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Rachel Harris's THE NATURAL HISTORY OF US is already getting swoons from readers everywhere! We can't wait for you to get your hands on it. Known for her sweet romances, Rachel's THE NATURAL HISTORY OF US, is no different! Check out everything we have for you on this amazing title and then go grab your copy today. Justin and Peyton's story is sure to put a smile on your face and keep you turning pages long into the night!
Title: The Natural History of Us
Author: Rachel Harris
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Release: April 5, 2016
Series: The Fine Art of Pretending
Pages: 255
One class assignment. One second chance at love. The school player is all in. Now he needs to win back the sweet commitment girl who's forever owned his heart.
Justin Carter has a secret. He's not the total player Fairfield Academy believes him to be. Not really. In fact, he used to be a one-woman guy…and his feelings for her never went away. Too bad he broke her heart three years ago and made sure to ruin any chance she'd ever forgive him.
Peyton Williams is a liar. She pretends to be whole, counting down the days until graduation and helping her parents at the family ranch. But the truth is, she's done everything she can to get over Justin, and salvation is just around the corner. With graduation one short month away, she'll soon break free from the painful memories and start her life fresh. Of course, she has to get through working with him on one last assignment first.
For Justin, nothing ever felt as right as being with Peyton, and now that fate's given him a shot at redemption, he's determined to make the most of it. And for Peyton…well, Justin Carter has always been her kryptonite.
You Can Find it At:
A musical laugh sprang free, her happy smile trailing behind, and I was in heaven. "Until you," she agreed. She squinted one eye and added, "Though you should know, I'm probably gonna be really, really bad at it."
The expression on her face said she honestly believed it, and I couldn't wait to prove her wrong. I leaned close to her ear and whispered across her skin, "That's impossible."
Peyton's breath caught in a gasp, and I angled back to see her face.
That's when the moment changed.
Sounds of the emptying baseball field fell away. The cool air around us kindled. The soft smile on her face faded as she looked into my eyes, shifting her gaze between them to see what I'd do next. Part of me wondered the same thing.
I'd kissed dozens of girls before. Some I wanted, others purely because I was bored. But I'd never felt anything like this. Anticipation. Want. Fear. Unlike any other kiss I'd ever shared, this one needed to be epic. Girls remembered their first kiss for the rest of their lives, and I had to leave Peyton with something good to cling to later… when I inevitably screwed everything up.
Gauging her reaction, I slowly lowered my head and watched her soft lips part. Adrenaline surged through my veins at the swipe of her tongue. She nodded once, silently giving me permission, then closed her eyes.
Inhaling the scent of sunflowers, I kissed her.
Soft and sweet. Those two words defined this girl. She tasted like sugar and her sigh was addictive as I brushed her mouth with mine. Again and again. I couldn't get enough. Her hands clenched my wrists, tugging me closer. I could've lived in that moment forever.
My restless hands memorized the curve of Peyton's spine, the dip of her waist. Hers slid down my arms and around my back, fisting my shirt before slipping underneath. A jolt of electricity ran over my skin. When her nails raked down my spine, I jerked and groaned into her mouth. She was a fast learner.
I kissed the corners of her triumphant smile, licked the bow of her top lip, and nipped at the bottom one. She sighed again and sank in my arms, matching me kiss for kiss, playful tug for playful tug. And still, I needed more. I'd probably always need more.
Tilting my head for better access, I grazed her cheeks with my fingertips. Traced the seam of her mouth with my tongue, silently asking for what I wanted. Hoping like hell she'd open up. Her answer was one shy flick. The shiver reached my toes.
No girl had gotten to me like this. Burrowed under my skin, held my interest, or had me thinking about tomorrow. Wishing I could be that guy. I lost myself in the strawberry taste of Peyton's mouth, the sweet sounds in her throat, and I didn't fully emerge until hours later. When I did, it was with one thought circling my brain:
How long until I mess this up?
And don't miss Rachel Harris' THE FINE ART OF PRETENDING!
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Harris writes humorous love stories about sassy girls-next-door and the hot guys that make them swoon. Vibrant settings, witty banter, and strong relationships are a staple in each of her books…and kissing. Lots of kissing. An admitted Diet Mountain Dew addict and homeschool mom, she gets through each day by laughing at herself, hugging her kids, and watching way too much Food Network with her husband. She writes young adult, new adult, and adult romances, and LOVES talking with readers!
You Can Find Her At:


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Do Not Overfeed "Obesity is the most common nutritional disease seen in cats," says Joe Bartges, DVM, PhD at the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine. It is a common bad habit for cat owners to feed their cats too much. Cats only need 24 to 35 calories per pound of body weight each
Read more

subset: commoncrawl


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Toilet Partitions Manufacturer in Goa – Cubiloo Cubicles
Welcome to Cubiloo Cubicles, where innovation meets functionality in restroom design! As a leading toilet partitions manufacturer in Goa, we take pride in delivering premium solutions that redefine the standards of privacy, durability, and aesthetics in commercial and public spaces.
Best Toilet Partitions Manufacturer in Goa – Cubiloo Cubicles
At Cubiloo, we understand that the restroom is a crucial element of any facility, reflecting the overall commitment to hygiene and user experience. That's why we have dedicated ourselves to crafting toilet partitions manufacturer in Goa that not only meet but exceed industry standards. Our commitment to quality ensures that every product we manufacture is robust, long lasting, and designed to withstand the demands of high traffic environments.
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We understand the importance of privacy and accessibility in restroom design. Our partitions are meticulously engineered to provide optimal privacy while ensuring compliance with accessibility standards. Rest assured that your facilities will not only look great but will also cater to the diverse needs of your users.
Custom Solutions for Every Project: At Cubiloo, we recognize that every project is unique. That's why we offer customizable solutions to meet your specific requirements. Our team of experts is ready to collaborate with you to create tailored toilet partitions that seamlessly integrate with your overall design concept. Choose Cubiloo for a green solution that aligns with your eco-conscious goals without compromising on quality.
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Invest in the best for your restroom spaces. Choose Cubiloo India best toilet partition manufacturer in Goa that combine style, durability, and functionality. Contact us today to discuss how we can elevate your project to new heights!.


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Silk-Elastinlike Polymers Enhance the Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic Properties of Semisynthetic Glycosaminoglycans
Rapid clearance, mucosal barriers, and tight epithelium create strong natural barriers within the bladder and bowel, reducing the efficacy of biologics and small molecule therapeutics. Silk-like and Elastin-like motifs were genetically recombined to create silk-elastinlike protein polymers (SELPs) that transition to solid matrices from injectable solutions in response to body temperature. Semi-synthetic glycosaminoglycan ethers (SAGEs) are a novel therapeutic class of polysaccharides that have both anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. We hypothesized that SELP could be leveraged to overcome physiological barriers and enhance delivery and efficacy of water-soluble therapeutics, such as SAGE, to bladder and rectal tissues (see Figure 1).
Material properties of SELP 815K, SELP 415K, Poloxamer 407 (PLX), and Poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-Poly(ethylene glycol)-Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA-PEG-PLGA) triblock copolymer based thermoresponsive delivery systems were evaluated using gelation time assays, rheology, scanning electron microscopy, in vivo delivery of fluorescently labeled SAGE, and enhancement of SAGE efficacy to ameliorate radiation-induced inflammation (RII) or LL-37 induced cystitis (IC) in murine models. Therapeutic efficacy was assessed using gross anatomical inspection, histology, ELISA for MPO activity, and other inflammatory markers, along with mechanical pain sensitization via Von Frey filament testing.
SELP 815K at 12% (w/w) solution in saline transitioned from an injectable fluidic solution to form a robust gel within 3 minutes after heating to 37 °C. SELP released SAGE over a 24 hr period in a controlled and tunable fashion. Both SELPs had lower injection viscosities but sill formed stronger gels compared to PLGA-PEG-PLGA and PLX. SELP enhanced the accumulation of SAGE in both rectal and bladder tissues and significantly improve the amelioration of pain and inflammatory responses in both models (P
These results demonstrate the utility of SELP to enhance the delivery of SAGE within the rectum and bladder to improve treatment options for RII, IC, and other diseases afflicting the gastrointestinal and genitourinary systems.
Funding: This work was supported by the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute Experimental Therapeutics Seed Grant, fellowships from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program #1256065 (MJ) and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program of the University of Utah (BG, MC).


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Le Corbusier
Download1A1-LC-R-E4_cp.jpg (363.5Kb)
Alternative Title
Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Haut de Ronchamp
East elevation, from the southeast, depicting the outdoor chapel; "Surrealism is a key to other late works of Le Corbusier, most notably the church at Ronchamp, France, of 1950-1954... Notre-Dame-du-Haut was a more extreme statement of Le Corbusier's late style. Programmatically,...the church is simple--an oblong nave, two side entrances, an axial main altar, and three chapels beneath towers--as is its structure, with rough masonry walls faced with whitewashed Gunite (sprayed concrete) and a roof of contrasting béton brut [raw concrete]. Formally and symbolically, however, this small building, which is sited atop a hillside with access from the south, is immensely powerful and complex." pp 542-524 Source: Trachtenberg, Marvin; Hyman, Isabelle; Architecture, from prehistory to post-modernism : the Western tradition, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1986 (0810910772) (accessed 1/4/2008)
Type of Work
pilgrimage churchSubject
architectural exteriors, Pilgrims and pilgrimages, Brutalist, Modernist
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only


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October 1, 2016
The sun was close to the horizon as the eastern reaches of Kelowna came into view far down the slopes. The sky carried both the threat of rain and the promise of a beautiful sunset, depending on which way the clouds might move. And just ahead were the Myra Canyon trestles – eighteen famous wooden bridges which conducted the Kettle Valley Railway trains around the rim of the Myra Canyon, which now make this the most spectacular and most visited section of southern British Columbia's rail trail system.
I still had 37 kilometers to ride if I chose to make it to downtown Kelowna that night. But it was easy to see that a good part of the trip would be downhill.
It wasn't long before I arrived at the eastern trailhead for the Myra Canyon trail – a busy parking lot full of hikers and bikers packing into cars and SUVs for the ride home. As I continued towards the first trestle I noticed that the trail surface here was smooth and well-maintained, and that there were still lots of other bikers and walkers in spite of the late-afternoon hour.
An unfortunate fact is that all eighteen trestles are located in one 18-kilometer stretch of trail, so that this ride seemed to fly by in a flash. Or, a fortunate fact is that all eighteen trestles are located in one 18-kilometer stretch of trail, so that I was able to ride to the trailhead at the far side of the canyon in the last hour of sunlight.
If I lived in the Kelowna area, no doubt I would ride this trail many times. But since I'm unlikely to have the chance to visit more than once, I'm glad to have this slideshow from my ride (accompanied here by an excerpt from "Everybody Slides" by the late great dobro player Mike Auldridge).
Now Kelowna and Okanagan Lake were clearly in view, but there was no way of knowing how easy it might be to find my way to downtown in failing light.
Little White Service Road was my route from the west end of Myra Canyon to Kelowna – and though this is a two-lane road open to cars and trucks it's a very rough ride. In a little over 4 kilometers before Little White Service Road meets pavement at June Springs Road, you drop over 400 meters at a 9% grade. On smooth pavement with wide-radius curves this grade would mean you could fly along at 50 or 60 kph. But on a rough gravel road with many sharp turns, it means you get off the saddle and put all your weight on the pedals so your legs can act as shock-absorbers, thrust your butt back over the rear wheel to keep balance, and squeeze the brake levers as hard as you can, roughly every five seconds, to keep your speed under control.
But soon enough I was cruising down the pavement through orchard country, sniffing the scent of ripe apples in the moist late evening air.
It was well after dark when I reach the shore of Okanagan Lake and found a motel near Okanagan College. I had a real surprise when I got off my bike: my left ankle was swollen and throbbing and I could hardly walk. Apparently that ankle had suffered some damage when I fell on a rocky section of the Kettle Valley Trail a few hours earlier. But through the past 40 kilometers – the most thrilling 40 kilometers of riding since I crossed the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park – I had been quite oblivious to the detail of a small sprain.
Ah well, I had a first-aid kit in my pack, and now I had the satisfaction of knowing I hadn't carried that first-aid kit along for nothing. As soon as I wrapped the ankle snugly in an elastic wrap it started to feel better, and most of the pain was gone by morning.
Sunday morning, October 2nd was sunny and calm, and it warmed my heart to know that my bike ride was over, and there was nothing more pressing than exploring the flat neighbourhoods of downtown Kelowna and gazing across the lake at mountains I did not intend to climb.
Top photo: a view across Myra Canyon from one of the eighteen trestles in this section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail.


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One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is a non-profit organization dedicated for the development and construction of the Children's Machine, commonly known as the $100 laptop. The Children's Machine is an inexpensive laptop computer that will be distributed to children, especially in developing countries, to provide them with access to knowledge and modern forms of education.
In this talk, the OLPC project and the Children's Machine will be presented. I'll talk about the concepts of the project, and discuss some of the hardware and software considerations. The presentation will be given with a XO-B2 machine.


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What to give? What to give?
We all have those friends, family, and acquaintances that we would like to share some seasonal cheer with this time of year. The ideal gift is personal, thoughtful, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. (Bonus points for items purchased or produced in bulk!)
That's why homemade treats are the best! But, once you know how bad sugar and most store bought "goodies" are, it's hard to give them to people you care about.
There are plenty of great recipes out there where you can swap out sugar for a natural sweetener. But, mass producing can be tricky and can also get pricey, especially if you are still experimenting with almond flour, coconut flour, and various sweeteners.
So what are other options besides gift cards?
Coffee or tea-Have a variety that you love? Share it! People don't often branch out once they find their morning companion.
Lotion or other self care item-Some people spend money on these items, other's really don't see the need, or don't know which to try. There is something to be said about a nice shave butter/creme.
Candle or candles- I recently received a small soy candle as part of a hostess gift, it was purchased off Etsy and it was AMAZING. I know the moment I have people coming over I run around the house lighting candles. They just make a home more homey, and with 2 dogs and a cat, one can never be too careful.
Stationary, thank you cards, or desk note pad-it doesn't have to be personalized and I can almost guarantee it will get used.
Small succulent or super easy house plant-think aloe vera or "mother-in-law's tongue"
If you do want to try your hand at food items, think about pickles, cheeses, olives, nuts, cured meats, salsa, or the like.
Remember wine and various alcoholic beverages can be keto-friendly too!
This year we are getting together with extended family on my fathers side. It's been a few years since we have all seen each other; new cities, new babies, new jobs, chemo, life… Years ago we stopped doing traditional gifts and now just do a "White Elephant" it's a good time! I'm sure our version is likely different than other's-only 3 "hand changes" then the gift is essentially frozen and the person that drew #1 gets to pick at the end. Every year couples end up plotting their moves, the occasional bribe gets tossed out, and it gets oddly competitive. This year will be no different I am sure. However this year, the $25.00 gift must be at least partially consumable. I have gone around and around in my head about what to bring. Of course I have to purchase two gifts one for me and one for the hubs- he tends to let me do most of the leg work in these situations. But I would love some suggestions! Please, if you have any ideas for a group ranging in ages from 25 to late 60's, I would love to hear them. We are an eclectic (but fun) group, and of course, I want to win the best gift (or 2) in the pile both given and received.


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Lighting up healthcare data with FHIR®: Announcing the Azure API for FHIR
In the last several years we've seen fundamental transformation in healthcare data management, but the biggest, and perhaps most important shift, has been in how healthcare organizations think about cloud technology and their most sensitive health data. Healthcare leaders have transitioned from asking "Why should I manage healthcare data in the cloud?" and are now asking "How?".
The change in the question may seem subtle, but the rigor required to ensure the highest level of privacy, security, and management of Protected Health Information (PHI) in the cloud has been a barrier to entry for much of the healthcare ecosystem. Compounding the difficulty is the state of data: multiple datasets, fragmented sources of truth, inconsistent formats, and exponential growth of data types.
We are now seeing, almost daily, new breakthroughs with applied machine learning on health data. But to truly apply machine learning at scale in the healthcare industry, we must ensure a secure and trusted pathway to manage that data in the cloud. Moving data into the cloud in its current state can reduce cost, but cost isn't the only measure. Healthcare leaders are thinking about how they bring their data into the cloud while increasing opportunities to use and learn from that data: How do we ensure the privacy of patient data? How do we retain control and access management for our data at scale? How do we bring data into the cloud in a way that will accelerate machine learning for the future?
And today I am thrilled to announce Azure technology that begins to answer the question of "how": Azure API for FHIR®.
Azure API for FHIR®: Your health data. Unlocked with FHIR.
Data management in the open source FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource) standard is becoming turnkey for interoperability and machine learning on healthcare data. There is a growing need for healthcare partners to build and maintain FHIR services that exchange and manage data in the FHIR format.
Azure API for FHIR offers exchange of data via a FHIR API and a managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering in Azure, designed for management and persistence of PHI data in the native FHIR format. The FHIR API and data store enables you to securely connect and interact with any system that utilizes FHIR APIs, and Microsoft takes on the operations, maintenance, updates and compliance requirements in the PaaS offering, so you can free up your own operational and development resources.
Key features of the Azure API for FHIR will include:
- Provision and start running in just a few minutes
- High performance, low latency
- Enterprise grade, managed FHIR service
- Role Based Access Control (RBAC) – allowing you to manage access to your data at scale
- Audit log tracking for access, creation, modification, and reads within each data store
- SMART on FHIR functionality
- Secure compliance in the cloud: ISO 27001:2013 certified, supports HIPAA and GDPR, and built on the HITRUST certified Azure platform
- Data is isolated to a unique database per API instance
- Protection of your data with multi-region failover
The cost-effective way to start in the cloud
Because we believe it's important to invest in the FHIR standard, you pay only for underlying database usage and data transfer when using the Azure API for FHIR.
The cloud environment you choose for healthcare applications is critical. You want elastic scale so you pay only for the throughput and storage you need. The Azure services that power Azure API for FHIR are designed for rapid performance no matter what size datasets you're managing. The data persistence layer in the Azure API for FHIR leverages Azure Cosmos DB, which guarantees latencies at the 99th percentile and guarantees high availability with multi-homing capabilities.
Those with experience in healthcare data management may wonder: we have HL7 standards in the industry already, why do we need FHIR to bring data into the cloud? HL7 has served the industry well since its first implementations in the 1980s. But as it's evolved, customizations of HL7 can translate to a heavy lift for the future of healthcare learning: data science. FHIR is gaining traction because it provides a consistent, open source, extensible data standard that can scale as we learn. In order to accelerate machine learning on healthcare data, organizations are shifting data to the FHIR format as they transition into the cloud: saving both time and money.
Where can I apply the Azure API for FHIR?
Azure API for FHIR is intended for customers developing solutions that integrate healthcare data from one or more systems of record. The API promotes the use of ingesting, managing, and persisting that data in native FHIR resources. Leveraging an open source standard (FHIR) enables interoperability for data sharing both within and outside of your ecosystem and helps accelerates the machine learning process on data is normalized in FHIR.
Our customers are already seeing powerful scenarios for FHIR applications:
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research in Seattle, WA is developing innovative IoMT and patient applications to remotely monitor patients undergoing chemotherapy. While in development, they needed a secure, fully managed backend service to handle patient data across multiple participating hospitals. To ensure they could design once and integrate quickly into a broad number hospital EHR systems, they are using Azure API for FHIR and a SMART on FHIR implementation.
Provider Ecosystems:
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has been working with Microsoft FHIR offerings in their hospital systems: "The ability to one-click deploy a FHIR server as a managed service allows us to think more about our applications and customer needs, and less about the plumbing required to store and represent clinical data." – Brian Kolowitz, director of product management, UPMC Enterprises.
Associate Dean of Research Information Technology at University of Michigan, Dr. Sachin Kheterpal, is leading efforts to streamline data ingestion and management for Michigan Medicine's research teams. To drive faster research innovation and ML development, University of Michigan will be piloting the management of data through the Azure API instead of their on-premise systems. "We're expecting to reduce operational workloads, increase data control, improve data de-identification, and enable our data scientists to move faster with data normalized in the FHIR standard that benefits from a community of developers based upon FHIR resources."
If you want additional support as you integrate FHIR, we've also been working with over 25 partners in our Early Access Program. ISV and SI partners in the Early Access Program understand the technical details and applications for Azure API for FHIR and can help get your data into FHIR and the cloud even more easily.
Investing in FHIR to accelerate AI in healthcare
The Azure ecosystem already has robust components for Microsoft partners to build secure and compliant health solutions in the cloud on their own, but we're going to continue making it easier. We're focused on delivering turnkey cloud solutions so our healthcare partners can focus their attention on innovation. Check out Azure API for FHIR and do more with your health data.
FHIR® is the registered trademark of HL7 and is used with the permission of HL7
Source: Azure Blog Feed


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The shift from film to digital technology appears not only to have improved cancer detection rates for diagnostic mammography but also to have increased the abnormal interpretation rate, which may lead to more women undergoing biopsies for benign conditions, according to a new study that appears online in Radiology.
The major new study comes from the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC), a large, diverse set of breast imaging facilities that provides data linked to state cancer registries to help evaluate breast cancer screening and diagnosis in the United States.
In 2005, the consortium released a study on the performance of diagnostic mammography in the United States. Diagnostic mammography is used for women presenting with clinical signs and symptoms who have a recent abnormal screening mammogram or are undergoing a short-interval follow-up for a finding previously assessed as probably benign. At the time of the previous BCSC report, film mammography was the standard. With digital technology replacing film, the researchers decided it was time to revisit the old benchmarks, according to study lead author Brian L. Sprague, PhD, from the University of Vermont Cancer Center in Burlington, Vermont. The university leads one of several active registries in the BCSC.
"Our goals in this study were to produce benchmarks that individual radiologists and breast imaging facilities can use to compare with their own practices and to convey trends in how the metrics have changed over the past 10 to 15 years," Sprague says.
This study included data from six BCSC registries comprising 418 radiologists and 92 radiology facilities. Mammography indication and assessments were collected on women undergoing diagnostic digital mammography and linked with cancer diagnoses from state cancer registries. The database included 401,548 examinations conducted from 2007–2013 on 265,360 women.
Comparison with the results from the earlier BCSC benchmarks publication revealed that the cancer detection rate rose from 25.3 per 1,000 in 2005 to 34.7 per 1,000 in the new study. The change likely reflects improvements in mammography imaging technology, which permit the visualization of smaller lesions and greater detection of calcifications, resulting in increased cancer detection, according to the researchers.
Alongside improved cancer detection, some less desirable trends emerged. The abnormal interpretation rate, or the rate at which women are called back for biopsy, rose from 8% in 2005 to 12.6% in the new study.
"While the improvements in cancer detection rates are encouraging, the increased abnormal interpretation rate is somewhat troubling in that we're trying to keep this rate down," Sprague says.
An increase in mammographic cancer detection does not necessarily have to come with a substantial rise in the abnormal interpretation rate, Sprague notes. For instance, Europe has been able to achieve cancer detection rates similar to United States rates with much lower abnormal interpretation rates. Increased utilization of double reading in Europe, where at least two radiologists interpret the same exam, may be a factor. In addition, variables such as fear of litigation can affect abnormal interpretation rates, Sprague says.
Another concerning trend was the drop in positive predictive value (PPV), or the probability that patients with a positive diagnostic mammogram truly have a malignancy. PPV for a biopsy recommended (PPV2) fell from 31.5% in 2005 to 27.5% in the new study. The lower PPV2 results from the abnormal interpretation rate increasing much more than the cancer detection rate, the researchers indicate, suggesting that improvements in imaging may do more to permit the visualization of additional findings than helping in discriminating benign from malignant findings.
"The results of the study highlight specific areas where quality improvement initiatives should focus," Sprague says. "Overall, there is a lot of good performance out there, but there are definitely areas for improvement in positive predictive value and abnormal interpretation rate."
— Source: RSNA


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California Gov. Gavin Newsom's first-in-the-nation plan to pay for and deliver three meals a day to vulnerable seniors during the coronavirus crisis has less than two weeks to launch before federal funding runs out, government documents show.
It wasn't clear how many, if any, cities and counties would be delivering meals in substantial numbers by May 10, when money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is set to end. Also unclear is how much FEMA has budgeted for the program, though it told The Associated Press there is no preset limit.
FEMA says it will cover three-quarters of the cost of preparing and delivering the food made by local restaurants, which could quickly soar into tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in the nation's most populous state, which has 5.7 million seniors. The state, cities and counties would pick up the rest of the cost, but local governments would also get an infusion of cash from sales taxes they collect on the meals.
To keep the federal money flowing, the Newsom administration must give a "detailed justification" for continuing the so-called emergency feeding program, FEMA said in an April 10 letter.
"While it is anticipated that, upon successful program execution, the state will request an extension, there is no guarantee it will be granted," the Governor's Office of Emergency Services acknowledged in a planning document.
Without an extension, FEMA said it would cover costs "necessary to end these services in an orderly manner" for 15 days beyond May 10.
Brian Ferguson, a spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, said the state had not submitted a request for an extension and would review the program before deciding.
"The number of meals served will depend on the number of counties that decide to participate," he said in an email.
California requested the program in a letter to FEMA on April 1 and got approval nine days later. Newsom didn't announce it and provide details on its scope until two weeks later.
Newsom gave no hint of the tight timeframe for financing when he unveiled the program Friday. Also, while predicting that over a million seniors could benefit, he didn't illuminate a key element for qualifying for $66-a-day meals: Recipients must be unable to purchase groceries and cook themselves.
It isn't clear how cities and counties could quickly determine who fits that criteria. They also are just beginning to figure out what restaurants would cook the meals and how they would be delivered.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke hopefully Monday of having the first meals delivered by taxis next week, building off an existing food-delivery program. He didn't estimate how many people could be served.
Los Angeles County, the nation's largest with 10 million residents, and neighboring San Bernardino County are developing plans, with no estimate for when they might be ready.
California Pizza Kitchen was among the restaurants hoping to get a chance at preparing the meals, calling it "exciting." But it said it was waiting for more details to determine if it would apply.
At Nightbird in San Francisco, owner Kim Alter said in an email that the restaurant is "working to be a part of this."
"No word yet as to how it will play out," Alter said.
The meal plan was announced as Newsom and other state officials have started discussing easing stay-at-home orders imposed last month to deter the spread of the virus.
Newsom has said the restrictions will likely last longer for people 65 and older because they are at greater risk of more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.
To be eligible for the meal program, seniors must either live alone or with one other person who is eligible. They can't earn more than $74,940 per year, or $101,460 for a household of two, and they must have documented exposure to the coronavirus or be at high risk of exposure. Anyone already getting money from other federal food programs would be ineligible.
Along with getting isolated seniors free, nutritious food, the intent was to generate income for cities and counties and steer business to restaurants devastated after sit-down dining rooms shuttered. The meals can't include sugary drinks or high-salt options.
Jot Condie, who heads the California Restaurant Association, predicted that virtually any restaurant could qualify, from high-end steakhouses to small mom-and-pop diners. The group previously said as many as one-third of the state's restaurants might never reopen.
"For a restaurant that qualifies this will be ... the only predictable business that they have," Condie said. "It's three meals a day to a set population."
Chris Hoene, executive director of the nonprofit California Budget & Policy Center, which advocates for low-income people, said that even if it takes a few months to get the meals to vulnerable seniors, "the need is still going to be there."
"We are a big state. And whenever we put new systems in place, it always takes more time," he said.


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In a lot of my patterns I require a whole bunch of wrap-and-turns (where you move your yarn to the front, slip a stitch, move the yarn to the back, slip the stitch back to the left needle, and turn your work). When you've done this and come back to the wrapped stitch, you'll find that it looks like this:
If you knit it how it is, you're going to see the yarn that's wrapping the stitch as a little bar. If you're OK with this, let it go, but I prefer to make my work look a little more seamless. In order to make the wrap invisible, you should knit the stitch with its wrap. First, you should insert your right needle underneath the yarn that is wrapping the stitch.See? It's easy! Now just place the tip of that needle into the stitch you want to knit:
But you can't quite knit them like that all the time (sometimes, if your stitches are loose enough, you can bring the working yarn through both loops as so, but I find it's a little hit-or-miss), so what I do is I slip the wrapped stitch off the left needle knitwise, then place them both on, together, as so:
Then knit both stitch and wrap together. It will be a tiny bit visible on the wrong side of the work, but after blocking, even the wrong side will look flawless! I hope this little tutorial helps you guys out!


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North Miami Beach Office Signs
If you need a large set of signs that are cohesive in communicating your company brand and has wayfinding and accessibility functions, then Cruz Signs has got your back!
Office signs are essentially individual signage elements that exhibit unity in appearance in order to reinforce a corporate brand in a building or area. As your leading North Miami Beach office signs provider, we understand the significance of unifying the look of your office's visual elements based on your branding guidelines. For all your indoor and outdoor office sign goals, Cruz Signs is here for you.
Call Cruz Signs at (305) 709-4982 for your Free Consultation!
Office Signs That You Need
There is a perfect sign for each business type. The industry is filled with an extensive selection of signage looks and styles. However, not all of them may fit your business, they have corresponding functions and purposes intended for differing business types, specific facilities, and brand guidelines. At Cruz Signs, we are more than happy to help you decide which ones fit your company and facilities best.
Here are some of the office signs that we offer:
- Lobby logo sign
- ADA signs
- Directory signs
- Room identification signs
- Door signs
- Floor graphics
- Wall murals
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Office signs are used to perform several functions inside a business space. They can be used in establishing a company's brand, helping people navigate inside your building, visually communicating the company's history, displaying frequently asked information, and improving your business client perception. They can also be tools of accessibility for the differently-abled.
For any need you may have for North Miami Beach office signs, Cruz Signs can do it for you.
Creative and Impactful Office Signage
At Cruz Signs, we don't just put signs randomly around your building. We make sure that they're designed, installed, and placed properly to perform their functions well. To do this, we begin all our projects with proper consultations, assessment, and even on-site inspections of your building.
We want to know your company more closely, from your branding guidelines and signage function goals to how your building looks outside and inside. Once we acquire all the relevant information, we can discuss all our available products and services and give you professional recommendations on using them effectively for your business.
Whether you're putting up your office or you're running a mature business that has been in operations for many years, and you just want to upgrade and update your branding, our company will help you get the most out of office signs.
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There's no "one solution fits all" for varying types of work areas. A school will have different signage needs from those of a corporate office, a company head office, a satellite office, a professional services office, or a healthcare provider's office. For any business type you have, Cruz Signs can handle all your needs to get the best North Miami Beach office signs for you.
You can avail of our services even if you need to install office signs in different branches. We'll plan and design everything you need in-house. We will also help you find the best, fastest, and most cost-effective logistical solutions to distribute your office signs in various locations.
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Cruz Signs is a full-service provider of high-quality, attractive, durable, and cohesive office signs. We offer all the necessary services, from the initial consultation to the final installation and finishing stages, whether you're aiming for massive, wall-sized projects or just small bits of visuals throughout your interior.
We are also eager to help out in deciding which sign types would be best for your company. We are dedicated to providing our clients with only the highest quality of office signage products the industry can offer.
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Breakfast Topic: Brewing up better faires and festivals
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.
I've just spent a day being Scottish. My father's family hails from Scotland, and the summer months will find me out and about at a variety of highland games in the Midwest. Sometimes I'm a spectator, and sometimes I run a tent for my clan. There's a general understanding that the highland games were created to prepare men for doing battle with the English. Each part of what has become the athletic portion of the games can be traced back a need for hurling hurl rocks, logs or flaming bales of vegetation at advancing troops or fortified positions. At the games I just attended, a group gave demonstrations on medieval swordplay.
In World of Warcraft, the Argent Tournament springs immediately to mind. We were informed this was a training ground to prepare us for an assault on the LIch King and his forces. The Darkmoon Faire and Brewfest are examples of festivals with games of chance, food and vendors, and tickets you have to procure by participating in events or getting lots of items requested by vendors.
We've heard rumors (or perhaps it was a column of wishful thinking on WoW.com's part) about an upgrade to the Darkmoon Faire. I'd go more often if I could make an attempt to toss a caber, the stone or the sheaf. These are strength and agility events; having purchasable trinkets for both attributes would give everyone a chance to succeed. Rewards could be class-specific buff items of a certain duration. If you can get the caber to twelve o'clock (the prime position for this event; check out the North American Scottish Games Association for the rules), you get a scroll that will give a hunter an additional 50 agility for 10 minutes. It might be something of minor interest to a level 80 -- but you can be sure I'd be at the faire, just to try to toss a caber.
I'd also like the ability to set up a guild tent. Charge me 5k gold, but give me the ability to have a tent at the faire where we could recruit, give away items or allow our crafters to provide their services. This is not a roleplaying event. This is another way for those unguilded people who don't read the realm or WoW recruiting forums or pay no attention to the recruitment spam in trade or general chat to talk with guilds and maybe find one they like.
There have to be other festivals celebrating specific cultures that have events which could be incorporated into the Darkmoon Faire. Right now, the faire isn't something most people attend, beyond a "what is that?" the first time they see it. By incorporating more ideas from current world festivals, the faire could be something incredibly exciting. What are your suggestions?
Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for Breakfast Topics via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours!


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Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
Ronan Devlin is a UK based artist whose work looks at the intersection of emotion, sense perception and the material world. Working across print, screen and multi-sensory installation, with a focus on audience engagement, he produces self-motivated and commissioned works which have been widely exhibited.
Public Artworks
2019 LOOM (With Michael Flückiger), Broadgate, London
Solo Exhibitions
2017 Veillance, White Box, Pontio, Bangor University
2014 In Flow, Un Deg Un, Wrexham (Oriel Wrecsam Offsite)
Select Group Exhibitions
2019 Winter Lights, Canary Wharf
2018 Lightwaves, Salford
2018 Light Up Lancaster
2018 LIGHTPOOL, Blackpool
2018 LIGHT NIGHT, Leeds
2018 Design West, Connemara Ireland
2018 Wal Wen, Pontio, Bangor
2017 OVER (T)HERE, Made in New York Media Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2017 LLAWN 05, Llandudno
2017 Here Comes Everybody, Global experimental online/cable channel
2017 Artificial Idiocracy, Raumschiff, Linz, Switzerland
2017 Winter Lights Festival, Canary Wharf
2016 LIGHTPOOL, Blackpool
2016 Lumen Prize Exhibition Tour, Shanghai, New York, London, Caerphilly Castle
2015 CALL, Haus of Helfa, resident and exhibiting artist, Llandudno, Wales
2015 Build Your Own exhibition and workshop, FACT, Liverpool
2015 Videoformes festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France
2014 Colony 14, Cardigan, Wales, UK
2013 CodeD, Manifest Gallery, Cincinatti, USA
Select Awards, Commissions, Grants, Residencies
2019 LOOM (With Michael Flückiger), Broadgate, London
2019 Winter Lights, Canary Wharf
2018 SHINE commission, Light Up The North
2018 Research and development grant, Arts Council of Wales
2017 Wal Wen, Pontio, Bangor (commission)
2017 Small project grant, Arts Council of Wales
2015/16 Finalist, Lumen Prize (& touring exhibition)
2015 Winner Open Call 2, The Space
2015 Shortlist, EVA International, Ireland
2015 Shortlist, 'Secret' Science Gallery, Dublin
2015 Large project grant, Arts Council of Wales
2015 'Question Spaces', workshop commission, Oriel MOSTYN offsite
2015 '&', workshop commission, Oriel MOSTYN
2015 Long list, Daiwa Anglo Japanese Art Prize
2014/16 Designer-in-residence, Pontio Innovation, Bangor University,
2014 Shortlist Open Call 1, The Space
2014 Criw Celf, workshop commission, Flintshire County Council
2013 Large project grant, Arts Council of Wales
2013 Gronant & Talacre Festival of Light: Commissioned artist
2012/13 R&D project award, Arts Council of Wales
41 Cleveland Road
North Shields
Tyne & Wear
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 75 7710 7438
Twitter: @Ronandevlin
Instagram: ronandevlinartist
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!


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Is the current U.S. Supreme Court conservative? No, it is not. And certainly not if you define "conservative" as interpreting the Constitution according to the understanding of the makers.
The claim that the Court has a conservative majority is certainly widespread. Googling the phrase "conservative supreme court" turned up over 38 million hits. The more specific phrase, "conservative majority supreme court" yielded 3.75 million. TheNew York Times has even editorialized that "the aggressiveness of the majority's conservatism" actually renders the court "radical."
A careful reading of a study by the Times itself shows the latter claim to be pure bunk. Although the headline affixed to the study suggested that it found the Court to be conservative, that headline was somewhat misleading. The study's findings were much less definitive. It did conclude that (1) "the recent shift to the right is modest," (2) "the court's decisions have hardly been uniformly conservative," and (3) by contemporary public standards the court is centrist, not conservative.
Careful analysis of the Times study by Professor Jonathan Adler turned up more. Professor Adler demonstrated that the study actually found that the current justices are restrained, not necessarily conservative. They form, in point of fact, the most restrained bench in decades. That means they don't change the law much one way or another.
Now, you might think that "Restrained = Conservative." But think again: When the Court leaves existing constitutional jurisprudence untouched, it protects constitutional jurisprudence that is mostly liberal. You see, most existing constitutional jurisprudence is the product of the "progressive" justices who dominated the Court for the greater part of the 20th century. That jurisprudence often disregarded established methods of interpretation, overruled established doctrines, authorized huge expansions of federal power, and re-wrote important parts of the Constitution to serve "progressive" ends. When the Court leaves "progressive" jurisprudence untouched, the results are mostly "progressive" decisions.
Ironically, some of the cases liberals complain most about today—such as the Citizens United ruling on corporate campaign spending—are merely applications of rules formulated in prior years by "progressive" majorities.
Not only has the current Court refused to cashier most of this liberal jurisprudence, but it sometimes has expanded it. A good example is Lawrence v. Texas, a decision authored by Justice Kennedy. Lawrence ruled that anti-sodomy laws violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, although such laws had been part of the western tradition for 3000 years. (Needless to say, there is no evidence the Fourteenth Amendment had anything to say on the subject. And, just to be clear, I do not personally favor anti-sodomy laws; that is a different question from constitutionality, however.)
The Times editorial asserting that the present Court is "radical" was triggered by the conclusion of five justices that Obamacare's individual mandate was not justified by the Commerce or Necessary and Proper Clauses. But that was not even a conservative conclusion, much less a radical one. The five justices called into question no current congressional power. They did not reverse a single liberal holding—not even the rogue 1944 decision that insurance is "commerce." They merely stated that the Commerce and Necessary and Proper Clauses did not authorize a new congressional power. Even more to the point, the Court ultimately upheld the exercise of that new power by pretending that the mandate was an indirect tax.
Among the Supreme Court's membership, a plurality (four of nine) are fairly reliable liberals. Only one, Clarence Thomas, is "conservative" in the sense that he consistently interprets the Constitution according to the rules generally applied during the Constitution's first 150 years. Justice Scalia usually does so as well—but not always: In Gonzales v. Raich, he joined a liberal majority that extended the congressional Commerce Power to window-box plants.
Justice Kennedy frequently sides with the four liberals. Chief Justice Roberts, as the Obamacare case illustrates, usually protects the status quo and the inflated pretensions of Congress. Justice Alito, while more conservative than Roberts, has been mostly unwilling to reverse liberal constitutional jurisprudence.
Admittedly, the present Supreme Court is more restrained than the activist benches of the mid-20th century. Perhaps it would be fair to characterize it as centrist or moderate.
But conservative? Not hardly.
- The Supreme Court Was Wrong About Taxes - July 10, 2024
- The Supreme Court Bump Stock Case: Defeat for the "Deep State" - June 26, 2024
- American Founder Jonathan Smith's Inspiring Speech - May 29, 2024


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Syncronia offers you ever growing collection of free downloadable 3D models. We select only from among the best brands of furniture and furnishing, interior design and architectural products, and provide you with free 3D models in many different BIM and CAD formats.
Read moreOn this page you will find all the free 3D models for every line of products, and not just a small selection. On Syncronia you will find all the information you need to select the right model and design better and faster with the full range of furniture and interior design products available on our website. The 3D models provide you with the highest quality photorealistic renders of architectural projects.
You can also download valuable information from the individual product pages that will help you assess which products are the best fit for your project: technical specifications and documents, catalogues and photographs. You will find everything you need to successfully use the product you chose for your rendering.
The product categories for which 3D models are available include architectural materials and building envelopes as well as furniture and other home furnishing products. Syncronia also offers a vast array of 3D textures for materials and surfaces.
All of the services Syncronia offers are completely free of charge, including the 3D model downloads and the creation of your very own professional area on our website, which will be indexed by the search engines in your profession and area. All you need to do is register.
Once you've registered, you can indicate which furniture, interior design and architecture brands you would like to receive information and updates from. You will never receive email advertisements and you can change your user preferences and cancel your registration at any time.
The free 3D models available for download come in different formats depending on the brand, but you can usually choose from among the following: Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, 3ds Max and an exchange format (usually FBX). If you have any questions about importing a 3D model of furniture into your design software or rendering, you can fill the form at the end of each product page to receive technical support.
For quick access to the information you are looking for on the website, follow these links:


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For millions of young adults in this country, the weekend will pass in an alcoholic blur. They'll toss down drink after drink as fast as they can. Then they'll throw up, pass out, revive themselves—and reach for more booze. For 1 or 2 of these otherwise healthy kids, the next drinking binge could end in death.
Binge drinking is drinking to get drunk—the point at which drinking can lead to health or behavioral problems. For men, that means having 5 or more drinks, 1 right after the other. Women have a lower tolerance for alcohol. So their binges are defined as 4 or more drinks in a row.
Overall alcohol use among young people has decreased in recent years. But the number of binge drinkers remains high.
By the time they're college seniors, most students moderate their drinking. But by then, many already have been hurt by their bouts of heavy drinking.
Besides the risk of death from overdose, binge drinking involves other dangerous or negative consequences, including:
Accidents. Alcohol impairs sensory perceptions, judgment, and reaction time.
Date rape. Alcohol can be a significant factor in sexual assaults.
Unprotected sex. Heavy drinkers are at greater risk for AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). They also have a greater chance of unintended pregnancy and poor pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage and stillbirth.
Violence. Young people who drink are more likely than others to be victims of violent crime, including rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.
Alcoholism. Some college students who abuse alcohol will become alcoholics. Long-term (chronic) alcohol use can damage the liver and heart. It can also increase the risk of certain cancers.
Bad grades. Students who drink typically get less restorative sleep. This results in poor focus and attention, and lower grades.
Unintentional injuries. Binge drinking is linked to car crashes, falls, burns, and alcohol poisoning.
Memory and learning problems. College students who binge drink report problems with falling behind or missing classes, trouble concentrating, poor performance on exams, and getting lower grades.
Here are ways you can help your child stay away from binge drinking:
Make your attitudes clear. Discuss your expectations for your child's college lifestyle and academic performance.
Show interest. Ask about grades, classes, friendships, social activities, and other healthy aspects of campus life. Let your child know these things are important.
Check your own behavior. Are you promoting the idea that drinking to excess is OK, without realizing it?
Work with your child's college. Encourage things such as substance-free dorms and social events. Ask the administration to encourage bar owners not to offer happy hours and other promotions.
Start young and don't give up. What parents say and do really can make a difference. The earlier you start your prevention efforts, the better. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests parents start teaching their children about alcohol as early as age 9. This includes being an appropriate role model about alcohol use.


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Postal closures concern election officials, voters
Elections officials in several states are concerned that the closing of mail-processing centers and post offices could disrupt vote-by-mail balloting this year, a potential problem that has led some members of Congress to call for a delay until after the November elections.
The U.S. Postal Service recently announced that it is moving ahead with plans to close at least 223 processing centers and thousands of post offices, adding to the 153 centers and 965 post offices that have closed since 2008. The moves are part of a wide-ranging cost-cutting strategy for an agency that estimates it will lose up to $18 billion a year by 2015.
Voting officials are raising a variety of concerns, depending on the circumstances in their states. Meanwhile, postal customers have security concerns about leaving ballots in their mailboxes to be picked up by postal carriers.
In California and Arizona, officials say the closing of processing centers could delay the delivery of mail-in ballots beyond the deadline to have them counted.
The state registrar in Ohio wrote the postmaster general with concerns about ensuring the security of ballots sent to processing centers that will be across state lines.
"We just have to have a moratorium through this presidential year to avoid disastrous consequences," said California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who wrote a letter last week to the postmaster general urging a halt to the closures until after the November election. "I'm asking for a time-out."
In Oregon, the first state to require vote-by-mail, the state registrar says voters in rural areas where post offices are scheduled to be closed may have nowhere nearby to drop off their ballots. That would be especially problematic for those who have become accustomed to mailing them on the final weekend.
But officials dismissed concerns raised in other states, saying they're well-equipped to deal with the changes, in part because they have such extensive experience with mail voting.
The Postal Service has said the next round of facilities won't close until August, and it would then halt the process temporarily at the end of the month to minimize disruptions ahead of the general election.
The agency might begin its closures in states that already have held their primaries, Postal Service spokeswoman Patricia Licata said. She acknowledged that the consolidation will lead to longer delivery times but dismissed concerns that it could disenfranchise voters.
"We realize that election mail is vital to the country, and we don't want to do anything to disrupt that," she said.
Mindful of the concerns back home, some members of Congress say they plan to ask for another delay, after the Postal Service agreed last year to a five-month moratorium on the closures that ends in mid-May.
According to the Postal Service, once the moratorium lifts, the earliest a mail processing center could close would be August, partly because the mail agency must work to reassign employees. The first mail processing centers to be affected, which are yet to be determined, would be a handful of places involving the least difficulty in transferring employees.
Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat who sits on the committee that oversees the agency, is working to minimize the effects of the cuts. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said he plans to file an amendment seeking to delay the closures until after the presidential election. He said they would disproportionately affect rural voters.
"Closing these facilities carries many unintended consequences," Wyden, a Democrat, said in a statement last week. "It is not a risk worth taking."
Congress is expected to take up the overhaul of the Postal Service in the coming weeks.
Postal closures are unpopular with constituents, but spokeswoman Shannan Velayas said California's secretary of state Bowen is concerned only with the integrity of elections and that her letter to the postmaster general was not politically motivated.
While voting by mail has been mandatory in Oregon since 2000, it is growing nationwide.
One in five voters cast ballots by mail in 2010, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, up from one in eight in 2004. In some states, such as Washington, ballots must be merely postmarked by Election Day to count.
In others, they must be received by the time polls close.
The Postal Service changes worry some voters, who wonder if their ballots will be delivered in time or whether they will have a convenient way to mail them.
Charles Henze, who has voted by mail in California since he first registered, said the cutbacks have him considering whether to get off the permanent absentee voter rolls this year.
Henze, 46, likes to wait until the last minute to cast his vote. Now that he may have to mail his ballot sooner, he is leaning toward voting in person at his polling place in the eastern San Francisco Bay area city of Pleasanton.
"With primaries in particular, by the time you get to voting, the situation can have changed," he said.
It's a somewhat different concern for Nancy Bowers, who lives on a farm outside Fort Rock, Ore., where the post office is under review for closure. She is worried there will not be a drop box close enough to make voting convenient.
"If they make us go somewhere else, some people may have to drive 50 miles," said Bowers, 65. "They'll consider not voting. A lot of people will."
Fort Rock, about 60 miles south of Bend in central Oregon, is nine miles from Bowers' farm. She said if the post office closes, she would have to drive at least 20 miles to drop off a ballot. For the November general election, that could mean driving in snow.
Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown is considering asking county registrars to establish more ballot drop-boxes at libraries and other public buildings, including shuttered post offices.
In Arizona, where more than 1 million residents voted absentee last year, election officials are advising residents to get their ballots in the mail by the Wednesday before an election. Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said the change could have the biggest effect on residents of Indian reservations and others in rural areas who only make weekly trips to town to pick up mail.
"We're going to have to go back and educate voters," she said.
Delays are among the concerns of Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who sent a letter about the processing center closures last week to the postmaster general. He expressed concern that Ohio ballots could pass through out-of-state processing centers on the way to and from voters.
"A ballot leaving the state by its very nature is a problem," Husted said in a follow-up telephone interview.
His spokesman, Matt McClellan, said the longer trip increases the risk of ballots being damaged, lost or delayed. McClellan said those concerns would be magnified in a presidential election year, when the number of voters and mail-in ballots is highest.
California poses a special problem because of its sheer size.
About 40 percent of California voters are registered for permanent absentee ballots, compared with 5 percent in 2000. Nearly 6 million residents voted by mail in 2008, the last presidential election.
The Postal Service has closed four processing centers in the state since 2008 and plans to close 14 more. Some county registrars said the closures already have had an effect.
The secretary of state said mailed ballots took from five to seven days to arrive at county election offices during last year's local elections in areas that lost distribution centers, rather than the normal one to three days.
Gail Pellerin, president of California's county clerks association, said postal cutbacks had delayed ballot delivery and were a major reason some absentee votes went uncounted last year. Pellerin said she has noticed that some voters have begun using private package companies such as FedEx to overnight their ballots.
"There's nothing worse than having to timestamp those in as too late," she said.
A taste of summer on Long Island NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday food writer Marie Elena Martinez take a look at the hottest places to dine on Long Island this summer.
A taste of summer on Long Island NewsdayTV's Elisa DiStefano and Newsday food writer Marie Elena Martinez take a look at the hottest places to dine on Long Island this summer.


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One Of The Most Versatile Print Products In The World. POSTERS Have Served Every Purpose Imaginable, From a Business Promotion Message To Just Plain Looking Cool. Whether You're Decorating Homes Or Offices Or Branding Your Business at An industry tradeshow Or Displaying A New Product
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Section 1201(a)(1) title 17, United States Code
Federal Register Notice Seeking Written Comments
(October 15, 2002)
Petition by Static Control Components, Inc.
Federal Register Notice Seeking Comments on Petition (February 10, 2003)
Reply Comments
Replies to Static Control Petition
Hearings Schedule
Hearing Transcripts
Post-hearing Responses
Letter from Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, coveying the views of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) (August 11, 2003)
Statement of the Librarian of Congress on the Anticircumvention Rulemaking: TEXT
Determination of the Librarian of Congress and Text of the Regulation: PDF, TEXT
The Recommendation of the Register of Copyrights: PDF
On October 28, 2003, the Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The four classes of works exempted are:
(1) Compilations consisting of lists of Internet locations blocked by commercially marketed filtering software applications that are intended to prevent access to domains, websites or portions of websites, but not including lists of Internet locations blocked by software applications that operate exclusively to protect against damage to a computer or computer network or lists of Internet locations blocked by software applications that operate exclusively to prevent receipt of email.
(2) Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete.
(3) Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.
(4) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling of the ebook's read-aloud function and that prevent the enabling of screen readers to render the text into a specialized format.
Definitions. (1) "Internet locations" are defined to include domains, uniform resource locators (URLs), numeric IP addresses or any combination thereof. (2) "Obsolete" shall mean "no longer manufactured or reasonably available in the commercial marketplace." (3) "Specialized format," "digital text" and "authorized entities" shall have the same meaning as in 17 U.S.C. §121.
These exemptions will remain in effect through October 27, 2006.
The Copyright Office is conducting the rulemaking proceeding mandated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which provides that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.
The purpose of this proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention of access controls. This page contains links to published documents in this proceeding.
The Notice of Inquiry in this second anticircumvention rulemaking requested written comments from all interested parties, including representatives of copyright owners, educational institutions, libraries and archives, scholars, researchers and members of the public, in order to elicit evidence on whether noninfringing uses of certain classes of works are, or are likely to be, adversely affected by this prohibition on the circumvention of measures that control access to copyrighted works. The initial round of comments (due December 18, 2002) was restricted to comments proposing exemptions for specific classes of works. Reply comments (due February 19) were submitted in opposition to or in further support of exemptions proposed in the initial comments.
The Copyright Office held hearings in this rulemaking in Washington, D.C., on April 11, May 1, May 2, and May 9, 2003, and in Los Angeles, California, on May 14 and 15. (Read more information on Washington, D.C., hearings and on the Los Angeles hearings.)
The hearings that were scheduled to take place on April 15 and 30 were cancelled. Instead there was an afternoon hearing on May 1, a full day of hearings on May 2, and a hearing on Friday, May 9. (For more information, see the Federal Register Notice.)
See the 1201 Hearing Page for additional information about the agenda and for full transcripts.
The entire record of the previous anticircumvention rulemaking is available.
For additional background on the anticircumvention provisions generally and the previous anticircumvention rulemaking proceeding, see 64 FR 66139 (1999).
For the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights and the determination of the Librarian of Congress in the previous anticircumvention rulemaking, see 65 FR 64555 October 27, 2000.


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The following terms and conditions (the "Terms and Conditions") govern your use of the Universal Music Group Web Sites which consist of Interscope Records, Dreamworks Records, A&M Octone Records, Geffen Records, Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, Lost Highway Records, MCA Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Universal Republic Records, Universal Records South, Verve Music Group, Decca Label Group, Universal Music Latin Entertainment and Universal Music Enterprises as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. a domain names (collectively, the "Site"). The Site is made available by Universal Music Group and its affiliates ("Universal" or "we" or "us"). We may change the Terms and Conditions from time to time, at any time without notice to you, by posting such changes on the Site. BY USING THE SITE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS APPLIED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE. If you do not agree to these Terms and Conditions, you may not access or otherwise use the Site.
1. Proprietary Rights
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12. Applicable Laws
We control and operate the Site from our offices in the United States of America. We do not represent that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Persons who choose to access the Site from other locations do so on their own initiative, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.
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14. Miscellaneous
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text:
"The woman who doesn't require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet."
Mohadesa Najumi
"Everybody is looking for validation, no matter who you are, and I think that's a need of the human condition – to look for affection or recognition or validation."
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
So. We all need validation.
It would be silly to suggest you don't.
That said.
If you type in 'seeking validation' in google you get about 341,000 results in about .57 seconds and, well, they are almost all about 'approval seeking behaviors you need to stop. '
That sucks.
Basically what this means is that if you went solely by what you could find online you could quite possibly think that you should simply "damn the torpedoes and go full speed ahead without anyone's approval or validation at any point in the trip."
Basically this suggests "fuck what other people think … fuck approval."
That seems slightly out of whack from reality to me.
I am not going to suggest you should be waiting around for someone to validate your behavior or your existence … but … it kinda seems to make some sense to receive at least some validation 'nudges' on occasion.
Maybe just to make sure you are still within the guardrails of what makes sense and that you haven't completely lost any sense of direction.
Maybe just to make sure your head hasn't got too big … or too small.
Maybe just to make sure you are still … well … doing the right things and making the right decisions.
To be clear. You absolutely should not assess self-worth from solely from external validation. That is not only crazy, but basically means you are chasing Life and not leading Life.
All I am suggesting is that external validation, when viewed as some sign posts in your Life road, ain't a bad thing.
And, yes, even good external validation can be tricky.
Most people seek validation <for who they are, their behavior, response to a situation> because they worry they cannot be objective or that they might be prejudiced/biased by their own beliefs.
And, yes, that is a fair worry.
We are all influenced in some degree by our own personal perspective on things.
But here is the big problem looming in front of you if you do not trust yourself because of this self-distrust – you are then assuming the external validators will actually be objective themselves.
Uh oh.
99% of the time that is a really really bad assumption.
Sure. You may assume that they don't have the same prejudices as you.
Sure. They most likely don't have the same things at 'stake' so are at least one step removed from any natural stress of the situation.
Sure. They will definitely have their own prejudices, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes.
While we all want that occasional validation from someone else because we consciously discount our own feelings, perceptions and opinions, you have to be careful to not make someone an expert even if they aren't qualified to actually be an expert.
Here is what I know about validation and business leadership.
Decision making Validation.
You will need it on occasion if you are in a constant decision making position.
Even the best decision makers can get slightly overwhelmed. Not overwhelmed in terms of "I cannot make any more decisions", but rather 'it is hard to reflectively assess decisions when smothered in decisions'.
** note: this is important because most great decision makers adapt and assess contextual learnings>.
Part of what makes good decision makers good is decisiveness once decision has been made. Occasional validation maintains the decisiveness muscle.
Leadership validation.
You will need it on occasion if you are in a leadership role with responsibility.
This one varies by person.
Some people don't need this often — kind of like maybe once a quarter you receive some validation that you don't suck as a leader.
Some people need this a lot — kind of like every day.
Neither is good or bad, it just is.
One last thought on leadership validation.
This validation can be required in a variety of ways:
maybe you want to make sure you aren't too much of an asshole
maybe you want to make sure you are communicating effectively
maybe you just want a general sense that people think you are doing an okay job as a leader.
The worst business leaders look for shallow validation – better than predecessor, well liked, 'strong', etc. they tend to seek a linear 'cause & effect' validation which tends to reside in the 'look who is at the door' type feedback.
The best business leaders look for deeper validation – the organization is optimistic, vision is embraced, confident of future success. They tend to seek what I call "ripple validation" which tends to reside on the horizon type feedback.
We all need some validation on occasion.
And I get a little concerned when the only advice out there is about 'how to ditch approval seeking behaviors.'
I kind of wish we had more 'effective ways to gain some validation to maintain effectiveness' type advice.
Because we all need some validation on occasion.