text:
The manipulative con-man. The guy who lies to your face, even when he doesn't have to. The child who tortures animals. The cold-blooded killer. Psychopaths are characterised by an absence of empathy and poor impulse control, with a total lack of conscience. About 1% of the total population can be defined as psychopaths, according to a detailed psychological profile checklist. They tend to be egocentric, callous, manipulative, deceptive, superficial, irresponsible and parasitic, even predatory. The majority of psychopaths are not violent and many do very well in jobs where their personality traits are advantageous and their social tendencies tolerated. However, some have a predisposition to calculated, "instrumental" violence; violence that is cold-blooded, planned and goal-directed. Psychopaths are vastly over-represented among criminals; it is estimated they make up about 20% of the inmates of most prisons. They commit over half of all violent crimes and are 3-4 times more likely to re-offend. They are almost entirely refractory to rehabilitation. These are not nice people.
So how did they get that way? Is it an innate biological condition, a result of social experience, or an interaction between these factors? Longitudinal studies have shown that the personality traits associated with psychopathy are highly stable over time. Early warning signs including "callous-unemotional traits" and antisocial behaviour can be identified in childhood and are highly predictive of future psychopathy. Large-scale twin studies have shown that these traits are highly heritable – identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, are much more similar to each other in this trait than fraternal twins, who share only 50% of their genes. In one study, over 80% of the variation in the callous-unemotional trait across the population was due to genetic differences. In contrast, the effect of a shared family environment was almost nil. Psychopathy seems to be a lifelong trait, or combination of traits, which are heavily influenced by genes and hardly at all by social upbringing.
The two defining characteristics of psychopaths, blunted emotional response to negative stimuli, coupled with poor impulse control, can both be measured in psychological and neuroimaging experiments. Several studies have found decreased responsiveness of the amygdala to fearful or other negative stimuli in psychopaths. They do not seem to process heavily loaded emotional words, like "rape", for example, any differently from how they process neutral words, like "table". This lack of response to negative stimuli can be measured in other ways, such as the failure to induce a galvanic skin response (heightened skin conduction due to sweating) when faced with an impending electrical shock. Psychopaths have also been found to underactivate limbic (emotional) regions of the brain during aversive learning, correlating with an insensitivity to negative reinforcement. The psychopath really just doesn't care. In this, psychopaths differ from many people who are prone to sudden, impulsive violence, in that those people tend to have a hypersensitive negative emotional response to what would otherwise be relatively innocuous stimuli.
What these two groups have in common is poor impulse control. This faculty relies on the part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, most particularly the orbitofrontal cortex. It is known that lesions to this part of the brain impair planning, prediction of consequences, and inhibition of socially unacceptable behaviour – the cognitive mechanisms of "free won't", rather than free will. This brain region is also normally activated by aversive learning, and this activation is also reduced in psychopaths. In addition, both the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala show substantial average reductions in size in psychopaths, suggesting a structural difference in their brains.
These findings have now been united by a recent study that directly analysed connectivity between these two regions. Using diffusion tensor imaging (see post of August 31st 2009), Craig and colleagues found that a measure of the integrity of the axonal tract connecting these two regions, called the uncinate fasciculus, was significantly reduced in psychopaths. Importantly, connectivity of these regions to other parts of the brain was normal. These data thus suggest a specific disruption of the network connecting orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala in psychopaths, the degree of which correlated strongly with the subjects' scores on the psychopathy checklist.
All of these findings are pointing to a picture of psychopathy as an innate, genetically driven difference in connectivity between parts of the brain that normally drive empathy, conscience and impulse control. Not a fault necessarily, and not something that could be classified as a disease or that is always a disadvantage. At a certain frequency in the population, the traits of psychopathy may be highly advantageous to the individual.
This conclusion has serious ethical and legal implications. Could a psychopath mount a legal defense by saying "my brain made me do it"? Or my "genes made me do it"? Is this any different from saying my rotten childhood made me do it? Psychopaths know right from wrong – they just don't care. That is what society calls "bad", not "mad". But if they are constitutionally incapable of caring, can they really be blamed for it? On the other hand, if violent psychopaths are a continuing danger to society and completely refractory to rehabilitation, what is to be done with them? Perhaps, as has been proposed in the UK, people with the extreme psychopathic personality profile (or maybe in the near future even a specific genetic profile?) should be monitored or segregated even before they commit a crime.
While it is crucial that these debates are informed by good science, these issues have no clear-cut answers. They will be resolved on a pragmatic basis, weighing the behaviour that society is willing to tolerate versus the rights of the individual, whatever their brains look like, to define their own moral standards.
Portrait of a sociopath
From Craig, M., Catani, M., Deeley, Q., Latham, R., Daly, E., Kanaan, R., Picchioni, M., McGuire, P., Fahy, T., & Murphy, D. (2009). Altered connections on the road to psychopathy Molecular Psychiatry, 14 (10), 946-953 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2009.40
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Comments are unmoderated. Blog owner is not responsible for third party content. By leaving comments on the blog, commenters give license to the blog owner to reprint attributed comments in any form.


text:
The State Archives purchased eleven lots of unique or extremely rare New Jersey colonial manuscripts, maps, and imprints from the Jay T. Snider Collection of Historical Americana, auctioned at Christie's in New York City on 21 June 2005.
Dating mainly from the 17th-century proprietary period, the collection features several items owned by East Jersey Governor Robert Barclay (governed 1682-90) and kept by his descendants for more than three centuries.
Jay Snider, former president of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and avid collector of historical Americana, acquired many items in the collection in London in the 1990s. Acting Governor Richard Codey and Secretary of State Regena Thomas authorized $656,760 for the purchase of these documentary treasures. The documents were formally unveiled to the public on 27 September 2005, in Princeton.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Following the footsteps of St Patrick
1. Slemish Mountain, County Antrim
The story of St Patrick is a story of endurance. When he was just a teenager, St Patrick was captured in Wales and brought to the island to work as a slave herding sheep on Slemish Mountain, County Antrim. He spent six tough years on these heather-laden slopes with only sheep for company. But it was also here that Patrick found consolation in God. Today, you can walk the 1.5km trail up to the summit of Slemish, and look out on to the landscapes that inspired the saint himself.
2. Saul Church, County Down
St Patrick escaped his slavery and fled the island, but he was called back to Ireland in a dream, and once he returned, he got busy converting pagans by the thousands. So effective was Patrick, that one new convert donated a barn in which Patrick could hold his services. This is now known as Saul Church and is where Patrick lived leading up to his death. Both a commemorative church and replica round tower now stand on the site near a massive St Patrick statue on Slieve Patrick.
3. Lough Derg, County Donegal
The enigmatic tranquillity of Lough Derg sets the scene for two exceptional stories regarding St Patrick. One tale sees him hunting the last snake in Ireland here and turning the lake red with its blood. The other has Christ dramatically revealing the entrance to Hell to Patrick inside a cave. With drama like that in Lough Derg's past, it's little wonder this beautiful spot has been a spiritual destination ever since. With its calm waters, and isolated aspect, it still attracts pilgrims from all over the world.
4. Hill of Slane, County Meath
As missions go, Patrick's plan to convert Celtic pagans in Ireland was not always a popular one. Once, when Druids were celebrating a pagan feast with the ritual Bealtaine fire on the Hill of Tara, County Meath, Patrick chose to defy the reigning High King by lighting his own unquenchable Paschal fire on the neighbouring Hill of Slane. Did Patrick suffer for his insolence? Amazingly, no. To explain his actions, Patrick performed feats and miracles to prove to the King that the Christian God was far more powerful than the pagan god, using the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity as an example of Christianity.
5. The Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary
The Rock of Cashel is one of the most important heritage sites in Ireland. This grassy hill above Cashel is where Patrick baptised Aenghus, the King of Munster – accidently stabbing him in the foot with a crozier while he was at it. This marked the end of paganism and ushered in a new era of Christianity. Amidst the crumbling cathedral walls, look out for the 12th-century St Patrick's Cross: one face depicts Christ's crucifixion, while the other shows an image of a bishop – some say it's St Patrick himself. Nearby St Patrick's Well in Clonmel (where the saint baptised locals) is said never to freeze in winter.
6. Croagh Patrick, County Mayo
Nothing could illustrate the enduring power of St Patrick's impact on Ireland better than the annual pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick by up to 3,000 people on the last Sunday of July (Reek Sunday). Translating as "Patrick's stack" in Irish, this scree-covered mountain was where Patrick fasted for 40 days during Lent, echoing Christ's travails in the desert. Shoes are optional during the all-consuming climb to its peak and the experience has been described by one pilgrim as a voyage of curiosity that ended with fulfilment and peace. What better testament to the island's patron saint could you get?
7. Down Cathedral, County Down
Situated on the site of an ancient Benedictine monastery, Down Cathedral is where the mortal remains of Patrick were buried after his death in 461AD. It stands proud on Cathedral Hill, staring out across the town of Downpatrick in Northern Ireland. The exact site of St Patrick's burial remains a mystery, but a carved Memorial Stone – made from local Mourne Mountain granite – traditionally marks his grave. The cathedral is now a place of pilgrimage and prayer.
8. Saint Patrick Centre, County Down
St Patrick is at the very heart of Ireland's Christian heritage, and there are few more engaging places to learn about Patrick than the Saint Patrick Centre (the only exhibition in the world devoted to the saint). Here, you can view collections of art and intricate metalwork from the Early Christian period, as well as intriguing interactive displays. It's a far cry from the cold and lonely spot on Slemish Mountain but more worthy of the saint's impact on Ireland.
9. St Patrick's Cathedrals, Armagh city
The beautiful city of Armagh is where you'll find not one, but two gracious cathedrals named after the great saint. The Church of Ireland cathedral is on a site that in 445AD housed a church built by Patrick; while the neighbouring Roman Catholic cathedral has its roots in medieval times. Legendary High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, who died at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, is said to be buried in the North Wall of the Church of Ireland Cathedral.


text:
- Lecture
The Fran and Warren Rupp Contemporary Artists Lecture Series
William Pope.L: Two Projects
Carolyn and Jack Lampl Jr. Family Recital Hall
About The Event
William Pope.L will speak about two co-existing and opposing impulses observed his own work and in contemporary art over the past twenty years: the desire for wholeness, a center, origins, an anchor and stability in an artwork; and, simultaneously, the drive for fragmentation, dispersal, centerlessness, floating and drifting and instability. "Perhaps this condition has always been with us," Pope.L muses. "Or perhaps its existence in art today is simply a case of coveting the cake and wanting to eat it too. Or!—maybe this mode is the only truly conscious way to make art today. And perhaps there is nothing so dramatic occurring here as opposition and contradiction but instead merely necessary complements and contraries."
Reservations recommended.
Related Content
This lecture is presented in partnership with SPACES.


text:
Ladies Football - Gaelic - Ladies Skinny-Fit T-Shirt - Kildare
Ladies Football - Gaelic - Ladies Skinny-Fit T-Shirt - Kildare
Designed by © OneGaelic
Regular price
Regular price
Sale price
Unit price
Kildare Ladies Football T-Shirt in Ladies Skinny-Fit Sizes.
100% Ringspun cotton. Sport Grey: 90% Cotton, 10% Polyester.
(Date will reflect the current year)
Fitted silhouette with side seam. Seamless twin-needle 1.3cm collar. Taped neck and shoulders, twin-needle sleeves and bottom hem. WRAP certified. SEDEX certified. Oeko-Tex certified. Reach certified. Fair Labour certified.
All of our designs are ©OneGaelic
Ladies Skinny-Fit T-Shirts (to fit chest, inches)
Please note these t-shirts are SKINNY-FIT - please make sure you order your correct size


text:
Any forecasts about future events are necessarily out-of-sample inferences that are going to be heavily model dependent – particularly in the absence of a lot of historical data, which is the case here. I've created a statistical model that aims to apply existing political science research in a systematic, quantitative way, rather than reverting to intuition or other untested "mental models." The reason I set up this site is to share what I'm seeing in the data, in the context of the model. There just aren't a lot of opportunities to do this; presidential elections only come along every four years.
Political scientists don't often venture into forecasting, but sometimes they do, and sometimes they're wrong. One of the things that's different about my approach is that it's dynamic. If the historical factors I'm looking at right now turn out to be pointing to the wrong outcome, then my forecasts will update from new polls later. The model worked with the polls from 2008, but if it doesn't work in 2012, I'll use it as an opportunity to reexamine the modeling assumptions, see what went awry, and refine the approach for next time.
To reiterate, especially at this early stage in the campaign: All of the forecasts on this site depend on my (informative) priors. I describe how I came to them here. If you also trust those priors, then the probabilities I'm reporting follow from the model and the current polling data. I did my best to calibrate the uncertainty in those priors using polls from the 2008 election. The point is, the outcome probabilities shown on the site should not be treated as "universal." With different priors, you'd get different forecasts. If you really don't agree with my priors, don't worry. The priors will matter less and less as the campaign goes on, and we see the results of more polls closer to Election Day.
And the model isn't just for forecasting. It also gives estimates of the state-level trends in preferences for Obama vs. Romney. These trends depend on the polls and the model specification, almost not at all on the forecast priors. As a result, they should be accurate even if the forecasts they're leading to aren't.
A final note: Gallup reported one additional presidential approval poll for June, so I've made a minor adjustment to the baseline forecast. In their poll ending on 6/24, they had Obama at 46% approve to 48% disapprove, for a difference of -2%. Averaging this into their other June polls brings Obama's net rating down from -0.4% to -0.8%. As a result, the Time-for-Change forecast falls slightly, from 52.7% to 52.6%. I'll be using this as my baseline from now until the Q2 economic data are released.


text:
Mach initiating RPCs to userspace tasks
IRC, freenode, #hurd, 2011-06-11
<antrik> I don't think we have a precendence case of Mach initiating RPCs
to userspace tasks
<braunr> well mach regularly sends RPCs to external pagers
<antrik> hm, right
<antrik> anyways, the ds_ in device.defs is for use *inside* Mach, not for
the userspace interface
<braunr> what makes you think so ?
<antrik> several things
<antrik> not least the fact that without zhengda's modifications, the
device handling never calls out to userspace for all I know
<braunr> hm, it does
<braunr> for async I/O
<braunr> when the kernel has finished its I/O, it calls
<antrik> I see
<antrik> I never quite understood the _reply stuff
<braunr> although i wonder how mig is supposed to forge those names
<antrik> braunr: it isn't
<antrik> braunr: there is a separate device_reply.defs
<antrik> braunr: and it sets a *userprefix* of ds_
<antrik> rather than a serverprefix
<braunr> i saw, yes
<braunr> ah right
<antrik> so ds still refers to the in-Mach device server, not anything
<braunr> so this is where the patch is supposed to introduce the
device_intr_notify RPC
<antrik> or at least that's my understanding...
<braunr> no, it doesn't refer to in-mach servers
<braunr> it really forges the right rpcs to be called by mach
<antrik> the definition of "RPC" is rather unclear here
<braunr> why ?
<braunr> mach has its own mach_msg() call for kernel-to-user messaging
<antrik> yes, but this is used only to send the reply message for the RPC
earlier initiated by userspace AIUI
<antrik> it doesn't look like there is any special RPC for async I/O
<braunr> yes, because this is the only use case they had
<braunr> hence the name "reply"
<braunr> intr_notify isn't a reply, but it uses the same mechanism
<braunr> these are declared as simpleroutine
<antrik> sure. but the fact that it isn't a reply message, but rather
initiates a new RPC, changes things from MiG point of view I believe
<antrik> right, as there is no reply to the reply :-)
<braunr> :)
<braunr> a simpleroutine is how to turn an rpc into a simple ipc
<antrik> I know
<antrik> so in _reply, we pretend that the reply is actually a new RPC,
with server and client roles reversed, and no reply
<antrik> (this is actually rather kludgy... apparently MIG has no real
notion of async replies)
<braunr> i don't understand what you mean
<braunr> simpleroutine is the explicit solution for async replies
<braunr> as stated in
<braunr> it's not a new rpc with roles reversed
<braunr> it's not a reply either
<antrik> it might be an explicit solution for that, but it still seems
kludgy :-)
<braunr> i don't see why :/
<braunr> would you have expected something like an option to create both
sync and async versions ?
<antrik> because it requires an extra .defs file
<antrik> yes
<braunr> ok
<braunr> well this seems cumbersome to me :)
<braunr> i prefer the simpleroutine approach
<braunr> but i agree this seems odd since mach has a high level ipc api
<antrik> anyways, my point is that the ds_ in device_reply.defs still
refers to the Mach side of things
<braunr> npnth: which package fails to build ?
<antrik> though a userspace process that actually handles the replies in an
async fashion will of course need some kind of device server too, just
like the DDE stuff...
<antrik> though naming it ds_ is confusing IMHO, because of the name clash
with the device server in Mach
<braunr> hm again, i fail to see why
<braunr> ds_ just means device_server
<braunr> and as most things in mach, it can be in kernel or not
<braunr> i mean, this is an interface prefix, i don't refer to an actual
single instance of a "device server" out there
<antrik> oh, right... DDE implements the Mach device protocol, so it *does*
do the ds_ part... but that makes the interrupt notification stuff even
more confusing
<braunr> hm
<braunr> because it provides a ds_device_intr_notify() which will never be
used, just to completely implement the interface ?
<antrik> yeah, that's what I suspect...
<braunr> sounds likely
<antrik> the device interface actually has two parts: one for "generic"
RPCs on the master device port, and one for device-specific RPCs. DDE
implements the latter, and uses the former...
<antrik> they live in separate places though I think: the individual device
RPCs are implemented in libmachdev, while the intr_ stuff is used in
libddekit probably
<braunr> it would be hairy to build otherwise
<antrik> so we *really* need to know what component npnth gets the error
<antrik> braunr: nah, not really. that's why we always have a separate
prefix for the server routines in Hurd RPCs
<braunr> right, i really need to read about mig again
<antrik> it's pretty normal for a translator to both implement and use an
IRC, freenode, #hurd, 2013-03-22
<braunr> i'm also testing glibc packages on darnassus with a patch that
removes the MACH_{SEND,RCV}_INTERRUPT options from mach_msg calls to
avoid taking the slow path because of them
<braunr> if i got it right, almost every mach_msg call doesn't use any of
these options, except for select
<braunr> it could slightly improve that, i'm not sure
<youpi> but don't we need that to get EINTR ?
<braunr> the options are purely userspace
<braunr> i'll upload the patch
<youpi> ah, ok, you mean userspace already implements what we need
IRC, freenode, #hurd, 2013-04-23
<braunr> i couldn't measure any difference with the glibc patch that
removes the mach_msg interrupt related flags
<braunr> which isn't very surprising as it only concerns select as far as i
can tell


text:
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
A Truman Cox Tribute with Some Bowman Bourbons
The whiskey world suffered a huge blow recently with the death of 44 year old A. Smith Bowman Master Distiller Truman Cox. Tributes to Cox and his work by John Hansell and Sam Komlenic at Whisky Advocate are worth a read.
The A. Smith Bowman distillery was a sleepy distillery that made Virginia Gentleman bourbon before Buffalo Trace let Truman Cox and his predecessor Joe Dangler wake it up, releasing premium bourbons and ryes under the Abraham Bowman label.
In memory of one of the whiskey greats, I'm going to sample two of the most recent limited releases from Truman Cox's A. Smith Bowman Distillery.
Abraham Bowman Port Finished Bourbon, 7 years old, 50% abv ($70)
This most recent Bowman limited edition bourbon was finished for 8 months in a bourbon cask that was refilled with port for two years before it was used to finish this bourbon.
The nose on this is really nice with a balance of sweet candy notes and wood with some fruit and wine noes in the mix as well. The palate is very sweet, with caramel and maple syrup, but lacks some of the balance of the nose. It's quite hot for being 100 proof. Adding water produces some sour, acidic notes.
I've never been much of a fan of finished bourbons, and this one doesn't convince me otherwise. The nose is beautiful, but the palate doesn't quite keep up with it. It's good, but not exceptional.
Abraham Bowman Limited Edition 1994, 73.75% abv ($70)
This is another limited release Bowman, the third in that series. It was distilled in 1994 and aged over 17 years; it's hard to find outside of Virginia and Maryland. At 147.5 proof, this is Stagg level stuff.
The nose is very similar to a Stagg (which makes sense given that it's the same mashbill and a similar age and proof), with huge polished wood notes and some candy sweetness. It also has some good rye type notes with some light mint and spice. The palate has a lot going on; there's wood, vanilla, anise, mint and some rye; the only flaw is an acidic note that pushes some of the other flavors to the background around mid-palate. The finish is sweet mint and spice, like a good mint julep. It's very hot, of course, but once it's diluted and airs out a bit, it's very nice.
Despite it's high proof, this isn't quite up to Stagg quality, but it's good stuff with lots of complexity.
The willingness to experiment with these limited releases is a real tribute to all of the folks at Bowman, including the great Truman Cox.
4 comments:
Neither of these was available at the distillery during my recent visit. No surprise on the port finish, as there was only one barrel that sold out within a couple of weeks. They did have their standard bourbons, however.
I have not opened the Bowman Brothers small batch I bought, but tasting at the distillery made me think it was a good entry level bourbon.
The John J. Bowman I'm sipping at home, however, really impresses me, and tastes much like bourbons I've tasted that were distilled in the 70s and 80s.
Lots more to anticipate from ASB as time passes and their long-term plans come to fruition. - March 7, 2013 at 12:15 PM
I loved everything Truman did at Bowman but to be fair I believe it was Joe Dangler who started the new premium Bowman's for BT/Sazarac. Truman took over in October of 2011 and the new Bowman's were out in 2010 I believe
- March 7, 2013 at 3:15 PM
- sku said...
You're right Anon and it was never my intention to slight Joe Dangler. I'll put something up in the post.
- March 7, 2013 at 3:20 PM
- SteveBM said...
Sam K - the Bowman Brothers is a nice entry level bourbon. Totally agree with you on the John J Bowman. It was my favorite bourbon of 2012.
- March 12, 2013 at 11:35 AM


text:
The Bulldogs will play the Cougars on Monday, November 22nd, 2021. Your timezone's tip off time is 4:30 pm EST. Check local listings or your nearest streaming app for coverage.
Review our College Basketball Betting guide to learn how to bet this game.
Bonus | |
#1 BetRivers REVIEW | New Customers - 2nd Chance Bet up to $500 - Code: SPORTS Bet Now 21+ Playable in VA only Gambling Problem? Call 1-888-532-3500 |
#2 BetMGM REVIEW | New Customers - Up to $1500 Paid Back in Bonus Bets Bonus Bets Expire in 7 Days One new customer offer/Add'l Terms Bet Now 21+ Playable in VA only Gambling Problem? Call 1-888-532-3500 |
Table of Contents
- Best Odds
- Interactive Odds Example
- Prop Bets
- Team Standings
- Futures Odds
- Team Pages
- Other Games Today
Best Bulldogs at Cougars Odds
Over | Under |
College Basketball Odds Example
Game | Book |
Butler at Houston Prop Bets
Important Note: Some states expressly forbid individual college athlete prop bets. The following wagers may not be available depending on your particular state laws.
BetRivers Bet |
11/22/21 4:30pm EST | Pending BetRivers |
Team Standings
Team | W-L | Win% | Home | Away | Conf | CGB | Conf% | Strk |
American | ||||||||
#15 Houston | 32-6 | 0.842 | 16-1 | 7-3 | 15-3 | - | 0.833 | L1 |
Big East | ||||||||
Butler | 14-19 | 0.424 | 9-7 | 3-8 | 6-14 | +9.5 | 0.300 | L1 |
Butler & Houston Futures Odds
Latest College Basketball Championship odds, if available, for each team. Review March Madness odds for other teams and learn how to bet on the college basketball tournament. Also be sure to read Ron Halfback's Final Four write-up.
Butler Championship Odds
Team | BetRivers | BetMGM |
Butler | +30000 Bet | +30000 Bet |
Team | BetRivers | BetMGM |
Houston | +1600 Bet | +1600 Bet |
Butler & Houston Team Pages
Review each team's futures odds, betting bonuses, current standings and other valuable information on our exclusive team betting odds pages. Team betting odds and stats update throughout the season:
How to Bet on the Game
Time needed: 4 minutes.
How to Bet on the Butler vs Houston College Basketball Game
Open a new sports betting account before game time.
Review our list of sports betting sites. Open a new account before the game starts on Monday, November 22nd, 2021 at 4:30 pm EST, making sure to enter all your personal details correctly. Don't forget to add your bonus code.
Visit the sportsbook's cashier, banking, or deposit page.
Navigate to the sportsbook's deposit page. Use your Visa card or MasterCard, or deposit with a bank transfer, or other methods like Paypal.
Tap to the sportsbook's College Basketball page, look for the Butler vs Houston Game.
Navigate to the sportsbook's College Basketball page. Next, look for live or upcoming matchups. Select the Butler vs Houston Game.
Choose your bet and place a wager.
Choose your bet and then use the funds you deposited to place a wager. The sportsbook will pay your winnings or deduct a losing wager from your account balance after the game.


text:
Registered user since Tue 16 May 2017
Bonita Sharif, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska USA. She received her Ph.D. in 2010 and MS in 2003 in Computer Science from Kent State University, U.S.A and B.S. in Computer Science from Cyprus College, Nicosia Cyprus. Her research interests are in eye tracking related to software engineering, program comprehension, empirical software engineering, emotional awareness, software traceability, and software visualization to support maintenance of large systems. She has authored over 40 refereed publications. She serves on numerous program committees including ICSME, VISSOFT, SANER, ICSE NIER, and ICPC. Sharif is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award and the NSF CRI award related to empowering software engineering with eye tracking. She directs the Software Engineering Research and Empirical Studies Lab in the Computer Science and Engineering department at UNL.Check out the iTrace infrastructure that supports eye tracking within developer work environments at http://www.i-trace.org
International Conference on Program Comprehension
View general profile


text:
Anti-Tank Hedgehogs
Monday, 3rd April 2006 by Alex Steinberger
These spiky looking red things are "anti-tank hedgehogs" just outside of Moscow. They are designed to be placed in roads or along defensive lines to stop mobile armour zooming about. These hedgehogs are a memorial that marks the closest point to Moscow reached by the German armour in the winter of 1941.
That huge car park and building to the south-west is bizzarely an Ikea store. There is some concern about future construction and its proximity to the monument.


text:
Portrait of Camille Roulin
- Artist: Vincent van Gogh
- Categories: Children painting, Post Impressionism,
- Product Code: vincent van gogh 170
Available Options
China Oil Painting Gallery supply Portrait of Camille Roulin of Vincent van Gogh by customer sizes. 100% hand painted museum quality painting reproduction on canvas for sale . We can paint by any size. If you need a customer size that out of above list, please contact with us.


text:
24-Hour Service (+30) 6945 991271
Superior Tour & Transfer Services
V.I.P. Airport / Port Transfer Services
Private Excursions and Sightseeing Tours
Special arrangements for Shore Trips (cruise ship travelers)
Meeting / Incentives and Conferences Transfer Services
Special Event Services
Marriages, Concerts, Celebrities etc.
Private Tours with Special Interests
Archaeological, Historical, Christian, Folklore routs


text:
Privacy Policy last updated on 6/16/2008
This Web site is owned and operated by:
The Praetorian Group
200 Green St., Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94111
We are committed to maintaining your confidence and trust with respect to the information we collect from you. This privacy policy sets forth what information we collect about you, how we use your information, and the choices you have about how we use your information. PoliceOne is dedicated to safeguarding your privacy online. As a policy, we will not sell, share or otherwise misuse your customer information. Your customer information helps us customize PoliceOne to your interests and allows us to negotiate valuable member discounts and related services. Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be treated as you make full use of our many offerings.
As part of the order process, the following information is collected from shoppers:
- Name
- Shipping/Billing Address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Credit/Debit Card Information
How That Information Is Used:
Your personal information is used strictly for completing the purchasing process on PoliceOneBooks.com. No personally identifiable information will be passed on to 3rd party sites or used in any way. We only require the information mandatory for completing your order. PoliceOneBooks does not use the PoliceOne database or verify users by officer status. You do not need to be a registered PoliceOne.com member in order to purchase products on this site.
Contact Us:
By phone:
1-888-POLICE1 (between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. PST)
By email:


text:
I'm a developer and often dealing with unusual file types. If I want to open one of these files in TextEdit, I have to start it first and then open the file with it, or drag the file to the TextEdit icon.
Is there a way to permanently put the TextEdit.app into the Open with... menu list no matter what file type I'm looking at?
Of course this procedure will be useful for whatever text editor you choose if TextEdit isn't your cup of tea.


text:
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Describe the location and structure of the pancreas, and the morphology and function of the pancreatic islets
- Compare and contrast the functions of insulin and glucagon
The pancreas is a long, slender organ, most of which is located posterior to the bottom half of the stomach (Figure 1). Although it is primarily an exocrine gland, secreting a variety of digestive enzymes, the pancreas has an endocrine function. Its pancreatic islets—clusters of cells formerly known as the islets of Langerhans—secrete the hormones glucagon, insulin, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide (PP).
Cells and Secretions of the Pancreatic Islets
The pancreatic islets each contain four varieties of cells:
- The alpha cell produces the hormone glucagon and makes up approximately 20 percent of each islet. Glucagon plays an important role in blood glucose regulation; low blood glucose levels stimulate its release.
- The beta cell produces the hormone insulin and makes up approximately 75 percent of each islet. Elevated blood glucose levels stimulate the release of insulin.
- The delta cell accounts for four percent of the islet cells and secretes the peptide hormone somatostatin. Recall that somatostatin is also released by the hypothalamus (as GHIH), and the stomach and intestines also secrete it. An inhibiting hormone, pancreatic somatostatin inhibits the release of both glucagon and insulin.
- The PP cell accounts for about one percent of islet cells and secretes the pancreatic polypeptide hormone. It is thought to play a role in appetite, as well as in the regulation of pancreatic exocrine and endocrine secretions. Pancreatic polypeptide released following a meal may reduce further food consumption; however, it is also released in response to fasting.
Regulation of Blood Glucose Levels by Insulin and Glucagon
Glucose is required for cellular respiration and is the preferred fuel for all body cells. The body derives glucose from the breakdown of the carbohydrate-containing foods and drinks we consume. Glucose not immediately taken up by cells for fuel can be stored by the liver and muscles as glycogen, or converted to triglycerides and stored in the adipose tissue. Hormones regulate both the storage and the utilization of glucose as required. Receptors located in the pancreas sense blood glucose levels, and subsequently the pancreatic cells secrete glucagon or insulin to maintain normal levels.
Receptors in the pancreas can sense the decline in blood glucose levels, such as during periods of fasting or during prolonged labor or exercise (Figure 2). In response, the alpha cells of the pancreas secrete the hormone glucagon, which has several effects:
- It stimulates the liver to convert its stores of glycogen back into glucose. This response is known as glycogenolysis. The glucose is then released into the circulation for use by body cells.
- It stimulates the liver to take up amino acids from the blood and convert them into glucose. This response is known as gluconeogenesis.
- It stimulates lipolysis, the breakdown of stored triglycerides into free fatty acids and glycerol. Some of the free glycerol released into the bloodstream travels to the liver, which converts it into glucose. This is also a form of gluconeogenesis.
Taken together, these actions increase blood glucose levels. The activity of glucagon is regulated through a negative feedback mechanism; rising blood glucose levels inhibit further glucagon production and secretion.
The primary function of insulin is to facilitate the uptake of glucose into body cells. Red blood cells, as well as cells of the brain, liver, kidneys, and the lining of the small intestine, do not have insulin receptors on their cell membranes and do not require insulin for glucose uptake. Although all other body cells do require insulin if they are to take glucose from the bloodstream, skeletal muscle cells and adipose cells are the primary targets of insulin.
The presence of food in the intestine triggers the release of gastrointestinal tract hormones such as glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (previously known as gastric inhibitory peptide). This is in turn the initial trigger for insulin production and secretion by the beta cells of the pancreas. Once nutrient absorption occurs, the resulting surge in blood glucose levels further stimulates insulin secretion.
Precisely how insulin facilitates glucose uptake is not entirely clear. However, insulin appears to activate a tyrosine kinase receptor, triggering the phosphorylation of many substrates within the cell. These multiple biochemical reactions converge to support the movement of intracellular vesicles containing facilitative glucose transporters to the cell membrane. In the absence of insulin, these transport proteins are normally recycled slowly between the cell membrane and cell interior. Insulin triggers the rapid movement of a pool of glucose transporter vesicles to the cell membrane, where they fuse and expose the glucose transporters to the extracellular fluid. The transporters then move glucose by facilitated diffusion into the cell interior.
Practice Question
Watch the video to view an animation describing the location and function of the pancreas. What goes wrong in the function of insulin in type 2 diabetes?
Insulin also reduces blood glucose levels by stimulating glycolysis, the metabolism of glucose for generation of ATP. Moreover, it stimulates the liver to convert excess glucose into glycogen for storage, and it inhibits enzymes involved in glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis. Finally, insulin promotes triglyceride and protein synthesis. The secretion of insulin is regulated through a negative feedback mechanism. As blood glucose levels decrease, further insulin release is inhibited. The pancreatic hormones are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Hormones of the Pancreas | ||
Associated hormones | Chemical class | Effect |
Insulin (beta cells) | Protein | Reduces blood glucose levels |
Glucagon (alpha cells) | Protein | Increases blood glucose levels |
Somatostatin (delta cells) | Protein | Inhibits insulin and glucagon release |
Pancreatic polypeptide (PP cells) | Protein | Role in appetite |
Disorders of the Endocrine System
Diabetes Mellitus
Dysfunction of insulin production and secretion, as well as the target cells' responsiveness to insulin, can lead to a condition called diabetes mellitus. An increasingly common disease, diabetes mellitus has been diagnosed in more than 18 million adults in the United States, and more than 200,000 children. It is estimated that up to 7 million more adults have the condition but have not been diagnosed. In addition, approximately 79 million people in the US are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are abnormally high, but not yet high enough to be classified as diabetes.
There are two main forms of diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease affecting the beta cells of the pancreas. Certain genes are recognized to increase susceptibility. The beta cells of people with type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin; thus, synthetic insulin must be administered by injection or infusion. This form of diabetes accounts for less than five percent of all diabetes cases.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 95 percent of all cases. It is acquired, and lifestyle factors such as poor diet, inactivity, and the presence of pre-diabetes greatly increase a person's risk. About 80 to 90 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. In type 2 diabetes, cells become resistant to the effects of insulin. In response, the pancreas increases its insulin secretion, but over time, the beta cells become exhausted. In many cases, type 2 diabetes can be reversed by moderate weight loss, regular physical activity, and consumption of a healthy diet; however, if blood glucose levels cannot be controlled, the diabetic will eventually require insulin.
Two of the early manifestations of diabetes are excessive urination and excessive thirst. They demonstrate how the out-of-control levels of glucose in the blood affect kidney function. The kidneys are responsible for filtering glucose from the blood. Excessive blood glucose draws water into the urine, and as a result the person eliminates an abnormally large quantity of sweet urine. The use of body water to dilute the urine leaves the body dehydrated, and so the person is unusually and continually thirsty. The person may also experience persistent hunger because the body cells are unable to access the glucose in the bloodstream.
Over time, persistently high levels of glucose in the blood injure tissues throughout the body, especially those of the blood vessels and nerves. Inflammation and injury of the lining of arteries lead to atherosclerosis and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Damage to the microscopic blood vessels of the kidney impairs kidney function and can lead to kidney failure. Damage to blood vessels that serve the eyes can lead to blindness. Blood vessel damage also reduces circulation to the limbs, whereas nerve damage leads to a loss of sensation, called neuropathy, particularly in the hands and feet. Together, these changes increase the risk of injury, infection, and tissue death (necrosis), contributing to a high rate of toe, foot, and lower leg amputations in people with diabetes. Uncontrolled diabetes can also lead to a dangerous form of metabolic acidosis called ketoacidosis. Deprived of glucose, cells increasingly rely on fat stores for fuel. However, in a glucose-deficient state, the liver is forced to use an alternative lipid metabolism pathway that results in the increased production of ketone bodies (or ketones), which are acidic. The build-up of ketones in the blood causes ketoacidosis, which—if left untreated—may lead to a life-threatening "diabetic coma." Together, these complications make diabetes the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.
Diabetes is diagnosed when lab tests reveal that blood glucose levels are higher than normal, a condition called hyperglycemia. The treatment of diabetes depends on the type, the severity of the condition, and the ability of the patient to make lifestyle changes. As noted earlier, moderate weight loss, regular physical activity, and consumption of a healthful diet can reduce blood glucose levels. Some patients with type 2 diabetes may be unable to control their disease with these lifestyle changes, and will require medication. Historically, the first-line treatment of type 2 diabetes was insulin. Research advances have resulted in alternative options, including medications that enhance pancreatic function.
Watch the video to view an animation describing the role of insulin and the pancreas in diabetes.
Chapter Review
The pancreas has both exocrine and endocrine functions. The pancreatic islet cell types include alpha cells, which produce glucagon; beta cells, which produce insulin; delta cells, which produce somatostatin; and PP cells, which produce pancreatic polypeptide. Insulin and glucagon are involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism. Insulin is produced by the beta cells in response to high blood glucose levels. It enhances glucose uptake and utilization by target cells, as well as the storage of excess glucose for later use. Dysfunction of the production of insulin or target cell resistance to the effects of insulin causes diabetes mellitus, a disorder characterized by high blood glucose levels. The hormone glucagon is produced and secreted by the alpha cells of the pancreas in response to low blood glucose levels. Glucagon stimulates mechanisms that increase blood glucose levels, such as the catabolism of glycogen into glucose.
Self Check
Answer the question(s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered in the previous section.
Critical Thinking Questions
- What would be the physiological consequence of a disease that destroyed the beta cells of the pancreas?
- Why is foot care extremely important for people with diabetes mellitus?
alpha cell: pancreatic islet cell type that produces the hormone glucagon
beta cell: pancreatic islet cell type that produces the hormone insulin
delta cell: minor cell type in the pancreas that secretes the hormone somatostatin
diabetes mellitus: condition caused by destruction or dysfunction of the beta cells of the pancreas or cellular resistance to insulin that results in abnormally high blood glucose levels
glucagon: pancreatic hormone that stimulates the catabolism of glycogen to glucose, thereby increasing blood glucose levels
hyperglycemia: abnormally high blood glucose levels
insulin: pancreatic hormone that enhances the cellular uptake and utilization of glucose, thereby decreasing blood glucose levels
pancreas: organ with both exocrine and endocrine functions located posterior to the stomach that is important for digestion and the regulation of blood glucose
pancreatic islets: specialized clusters of pancreatic cells that have endocrine functions; also called islets of Langerhans
PP cell: minor cell type in the pancreas that secretes the hormone pancreatic polypeptide


text:
Payment Policy
Charged Instructor Led Courses
The majority of instructor led courses at the Language Centre are charged. If payment is required for your course attendance (see charging policy or the individual course details), your payment must be arranged within 24 hours of booking (and preferably by 9am the day following registration) in order that your booking can be confirmed. Failure to do so will mean you cannot attend the course.
Accepted payment methods:
- All payments from individuals should be made online by credit or debit card using the University Online Store.
- Purchase orders will be accepted from University Departments/Faculties, Colleges or in exceptional circumstances, from external organisations. The PO must display the course name and the attendees name and should be sent to the Administration Team at the Language Centre (see contact section).


text:
Posts Tagged 'lowers stress'
Crunch Candlelight Yoga
If you have had a rough day and need something to help lower your stress level, Crunch Candlelight Yoga may just be the ticket for you. I just completed the video and I feel so loose and relaxed that I could just go to sleep. It is about a 40 minute yoga routine that is very easy to follow. There are no hard poses in the video and it is more focused on helping you to relax by stretching and breathing. It will also help if your muscles are feeling tight and you need to stretch them out. They give you modifications to the poses so even if you are a beginner, you will be able to benefit from this video.


text:
Editor's Note: Today's post comes from App Man, APM Crusader at AppDynamics. AppDynamics is a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service application performance management (APM) solutions.
Let me guess: you're probably expecting AppDynamics to be "another monitoring solution" for Windows Azure. You're expecting it to show you basic server metrics like CPU, memory and disk I/O, along with a few CLR counters thrown in for good measure. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you–but these metrics in isolation are about as useful as a chocolate teapot for monitoring your applications and business in the cloud.
When end users interact with your Windows Azure application, they don't experience servers, Windows Azure roles, CPU, or CLR counters. Rather, they experience business transactions. Monitoring infrastructure metrics in the cloud is probably the worst KPI for managing Quality-of-Service (QoS) and application performance. Another problem in the cloud is application architectures, which have become virtual, dynamic and distributed. Applications are no longer just an app server and database. SOA design principles and cloud application services mean that business transaction logic now executes across many distributed application tiers and services.
For example, the Windows Azure Plaform-as-a-Service (PaaS) platform has several services that allow organizations to run their mission-critical applications in the cloud. Windows Azure Compute provides web and windows services; Windows Azure AppFabric provides messaging, security and caching; and Windows Azure SQL Database and Windows Azure Storage provide data management capabilities.
A major challenge for organizations is gaining end-to-end visibility of how their business (transactions) perform in the Windows Azure cloud. AppDynamics was founded in 2008 to address this problem, and it's a key reason why Microsoft announced AppDynamics as a partner to help their customers manage application performance within Windows Azure. For AppDynamics, it's an enormous privilege and responsibility to be selected by Microsoft, given Windows Azure is a huge strategic play as Microsoft looks to dominate the cloud computing market.
So what's the big deal with AppDynamics in Windows Azure? Let's take a look at what unique capabilities AppDynamics offers for Windows Azure customers:
Application Mapping for Windows Azure Roles and Services
AppDynamics is able to automatically discover, map, and visualize the living topology and performance of a production application running inside Windows Azure. This allows organizations to understand the application tiers, Windows Azure roles, and service dependencies inside the Windows Azure cloud so they can rapidly isolate which components are responsible for slow performance or poor QoS. For example, take a look at the following screenshot of an application hosted inside Windows Azure:
Business Transaction-centric Monitoring
What's unique about AppDynamics production monitoring is that our key unit of measurement is business transactions–rather than, say, web pages, servers, or CLR metrics. AppDynamics can auto-discover the business transactions that end users are experiencing in the application. This gives IT Operations and development teams the context and visibility they need to monitor and manage the end user experience, along with understanding how transactions flow across and inside each application tier, Windows Azure Role, and Services.
For example, take a look at this screenshot, which shows what business transaction monitoring looks like in AppDynamics:
Deep Diagnostics for Rapid Root-Cause Analysis
For situations where end users experience poor QoS, slow downs, or outages, it's possible for organizations to pinpoint the root cause of issues in minutes using AppDynamics. AppDynamics uses intelligent analytics to self-learn and baseline the normal performance of every business transaction in an application. When performance deviates, AppDynamics captures complete diagnostic snapshots of business transactions that breach their performance baseline. Snapshots represent the complete distributed flow and code execution of slow business transactions as they execute across and inside each application tier, Windows Azure role and service. This means IT Operations and developers see right down to the line of code responsible for issues in production that impact their end users and QoS. Root cause is therefore only minutes away.
Here is a screenshot of how a single user business transaction executes within Windows Azure:
Here is the code execution of that same user business transaction within the 2nd Application Tier "LowValueOrders" worker role:
Auto–Scaling for Provisioning Windows Azure Resource On-the-fly
A key benefit of cloud is resource elasticity – the ability for an application to leverage additional computing resource on-the-fly, so it's able to scale up and down all by itself. For auto-scaling to happen in Windows Azure, the application needs to know when to scale up and when to scale down. AppDynamics provides a comprehensive policy wizard that can auto-scale an application in Windows Azure based on business transaction KPI-like end user response time or throughput. For example, if order throughput in your application were to drop due to increased load on your application, you might want to spin up more Windows Azure compute (web/worker roles) to compensate for the additional demand until throughput stabilizes or load reduces.
For example, here's a screenshot of the AppDynamics Windows Azure auto-scaling policy wizard:
If you want to try AppDynamics for Windows Azure check out our How To document to register for an AppDynamics account and start monitoring your Windows Azure app in minutes.


text:
Warming, comfort food on the menu here. I cooked off a whole chicken to use for various dishes this week...this soup included. This is a Cooking Light recipe and is perfect for getting back on track. The whole chicken came from my vast supply of frozen food that I am working my way through this month in Yvonne from StoneGable's Eating from the Freezer/Pantry Challenge.
I'm sharing today at my favorite Tuesday recipe events, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday and Tuesdays at the Table. Thank you Jen, Lisa and Cole for hosting these lovely events each week. Check out ALL the great recipes posted.
Chicken-Orzo Soup
(Printable Version)
1 (32-ounce) container fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
2 tsp olive oil
2/3 cup coarsely chopped carrot
1/2 cup coarsely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1-1/4 cups water
3 fresh parsley sprigs
1 fresh thyme sprig
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Bring 1 3/4 cups broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add orzo; cook 10 minutes or until done. Drain. While orzo cooks, heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add carrot, celery, onion, and chicken (I just added my precooked chicken at this point); cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 2 1/4 cups broth, 1 1/4 cups water, parsley, and thyme; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Discard herb sprigs. Add orzo, spinach, juice, salt, and pepper; simmer 1 minute.
Cheddar Pan Biscuits
(Printable Version)
1/3 c butter
2-1/4 c flour
½ c shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil leaves
½ tsp salt
1 c milk
Heat oven to 400°F. Melt butter in 8-inch square baking pan in oven (3 to 5 minutes). Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients except milk in medium bowl. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth (1 minute). Pat or roll dough into 12x6-inch rectangle. Cut into 12 (1-inch) strips. Dip each strip into melted butter in pan; fold each strip in half. Place folded strips in 2 rows in same pan. Bake for 23 to 28 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.
Chicken-Orzo Soup & Cheddar Pan Biscuits
Posted by
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Farmhouse Kitchen


text:
20.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.7 turnovers, 51% FG, 58% FT
Joe Treutlein
After sitting out his first year in the NBA due to injury, Blake Griffin finally set foot on the court for the Clippers this season and a third of the way through is the early favorite for rookie of the year behind his great production and endless array of spectacular plays. Leading the NBA in dunks and probably having seven or eight of the top ten highlight reel plays in the league thus far, Griffin has proven himself nothing short of a truly elite athlete, quite possibly being the best at the power forward position in the entire league.
While it's still early in his development, he's already done a great job applying these athletic tools in a variety of areas on both ends of the floor.
Part One: Post-Up Offense
Offensively, Griffin gets most of his points as a post-up threat, although he can also make his presence felt by running the floor in transition and crashing the offensive glass. He establishes deep position in the paint thanks to his strength and toughness, and can finish with nice touch and even a little baby hook shot. With that said, his best option offensively is clearly the dunk, which he performs emphatically and appears to enjoy doing, especially in two-handed fashion.
He does not have many moves in his arsenal at this point, lacking some footwork, balance, a reliable left hand and counter-moves, which becomes more obvious when he's matched up with a more serious post-defender. Sometimes he'll struggle to get himself going offensively if he can't just overpower players on his way to the rim, looking out of control and overdoing things at times, just throwing up a shot on the rim from a bad angle hoping it falls. He needs to get smarter and more polished on this end of the floor, and especially improve his decision making, something that will only come with time and experience.
-NCAA Weekly Performers, January 4, 2008
The first thing to note with Griffin's post game is how well his brute strength and ability to outmuscle the opposition has translated from college to the pros, with him still being able to physically overpower most of the opponents he faces, especially with how well he's improved his already impressive frame. Having a good understanding of leverage and having no problem throwing his body around to back his man down and establish deep position, Griffin does an excellent job carving out space low on the block, and will also move around the floor constantly to open up in the post on either side of the lane.
Once he gets the ball, Griffin's strength and weakness profile is fairly similar to where it was two years ago. He prefers power moves like drop-steps to the rim where he can power up with a dunk, though his finesse game has come along some over that time. He is very much reliant on spin moves in the post, both of the power and finesse variety, frequently taking advantage of his outstanding ability to change directions quickly, getting separation as well as any big man in the league in this regard.
When Griffin does manage to get separation for finesse moves in the post, he shows flashes of nice right-handed hook shots and turnaround jumpers, though his consistency is still coming along, and putting in more practice to hone his accuracy should be among his priorities. He seems to be getting by in this area mostly with a combination of great touch and the ability to separate so well, as his skill level is still lagging behind his other attributes. To his credit, he appears to be putting in the work trying to expand his game, however, also flashing a Tim Duncan-esque bank shot from the 5-10 foot range often, though this, too, is nowhere near consistent yet.
All things considered, with Griffin seeing the majority of his possessions in this area, he's already a quite effective post player in spite of his still developing polish. His ability to get dominant position, finish with power, and get outstanding separation by virtue of his elite quickness are attributes that could only become more pronounced if his skill level catches up with the rest of his game.
Part Two: Finishing at the Rim
Not only did Griffin garner the most possessions of any PF in the draft at finishing around the basket per game (7.9), but he's also the #1 finisher as well, connecting on an outrageous 75.5% of his short range attempts, not including post ups. While his overall points per possession (PPP) of 1.08 ranks fourth, thanks to the fact that he's fouled on 18.5% of his possessions, has finished 51 of his 61 attempts in transition, and ranks amongst the best finishers when cutting to the rim at 1.52 PPP. Athleticism, strength, and tenacity aside, those numbers alone go a long way towards explaining why he's such a coveted prospect considering he's managed to generate 20.2 total possessions per game (good for 3rd on our list) while still getting the job done in the post (53% on 7.9 Pos/G).
-Situational Statistics: This Year's Power Forward Crop, April 23, 2009
Once again, this is another area that has translated quite well for Griffin, as he is one of the NBA's elite finishers at the basket both in terms of how many attempts he gets there and his ability to convert them. Of Griffin's 15.7 field goal attempts per game, 6.5 of them come at the rim according to Hoopdata.com, with only two players in the league (Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook) having more attempts there per game. Griffin also is converting at an outstanding 67.6 FG% on those attempts, a higher efficiency than all but one of the top-15 attempt-getters in the league.
Griffin's ability to finish around the rim is derived from a combination of his raw strength, his large and soft hands, and his ability to effortlessly elevate from a variety of situations. While Griffin's full strength vertical leap is among the best for players his size, what really separates him is his reactive leaping, namely his ability to still reach such great heights from his second and third bounce. Griffin gets plenty of his scoring opportunities making cuts off the ball, dipping back door for alley oops, crashing the offensive glass, finishing on pick-and-rolls, and getting out in transition, all areas where his elite athleticism make things quite easy for him.
This is not to discount the importance of his other attributes, however, as his ability to adjust on the move and change direction also are of great use to him in scoring at the rim, something that shows up most in the pick-and-roll game, where Griffin is already one of the league's biggest threats as a finisher. This is a part of his game that he wasn't really able to show in college, as his team just did not use him in this fashion. 13.6% of his offense comes in this fashion currently according to Synergy Sports Technology, compared with 3.3% in his last year at Oklahoma.
Part Three: Face-Up Offense
Griffin's ball-handling skills look much improved, as you'll often see him grab a defensive rebound and begin to dribble the ball up-court himself, adding some nifty spin-moves in for good measure along the way. This isn't always the best idea in the world considering that he's 6-10, but it's nice to see the versatility he displays, and he does a good job showing off his terrific coordination and body control at the same time.
We're still yet to see the dribble-drive become a real staple of his half-court repertoire, but it's not very hard to envision that happening down the road considering his terrific tools. Facing up from the mid-post, Griffin's quickness and fluidity makes him an absolute nightmare to try and stay in front of.
-NCAA Weekly Performers, December 11, 2008
Still a work in progress, Griffin's conventional face-up offense has not been among his strengths thus far, with him averaging just 0.573 points per possession on isolation attempts according to Synergy Sports Technology. In the half-court setting, Griffin doesn't protect the ball very well when facing his man, while his handle in and of itself isn't very tight to begin with. He still is capable of getting off a phenomenal spin move at times, and his first step is exceptional for his size, but he hasn't found a way to put these things together in a conventional sense yet, rarely being able to take the ball to the rim for a power move from the perimeter.
While Griffin's conventional face-up offense hasn't been too impressive yet, he has found a way to contribute with the ball when he gets it farther than 10 feet away from the basket, doing so in a crafty way that takes advantage of his other strengths. When he is put in face-up situations, more often than not Griffin will use his highly adept spin move to get closer to the rim, at which point he'll seamlessly transition from a face-up drive into a back-to-the-basket situation, actually using these opportunities to get fairly good post position and then being able to work into his post-up game, where he can excel.
Griffin's recognition of how to use his strengths to his advantage in this area, while not forcing the issue in ways he doesn't excel, is quite encouraging for a player at his stage of development, though it would still obviously help in the long run if he could find a way to take advantage of his true face-up game rather than using it just to set up his post ups. Playing in more important games and for a team that is not amongst the league's bottom-feeders, it's likely that opponents will elect to double-team him more and more in the post.
Part Four: Perimeter Shooting
Another area of improvement revolves around his perimeter jump-shot, which appears to have made significant strides. His mechanics look solid, with a nice release and follow-through, and the ability to use the glass in Duncan-esqe fashion. As noted, he's already hit two 3-pointers this season (his lone attempts), which is pretty impressive despite the limited sample size. He hasn't really attempted enough jumpers from any range to draw any definitive conclusions just yet, but the progress he's made is encouraging.
It would be nice to see Griffin improve his free throw shooting, thoughstill very mediocre at just 60% (up from 59% last season). He's leaving at least 2-3 points on the board every single night when considering how often he gets there, which may come back to haunt him as Oklahoma approaches the post-season.
-NCAA Weekly Performers, December 11, 2008
While it appeared Griffin was making strides with his shot towards the end of his college career, and had plenty of time to work further on it sitting out last season, he seems to have plateaued in that area for now, not being anything more than a respectable spot-up shooter from mid-range. While his mechanics are solid and he's capable of knocking down open shots from time to time, on the whole this is not an area he's excelled in, being pretty inefficient with all his jumpers this season.
According to Hoopdata.com, Griffin is knocking down just 34.1% of his shots from the 10-15 foot range and 33.0% from 16-23 feet, not good numbers by any means especially when you consider most of his shots are of the catch-and-shoot variety coming off pick-and-pops. While Griffin doesn't force the issue here, usually only taking his shots when wide open or with the shot clock winding down, he is taking a total of 4.5 attempts per game from 10 feet and beyond, so this is definitely an area where improvement could pay dividends.
Even more so, improving his shooting ability would help even more from the free-throw line, where Griffin is attempting 7.9 shots per game, 10th best in the league. His FT% is just 57.2% thus far, which is pretty much the same as he shot his two seasons in college.
Part Five: Defense and Rebounding
Defensively, Griffin still appears to rely too much on his physical tools, even if his intensity looks a bit better than it did last season. He has a tendency to gamble for steals excessively (his quickness makes it quite easy for him to jump in front of post-entry passes) and seems to give up position too easily on the block (possibly to avoid cheap fouls), but there is regardless no doubt whatsoever that he should be able to develop into an excellent defender in time if he wants to thanks to his terrific physical tools, smarts and intensity.
Griffin has been an absolute monster on the glass, leading the NCAA by a wide margin in rebounds per game for all the many reasons already mentioned.
-NCAA Weekly Performers, December 11, 2008
Griffin's ability to defend the post is largely the same from what we saw in college, with him not using his great strength to take advantage of leverage nearly the same way he does on the offensive end. While his fundamentals aren't bad, he just needs to be more assertive in utilizing them, not making nearly enough use of his base strength as he could.
In Griffin's defense, his post defense hasn't been helped much by his team's situation, as the Clippers often leave him on an island defending the post, and with Chris Kaman hurt much of the year, Griffin has been forced to play 26% of his minutes at the center position according to 82games.com, with the power forwards playing alongside him in those instances usually being Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith, or Brian Cook, no one capable of helping much with weak-side shot-blocking.
While Griffin's post defense hasn't been much of a bright spot, one area where he has excelled is defending the perimeter, something we rarely were able to see in his time at Oklahoma. According to Synergy, Griffin is allowing just 0.5 points per possession scored against him on isolation attempts, which puts him in the 94th percentile of the entire league in that category.
On the perimeter, Griffin has absurdly quick feet for a player his size, while his fundamentals and reaction speed are also both quite solid. His level of attentiveness is likewise high, and he does a good job moving laterally and staying in front of his man. As the season as gone on, despite him often playing pretty aggressively, up on his man, he's been forcing players to try and shoot over him from the perimeter as opposed to taking him off the dribble, a sign of the respect he's earning in this area.
Griffin likewise is doing well defending pick-and-rolls, doing a good job hedging with his athleticism and length, while also being well suited to handle switches against wings and even point guards, looking fairly comfortable and doing an adequate job in those situations.
On the glass, Griffin is still as prolific as he was in college, ranking 10th in the league in pace-adjusted rebounds according to our database, and ranking 4th in rebounds per game at 12.4. His ability to pursue caroms outside his area remains his greatest attribute, though he also does a good job turning to face the rim whenever a shot goes up, opening up his body and getting into box out position. And on the offensive end, his outstanding reactive ability plays a big part in his pension for grabbing second and third chances.
While it's still only 30 games into a 21-year-old's career, a few things have already been made abundantly clear about Blake Griffin's ability to perform in the NBA, where he ranks among the very best elite athletes in the league, if not being the single-most athletic player at his position. While he's mostly gotten attention for his highlight reel dunks from casual fans thus far, looking closer reveals a versatile game with developing skill sets in all areas, while his year-to-year improvement since his freshman season in college suggests a great work ethic and learning curve. How those things apply to his game from here on out will shape whether Griffin is able to become one of the NBA's truly elite players in addition to elite athletes, but he's obviously off to a great start, and it will be interesting (and certainly exciting) to watch him develop further.


text:
Monna 60" White Double Bathroom Vanity Set (544060-WH-CG)
Size: 60" x 22" x 34"
Why people love BATHRY:
- Fast & Free Shipping
- Authorized Altair Design Dealer
- Lowest Price Guarantee & No Sales Tax
Talk to a Altair Design expert today: (909) 895-3980
Authorized Dealer Warranty
Bathry is a trusted Authorized Dealer for Altair Design. All purchases are eligible for full manufacturer warranty protection.
Price Match Guarantee
We will match any price from other authorized dealers for products that are in stock. Unauthorized dealer prices are not valid for Price Match Guarantee.


text:
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Donovan Edwards' quick-hitting sprints changed everything for No. 2 Michigan. Again.
Now they're hoping it propels them toward another championship.
Edwards ran for 185 yards and a touchdown, J.J. McCarthy threw for three scores and Michigan beat Purdue 43-22 on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game for its second straight conference title and a likely No. 2 playoff seed.
College football's winningest program has the first 13-win season in school history. Two more victories would give the Wolverines (13-0, No. 2 CFP) their first national championship since 1997 — even without Heisman Trophy candidate Blake Corum because of a season-ending left knee injury.
"He's the best running back in college football and he deserves the Heisman. If he hadn't gotten hurt, he would have easily won the Heisman so this is for Blake Corum," Edwards said after being named the game MVP. "I think it's kind of self-explanatory what our goals are. I believe we've talked about them all year I don't think much more needs to be said."
Those goals appeared to be in jeopardy just last week when Corum managed to play just one series against rival Ohio State.
But Edwards stole the show, shredding the Buckeyes for 216 yards and two scores and was every bit as good in his encore — just hours after Corum posted on Twitter he had undergone knee surgery.
Edwards broke open this game with a 60-yard on the first play of the second half to set up one score. He added a 27-yard TD sprint on Michigan's next series to make it 28-13 and Purdue (8-5) never recovered from the seven-play onslaught after trailing 14-13 at halftime.
"They didn't panic when the game was close in the third quarter," Boilermakers coach Jeff Brohm said. "They came out, ran the ball and imposed their will."
While Edwards was the ringleader, he had plenty of help.
McCarthy was 11 of 17 with 161 yards. Kalel Mullings scored twice on short runs and Ronnie Bell caught five passes for 67 yards and one TD.
But even they knew the difference Saturday was Edwards.
"You put anyone back there, they're going to get yards," McCarthy said. "But Donovan is a special back, a special guy and I'm glad he's on our side."
Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell and receiver Charlie Jones helped the Boilermakers make it interesting for a while.
O'Connell was 32 of 47 with 366 yards and two interceptions after missing some practice time early this week to mourn the death of his oldest brother. Jones, who lost to Michigan in last year's game while playing for Iowa, had 13 receptions for 162 yards.
It just wasn't enough.
"We were going to have to play a near-perfect game to win," O'Connell said. "We turned the ball over and didn't score (enough) touchdowns."
Michigan showed no signs of a hangover after last week's rout over the Buckeyes, taking a 7-0 lead on its opening possession with a 25-yard TD pass from J.J. McCarthy to Colston Loveland.
Purdue answered with Devin Mockobee's 1-yard scoring run to tie the score then took the lead on Mitchell Fineran's 33-yard field goal.
Michigan retook the lead on McCarthy's 7-yard TD pass to Luke Schoonmaker and Edwards helped them put it away while holding the Boilermakers to just three second-half field goals.
Purdue: The Boilermakers' magical season ended with a solid showing in the championship game where they played better than most expected. Still, they won the Big Ten's wild, wild West, both trophy games and should be bound for a warm-weather bowl game.
Michigan: Yes, the Wolverines may have already locked up a top-two seed thanks to losses by Southern Cal and TCU. Michigan now has back-to-back conference crowns for the first time since 2003-04 though the hard part remains — ending its national title drought.
Brohm played one season in the now defunct XFL and has acknowledged that experience helped him understand how to inject personality and creativity into play-calling. It was on full display Saturday.
A surprise end around set up Purdue's first score, a fake punt helped keep its second scoring drive alive and then Mockobee sprinted 25 yards on a fake flea-flicker in the third quarter.
O'Connell said this week and last were difficult for himself and his family and though he played almost flawlessly in the Boilermakers victory over rival Indiana last week, he acknowledged football was hardly his primary thought.
"It's been very difficult, as you would imagine. You know, when you first hear of news like that, it's shock and denial and just a lot of emotions," O'Connell said. "I felt a lot better this week than last week, but it's been a little crazy. It's going to be good to get some time to relax and spend some more time with my family, hopefully."
The sixth-year quarterback, a former walk-on turned two-time all-conference selection, said he's hoping to get some rest and spend time with his family before the bowl game.
Purdue: Will find out its bowl game, destination and opponent Sunday.
Michigan: Waiting to see where its headed and who it will face in the national semifinals.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25. Sign up for the AP's college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.


text:
Suzy Bee Sews
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Grainline Studios: 13001 Alder Shirtdress
I've always stuck with fit and flare dresses, not sure why but I think it comes from the whole idea that its acceptable to be fat as long as you are an hourglass shape.........going to Japan this year was a real eye opener, not sure if its a cultural thing but the women I saw, as a general rule, wore loose flowing clothes regardless of size and I loved how it looked and how freeing it is. So even though this dress still has a waist its significantly more loose than I would normally wear and I am thoroughly in love with it!
I did get rid of the darts and change them to a princess seam. Not sure if its how I am shaped or how I sew darts but I can never get them to fit me anywhere near as nicely as a princess seam.
I managed to sew the collar on upside down..........Its not noticeably in this print but I did such a beautiful top stitching and trimmed the seams before I realised.....D'oh!
I was happily surprised at how easy the whole dress came together, don't be put off by the collar or button band - sewing in a firmer cotton was a breeze as well!
Fabric: Cotton poplin from Spotlight.
Size 16 graded to sz 18 from armholes down.
Changed front darts to princess seams.
Added 0.5" to back width.
Added inseam pockets
Left off the breast pockets.
Adding princess seams to the front means the front is in 3 pieces instead of the original 2. It also meant easier construction because I stitched the side bodice to the front skirt first and then attached them to the front. I did the side seams last as well, I really like to do that, means you can do some last minute fitting.
I love the hi-low hem and I love the looser fit, just seems like a really cool summer dress. I've already cut out another one in light chambray/denim!
Monday, October 24, 2016
StyleArc: Harper Jacket
Great pattern - went together really fast, I left the hems raw. I like the shorter back and then the waterfall front. Not much more to say!
Fabric: Ponte from Spotlight
Size 18
Added 1" to arm width
I have a bit of excess at the armholes and upper chest - seems to happen when I don't do a FBA, so next time I'll pin it out and adjust the armhole shape.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Neue Mode 25054 : Drape coat
I've seen Neue Mode patterns before over on sewingpatterns.com and kinda wrote them off as being left over from the 80's. I did get an email recently though that had some new designs in it and fell in love with this coat, took me forever to find it on the website (it was listed as Non-categorized, after I'd been through a few hundred patterns looking for it......)
Its a bit sketchy ordering a neue mode pattern - no line drawings on most of the patterns and none of them actually list what pattern you get - so it could potentially be the pants or the top or the coat... This one thankfully had a line drawing, though its not very accurate, it shows the collar being a separate pattern piece but its just one front piece, the hem dips lower at the front plus the pattern has sleeve cuffs which aren't on the drawing, and it also has no pockets...
The cutting layout and amount of fabric is printed as part of the pattern and the pattern pieces also have basic fit adjustments printed on them which was kind of awesome.
Sizing - I made a sz 20/46, about 2 sizes smaller than I should have, but I was using a stretch fabric and I wanted more of a fitted cardigan/coat. I also didn't do my normal FBA because I figured I wouldn't need it with the drape front.
I'm really happy with the shaping - it has a great defined waist and I love the drape of the front.
Size 20
Graded to a sz22 from the waist down
Narrowed shoulders by 1"
Added 1.5" to arm width
Added 1" to sleeve cap height
Chopped 12" from the length
A stretchy woven poly from the clearance table at Spotlight, it has a damask type pattern woven through.
The instructions are ok, very brief like a burda pattern. I decided to go for a deeper hem and topstitched it for the weight and stability it would give the hems.
All in all, I'm really happy with the coat and will have another crack at neue mode patterns in the future!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Bits and Pieces
- My sewing mojo has totally disappear for the last few months - however I've promised to make my Mum a dress - she has a party to go to and wants a viking/medieval dress and I happened to have this one in the stash so I'm hoping it might kickstart me a bit
- More sewing for others - My daughters best friend wants a tinkerbell outfit so am thinking of this burda pattern if I add width to the skirt and the points to the skirt hem.
- Had a great time in Japan, absolutely loved it over there. Went to the Nippori fabric district, got overwhelmed in Tomato and went into the tiny shop next door and bought some awesome fabric.
- We both did the karate seminar in Tokyo and my Husband competed at the Goju kai comp the next day
- Am swapping rooms with my daughter in a couple weeks - she is moving into my back shed sewing room and I'll be having her inside room. I'll be sad to leave my shed but will be nice sewing with the kittens again (we don't let them outside after my boy cat was hit by a car).
Friday, April 15, 2016
Finished bridesmaid dresses
The wedding was about a month ago and I've finally recovered enough to talk about it! This is going to be a photo heavy post - there were too many nice photos of the day just to pick a couple.
This is the final post about bridesmaid dress sewing - part 1, part 2, part 3.
My boy has grown so much lately, I'm still taller than him in heels though! |
BTW, its apple juice! |
(Photo credits to: John Davies Photography)
Pattern Details;
Simplicity 4070 for the bodice
Simple gathered skirt
C was 38 weeks pregnant at the wedding, I did the final fitting the weekend before with her and took a couple of tucks out of the lace to get the bodice sitting smooth.
I had a great comment from Sarah on my first post;
"1) empire waist dress 2) yes - you need the pregnancy / beer belly equivalent of FBA to cope with the 8 month bump. Add extra length in an arc from side seam to seam, and extra width to the front skirt. I'd leave hemming and finalising the dress to the week before the wedding."
Adding the extra length in an arc worked an absolute treat and I hemmed the dress on the weekend before as well, just to allow for any extra changes.
The empire waistband sat nicely above her belly. I do think the inside bodice should have come up higher, thankfully its not too noticeable but just goes to show that even with a fully sewn muslin, the fabric affects the fit so much (I even used a lace overlay on the muslin but it must have been a stiffer lace).
I hand stitched in the lining, its a cotton from Clear-It in Melbourne. Not a perfect match for colour but the closest I could find. I am so glad I went with cotton, it was a pretty hot day (got to 30 degrees Celsius) and we would have melted in a polyester.
Fabric Details;
The lace was a op-shop find in Tailem Bend.
The main fabric is a double gorgette from Spotlight
Lining is cotton from Clear-It
Buttons are plastic ones from Lincraft.
Zipper and bias binding was from Spotlight.
My dress had plastic boning along all seams, but I left it out of C's dress.
I am pretty proud of what I achieved, they are not perfect and I would have loved to use a more luxurious fabric and made a few more muslins but I managed to make them both in time for roughly $100 in materials (not counting time or muslin fabrics) so you have to count that as a win!
Monday, March 14, 2016
Closet Case Files: Zippered Ginger Jeans
I got the email through about Papercut's new patterns the other day and I loved the new pair of jeans they have released. I was thinking all day about downloading them and how I could adjust them using my Ginger jeans pattern so they would fit and end up being a pair of Ginger jeans with front zippers.......then I mentally slapped myself and hacked up my Ginger pattern instead!
I think of these as a homage to that Papercut pattern and also a pair of Just Jeans that I saw in the shops recently. According to the daughter, jeans with zipper pockets are 'in' right now (oh god I feel old!)
Sz 18
Added 1" to inner leg seam on front pattern
Added a pocket stay
Hyperextended calf adjustment
Changed the shape of the front and back pockets
Slimmed the calf from the knee down.
My zippers work, but they don't actually go to a pocket, I did think about making them fully functional but realised I wouldn't use them so didn't bother.
The pockets are inspired by a pocket design I saw on google and saved, I think they were true religion jeans.
Top stitching is with Guttermann upholstery thread no.38
Damn, I love this pattern! I've used it so many times I had to trace off a new one this time!
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Victory Pattern 1002: Hacked Ava dress
This poor pattern doesn't really resemble the original Ava dress anymore! I needed a dress with a zipper for the morning of my friends wedding and wanted a comfy knit one so that's how this dress idea was born. I wanted it different enough from my last version too which is why I changed the back and added sleeves.
Fabric: Blue spandex knit from Spotlight and a mixture of bias binding on the waistband and some black knit for the neckline and sleeve binding. The lace is a remnant from Clear It.
Same as last time;
Size 14
Added 1" FBA
Changed darts into princess seams
Added the waistband.
Dropped the neckline by 1"
Sewed the side seams last and took it in by 1/2" each side.
Made the length somewhere in between the short and long length.
Added pockets from the Burda dress I last made.
Plus - morphed the back pattern pieces into one then added the lace cut-out.
Added sleeves
The sleeves were a bit of a fiddle - I forgot to add extra seam allowances onto the armscye so there is some slight pulling at the front. I do like the shape of them though - they are based a bit on the Colette macaron sleeves except I just hacked at the sleeve until I liked the shape!
There is some slight hitching at the front - having the knit as the bodice top instead of lace made it sit slightly higher and really needs 1/2" or so added to the bodice length.
I like how the bias binding highlights the interesting seamlines on this pattern and I really love the lace - I still have a reasonable amount left so expect to see it again!
finished project,
Victory patterns
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)


text:
Sweet Potato Salad With Walnut Vinaigrette
Use our BakeBot Ai Chat for instant answers.
Why I Love This Recipe
You can plan ahead because this salad will keep for up to 3 days in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperature for serving.
Ingredients You'll Need
¼ c. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. roasted walnut oil
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper, or to taste
Dash of salt, or to taste
1 tbsp. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 large orange-fleshed sweet potato (about 14 ounces), peeled and cut into 2 inch-thick slices
Dash of salt
1 green onion (both white and green parts), coarsely chopped
Garnish: Toasted chopped walnuts
To make the vinaigrette, whisk together all of the ingredients, except the parsley, in a small bowl; add the parsley.
To make the salad, cover the sweet potato slices with water in a small saucepan; add a dash of salt. Cover the pan and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook until the potato slices are fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, then drain again. Cut the potato into 1-inch chunks.
Toss the potato and green onion in a medium bowl. Whisk the vinaigrette; add it to the salad and toss again. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Use a slotted spoon to strain the salad for serving. Garnish each serving with walnuts.


text:
This genuine artist canvas arrives ready to hang with hinged hanging hardware attached to the beautifully finished back. Every canvas frame is built with a solid face to support the canvas and keep it from deforming and loosening so your canvas will always look as tight and flat as the day it was made. Every canvas is UV coated to protect against fading and scratching.
To get the most out of your image, canvases will be created with white sides.
12" x 16" Gallery Wrapped Canvas


text:
Protecting Our People and Customers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Limiting the spread of COVID-19 is the top priority for our communities, our businesses and our governments around the globe. At Ecolab we're focused on doing our part to flatten the curve and limit the spread of this disease by providing solutions and expertise that protect essential workers in our operations and yours.
For us, this work means helping hospitals remain safe and clean places of care. It means enabling operations for facilities that make life-saving medicines and food and beverage products that are needed to keep store shelves stocked. And it means supporting the critical infrastructure that we all depend on – from data centers, to power plants, to water-treatment facilities.
And despite the public health crisis facing us, we continue that work – from our homes, or at one of our labs, offices, manufacturing facilities or at a customer site -- to help make sure our customers get the products, services and expertise they need.
As more than 1.5 billion people worldwide are now being asked to stay at home, we're taking steps to protect our associations and your business, and we've taken a number of additional measures to keep our people and customers safe during this pandemic.
Protecting Our Team
The health and safety of our employees is our top priority and critical for our ability to support our customers and the frontline workers helping combat this global pandemic. To help protect our employees and their families, we've established rigorous protocols to guide decision-making as we serve our customers and reinforced safe practices such as proper handwashing and social distancing.
Wherever the coronavirus is an active issue, we're requiring all employees who can work from home to do so. Those who self-identify as high risk as defined by the Centers for Disease Control are also required to work from home. We have clear and stringent protocols regarding exposure to COVID-19. If an associate has had contact with an infected person, even if they are symptom-free, they must self-isolate for 14 days and cannot return to work until they are symptom-free.
Working On-Site Safely
Some employees' jobs require them to be on-site providing essential service at a customer location, or one of our facilities. To help protect these employees, we've increased the frequency and thoroughness of our cleaning and hygiene protocols in our facilities, and taken other steps like closing certain communal areas within them. We work to create maximum social separation to reduce individual and collective risk. And, we've worked to provide barrier (face) masks to all our employees working in our manufacturing facilities to reduce transmission risk. To make sure that our employees do not feel compelled to come to work when they aren't feeling well, we've expanded our healthcare benefits and sick pay provision and have launched a pay protection program for our teammates whose pay will be dramatically affected by the pandemic because of reduced customer demand for products and services.
For sales and service employees who work in the field, servicing essential businesses at their sites, we've developed more specific safety guidance and workplans to help them stay safe and protect the health of our customers' operations. This includes engaging first with their managers and our Safety, Health & Environment team before working in quarantined spaces and locations, following local guidelines and customer protocols regarding the use of PPE, prohibiting travel between markets and limiting travel within markets. Employees also can exercise their right to stop work any time they feel unsafe about work conditions.
Meeting an Urgent Need, Safely
By taking care of our people, we protect our ability to serve our customers. And no matter what sector our customers work in, we know they count on our products and expertise so their workers can do their jobs.
We know we have a vital responsibility right now to deliver the products our customers need to keep their critical operations running. But we also know we must operate in a way that keeps our employees and our customers as safe as possible.
We are confident the actions we've taken to date have been effective, and we'll continue to monitor and adjust them as necessary. We'll also continue to work side-by-side with our customers as a trusted partner to support them. To be sure, these are difficult times. And as we've done in the past, we will overcome this new challenge together.
To learn about how you can protect your employees and customers, please visit our web page offering Ecolab's guidance and expertise for combating the virus.


text:
Have you read this fun book? It is about a girl who really loves to eat Lima Beans, but since someone told her that was uncool, she decided she needed to stop eating them. One day she woke up in the morning with a bad case of stripes (see the cover of the book). She has no fever or other symptoms other than the stripes so she is sent back to school the next day. Every time someone in her class says some type of pattern her skin changes to it. After specialists visit her and no one knows how to cure her, an old lady shows up with the cure–to eat Lima Beans. The girl soon discovers she shouldn't fret over what others think, she should just be happy being herself.
After reading this story I thought it would be so fun for my boys to pictures themselves having a bad case of stripes. I found a picture of them from this past Summer wearing shorts and faded it using the Sketch option in Picnik*. This way the skin became more white and would be easy to color, but it left other coloring in the picture. My boys got out their colored pencils and colored themselves a good case of the stripes. It was so much fun!
I told my son to make sure to color lightly on the picture but he loves to color dark so there was no stopping him. They are both so pleased with their pictures and they got such a kick out of getting to color each other with the stripes and not only themselves.
Happy Crafting!!