text:
Analysis of the Cyberspace Policy Review
Essentially they want a well regulated internet to protect the economy, and defend the nation. This will require international acceptance of standards to protect against state sponsored cyber war. The government is organized to address this problem. They intend to centralize control over cyber security. A new position of Cyber Security Coordinator will be created as a White House level position. This person will work closely with a number of agencies and the Executive Office of the President.
They are comparing the current cyber security situation to the Space Race. With specific mention to the launch of Sputnik, it seems like the U.S. is still pretty bitter about that. The upside to this will be the creation of jobs during the current recession. In order to achieve their goals they intend to further blend the existing government activities with private ones.
According to the document this is a 'Digital Revolution', with their main focus being on the protection of economic and national security. In specific they fear industrial and military espionage, including actions such as the theft of valuable data including corporate and military secrets. There is also the threat to non-cyber infrastructure such as the power grid, where they site SCADA as an example. Last but not least they mention their concerns on privacy. Unfortunately for the people, this concern is monetary, with the focus on the economic damage caused by identity loss and fraud.
Behind this policy review are people referred to as 'stakeholders'. They seem to be the cyber-sycophants determined on funneling as much funding to their own coffers as possible. Much of this Review parallels the direction of the Cyber Security act. It has been drawn up on much of the same Congressional testimony, and official reports as the Act.
There are some legal issues which will have to be dealt with, some of them possibly Constitutional. To reassure the public they will be kept safe at all costs, the report mentions multiple times the existing Executive Orders which give the Government the power to seize complete control over communications in time of an emergency. At the moment that power would go to the Department of Homeland Security, the concept of an eFEMA is not factually that far off base. In regards to the international impact of such a decision, the Department of State has the authority over foreign communication policy. According to the Review, the Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for the protection of critical infrastructure, including information networks.
However the Secretary's power does not cover Federal systems. For this the Comprehensive National Cyber security Initiative was created. The goal of the CNCI is the consolidation of law enforcement, intelligence, counterintelligence, and military capabilities to address the full spectrum of cyber threats. The head of the CNCI stepped down out of concern for the public based on the direction of the current cyber strategies.
To replace him they have created a new White House level position. The Cyber Policy Officer, will report to the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. There also is the established Communications Infrastructure Interagency Policy Committee (ICI-IPC), which is chaired by the NSC and the Homeland Security Council. The ICI-IPC is focused on "achieving an assured, reliable, secure, and survivable global information and communications infrastructure and related capabilities".
Whoever is appointed by the President to the position of policy official, will be supported by Presidential authority, support and resources. They will receive assistance from at least two Senior Directors from the NSC, and one Senior Director and appropriate staff from the NEC. One of their duties will be to consult with the Federal governments Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Information Officer, in addition to the appropriate people within the Office of Management and Budget and The Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The Goal is to create a central position of leadership within the White House, a figurehead who will be responsible for establishing security policy, as well as responding to cyber-emergencies. There are a number of agencies which have already been created such as the National Security and Telecommunications Advisory Committee, the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council, and the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board. These groups will be evaluated by the policy official with the goal of optimization, and elimination of redundancy, which basically amounts to the consolidation of power within the White House.
The stakeholders involved in the Cyberspace Policy Review discussed a variety of options to coordinate and oversee cyber security. The Joint Interagency Cyber Task Force (JIACTF) currently is responsible for this. If you have read the previous articles, you might find it interesting to know that this task force works under the Director of National Intelligence. The former DNI is cited in both the Cyber security Act as well as this Policy Review. He is currently employed as SR. Vice president of one of the largest recipients of government cyber security and intelligence contracts. The Review states explicitly that "unless and until such an office is established, the work of the JIACTF will continue". The Director of National Intelligence is in charge of all the intelligence agencies, which in turn outsource most of their work to private corporations.
It is no wonder the Review explains that goals consistent with U.S. Constitutional Principles may make certain activities conducted by the Federal government more difficult. Keeping their best interests at heart, they feel the need to partner with Congress. The goal of this partnership is to benefit from Congressional knowledge and experience, in order to properly please the industrial lobbyists represented there.
At the state level, representatives from the National Governors Association, feel that cyber security is the weakest link in the protection of their states. While they already receive funding from Homeland Security which can go to cyber security, historically the grant funds have not been prioritized for that purpose.
The digital revolution includes the Smart Grid program as well as the Next Generation Air Traffic System, which receive funding from the new bailout bill. To sustain this revolution they wish to educate the public beginning in the first year of school. A cyber security education program would teach digital safety, ethics, and security, with the hopes of creating a technologically advanced workforce. The review even goes so far as to recommend a public safety campaign similar to the Smokey Bear fire safety campaign. Likely with accompanying catchy public service announcements stating that 'only you can prevent malicious worm propagation' (don't copy that floppy anyone?). Along this same thread it is suggested that Celebrities, the computer generation, and new media should be used to deliver this message of cyber security awareness.
The reason for this education campaign is an underlying fear that the United States will fall behind other nations in the cyberSpace Race. Why else would they have brought up the whole Sputnik thing? They state that talented IT employees are in high demand, but the number of people receiving related education has been in sharp decline for several years. Thankfully the National Science Foundation, and the DHS offer grants and scholarships, with 80% of those who receive them getting government jobs. The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research, which was founded by the National Security Agency, and lately co-sponsored by the DHS, works to promote education in information assurance in 38 states and DC. The Defense Department also sponsors the Information Assurance Scholarship Program in the same institutions.
Now that you've bit the hook, and they've reeled you in, they want to keep you fresh. The Review mentions a plan for "shared training across agencies and into the private sector". Blending the oft mentioned public-private partnership, they would like to have public-private employees as well. In reality this is not likely much different then the current situation. I could imagine a scenario where they would begin to trade top talent like the professional sports leagues. This could lead to some interesting results with IT 'stars' demanding higher pay because of their 'skills'.
Another reason for the necessity for a tight public-private partnership is that the private sector "designs, builds, owns, and operates most of the network infrastructures". Aside from a hostile take over, the best option is partnership. Likewise the corporations involved depend on the government's protection from various threats, so it is a mutual arrangement. I mentioned in a previous article how they are attempting to create a monopoly. The Review actually cites the Sherman Antitrust Act in reference to private sector concerns about "certain federal laws" that might impede their partnership. Thanks to the Trade Secrets act and the Critical Infrastructure Information Act, the parties involved will not need to be concerned with the Freedom of Information Act.
We can be sure there will be no conflict of interest specifically concerning the multinational owners of major private government consulting operations. The Review suggests tailored solutions to handle such situations. One of them is to adopt a system similar to that which is used in Britain. Called the consultancy model, vetted private information security providers are used as a nexus to combine data.
Taking it to the next level, the Review suggests the government consider focusing on "game-changing" areas things such as behavioral and incentive based solutions. Something similar to the vouchers I have mentioned previously, tax breaks could be offered to those who choose to become early adopters of the new system.
Since the Internet is a global system, it is important to partner with the international community. Once the government comes up with their domestic plan, they hope to spread it around the world with love like they have done with democracy, bringing like minded nations together to discuss acceptable norms, implementation of standards, and "use of force". "New agreements between governments and industry may need to be documented to enable international information sharing, as well as strategic and operational collaboration". The U.S. will help other countries build legal frameworks, and work with allies to ensure the stability and global interoperability of the Internet.
When the Taliban unleashes their cyber army, the government wants to be prepared. The Review states the need for a coordinated joint response from the government, the private sector, and its allies. As a defensive measure is suggested that some sort of system be put into place before an attack happens, a sort of early warning system and cyber defensive grid. Only the White House has the authority to react to such an event. The policy official would be responsible in this situation, which underlines the necessity for centralization of National cyber emergency management.
The Cyber security act mentioned the National Institute of Standards and Technology ignoring classifications of national security on systems. Similarly the Review mentions the problems that arise from the "existing legal, but artificial, distinctions between national security and other federal networks". With regards to the Review it pertains to the dispersion of federal cyber incident response across many federal departments. It is mentioned that legislation might be required to consolidate this response, to harmonize or enhance as necessary the different departments.
The defensive strategy will begin with the development of "a set of threat scenarios and metrics" that can be used for "risk management decisions, recovery planning, and prioritizing of R&D". The ICI-IPC would be in charge of making enforceable rules for incident reporting, while the CNCI would continue to improve "federal network defenses". In addition there is a plan called the Trusted Internet Connection program, whose goal is to reduce the number of government network connections.
For the moment "the Defense Department is responsible for aggregating information on network health and status, attempted intrusions, and cyber attacks for its networks, the Intelligence Community for its networks, and US-CERT for civilian federal agencies and to some extent the private sector". The Review suggests the government should assist in preventing, detecting, and responding to cyber incidents by leveraging existing resources such as the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and the 58 existing State and local Fusion Centers.
According to the Review, "security classification and clearance requirements" inhibit information sharing. Policies governing the "collection, use, retention, and dissemination of information" need to be audited as they "present significant barriers". The "Federal government should help the research community gain access with appropriate controls, to cyber security-related event data that could be useful to develop tools."
Once they figure out the domestic file sharing, they plan to expand it internationally, sharing data with allies, and seeking "bilateral or multilateral" agreements. This international collaboration might upset some of their domestic partners. However since they depend on the government for "the common defense of privately-owned critical infrastructures", most of the stakeholders have "indicated a willingness to work toward a framework under which the government would pursue malicious actors and assess with information and technical support to enable private-sector operators to defend their own networks". Private sector operators "such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund" are specifically mentioned as institutions that should be defended.
As medical records are digitized, the Smart Grid technology is implemented, along with the Next-Generation Air Traffic Control system; there will be an increasing need for information security. One way to achieve this is to develop a "next-generation of secure computers and networking for national security applications". The goal is to "harness the full benefits of innovation to address cyber security concerns".
Cloud Computing, "introduces new policy challenges for the private sector and governments around the globe", it "presents challenges for law enforcement, the protection of privacy, and civil liberties". This could prove to be difficult for the government if a terrorist's data was in the cloud in a country that did not conform to the international standards. On the other hand, as a side note, if your data exists in a cloud in a foreign country then your rights to that data might only be covered by their law.
DARPA, the guys that brought us the Internet, see the "defense of current Internet Protocol-based networks as a losing proposition". They suggest "an independent examination of alternate architectures". As of March 2009 they have begun analysis of alternatives. In the mean time it is suggested the government focus on research and development into "game-changing technologies", which build on "existing Networking and Information Technology Research and Development strategies".
One of these game-changers might be the development of "an opt-in array of interoperable identity management systems". It is being developed based on the findings of The National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Biometrics and Identity Management. The goal is to create a national standard of biometric identification at the federal level. This technology would become available for private operators, and emergency services. Part of securing the Nations cyberspace, the Smart Grid and the new air traffic control system, will involve the adoption of technology to verify the identity of whoever is using the services.
This doesn't do any good if the hardware or software is compromised during manufacture. Because much of the hardware is constructed overseas, there are "concerns about the potential for easier subversion of computers and networks through subtle hardware or software manipulations". Examples of these are the counterfeit products that have turned up in various places. Called "supply chain attacks", this manipulation can be "virtually impossible to discover". To protect against this, the Review suggests the U.S. should "define procurement strategies". Such strategies would be based on work by the National Security Agency and the Defense Department, "to create market incentives for security to be part of hardware and software product designs".
National security and emergency preparedness are two of the main concerns of the government. When there is some event of national emergency, federal and local agencies depend on the national communications infrastructure. Many of the services such as the Emergency Operations Centers are beginning to use new technologies. Enhanced 9-11 call centers are using Voice Over Internet Protocol in some cases. So these facilities also now require direct cyber defense. Homeland Security is "working toward the goal of providing national security and emergency users with access to the converged information services of next-generation networks". This includes the authorization of the President "to use, control, or close communications services, systems, and networks". A public-private National Coordinating Center exists to "assist in the initiation, coordination, restoration, and reconstruction of communications services or facilities".
Cyber security is the two faces of a single coin. One side is the Federal government, its agencies, departments, and alphabet soup. The flip side is private business and corporations. The two sides depend on one another for survival, and therefore are very willing to share the middle ground. If one was to remove the emblems from the obverse and reverse of the coin, you would be left with a homogenous metallic slug. At the core of the national cyber defense strategy is the alloy consisting of the public-partnership. To maintain the value of this partnership, it is very important for it to become the international standard. Steps will be taken to prevent the production of counterfeits, but eventually the plan is to replace it with something modern and more secure.


text:
Blue Mind is a messaging and collaboration platform. It offers scalable shared messaging, calendars and contacts with advanced mobility (iPhone, iPad, Android, etc.), and Outlook and Thunderbird connectivity support. Designed with simplicity as a goal, it uses Web 2.0 technologies with a Javascrit UI, offline Web capability, and a Web-services-oriented pluggable architecture.
This version fixes some annoying bugs on event notification loops and upgraders. It fixes many minor things and adds some features (one user global restore, mailshare sharing handling by users, etc.)
Blue Mind â Freecode
Attachment 5209

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Philadelphia (Dec. 20)
Tomorrow, Sunday, December 21st, will be a day of great events for the Jewish community here. All preparations have been completed for the Biennial Convention of the Jewish Welfare Board, which will be opened here tomorrow.
The Jewish Welfare Board was organized in 1917, to carry on the Welfare activities for the Jewish men in the service. This work it is still doing, laying special emphasis on the service to disabled veterans.
The work includes the conduct of religious services, the observance of the Holy Days, the distribution of prayer books, and any other Jewish activities.
In 1921 the Jewish Welfare Board was merged with the National Council of Y. M. and Y. W. H. A.'s, and thus became the national organization for the Jewish Center movement. This was a natural development since the "Y"'s during the war in most cases were changed into Jewish Welfare Board Organizations. Since that time, the Jewish Welfare Board has been furthering the Jewish Centre idea throughout the country and has been meeting with the greatest success. It has helped make the "Y" a real community center and a vital force in American Jewish life through intelligent direction and advice. There are more than 300 associated organizations in the United States and Canada. During the past two and one-half years, thirteen organizations have acquired their own buildings with the assistance of the J.W.B.
Men prominent in Jewish affairs throughout the country will address the Conference. The principal speakers will be Judge Irving Lehman, Louis Marshall. Felix Warburg of New York, Hon. Alfred M. Cohen of Cincinnati, Dr. Cyrus Adler, President of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Judge Horace Stern of Philadelphia.
On the same day the American Jewish Committee will hold an Executive Session of its Board of Directors and the Pennsylvania Federation of Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Associations has called a special conference. About thirty delegates are expected to be present.
The Eastern States Debating League, consisting of representatives from six states have also arranged for a special conference on Sunday.
A special feature of the Convention will be the banquet which will take place at 6:30 P.M. At this banquet the delegates will be the guests of the Jewish community of this city.
Dr. Cyru Adler will act as toastmaster.


text: Guido van Rossum, 03.11.2009 18:35: > Python, as a language is more than the core implementation -- > CPython -- with a rich, mature and vibrant community of implementations, > such as Jython [2]_, IronPython [3]_ and PyPy [4]_ that are a benefit > not only to the community, but to the language itself. I noticed that this says "such as", but if it's intended to name the major implementations, I wonder why Cython is missing from that list. Stefan


text:
High Quality Fishing Tackle Equipment 9FT Fly Fishing Rod
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text:
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text:
Plaza Santa Ana and King Juan
Madrid Travel Blog› entry 4 of 12 › view all entries
July 11th, 2007 – by: Pearl510
We left early for breakfast, which we picknicked at the square in front of the Almudena and the Palacio Real. My father turned out to be sick from the worthless diner we had last night, and didn't even finished the walk to the palace. That's what you get with those cheap restaurants... it wasn't a good idea of him to finish my melocoton anyway.
My mother and I visited the Palacio Real on our own, and free as we discovered yesterday! It was really worth de visit. I'm not a fan of the decorations inside buildings like the palace (I hated Versailles, that probably pictures it).
From upon the square of the palace one has a great view over the Almudena, and the modern part of Madrid. We were enjoying some sun between the white walls of the palacio when we got a message from my father, who was feeling better and came to join us.
Once reunited we took the metro to the Arte Reina Sofia museum, today opened. I got a 50% studentdiscount, and since the palace had been free we saved quite some money today. The Arte Reina Sofia is a wonderful museum. I absolutely LOVED the permanent collection on the second floor. I'm a huge Picasso fan, and La Guernica was amazing! I've been standing in front of it for ages, and there are as wel many studies and pictures which show how the work evoluated during the proces.
La Guernica wasn't the only Picasso ofcourse, and the works of Dalí and Miró were great as well. The collection on the fourth floor wasn't what I like at all. I do feel for abstract paintings, but not for the works that were shown there. So I have spend most time at the second floor. After the visit to the museum we had a drink on a terrace nearby, and got our first free tapas! It was crap though, or well, at least in my opinion. Some meat and fries, covered in a thick brown sause, and it looked like it had been eaten once allready.
We had breathed enough air co for the day, and took the metro to the Puerta de Toledo, and later walked to the Basilica de San Fransisco, which turned out to be closed for restaurantion. Because my father felt sorry for not have seen the palacio real we decided that he could go and visit it on his own, why my mother and I took a siësta in the Jardines de Sabatini. It was very hot today and when we arrived people were sitting all around the little pond, cooling their feet in the water, walking through it, or even swimming in it! Lovely! We joined immediatly, and after a long day of walking it felt wonderful to just hang around in the park and to enjoy a peacefull afternoon.
Dinner was helt once again at the Plaza Santa Ana. This time, we dicided to stay in the Cerveceria, since it was a nice place and the restaurants we chose the two earlier days variated from 'just not bad' to 'terrible'. It turned out to be a wonderful choice! We had tinto de veranos, wine and chips, later olives and spinache tapas, and for dinner I ordered a delicious Italian salad. Nothing Spanish, I know, but as a vegetarian it is not too evident to find a good dish in Spain. People eat lots of meat, so the salads and tapas is what I came for. After dinner (and quite some drinks) we went back to the Vinoteca, since my mother forgot her jacket there last night. The downside of Cava I guess, since neither my father or me noticed she left it. We asked the waiter if he might have found it, but we didn't count on it. The terrace had been crowded with people and tourists yesterday. Someone surely would have taken the jacket with him. But surprise surprise! We got it back. Celebrations with cava and tapas again, so when we left we were a little drunk but happy to have ended our stay in Madrid in such a great way!
Back in the hotel we asked King Juan to pose with us for a picture. He was very happy to do so. I'm going to upload the pictures as soon as they are developed!
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text:
Pruning Grapes to the Four-Arm Kniffin System
Guide H-303
Ron Byford, Department Head, Extension Plant Sciences
College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences New Mexico State University (Print Freiendly .PDF)
Pruning is the systematic removal of wood in a manner that will result in a strong vine of convenient shape and good crops of large clusters. No operation influences grape production more than pruning. Excessive pruning produces vigorous vegetative growth and low yield, however clusters and berries will be large. Too little pruning produces weak growth and an excessive set of fruit resulting in small clusters, small berries, and poor quality. The grower must maintain his vine between an under-vegetative and over-vegetative condition so as to obtain the maximum in both yield and quality.
To prune grapes properly, you must know certain facts about their fruiting habits. Grape clusters are borne on shoots that arise from one-year-old canes. These fruiting shoots are developed from the first four to ten buds on the basal section of last year's canes. Remove all canes that produced last year. Select four to six strong, well located one-year-old fruiting branches. Cut these back so as to leave a total of 30 to 50 buds, depending upon the vigor of the plant. Leave three or four two-bud spurs near the trunk to produce branches that will become next year's fruiting wood. Remove all other branches. All pruning should be done during the dormant season, preferably in late winter, but before the buds begin to swell. Canes pruned in late winter or early spring may "bleed" some, but this is not harmful.
At the time of planting, cut the vine back to two buds (Fig. 1). Immediately prior to the second growing season, tie the best can to a stake. This cane will become the trunk; remove all others at the crown. The four-arm Kniffin system of training is most generally used in French-hybrid varieties planted in northern New Mexico. Tie the central cane to the wire with cloth strips or "plant ties" (Fig. 2). During the second and third dormant seasons, select four branch canes to serve as arms, one each direction on both wires (Fig. 3 and 4). You have completed the development of the framework and future pruning will be solely to control plant size, production, and quality (Fig. 5).
Figure 1. Prune newly planted year-old nursery plant to two buds.
Figure 2. First dormant pruning: Left—before, right—after.
Figure 3. Second dormant pruning: Left—before, right—after.
Figure 4. Third dormant pruning: Left—before, right—after.
Figure 5. Fourth dormant pruning: Left—before, right—after.
Previously reviewed by Esteban Herrera, Extension Horticulturist.
To find more resources for your business, home, or family, visit the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences on the World Wide Web at aces.nmsu.edu.
Contents of publications may be freely reproduced for educational purposes. All other rights reserved. For permission to use publications for other purposes, contact firstname.lastname@example.com or the authors listed on the publication.
New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. NMSU and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.
Reprinted and electronically distributed June 2005, Las Cruces, NM.


text:
SUMMARY: Plenty of studies find anti-inflammatory effects of dietary antioxidants such as green tea for chronic disease. Even in IBD patients, who have a very messed up microbiome (a finding of the American Gut data), the benefits of antioxidant therapy is well documented (see below studies). Read here about a simple EASY N=1 hack for one IBD patient that shut down a mild psoriasis skin flare that began two years ago. They flared psoriasis, but not the autoimmune IBD, eating strict healing diet Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) probably due to a gluten/sugar airborne exposure. The hack that worked for stopping psoriasis: Green Tea, Black Tea with Lemon Juice antioxidant blend! I share their recipe here! It is simple enough that you may want to add it to your immune calming anti-inflammatory arsenal too! Make sure to see below for why it is important to NOT drink Green Tea for antioxidant benefit along with Iron.
Category Archives: Blog: Cancer
Breast microbiome and Cancer Risk Assessment tool
SUMMARY: Recent studies challenge dogma and find that healthy breast tissue is NOT sterile after-all. The breast seems to have its own microbiome of bacteria and such seems protective; dysbiosis (REDUCED richness and/or certain species) was associated with breast cancer. Furthermore, healthy breast tissue had bacteria Sphingomonas yanoikuyae (Proteobacteria), which is better known to degrade pollutants in the environment. In the cancer samples, there was little to none of S. yanoikuyae; this bacteria is able to use estradiols including 17-β estradiol, which are believed to be associated with breast cancer. The authors could not determine causality due to lack of S. yanoikuyae. Learn in this post microbiome implications for breast cancer, free online breast cancer risk assessment tools, ongoing studies personalizing cancer risk for mammogram frequency to reduce false positives, and look over a decent listing for cutting your risk for breast cancer in the first place from Prevention. Included specifically on that list is carotenoid loads which I preach about, including the need to consume carotenoids with the correct healthy fat so as to absorb them. LOWFAT DOES NOT ABSORB THOSE CAROTENOIDS.
Type of fat consumed and breast cancer diagnosis for Mediterranean Diet
SUMMARY: Women (eating the Mediterranean diet) consuming certain healthy fats were less likely to have a breast cancer diagnosis while other fats increased the likelihood of a breast cancer diagnosis. Seventeen women on the low-fat diet developed breast cancer, compared with 10 on the Mediterranean diet with nuts and eight on the Mediterranean diet with olive oil.
In particular, women consuming a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) were less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. The women in the extra virgin olive oil-heavy Mediterranean diet group got 22% of their total calories from the oil, on average. However, the researchers wrote that getting at least 15% of total calories in the form of extra virgin olive oil "seems to be instrumental for obtaining this significant protection." If you use EVOO, please make sure you use unadulterated EVOO… scroll down to the lightbulb here for those details.
We see & perceive things differently; Neither is superior to the other
SUMMARY: The 'blue/black white/gold dress' incident is a really good way of acknowledging that people see and perceive things differently and one way is not necessarily superior to the other. I see and appreciate this in every diet conversation I have. I focus a lot on diet; but lifestyle tweaks help many achieve wellness when clean diet isn't enough. Initial microbiome studies show that stress can result in changes to the gut microbial community, specifically bacteria in the genus Lactobacillus are consistently reduced. If clean diet isn't enough, move onto stress busters that data shows literally reduce inflammatory markers — affirmations and meditation do such.
Colon Cancer, Biofilm, Bacteria, Probiotics Role
SUMMARY: New Colon Cancer, Biofilm, Bacteria, Probiotics ROLE in Colon Cancer findings out of John Hopkins: biofilms are present in 89% of tumors (13/15 cancers & 4/4 polyps) removed from right ascending colon, but only in 12% of tumors on the left side (2/15 cancers and 0 polyps).
Most colorectal cancers are known to develop slowly, over five to 10 years, "and it's a disease that's curable if you diagnose it early," says Cynthia L. Sears, M.D., professor of medicine and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. Well… therein lies the rub as the gold standard test, colonoscopy, many do not do. Additionally, as discussed in the post, "YOUNG ADULT NEWLY DIAGNOSED COLON & RECTAL CANCER DOUBLES BY 2030," there is an alarming increase in colon cancer among the young who typically do not have colonoscopy.
Clinical Trials Lack Diversity & Microbiome = Cancer Disparity Outcomes
Under representation of minority populations in clinical trials is a real problem, and it results in significant cancer outcome disparities for under represented groups (discussed at the bottom of this post). What this means is that the findings of clinical trials are limited and can not necessarily be generalized among those minorities under represented or omitted in the study population. Such subgroups are missing information on how they would respond to the trial's treatment. "Potential racial, ethnic and other differences in response to drugs are important to FDA's efforts to help ensure that the safety and effectiveness of drugs are studied in all people who will use the products once they are approved." Christine Merenda, M.P.H., R.N. , Office of Minority Health (OMH) project manager.
By 2030 adult young colon cancer diagnoses doubles
SUMMARY: Learn here that adult young colon cancer diagnoses doubles by 2030.
The number of young adults (aged 20 to 34, and 35 to 49 years) with newly diagnosed colorectal cancer is anticipated to nearly double by 2030.
Worth repeating: By 2030 adult young colon cancer diagnoses doubles
For ages 20 to 34 years, colon cancer increase is 90.0% and rectal cancer increase is 124.2% by the year 2030.
For ages 35 to 49 years, colon cancer increase is 27.7% and rectal cancer increase is 46.0% by the year 2030.
For patients under age 34, the increase is across all stages of disease: localized (confined to the colon or rectum), regional (contiguous and adjacent organ spread, such as to the lymph nodes, kidney and pelvic wall) and distant (referring to remote metastases).
SUMMARY: CANCER MICROBIOME. Be it linked to the gut microbiome or specific tissue,… It was just a matter of time until researchers linked cancer to the microbiome.
Cancer Microbiome
"These studies demonstrate that microbiota can increase or decrease cancer susceptibility and progression by diverse mechanisms such as by modulating inflammation, influencing the genomic stability of host cells and producing metabolites that function as histone deacetylase inhibitors to epigenetically regulate host gene expression. One might consider microbiota as tractable environmental factors because they are highly quantifiable and relatively stable within an individual compared with our exposures to external agents. At the same time, however, diet can modulate the composition of microbial communities within our gut, and this supports the idea that probiotics and prebiotics can be effective chemoprevention strategies. The trajectory of where the current work is headed suggests that microbiota will continue to provide insight into the basic mechanisms of carcinogenesis and that microbiota will also become targets for therapeutic intervention." – Emerging roles of the microbiome in cancer, Carcinogenesis. 2013 Dec 3. [Epub ahead of print]


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Marinated and grilled salmon fillets with a creamy horseradish sauce
Some time ago, we just had been a few months in Kansas City, I had the pleasure to meet Susan and her lovely mother. From time to time we had lunch together and although there is a big difference in age between us, we always had a great talk and enjoyed good food. In a constant flood of words alternate from left or right, I had been informed about politics, business, and everything that makes the world turn. At the end of every lunch, I got a list of good places to eat and where I would find the hidden small shops with nice cheese, wine or chocolate.
Susan's mom is someone you meet and don't forget, she is the granny everyone, not just wants, we need grannies like her in our lives. There is always an embroidered tissue in her reach and a few days after every lunch I got a handwritten thank you card in my mailbox. She talks in a relaxed and slowly way, listing to her felt like being coated in cotton candy. Her dedication for animals had always been one of our main topics, it is the only time I had seen her enthusiastic. She wanted to make sure, that I only buy the right fish and so she gave me a pocket guide from the seafood watch. You would have found it in my purse since that day, until last week as I found out there is an app for that.
Everyone likes a good deal but if it comes to shopping for salmon, you may consider digging deep into your pocket. And for many reasons, it's just worth the prize. Have a look at the cheap one: farm raised salmon with more fat but less protein, more dioxins and it is lacking flavor big times.
On the opposite side: the pricey but delicious wild salmon, high in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and it gets its nice orange to red color from eating krill and not from artificial food supplements.
Ok, I am done with preaching but if you want to read more there are lots of articles on the internet go check it out.
grilled salmon fillets with creamy horseradish sauce
The fiery horseradish sauce and the tender salmon are great together and make a quick grilled meal.
- for the sauce:
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons prepared white horseradish or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamarind sauce
- for the salmon:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon prepared white horseradish
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamarind sauce
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 6 salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick and 6 ounces in weight
- Prepare the sauce: mix all ingredients together and add salt and pepper to taste. Can be made one day in advance, cover and keep in your refrigerator.
- Grill the salmon: in a small bowl mix oil, horseradish, soy sauce, garlic, and salt. Brush the mixture over both sides of the salmon fillets, cover and refrigerate for one hour (or grill immediately).
- Heat your grill to medium-high and brush the grates with oil. Grill the salmon filet until it begins to flake for about 4-6 minutes per side. Grind some black pepper over the fillets and serve with the horseradish sauce.
Adapted from Jamie Purviance found in Bon Appétit July 2003 (9th annual barbecue issue)
☛ Check out the smoked salmon mini-cupcakes, smoked salmon omelette, and macaroni and Gruyère cheese with butternut squash, smoked salmon and dill


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Belfast Music Week: the view from up north
Some notes from last week's Belfast Music Week festival and conference
It wasn't all Van Morrison in Belfast last week. While the shindig in the Waterfront Hall grabbed all the music headlines, it's worth noting that the fourth Belfast Music Week was also taking place in the city. I was in town to host a Banter panel as part of the event, but it was also an opportunity to have a look around, meet some people and gather some thoughts on where Belfast is at in 2013 at a time when Van-the-Freeman and the Good Vibrations' film have focused attention on the city's musical past.
Indeed, that Banter panel is probably a good place to kick off any such discourse. Print the Legend brought together Sean O'Hagan (The Observer), Glenn Patterson (author, lecturer and Good Vibrations' scriptwriter), Katie Richardson (Katie & The Carnival) and Brian Coney (editor, The Thin Air) to look at the joins between the past, present and future. Can the past and nostalgia overshadow efforts by the contemporary scene to make its own sounds and bang its own drum?
The sign of a good discussion is when it begins to move out into other areas and draw them into the topic's orbit. This was one of those occasions – and that was without the intervention of purple cows from the audience – as themes like funding (it always comes back to funding), motivation, the culture industry, the stories to be learned from other cities, magazines, tourism, history and desire came into play.
Of course, much has physically changed in these parts since the era depicted in Good Vibrations, the film based around the story of the plucky record shop which led its equally plucky owner to the remarkably plucky record label. You quickly realise that the pockmarked city of old has been replaced by something else entirely. There's a different mood music playing in Belfast these past few years as confidence and derring-do replace the slack and tension of old.
A walk around the city is eye-opening in this regard, with everything from the Mac to a bustling array of restaurants putting their best side out. Areas of the city-centre which were once only frequented by the very mad or very brave are now spruced up and ready for a new lease of life. Areas which were once even less attractive are now receving their own small plates-hawking eateries. It's amazing what a few years of a different kind of normality can do.
The bigger question, though, is about what can be done with all of this new infrastructure to make great music and art happen. After all, it's a truth universally acknowledged, to bring a local family into the post, that great art often emerges from times of great troubles and hardship. That was certainly the Belfast of old, a place where anything positive which emerged from the landscape was to be welcomed and applauded. Indeed, it's worth nothing that there was often much more admirable culture produced here than is often acknowledged. The selectionism which goes on when the narrative is spun about the old days means that for every Van the Freeman or Good Vibrations, there are scenes like Sugar Sweet, the Belfast Warzone Collective and others which are overlooked or underwritten.
However, such tales have to be the stuff of books or films or other documents, because there's a much different set-up and start-up in the here and now which really demands our attention. For a wee place, Belfast and Northern Ireland have produced a pretty heavyweight carousel of acts. Whatever about the long-term sustainability of many of them, an argument you can throw at whatever geographical scene your pin on a map will land on, there's no doubt that the music from these parts has traction. The job of an event like Belfast Music Week, with its plethora of daytime workshops and night-time gigs, is to firmly highlight and articulate this health.
It can be a thankless task, especially if the news cycle will naturally focus on the big-ticket events because the shorthand is already there and there's no need to spend time or ink explaining what is going on or trying to understand the process. Then, there's the fact that Belfast, like Dublin, is not LA or London or Nashville or Austin, not a music industry stronghold with the natural infrastructure and landscape and connected activists which goes with that. That old saying about a horse and water comes to mind when you note really strong line-ups for music industry panels and how-to-do-it talks talking to rooms which should be busier. The information and hard-wiring is available in spades, but the music participants have other things, like jobs and paying rent, to keep them away.
On the stages, though, it's a different matter. The Limelight complex – one of the best venue redos I've seen in a long time – was hopping for the Thursday night showcases with about a dozen bands playing over three stages. Of the acts I saw, it was Go Wolf who won the battle of the ears. The Kitsune-alligned band have buzzing, muscular, addictive electro-pop running through their veins and a barrage of tracks which already sound damn glorious and quite gorgeous. The reign of the wolf is probably good for another 12 months at least.
The Belfast Music Week organisers and assorted sidekicks can look back on a good week's work, then. They put on the shows and the panels and brought in the speakers and made sure everything looked and sounded amazing. It takes time for an event like this to find its way under a city's skin – the Hard Working Class Heroes' organisers could tell them about that – and it often probably feels like a case of persistence in the face of indifference. But events like BMW place the lens on a scene and it's up to that scene to make the most of that exposure. In 2013, Belfast is definitely a city pivoting towards a different era, so it will be interesting to see how the art and music and pop that it produces from here on in will address that.


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Iowa Western Community College track team
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Think about what career is best suited for you, and where you want to study. Request more information now.
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Get info about Iowa Western Community College track team, and registering for departmental seminars and elective lectures. Not all recruiting is done like NCAA Division I teams. College coaches at different division levels have different recruiting practices. Finally, check with your major department for assistance with prerequisites, tuition payment deadlines, and Iowa Western Community College Track information. Please use the form above to request admissions info for Iowa Western Community College.
Track stars have revealed the secret to developing running speed. Most athletes simply run out of breath long before they need to stop running, because they aren't able to get the oxygen into their muscles fast enough. By taking deep breaths, and building up the supply of oxygen in your blood, you can prevent muscle cramps. As lactic acid builds up, and muscle fatigue sets in, untrained players think they've reached their limit.
Track teams, and well-coached basketball and football teams for that matter, train by sprinting short distances, over and over. It's not fun, but it works. After a few months of training, the lungs begin to process oxygen more efficiently, and players find that they can run long distances non-stop, or sprint for a longer period of time. Chicago State University cheerleading squad may indicate that it's an option to delay college entrance by a year. An extra year in high school or prep school can allow players to mature mentally, bring grades and SAT test scores up, put on weight and gain strength. Beyond consideration for Iowa Western Community College track team, you may think about Huddersfield New College LSAT test scores for complementary electives to your primary course of study.
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Welcome back to Social Digest, the fortnightly round up of all things social, straight from Social@Ogilvy London.
Guess what? This week actually marks 2 years since I started Social Digest. I'm SUPER chuffed that it's read by so many of you fabulous people around the world, so as a thank you, here's a little video to let you 'behind the curtain' of Social Digest. If you're interested, give it a watch. If not, scroll on for your usual dose of social media goodness. Enjoy!
- For about a week, all I heard was "Do you know anyone who can get me an invite for Ello?" Here's everything you need to know about the new(ish) social network, here's why it might take off, and here's Facebook's apology about the whole 'real name' thing. It seems fewer people are talking about Ello now. Funny that
- Omnicom advises marketers to move 10% to 25% of TV ad dollars to online video
In other news…
- Thousands of private Snapchat images (including naughty selfies) have been leaked online in what's being dubbed The Snappening
- If you're doing anything on Twitter (duuh of course you are) this will be useful
- Is this the best worst ad of 2014? (Regardless of what you think, you'll marvel at the fact that somehow it achieved a 110% increase in bookings)
- Fancy some tips on how to increase engagement on Instagram? Ah here you go then
- Biz Stone will follow up Jelly with Super, the app that puts your words in upper case then plasters an image behind them, so you don't have to
- A handful of nice Starbucks ads about why meeting up beats texting
- Where Is The Drama? New web app from Spotify that finds the most dramatic part of any song
- Leaked: secrets about the new iPad
- And finally, I never thought that a lack of information about an app would make me download it. But that's what happened with Ping: iamping.com
Just for fun
- Your twitter typos, illustrated
- What your favourite TV shows are made of (including Breaking Bad, GoT, Dexter, and more)
- Entries from the National Geographic Photo Contest… why WOULDN'T you want to see these? They're magical
- Nah, you don't need a smaller iPhone, just bigger pockets
- See you if you can spot the most excited shell on the planet
- And finally, here's 25 years of the Simpsons in 1 minute
Worth a Watch
Vine of the Fortnight
GIF of the Fortnight
2 displays of awesomeness for you this week:
See you soon!


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macrology /mak-rol'*-jee/ n.
1. Set of usually complex or
crufty macros, e.g., as part of a large system written in
LISP, TECO, or (less commonly) assembler. 2. The art and
science involved in comprehending a macrology in sense 1.
Sometimes studying the macrology of a system is not unlike
archeology, ecology, or theology, hence the sound-alike
construction. See also boxology.
--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.
Ma*crol"o*gy (?), n. [L. macrologia, Gr. ; long + discourse: cf. F. macrologie.]
Long and tedious talk without much substance; superfluity of words.
© Webster 1913.
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Continuing on in my run of alt-right posts.Yet another intra-alt-right battle has begun. The WN's (mainly) are trying to purge Roosh because he's a degenerate and not white.
First, Roosh is a part of the alt-right. You may not like that he is, or his part of the alt-right, but the alt-right is a catch all-term for dissident rightests, and Roosh is a dissident rightest.
Second, he can not be purged from the alt-right because there is nothing to purge him from. The alt-right is a loose alliance, not an organization. You could possibly ban him from the next NPI conference, because the NPI is an actual organization, but beyond that what exactly do you plan to purge him from? His own website? Twitter? You can't purge someone from the alt-right because there is nothing there to purge someone from. The best you can do is ignore someone.
If you want to purge somebody, you have to establish your authority, create an organization, and establish legitimate ownership over the alt-right through that organization. After all that, then you can purge someone. That's what Hestia had to do to purge Anissimov from neoreaction. Until you do that, talk of kicking someone out of the alt-right is meaningless.
Third, the white-knighting is pathetic. Why are WN's going crazy about protecting white sluts from him? He's not raping these women (and no, whatever feminists may say, drunken sex is not rape; stop acting like feminists), they are sluts who are willingly going to bed with him. If you view him as invading foreigner, you should be disgusted with these women, not white-knighting for them. If he is your enemy, you don't defend women who "collaborate" with them, you shame them:
All that being said, Roosh is a degenerate. I read his book in which he makes it clear that he is, and I doubt he'd even deny he's a degenerate. He's a unhappy, lonely, empty person (that comes through quite clearly in his work) who has sacrificed everything for the pleasures of the flesh. He is not a model of behaviour anyone should follow and he should never be given a position of leadership in the alt-right beyond what he has carved for himself as a PUA. If you do have an organization, you probably shouldn't let him influence it.
But as I've stated before, the PUA's aren't the problem, they are a symptom. I again reject the war people are trying to brew between the alt-right and PUA's. In any decent society, they'd be run out of town with a bull-whip, but we don't live in a decent society and our allies are few. The PUA's are useful tools for reaching disaffected young men and inducting them into the alt-right. There has probably been no greater recruitment for the alt-right than then the red pill.
Strategically, we should just leave him and the other PUA's alone and let them do their thing. The right people will filter through them into us. The rest can keep spreading herpes to club sluts until the restoration, after which we can suppress them like other degenerates. Until then, they're too useful to go attacking for no good reason.


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"Go-Go's" star Jane Wiedlin serves as juror, host during film fest
March 25, 2012 at 10:03 p.m.
Updated March 24, 2012 at 10:25 p.m.
Jane Wiedlin is a self-proclaimed movie fanatic.
She came to Victoria from San Francisco to serve as a juror for the first Victoria TX Independent Film Festival. It's taken the "Go-Go's" star a few months to watch every movie, but she was pleasantly surprised with the result.
"These people are making good movies without making money," she said.
Wiedlin said she goes with her gut making a decision about a movie. The former design college student was particularly impressed with the drive and ambition of the children in "Make Believe."
"These kids are on a different planet," she said.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame recipient was impressed with the magical sensations' drive at such a young age.
Wiedlin met festival organizer Anthony Pedone on the set of the documentary "Casserole Club" last year.
Wiedlin, who also acted in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and other films, said she participated in the festival because of a positive working relationship with the Victoria filmmaker.
Xavier Rashid, the documentary program director, flew across the Atlantic Ocean, after meeting Pedone last year. As a film aficionado, he understands the power of a making a film.
"It's the most powerful medium," he said, and added it should be handled with care.
The London-based filmmaker said he's been pleased with the quality and quantity of films in Victoria.
"It's so rare to have this many filmmakers at a festival," he said.
Rashid is glad he doesn't have to judge the films.
Wiedlin said her subcommittee met over Facebook to discuss the movies. She didn't always get her way at the end.
Not only is the girl rocker still performing with her original all-girl band. Wiedlin has delved into indie films.
Her recent project, "The Pyrex Glitch," is a science-fiction comedy about finding a new home after Earth is destroyed.
The robotic instructor teaches all the wrong lessons because of the gaffe in her programming.
After making 15 films, she's learning more about the process.
"I'm becoming more comfortable in the film world," she said.
After joining the indie film community a few years ago, Wiedlin has learned to wear many hats and has helped Pedone in various capacities.
The Wisconsin native appreciated the involvement of the Crossroads community during the Q-and-A segments.
"The audience has been really good about contributing to the discussion," she said.


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Cute Video Of The Day: Dogs Copy Crawling Baby
If I was this baby, I would be incredibly angry that these two dogs are trying to steal my spotlight. (I'm self-centered like that.) As an adult, I may need to brush my teeth because this is just too cute. [Via Tastefully Offensive]Posted on October 10, 2013 at 10:35 am


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Posted by admin | Posted in Camping, Canoe, Loch, River | Posted on 04-10-2010
The wilderness was calling and, paddle in hand, we trekked up to the central highlands of Scotland for a few days over the August bank holiday weekend 2010. Seven of us had originally planned to paddle 3 days over the Balquhidder route (loch Doine, Voil and Lubnaig) and down the river Teith (after bypassing Leny Falls of course).
However, 2 dropped out and canoe hire fell through and the opportunity arose to paddle loch and river Tay instead.
The river Tay is one of the most paddled rivers in Scotland so I won't bother sharing intricate details on that part but I'll share some of the trip.
So, 5 of us hired out 2 canoes from Loch Tay Highland Lodge on the north shore just a few miles on from Killin. Arriving mid evening we had time to strap all the kit in and head west a short distance to an ideal beach for camping. Set up camp, got the fire going and a heavy session on beers followed. Despite the perfect combination of plenty of ale and being knackered from the long drive up I barely slept…turns out both of the guys I was sharing the tent with have a major snoring issue. This, of course continued to be theme the whole trip…
Each marker in the map below shows a feature such as a place we camped or stopped for lunch etc – ideal little beaches heading east along the long loch Tay. I hope they come in handy for someone:
Once you reach Kenmore at the end of the loch you can treat yourself to a pint by the river and even stock up on food supplies in the little shop. From here on you'll meet lots of small rapids (mostly grade 2 when we were there but touches of 2/3) on the way to Aberfeldy.
This is as far as we paddled but, of course, beyond this you've got the SCA canoe slalom course which is too much of a handful for us in our open canoes – especially with 3 on one boat (a touch top heavy!).
I've sprinkled the post with a few photos from the trip – you can see many more Canadian Canoe shots in these galleries at buggslife.com. Or even click here for all photos from this particular trip.
The main problem when trying to photograph on a canoe trip like this is, of course, water. To get around this I did two things:
- I bought an underwater camera (Canon Powershot D10)
- I packed my DSLR (Olympus E-3) really well – firstly I stuffed my entire camera bag (itself well padded) into a plastic barrel with sealed lid. Then, just to be sure, I fit the barrel inside a huge drybag. This was strapped into the canoe protecting from knocks and water in the event of capsize.
So most shots were taken with the compact – hence the average/poor quality.
If you have stumbled across this page whilst frantically trying to organise you own multi-day canoe camping trip then I hope this helps. It's only a matter of time before I return to do the intended Balquhidder route and will post after that too…


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We're pleased to announce we are officially taking applications for summer 2017 Critter work exchange. We've got a big summer ahead of us and are interested in hosting folks who are interested in experiencing life as Critters. Come help us scurry around the barnyard and build our timbered nests.
We have two positions open — building and homestead/childcare. You can read details about each at our Work Exchange tab above. Looking forward to hearing from you!


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Brian Hoyer will be under center for the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday at Candlestick Park.
The recently signed signal-caller will be Arizona's sixth starter in the past three seasons. He'll also have to face an irritated San Francisco 49ers defense, one that's coming off its largest defeat and the most points allowed by the unit in two seasons working under coordinator Vic Fangio.
Hoyer's emergence even caught members of the 49ers defense off-guard.
When discovering that Hoyer would start in place of sixth-round pick Ryan Lindley – outside linebacker
Nonetheless, the 49ers have a lot to play for this Sunday, much more than erasing last week's difficult road loss in Seattle. With a win, San Francisco would clinch consecutive division titles for the first time since the 1994-95 seasons and the franchise's 19th overall division crown.
So while the Cardinals have gone 1-10 since a 4-0 start, the 49ers are still expecting a football fight when the teams meet in the 2012 regular season finale.
"They're all professionals," Jim Harbaugh noted on Wednesday. "We've played against this team three times. We know what they're capable of. Sometimes in a game like this, anything goes. And their mindset will be to win the game. So, you have to be ready. You have to be alert for just about anything… Anything's possible."
Hoyer stands as the first example of anything being possible.
After spending three years with the New England Patriots, a stint that saw him play in 13 games, Hoyer was released in training camp and was picked up for a short time mid-season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Signed for insurance, the Steelers let Hoyer go when Ben Roethlisberger returned to the starting lineup. Hoyer, however, was claimed a second time this year when the Cardinals picked him up earlier this month.
Now, with Hoyer in the starting 11, Arizona will be on to its fourth starting quarterback this season. Hoyer, who went 11 of 19 for 105 yards and one interception in a home loss to the Chicago Bears, will be the second Cardinals quarterback to face the 49ers.
John Skelton was held to a 68.6 passer rating when the 49ers were dominant in a 24-3 road win back in late October. Skelton replaced an injured Kevin Kolb and was later benched in favor of Lindley, who has now been passed over by Hoyer.
Confused? Not to worry, the 49ers are plenty motivated to bounce back against any of Arizona's passers.
"You try to forget about the last game, but you can't forget about it," Brooks said of the reality of getting back to work. "It was just a few days ago. It is what it is, but we've got to move on this week and capitalize on what we want and that would be a division title."
Brooks feels like playing in front of the team's home crowd at Candlestick Park, the second to last season finale remaining at the storied home stadium, will only help the defense play with increased intensity.
"Any time you play in front of the home crowd you've got momentum from hearing your home fans cheering you on," Brooks explained. "But, as a defense, we've got to come out and play aggressive. We've got to go out there and let it all out. We don't know what's going to happen with the playoffs and who we're playing next week or if we do have to play next week. All we know is that we have to win this game."
Brooks wants to redirect that frustration towards Arizona.
"We've got to take it out on the Cardinals," the linebacker stressed. "They've improved since the last time we played them early on. We know what they're capable of and have to come out with the mentality of shutting them down and getting a win."
It's not known whether or not star defensive tackle
Jim Harbaugh's brief account of Smith's status went like this:
"Continue to rehab there."
If unable to go, fourth-year defensive lineman
"It's going to be big shoes to fill," Brooks said. "He's a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, not seeing him out there felt a lot different. Not practicing him out there also felt different. But I think we'll be more prepared for it this week. You've got to roll with it."
For his part, Jean Francois spent a great deal of time reviewing the tape from the loss in Seattle. The Seahawks ran a lot of plays that required the 49ers to use base personnel. Jean Francois said it caught him off-guard, but it was something he'll be better prepared for the longer Smith is out of the lineup.
"We didn't pack the defense," Jean Francois said of the loss to the Seahawks. "It felt like we didn't bring Candlestick with us. When we tried to get a spark, the spark wasn't there."
Knowing what's at stake this Sunday, Jean Francois expects the spark to return to the defensive huddle.
He also knows that the Cardinals are looking to play spoilers.
"Don't look down at them for a second just because of that record," the defensive tackle stressed. "A team like that out of the playoff position can still be dangerous…We're looking to win another division game, another division title for the franchise and possibly get another bye week."
Jean Francois admitted he'll be rooting for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Should the Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers at home, all the 49ers have to do is beat the Cardinals to clinch the NFC's No. 2 seed.
"Yeah, I am," Jean Francois said when asked if he'd be cheering for the Vikings. "I hate that I have to worry about another team because we're the people who control our own destiny from the jump, but this might be the one time you have to worry about that.
"If they win, good. If they don't, forget it. We've just got to keep playing."


text:
Lost baggage
When I started piecing together this angry maelstrom of a semi-mailbag Monday night, I was beginning to wonder if I was the Last Rational Baseball Fan in New England.
My cries from atop my creaky soapbox that these disappointing Red Sox, coming off a three-game sweep to the Baltimore Orioles, were too talented to continue to fail were drowned out by the wails of an aggrieved majority.
(Completely unnecessary early digression here, but the Orioles, despite a hideous start, aren't the pathetic sad-sack operation they're being made out to be. They have a nice core of potential cornerstones -- Jones, Markakis, Wieters, Matusz -- and they absolutely will finish ahead of Toronto. Though Garrett Atkins does kinda stink. Agree there.)
I believe TATB readers tend to be more thoughtful, informed and grounded than the typical three-Bud Lights-and-a-screechy-call-to-Ordway type, so it was a little disconcerting to watch them abandon the bandwagon before May was a week old. According to my e-mail inbox (and Twitter account, and Facebook page), Sox fans not only were racing to declare this team a lost cause, but they were racing to say they saw it coming before anyone else.
While it was disappointing, I understood it to a degree. The Sox had been stunningly inept, they have a new, relatively unfamiliar additions to the cast who need to win over the fandom, their two rivals in the division have been terrific, and Theo Epstein's offseason mantras of "run prevention" and "the bridge" -- sources of skepticism from the moment the words rolled out of his mouth -- had become full-blown talking points of mockery and derision.
Yeah, that's right -- had. Past tense. Maybe I'm still exuding too much optimism here for the entitled and short-sighted bleacher cynics, but I do still expect those with faith to be rewarded to some degree by this team when October comes around. The postseason remains a reasonable goal. We've seen encouraging signs since the Baltimore debacle -- two straight wins over the Angels, the team that ended their 2009 season, some thump from various sources in the lineup (will you please give Adrian Beltre a chance?), a third straight sterling start from Jon Lester. It's not all good, but they're getting there.
It's probably not fair that I'm addressing the negative mail now. It may even seem disingenuous, coming after two victories. But you know how slowly I roll -- I started this post four days ago, and I'm not about to abandon it now.
All facetiousness aside, I suspect the small progress of the last couple of days doesn't change the perspective of the stubborn doubters who are convinced a 6.5-game deficit in the division to a very good Rays team with 135 games to play is too steep to overcome.
But we're sticking to our positive approach anyway. Let's get to the questions and comments . . .
The first game of the season I predicted [you will have to confirm with my brother] that the Sox will miss the playoffs this year. . . . This team hits when the pitching stinks and doesn't hit when the pitching is good. The vaunted defense stinks. If you're an opposing pitcher, does a regular outfield of Cameron, Drew, and Ellsbury scare you? There is not one power guy there and then throw in Papi and there are many holes here in relation to the Yankees and the Rays. All in all I don't see progression or improvement in the roster or the players on it in that many are on the decline. . . . They are built for Fenway and that is it. There is no speed sans Ellsbury and there is no big bopper in the lineup. Dice-K is a colossal waste of $ . . .
I am 48 years old and I remember the times before 2004 and I am not the newfangled breed. This ownership group is very good but to think this team as constituted is a playoff team will be born out. -- Ken M.
I should note that this reader went on to note that he doesn't much like the Beckett signing, he's not sold on Buchholz, and kids these days, will all their video games and roller skates and other gadgets of the devil, they have it too easy, and . . . HEY, YOU LITTLE PUNK, GET OFF MY LAWN! (OK, just the Beckett/Buchholz stuff is true.)
As for the other gripes, let's go to the always trusty bullet points to respond:
Which reminds me: Of all the players to feel the wrath of the fans this season, Martinez probably deserves it the least. This team doesn't make the postseason without him last season. He has a long track record of producing at a high level, and he also has a long track record of streakiness. A hot stretch is coming, he's improving his throwing, and he's one of this team's true assets.
OK, that's way too much time on this one question/comment. Let's move on.
Still enjoying the Theo Kool-Aid Chad? This team is unwatchable, boring and old. I continue to be amazed at your over the top optimism in your weekly chats. They are ill-conceived and destined to be a middle of the pack team...maybe after the embarrassing performance this weekend, you will find a dose of reality. Your loyalty and optimism are admirable...but naive and short-sighted. -- PRC
Theo Kool-Aid? I don't know, seems like he's been pretty successful here: six playoff berths in seven years, two World Series titles, and rich and productive farm system, which, as you might recall, was a pile of rubble at the end of Dan Duquette's tenure. I'm not claiming Theo is flawless -- I think he may have finally found a shortstop in Marco Scutaro after multiple failed efforts and millions of wasted dollars -- but compared to every other Sox GM of my lifetime, he's far and away the most well-rounded and competent. Tell me: Which MLB GM would you rather have?
Pedey's remarks after [last] Monday's loss reminded me of when Jeter got critical of the Yankees in 2002 (the Mondesi Year). Derek told the writers "this isn't the same team as last year." same goes for this year's Sox, who have different starters at four different key positions.
I could see them having the kind of year Tampa had last year. You knew the Rays were good last summer but they started poorly and wore themselves out trying to catch up. -- Terry N.
The Tampa point is a great one -- you burn a lot more fuel in accelerated pursuit, and perhaps having to play catch-up virtually all season will affect them in the dog days of August.
And the Jeter point is an even better one. For all of the shots that we take at him here -- many as a reaction to the over-the-top fawning, some due to pinstripe envy, but most just for the sport of tweaking our delicate Yankee-fan lurkers -- there is no arguing with his professionalism or the respect he commands among his peers.
It didn't escape our notice around here that Pedroia and Jeter hit it off like little brother/big brother at the World Baseball Classic last year, and it's impressive and reassuring to watch Pedroia evolve into a similar -- if yappier -- leader with the Sox. Varitek is the captain and Ortiz is long the emotional fulcrum, but make no mistake, this is Pedroia's team now.
That became apparent -- to my great amusement, and probably yours as well -- Tuesday night, when he offered these pitch-perfect postgame comments after being asked about Ortiz's struggles:
"He's had 60-something at-bats A couple years ago I had 60 at-bats I was hitting .170 and everyone was ready to kill me too," Pedroia said. "What happened? [Pause] Laser show. So, relax.
"I'm tired of looking at the NESN poll, 'Why's David Struggling.' David's fine, he's one of our teammates. He came out of it last year, he's going to come out of it this year. Put that online -- I'm going to go online and vote. Papi's fine. Thanks for playing."
Now that's leadership. And the comedy only makes it better. When I heard that, I'm pretty sure I did a one-man slow clap from the La-Z-Boy.
Chad, it's ovah--and was BEFORE the truck arrived in Ft. Myers. -- David S.
That's a very efficient way to judge a team -- make up your mind before they've even taken the field. Saves you a lot of time wasted watching baseball in the summer.
Hey, even if you're down on the Beltre-Cameron-Scutaro-Lackey pickups, it's worth remembering that this isn't the roster that the Sox will end the season with. They could conceivably need two things -- a quality bat and a relief arm. They also happen to be the two easiest things to acquire before or at the trade deadline, as Theo reminded us last July after the Victor Martinez deal.
And given Lars Anderson's encouraging resurgence, the Red Sox may be able to put a more appealing package together for a premier hitter than we would have thought a few weeks ago.
Adrian Beltre = Edgar Renteria, the Sox run generating defense not working quite as planned. That's at least 4 games lost by the offensive defense. Time to sit Beltre and Ortiz and play Lowell and Varitek. Martinez makes a nice DH option. What do you think? -- Alan M. (via Facebook)
I think that would be regrettable. You cannot play Varitek every day. It's easy to forget given how he fell apart last season, but he was also similarly excellent last April (four homers, .881 OPS) before getting worn out and beaten down. He's perfect in the role he's in. Besides, he's not a whole hell of a lot better at throwing out runners than Martinez.
As far as sitting Beltre. No . . . just . . . no. I will grant you this in your comparison to Renteria -- Beltre would probably have more range at shortstop.
Via Twitter, @Loren1006 Maybe now those idiots who say "it's still early in the season" will realize all 162 count the same. 7 1/2 a lot to overcome
It's only 6.5 now! The comeback is happening right before our eyes! Join me for the magic carpet ride to October? (Anyone?)
Via Twitter, @jcraw33: u can say that again sox lineup is on par with baltimore and kc cameron, beltre, lackey bridge year to nowhere.
Any Sox fan who dares to compare the Red Sox' current plight -- in any way, whether its sarcastic or serious -- to what's happening with the Royals deserves a five-year sentence of watching Yuniesky Betancourt flail at two-strike sliders in the dirt, Alex Gordon slinking around like baseball is some kind of chore, and poor Zack Greinke lose 1-0 game after 1-0 game. Perspective, people. Perspective.
And really, down on Lackey already? After five starts, four of which were pretty high quality? C'mon, now. This isn't Matt Clement we're talking about here.
If the Red Sox want to make the playoffs they will have to get a lot better real quick. If the plan is to expect the Yankees to regress it's probably not going to happen. The Yankees are [winning] and they're not even close to clicking on all cylinders. The Yankees just lost Curtis Granderson for a month and nobody's batting an eyelash because they have the depth to cover it. Our veteran players are turning back the clock. I consider Posada the most vulnerable but we have tremendous depth at that position and our backup is hitting .300. Javy Vazquez will get better [couldn't get much worse] and we have three more capable starters hiding in the bullpen. The Yankees are a second half team off to a hot start. The Red Sox usually start out hot and finish the year so-so. I doubt that the Rays can keep up this pace but I don't think they're going away. I'm not counting out the Red Sox anytime soon but the Yankees and Rays are not going fall off the map for them. Pitching and defense wins games but in the AL East you still need to score runs. With Manny and Jason Bay long gone and Ortiz fossilizing before our eyes I'm not sure Boston has enough stick to hang around. -- Rob S.
What's this? A rational Yankees fan nearly sympathizing with the Sox? My goodness, I take it all back. Things have gotten bad.
A couple of points:
It's just speculation, but you do wonder if it could come sooner rather than later, given that there is a definite "last chance" vibe to his start against Joel Pineiro tonight, a pitcher he habitually mauled during his glory days. There's no way of avoiding the desperate times: He needs a good game tonight.
The Red Sox, given their current place in the standings, cannot afford to give him the leeway they gave him during last season's agonizing start, when he didn't hit his first homer until Game 54. They need him to hit, now, and while his two-homer game May 1 against the Orioles might have been a cause for optimism, there is a stronger sense given his ongoing struggles to make contact that his performance in that game was merely a brief delay of the inevitable. The fan in me would like to disagree with Keith Law's assessment of Papi's status, but the analyst in me agrees with every coldly honest word:
"You saw last year that his bat speed was starting to slip. And now it looks at this point it's all but gone. He is getting beaten within the strike zone on average stuff. You can throw 90-92 [miles per hour] right by him within the strike zone. A couple of years ago that is a pitch he absolutely murdered . . .
"I think you finally see the decline taken right over the cliff at this point. I think there is very little chance for a recovery."
The inevitability of it all at this point is a bummer, and I think I made my point clear about booing the man on my Twitter page last night: It's unforgivable. It's not from a lack of effort that he's failing, and it clearly pains him a hell of a lot more than it pains you (especially if you've had a couple of $8 beers already).
Groan at his struggles, curse his failings, but damn, cheer than man for all he's done for this franchise. The opportunities to do so, we fear, could be dwindling to the final days.
About Touching All The Bases
Irreverence and insight from Chad Finn, a Globe/Boston.com sports writer and media columnist. A winner of several national and regional writing awards, he is the founder and sole contributor to the TATB blog, which launched in December 2004. Yes, he realizes how lucky he is.
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The best of Touching All The Bases
- Vote for Pedro
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- Good, better, best


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