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Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was the only person to end up in jail after the attack by Islamic jihadists in Benghazi one year ago that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
After President Obama and his top aides blamed the attack on Nakoula's "Innocence of Muslims" movie trailer posted on Youtube, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised the filmmaker would be arrested and prosecuted.
But on his last full day in custody – not for anything to do with Benghazi but for parole violations in a fraud case – Nakoula told WND he made the movie and wrote his new book, "Innocence," to warn America about the threat of Islamic jihad.
"We don't need Sept. 11 again. We don't need Nidal Hasan again," he told WND, referring to the Muslim Army officer who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas.
The Egyptian-born Coptic Christian said Americans also need to be more aware of Islamic persecution of Christians in Egypt.
He dedicates his book — described on the cover as "the original script and storyboards for 'Innocence of Muslims'"– to Stevens and the three other Americans who died in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack, Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty and Sean Smith.
His video, a trailer for a movie he says is finished and locked away in a bank vault, garnered global attention when Obama blamed it for upsetting Muslims in Benghazi, who then attacked the Americans.
It was Hillary Clinton who, according to the father of slain Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, vowed that the person who made the video would be arrested and prosecuted. Joe Woods said he spoke with Clinton when the body of his son arrived in the U.S. from Benghazi.
But evidence shows the White House knew immediately that the Benghazi incident was an organized terror strike, not a random act of violence by an out-of-control mob of Muslims as top Obama officials claimed even weeks after the fact.
When interviewed by WND, Nakoula was preparing to be discharged from custody in Texas. He recently has been living in a type of halfway house to serve the term for the probation violation.
Find out why the left behaves as it does, in "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder."
The Associated Press reported the man behind the video had violated a probation order and acquired a driver's license under a false name. The prison time came on the order of U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder.
Nakoula told WND his project is political but not religious.
"I like to warn this country about terror. My movie is a political movie, not a religion movie," he said. "The U.S. gives me a lot. I live in this country. We're living in this country."
He said he didn't intend for his work to hurt anyone.
"I want to apologize for any inconvenience or misunderstanding about my movie," he told WND.
And he said he appreciates Muslims and has Muslim friends, and he believes not all Muslims are for terror.
"It made be very upset when I heard about Nidal Hasan. He came from his country, and the U.S. gave him education, gave him life, a position in the Army, everything.
"It hurts my feelings that he says 'Allahu Akbar' and kills these people."
But Nakoula described it as the "culture" of Islamic jihadists, who want to "go to heaven right away."
He said when the controversy developed over the video, based on false claims by the White House, he was not paying attention and didn't know that Clinton had promised the filmmaker would be jailed.
"I never heard it, believe it or not. I didn't watch that much TV."
Looking for film distributor
Nakoula said the full movie was "put in my bank."
"When the right time comes, I will invite the whole media to watch my movie," he said, noting he's now hunting for a distributor.
He said he plans after his release from custody, scheduled Thursday, to move to a location in California where a church has agreed to help him out at least temporarily with housing.
He also said he has a looming court appearance because of the conditions he will have to meet as a free man.
The New York Times called the video a "crude" depiction of Muhammad as "a bloodthirsty, philandering thug."
The Obama administration clung for weeks to the story that it was Muslims upset about the video who spontaneously rioted in Benghazi, killing Stevens and three others. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice made the claim on five morning news shows the Sunday after the attack.
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But the claim was contradicted immediately by Mohammed Magariaf, president of Libya's National Assembly, who said the video had "nothing to do" with the attack. Evidence has mounted ever since that it was an organized attack on the U.S. by a group affiliated with al-Qaida.
In the introduction to his book, Nakoula writes of being born in Egypt and coming to America as an immigrant. He decided to write the book to remember the four Americans killed.
"And second, I want to let the world know that I am not afraid," he wrote.
"This book is the script for my film, 'Innocence of Muslims.' In the days and weeks following the attack on an American consular facility in Libya by a jihadist militia, this film was incorrectly blamed for the violence and the killing. Once representatives of the U.S. government – including the president and the secretary of state – focused blame on my film, Islamic clerics the world over declared Days of Rage. In fear of the riots that followed through the Muslim world, governments, commentators and politicians worldwide both condemned and looked to prohibit the kind of free expression that is our right in America."
He said the film "is a true story."
"I based it on classical Islamic literature about that religion's prophet, Mohammed – including the Quran, hadiths, and the 'Sirat Rasul Allah,' his first biography."
Nakoula said the scenes in the script "are taken from stories actually told about Mohammed, found in books revered by Muslim scholars."
"'Innocence of Muslims' is about how much the world will suffer if we don't stop the culture of death and terrorism as soon as we can," he said.
"What is this culture of death and terror? It is nothing but a set of beliefs. This believer craves the afterlife that has been cynically promised him: he wants to drink wine and embrace 72 virgins – if only he dies while fighting jihad in Allah's cause against Islam's enemies. They believe that a river of women, wine, milk and honey awaits them once they have accomplished the task, we know, of slaughtering innocent people."
Those who wish to contact Nakoula can respond to [email protected].


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Gov. Rick Snyder is attending the Mackinac Policy Conference for the second time this year. Prior to last year's conference, he said one of the themes he wanted to see was "people coming together in the new culture we need for our state." Asked to what degree people have come together, he said there has been progress.
"It's a work in progress, so it's not done," Snyder said. "You don't change a culture overnight, but I think we've made tremendous progress."
He pointed out that people are working better together, and that the jobs environment has improved dramatically since last year.
He also noted that a number of things discussed last year have been accomplished.
"And now we're going to continue that dialogue," he said. "I hope both on working on the cultural issue of better teamwork, working better together, and continuing to work on the same subject matter, which is the need for more and better jobs, and a brighter future for our kids."
As to the state's relationship with Detroit, Snyder said his administration has been very proactive about wanting to engage the city in a positive, constructive and supportive way.
His goal, he noted, isn't to run Detroit, but to be a supporting resource.
Snyder also said he hopes there's an environment in place to create that working relationship to provide additional supporting resources, particularly on growing the city.
"To grow the city, we need to deal with better financial stability, and we need better services for the citizens of Detroit," he said.
Asked if he's ever taken a drive through a random neighborhood, and if so what his assessment was, Snyder said he does things like that on a regular basis. and that he acknowledges that there's tremendous room for improvement.
"One thing I try to do when we're in the Detroit area is get off the freeways just drive around," he said.
Snyder was at a recent No Kid Hungry campaign at Gompers Elementary School. He called it "an illustration of a really nice school" where the kids were excited, but also noted that there were four abandoned homes across the street.
"That's not the kind of environment you want to have," he said, adding that such a dichotomy clearly shows there are things that must be improved on.
Last September, a partnership between the state and the Council of Michigan Foundations led to the creation of the Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives, which is based in Detroit. The office is overseen by Harvey Hollins III, whom Snyder called an important asset.
Snyder also said there will be an urban-focused dashboard at some point.
Returning to the subject of the Mackinac conference, Snyder said he wants to emphasize two major things he believes are adding value. The first is Pure Michigan Business Connect.
"Which is that concept of getting Michigan businesses to work more and better with one another," he said, adding that we've already seen great success, particularly with Consumer's Energy and DTE, as well as with a number of large lenders.
"We're seeing good results from that, but I want to see many companies and organizations belong," he said.
"The other one is MI talent.Org, our essentially Pure Michigan Talent Connect equivalent," Snyder said. "Because we've got 80,000 open jobs in our state. And how do we get people connected with these jobs? Because these are great jobs, a lot of them are. And then how do we get more employers telling about their future employment needs?"
He prefers terms like "connecting talent" over "workforce development," saying it's more about talent and connecting supply and demand.
"We can do a much better job," he said.
With respect to the outsider's impression of Michigan, Snyder, who has traveled around the world, said it's improving.
"Generally, it's pretty positive," he said. "I don't get a lot of negative feedback, even on some of the Detroit issues."
Snyder said Michigan has good things to build on; the state just needs to show results.
He reiterated the importance of getting Michiganders to do better business with one another.
"Lowest labor cost is not the driver," he said. "It's total cost to quality, and we're high quality producers here."
He also plans to stay on the talent question for the next several years.
"It's just a great opportunity," he said. "I don't think anyone does it well in our country, in terms of making that connection."
He said Germany provides the best illustration of how it's done well.
"They do really well because they've built this program, you know this way of getting people into apprenticeships and other programs," he said. "Skilled trades is a huge opportunity."
Snyder added that while Michigan isn't going to be just like Germany, one can see how the Germans were thoughtful and brought all the sectors together.
He emphasized, however, that the solution isn't government solving problems.
"It's government being part of a collaborative effort with the for-profit sector, the not-for-profit sector, everyone coming together and us playing a leadership role," he said. "But it's not just about spending money. It's about bringing us together as a team, working together with relentless positive action."
Snyder added that it's working.
He said Germans he's talked to understand what he's doing for Michigan as opposed to the U.S.
"All I have to do is go through the list of accomplishments," he said. "We are the role model."
He added that Michigan has an appealing environment.
"And more than that, we've got people working much better together," he said. "That's where I view our opportunity here in Detroit. To get Detroit on the path of being a great city. Think about the power of Michigan with Detroit being on a path for success."
The governor also spoke about the importance of making library services — especially those delivered via technology — available to all.
"Access to intellectual capital is the real question behind all this," he said.
Snyder acknowledged the many services libraries provide, which in addition to lending out books, magazines, CDs and DVDs, includes computer and Internet access, a plethora of reference materials, and resources for job hunting — some of which are available through online access, and said making access easier for young people will get them engaged in reading and learning more.
Snyder discussed regional transportation, but said he'd like to take it off the Mackinac conference's "recurring list."
"We're not done with that yet," Snyder said. "We've got it in the legislature, so it's in process. In a perfect world, we would have had that done."
Asked how close we are to having a regional transportation system within the next five years, Snyder said he believes we're making progress.
"I think we just have to go through the normal legislative process, and you run into challenges there," he said.
With respect to the future of Detroit, Snyder said the city needs to go back to doing what it does best — making thing and exporting goods.
"The 'imported from Detroit' line is a fabulous visual for where the city's going," he said.
Snyder also said it's about making Detroit a magnet for young people, and that the neighborhoods have to be part of the equation.
For decades, Detroit has been defined by the auto industry. Snyder said the industry remains very important, and is on a parallel path with the state in many respects.
"There's a symbiotic relationship," he said. "So it's not two separate tracks, it's like they're interwoven."

subset: commoncrawl


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You know them—these clichés of modern politics. There is the front-runner, William Russell, a decent, thoughtful patrician—a former secretary of State who travels with a dictionary and drives his adviser nuts by quoting Shakespeare and Bertrand Russell. There is his hungry young challenger, Sen. Joe Cantwell, a conniving conservative opportunist who spouts platitudes about God, honor, and country but for whom winning is worth more than all of them combined. There is Russell's weary, estranged wife, Alice, whose lingering admiration for her philandering spouse but disdain for politics has led them to live discreetly separate lives. Mabel, Cantwell's ambitious wife, his female bookend, is a southern belle Barbie who would happily kill a competitor without batting one of her long false eyelashes. Art Hockstader is the ailing but wise, whiskey-swilling former president, a quintessential pragmatist whose endorsement will sway his party's undecideds. And there is television, a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of an amoral press that loves nothing more than a political death-match with close-ups of the mortally wounded.
Gore Vidal's The Best Man, a play about the descent of American presidential politics into gutter warfare, was written over 50 years ago. But it is all too prescient as another presidential election cycle intensifies. The play's characters and themes feel utterly familiar in this striking revival at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
Vidal, an American literary and cultural icon, the last literary descendant of the silver age of Edmund Wilson, seems to have foreseen it all—the rise of the Tea Party, negative campaigns, PACs and super PACs, the growing dominance of money in politics, battles over privacy and the disclosure of medical records, strained political marriages (real and those of political convenience), and the growing importance of such issues as women's rights, abortion, and birth control. The images on TV monitors on the theater's stage and the balcony may be black-and-white, but they resonate no less powerfully than those broadcast on today's hi-def screens in living color. The politics on display, too, have become all too depressing: from the canned smiles and empty phrases to the incessant populist pandering to ever lower common denominators, and finally, to the nonstop polling. "I don't believe in polls," says Russell, an early tip-off in this tersely written political drama that the play's intelligent, principled hero is doomed.
But if Vidal's work feels disturbingly contemporary, there are striking differences between today's politics and those of 1960 when the play opened, to great acclaim.
For one, there are no Jews in Vidal's play—no Jewish candidates or political advisers, no references to the importance of attracting the Jewish vote or Jewish money. The state of Israel is never mentioned. The Best Man, as drama, is utterly "Judenrein."
That, of course, was not quite the case in 1960. Doug Schoen, a Democratic political consultant and Bill Clinton's pollster who saw the revival with me, notes that Abe Ribicoff, the Connecticut Democrat who was John F. Kennedy's great friend and supporter, was being mentioned as a long-shot vice-presidential nominee and wound up as Kennedy's first appointment to his Cabinet during the play's initial Broadway run. There was also no shortage of Jewish donors, party leaders, and Jewish political figures under Kennedy, Schoen maintains.
Yet Vidal's omission of Jews in a political drama was neither a serious reportorial nor dramatic lapse. Nor was it a function of Gore's alleged anti-Semitism, as some critics would later argue (more on that later). Jews were not nearly as well-organized or politically powerful in 1960 as they are today. While Jews were integral to party machines in the cities, they were largely confined to Jewish law firms, investment banks, and the entertainment industry. They were not integrated into America's broader culture. Stephen Birmingham's Our Crowd wasn't published until the late 1960s.
Only in the mid-1970s did Jewish activism, money, and organizational skills transform modern American politics, thanks, largely, to the perceived need to protect and defend Israel.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, barely existed as a political force when Vidal's play appeared on Broadway. Though founded in 1951, it remained a one-man-band throughout the 1960s, not achieving the "financial and political" clout needed to sway congressional opinion until Jimmy Carter's presidency, writes Michael Oren, now Israel's ambassador to Washington, in his history of the Middle East.
There were no pro-Israeli PACs in Vidal's day. The first was formed only in 1978. CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, dedicated to combating anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli bias in the media—was founded in 1982.
Jewish voices may have been heard in the early '60s, but Jews still weren't admitted to many of the elite social clubs and circles to which Vidal belonged. They were also rare in the upper ranks of the White House and the notoriously pro-Arab State Department. Though overrepresented in terms of their overall population, they were relatively uncommon in Congress, too. While Jews account for some 6 percent of representatives and 12 percent of senators in the current Congress, they were only 2 percent of representatives and 1 percent of senators in the 87th Congress in 1962.
America's political landscape has indeed been transformed in other ways since Vidal last hobnobbed with the Washington establishment. In the current revival, former President Hockstader is played—brilliantly—by the incomparable James Earl Jones. That a black man would lead America was unthinkable in Vidal's day. Yet after Barack Obama's election, the casting of Jones in the role seems natural. And given the standing ovations that Jones' play-stealing performance has received, theater critics, political mavens like Schoen, and audience members the night we saw the play, found the casting utterly plausible.
The play has a few anachronisms, to be sure. Take nicotine. Most of Vidal's characters smoke cigarettes. The drama of a brokered convention, despite the GOP's sequential flirtation with a series of deeply flawed alternatives to the now front-running Mitt Romney, seems impossible. Finally, if Vidal were writing that play today, Schoen argued, he would have undoubtedly created a character like Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas billionaire who almost single-handedly kept Newt Gingrich's loony campaign afloat. Today's Best Man, in fact, would be all about money—a modern-day Merchant of Venice, perhaps.
Vidal's play endures because he knew not only what made Washington tick, but also what makes people tick. The plot revolves around the race between Russell, whom the playwright clearly favors (played with stately if slightly tedious elegance by John Larroquette), and Sen. Cantwell (played with charismatic raw energy by Eric McCormack). To defeat the more-experienced, contemplative Russell, Cantwell seeks to publicize some documents he has bribed a hospital to obtain that describe Russell's nervous breakdown many years ago (shades of Thomas Eagleton, who was briefly George McGovern's vice-presidential running mate in 1972). If Russell refuses to withdraw from the race and steer his delegates to him, Cantwell threatens to distribute the report on Russell's medical frailty to convention delegates and to the piranha-like press.
But Russell's adviser, a role superbly played by Michael McKean, has dug up some dirt on Cantwell too—a homosexuality charge that could sink the senator's presidential bid. But should Russell use it?
Ex-President Hockstader thinks the choice is clear. In such mortal combat, using such material is essential, he counsels. But Russell resists. "This is exactly the kind of thing I got into politics to stop," Larroquette's character says, much to Hockstader's consternation. Ethics in such life-and-death struggles is a quality that winners, and by implication, Vidal argues, America itself, can ill afford.
Candice Bergen is compelling as Russell's elegant, understated, witty wife Alice—type casting, to be sure. Angela Lansbury, like Jones, a legendary stage actor, is memorable as the powerful party committee woman whose southern upper-crust charm barely conceals the steely soul that politics demands.
The play is beautifully written, filled with witty observations about life and politics that still resonate. Cantwell is described as having "every characteristic of a dog—except loyalty." Former President Hockstader recalls the era when one had to "pour God over everything, like ketchup." Russell moans that "the terrible thing about running for president is you become a compulsive talker, forever answering questions no one has asked you."
Gore Vidal, the self-described "border lord" in the "dying kingdom of literature," is nothing if not provocative—worthy of a play himself. It was his disdain for Israeli policy and neoconservative Jews that led to one of those bitter contretemps in which he revels. Writing in 1986 in The Nation, Vidal attacked neo-conservative icon Norman Podhoretz—accusing him of "divided loyalties" and slamming most American Jews as "Israeli fifth columnists." Podhoretz shot back, denouncing not only Vidal but The Nation for publishing such outrageous allegations.
A decade later, Vidal, having called Judaism in an interview "an unusually ugly religion," accepted an invitation to appear at New York's celebrated Young Men's Hebrew Association, to promote a new book. Still fuming, former Mayor Ed Koch denounced those who had issued the invitation as either the "most forgiving Jews ever, or schmucks."
But Vidal, predictably, made news, defending director Roman Polanski, the Polish Jewish director then under fire for having raped an underage girl, as a victim of anti-Semitism. "Anti-Semitism is very strong out here," Vidal told the Atlantic magazine, referring to Hollywood's film industry. "Even though this is a Jewish business."
The WASPish Vidal is a bundle of contradictions. A man who has reveled in his aristocratic lineage—a senator's grandson, Eleanor Roosevelt's confidant, a relative of Jacqueline Kennedy—he spent much of his adult life with a male companion: Howard Austen, a Jew whose mother was a hat-check girl at the Copa.
In a review of Vidal's 1987 book Empire, political journalist Steve Waldman, a former editor of the Washington Monthly, urged Vidal to forgo his love of histrionics, shun the talk shows, and just "shut up" and write.
"Vidal's novels are so well executed that you forget he's the same loon you just saw on Dick Cavett," Waldman complained.
The same is true of his plays, especially The Best Man. Nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play, the original version played for 520 performances. In 1964, Vidal adapted it into a memorable film. Given Broadway economics, this revival, directed by Michael Wilson, will have a shorter life. It ends July 1. No matter how you feel about its author, if you love politics, or especially if you hate politics, don't miss it.
Like this article? Sign up for our Daily Digest to get Tablet Magazine's new content in your inbox each morning.
Judith Miller, Tablet Magazine's theater critic, is the author of the memoir The Story: A Reporter's Journey.
Judith Miller, Tablet Magazine's theater critic, is a former New York Times Cairo bureau chief and investigative reporter. She is also the author of the memoir The Story: A Reporter's Journey.


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ViiV Healthcare announces new initiatives to improve access to dolutegravir: licence to the Medicines Patent Pool
ViiV Healthcare today announced new collaborations with the goal of increasing access to its HIV medicine, dolutegravir (marketed under the name Tivicay®), just two months after its approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and eight months after approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Issued: London
- Timely collaborations underscore ViiV Healthcare's commitment to increase access to life-saving HIV medicines for children and adults in the developing world
- Agreement with MPP supports access in developing world countries where 99% of children and 93.4% of adults with HIV live
ViiV Healthcare today announced new collaborations with the goal of increasing access to its HIV medicine, dolutegravir (marketed under the name Tivicay®), just two months after its approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and eight months after approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Through an agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), ViiV Healthcare will accelerate access to dolutegravir where the need is the greatest, in the countries where 99% of children and 93.4% of adults with HIV in the developing world live.
"Our new collaborations prioritise dolutegravir access for millions of children and adults with HIV, and represent another step in our ongoing commitment to improving access and delivering innovation in the areas of highest unmet need," said Dr Dominique Limet, Chief Executive Officer, ViiV Healthcare. "We recognise that important new agents have the potential to make a real difference in resource poor settings. In fact, the World Health Organization has recently cited dolutegravir as a development priority for future anti-retroviral treatments for children–it is currently approved for children 12 years and older.[i] Therefore, accelerating access to medicines like dolutegravir is of the utmost importance."
Licence to the Medicines Patent Pool
In adults:The collaboration with MPP includes two distinct approaches to improve access for adults living with HIV in the developing world: first, a royalty-free voluntary licence in all least-developed, all low-income and all sub-Saharan African countries; second, for specific middle-income countries including India, ViiV Healthcare has established the first-ever MPP licence with a tiered royalty structure, where a small percentage of the sale price is paid based on the gross domestic product (GDP) of the specific country. The licences will also allow for the possible development, manufacture and supply of dolutegravir-based fixed-dose combinations, including those with abacavir, if and when approved by local regulatory agencies.
Supporting children living with HIV: ViiV Healthcare will grant MPP a voluntary licence for generic manufacturers to develop paediatric formulations of dolutegravir without paying a royalty in 121 countries where most (99%) children with HIV live. Dolutegravir is currently approved for patients 12 years and older. However, this licence also includes a commitment for future lower dose tablets and age-appropriate formulations developed by ViiV Healthcare to meet the needs of younger children with HIV, if and when approved by a major regulatory authority.
Today's announcement complements an earlier voluntary licence for dolutegravir signed in 2013 with Aurobindo Pharma for adults and children for our standard voluntary licence territories.
Our Approach to Improving Access: ViiV Healthcare is committed to improving access to medicines for people living with HIV through a variety of approaches, based on the differing needs of people living with HIV in different parts of the world.
- Royalty-free voluntary licences in those countries with the lowest incomes and/or hardest hit by the global epidemic: In 2010 ViiV Healthcare extended its royalty-free voluntary licensing policy, which includes the company's existing portfolio in all least-developed, all low-income and all sub-Saharan countries; home to 25 million people living with HIV (i.e., 75% of people living with HIV worldwide). These licences facilitate the manufacture and sale of low-cost versions of the company's medicines in those countries most affected by HIV and least able to pay for treatment and care.
- Flexible pricing and local partnerships with generics manufacturers in middle-income countries (i.e., emerging and newly industrialised economies): In countries where incomes are higher and infrastructure is more developed, the flexible pricing policy factors in the GDP and the impact of the epidemic in each country to improve affordability. Local partnerships are approached on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the local needs and situation. One key approach is creating partnerships with in-country pharmaceutical companies to manufacture medicines locally in order to bring costs down, while simultaneously investing resources and expertise to build skills in the local economy.
Our Commitment to Children Living with HIV: Approximately 3.3 million children are living with HIV worldwide, but 66% of those needing treatment do not have access to appropriate care and medicines. Among several barriers preventing further scale up of the numbers of children on treatment is the lack of low-cost medicines that are palatable and acceptable for use by children[ii].
ViiV Healthcare is committed to improving scientific understanding and treatment options for infants and children living with HIV. This includes a broad range of initiatives supported through our Paediatric Innovation Seed Fund, which aims to improve paediatric HIV research, care and treatment in resource-limited settings. Additionally, the Positive Action for Children Fund supports 150 organisations across 30 countries to deliver programmes designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Important Information about Tivicay® (dolutegravir)
FDA Indication and Usage in the US: TIVICAY is a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults and children aged 12 years and older and weighing at least 40 kg. The following should be considered prior to initiating TIVICAY: poor virologic response was observed in subjects treated with TIVICAY 50 mg twice daily with an INSTI-resistance Q148 substitution plus 2 or more additional INSTI-resistance substitutions including L74I/M, E138A/D/K/T, G140A/S, Y143H/R, E157Q, G163E/K/Q/R/S, or G193E/R.
Important Safety Information for Tivicay® (dolutegravir)
Contraindication: Co-administration of TIVICAY with dofetilide (anti-arrhythmic) is contraindicated due to the potential for increased dofetilide plasma concentrations and the risk for serious and/or life-threatening events.
Hypersensitivity Reactions: Hypersensitivity reactions have been reported and were characterised by rash, constitutional findings, and sometimes organ dysfunction, including liver injury. The events were reported in 1% or fewer subjects receiving TIVICAY in Phase 3 clinical trials. Immediately discontinue TIVICAY and other suspect agents if signs or symptoms of hypersensitivity reaction develop, (including but not limited to, severe rash or rash accompanied by fever, general malaise, fatigue, muscle or joint aches, blisters or peeling of the skin, oral blisters or lesions, conjunctivitis, facial edema, hepatitis, eosinophilia, angioedema, difficulty breathing.) Monitor clinical status, including liver aminotransferases, and initiate appropriate therapy. Delay in stopping treatment with TIVICAY or other suspect agents after the onset of hypersensitivity may result in a life-threatening reaction. TIVICAY should not be used in patients who have experienced a hypersensitivity reaction to TIVICAY.
Effects on Serum Liver Biochemistries in Patients with Hepatitis B or C Coinfection: Patients with underlying hepatitis B or C may be at increased risk for worsening or development of transaminase elevations with use of TIVICAY. In some cases the elevations in transaminases were consistent with immune reconstitution syndrome or hepatitis B reactivation particularly in the setting where anti-hepatitis therapy was withdrawn. Appropriate laboratory testing prior to initiating therapy and monitoring for hepatotoxicity during therapy with TIVICAY are recommended in patients with underlying hepatic disease such as hepatitis B or C.
Fat Redistribution: Redistribution/accumulation of body fat has been observed in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy.
Immune Reconstitution Syndrome: During the initial phase of treatment, immune reconstitution syndrome can occur, which may necessitate further evaluation and treatment. Autoimmune disorders have been reported to occur in the setting of immune reconstitution; the time to onset is more variable and can occur many months after initiation of treatment.
Adverse Reactions: The most commonly reported (≥2%) adverse reactions of moderate to severe intensity in treatment naïve adult subjects in any one trial receiving TIVICAY in a combination regimen were insomnia (3%) and headache (2%).
Drug Interactions: Co-administration of TIVICAY with drugs that are strong inducers of UGT1A1 and/or CYP3A4 may result in reduced plasma concentrations of dolutegravir and require dose adjustments of TIVICAY.
- TIVICAY should be taken 2 hours before or 6 hours after taking cation-containing antacids or laxatives, sucralfate, oral iron supplements, oral calcium supplements, or buffered medications.
- Consult the full Prescribing Information for TIVICAY for more information on potentially significant drug interactions, including clinical comments.
Pregnancy: Pregnancy category B. TIVICAY should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk. An Antiretroviral Pregnancy Registry has been established.
Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding is NOT recommended due to the potential for HIV transmission and the potential for adverse reactions in nursing infants.
Paediatric Patients: Safety and efficacy of TIVICAY has not been established in children younger than 12 years old, or weighing <40 kg, or in INSTI-experienced paediatric patients with documented or clinically suspected INSTI resistance.
Please visit the following link for the full US prescribing and patient information: https://www.viivhealthcare.com/media/58599/us_tivicay.pdf.
About Tivicay®
Tivicay (dolutegravir) is an integrase inhibitor indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 in adults and children aged 12 years and older weighing at least 40 kg. Integrase inhibitors block HIV replication by preventing the viral DNA from integrating into the genetic material of human immune cells (T-cells). This step is essential in the HIV replication cycle and is also responsible for establishing chronic infection.
It is available as a small, yellow, 50 mg tablet. Importantly, it can be taken with or without food and at any time of the day.
Today's announcement follows the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of dolutegravir (Tivicay®) on 12 August 2013 and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval on 20 January 2014. Dolutegravir is indicated for use in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 in adults and children aged 12 years and older.
Tivicay is the first new treatment delivered by ViiV Healthcare.
About ViiV Healthcare
ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi joined as a 10% shareholder in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines, as well as support communities affected by HIV. For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline, and commitment, please visit http://www.viivhealthcare.com/.
[i] "MARCH 2014 SUPPLEMENT TO THE 2013 CONSOLIDATED GUIDELINES ON THE USE OF ANTIRETROVIRAL
DRUGS FOR TREATING AND PREVENTING HIV INFECTION. Recommendations for a public health approach." WHO. Web. 28 February 2014. www.who.int/hiv/pub/guidelines/arv2013/arvs2013upplement_march2014/en/.
[ii] "Global Report: UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2013." UNAIDS. Web. 11 February 2014. http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/epidemiology/2013/


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Muja Juma Earring Cuff
Muja Juma is a Dutch brand for jewelry and accessories.
"You deserve the best."
Julia Cabral travels the world in search of the best quality semi-precious stones. Her motto: "Beauty is an emotion and nothing physical" shines through in all her designs. Her jewellery is expressive, playful and elegant and inspired by her love for colours, travel and the abundance of nature. She wants to spark joy in you and make you shine from the inside out.
This price is for one earring!


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Aspen Bow - Pigtail Set - Buttercream Glitter
This variant is currently sold out
Sets include 2 matching bows - once with a left side clip and one with a right side clip.
These sweet little bows are made with premium faux leather. Each bow is 2.5 inches in size.
Available on two choices of clips:
1) Lined non-slip alligator clip || Gentle with great hold || for fine to medium hair
2) Teeth clip for extra hold for medium to thick hair
Each bow is sewn and secured and may not look exactly as shown due to the cut of fabric used.


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Welcome to www.laptopspecialist.com; our goal is to provide you with courteous, expedient professionals of the highest caliber to repair, service and up-grade your laptop and computers. Missouri Computer shops serving the Missouri community are specialized in PC and laptop computer repair and provide Reliable products / services you need in your Missouri Area. We take pride in providing a high-quality, high value repair service providers, who guarantee for labor and replacement parts. Our listed dealers provide a comprehensive diagnosis and repair coverage of notebook or laptop repair problems ranging from overheating, DC in jack or power jack repairs, laptop LCD replacement, inverter, display assemblies to system board, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD and keyboard replacements to CPU and hard drive replacements. Find Missouri and nationwide Full-Service Centers, Technicians and Shops located in Missouri, for Toshiba, IBM, Sony, Acer, Dell, Samsung, Mac, Lenovo and HP laptop repairs and notebook repairs. Contact listed laptop repair service stores in Missouri, Ask for A+ certified and manufacturer certified technicians who receive regular service updates and updated diagnosis procedures and training materials from the manufacturers of laptops / notebooks and computers. If you have any questions or would like to speak with a Missouri Computers representative regarding our products services, please e-mail or call the Missouri number. Laptop computer repair and service providers will help you to ensure that your laptop / notebook / computer are operating properly with minimal investment of time and cost from you. Is your laptop or notebook still under warranty by the manufacturer? Ask authorized service and warranty repair centers to repair in-warranty laptops or notebooks. Authorized service and warranty repair centers and factory trained and certified technicians can repair virtually any model for Toshiba, IBM, HP, Compaq, Apple, and Sony. Missouri laptop repair service provides a full-service alternative if you are unsure about the correct diagnosis or the proper replacement parts and/or repair and installation procedures. Listed dealers or technicians performs both in-warranty and out-of-warranty repairs, and may provide a wide range of replacement part options depending on the age of your computer and your preference, It may include used, refurbished and factory direct replacement parts. The friendly and professional staffs are ready to answer any questions you may have about laptop and computer repair services at Missouri Computers. Whether you need In-house or On-site service, a new computer or just an upgrade, browse our Web site for more information about Missouri Computers and laptop services. Are you looking for accessory for your laptop or add an option? Missouri dealer offer a wide selection of original parts and equipment options and are able to provide services for Toshiba, IBM, Sony, Acer, Dell, Samsung, Mac, Lenovo and HP laptops. Parts and services may include: -AC Adapters -Batteries -CD-R/CD-RW Drives -DVD Drives -Hinges -Hard Drives -Keyboards -Memory -Touch Pads -Mouse Pointer -Fans -Data Back-Up
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Although I talk quite a bit about things like frugality, investing, bicycling, cars, and the ridiculousness of our society, it's not actually what I think about for most of the day. Mrs. M. and I still consider our main task to simply be child-raising, since it takes more time and energy than the rest of life's activities combined.
Since I'm sure many of the readers with kids of their own would agree, I thought it would be fun to share some thoughts on the most successful toys that we've ever stumbled across, just in case you and your young kids haven't already discover these things yourselves.
In our household, finding engrossing activities for the little boy is a highly valuable thing: with no TV to turn on for automatic babysitting and a kid who likes a lot of attention, we appreciate the times he gets seriously hooked into some healthy independent play. We already covered the ultimate outdoor toy (Nature), but there's still a lot of time spent inside the house that needs to be accounted for. After six years of observing his growth, certain toys and activities have shone above all others so far:
1: A whiteboard and a pack of Colorful Markers
Man Oh Man, has this ever been a successful gift. Several times a day, my son will get the urge to draw, then spend fifteen minutes detailing some elaborate picture, usually involving futuristic cities, vehicles, other planets, or scenes from books we've recently read. Then he'll come to me and ask, "Dada, do you want to ask some questions about my drawing?". There will be an extended Q/A session, at which point I am instructed to take a picture of the picture so he can safely erase it and begin anew.
Whiteboard drawing can also become a community event. At least once a day, he hosts a "whiteboard war", where we divide the board in half, draw our bases, and then have a drawing-based battle to the death – usually involving lasers. He always wins, except when battling other kids in which case the outcomes are more controversial.
Over recent years, I have amassed a network folder of THOUSANDS of digital pictures of whiteboard drawings – the collage above is just the tip of the iceberg – a few weeks' worth at most. All with one $10 whiteboard and a few bulk packages of markers. The value delivered in fun, drawing and writing skill, and plain old family bonding is immeasurable.
2: TRIO building blocks
These are like a larger (and more versatile, in my opinion) version of LEGO blocks. With a more positive clicking action, and the addition of "sticks", which allow a sort of post-and-beam style of construction in addition to regular block stacking, Trio lets you build some seriously massive stuff (our record is a model of the Burj Khalifa Tower, standing just over 12 feet tall and reaching almost to the railing of the second-floor balcony in my living room area).
But unlike Lego, Trio is quite inexpensive. It comes in various packages at Target and other stores, the best value being the general block sets, as opposed to smaller kits designed to make a specific vehicle. I will admit that our little dude is a bit of an extreme Trio Consumer, having spent quite a bit of his own allowance to boost the size of the set – we might have $100 worth of the stuff in total. But that still puts the excellent play time he's had with it at less than $1 per hour. If you factor in the intuitive knowledge of structural design that this type of play surely provides, it is a highly profitable activity to engage in.
3: Good Old-Fashioned Board Games, Puzzles and Kits
These are a great way to entertain the whole family at once. And while the collection looks huge and cluttery, it's still reasonably practical because it combines a bunch of games we had from before becoming parents, hand-me-downs, and gifts. Board games are a good way to deflect the Destructive Power of Generous Grandparents – instead of having them buy you things that are absolutely impractical like battery powered plastic noisemakers, you can at least channel some of the generosity into things like games and books that are actually fun to play with for more than a few seconds.
Monopoly has been an unexpectedly educational game – it forces your kid to learn to add the numbers on dice, move delicate game pieces, collect and manage money and make change, budget from limited funds, and even collect and upgrade rental properties and make trades with other players.
The Game of Life, on the other hand, is a simple lesson in Antimustachianism: Go to college – you're automatically $100,000 in debt! Now pay for a wedding: $25,000! Buy a house and car on credit too! Everything is determined by the roll of the dice, with no personal choice, because that's how real life is right? Bleah.
4: Books
This is an obvious one, but I have really grown to love the cozy escape that reading provides. My mom read to all of her kids much more than what I later learned was normal, and it became such a cherished part of my childhood that I always wanted to carry on the tradition.
When there's no TV to provide passive relaxation, books become all the more comforting – it's late in the day, and everyone is tired – too tired to draw on the whiteboard, too tired to make stuff out of trio. So you kick back on the couch and your kid(s) curl up next to you, and the book lets you float off into fantasy land for an hour or two. Blissful!
Books are another good gift deflector: I would not normally buy my own fancy shelf full of kids' books like I have here, since all the same ones are already available at the library. But family and friends send these books, so we read them while feeling thankful to the gift giver, then eventually re-gift them to another kid or donate them to the library, sharing the fun even further.
The re-gifting thing is quite practical when attending the birthday parties of other kids: no kid really wants a used star wars battery-powered toy, since those things are usually expected to be given in new condition. But they DO enjoy receiving a gift-wrapped box set of great books, with the implicit recommendation of the friend who just finished listening to them as his parents read.
Every kid has different tastes, and even those tastes change as the child gets older. But the toys above have proven to be so golden for so long that I just had to share them with you.
Further Parenting Reading on MMM:
What is the real cost of raising children?
What to Newborn Babies Really Need? (by Mrs. MM)
Avoiding Ivy-League Preschool Syndrome


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Timberland management
Take advantage of our Timberland Management services if you want to outsource your forest management activities.
Our services cover the entire scope of classic forest management, including reforestation, silviculture, timber harvesting, timber logistics, timber skidding, all the way to lumber trade, etc.
With our Timber Management services we turn directly to forest owners who, although they manage the forests themselves, expect more return and benefits from their property.
Timber logistics and wood supply number among our core competences, as well as great resources and our parent companies' know-how, both in Alpine and Scandinavian forest management. We are committed to high environmental standards, our environmental competence proved in sustainable forest management in particular.
See what we can offer to you..


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Now, 'Dedh Ishqiya' shooting to start in February
Feb 6, 2013 IANSMumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) Actress Madhuri Dixit says that Vishal Bhardwaj's "Dedh Ishqiya" shooting will start from mid-February.
"Shooting for 'Gulab Gang' has already started and 'Dedh Ishqiya' will start from mid-February," the 46-year-old said at Oral-B dental camp here Tuesday.
"Dedh Ishqiya" was initially supposed to go on the floors in September 2011, but it was postponed till November and then it was shifted to February 2012.
After that it was reported that shooting will start in January this year.
"Dedh Ishqiya" is a sequel to 2010 hit "Ishqiya" and Madhuri is all praise for Naseeruddin Shah, who was also in the original.
"It's my honour that I am working with him (Naseer). He is a very fantastic artist and I enjoyed a lot working with him," Madhuri said.
While Naseer and Arshad Warsi would reprise their roles, Madhuri steps into Vidya Balan's shoes.
Meanwhile, Madhuri also showers praises on Juhi Chawla, her co-star in "Gulab Gang", their first film together.
"It's been wonderful. I met Juhi and she is a very, very sweet person and the experience has been wonderful," she said.
Click the Movie button below for more info:
Dedh Ishqiya
Madhuri Dixit Pictures
More News


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Note: Using the "Refresh" (F5 key) command in your Web Browser will show you the latest updates -- Refresh on an Apple/Mac is apple+R
Shavua Tov and Welcome Back.
11:00 PM Rock throwing earlier near Kedumim. 4 cars hit.
8:40 PM One of the mortars shot at Israel today "misfired" and landed in Hamas controlled Gaza. No injuries or wounded in Israel (source)
8:34 PM The shooting attack was on an bus near Beit El (close than to Ofra). No injuries, there was damage caused to the armored bus.
8:08 PM Shooting attack near Ofra. No injuries.
7:25 PM Reports of 2 Grad missiles hitting Ashkelon this morning at 7AM and 9AM.
Strikes have been unacknowledged by the government.
Siren did not go off for one strike, and was very low in the other.
Shooting attack at Itamar in the the Shomron. No injuries reported.
Major accident this today between Palestinian bus and Palestinian truck. MDA called out.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד


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Deification of Man - Theological Studies - St Gregory Palamas - Book
Published: 1984
Size: 8.5 x 5.5
Pages: 137 Paperback
Focusing on the "new man" in Christ, this excellent study sets forth the theological and anthropological basis for the doctrine of deification as expounded by St. Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), the greatest theologian of the later Byzantine period. Professor Mantzaridis states:
Man's true life springs from his participation in the life of God and his communion with Him. As the spirit of man infuses life into the body through its life-giving virtue, so the Spirit of God endows man with godlike existence through His grace and glory.
He explains that for Palamas and the Fathers,
The term "spiritual" does not denote an abstraction, but characterizes the new man, born through the regenerative grace of the Holy Spirit. As the man is called rational who is endowed with reason, so the man who is enriched by the grace of the Holy Spirit is described as spiritual. This grace constitutes the chief aspect of the existence of the spiritual man and it bestows on him true life.
By exploring the sacramental, ecclesiological and moral implications of deification in Palamas' works, Mantzaridis relates this essential theological concept in a concrete way to the life of each person in the Church.


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Privacy of Web site visitors is a high priority for Sugardale Foods. However, in order to provide the highest quality service, it is often necessary to collect certain information so that customer's needs may be met.
Gathering Information
Sugardale Foods only gathers personally identifiable information1 necessary to provide the highest quality service to our customers. This information is collected when our visitors knowingly provide it to us through our Contact Us form or submit a recipe. All personally identifiable information will be used internally, and at no time will be provided to outside sources.
It is not necessary to provide personally identifiable information in order to view the site or to have access to its content.
Children's Privacy
The privacy of a child's information is of utmost importance to Sugardale Foods. Our conduct in the child-oriented areas of our Web sites is governed by federal law and regulations that address children's online privacy, as well as guidelines set forth by the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. None of our sites solicit personally identifiable information from or about children. Any of the child-oriented areas of our sites are only for the enjoyment of the visitor.
Data Sharing
There may be times when aggregate information2 about our visitors is shared with advertisers, business partners, sponsors and other third parties in an effort to customize or enhance the content and advertising of our site for our users. We may also aggregate data from Web log files to understand how users navigate the site and what features are most popular.
1 Personally identifiable information relates to an individual consumer - e.g., name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc.
2 Aggregate information relates to such things as the number of visitors to our site, which pages they access, what information they download, the type of Web browser and operating system they use, the name of their Internet Service Provider (e.g., America Online) and so on. This information is automatically collected when the site is visited and is combined with similar information collected about all other visitors. By collecting this information, Fresh Mark, Inc. learns how to best tailor our Web site to our visitors.


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"All trails lead to Joe's"
Joe Smith Taxidermy
Click link below to view photo panoramic 360
What began as a childhood hobby 40 years ago..has
grown to a full-time business for self-taught taxidermist Joe Smith.
With an eye for realism and attention to detail, Joe's work and business
have gained much recognition. Not only are his deer mounts regionally
renowned and award-winning, his ability to effectively depict all North
American species, as well as species from across the globe, sets him
apart from most taxidermists.
So come on in to Joe Smith's world of wildlife artistry, where you will find everything from Antelope to Zebra presented tastefully in a museum style setting.
Joe has hunted around the world and shares some of his hunting photos
in the trip section of this site. He is all to happy to share
experiences and offer advice to those planning a hunt. Just e-mail or
give us a call to set up an appointment to come look around,we'll make
you feel right at home.
For your convenience, we now accept credit and debit cards, a 3% service fee will be applied.
Joe Smith Taxidermy was featured on an episode of TLC's hit show My Crazy Obsession in May of 2013.
TLC has released a video clip for our show here is the link:
Here is a link to the full episode Troll Takeover / Stuffing Animals:
3 segments featuring Joe Smith Taxidermy and the Smith family aired on FOX 59 News
Wednesday May 15th. Links for segments below:
The story has appeared in several publication links are below:


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The director of the Census Bureau says irregularities have been found during the numbers-crunching phase of the 2020 census.
Thursday's announcement makes it less likely the statistical agency can meet a year-end deadline for handing in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats.
The Census Bureau already was facing a shortened schedule of two and a half months for processing the data collected during the 2020 census — about half the time originally planned.
"These types of processing anomalies have occurred in past censuses," Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham said in a statement. "I am directing the Census Bureau to utilize all resources available to resolve this as expeditiously as possible. As it has been all along, our goal remains an accurate and statistically sound Census."
The Census Bureau wouldn't say Thursday what the anomalies were or publicly state a new deadline for the apportionment numbers.
Missing the Dec. 31 deadline for turning in the apportionment numbers would be a blow to President Donald Trump's efforts to exclude people in the country illegally from being counted in the numbers used to determine how many congressional seats each state gets and how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is distributed.
Once the president receives the numbers by the Dec. 31 deadline, the president has about a week or so from the start of the next Congress to transmit them to the House. If the Census Bureau delays turning in the apportionment numbers because of the processing problems, that transfer of the numbers could take place after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Trump's apportionment order has been found unlawful by three courts — in New York, California and Maryland. The Justice Department has appealed to the Supreme Court, which is hearing arguments at the end of the month.


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About one in four Americans suffer from migraines, or head pain that lasts four to 72 hours, in the United States and it's a leading cause of disability. Fortunately, by understanding how metabolic disorders affect the brain, we can use functional neurology and neurochemistry to help many people with migraines find lasting and significant relief. Many migraine sufferers feel they miss out on much of their lives. It's hard to make commitments to social events, concerts, picnics, or other events because they never know when they'll be felled by a migraine. Many migraine patients are also dependent on one or more drugs to function, and some of these drugs can cause rebound migraines! When a migraine is coming on or hits, symptoms may include not only pain but also inability to tolerate light or sound, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, numbness and tingling in different parts of the body, visual auras, déjà vu, hallucinations, and more. These symptoms are important clues in functional neurology to help us determine which part of the brain is affected during the migraine. For instance, visual auras indicate an issue in the occipital lobe, which governs vision, while déjà vu signals a migraine affecting the temporal lobe, which plays a role in time perception. What exactly causes a migraine?It has long been believed migraines happen when blood vessels to a region of the brain dilate, or enlarge, pressing on nerve fibers around them. However, other research suggests the pain is due not to widening blood vessels but rather extra sensitive nerve fibers surrounding them. Either way, inflammation seems to play a key role in the painful throbbing and pounding. The trick is to find out the underlying cause of the inflammation. This is where functional neurology and functional medicine come in.
Unstable blood sugar Clinically, we see many cases of migraines significantly improve, if not resolve, simply by stabilizing the patient's blood sugar. Most Americans are on a roller coaster of blood sugar lows and highs thanks to diets that are too high in sugars and processed carbohydrates, and too low in healthy, whole foods. For others, they eat too little and too infrequently, keeping their body and brain constantly in a state of low blood sugar. For these people, eating small bites of protein more frequently throughout the day can help prevent migraines. Blood sugar lows and highs are highly stressful and inflammatory to the body and brain and a primary root cause to many chronic health disorders, including migraines. The first step in addressing migraine should always be to stabilize blood sugar and follow an anti-inflammatory diet. Iron deficiency anemia Anemia is another commonly overlooked cause of migraines we sometimes see clinically. If a migraine patient tests low in iron, sometimes supplementing with iron can profoundly impact migraine symptoms. Of course, you'll want to address why you have anemia too. Hormone imbalances One of the more common, and complicated, causes of migraines in women is a hormone imbalance involving estrogen and progesterone. Hormone imbalances require a comprehensive functional medicine approach to address the reasons for the imbalance - chronic stress, blood sugar imbalances, poor gut health, inflammation, chronic infection, etc. Many women are low in progesterone due to chronic stress, which robs the body of the precursors necessary for progesterone to make stress hormones instead. Other common female hormone issues include excess estrogen, low estrogen, or excess testosterone. Appropriate levels of the sex hormones help regulate the immune system and inflammation. This is a very cursory overview of some potential mechanisms for migraines, which can be different for everyone. Previous head injuries are another common factor to consider. If you have migraines, ask my office for a consultation.You can contact our office at 317-848-6000 or you can reach Dr. Ralston directly at [email protected]. Comments are closed.
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Jimmy Kimmel's 'Lie Witness News' Makes Idiots Out of Warriors Fans [VIDEO]
As we get ready for Game 4 of the NBA Finals in Cleveland, Jimmy Kimmel gives us a hilarious but perhaps not-so-flattering closer look at Golden State Warriors fans. It is amazing how gullible people are when a television camera and microphone are placed in front of them.
When Kimmel sends an interviewer to Oracle Arena in Oakland to prank Warriors fans prior to the game, you know it is going to be hilarious. "Lie Witness News" is just that: fans get asked questions involving phony players, strategies and other stuff by Kimmel's crew, but they react on camera like it is real news.
The funniest moment in the video is probably at the 1:34 mark, when a fan is asked about LeBron James stunning the basketball world by announcing that he was changing his name to Michael Jordan. Not only does the Warriors fan believe the story, but he goes a step further and tells the interviewer where he was when he first heard the news. Great stuff.


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(ECOWATCH) – After U.S. Navy sailors on the USS Ronald Reagan responded to the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan for four days, many returned to the U.S. with thyroid cancer, Leukemia, brain tumors and more.
At least 71 sailors—many in their 20s—reported radiation sickness and will file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the Fukushima Daiichi energy plant. The men and women accuse TEPCO of downplaying the danger of nuclear radiation on the site. The water contaminated the ship's supply, which led to crew members drinking, washing their bodies and brushing their teeth with contaminated water. Paul Garner, an attorney representing 51 sailors, said at least half of the 70-plus sailors have some form of cancer.
"We're seeing leukemia, testicular cancer and unremitting gynecological bleeding requiring transfusions and other intervention," Garner told New York Post.
Senior Chief Michael Sebourn, a radiation-decontamination officer assigned to test the aircraft carrier, said that radiation levels measured 300 times higher than what was considered safe at one point. Meanwhile sailors like Lindsay Cooper have contrasted their initial and subsequent feelings upon seeing and tasting metallic "radioactive snow" caused by freezing Pacific air that mixed with radioactive debris.
"We joked about it: 'Hey, it's radioactive snow!" Cooper said. "My thyroid is so out of whack that I can lose 60 to 70 pounds in one month and then gain it back the next. My menstrual cycle lasts for six months at a time, and I cannot get pregnant. "It's ruined me."
Cooper said the Reagan has a multimillion-dollar radiation-detection system, but the crew couldn't get it activated quickly enough.
"And then we couldn't go anywhere," she said. "Japan didn't want us in port, Korea didn't want us, Guam turned us away. We floated in the water for two and a half months."
San Diego Judge Janis L. Sammartino dismissed the initial suit in late November, but Garner and a group of attorneys plan to refile on Jan. 6, according to Fox 5 San Diego. Though publications like The Washington Times have wondered if the Navy and/or National Security Agency might have known about the conditions the sailors were heading into two years ago, Garner and the attorneys say the lawsuit is solely directed at TEPCO.
"We're suing this foreign corporation because they are doing business in America," co-counsel Charles Bonner. "Their second largest office outside of Tokyo is in Washington, D.C. "This foreign corporation caused harm to American rescuers, and they did it in ways that give rise to jurisdiction here in this country."
More from my site
Tags: 2011 Fukushima Disaster, brain tumors, cancer, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, leukemia, radiation poisoning, TEPCO, Tokyo Electric Power Company


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Hoffman Diamond Products is a manufacturer of metal bonded diamond tools used to saw, cut, drill, shape, profile or grind concrete, asphalt, granite, marble, stone, glass, alumina, zirconium, quartz, sapphire, and ceramics. With over 125 years in manufacturing metal bonded tools, Hoffman Diamond Products can provide their customers with an extensive array of both standard and customize tools to meet their most difficult application.
The company's vast experience in metal bonded abrasive tools coupled with a variety of manufacturing techniques allows them to provide both standard and unique one of a kind products to the Geotechnical, Construction, and Industrial Ceramic markets. Our rapid prototyping of metal bonded diamond or cubic boron nitride tools uniquely distinguishes Hoffman Diamond Products from many of their competitors.
The construction industry demands a variety of bonds for diamond sawing and drilling tools. Diamond saw blades and bits cut or drill concrete, asphalt, brick, block, tile, granite and marble. Diamond tools have proven to be the most cost effective way to penetrate these materials.
Hoffman's Heavy Duty and Premium Blades and Grinding Heads are top-of-the-line production tools. These tools are specifically designed and manufactured for the professional who demands precision cutting and grinding with a long life expectancy.
Hoffman Diamond has pioneered the manufacture and use of diamond drill bits. Starting with the hand setting of "black carbon" diamond and leading to our current position of utilizing the latest developments in bit technology including computerized furnacing, manufacturing and assembly. All processes are meticulously controlled and rigidly inspected to guarantee the quality and consistency of our products.


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Chapter 14: Teaching For Truth
III. The Decision for Guiltlessness
1 The happy learner cannot feel guilty about learning. This is so essential to learning that it should never be forgotten. The guiltless learner learns easily because his thoughts are free. Yet this entails the recognition that guilt is interference, not salvation, and serves no useful function at all.
2 Perhaps you are accustomed to using guiltlessness merely to offset the pain of guilt, and do not look upon it as having value in itself. You believe that guilt and guiltlessness are both of value, each representing an escape from what the other does not offer you. You do not want either alone, for without both you do not see yourself as whole and therefore happy. Yet you are whole only in your guiltlessness, and only in your guiltlessness can you be happy. There is no conflict here. To wish for guilt in any way, in any form, will lose appreciation of the value of your guiltlessness, and push it from your sight.
3 There is no compromise that you can make with guilt, and escape the pain that only guiltlessness allays. Learning is living here, as creating is being in Heaven. Whenever the pain of guilt seems to attract you, remember that if you yield to it, you are deciding against your happiness, and will not learn how to be happy. Say therefore, to yourself, gently, but with the conviction born of the Love of God and of His Son,
4 Each day, each hour and minute, even each second, you are deciding between the crucifixion and the resurrection; between the ego and the Holy Spirit. The ego is the choice for guilt; the Holy Spirit the choice for guiltlessness. The power of decision is all that is yours. What you can decide between is fixed, because there are no alternatives except truth and illusion. And there is no overlap between them, because they are opposites which cannot be reconciled and cannot both be true. You are guilty or guiltless, bound or free, unhappy or happy.
5 The miracle teaches you that you have chosen guiltlessness, freedom and joy. It is not a cause, but an effect. It is the natural result of choosing right, attesting to your happiness that comes from choosing to be free of guilt. Everyone you offer healing to returns it. Everyone you attack keeps it and cherishes it by holding it against you. Whether he does this or does it not will make no difference; you will think he does. It is impossible to offer what you do not want without this penalty. The cost of giving is receiving. Either it is a penalty from which you suffer, or the happy purchase of a treasure to hold dear.
6 No penalty is ever asked of God's Son except by himself and of himself. Every chance given him to heal is another opportunity to replace darkness with light and fear with love. If he refuses it he binds himself to darkness, because he did not choose to free his brother and enter light with him. By giving power to nothing, he throws away the joyous opportunity to learn that nothing has no power. And by not dispelling darkness, he became afraid of darkness and of light. The joy of learning that darkness has no power over the Son of God is the happy lesson the Holy Spirit teaches, and would have you teach with Him. It is His joy to teach it, as it will be yours.
7 The way to teach this simple lesson is merely this: Guiltlessness is invulnerability. Therefore, make your invulnerability manifest to everyone. Teach him that, whatever he may try to do to you, your perfect freedom from the belief that you can be harmed shows him that he is guiltless. He can do nothing that can hurt you, and by refusing to allow him to think he can, you teach him that the Atonement, which you have accepted for yourself, is also his. There is nothing to forgive. No one can hurt the Son of God. His guilt is wholly without cause, and being without cause, cannot exist.
8 God is the only Cause, and guilt is not of Him. Teach no one he has hurt you, for if you do, you teach yourself that what is not of God has power over you. The causeless cannot be. Do not attest to it, and do not foster belief in it in any mind. Remember always that mind is one, and cause is one. You will learn communication with this oneness only when you learn to deny the causeless, and accept the Cause of God as yours. The power that God has given to His Son is his, and nothing else can His Son see or choose to look upon without imposing on himself the penalty of guilt, in place of all the happy teaching the Holy Spirit would gladly offer him.
9 Whenever you choose to make decisions for yourself you are thinking destructively, and the decision will be wrong. It will hurt you because of the concept of decision that led to it. It is not true that you can make decisions by yourself or for yourself alone. No thought of God's Son can be separate or isolated in its effects. Every decision is made for the whole Sonship, directed in and out, and influencing a constellation larger than anything you ever dreamed of.
10 Those who accept the Atonement are invulnerable. But those who believe they are guilty will respond to guilt, because they think it is salvation, and will not refuse to see it and side with it. They believe that increasing guilt is self-protection. And they will fail to understand the simple fact that what they do not want must hurt them. All this arises because they do not believe that what they want is good. Yet will was given them because it is holy, and will bring to them all that they need, coming as naturally as peace that knows no limits. There is nothing their will fails to provide that offers them anything of value. Yet because they do not understand their will, the Holy Spirit quietly understands it for them, and gives them what they want without effort, strain, or the impossible burden of deciding what they want and need alone.
11 It will never happen that you must make decisions for yourself. You are not bereft of help, and Help that knows the answer. Would you be content with little, which is all that you alone can offer yourself, when He Who gives you everything will simply offer it to you? He will never ask what you have done to make you worthy of the gift of God. Ask it not therefore of yourself. Instead, accept His answer, for He knows that you are worthy of everything God wills for you. Do not try to escape the gift of God He so freely and so gladly offers you. He offers you but what God gave Him for you. You need not decide whether or not you are deserving of it. God knows you are.
12 Would you deny the truth of God's decision, and place your pitiful appraisal of yourself in place of His calm and unswerving value of His Son? Nothing can shake God's conviction of the perfect purity of everything that He created, for it is wholly pure. Do not decide against it, for being of Him it must be true. Peace abides in every mind that quietly accepts the plan God set for its Atonement, relinquishing its own. You know not of salvation, for you do not understand it. Make no decisions about what it is or where it lies, but ask the Holy Spirit everything, and leave all decisions to His gentle counsel.
13 The One Who knows the plan of God that God would have you follow can teach you what it is. Only His wisdom is capable of guiding you to follow it. Every decision you undertake alone but signifies that you would define what salvation is, and what you would be saved from. The Holy Spirit knows that all salvation is escape from guilt. You have no other "enemy," and against this strange distortion of the purity of the Son of God the Holy Spirit is your only Friend. He is the strong protector of the innocence that sets you free. And it is His decision to undo everything that would obscure your innocence from your unclouded mind.
14 Let Him, therefore, be the only Guide that you would follow to salvation. He knows the way, and leads you gladly on it. With Him you will not fail to learn that what God wills for you is your will. Without His guidance you will think you know alone, and will decide against your peace as surely as you decided that salvation lay in you alone. Salvation is of Him to Whom God gave it for you. He has not forgotten it. Forget Him not and He will make every decision for you, for your salvation and the peace of God in you.
15 Seek not to appraise the worth of God's Son whom He created holy, for to do so is to evaluate his Father and judge against Him. And you will feel guilty for this imagined crime, which no one in this world or Heaven could possibly commit. The Holy Spirit teaches only that the "sin" of self-replacement on the throne of God is not a source of guilt. What cannot happen can have no effects to fear. Be quiet in your faith in Him Who loves you, and would lead you out of insanity. Madness may be your choice, but not your reality. Never forget the Love of God, Who has remembered you. For it is quite impossible that He could ever let His Son drop from the loving Mind wherein he was created, and where his abode was fixed in perfect peace forever.
16 Say to the Holy Spirit only, "Decide for me," and it is done. For His decisions are reflections of what God knows about you, and in this light, error of any kind becomes impossible. Why would you struggle so frantically to anticipate all you cannot know, when all knowledge lies behind every decision the Holy Spirit makes for you? Learn of His wisdom and His Love, and teach His answer to everyone who struggles in the dark. For you decide for them and for yourself.
17 How gracious it is to decide all things through Him Whose equal Love is given equally to all alike! He leaves you no one outside you. And so He gives you what is yours, because your Father would have you share it with Him. In everything be led by Him, and do not reconsider. Trust Him to answer quickly, surely, and with Love for everyone who will be touched in any way by the decision. And everyone will be. Would you take unto yourself the sole responsibility for deciding what can bring only good to everyone? Would you know this?
18 You taught yourself the most unnatural habit of not communicating with your Creator. Yet you remain in close communication with Him, and with everything that is within Him, as it is within yourself. Unlearn isolation through His loving guidance, and learn of all the happy communication that you have thrown away but could not lose.
19 Whenever you are in doubt what you should do, think of His Presence in you, and tell yourself this, and only this:
20 Then let Him teach you quietly how to perceive your guiltlessness, which is already there.
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text:
Whether a worm, a human or a blue whale, all multicellular life begins as a single-celled egg.
From this solitary cell emerges the galaxy of others needed to build an organism, with each new cell developing in the right place at the right time to carry out a precise function in coordination with its neighbors.
This feat is one of the most remarkable in the natural world, and despite decades of study, a complete understanding of the process has eluded biologists.
Now, in three landmark studies published online April 26 in Science, Harvard Medical School and Harvard University researchers report how they have systematically profiled every cell in developing zebrafish and frog embryos to establish a roadmap revealing how one cell builds an entire organism.
Using single-cell sequencing technology, the research teams traced the fates of individual cells over the first 24 hours of the life of an embryo. Their analyses reveal the comprehensive landscape of which genes are switched on or off, and when, as embryonic cells transition into new cell states and types.
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Together, the findings represent a catalog of genetic "recipes" for generating different cell types in two important model species and provide an unprecedented resource for the study of developmental biology and disease.
"With single-cell sequencing, we can, in a day's work, recapitulate decades of painstaking research on the decisions cells make at the earliest stages of life," said Allon Klein, HMS assistant professor of systems biology and co-corresponding author of two of the three Science studies.
Biomedically, these baseline resources for how organisms develop are as important as having baseline resources for their genomes, the researchers said.
"With the approaches that we've developed, we're charting what we think the future of developmental biology will be as it transforms into a quantitative, 'big-data'-driven science," Klein said.
In addition to shedding new light on the early stages of life, the work could open the door to a new understanding of a host of diseases, said Alexander Schier, the Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard, and a corresponding author of the third study.
"We foresee that any complex biological process in which cells change gene expression over time can be reconstructed using this approach," Schier said. "Not just the development of embryos but also the development of cancer or brain degeneration."
One at a time
Every cell in a developing embryo carries within it a copy of the organism's complete genome. Like construction workers using only the relevant portion of a blueprint when laying a building's foundation, cells must express the necessary genes at the appropriate time for the embryo to develop correctly.
In their studies, Klein collaborated with co-authors Marc Kirschner, the HMS John Franklin Enders University Professor and Chair of Systems Biology, Sean Megason, HMS associate professor of systems biology and colleagues to analyze this process in zebrafish and western claw-toed frog (Xenopus tropicalis) embryos, two of the most well-studied model species in biology.
The researchers leveraged the power of InDrops, a single-cell sequencing technology developed at HMS by Klein, Kirschner and colleagues, to capture gene expression data from each cell of the embryo, one cell at a time. The teams collected these data for tens of thousands of cells at multiple time points over 24 hours for both species.
To map the lineage of essentially every cell as an embryo develops, along with the precise sequence of gene expression events that mark new cell states and types, the teams developed new experimental and computational techniques, including the introduction of artificial DNA bar codes to track the lineage relationships between cells, called TracerSeq.
"Understanding how an organism is made requires knowing which genes are turned on or off as cells make fate decisions, not just the static sequence of a genome," Megason said. "This is the first technological approach that has allowed us to systematically and quantitatively address this question."
In the study co-led by Schier, the research team used Drop-Seq—a single-cell sequencing technology developed by researchers at HMS and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard—to study zebrafish embryos over 12 hours at high time resolution. Teaming with Aviv Regev, core member at the Broad, Schier and colleagues reconstructed cell trajectories through a computational method they named URD, after the Norse mythological figure who decides all fates.
Schier and colleagues profiled more than 38,000 cells, and developed a cellular "family tree" that revealed how gene expression in 25 cell types changed as they specialize. By combining that data with spatial inference, the team was also able to reconstruct the spatial origins of the various cells types in the early zebrafish embryo.
Recipe for success
In both species, the teams' findings mirrored much of what was previously known about the progression of embryonic development, a result that underscored the power of the new approaches. But the analyses were unprecedented in revealing in comprehensive detail the cascades of events that take cells from early progenitor or "generalist" states to more specialized states with narrowly defined functions.
The teams identified otherwise difficult-to-detect details such as rare cell types and subtypes and linked new and highly specific gene expression patterns to different cell lineages. In several cases, they found cell types emerging far earlier than was previously thought.
For scientists striving to answer questions about human disease, these data could be powerfully illuminating. In regenerative medicine, for example, researchers have for decades aimed to manipulate stem cells toward specific fates with the goal of replacing defective cells, tissues or organs with functional ones. Newly gleaned details about the sequence of gene expression changes that precipitate the emergence of specific cell types can propel these efforts further.
"With these datasets, if someone wants to make a specific cell type, they now have the recipe for the steps that those cells took as they formed in the embryo," Klein said. "We've in some sense established a gold standard reference for how complex differentiation processes actually progress in embryos, and set an example for how to systematically reconstruct these types of processes."
When combined with one of the core concepts in biological inquiry—the idea of disrupting a system to study what happens—single-cell sequencing can yield insights difficult to attain before, Klein said.
As a proof of principle, Klein, Megason and colleagues used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to create zebrafish with a mutant form of chordin, a gene involved in determining the back-to-front orientation of a developing embryo. Schier and colleagues took a similar approach by profiling zebrafish with a mutation in a different patterning gene known as one-eyed pinhead.
When analyzed with single-cell sequencing, the teams confirmed previously known descriptions of chordin and one-eyed pinhead mutants, and could describe in detail or even predict the effects of these mutations on developing cells and nascent tissues across the whole embryo.
Unexpectedly, the groups independently found that at the single-cell level, gene expression was the same in mutants and wildtype, despite the loss of an essential signaling pathway. The proportions of different cell types, however, changed.
"This work only became possible through recent technologies that let us analyze gene expression in thousands of individual cells," Schier said. "Now the scale is much larger, so that we can reconstruct the trajectory of almost all cells and all genes during embryogenesis. It is almost like going from seeing a few stars to seeing the entire universe."
Rethinking definitions
The research teams also demonstrated how these data can be mined to answer long-standing fundamental questions in biology.
When Klein, Kirschner, Megason and colleagues compared cell-state landscapes between zebrafish and frog embryos, they observed mostly similarities. But their analyses revealed numerous surprises as well. One such observation was that genes marking cell states in one species were often poor gene markers for the same cell state in the other species.In several instances, they found that the DNA sequence of a gene—and the structure of the protein it encodes—could be nearly identical between species but have very different expression patterns.
"This really shocked us, because it goes against all the intuition we had about development and biology," Klein said. "It was a really uncomfortable observation. It directly challenges our idea of what it means to be a certain 'cell type.'"
The reason that these differences were not spotted before, the researchers hypothesize, is that computational analyses "pay attention" to data in a way fundamentally different from how humans do.
"I think this reflects some level of confirmation bias. When scientists find something conserved between species, they celebrate it as a marker," Megason said. "But often, all the other nonconserved features are ignored. Quantitative data helps us move past some of these biases."
In another striking finding, the teams observed that the process of cell differentiation into distinct cell types—which is commonly thought to occur in a tree-like structure where different cell types branch off from a common ancestor cell—can form "loops" as well as branches.
For example, the neural crest—a group of cells that give rise to diverse tissue types including smooth muscle, certain neurons and craniofacial bone—initially emerges from neural and skin precursors, but is well-known to generate cells that appear almost identical to bone and cartilage precursors.
The new results suggest that similar loops might occur in other situations. That cells in the same state can have very different developmental histories suggests that our hierarchical view of development as a "tree" is far too simplified, Klein said.
All three teams also identified certain cell populations that existed in a kind of intermediate "decision making" state. Schier and colleagues found that, at certain key developmental branch points, cells appeared to go down one developmental trajectory but then changed their fate to another trajectory.
Klein, Megason, Kirschner and colleagues made a related observation that, early in development, some cells activated two distinct developmental programs. Though those intermediate cells would eventually adopt a single identity, these discoveries add to the picture of how cells develop their eventual fate and hint that there may be factors beyond genes involved in directing cell fate.
"With multilineage cells, we have to start wondering if their final fate is being determined by some selective force or interaction with the environment, rather than just genetic programs," Kirschner said.
Future foundation
The newly generated data sets and the new tools and technologies developed as part of these studies lay the foundation for a wide spectrum of future exploration, according to the authors.
Developmental biologists can gather more and higher quality data on many species, follow embryos further in time and perform any number of perturbation experiments, all of which can help improve our understanding of the fundamental rules of biology and disease.
These resources can also serve as a focal point for collaboration and interaction since most labs do not have the depth of expertise needed to exploit all the data and information generated, the authors noted.
"I think these studies are creating a real sense of community, with researchers raising questions and interacting with each other in a way that harkens back to earlier times in the study of embryology," Kirschner said.
The three studies, Schier said, are an example of how the scientific community can work on complementary questions to answer important questions in biology.
"Instead of competing, our groups were in regular contact over the past two years and coordinated the publication of our studies," he said. "And it is great how complementary the three papers are—each highlights different ways such complex data sets can be generated, analyzed and interpreted."
The next conceptual leap, the teams suggest, will be to better understand how cell-fate decisions are made.
"Right now, we have a roadmap, but it doesn't tell us what the signs are," Megason said. "What we need to do is figure out the signals that direct cells down certain roads, and what the internal mechanisms are that allow cells to make those decisions."
Whatever the future holds, these data sets will leave their mark.
"The beauty of working on an organism is that this is it," Klein said. "Ten, 20 years from now, we can still be sure zebrafish and frogs are going to develop according to the same patterns."
All three research teams have made their data sets and tools available as interactive, browsable online resources.
Provided by:
Harvard Medical School
More information:
Wagner, D.E., et. al. Single-cell mapping of gene expression landscapes and lineage in the zebrafish embryo. Science (2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.aar4362
Farrell, J.A., et. al. Single-cell reconstruction of developmental trajectories during zebrafish embryogenesis. Science (2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.aar3131
Briggs, J.A., et. al. The dynamics of gene expression in vertebrate embryogenesis at single-cell resolution. Science (2018). DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5780
A zebrafish egg cell divides
Credit: Fengzhu Xiong and Sean Megason/Harvard Medical School