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While living in China from 2003 to 2005, I often served as the designated translator for fellow expatriates. Whenever we ate out, this involved asking our server which menu items contained monosodium glutamate (MSG). Invariably I was told that almost everything is made with weijing ("flavour essence"), including, on one occasion, the roast peanut appetiser my MSG-sensitive friends were snacking on as I made my enquiry.
After observing that no one reacted to the peanuts, I was inspired to conduct a simple (and admittedly unethical) experiment. One evening, instead of translating honestly, I told my companions at a large banquet that the kitchen had promised to avoid using MSG. Everyone thanked me and happily ate their meal, dish after poisoned dish.
An hour later? Two hours later? The next day? Nothing.
I repeated this experiment on multiple occasions, always with the same result. And yet foreigners living in China routinely complained of reactions to their food that included headaches, chest pain and shortness of breath. Was there something about my presence that conferred temporary resistance to MSG? Or could it be that MSG sensitivity was only in their heads?
Chinese restaurant syndrome
In April 1968, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter by Robert Ho Man Kwok that described a strange set of symptoms: "Numbness at the back of the neck, gradually radiating to both arms and the back, general weakness and palpitation." Stranger still was the fact that Kwok, himself a Chinese immigrant, typically noted the onset of these symptoms 20 minutes after eating at restaurants serving "Northern Chinese food".
An editor at the journal titled Kwok's letter "Chinese restaurant syndrome", and thus began a minor epidemic. For countless sufferers, a mystery had been finally solved. "No MSG" signs sprang up across the US, and, eventually, the world. Study upon study confirmed the syndrome's existence and speculated about the science underlying it.
But after reading some of these studies, even a layperson will start to get suspicious. Take the editorial note that precedes Russell Asnes's article "Chinese restaurant syndrome in an infant": "The evidence that this infant had the Chinese Restaurant syndrome may be only circumstantial. However, the description of the symptom is accurate as attested to by the Editor's wife who suffers from the same malady. Incidentally, she remains a devotee of Chinese cuisine."
Science, that sworn enemy of circumstantial evidence, marched on, and slowly but surely physiological explanations of Chinese restaurant syndrome began to lose credibility. Double-blinded studies failed to turn up evidence of a clinical condition. MSG, many people noted, appears in everything from sushi to Doritos. Journalists performed experiments similar to mine, their results echoing the consensus of professional scientists: in the overwhelming majority of cases, MSG sensitivity is a psychological phenomenon.
Despite this thorough debunking, a surprisingly large number of people – generally those who lived through the epidemic – still insist they are sensitive to MSG. Google around and you'll turn up scores of alarmist websites, which tend to combine outdated research with anecdotal, indignant rebuttals of the current scientific wisdom: "How dare you suggest my MSG sensitivity is only in my head? Why, just the other day I went out for Chinese and forgot to ask about MSG. After 45 minutes I couldn't breathe and my heart was racing."
Occasionally, as with vaccines and climate change denial, alarmism veers into paranoia, yielding accusations that a shadowy east Asian cabal is paying off scientists and journalists to regurgitate their propaganda. (Ajinomoto Corporation, I await your cheque!). For a small minority, MSG sensitivity somehow became more than a medical condition, and challenging its physiological basis poses a threat to their very identity. The harmfulness of MSG, a seemingly trivial assertion, took on the importance of a religious doctrine, a fundamental truth to be defended at any cost. But why?
Gluten rising
In 2007, my wife's cake shop did not offer a gluten-free option. Six years later, hardly a month goes by without a request for a gluten-free tasting. Thanks in part to celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, nearly one-third of all consumers are now interested in gluten-free food, a multi-billion-dollar industry projected to exceed $10 billion by 2017. (Even children's play sand now comes with a gluten-free guarantee!)
This is very perplexing, given that only 1 per cent of the population has coeliac disease and only 0.5 per cent is allergic to wheat. What could possibly be causing widespread reports of non-coeliac gluten intolerance, commonly blamed for a raft of symptoms including gas, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, fatigue, goose bumps, dizziness, infertility, migraines, joint inflammation and even mood disorders?
Scientists are applying themselves to the riddle, and last February Slate's Darshak Sanghavi reported on an Italian study that confirmed the existence of gluten intolerance ("non-coeliac wheat sensitivity") as a third, "distinct clinical condition". In the study, one-third of patients who self-identified as gluten-intolerant did in fact experience symptom relief after adopting a gluten-free diet. Case closed, right? Pass the gluten-free pasta.
Not so fast. An important implication of the study is that two-thirds of people who think they are gluten intolerant really aren't. In light of this, the even-handed Sanghavi suggested that "patients convinced they have gluten intolerance might do well to also accept that their self-diagnosis may be wrong".
Predictably, the comment thread exploded with rebuttals: defensive anecdotes, doctrinal pronouncements about the evils of gluten and accusations of corporate malfeasance, all of which bear a striking resemblance in tone and content to the rhetoric of anti-MSG advocates. For many, the truth of physiological gluten intolerance has now acquired a quasi-religious status.
Allergic to evidence
No one likes to be told they are mistaken about the foundation of their most dearly held beliefs. It offended the faithful when Karl Marx suggested that religions are psychological tools meant to placate the masses. Suggesting that gluten intolerance might have a psychological basis threatens a similarly foundational belief, namely that we are rational beings, competent interpreters of reality immune to mass hysteria and self-deception.
Obviously this is not the case. For one, our memories are notoriously unreliable. You may remember getting headaches from Chinese food when in fact those memories were created when you read about Chinese restaurant syndrome in the news. The same is true for memories of gluten intolerance. Don't forget, certainty about your memories is not sufficient evidence of their truth: "Look, I know that for the last 20 years, every time I ate gluten it gave me terrible gas."
Under oath, eyewitnesses constantly forget crucial details and replace them with their own fabrications. They aren't liars – they're just human. One reason for this unreliability is that memory and perception are prone to confirmation bias. Once a bias is in place, we'll selectively remember – and notice – whatever facts help confirm it.
Food historian Ian Mosby has explained the "success" of Chinese restaurant syndrome by connecting it to racialised discourse that drew on a vision of Chinese cooking as bizarre or extreme. In the case of gluten intolerance, it doesn't take much to come up with a plausible confirmation bias. Only nine years ago, 1 in every 11 Americans was on a low-carb diet. In a country terrified of weight gain and recently obsessed with the Atkins diet, gluten makes a great villain. It's hard not to notice the theme of weight loss on gluten-free sites. Pasta, bread, cake, cookies, pretzels – they don't just make you fat, they make you sick! (Added bonus: diets motivated by a medical condition are far more effective – ask any diabetic.)
Nocebo nosh
Confirmation bias meets physiology in the placebo effect, a well-documented phenomenon in medical treatments ranging from sham drugs to sham acupuncture (where patients respond positively to sham needles) to sham knee surgery.
People's desire to believe in a cure actually affects their symptoms. That's why placebo-controlled, double-blinded studies are integral to medical research. Without them, we'd be in constant danger of ascribing physiological causality to treatments that are actually psychological.
Needless to say, placebo effects aren't always beneficial. Strong belief can also render a harmless substance poisonous, which is exactly what happened with MSG. Scientists refer to this as the nocebo effect, and it means that careful studies are necessary to distinguish between poisons and poisonous beliefs.
None of this minimises the relief felt by those who undergo sham acupuncture, or the symptoms of those who think they are gluten intolerant. Pain is pain; chronic diarrhoea is chronic diarrhoea. All it means is that pain relief might not be caused by the physical presence of an acupuncture needle, and diarrhoea might not be caused by the physical presence of gluten. In these instances, the symptoms may be real, but their cause (and potential resolution) is all in our heads.
Mindful of suffering
It is here where the trouble begins. There's something intensely disturbing about the notion that we can make ourselves sick. Belief, not physiology, becomes the causal agent, displacing MSG or gluten as the source of blame for someone's suffering. This can make us feel vulnerable, stupid and weak, as though we have the choice to be better but lack the mental acuity to manage it. Not only that, it's hard not to feel like a psychological explanation trivialises one's condition – hence the expression "It's only in your head." But things that are in our heads aren't fake or unimportant (OCD? anorexia?), and susceptibility to a nocebo effect isn't a sign of weakness. Anyone can unknowingly invent a false memory or react to a substance that is actually benign.
Accepting a psychological explanation of gluten intolerance is especially difficult because food aversions often turn into a way of life. Like religion, avoiding gluten requires personal sacrifice. Gluten intolerance creates communities, which, like religious communities, share stories of suffering and redemption, and share meals made special by the presence of a food taboo. It's no wonder people take offence at the suggestion that gluten intolerance could be psychological – after all, who wants to have built their way of life on a "mere" trick of the mind?
Thinking that way is a mistake. Reductionist psychological explanations of religious beliefs can be offensive because they deny fundamental religious truths: "You believe in heaven to stave off your fear of death, not because it really exists." Legitimate psychological explanations of medical conditions, on the other hand, deny no such truths. The question of whether and to what extent MSG and gluten cause physiological reactions is scientific, not religious. When one's explanation of a medical condition becomes an unquestionable truth, the explanation is no longer scientific.
Many basic claims of nutrition science are unintuitive and sometimes don't stand up to repeated research. (Salt? Cholesterol? Vitamins? Alcohol? Coffee?) At this point, scientists simply don't have a good explanation for the mechanism and prevalence of gluten intolerance – hence the need for studies about whether it exists at all.
Maybe people have always been gluten intolerant and were going undiagnosed – as is true with coeliac disease. Maybe our guts haven't evolved to process gluten – as some advocates of the Palaeolithic diet claim. Maybe it's Monsanto (conspiracy theorists rejoice!). Maybe gluten intolerance isn't really caused by gluten, and we should actually be blaming a family of proteins in wheat called amylase trypsin inhibitors.
None of these explanations is "only" in our heads, which makes them feel more acceptable. But to deny the distinct possibility that gluten could be another MSG, at least for some people, is to deny what science has confirmed, again and again, about our nature as human beings.
So when some annoying friend implies that your gluten intolerance is psychological, go right ahead and be offended. But when science suggests it? Best to listen up, question your self-diagnosis, and remind yourself that nocebo effects are nothing to be ashamed of.


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ADDRESS: 412 Lake Front
NEIGHBOURHOOD: The Beach
AGENTS: Thomas D. Neal, Royal LePage Estate Realty and Sam Mcdadi, ReMax Performance Realty
THE PLACE: This massive house on the water boasts a 270-degree panoramic view of the lake, making its vibe more island than urban. Built in the 1920s, the Arts and Crafts-style home underwent two years and $4 million worth of renovations to turn a rundown hodgepodge of small apartments into a single-family dwelling.
BRAGGING RIGHTS: With surveillance equipment, two panic rooms and an underground tunnel to the garage, you'd have plenty of escape options in a Jodi Foster-Forest Whitaker-style standoff (or you could just offer to house your friends' valuables).
BIG SELLING POINT: Rather than tearing down the apartments and building anew, the owner—reportedly a businessman who splits his time between Canada and the U.S.—went to great lengths to restore the Tudor and Arts and Crafts details found beneath the years of neglect. Additionally, renovating rather than rebuilding allowed the owner to keep the close proximity to the water (new codes would prevent that), leaving the beach literally at the doorstep.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: The house may be 7,100 square feet, but there isn't much space between you and your neighbours (although the vastness of the lake should help ease the pain of the squished side yards).
BY THE NUMBERS: • $8,000,000 • $25,000 (approximately) in property taxes • 7,100 square feet • 5 bathrooms • 4 bedrooms • 4 storeys • 3 fireplaces • 2 panic rooms • 1 elevator • 1 wine-tasting room • 1 putting green • 1 swimming pool • 1 underground tunnel connecting house to garage
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subset: commoncrawl


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Am I the only one who is discreetly wiping a tear from my eye to learn that Yahoo! is shutting down GeoCities? Back in the day, GeoCities RULED! Honestly, GeoCities hasn't crossed my mind in years, and I was surprised to read it was pulling this kind of traffic recently:
GeoCities' traffic has been falling over the past year. According to ComScore, GeoCities unique visitors in the U.S. fell 24 percent in March to 11.5 million unique visitors from 15.1 million in March of 2008. Back in October, 2006, it had 18.9 million uniques.
If you remember the old GeoCities, you can really appreciate how far the web has come in a short period of time with free blogging sites, MySpace, Facebook, etc. It's kind of sad that the cutting edge concept of allowing everyday people to build an attractive website pioneered by GeoCities has left it so far behind.
What's next? Yahoo Games?


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Henriette Cauvin, née Baral, died January 20, 1882, aged 34
For many people, a cemetery is a morbid location, a reminder of the hopefully distant but unavoidable end to our earthly tenancy; it would be the last place to visit in search of enjoyment, especially during a summer holiday. I have never been one of those people. I won't say I feel at home in cemeteries (let's not tempt fate too flagrantly) but these highly atmospheric and deeply revealing sites of remembrance have always struck me as some of the most fascinating places to visit when traveling. All of human life is there, so to speak, and these labyrinthine cities of the departed can also offer a great deal of architectural pleasure.
A couple of weeks ago I was staying in an apartment by the port in Nice, in the south of France, and on the other side of the building, rising steeply next to the street, there was a hill covered with trees. I had no idea until I climbed it soon after arrival that the city's main cemetery was situated at the top, with views in all directions, out across the rooftops of Nice, to the Bay of Angels and the distant hills. The Cimetière du château, which is divided into Christian and Jewish sections housing 2,800 tombs, is an exceptionally lovely site. My sensation upon walking through the gate was closer to rapture at the prospect of exploring its avenues and ascending levels than to melancholy. There were many statues among the neo-classical tombs and chapels and I knew I would take plenty of pictures.


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Warning: You solely accept the full risk of any package (or part thereof) being detained by customs for whatever reason and acknowledge and agree that you will not hold our store liable for such packages or loss, for whatever reason being unable to be delivered to you. Warranty:The items DO NOT comes with warranty. However, for customer benefits our store offers 5 days warranty period PROVIDED ALWAYS:


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As those who know me personally can attest, I am a hopeless coffee addict.
I'll put up with a lot of unpleasantness - as long as there's coffee.
Let the coffee run out though and my tolerance for unpleasantness, such as it is, drops to zero. Bad things usually follow.
Nowadays, I don't drink shitty coffee. This is my one hard and fast rule, no shitty coffee. Period. And while I generally don't drink coffee after lunch (unless there's Irish Whiskey in it), if I don't get coffee in the morning somebody is going to get maimed and it's not going to be me, if you understand what I'm saying here.
I spent more than two decades in the US Navy, coffee is a sailor's lifeblood. Unfortunately, our lifeblood is coffee that's been boiling in giant urns since the Eisenhower administration. Navy coffee consists of pure distilled caffeine, jet fuel, a hint of machine oil, and the bitter tears of Marines filtered through a pair of dirty skivvies. Navy coffee is a weapon of mass destruction and a blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions with regards to the treatment of military personnel. I don't miss it and neither does what's left of my stomach.
I've lived and travelled all over the world, I know what decent coffee tastes like. You can hate the French all you like, but those beret-wearing wussies can make some damned good coffee, there should be a Nobel for the Jean-Pierre who invented the French Press. Italy? Land of fantastic espresso and cappuccino made in beautiful copper and stainless steel machines that look like works of art. Spain? Once you've had Café Con Leche (basically a latte made with strong espresso, thick whole milk and sugar) you tend to regard Folgers Drip as the runoff from Satan's colon. The Greeks do some fine and tasty things with coffee. And the Turks make a cup that will cure a hangover migraine with a single sip – and leave you wide-eyed and quivering for a week. Turkish coffee is wild and full of life – sort of like the Turks themselves. Some of the best coffee I ever had was in Israel, sweet and spiced and perfect.
Americans? Our coffee tradition descends from the tea sipping English. The English make coffee the way they cook, i.e. boil the shit out of it until it's reduced to a thick bitter pudding. Add sugar and lard, enjoy. These are the people who invented the Hot Toddie, which tastes like scalded rockgut stirred with a fried chicken leg. You wonder where the British expression "keep a stiff upper lip" comes from? It's because they're clamping down on about three centuries of bile. Americans, being Americans, looked at all the options out there and then took the shittiest tradition of the lot and made it faster. Americans will drink damned near anything, as long as it can be made in a cheap disposable plastic machine and it's fast – Give me a big ol' cup of ass and be quick about it! Ever have McDonald's coffee? I'm pretty sure that stupid clown used to be a Navy cook.
Sooner or later I'm going to break down and buy my very own espresso/latte/cappuccino machine. Problem is, a cheap machine is worse than useless and a good machine costs $1000 or more and requires special plumbing. Now a crisp new Grover Cleveland for a decent cup of coffee doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me, but my wife has other ideas. So, for now, my very own steam spitting, copper and steel, chrome trimmed, self cleaning, automatic espresso machine with integrated bean roaster and burr grinder with its own dedicated plumbing on a special gilded coffee island in the kitchen with optional bikini clad barista remains but a fantasy. Some day though, my electronic friends, some day it will be mine. Oh yes.
Update June 2012: I bought the espresso machine. The position of Bikini clad barista is open.
I've learned a few things:
- Never get in line behind two women: Women are worried what the other woman thinks, they'll try to out non-fat each other. Seriously.
Barista: Nice to see you again. Your usual quadruple mocha latte with whole bottle nosed dolphin cream and a scoop of Hagen-Daz Peanut Brittle Supreme, double brown sugar, extra whip and stirred with a glazed donut, served in a rolled up slice of pizza, ma'am?
Woman 1: Oh, heh heh, no, you must have me confused with Kirsty Alley. No, I'd like an extra small non-fat, no-sugar, hot water…
Woman 2: Really? That's what I was having too! Only I want mine with no caffeine.
Barista: (priest-like neutral expression)
- Never get in line behind two men: Men will compete to impress the barista. Honest to God, it could be a trained warthog behind the counter, but if it has breasts men will hit on it.
Barista: What can I get you, Gentlemen?
Guy 1: Heh, whatever it is, I'll need it in the kind of cup that fits the cup holders in my Porsche!
Guy 2: Ha ha! You mean small. That piece of shit Porsche could use some coffee stains on the seats! They'll cover up the other stains, ifyaknowwhatisaying! Now, my Hummer, that's a man's truck you can spill some coffee on! And I'll need a large.
Barista: Large what?
Guy 2: I don't know, but I want some extra shots in it! Make it strong!
Guy 1: I want extra extra shots in mine. In fact I'll just take some raw coffee beans! Yeah! Just squeeze the juice out and I'll drink that. In my Porsche!
Guy 2: Make mine extra hot!
Guy 1: Make mine extra double hot and I don't even need a cup, just pour it in my bare hands! Say, which one of us do you think looks more like Tom Selleck? I know, I know, people always say it's me. Come on, what do you think?
Barista: (covertly adds extra ass flavor from the special bottle behind the counter)
Note: Yes, "Ass" is a coffee flavor. It's right between "Toejam" and "Hugh Jackman" in the Starbuck's catalog.
- Never get in line behind two kids: Kids will order something weird and complicated as a goof.
Barista: What?
Kid 1: how much does flavor cost?
Kid 2: yeah, how much?
Barista: Sigh. Flavors are free.
Kid 1: I want a bubblegum hot chocolate frappe with a shot of every kind of flavoring you got. Mix them all together.
Kid 2: Good one, D00D! LOL!
Barista: (makes mental note to order more Ass flavor).
- The Macho guy will order the sissy drink.
- The quality of the brew is inversely proportional to the hotness of the barista: Seriously, the fuglier the girl, the better the coffee. If hotties in bikinis are making the Java, I guarantee you that it'll be indistinguishable from the bilge in a Navy galley. Hot girls get tipped no matter what, especially if they're hanging out of a drive-up window in a halter top, they never have to learn how to make a decent cup. You want good coffee? Go to the coffee stand with Quasimodo behind the counter. I don't know if this it true of male baristo's, with or without halter tops, because I only go to the place with the hot girls, but I suspect that it is.
- Never get the special.
- People behind you haven't had coffee yet. They're angry, impatient, and suffering withdrawal and I'm their king. Don't speak to them. You're at the front of the line. We hate you with the heat of a thousand espresso bean roasters. Get your shit and get the hell out of the way. Taunt us with your cheerful banter and you die.
- Never get the drip coffee. Coffee shops make zero money on drip coffee. They don't want you to order it. They make it from ass sweat filtered through toenails in order to keep you from ordering it. It will suck. You will not like it. You will have to put in a gallon of cream and fifteen packs of sugar just to choke down one sip, and you still won't like it. Then you'll complain. And ask for something else. And you'll hold up the line. And I'll have to kill you. Don't order the drip coffee.
- Don't tell the barista how to make coffee: What the hell is it with these people?
Barista: What can I make for you today?
Clueless Moron: A large latte. Only I don't want it how you make it, I want it like that place in the Mall does it.
Barista: Sigh.
Clueless Moron: You better write this down…
Barista: (I wonder if I can order Ass flavoring in the five gallon jug?).
- There will always be one jerkoff in line loudly describing bodily functions on a cell phone.
- Never order anything that requires the use of a blender: I haven't had coffee yet, the sound of metal blades on ice makes me homicidal to a degree that would make Freddie Kruger look like a fluffy cotton candy bunny. Order a smoothie and you die.
- Know what you want: Seriously, you've been in line for ten minutes. Know what you want. If you ask, "what's good?" you die.
- Don't order stuff that is not on the menu:
That thing? You know, that you used to have? With the Cinnamon and Strychnine? I want one of those. Only over ice and run through the blender.
Make it a Grande!
And non-fat.
Say, what are you doing after work?
Ever ride in a Porsche?


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I generally could care less about boxing. But, the Manny Pacquiao/Rickey Hatton Saturday night fight sufficiently climbed up the hype ladder so high that by the time it started, I had a twinge of an urge to watch it. Trouble is, the fight was only on pay-per-view and weighed in at a hefty $54 charge. Even if I wanted to pay for it, it was clear from Twitter commentary that some cable providers were having trouble keeping up with demand and there was a risk of a lag in the fight's delivery
So, without many assumptions, I turned to the Internets out of curiosity to see if I could find a live stream of the fight. Mostly, what I found was a lot a turns into dark alleys of "CLICK THIS" messages that promised a live fight but likely delivered anything but. I'm sure there are plenty of people saying that all they wanted was to watch a live fight but they only came back from cyberland with a crappy virus.
But, right before I quit looking, I did a Twitter search and saw a tweet from someone who seemed like they might provide a legitimate link (you can be a lot braver when using a Mac). And, boom. Seconds later there was a live feed of the fight as the second round began being broadcast from a user of Justin.tv. (photo above). I was able to watch all of the 45 seconds that remained in the fight that ended with a vicious Pac-Man KO.
For those of you who don't know Justin.tv, the company describes itself as...
"the largest online community for people to broadcast, watch and interact around live video. With more than 41 million unique visitors per month and 428,000 channels broadcasting live video."
In March TechCruch wrote about Justin.tv's -- especially overseas -- growth...
"Live video on the Web is starting to take off, judging by the massive jump in traffic that Justin.tv is witnessing. According to comScore, the live video site's global audience saw a massive jump from 9.3 million unique visitors in January to 15 million in February, which is about the same number of people who went to Veoh and nearly twice as many as visited Hulu.com. Of course, Hulu is only available in the U.S., where it is fourth most popular video site, and its videos are watched on other sites as well. "
With these growth trends in mind, let's get back to the main purpose here as illustrated by the Technically Incorrect column at CNET...
If you thought Justin.tv was just some bloke walking around with a camera on his head, then you have less faith in Web 2.0 than you should.
That's because the site's ingenuity (or, depending on your perspective, ingenuousness or even disingenuousness) has got it a red card from the U.K.'s Premier League and its TV partners.
It seems that Justin.tv, in all its innocence, has been broadcasting live Premier League soccer matches, the rights to which happen to be owned by the Premier League and channels such as Fox and Setanta.
Indeed, there are numerous reports of sports leagues and PPV providers going after unauthorized live streaming services online.
It seems that, thus far, it's been the classic whack-a-mole game of issuing takedown notices to services. With Justin.tv being US-based, it's been an early YouTube situation all over again (minus that Viacom part).
[Side Q for copyright lawyers: Doesn't Justin.tv advertising on this content -- as the "therapy" ad seen deliciously above demonstrates -- complicate matters for a supposed "third party" delivery network? Grokster anyone?]
Regardless, many of this services and tools are based in places like China or run over P2P networks. Here is a helpful round-up of many of the players.
The current state of play reminds you of the lousy experience of illegally downloading music before the OG Napster came around and in the years shortly after the company went legit. That is, those who really want the content will jump through the hoops and be happy with an experience no where near what they could get for buying the content through proper routes. However, most are more than happy to enjoy convenience and quality over chasing down vanishing and/or sputtering streams.
Still, a Napster-like app could quickly capitalize on an obvious and growing interest to see TV content that is either impossible or too expensive to get at home.
Would we then be at the precipice of another battle between so-called inevitability and property rights? (One that includes all the requisite hyperbole and litigation?)
Or will Hulu, TV Everywhere, Comcast's Fancast, and moves to stream the Super Bowl, etc, render this shift irrelevant by providing a consumer experience on the Web and elsewhere that obviates a need and desire to watch a Premier League game while you are traveling or search Twitter for a PPV-like fight?


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Northern Development's Board of Directors is advised by the Prince George Regional Advisory Committee, comprised of elected local government leaders from the region. This ensures that local knowledge is incorporated into Northern Development's Strategic Plan as well as all project funding decisions.
The committee is comprised of elected representatives from each of the following municipalities, regional districts, and Provincial electoral areas:


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Every buck fixes a bug. The FSFE PDF readers campaign website fundraising
What would you think if your government told you which brand of car to drive on public roads? The same way the public administration is required to be neutral on this, it should not decide which software you use when reading PDF documents. The state should offer choice and especially promote software that respects its citizens' freedom.
With the example of PDF readers the FSFE raises general awareness of proprietary software advertisements on public administration's websites since September 2010. Our Petition For The Removal Of Proprietary Software Advertising On Public Institution Websites was signed by 80 organisations, 58 businesses and 2438 individuals. Up until now we contacted 2104 public administrations, and managed to close 552 bugs (26%). So 552 federal government departments, municipalities, and other administrations removed the advertisement, or added additional references to Free Software PDF readers.
We will continue fixing the remaining bugs. However, we also received a lot of feedback from the public administration and other institutions and political entities. One big task is to improve the PDF readers website, as it is one of our key tools in this campaign. To update it and give it a more user-friendly interface we need your donations.
With your donation, we will be able to implement the planned new features for the website until the 1st of February and after it, for its maintenance.
If we get more money, we will contact, once again, the remaining administrations and inform them about our improvements, so they can stop advertising proprietary PDF readers. All additional donations will be used to pay postal and printing expenses.
The fundraising page uses the Ulule platform (Update: Turn off Javascript before you follow the link to the donation page, to avoid running nonfree software. There you can check the different rewards, a website mock-up design and you will find updates about our progress.


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"Jobs Friday" is usually a nerdy day for financial types and economists only. But everyone was watching the most recent jobs report. I had a big drink and told my family to remember May 8. For labor economists, it will be a day to remember. For the first time, even the teenagers really listened.
Due to the COVID-19 recession, the U.S. has now hit a depression-era unemployment rate of 14.7%. And it gets worse. In a highly unusual footnote, the Bureau of Labor Statistics explained that millions of jobless were misclassified as employed due to errors in survey responses. Adding them back in, as well as discouraged workers (workers who want to work but are too discouraged to look), the true unemployment rate is over 20%.
Older workers in the COVID-19 recession
On Jobs Friday I look for older workers. The COVID-19 recession is causing a special type of hardship for this group. Older workers who kept their jobs are risking their health and lives. The ones who lost their jobs may be poor or near poor for life.
The jobless rates for workers over 55 rose to the unheard-of level of 13.6%. Remember, this is an undercount due to faulty responses. This number also doesn't include the many older workers who have dropped out of the labor force.
Most workers are waiting for the economy to open, but older workers don't get re-hired as quickly and some are forced into early retirement. We know early retirement really means downward mobility. They can't save anymore without a job and the little savings they have will get drained by market losses or in replacing lost income. The economic fallout from the virus is deep, and older workers will take the biggest hit—they don't have time to recover like younger workers and going back to work could be dangerous.
If older workers cannot get rehired, they start to drain their savings sooner than expected and claim Social Security benefits a lot sooner than they wanted. And we know what that means. For lower earners who rely solely on Social Security, leaving the labor force earlier than planned means spending whatever meager savings they have or going into debt. Collecting Social Security at age 62 instead of full retirement age reduces lifelong benefits by over 30%.
The typical older worker was already in trouble before the crisis. Around 35% of older workers had no retirement savings. The median balance for those who had a defined contribution account such as a 401k was only about $92,000 before the COVID-19 recession (equal to lifetime payments of roughly $400 per month). Now these already low balances have fallen in value due to market losses. Involuntary retirement, low retirement savings and claiming Social Security benefits early—which shrinks benefits for life—can lead to life-long-poverty.
The economy relies on older workers
Since the bulge of boomers are now older workers and recent retirees, the scale of this new elder poverty will be devastating to the nation. We know from past recessions that many older workers never came back to the labor force. Conor Sen at Bloomberg makes the sensible argument that if older workers don't come back the economy may not come back.
Between 2008-2018, the number of older workers grew by 9.5 million. In the same time period, the total labor force of 162 million in 2018 grew by 7.8 million. This means the growth in the number of older workers accounted for all labor force growth in the past decade, since the net number of younger workers fell. Older workers will continue to make up for most of the growth in the next ten years.
It is our broken retirement system that exposes individuals to such deep risks and creates economic and personal instability, especially in middle and working-class families. The pandemic was going to hurt no matter what the retirement system looked like. But because it is so broken already, we will feel this recession for a long time.
Bottom line: The one word to describe the April jobs report is devastating.


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Stress doesn't cause dandruff, however it can aggravate an existing dandruff problem and make it seem worse
Dandruff itself is caused by a naturally occurring microbe, Malassezia globosa, which is always present on the scalp. Its presence is not affected by stress.
However, stress weakens the body's natural defenses, so it's more difficult for your body to deal with the presence of Malassezia globosa and scalp irritation. You may notice that dandruff symptoms (dryness, flakes and itch) become more of a problem when you are under stress.
The vicious cycle - stress contributing to dandruff, which contributes to more stress- can be broken with the help of an effective dandruff shampoo like Head & Shoulders.


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Henselite Dreamline XG Jacaranda Size 0 Heavy Gripped Violet/Pink/Black
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Product Details
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Additional information
Dreamline XG


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Novel protein fragments may protect against Alzheimer's
- Date:
- May 13, 2014
- Source:
- American Friends of Tel Aviv University
- Summary:
- Alzheimer's research has centered on trying to understand the protective or regenerative properties of brain cells as an avenue for treating the widespread disease. Now a researcher has discovered novel protein fragments that have proven protective properties for cognitive functioning. Her findings have the potential to serve as a pipeline for new drug candidates to treat the disease.
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The devastating loss of memory and consciousness in Alzheimer's disease is caused by plaque accumulations and tangles in neurons, which kill brain cells. Alzheimer's research has centered on trying to understand the pathology as well as the potential protective or regenerative properties of brain cells as an avenue for treating the widespread disease.
Now Prof. Illana Gozes, the incumbent of the Lily and Avraham Gildor Chair for the Investigation of Growth Factors and director of the Adams Super Center for Brain Studies at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and a member of Tel Aviv University's Sagol School of Neuroscience, has discovered novel protein fragments that have proven protective properties for cognitive functioning.
In a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Prof. Gozes examined the protective effects of two newly discovered protein fragments in mice afflicted with Alzheimer's disease-like symptoms. Her findings have the potential to serve as a pipeline for new drug candidates to treat the disease.
NAP time for Alzheimer's
"Several years ago we discovered that NAP, a snippet of a protein essential for brain formation, which later showed efficacy in Phase 2 clinical trials in mild cognitive impairment patients, a precursor to Alzheimer's," said Prof. Gozes. "Now, we're investigating whether there are other novel NAP-like sequences in other proteins. This is the question that led us to our discovery."
Prof. Gozes' research focused on the microtubule network, a crucial part of cells in our bodies. Microtubules act as a transportation system within nerve cells, carrying essential proteins and enabling cell-to-cell communications. But in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's, this network breaks down, hindering motor abilities and cognitive function.
"NAP operates through the stabilization of microtubules -- tubes within the cell which maintain cellular shape. They serve as 'train tracks' for movement of biological material," said Prof. Gozes. "This is very important to nerve cells, because they have long processes and would otherwise collapse. In Alzheimer's disease, these microtubules break down. The newly discovered protein fragments, just like NAP before them, work to protect microtubules, thereby protecting the cell."
Down the tubes
In her new study, Prof. Gozes and her team looked at the subunit of the microtubule -- the tubulin -- and the protein TAU (tubulin-associated unit), important for assembly and maintenance of the microtubule. Abnormal TAU proteins form the tangles that contribute to Alzheimer's; increased tangle accumulation is indicative of cognitive deterioration. Prof. Gozes decided to test both the tubulin and the TAU proteins for NAP-like sequences. After confirming NAP-like sequences in both tubulin subunits and in TAU, she tested the fragments in tissue cultures for nerve-cell protecting properties against amyloid peptides, the cause of plaque build up in Alzheimer patients' brains.
"From the tissue culture, we moved to a 10-month-old transgenic mouse model with frontotemporal dementia-like characteristics, which exhibits TAU pathology and cognitive decline," said Prof. Gozes. "We tested one compound -- a tubulin fragment -- and saw that it protected against cognitive deficits. When we looked at the 'dementia'-afflicted brain, there was a reduction in the NAP parent protein, but upon treatment with the tubulin fragment, the protein was restored to normal levels."
Prof. Gozes and her team also measured the brain-to-body mass ratio, an indicator of brain degeneration, and saw a significant decrease in the mouse model compared to normal mice. Following the introduction of the tubulin fragments, however, the mouse's brain to body ratio returned to normal. "We clearly see here the protective effect of the treatment," said Prof. Gozes. "We witnessed the restorative and protective effects of totally new protein fragments, derived from proteins critical to cell function, in tissue cultures and on animal models."
Story Source:
Materials provided by American Friends of Tel Aviv University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Illana Gozes et al. Novel Tubulin and Tau Neuroprotective Fragments Sharing Structural Similarities with the Drug Candidate NAP (Davuentide). Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, May 2014 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-131664
Cite This Page:


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How to Use Facebook Business Manager for Multiple Accounts
If you're part of a marketing team or have done any form of advertising on Facebook, it's almost guaranteed that you've heard of or used Facebook Business Manager. This handy platform makes it easy to take control of your company's Facebook page and ad campaigns. In this article, we'll discuss two simple ways to manage multiple accounts at once. But first, let's dive into some of its best features.


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June 1, 2012 (Vol. 32, No. 11)
Intellectual Property Issues to Contemplate Before Making the Move
With low labor costs, deep talent pools, and large populations, China and India have become attractive emerging markets for many western companies in the life science industry. In recent years, we have seen a trend for western biotech and pharmaceutical companies to establish their R&D centers or set up operations in China and India. Some western biotech and pharmaceutical companies have also formed joint ventures or research collaborations with domestic companies in China and India.
In the life science industry, in addition to business and scientific considerations, IP protection and enforcement can be critical to success.
Strong patent protection worldwide gives a patent owner leverage in negotiating deals. Patent protection in China should be obtained, although many people are still skeptical about enforcement of patent rights in China. Without patent protection, inventors in the life sciences lose the option of enforcing their proprietary rights. At the same time, publication of such inventions elsewhere makes them prior art. And a prior art defense has become an effective way for infringers to avoid infringement liability in China.
With strong patent protection, a patentee can enforce its rights against potential infringers to exclude them from the market. In such enforcement proceedings, more and more potential infringers consider and challenge the validity of the patents as a counter defense to infringement.
In China, the Patent Reexamination Board (PRB) of the SIPO is the sole jurisdiction for challenging the validity of a patent. If one of the parties does not agree with the PRB's decision, that party can appeal only to the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. The decision by Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court can be appealed only to the Beijing High People's Court. Any further appeal is not a matter of right since the People Supreme Court in China has discretion in taking cases from High People's Courts.
The invalidity proceeding can be long and the potential infringer can allege invalidity challenges on different grounds. The common grounds for invalidity in life science include a lack of sufficient support in the specification for the patented claim scope and a lack of inventive step. Accordingly, when preparing and prosecuting a patent application, it is important to envision potential invalidation grounds and make the issued patent as strong as possible in defense of invalidity challenges.
Lack of Patent Linkage
In comparison with the U.S., China is not an ideal place for patent litigation, especially for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. One important reason is that, different from the U.S., there is no patent linkage in China. Specifically, in the U.S., the Hatch-Waxman Act requires a branded drug manufacturer to list its patent numbers and expiration dates in the Orange Book with the FDA.
The FDA cannot approve a generic drug if that generic drug would infringe a brand manufacturer's patent listed in the Orange Book. However, there is no Orange Book listing with the State Food and Drug Administration in China (SFDA), and SFDA does not probe into whether a generic drug would infringe a branded manufacturer's patent as a condition precedent for SFDA approval of the generic drug.
It is up to the branded drug manufacturer to sue the generic drug company for patent infringement once the generic drug gets into the market. China is currently considering setting up patent linkage between the SIPO and SFDA.
In addition, China does not offer data exclusivity to branded drug manufacturers. This is another risk innovative companies need to consider before moving to China.
Ownership Issues
Additional IP issues that have been troublesome in China include ownership and trade secret protection. These issues occur often in deals such as licensing and joint research collaborations. Due diligence by the suitor should be conducted to ascertain the real owner of the IP prior to any deals in China.
Individual inventors normally do not have patent rights if they are employed by an entity in China because such rights by default belong to employers under the employment contract. Even for professors who claim to be "independent" from the university, it is important to review their employment contract to ascertain ownership of any inventions made by the professor.
In addition, talent in the life science area often moves from one company to another, especially in big cities. Therefore, it is advisable to carefully review all relevant employment contracts to ascertain who truly owns the patent rights of the invention(s) under consideration.
We have also seen companies' valuable trade secrets disclosed in a form of, for example, a patent application by a key scientist in the company who later left to join another company. The publication of the patent application makes the trade secret lose its value. Therefore, we suggest carefully drafting the employment contract and internal policies to implement strict procedures to prevent disclosure of trade secrets.
Only recently has India provided patent production for pharmaceuticals. It is important to understand the boundaries of patentable subject matter, however, as defined by the 2005 amendments to the Indian Patent Act. Under section 3(d) of the Act, "mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance" is not considered a patentable invention. Application of this section requires an understanding of the term "efficacy."
A much-publicized dispute involving the interpretation of section 3(d) involves Novartis and its anticancer drug imatinib mesylate. Novartis attempted to patent a new version of its previously known imatinib mesylate, but the Indian Patent Office rejected the patent application under section 3(d). The Indian Patent Office initially rejected Novartis' patent application on the basis that the drug did not meet the novelty and efficacy requirements of the Patent Act.
After failed attempts at appealing the rejection of its patent application, Novartis ultimately appealed to the Indian Supreme Court, and it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court interprets "efficacy" as used in section 3(d).
Compulsory License
Another important aspect of the Indian Patent Act, which up until recently did not get as much attention, relates to a compulsory licensing provision. The Act allows for grant of a compulsory license three years after the grant of a patent where (1) reasonable requirements of the public have not been met, (2) the invention is not publicly available at a reasonably affordable price, and (3) the invention was not worked on in India.
A few months ago, the Indian Patent Office granted a compulsory license to an Indian pharmaceutical company for Bayer's anticancer drug Nexavar on the grounds that the drug was not meeting the reasonable requirements of the public, was not reasonably affordable, and was not locally manufactured.
The fate of Nexavar in India raises several concerns for innovative pharmaceutical companies regarding the availability, pricing, and manufacturing of patented drugs in India. It is particularly crucial to have a strategy on "working" the invention in India, for instance, by manufacturing in India, collaborating with an Indian company, or taking advantage of India's investment treaties, as applicable.
Any pharmaceutical company considering operations in India should consider that India does not offer data exclusivity for pharmaceuticals. In other words, a generic manufacturer can rely on the technical data generated by an innovative company because, in India, that data does not enjoy a period of exclusivity. Typically, a generic manufacturer relies on the innovator's data with a showing of bio-equivalency between the generic and the innovative drug.
In the presence of data exclusivity, an innovator can prevent others from relying on its clinical data. As a result, a period of data exclusivity can provide patent-like protection to prevent generic manufacturers from relying on the clinical data generated by the innovator. But India does not offer such data exclusivity protection. Thus, a pharmaceutical company setting up operations in India would need to consider the possibility of not having exclusivity for data that it generates in India.
Ningling Wang ([email protected]) is a partner and Mukta Jhalani ([email protected]) is an associate at Finnegan.


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IRON RIVER, Mich. – A 35-year-old woman already facing life in prison for killing her lover and husband, may have cooked and served her lover's dismembered remains at a barbecue, an upcoming true crime documentary claims.
Kelly M. Cochran's friends and family also told the creators of "Dead North" that they believe Cochran may have as many as nine other victims, whose bodies she buried across the Midwest, according to the IndyStar.
On April 18, 2018, Cochran was sentenced to 65 years in prison after admitting to authorities that she smothered her husband, Jason Cochran, after injecting him with heroin in Feb., 2016.
Kelly Cochran was already behind bars for the murder and dismemberment of her lover, Chris Regan, in Iron River, Michigan in 2014. Regan's disappearance went unsolved until Jason Cochran's death in Hobart, Indiana, raised the suspicions of investigators.
(Originally aired in November, 2017)
The Investigation Discovery show follows the case from the perspective of Laura Frizzo, Iron River's chief of police, according to a news release. Upon hearing of Jason Cochran's death, Frizzo was initially devastated, thinking she had lost a possible witness to Regan's death – until Indiana investigators informed her Cochran's death was a murder, not an overdose.
Cochran went on the run but was ultimately arrested in Kentucky in April, 2016 and brought to trial in Michigan.
She was convicted of killing Regan and was sentenced on May 10, 2017 to life in prison.
Almost a year later, she stood trial in Lake County, Indiana, where she pleaded guilty to the murder of her husband. Prosecutors argued that, on the night they were married, the Cochrans promised each other that, if there was ever infidelity, they would kill the lover, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Kelly Cochran said during her trial that she "thought it was a joke."
In 2014, however, Kelly used the promise of sex to get Regan into her Michigan home, where Jason shot him, according to court records. The pair then cut up Regan's body and buried his bagged remains in the woods, the documents said.
During her trial in Indiana, Cochran admitted to murdering her husband, saying she did it out of revenge for her boyfriend's death.
Cochran's own brother, Colton, Gaboyan, came forward after he suspected that his sister might be a serial killer, according to the show's release.
Frizzo also believes that the case isn't closed, even if the state of Indiana can't legally charge her for more murders because of the structure of her plea agreement. Frizzo's relentless, "bullheaded" pursuit of the case took a toll on her career.
"The City Manager relieves Frizzo of her duties just as Kelly admits to having other 'friends' buried in Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee and Minnesota," the release reads. "However, the identities and specific locations of these bodies remain a mystery to this day."
"Dead North" airs on two parts on May 28 and 29.


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University of Alberta
In this course, you will learn about several algorithms that can learn near optimal policies based on trial and error interaction with the environment---learning from the agent's own experience. Learning from actual experience is striking because it requires no prior knowledge of the environment's dynamics, yet can still attain optimal behavior. We will cover intuitively simple but powerful Monte Carlo methods, and temporal difference learning methods including Q-learning. We will wrap up this course investigating how we can get the best of both worlds: algorithms that can combine model-based planning (similar to dynamic programming) and temporal difference updates to radically accelerate learning.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Understand Temporal-Difference learning and Monte Carlo as two strategies for estimating value functions from sampled experience
- Understand the importance of exploration, when using sampled experience rather than dynamic programming sweeps within a model
- Understand the connections between Monte Carlo and Dynamic Programming and TD.
- Implement and apply the TD algorithm, for estimating value functions
- Implement and apply Expected Sarsa and Q-learning (two TD methods for control)
- Understand the difference between on-policy and off-policy control
- Understand planning with simulated experience (as opposed to classic planning strategies)
- Implement a model-based approach to RL, called Dyna, which uses simulated experience
- Conduct an empirical study to see the improvements in sample efficiency when using Dyna
Specific details
Category of Education
Computer Sciense and IT


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'Tis the season for Leafs trade rumours.
Now, I'm not about to dig up every rumour out there on the internet and go through it, but I do want to provide some thoughts on the team, the direction of the organization, and what's out there before the Leafs do (or don't) make any moves.
Most trade talk when it comes to the Leafs has centered on a veteran goalie for most of the year, with Roberto Luongo and now Miikka Kiprusoff being named most often.
Even if we ignore that James Reimer and Ben Scrivens' respective .918sv% and .915sv% are better than the .904sv% and .873sv% Luongo and Kiprusoff are currently sporting, there are still so many issues here. (And imagine, for a second, that the numbers attached to Reimer and Scrivens this year were flip-flopped with what Luongo and Kiprusoff currently have; the heat would really be on to make a deal).
Assuming Luongo and Kiprusoff turn it around and find their form (admittedly no guarantee), the main question here is whether or not the Leafs are a goalie away from becoming legitimate contenders.
Realistically, the answer is no. Some players like Lupul, Phaneuf, Grabovski and Kessel are in and around their prime, but guys like Kadri, JVR, Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are about to enter it or not even in the league. There is still a sizeable hole in the top four D group and the forwards need some help down the middle (whether that comes internally with Colborne or externally, it's still an area of need that has to be addressed).
So what we're really talking about here is a group that's overall one of the youngest in the league, that's getting better, but is not quite there yet. For some reason, parting with major assets to bring in goalies that are on the downside of their careers – and that may or may not even be better than what they currently have – is being discussed regularly in the media. Vancouver and Calgary (Phaneuf deal aside) certainly aren't charities, so it's not like the Leafs would acquire these guys for free.
To this point in Reimer's career, he's shown that, whenever he's healthy, he's a good goalie. He absolutely stole the Leafs a win against Boston on Saturday in the type of game that, had Luongo done it in net for Toronto, it would have been labelled as the "type of win Leafs goaltending hasn't stole for them since Cujo or Belfour."
Reimer just turned 25 eleven days ago, is signed for another year at only $1.8M and it's time to bring in a guy to kick him out of the net so he can watch games from the bench?
And again, this would be done at the high price of good roster players and/or picks for goalies who are not the missing piece between the Leafs and a Cup run.
If the goal is to simply bring in a veteran to provide some support and stability on a young team, why not pay a substantially cheaper price for a guy like Khabibulin in Edmonton, or Garon in Tampa? Surely that would make more sense considering this season is a win for Toronto if they just merely make the playoffs and prove competitive in the first round.
Even then, why give up on Scrivens? He was great last year in the AHL, has been good in the NHL this season, and even carried the team for a stretch of games when Reimer got hurt. How many young players has Toronto given up on after they've shown promise? How many times has that ended up biting them in the ass? Why do we have to have this conversation every few years, then?
When it comes to trading for defensemen, most of the trade talk has centered on Jay Bouwmeester in the Barilksophere. Admittedly, it does make some sense. Bouwmeester is a good skater who moves the puck well and can match up against the other team's best, providing Phaneuf with a quality partner and pushing Gunnarsson to the second pairing, which would inadvertently stabilize the entire top six, most likely.
Bouwmeester is also turning 30 this year, though. With Calgary about to embark on a long rebuild, they're going to want kids coming back to them. Are the Leafs in the business of trading young 20 year olds for 30 year olds? Everything Nonis has said and done to this point would suggest no.
It's not that Bouwmeester is a bad player; it's just tough to imagine a trade fit.
Now, if we start talking about coughing up young players for a 26 year old Keith Yandle, that's a different story. But nobody has really tied Yandle to the Leafs so we'll only cross that bridge if we have to.
Up front, most of the talk has centered around five guys. Those five guys are: Brendan Morrow, David Clarkson (who most would be surprised if the Devils move before the deadline), Mike Ribeiro, Ryan Clowe and Paul Stastny.
Obviously Morrow has already been moved, and that should set the tone for some of these other guys. Morrow, who at this point is probably the worst actual hockey player of those five, cost what was basically a first round pick or tier-two prospect. By tier two, I mean a guy who you wouldn't consider a top line or top D pairing guy, but a prospect with top four D or top six potential.
If we are using that deal as a basis, that means a guy like Clowe, who is turning 31, probably costs Percy+. What that means long-term is, as Clowe continues his decline in play (yes, continues, because it's already began), the Leafs will be getting better and Percy will potentially be breaking into the league as a young prospect (and Percy is only an example).
It seems like it would make more sense to simply wait for the Leafs to develop into the team that needs a Clowe type to go far in the playoffs and acquire him when the roster is actually ready for it.
Ribeiro cost the Capitals Cody Eakin, who is a good young player. That means, if they're going to flip him not even a year later, they're going to want a good return to save face. Is Ribeiro worth an arm and a leg, and a long-term contract extension, when you have Kadri emerging, Grabovski locked up, plus Colborne playing well in the minors?
At least Stastny is turning 28 this year and has been a 20+ goal scorer in every full season of hockey he's played. He offers the Leafs production at the top line center spot, even if the Leafs have a guy who already looks like he can give them production in that top line role.
Besides, Colorado is a complete mystery to everybody. Logic says they want a defenseman and the only reasonable guy to expect them to ask for in return is Carl Gunnarsson. Is that opening up one hole to fill another? Would that completely push Grabovski off the team? If that's the case, is Kadri-Grabovski-Gunnarsson worse than Stastny-Kadri – and whoever they replace Gunnarsson with?
File Stastny as a, "I'll believe it when I see it," and we'll take it from there if we ever have to.
Simply adding a veteran or two on the cheap to help out the fourth line (more on that below in 5 Things I Think I'd Do), or on the defense, would be nice tweak by Nonis. If there's a no-brainer trade to be made, or a good player that is worth giving up assets for (again, Yandle is an example), then it's worth exploring for the Leafs.
The Leafs don't have a perfect roster, but it should be good enough to make the playoffs this year considering the landscape around the rest of the East. This isn't the time to make a major move considering there are 15 games left. This is definitely not a buyer's market, and the Leafs are a young team on the rise.
If there is a move too obvious to avoid making, by all means the Leafs should go for it. Otherwise, it's just more prudent to hold onto what they have and see what they do here down the stretch before making any major decisions.
Nonis has said all year that he isn't selling off the future for the present, and that means most of the options fans are going crazy about aren't even a possibility.
It's not the sexy thing fans want to hear, but it's the right thing for the team.
– The shot count between the Leafs and Bruins was a topic of heavy discussion, so that seems to be a good starting point here.
– Yes, the Leafs did get outshot badly – 13 to 33 – but a few things are worth pointing out. The first is that the Leafs left shots on the table against the Bruins. Some examples of shots that the Leafs could have had but didn't take: the Bozak-Kessel two on one, Kessel getting tripped by Chara after he stopped and cut in, Gardiner had a shot blocked in the slot after Grabovski wheeled around the net and fed him because he waited too long, Kulemin hit a post, Bozak botched a three on two, and that's just a few examples. Does that close the huge discrepancy in shots? No. But it's something to keep in mind.
– Furthermore, the Leafs held a lead for most of the game, and their main concern was clearly protecting the lead more than anything else. They sent one man in on the forecheck all night, tried to minimize big mistakes, and were content to sit back on their lead.
– For the first half of the game in Boston, the Leafs sat back, trapped, and worked the counterattack. At the end of the game Boston had four more shots than the Leafs this time, instead of 20.
– The Leafs aren't exactly built to cycle teams down low for long stretches of the game, so they have to play some variation of the trap; otherwise, the game turns into what happened in the last 10 minutes of the second period in Boston: a pond hockey game with lots of back and forth, which ultimately resulted in Boston scoring and gaining momentum.
– One thing not helping the cycle game is the play of JVR lately. He was benched for the last 11 minutes of the game in Boston – last 6 minutes of regulation and all of OT. He's a big body the team relies on to cycle the puck down low and grind his way to the net. JVR has done some nice things as a net presence, but it doesn't matter if he's in front of the net when you leave Kessel to create either by himself or in collaboration with Bozak. You need more from your top players than simply going to the net all the time.
– JVR has one point in his last six games. That one point was a second assist on this goal, when the puck basically hit him on the boards, causing it to deflect to Bozak who threw Kessel a great breakaway pass for him to bury. In the last six games he only has 10 shots. That's not nearly enough for a guy playing on the top line alongside Phil Kessel, who draws the main defensive attention.
– If I was doing video reviews this week, I would have picked this Lupul goal against Tampa Bay. The passing play was great and all, but I wanted to note Nikolai Kulemin covering for a pinching Dion Phaneuf and keeping the puck in the zone, which really kick started the play and made it all possible. Those are the little things he does that not enough people notice.
– Was surprised that Kulemin released from the zone early which ended up leading to his breakaway goal against Boston. I can't recall a single time that he's ever left the zone early.
– Last year, Kessel released the zone early a lot, and just this week Kadri has done it, resulting in a Kulemin goal against Tampa, and Kulemin has done, too. The common thread? Lupul. Maybe it's just coincidence, but it is a theme worth monitoring. Last year, Lupul noted that he liked to try and get Kessel the puck in the neutral zone as opposed to the offensive zone so that he could carry the puck a little bit and enter the zone with speed and the puck. Would have to imagine he'd want the puck on Kadri's stick in the same kind of capacity.
– Did want to note Kulemin's shot this week. When he scored this goal against Tampa Bay, he didn't even really snipe a specific corner, he just overpowered the shot through Garon. Against Boston, he beat Khudobin cleanly with his writer from the slot, too, but hit the crossbar.
– Monday in Boston marked the first game in the last four that Grabovski wasn't fourth among Leafs centers in ice time. McClement plays on the PK a lot which boosts him over Grabovski, while Bozak plays all situations and Kadri has been getting more and more ice time as the season has progressed.
– Leafs brass need to figure out what is going on with Grabovski. Paying a guy 5.5M/year to play third and fourth line center minutes is obviously nonsensical. If this is them pushing Grabovski out the door, my biggest regret, if it were to happen right this second, is that we never got to see Grabovski-Kessel in an extended look on the same line. Logically, most teams play their highest paid winger and center together. The Leafs really haven't. If they play together and we can all unequivocally say that they suck on the same line, then moving on from him probably wouldn't bug me, but without trying them together there is something left to be desired. Please note: I'm not advocating for Grabovski to be traded, or to even stay he will be moved for that matter. Just putting two and two together.
– Against Tampa Bay, the Leafs changed Grabovski's role and he ended up playing against Nate Thompson for most of the night, but he only ended up with a shot on net. In the next few games, though, he popped in a few goals that will hopefully go to his legs.
– Did think it was interesting that Carlyle went with McClement-Kulemin in overtime against Boston rather than Grabovski.
– Gardiner being inserted into the line-up really changed the dynamic of the Leafs defense. He adds an element of speed, creativity and puck movement that nobody else on the D possesses. The pass he made that kick started this goal against Buffalo is something only he can do. To say nothing of his pass to Lupul against Boston.
– You can tell though that Gardiner has developed some bad habits from playing in the AHL. He's very lackadaisical with the puck, and tries things that he would get away with in the A that you don't get away with in the NHL. For example, on Saturday he tried to keep a puck in the offensive zone by flicking a soft pass up the boards to Kessel. Seguin easily knocked it down and charged out of the zone. Against Buffalo, he got caught a few times holding the puck too long on the breakout resulting in panic turnovers. Luckily, Gardiner is so fast that despite numerous giveaways he's generally been able to catch up to the play and cover himself properly. At the end of the day, the Leafs are taking the good with the bad with Gardiner for now, but he does more good than bad. Part of that can be blamed on playing in the AHL for so long, because ideally he would have ironed out these mistakes at the start of the year in the NHL when everybody was still getting into the swing of things.
– Gardiner's puck movement is so good, and he's so smart, that he'll learn to minimize his mistakes over the next few years and he will become a force to be reckoned with once he does.
– Mentioned a few weeks ago that Franson's skating might ultimately prohibit him from becoming a top four D-man in the league by mentioning this goal. Lucic blowing by him for a breakaway was another example of such an instance. Franson has become a lot better at reading the play in his own zone, but when games open up he is very susceptible to getting beat.
– Everybody seems to think that Franson has been in the league for a while, but this is actually only his fourth season in the NHL. The fourth season in a player's career is usually his breakout one offensively, and Franson is on pace for a 49-point season over a full 82 games. Even if Franson is "only" a good third pairing D-man, he brings you size, offense, the ability to pinch in the top four and can eat up extra minutes if need be.
– This didn't get much attention, but on the shift that got Lupul suspended for two games, he and Conacher were slashing at each other before the puck even dropped. Lupul was clearly irked by it and looked as if he let his emotions get the best of him the rest of the shift. It happens.
– If Fraser is going to block a shot in front of his net with under two minutes left like he did against Boston, he has to go down and make sure. Instead, Fraser whacked at the puck. The puck deflected off of him and into the net. 3-2.
– Ennis had a power play goal against the Leafs at the end of the first period that helped the Sabres climb back into the game. It particularly hurt because Liles and McClement both bit on the play. Why did that hurt more than usual? The left side of the penalty kill belongs to Fraser, and he was the guy in the box.
– With 12 or so minutes left against Boston in Toronto, Gunnarsson got a penalty and it was Fraser who was put out with Phaneuf at the beginning to kill it off. He hasn't just become a physical player on this hockey team; he's become a guy counted on to kill penalties, too. Fraser is averaging almost 2 minutes a night on the PK.
– Forwards out there to protect the lead in the final minute against Boston: Kulemin, Bozak, McClement.
– Was surprised that Frattin was a healthy scratch against Boston because I thought he played well on Saturday. Frattin played nearly 15 minutes, and his line with Grabovski and Hamilton was able to cycle the puck with some success at times against Boston in comparison to the Leafs other lines. With less than 5 minutes left, there was a shift where Frattin won a battle to get the puck out past Chara and he chipped it around him beat him to the puck and ate some clock.
– Frattin's goal-scoring ability always gets talked about, but more importantly for the Leafs he can be a big-bodied third line winger they can trust. He's shown some ability to score timely goals and he can play spot duty in the top six. In this day and age, that's a pretty ideal third liner.
– Was nice to see Kadri take a run at Chara after he roughed up Lupul in the corner a little bit. There has been a focus on sticking up for teammates via fighting this season but, to me, when a player on your team gets hit, taking that guy's number and hitting him back is just as good.
– Does Phaneuf have a hate on for Marchand or what? He was going after him all game in Boston.
– It is interesting to note how much less physical Boston is against Toronto this year. Last season, HNIC aired a clip of Thornton standing at center ice in warm ups during a game in Boston visibly yelling at any Leaf player that skated by. This year, Thornton was there and Orr came by and had some words for him. Not everybody likes fighting, but it's clear the Bruins try to use it for momentum and intimidation. It didn't take rocket science to see the Leafs were scared to go into the corners against Boston last season. This year, right after Kadri scored, the Bruins didn't put Thornton out there as a coincidence, they put him out there to get the energy going for their team. Instead, Orr beat him in a fight. Did that win the Leafs the game? No. Definitely not. But we've seen guys like Lucic and Horton get emotionally invested in games after physical altercations, yet neither were anywhere to be found all night.
– Lucic's highlight of the game in Toronto was getting planted by Fraser, and even after that he didn't respond physically.
– It's only five games, but MacArthur doesn't have a point in the five games Lupul has played. He gets pushed down the line-up with Lupul there and that's what makes it tough to justify the money he'll command this summer when everybody is healthy. But as I've noted: he can play anywhere in the top nine for the Leafs, and good 27/28 year old wingers are a rare commodity on the UFA market.
– If it wasn't obvious, the Leafs have clearly turned their net over to Reimer.
"In the moment, it's just a reaction, you just do it. It's hard to explain why, it's just that engrained craziness of a hockey player. Honestly."
– Mark Fraser on shot blocking.
The Leafs looked like the New York Rangers from last season against Boston on HNIC. Turns out they blocked a season-high 31 shots on net, the most a Leafs team has blocked in nearly two years.
"Mike is excited and looking for the opportunity to play games and compete. The Leafs handled the situation very well and we'll see where things go."
– Mike Komisarek's agent Matt Keator.
What an unceremonious ending to a once-lauded acquisition.
"By all means they're not an invincible team."
– Nazem Kadri on the Boston Bruins.
It felt like the Leafs were sort of in awe of them last year. Not anymore.
5 Things I Think I'd Do
1 – I think you have to spread out the role of playing against the opposition's top players. There was a lot of talk about Kadri in this role after Carlyle said it was his last week, but I have to ask: Why is this one line's responsibility? It's pretty clear the Leafs don't have the pieces to replicate a Niedermayer-Pahlsson-Moen line. What they do have, though, is four pretty solid lines that can all be trusted to varying degrees when everybody is healthy. Carlyle likes his match ups, but it might not be the worst thing in the world to give the other team's top lines different defensive looks and to have forward lines alternate getting favourable line match ups. The Leafs' best asset is their depth. They should use it.
2 – I think I'd strongly consider looking into adding a shootout specialist to the lineup. The Florida Panthers did it last year with Wojtek Wolski. Wolski scored three shootout goals for the Panthers down the stretch (went 3/7), and the Panthers won all three of those games. One of his shootout goals was a winner, too. That's three extra points. The Panthers won their division by two. Why not have a shootout specialist on the fourth line alongside Komarov-McClement? Some players who fit the bill include the aforementioned Wolski, Matt Hendricks, and Michal Handzus.
3 – I think if Kessel-Bozak-JVR is one PP forward line, and Lupul-Kadri-Grabovski is the other, by no means should one unit be considered the top unit and the other the secondary unit. In other words, just because a power play is drawn, that does not mean the Kessel unit should automatically get to go out there first. Play the unit that is more rested, and eventually, play the unit that is looking better in each individual game. Frankly, I'd argue Kadri's line is more talented than Bozak's overall. They could also shuffle the units better, but the Leafs have shown no indication whatsoever that they're going to breakup Kessel-Bozak anytime soon, so that's what I suggest with these units in stone.
4 – I think Mike Komisarek, fairly or unfairly, became a major symbol of Brian Burke's inability to turnaround the team around as quickly as many thought he would. He was signed to a big money deal, and a lot of people thought he would become a key player in the Leafs turning into a tougher team to play against. Ultimately, however, Komisarek became a liability that couldn't even be trusted enough to play in the top six. By all accounts, he appears to be a very nice person and I wish him nothing but the best on his road to returning to the NHL; on a cheap deal I believe Komisarek can provide some depth value to an NHL defense in a 5-6-7 role. With this all said, Mark Fraser is more or less everything they had hoped Komisarek would be at a fraction of the cost.
5 – I think, building off of the preamble today, unless there is a move to be made for Nonis that is an absolute no-brainer and doesn't hurt the team long-term, it's probably best to just stand pat and see how the rest of the season unfolds. This is not a buyer's market right now, and the Leafs aren't in a position to say that they are ready to go for it. By all means move a late round pick or expendable depth player if it means bringing in veteran depth that can help push the team forward. But a big dramatic move that significantly alters the roster? This is not the time to do that. Unless, again, it's an absolute no-brainer.


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Today we welcome the first of our new bloggers to the Jesus
Blog—Dr. Christine Jacobi. Christine is wissenschaftliche
Mitarbeiterin at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and is a perfect addition to
the Jesus Blog because she is an innovative scholar working in the area of
Jesus tradition in the writings of Paul.
As is standard in the German system, she is currently writing her second
doctorate (Habilitation) under Prof Dr Jens Schröter, whom readers of
the Jesus Blog will recognize as one of the leaders in recent historiographical
shifts in Jesus studies. Christine also
wrote her PhD in Berlin under Schröter, which was published as Jesusüberlieferung
bei Paulus? Analogien zwischen den echten Paulus-Briefen und die synoptischen
Evangelien (de Gruyter, 2015).
In this study, Jacobi argues that restricting consideration of Paul's
knowledge of the Jesus tradition to mining his epistles for words and sayings
of Jesus from the Synoptics is ill-conceived.
One must, according to Jacobi, be more attuned to Paul's own
conceptualization of Jesus and the Jesus tradition. Focusing particularly on his usage of "in the
Lord," she demonstrates that Paul "receives" "Jesus" as more of a hermeneutical
sphere or orientation toward the past than anything else, and thus his
reception of Jesus and Jesus tradition amounts to much more than simply
repeating some words that Jesus may have said.
This study is one of the first applications of the emerging "memory approach" to
the Pauline epistles, and is thus groundbreaking in that and many other
ways. We could not be more pleased to
have Christine join us and we look forward to her contributions. I (Chris) should also mention that I'm
particularly pleased to be working with Christine as a co-editor (along with
Helen Bond and Jens Schröter) of the forthcoming 750,000-word Reception of
Jesus in the First Three Centuries (Bloomsbury T&T Clark). She is also the co-editor (with Jens
Schröter) of the forthcoming Jesus Handbuch (Mohr Siebeck, 2016).
We will soon get her picture and books on the sidebar, but for now, welcome Christine! We look forward to your first post!


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Listen, you wouldn't be at this page unless someone, something, or your pet has encountered a skunk, so lets get right to the point because the skunk spray is bonding stronger to whatever's been sprayed every minute that passes.
Think of it this way, if you use oil based paint you cannot clean your paint brushes with water because the oil repels the water. The same is true with skunk spray and water.
It is possible to remove skunk smell within a few minutes using the right methods. Some of the remedies on this site are actually able to remove skunk smell on contact. Keep in mind though that the longer the skunk smell sits on an object the more difficult it is to remove.
But my grandparents used tomatoes to remove skunk odor and it always worked... In the past (several decades ago and before new FDA rules) tomato paste/sauce was manufactured differently and was made using a completely different recipe than it is today. Because of this, the tomato juice/sauce 30+ years ago would actually be able to remove some of the odor, but the recipes used today are not strong enough to do anything other than make a mess.
Besides this your pet may be walking funny, whining/crying, foaming at the mouth (animals will produce excess saliva if sprayed in the face to try to flush out the odor...this is not a sign of rabies unless your pet was bitten several days prior), rolling on the ground, and rubbing themselves against everything they see.
Most professional cleaning services are not properly trained to deal with skunk odor and will use conventional cleaning methods to get rid of the stench. Unfortunately, water is a major cleaning agent most services use and water can cause the skunk odor to spread.
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Almost everyone involved in health care will tell you that the greatest problem in our system is that we pay on a fee-for-service basis. Almost everyone is wrong.
The logic is obvious – paying a fee for a service encourages providers to get more fees by providing more services. Ergo, we consume too much and spend too much. Ipso facto, getting rid of fee-for-service would result in fewer services and less spending. Case closed.
Well, maybe not.
Almost everyone involved in health care will tell you that the greatest problem in our system is that we pay on a fee-for-service basis. Almost everyone is wrong.
The logic is obvious – paying a fee for a service encourages providers to get more fees by providing more services. Ergo, we consume too much and spend too much. Ipso facto, getting rid of fee-for-service would result in fewer services and less spending. Case closed.
Well, maybe not.
In fact, almost everything we do in the course of our economic lives, we do on a fee-for-service basis. When we go to the movies, get our oil changed, have our roof replaced, buy a computer, get a haircut, hire a baby sitter, buy a steak dinner, get someone to do our taxes or defend us in a suit, we do it on a fee-for-service basis. None of it is particularly inflationary.
The graph below shows the CPI broken into components. Food, housing transportation, apparel – all are paid fee-for-service and all have a lower rate of inflation than health care.
Yes, the providers of these services would like to sell us more units of service. But we have good reason to resist – we don't want to waste our money on services we don't need.
What is unique about health care is not fee-for-service, but third-party payment. Only in health care is there someone else picking up the tab for our spending.
If we applied the same third-party payment technique to any other segment of the economy we would get the exact same inflationary spiral we see in health care. I buy donuts from time-to-time. If those donuts were free at the point of purchase, I would buy (and eat) a whole lot more than I do today. The stereotype of cops eating donuts came about because the donut shops gave them away to the cops for free.
When I was working as a state-level lobbyist for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, I would attend meetings of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) and a bunch of other organizations. These groups typically held their meetings in the ritziest hotel in Kansas City, New Orleans, San Diego, Boston or some other place that was easy to get to.
Never, not once, did I ever inquire what the room would cost when I checked in. Why should I? Blue Cross was paying for it. The cost made no difference to me whatsoever. Some years later when I went into business for myself and tried to attend the same meetings at my own expense, I became very interested in the cost of the rooms. Most of the time, I would stay at a cheap motel on the edge of town and drive to the meetings.
Ah, but health care is different, you might say. Yes it is. It is different because of third-party payment and for no other reason. The other reasons usually given are easily rebutted –
- Information asymmetry (the providers know more than the patients). Of course, but that is also true of, say, criminal law or engineering.
- Health care is essential to life. But it is far less essential than food or housing, which do not require third-party payment.
- Patients are too fearful to make rational decisions. More fearful than if I were arrested and locked up at Riker's Island?
- Health care is complicated. As complicated as an iPad? I don't think so.
Efforts to move away from fee-for-services or to control it never work very well. Witness capitation under managed care, or the RBRVS system of paying physicians under Medicare. Medicare's system of price controls leads to absurd complexity yet does not reward physicians for the things that are most important to patients, such as kindness, patience, communication ability, friendliness – the qualities that humanize the medical transaction and that would be rewarded in any other segment of the economy not dominated by bloodless third-party payers.
It is about to get worse with the advent of the ICD-10 codebook. This will offer 140,000 separate billing codes, according to The Wall Street Journal, including "codes for injuries in opera houses, art galleries, squash courts, and nine locations in and around a mobile home, from the bathroom to the bedroom."
It is not fee-for-service that is the problem, but the burden third-party payers put on patients and providers alike, without adding any value whatsoever.


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