text:
Submitted by PRWatch Editors on
- By Beau Hodai and Lisa Graves
Documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy, recently unsealed as part of a major lawsuit against Syngenta, reveal how the global chemical company's PR team investigated the press and spent millions to spin news coverage and public perceptions in the face of growing concerns about potential health risks from the widely used weed-killer "atrazine."
This story is part of a new series about this PR campaign to influence the media, potential jurors, potential plaintiffs, farmers, politicians, scientists, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the midst of reviews of the weed-killer's potential to act as an endocrine disruptor, over the past decade or so.
Dealing with Meddlesome Reporters
Two years ago, on March 2, 2010, Huffington Post Investigative Fund (HuffPo) reporter Danielle Ivory contacted Syngenta Corporation Director of Corporate Communications-North America Paul Minehart and asked, as reporters do, a few questions.
Little did she know her questions to Syngenta—which reported sales of over $11 billion that year, almost half of which, $5 billion, was profit—would provoke the creation of a secret dossier on her.
According to emails discovered by St. Louis attorney Stephen Tillery in a class action to get Syngenta to compensate local water utilities for the cost of filtering Syngenta's weed-killer out of drinking water supplies, the Syngenta team did not simply respond to her questions with the usual PR spin. (Syngenta sought to keep this information out of the public eye in that case, "Holiday Shore Sanitary District v. Syngenta Crop Protection et al.," but a trial court in Illinois rejected the company's claims and "unsealed" some emails and materials last year, making them part of the public record.)
Ivory told Minehart she had been informed by a source that a new federal class action would soon be filed against Syngenta Crop Protection Incorporated ("Syngenta CP"), a subsidiary/division of Syngenta AG ("SAG"), a global holding company located in Switzerland.
Over a dozen municipal and county operators of water districts in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, and Iowa were planning to sue Syngenta CP—whose U.S. headquarters is in Greensboro, North Carolina—and SAG for the costs associated with removing atrazine from their community's drinking water.
Daring to Seek Answers
A few days later, on March 8, 2010, several water utilities would claim Syngenta deliberately withheld data indicating human health risks from the public, which the company denies.
The New York Times' Charles Duhigg had reported in an August 2009 series called "Toxic Waters" on how huge spikes in atrazine concentration in drinking water were hidden from the American people and that scientists are concerned about atrazine's potential as an endocrine disruptor to affect hormone levels. The Natural Resources Defense Council had issued a major report documenting these issues. And Ivory had written about this online for HuffPo.
According to emails obtained by CMD, in March, Ivory was seeking comment on a number of questions about the coming federal lawsuit.
She wanted to know Syngenta's response to the allegation that the company, although it had the resources to do so, was refusing to aid communities seeking to remove atrazine from their water supplies. What was Syngenta's response to water utilities that could not afford the cost of removing the weed-killer from their customers' drinking water?
Ivory had previously reported that replacing the sand filtration system used by many water districts with carbon filters to remove atrazine were difficult for cash-strapped utilities to afford, especially after the Wall Street crash. She had noted that the conversion to carbon filtration could cost millions and that the carbon filters needed require annual replacement at a cost, for example, of over $100k for six filters.
Following several queries by Ivory, Minehart responded (PDF), via email on March 5, that atrazine was safe.
He also asserted, among other things, that since 2005 no water system in the nation had an "annual" average atrazine content above the three parts-per-billion ("3 ppb") threshold set by the EPA.
Less than an hour after Minehart's email had been sent, Ivory doggedly responded:
"Paul, thanks for this. I appreciate the statement, but I noticed that Syngenta did not respond directly to any of the questions that I asked...." She repeated her request for a comment on plaintiffs' claim they could not afford to filter Atrazine from their water supplies and that Syngenta should pay for it.
Ivory wasn't going to go away.
What to Do about a Persistent Reporter?
According to court records, Minehart then fired off a very interesting internal email, seeking guidance from others on Syngenta's team about how to further field Ivory's queries.
"Danielle is persistent: I just spoke with her. She said I did not respond to her questions!" the Minehart wrote.
The recipients of this email were Syngenta CP's director of communications, Sherry Ford, and three other Syngenta employees.
Also included on the email delivery chain were two public relations consultants: Josh Gilder, of White House Writers Group (WHWG), and Chris Robling, of Jayne Thompson and Associates (JTA), an Illinois public relations firm, hired as part of the company's PR strategy to deal with litigation in Illinois, among other things. WHWG had been part of Syngenta's PR team for about six months, coming on board after the New York Times story and NRDC report came out. (The litigation has opened a window on some of communications among the Syngenta PR team.)
Before that day, March 5, Ivory had been on the radar screen of the Syngenta spin team, and someone decided to do more than just react to her stories.
The day before, on March 4, Bret Jacobson, the founder and president of Maverick Strategies and Communications, a public relations/consulting firm specializing in "opposition research," submitted a dossier on Ivory to the firm "Quinn Thomas Public Affairs."
Quinn Thomas had been hired by Syngenta CP in October 2009, as part of an expanded PR operation led by WHWG, which the watchdog group Media Transparency has called "an umbrella firm of former ghostwriters for Republican presidents and bureaucrats now at the service of anyone willing to pay."
A "First-Strike" PR Team
Around the time of the New York Times investigation of atrazine levels and growing health concerns, according to e-mails discovered in the Holiday Shores suit, Syngenta CP had put out a request for proposals for a new PR effort.
According to the solicitation, Syngenta was seeking firms experienced with a "first strike" mentality and with managing "third party" spokespeople to carry Syngenta's message when it did not want those messages to be seen as coming from the corporation. It also listed (PDF) its top two primary audiences as "media" and "potential jurors." (The Holiday Shores case was pending in Illinois; the Jayne Thompson firm had been hired a few years earlier and would continue to be part of Syngenta's PR operation along with the new PR team being solicited.)
WHWG responded with a $498,000 base proposal that included funding for the "grassroots mobilization" firm DDC Advocacy, which has been described as a big player in the "astroturf" world of making corporate initiatives look like they are the result of wide and deep grassroots support.
A PR Team Known for Attacking Trial Lawyers
DDC reportedly has also co-chaired an astroturfing "roundtable" with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is funded by the biggest global corporations in the world (WHWG has also spearheaded PR campaigns for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce). DDC has also worked on astroturf campaigns in the cyber-world against lawyers who represent injured Americans and in support of so-called "tort reform" that would limit the rights of Americans harmed or killed through corporate neglect or greed.
WHWG's proposal to Syngenta on atrazine also included Quinn Thomas Public Affairs, which was specifically touted for its success in "engaging" lawyers who represent American consumers and in fighting public interest groups through "aggressive third party activity." WHWG said Quinn Thomas' tactics had succesfully slowed or reversed "activist momentum."
"Third party activity" means using seemingly independent third parties that do not appear to be acting in concert with or at the behest of the corporation in a dispute. Aggressive, here, is undefined.
In documents uncovered through the Illinois state suit against Syngenta, a dossier on HuffPo reporter Danielle Ivory (PDF) has surfaced. Ivory had contacted Syngenta on March 2nd.
The March 4, 2010 dossier was prepared quickly by "Maverick Strategies" partner Bret Jacobsen as a memo to Quinn Thomas, who was working with WHWG, part of Syngenta CP's six-month old, expanded PR efforts.
From late 2009 through 2010, according to spreadsheets discovered in the litigation, WHWG's operations resulted in payments of over $1.2 million by Syngenta for "message management" and "campaign management." Its total to date is unknown.
Assessing a Reporter's "Motives"
As stated in the dossier, Quinn Thomas had sought an investigation into Ivory's history for "the purpose of assessing her motivations regarding her coverage of [a]trazine."
The dossier lists Ivory's work history as including a stint with Bill Moyers at the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy (which is distinct from the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy), and a job at National Public Radio's award winning Weekend Edition. It also noted her writing for Democracy Now!, Alternet, Truthout, and HuffPo.
The dossier calls these respected organizations a "who's who of anti-employer employers."
Furthermore, wrote Jacobson, "[Ivory] has successfully used journalism to pressure an insurance company to reverse its decision not to cover a 12-year-old boy's prosthetic arm."
Aside from the purportedly unsavory nature of Ivory's past employers and her use of journalism to benefit a disabled child, he claimed the primary driver behind Ivory's atrazine reporting was egotism.
Noting that Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman had credited Ivory as the reporter who "broke the story on the EPA's [a]trazine cover-up," Jacobson concluded that Ivory's "professional reputation and ego are tied to the effectiveness of the attack on the chemical."
Democracy Now!: An "Anti-Employer Employer?"
Goodman had hosted Ivory to discuss her report, "EPA Fails to Inform Public about Weed Killer in Drinking Water." Ivory had examined data from the monitoring of 150 watersheds between 2003 and 2008. That data filed with the EPA was hidden from public eyes until demands for compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disgorged it.
The water testing data indicated that the Bush Administration's EPA had been aware of high atrazine levels in American's drinking water and had not disclosed that to the public.
The Bush Administration had also entered into an agreement with Syngenta to test for atrazine in water supplies. Accordingly, Syngenta was aware that periodic spikes of atrazine concentration in water systems were occurring periodically throughout the nation. Dozens of these spikes were well over 3 ppb.
Documents revealed through litigation and compared with the public record show that Syngenta and its "third party" consultants and allies repeatedly told the public that atrazine levels were always in compliance with federal safety standard.
(The utilities in the federal suit, which are represented by the Korien Tillery law firm which also represents the water districts in the state class action, note that relying on annual averages obscures spikes in atrazine levels in community drinking water systems during the times of the year the weed-killer is applied to fields. One drinking water system in Indiana was measured to have a spike in atrazine level of 237.5 ppb, exponentially greater than 3 ppb, in a period in which the weed-killer was sprayed on cropland.)
Hiding the "Poisoning of the Well"
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) had examined data from the EPA's "Ecological Watershed Monitoring Program" and "Atrazine Monitoring Program," obtained via its FOIA litigation with the Bush Administration.
The results of this analysis were released by NRDC in August 2009 in a detailed report entitled, "Poisoning the Well: How the EPA Is Ignoring Atrazine Contamination in Surface and Drinking Water in the Central United States."
In it, Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist in NRDC's health and environment program, said "there is strong evidence that atrazine is an endocrine disrupting chemical interfering with critical reproductive hormones even at extremely low levels. This is because hormones in our bodies are active at very low levels, parts-per-billion or lower."
Jacobson, in the dossier on Ivory, noted that there were similarities between Ivory's findings and those of NRDC, although the data from different sources all showed spikes in atrazine levels in drinking water.
And, the dossier makes much of the fact that an NRDC blog congratulated Ivory on what it dubbed to be an "excellent investigative report" on the atrazine data.
Targeting the Tides Foundation
The dossier on Ivory also revealed that Maverick had given a dossier to Quinn Thomas on NRDC, the Pesticide Action Network of North America (PANNA), the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), and the Tides Foundation. That dossier was not in the documents unsealed by the court in the Holiday Shores litigation.
According to the Ivory dossier, Maverick had previously provided a more thorough report on these organizations than was summarized there. Its summary claimed that the listed environmental groups "share one very powerful, controversial funding source: The Tides Foundation, an uber-wealthy and far-left philanthropy...."
The March 4, 2010 dossier goes on to channel a Glenn Beck-like tone in linking the groups to Tides and its management in a guilt-by-association manner.
The dossier on Ivory notes that the Tides Center provided funding for a 1999 report on pesticides and herbicides, including atrazine. And, it notes that the Tides' donors gave NRDC between $64,000 and $96,000 a year for three years.
The amount of funding Maverick received from Quinn Thomas or the amount Quinn Thomas received from the Syngenta contract is not known; what is known is that WHWG received over one million dollar in fees for its work on the atrazine PR efforts.
Science Under Siege
NRDC and Syngenta have a long, contentious relationship.
Due to an array of health concerns, NRDC has recommended that atrazine use be phased out and that the weed-killer be filtered out of Americans' contaminated drinking water. Its investigations and lawsuits in the public interest have resulted in judicial decrees requiring more monitoring of water and have spurred the EPA to subject the herbicide to additional reviews by the EPA Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) -- including an EPA SAP atrazine review launched in October, 2009 -- based on emerging science and growing concerns.
The dossier on Ivory also expressed the view that NRDC's "Poisoning the Well" report was in essence part of a conspiracy funded by Tides, which might include Ivory's work for HuffPo.
The dossier writer had also contacted HuffPo "to inquire about additional information about their funding model, sources and ties to the Tides family of organizations." Jacobson reported that he had not yet received a reply and that he did not expect further details.
As for Ivory, the dossier reported that its opposition research was based on "publicly" available information and was the best that could be prepared under the short deadline provided by Quinn Thomas.
On June 9, 2011, as part of a sworn deposition given in the Illinois suit, Syngenta's PR rep, Sherry Ford, denied that Syngenta or anyone acting on its behalf had "investigated" anyone except one person.
That person was not Danielle Ivory, according to Ford.
Yet, the March 4, 2010, dossier on Ivory was requisitioned by Syngenta's hired PR team following Ivory's query to Syngenta about the coming federal lawsuit. It was produced for a PR team known for its aggressive tactics. The term "investigated" was not specifically defined in the deposition or by the opposition research firm tapped by the PR team.
Syngenta Admits It Investigated Dr. Tyrone Hayes
No, the person Ford admitted had been investigated by Syngenta was not Ivory.
He's a U.C.-Berkeley scientist whose extensive studies suggest that atrazine causes sex mutations in frogs. (A detailed story of how Syngenta has attacked this scientist's reputation is reported in January's Mother Jones magazine. The deposition of Syngenta's head of PR is not discussed in that story.)
Ford claimed under oath that she herself no longer has the opposition research on Dr. Hayes.
She also claimed under oath that Syngenta's expanded first-strike PR team had been assembled in late 2009 in direct response to a tip they had received from a reporter indicating that a new federal lawsuit against the company was in the offing. At the time of Ivory's e-mail exchange with Syngenta's Paul Minehart starting March 2, 2010, the company claimed it had no knowledge of any pending federal litigation or of the allegations of the plaintiffs about atrazine.
On March 5th, HuffPo ran a story about atrazine contamination in Iowa, but it was not by Ivory.
The piece by Kerry Trueman, titled "Our Toxic Waterways: Flushing Away Our Future," discussed a new documentary called "Big River," by Ian Cheney and Kurt Ellis whose previous piece "King Corn," won critical acclaim. The new documentary traced how the atrazine they used to grow corn had contaminated their local creek.
Trueman noted that recent news stories had reported concerns that atrazine might chemically castrate or "feminize" male frogs, according to Dr. Hayes' research, and that the EPA had recently announced it would re-assess the weed-killer.
Searching for a Defender of Atrazine on HuffPo
In response, Syngenta CP's Steven Goldsmith sent an email to Josh Gilder of WHWG and Mike Burita at Quinn Thomas asking an interesting question (PDF).
"Is there anyone at HP [HuffPo] who we could cultivate on this issue rather than continuing to get bashed by everyone on their payroll?"
WHWG and Quinn Thomas had already been hard at work for six months on an array of tactics to advance Syngenta PR's third party strategy on atrazine.
One was to have Syngenta's chief scientist, Dr. Mike Bushell, ghostwrite a chapter for a book challenging the idea of regulating atrazine by applying the "precautionary principle."
This standard, which is embedded in U.S. and EU consumer law, places the burden of proof on manufacturers to establish that their products are not harmful if science points to significant risks to human health or the environment. WHWG said (PDF) it would "find someone else willing to put their name" on Syngenta's "Ghost Author" story about atrazine and challenge the potential embrace of the precautionary principle by the Obama Administration's EPA.
The ghostwritten chapter was for a book to be published in conjunction with someone at the American Enterprise Institute, a DC think tank that is funded in part by large donations from corporations. It is not known whether Syngenta has funded this think tank or any of its "fellows," directly or indirectly.
Also Needed: An Investigative Reporter to Rattle the EPA's Cages
On December 3, 2009, Syngenta's in-house PR staff held a planning meeting to deal with the fallout from the New York Times investigation, the agenda (PDF) was to "[o]btain the services of a well know (sic) investigative reporter to probe around the EPA" and, at a minimum get advice "on what buttons to push and cages to rattle."
As part of the effort to influence EPA's review, another tactic was to identify long-term needs for published materials and which third parties "should be approached/retained."
Unsealed e-mails reveal (PDF) that earlier that same week WHWG had reported to Syngenta that a third party the PR team was in communication with was Jon Entine of the American Enterprise Institute. Entine is a former producer with NBC and ABC News, whose books attacked the idea of socially responsible investing and the precautionary principle (Let Them Eat Precaution).
The "Third Party" Technique in Action
While WHWG worked to cultivate new third party voices for Syngenta, some old mainstays of the company continued to defend it in the press.
For example, Elizabeth Whelan had long been on the short-list of people Syngenta's PR team considered when shopping corporate op-eds to publish under someone else's byline.
Whelan is the president of the "American Council for Science and Health" (ACSH). ACSH has been called "a receptacle for payments from pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, food and other companies who appreciate the convenience of having their grantees and former employees serve on government science panels," by Michael Jacobsen, the Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Jacobsen told the Washington Times that ACSH had "stopped disclosing its donors in the 1990s, presumably out of embarrassment." ACSH's list of leaders, scientists, and co-collaborators include other names of third party advocates that pop up in the e-mails unsealed in the litigation.
ACSH had already been enlisted (PDF) by the Syngenta PR team to attack the New York Times article by Charles Duhigg, "Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass," before the story was even published on August 22, 2009, and she responded right away.
ACSH's Beth Whelan Defends Atrazine, Without Disclosing Big Bucks
Whelan defended atrazine in a morning appearance on MSNBC the week the story broke. She told viewers across America that the New York Times story was "bogus."
She did not tell viewers that she was the beneficiary of big donations from Syngenta.
In the MSNBC debate with Whelan, the NRDC's Jennifer Sass suggested that scientific studies indicated that atrazine had chemically castrated frogs, by disrupting their endocrine systems with even small amounts of the weed-killer, which Whelan dismissed.
When Duhigg's New York Times article was reprised on NPR's "Fresh Air" in late October 2009, Whelan and her colleague at ACSH, Gilbert Ross, reached (PDF) out to Syngenta's (PDF) PR team again with their spin on atrazine, claiming:
"Mr. Duhigg's articles are replete (PDF) with exaggerated risk, bias, misrepresented science and sensationalism.... 'Chemophobia' is in: scaring people about chemicals in our food, water and consumer products gets attention -- but it is counterproductive, distracting us from the real public health hazards we face today."
In an October 20, 2009 email (PDF) from WHWG's Josh Gilder sent a note to his colleagues on the Syngenta PR team with a framework for countering the Duhigg analysis:
"I believe Duhigg's interview on NPR represents the new line of attack on [a]trazine, and just as the other side has been getting its organizational duck in a row, they have advanced their message in a way that will require a certain amount of catching up on our part," wrote Gilder. "This advanced message is that 'new science' suggests that exposure to even infinitesimal amounts of atz, measured in ppb, at critical points in pregnancy can cause birth defects or premature birth for a few members of the population. This renders past EPA decisions less compelling, as this is 'new science.'"
WHWG recommended Syngenta enlist the aid again of allies at ACSH -- namely Ross and Whelan.
ACSH Gets "Lifeblood" Funding from "Dear Syngenta Friends"
As the e-mails uncovered in the litigation reveal, Whelan had also submitted a new financial proposal from ACSH for a special project from Syngenta. The proposal began "Dear Syngenta friends" and proposed that ACSH produce a publication on pesticide and Atrazine exposure and human health.
She was seeking $100,000 to publish and consumerize a discussion of "myths and realities" about agribusiness chemicals and health.
Her proposal concluded by noting that her request was separate from the "general operating support Syngenta has been so generously providing over the years, which we request to continue at current or increased levels. Such general operating support is the lifeblood of a small non-profit like ours, and is both deeply appreciated and much needed."
Whelan, the president of the non-profit ACSH, is paid over $350,000 a year out of the organization's $2 million in annual income, as of 2009. It is not clear how much "lifeblood" Syngenta pays each year as its generous contribution to ACSH budget and Whelan's large salary.
ACSH's published materials include a boilerplate disclaimer that it accepts grants from any source but that it is solely responsible for its research and that it "does not accept support from individual corporations for specific research projects."
Spinning the Idea of "Chemophobia"
While aiding in attacks on Duhigg's New York Times reporting, Whelan pushed the idea that people expressing concerns were engaged in "chemophobia," an irrational fear of chemicals.
The e-mails contained in the court record are incomplete regarding ACSH's project grant proposal, the total funding it has received over the years, and the subsequent funding for ACSH, WHWG, and others post-spring 2010.
Nevertheless, it is plain that Syngenta's PR operations did not suddenly cease that spring, with the EPA's decision on atrazine still pending along with ongoing litigation in the state and federal courts.
And just last month a long-time friend of Syngenta announced the release of a new book.
It was finalized in 2011 along with a "companion friendly" paper called "Scared to Death: How Chemophobia Threatens Public Health." The book attacks the EPA and "harmful, unnecessary regulation" as well as the precautionary principle.
It has a chapter-long "case study" defending atrazine, just as members of the Syngenta PR team had been seeking.
The publisher? ACSH, consistent with the pitch Whelan made to Syngenta.
The book? Designed to rattle the cages at the EPA, which was on the Syngenta PR team's wishlist.
The author? John Entine, described as a highly regarded science reporter from the American Enterprise Institute, a third party Syngenta's PR team had been cultivating.
The HuffPo contributor who wrote about the book and its attack on critics of atrazine? It was Entine, whom Syngenta trusted.
It was not the investigated investigative HuffPo reporter, Danielle Ivory.
About the Authors: Beau Hodai has worked with In These Times as a Staff Writer and is the founder of DBApress.com. He is a guest author for the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). Lisa Graves is CMD's Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief. Previously, Graves was the Chief Counsel for Nominations for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice, among other posts.
About this Project: Documents obtained by CMD, recently unsealed as part of a major lawsuit against Syngenta, reveal how the global chemical company's PR team investigated the press and spent millions to spin news coverage and public perceptions in the face of growing concerns about potential health risks from the widely used weed-killer atrazine. This story is part one of a series about Syngenta's PR campaign to influence the media, potential jurors, potential plaintiffs, farmers, politicians, scientists, and the EPA in the midst of reviews of the weed-killer's potential to act as an endocrine disruptor and concerns about the persistence of the chemical and its metabolytes in drinking water.
For More Information: The U.S. Geological Survey is one resource for citizens to look at the levels of atrazine in water. Click here for an interactive map. To see a list of products containing atrazine, click here. To see the documents released as part of this investigative series, click here.
Anonymous replied on Permalink
Well done guys, you've
Anonymous replied on Permalink
Well Done
Anonymous replied on Permalink
Very well done
Anonymous replied on Permalink
Very well done
anonymous replied on Permalink
Good Point About Morals
Mutternich replied on Permalink
...but not sure what the
Kate DeBraose replied on Permalink
poisoned public water supplies
Anonymous replied on Permalink
This is hilarious
Mutternich replied on Permalink
I get it now.
Anonymous replied on Permalink


text:
You can access these settings at any time by selecting the Cookies link in the footer of this website.
These cookies are needed for our website to function providing security and other essentials. Therefore they are always on but they do not contain personally identifiable information (PII). The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
Analytics cookies allow us to gather data to help us better understand our visitors and offer them a better experience.
Marketing cookies allow us to link up our social media activities on various channels such as LinkedIn and Twitter. These cookies are not used for remarketing purposes.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Scientists who examined more than 10,000 chemical compounds during the last year in search of potential new drugs for a group of untreatable brain diseases, are reporting that one substance shows unusual promise. The early positive signs for so-called prion diseases come from research in laboratory mice and cell cultures, they say in a report in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Adam Renslo and colleagues, who include Nobel Laureate Stanley B. Prusiner, explain that prion diseases include conditions like mad cow disease in animals and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans, result from deposits of abnormal prion protein in brain tissue. Prion diseases are invariably fatal and no treatments are yet available.
The scientists describe narrowing their search among the 10,000 candidate drugs to a few dozen of the most promising and then synthesizing new variations of the compounds, termed aminothiazoles. Tests on laboratory mice showed that the new compounds can reach the brain and reach high concentrations when taken orally and do not appear toxic. Tests on prion-infected mouse brain cells showed that the compounds reduced the amount of the abnormal prion protein. The compounds appear to be among the most promising potential treatments for prion diseases yet discovered, the report suggests.
"2-Aminothiazoles as Therapeutic Leads for Prion Diseases"
Adam R. Renslo, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco,
MC2552 Byers Hall 503D,
1700 4th Street, San Francisco,
Calif. 94158
Phone: (415) 514-9698
Fax: (415) 514-4507
E-mail: [email protected]


text:
Request a receipt for tickets, fees and ancillaries, like seats. Receipts are available starting 24 hours after your purchase or change for up to 18 months.
Request a receipt for inflight purchases like food, drinks and Wi-Fi. Receipts are available starting 72 hours after your flight for up to 6 months.
If you bought your ticket or related travel products and services through American Airlines, you can request a refund or check your refund status.
If you bought your ticket from a travel agent or on another website, contact them for refund help.
American Airlines
Attention: Passenger Refunds
4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.
Phoenix, AZ 85034


text:
Palett of medals for the team of YC "Port Bourgas" at the season start
Fantastic start for our team at the 1st regatta for the season - "Briz Prolet" 2019 hosted by SC"Cherno More - Briz"
The races were conducted at the Varna lake from 5th to 7th April. Our team has acquired a real palette of medals.
Three gold, one silver and two bronze medals have decorated our sailors in the classes Laser Standard and Laser 4.7 as follows:


text:
"A waiter is not a servant, but a highly trained individual with a special skill. If you think about it, the service staff are the ones who make us chefs look good, through flawless presentation of our food. It is not just about getting people to respect our waitstaff, but also about giving due credit to the profession and attracting more good people who want to stay in this line." – Tetsuya Wakuda, Chef-owner of Tetsuya (Australia) and Waku-Ghin (Singapore)
Myself, Josephine and Tets |
(Please note that I am generalizing. More props to the exceptions out there.)
Here are three very different countries known for great service, and equally known to respect their hospitality industry back:
France: The service is arrogant. Rude, haughty - you'd think you owed them something. But demeanor aside, their service is impeccable. Polished and professional, and proud of their line of work (then again, you can say the French are just proud in general... which isn't always a bad thing.).
Japan: Hospitality is bred into the Japanese culture. In Japan, the customer is always right. The needs and comfort of the customer is always considered whether you are ordering $200 dessert or $2 ramen. Service is swift, graceful and unobtrusive. Service is simply beautiful in Japan and the customers tend to reciprocate with equal mannerliness.
United States: You get what you pay for. At a fine-dining establishment, expect the best. Waiters here range from French-style arrogance (the raised eyebrow when you order tap water instead of sparkling) to the ones who treat you like a king or their favorite nephew. Regardless of their personality (and Americans love to show their personality), every crumb will be swept off the table and water will be refilled without asking. American-style service tends to be more chatty and personable; it's our way of showing we care about the customer.
Service makes or breaks a restaurant. There's no shame in being front of house. Remember: People will always remember good service better than they remember bad service, and good service has the power to guarantee a repeat customer. Like any other profession, the only shame is if you don't perform to your best. Take pride in your work--how do you expect people to respect your job when you don't respect it yourself?
Likewise for the customer, especially for the ones who have never and will never be in the service industry, your waiter isn't your servant. Expect good service, but remember to show respect for your fellow people. Waiting tables is physically taxing, and dealing with hungry customers face-to-face is one of the most exhausting first-world duties you can imagine.


text: Two and a half years after he made his Broadway debut originating the role of Four Seasons' singer Bob Gaudio in the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Jersey Boys, Daniel Reichard gave his final performance at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre on January 9th. Amidst the hugs and tears of his fellow castmates, we caught a last look at Reichard backstage as he said his goodbyes and prepared to give "Oh, What a Night" some very extra special meaning. Click on.


text:
Custom Order Izzy (18")
All of my listings contain photos of my work. I would never use another artists photos !
You choose all the details (hair color/style, eye color, and any other details you would like!) Please allow 7-9 weeks for your baby to be completed! I can normally have her ready sooner, but please do not expect it.
~Details at a Glance~
☆Beautifully Detailed and Very Realistic Vinyl Limbs: FULL Arms and Legs .
☆Top Quality Doe Suede Body
☆Real Looking Skin with Genesis Heat Set Paint + Veining
☆Gorgeous Top Quality Premium Mohair
☆Realistically weighted with ultra fine glass bead (you can choose weight from 4-8 pounds)
☆Very Realistic Glass Eyes
☆She will have a perfect blend of undertones, veins, and blush. Details have been painted delicately.
☆She will have subtle veining, and bluish undertones where the skin is thinner and more transparent. My babies are given a multi-layered realistic complexion.
☆Lips will be tinted a very natural colour, and sealed for protection.
☆I painted several layers to obtain a realistic effect.
☆I root human or mohair. It is then sealed inside with waterproof glue. The feel and quality of this mohair is GORGEOUS.
☆ Fingers and toes will be carefully manicured.
☆Limbs will be weighted with ultra fine glass beads, and soft fiberfill.
☆ I use no sand in the weighting of my babies so they're ready for overseas travel. I weight my babies with tiny glass beads and a quality polyfil to fill in.
☆ She wears newborn clothing and her feet are 3inches, size 1 shoes
☆All my babies are from a smoke free home and studio
☆If you have any questions about her, please feel free to email-me.
I only accept PayPal
Unless on layaway, payment should be made within 24 hours of the end of the auction. If payment isn't received, the doll will be relisted and a non-paying bidder case will be filed against you.
I am very friendly and helpful, so please contact me if you are concerned about the terms and conditions, or anything else regarding the auction.
Thank you
I ship worldwide priority mail with delivery confirmation and tracking number. I insure all of my babies to make sure they arrive safely! I will only ship to your Ebay/PayPal address, no exceptions. If you are a international buyer, please be aware of your country's custom-fee policy. I cannot be held responsible, so please check on this.
Please allow 7-9 weeks for your baby to be completed! I can normally have her ready sooner, but please do not expect it.
~Coming Home~
will come home with 2 beautiful outfits of my choosing
Magnetic Pacifier if you wish
Instructions for handle and care
Laminated birth certificate
Brush and comb for styling hair
~~Blankets, toys, etc are used as props and saved for future babies~~


text:
Isobella Cerceo
Mental Health Counselor, M.EdI companion individuals and those in partnered relationships from various backgrounds. The biggest thing these folks have in common is that they all are courageously working towards realignment with themselves. I companion clients navigating life transitions, trauma, relational distress, gender and sexuality exploration, sexual concerns, and neurodivergence.
Online Therapy


text:
[ Retro Scan ] Lanier Model 103 Word Processor
Monday, January 30th, 2017Well over a decade ago, I picked up a Lanier Model 103 No Problem word processor system (ca. 1978) and a matching daisy wheel printer for free from a local hamfest. I was lucky enough to get disks for it too, so I could boot it up and play around with it some.
This No Problem system was a dedicated-purpose computer running an 8080 CPU and custom word processing or database software. It was aimed at small businesses and publications such as newspapers, and it cost accordingly — somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 depending on the configuration. You can see what it looked like in the scan above — this scan comes from some literature that I received with the system.
My Model 103 came equipped with two single-sided, hard-sectored full-height 5.25″ floppy drives, a green screen CRT, and a full-sized keyboard build into a huge fiberglass shell with a heavy cast-aluminum base. It must have weighed at least 60 pounds. It took up an entire shelf in my garage, and there it sat unused for half a decade.
I meant to write about it on VC&G, but never got around to it. I even spoke to a Lanier veteran about it via email. But it got put on the back burner, and eventually my garage ran out of space for my collection, so something had to go. I picked the Lanier Model 103, took it apart for educational purposes (likely saved some parts), then recycled the rest.
I still kinda regret getting rid of it, but man it took up a lot of space and something had to go. I did save the disks, though, if anyone needs them.
Discussion Topic: Did you ever use a dedicated word processor machine? Tell us about it.


text:
Local woman survives plunge into icy river
By KATHRYN FLAGG
NEW HAVEN — When 64-year-old Lorraine Clark's car swerved off an icy road and into the New Haven River earlier this month, the Bristol woman remembers having one clear thought: Don't panic.
"I said to myself, 'Now, don't panic. You can't panic. You've got to use your head and you've got to keep your wits about you,'" Clark remembered. "'You're the only one down here and you've got to help yourself.'"
That wherewithal — an inner strength, Clark said, that she never knew she had — and a heavy dose of good luck saved Clark's life on Dec. 9, when her 2002 Pontiac Grand Am slid off the road and plunged about 30 feet into the icy river.
Clark had been driving toward Bristol on River Road around 2 p.m., shortly after leaving her job as a food service assistant at Helen Porter nursing home in Middlebury.
As she approached a narrow bridge over the New Haven River near Halpin Road, she saw a green car driving toward her from the opposite direction — too close to her own side of the road for comfort.
She swerved to the right slightly to avoid hitting the car, and the tail end of her Grand Am fishtailed. Clark made it over the bridge, but by that point the front end of her car had started to shake violently, and she lost control of the vehicle entirely.
Her car slid off the road, over the river bank, and then plunged into eight feet of icy, fast-moving water.
Clark, jostled by the crash, found herself suddenly in the passenger seat. Her car was rapidly sinking.
She knew that all four doors were locked — the Pontiac's doors did so automatically every time the key turned in the ignition. So Clark fumbled with the lock, and then threw her weight against the door, using her shoulder to try to wedge the door open.
"I put all my weight up against the door — I used the whole force of my arm to try to open the door," she remembered.
It didn't budge. The current, she supposed, was too strong.
"Oh, I was so cold," she said. "I thought I was going to die."
She sat there for a moment. The water in the car had risen to her chin. And then, Clark said, something miraculous happened.
"All of the sudden, that door opened. That whole door just opened right up, and something just pulled me right through that door."
Clark grabbed onto the doorframe with her right hand and the roof of her car with her left. She managed to step onto the hood of the car. The windshield wipers were going, and the car's lights were still on, but the Pontiac was almost totally submerged.
Her ordeal, though, was far from over. Perched on the roof of her car, and about 30 feet from the riverbank, Clark looked down at the river.
"And I said, 'Well, you've got to do something,'" she said, "so I jumped."
That in and of itself was an extraordinary feat of courage for the mother of five, as it would turn out.
"To tell you the truth, I can't swim," she said — but as she told her daughter later, "I'll tell you, I can doggie paddle pretty damn fast."
Clark clawed her way onto the shore. Two weeks later, she said her knees were still black and blue from crawling over the stones on the bank of the river.
From the riverbank Clark called out for help, but several cars whizzed past without noticing the car in the river below.
That's when good fortune put New Haven Fire Chief Michael Dykstra in the right place at the right time.
Dykstra was driving toward Middlebury with his wife, Angie. He was on the way back into town, he said, just by chance — he'd traveled that same stretch of road 10 minutes earlier, but he'd forgotten a last-minute errand.
Something red caught his eye. The cab of his truck was high enough, Dykstra said, that he could see down into the river. That's when he saw the car in the water and quickly pulled over and radioed for help.
Clark, he said, was lying on the bank by the water. The fire chief was able to drag her to the edge of the bank, and then with the help of another passing motorist he carried Clark to his pickup.
He stripped off Clark's heavy, wet jacket and shoes, bundled her up in spare blankets in his truck, and ratcheted up the heat in the truck. Middlebury Area Rescue Squad arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after he called for help.
It was one of the most frightening calls he'd ever found himself on, Dykstra said — but also one of the luckiest.
"It's amazing how people can be in the right place at the right time," he said. "It seems like I always seem to show up on scene."
Dykstra said he was honored to help, but that any fireman driving past who'd seen what he saw would have acted in much the same way.
"Things happen for a reason, and we were just happy to be able to help," said Dykstra. "It's one of the best Christmas presents you could ever give to somebody."
Vermont State Police Senior Trooper John Young arrived at the scene after Clark was whisked off to the hospital. He guessed that Clark lost control in the standing slush along the edge of the bridge.
Had the accident happened at night, he said, Clark's car could well have gone unnoticed in the river.
"I told her she was lucky," Young said. "Somebody was looking down on her that day."
Clark agreed on that count.
In part, she said, someone was traveling with her that afternoon — someone not at all unlike the little metal angel that she had tucked over the visor of her car.
"Every night I go to bed and thank God that somebody was in that car with me to let me out," she said. "Somebody opened that door, and pulled me out."
But she also played a very large role in her own rescue.
In the wake of the accident, Clark said that many of her friends and co-workers said that they'd never have been able to survive in the same conditions. It's not that simple, she said.
"I didn't think I would ever do something like that either, but if it happens to you — you can do it," she said. "You've got an inner strength, an adrenaline, that takes over. You've got to help yourself. You've got to save your own life."


text:
NYT Says 'Old' Constitution Outdated for Failing to Guarantee 'Entitlements' Like Health Care
Sorry, Founders: The 'terse and old' U.S. Constitution has been ruled out of date by Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak for failing to provide such 'rights' as free health care.
Liptak made the front of Tuesday's New York Times 'Side Bar' news analysis, ''We the People' Loses Followers,' the paper's most e-mailed and viewed news story of the morning.
Liptak arrives at his judgment via a new study by two law professors. The analysis, at least after being filtered through Liptak's coverage, seems to hew to the liberal ideology of the Constitution as a 'living document,' (i.e. whatever a liberal wants it to mean), conflating genuine rights like freedom of religion with entitlements like free health care: 'But the Constitution is out of step with the rest of the world in failing to protect, at least in so many words, a right to travel, the presumption of innocence and entitlement to food, education and health care.'
Liptak wrote:
The Constitution has seen better days.
Sure, it is the nation's founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest written national constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its influence is waning.
There are lots of possible reasons. The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights. The commitment of some members of the Supreme Court to interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning in the 18th century may send the signal that it is of little current use to, say, a new African nation. And the Constitution's waning influence may be part of a general decline in American power and prestige.
In an interview, Professor Law identified a central reason for the trend: the availability of newer, sexier and more powerful operating systems in the constitutional marketplace. 'Nobody wants to copy Windows 3.1,' he said.
In a television interview during a visit to Egypt last week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court seemed to agree. 'I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012,' she said. She recommended, instead, the South African Constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the European Convention on Human Rights.
The rights guaranteed by the American Constitution are parsimonious by international standards, and they are frozen in amber. As Sanford Levinson wrote in 2006 in 'Our Undemocratic Constitution,' 'the U.S. Constitution is the most difficult to amend of any constitution currently existing in the world today.' (Yugoslavia used to hold that title, but Yugoslavia did not work out.)
Americans recognize rights not widely protected, including ones to a speedy and public trial, and are outliers in prohibiting government establishment of religion. But the Constitution is out of step with the rest of the world in failing to protect, at least in so many words, a right to travel, the presumption of innocence and entitlement to food, education and health care.
Liptak failed to differentiate between rights retained by the people from the power of the government, like freedom of speech and religion, and entitlements, which are transfers of money and services established by government either via majority rule (i.e. voting) or judicial fiat. Examples include food stamps, welfare payments, and 'free' health care.
Liptak turned up his nose at the right conservatives would say protects all the other ones, the Second Amendment:
It has its idiosyncrasies. Only 2 percent of the world's constitutions protect, as the Second Amendment does, a right to bear arms. (Its brothers in arms are Guatemala and Mexico.)
Several 'rights" enshrined by the Times via the study (shown in a separate graphic) need unpacking. What exactly does the generic phrase 'Women's rights' entail? Access to abortion? And does 'Freedom of Movement' include the 'right' to other people's tax money in the form of welfare benefits, as the Supreme Court ruled in the late 1960s? Details from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law: 'Shapiro v. Thompson (1968) considered the constitutionality of a state law that established a one-year residency requirement for welfare recipients. The Court struck down the law, finding it a violation of the "right to travel" (really, more the right to migrate).'
- Clay Waters is editor of the MRC's TimesWatch site.


text:
Google Map Maker is currently available in Chile, and we are making this map data available for download by relief and aid organizations. Visit http://mapmaker.google.com/datadownload for more information and to access the data. If you have familiarity with the region, please help these efforts by contributing data about Chile on Google Map Maker. We will be refreshing the download data frequently to reflect the latest set of contributions.
For those concerned about loved ones in Chile, the Person Finder tool, initially created in the wake of the Haiti earthquake, can be used to submit or search for information about individuals who may have been affected. The Person Finder tool has been translated into Spanish and is currently available at http://chilepersonfinder.appspot.com/, as well as several media sites and the US Department of State website. The gadget can easily be embedded on any site:
This My Map shows earthquake measurement data from the US Geological Survey to help give a better understanding of the areas most affected and the extent of the powerful aftershocks:
View Chile Earthquake helpful information in a larger map. This map will continue to be updated with additional information.
We will be updating imagery, maps, and other information as they become available and will continue to post updates to this blog. An overview of resources available, latest news, and links to make a donation can be found on Google's Chile earthquake relief page at http://www.google.com/relief/chileearthquake/.
Permalink | Links to this post |


text:
Konami announces MGS, ZoE, Silent Hill HD Collections
Konami's officially announced the oft-rumored HD collection for Metal Gear Solid, as well as similar collections for Zone of the Enders and Silent Hill during a pre-E3 event this evening.
During a pre-recorded press conference last night, Hideo Kojima confirmed, via Mega64, that the Metal Gear Solid and Zone of the Enders Collections are coming to PS3 and Xbox 360.
The MGS Collection will feature Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and, as anticipated, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The Zone of the Enders collection contains the first title in the series, as well as The Second Runner.
Kojima insisted that both collections were not running on emulators. They'll have new user interfaces for HD resolutions, and will feature Trophy and Achievement support. Each version will also take advantage of the right analog stick and force feedback for PS3 and 360.
Kojima also detailed a brand new transfer and save system known as "Transfarring" for PlayStation platforms. Demonstrating the new tech with Peace Walker, two Kojima Productions staff members transferred a save file from a PSP onto a PS3 and vice versa.
Upon completion, the Transfarring system will allow users to take up where they left off in a game stored on the previous system at any time.
The hope with Transfarring, according to Kojima, is to see it used between PS2-type games along with PS3 and NGP before achieving the ultimate goal: transferring between PS3 and NGP.
The HD collections announced will also support the new Transfarring system on PS3.
Rising a no-show for E3
Despite the good news related to his older games, though, Kojima confirmed that Konami had decided not to make any announcements regarding Metal Gear Solid: Rising at E3 next week. However, concept art and off-screen render footage of Raiden was shown during the press conference, with art director Yoji Shinkawa detailing image.
A 2012 launch is still on track for the game, according to Kojima.
In addition, during an interview with ex-1UP writer Mark MacDonald, Kojima reconfirmed he's currently working on something new, adding that it's still in the "planning phase".
The new title is running on a new engine called the Fox Engine, with off-screen footage of what seemed to be the project in question shown. He didn't go into specifics as to what it is, or when it'll be announced, but it will be a multi-platorm affair which will support the aforementioned Transfarring system.
Check out a couple of screens of it on IGN and a good video of it in action here.
Silent Hill wasn't left out of proceedings, either. Series producer Tomm Hulett announced the Silent Hill Collection, which includes Silent Hill 3 and 2 in HD. Dates and platforms weren't given.
In addition, Hulett announced Silent Hill: Book of Memories for NGP, but failed to provide any specifics.
Vatra's Silent Hill: Downpour, originally due for fall, is now set for release this winter on PS3 and Xbox 360. The timeline was confirmed at the end of a new trailer.
MGS3DS, PES 2012, NeverDead shown; new Contra teased
Metal Gear Solid 3DS: Snake Eater was also demoed, with producer Yoshikazu Matsuhana doing the honours.
A trailer was shown, including scenes from the opening segment of the Virtuous Mission and the world's first halo jump by Big Boss. At the end of the video, something related to Yoshi was teased, but that was the extent of any reveal.
A small collection of screens has also turned up; IGN has them.
According to Matsuhana, the reason 3DS was chosen as the handheld platform for Snake Eater was due to the hardware.
"We felt Snake Eater would be the most appropriate subject for this project," he said.
A release date was not provided for MGS 3DS at the end of the demonstration.
Next in line for a showing was PES 2012, along with an update from producer Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka. Afterward, Barcelona and PES cover star Lionel Messi appeared on stage to introduce a brand new trailer for the football title.
After the PES showing, Rebellion and Konami's NeverDead was shown. The main character, known as Bryce, is immortal, so even if he loses his legs or arms they'll grow back. The story spans from 500 years ago to the present, with Bryce hunting demons and using his limbs as weapons.
A new trailer was shown for the third-person action title, and it contained an exclusive track provided by Megadeth, known, fittingly, as Never Dead.
The conference ended with what appeared to be something related to a new Contra.


text:
by Editorial Staff
How to Root Teknosa Preo P2 TWRP Recovery Download And Install
TWRP impressively has the latest GUI (Graphical User Interface) which attracts users with several advance recovery, restoration, installation, and other maintenance operations on your Teknosa Preo P2.
If you are familiar with the word "Rooting" then, it is great, and you will root your Aston Thunder easily. A Lot of people don't know about the Rooting process. Rooting is the process that allows smartphones, tablets, and other devices users to attain privileged control over various Android subsystems. As Android uses the Linux kernel, rooting an Android device gives similar access to administrative permissions as on Linux or any other Unix-like operating system such as FreeBSD or macOS [Source].
What is Root?
TWRP stands for Team Win Recovery Project. It is a fully touch-based custom recovery that was originally developed for Nexus devices, but now it is available for countless android smartphones in the world. TWRP is an open-source custom recovery. Team Win Recovery Project provides a touch screen enabled interface.
Download latest Teknosa Preo P2 firmware flash file [stock ROM]
How the Team Win Recovery Project can be useful?
TWRP is a modern custom recovery for android devices when the user installs it, TWRP changes the whole pattern of previously installed stock recovery with its new advance features. TWRP provides a safe and reliable friendly user interface, and with its powerful features, you can make your phone's routed life easier. Nearly in past Clockworkmod recovery was a good choice, which is also known as CWM Recovery, which was a popular recovery option for android devices. CWM Recovery was developed by Koushik Dutta, a well-known Android developer in the world.
Clockworkmod uses in root access, back up device data, custom ROM installations, kernel themes, modes and much more, but Clockworkmod recovery replaced with the latest TWRP, because of its more easy and useful features and tools. In TWRP all basic functions and features are available, which a user wants in modern and full-featured custom android recovery. All features laid out in a very organized manner with large icons. These features make TWRP more reliable and friendly from any other.
How To Root Teknosa Preo P2 TWRP Recovery Download and Install
First of all, you need to arrange the follwing pre-requirements mentioned below quickly, and properly. I mean to say that you must read the following pre-requirements before start the TWRP installation process.
Basic Requirements:
- You need a PC/laptop
- Make sure that your Teknosa Preo P2 is charged more upto 70%
- You need a Micro USB cable to connect your phone with PC
- Make sure to take a complete backup before doing anything.
- Before begin, please make sure that your device is Unlock Bootloader
- You must Download No Verity Opt Encrypt Zip File
- Download SuperSU Zip – To root using SuperSU
- Download Magisk Zip – To root using Magisk
- Now Download ADB, Fastboot Tools and Extract it in your PC
- Download Teknosa USB Drivers
Download Teknosa Preo P2 TWRP Recovery Bellow:
File Name | TWRP Recovery |
Version | 3.5.2-0 |
Support | Unofficial |
Top Best Advantages of TWRP Custom Recovery
- By using TWRP you can easily Flash Custom ROM on Teknosa Preo P2.
- Users can easily root their devices with the help of TWRP fishable zip SuperSU.
- By TWRP recovery users can access to restore Nan droid backup.
- With TWRP recovery users can clean cache, wipe and data.
- Users can remove all bloatware from their Preo P2.
- Users can easily flash the image file with TWRP recovery.
- You can flash modding zip files to customize your phone
- Easy to flash and use Xposed Modules using TWRP
- You can install Magisk on Preo P2.
- You can flash modding zip files to customize your phone, and To underclock and overclock.
Disadvantages Or Warnings OR Caution
- The above info is only for journal public interest, yayvomark or the author is not responsible for any loss damage or illegal misusage of the above material.
- You will no longer receive the official OTA updates.
- You can brick your device if you do not follow the steps carefully.
- Make sure to take a complete backup before doing anything. Do this at your own risk.
How to Install TWRP Recovery On Teknosa Preo P2 using ADB Fastboot Method?
With the help of rooting, you can uninstall bloatware, increase device performance, reduce battery draining, install Xposed modules, and more. However, smartphone rooting will void the device warranty and you may not get software OTA updates anymore. An improper way of rooting can also brick your device easily. Therefore, make sure to follow the guide properly.
Estimated time: 3 minutes.
Step 1: First of all, you need to enable the Developer Options, and USB Debugging mode on your device.
Step 2: Now Go to Settings –>> System –>> About Phone and press on Build Number 7 – 8 times to enable Developer options mode. Until you see a toast message "You are now a developer".
Step 3: In this step, now open the developer option and enable the OEM Unlock toggle.
Step 4: Under the Developer Options, you need to enable USB Debugging.
Step 5: If the command show device is unauthorized on your Teknosa Preo P2. Then, you will see a popup message to allow USB Debugging. Please
Step 6: "Always allow from this computer" and press on the OK button.
Step 7: On your ADB Folder, Open the command window / PowerShell: To open Press the Shift key and Right Mouse click anywhere inside the folder.
Step 8: Turn off your device > Press and hold the Volume Up + Power button together for a few seconds to enter into Fastboot mode.
Step 9: Now connect your phone with PC using the original Type C USB cable, and type the following code on the command windows and hit enter:
Step 10: Now, your device is connected successfully as a fastboot device.
Step 11: Type the following command and hit enter to check the fastboot device connected or not:
Now, in order to install TWRP Recovery on your Teknosa Preo P2, type the following command and press enter
Step 12: Then reboot in TWRP manually or using a fastboot command
Step 13: That's it. You've successfully installed the TWRP Recovery on the Teknosa Preo P2 device. Now, you have to flash the Root.
Read Me Once TWRP Recovery process will affect your Teknosa Preo P2 Ultra phone data like images, videos, and files. We advise you before start TWRP Recovery you need to create a backup and save it in a safe location.


text:
Carcomm CMIC-110 Smartphone Cradle - Apple iPhone 11PRO | Iphone Xs | iPhone X
Carcomm CMIC-110 Smartphone Cradle - Apple iPhone 11PRO | Iphone Xs | iPhone X
Carcomm CMIC-110 Smartphone Handsfree Cradle - Apple iPhone 11PRO | Xs | X
Compatible with 12Volt and 24Volt - Suitable for use in cars and trucks.
- Integrated Antenna Coupler - Allows the connection of an external antenna to reduce GSM signal interference.
- e4 Certified - Certified to be used in cars and trucks
- Prepared for permanent installation - Everything is included to hard-wire the cradle into your vehicle.
Perfect fit
The unique and patented cradle uses injection molding manufacturing which ensures a perfect fit with your device.
Landscape mode
If your mobile device supports a landscape mode you can easily rotate the holder into a horizontal position. This is often used while using navigation software on the phone. If you want to use your phone in portrait mode you can easily rotate it back into a vertical position.
Antenna Connection
Nowadays very few smartphones have a direct connection for an external antenna. If you want to use an external antenna, the only method is through a passive induction antenna coupler. When you place your device into the cradle, the antenna coupler uses passive induction to transfer the signal between the phone and the coupler, and thus to and from the external antenna.
Safe charging
Integrated in the car holder is an efficient charging circuit ( suitable for 12V & 24V ) which powers and charges your device. This will keep your device charged and ready for use in- and outside your car.
Ready to go
The holders are delivered with everything needed to use it right away. Use the window mount to install the holder on your windscreen, plug in the cigarette lighter adaptor and you are ready to go.
The design of the Carcomm Mobile Cradle ensures that your device is protected and sits firmly in the cradle while you are driving. To let the cradle blend in with the interior of your car the color of the cradle matches the dashboard ( dark grey ) with the added bonus that it won't attract attention.
2 Year Warranty


text:
Announcement: "The Carnival of the Godless 37" has now been posted at The Neural Gourmet.
The Naturalistic Fallacy
Over the weekend, I got directed to a thread asking, "Is Goodness a Property?" posted at The Infidel Guy web site concerning the fundamental nature of morality. It is one of my favorite topics to write about.
In light of the position I defend, that 'good' = 'is such as to fulfill the desires in question' and 'moral good' = 'is such as to fulfill desires that tend to fulfill other desires,' philosophically literate critics quickly recognize that I run afoul of a 100-year old objection to this type of view called "The Naturalistic Fallacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_question_argument ."
This so-called fallacy was invented by G.E. Moore and presented in his book Principia Ethica.
Here's how the objection would be applies to my claim above.
Alonzo, you claim that 'good' is the same as 'is such as to fulfill the desires in question.' I am here to prove that this could not be the case. You have committed the naturalistic fallacy, which is the fallacy of trying to explain value in terms of natural (real-world) properties. This type of equation can never work.
We know that it can never work because, if it were true, than nobody would be confused or surprised by this equation. If by 'bachelor' I mean 'an unmarried male', then people who know the language are perfectly aware, when I say that I am talking about a bachelor, that I am talking about an unmarried male. Yet, people talk about value all the time without thinking that they are talking about 'is such as to fulfill the desires in question' or any other natural property.
In short, for any natural property you may want to name, 'X is good, but does it have this natural property?' is a perfectly legitimate open question. Because of this, it is absurd to say that 'good' can be defined in terms of having this natural property.
This argument has carried a great deal of force over the years against any and all attempts to reduce moral concepts to natural terms.
Yet, this argument has a fatal flaw.
We can begin to see that there is reason to look for a fatal flaw by looking at the problems that arise if this argument were actually valid. If moral terms do not refer to any natural property, then it seems that they must refer to some sort of supernatural property. G.E. Moore uses the term 'non-natural.' However, I fail to see any difference between what Moore called a 'non-natural' property and what the rest of us would call a 'supernatural property.'
'Supernatural properties' raise all sorts of philosophical problems. What are they? How do they interact with the natural (real) world such that they affect the real world and the real world can affect them? How do we sense them? How do we know that we sense them correctly?
It turns out that there is a problem with Moore's "Open Question Argument", and it has nothing to do with the fact that it supports the existence of non-natural (supernatural) moral properties.
Philosophers also recognize a fallacy known as the "Masked Man Fallacy."
Imagine yourself in London in the late 1800s. There is a robber about, known only as "the Masked Man," who has been stopping carriages on dark roads at night and robbing the passengers. One day, while you are at a part, an inspector from Scotland Yard comes in. He walks up to the host of the party and says, "We have arrested your brother. We believe that he is the Masked Man."
Your host answers the Inspector, "That cannot be true. Yesterday, I was talking about the Masked Man with some dinner guests. At the time, I certainly knew the name of my brother. However, I did not know the name of the Masked Man. Obviously, they cannot be the same person."
Here, your host would be using Moore's 'open question' argument. He is arguing that he can prove that his brother is not the Masked Man because, "Henry is clearly my brother, but is he the Masked Man?" is an open question. However, the fact that this is an open question does not prove that Henry cannot be the Masked Man.
Similarly, the fact that, "X is good, but is it such as to fulfill the desires in question?" is an open question does not prove that 'good' is not the same as 'is such as to fulfill the desires in question.'
We look to see whether Henry is the Masked Man by looking to see if there is anything true of Henry that is not true of the Masked Man. If we learn, for example, that Henry was attending an important business meeting at 10:00 yesterday evening – the same time that the Masked Man robbed a carriage on the corner of Wadsworth and Main, then we know that Henry could not be the Masked Man.
Similarly, if we can identify anything that is true of 'good' that is not true of 'is such as to fulfill the desires in question,' then this would prove that they cannot be the same thing.
However, Moore's 'open question argument' proves absolutely nothing.
Even if Moore happens to be right in his conclusion, his 'open question argument' proves nothing. It is a bad argument. The 'naturalistic fallacy' as he described it does not exist. Any use of 'the naturalistic fallacy' is itself a fallacy – the Masked Man fallacy.
So, in the theory that I use at the root of these essays, I see no reason to be concerned with G.E. Moore's objections. It no more provides a reason to reject the identity that I use at the foundation of these articles than the Host's claims prove that his brother could not be the Masked Man.
Besides, if Moore is correct, then value can only exist as a non-natural (supernatural) property. Of these options, it is far more likely that the open question argument is flawed than that supernatural properties actually exist.


text:
Stuffed in the back of the Nissan as he fled his hometown of Kharkiv, Ukraine, were two of Jake's most prized possessions: his Nintendo Switch and Puzo, his pet pug.
Jake, 31, is among scores of displaced Ukrainians who have refused to leave their animals behind due to the immense comfort and familiarity they've provided during a time of unprecedented turmoil caused by Russia.
"Every day, after the bombings would stop, I would get up and go to the room where [Puzo] was hiding and rub him. It was soothing," Jake, who asked for his last name to be withheld out of fear for his family, told NPR over Google Meet. "He would be snoring all the time and it would remind me of the peaceful times."
Those peaceful times were shattered for Jake, a network engineer, on Feb. 24. Jake was up late watching YouTube videos when he decided to tune into the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.
As diplomats pleaded for Russia to back off, Jake shifted his focus to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had just gone on TV in his homeland to launch a military operation against Ukraine.
"I was just sitting there for 5 or 10 minutes completely terrified," Jake said. "And then I just started hearing explosions and windows started to shatter. ... It has been complete chaos and panic ever since."
Jake gathered his wife, Dasha; their pug; his mom and some personal possessions and hit the road on March 3 along with a caravan of 20 other family members in search of safety in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city roughly 680 miles away.
Puzo used to get nauseous on short road trips in the past, but he was fine on this long journey west "and always wants to be in my mom's hand," Jake said. One of the recurring sights on the road were other families with dogs peering from their car windows, he said.
The health benefits of pets are real
Since arriving in Poland on March 5, Louisa Gouliamaki and other photographers have seen refugees traveling with their pet dogs, birds and even a turtle, she told NPR over Instagram.
Many of these animals have made it into photos she's taken for AFP showing how pets are "members of their family so no way they would leave them behind," she said.
"For kids, surely [it] is comforting [to have their pets], a piece of their normality but as well [as] something they have to take care of which give them [a] kind of strength," Gouliamaki said.
The positive impact pets can have on people going through tumult cannot be overstated, said Lauren Powell, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine.
Pets can provide companionship, help reduce feelings of loneliness, and boost feel-good hormones, such as oxytocin, Powell told NPR over email. Pets can also help decrease our biological response to stress by lowering our stress hormones, relaxing our heart rate and blood pressure, she said.
"Previous traumatic events have shown us that pets can be vitally important for their owners during stressful times," Powell said. "They have a unique ability to provide unconditional support and companionship as they are not judgmental in nature."
NPR's Patrick Wood and Getty staff photographer Chris Furlong have seen how crucial pets have been during the war. At a border crossing from Ukraine to Poland on Wednesday, Wood saw a woman carrying her small dog among throngs of people. Furlong spotted two young refugees walking a dog dressed in a coat on March 10 at the border train station of Zahony, Hungary.
"In life and not just in war, dogs are a human's best friend," Furlong told NPR over Instagram.
With limited resources and the added stress of being in an unfamiliar place, it's important for pet owners to understand what animals need in trying situations, said Amanda Perkins, an associate professor of nursing at Vermont Technical College.
Perkins is also the author of the February 2020 article, "The benefits of pet therapy," in which the benefits of animals in physically and emotionally stressful situations are discussed.
"Veterinary care may not be readily available or accessible, food and water may be scarce, and other supplies limited," Perkins told NPR over email about what the animals fleeing Ukraine need. "Pets may be fearful of loud noises and run-off, increasing the risk for injury when owners attempt to find them. If there are not safe places for owners and pets to stay, pet owners will often opt to stay elsewhere in order to be with their pets. Finding ways to provide aid to pet owners, such as allowing pets to stay in shelters, can decrease some of the stress felt when trying to keep them safe."
Supporting four-legged friends
There is no official figure on how many pets have fled Ukraine, but Shannon Walajtys of the International Fund for Animal Welfare has an idea.
The United Nations estimates that 2 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the war, and if "you imagine that animals are owned [in Ukraine] by a similar number to other European countries," that figure is approximately 50% of families, Walajtys, IFAW's director of disaster response and risk reduction, told NPR over the phone.
"We're estimating that there are hundreds of thousands of pets that have crossed over with families," Walajtys said. "The people and animals across Ukraine are experiencing something that many of us can only imagine."
Aside from pets being universally considered part of a family, one of the biggest motivating factors for why scores of Ukrainian animals have crossed into neighboring countries was the recommendations from the European Commission to European Union countries to relax animal import restrictions for Ukrainian refugees with pets, said Kelly Donithan, the Humane Society International's director of disaster animal response.
Organizations like these have partnered with veterinary clinics, animal shelters and pet supply retailers in neighboring countries to provide support to those with pets.
"The refugees we've been helping have been visibly relieved to be able to access pet food and veterinary care on arrival in cities like Berlin, for example, where HSI has been working with other local groups," Donithan said over email.
HSI has also been working to help animals left behind on farms and other captive situations like zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, Donithan added.
"While I know most animals in zoos and sanctuaries are still being cared for by the staff, the very nature of these animals and/or the sheer numbers (especially on farms) makes any evacuation impossible," she said. "We are seeking opportunities to help animals in situations like these as well, but often these are the never-seen faces of victims of war. In the same way we'll probably never be able to measure the numbers of lives loss, we'll never be able to quantify the magnitude of their suffering."
The new normal
After three days of nearly nonstop driving, Jake and his family had to stop and rest.
Exhausted and eager for relief, he hopped on Reddit's r/pugs community to share a selfie of him and Puzo in the Nissan on March 6. The photo rocketed to the top of Reddit thanks to hundreds of people sharing words of encouragement and support.
"It just brings a little bit of faith in humanity when I see that people still want to help," Jake said. "And in the end, it just brings a smile. And it just helps to take, you know, my mind off what's going on and just relax a little bit."
Jake and his family reached Ivano-Frankivsk around midweek and have rented a place. Like so many Ukrainians, he's unsure when he'll be able to return home.
"I have had so many emotions since it all started, and they all been like different at different times. You know, I've been angry, I've been sad, I've been all kinds of things," Jake said. "And you know that after I made my post on Reddit it wasn't my intention, you know, to ask for money for our family or anything. I just, you know, wanted to share at least some positivity that even though it's really hard right now for Ukrainians, we still have our pets, we still have our friends, we still have our families, we're all sticking together and we're just, you know, trying to do our best to survive all of this."
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
With 308 new offshore wind turbines installed in 2010 – an increase of 51% in installed wind power capacity on the previous year – offshore wind power experienced a new record growth in Europe.
In total, 883 Megawatt (MW) of new capacity, worth some €2.6 billion, were installed in 2010 in nine wind farms in five countries, making a total of 2,964 MW.
The installed offshore wind power capacity now supplies the equivalent of 2.9 million average EU households with electricity -comparable with the amounts of power consumed by the cities Berlin and Brussels together – from a total of 1,136 offshore wind turbines. In a normal wind year they would produce 11.5 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity.
These figures are published by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) in its "European offshore wind industry – key trends and statistics 2010" today in Brussels.
They show the United Kingdom to be European (and world) leader, with a total installed offshore wind capacity of 1,341 Megawatt (MW). The UK is followed by Denmark (854 MW), The Netherlands (249 MW), Belgium (195 MW), Sweden (164 MW), Germany (92 MW), Ireland (25 MW), Finland (26 MW) and Norway with 2.3 MW.
EWEA's Chief Executive, Christian Kjaer commented: "With over 50% percent market growth, 2010 sets a new record for European offshore wind energy. Meanwhile, the 29 new offshore turbine models announced during 2010 show a growing commitment to the offshore wind energy sector by large, global industrial players, offering a real boost for Europe's economy, its efforts to tackle climate change, create green jobs and exports while reducing our dependence on imported fuel".
During 2010, 29 new offshore turbine models were announced by 21 manufacturers: 44 new turbine models have been announced by 33 manufacturers over the last two years.
2010 saw an improving financing environment with private banks, financial institutions like the European Investment Bank (EIB), utilities and pension funds backing the sector. Two major deals completed in 2010 highlighted the brighter financial outlook: Thornton Bank C-Power and Trianel Wind Farm Borkum West both came to financial close.
"Finance remains a big challenge but we are seeing improvements with more banks and other financing institutions ready to invest in large offshore wind projects," commented Kjaer.
EWEA forecasts continued strong growth next year. Between 1,000 and 1,500 MW of new offshore wind power capacity is expected to be fully grid connected in Europe during 2011, compared with 883 MW of new capacity in 2010.
Ten European wind farms are currently under construction with a total of 3,000 MW – these will more than double the installed capacity in the 45 already grid connected offshore wind farms.
EWEA research shows that a total of 19,000 MW of offshore wind capacity is already fully consented. If constructed, it would generate 66.6 Terawatt hours of electricity in a normal wind year – enough to supply 14 of the largest capitals in Europe with electricity, including Paris, London and Berlin. Not included in this figure is large additional offshore wind energy capacity planned but not yet fully consented in the UK.
Please see the attached pdf file "EWEA DATA SHEET OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY 2010" for details.
For more information contact:
Peter Sennekamp, EWEA
+32 2 213 18 33


text:
Kilkenny Map
22.05.2017Medieval Mile Map showing all the things to see and do in kilkenny PDF Download: Medieval Mile...
Kilkenny City Tours' road train was established in 2011, as a convenient way for vistors to see all the wonderful sights of Kilkenny city. Since its inception it has since grown to become one of the most sought after things to do in kilkenny city. Rated as the number 1 Tour it has also seen it been awarded the "Certificate of Excellence" by Tripadvisor.com, which is awarded based on consistently earning great reviews from travellers!
The Kilkenny City Tour is a wonderful way to see all the historical sites and points of interest in Kilkenny city. Departing from Kilkenny Castle you will be taken on a historical and fascinating tour with a full commentary of detailed insights, facts, and folklore of the medieval city.
We pride ourselves on offering you the best tour of the city! What's more we also aim to offer you the best priced tour at discount prices, book your tickets online today and receive a 20% discount. We look forward to seeing you on the tour.
When travelling by road train there's no need to worry about the weather. Come rain, sleet, or snow, we have got you covered!
We operate tours on the hour every hour. Monday to Sunday, 10:00am to 17:00pm. Mar 1st to Oct 31st
We offer our tour in multiple languages. English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Take a look at our tour!
Totally worthwhile tour, 8 Euro each for half an hour which gives you a history of Kilkenny through Cromwells siege, the Black Death/famine and a concise history of any of the remarkable architecture. Very friendly and helpful staff who went out of their way to be helpful and pleasant. Visited May 2017Jamie W
Meet the team behind this great tour!


text:
In the continuing series by Slate.com regarding the inequality of wealth (which is a must read, IMHO) today's story deals with labor unions affect.
I thought this was a pertinent story because whenever we write stories about public salaries, the state budget, and other money related stories, labor unions is a recurring theme from reader comments.
(Yes, we reporters read your comments. A shocking admission, I'm sure.)
In addition, I have raised questions regarding public (which is often unionized) and private (declining unions) pay in this blog (here and here
So, I thought I would tack on this story as an addendum to the conversation, as well as an interesting read.
Email: email@example.com | Twitter: @dgtedford @sgvtribune | Facebook: SGVTribune


text:
Venus Shells
21 x 13cm (8.25 x 5 inches).
This antique lithograph is from the first edition of Conchology by John Mawe, one of the oldest works about shells, dated 1823. It is a genuine antique, not a reproduction. It has hand painted coloring and is in very good condition.
Shell collecting was a popular eighteenth- and nineteenth-century pastime, as it was an era of exploration. Shells from exotic lands were eagerly sought to fill the curiosity cabinets considered indispensable in the well-appointed home. Whilst shell collecting was popular, relatively few prints illustrating shells in color were ever produced. Considering that pictures of shells are popular to this day, it is no surprise that antique prints of shells are scarce, in great demand and likely to become more valuable.
Style | |
Date Made | 1800-1849 |
Paper Size | 21 x 13cm (8.25 x 5 inches) |
Shape | Portrait |
Main Color | Browns/Neutrals |
Size Category | 21 to 30 cm [8 to 12 inches] |


text:
Hi there everyone, I hope you are all done with your christmas shopping? I can imagine the look on your face now: "Ohmy NO I am not done at all" That's fine, me either, but almost!
In a previous post I promised to post a little tutorial on how to make Holly Leaf Cake Pops, so here we go!
It is so easy to make, especially for beginners and the outcome is so cute. The sparkly sanding sugar, the snow drip on top, people just love it.
Please read on to see more photos and to get the recipe.
- Prep Time 20 minutes
- Baking Time 20 minutes in refrigerator
- Difficulty Easy
For the Holly Leaf Cake Pops:
- For these Cake Pops I baked my favourite Vanilla Cupcakes recipe and mixed the crumbs with my favourite frosting including raspberry puree to give it a yummy fruity taste!
- Please prepare your cake pops as you normally do or use the ingredients and follow these instructions for the best OREO kind:
- 1 package OREO cookies or for Europeans: 3 and a half packages a 176g
- 1 8oz. package cream cheese (I use 176g packages (6.2 ounces)
- Wilton red Candy Melts
- Wilton White Candy Melts
- Lollipop Sticks
- Or red/white striped paper straws (for an even cuter look!)
- Or the ones I used: Polka Dot Paper Straws in Red & White
- red sanding sugar
- white sanding sugar (more sparkling) or regular sugar
- Wilton Holly Mix Sprinkles
- tweezers
Additional Items you may want to get, makes a nice gift:
- Lollipop plastic covers, to give away
- ribbon for tying, to give away
- thin red ribbon to tie around basic white lollipop stick (this way you do not need red/white paper straws)
- Now we are all set and ready to go: Prepare yourself before you actually start. Get everything out on the counter you need, so you do not stress yourself in the middle of the decorating process :-)
- 1. Now, make the NO BAKE Cake Pops: Grind your OREO cookies to fine crumbs in a Food Processor
- 2. Put the crumbmix into a boal and hand mix with cream cheese. I use gloves though, because it gets messy :-) Especially when you have longer nails, it takes a while to be "oreo/creamcheese-free" again. So just use gloves, or when you have kids, I am sure they would love to help you with this step :-)
- 3. Keep in mind that the dough should have the consistency of play-dough.
- 4. Roll the dough into balls, then refrigerate them for at least 10 minutes to firm up.
- 5. Now melt your red Candy Melts.
- 6. Dip a little bit of the Lollipop Stick in the melted candy, then stick the Lollipop Stick in the Cake Pop (half way). Let the Pops rest a bit in a styrofoam block or cake dummy so the candy melts set within the cake pop.
- 7. Please keep in mind that those cake pops in the photo above are no oreo ones, the vanilla cake was mixed with raspberry frosting = not coated yet!
- 8. Now dip the Cake Pop in the red Candy Melts and immediately after that, coat it completely (ignore the top since you coat it with white candy melts anyway) with red sanding sugar (I put gloves on) – repeat with all cake pops and let dry in styrofoam block.
- 9. Put the cake pops in a styrofoam block to dry completely.
- 10. Now comes the cuteness: Heat up your white candy melts and place a small amount of it (with a teaspoon) on top of the red cake pop. This will be your "snow".
- 11. Now arrange your white candy melts, I usually use a teaspoon for that. arrange it the way you want to. As you can see in the photo underneath, the "snow" does not look smooth yet, that's ok, the next step will follow =)
- Here is a video for you guys, I think this will help a lot. (Instagram)
- 12. All you have to do now to make it look all even, is to shake the cake pop a little, just until the snow runs down a little and looks all smooth.
- 13. Sprinkle snow with white sanding sugar to make it look more sparkly.
- 14. Immediately after, take your tweezers and place 3 Holly Berries and 3 Holly Leaf sprinkles on the snowy candy melts. And you're done!! :-)
I hope you like the outcome. Red and white, the perfect match for christmas! Oh and for Valentines Day, and Mother's Day..haha
Well, any color works!


text:
Web, Application and Database Development
Do you have a need for custom Web, Application and Database Development?
Do you have legacy sites, systems, databases and applications that need maintenance, updating or additional features and reports? Our Web, Application and Database Development Services are the answer.
Web Development
Let us maximize your web presence and drive revenue to your business. Our creative design team will work with you to develop a clean, exciting web presence with intuitive navigation and a pleasing layout that provides visitors to your website an effective delivery system for your marketing message and value proposition.
Application Development
We specialize in Workflow Analysis, Process Engineering and Office Automation. Utilizing these disciplines, we can identify bottlenecks, streamline your workflow, and Design and Implement your Office, Workflow or Process Automation Application.
Database Development
We can modify or maintain your existing Databases. Maybe your Database just needs some minor adjustments – adding some additional fields to capture more data, or designing some additional Reports. Or maybe it's time to completely re-write your Database. Perhaps you need a completely new Application. No matter what your specific needs are, we can help.


text:
Chelsea chastened by 'the miracle of St Gallen'
Friday, November 22, 2013
Article summary
As Chelsea FC bid to avenge a matchday one home defeat by FC Basel 1893, the Blues' old guard may recall their first visit to Switzerland, when the "600-1 underdogs" prevailed.
Article top media content
Article body
On matchday one, FC Basel 1893 added Chelsea FC to a list of recent Premier League scalps that includes Manchester United FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC, and a notable disaster on Swiss soil may play on the minds of some of the Blues' old guard as the visit St. Jakob-Park.
FC St Gallen were given short shrift after the 2000/01 UEFA Cup first round draw paired them with the resurgent English side. Under the stellar names of Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli the west London outfit had won the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and then reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals earlier in 2000, halted only by the brilliance of FC Barcelona. By comparison, St Gallen did not seem anything to worry about.
Midway through the tie, after a 1-0 home win at Stamford Bridge, that belief held true – it was left in tatters in the return as the team installed as "600-1 underdogs" by English newspaper The Times humiliated the Blues in their first European game under new coach Claudio Ranieri. During the first 45 minutes of the second leg St Gallen's bold, high-tempo approach left Chelsea chasing shadows.
"It was incredible," recalls Marcel Koller, St Gallen's then coach who is now at the helm of the Austrian national team. "I remember I told my boys ahead of the game that we didn't need to score two goals in the opening ten minutes; we had the whole game to turn around the deficit." His players did not seem to pay much attention as they burst out of the blocks, goals from Sascha Müller and Charles Amoah completing the turnaround inside 35 minutes.
"We had to survive a few critical moments after that but we made Swiss football history that day. It was fantastic, a real highlight," added Koller, who had guided St Gallen to only their second Swiss title the previous season. "As we all know, football is not always determined by finances; heart and determination often make the difference." For The Times, it was more than that: 'The miracle of St Gallen', their back page read the following morning.
It was some consolation for the team from the north-east corner of Switzerland after their UEFA Champions League bid had ended with a 4-3 play-off defeat against Galatasaray AŞ. Their goalkeeper that day was Jörg Stiel, a future VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach captain. "We proved against Chelsea that we were a mature team," he said. "The return leg was only our fourth European game. We learned quickly."


text:
When I press the power button on my Motorola Droid, nothing happens (usually). Just to get my phone to turn on after being shutdown, I have to plug it in to the charger cable. Once booted, however, I still have no convenient way to turn the screen on and off, or to shutdown the phone gracefully. Is there anything I can do to make the phone usable?
Note that a similar question has already been asked, however that question is specifically for non-rooted Droids, whereas my phone is rooted.


text:
By John T Dearborn, MD and Alexander Sah, MD
Co-Medical Directors
Institute for Joint Restoration and Research
Washington Hospital Healthcare System
More than 600,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed in the U.S. each year, and that number is growing. According to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the annual number of knee replacement procedures is estimated to grow by 673 percent, to 3.48 million, by the year 2030. The good news is emerging technologies hold promise for reducing the time required for knee replacement surgery, minimizing surgical risks and providing more "personalized" knee replacement implants.
Traditional knee replacement surgery, in practice since the late 1960s in the United States, has typically utilized an extensive, 8 to 12 inch incision on the front of the knee. The actual size of the incision depends on the size of the patient. The deep portion of the dissection divides one of the quadriceps muscles in the thigh, called the vastus medialis, and requires that the kneecap or patella, be dislocated and flipped over on itself. Although the muscle heals eventually, the trauma which occurs at the time of surgery takes months to resolve.
A handful of knee replacement specialists in this country have developed specialized techniques and instruments to allow the same operation to be done with a very limited incision and dissection. The skin incision is typically three to five inches in length. More importantly, the muscle in the thigh is left alone and the kneecap is simply shifted to the side. Minimally invasive partial or unicompartmental knee replacement has been performed using similar techniques since the late 1990s.
The advantages of this approach are many, including reduced pain, earlier return of knee motion, and a faster recovery for the patient. The length of stay in the hospital has also been reduced to approximately two days for one knee and three days for two knees. These improvements have also made knee replacement surgery available to many patients with health problems severe enough to preclude the traditional procedure. Because the exposure is less extensive, minimally invasive knee surgery is not applicable to all patients, especially those with very stiff knees or large legs.
Click here to view Knee Anatomy diagram
To gain more knowledge about joint replacement and related therapies, visit www.dearbornassoc.com OR www.SahOrtho.com


text:
This is the forum for trouble shooting your Airgun Designs products, including the Automag, RT, E-Mag, and WarpFeed. Also a great place to ask technical questions about non AGD products. An Airsmith's homeroom!
The perfect spot for the person who likes to build their own markers or tinker.
For Open talk of building an open source paintball marker.
There are currently 36 users browsing this forum. (0 members & 36 guests)