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Acquisition of RID in New Jersey further strengthens Viking Pest
Basking Ridge, NJ – November 2020 – Viking Pest Control, an Anticimex company, announced the acquisition of RID Pest Control of Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
RID Pest Control has been providing residential pest control services covering Cape May and Atlantic counties in New Jersey since 1979 and was incorporated in 1984. RID is known for their local and personalized service delivering outstanding customer-friendly service to the region.
Paul Bergmann, President of Viking, commented, "Acquiring RID is an important step in increasing our growth and expanding our customer footprint in the Southern part of our service territory. Partnering with pest control providers like RID solidifies Viking as the leading pest control provider in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware region." Bergmann added, "RID was an excellent fit, we are excited about the latest addition to the Viking Family." Viking is proud to welcome the RID team and will work side by side to continue providing excellent service to all of our customers.
Paul Utts, President of RID Pest Control added "The partnership with Viking Pest Control is good news for our customers and employees. With Viking offering customers the most innovative pest control solutions like SMART, everyone will enjoy the best and most advanced products, methods, and services on the market. We look forward to combining our experienced teams and the opportunities ahead."
The Potomac Company represented and acted as exclusive financial advisor to RID Pest Control on the transaction.
About Viking: Viking Pest Control, an Anticimex company, has been locally providing pest control for families and businesses since 1980. Viking's Headquarters is in Basking Ridge, NJ and with over 300 team members, Viking Pest provides quality pest control solutions to residential and commercial properties in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Viking Pest is the modern pest control company. Through prevention, new technology, and sustainable solutions, we meet the new demands for healthy environments for both individuals and businesses.
About Anticimex: Anticimex, the fourth largest pest control provider globally, is the modern pest control company. Through prevention, new technology, and sustainable solutions, we meet the new demands for healthy environments, for both individuals and businesses. Anticimex employs around 7,100 people, serving more than 3 million customers in 18 markets worldwide. In the United States, Anticimex operates through its seven platform companies, Modern Pest – Brunswick, ME, American Pest Management – Fulton, MD, Viking Pest Control – Basking Ridge, NJ, Turner Pest Control- Jacksonville, FL, and Killingsworth Environmental- Charlotte, NC, JP McHale Pest Management - Buchanan, NY, and Wayne's – Birmingham, AL


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Top 10 Crazy European Buildings
Monday, 8th October 2012 by Kyle Kusch
Architects are forever pushing the boundaries of design to create spectacular, astonishing, or just plain weird-looking buildings to catch your eye. We've found a plethora of these deranged designs across Europe on Google Street View and on Yandex Maps Panorama; below are ten of our favourites!
Krzywy Domek
No, no one slipped something into your drink, and your brain isn't melting, either. This is the Krzywy Domek (Crooked House), built in 2004 as part of the Rezydent shopping centre in Sopot, Poland. Inspired by the surreal fairytale drawings of Polish illustrator Jan Marcin Szancer, Krzywy Domek is home to office space on its top floor and numerous restaurants and drinking establishments at ground level, which are probably fantastic places to celebrate one of your 364 unbirthdays each year.
In the Dutch cities of Rotterdam and Helmond stand the Kubuswoningen, literally 'cube houses'. Designed by architect Piet Blom and based on the concept of 'living as an urban roof', the Kubuswoningen are compact houses in the shapes of cubes tilted 54.7 degrees and rested upon hexagon-shaped pylons. Each cube house contains three stories, but because of the tilted walls only three-quarters of the space in each house is usable. The Rotterdam complex contains 39 houses; the Helmond complex contains 18.
Corpus Building
Speaking of the Netherlands, outside the city of Oegstgeest is the Corpus museum. Dedicated to human biology, the Corpus building is even weirder inside than it is outside. As if standing inside of a building shaped like a human body wasn't odd enough, the museum tour begins with an escalator ride into an open sore on a giant knee and carries on through such scintillating exhibits as watching live cheese digestion and a 3D sperm-egg fertilisation hologram. Kids can even jump up and down on the body's giant tongue, which doubles as a trampoline.
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Frank Gehry1, the architect who designed the Dancing House in Prague, was also responsible for the striking Guggenheim Museum Bilbao2. Hailed as one of the greatest architectural achievements of the past 25 years, the 32 500 m2 (349 800 sq. ft.) art museum is built of stone, glass, and titanium and sits along the Nervión River.
Nord/LB Headquarters
The headquarters of the German bank Nord/LB in Hanover was once referred to as 'a stack of containers' thanks to the very abstract shape of its 70 m (230 ft) office tower. The sheer glass structure ensures that much of the giant building can be lit purely by natural daylight.
Zénith de Strasbourg
Appearing much like a spring being squashed by an invisible foot or a plastic bowl that got warped in the microwave, Strasbourg's Zénith de Strasbourg sporting arena was completed in December 2007. With a design meant to mimic that of Aladdin's lamp, the skewed 12,000-seater is constructed of five ellipsoidal steel rings wrapped around a concrete core and covered in a translucent orange fibreglass/silicone membrane stitched together from 40 separate massive pieces of fabric.
Crossword Tower
In Lviv, Ukraine stands the Crossword Tower, an apartment building plastered with a 30 m (100 ft) tall crossword puzzle. Installed in 2009, the crossword produces an interactive adventure for visitors to Lviv as the questions for the puzzle's clues are located in different point of interests around the historic city. After visiting the various attractions, visitors can return to the tower at night to check the answers, which are painted in the squares in special glow-in-the-dark paint.
National Library of Belarus
The National Library of Belarus is perhaps the most famous building in the world that can claim to be built in the shape of a rhombicuboctahedron, with eighteen square faces joined by eight triangular faces. Built in 2006, the library has 8 million items, can hold 2,000 readers at once, and has a 500-seat conference hall.
Any guesses as to what this strange silver tube is? Behold Snej.com, Russia's only indoor ski park, located in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogorsk. It may be summer on the outside, but it's winter on the inside. After all, why not build an artificial ski hill in a city that already has five months of winter each year?
Shtrikh Kod
Finally, in St. Petersburg we came across this building with walls built in the shape of a UPC barcode. Known as Shtrikh Kod in Russian, the architectural firm Vitruvio & Sons built this edifice in 2007. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's a shopping and office complex. The numbers in the code actually double as sixth-floor windows. Of course, if they really wanted to be clever, they could have built the place in the shape of a QR code.
Know of another crazy European building that you think should have been included in this list? Please leave a comment to let us know!
You can see more of Frank Gehry's amazing designs in our March 2011 post Frank Gehry in Progress. And don't forget to check out Antonio Gaudi's Barcelona while you're at it! ↩
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was one of the very first places visited here at Google Sightseeing all the way back in June 2005! ↩

subset: commoncrawl


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Evolutionary Genetics Explains The Conflicts of Human Social Life
Complex life is a product of natural selection, which is driven by competition among replicators. The outcome depends on which replicators best mobilize the energy and materials necessary to copy themselves, and on how rapidly they can make copies which can replicate in turn. The first aspect of the competition may be called survival, metabolism, or somatic effort; the second replication or reproductive effort. Life at every scale, from RNA and DNA to whole organisms, implements features that execute—and constantly trade off—these two functions.
Among life's tradeoffs is whether to allocate resources (energy, food, risk, time) to pumping out as many offspring as possible and letting them fend for themselves, or to eking out fewer descendants and enhancing the chances of survival and reproduction of each one. The continuum represents the degree of parental investment expended by an organism.
Since parental investment is finite, investing organisms face a second tradeoff, between investing resources in a given offspring and conserving those resources to invest in its existing or potential siblings.
Because of the essential difference between the sexes—females produce fewer but more expensive gametes—the females of most species invest more in offspring than the males, whose investment is often close to zero. Mammalian females in particular have opted for massive investment, starting with internal gestation and lactation. In some species, including Homo sapiens, the males may invest, too, though less than the females.
Natural selection favors the allocation of resources not just from parents to offspring but among genetic kin such as siblings and cousins. Just as a gene that encourages a parent to invest in offspring will be favoring a copy of itself that sits inside those offspring, so a gene that encourage an organism to invest in a brother or cousin will, some proportion of the time, be helping a copy of itself, and will be selected in proportion to the benefits conferred, the costs incurred, and the degree of genetic relatedness.
I've just reviewed the fundamental features of life on earth (and possibly life everywhere), with the barest mention of contingent facts about our own species: only that we're mammals with male parental investment. I'll add a second: that we're a brainy species that deals with life's conundrums not just with fixed adaptations selected over evolutionary time, but with facultative adaptations (cognition, language, socialization) that we deploy in our lifetimes and whose products we share via culture.
From these deep principles about the nature of the evolutionary process, one can deduce a vast amount about the social life of our species. (Credit where it's due: William Hamilton, George Williams, Robert Trivers, Donald Symons, Richard Alexander, Martin Daly, Margo Wilson.)
• Conflict is a part of the human condition. Notwithstanding religious myths of Eden, romantic images of noble savages, utopian dreams of perfect harmony, and gluey metaphors like attachment, bonding, and cohesion, human life is never free of friction. All societies have some degree of differential prestige and status, inequality of power and wealth, punishment, sexual regulations, sexual jealousy, hostility to other groups, and conflict within the group, including violence, rape, and homicide. Our cognitive and moral obsessions track these conflicts. There are a small number of plots in the world's fiction, and are defined by adversaries (often murderous), by tragedies of kinship or love, or both. In the real world, our life stories are largely stories of conflict: the hurts, guilts, and rivalries inflicted by friends, relatives, and competitors.
• The main refuge from this conflict is the family—collections of individuals with an evolutionary interest in one another's flourishing. Thus we find that traditional societies are organized around kinship, and that political leaders, from great emperors to tinpot tyrants, seek to transfer power to their offspring. Extreme forms of altruism, such as donating an organ or making a risky loan, are typically offered to relatives, as are bequests of wealth after death—a major cause of economic inequality. Nepotism constantly threatens social institutions such as religions, governments, and businesses that compete with the instinctive bonds of family.
• Even families are not perfect havens from conflict, because the solidarity from shared genes must contend with competition over parental investment. Parents have to apportion their investment across all their children, born and unborn, with every offspring equally valuable (all else being equal). But while an offspring has an interest in its siblings' welfare, since it shares half its genes with each full sib, it shares all of its genes with itself, so it has a disproportionate interest in its own welfare. The implicit conflict plays itself out throughout the lifespan: in postpartum depression, infanticide, cuteness, weaning, brattiness, tantrums, sibling rivalry, and struggles over inheritance.
• Sex is not entirely a pastime of mutual pleasure between consenting adults. That is because the different minimal parental investment of men and women translates into differences in their ultimate evolutionary interests. Men but not women can multiply their reproductive output with multiple partners. Men are more vulnerable than women to infidelity. Women are more vulnerable than men to desertion. Sex therefore takes place in the shadow of exploitation, illegitimacy, jealousy, spousal abuse, cuckoldry, desertion, harassment, and rape.
• Love is not all you need, and does not make the world go round. Marriage does offer the couple the theoretical possibility of a perfect overlap of genetic interest, and hence an opportunity for the bliss that we associate with romantic love, because their genetic fates are bound together in the same package, namely their children. Unfortunately those interests can diverge because of infidelity, stepchildren, in-laws, or age differences—which are, not coincidentally, major sources of marital strife.
None of this implies that people are robots controlled by their genes, that complex traits are determined by single genes, that people may be morally excused for fighting, raping, or philandering, that people try to have as many babies as possible, or that people are impervious to influences from their culture (to take some of the common misunderstandings of evolutionary explanations). What it does mean is that a large number of recurring forms of human conflict fall out of a small number of features of the process that made life possible.


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Truly, we've been blessed with an abundance of Doofi this week. We've had at least one every day, and nine all told (including today's pair) since last Sunday. I wonder what the last day of the week will bring tomorrow? Will we reach our century of Doofus awards? Watch this space!
Anyway, Doofus #98 is a collective award - to US investment banks. Having just begged and pleaded for a $700 billion rescue package, which has added enormously to the national debt and for which our children's children will still be paying, what have they done? Let Max Hastings describe their incredible arrogance and greed.
The nine biggest U.S. investment banks have set aside $108 billion for staff compensation in the forthcoming year.
A mean-spirited California Democrat, Henry Waxman, has written them a letter. He wants to know how they can justify this figure when they have just received $125 billion in aid from the U.S. government.
Waxman says: 'I question the appropriateness of depleting the capital that taxpayers just injected into the banks through the payment of billions of dollars in bonuses.' And so say all of us.
Sour jokes apart, it defies belief that when the bankers of America and Britain have presided over the greatest disaster in the history of capitalism, they are still awarding themselves telephone number pay deals.
Aggrieved bankers say that they have lifestyles to support. Many are paying mortgage interest on multi-million pound homes in London's Holland Park or New York's Upper East Side. They have school fees to meet, boats whose crews must be paid, homes in the Bahamas to fund.
But to the rest of us, watching our savings and pensions shrink towards invisibility, the latest numbers show that the rulers of the financial system still inhabit a fantasy zone.
They refuse to acknowledge that this is year zero, a new and shockingly different world which they themselves have created. They proclaimed the law of the jungle, the free market. When this failed, they demanded and received vast sums of our money to save them from its consequences.
Millions of people around the world are going to lose their jobs, many more their homes, still more their savings, as a result of the bankers' arrogance and incompetence. The least we expect is that they should share some part of our pain.
A mere 50 per cent cut in multi-million pound rewards is not enough. As a matter of common decency, a small gesture of contrition, no bonuses whatever should be paid this year. Bonuses for what achievement? For ruining us all?
I couldn't have put it better myself. A giant Doofus award and a monster one-finger salute to the fat-cats of the corporate banking world! Grrr!
I sincerely hope that Congress does something to prohibit the use of 'rescue package' money for paying out bonuses or incentives of any kind. They owe that to us, the taxpayers who are ultimately the ones who'll have to pay for the rescue. Anything less would be a dereliction of duty.
Are you listening, Congress?
Anyone there?
Ah, well . . .
Doofus #99 is also collective, to the Swansea town council's road sign department in Wales: but it's somewhat lighter-hearted. According to the BBC:
When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed.
Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated".
So that was what went up under the English version which barred lorries from a road near a supermarket.
"When they're proofing signs, they should really use someone who speaks Welsh," said journalist Dylan Iorwerth.
Swansea Council became lost in translation when it was looking to halt heavy goods vehicles using a road near an Asda store in the Morriston area
All official road signs in Wales are bilingual, so the local authority e-mailed its in-house translation service for the Welsh version of: "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only".
The reply duly came back and officials set the wheels in motion to create the large sign in both languages.
The notice went up and all seemed well - until Welsh speakers began pointing out the embarrassing error.
Red faces at the council - and, I'm sure, a lot of smiles from passing Welsh speakers!


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(Thank you to those who wrote and sent their love over the past few days. I am working through some personal stuff right now, but please don't mistake my tone in this post for flippancy--humour is simply my way of working through things.)
Believe me when I say I really wanted to come back with a healthy, non-dessert recipe, but the truth is I've been living off of these cupcakes for days.
You know what else is the truth? After a few days away from keyboard, I start to miss blogging--and I especially start to miss all of you. That's why I'm back already; I couldn't stay away.
I got through the busy weekend pretty well, thanks to a lot, and I mean a lot, of Cadbury mini eggs. Well, it wasn't all smooth sailing, there was that minor mishap on Easter Sunday morning when we were getting ready for church. In my ever-present battle against Noah's dry skin, I grabbed what I though was his moisturizer and liberally-yes, even hastily-applied it all over his arms, torso and face...only to discover seconds later that it was my moisturizer with a hint of sunless tanner.
What ensued afterward was an encounter with a washcloth so thorough, it left us both more than a little hot under the collar.
That stuff streaks like nobody's business.
OK, so it's a little late to be bringing you Easter treats, but you must look past the mini eggs and focus on The Perfect Cupcake: Yellow Butter Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting. This one is Martha Stewart all the way and there is simply no need to mess with it. She's serious when she says it's a crowd-pleaser; it's a combination so classic and homey that no one can resist. I've certainly demonstrated that I can't.
The duo also makes one heck of a layer cake. I'm giving directions for both cake and cupcakes. Both recipes are from The Martha Stewart Baking Handbook, one of my favorite baking cookbooks. (Psst! If you don't own it yet, you can purchase it via the Amazon link on my sidebar. Yay!)
So there's some pretty cool stuff coming up on Under the High Chair that you'll just have to see to believe. Yep, more super cool giveaways, a pancake the tastes like pumpkin pie, and...An Announcement. Ohhh.
I'll give you a hint: what do you get when you combine a Pregnancy, a Pen and a Publisher?
Find out soon and don't bother to try and drag it out of me, my own mother doesn't even know!
Yellow Butter Cake
Makes two 9-inch cake layers or 24 cupcakes
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. FOR CUPCAKES: Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.
Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition. Divide batter between the prepared pans, and smooth with an offset spatula.
For Cupcakes: divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups so that each is about two thirds full.
Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. (20 min. for cupcakes) Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off the parchment. Reinvert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
Frost with Dark Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate Frosting
Frosts one 9-inch layer cake or 24 cupcakes, generously.
24 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Pinch of salt
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Turn off heat; stir occasionally until chocolate has melted completely, about 15 minutes. Set bowl on countertop, and let chocolate cool to room temperature, 25 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl; stir until cocoa is dissolved.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add melted chocolate; beat on low speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in cocoa mixture.
To frost a layer cake: Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level; brush off crumbs. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate, and spread top with 3/4 cup of frosting. Place the second layer on top, bottom side up, and spread top with 3/4 cup of frosting; repeat process with the third layer. Place the remaining layer on top of the third layer, bottom-side up; insert a dowel into the center of cakes if necessary. Spread entire cake with remaining frosting.


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If you have a question not answered here, please open a Support Ticket from the above menu (login to your account is required). The Touchstone support team monitors new posts and are on hand to provide their expertise, and if necessary, investigate your issue more closely. They respond to most tickets within 48 hours. We add to this FAQ, too, primarily from the questions posed to us through our Support Ticket System. So, your question may help us to help other clients as well.
No one can get you your DD214 faster.
Why? The majority of our researchers are former federal military records center personnel, and base spouses, which gives us unsurpassed and unprecedented access to military records centers, several of which are on bases closed-to-public-access.
Status Definitions
Preparing - You have set up your account, but we have not yet received payment.
Pending - You have set up your account and made payment, but we have not yet received your Request Form. (The Request Form is your signed authorization and is required by the Privacy Act in order for us to be permitted to access your records in-person.)
Deficiency - Your case requires additional information. You'll receive an email of what is needed. Once we receive the required information, your case will be reset to Processing status.
Processing - Your case has been assigned to a researcher and submitted to the appropriate Record's facility(ies).
Delivered - Your record is immediately available for download and has been shipped. Your shipping details are also provided so that you can one-click and track your hardcopy shipment.
More Help!
You may still have questions as a result of problems with your particular case. Remember, all cases are unique. Military record keeping is not always consistent, and not always thorough. If you have issues not addressed in your case's annotations or answered within our FAQ, or you have a comment or concern about your general experience with Touchstone - we are always striving to improve - please open a Support Ticket from the above menu. Please give us 48 hours to respond so that we may review your case, make the appropriate inquiries, and provide a hopefully thoughtful and thorough response.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-579), Government records repositories cannot release personal information without the prior written consent of the individual to whom those records relate. Consequently, unlike our Express Service where we act on your behalf as your agent, an employee of Touchstone cannot discuss the details of your Request with the Government records repository under our Guided Service. Therefore, after Touchstone has submitted your Request, you must undertake any follow-up or status check directly with the facility(ies) itself/themselves.
If you were discharged before 1994, your record is most likely at the National Personnel Records Center, the "NPRC." Here are NPRC's instructions on how you can check your order's status:
"Once you have allowed sufficient time for us to receive and process your request (about 10 days), you may check the status of your request by e-mail through our NPRC Customer Service Center at https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/forms. Please provide the request number if you have one, the name, address and phone number of the requester, and the veteran's branch of service to aid us to finding your request in our system. You will receive a return e-mail from us with a projected completion date for your request.
You may also telephone the NPRC Customer Service Line (this is a long-distance call for most customers): 314-801-0800
Note: Our peak calling times are weekdays between 10:00 am CST and 3:00 pm CST. Staff is available to take your call as early as 7:00 am and as late as 5:00 pm cst.
This number will allow you to hold until a technician is available to help you."
One difference in records facilities which will affect the amount of time in which your record is returned is the type of record maintained by that facility. More recent military records (generally from about 1995 and forward - but will vary by branch of service. See chart below.) are kept in digital format and these facilities can generally return the record to our researchers same day. All we need is access to a computer at the facility, and the record can be accessed by any number of persons simultaneously.
Older records are kept in physical format, i.e. paper, microfilm and microfiche. The request has to first be entered into the Government's computer system, and then a "puller" assigned to retrieve the record off the shelf. Depending on how quickly the request can be entered into the system (are there few or a lot of requests to be entered that day), the efficiency of the data entry clerk, how quickly a "puller" is assigned to retrieve the record, the "puller's" workload and efficiency, the record's physical location within the facility, and how thick the chart in which to manually locate the separation document, and then to copy it - all are variables that will effect retrieval times. And, since only one person can access one physical record at one time, if the record is off the shelf, it cannot be accessed until its return.
For records facilities which hold records in physical format, they will prioritize requests based on exigent circumstances, emergencies, etc. Funeral requests, for example, can be fulfilled generally same day (if submitted before 10 am Eastern), sometimes next day. You should indicate any immediate need on your Request Form for the Government's consideration.
We have a Record Retrieval Estimator on the individual service description pages. You should take these Government internal delays into consideration when you place your order.
Other Delay Issues.
There are other issues that may make the location of your record difficult and possibly add delay to your record's retrieval:
In Summary
All things being equal, we guarantee that no one can get you your record faster!
Our Processing Procedure/Times
Our processing day cutoff for all requests is 10 am Eastern. Requests received before that time will be assigned to a researcher and submitted to the appropriate records facility that day.
When you order our Same Day, Next Day, Three or Seven Day service, that is the time in which you are allowing us to submit your request. You should add any facility delay to our time in order to determine approximately when your record download will be available, and add further your shipping method's time to determine when you'll receive your hardcopies. For example, here's the optimal delivery: you order Same Day Service, we receive your Request Form before 10 am Eastern, and your record is at a digital records facility (where the facility will make your record available to us within hours), you'll have your record that same day. However, if your record is at the NPRC (a physical records facility), although we do get some records there same day, most come in 2-4 days on average from that facility. So that facility delay should be added to the service you've selected.
The day we submit your request to the facility is Day Zero. The next day is Day One, and so on. Only business days are counted, days the records facilities are open and available to process requests.
Also, you must apply for this refund BEFORE we deliver to you your record.
Our Guarantee applies only to records which are in existence. If your record was created by the Government AFTER you had placed your order with us, we cannot be expected to retrieve a record which was not even in existence at the time you placed your order.
In order to qualify, you would simply have to provide a copy of your record and the details of your acquisition - when and with whom did you request your record and when did you receive it, and we'll then confirm. This information allows us to improve our service, so a refund, once we have the details, is an investment for us.
In brief, Touchstone has researchers at all of the major records repositories, nationwide, who will submit your request on your behalf in-person. We act as your agent, as if you yourself were there in-person, to request your record.
Your DD214 is perhaps the most important document you can acquire. It substantiates your military service and is used to establish your eligibility for benefits such as VA Home Loans, tuition assistance, VA medical care, employment preference, retirement, spousal benefits, additional Social Security payments, membership in veterans' organizations, and many others.
The term "DD-214" is often used generically to mean "separation papers" or "discharge papers," no matter what form number was used to document active duty military service. The term has, also, a specific technical meaning: it is a Report of Separation from Active Duty. For non-active duty, Reservists are issued either an Order of Separation or a Letter of Separation. The NGB22 is the standard National Guard separation document.
The report of separation form issued in most recent years for separations from active duty is the DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. Before January 1, 1950 (the creation of the Department of Defense, August 10, 1949), several similar forms were used by the military services to denote military separations including the WD AGO 53, WD AGO 55, WD AGO 53-55, NAVPERS 553, NAVMC 78PD, and the NAVCG 553. WD - War Department. AGO - Adjutant General's Office. NAVPERS - Navy Personnel. NAVMC - Navy - Marine Corps. NAVCG - Navy - Coast Guard.
If you have come to our site out of frustration because you ordered your DD214 from the government weeks or even months ago and you still haven't received it, PLEASE DO NOT try to order it from us now. You have only one chart. Once the government receives your order, at some stage they will remove your chart from the shelf. Your chart then becomes inaccessible to anyone else until its return - which could be additional weeks later. In other words, once you've made your decision to acquire your DD214 from the government, you will most likely not be able to later change your mind and expedite the order through us - unless you want to gamble that we can still get to your chart before the government.
If you'd like to take the risk, fine. However, even only a day or two's prior submission may cause the record to be pulled from NPRC's shelves - then it will sit on some clerk's desk until processed - making it unavailable to us until its return to the shelf.
If the service member requires another copy, then he/she can acquire a copy of only one of the other remaining originals, usually a copy of the original maintained by the service branch itself, usually a copy of Service 2, Service 7 or Service 8. Rarely will the service branch keep a Member 4 or Member 1 copy, since they have their own copies. If it's there, that's the copy we'll provide.
All of the eight original DD214s are identical, except for Member 1 - the "short" or "deleted" form. The remaining seven long forms includes another 1.5 inches at the bottom which provides information concerning the service member's characterization of service, narrative reason for separation, legal reference (authority) for separation, separation and re-entry codes. The short form does NOT contain this important information - hence employers want the long form (which are all identical original DD214s EXCEPT for Member 1).
For more detailed information on DD214 issuance, the DoD and Army Regs can be found at http://dd214.us
The eight copies are distributed as follows:
Anyone who has worked with DD214 for any appreciable amount of time knows this. If a member loses his Member 4 for whatever reason, or never received it in the first place, what is he to do? Well, he comes to us and we get him a certified copy of one of the other remaining originals. These copies have the full legal force and effect as the original Member 4.
Be forewarned, though. Any employer who is familiar with DD214 will always request the undeleted report of separation (the long form). If you give them the deleted version, that will suggest that you are trying to hide something. If you do have something that you may wish wasn't noted, generally you'll be better off explaining the situation rather than trying to conceal it.
I'm now quoting from the DoD regs:
"The term "Military Services," as used here, refers to DODI 1336.1, January 6, 1989 2 the Army, Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps and, by agreement with the Department of Transportation, to the Coast Guard."
and, specifically:
"2.2. Its provisions include procedures on the preparation and distribution of DD Forms 214, 214-ws, and 215 (enclosures 1, 2, and 3) which record and report the transfer or separation of military personnel from a period of active duty." (Emphasis supplied.)
DD214s are NOT issued, generally, for separations for reserve service.
Different branches of the military reserves issue separation documents that are titled something other than DD-214. Reserve separation documents are commonly in the form of either Orders of Separation or a Letter of Separation. The USMCR will issue a Points Summary to substantiate service. National Guard separation documents are called NGB22.
Our researchers will retrieve your chart and copy and ship ALL separation documents found therein.
You might consider your DD256 as your Diploma, the item that you frame and hang on your wall, and your DD214 as your transcript - the document that indicates in greater detail what you've achieved in your military career.
The DD256s (the wall certificates) are no longer re-issued by the military.
However, if you never received your Discharge Certificate, it may be located within your 201 file. Originally your Discharge Certificate was mailed to you at your Home of Record. If the Post Office returned it, then the military may retire it, placing it with your personnel file. If you place an order for a DD214, or a copy of your complete file, we will also automatically send you your original Discharge Certificate, if it is within your file.
Unlike a DD214, the DD256 has no legal authority. Touchstone, however, will generate a new VERIFIABLE DD256 for you from the information contained within your DD214 including Rank, Grade, Discharge Date, and the name of the officer who signed your DD214.
Simply add it to your DD214 order.
One of our competitors advertises a Money Back Guarantee if they cannot locate your record within 7 days. However, not all records are at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. We have researchers at numerous facilities nationwide. We even go to the unit level, if necessary, to retrieve a record. And, when we determine that a DD214 was lost by the NPRC or military branch (more common than you would think) or never created in the first place (ditto), we will assist you in the administrative process to have your record re-created. Will our competitors do the necessary work to acquire your DD214 after they have given you a refund? Unlikely. Ultimately, which would you prefer, your money back or your record?
Your record can be at located at any one or more of more than a hundred Federal and State records repositories. However, your Official Military Personnel File will be filed at a specific repository based on your service branch and date of separation. If we locate your OMPF and no separation document can be found within it, we cannot retrieve a document which is not in your chart. Nor can we guess as to why it is not there. Nor can we create an official document.
In this case, we will advise you on the method that you are required by law to use in order to have your DD214 administratively re-created.
It is even more rare that we cannot locate any record whatsoever for a client.
In brief, we actually exert more time, effort and expense in attempting to locate records which are not where they should be, or that are missing key documents - than we use in standard requests where the record is easily found and it contains the requested documents. So, unfortunately, a refund is not possible.
There is, however, one exception: if your record exists and you can acquire your record but we couldn't, we do GUARANTEE that "No one can get you your military record faster!" See how our guarantee works, FAQ No. 6, above.
If the veteran is deceased, then the law permits the next-of-kin to access the veteran's records. Next-of-kin is statutorily defined as father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or un-remarried surviving spouse. You will also have to provide proof of death such as a copy of the death certificate, an obituary or a letter from your funeral director.
If you are not the next of kin of a deceased veteran, or the veteran him/herself, you can still obtain certain information concerning a veteran through our Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) service.
If the separation occurred more than 62 years ago, the record falls into the public domain and no specific permission is required in order to access the record. However, even if a file meets archival dates, if the record is to be used for "Benefits", the signature of the next-of-kin will be required.
Your username is your e-mail address including the @domain.com part, all lower case.
If you've forgotten your password, you can use the forgotten password feature and our system will send you a new password.
In order to download your record, go to:
Log into your account.
At Previous Orders, click View order.
On your Invoice page, you'll see a section Download Links.
Click Your Separation Documents, and your record should open on your computer. The document is a PDF file and requires Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader is usually preloaded on almost all computers. If your computer does not have Adobe Reader, that software is free on the Internet and can be acquired at:
Once opened, click first the Disk icon at the top of the page to Save the image to your computer (remember where on your computer you save the PDF file), AND then click the Printer icon to print out a hard copy.
If you receive an error along the lines: the file is damaged and irreparable, you are most likely using an older version of Adobe Reader and should upgrade. See the Adobe Reader link above.
If all else fails, we can fax you a copy and, of course, you can expect your hardcopy shipment soon.
The most common OMPF container is a stiff 12-by-9½-inch brown file folder. Many of the folders from the past quarter-century contain microfiche images of the personnel documents that were sent to NPRC either in place of the original paper records or with them. OMPFs held by NPRC, a physical records facility, reside in hundreds of thousands of cubic-foot cardboard boxes on 11-foot-high shelves in immense storage areas.
OMPFs will vary widely in their contents, sometimes containing information in minutia, other-times missing vital documents. It may contain medical records such as physical evaluations and outpatient records. It may also contain personal information such as home of record, and awards documents. They typically contain such documents as enlistment contracts, duty locations, performance evaluations, award citations, training records, and the especially important Report of Separation (DD Form 214 or earlier equivalent).
Typically, an OMPF contains one or more of the following:
A typical U.S. Air Force OMPF from recent years.
Your OMPF is an important document for former service members to maintain, as the documents contained within it are important for access to benefits such as the VA Loan and the GI Bill.
On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at NPRC (MPR) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files. The affected record collections are described below.
To read more about the fire, visit: http://www.dd214.us/nprc_73fire.html
Your records may have been included in the affected group. NPRC will also issue a Certification of Military Service whenever the original record - for whatever reason - is unavailable or unusable and when the veteran's basic service information can be verified through other official sources.
In such circumstances, NPRC will issue the Certification of Military Service - the document which we provided.
But, once we have your signed Request Form and retrieve your record, we'll make your record available to you for download from our secure server - and ship you two certified hardcopies as well.
We know you have questions about how, internally, we keep your information safe. After all, weâre requesting your most personal information including your Social Security number. We understand, too, that completing an online transaction requires a great deal of trust. We take this trust very seriously and make it our highest priority to ensure the security and confidentiality of the information you provide. Touchstone uses industry-standard SSL (secure socket layer) technology to protect every interaction you have with us. For example, when we make your record available online, it is available only from our secure server for your download. Our competitors say theyâll email you your documents; we would NEVER send your information over the Internet in an unencrypted form. This is just one example of how we go the extra measure to protect your personal information.
Touchstone also uses strict physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard the confidentiality and security of the Personal Information you provide to us. Touchstone is certified compliant under the Payment Card Industryâs Data Security Standards, and is tested daily for security vulnerabilities by ConrolScan. We conduct background checks on all of our employees.
Your personal information is stored on our servers and heavily guarded, both physically and electronically. All data is stored offsite in a secure data center. All of our facilities are built with the latest biometric security access as well as state-of-the-art surveillance and alarm systems. To further shield your information, we do not directly connect our firewall-protected servers to the internet.
Several of our competitors claim that they use PayPal as their credit card processor for âyourâ security. While we, too, accept PayPal payments, we can also process your payment directly and securely through our own merchant account. Almost anyone can establish a PayPal account, but the standard of credit-worthiness, reputation and trust is much greater in order to establish a merchant account.
Furthermore, your transactions with Touchstone are Bonded and Insured through BuySafe. BuySafe provides, also, an identity theft program as a part of your purchase â to further ease your concerns.
None of our competitors offers this level of protection.
Finally, Touchstone processes more military record requests per week than all of our competitors combined. We have grown through our care and concern for our clients, satisfying our clientsâ needs for the security of their personal information, and the efficient, expeditious delivery of their military records.
For older separations, the government has microfilmed/microfiched the original documents. We copy off that copy. If the quality of microfilm/microfiche is poor, the copy will be exact - a precise copy of a poor microfilm/microfiche. Since we cannot improve the original, you are getting the best available copy.
The NPRC is well aware of this issue but has no control over the quality of the documents provided to them by the military branches. The fact that they have certified your copies attests to the fact that they are, indeed, the best available copies.
However, if the copies are entirely unusable for a particular purpose - and some records will qualify, you will have to write a letter to the NPRC and explain the issue. They have the capacity to make an administrative correction, generally issuing a Certification of Military Service which will substantiate only your dates of service and characterization of service.
We can review morning reports, unit histories and diaries, and other sources depending on the nature of the inquiry, but that is custom research. We charge $65/hour, and generally 5-6 hours is needed for most cases. But, as in all research, no guarantees can ever be given for a successful result. We are paid to search, with the hope that we may find.
For custom research, we bill in 3 hour increments in advance, with an initial $200 retainer. This service can be ordered online at our website, or through one of our Client Services Representatives at 800-At-DD214 (800-283-3214).
Your "whitelist" is your indication to your service provider or email application that you wish to receive email from certain specified sources.
The method to whitelist us will vary by your Internet Service Provider and the program you use for your email. The most common way to whitelist an address is to add our return email address to your address book, white list, or safe list. There is no universal way to whitelist an address, so if this is not an option, you will have to consult the help section associated with your email application or your ISP's instructions. They should have instructions on how to whitelist an address there.
You can find How-To-Whitelist instructions for the most popular internet service providers and email applications here: http://www.aweber.com/blog/how-to-whitelist-us
Simply use our domain touchstoneresearchgroup.com
If your company uses a commercial spam blocker, they will provide details on how to whitelist important email senders. One such service is Barracuda. Their whitelist instructions can be found at:
We recommend that you take this simple step to help ensure that our mailings actually reach you. Even if you are currently receiving our mailings, we still advise you to follow this recommendation - to whitelist our return address - as a way to prevent future problems.
We've included two papers on the subject:
How To Upgrade Your Discharge, and
Discharge Upgrade Memo.
The form to commence the process is at DD Form 293.


text:
Seventeenth Minnesota governor Adolph Olson (A. O.) Eberhart lived the classic American story of an immigrant who achieved success through hard work and ability.
Eberhart was born Olaf Adolf Olsson in Kil, Värmland, Sweden, on June 23, 1870. His parents were farmers in Sweden, but hard economic times led them to immigrate to the United States in 1881. They did not have enough money to move the entire family, so they left Adolph behind with his aunt and uncle, who wanted to adopt him. One year later, at age eleven, Adolph joined his parents in St. Peter, Minnesota, because he missed them. The next year, 1883, the family moved to Nebraska.
Adolph stayed in Nebraska for the next eight years, farming and getting an education where possible. In 1891, at age twenty-one, he left farming and returned to St. Peter to attend Gustavus Adolphus College.
Adolph studied there from 1891 to 1895. He had about a fourth grade education when he arrived at the college. Four years later, he graduated at the top of his class after completing both high school- and college-level courses on an accelerated schedule. While at Gustavus Adolphus College, he gave himself a new last name, Eberhart, so he would not be confused with the many other Olsons on campus.
He took his new name, Adolph Olson Eberhart, and his college degree to Mankato, where he studied law and set up his own private practice within a few years. In 1898, he married Adele Koke, who also lived in Mankato. They eventually had five children.
Eberhart had long been determined to improve the condition of public schools, especially in rural areas, and he saw politics as the best way to do it. Shortly after starting his law practice, he decided to run for office. He won his first race, securing a state senate seat in 1902. At age thirty-two, he was the youngest state senator in the 33rd legislative session.
Eberhart, a Republican, became lieutenant governor in 1907 under legendary Democratic governor John A. Johnson. After Johnson's untimely death in 1909, Eberhart took over as governor and subsequently won the office twice on his own merits. He served as governor of Minnesota from September 21, 1909, to January 5, 1915.
Eberhart was an efficient administrator and a skilled politician, but he was unable to earn a third full term as governor. Another defeat, this time in the 1916 US Senate primary, marked the end of his political career. After working as a real estate and insurance executive in Chicago, he retired to a rest home in Savage. He died on December 6, 1944.
Adolph Olson (A. O.) Eberhart's choice to enter Gustavus Adolphus College in 1891 changes the course of his life from that of a farmer to that of a lawyer, politician, and governor of Minnesota.
Adolph Olson (A. O.) Eberhart is born Olaf Adolf Olsson in Kil, Värmland, Sweden, on June 23.
Eberhart's parents immigrate to the United States, leaving him with family in Sweden.
After joining his parents in St. Peter, Minnesota, Eberhart moves to Nebraska with his family.
He returns to St. Peter at age twenty-one to attend Gustavus Adolphus College.
Eberhart marries Adele Koke of Mankato, and they eventually have five children.
He wins his first political contest and becomes a state senator in the 33rd legislative session.
He becomes lieutenant governor under legendary Democratic governor John A. Johnson.
Eberhart replaces Johnson as governor after Johnson's death and serves two more full terms.
Eberhart is defeated in the US Senate primary and his political career ends.
Eberhart dies on December 6.


text:
Many versions abound about how International Women's Day came to be, but all stories lead back to 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City protesting violence against garment workers and demanding better pay, better working conditions and voting rights. Their slogan was Bread and Roses – signifying the need for better wages and a better quality of life. In 1909 women workers marched again in Chicago, officially kick-starting a National Women's Day. The next year, European women proposed building on the US idea and agreed to make March 8th International Women's Day. This is one of the great manifestations of international solidarity among workers and women in particular.
Today, International Women's Day is celebrated all over the world, but its popularization has left many unclear about its origins and significance. We need to reclaim the meaning of this day to help change the fact that: women in the US earn 77 cents to the dollar compared to men; women in Bangladesh make up 85% of the workforce for an apparel industry, which is quite literally killing them; and malnourished and underpaid garment workers in Cambodia who faint from exhaustion on the job are accused of "women's hysteria". Women need equal pay for equal work and the ability to bargain for better wages. Too many women have to endure violence or risk their lives just to make a living.
More than 100 years later, garment workers continue to suffer attack when they raise their voices at work and far too many have died in this past year simply trying to make a living. Today we remember our sisters in Pakistan and Bangladesh who were lost, or survived with debilitating injuries, the horrendous fires that ripped through apparel factories in 2012 and the gut-wrenching collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013. We remember our friend Reba who survived the Rana Plaza factory collapse and traveled throughout the US, despite her injuries, to help educate US students, activists and policymakers. Reba told us that her co-worker was slapped when she objected to the manager telling them they had to go into the factory that day, despite the visible crack in the building. These deaths are unacceptable and this abject disregard for women's voices – for any worker's voice – is appalling.
We need to reclaim International Women's Day for its original purpose: to advance women's wages and working conditions and to give us all a voice in society.
Today, more than ever before, women around the world are critical to economic growth and development. The World Bank recognizes this, as do many development experts, yet their drive for improving women's economic participation is weak when it comes to improving women's ability to organize, bargain collectively and have a stronger voice in society. Women have entered the formal sector workforce in droves over the past fifty years and their economic earnings have increased – marginally. Meanwhile, despite their pay checks, women's right to participation has not gained as much ground. Industries with a majority of women in the workforce continue to have lower wages and fewer organized workplaces. Meanwhile few societies have changed the balance of household responsibilities, leaving most women facing the double workday.
Today we want to give a shout out to all the women around the world who are rising up to secure better wages and working conditions and to end the violence against women that keeps their voices down. This coming April 29th, we are proud to be honoring women leaders from Honduras – Evangelina Argueta and Vilma Gomez from the Central General de Trabajadores – who are leading a cutting-edge initiative to improve workers' rights in apparel factories there.
Women are taking action in the streets in many places around the world today, including:
- Women workers in Dhaka from multiple unions marched and formed human chains demanding safe conditions.
- In Phnom Penh, garment workers are raising their voices for a living wage and taking action even though police block their International Women's Day forum. This powerful, new video gives insight to the workers' struggle.
Please help us support these women workers' demonstrations and to build momentum behind them. Please join ILRF in celebrating and supporting women workers' struggles today and throughout the months of March and April. Here are some ways to get involved:
- March 25: 103rd Triangle Factory Fire Commemoration
From Triangle Shirtwaist to Bangladesh: The Garment Industry, Tragedy, and Workplace Safety Reform - April 24: Pay Up! Global Day of Action, calling for justice for Rana Plaza survivors
- April 29: "Women's Rights in the Apparel Industry: Ending Violence, Empowering Voices" Conference
2014 International Labor Rights Defenders Awards Ceremony


text:
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's home-grown health reforms have failed to put a dent in the ranks of the state's uninsured.
A record 377,700 Utahns 13.4 percent of the population went without health coverage in 2011, according to new data from the state Department of Health. That's up 25 percent from an estimated 301,700 uninsured in 2010.
But whether that represents a real increase isn't clear, due to improved survey methods. Among other changes, pollsters are now calling cellphones instead of just landlines to reach a wider range of residents, which nudged estimates higher.
"It's inched up, but we think it's more a reflection of a different way of collecting data," said Legislative Health Reform Task Force Chairman Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville. "But [the uninsured rate] hasn't improved much."
U.S. census figures show nearly 50 million Americans, or 16.3 percent of the population, were uninsured in 2010, the most recent year national data are available.
Utah's updated numbers make it harder to draw year-to-year comparisons. "This will essentially be a new baseline for us," said health department spokesman Tom Hudachko.
But they shed new light on the source of the problem: unaffordability.
Part-time workers and the self-employed who don't have access to employer-sponsored coverage are twice as likely to be uninsured as the rest of the population.
And the poor a single person earning under $14,867 a year, or $1,239 a month are uninsured at four times the state's average rate.
For them, buying a policy would eat up 14 percent of their monthly income, said Shelly Braun, health reform director at the Utah Health Policy Project. And that's assuming the person is relatively healthy; the average monthly individual health premium in Utah is $173, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Dunnigan acknowledged that Utah's reforms have fallen short of the mark.
"Frankly, part of the challenge is we've been sidetracked by federal health reform," he said, "which sucked the air out of the room. Just understanding and preparing for that is a full-time job."
But the federal law offers relief through an expansion of Medicaid, assuming Utah buys into the expansion. Republican leaders are waiting until after the election to decide.
The health law also benefits the middle class, those between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. A family of four earning between $23,000 and $92,000 a year will be eligible for tax credits to buy coverage.
A whopping 95 percent of Utah's uninsured fall into this category. The Affordable Care Act, in other words, has the potential to virtually eliminate the state's uninsured problem.
But, as Dunnigan notes, it's not that simple.
Among those who are ineligible for subsidies: undocumented immigrants and middle-class workers with affordable workplace plans. The law considers a plan unaffordable when a worker's share of the coverage exceeds 9.5 percent of the worker's household income.
Further complicating things, that calculation is based on coverage for the worker only, and not for family plans, which on average cost 14 percent of household income.
There's also the possibility that people will shirk the law's requirement to have coverage, Dunnigan warned, because the tax penalty costs less than the premiums would.
What's more, as health costs continue to rise, the subsidies may not keep pace. Massachusetts' reforms, upon which the federal law was modeled, have "done a good job at enrolling the uninsured," he said, "but they haven't done a good job at controlling the costs."
Twitter: @kirstendstewart
Other key findings
Even though they're eligible for Medicaid, 56,500 Utah children are uninsured.
24 percent of young adults, between 19 and 34 years of age, have no health coverage.
26 percent of part-time working adults, and 29 percent of the self-employed, are uninsured.
Source: Utah Department of Health 2011 census of the uninsured


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Brix is a scale based on the amount that light bends when it passes through a liquid. If one were to place one's hand in a pond and measure the amount it appeared to bend, and then place it in the ocean, it would appear to bend a different amount. That differential light bending is the best tool currently available to consumers to determine the value of crops that are purchased or produced. The brix chart is the scale that anyone can use to determine poor, average, good or excellent in a foodstuff.
One of the benefits of joining Bionutrient Food Association as a member is the option to purchase a "brix kit" at a significantly discounted cost available to members only. The brix kit comes with a brix chart, refractometer and brix press that can be used on all fruits and vegetables to enable rapid quality testing.
How does Brix relate to quality?
Centuries of wine making and work with other fruits and vegetables always show direct relations between high Brix and high quality, expressed most simply and directly as superior taste. The process is somewhat altered for the gardener or farmer in that they test the leaf of the growing plant much earlier and are therefore afforded the opportunity to correct soil deficiencies before the crop matures. The gardener or farmer also benefits in that they soon learn that any crop with 12 or better leaf Brix will not be bothered by insect pests.
- Brix measures the percent solids (TSS) in a given weight of plant juice' nothing more' nothing less.
- Brix is often expressed as the percentage of sucrose. However, the "sucrose" can vary widely.
- Brix is actually a sum of the pounds of sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, hormones, and other solids in one hundred pounds of plant juice.
- Brix varies directly with plant quality. For instance, a poor, sour tasting grape from worn-out land can test 8 or less brix. On the other hand, a full flavored, delicious grape, grown on rich, fertile soil can test 24 or better brix.
Remember that sugar is only one of the components of brix. Also remember that many other substances can falsely indicate "brix" readings: rubbing alcohol, whiskey, vinegar, or wine (although those readings are valid in their own right). Interestingly, cooking oil, molasses, syrup, and other thick liquids require a refractometer calibrated to read 30-90 brix. Honey is checked with a refractometer calibrated to measure the water in it instead of solids in water.
So, what exactly is Brix?
"Brix" is a technical term to measure and quantify the amount that light is bent passing through a fluid.
We have all seen the optical effect of a pencil sticking out of water. The straight pencil appears to be bent where it enters the water. This is because water has a different density than air, and so light travels at a different speed in water than in air. Thus, the pencil seems bent.
Actually, it is the light which is bent, not the pencil.
Fishermen must account for this optical displacement effect when they look into water for fish. A fish will appear to be in one location, but its true location may be a few inches away because light bends as it passes from water to air.
This difference between apparent and actual location is caused by this light-bending effect of the different densities of air and water.
Other liquids, glass, transparent crystals, many biological molecules, and other more exotic materials also bend a beam of light. This "refraction" is what gives diamonds and other gems their brilliance and sparkle.
What is Refraction?
"Refraction" is the technical term scientists use to denote this light-bending effect of water and other materials. Each substance will bend - or "refract" - light at a different angle, depending on its specific density. This angle of refraction also changes with certain other conditions, including especially temperature, frequency, magnetism, and concentration.
Scientists have carefully studied many materials to measure how much each will bend a light beam, and created ways to quantify this effect for each material. This numerical data is an index of refraction for that specific substance at a specific temperature.
Some substances, such as quartz crystal, bend different frequencies of light at different angles. Low frequency red light bends less than higher frequency blue. This separates a beam of light into a band of frequencies, which appears to our eye as a rainbow spectrum of colors, from red to violet.
This property is used by chemists in a spectrometer to detect and measure the elemental composition of complex molecules and mixtures. Astronomers measure refraction of a star's light as its signature spectrum to determine its elemental composition, and also distance from Earth and speed.
How does density affect refraction?
Back down on Earth, in agriculture, measuring this light-bending effect provides useful information about the density of fluids, such as soil moisture, irrigation water, plant sap, fruit juice, blood, milk, cell protoplasm, or other body fluids. Pure water at a specific temperature will bend light at a specific angle. However, any chemical dissolved in the water will change the density of that liquid, and thus change its angle of refraction.
We have all watched salt or sugar crystals slowly sink down in a glass of water, and seen the curling bands of light and shadow that swirl and whorl around the grains as they sink and dissolve. Those bands of light and dark are due to varying light-bending effects of different densities in layers of water around each disassembling, dissolving, descending crystal.
A wide variety of biological substances can increase solution density, and thus cause light to refract (bend) more as it passes through a watery medium:
- 1. dissolved minerals (salts, acids, alkali)
- 2. carbohydrates (simple sugars)
- 3. amino acids (proteins)
- 4. lipids (special case: oil & water don't mix; form thin films)
- 5. almost any molecule with covalent bonding
- 6. very large suspended particles (colloids)
Measuring this change in the angle of refraction can give helpful data and insight about the density and chemical composition of that solution.
How does this affect plant sap? In the case of plant sap, it is primarily sugars in plant juice that cause refraction. This is because the primary activity of plants is photosynthesis' – using sunshine to combine carbon dioxide and water to form sugars. This sunlight stored in carbon rings is the primary source of energy for most of biology on Earth, including humans - especially our nervous system.
Thus, the principal substance carried by plant sap fluids is these energy-rich carbohydrate chemicals: sugars – the sweetness of life.
Normally, the second most abundant refractive substances in plant sap are mineral ions. However, sugars are quite large compared to mineral ions. Each sugar molecule consists of at least two dozen covalent bonds in a molecule composed of twenty to two dozen or more atoms. Thus, sugars tend to affect the index of refraction more than minerals.
Thus, Brix is mostly a measure of sugars and minerals dissolved in water. however, many other chemicals may be present and contribute some small factor to the Brix reading.
What is a Refractometer?
A refractometer is the instrument used to obtain a brix reading. This simple, hand-held measures the amount of refraction (or bend) in a beam of light that passes through the plant sap. A conscientious nutrient-dense grower takes regular, routine field measurements of plant sap density.
Refractometers come in three basic types: optical, digital and laboratory. For growers, the first two are portable, handheld and simple to operate in the field.
How to use an optical refractometer
- Squeeze sap out of a plant.
- Put 2 drops on the prism.
- Close the prism cover.
- Point to a light source.
- Focus the eyepiece.
- Read the measurement.
- Where light & dark fields intersect is the brix number.
Optical refractometers require a few drops of solution to be spread thinly on the surface of a prism. Then, like a tiny telescope or microscope, you peer down a long hollow tube at the prism. Part of the light beam passes through the thin film of plant sap on the prism, while the rest bypasses this specimen.
An adjustment knob allows you to align light and dark areas on a screen to determine the angle of refraction, and thus the solution density. A scale in the viewfinder allows you to easily identify the Brix number.
Digital refractometers are simpler to operate and easier to read. Just put a few drops of liquid in the well hole, and press the switch. The Brix number appears in the digital readout. Both types work great, although digital models require a battery to operate.
What plant part is used for a Brix reading?
Whatever part you eat, if it is ripe. If it is not ripe, take the most recent mature leaves that have had at least two hours of full sunlight. Ideally, measurements are taken at the same time of day every day, so you can compare throughout the growing season.
Why is it called Brix?
Professor Adolf Ferdinand Wenceslaus Brix, a 19th Century German chemist (1798-1890), was the first to measure the density of plant juices. Europe's winemakers could not predict which of various grape juices would make the best wine. Being able to judge quality ahead of actual bottling was of immense importance in an industry where a bottle of the best wine might sell for hundreds of times more than a bottle of everyday wine.
Professor Brix's hydrometer worked, but it was cumbersome and required a tall graduate of juice to actually conduct the measure. This was OK for the vineyard wine cellar, but a nuisance to the grower in the field who wished to squeeze perhaps a single growing grape to judge its potential quality.
Professor Brix was greeted as a great hero when he emerged from his laboratory to claim his most generous prize. He was also honored by having the measuring process named after him.
Adolf Ferdinand Wenceslaus Brix (b. February 20, 1798 in Wesel, d. February 14, 1870 in Charlottenburg, Berlin) was a German mathematician and engineer. The unit degree Brix (°Bx) for specific gravity of liquids is named after him.
Brix made a career as a civil servant in professions related to civil engineering, measurements and manufacture (1827 Bauconducteur, 1834 Fabriken-Commisionsrath, 1853 geheimer Regierungsrath) and retired in 1866 (when he was promoted to geheimer Oberregierungsrath). He was director of the Royal Prussian Commission for Measurements, member of a technical committee in the Ministry of Trade, and the technical building committee. He was also a teacher of applied mathematics at Gewerbeinstitut zu Berlin (1828-1850), as well as in higher analysis and applied mathematics at the Bauakademie, both of which are forerunners of the Technical University of Berlin.
Who was Carey Reams?
Dr. Carey A. Reams was a a Florida native and agricultural engineer who ran a large lab in Orlando from 1931 to 1968, and made Brix a popular method in food production. In his college years, Reams discovered huge differences in the mineral content of fruits and vegetables, depending on how and where they were grown. He retired to further his research and give seminars and lectures all around the country.
Reams developed a following of farmers because they found that his methods produced crops of far superior quality. For many years, citrus and grape growers had used the Brix measurement to evaluate the quality of their produce. Reams took that knowledge and formulated a Brix chart, which covers most of the common fruits, vegetables and forage crops.
Shortly after Acres USA began publishing its monthly magazine on ecological agriculture, Reams noticed the paper's contributors talked about higher quality food production, no one had a method to measure and monitor such quality. One day Reams walked into Charles Walters' office with a copy of his Brix chart. The reverberations have been felt from one end of agriculture to the other.
Reams verified that the "soft" rock phosphate, washed away as an "impurity" while cleaning "hard" phosphate rock during the manufacture of acidulated phosphoric fertilizers was, indeed, a prime resource for the biological farmer. Combined with poultry litter and high-calcium lime, and all under the watchful eye of Reams, the formerly disdained soft rock phosphate produced superb highly-mineralized citrus as well as other crops.
Reams was well aware that citrus crop quality was directly proportional to juice richness. His years of incessant laboratory experiments had proven, over and over, that the mineral content of a crop marched in lockstep to the "heaviness" of the juice it contained.
History does not record when Reams first realized that the concept applied to other crops than grapes and oranges. Nor does history record when he first picked up a refractometer and said, "I wonder?" Did someone else say, "Dr. Reams, take a look at this," or did it come to him as inspiration?
Whatever the answer to those questions, it is known that he created a bombshell in the early 1970's when he, refractometer in hand, walked into the office of ACRES USA and placed a simple chart on the editor's desk. That chart correlated brix numbers with four general quality levels for most fruits and vegetables. Copied innumerous times, it has made its way around the world over and over.


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The story of Fred the mastodon ends in a violent tragedy.
He was born more than 13,000 years ago somewhere in the Midwestern United States, and likely spent much of his early life at home, close to his family. But at one point in his adolescent years, it came time to leave his family and forge a path of his own.
For the rest of his life, Fred roamed what is now Indiana. Every summer, he'd compete against other males for a mate. These competitions were violent, physical battles, and one summer, one of these fights brought Fred to an untimely end. Dead at 34 years old, Fred's body sank into the swampy earth.
These days, Fred's huge skeleton is preserved in the Indiana State Museum. And his tusks were recently the subject of a research study tracing his life. By analyzing the chemical compounds in his tusks, a team of researchers was able to construct a detailed account of Fred's seasonal migration patterns.
Josh Miller, a paleoecologist at the University of Cincinnati, was one of the researchers who co-authored the paper studying Fred. Also known as the Buesching mastodon, named after the family farm on which his remains were discovered, he is a distant relative of the modern elephant.
Miller said swamps were particularly good for preservation, which made Fred a unique research opportunity. "He has beautifully preserved bones, beautifully preserved tusks, and that really provides a beautiful opportunity to do this kind of work," he said.
Mastodons' tusks grow in distinct layers – similar to the rings on a tree trunk. As a result, the nutrients that build the layers of Fred's tusks can tell us a lot about where he was at different points in his life. These layers store a daily record of Fred's behavior, Miller said.
The team focused their analysis on the variations in two elements in particular: strontium and oxygen. "Every element comes in different isotopes – kind of different flavors, if you will – isotopes that weigh slightly more or slightly less," Miller said.
Strontium isotopes are the key to understanding where geographically Fred spent his life. The underlying geology of landscapes across the region contain different ratios of strontium isotopes, and they seep into the water and plants in that area.
Oxygen isotopes tell us the season Fred was in any particular region. Different oxygen isotopes are more or less prevalent during each season, giving the researchers insight into the the timing of Fred's migration patterns.
These two isotopes are faithfully recorded in Fred's tusks. Then, with some statistical modeling, Miller and his team could pinpoint where and when each piece of Fred's tusks grew.
When he was young, Fred would have stuck close to home with his herd, and grown a lot. But then there's a year in which Fred's growth is stunted – that's when Miller's analysis stars.
Miller predicts that like modern male elephants, Fred was kicked out of the herd once he grew up to be a nuisance to his family, explaining the reduced growth.
"They're essentially just really obnoxious, and they're just getting in everyone's hair," Miller said. "They're just not particularly helpful members of the herd. And at that point, the mom, the aunts, will essentially boot that individual from the maternal herd."
After Fred set off to fend for himself, his tusks reflected his travels. Every summer, he would return to Northeastern Indiana. Miller predicts this was Fred's preferred mating ground, because around this time, his tusks start to show signs of battle.
When they're competing for mates, mastodons get into huge battles where one or even both combatants may die, Miller said. Their tusks are their primary weapons, and one summer, an opponent stabbed his tusk through Fred's skull.
The injury killed him, bringing the story of Fred to an end.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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LONDON — Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90 percent effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals.
The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine.
AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report late-stage results for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world anxiously waits for scientific breakthroughs that will bring an end to a pandemic that has wrought economic devastation and resulted in nearly 1.4 million confirmed deaths.
Pfizer and Moderna last week reported preliminary results from late-stage trials showing their vaccines were almost 95 percent effective. But, unlike its rivals, the AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't have to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, making it easier to distribute, especially in developing countries.
"I think these are really exciting results," Dr. Andrew Pollard, chief investigator for the trial, said during a news conference. "Because the vaccine can be stored at fridge temperatures, it can be distributed around the world using the normal immunization distribution system. And so our goal … to make sure that we have a vaccine that was accessible everywhere, I think we've actually managed to do that."
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is also cheaper. AstraZeneca, which has pledged it won't make a profit on the vaccine during the pandemic, has reached agreements with governments and international health organizations that put its cost at about $2.50 a dose. Pfizer's vaccine costs about $20 a dose, while Moderna's is $15 to $25, based on agreements the companies have struck to supply their vaccines to the U.S. government.
All three vaccines must be approved by regulators before they can be widely distributed.
Oxford researchers and AstraZeneca stressed that they aren't competing with other projects, and that multiple vaccines will be needed to reach enough of the world's population and end the pandemic.
"We're not thinking about vaccinations working in terms of one person at a time. We have to think about vaccinating communities, populations, reducing transmission within those populations, so that we really get on top of this pandemic," said Sarah Gilbert, a leader of the Oxford research team. "And that's what it now looks like we're going to have the ability to contribute to in a really big way."
The results come as a second wave of COVID-19 hits many countries, once again shutting businesses, restricting social interaction and pummeling the world economy.
AstraZeneca said it will immediately apply for early approval of the vaccine where possible, and it will seek an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization, so it can make the vaccine available in low-income countries.
The AstraZeneca trial looked at two different dosing regimens. A half-dose of the vaccine followed by a full dose at least one month later was 90 percent effective. Another approach, giving patients two full doses one month apart, was 62 percent effective. The combined results showed an average efficacy rate of 70 percent.
The vaccine uses a weakened version of a common cold virus that is combined with genetic material for the characteristic spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19. After vaccination, the spike protein primes the immune system to attack the virus if it later infects the body.
The vaccine can be transported under "normal refrigerated conditions" of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), AstraZeneca said. By comparison, Pfizer plans to distribute its vaccine using specially designed "thermal shippers" that use dry ice to maintain temperatures of minus-70 degrees Celsius (minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit).
Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said the finding that a smaller initial dose is more effective than a larger one is good news because it may reduce costs and mean more people can be vaccinated.
"The report that an initial half-dose is better than a full dose seems counterintuitive for those of us thinking of vaccines as normal drugs: With drugs, we expect that higher doses have bigger effects, and more side-effects," he said. "But the immune system does not work like that."
The results reported Monday come from trials in the U.K. and Brazil that involved 23,000 people. Late-stage trials are also underway in the U.S., Japan, Russia, South Africa, Kenya and Latin America, with further trials planned for other European and Asian countries.
AstraZeneca has been ramping up manufacturing capacity, so it can supply hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine starting in January, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said earlier this month.
Soriot said Monday that the Oxford vaccine's simpler supply chain and AstraZeneca's commitment to provide it on a nonprofit basis during the pandemic mean it will be affordable and available to people around the world.
"This vaccine's efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,'' Soriot said.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he felt "a great sense of relief" at the news from AstraZeneca.
Britain has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford vaccine, and the government says several million doses can be produced before the end of the year if it is approved by regulators.
Just months ago, "the idea that by November we would have three vaccines, all of which have got high effectiveness … I would have given my eye teeth for," Hancock said.
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3 Tubes of 2fl oz. (59ml) Titegrip I Original – Extra Strength
- Description
Titegrip is a topical hand cream which was formulated to stop your hands from perspiring, it is non-sticky and works between 4 – 6 hours. For optimal use, apply 30-60 minutes prior to activity. Don't be fooled by other products claiming to be as good as Titegrip and costing half the price. One tube of Titegrip can last twice as long as a competitor's product and it's guaranteed to work.
To apply Titegrip, simply put a small amount in your hands and rub them together. You will immediately feel three things happen:
- Moisture will be drawn from your hands
- Your hands will become temporarily sticky
- Your hands will become dry and stay dry
Titegrip will keep your hands & feet dry while skiing. You will stay dry, feel warmer and ski longer!
The difference between Titegrip I & Titegrip II –
- They are same basic formula and have the same scent (Lavender)
- TG I -Is the original formula. If you use too much, your hands could temporarily turn white. It is the most popular with the people who have Hyperhidrosis…. or serious perspiration problems.
- TG II – Is the most popular. It's creamier, easier to put on and is good for your contact points.


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Fall feast
It might all be eye candy but it's delicious outside! Yesterday was one of those amazing, quintessentially New England, fall days – cloudless cerulean sky framing the blazing end of the earth's color spectrum – and I ate it up. As soon as I could, I hightailed it out of the greenhouse (where spray mounted bubble wrap is peeling off the panes like a bad sunburn — we've conceded failure, alas) and went for an afternoon photo-op walk in search of some major and minor things worth planting for extra special fall color. (Today is the other kind of New England fall day: chill grey bluster and rain. The kind of day to stay inside and write about yesterday.)
Common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is turning a sort of ordinary yellow but if you take the trouble to move in for a closer look, you'll see the extraordinary yellow blooms uncrimping. It's native to the eastern U.S., hardy in zones 3-8 and ours is a sizable shrub about the size of the potting shed.
Another blooming beauty – and again you have to have your eyes peeled for the blooms – is the Franklinia alatamaha. It's also worth stepping up to this tree to see the subtle slow burn of the leaf colors. Native to Georgia and possibly extinct in the wild, this small tree is truly a beauty worth preserving. Hardy from zones 6-9, our Franklinia is tucked in a sunny protected spot on the front lawn of the house.
The Katsuras (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) are eye candy that happen to smell like candy. Every time I walk under this tree I am struck by the shadows it casts (there's no prettier silhouette on the ground), the blaze of fall color that lights it like a candle and the mysterious sugar scent of its fallen leaves (I can't detect it from a single crushed leaf – it takes a path-full evidently). Hardy zones 4-8, Katsuras can reach 70′. We also have a Weeping Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Pendulum') which reminds me of Cousin It.
Fall flame colors need a foil and I know I've gone on about Chrysanthemum (or Dendranthema) 'Sheffield Pink' before (full sun, zones 4-8). It's a perfectly autumnal pink and I wish I had a patch at my house to reverberate against my burgundy-wine dipped flowering dogwood.
Amsonia hubrechtii is an autumn must-have native perennial (zones 5-9). It has a pale blue star flower moment in the spring, a lengthy summer plain green featheriness and then a bright blaze now. It's the flash of yellow along the wall of the North Garden in the picture below. As always, click on images for a larger view. The Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) against the house is one of my other major fall favorites because it starts the whole show in August with a few well placed red patches high in the canopy and then keeps on coloring.
The Linden viburnum (Viburnum dilatatum) is turning shades of peachy orange so of course it made it on my list and the bright red fruit is an added eye treat. (A good sized shrub – ours are about 10′ tall. Zones 5-8) Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides) is another star for the showy bracts left over from the sweet September flowers. Some don't find the scent altogether pleasing but it reminds me of honey soap. (Tall shrub to 20′ and hardy in zones 6-9)
I could go on and on – I haven't even mentioned a single maple yet! That'll be for another post perhaps. Meanwhile I'm going to try to picture where in my own garden I can fit a few of these delicious plants and where in my neighbor's yard I could sneak a Tupelo… What's your favorite eye candy this fall? Are you planning on planting anything specifically to satisfy a fall craving?


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John R. Chapin, professor of communications at Penn State Beaver, is the author of "I Know You Are, But What Am I? Adolescents' Third-Person Perception Regarding Dating Violence," an article recently published in The Journal of Educational Research.
The article explores a survey of adolescents' perceptions of dating and relationship violence, especially regarding the media's depictions of these issues. Chapin has conducted extensive research in domestic and sexual violence and abuse and received three awards in 2012 for his contributions to violence prevention and awareness education.
He received the United States House of Representatives Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus Certificate awarded by Congressman Jim Costa and Congressman Ted Poe, co-chairs of the Congressional Victims' Rights Caucus for work on behalf of victims of crime.
Chapin also received the Outstanding Citizenship Award presented by Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh in recognition of his service to Beaver County law enforcement. In addition, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett named Chapin the recipient of the Governor's Victim Service Pathfinder Organizational Capacity Building Award which is awarded as part of the Western Regional Training Initiative subcommittee. In the past, Chapin has received citations from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives for his research and volunteer work on behalf of domestic violence victims through providing domestic violence prevention and awareness programs. He also has received a variety of on and off-campus awards, including the Penn State Beaver Advisory Board/ NOVA Chemicals, Inc. Faculty Excellence in Service Award in 2009.
Chapin can be contacted at [email protected] or 724-773-3877.