Uzbek administration's efforts to decompress its political system and Nazarbayev's reforms. By demonstrating this support by tangible economic and military means – providing Central Asian governments with training and access to weapons to defend themselves against terrorism and insurgency (and Russian threats) and facilitating U.S. investment by private firms in Central Asia, the U.S. should use that influence to obtain progress on a liberalized economic climate and improvement in human rights conditions.
Previously, the U.S. has struggled to compete with China given the conditions the U.S. attaches to investments and the unpropitious investment climate in Central Asia due to local governments' rent-seeking policies and restrictions on trade and investment. It is unlikely that the Trump Administration will follow the previous U.S. practice of publicly calling for reforms. It could, however, use the carrot of increased investment to say privately to regimes that it would be regarded positively if they moved forward on certain reforms, an approach that might actually work. Without trade and investment, there is little incentive for Central Asian governments to heed advice from the U.S. on issues such as human rights. Indeed, as Secretary of State Kerry told a Kazakh audience "economic policy is also foreign policy." This certainly is the lesson of China's ever-growing economic presence in Central Asia.
Given the threat of the Taliban and ISIS from Afghanistan, Central Asian and particularly Uzbek concerns about terrorism, though long exaggerated, are not unfounded. Several hundred Uzbek militants have reportedly gone to fight with ISIS in Syria. There has been a longer history of Uzbek fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly organizing under the banner of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Therefore, a program that sustains U.S. engagement in Afghanistan but also enhances investment in Central Asia, particularly these two countries, proves U.S. commitment to Central Asia's development, stability, and security. It would also allow Presidents Nazarbayev and Mirziyoyev to strengthen their states through economic, administrative, judicial, and political reforms even to the point of freeing some dissidents as well as offer an alternative partner to balance Russia and China.
Even if Washington ignores the terrorist threat (which is admittedly unlikely given the rhetoric of President Trump and his team), Russia and China will not. Moscow, Beijing and Islamabad have already had meetings to pave the way for an Afghan peace treaty. They have now invited the Afghan government to the next round of their trilateral peace talks, which have nevertheless failed to bring about peace in Afghanistan. While Moscow may try to make a deal with the Taliban as its recent efforts suggest; China is becoming even more draconian in its campaigns, such as confiscating the passports of all Xinjiang residents in the name of countering terrorism. There is reason to believe that China has growing reason to fear terrorism, especially given its sizeable investments in Pakistan and Central Asia as part of its Belt and Road Initiative and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the signs of increased anti-Chinese terrorism like the attack in 2016 on the Chinese embassy in Bishkek.
Kazakhstan's and Uzbekistan's foreign policies also dovetail with U.S. objectives in Central Asia. Uzbekistan has undertaken several well-publicized moves to reduce tensions with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and to reach out to Turkey, which seeks its own greater engagement in Central Asia. The improvement of relations among Central Asian governments also facilitates enhanced economic-political cooperation among them, a long-standing U.S. objective. Interstate cooperation in Central Asia, especially involving both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, strengthens the economic independence of these countries from Moscow and Beijing, as well as their overall domestic capabilities and regional stability. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has long made clear its reliance on the U.S. as a balancer vis-à-vis its two imperially minded neighbors.
CONCLUSIONS: For too long, the Obama Administration had no discernible agenda for Central Asia other than prosecuting the war in Afghanistan. The C5+1 initiative only got started in 2015 and is still not supplemented by a regular program of high-level visits or investment that would truly balance either the Russian or Chinese presence. Moreover, there is no sign as to what the Trump Administration will do in regard to Central Asia. Indeed, at one point the Obama Administration publicly supported China's policies that became subsumed under the Belt and Road Initiative. That endorsement testified more to the absence of U.S.-led ideas and resources towards Central Asia than any suggestion of strategic engagement with China. Trump now has an opportunity to cultivate a new agenda based on the power of U.S. corporate private investment, which would be a true win-win for local governments and for U.S. interests. It is also the only long-term way to influence local governments to take U.S. human rights values seriously, and it offers Central Asian states a truly multi-vector policy to balance Russia and China. Moreover, increasing U.S. training, investment and trade will not incur serious economic costs for the U.S. budget and enhances the domestic security of Central Asian states against potential terrorist threats.
This program of action is a multi-dimensional strategy based on real trends like the Kazakh and Uzbek reform programs and would undoubtedly find support within both countries who crave U.S. recognition and are undertaking overdue positive steps. A program based on expanding U.S. economic and thus political influence in Central Asia would balance China's drive for economic-political hegemony here and be welcomed by local governments. While these policies are not flashy or headline-grabbing, they are substantive and long-running and could alone provide changes needed to accomplish the interests of the U.S. and Central Asians in their independence, security, and greater prosperity.
AUTHOR'S BIO: Stephen Blank is a Senior Fellow with the American Foreign Policy Council.
Image source: wikimedia, accessed on March 21, 2017


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Diarrhea is loose or watery stools. It is usually not harmful, but if it lasts more than 3 days it may cause dehydration or be a sign of a more serious condition.
Diarrhea Overview
Diarrhea means that you have loose, watery stools more often than you normally have regular bowel movements. You may also have cramps, bloating, nausea, and an urgent need to have a bowel movement. Causes of diarrhea include bacteria, viruses, or parasites, certain medicines, food intolerances. and diseases that affect the stomach, small intestine, or colon. In many cases, no cause can be found.
Although usually not harmful, diarrhea can become dangerous or signal a more serious problem if it does not resolve within a few days. You should talk to your doctor if you have a strong pain in your abdomen or rectum, a fever, blood in your stools, severe diarrhea for more than 3 days, or symptoms of dehydration.
Diarrhea Symptoms
Signs and symptoms associated with diarrhea may include:
- frequent, loose, watery stools
- abdominal cramps
- abdominal pain
- fever
- blood in the stool
- bloating
Diarrhea can cause dehydration. Loss of electrolytes through dehydration affects the amount of water in the body, muscle activity, and other important functions.
Dehydration is particularly dangerous in children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. Dehydration must be treated promptly to avoid serious health problems, such as organ damage, shock, or coma.
Signs of dehydration include:
- thirst
- less frequent urination than usual
- dark-colored urine
- dry skin
- fatigue
- dizziness
- light-headedness
Anyone with signs of dehydration should see a health care provider immediately. Severe dehydration may require hospitalization.
Although drinking plenty of water is important in preventing dehydration, water does not contain electrolytes. Adults can prevent dehydration by also drinking liquids that contain electrolytes, such as fruit juices, sports drinks, caffeine-free soft drinks, and broths. Children with diarrhea should be given oral rehydration solutions such as Pedialyte, Naturalyte, Infalyte, and CeraLyte to prevent dehydration.
Diarrhea Causes
Acute diarrhea may be caused by a bacterial, viral, or parasitic infection. Chronic diarrhea is usually related to a functional disorder such as irritable bowel syndrome or an intestinal disease such as Crohn's disease.
Diarrhea occurs when the food and fluids you ingest pass too quickly or in too large an amount — or both — through your colon. Normally, your colon absorbs liquids from the food you eat, leaving a semisolid stool. But if the liquids from the foods you eat are not absorbed, the result is a watery bowel movement.
A number of diseases and conditions can cause diarrhea. Common causes of diarrhea include:
- Viruses. Viruses that can cause diarrhea include Norwalk virus, cytomegalovirus, and viral hepatitis. Rotavirus is a common cause of acute childhood diarrhea.
- Bacteria and parasites. Contaminated food or water can transmit bacteria and parasites to your body. Parasites such as Giardia lamblia and cryptosporidium can cause diarrhea. Common bacterial causes of diarrhea include campylobacter, salmonella, shigella, and Escherichia coli. Diarrhea caused by bacteria and parasites can be common when traveling in developing countries and is often called traveler's diarrhea.
- Medications. Many medications can cause diarrhea. The most common are antibiotics. Antibiotics destroy both good and bad bacteria, which can disturb the natural balance of bacteria in your intestines. This disturbance sometimes leads to an infection with bacteria called Clostridium difficile, which also can cause diarrhea. Cancer drugs and antacids containing magnesium can all cause diarrhea.
- Lactose intolerance. Lactose is a sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Many people have difficulty digesting lactose and experience diarrhea after eating dairy products.Your body makes an enzyme that helps digest lactose, but for most people, the levels of this enzyme drop off rapidly after childhood. This causes an increased risk of lactose intolerance as you age.
- Fructose. Fructose, a sugar found naturally in fruits and honey and added as a sweetener to some beverages, can cause diarrhea in people who have trouble digesting it.
- Artificial sweeteners. Sorbitol and mannitol, artificial sweeteners found in chewing gum and other sugar-free products, can cause diarrhea in some otherwise healthy people.
- Surgery. Some people may experience diarrhea after undergoing abdominal surgery or gallbladder removal surgery.
- Other digestive disorders. Chronic diarrhea has a number of other causes, such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, microscopic colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.
Diarrhea Diagnosis
Tests and procedures used to determine what is causing your diarrhea may include:
- Physical exam. You will have your temperature measured to check for a fever. Your blood pressure and pulse may also be measured to check for signs of dehydration. Your doctor may also examine your abdomen for abdominal pain.
- Review of your medications. Your doctor may ask about any medications you are taking, including over-the-counter drugs. Also, tell your doctor about any supplements you take.
- Blood test. A complete blood count test may help determine what is causing your diarrhea.
- Stool test. Your doctor may recommend a stool test to determine whether a bacterium or parasite is causing your diarrhea.
Living With Diarrhea
Until diarrhea subsides, avoiding caffeine and foods that are greasy, high in fiber, or sweet may lessen symptoms. These foods can aggravate diarrhea. Some people also have problems digesting lactose during or after a bout of diarrhea. Yogurt, which has less lactose than milk, is often better tolerated. Yogurt with active, live bacterial cultures may even help people recover from diarrhea more quickly.
As symptoms improve, soft, bland foods can be added to the diet, including bananas, plain rice, boiled potatoes, toast, crackers, cooked carrots, and baked chicken without the skin or fat. Once the diarrhea stops, you can usually return to a normal and healthy diet if it can be tolerated.
Diarrhea Treatments
Most diarrhea cases clear up on their own within a few days. To help you cope with your signs and symptoms until the diarrhea goes away, try to:
- Drink plenty of clear liquids, including water, broths and juices, every day. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
- Add semisolid and low-fiber foods gradually as your bowel movements return to normal. Try soda crackers, toast, eggs, rice or chicken.
- Avoid certain foods such as dairy products, fatty foods, high-fiber foods or highly seasoned foods for a few days.
- Ask about anti-diarrheal medications. Over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications, such as loperamide (Imodium A-D) and bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol), may help reduce the number of watery bowel movements you experience.
- Consider probiotics. Probiotics contain strains of living bacteria that are similar to the healthy bacteria normally found in your digestive system. Probiotics may boost the number of healthy bacteria present to fight germs in your digestive tract. Probiotic supplements are available. Beneficial bacteria may also be found in yogurt and cheese.

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Note: This high-calorie recipe is especially for teens with cystic fibrosis (CF), who may need additional calories to help meet their nutritional needs.
This high-calorie, high-protein meal is quick and easy to make.
Prep time: 25 minutes
What you need:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 (10.75 ounces) can broccoli cheese soup
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 6 ounces cooked chicken breasts, diced
- 6 ounces cooked fettuccine
- 1-1/2 cup steamed broccoli
What to do:
- In a hot skillet, melt butter and sauté garlic for 2 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir constantly to avoid burning the garlic.
- Stir in soup, heavy whipping cream, whole milk, and Parmesan cheese.
- Heat sauce mixture until it boils.
- Add cooked chicken to sauce mixture.
- Reduce heat to low and cover.
- Cook on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Toss with fettuccine and steamed broccoli.
Nutritional analysis (per serving):
- 730 calories
- 50g protein
- 30g fat
- 203mg calcium
- 1096mg sodium
Serves: 3
Serving size: 2-1/2 to 3 cups
Note: Nutritional analysis may vary depending on ingredient brands used.


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31, August 2020
US Covid-19 cases surpass 6 million as Midwest, schools report outbreaks 0
U.S. cases of the novel coronavirus surpassed 6 million on Sunday as many states in the Midwest reported increasing infections, according to a Reuters tally.
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of currently hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
Nationally, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalisations and the positivity rates of tests are all declining, but there are emerging hotspots in the Midwest.
Many of the new cases in Iowa are in the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which are holding some in-person classes. Colleges and universities around the country have seen outbreaks after students returned to campus, forcing some to switch to online-only learning.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said his state was sending a "SWAT team" to a State University of New York (SUNY) campus in Oneonta in upstate New York to contain a Covid-19 outbreak. Fall classes, which started last week at the college, were suspended for two weeks after more than 100 people tested positive for the virus, about 3% of the total student and faculty population, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said.
"We have had reports of several large parties of our students at Oneonta last week, and unfortunately because of those larger gatherings, there were several students who were symptomatic of Covid," Malatras said.
Across the Midwest, infections have also risen after an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota drew more than 365,000 people from across the country from Aug. 7 to 16. The South Dakota health department said 88 cases have been traced to the rally.
More than eight months into the pandemic, the United States continues to struggle with testing. The number of people tested has fallen in recent weeks.
Many health officials and at least 33 states have rejected the new Covid-19 testing guidance issued by the Trump administration last week that said those exposed to the virus and without symptoms may not need testing.
Public health officials believe the United States needs to test more frequently to find asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers to slow the spread of the disease.
While the United States has the most recorded infections in the world, it ranks tenth based on cases per capita, with Brazil, Peru and Chile having higher rates of infection, according to a Reuters tally.
The United States also has the most deaths in the world at nearly 183,000 and ranks 11th for deaths per capita, exceeded by Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Chile, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Peru.


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The PURSUIT is constructed with nature's technical fiber Merino Wool and upgraded with a reinforced heel and toe to maximize durability. The four-season fiber of Merino Wool provides warmth in the winter and cooling in the summer, while absorbing moisture without feeling soggy or losing the ability to regulate temperature. The PURSUIT is engineered with fine-gauge Merino Wool that produces a soft, no-itch feel from cuff to toe. Merino Wool is a naturally renewable resource and is sustainably sourced. The Four height sits below the calf and its double-cuff construction provides extra support for cycling and trail running.
- Improved durability with high tenacity fibers in abrasion prone areas
- Versatile mid-cushion option delivers lasting comfort and performance
- Soft, natural Merino Wool
- 63% MERINO WOOL / 35% Nylon / 2% Spandex
- Made in USA
Part Numbers
Option | UPC | MPN |
Black / Small | 849632036526 | 4B010ZT-S |
Black / Medium | 849632036519 | 4B010ZT-M |
Coal / Small | 849632036564 | 4B040ZT-S |


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Study: Top retailers leave 73% of customer tweets unanswered
Chicago -- E-commerce and digital marketing company Acquity Group announced Monday social media findings that revealed the vast majority of retailers don't respond to customer tweets.
The 2012 Brand eCommerce Audit evaluated Interbrand's 2012 Best Retail Brands on customer engagement across major digital channels, including big browser, social and mobile.
While every brand on the list except one has a Facebook page, and 45 out of 50 are on Twitter, only 12 brands had a cohesive presence across all five of the major social networks analyzed (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube).
The audit revealed Twitter had the largest gap between usage and interaction. With a 90% adoption rate among the brands, less than 27% actively participate in Twitter conversations with consumers. In fact, companies were least likely to respond to or engage with customers via Twitter than any other social media channel evaluated.
"Although most brands are signed up for the major social networks, many struggle to understand how they fit into their overarching business strategy," said Jay Dettling, executive VP, Acquity Group. "As a result, our audit revealed several critical areas of improvement when it comes to actually connecting with consumers across social channels."
Brands were most active on YouTube, according to the research, with 80% of the brands leveraging the channel at an 85% engagement rate. Even though the majority of companies (56%) have yet to utilize Instagram, the brands with a presence on this platform also had a high level of interaction (79%). Pinterest was identified as the most popular up and coming social network, with 60% adoption and 70% interaction.
The 10 brands scoring best overall in social interaction include, in order of ranking: Target, Home Depot, RadioShack, Bath and Body Works, Nordstrom, Gap, eBay, Coach, American Eagle Outfitters and Banana Republic.


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View Our Before & After Gallery
The All-on-4 solution is designed for patients who have limited amount of bone and/or a limited budget. All-on-4 is an alternative dental implant solution that maximizes the use of available bone for immediate use using just four implants! The All-on-4 technique has a 98.5% success rate at the four-year follow-up and has been provided to patients for over ten years.
The All-on-4 technique is specifically designed to use only four implants that are available for immediate function. All-on-4 implants do not typically require bone grafting, so they are an ideal solution for patients with areas of low bone density or volume.
Before the procedure begins, you will be comfortably numbed so that you will feel no pain or discomfort during the procedure. Four dental implants are then placed according to where the bone volume is best. Once the implants have been placed, the new or existing denture is used as the framework for a temporary set of teeth that will be attached that day.
Once the bone has fully integrated with the implant (3-4 months), the temporary teeth are removed and the new, final set of teeth are made and anchored into place permanently.
There are many benefits to the All-on-4 technique, including:
Click Here For Further Information About All-on-4


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George Floyd Global Memorial
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Winner of six awards in 2023, including Community Service and Best Magazine article related to our gender-based violence coverage, social media campaign for Badass membership, and three awards for photographer Sarah Whiting.
Minnesota Women's Press has been sharing the authentic voice and powerful vision of women since 1985, as one of the longest running feminist platforms (print and digital) in the U.S. Please donate to support our story sharing and free distribution to more than 500 sites.
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Minfong Ho
I grew up on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. Home was an airy house next to a fishpond and a big garden, with rice fields, where water buffalo wallowed in mudholes, on the other side of the palm trees. I liked the usual things - eating roasted coconuts and fried bananas, chasing catfish in the grass in the rain.
Although I write in English, my first language was
Chinese. Because my parents are from China they praised me, scolded me, told me long bedtime stories and recited poetry to me all in Chinese. No wonder then, that I think of Chinese as the language of my heart. As I grew older, I absorbed Thai from interacting with people in the busy streets and marketplaces and temple fairs of Bangkok. Thai for me is a functional language and I think of it as the language of my hands. Only much later did I learn English from strict teachers in school, and so I think of English as the language of my head.
I started to write only after I left home, as a way to conjure up Thailand for myself, to combat homesickness while studying at Cornell University.
There was a greenhouse on the campus with a single potted banana tree in it. During my first winter I used to sit near that tree and imagine that I was home. Soon, however, I realized that words could evoke images of home even more effectively than the banana tree and I began to write down notes about the things I missed. My first book, "Sing to the Dawn" (1975), grew naturally out of those notes.
I enjoy giving school presentations and can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Thursday July 30, 2009
Carole's Concoctions:
Blueberry Indulgence
These past two weeks are among my favorite - the pick your own blueberry farms are open and blueberries abound at most farm stands and farmer's markets. And of course I stuff my face until my mouth is blue, reveling in all the antioxidants this dark super food is delivering to my body. But I also love to bake with them. One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid in the summer was to bake blueberry muffins or blueberry coffee cake.
Blueberry Yogurt Coffee Cake
This recipe has been in our stable of recipes as far back as I can remember. My Mom and grandmother made certain there was always yummy homemade baked goods in the house. This was a special weekend breakfast treat. I used to view it as breakfast dessert. We were big yogurt eaters so it's not surprising that we baked with yogurt. I now love the new flavors like banilla that add a special twist - but plain usually does the trick!
For the Topping
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut up
For the Cake
8 tablespoons (one stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x13 baking dish. Using a fork, blend topping ingredients in small bowl and set aside. Cream the butter, brown sugar and egg (I do it by hand with a fork, but a mixer works wonders!) Add baking soda, flour, yogurt and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Pour cake batter into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle berries over top and gently push into batter and then sprinkle sugar topping over all.
Bake 45-50 minutes. Cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!


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Technic Turntable 60 Tooth, Base #18939
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- Ready Time: 3 - 7 Business Days.
- Replace missing and damaged parts for free.
- Tracking no. provided for all parcels.
- Worldwide delivery to your doorstep
This part may also be known differently at different sites under following IDs:
18939, 48168, 48452
Please note: All items with alternative IDs, similar mold types, old IDs and printed bricks are all listed here.


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Crawn Motors operates school buses into the schools in the Burnie and surrounding areas, picking up children in the country areas. As well as morning and afternoon school runs the schools use our services as well, for their excursions during the year.
For a timetable and bus routes to High Schools, select from the routes listed,
If your child is travelling for the first time on our coaches, please ring the office on (03) 6435 7288 so that we can notify our drivers to look for our new travellers. Thank you.


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Virtual training module
Virtual training provides visual examples of the Eurogites minimum international quality assessment standards for rural tourism accommodations item by item.
Read their explanations from the inspection manual and click on the pictures to see detailed illustrations. "Good" examples are on the green background. "Bad" examples are on the red background. Some criteria have many illustrations, in some cases it was not possible yet to illustrate the respective criteria by pictures. One of the advantages of the QUALITOOL is that the photos can be added any time as soon as a good illustration is available.
Comments below each picture supplement the information that is provided in the inspection manual. Understanding and interpretation of the quality criteria may vary between countries. The pictures represent 5 countries: Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece, Spain, Latvia.
To continue with your training, please select the virtual training module link below:


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Extremities such as the jaw, shoulders, ribs, wrists, elbows, fingers, hands, hips, ankles, knees, toes, and feet are the numerous joints present in the body. If you are experiencing symptoms including fatigue or weakness, pain, catching of joints, stiffness or immobility, chronic back issues, or chronic problems in the cervical region, you may need an extremity adjustment.
Central PA Spinal Health Chiropractic, LLC will adjust your spine and look for potential issues with subluxation, fixation, and/or other joint irregularities, that could lead to chronic spinal problems. We start by assessing the extremities and then perform an analysis which will help us to develop a treatment plan to get your whole body healthy.
Our number one goal is to see our patients be able to live a pain-free life. Our entire staff ensures that you always have your questions answered. We never want you to feel confused about any of the steps in your treatment plan.
If you have any questions regarding extremity adjustments or would like to schedule an appointment, contact us today at (717) 766-4000.


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Empire State Building retrofit cuts 10-year emissions by 40%
The retrofit of New York's Empire State Building has made it one of the world's most energy efficient buildings
In August 2006, the Empire State Realty Trust secured control of the iconic Empire State Building and planned a complete redevelopment to make it one of the most energy efficient buildings in New York City, and a model for others to follow.
Empire State Realty Trust worked with a team of experts which include the Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Controls and the Rocky Mountain Institute. The Trust had already chosen JLL to be the project manager of the entire Empire State project because of the prior positive experience.
The retrofit of New York's Empire State Building has made it one of the world's most energy efficient buildings. Through a combination of eight energy efficiency projects which include a retrofit of all the 6,514 windows, the reuse of 96% of the original frames and glassware, plus the installation of 67 elevators that generate electricity instead of heat when braking—the building has already surpassed its original energy consumption reduction target of 38 % and annual energy savings of $4.4 million.
In April 2019, New York City Council passed legislation, known as Local Law 97, to mandate all existing buildings 25,000 square feet or larger to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 80% by 2050.


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Optical grade polycarbonate windshield offers reliable protection from wind, inclement weather and off-road hazards.
Due to engineering standards, some parts are updated or changed and are assigned a new part number. Previous part number was 7350107. This part is the direct replacement.
Fits the following Bobcat equipment:
Utility Vehicles: 3400, 3400XL, 3600, 3650, UV34, UV34XL
Parts can vary depending on your serial number. Check the Bobcat Online Parts Catalog to ensure the correct part for your equipment.
Model Compatibility | Utility Vehicles: 3400, 3400XL, 3600, 3650, UV34, UV34XL |
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including lead and lead compounds, mineral oils, and phthalates which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov


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As much as I love hostels and other forms of cheap accommodation, there is something nice about the luxuriousness of a hotel: the clean room, comfy bed, desk, iron, strong shower, and bottled soap for the taking (errr…I mean borrowing). They are quiet, relaxing, and a respite from the world.
But luxury comes at a price. Hotels certainly aren't cheap, and I hate spending money on a room I am only going to be in for a few hours. After all, it's just a place to sleep (and take soap). It's why I mostly avoid hotels — I don't think they are a good use of money. I would much rather stay in a hostel or Airbnb, which cost less, have more social interaction, and don't make you feel as removed from the destination you're staying at. I always feel hotels are so isolating like a concrete bubble keeping out the place you're visiting.
But there are times when a hotel can't be avoided. Hostels aren't everywhere, booking a last minute hotel room is easier than finding an Airbnb host, and sometimes you just really need a nice bed and shower. Plus, I have a ton of points so free is worth the isolation.
A few years ago, I was traveling to conferences and other work-related events a lot and staying in a bunch of hotels. I decided to see which hotel booking sites came back with the cheapest results. I picked five cities to research (London, Los Angeles, Paris, NYC, and Seattle) and stays close to the date of my research and then far in advance, on both weekdays and weekends.
I searched six booking websites — Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Hotwire, Priceline, and TravelPony — in 2-, 3-, and 4-star categories.
The conclusion? Well, there wasn't really a great conclusion.
The overall numbers showed that some sites were stronger in certain regions or for certain classes of hotel. Travel was the winner in the US and for higher-class hotels, and Expedia dominated London and Paris, while Priceline was great for 2-star hotels and Hotwire for 3-star hotels. The big loser? Booking.com.
That was in 2014, and booking websites and options have changed a lot since then. The only constant in travel is that nothing is constant — and a booking website is as only good as its inventory, which, as someone who now owns a hostel that's not listed in every booking engine, I can tell you varies widely.
So I decided to do another search. This time I searched Expedia, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Agoda, and Priceline for prices in London, New York, Paris, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, and Berlin. I searched on July 3rd for space later that week and then one month later during the weekday and weekend (prices and availability change on the weekend).
The results?
Well, the complete opposite of the previous results. Back in 2014, Booking.com was terrible, TravelPony showed promise, and Agoda was only good in Asia.
This time around the clear winner was Booking.com, followed by Agoda. Though it didn't return the largest number of total places, Booking.com returned the largest number of cheap places – and that's the most important thing. I found the best deals and largest variety in all the destinations I searched for on Booking. For example, in my September search in Paris, it listed over 2,300 results, including 250 2 star listings and 750 star listings (and it told me the place was over 60% booked when I searched). Agoda still had the best results in Asia (it returned 2,900 results in Bangkok compared to 2,500 for Booking) but had definitely expanded their listings around the world – it roughly tied Booking in Paris, Buenos Aires, and Sydney for overall listings, though they had fewer budget listings than Booking.
And all those other major booking websites? Well, Orbitz and Travelocity are part of Expedia and use the same database, and while they turned back a large number of results, they tilted more to the higher end of the price spectrum. And websites like Priceline and Hotwire have top-notch blind booking and bidding options that can get you a very cheap hotel (in the star category and area you want). Sometimes prices are up to 40% off. The downside? You don't get to know the name of the hotel you're staying in until after you have paid.
There are a lot of hotel websites and I've tried many over the last few years as I've started to book hotels more and more, but this test just proved what I already thought: for cheap accommodation, Booking.com and Agoda are just the best resources that have the largest selection of results. If you search these two companies, you'll always find the best hotel bargains in the 1, 2m or 3 star category.
Note: Years ago, I said to skip Trivago because I found it misleading: when you went to the other sites to compare results, the hotel classes and prices were different. I found the same thing this time. I clicked over to their cheapest deals, then did the search on the website they took me to only to find out that the place Trivago listed wasn't even in the same class I wanted — and there were better options on the redirected website. In short, I would still skip Trivago.
How to book a cheap hotel
Besides using the right booking websites, there are some hacks you can use to score the cheapest room rate possible:
Contact the hotel websites directly – If you're booking a big-name, global-brand hotel (think Starwood, Marriott, Hilton, etc.), book directly with that hotel. They often have the best deals on their website, but if you find a better deal elsewhere, they'll match it. The big benefit to direct bookings at these global hotel chains is that you only earn loyalty points and status when you book directly, so if you love points, don't book their rooms elsewhere.
Bargain – Want a better deal? Call up a hotel and ask for one. Sometimes they can give you better rates, especially if it's during mid-week on some non-peak time of the year.
Use loyalty reward programs – The best way to stay for cheap is to stay for free. Collect points with the big chains by using their branded credit cards, shopping portals, and other travel hacking methods.
Use discount rates like AAA or AARP – If you are part of the AARP or AAA you can get special rates that are cheaper. Fun fact: Anyone can join the AARP. I'm a member. They have amazing travel benefits (including deals on hotels and British Airways flights). It's well worth the membership.
Get discounted gift cards – You can book major hotel chains with hotel gift cards. Check out a website like Giftcardgranny.com for discounted gift cards and use it to book your hotel. (Gift card purchases also count toward point earnings and status.)
Buy someone else's reservation with Roomer – Often people can't go on a trip and can't cancel the reservation, so rather than lose the money, hotels put these rooms on Roomer, where they sell it at a discount to earn some money back. I've never used this website, but I've heard decent things about it. It's worth a try.
Hotel pricing is a lot more set than airline pricing and tends to fluctuate less. I wouldn't spend hours searching hotel websites or days tracking prices like people do with airline prices. I'd spend, at the most, 30 minutes on booking a hotel. I found that the variation between sites isn't enough to justify more time.
Just follow the steps above, get a great cheap room, and enjoy your trip.
P.S. – Want to be featured on my Instagram account AND win some sweet prizes? I'm holding a contest on Instagram right now, so check out my account for the details!
P.P.S. – Want to travel with me? There are only 4 spots left on my next reader tour! I'll be taking readers on an intimate group tour of Vienna and Prague, where we will visit all my favorite sights, restaurants, bars, and off the beaten path places! Come explore the world with me!


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Economic and trade sanctions enacted by one government against another often have detrimental effects on the free flow of digital communications and communications technologies that activists, innovators and ordinary users of technologies desperately need. EFF has a long history of fighting against those effects, especially by the US government.
Since the beginning, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has worked to ensure that individuals everywhere have access to important technologies that they need to communicate, enjoy privacy, and organize. As part of the "crypto wars," we handled the seminal case, Bernstein v. U.S. Dept. of Justice, that, along with a sister case Junger v. Daley, resulted in rulings that written software code is speech protected by the First Amendment. In Bernstein, the court held that export control laws on encryption programs violated Bernstein's First Amendment rights by prohibiting his constitutionally protected right to publish his software. This ruling helped spur the government to change its licensing practices so that everyone now has the right to publish, and thereby "export" most encryption software without prior permission from the government.
Today, we continue our work to ensure that U.S. takes steps necessary to free up vital communications technologies from export controls, so that companies have the information they need to apply for export licenses to controlled countries or to understand that no license is needed, while simultaneously fighting for overall clarity and reform of the labyrinthine export regulations.


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Protect Your Dogs From Deadly Diseases By Getting Our Dog Vaccination Services in Novato. Our Trusted Clinic Provides Small Dog Vaccinations, Rabies Vaccines For Dogs, And Canine Vaccination Services Across Novato For The Health of Your Pet Dogs.
As pet owners, we want our dogs to live as long as possible. Getting your dog vaccinated will help them live a long and healthy life. When you Bring Pet To Animal Medical Center Novato, we'll examine your pet dog and review it's medical history before we recommend which vaccinations are right for your pet. Dog vaccinations play a important role in Safeguarding Your Dog from many hazardous and even fatal diseases. At Animal Medical Center Novato we have spent decades instructing people about the uses of dog vaccinations. This includes why vaccines are required and how they should be planned. At Animal Medical Center Novato your dog's upcoming veterinary appointment, we will help you understand the Vaccinations For Your Dog.
Novato Puppy Vaccinations
Commonly, a puppy 6-8 week old should begin vaccines and then every three weeks until about four months of age when it will get the final cycle. Puppy Vaccinations have been medically proven to combat many avoidable sicknesses that can arise without proper immunizations.
Low Cost Pet Vaccinations in Novato
Our Animal Medical Center Novato veterinarians will take a number of factors into consideration, like age, breed, sex, and lifestyle, before suggesting a Vaccination Regimen that is right for your pet. Not all pets need the same vaccinations, and we'll be sure to give your pet the vaccinations they individually need. Animal Medical Center Novato operates across the Novato area to provide Low Cost Pet Vaccinations & other affordable pet health services.
Necessary Core Dog Vaccines in Novato
Some vaccines are considered as important by the veterinarian community because of their effectiveness against deadly diseases. As a pet owner we dread the day when we have to choose Pet Euthanasia. Getting your dog vaccinated will help them live a long and healthy life.
Animal Medical Center Novato gives vaccines for dogs which are vital for their health.
Novato Lifestyle-Specific Dog Vaccines
Depending to the condition of your dogs, we at Animal Medical Center Novato provide Lifestyle-Specific Dog Vaccines which mould into the living temperament of your pet dogs. We worry for our patients
Novato Pet Vaccination Clinic
Animal Medical Center Novato's veterinarians will help you Keep Your Pet Healthy and prevent discomfort by checking your pet's complete health and observing any changes over time. At Animal Medical Center Novato we promise that our staff can meet the requirements of our patients and that our Vaccination Services will always be available to the public.
Novato Mobile Pet Vaccinations
Mobile pet vaccinations service at Animal Medical Center Novato provides convenient Treatment For Your Dog. We offer essential vaccination, wellness, and preventive services. Animal Medical Center Novato provides a mobile service that gives Affordable Pet Vaccinations to your area.
Rabies Shots For Dogs in Novato
All dogs that are arriving to have a rabies shot must be at least 4 months of age. Any dog coming that is below 4 months will be turned away. Do not delay to contact us if you wish to Bring Your Dog In For It's Rabies Vaccination.
Novato Side Effects Dog Vaccinations
The advantages of vaccinations far outweigh any risks. However, we do recommend that you have your Puppy or Dog Vaccinated at a time when you can monitor them after the vaccination. If your dog does experience any side effects to vaccinations, Like: Fever, Sluggishness, Loss of appetite Facial or paw swelling and/or hives, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Pain or swelling around the injection site, you should contact our Veterinarian Services immediately.


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Towards a single euro payments area - progress report
Since 1 July 2002 EU banks have been obliged by a Regulation of the European Parliament and the EU Council to charge the same fees for cross-border and national card payments in euro [Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2001 on cross-border payments in euro.]. As of 1 July 2003, the same principle of equal charges for national and cross-border payments will apply to credit transfers. For cross-border transfers, this may imply lower charges. To benefit, a credit transfer must meet certain criteria: the amount must be not higher than €12,500.00 and the order must carry the beneficiary's International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) of the receiving bank. For payment orders that do not meet these conditions, banks may charge additional fees.
For bank customers, the Regulation is a step closer to a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). However, they can only reap the benefits if they use the IBAN and the BIC. The move to these well-established international standards has to be made by all participants and stakeholders in the payments cycle (private and corporate bank customers, payment system operators and the banks themselves).
While, from a customer perspective, a SEPA is in reach, the banking sector still has considerable work to do to build the infrastructure necessary to supply Regulation-compliant services cost-efficiently. Banks are now developing and implementing their vision for a modern payment infrastructure that will respond to the needs of euro area customers and at the same time benefit from technological innovation.
The ECB today publishes a report entitled "Towards a Single Euro Payments Area – progress report" which reviews these recent developments. With its White Paper "Euroland: Our Single Payment Area!" (May 2002), the European banking sector has formulated its strategy to create a SEPA within which there is no difference between the levels of service for national and cross-border retail payments by 2010. The Eurosystem welcomes the fact that banks have stepped up their efforts to achieve this goal. The governance structure for their central decision-making body, the European Payments Council (http://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.org/), is in place. First results of the work are already visible: the banks have agreed on a preferred infrastructure for the processing of cross-border retail payments in euro and have adopted conventions for basic cross-border credit transfer services. In several areas, however, the milestones along the road to a SEPA still require more precise specification. The implementation of standards for cross-border payments lags behind banks' own commitments. The Eurosystem will closely monitor banks' progress towards a SEPA. It plans to measure progress on the basis of specific indicators, on which it urges the banks to continuously report.
The Eurosystem supports the industry's work towards a SEPA with its policies. Its role at present is one of a catalyst for change, an active observer of the banking sector's work. Should the banking industry be unable to make sufficient progress towards a SEPA, however, the Eurosystem may step up its involvement, using its regulatory tools more actively.
The report entitled "Towards a Single Euro Payments Area – progress report" (published today in English) will be available in all official Community languages in due course.
Bank Ċentrali Ewropew
Direttorat Ġenerali Komunikazzjoni
- Sonnemannstrasse 20
- 60314 Frankfurt am Main, il-Ġermanja
- +49 69 1344 7455
- firstname.lastname@example.com
Ir-riproduzzjoni hija permessa sakemm jissemma s-sors.
Kuntatti għall-midja


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Sunday, September 30, 2012
Parmigiana de Poulet et Mon Sac de Pain
It all started out when I became frustrated by the paper and plastic bags
that encase the breads that I purchase. The paper bags work well for a short
time, but then allow the bread to dry out. The plastic bags seem to encourage
mold and mold is icky! What to do???
I found a vintage linen towel that I thought might be perfect for a
bread bag. I thought it out and created this ...
Mon sac de pain ~ or my bread bag. I had an idea of what I wanted and
just went with it using the vintage linen towel and scraps of fabric and ribbon
and embroidery floss.
Instead of making it narrow to keep just baguettes, I made it a bit wider to store
artesian style breads as well.
I served my bread with Chicken Parmigiana, tossed green salad, spaghetti dressed
with EVOO and crushed garlic.
Chicken Parmigiana
(Courtesy Southern Living "Easy Weeknight Favorites" cookbook)
4 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
1/2c Italian bread crumbs
1/2c grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, beaten
2 T butter or margarine
1 (14-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 c (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
Flatten chicken between 2 sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper to
1/2 inch thickness. You can use a mallet a rolling pin or a heavy skillet
to flatten the chicken.
Mix the seasoned bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip the breasts into
the beaten egg and then dip into the crumb and cheese mixture.
Melt some butter into a large skillet and add chicken. Brown the chicken
over medium heat until golden. Place chicken into lightly buttered
baking dish. I used an 11x7x1 1/2" baking dish. Pour the spaghetti sauce
over the chicken and top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover with
aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes in a pre-heated 375 degree oven.
Serves 4
Bon appetit!!
I am joining ~
The weekend went by very fast didn't it Bentley???
Susan and Bentley
16 comments:
- AnonymousSeptember 30, 2012 at 9:40 PM
Wow! I'm so impressed. You're not just another pretty face!
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Did We Mortgage Our Identity? The 1960s Worries About Conformity
By the 1950s, it was clear the 20th century wasn't going to be the era of peace and prosperity Americans had predicted in 1900. It had brought them a world war, a major depression, and another world war, and now an interminable cold war. Americans were getting tired of the constant belt-tightening and war preparedness; they wanted to enjoy the society they'd built. But many were disappointed with the society they found. There was a general sense that things could, and should, be better.
Even if Americans didn't feel a troubling malaise, the media certainly made a case for it. Journalists continually wrote of problems in American society, such as racism, alienation, and materialism. They also referred to the problem of "conformity."
There was no single definition of the term. Popular magazines and television talked of conformity as the desire to fit in: Americans, like their milk, were becoming homogenized. They were abandoning their individual differences to fit in and get ahead. A popular song of 1962, "Little Boxes," talked of people, their lives, and their "ticky tacky" houses all looking the same. But conformity was more than just the desire to accommodate the mainstream of America.
Between 1959 and 1963, three authors, each highly regarded for his insight and judgment, weighed in on the subject.
Erich Fromm, the renowned psychologist and philosopher, wrote "Our Way Of Life Is Making Us Miserable" in 1964. The need to conform, he said, didn't arise in Americans but in their organizations, which rewarded people…
who cooperate smoothly in large groups, who want to consume more and more, and whose tastes are standardized and can be easily influenced and anticipated. It needs men who feel free and independent, yet who arc willing to be commanded, to do what is expected to fit into the social machine without friction; men who can be guided without force, led without leaders, prompted without an aim except the aim to be on the move, to function, to go ahead.
Our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucracy in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, fringe benefits, well-ventilated factories and piped music, and by psychologists and "human-relations" experts; yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and that he is bored with it.
[We should give Fromm credit for recognizing his profession might be enabling the system by helping citizens endure an unfriendly system.]
The 'organization man' may be well fed, well amused and well oiled, yet he lacks a sense of identity because none of his feelings or his thoughts originates within himself; none is authentic. He has no convictions, either in politics, religion, philosophy or in love. He is attracted by the "latest model" in thought, art and style, and lives under the illusion that the thoughts and feelings which he has acquired by listening to the media of mass communication are his own.
He has a nostalgic longing for a life of individualism, initiative and justice, a longing that he satisfies by [watching cowboy movies.] But these values have disappeared from real life in the world of giant corporations, giant state and military bureaucracies and giant labor unions.
He, the individual, feels so small before these giants that he sees only one way to escape the sense of utter insignificance: He identifies himself with the giants and idolizes them as the true representatives of his own human powers, those of which he has dispossessed himself.
Such ideas aren't particularly surprising, coming from a humanist and psychologist. But much of what he says was echoed by other Post contributors in the early 1960s, including a social critic from an unexpected quarter.


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she's a supernova
a force of nature
a reason for change
a trail of stardust in her wake
we created this earring for those bound for greatness. a supernova is triggered when the trapped energy in a star ignites and bursts into light. with a luminosity one billion times that of the sun, supernovas represent all that is possible when we ignite the true potential of the soul and burn our very brightest. shine on.


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Texas A&M Aggies Cufflinks
Texas A&M Aggies Cufflinks
Represent your alma mater with the Texas A&M Aggies Cufflinks, featuring the official logo of your favorite collegiate team. Great for the boardroom or game days, these cufflinks showcase the university logo in silver tone plated base metal with enamel details.. Whether you're in the stands rooting for a victory or watching the game on the big screen, root for your favorite team in style. Officially licensed NCAA cufflinks.
- Approximately 3/4" diameter
- Silver tone plated base metal and enamel
- Bullet back closure
- Officially licensed by the NCAA
- Presented in officially licensed branded NCAA gift packaging


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pseudorandom number
One of a sequence of numbers generated by some algorithm so as to have an even distribution over some range of values and minimal correlation between successive values.
Pseudorandom numbers are used in simulation and encryption. They are pseudorandom not random because the sequence eventually repeats exactly and is entirely determined by the initial conditions. One of the simplest algorithms isx[i+1] = (a * x[i] + c) mod mbut this repeats after at most m numbers and successive numbers are closely related. Better algorithms generally use more previous numbers to calculate the next number. http://random.mat.sbg.ac.at/.
Last updated: 2007-06-29
Nearby terms:
pseudocode ♦ pseudoprime ♦ pseudorandom number ♦ PseudoScheme ♦ pseudosuit
Try this search on Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Google, OneLook.


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Monday, November 23, 2009
Grand Marnier Panettone Bread Pudding with Dark and Milk Chocolates
Making panettone bread pudding has become a sort of holiday tradition for me. Living far away from family I have, little by little, recreated the feeling of home far away from home. I've started my own traditions, like this bread pudding. I make it every year now, and just the smell of the panettone coming out of its package signifies that that time of year has arrived. I tweak the recipe a little every year: this year, it's more rustic, meant for every one to dig in. There is dark and milk chocolate, and a healthy dose of Grand Marnier.
Moving away from home has been a real test in growing up. I've been away for a little over 6 years now, most of my family living minutes from each other in Paris. So, new traditions are born, and, with me, they usually tend to surround Oliver, food and good friends.
Grand Marnier Panettone Bread Pudding with Dark and Milk Chocolates
Serves 4
2 eggs
1 cup of whole milk
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
3 teaspoons of Grand Marnier
1/2 large panettone loaf with candied fruit and raisins
1 tablespoon of bittersweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of milk chocolate chips
Butter, to butter the ramekins
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk, sugar and Grand Marnier. Beat until well mixed. Using your hands, tear the pannetone into large bite size pieces. Butter a large oven-proof baking dish and scatter the panettone pieces at the bottom. Scatter the chocolate on top of the panettone. Pour the egg mixture over the panettone, and lightly push down with the back of a spoon until the panettone is covered with egg mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the egg mixture is just set. Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Boeuf Bourguignon - or Red Wine Stewed Beef
Boeuf bourguignon is one of the main dishes of France's culinary heritage - one of those dishes that has been made by generations and generations each with its own tweaks. Stewed meat was always a classic in my family's Parisian kitchen, and making this in my kitchen sends me back to those nice family dinners.
The bottom line is that boeuf bourguignon is extremely cheap to make, the only difficult part being the wait for it to be done while the sweet smell of simmering wine and tender beef takes over your kitchen! Stewing meat is one of the cheapest cuts of meat there is - the idea being that the labor is on you to cook it slowly! As any good stew starts off, it's about searing the meat (which takes a few minutes), and then basically mixing the beef with aromatics and liquid (good red wine and stock).
In Julie and Julia, Julie Powell makes boeuf bourgignon sound rather dramatic. She forgets it in the oven while she falls asleep and the result is a big, big burnt mess. When Oliver and I were heading home from the market with our stewed meat, vegetables, and wine we were laughing about the scene and how it was made out to be so much more tedious than it actually was. I don't know if Julia Child got offended by our gentle mockery or if we were just unlucky, but after an hour of cooking time, when Oliver was taking our Creuset pot out to check on the meat, our oven rack tilted and half of our stewing liquid flooded the oven. That set us back a good half hour, the oven was a boozy mess but thankfully we had more Chianti wine and the meal turned out great anyway.
I used Julia Child's recipe, with a few tweaks, served the meet over whole wheat buttery herbed parpadelle and it was the perfect Sunday night meal.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
These types of soups always make me smile. The color of the squash is just amazing - making this soup the perfect way to celebrate Fall. My mom is in Montreal for a few days and wanted me to show her how to make an easy squash soup. This was the perfect time to do just that. Standing in the kitchen with a warm cup of green tea, I talked her through the recipe, she took a few notes, and I'm confident she will now try to make this at home!
We served the soup with crusty garlic-rubbed walnut bread, and it was delicious. The markets are full of multi-colored squashes at this time of year, and I can't help myself but buy one (or 2) every time I see some. This is my type of food: simple, rustic, flavorful and really quite beautiful. What are your favorite Fall treats this year?
Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
Serves 8
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 squash, seeded and cut in quarters
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 1/2inch slice of pancetta, cubed
1/2 white onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 teaspoon of finely chopped thyme
2 cups of chicken stock
10 sage leaves
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and add the chopped sweet potato and quartered squash. Generously drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with brown sugar. Using your hands, make sure each piece has a little oil, seasoning and sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the squash and sweet potato are just soft. All pieces may not be done at exactly the same time. Once cool enough to handle, use a spoon and scoop out the flesh of the squash. Reserve the squash and sweet potato.
In a large stockpot on medium heat, add the diced pancetta. Cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add a little olive oil and add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped thyme. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Add the squash and sweet potato pieces. Add the chicken stock. Add cold water until the squash and sweet potato pieces are just covered with liquid. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Using an immersion blender, carefully puree the soup. You might need to add a little water if the soup is too thick. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. In a small saucepan, and a good drizzle of olive oil to fry the sage leaves. Place the leaves in the oil, and cook until the leaves are just crispy. Remove from the heat, place on paper towels to soak up excess fat, and serve atop the soup, with a dollop of sour cream, yogurt or ricotta. Enjoy!
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Trump promised to rein in drug prices. It was his only sensible campaign promise.
But the plan he announced Friday does little but add another battering ram to his ongoing economic war against America's allies.
He calls it "American patients first," and takes aim at what he calls "foreign freeloading." The plan will pressure foreign countries to relax their drug price controls.
America's trading partners "need to pay more because they're using socialist price controls, market access controls, to get unfair pricing," said Alex Azar, Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, who, perhaps not incidentally, was a former top executive at the drug maker Eli Lilly and Company.
By this tortured logic, if other nations allow drug companies to charge whatever they want, U.S. drug companies will then lower prices in the United States.
This is nonsensical. It would just mean more profits for U.S. drug companies. (Revealingly, the stock prices of U.S. pharmaceutical companies rose after Trump announced his plan.)
While it's true that Americans spend far more on medications per person than do citizens in any other rich country—even though Americans are no healthier—that's not because other nations freeload on American drug companies' research.
Big Pharma in America spends more on advertising and marketing than it does on research—often tens of millions to promote a single drug.
The U.S. government supplies much of the research Big Pharma relies on through the National Institutes of Health. This is a form of corporate welfare that no other industry receives.
American drug companies also spend hundreds of millions lobbying the government. Last year alone, their lobbying tab came to $171.5 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
That's more than oil and gas, insurance, or any other American industry. It's more than the formidable lobbying expenditures of America's military contractors. Big Pharma spends tens of millions more on campaign expenditures.
They spend so much on politics in order to avoid price controls, as exist in most other nations, and other government attempts to constrain their formidable profits.
For example, in 2003, Big Pharma got a U.S. law prohibiting the government from using its considerable bargaining clout under Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate lower drug prices. Other nations with big healthcare plans routinely negotiate lower drug prices.
During his campaign Trump promised to reverse this law. But the plan he revealed Friday doesn't touch it. Trump's plan seeks only to make it easier for private health insurers to negotiate better deals for Medicare beneficiaries.
In reality, private health insurers don't have anywhere near the clout of Medicare and Medicaid—which was the whole point of Big Pharma's getting Congress to ban such negotiations in the first place.
In the last few years, U.S. drug companies have also blocked Americans from getting low-cost prescription drug from Canada, using the absurd argument that Americans can't rely on the safety of drugs coming from our northern neighbor—whose standards are at least as high as ours.
Trump's new plan doesn't change this, either.
To put all this another way, when Americans buy drugs in the United States, they really buy a package of advertising, marketing, and political influence-peddling. Consumers in other nations don't pay these costs. Which explains a big part of why drug prices are lower abroad. Trump's so-called plan to lower drug prices disregards this reality.
Trump's plan nibbles at the monopoly power of U.S. pharmaceutical companies, but doesn't deal with the central fact that their patents are supposed to run only twenty years but they've developed a host of strategies to keep patents going beyond then.
One is to make often insignificant changes in their patented drugs that are enough to trigger new patents and thereby prevent pharmacists from substituting cheaper generic versions.
Before its patent expired on Namenda, its widely used drug to treat Alzheimer's, Forest Labs announced it would stop selling the existing tablet form of in favor of new extended-release capsules called Namenda XR. Even though Namenda XR was just a reformulated version of the tablet, the introduction prevented generic versions from being introduced.
Other nations don't allow drug patents to be extended on such flimsy grounds. Trump's plan doesn't touch this ploy.
Another tactic used by U.S. drug companies has been to sue generics to prevent them from selling their cheaper versions, then settle the cases by paying the generics to delay introducing those cheaper versions.
Such "pay-for-delay" agreements are illegal in other nations, but antitrust enforcement hasn't laid a finger on them in America—and Trump doesn't mention them although they cost Americans an estimated $3.5 billion a year.
Even after their patents have expired, U.S. drug companies continue to aggressively advertise their brands so patients will ask their doctors for them instead of the generic versions. Many doctors comply.
Other nations don't allow direct advertising of prescription drugs—another reason why prices are lower there and higher here. Trump's plan is silent on this, too. (Trump suggests drug advertisers should be required to post the prices of their drugs, which they're already expert at obscuring.)
If Trump were serious about lowering drug prices he'd have to take on the U.S. drug manufacturers.
But Trump doesn't want to take on Big Pharma. As has been typical for him, rather than confronting the moneyed interests in America he chooses mainly to blame foreigners.


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Bookbinding/Long stitch
Intro - Why? - Perfect - Japanese side stitch - Saddle stitch - Long stitch - Equipment - Materials |
This module covers the making of a long-stitched soft-board binding. This style was recommended for small-scale projects by the book conservation lab at the University of Iowa.
If there are professional bookbinders in your area (and most large cities have them), you should be able to get your book bound for somewhere on the order of $20. Professionals have machines and supplies to do a case binding on fairly short order.
editThe cover for a long-stitched binding is made of cardboard -- specifically acid free two ply museum board. In determining the size of the cover, you have to allow for not only the thickness of the paper, but the thickness of the thread used to sew the binding, so now is the time to get the thread. The thread should be heavy, heavy enough that you might be as likely to call it fine cordage as you are to call it heavy thread! Thread diameters of close to a millimeter (when uncompressed and not under tension) are quite reasonable. The thread should compress to about 1/2 millimeter when successive turns are wrapped tightly around a pencil. See the section on thread for other criteria.
If you have 19 sections, as in DEC's 1973 Introduction to Programming, you'll need to add the thickness of 19 threads to the thickness of your book. To find this, wrap 19 turns of thread tightly around a pencil and measure the length of the wrapping, then add this to the thickness of the clamped spine of the stack of sections that will make up your book.
The museum board has the interesting property that it flexes fairly easily in one direction but it is fairly stiff in the other. You want your cover to flex easily from side to side, since that's the way you tend to bend the covers of a book when you hold it open to read. You want the book to be stiff from top to bottom, since bending in that direction should never happen. Taking this into account, cut a rectangle of museum board with the dimensions shown in Figure 4.1:
Do not cut the cover oversize. The cover used with this style of binding is intended to cover the pages of the book in the way a conventional paperback cover does, with the edges of the cardboard exactly even with the edges of the bound pages.
I did all my cutting with a carpenter's square to guide a large X-acto knife. It took two or three scores with the knife to cut all the way through, and I used an old cardboard sheet as backing so I wouldn't cut into the top of the table I was working on. A paper cutting guillotine also works well to cut out the cover, particularly the type of guillotine that clamps the material being cut so that the blade does not pull the cardboard sideways as it cuts.
Having cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard, you need to score the creases where the cover will hinge to wrap around the pages. I measured twice to avoid error, then set my straight-edge along the planned hinge lines and used a blunt tool to score the crease. Traditional bookbinders would use a bone tool for this. I used the rounded and polished end of a metal ruler I found in my toolbox. Be careful not to cut or tear the fibers of the board when you score it; your goal is to compress the fibers in order to guide the crease. Figure 4.2 shows the cover with scored creases.
Before you bend the cover, you need to cut a series of equally spaced square-ended slits in the cover, as shown in Figure 4.2. Typically, these should be about an inch apart, (anywhere from 2 to 3 cm will do) and the slits at the top and bottom should be a bit closer to the top and bottom edges of the book (about 1/2 inch or 1.5 cm is nice). Each slit should be about 1 mm wide, but the precise width is less important than the uniformity.
I cut 8 slits for this purpose, but 7 would be just as good. The ends of the slits should be about 1/2 the thickness of one section of your book from the creases that you just scored in the cover.
There are several ways to cut these slits. For my first effort, I used an X-acto knife, but I've found that cutting cardboard with a hammer and chisel is very fast and accurate. Use a broad-bladed wood chisel that's almost the length of the slit you want, and make sure it's very sharp. Place the chisel so the flat side faces the side of the slot you are keeping, and the beveled face faces the waste material you will discard. Always work against a disposable backing that won't damage the chisel; I use some heavy strathmore board for this. Practice a bit on scraps of your cover material before you attack the real thing.
Another way to make these slots was suggested to me by Neil Tyler. He has done this with an inexpensive utility knife, the kind with a cast metal handle that is in two halves held together by a screw. Normally, you put only one blade in such a knife, but if you put two blades in, side by side, with a spacer between them, you can cut slots that are about as wide as the thickness of the spacer plus the thickness of one blade. There is one warning about this method! Be extremely careful! Wounds made by closely spaced parallel blades are nasty, difficult to bandage and slow to heal when compared with the commonplace cuts that most users of sharp tools have experienced on occasion.
Punching holes
editEdit this section. Paper is hard stuff, and pushing a sewing needle through 8 layers is no fun; it is far easier to pre-punch each section for sewing! To do this, make a jig out of a scrap of cardboard with a very straight edge.
- Cut a shallow wide notch in the cardboard. The depth of the notch should be about the thickness of the 8 sheets of paper that make up your sections. The width of the notch should be the height of the spine of the book.
- Lay out the holes that will be punched, making a mark for each one on the edge of the cardboard. In the case of a long stitch binding, these measurements can be transferred directly from the cover as follows:
- Put the jig parallel to the length of the part of the cover that will be the spine, so the notch just brackets the cover.
- Carefully mark where each slot in the spine passes your jig.
- Make a V shaped notch at each mark. These notches show where the holes go in the crease of each section.
- It's a rare day that you can get the jig (or the slots in your spine) perfectly symmetrical, so mark one end of your jig as the top, so that you can punch all of your sections the same way. Always make the up direction point towards the top of the page, and your book will come out with even edges.
Figure 5.1 illustrates the finished punching jig, resting against the spine of the cover:
The purpose of the V shaped notches is to guide the tip of an awl as you punch holes in your sections. Slide your jig into the center of a folded section until the notched edge rests in the crease, then hold the back of the section against a scrap of wood and use a good sharp awl to punch a row of holes, one per notch in the jig. Keep the section folded fairly tightly, and the awl will find the center of the crease in the section and the center of the notch fairly naturally.
This work includes text or images adapted with permission from Bookbinding: A Tutorial © 1995 by Douglas W. Jones, who has agreed to this use under the terms of the GFDL.
editThe long stitch I used is a fairly modern modification of an ancient style of bookbinding; the basic rules are simple: Sections of the book are sewn into the cover one at a time, in sequence, from the front of the book to the back, using a single length of thread to sew the entire book. In sewing each section, the thread runs once down the length of that section, alternately inside the fold of the section and outside the spine of the cover.
The thread is always sewn inside the fold of the section at each end of the book; except at the ends, the threads of successive sections alternate, so that the sewing pattern on the back of a finished book (with 4 sections in this example) should look something like is shown in Figure 6.1:
The book is sewn with a single thread, between the indicated points. Note that it takes a bit of cleverness to sew the ends of the sections, since the natural alternation of over and under brings the thread out somewhat randomly in one or the other orientation.
The thread should always pass over the end of each section and around the end of the spine. This helps prevent the pages from tearing out, because tears almost always begin at the end of the crease.
Before you start sewing, you need to measure out enough thread to sew the entire book. For a book with 19 or 20 sections, wrap the thread 10 times around the handfull of sections when they're clenched tightly in the cover. Then wrap one or two turns for good luck. It's better to have a bit of extra thread than to have to knot the thread in midbook!
Before you start sewing, it helps (but is not strictly necessary) to wax the thread with beeswax.
A note of caution: You do your final quality control check when you commit yourself to sewing in a section! Once the wrong section is sewn in or the right one is sewn in with a missing or inverted page, it's no fun to undo. Check what section you are sewing, and make sure it is all there and right-side up! As you gain experience, you'll find that you spend less time checking, but it's better to do too much checking than too little.
Also, with each section, check that all the pre-punched holes line up with the slits in the cover. If they don't you've probably got the section upside down. If they still don't line up, you've done a bad job punching the holes, and you'll have to repunch a few.
Figure 6.2 shows, in some detail, is a cross section of the knotting at the end of a thread:
Try to keep the knot and the loose end on the inside of the book. A tight square knot will do well here. Start by making the knot at one end of the first section, and finish sewing the first section to the spine. At the end, you'll face a problem -- how to finish one section and start the next.
Here, in some detail, is the sewing pattern used to change from one section to the next. If the thread emerges from the end of a section in the crease of that section, go outside the cover and down into the first prepunched hole in the next section, then out the crease, over the spine, and through the same hole as you begin sewing the length of the next section.
If the thread emerges from the end of a section outside the spine, go around the end and down the crease, re-using the last hole in the same section before going outside, around the end of the next section, and up the crease.
In both cases, the above sewing pattern will produce the result shown in Figure 6.3.
Here, dashed lines are used to show threads that are tucked into the crease of a section, while double horizontal and diagonal lines show the threads visible from the outside of the spine.
Whenever you use the same hole twice, always be sure not to sew the thread through itself. Pull the thread that goes through the hole off to one side, then thread the needle through to the other side of the same hole. If you do accidentally sew through the thread, it will make it difficult to tighten the thread when you're done sewing.
As you reach the end of the book, it will get hard to squeeze the last few sections in. You'll have to press hard to move the already bound pages down the spine to make room for the last sections, and as you work on the very last one, you'll have to squeeze the book again each time you try to get the needle through. If you measured the spine width correctly, you'll just barely manage to fit the last section in -- that's the test of a perfect fit.
If you run out of thread before you reach the end of the book, follow the instructions below for tightening the thread before you tie on a new length of thread, then tie the knot (a square knot) as close as you can to the last hole the thread passes through, Keep the knot on the inside of a crease! Do not back yourself into the situation where you have a knot that you need to pull through a hole in the sewing when you try to tighten the thread later.
Before you tie the final knot in the book, tighten the thread, working along the spine from the initial knot towards the end, pulling out any slack until the thread is uniformly tight throughout the sewing. I use a sharp awl (the same one I used to punch the holes in the sections) to do this, since it is easy to insert the tip under a tight loop of thread and pull the slack forward to that loop, tightening the previous loop. You don't need to pull too hard, but you don't want to leave any slack in the binding.
Finally, when the sewing is uniformly tight, tie the final knot, and you have a book! If the pages aren't in the right order at this point, though you'll have trouble fixing the order without cutting the thread and re-sewing!
The spine of the finished book is shown in Figure 6.4. Note that the end sewing and the threads holding the center sections of the book match almost perfectly with the pattern illustrated in Figure 6.1. The pattern of the threads holding the very first and last sections is somewhat obscured by the tighter packing of these lines of sewing.
The book shown in Figure 6.4 has seen several years of use, and the impact of this wear is quite visible. Repeated flexing of the fold where the book front meets the spine has torn some of the surface fibers. Should this crease ever begin to tear, it would be a simple matter to thread linen tape through the sewing and glue it to the front and back covers in order to reinforce the spine and hinges. The photo shows no wear on the threads, and the torn fibers along the crease are very clean; this is because the book has been protected by a dust jacket since it was bound.
This work includes text or images adapted with permission from Bookbinding: A Tutorial © 1995 by Douglas W. Jones, who has agreed to this use under the terms of the GFDL.


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The majority of Americans support net neutrality protections. Based on the comments in the most recent Congressional hearing on net neutrality, you could come away with the idea that most of Congress and most of the giant Internet Service Providers do, too. But if you read between the lines, what we really heard today was a definition of net neutrality designed to leave loopholes for companies to slither through.
When we talk about net neutrality protections, we often talk about the explicit bans on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Those three terms got a lot of play at the hearing in the House. But net neutrality is not just those three things.
Even in trying to define net neutrality this way, people on the side of ISPs like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon can't give up the dream of paid prioritization. Once again, the industry trotted out the myth that a ban on paid prioritization prevents ISPs from giving special treatment to first responders or telemedicine. Joseph Franell of Eastern Oregon Telecom said that if he was in an accident, he would want his medical treatment given priority as Internet traffic, which the 2015 rules absolutely allowed. What they banned was prioritization for the purposes of making money, not for public safety or for specialized services.
Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all traffic coming over their networks without discrimination. Violations of that principle include, but are not limited to, blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. The value of the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order was not just in the banning of those specific practices, but also in giving the FCC ability to investigate actions that violate net neutrality but don't fall neatly into one of those three buckets.
Threats to public safety, for example, don't necessarily present as clear cases of blocking, throttling, or paid prioritization. The case of Verizon throttling California firefighters during a wildfire might have not met the definition of throttling in the 2015 Order, but the FCC under Pai has likely given up the authority to investigate what happened there.
Public safety is tied to net neutrality, as Congressman Jerry McNerney of California noted when he said that during disasters, people go online to "check evacuation routes, see if their loved ones are safe, and find out if it's even safe to breathe outside." And if ISPs have made deals and decisions to make it faster to get to places with wrong or unhelpful information, that is a problem.
Interconnection points—places where two different networks exchange information with each other—are another place where we know ISPs can get around simple bans on just blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. That is to say that while the bans prevent things occurring on a network, they do not stop providers from charging extra when content enters their network at the connection point, which is paying to get access to customers on the other network. That's why California's S.B. 822, written to replicate the whole protections of the 2015 Open Internet Order and not just these three bans, includes prohibitions on doing that. Discriminatory zero-rating—the practice of exempting certain types of traffic from counting against a data cap (often under an agreement between the ISP and web platform)—is another area that can fall outside these three bans. Not only has zero rating been shown to be harmful to low-income broadband users, but it raises the cost of data for all users.
Another claim made constantly was that net neutrality and the 2015 Open Internet Order made it difficult for ISPs to invest in Internet for rural and other underserved communities. It was included in cable lobby head Michael Powell's written testimony as the statement that the 2015 order had "depressing effects on the market" and Farnell's testimony that he has more offers to invest since the repeal. But it's simply not true that net neutrality really hurt rural investment. We know from the mouths of ISPs, when talking to their own investors, that the order didn't affect their planned investment at all. Besides, the challenges to investment have to do with physical barriers, not protections for consumers: now that the net neutrality rules no longer applies to them, they have still not deployed in rural markets.
As former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said during the hearing, legislation focused only on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization "ignores the future and doesn't even protect today. It doesn't protect today because it says you are free to discriminate, just don't do it this way."
Net neutrality is a principle. It is not just a set of rules against specific discriminatory practices. Treating all Internet traffic equally is why we have the modern Internet. It's not a new idea, but it's in danger today.


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A New York City teacher has set up a blog and livestream to document the day-to-day of his $75,000-a-year job at a Staten Island middle school. If that sounds mundane, that's exactly the point: he claims he's being paid not to teach.
It's been more than two years since New York shuttered its infamous "rubber rooms" – where teachers who couldn't be fired due to union rules killed time on the taxpayers' dime. But Intermediate School 49 teacher Francesco Portelos says he hasn't set foot in a classroom in about half a year, but continues to draw a full salary.
Portelos has created a website to document his allegations, along with a livestream broadcasting his time spent out of the classroom. He spends his days in "a conference room with a table and chairs and filing cabinets. That's it. I'm not given any work. It feels like I'm a rat in a cage."
"I want people to see where their tax dollars are going," Portelos told the New York Daily News. "I'm getting paid $75,000 to sit around."
Portelos alleges that he was removed from the classroom after he blew the whistle on financial misconduct by school administrators. The school says he was "extremely difficult to work with" and that there are "multiple investigations pending against him."
But whether or not Portelos was exposed wrongdoing or was guilty of it himself, he appears to have adequately documented the continued use of practices to which New York City officials say they put a stop.
Indeed, Portelos's website has become something of a clearinghouse for "rubber room" allegations. One blog post compiled a list of such rooms supposedly scattered throughout the city.


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"Isolation, identification, and quantification of lichenysin, a novel nonvolatile compound in Chinese distilled spirits.", J Food Sci, vol. 79, no. 10, pp. C1907-15, 2014.
, "Pinot Noir wine composition from different vine vigour zones classified by remote imaging technology.", Food Chem, vol. 153, pp. 52-9, 2014.
, "Pinot noir wine volatile and anthocyanin composition under different levels of vine fruit zone leaf removal.", Food Chem, vol. 214, pp. 736-744, 2017.
, "Quantification of selected aroma-active compounds in Pinot noir wines from different grape maturities.", J Agric Food Chem, vol. 54, no. 22, pp. 8567-73, 2006.
, "Volatile component change in whey protein concentrate during storage investigated by headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography", Dairy Science & Technology, vol. 88, pp. 95–104, 2008.
, "Volatile composition in raspberry cultivars grown in the Pacific Northwest determined by stir bar sorptive extraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.", J Agric Food Chem, vol. 56, no. 11, pp. 4128-33, 2008.
, "Volatile composition of Merlot wine from different vine water status.", J Agric Food Chem, vol. 57, no. 16, pp. 7459-63, 2009.
, "Volatile compounds and sensory attributes of wine from Cv. Merlot (Vitis vinifera L.) grown under differential levels of water deficit with or without a kaolin-based, foliar reflectant particle film.", J Agric Food Chem, vol. 58, no. 24, pp. 12890-8, 2010.
, "Volatile Sulfur Compounds in Food", in ACS Symposium Series, Washington DC: ACS Books, 2011.
, "'Wild Treasure'Thornless Trailing Blackberry", HortScience, vol. 45, pp. 434–436, 2010.


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Goldfur (chakat)
Chakat Goldfur is perhaps the best known chakat of all, created by Bernard Doove.
Goldfur, a cougar-patterned chakat with long blond hair, was born 26 September 2300 to Chakats Longstripe and Desertsand. Shi had a happy normal childhood and, after graduating, shi joined the Star Corps (the non-military arm of the Star Services). Shi is a highly-skilled electronics technician, and currently serves as lead technician on exploration starships.
Goldfur, as many chakats, has multiple mates. With Lupu, shi has had two children, Greypaw (deceased) and Stonefur; with Garrek, shi has had/will have four children, Eudora Whitepaw and Tailstalker so far, with Aura and Sandstorm destined to be born later; and with Malena, shi has had Blaze, with Firestripe and Shani to come, and finally late in life, Forestwalker will give hir Joysong. Shi has been both mother and father.
One of hir notable traits is how shi has gone from optimistic to suspicious, due firstly to the kidnapping and threat to hir daughter Eudora, and then the murder of hir daughter Greypaw in a racial riot.
Chakat Goldfur appears in the Forest Tales series, which has been published in Fur Plus, and in a stand-alone book, Transformations. Shi also appears in the comic 4 Footed Furries and the webcomic Apollo 9.
This stub about a character could be expanded. |


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Just what the doctor ordered has been saved
Sometimes, it's necessary for a company to take a step back before it can take two steps forward. Just ask the leaders of the Uniphar Group, a leading provider within the pharmaceutical and
In 2011, the combination of loan debt and high overhead was making it difficult for Uniphar to capitalize on growth opportunities. Just three years later, against a challenging economic backdrop, its annual revenues increased almost 60 percent, earnings were up 75 percent, and debt decreased by about a third. It also completed a major acquisition and initiated
Along the way, Deloitte Ireland has played a key role in Uniphar's resurgence.
"Our corporate finance team was hired in 2011 by two Irish banks to complete an extensive review of Uniphar's financial health and assist with negotiating a restructuring of the company's existing loans to harness growth opportunities in the market," explains David Carson, Deloitte Ireland's lead client service partner for Uniphar. "By 2013, those banks were willing to fund Uniphar's US$54.3 million acquisition of pharmaceutical wholesaler Cahill May Roberts (CMR). That speaks volumes about the progress Uniphar made and the trust the banks had in its management team." Deloitte Ireland corporate finance provided due diligence services on the acquisition.
Shortly after the CMR deal closed, Uniphar conducted a series of