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Last updated: 18th November 2022
1. Introduction and your agreement to these Terms of Use
1.1 Welcome to www.tinyfox.com.au (Website). This Website is owned and operated by The Nile Group Pty Ltd (Company), an Australian company limited by shares. The Company operates the Website under the brand 'Tiny Fox®'.
1.2 These terms and conditions of use (Terms of Use) are deemed to incorporate this Website's privacy policy (Privacy Policy) which is available on this Website and which you should read together with these Terms of Use. You acknowledge and agree that you consent to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. The provisions of the Privacy Policy apply as if set out in full in these Terms of Use.
1.3 These Terms of Use, including the Privacy Policy, govern your access to and use of this Website, including any: (i) software, database, information, content or materials that are located on, form part of or are available through or in connection with this Website (Website Material); and (ii) services and products provided through or in connection with this Website (Services). If you visit, access or shop at this Website you are deemed to agree to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must immediately exit and not access or use this Website. These Terms of Use create a legally binding agreement between you and the Company.
2. Changes to these Terms of Use
The Company may from time to time (with or without notice to you) amend or update these Terms of Use at its sole discretion. Accordingly, you should ensure that you regularly review them. We will endeavour to notify all Registered Users of any material or significant changes to these Terms of Use via the email address provided to us. However, the Terms of Use applicable to your access to and use of this Website is the current version displayed on this Website at the time you access or use this Website. By continuing to access or use this Website after such changes, you are deemed to agree to be bound by such changes.
3. Different types of Users
3.1 Subject to these Terms of Use, any person may access or use this Website via the internet without registering with or disclosing any personally identifying information to the Company (Unregistered User).
3.2 To make full use of the functionality of this Website, you will need to register with the Company (Registered User).
3.3 The Company may refuse any request for registration. Unregistered Users and Registered Users are referred to collectively in these Terms of Use as Users. The Company may make varying levels of functionality available to different Users, depending on whether they are Unregistered Users or Registered Users.
4. Registration
4.1 If you wish to become a Registered User, you must provide the Company with certain true and correct information about yourself (User Registration Information), as requested by the relevant registration page on this Website. Information requested may include some or all of the following information, your: email address; name; title; date of birth; home address; country of residence; telephone number; employer / organisation name; and office address.
4.2 Where you purchase products and services from the Company, the Company will request payment details including your billing address (also User Registration Information). You must promptly notify and update the Company if any of your User Registration Information is erroneous or changes from time to time. By providing your contact details, you are deemed to agree to the Company contacting you via such means for any purpose in connection with the Website or the Services.
5. Use of the Website Material
The Company grants you a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, personal licence to access this Website, for personal use, solely in accordance with these Terms of Use. If you are a member of Tiny Fox®'s Affiliate Program (Affiliate Program) then we grant you a licence to download the specifically created banners and text link available from the affiliate system provider, ClixGalore for the purpose of participating in the Affiliate Program.
6. Intellectual Property Rights
6.1 All intellectual property rights (including copyright, database rights and trade mark rights) subsisting in, relating to or arising out this Website, the Website Material or the Services are owned by and vest in the Company (or its licensors).
6.2 You acknowledge and agree these Terms of Use do not transfer any right, title or interest in the Company's (or its licensors') intellectual property rights to you.
7. Submitted Materials
7.1 This Website may allow Users to submit or post information, content and materials (for example, book reviews) (User Material) to this Website and/or the Company, for access and use by other Users and/or the Company. (References in these Terms of Use to "User Material" do not include any User Registration Information, which is treated separately to User Material). The Company does not systematically review User Material submitted by Users and is not responsible for the form or content of any User Material.
7.2 If you choose to submit or post User Material, you must own or have the right to submit or post that User Material and it must not: (i) infringe any intellectual property right (including copyright, database right or trade mark right) of any person or be in breach of any legal duty owed to any person, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence; (ii) deceive or be likely to deceive any person; (iii) be used to impersonate any person (including the Company and its representatives) or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person; (iv) be illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, violate any law or be otherwise inappropriate; or (v) advertise any product or service or solicit any business.
7.3 You agree that the Company may: (i) edit or delete your User Material; (ii) link your User Material to other material, including User Material submitted by other Users or material created by the Company and/or other third parties; (iii) use your User Material for its business purposes, including to promote, market or advertise this Website and the Company; and (iv) directly or indirectly commercially benefit from your User Material.
7.4 The Company does not claim any ownership rights in your User Material, however, by submitting User Material you are deemed to grant the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide license to download, use, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce in a material form, publish, perform or cause to be heard or seen in public, communicate to the public, make an adaptation of and enter into commercial rental arrangements in respect of that User Material.
8. Prohibited activities
8.1 You must not submit, post, upload, email or otherwise send or transmit to this Website, or any User anything that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, harm, damage, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or equipment linked directly or indirectly to this Website.
8.2 You must not interfere with this Website or the servers or networks underlying or connected to this Website or violate any of the procedures, policies or regulations of this Website or any networks connected to this Website.
8.3 You must not impersonate any other person while using this Website, conduct yourself in an offensive manner while using this Website, or use this Website for any illegal, immoral or harmful purpose.
9. Cessation of services
The Company may (with or without notice to you) modify, restrict, prevent or withdraw your access to or use of this Website for any reason whatsoever or for no reason, including where the Company believes that you are in breach of these Terms of Use.
10. Indemnity by you
You must indemnify and hold harmless the Company (and its officers, employees and representatives) against all losses, liabilities and costs (including legal expenses) sustained, incurred or suffered by the Company (or its officers, employees and representatives) as a result of your breach of these Terms of Use or any violation by you of any laws or the rights of any person.
11. Other websites
The Company is not responsible for the policies and practices of internet websites operated by persons other than the Company, even if: (i) you access them using links on this Website; or (ii) are directed or link to this Website using links on such websites, and recommends that you carefully review the terms and conditions of use and privacy policy of every internet website you access or use.
12. Linking
12.1 Subject to clause 12.2, Users must not link to this Website from any other website (or authorise any other person to link from a third party website to this Website) without prior written consent from the Company. The Company prohibits framing or embedding all or any part of the Website on any other website.
12.2 Members of the Affiliate Program may link to this Website in accordance with the instructions set out on the Website.
13. Changes to this Website
The Company may (with or without notice to you) make changes to this Website, the Website Material and the Services.
14. Availability of this Website
This Website, the Website Material and the Services are provided on an "as available" basis and the Company shall not be liable if this Website, the Website Material or the Services are unavailable for any period. The Company may (with or without notice to you) temporarily suspend access to this Website, the Website Material and/or the Services or indefinitely close down this Website at any time. The Company does not represent, warrant or undertake that this Website, the Website Material or the Services will be error, defect, "bug" or "virus" free.
15. Accuracy of this Website
This Website, the Website Materials and the Services are provided on an "as is" basis and the Company makes no representations, warranties or undertakings with respect to this Website, the Website Material or the Services, including as to the currency, accuracy or completeness of this Website, the Website Material or the Services.
16. Disclaimer
16.1 To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company excludes all implied representations, warranties, terms and conditions of any kind whatsoever (whether implied by common law, statute or otherwise), including any implied representations, warranties, terms or conditions that this Website, the Website Material or the Services are of satisfactory quality or fit for their purpose.
16.2 To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Company also excludes the application or availability of any statutory rights or any statutory guarantees with respect to this Website, the Website Material or the Services.
17. Limitation of liability
17.1 Nothing in these Terms of Use is intended to exclude, restrict or modify any rights that the User may have under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) or any other applicable legislation which may not be excluded, restricted or modified by agreement.
17.2 If the CCA or any other applicable legislation provides the User with any non-excludable statutory rights (including any implied representations, warranties, terms or conditions or any statutory guarantees) in respect of any goods or services supplied under these Terms of Use, then the exclusions and limitations on the Company's liability in these Terms of Use do not apply in respect of such non-excludable statutory rights, however, where the Company's liability with respect to such non-excludable rights may be restricted or modified, then, without prejudice to any non-excludable statutory rights that the User may have which may not be restricted or modified by agreement, the Company's liability is limited to: (i) in the case of a supply of goods, the Company doing any one or more of the following (at its election): replacing the goods or supplying equivalent goods; repairing the goods; paying the cost of replacing the goods or of acquiring equivalent goods; or paying the cost of having the goods repaired; or (ii) in the case of a supply of services, the Company doing either or both of the following (at its election): supplying the services again; or paying the cost of having the services supplied again.
18. Force majeure
The Company will not be in breach of these Terms of Use or otherwise liable to you or any other person for any unavailability or failure of this Website, the Website Material or the Services or any delay or other failure by the Company to comply with these Terms of Use that is caused by or arises from any event or circumstances beyond the Company's control.
19. Assignment
You must not assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise dispose of any or all of your rights and/or obligations under these Terms of Use. The Company may assign, transfer, sub-contract or otherwise dispose of any or all of the Company's rights and/or obligations under these Terms of Use.
Subject to clause 21, if GST is payable in respect of any supply made to you by the Company, you will be liable to pay an amount equal to the GST payable (at the current prevailing rate) on the supply at the same time and in the same manner as the consideration for the supply is to be provided under this Agreement. GST means GST within the meaning of A New Tax System (Goods and Services) Act 1999 (Cth).
21. Imported Goods
21.1 In this clause: Imported Goods means goods which are sourced directly from outside Australia and which are available through the Website and which are specifically labelled as 'Ships from New Zealand' or 'Ships from United Kingdom' or 'Ships from USA'. Order means an order for Imported Goods.
Taxes means value added taxes (including GST) and all levies, imposts, charges and duties imposed by any authority in relation to Imported Goods.
21.2 The amount payable for Imported Goods is shown on the Website in Australian dollars.
21.3 The Company will be a mail or courier provider for all shipping and delivery requirements, on your behalf. A standard flat rate fee per delivery will apply. This will be charged at the time an Order is made, and will be payable at the same time and in the same manner as the consideration for the goods is to be provided.
21.4 By placing an Order for Imported Goods you are deemed to accept these Terms of Use including the obligations contained in this clause.
21.5 Imported Goods are sold to you on an FCA basis, in accordance with the Incoterms® 2010 terms, whereby the risk of ownership and title in the goods passes to you on the date and time of delivery of the goods to the nominated delivery agent in the country of export.
21.6 You acknowledge and agree that you will be recorded as the importer of record and will be the responsible party for any Taxes associated with the importation of Imported Goods.
21.7 You acknowledge that the Company is not liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense that you incur as a result of your obligation to act as importer of record for the Imported Goods.
21.8 If your order arrives in Australia and the Customs value is above the low value import threshold of AUD $1,000, you may be required to lodge a Customs Import Declaration and pay the calculated duty and GST. For further information visit http://www.customs.gov.au
21.9 For Customs purposes any number of goods delivered by the Company to you may be considered as the one consignment and the total value will be taken into account in assessing whether the low value import threshold has been reached.
22. Delivery of Goods
You acknowledge and agree that delivery times in relation to products ordered through the Website are an estimate only.
23. Returns
The Company does not take title to returned items until the item arrives at the return address nominated by the Company.
24. General
24.1 Entire Agreement: These Terms of Use, together with any additional terms and conditions set out on this Website from time to time, constitutes the whole agreement between you and the Company relating to its subject matter and supersedes and extinguishes any prior drafts, versions, agreements, undertakings, representations, warranties and arrangements of any nature, whether in writing or oral, relating to such subject matter.
24.2 Rights cumulative: The rights, powers, privileges and remedies provided under any provision of these Terms of Use are cumulative and are not exclusive of any rights, powers, privileges or remedies provided under any other provision of these Terms of Use or by applicable law or otherwise.
24.3 Waiver: No failure to exercise nor any delay in exercising by the Company of any right, power, privilege or remedy under these Terms of use shall impair or operate as a waiver thereof in whole or in part. No single or partial exercise of any right, power privilege or remedy under these Terms of Use shall prevent any further or other exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, powers, privilege or remedy.
24.4 Invalidity: If any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be illegal, void, invalid or unenforceable under the applicable laws of any jurisdiction, the legality, validity and enforceability of the remainder of these Terms of Use in that jurisdiction shall not be affected, and the legality, validity and enforceability of the whole of these Terms of Use in any other jurisdiction shall not be affected.
24.5 Governing law: These Terms of Use shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of New South Wales. You are deemed to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.
24.6 Interpretation: In these Terms of Use, unless the context requires otherwise: (i) any reference to a "person" includes any individual, company, corporation, firm partnership, joint venture, association, organisation or trust (in each case, whether or not having separate legal personality) and references to any of the same shall include a reference to the others; (ii) any phrase introduced by the words "including", "include", "in particular", "for example" or any similar expression shall be construed as illustrative only and shall not be construed as limiting the generality of any preceding words; (iii) references to the singular include the plural and to the masculine include the feminine, and in each case vice versa; and (iv) the headings and sub-headings are inserted for convenience only and shall not affect the meaning of these Terms of Use.
25. Contacting the Company
25.1 All correspondence to the Company, including any queries you may have regarding this Website or these Terms of Use, should be sent to:
Email Us
Address: 42 Apex Drive, Truganina VIC 3029
26. Promotions
26.1 Tiny Fox® may from time to time offer promotional discounts or discount codes. The promotional period will be specified at the time of promotion. Tiny Fox® reserves the right to withdraw promotions or promotional items at any time without notice.
These T&Cs relate to all Tiny Fox® promotions, competitions and discount codes (unless otherwise stated).


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Walk-In Bathtub Installation
Are you looking for a trusted professional to help you with walk-in tub installation? Independent Home Products, LLC has been installing walk-in tubs since 2007. Designed and manufactured in our own Long Island, NY factory, our high-quality walk-in tubs installed by Independent Home Products, LLC's local contractors are designed with safety, functionality, and style in mind.
Call for a FREE Quote
Benefits of Installing a Walk-in Tub
- Safety – Decrease your risk of falls in your bathroom. Walk-in tubs by Independent Home Products, LLC have a low entry threshold and well-placed grab bars.
- Dignity – People who have disabilities that affect mobility are better able to remain more independent with their self-care tasks with a walk-in bathtub.
- Comfort – Our walk-in tubs have elevated seating for easy transfers and luxurious water and/or air jets.
- Therapeutic – Improves circulation for those with back problems, hip and leg issues, diabetes, and more.
- Beauty – High gloss acrylic finish and fixtures are gleaming stainless.
- Ease – The nonporous surface is mildew resistant and easy to clean
- Quality – Our watertight doors are guaranteed not to leak. We offer a lifetime warranty on all parts and labor
Experienced Walk-In Tub Installation
When it comes to installing walk-in tubs, quality is of utmost importance. That's why Independent Home Products, LLC only works with a small group of trusted, skilled installers. Our installers are skilled in multiple trades including plumbing, electrical, demolition, and more. Our staff has been working together for close to 10 years and has developed a close bond with each other. When you call Independent Home Products, LLC for walk-in tub installation, you can be sure that you are getting an experienced crew.
Our Process for Installing a Walk-In Bathtub
- First, we'll come to assess your current situation and your unique needs.
- We'll assist you in choosing the most appropriate walk-in bathtub for your home.
- Your old bathtub will be removed and hauled away.
- Next, we'll assess your plumbing and make any necessary repairs or adjustments.
- Your walk-in tub will be molded and completed according to your specifications.
- If you have chosen a hydrotherapy model, additional electrical work will be completed.
- After installation, we'll test to make sure the tub working properly, and show you how to operate it.
- Any required finish work will be completed.
- Additional grab bars, an elevated toilet seat, and any other adaptations can also be made
Walk-In Tubs At A Fair Price
Walk-in tubs vary greatly in terms of quality, functionality, and price. At Independent Home Products, LLC, quality and safety are never spared. Independent Home Products, LLC will help you choose the best tub for your unique needs. We take great pride in our honesty and integrity. All walk-in tubs come with a lifetime warranty for parts and labor. Folks who require handicapped bathrooms or accommodations to make their bathrooms more accessible are already going through a great deal in terms of life adjustments and expenses. We want to make this process as simple and affordable as possible. We guarantee it!
High-Quality Walk-In Bathtubs
Independent Home Products, LLC manufactures our own line of high-quality walk-in bathtubs. We test each tub to ensure that each and every bathtub is built to a high standard of quality. Our customers can purchase tubs in confidence from us because they are backed with a lifetime warranty. We have been perfecting our walk-in tub installation process since 2007 so that we can better assist our customers. Call us today to learn more about our quality walk-in tub installation.

subset: commoncrawl


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Before You Apply
- Learn about each position to decide which is right for you!
- Determine if you have work study. Although not required, most Urec positions prefer work study applicants. To check if you have work study, log-in to Access Stout and review your financial aid award. If you were not awarded work study, call the Financial Aid Office to see if you qualify.
- Get to know our operations! We love hiring students who are passionate enough about what we do that they participate in our operations.
- Be thoughtful and complete about your answers. We receive hundreds of applications each semester, show us where you shine on your application!
- Urec has a rolling application process. When positions are open those will be posted on our website, social media, and Handshake.
- Those selected for an interview will be contacted by the respective coordinator. If you have not be contacted we are either not hiring, not that far in the hiring process, or you have not been selected for an interview.


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Art Scholarship Program
About the Art Program
The Art Department at CCC is a place where you can come and explore your creative side. It is a place where you can express your ideas in a variety of mediums.
The Art Department is located in Orscheln Hall with the building housing a variety of studios.
The building contains the art director's office and the design, drawing, and painting studios. The building also contains the kiln room and the ceramic, sculpture, and photography studios.
Each studio is well equipped with the equipment you need to work with the traditional and non-traditional mediums explored as you study in the CCC Art Department.
The 2 Year Visual Arts Plan
CCC gives you a well rounded education in the visual arts and an impressive portfolio and resume to take to a four-year college when you transfer in the fine arts or the graphic arts. At CCC, we prepare and teach you how to think starting with the ideas founded by the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Then we take you into and through the Renaissance to broaden your understanding of how to think critically and visually. At CCC, we embrace "professionalism" and "ensemble" to create the most avant-garde art of any community college art program.
Related Link
Art Transfer Degree Curriculum Guide
Michael DeRosa
Art Director
Coffeyville Community College
400 West 11th
Coffeyville, KS 67337
Phone: (620) 252-7020


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Nestled in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Beech Mountain offers residents and visitors sweeping vistas that will take your breath away. Having fallen in love with Beach Mountain during a summer visit, or winter skiing trip, Antler Realty can help you make this picturesque town your new home. Antler Realty serves several communities around the Banner Elk and Beech Mountain area, and provides our customers with an opportunity to find the ideal home for sale in Beech Mountain.
Mountain Living
With numerous seasonal activities, Beech Mountain has a little something for everyone. Pack a backpack with water and snacks and explore the several gorgeous hiking trails located all around Beech Mountain and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Hike up to Calloway peak via the profile tail to work up a sweat, and then get a cold drink at one of the areas several breweries or high-end eateries. However, if you enjoy the cooler weather, Beech Mountain also has several winter activities.
In a short drive, you can strap on a pair of skis or a snowboard and be slaloming down some of the best ski resorts in the United States. Our mountain resorts are high quality and offer winter activities for everyone. From skiing, to snowboarding or tubing, the whole family will have a blast! When you purchase a home for sale in Beech Mountain, all the best mountain amenities will be a short distance away. Let Antler Realty find your new home in the mountains and every day will feel like a vacation.
Antler Realty
At Antler Realty, we are dedicated to providing our customers with individualized attention and care to ensure that they have access to some of the best Beech Mountain homes. Our expert team of Beech Mountain real estate agents have over 50 years of experience between them. The professional agents at Antler Realty are prepared to provide you with comprehensive and effective service.
If you are ready to make sure that your dream mountain home can become a realty, contact Antler Realty and set up an appointment to discuss your real estate needs and find the ideal home for sale in Beech Mountain. Our expert agents will make sure you are enjoying all the Blue Ridge Mountains have to offer in no time.


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The entire digestive tract that runs from your esophagus to your rectum is your gut. Experts say that our second brain is our gut. The nerves and microbes in the gut can launch communication with the brain and affect everything from hunger to mood.
You have a proper balance of good and bad bacteria when your gut is healthy.
Everyone thinks that the signs of an unhealthy gut are obvious. But, we are not going to talk about the obvious symptoms like diarrhea and constipation.
There are another mental, emotional and physical warning signs which signal that your gut is unhealthy.
10 warning signs you have an unhealthy gut
1. Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
The brain and the lining of your intestines are filled with nerves that contain similar tissue. These nerves communicate with your brain. Your intestines release the same feel-good neurotransmitters that make you feel good. When your gut bacteria are in balance, you also feel mentally balanced too.
2. You Get Sick a Lot
You catch every sniffle that goes around the office, but all the vitamin C in the world may not help. Gut Health Project has explained that more than three-quarters of your immune system is found in your gastrointestinal tract.
The balance of bacteria in your gut is a healthy microbiome that produces healthy mucus that traps unwanted viruses, toxins, and bacteria and helps remove them from the body.
The healthy mucus also allows your body to absorb the right minerals and vitamins to help support your immunity.
If your gut is harmful, unhealthy, thick mucus can limit your body's ability to use nutrients and vitamins properly, leading to what may seem like the constant sickness.
3. Skin Problems
If you have eczema, rosacea, persistent acne, dandruff or flaky, itchy skin, even the most intensive skin care routine may not fix your problem. Believe it or not, your skin problems may be coming from your unhealthy gut.
Skin experts explain how gut health affects inflammation throughout the body, which in turn affects the skin, referring to a gut-brain-skin axis.
4. Stubborn Weight
If you have an unhealthy gut, you may have trouble losing weight no matter what you do.
The good news is that when people who are overweight lose weight, their gut becomes more balanced.
The bad news is that overweight people have a different balance of intestinal bacteria than people who are at a healthy weight.
5. Autoimmune Disease
Many studies link the gut health to autoimmune disease.
On the other hand, experts aren't sure exactly what causes autoimmune diseases like Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. But, they do know that autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system attacks its own healthy cells.
6. Acid Reflux
Frequent, an unhealthy gut can often cause unrelenting acid reflux. This is the explanation why nothing seems to help your constant heartburn.
A buildup of unhealthy bacteria in the GI tract and stomach cause acid reflux, bloating, and burping. Normally, acid-reducing medications can help this bacteria thrive. Generally, stomach acid kills the bad bacteria.
If you always neutralize your stomach acid, you actually allow that bad bacteria grow.
7. Yeast Infections
If your system is imbalanced, yeast can grow out of control. The imbalance in the gut can show up as fungal infections of the skin, digestive issues, constant fatigue or even fibromyalgia. This can also cause a condition known as candida.
8. Lack of Energy
You may have an unhealthy gut when you don't have enough energy even when you've had good sleep.
When your gut has an unhealthy balance of bacteria, your body can stop absorbing the nutrients it needs from foods, leaving you tired all the time. Your unhealthy gut can also let in toxins through the intestinal walls, affecting your energy levels.
9. High Cholesterol and Triglycerides
According to LiveScience, your gut microbes may influence your heart health. The digestive tract has 34 microorganisms which can influence the levels of fat in your blood.
Experts are also starting to find links between a higher biodiversity of gut bacteria and HDL, "good" cholesterol.
10. Asthma
The balance of bacteria that you had in your gut around the time of birth may cause you having asthma. According to Dr. Hyman, balancing your gut can help improve asthma symptoms.
How can you build a healthy gut?
You probably want to know what to do about your unhealthy gut. Well, you need to make consistent healthy lifestyle choices, if you want to have a healthy gut. Let's see the following:
Eat whole, nutrient-rich foods
Provide your body with the nutrients that it needs to operate properly by eating a variety of clean, colorful foods. You should know that chemically processed foods often contain compounds that feed the bad bacteria and cause imbalance.
Eat less sugar
If you eat sugar, you will feed the unhealthy bacteria. Try to eliminate it from your diet to rebalance your intestinal microbiome.
Chew your food
If you want to feed the healthy bacteria and promote healthy digestion, you need to chew your food well enough.
Stay hydrated
Drinking water is important for every bodily function, including maintaining a healthy gut.
Give your gut a chance to heal and rebalance itself by following a gentle detoxification program. It can eliminate many of the factors that are causing inflammation on a daily basis.


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Noctua today announced three new 92mm class CPU coolers. Whereas the NH-U9S and NH-D9L are retail models that succeed the popular NH-U9B SE2, the NH-D9DX i4 3U targets Intel Xeon LGA2011 based workstations and servers. All three models use the recently announced NF-A9 PWM 92mm premium fan to achieve class-leading quiet cooling performance.
"Providing a great balance between high efficiency and compact size, the NH-U9B SE2 is still one of our most popular models", says Mag. Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "The NH-U9S and NH-D9L stay true to this proven formula but now offer even better performance, better compatibility and PWM support for automatic fan speed control."
Continuing the renowned legacy of Noctua's award-winning NH-U9 series, the NH-U9S is a premium quality quiet CPU cooler in classic 9cm size. Its asymmetrical design with 5 heatpipes not only provides even better cooling performance than the previous generation but also improves compatibility: Thanks to its 95x95mm footprint, the NH-U9S clears the RAM and PCIe slots on all Intel and most AMD based mainboards, including µATX and ITX.
Noctua NH-D9L
The NH-D9L features 4 heatpipes and is 15mm lower than classic 9cm coolers such as the NH-U9 series (110mm vs. 125mm), which doesn't only guarantee full 3U compliance but also makes the NH-D9L ideal for compact HTPC and Small Form Factor cases that have airflow paths parallel to the mainboard. Like the NH-U9S, the NH-D9L has a 95x95mm footprint and thus provides 100% RAM and PCIe compatibility on all Intel and most AMD based mainboards.
The NH-D9DX i4 3U is the same heatsink as the NH-D9L but comes with LGA2011 mounting for both Square ILM and Narrow ILM Xeon platforms as well as support for LGA13x6.
"Our DX i4 series are renowned among builders of LGA2011 based Intel Xeon systems and one of the few available quiet cooling solutions for Narrow ILM platforms", explains Mag. Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "With the new NH-D9DX i4 3U model, we can now offer a cooler for 3U cases that offers similar performance as the previous 4U model NH-U9DX i4."
Noctua NH-D9DX i4
All three new models come with the new NF-A9 PWM for further improved quiet cooling performance. Topped off with the trusted, pro-grade SecuFirm2 mounting systems, Noctua's proven NT-H1 thermal compound and full 6 years manufacturer's warranty, the NH-U9S, NH-D9L and NH-D9DX i4 3U are premium grade solutions through and through.
Prices and availability
All three models are currently shipping and will be available shortly.
The manufacturer suggested retail prices are as follows:
NH-D9DX i4 3U: EUR 56.90 / USD 59.90
NH-D9DX i4 3U: EUR 56.90 / USD 59.90


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NBA owners discussed Donald Sterling's CNN interview and the plans to terminate his ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday in the third meeting of the advisory/finance committee.
A day after Commissioner Adam Silver repeated his desire to force Mr. Sterling to sell quickly, the committee met via conference call. A league spokesman said owners reviewed the status of the charge for termination of the Clippers' ownership.
Mr. Silver or an owner has to formally charge Mr. Sterling in writing with violating Article 13 of the NBA's constitution. A hearing would then be held and require a three-fourths vote of the board of governors to force Mr. Sterling to sell the team he has owned since 1981.
Mr. Sterling criticized Magic Johnson in the interview that aired Monday, his first public comments since Mr. Silver banned him for life and fined him $2.5 million for making racist comments. Mr. Silver apologized to Mr. Johnson in a statement, adding that owners were working "as expeditiously as possible" on the process for removal.
The league spokesman said the committee also discussed the media appearance of Shelly Sterling, who said she wants to keep her share of the franchise even if her estranged husband is forced to give up his. The NBA has said that wouldn't be possible.
The 10-member committee was also briefed on the hiring of Dick Parsons as the Clippers' interim CEO, and his meeting with team employees Monday.
Minnesota owner Glen Taylor chairs the committee that includes Miami's Micky Arison, the Lakers' Jeanie Buss, Oklahoma City's Clay Bennett, New York's James Dolan, Boston's Wyc Grousbeck, San Antonio's Peter Holt, Phoenix's Robert Sarver, Indiana's Herb Simon and Toronto's Larry Tanenbaum.
The committee plans to reconvene next week.


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In post-Great Recession America, which is the bigger barrier to opportunity — race or class?
A decade ago, the U.S. Supreme Court kept the focus on race as a barrier, upholding the right of colleges to make limited use of racial preferences to ensure a diverse student body. But in a ruling due this month, the court is widely expected to roll back that decision. Such an outcome would shift attention more toward a less constitutionally controversial practice: giving a boost to socio-economically disadvantaged students, regardless of race.
If that happens, it would reflect more than just a more conservative makeup of the justices. Over the last decade, clogged social mobility and rising economic inequality have shifted the conversation on campuses and in the country as a whole.
As a barrier to opportunity, class is getting more attention, while race is fading.
"The cultural zeitgeist has changed," said Peter Sacks, author of the book "Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education."
"The Great Recession really exacerbated the vast and growing inequalities between rich and poor in America," he said. "Talking openly about class has been taboo," he added, but in recent years the evidence of widening inequality has mounted and it's become "OK for the so-called 99 percent to talk about the 99 percent."
The shift is perceptible in a range of ways:
—You can see it in polling, like surveys from the Pew Research Center, which shows the percentage of Americans who feel racial discrimination is the chief impediment to black progress is falling, from 37 percent in 1995 to 23 percent in 2012.
Polling on affirmative action varies widely depending on how questions are phrased, but an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday showed strong feelings about using race in college admissions: Just 22 percent of Americans support letting universities consider applicants' race as a factor, and 76 percent oppose the practice. The proportions supporting racial preferences were similar for blacks (19 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) as for whites (20 percent).
—You can read it in the tone of recent opinion pieces penned even by left-leaning academics and columnists, whose support for racial preferences has eroded under a mountain of evidence that quality higher education is tilting further toward the already-wealthy.
—You can hear it, too — in conversations on elite college campuses, where the dearth of low-income students is replacing race as a topic of debate. And in the words of the first black president, who has said there's no good reason his own daughters should benefit from racial preferences when they apply to college.
The shifting debate has painted supporters of race-based affirmative action into a difficult corner. Most agree the barriers to low-income students are a serious problem that should be addressed, and of course, many minority students are also low-income.
But they acknowledge widening income inequality has made it harder to make their case that special attention to race remains justified.
"This is the first time you have whites thinking they face more discrimination than blacks do," said Camille Charles, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania who studies class and race. "You have people who have come to believe the system is set up to benefit black people at the expense of white people." Such beliefs, she said, reflect ignorance about the persistence of discrimination, about how much harder minorities were hit by the Great Recession, and about how affirmative action actually works (many incorrectly conflate "affirmative action" with "racial quotas," which the Supreme Court long ago ruled unconstitutional).
In his 2010 book "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth," Harvard economic historian Benjamin Friedman charted how during periods of prosperity, societies throughout history have expanded opportunities to disadvantaged groups and become more open and inclusive. During economic struggle, by contrast, they typically close ranks.
The Great Recession was no exception, he said, persuading more Americans that efforts to ensure minorities are represented among the scarce slots at top universities are "a luxury they cannot afford," Friedman said by telephone.
A report released Thursday by the Lumina Foundation underscored the large and persistent achievement gaps between races in the United States: Nearly 60 percent of Asian adults have a college degree, compared to 43 percent of whites but just 27 percent of blacks and 19 percent of Hispanics.
More alarming are the numbers for those between 25 and 29 — an indicator of recent trends. Whites and Asians are doing better than their parents. Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans are doing worse. That's a problem for everyone, said Lumina president and CEO Jamie Merisotis.
"Narrowing these gaps is a matter of economic and social collective self-interest," he said.
But other numbers in the same report revealed how profoundly family income determines how far you go in school: Four-fifths of 24-year-olds from families in the top quarter of income have college degrees, compared to just one in 10 in the bottom quartile.
Other research, while calling the black-white degree gap worrisome, concludes the gap measured by class alone is far broader. Students of all races from educated affluent families are seven times more likely to complete a bachelor's degree than students from low-income families with less education (68 percent compared to 9 percent).
One study of the freshmen entering the 193 most selective colleges in 2010 found two-thirds came from the top income quartile. Only 15 percent came from the bottom half of the country, income-wise.
At the top 20 law schools, another study found, more than three-quarters of students came from the richest income quartile.
"We continue to struggle with racial discrimination in this country, but class has become a far larger impediment to a person's life chances than race," said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, and a prominent advocate for replacing race-based affirmative action with class-conscious measures.
On college campuses, arguments over race and gender have predominated for decades, but the lack of socio-economic diversity is getting more attention. One sign of the trend is the emergence of a student group called "U/FUSED" (United for Undergraduate Socio-Economic Diversity), with chapters on about 20 prominent campuses. Chapters at campuses like Wesleyan University and Washington University in St. Louis have undertaken a range of efforts, from developing a financial literacy curriculum to lobbying for more financial aid.
But mostly, said Chase Sackett, who helped found the organization while an undergraduate at Washington University and is now a law student at Yale, the groups are getting people to talk about the previously taboo subjects of class, money and inequality.
College students are actually fairly accustomed to talking about race, he said, but class "was something that was under the rug." He said minority groups have been eager to join the conversation, seeing it as complementary to the issues they care about.
Kahlenberg, who informally advises the group, said such an organization would have been unthinkable in his own college days during the 1980s. But "the facts on the ground have changed." The test-score gap between blacks and whites, he noted, was once twice as big as the gap between rich and poor students. Now that's flipped and the income gap is twice as big as the racial one.
Sackett said he and the group don't necessarily oppose race-based affirmative action; they just want more efforts to deal with socio-economic diversity.
Indeed, many people ask, why not do both? Kahlenberg says he's all for that, but "universities never get around to the class part of the equation. They would rather have a class of fairly wealthy students of all races." A big obstacle is cost: By definition low-income students need more financial aid, while race-based preferences don't necessarily go to the neediest students. In fact, research has confirmed large proportions of minority students at selective colleges come from middle- and upper-income families.
Kahlenberg believes with some creativity, colleges can use class-based affirmative action to ensure racial diversity. That's happened at many schools in states where affirmative action is already banned. However, the broader consensus is that, at least in the short term and at the most elite schools, replacing race-based preferences with class-based efforts would cause minority enrollment to fall.
"Low-income will not replace diversity," said Ted Spencer, admissions director at the University of Michigan, which won the right to use race as an admissions factor in the 2003 Supreme Court case, but later lost it in a voter referendum. Michigan's numbers of minority students have not fully recovered.
But Spencer emphasized the court's justification for race-based affirmative action has never been only about minorities, or about rectifying society-wide discrimination, or about pitting racial barriers against class ones.
Rather, the court's justification was educational — that all students benefit from a racially diverse student body. Employers increasingly want students accustomed to working with people from different groups, and many students want that experience, too. If the court rules as expected, he's worried they'll have few options.
"As we prepare people for work and life," he said, "the absence of diversity on campus deprives all of our students of a very important part of their academic growth."
Lumina Foundation Report: http://www.luminafoundation.org/stronger_nation
Century Foundation report on alternative to race-based admissions: http://bit.ly/17JVWtw
Ufused: http://ufused.org/


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Joseph Landry, Ph.D., came to the medical school with a solid background in the basic science of epigenetics — how genes are regulated without altering the DNA itself. Now, as an assistant professor in human and molecular genetics, he's hoping to apply that knowledge to the real-world problem of breast cancer.
Using a mouse model of human breast cancer, Landry investigates how epigenetic processes may help cancerous tumors hide themselves from the body's immune defenses and how they may contribute to cancer's spread through metastasis.
Landry earned his Ph.D. in genetics from Stony Brook University where he studied histones. He went on to a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health where he studied chromatin remodeling. Both histones and chromatin are structures that can control the accessibility of genes to be expressed as proteins.
With funding from the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Jeffress Foundation in hand, Landry was attracted to the MCV Campus because of its expertise in translational research. "I came to VCU for the opportunity to work with [department chair] Paul Fisher, to work with a lot of people who are well-versed in applying basic research findings to develop therapeutics," he said.


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And our next guest has even more reasons for hope and optimism this year. Steven Petrow is a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, and he recently wrote a piece titled "Could 2022 Be A Better, Healthier Year? Ten Reasons To Be Cautiously Optimistic." He says that buried under the grief and loss that we've experienced in 2021, there are seeds of hope for the new year. So Steven Petrow joins me now to try to help us kick off this year in better spirits.
That's a tall order Steven, but I'm willing to let you try. Welcome.
STEVEN PETROW: Adrian, I'm glad to be with you, and Happy New Year's Day to you.
FLORIDO: Happy New Year's to you.
Before we jump into your list, I'm just curious - it's clear that we face a lot of challenges in the year ahead, so what spurred you to take an optimistic rather than pessimistic view of the new year? And I should correct that - cautiously optimistic.
PETROW: Cautiously, yes. And if I'm going to be completely honest with you, I am known within the health section at The Washington Post for being of the naysayer, for being the curmudgeon, the one who has the most difficulty sort of seeing the silver lining. So they said, let's give this to Steven. If he can come up with some reasons for hope. maybe they actually exist. And then I did a lot of interviewing and research. And yes, we came up with even more than 10, but there are only 10 in this particular piece. And I think that when people start to see some of the piecemeal pieces of progress, we can start to feel better about where we are and where we're going.
FLORIDO: And because so many of our concerns in the last year have revolved around health, you really focused your list on health-related reasons to keep our chins up. But the first reason on your list is a little bit more nebulous. It's resilience.
PETROW: Yes.
FLORIDO: What about resilience is giving you hope?
PETROW: Well, you know, there was a poll that came out at the very end of 2021 from the University of Michigan. And it found that 70% of Americans over 50 said they felt either the same level of resilience as before the pandemic - and resilience was defined as overcoming challenges, recovering, bouncing back - and 15% said they actually felt more resilient. You know, and what I take away from that is, you know, we have been through so much. And when you go through this kind of national trauma and you come out - I was going to say at the other end - but you come out in the middle or two-thirds of the way through, you can look at yourself, you can look at your family and say, hey, I'm still here. I managed to live through this. And so I think that's very important for us as we continue to go forward with some form of this pandemic.
FLORIDO: There are a few items on your list that involve innovations in health and medicine. You see a lot of reason to be hopeful in the fact that the Pfizer and Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are now widely available but also in the fact that these were developed through the use of mRNA, which could mean some pretty big things for science in the future. Why is that giving you hope?
PETROW: Think back to January of 2021. Vaccines were still in the experimental stage. Health care workers we're trying them. We did not have access to them. And so it is a completely different world a year later, where we have the Pfizer, the Moderna and the J&J vaccines, which have been game changers, you know, really all the way through. And it's just, you know, this is really a marvel of science. And we also see how the studies and the efforts we've put into vaccine development help us with other diseases. And the Pfizer and Moderna shots are messenger RNA vaccines - that's the mRNA. And the use of mRNA has long intrigued researchers in treating a number of other diseases, including the flu, Zika and rabies. But now researchers think that they can use mRNA to rapidly create safe and effective vaccines to treat cancer. And that's a big deal. And so one example is at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, there's a trial underway now testing mRNA vaccines against pancreatic cancer, and that's one of the most deadly malignancies. And I was really surprised to hear that they're actually one year ahead of schedule despite all the challenges of this pandemic. So we may be seeing other direct benefits from this mRNA research.
FLORIDO: You also say that we're winning the war on cancer - slowly, but that there's a lot of progress being made.
PETROW: So 50 years ago, President Nixon declared the war on cancer, and he hoped to solve the problem within the decade. That did not happen. Here we are a half century later. But we have seen many gains. And, you know, if you look to colorectal cancer, if you look to breast cancer, death rates are down substantially - 40% and 50% respectively. If you look at lung cancer survival rates - five-year survival rates - they're better now. So there has been progress. You know, we certainly need more progress, but this is encouraging news. And hopefully, we'll continue to go in that direction.
FLORIDO: OK. So we've talked about resilience. We've talked about health innovations. But you also list some of the things that the pandemic in the last couple of years have helped us learn about ourselves and our communities and how we find community. What are some of those? And why are those promising for the year ahead?
PETROW: You know, I'm laughing here a little bit because I think just about everybody says they hate Zoom and Skype and so on.
FLORIDO: I am one of those people.
PETROW: Yeah, I'm laughing a little bit about the question because, you know, all of us say, you know, we hate Zoom, and we hate Skype. And then, you know, these are not in real-life interactions. But, you know, we have learned how to adapt them, and we have learned how to make connections. And that is very - you know, that is very important. And that whole sense of connection and community does happen online. You know, then there's been a very big mental health crisis in this country, and there's much more access to what's called teletherapy - or online therapy - as a result of these online apps and sites and communities. So, you know, this is really an important way that we can take some of the - some of what we're experiencing and continue with it even past the pandemic, whenever that might be.
FLORIDO: OK, lastly on your list, Steven - you just want people to get outdoors, to go outside. Why do you want people to get outside more?
PETROW: Well, it's not that I want to get them outside. It's that science tells us that when we find any version of the outdoors, it improves our mental health. It improves our physical health, cardiovascular health. And we have, you know - we have seen that, you know, over the last two years. And there are so many studies that point to this. And this is kind of something that we also can learn about and take away from. You know, being outdoors was not just for social distancing. It is really intrinsic to our health and well-being. And I love what the Japanese do. They have this practice called forest bathing, which really means being in nature. And you do not need to be in the country to be in nature. You know, you could be in Central Park. You can be in Rock Creek in Washington, D.C., really anywhere. And you will feel better, science says.
FLORIDO: OK, so before we let you go, I imagine there might be people who are listening to you and not buying it, who are skeptical about your list, who are still feeling pretty pessimistic about 2022. Do you have any tips for those people about things they can do to just put a little bit more optimism in their lives?
PETROW: Well, I totally understand that, and I have a deep vein of pessimism, you know, within my own body. But I think that it is important to look at the gains we've made in terms of health and science and the fact that we have managed to survive thus far and see where that's leading us. And one of the, you know, great sort of adages that I like from my life in general goes like this - if you can imagine it, you can create it. So I think with a little bit more imagination for the future, we should be able to create a better country and a better set of communities going forward.
FLORIDO: That's Washington Post contributing columnist Steven Petrow.
Steven, thanks for joining us, and Happy New Year.
PETROW: Adrian, the same to you. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Nineteen women have filed lawsuits against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct.
According to NBC News, the three women who filed suits on Sunday called the behavior engaged during massage sessions a "disturbing behavior."
The lawsuits were filed in Houston, where two of the women are massage therapists, NBC News reported.
According to USA Today, the women allege Watson exposed himself, purposely touched their hands with his genitals, or forcefully tried to kiss him during separate massage sessions.
Watson's attorney Rusty Hardin has said that they "believe that any allegation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false," the Associated Press reported.
Hardin said one of the accused tried to blackmail Watson of $30,000 for her "indefinite silence," The AP reported.
According to USA Today, Watson has not been formally charged and has denied wrongdoing.


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Of course it's not a done deal until the money is in the bank, but it's a first huge step in the right direction, right?
So, to celebrate, I bought something.
Last Saturday while our house was being shown, I was driving around with the kids and happened upon a yard sale. I saw this dresser and loved it. I couldn't believe it was still there at 3 in the afternoon.
But then I opened it up and saw inside~not very practical storage, nothing worked, it was covered in 10 layers of dust, and we're moving. We're supposed to be getting rid of stuff, not buying, right?
So, I left it there, but I couldn't stop thinking about it all week. I loved the handles, the shape, the size, it was real wood, and I began thinking I could remove the old record player and radio and put in some shelves perhaps? And for $10~what was there to lose?
Why didn't you get it, Melissa?
I went back on Friday crossing my fingers and guess what? The nice lady still had it in her garage, I handed over the $10, and she helped me load it into the back of the van. Wahooooo! I put some Target 75% off finds on top I found Wednesday night during another showing. It's a good thing there won't be any more showings, or I might keep finding more things. I'll have to show you what I found at the Dollar Tree later.... ;)
Of course, I'll show you the after when I'm finished. I'm also planning on taking you on a virtual tour of our house with befores and afters too~you know I didn't have a perfectly clean house for one whole week without taking some pictures, right?? I'll also talk about what I did to get it ready to show. Wow, I'm promising a lot, aren't I? :)
Happy Monday, y'all~


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Michael Gagarin, Writing Greek Law. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Pp. xi, 282. ISBN 9780521886611. $99.00.
Reviewed by Zinon Papakonstantinou, University of Washington
Over the last 30 years Professor Michael Gagarin has been among the most committed researchers of Greek law. His contributions include numerous books and articles on law in the communities of archaic and classical Greece, especially Gortyn and Athens. In Writing Greek Law, the issue of writing in the legal systems of archaic Greece and classical Athens takes central stage. Given the limited amount of the extant evidence the author inevitably re-visits much of the evidence that he has discussed before. Nonetheless, he has clearly re-thought the issues he discusses and he sometimes departs from his own earlier published views. The result is an engaging study that is brimming with original insights.
The book is divided into ten chapters, with an Introduction and a Conclusion. In the Introduction, besides summarizing the contents and arguments of the book, Gagarin spells out in concise terms his views on some issues that have been debated for decades by specialists on Greek law (e.g. the "unity of Greek law"). He then proceeds in Chapter 1 ("Law before Writing") to an analysis of the evidence (mainly from the Homeric epics and Hesiod's Works and Days and Theogony) for law in archaic Greece before the first attested use (at the present state of the evidence, c. mid-seventh century BC) of alphabetic writing for recording law. The author emphasizes that dispute resolution in the communities of early archaic Greece involved much negotiation and compromise between litigants. Justice was meted out most successfully by charismatic leaders famous for their oratorical skills, in a process of adjudication conducted in public and freely accessible to all interested members of the community. In the same chapter Gagarin also speaks of "oral law" (his quotation marks) as an expression "useful to designate the totality of procedures and rules (including customs, norms and traditions) that regulated disputes among preliterate Greeks" (p. 33).
Gagarin's early archaic "oral law" should not be understood as a set of clearly defined rules with full legal authority, for in order for these rules to be recognized as laws they had to be written down (thus p. 36 "before writing we can speak of oral law--viz. judicial procedures without writing--but not oral laws").1 Thus for example, in Il. 9.632-6 Ajax refers to the principle of blood-money payment by the killer to the family of the deceased as a means to settle homicide peacefully. But in Od. 23.118-20 after the killing of the suitors Odysseus warns Telemachus that a killer normally flees the community to avoid starting a vendetta. Are these rules laws? And how about the advice given by Phoenix to Achilles in Il. 9.508-12, also articulated as a rule, that humans should respect their prayers to gods? Does the latter qualify as law? Gagarin claims that choosing which ones of these rules are laws would be arbitrary and anachronistic, i.e. it would depend on the application of modern legal categories (e.g. homicide but not religious practices) to designate what counts as law in early archaic Greece. Moreover, Gagarin continues, even the rules about the settlement of homicide mentioned above cannot be construed as laws, because they "cannot be authoritative at the same time" and because "a legal system cannot tolerate such obvious contradictions in its laws" (p. 32). It is of course difficult to imagine how both rules --blood-money payment; exile -- regarding the settlement of homicide could be applicable at the same time, but one can still perceive them not as "contradictions" but as dispute settlement options, i.e. rules with legally binding force that were viewed as viable alternatives in the process of homicide settlement.2 Failure to enforce one of the rules could prompt one of the interested parties to resort to adjudication by arbitration, as in the trial on the shield of Achilles which deals precisely with the issue of blood-money payment after homicide. On the contrary, there is no evidence that anyone in early archaic Greece ever resorted to a court of the basileis for a trial related to the amount of respect paid in one's prayers to the gods. Hence Phoenix's advice to Achilles in Il. 9.508-12 can be more appropriately designated as a moral rule whose enforcement lay outside the realm of civic litigation.
Written laws appear in the Greek world ca. 650 BC, and they quickly become a fixture of civic life in many (although not all) Greek cities. Whenever available, archaeological evidence suggests that most of these laws were publicly displayed, often built in the walls of a local sanctuary or set up as free-standing monuments in a public location. They were therefore physically accessible to anyone who wished to inspect them. In Chapter 2 ("Writing and Written Laws") Gagarin proceeds to examine in detail some of the earliest specimens of written laws from archaic Greece. In addition to matters of substantive law, legal procedure and political organization of the communities that generated them, Gagarin also dissects the importance of physical features of these inscribed laws, as well as their style and internal organization. Characteristics such as the big, painted and clearly cut letters, some up to 25 cm (e.g. many of the laws from the walls of the Apollo Pytheios temple in Gortyn), the inclusion of visual dividers (vertical lines or dots) which demarcate words or entire clauses, and the apparent grouping of these laws in accordance with their subject-matter, suggest to Gagarin that "those who inscribed early laws were concerned to make these texts as easy to read as possible for an audience that would have included some whose reading skills were rudimentary" (p. 48).
There can be little doubt that the enacting authorities of extant written laws considered their public display as a significant factor in the process of lawmaking. Still, some of the evidence that Gagarin examines might actually be interpreted in a different way. For instance, a number of inscribed laws built in the walls of the Apollo Pytheios temple in Gortyn contain one or two lines of text written retrograde or boustrophedon (IC 4.10, which in Gagarin's estimate must have been 30-40 meters long; IC 4.14) and almost certainly extended to at least two sides of the temple. Hence readers of IC 4.14 which contained two lines of text would have had to walk some distance around the temple before reaching the end of the top line, and then retrace back their steps while reading the second line until they reached the end of the document. Moreover, the positioning (too high or too low) of the inscriptions on the wall could have further frustrated potential readers . Besides the inscribed laws from Gortyn, part or the entire text in some archaic written laws was written vertically, including the law from Chios, the law from Eretria, and the sacred law from Cleonae.3 This orientation meant that readers had to tilt their heads 90 degrees to the side to read. As far as one can tell, the law from Chios was inscribed on all four sides of a freestanding stone, which was quite possibly positioned directly on the ground. The stone bearing the law from Eretria, inscribed on three sides of the stone, was originally built into the lower corner of a wall or building.4 And the sacred law from Cleonae was also inscribed on three sides of a stone, originally perhaps the base of a pillar (see Gagarin, p. 64). In other words, the stones bearing these laws appear to have been originally placed directly or very near the ground and not on the reader's eye level, which must have rendered the exercise of reading the sides with the vertical text even more cumbersome. Finally in the same context one must mention the archaic law inscribed on the walls of a covered passage at the Acropolis in Tiryns (Nomima I, 78 = IGT 31). Because the text was inscribed in a "serpentine" fashion and in a dim location, it was almost impossible to read in a customary way.5 All these things suggest that, even though in several archaic Greek communities publication of the laws and dissemination of their content was deemed important, accessibility and readability of the inscribed texts was not always a primary concern.
Chapter 3 begins with the assertion-- really an extension of the arguments presented in Chapter 2--that "there was a fairly large number of potential readers of laws in Greece" (p. 70), an assertion that is in agreement with the growing evidence for literacy in archaic Greece.6 Of course, as Gagarin himself acknowledges, literacy skills do not necessary translate into an ability or interest to read and comprehend the texts of laws (on this issue, see further below). Furthermore, he rightly detects "a number of different motives for writing down and publicly displaying" (p. 85) laws in various communities of archaic Greece; yet in this context he emphasizes the importance of two factors: the desire of the wider community to express their legislative authority and the practical need to preserve details of increasingly complex legal rules in a more efficient manner. Gagarin sees the perceived accessibility of archaic written legislation, combined with the sanctioning formulas of some archaic laws that suggest that the entire citizenry enacted the laws in question, as symptomatic of a wider interest on the part of archaic communities in authorizing and publicly displaying legislation. Hence, for example, the publication of the so-called "constitutional law" from Dreros (BCH 61 (1937), 334 = Nomima I, 81 = IGT 90) that was enacted by the polis "marks a stage in the development of a communal self-awareness" (p. 79), in the sense that it promoted a self-identification as the polis of Dreros. As for the latter, Gagarin argues that the need to create detailed legal provisions for the increasingly complex legal systems of the demographically expanding archaic Greek communities contributed to the spread of written legislation.
The last point is plausible; yet, although the demographic expansion of the archaic world accounts in part for the proliferation of written legislation, it does not fully explain why some communities appear to have generated a considerable amount of written laws, while other city-states very few or none at all. Even though the involvement of the ordinary citizens in legislative procedures can hardly be overstated, one has to keep in mind that a reference to the polis, demos or other collective term in the enacting formula of a civic law or decree should not necessarily be equated with an unbridled legislative authority on the part of the citizenry. As the case of the Spartan rhêtra (Plu. Lyc. 6.1 and 8 = Nomima I.61) suggests, in some cases the power of the demos to enact law could have been qualified by the probouleutic powers of other bodies. A caveat must also be raised with respect to the argument that, since written legislation articulates "the desire of a body of ordinary members of the community to confirm their own authority" (p. 86), the same legislation cannot for the most part be the product of intra-elite competition. Even though for most of the extant written archaic laws we are completely in the dark as to the particular social and political circumstances that led to their enactment and publication, the predominance of the aristocracy in the politics and the judiciary branch of the legal systems of most archaic communities and the evidence for political strife among elite factions, especially in the cases of Crete and Mytilene, also justifies our viewing inter-aristocratic conflict as a major factor contributing to the rapid spread of written legislation in archaic Greece, along with the emergent popular legislative authority and the need to create more elaborate rules.
Chapter 4 ("Why Draco Wrote his Homicide Law") narrows the focus of the arguments presented in Chapter 3 and looks at the specific reasons behind the enactment and publication in writing of Draco's homicide law. For the most part, Gagarin argues that the same factors that he presented in Chapter 3 contributed to the emergence of written law in archaic Greece, namely the need to provide a detailed set of legal rules on homicide and to convey a sense of Athenian identity both by making the law applicable to all members of the community and by alluding to Athenian boundaries and differences of legal treatment between Athenians and foreigners. Unlike many scholars, Gagarin also insists on dissociating the Cylonian affair of 636 B.C. from Draco's homicide law, enacted about fifteen years later. He is certainly right that the latter could hardly have been conceived as a direct resolution of the former, but it is difficult to dismiss any link between the two events: laws are usually a result of precedents and contingencies. In this instance, the need for more comprehensive legislation in order to keep up with the growth of the Athenian legal system was probably combined with the benefit of past experiences. In other words, following the Cylonian affair, homicide was brought into the foreground of Athenian social and political life as a particularly contentious issue to the extent that, in conjunction with other factors, fifteen years later a comprehensive re-evaluation and rendition in writing of the legal principles in dealing with that issue was deemed necessary. Draco was the man appointed to carry out that task.
In the same chapter Gagarin also briefly explores the wider intellectual context of Draco's law and detects broad parallels in the latter's skillful structure and organization with pre-socratic philosophical thinking (especially monism) and developments in pictorial arts (geometric style). For Gagarin, writing provides for law what geometric patterns provide for vase-painting: the means to structure, standardize and rationalize. "In law, writing standardizes rules and procedures, and helps make them uniform and stable over time and space. Second, writing depersonalizes information; that is, it divorces the written text from its personal source" (p. 109). This point cannot be pressed very far: in the case of legislation, writing helps create a particular set of rules. But practice shows that, both in antiquity and today, the interpretation and use of these same rules by litigants and other individuals in legal and extra-legal contexts is very often far from uniform and stable.
It is well documented that, since the seventh century B.C., writing was used for recording legislation in parts of archaic Greece. But is there any evidence for the use of writing in other aspects of the legal systems of archaic Greek communities? In Chapter 5 ("Oral and Written in Archaic Greek Law") Gagarin poses the question and explores the evidence for the filing of written indictments (graphai) in Athens, a procedure that might go back to Solon. The author also briefly considers the case of the archaic Athenian thesmothetae and suggests that "If they had a judicial role from the beginning, they may have been writing down established practices and procedures, not for publication but just to keep them for use in the future. If so, the Thesmothetae were not writing legislation, but something like notes for their own use" (p. 115). This assessment is not in keeping with the importance attributed by the ancient sources to the thesmothetae who, along with the archon, the basileus and the polemarch, constituted the nine archons, i.e. the board of the highest executive magistrates in archaic Athens.7 It is perhaps more likely that among their various responsibilities the archaic thesmothetae performed a role similar to that inferred for the mnamones and scribes of some communities in archaic Crete, i.e. recording through memory and the written word judicial decisions and rules with legal force as well as making them available for future use in the courts and perhaps elsewhere. Spensithios is the best-documented case of a rememberer/scribe in archaic Crete and Gagarin briefly examines the document that outlines his responsibilities and privileges. Overall, Gagarin's emphasis on the overwhelming use of writing for recording legislation and the largely oral legal procedure in archaic Greece is sound and consistent with the extant evidence.
Chapters 6 and 7 are devoted to the fifth-century written laws and public documents from Gortyn. Chapter 6 ("Writing Laws in Fifth-Century Gortyn") examines structural and stylistic features of select fifth-century laws and decrees while chapter 7 ("Writing the Gortyn Code") explores the structure and organization of the so-called Gortyn Law Code (= GLC). In Chapter 6 regarding written laws and decrees other than the GLC, Gagarin demonstrates the ability of the fifth-century Gortynian legislators to organize and present laws in a lucid and coherent mannermanner. Moreover, the author makes the point repeatedly that the documents in question were in all probability enacted by the citizenry and that they were readily accessible and widely used by most community members. There can be little doubt that the written laws of Gortyn were practical and functional texts (especially when compared to some Near Eastern laws) aimed at providing guidance in dispute resolution in the context of the civic legal system. However, the extent and the facility with which an average Gortynian with no extensive previous experience in legal matters could make use of civic laws can easily be overestimated. The frequent cross-references to "what is written" in some laws, also examined by Gagarin, highlight the practical difficulties of accessibility, if nothing else, in a city with hundreds of laws and legal inscriptions. When encountering a reference to "what is written" how easily could a citizen largely inexperienced in legal matters locate and utilize the inscription containing the legal provision relevant to his case? The role of the mnamones was critical in promoting the accessibility and utility of written legislation. A case in point is the GLC, the longest surviving Greek inscription. Was this extensive compilation of substantive and procedural rules accessible to Gortynians? In chapter ten Gagarin adduces its physical appearance and internal organization as evidence that the GLC was above all a practical document aimed at providing guidance for litigation. In that respect, the GLC and other archaic and early classical Greek legislation contrasts sharply with legal codes from the ancient Near Eastern (e.g. the Hammurabi code, which Gagarin discusses in some detail in order to highlight its qualitative differences from the GLC) and even with medieval and early modern legal codes. Gagarin also suggests that "a single legislator most likely drafted the full text of GC, drawing on earlier laws and custom, on the results of earlier litigation, and not least on his own sense of fairness, reasonableness, and practicality" (p. 170).
In Chapters 8 and 9 the discussion moves to classical Athens. Chapter 8 ("Writing Law in Classical Athens") documents the conditions of enacting, writing and publicizing laws under the Athenian democracy, as well as the use of written documents in legal procedure in the popular courts of Athens. An interrelated phenomenon, partly deduced from the incremental use of written documents, is the growing level of literacy among Athenian citizens. The establishment and subsequent work of the boards of anagrapheis and nomothetai at the end of the fifth century is, according to Gagarin, critical in providing Athens with an explicit "rule of recognition", i.e. a measure of what constituted state law. "Before this, the implicit rule of recognition in Athens, as elsewhere in Greece, had been that a law was a rule that was written and publicly displayed, perhaps in a specific place or a few specific places" (p. 185). This conjecture is not directly supported by archaic and fifth-century evidence, and is conditioned by the author's assumptions regarding the primacy of written versus oral legal regulations. Further legislation provided, according to Gagarin 8, "a full set of secondary rules for recognizing, changing, and (at least by implication) adjudicating among its substantive laws" (p. 187). In the remainder of the chapter Gagarin highlights the increasing use of writing in the legal system of fourth century Athens. 9 Besides written legislation, written texts were used primarily during the preliminary proceedings and to a more limited extent and mostly indirectly, e.g. written laws or other documents orally presented to jurors by a clerk during litigation in the popular courts. The overall picture for archaic Greece and classical Athens is one of "widespread use of writing for legislation but restricted use of writing for litigation" (p. 197). The author also briefly examines Athenian attitudes towards written texts as reflected in extant forensic orations.
Chapter 9 ("Writing Athenian Law: a Comparative Perspective") compares some salient features of the classical Athenian legal system, especially regarding the role of writing and the openness and accessibility of legal processes, with features of the legal systems of other classical Greek cities, Rome and medieval England. The brief survey of non-Athenian evidence suggests, according to Gagarin, that "the same basic structure of written legislation and oral procedure characterizes all other Greek legal systems" (p. 214). In contrast, the use of writing from an early period at Rome in close connection with legal procedure led to increasing formalism of the legal system and to the burgeoning of a caste of legal technocrats. As at Rome, the increasing use of writing in medieval English common law for recording writs led to greater complexity and encouraged the development of specialist legal professionals.
Chapter 10 ("Writing Law in Hellenistic Greece") surveys select evidence regarding the use of writing in Hellenistic legal systems. Gagarin detects Athenian influences, such as procedural features attested for the first time in classical Athens, but also differences and developments, especially in the expansion of the use of writing for legally related matters, as in recording verdicts and publicly displaying manumission decrees. Areas conquered by Alexander the Great had of course their own legal traditions, and these were often accommodated in Hellenistic kingdoms (e.g., by the continued operation of Egyptian and Greek courts in Ptolemaic Egypt). Ptolemaic Egypt also shows a greater use of written documents in legal procedure and litigation, as well as less frequent display of written laws in public--both in contrast to practices in classical Athens.
The book ends with a concluding chapter, where the major arguments of the study are summarized, four appendices with legal texts discussed in the book, a bibliography, an index locorum and a subject index. Editorial production is of a high standard with only minor slip-ups. The main audiences of this book are specialists on Greek law and Greek history in general, as well as students of comparative law. Taking writing as the central theme of his study Gagarin offers a valuable, thought-provoking and welcome contribution to the growing body of literature on Greek law that seeks to move away from formalist and positivist approaches and achieve a wider understanding of the cultural context of law in the communities of ancient Greece.
1. This view is very similar to the argument articulated most fully by Gagarin in Early Greek Law, Berkeley 1986, 8-10 and passim, as part of an evolutionary model on the emergence and development of law in archaic Greece. Several aspects of this model have not met with widespread approval. See E. Cantarella, 1987, "Tra diritto e prediritto: un problema aperto" DHA 13 (1987), 149-181; D. Cohen, "Greek Law: Problems and Methods" ZRG 106 (1989), 90-94; K.J. Burchfiel, "The Myth of 'Prelaw' in Early Greece" in G. Thür (ed.), Symposion 1993. Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte, Köln 1994, 79- 104; R. Thomas, "Writing, Law, and Written Law", in M. Gagarin and D. Cohen (eds) , The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, Cambridge 2005, 41-60; Z. Papakonstantinou, Lawmaking and Adjudication in Archaic Greece, London 2008, 155-156.
2. As pointed out by Eva Cantarella, op.cit. note 1, p. 152.
3. Law from Chios, Nomima I, 62 = IGT 61; law from Eretria, IG XII 9, 1273-74 = Nomima I, 91 = IGT 72-3; law from Cleonae IG IV 1607 = Nomima II, 79 = IGT 32.
4. see E. Vanderpool and W.P. Wallace, "The Sixth Century Laws from Eretria" Hesperia 33 (1964), 382.
5. Gagarin (p.65) also points out that the Tiryns inscription "would have been difficult to see, let alone read".
6. See lately M.K. Langdon, 2005, "A New Greek Abecedarium", Kadmos 44 (2005), 175-182.
7. See J.P. Sickinger, Public Records and Archives in Classical Athens, Chapel Hill 1999, 10-14; M. Faraguna, "Tra oralità e scrittura: diritto e forme della comunicazione dai poemi omerici a Teofrasto", Etica & Politica 9.1 (2007), 81-2; Z. Papakonstantinou, Lawmaking and Adjudication in Archaic Greece, London 2008, 78-9.
8. Following H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law2, Oxford 1994.
9. See also recently Christophe Pêbarthe, Citê, dêmocratie et êcriture. Histoire de l'alphabêtisation d'Athènes à l'êpoque classique, Paris 2006.


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Americans are often ridiculed for lacking knowledge of world news. In August 1997, for example, a Pew Research Center survey found that 79 percent of Americans were aware that the boxer Mike Tyson had bitten the ear of an opponent, while only 40 percent knew that Britain had returned Hong Kong to China that same summer.
Despite that information deficit, champions of American public opinion have steadfastly defended its ability to fill in the holes and make rational choices. When hard decisions are required, sociologists and political scientists have long argued, a sleepy public gathers valuable tidbits from the media and comes up to speed. Scott Keeter, a Pew civic engagement expert, pointed out that in early 2003, "nearly two-thirds of the public could name North Korea as the nation admitting to a secret nuclear weapons program."
Theory also holds that the public makes apt use of its values, which serve as a prism for interpreting the larger world. Sam Popkin, a professor of political science at the University of California, calls it "gut rationality" – a sort of homing device that allows the public to quickly combine its bedrock beliefs with a smattering of new information and make, on the whole, reasoned decisions. People learn from past experiences, daily life and the news media, and they flesh out their world view based on their default values, he concludes.
This process may be threatened, not enhanced, however, by the explosion of shortcuts available.
Sources for information are more bountiful – and arguably more partisan – than ever before: 24-hour cable news in a variety of flavors (CNN, Fox News Channel, CNBC); the Internet (Drudge, Slate, Salon and a universe of blogs); radio (Limbaugh, Franken); and, of course, newspapers (USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, this newspaper).
And this freewheeling bazaar of news choices has generated an audience that is increasingly self-segregating. Consider that a plurality of Fox News Channel's audience is now Republican, while a plurality of CNN's audience now consists of Democrats, according to Pew's latest biennial survey of news habits. That poll also showed that perceptions of "media credibility" – that is, whether people think a particular news outlet can be trusted – are now more driven by ideology and partisanship than at any point in nearly 20 years of surveys.
Professor Popkin worries in particular about the area of foreign affairs.
"Attitudes will become more based on partisanship and less on the specifics of the issues," he said, adding that "opinions about Iraq show a far larger partisan divide than for any war in the modern era."
Social observers have fretted about information segregation for years. Cass R. Sunstein, a professor of law at the University of Chicago, argued in his 2001 book "Republic.com" that the Internet's ability to provide personalized news – to permit users to filter out those things they don't care about – posed a threat to democracy itself.
Democracy, he argued, depends in part on people's being exposed to information they would not necessarily have chosen for themselves. So, too, might the concept of gut rationality be endangered in a filtered world, where people see only what they want to see, hear only what they want to hear, read only what they want to read.
Still, perhaps all is not lost.
In his new book, "The Wisdom of Crowds," James Surowiecki argues eloquently that "under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, often smarter than the smartest people in them." That's because a diversity of experience, opinion and knowledge can render the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Whether a more partisan news environment undermines or enhances the cognitive diversity of American culture – or diminishes the "gut rationality" of the public – remains to be seen.
"The public's judgment has been pretty good over the past 75 years, when we pretended that we didn't have a partisan media," said Maxine Isaacs, a lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "Everyone knew that we did. It's now just more overt."