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Mission White 2"x8" Encaustic Cement Tile
93 in stock
Mission 2"x8" Brick Cement Tile Product Details
- Handmade using a centuries-old process
- Traditional Subway, Brick or Plank format for floors or walls
- Tile is shipped pre-sealed, so a grout release is not required
- Seal with a penetrating sealer after installation
- Avente stocks some colors for quick ship
- Lead Time: 2 - 3 weeks for stock; 8 weeks for made-to-order
- Dimensions: 2" x 8"
- Thickness: 5/8" (floors) or 3/8" thick (walls)
- Coverage: 9.2 tiles per SF
- Order by: Full Box
- 5/8" Thick: 48 tiles/5.22 SF per box
- 3/8" Thick: 72 tiles/7.82 SF per box
- Minimum order: 80 sq ft (15 boxes)
- A 20% surcharge added to orders less than 80 sq ft
Mission Brick cement tiles are available in any of the 60 colors of the Mission Palette. You should expect color, shade, and size variations because cement tiles are handmade.
Application and Use
Only use this tile for the following applications. For more information, see our Application and Use Guidelines.
- Suitable for all indoor and outdoor wall and flooring applications
- Ideal for high-temperature areas around ranges and fireplace surrounds, including radiant heat installations
- Suitable for outdoor use subject to climate and method of installation
- NOT FROST-RESISTANT. This tile is porous and absorbs water; therefore, it is unsuitable for frosty environments subjected to freeze/thaw conditions.
- Suitable for submerged locations like pools or fountains when not exposed to low or high pH environments and properly installed and sealed
- Suitable for wet locations like shower floors and steam rooms when properly sealed and maintained


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Trinity Health to Acquire CommonSpirit Health Share of MercyOne Health System, Become Sole Parent
The result is a more unified MercyOne with improved access and convenience to health care services for Iowans and neighboring communities.
DETROIT/CHICAGO (April 19, 2022) – Trinity Health and CommonSpirit Health announced today they have signed an agreement for Trinity Health to acquire all facilities and assets of MercyOne, a regional health system based in Iowa. Since 1998, MercyOne has operated under a joint operating agreement between not-for-profit Catholic health care organizations Trinity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives, which is now CommonSpirit.
MercyOne is a leading health system in Iowa and serves more than 3.3 million patients each year. The system includes 16 medical centers, 27 affiliate organizations and more than 420 care sites offering a range of health and wellness services, including provider services and urgent care, and more than 20,000 colleagues including 2,000 of the state's most talented doctors and providers.
"True to our shared Catholic mission, our goal is to provide high-quality, compassionate care with the best patient/member experience possible. We will accomplish that goal through a holistic approach, with a range of health services and technologies that are fully connected and coordinated," said Mike Slubowski, president and chief executive officer at Trinity Health. "This agreement creates a fully integrated MercyOne to care for more people in a unified way."
After months of analysis and due diligence, Trinity Health and CommonSpirit determined a sole parent is the best path forward for MercyOne and for the communities it serves. Trinity Health, a national health system spanning 25 states, will bring unified strategies and operations to MercyOne's care sites, including one set of system services.
As an example, MercyOne will transition to Trinity Health's common platforms, including a single electronic health record (EHR), ultimately allowing patients to easily manage their care across all MercyOne services and facilities. The result is a more convenient and consistent care experience for MercyOne's communities.
"After two decades of successful collaboration, we are immensely proud of our partnership with Trinity Health and our efforts to advance health care statewide," said Marvin O'Quinn, president and chief operating officer at CommonSpirit Health. "While the current structure has been instrumental in growing
our health care services in Iowa, we believe this decision is ultimately what is best for our patients, colleagues, and our communities."
"We strongly believe this transition to become a full member of the Trinity Health family will result in a stronger, more cohesive health system better able to offer a convenient and personalized circle of care for all we serve," said Bob Ritz, president and chief executive officer at MercyOne. "We are delighted to have the agreement in place as we plan for the future of our mission. We are grateful to CommonSpirit for more than 20 years of partnership."
Trinity Health and CommonSpirit will now plan for integration, complete regulatory filings, and take other steps necessary to finalize the transaction, which is expected to be completed summer 2022. This process will be seamless for the communities MercyOne serves, and patients can continue to expect the same compassionate care they have always received.
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, Catholic health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 25 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, Trinity Health's network of care includes 88 hospitals, 131 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 125 urgent care locations, and many other health and well-being services. Based in Livonia, Michigan, its annual operating revenue is $20.2 billion with $1.2 billion returned to its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit www.trinity-health.org or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
About CommonSpirit Health
CommonSpirit Health is a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people. It was created in February 2019 by Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health. With its national office in Chicago and a team of over 150,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, CommonSpirit operates 140 hospitals and more than 1,500 care sites across 21 states. In FY 2021, CommonSpirit had revenues of $33.3 billion and provided $5.1 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed government programs. Learn more at www.commonspirit.org.
About MercyOne
MercyOne is a connected system of health care facilities and services dedicated to helping people and communities live their best life. MercyOne's care providers and staff make health the highest priority. The system's clinics, medical centers, hospitals and affiliates are located throughout the state of Iowa and beyond. Headquartered in central Iowa, MercyOne was founded in 1998 through a collaboration between Catholic Health Initiatives, now CommonSpirit Health, and Trinity Health – two of the country's foremost, not-for-profit Catholic health organizations.
SOURCE: Trinity Health


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How could 13 decadent courses, all made with black summer truffles from Italy, have my name on them? Good breeding? A huge inheritance? A get-rich-food quick scheme? Nope. Like Blanche Dubois, I have come to depend on the kindness of bloggers. And boy did I hit pay dirt. Because I was invited to the second annual Trufflepalooza, in which hostess extraordinaire Erika Kerekes of In Erika's Kitchen served dish after dish of truffle-inspired fare. And let me tell you, she really knows how to put the truffle in a palooza.
The most celebrated types are the white truffle, which is the rarest and most valuable and native to Italy and Croatia; the black winter truffle, also called the black Perigord, named for the region in France, grows exclusively with oak and appears in late autumn and winter. This highly coveted specimen is more pungent and pricey than the black summer truffle from Italy that's available from June to October. Milder with just the right amount of earthiness for a neophyte like myself, the black summer truffle will only put you in the poorhouse for a few years, provided you have connections.


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Develop your personal career development plan.
Individualized Advising | Mock Interview Program | Resume and Cover Letter Review
Individualized Advising
Our approach to career advising is collaborative, supportive, and results-oriented.
We can help you explore a variety of career options and identify the types of opportunities that are most compatible with your talents, interests, values, and lifestyle.
We can assist you in developing a year-by-year career development plan, incorporating the most effective job search practices.
Beyond assisting you in identifying your goals, our one-on-one meetings also address other aspects of career planning:
- resume and cover letter preparation
- interview preparation
- market and employer information
- practice area exploration
- professional skills development
Mock Interview Program
We offer an interactive mock interview program. We recommend that you have your mock interview recorded. Many students find that watching their interview builds their confidence and helps them identify areas of improvement.
You can schedule an advising appointment or mock interview anytime online from your UBalt Law Connect homepage.
Resume and Cover Letter Review
E-mail us your resume and a cover letter for review. Please tell us in the e-mail what type of position you are seeking. If you would like us to review a cover letter, it must be written for a particular job opportunity; include a copy of your resume and the position description (if possible) for reference. We will e-mail you back edits and/or comments within 2-3 days.


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Brentwood Pharmacy
Protect yourself & your family from COVID-19 by following our tips of advice. We're here for you every step of the way!
Neck pain can affect all of us at some stage of our lives. It may occur because of a number of reasons, but for most of us it may be simply treated and prevented.
Mild pain in the neck may occur from sitting in the wrong position, particularly when looking at a computer or screen, putting your head, neck and shoulders in an unnatural position for too long without regular changes of posture.
More severe or persistent neck pain may also involve injuries to the shoulder or collarbone, or from pinched nerves in the spine. Whiplash injuries, usually from motor vehicle accidents, are another major cause of persistent neck pain. Wearing an approved seat belt is common sense to help minimise whiplash or more serious injuries.
Neck pain may be described as dull, cramping, stabbing or a range of these, depending on the cause of the pain. Pain from pinched nerves is often described as burning or stabbing, whereas muscle injury pain is usually cramping, and often worsens on movement, particularly after a period of rest.
Neck pain as a result of arthritis in the spine can also pinch nerves as the vertebra collapse or change shape. Neck pain may vary in type and intensity, and may cause pain to spread or radiate to other areas of the body, such as the shoulder and further down the backbone. Pain may also cause muscle weakness, both from limiting movement in that area to prevent the pain occurring and from actual damage to the area.
If neck pain, or any pain, is severe or crushing, then it is important to consult your doctor or go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital at once in order to rule out the possibility of heart problems or other conditions that may cause pain to radiate out from the heart to other areas.
Your community pharmacist can advise you if any neck pain that you may be suffering from may be treated with treatments from the pharmacy. They will also refer you to your doctor, a physiotherapist or other health professional if needed.
Rest is helpful for mild neck pain or an injury so try to limit uncomfortable neck positions for two or three days after it first occurs. If you must work at a screen, have regular breaks, at least every 20 minutes. Use this break time to rotate the neck and shoulders or take a short walk for a minute or two before returning to the screen or keyboard again.
Mild pain relieving medicine is helpful, your pharmacist can advise on the best medicine and the correct dose for you in order to relieve the pain. It is important to not use pain reliever medicines to allow you to continue to do what caused the problem in the first place. Your pharmacist has the treatment and advice that will help you to manage and prevent neck pain.


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When training for powerlifting, olympic lifting, strongman events, etc., the majority of training cycles in an overall program would be focused on strength (myofibular hypertrophy) and perhaps power.
Is there any benefit to adding in a cycle focusing on mass (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy)? My first inclination is that it would just add bodyweight and bump me up to a higher weight class, but perhaps there are structural benefits?


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Reconceptualising history teachers' identities within the context of changing curriculum.
22 February 2012Teachers are considered by most policymakers and school change experts to be the centerpiece of educational change. Therefore, it is not surprisingly that many current educational reform efforts in South Africa are directed at teachers, and their involvement in educational reform is seen as critical. Reforms must address the core processes of teaching and learning if they are to markedly change what happens in schools. Yet teachers respond to educational reforms in a variety of ways: some teachers push or sustain reform efforts, whereas others resist or actively subvert them. The question of addressing curriculum change in our schools has recently become a matter of contention. Teachers are finding it difficult to adjust to the changing educational policies that seek to coerce teachers into addressing curriculum change in their classrooms. In response to the changes in educational policy in the new dispensation, the teaching of history, a subject that had already experienced numerous transformations in the past, was once again faced with the challenges of a renewed curriculum framework. This paper aims to capture the complexities and contradictions that are associated with a transforming educational system. More specifically the question of how history teachers see themselves within this transformation process and the impact that it has on their identities to curriculum change. Identity formation theories were used as a lens to understand the various forces that influence the identities of teachers. A number of theories were examined in order to unfold identity development from various approaches to allow for a more holistic understanding of a teachers' life career. The main question that guided this investigation was how history teachers construct their identities within the context of curriculum change. In attempting to unpack the messiness of the curriculum transformation process and at the same time to capture how history teachers are negotiating their roles and identities in post apartheid South Africa, this research study employed a qualitative method of data collection based on a life history research tradition. The richness of information that was obtained from lengthy, open-ended interviews with six history teachers from the Kwasanti circuit, provided a sound platform on which to respond to the critical questions of the study. The data was collated to develop narrative stories with the intention of understanding teacher thinking and experiences within a broad social and historical context. The wealth of information provided by the interviews enabled the researcher to examine how these teachers were constructing their identities within the context of curriculum change. An analysis of the findings indicated that the conceptions that history teachers have about the changing curriculum are influenced by their past experiences. The study revealed that some of the major forces of influence that shaped the teachers' understanding of the changing curriculum were pragmatic and educational. Teachers come with many realities into the profession often reconstructing and creating their context based on past experiences and perceptions. Evidence from the data reveals that the plethora of policy initiatives seeking educational transformation in South Africa are to a large degree not congruent with existing teachers' beliefs. Teachers have to redefine and renegotiate their roles and identities, which is problematic because they come embedded with experiences gleaned during the apartheid era. The study concludes with a synthesis of the findings, and it makes recommendations for addressing the present needs of history teachers in South Africa. The reconceptualisation of education through new policy initiatives therefore has to refocus and look more closely at teachers' understanding of their day-to-day realities in the work environment. Teachers need to 'own' the process of change, and reform efforts need to be grounded in an understanding of teachers' professional lives and development. Teachers must see themselves as experts in the dynamics of change. To become experts in the dynamics of change, teachers must become skilled changed agents.


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Severe tooth decay can sometimes destroy a tooth to the point where a filling cannot keep it intact. Left untreated, these teeth can break down even further. In these cases, dentists rely on dental crowns to protect what's left of the tooth.
Dental crowns are one of the most important restorations we offer. A crown can save a broken or decayed tooth by holding it together & protecting it from further damage. It can also serve as a beautiful replacement for an unsightly tooth.
A crown, also called a cap, is a good way to cover teeth that are discolored or badly shaped as well, or to cover a dental implant. A crown can make your tooth stronger & improve its appearance.
A crown acts the same way as a tooth, so after your crowns are placed, you should treat it the same way as well. Continue to brush & floss regularly & see your dentist for regular checkups!
What Is A Dental Crown?
In dentistry, a crown or a cap is a fake tooth that fits on top of a damaged tooth. They are custom-made to fit your smile & are built to last. There are a number of conditions that rely on crowns to save your teeth. You may even need a crown after undergoing certain dental treatments. A root canal or large filling can weaken an affected tooth & make it very vulnerable to cracking or breaking, so a crown is needed for protection. Crowns can also be used as a cosmetic treatment to improve the look of a misshapen or discolored tooth.
There are several types of crowns available to you, & each one varies in terms of appearance & strength.
Metal Crowns
Metal crowns are comprised of gold or other alloys (mixtures). They are the most durable type of crown available & the least likely to wear down your opposing teeth. The downside of metal crowns is that they do not blend into your smile, so you may not want them on your most visible teeth.
Ceramic Crowns
Ceramic crowns are made from porcelain & primarily used for their aesthetic qualities. They can be matched to the exact color of your teeth & are a great option for restoring your front teeth. However, they are the least durable crowns available. Porcelain can be too fragile to replace teeth that are put under a lot of strain, such as molars. They can also be rough on your other teeth.
Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal Crowns
Porcelain-Fused-to-Metal (PFM) crowns combine the qualities of ceramic & metal alloy crowns. With a porcelain exterior & a metal interior, these crowns are built for strength as well as looks. While boasting the best of both worlds, they also have drawbacks. The edge of the metal portion of the crown may become visible at your gum line, affecting its aesthetics. Additionally, the outer porcelain layer can wear down your other teeth or become damaged just like all-porcelain crowns.
Zirconia Crowns
Zirconia is a type of metal that is naturally tooth-colored, making it a popular crown material for many dentists. Like other metal crowns, it is also extremely durable. Unfortunately, zirconia is neither as aesthetically pleasing as porcelain nor as easy on the teeth as metal alloys.
Procedure Overview
Once we have determined the best kind of crown for you, we will schedule two appointments for you. During the first appointment, the dentist prepares your tooth for your custom-made crown. At the second appointment, they will permanently place the crown.
- Before the dentist can prepare your tooth for a crown, they will need to remove any tooth decay & perform fillings or root canals if necessary.
- Next, they need to remove enough of your tooth enamel for the crown to fit over it. You will receive local anesthesia to numb your tooth before the dentist begins to trim it down. The amount of tooth enamel that needs to be removed depends on which kind of crown you choose, with metal crowns requiring the least removal.
- Once your tooth has been prepared, we will take an impression (mold) of your teeth. The dentist will carefully pull the gums away from the prepared tooth using a small cord. Then you will need to bite down on putty-filled trays for a few minutes. This putty mold is sent to a lab, which will create an aesthetic match of your damaged tooth to fit comfortably alongside your original teeth. If you are getting a ceramic, porcelain-fused-to-metal or zirconia crown, the lab will match your crown to the color of your other teeth.
- The final step of your first appointment is getting a temporary crown. The dentist needs to place a temporary crown over the prepared tooth in order to protect it from any damage while you wait for your next appointment.
- It will take a couple weeks for the lab to craft your personalized crown. Once it is ready, you will come in for your second appointment so the dentist can make sure it fits comfortably & securely.
- When they find the right fit, they will permanently attach the crown with a bonding resin.
Dental crowns need to be treated with the same care as regular teeth. While the crown itself can't decay, the tooth underneath it can. Regular brushing & flossing is essential to maximizing your crown's lifespan. If properly cared for, a typical crown can last anywhere from 10 to 50 years!


text: DISCLAIMER: Transactions on this site are strictly between the buyer and the seller. Neither fineahban.com nor its owners accept any liability for moneys lost, items damaged, stolen, or any other claim relating to transactions between buyer and seller. You "the user", use this site, and arrange exchanges at your own risk.


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LAS VEGAS (AP) — The flash of the CES technology show in Las Vegas is all about robots, drones and smart gadgets. But its subtext is all about Google versus Amazon.
Both companies usually shun conventions like CES, preferring to debut gadgets at their own press events. But these tech giants have built an imposing presence here this year as they work to weave their voice-operated digital assistants more deeply into our personal lives.
Google has plastered digital billboards and the Las Vegas Monorail with the "Hey Google" wake-up command. It's announced a range of new gadgets featuring its assistant on everything from smart displays to pressure cookers. And it's sent out the clowns — a jumpsuit-wearing army of advertising associates wearing brightly-colored Converse sneakers and hovering around partner firms' booths to explain how Google's technology works.
Amazon, which grabbed an early lead in this market, opted for a more subtle approach. Instead of an advertising blitz, its Alexa digital assistant has merely been popping up regularly in "smart" products across the convention — everything from mirrors and toilets to headphones and car dashboards.
Executives from both companies have also been turning up at press conferences held by other companies such as Panasonic, LG and Toyota. "What we're seeing is heavy competition between all the personal assistants," says Gartner analyst Brian Blau.
The two companies — and to a lesser extent, Apple, with Siri, and Microsoft, with Cortana — are waging a fierce struggle to establish their assistants as de facto standards for a new generation of voice-controlled devices. It's similar in some respects to the decade-old battle between the iPhone and Google's Android system in smartphones, or to the much older fight between Apple's Mac computers and Microsoft's Windows PCs.
Both companies see the competition in existential terms. Getting shut out of voice devices could imperil Google's lucrative digital-advertising business, the source of its financial strength. Amazon, meanwhile, wants to ensure that its customers can directly access its "everything store" in contrast to now, when they mostly shop via devices and software systems controlled by Amazon's rivals.
For consumers, meanwhile, the spread of these assistants offers new convenience in the form of an ever-present digital concierge. But there could also be some uneasiness about revealing even more about their habits, preferences and routines to distant computers that are always listening for their commands.
In a video presentation by LG, one consumer cooks while reading a recipe from the smart screen of the company's voice-activated robot CLOi. Another prepares to embark on a vacation and shuts off her lights by saying, "Hey, Google, I'm leaving."
Google said this week it's integrating its voice assistant to allow remote control of some settings in Kia and Fiat Chrysler vehicles, while Toyota announced a similar arrangement with Amazon that enables drivers to ask Alexa turn the heat up at home before they arrive.
But these smart products can — and sometimes do — support multiple assistants. Toyota Connected CEO Zack Hicks told reporters that "we're not exclusive" with Amazon, and that nothing prevents Toyota from partnering with others.
General Electric is showing off a suite of smart kitchen gizmos that connect its "Geneva" voice assistant to those of Amazon and Google. For example, you can preheat your oven by saying, "Alexa, tell Geneva to preheat the upper oven to 350." China's Baidu on Monday announced it was integrating its voice assistant into a lamp speaker and dome ceiling lights.
Whether people will truly pay more for the ability not to walk over and flip a switch themselves is unclear. But manufacturers aren't taking the chance that they'll be left behind if one or the other assistant becomes dominant.
"Five years ago, no one could predict what was going to happen with the smart home," says LG Electronics USA marketing vice president David VanderWaal. "Five years from now, we're not quite sure either. So this open partner, open platform system, is definitely the way to go."
For the moment, voice competitors to Amazon and Google remain largely in the wings.
Microsoft's Cortana assistant, which is available on PCs running Windows 10, allows hundreds of millions of users to search the web using Bing. But it hasn't been a huge factor in gadget announcements leading up to CES. In fact, Alexa is even starting to encroach on Cortana's turf by making its way onto some PCs.
Apple hasn't been prominent this year, either. But many manufacturers have adopted its HomeKit software in order to ensure they'll work easily with iPhones and Siri. Apple, however, had to push back release of the HomePod, its almost-$350 smart speaker, until "early" this year; it was originally scheduled for December 2017.
Some analysts also say it's too soon to rule out Bixby, Samsung's AI assistant, which the company vowed to make a more central part of all its connected devices by 2020.
Associated Press writer Matt O'Brien contributed to this report.


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Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be here at the City Club. This beautiful building connects us with San Francisco's history as a center of commerce and finance, which makes it a great place to give a talk about the economy. My subject is how the U.S. economy is doing and where it's heading. I'll take a close look at why the recovery has so far been somewhat lackluster, and I'll go over measures we at the Federal Reserve recently announced aimed at boosting growth and getting us closer to our goals of maximum employment and price stability. As always, my remarks represent my own views and not those of others in the Federal Reserve System.
It's been several years since we passed through the worst financial crisis and deepest recession the nation has experienced since the Great Depression. The collapse of the housing market and the near meltdown of the financial system took an enormous toll. The past three years have been marked by sluggish growth, a severely depressed housing sector, and very high unemployment.
Still, as discouraging as the economic news has been at times, there's no doubt the economy is on the mend. Private-sector payrolls have climbed for 30 consecutive months, adding over 4½ million jobs. That's more than half what we lost in the recession. Despite these gains, economic growth has not been strong enough to bring the jobless rate down to normal levels. After reaching a peak of 10 percent in October 2009, the unemployment rate has declined by nearly 2 percentage points to 8.1 percent. That's real progress. But we still have quite a way to go to get the economy back to where it should be.
It's not that surprising that the recovery has been sluggish. It can take quite some time to get over a financial crisis and a severe recession like we just lived through. But the healing process is well under way.2 Credit conditions are much improved from a few years ago. For many borrowers, interest rates are at or near historic lows. And lenders seem more willing to extend credit. Consumer and business demand pent up during the recession is reviving. We can see that, for example, in car sales, which collapsed during the recession. Now, with auto financing rates at rock bottom and more people working, motor vehicle sales have climbed over 50 percent from their recession lows.
Another encouraging development is that housing is once more showing signs of life. With the economy improving, mortgage rates at historically low levels, and homes extraordinarily affordable, confidence is returning to the housing market. Home sales are rising, and inventories of unsold homes have come down. We've started working off the huge backlog of foreclosed properties. Nationally, home prices have stabilized and are starting to rise. Here in San Francisco, we can even say that the housing market is heating up.
The recovery in housing includes a rebound in home construction, something particularly important for the health of the overall economy. Housing starts simply collapsed during the downturn, plummeting from a seasonally adjusted annual pace of over 2 million new units during the boom to around half a million in the depths of the recession. It's clear that, as a country, we built too many homes during the housing bubble. But it's just as clear that the dearth of homebuilding over the past four years can't continue forever if we are going to have enough homes for the nation's growing population. The latest data show housing starts rising to an annual rate of 750,000 units. That's a big increase from three years ago, but still well short of the longer-run trend of about 1.5 million units. Over the next few years, an ongoing recovery in housing construction should be one of the key drivers of economic growth.
I've highlighted a few sectors—autos and housing—that were hard hit during the recession, but are on their way back. Why then are we unable to shift into a higher gear of growth? Three reasons stand out: the European debt crisis and recession, the budget squeeze at all levels of government in the United States, and a pervasive sense of uncertainty.
I'll start with the situation in Europe. The crisis there has been a dark cloud hanging over global financial markets and our own economy for the past two years. Greece has already defaulted on its sovereign debt. Several other countries in the euro area are under severe stress. The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have put in place emergency support programs for Ireland and Portugal, in addition to Greece. It's a story that is in many ways familiar to Americans—too much borrowing, creditors exposed to huge losses, and investors running for cover. But there are critical differences. In Europe's case, some national governments are now in danger of default. In Greece, the government simply borrowed too much. In other countries, governments made large commitments to aid failing financial institutions. In all these cases, the downturn strained budgets further. As fear spread, these governments found themselves paying ever-higher interest rates, which made their fiscal plight even worse.
What started as a financial problem has morphed into a general economic downturn—and the shock waves are hitting us. With Europe in recession, U.S. companies are seeing lower demand for their products. The same is true for other countries that sell to Europe, such as China, and they are experiencing slowdowns as a result.
European authorities have taken important steps to contain the crisis. Recently, the European Central Bank announced a bold plan to stabilize the markets for government debt of countries under stress. This plan should buy time for European governments to put in place more comprehensive solutions for their banking and sovereign debt problems. But it is far from certain that European leaders will succeed in doing so. One challenge is that, in exchange for aid, authorities have demanded austerity measures, including tax increases and deep spending cuts. In the longer term, these measures are needed to put the government budgets of these countries on sustainable paths. But, in the near term, austerity has held down economic growth further, prolonging economic downturns and making it even tougher to trim budget deficits.
Europe is by no means the only thing pressing on the U.S. economy now. In our country, tax cuts and spending increases gave the economy a badly needed boost in the depths of the recession and early in the recovery. But these stimulus measures have been unwinding. At the same time, states and localities have cut spending and raised taxes as they struggled to balance their budgets. As a result, fiscal policy in the United States has shifted from the accelerator to the brakes as far as growth is concerned.3 The numbers tell the story. Government consumption expenditures and investment, adjusted for inflation, have declined 5.4 percent over the past two years. That's equivalent to more than a one percent reduction in gross domestic product. This shrinkage of the government sector can also be seen in employment at the state, local, and federal levels. Total government employment has fallen by 680,000 jobs, or 3 percent, over the past four years.
The drag on the economy coming from shrinking government employment and lower spending could turn dramatically worse at the beginning of 2013. You may have heard the expression "fiscal cliff." It refers to large federal tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically take place under current legislation. These include ending the temporary payroll tax cut and extended unemployment benefits. Caps on some federal outlays and sharp cuts in others are also set to go into effect. In addition, the Bush-era tax cuts are scheduled to expire.
To be sure, I don't expect all these tax hikes and spending cuts to take place as scheduled. For example, it's likely that the Bush tax cuts will be extended temporarily and that some spending cuts will be deferred. Still, there's little doubt that a number of austerity measures will hit. I expect that to slow our economy's forward progress.
If my prediction is wrong though, and the entire range of fiscal cliff measures stays in place, the effects on the economy next year would be much more severe. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the complete fiscal cliff package would knock 2¼ percentage points off growth in 2013 and push unemployment up a percentage point compared with the less draconian scenario I expect. If that happens, the economy could find itself teetering on the brink of recession.
This brings me to the third factor restraining growth: uncertainty. The crisis in Europe, the fiscal cliff, and, more generally, the tumultuous events of the past five years have unsettled consumers and businesses alike. In particular, they have fostered a high degree of uncertainty about the future and undermined the economic confidence that spurs spending and investment. Greater uncertainty causes households and businesses to save more out of fear over what lies ahead. With everyone hunkering down and preparing for the worst, businesses see a drop-off in demand for their goods and services. That in turn damps economic growth and drives up unemployment.4 Just about everyone I talk with stresses that pervasive uncertainty is holding back hiring and investment. Indeed, uncertainty about the economy—including federal fiscal policy—appears to have all but paralyzed some businesses, prompting them to postpone capital spending and payroll expansions.
I'd like now to offer my economic outlook and talk about what the Federal Reserve is doing to help keep our economy on the road of recovery, while keeping inflation low. As a backdrop for this discussion, it's useful to say a few words about the goals of monetary policy. Congress assigned the Fed two goals in setting monetary policy: maximum employment and price stability. In considering what maximum employment is, economists look at the unemployment rate. We tend to think of maximum employment as the level of unemployment that pushes inflation neither up nor down. This is the so-called natural rate of unemployment. It is a moving target that depends on how efficient the labor market is at matching workers with jobs. Although we can't know exactly what the natural rate of unemployment is at any point in time, a reasonable estimate is that it is currently a little over 6 percent.5 In other words, right now, an unemployment rate of about 6 percent would be consistent with the Fed's goal of maximum employment. In terms of the Fed's other statutory goal—price stability—our monetary policy body, the Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, has specified that a 2 percent inflation rate is most consistent with our dual mandate.
So, how are we doing on these goals? As I said earlier, the economy continues to grow and add jobs. However, the current 8.1 percent unemployment rate is well above the natural rate, and progress on reducing unemployment has nearly stalled over the past six months. If we hadn't taken additional monetary policy steps, the economy looked like it could get stuck in low gear. That would have meant that, over the next few years, we would make relatively modest further progress on our maximum employment mandate. What's more, the job situation could get worse if the European crisis intensifies or we go over the fiscal cliff. Progress on our other mandate, price stability, might also have been threatened. Inflation, which has averaged 1.3 percent over the past year, could have gotten stuck below our 2 percent target.
For the FOMC, this was the sobering set of circumstances we were staring at during our most recent policy meeting. Faced with this situation, it was essential that we at the Fed provide the stimulus needed to keep our economy moving toward maximum employment and price stability. So, at our meeting, we took two strong measures aimed at achieving this goal.6
First, we announced a new program to purchase $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities every month. This is in addition to our ongoing program to expand our holdings of longer-term Treasury securities by $45 billion a month. Second, we announced that we expect to keep short-term interest rates low for a considerable time, even after the economy strengthens. Specifically, we expect exceptionally low levels of our benchmark federal funds rate at least through mid-2015.
These actions work the same way monetary policy always does—by lowering borrowing costs and improving broader financial conditions.7 For example, low interest rates cut the cost of borrowing to buy a car, making people more willing to make the purchase. And, as car sales increase—thanks to low interest rates—automakers need to produce more cars and more parts, which leads them to hire additional factory workers. This is exactly the kind of virtuous circle that provides the oomph in a healthy economic recovery.
We have already seen some benefits of our ongoing stimulus programs in the notable improvements in the sectors of our economy that are especially sensitive to interest rates, such as autos and housing. In particular, purchases of mortgage-backed securities have been very effective at bringing down mortgage rates.8 As I noted, the housing market remains depressed, but is now showing signs of life. Lower mortgage rates should provide another shot in the arm to the housing recovery at just the right time, just as it is beginning to generate some real forward momentum. Lower rates make owning a home more affordable, which increases demand for new housing. This increase in demand should put upward pressure on depressed house prices, making it easier for existing homeowners to refinance or sell their homes. The happy result could be a positive feedback loop of growing confidence and improving fundamentals in the housing market.
Thanks in part to the recent policy actions, I anticipate the economy will gain momentum over the next few years. I expect real gross domestic product to expand at a modest pace of about 1¾ percent this year, but to improve to 2½ percent growth next year and 3¼ percent in 2014. With economic growth trending upward, I see the unemployment rate gradually declining to about 7¼ percent by the end of 2014. Despite improvement in the job market, I expect inflation to remain slightly below 2 percent for the next few years as increases in labor costs remain subdued and public inflation expectations stay at low levels.
Of course, my projections, like any forecast, may turn out to be wrong. That's something we kept in mind when we designed our new policy measures. Specifically, an important new element is that our recently announced purchase program is intended to be flexible and adjust to changing circumstances. Unlike our past asset purchase programs, this one doesn't have a preset expiration date. Instead, it is explicitly linked to what happens with the economy. In particular, we will continue buying mortgage-backed securities until the job market looks substantially healthier. We said we might even expand our purchases to include other assets.
This approach serves as a kind of automatic stabilizer for the economy. If conditions improve faster than expected, we will end the program sooner, cutting back the degree of monetary stimulus. But, if the economy stumbles, we will keep the program in place as long as needed for the job market to improve substantially, in the context of price stability. Similarly, if we find that our policies aren't doing what we want or are causing significant problems for the economy, we will adjust or end them as appropriate.
Let me emphasize that these policy actions are designed to help us achieve both our goals of maximum employment and price stability. Inflation continues to be low and inflation expectations are low and stable—what we economists call well anchored. In fact, over the past four years, the inflation rate has averaged a mere 1.2 percent. That's the lowest rate recorded over a four-year period since the early 1960s. And longer-term inflation expectations are at about the same level they were five years ago, before the Fed began taking unconventional monetary policy actions. The Fed's recently announced actions should help move inflation up a bit closer to our 2 percent long-run goal.
Clearly, the bigger problem today is high unemployment. Much of the discussion about monetary policy focuses on that issue—as it should. But, I want to stress, in no way has our commitment to price stability wavered. Inflation is something we watch carefully, and we remain determined to work toward our price stability objective.
Monetary policy cannot solve all problems that affect our economy. But it can help speed the pace of recovery and get our country back on track sooner. Our policy actions are completely consistent with the statement of longer-term goals and policy strategy the FOMC released in January.9 I'm convinced they represent the best course to move us closer to those goals. Thank you very much.
# # #
End Notes
1. I want to thank John Fernald and Sam Zuckerman for their assistance in preparing these remarks.
2. See Williams (2012a) for a discussion of the financial roots of the crisis and how they have affected the pace of recovery.
3. See Lucking and Wilson (2012).
4. See Bloom (2009) and Leduc and Liu (2012).
5. See Daly et al. (2012) and Williams (2012b).
6. See Board of Governors (2012b).
7. See Williams (2011).
8. See Gagnon et al. (2011).
9. For more information, see Board of Governors (2012a).
Bloom, Nicholas. 2009. "The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks." Econometrica 77(3), pp. 623–685.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 2012a. "Press Release." January 25.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 2012b. "Press Release." September 13.
Daly, Mary C., Bart Hobijn, Ayşegül Şahin, and Robert Valletta. 2012. "A Search and Matching Approach to Labor Markets: Did the Natural Rate of Unemployment Rise?" Journal of Economic Perspectives 26(3, Summer), pp. 3–26.
Gagnon, Joseph, Matthew Raskin, Julie Remache, and Brian Sack. 2011. "The Financial Market Effects of the Federal Reserve's Large-Scale Asset Purchases." International Journal of Central Banking 7(1, March), pp. 3–43.
Leduc, Sylvain, and Zheng Liu. 2012. "Uncertainty, Unemployment, and Inflation." FRBSF Economic Letter 2012-28 (September 17).
Lucking, Brian, and Daniel Wilson. 2012. "U.S. Fiscal Policy: Headwind or Tailwind?" FRBSF Economic Letter 2012-20 (July 2).
Williams, John C. 2011. "Unconventional Monetary Policy: Lessons from the Past Three Years." FRBSF Economic Letter 2011-31 (October 3).
Williams, John C. 2012a. "The Federal Reserve and the Economic Recovery." FRBSF Economic Letter 2012-02 (January 17).
Williams, John C. 2012b. "Update of 'What Is the New Normal Unemployment Rate?'" August 13 update to FRBSF Economic Letter 2011-05.


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Oil prices bounced back a bit after President Trump said the Department of Energy would buy crude for the nation's strategic petroleum reserve.
"We're going to fill it right to the top," Trump said Friday in a wide-ranging news conference at the White House. He said it will save taxpayers "billions and billions of dollars" while helping an industry that's been reeling.
While oil prices increased nearly 5% after Friday's announcement, that was just a fraction of the amount they lost earlier in the week.
In South Texas, Rudy Martinez immediately experienced the effects of the past week's collapse in crude oil prices.
"I actually have a little man camp and these guys are on the way out because they lost contracts," says Martinez, who has eight rooms he rents to out-of-town oilfield workers in Karnes City, Texas.
"The workers get their per-diem and I charge them $100 a person [per week]. Actually I'd like to charge them a little more than that, but now that it's tapered off, it's hard to charge them that because they can't pay it," he says.
Back when the oil business was really booming in Karnes City, Martinez says he could charge up to $2000 a week per person.
This is one small example of what declining oil prices mean for the rural communities that depend on the oil business. And there's a lot at stake for the U.S., the world's largest producer of crude oil.
Oil prices had been falling out of fears the coronavirus epidemic threatened world economic growth. Demand was also down as large gatherings were canceled and people started staying home to avoid getting sick.
Then prices plunged after Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to agree on production cuts and instead entered a price war last Sunday. In a stunning reversal, Saudi Arabia said it would actually boost oil production and offer a massive discount for its customers.
U.S. oil companies, especially smaller ones, are now looking to make deep cuts. Industry analysts warn of possible bankruptcies, especially if oil remains where it's fallen to, in the $30 per barrel range. Companies operating in Texas's Eagle Ford Shale need prices between $40 to $60 a barrel to remain profitable.
'We were here before the oil'
Karnes City was transformed by the oil drilling boom that started about a decade back. Karnes County National Bank President Trip Ruckman says there were local farmers and ranchers who were just getting by, then all of a sudden showed up at his bank with a $1 million oil royalty check in hand.
Right now it can still look pretty busy around town. There are trucks on the roads and a few local hotels are still full. Ruckman says it takes time for drillers to wind down production plans that already were being implemented when prices collapsed.
"Probably, in a few weeks to a month or two, I think you're going to see things slow down. But we'll still be here — we were here before the oil," says Ruckman, who tries to stay optimistic about the financial future of his community.
There have been reports the Trump administration may be willing to help the oil industry in other ways. For example, the White House could reduce federal royalties for oil pumped on government land or offshore. The administration could also offer low-interest government-backed loans.
Groups focused on climate change have criticized such ideas.
"The last people who deserve taxpayers' money are the billionaires that created and profited from the climate crisis," says Jack Shapiro of the environmental group Greenpeace.
One potential bright spot in all this is gasoline prices. Lower oil prices will mean cheaper gas for motorists in coming months.
Usually when gas prices go down people drive more and choose bigger cars, which increases consumption. But with many limiting travel out of concern over the coronavirus, this time might be the exception.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Margaret Whittemore
Artist, 1897 - 1983
Born September 7, 1897, in Topeka, Kansas, Margaret Whittemore was the daughter of Luther D. Whittemore, a professor of Latin and education at Washburn University, and Frances Davis Whittemore, director of its art department. She earned a degree in 1919 from Washburn University, and studied graphic arts at the Art Institute of Chicago and Taos Art Colony in New Mexico.
She developed a reputation as a writer, graphic artist, illustrator, and block printer. Whittemore worked as an artist in the Works Progress Administration museum extension program and created a series of prints depicting Kansas landmarks. She was a member of the Prairie Print Makers. Formed in 1930 in Lindsborg, at the studio of artist Birger Sandzén, the group sought to work beyond the stereotype of the Midwest and depict a realistic view of everyday life. Eventually more than 100 amateur and professional artists joined the group throughout North America.
Whittemore had diverse work experience. She was a drafter for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. In 1936 she published a series of sketches of early Kansas landmarks in Sunday issues of the Topeka Daily Capital. She wrote descriptions and histories of the landmarks to accompany the pencil sketches. In 1954 she published the book, Historic Kansas: A Centenary Sketchbook. She worked at University of Kansas, Clay Center Library, Wichita Public Library, Kansas Historical Society, and Topeka Public Library.
Her work as an artist/illustrator also includes Adventures in Thrift,1946; woodcuts, Trees, by Bruce Humphries; Bird Notes, by H.L. Rhodes, 1932. She was a contributor to Audubon, Scholastic, American Magazine Art, Christian Science Monitor, Kansas Farmer, and Kansas City Star.
Entry: Whittemore, Margaret
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: July 2010
Date Modified: July 2012
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.


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Get inspired by some of the most creative videoasks.
Sunny Lenarduzzi uses a smart video questionnaire to process applications for her training program while making the experience feel like a 1-on-1 call.
She uses conditional logic to qualify applicants and offers those who are eligible, the possibility to schedule a call by integrating her calendar.
Arval (PNB Paribas Group) are using VideoAsk to show people the new electric cars they have on offer to lease.
By using interactive video they can teach visitors about their core value proposition and convince them to share their contact details.
Alex Antolino receives video questions on the branding hotline he hosts right on his Instagram profile. He replies directly on his phone using the VideoAsk app.
By downloading the video responses, he can easily create engaging content pieces that he shares on Instagram.
The folks at UserFeed.io use VideoAsk to request video testimonials from customers (and instruct them on how to make their video look good).
The team can then easily share the video responses internally, on social, or add them to a case study.
Sarah from The Voice Science gets video submissions from her students with work assignments to evaluate their performance and track their progress
All assignment submissions are perfectly organized in her VideoAsk inbox, and she can reply directly from there via video.
Outstandly created an engaging contact form embedded on their site, with a well-shot video that sparks emotion on first interaction.
By uploading a pre-recorded video, they could give a cinematic experience to users landing on their website wanting to get in touch.
BreeDesigns embedded a video FAQ on her homepage, enabling her audience to get all their questions answered personally & build meaningful relationships.
She uses conditional logic to serve her potential customers the answers to their specific questions. When people can't find the answer they are looking for, they can submit video questions directly to her.
No CC required.


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Freud Router Bit Sets
Serious woodworkers choose serious accessories. They choose Freud. An industry leader for over 50 years, the Freud name equals quality, precision and craftsmanship. Freud router bits feature Freud made TiCo™ Hi-Density Carbide for maximum cutting life. And Freud bits are individually balanced, giving a cut above the rest. So when you're looking for a serious router bit, look for the Freud red.


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Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species.
The genus Coffea is native to tropical Africa (specifically having its origin in Ethiopia and Sudan) and Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Coffee plants are now cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. The two most commonly grown are C. arabica and C. robusta.
Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried.
Dried coffee seeds (referred to as "beans") are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted beans are ground and then brewed with near-boiling water to produce the beverage known as coffee.
Coffee is darkly colored, bitter, slightly acidic and has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content.[medical citation needed] It is one of the most popular drinks in the world, and it can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, café latte).
It is usually served hot, although iced coffee is a popular alternative.
Clinical studies indicate that moderate coffee consumption is benign or mildly beneficial in healthy adults, with continuing research on whether long-term consumption lowers the risk of some diseases, although those long-term studies are of generally poor quality.
- Etymology
- History
- Biology
- Cultivation
The word "coffee" entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch koffie, borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish kahve, borrowed in turn from the Arabic qahwah.
The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine whose etymology is given by Arab lexicographers as deriving from the verb qahiya (قَهِيَ), "to lack hunger", in reference to the drink's reputation as an appetite suppressant.
It has also been proposed that the source may be the Proto-Central Semitic root q-h-h meaning "dark"
Legendary accounts
According to legend, ancestors of today's Oromo people in a region of Kaffa in Ethiopia were believed to have been the first to recognize the energizing effect of the coffee plant, though no direct evidence has been found indicating where in Africa coffee grew or who among the native populations might have used it as a stimulant or even known about it, earlier than the 17th century.
The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee when he noticed how excited his goats became after eating the beans from a coffee plant, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal.
Historical transmission
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century in the accounts of Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen.
It was here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed, in a similar way to how it is now prepared. Coffee was used by Sufi circles to stay awake for their religious rituals.
Accounts differ on the origin of coffee (seeds) prior to its appearance in Yemen. One account credits Muhammad Ibn Sa'd for bringing the beverage to Aden from the African coast.


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Today on Twitter I asked you, what recipe would you like to see today: Mac 'n cheese or sugar cookies?
About 60-70% said mac 'n cheese, so here it is!
Sugar cookies are coming on up. :)
I also have a fun blog feature to tell you about. From now until the end of the holiday season, I will be featuring one holiday cookie recipe per week. If you have any favourite Christmas cookies or other cookies that you'd like me to make, leave a comment and let me know!
This week I have had a huge, huge, huge craving for mac 'n cheese.
All it took was seeing a picture on a website and it was all I could think about.
Each time I was eating something else, my mind would wander to mac 'n cheese, secretly hoping and wishing that my food would magically transform.
That creamy, delicious, savoury, comforting goodness.
Experience tells me that my craving would not go away until I satisfied it.
This week, I got to work testing out a few vegan mac 'n cheese recipes. One was a dud, one was pretty good, and this one that I am sharing today is all kinds of awesome.
This is an intensely creamy and decadent baked mac 'n cheese. It has a lot of flavour and 4 vegetables hiding inside, but no one will ever be the wiser!
When I taste recipes like this I know that I can eat a vegan diet forever and not feel like I am missing out on anything.
That is a great feeling!
Baked Vegan Mac 'n Cheese (revised)
If you enjoy baked crispy pastas with an Alfredo-like creamy interior, this one is for you! You won't believe it is completely free of any animal products and sneaks in 4 vegetables to boot! It makes the perfect lunch or dinner on a chilly day.
Please note that I revised this recipe (doubled the sauce) on Dec. 2, 2010.
Inspired by VegNews.
- 1/2 medium potato, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
- 1/2 large carrot, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
- 1.5 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 4 garlic cloves
- 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp mustard
- ~300-340 grams dry/uncooked Macaroni or other pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
- 1 slice bread
- 1 tbsp Earth Balance or butter
- Fresh or dried parsley, to garnish (optional)
- Paprika, to garnish
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Grab a small casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender.
Meanwhile, process 1 slice of bread until crumbs form in a food processor. Add in 1 tbsp of Earth Balance (or butter) and process until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
Now assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, yeast, pepper, mustard) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
Once the veggies are cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce mixture in food processor. Process until smooth.
Add your pasta to a medium sized pot and fill with water until the pasta is covered by about 1 inch or so. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, cooking for about 7 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a large bowl, mix together your cheese sauce and drained + rinsed pasta. Scoop into your casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Now garnish with paprika and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley if you'd like.
Serves approx 4-6.
Note: This is a heavy and drier mac 'n cheese. If you want it less dry, you might want to add some Earth Balance/butter or additional milk.
First up, peel and chop those glorious veggies! Who knew mac 'n cheese could have veggies hiding in there?
Now boil your veggies and cook until tender.
Take a slice of bread and process with 1 tbsp of Earth Balance (or butter).
Set aside and hide from yourself because bread + butter is goooooood.
Gather up your cheese sauce ingredients:
Process together:
I tasted it and decided it would be awesome with 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast and another garlic clove. You don't need the yeast to make this dish, but it made it a bit cheesier tasting! You can pick up some nutritional yeast at bulk food stores.
Once cooked, drain and rinse veggies with cold water.
Add veggies to cheese sauce and process:
The carrots give it a nice cheese-like colour!
Now cook your pasta. I used whole wheat Rotini for a kick of fibre (7 grams of fibre per serving!).
Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 8 minutes.
In a large bowl add your drained pasta and mix with the cheese sauce…it will be insanely thick and creamy!!!
Oh dear me.
A few spoonfuls did not make it into the casserole dish. ;)
Now pour into casserole dish.
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.
Garnish with paprika.
Now bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
The result is a crispy exterior with a creamy and rich interior. The cheesy taste reminds me a lot of an Alfredo sauce.
Cool for 10 minutes before serving. If you succeed at this, let me know how you did it! ;)
Dig in!
Enjoy your completely vegan mac 'n cheese that is not only delicious, but is filled with healthy fats, veggies, fibre, and pure comfort on a chilly day. :)
I have made a vegan mac 'n cheese before, but I prefer this one as my last attempt was a bit heavy on the nutritional yeast and I like that this one incorporates veggies.
Now that my glycogen stores are full, I think I am going to go have a kick butt run outside in this beautiful sunshine. You know what they say, 'eat pasta, run fasta!'
Have you had any cravings this week? What are they for?
My three cravings this week have been: Chocolate, mac 'n cheese, and salads. I have satisfied all, but the salad part. Oops.


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I am curious because, I experienced something bizarre recently. About a month ago, someone asked me to find out a price for a T-shirt printing machine, and probably for the first time, I pressed these keys and started searching, searching, for long and many found many results only using through the Google search engine. But now, even after two weeks has passed.. I see almost all the Google ads in the site I visit including YouTube have been changed, and only advertise T-shirt printing machine. Like the ones I was searching.
There is only one explanation for this, and Google has been controlling what I search and keeps log of these keywords. This might be normal for some people, and most of you might have known about this, but I find it unjust that a site can keep track of what you type and what you look for without asking permission. That's right! isn't it? We can agree to the terms and conditions when we signup to Google, but, they should be mentioned in the terms, or be specified in a very apparent manner.
edit: There have been responses from users, which according to them: Google has been snooping information from their private emails.


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India Successfully Test Fires Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile Agni-V
India Thursday successfully test fired nuclear capable long-range ballistic missile Agni-V, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced in a press statement. With the launch of the missile, which has a range of 3,100 miles, India has joined the elite club of countries with long-range nuclear missile capability.
The Prime Minister congratulated the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for the achievement and hailed it as milestone in India's quest to add to the credibility of country's security and preparedness.
I congratulate all the scientific and technical personnel of the DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization) and other organizations who have worked tirelessly in our endeavour to strengthen the defense and security of our country. The entire nation stands together in honoring the achievements of our scientific community who have done the country proud. Manmohan Singh said.
Agni-V was test fired from Wheeler Island off Odisha at 8: 07 am Thursday, and the missile accurately hit the target which was 3,100 miles away, DRDO sources said.
The successful launch is considered as a significant achievement for India as it would help it neutralize the threat from China. However, the DRDO said that the missile launch was not a threat to any particular nation and it was purely for defensive purpose.
This missile is about neutralizing the threat coming from China, Uday Bhaskar, an analyst at the New Delhi-based National Maritime Foundation, told Bloomberg. The tests are about trying to create equality with China rather than trying to outdo it.
Agni-V, the most advanced version of the indigenously built Agni series, was powered by solid rocket propellants that could be transported by road, a Reuters report said. The first missile in the series was launched in 1989.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.


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Ever wondered what happens to us when we die? Is there life after death?
Well if you want THE FACTS you must check out Victor Zammit who is a retired lawyer from the NSW Supreme Court. I have researched this topic big-time and that site literally has it all.
Now what I have done is to write FIVE speculative novels about the afterlife, ONE about time travel and now TWO about the meaning of life here on Earth.
All are works of fiction but I have relied on real science and real after-life evidence as background.
The stories cover a lot of issues and are a good read in themselves with a variety of interesting characters and they all contain a strong spiritual message for everyone. They especially relate to anyone who may be grieving the loss of a loved person or loved pet.


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With more than one million women behind bars or under the control of the criminal justice system, women are the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population increasing at nearly double the rate of men since 1985.
- Nationally, there are more than 8x as many women incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails as there were in 1980, increasing in number from 12,300 in 1980 to 182,271 by 2002.
- Expanding at 4.6% annually between 1995 and 2005, women now account for 7% of the population in state and federal prisons.
- Between 19 77 and 2004, New Jersey 's female prison population grew by 717% with an average annual percent change of 8.8% per year.
- Th roughout the period from 1977 to 2004, New Jersey 's female imprisonment rate was 33 female prisoners per 100,000 female residents.
- In 1977 there were 180 total female sentenced prisoners in New Jersey
- In 2004 there were 1,470 total female sentenced prisoners in New Jersey
The male to female imprisonment ration indicates the number of male inmates to every female inmate
- In 1977, across the states, there were an average of 26 male prisoners for every female prisoner; New Jersey 's 1977 ration was higher than average with 29 male prisoners for every female prisoner
- In 2004, New Jersey 's male to female imprisonment ration (17:1) remained higher than the average across states
Over the past 20 years the war on drugs has caused significant rise in the number of women incarcerated and their access to adequate drug treatment.
- 40% of criminal convictions leading to incarceration of women in 2000 were for drug crimes
- 34% were for other non-violent crimes such as burglary, larceny, and fraud
- 18% of women in prison have been convicted because of violent conduct
- 7% were for public order offenses such as drunk driving, liquor law violations and vagrancy
Many women in prison have experienced physical or sexual trauma at the hands of men.
- 92% of all women in California prisons had been "battered and abused" in their lifetimes.
- It appears that no such study has even been conducted in the State of New Jersey.
Women of color are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
- Black women represent 30% of all incarcerated women in the U.S, although they represent 13% of the female population generally
- Hispanic women represent 16% of incarcerated women, although they make up only 11% of all women in the U.S.
Among female state prisoners, two-thirds are mothers of a minor child.
- Over 1.5 million children have a parent in prison
- More than 8.3 million children have a parent under correctional supervision and more than one in five of these children is under five years old.
Source List
Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families . ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice & Break the Chains. April 2005.
Christopher Hartney, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, The Nation'sMost Punitive States for Women Fact Sheet , July 2007.
Face the Facts: Women,Girls & Prison – VDAY Ohio/KentuckyInserts (ACLU 8/2007)
Glaze, L.E., & Bonzcar, T.P. Probation and Parole in the United States , 2005 , Washington , DC : U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,November 2006, at 4, 6-8.
Snell, T.L. Women in Prison , Bureau of Justice Statistics, March1994.
Mumola, C.J. Incarcerated Parents and Their Children , Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. August 2000.
Women in the Criminal Justices System , Briefing Sheets, May 2007 www.sentencingproject.org .
Womenin Prison Project, Correctional Association of New York , Imprisonmentand Families Fact Sheet , May 2007.
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It only takes a quick glance at your favorite social network to see that people love sharing their favorite music. But the people on the receiving end are often less than enthused, either because they don't care for your taste or they wind up following a link that doesn't play. With everyone using multiple and different music services, sharing has become ineffective, and worse, spammy. After a few clicks on links that don't work, people just stop clicking. For the sake of everyone involved, a music interoperability movement is required — both to enable the creation of new compelling experiences, and grow the online music market as a whole.
In many ways, the online music market resembles the text messaging market in the mid '90s. When mobile carriers first introduced text messaging, users could only exchange messages with other subscribers on the same network. Unsurprisingly, this constraint slowed user adoption since it's not appealing for a carrier's customers to try and influence their friends' and family's choice of providers. At first, carriers viewed this sort of lock-in as a promising tactic for acquiring customers, but they came to realize that in order for text messaging to provide real value to their customers, they needed to support communication between friends on other networks and territories (often where their services may not be available).
During these early days, the SMS market was virtually non-existent, with an average of only 0.4 texts sent per user per month. A few years later, SMS gateways enabled text messaging interoperability across carrier networks and instantly the value proposition became much clearer for consumers. Subsequently, texting adoption and usage exploded. By 2010, SMS had become a $115 billion a year business. There were many factors that played into the growth of the SMS market, but I'd argue that without network interoperability at its core, the rest of them would have been moot.
You likely look back at those texting limitations and shake your head. Yet this is the current state of online music. Rdio, Spotify, Mog, Deezer, Rhapsody, Pandora... all of these users trapped in their own respective silos with no way communicate to each other. If you use Rdio, and I use Spotify, we cannot easily share our music tastes in a compelling way. Each service seems to be hanging on false hopes that their links will serve as an incentive to get you to switch to their service. But what if you are in India and I am in Germany?
Source: IFPI Digital Music Report 2012 |
The digital music market is extremely fragmented in each territory, with no single provider having global licenses. Even the world's largest music service, YouTube, doesn't have music available everywhere. When it comes to universal accessibility across a wide breadth of content, piracy is the only game in town. We all live in a global economy but are continually hamstrung by the constraints imposed by territorial music licensing and availability.
To grow the online music market we need to take a step backwards philosophically, and a step forward technically. Instead of unrealistically hoping for a single service that licenses everything for everywhere, the market needs to move to a music interoperability model where music is fulfilled by a mesh network that encompasses all of the available legal sources for each individual user.
The net effect is the creation of a sort of musical babelfish; a translation layer that allows users from around the world to seamlessly share music with each other. Much the same way SMS gateways now enable text messages to reach virtually anyone, anywhere, on any carrier. Such a solution would remove the complexities and roadblocks to creating a global sharing, curation, and discovery network. Just as importantly, it would also open up new opportunities for more niche music providers that could focus on going deep, instead of broad, on their catalogs. With links that work seamlessly across all of these sources, users could build their own licensed streaming catalog that has nearly everything they want with nothing they don't.
Click to Enlarge |
As you can imagine, there is some hesitancy from companies who may view music data portability as a threat. Some may think of your playlists and music libraries as the primary way to keep you locked into a relationship with them. For example, Sean Parker recently extolled the benefits of "trapping user playlists so they don't leave Spotify." There are many ways for services to compete, but lock-in has historically never been the solution. I'd argue that interoperability is the key to growing the subscription music market beyond the level it has been stuck at for the last five to ten years.
One of the promises of the social web was to grow the online music market, but in reality, it may be holding the entire market back. Communication and curation on a global medium, such as the Internet, is only powerful if everyone involved can understand each other. A thriving and innovative marketplace is dependent on lots of players, approaches, and competition. Otherwise we will be headed to standoff between a single dominant player and the rights holders, trying to hold each other hostage in the next round on license renegotiations. In that scenario, the consumers all lose.
The beauty of technology is that it can facilitate extremely complex transactions. The challenge is to present those complexities simply to the users. In the good old days, when I told a friend about a great song or album, I didn't say, "You should go to The Record Exchange and buy the new Screaming Trees album with 'Nearly Lost You' on it." No, I'd simply tell them the name of the artist and track and let them decide how and where they were going to acquire it. This "old school" transaction model is one I believe we should all strive to return to, and by demanding and supporting music interoperability, we can achieve it. And just maybe save the online music market along the way.
(for more on this topic see: http://blog.tomahawk-player.org/post/25996507498/whats-the-big-idea)
UPDATED: this post prompted a follow-up interview with Sidewinder.fm.


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They were about as un-user friendly as one could be. They called 5 times to tell him to come in between yesterday and today, all the time seeming to change the information. They gave him the wrong pick-up info to give me, so when I came up the K elevators to an empty reception area, I only figured it out by barging into the patient bay area where there was a lone nurse at the station. She told me to go back down and come up the A elevators. When I did, I couldn't find the recovery area (no signs) and had to ask somebody at the blood bank window, who pointed me to the right doors -- which were locked. You couldn't open them by pushing on the door release button and nobody answered the intercom.
So I called Sam on his cell phone, and he gave me to a nurse who couldn't seem to understand the problem: "The door is locked, can you please have some one let us in?" (There was another woman there trying to pick someone up by then.) "We're very busy right now." So we got in because some staff person opened the door with a card key and let us in, too. (He probably shouldn't have: How did he know who we were?). I felt badly for the other woman because she was old with a cane. The nurses couldn't seem to focus on talking to her, whereas they were suddenly wanting to help me.
And the elevators barely work and were crowded as hell. If we had put Sam in a wheelchair like they suggested, I think we would still be there. Of course he was walking slowly, having just had his abdomen repaired, so I basically had to body-check the elevator doors (and they were brutal) to get him in.


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The equivalence of debt and equity
Predictably, banks and other financial institutions are fighting back. Concerns are being expressed about the effect on competition of EU's proposal for money market funds (MMFs) to have capital and liquidity reserves. And banks worried about their return on equity (already shot to pieces) claim that raising more capital would be a) unacceptable to their shareholders b) hugely expensive c) impossible anyway. Meanwhile, Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig, in their book "The Bankers' New Clothes", claim that the banks' arguments are specious: banks in the past have been much more highly capitalised, the Modigliani-Miller model shows that (apart from tax considerations) equity is no more expensive than debt, capital can always be raised if the price is right. This is yet another argument that could run for years and become increasingly political. Personally, I'm not going to take sides. I think they're all missing the point.
You see, there is actually no significant difference between debt and equity. Both are claims on the bank's income (when it is a going concern) or its assets (when it is bust). Nor is debt in any way money that the bank is "looking after": as far as the bank is concerned, debt is funding for things it wants to do (lending, trading...). And debt includes customer deposits.
Customers believe that when they put money in a bank deposit or current (checking) accounts they are putting it in a safe place. But that's not true. Customers are actually lending that money to the bank, which can use that money in whatever way it wishes. And as Andrew Lilico points out, they have no automatic right to return of that money. All they have is a claim. In the event of insolvency, that claim will only be honoured if there are sufficient assets to meet it after settling more senior claims. When a bank fails, the only real difference between a depositor, a bondholder and a shareholder is the seniority of their claims.
Let me explain. A typical bank liability structure looks something like this*:
Here it is reversed, for reasons that will shortly become clear:
I've added some percentages to these to indicate proportions of each type of asset in the capital structure. These may or may not be remotely realistic - that's not the point. The point is to show how losses due to asset writedowns affect corporate liabilities. Let's imagine to start with that the bank has to write down 3% of its assets (to keep it simple I am using the nominal not risk weighted balance sheet):
You can see that, for a bank that meets current UK regulatory requirements for a leverage ratio of 3%, this wipes out the bank's shareholders. They lose their entire investment.
If losses increase, this is who gets hit next:
Junior bondholders (holders of various forms of subordinated debt, including the so-called "Co-Cos" about which there has been much discussion) are bailed in and wiped. Their bonds are converted to equity and they no longer receive interest payments. They become ordinary shareholders, waiting patiently for the bank to be restored to health so their shares can recover their lost value and they can start to receive dividends again. However, sometimes governments interfere with this. When the Dutch bank SNS Reaal was nationalised recently, junior bondholders were wiped along with ordinary shareholders. Shares and subordinated debt were cancelled completely via an expropriation order by the Dutch government. In effect, the Government took over the claims of shareholders and junior bondholders against the rescued bank. There was a fair degree of outrage among investors about this, but it is worth bearing in mind that had the bank been allowed to fail, shareholders and junior bondholders would have lost their entire investment anyway. The Dutch government chose to rescue depositors and protect the financial system. They were under no obligation to make good shareholders and subordinated debt holders.
But if losses rise further, there is a much more complex situation:
Depositors, senior bondholders and wholesale lenders are currently ranked equally ("pari passu") in their claim for settlement. However, debt that is secured directly on assets effectively ranks senior to unsecured debt, because it has a prior claim on certain assets. So if the bank has issued asset-backed securities, or borrowed money via the repo market using its assets as collateral, those creditors effectively rank senior to depositors: the assets backing their debt are not available to settle other claims (they are "encumbered"). If those assets turn out to be worthless, the debt is effectively unsecured and its holders have an equal claim to a share of unencumbered assets.
The UK's Independent Commission on Banking recommended that depositors should rank senior to bondholders ("depositor preference"), and the EU is considering legislation to enforce this from 2018. But currently, once junior bondholders have been bailed in, both unsecured senior bond holders and depositors are fair game. This means ALL depositors - not just large ones. There is no intrinsic difference in claim seniority between large and small depositors. Once depositor preference is established, though, senior bondholders would take losses before depositors.
The most senior of all claims are the official sector - central bank funding and other public sector loans. Only if a bank was so deeply in trouble that all deposits were wiped would the official sector take losses. I suspect that government would step in long before that point was reached.
The Brown-Vitter proposed legislation in the US would force banks to increase their Tier1 capital ratio (unweighted) to 15%. Anat Admati wants it to be 25%. That would mean that bank asset writedowns would have to be far greater before depositors were at risk. But it wouldn't eliminate the risk completely. And it would place other people - or potentially the same people, in a different way - at risk.
Capital is not simply "money that absorbs losses". It is people's savings. The principal shareholders in banks are pension funds - which invest the money that people save for their retirements. Losses for these people are just as serious as losses for depositors: although the consequences may not be felt immediately, money lost through investment failure may mean a materially lower standard of living in retirement, as Equitable Life pensioners could tell you. If we force banks - and potentially corporations too, since highly-geared corporations are a risk to their stakeholders - to finance themselves much more with equity than debt, losses will still fall on ordinary people. It's the same money, just in a different form. We should not forget this.
My walk through capital structure above I hope showed that when a company is failing, it does not matter whether you call your investment equity or debt - what matters is the seniority of your claim. Losses are the same whether it has 15% equity or 3% equity. Increasing the proportion of equity does not make it less likely to fail. All it does is increase the likelihood that creditors will get their money back.
The distinction between debt and equity made by, among others, Anat Admati is misleading. In insolvency, debt and equity are fungible. It does not matter whether the debt is called "subordinated", or secured on assets: if losses due to asset writedowns are sufficiently large and widespread, all debt is effectively converted to equity. Creditors have no more intrinsic right to return of their money than shareholders. They get paid first, but they don't necessarily get paid completely. Nor should they be. Lending money to anyone is risky. Banks are no exception. As long as it is clearly understood that creditors can, and should, lose money in insolvency, there is no reason for vast increases in equity in bank capital structures, because debt is effectively equity anyway.
I know that everyone is now going to shout - "BUT WHAT ABOUT DEPOSIT INSURANCE"? The reason for protecting small depositors with deposit insurance is a social one. It has nothing to do with preventing bank runs, really - the best way of preventing a bank run is to ensure people know that banks can't run out of money (liquidity), which means a central bank doing a good job as Lender of Last Resort. Bank depositors are assumed to be naive people who don't understand finance, so need protection from risky banks. I don't think this is acceptable, really. These people are only too happy to put their money in banks when they could put it elsewhere. It needs to be made clear to them that their money is no safer in a bank than it would be in an investment fund - and then let them make an INFORMED choice about what to do with their money. There are advantages to bank deposits even if they aren't fully safe. There is in my view a case for protecting transaction accounts from losses, because we have become so dependent on banks for payments that allowing current accounts to take losses would cause real hardship to many people. But these are political considerations, and I am only expressing a personal view. They have nothing to do with the nature of deposits. All bank deposits are investments. "The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and the return of the investment is not guaranteed." Why isn't this statement on every bank deposit account agreement?
I am certainly not suggesting that banks increasing the proportion of equity in their capital structure is a bad thing. On the contrary, there is plenty of evidence that heavy reliance on debt finance can be destabilising not just for banks but for corporations, too, because of the cost of debt service and the risk that creditors will foreclose. Personally I would eliminate the preferential tax treatment of debt, which encourages debt financing at the expense of equity. But we should not buy into the idea that increasing the proportion of equity in the capital structure makes banks "safer". It doesn't. The only thing that really makes banks safer is limiting the risks they can take and ensuring they are well managed. When, please, are we going to regulate lending properly?
Related links:
Liquidity matters - Coppola Comment
Cyprus and the financing of banks - Coppola Comment
Tarullo's speech on capital and regulation - FT Alphaville
Brussels to clamp down on shadow banking - Financial Times (paywall)
Equity capital requirements - The Economist
Rant at me about property rights - Andrew Lilico
The Bankers' New Clothes - Anat Admati & Martin Hellwig
Independent Commission on Banking Final Recommendations (summary)- KPMG
EU Assembly seeks depositor preference in bail-in law - Bloomberg
Brown-Vitter bill analysis & commentary - Davis Polk
State of the Netherlands nationalises SNS Reaal - NL Government
Theory & practice of corporate capital structure - Deutsche Bank
* Yes, you are right, this does look very much like a CDO tranche structure. That's because it is. A CDO is a financial company and its tranche structure is a corporate capital structure.


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Depression can be treated effectively over the phone, and a test of the approach showed that patients are more likely to maintain treatment telephonically.
Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine offered 18 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy, a kind of talk therapy, to more than 300 patients with major depression. Half received treatment in person and half over the phone.
In CBT, therapists help patients identify unhealthy patterns of thought and action and then change them. It's proved effective for a number of disorders, including depression — at least, when delivered face-to-face.
Most people with depression say they prefer therapy over antidepressants, but in practice they often miss sessions with a therapist or drop out of therapy altogether. Lead researcher David Mohr tells Shots that many people struggle with the logistics of a weekly visit. "Often they need to travel some distance to get there," he says. "They may need to take time off of work, or away from their family."
The promise of treating people over the phone is that it might overcome the demands of patients' busy lives. Only 4 percent of patients receiving phone therapy dropped out during the first five weeks of treatments, versus 13 percent in the face-to-face group. After that, the dropout rate was about the same in both groups.
At the end of the treatment cycle, both groups of patients showed similar levels of improvement in their symptoms. Six months later, the patients who received treatment in person showed a bit more lasting improvement. But Mohr says the discrepancy is small, and doesn't necessarily mean that face-to-face therapy is having some lingering effect that isn't noticeable at first.
"We were able to keep people in treatment using the telephone who would have otherwise dropped out," he says, and that group included people with more severe symptoms, or other factors that might require continuing treatment. In the face-to-face group, many of those people never made it to week five, much less to the six-month follow-up session.
The results were just published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The American Telemedicine Association has published guidelines for so-called "telemental health," which includes over-the-phone treatments. But Mohr says insurance companies have been wary, and for the most part do not yet cover or reimburse phone therapy.
Technically, telemedicine is finally ready for prime time, as NPR reported last year in a story about long-distance care for patients with Parkinson's disease. High-speed Internet connections and devices with built-in cameras are easy to come by. But regulations and rules for payment remain a challenge.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Russia's Eco-Miracle
More than half of the food in Russia is produced ecologically thanks to the millions of families that grow their own parcels in their leisure time. The Russian state gives away such parcels for free for non-commercial agricultural purposes. For the Russian people this is a culture consisting of widely connected networks with supplies of healthy fresh food and a family friendly lifestyle (kinship domains). This self subsistence also has a spiritual... Les mer