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December 7, 2012
When Good Food Goes Bad, Smart Flies Keep Their Distance
[ Watch the Video: Flies Sniff Out and Avoid Spoiled Food ]
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe OnlineEating spoiled food can be fatal as it allows bacterial pathogens to enter the digestive system. One of the main tasks of the sense of smell is to detect signs of decay, allowing us and other animals to avoid such food poisoning.
A new study, conducted by behavioral scientists and neurobiologists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, has decoded the neural mechanisms underlying an escape reflex in fruit flies (Drosophila) for the first time. This escape reflex is activated in order to avoid eating and laying eggs in food infected by toxic microorganisms.
As soon as the tiniest bit of geosmin — a substance released by bacteria and mold fungi toxic to the fly — is in the air, a super-sensitive and completely dedicated neural line, from olfactory receptor, via sensory neuron and primary brain neurons, is activated, overriding all other food odor signals regardless of how attractive they are on their own. Geosmin is a full stop signal for the flies that prevents them from eating and laying eggs in toxic food, a lot like when we open the refrigerator and smell last week's forgotten dinner.
In 2011, a shocking number of deaths in Germany were linked to fenugreek sprouts contaminated with EHEC (enterohaemorrhagic E. coli) bacteria revealed that it is crucial for every foraging organism to distinguish between fresh food and food that is infected with pathogenic microbes. Whether meats or vegetables, all foods are colonized by bacteria and other microbes. The numbers of microorganisms in the food varies with different degrees of freshness and storage conditions. The immune system can usually deal with these microorganisms, allowing the safe consumption of food as long as the decay hasn't gone too far. But when such pathogenic microbes have become dangerously high, what protects us and other animals?
Visual signs, in many cases, allow us to avoid rotten food. More directly, certain odors released by hazardous microbes and/or their activities tell us when foods should be discarded. The team wanted to understand what neural functions underlie such an avoidance or flight behavior by mapping the path from the odor molecule and the olfactory receptors into the brain to understand the animal's reaction.
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and related species are genetically characterized, making them perfect study objects to answer such a question. Typically, the flies feed on yeasts growing on rotting fruit, making it imperative that they distinguish between "good" and "bad" microbes at this stage. The team showed that flies consuming pathogenic bacteria or fungi died very fast, and eggs deposited did not result in viable larvae.
Geosmin is an odor substance known to be produced by several fungi and bacteria and may trigger deterrent reactions. Quite familiar, geosmin is thought to be responsible for the strong scent of wet soils, especially after a drought. Highly sensitive to this odor, the human nose can detect it at concentrations as low as 0.1 parts per billion. The new study, published in the journal Cell, shows that Drosophila antennae are even more sensitive.
"When this compound is present in the air, even the most attractive food source becomes unattractive," said senior study author Bill Hansson of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. "This is highly interesting, as it's seldom that single compounds have a direct behavioral effect and that they are active at extremely low concentrations as we observe here."
"We started with electrophysiological experiments and analyzed all olfactory sensory neurons on the fly antenna successively — more than thousand measurements," said lead study author Marcus Stensmyr.
Only a single neuron labeled "ab4B" responded to geosmin at this stage. These neurons carry a specific receptor (Or56a) which reacts exclusively to geosmin. The team was able to establish the specificity in both single neuron recordings linked to gas chromatography, testing more than 3,000 odors, and in experiments using cell cultures ectopically expressing the receptor.
Another interesting result was revealed when the team performed optical imaging of the Drosophila brain: from the approximately 50 glomeruli that constitute the antennal lobe, the olfactory center of the flies, only one, labeled DA2, was activated by geosmin. Other glomeruli that are involved in odor evoked aversion behavior were found in the same region as DA2. When the team stimulated DA2, it activated a single type of a specific projection neuron (PN) conveying the message of geosmin presence to higher brain areas. Usually, PNs are more broadly tuned, providing a cross-glomerulus pattern for olfactory coding.
"However, this is different in the case of geosmin, Or56a, DA2 and the related PNs," said Hansson.
The stimulus is directly patched through from antennae to behavior in this circuit, the scientists say, without any detours. Previously, such patterns have only been observed in the responses to sex pheromones. This is the first time a fully dedicated neural pathway for an odor involved in feeding behavior has been revealed.
Using the recently established "Flywalk" system, where a single fly is placed into a small glass tube and different odors are applied to allow a computer / camera system to quantify behaviors, behavioral assays confirmed the nerve and brain measurements in the laboratory.
Not only does the geosmin stimulus, mediated through the neural line, cause the flies to stop or move away from the source of the odor, it overrides all simultaneously offered highly attractive odors, such as vinegar or fruit scents, at minute concentrations. This helps the fly avoid accidental consumption of pathogens by overriding even mixed smells. Odor mixtures are the rule, not the exception, in nature, making this a very important survival tool.
"It is obviously highly important for all organisms to stay away from spoiled food," concluded Stensmyr. "Detecting and avoiding food infested by bad microbes seems to be a ubiquitous phenomenon, where the nervous system has evolved to extreme degrees to make it work."


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Here are some of the frequently asked questions about hyperthyroidism – an overactive thyroid.

What Is Hyperthyroidism?

Hyperthyroidism is an overfunctioning of the thyroid gland. This overfunctioning results in the production of too much thyroid hormone. Because thyroid hormone controls many bodily functions, this increase in the thyroid hormone level causes these bodily functions, such as heart rate, to speed up, resulting in hyperthyroid symptoms such as weight loss, anxiety, diarrhea, insomnia, and other symptoms of an overactive thyroid.

Are Hyperthyroidism and Graves' Disease the Same Thing? What's the Difference?

Graves' disease is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. In Graves' disease, an autoimmune condition causes the thyroid gland to become overactive. Hyperthyroidism is the condition of overactivity. Not only Graves' disease, but Hashimoto's disease, hormonal changes in pregnancy, toxic nodules, some medications, and short-term inflammatory conditions like thyroiditis, can be the cause of hyperthyroidism.

I've Heard Graves' Disease Described as an Autoimmune Disorder. What Does That Mean?

It means that the disease is caused by a malfunctioning of the immune system. This system is designed to protect us from such pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria. As part of the process, the immune system works by producing antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins or lymphocytes) to attack those viruses and bacteria. In some cases, this defense system gets confused and starts attacking our own otherwise healthy tissues, glands, organs and cells. In Graves' disease, antibodies are produced that attack some of the proteins on the surface of thyroid cells. In response, the thyroid cells produce too much thyroid hormone, which, in turn, overstimulates the thyroid and causes hyperthyroidism.

How Can I Recognize Graves' Disease?

Even if you have Graves' disease, for some, it can take weeks, or even months, before you suspect you are sick because the symptoms may build gradually. You may think you are just experiencing stress, or feeling extra anxious. Or the disease may actually make you happy in the short term, as one of the side effects of speeding up the thyroid can be weight loss and short-term energy. However, in the longer term, less desirable symptoms, such as muscle weakness, insomnia and tremor can also result.

How Are Graves' Disease and Hyperthyroidism Tested and Diagnosed?

Testing for hyperthyroidism involves tests for TSH (which will be low), T4 or Free T4 (which will typically be high), and T3 or Free T3 (which will typically be high). To determine if Graves' disease is the cause, the Thyroid Stimulating Immunglobulin (TSI) antibodies will usually be tested. In addition, imaging tests – such as ultrasound, or a radioactive uptake scan – may be performed to identify changes to the gland to point to Graves' disease.

Can Excessive Thyroid Medication Given to Hypothyroid Sufferers Cause Hyperthyroidism?

Finding the proper dose of medications for hypothyroidism (an underfunctioning thyroid) is not an exact science. In fact, the dosages prescribed may sometimes be so strong that they cause hyperthyroidism as a result of overmedication. In such a case, your doctor should reduce the dosage of your medication until you are no longer symptomatically hyperthyroid and test results normalize.

If I Ignore My Hyperthyroidism, Will It Go Away?

For most forms of hyperthyroid disease, no, they will not go away. Not treating most forms of hyperthyroid can be very dangerous. Initially it can lead to an irregular heat beat, high blood pressure, and even a risk of heart attack or stroke, as part of a life-threatening complication called a thyroid storm.

In some cases, patients will go into remission due to antithyroid drug treatment, or immune system changes. The majority of Graves' and hyperthyroidism patients do require lifelong antithyroid drug treatment, or permanent treatments such as radioactive iodine (RA) or surgery that disable the thyroid and its ability to overproduce hormone.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sydney is known as the Harbour City. It's the largest, oldest and most cosmopolitan city in Australia with an enviable reputation as one of the world's most beautiful and liveable cities.
If you are looking for Sydney Bus Hire contact Sydney Bus Company
Brimming with history, nature, culture, art, fashion, cuisine, design, Sydney's set next to miles of ocean coastline and sandy surf beaches. Longterm immigration has led to the cities reputation as one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in Australia and the world. The city is also home to the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, two of the most iconic structures on this planet.
Sydney's skyline is large and widely recognisable. Sydney also possesses a wide array of diversity of modern and old architectural style. They range from the simple Francis Greenway's Georgian buildings to Jorn Utzon's Expressionist Sydney Opera House. Sydney also has a large amount of Victorian buildings, such as the Sydney Town Hall and the Queen Victoria Building. The most architecturally significant would be the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, among many others. Skyscrapers in Sydney are also large and modern. Sydney Tower just rising above the rest of the Sydney skyline.
Sydney's laid-back outdoor lifestyle and physical allure make it one of the world's top cities to visit and live in. The stunning harbour provides a dramatic backdrop for the city's famous icons – the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydneysiders are a friendly, energetic bunch with a positive approach to life.
Sydney is Australia's only global city. It's a city with a genuine sense of style, a love of sport and celebrations including New Year's Eve, Mardi Gras, the Sydney Festival, and the Sydney International Art Series.


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In today's IT deployments, structured and unstructured content is increasingly managed through content management systems. Integrating content from these systems usually requires custom coding against proprietary and complex APIs. In the past, creating new applications that leveraged these content systems has been costly and hard to maintain or upgrade.
Oracle WebCenter Portal provides several ways to integrate content into a portal application. The method you choose is dependent on the requirements of the application and how you want to expose content to end users:


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Age: 54.
Juneau resident: 32 years. Lifelong Alaskan, born and raised in Seward.
Family: Husband, Ron; children, John, 30, and Kristen, 27.
Hobbies: Gardening, scrapbooking, cardmaking, baking, hiking and walking her dog. In 1992, she started Beat the Odds in Juneau.
Occupation: Retired from the Juneau School District, worked 19 years with special needs preschoolers.
Kind: Breast cancer.
Years surviving: 18 years and two years.
Diagnosed: February 1991 and February 2007.
Quote: "I want to encourage women to get their mammograms. Both my cancers were caught early because of routine mammograms. Early detection is the key. I've experienced that twice. My outlook on life now is, live each day to the fullest, start living your dreams, who knows what will happen tomorrow."
To be featured as a cancer survivor during the month of October, contact Neighbors editor Kim Andree at 523-2272 or email@example.com.
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


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To make reservations by phone, dial freephone 0800 221 222 in the UK, 1 800 409 929 in Ireland, or view our regional telephone reservation numbers.
TownePlace Suites Monroe
4919 Pecanland Mall Drive
Monroe, Louisiana 71203 USA
4919 Pecanland Mall Drive
Monroe, Louisiana 71203
Check-in and Check-out
Free Breakfast
High-Speed Internet Access
Property Details
Smoke-free Policy
Pet Policy
General Room Amenities
Bathroom Amenities
Room Entertainment
Kitchen Amenities
Business Amenities
Driving Directions from Airport
Monroe Regional Airport - MLU
Hotel direction: 3 miles S
Turn left onto Kansas Lane, turn left onto Millhaven Road, turn right onto Garrett Road, turn right into Pecanland Mall and the hotel is on the left.
For more information call the general manager of the hotel


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Medford Transcript
July 28, 2011
By Nicholas Iovino
A relentless wave of heat and humidity, which caused more than 30 deaths as it moseyed its way through the Midwest and Northeast of the country last week, finally broke for North Shore residents over the weekend.
Temperatures dipped nearly 20 degrees between Friday, July 22, and Sunday, July 24. But the summer isn't over yet, and it's imperative that people recognize heat-related illness symptoms and how to prevent such ailments from occurring for the remainder of the summer, say experts.
Despite the break in high temperatures, Hallmark Health Hospitals in Medford and Melrose reported seeing about 15 more patients than usual suffering from dehydration and heat related illnesses last weekend.
"There are all different stages of a response for people who are having a bad reaction to the heat," said Steven Sbardella, MD, chairman of emergency medicine for Hallmark Health System, which includes Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. "They're almost all related to some degree of dehydration."
Sbardella said symptoms can range from vague indicators like nausea, headaches, light-headedness and vomiting to the far extreme of unresponsiveness, comas and, at worst, death.
Seniors are the highest at-risk group for heat-related illnesses. Sbardella said the increased risk often results because many elderly people take certain medications that can make the body more susceptible to heat and dehydration. A lack of awareness or sensitivity to the minor symptoms that would typically trigger most people to address the situation also adds to the increased risk for seniors.
Sbardella recommends older citizens move slower, stay cool and drink a lot more than they're used to when dealing with extreme heat. Taking breaks and putting off projects is sometimes necessary to ensure safety in sweltering conditions.
"If you're feeling the effects of the heat, then you're already behind the eight-ball," Sbardella said. "You've got to pretty much call it a day."
Another class of patients Sbardella often sees in the Emergency Department on hot days consists of younger people overexerting themselves in the heat and not properly hydrating.
"The ideal situation is if you know you're going to go outside on a day like today, you start hydrating the day before," Sbardella said.
In order to beat the heat, the doctor suggests multiplying the amount you would usually drink by 1.5 and avoiding diuretics like coffee and alcohol. Getting to a cool place is also crucial because the body won't get ride of heat unless the temperature outside is cooler than one's own body temperature.
"If you start to feel the effects, stop, slow down, and get yourself to a cool place," Sbardella warned.
If the effects of heat and dehydration persist more than several hours, the doctor insists people come to the Emergency Room where patients can be rapidly rehydrated intravenously.


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You are hereHome ›
New Wright County website to launch Monday
It has been several months in the making but, when Wright County residents go online to www.co.wright.mn.us starting June 9, they're going to see a very different county website. The intention of eventually going as paperless as possible and allowing the Internet to serve as the primary conduit between residents and county government will begin to become a reality.
Wright County Information Technology Director Bill Swing made a presentation to the Wright County Board of Commissioners at its May 27 meeting, re-affirming that change is coming. The first in many steps along the way in this process will be updating and upgrading the county website, which has remained virtually unchanged since the county first went online in the mid-'90s.
"When our citizens enter our website on Monday, June 9, they're going to see a completely redesigned website," Swing said. "It will be intuitive. It will be easier to access information. The point I'd like to make is that, while we've redesigned the site, anything you can or cannot find on the old (site), you will be able to find or not find on the new website with one exception – the county board function."
The county board has been an integral component of the change. When four new commissioners joined the board in 2013, one of the first complaints was the static nature of the website and the disconnect it seemed to have with county residents. Since the beginning of the year, county board meetings have been streamed live over the website and, when the new site launches, residents will be able to access a complete set of board minutes, the current board agenda and supporting materials that the commissioners use to make decisions at board meetings.
Swing pointed out that, while the site will look different immediately, fully upgrading the website will take time. It will need to incorporate the many departments within county government to create more transparency and allow residents to easily access the information they currently need to show up at the county courthouse to obtain.
"The real work of the website starts now," Swing said. "It really requires engagement from the departments. The redesigned site situates us with toolsets that will take us into the future. What it really requires is a joint effort. This site will be very strategic as we move into the future. Delivery of services from government in general will be more reliant on the Internet. If we do our work correctly, we should minimize the need for taxpayers to come into the government center."
While the look of the website will come overnight (June 8 into June 9), Swing cautioned it remains a work in progress that will, in the end, revolutionize how the county interacts with its residents.
More information appears in this week's Messenger.
Search Sponsored by Lake Central Bank
Search Sponsored by Lake Central Bank


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|Back to Back Issues Page
Allergy Free Thanksgiving: Menu and Recipes!
November 25, 2013
From www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com
November 2013
In this issue:
It's been five years since our turkey veggie platter graced the November 2008 issue of the Eating With Food Allergies newsletter.
Since then, the turkey my kids and I made for our Thanksgiving feast 5 years ago has been featured on too many blogs and recipe sites to count. And many veggie turkeys have been inspired by our little turkey.
Have you made your own version? If so, we'd love to see them! Share them on our Facebook page. I'll be choosing some of them to be featured on the Turkey Veggie Platter page.
And if you love our veggie turkey and want to share it with others, please remember to link back to this page.
Gobble Gobble!
Thanksgiving is just a few days away! Are you ready to prepare an allergy free Thanksgiving dinner? If not, be sure to check out our traditional Thanksgiving menu with recipes.
Turkey...check! Allergy free stuffing...check! Mashed potatoes and gravy...check and check!
I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Go to the Thanksgiving With Food Allergies page.
(Oh My!)
I have a hard time passing by the cans of pumpkin puree at the grocery store without picking up a can or two. Why? Because there are so many delicious things to bake using pumpkin!
Click the photos below to go to the recipes...
Kristi offers food allergy and nutrition coaching in person and by phone. To learn more Click here.
Kristi offers food allergy and nutrition coaching in person and by phone. To learn more Click here.
|Back to Back Issues Page


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Linus Torvalds (born December 28, 1969) is a Finnish software engineer, American naturalized, who is the creator, and former principal developer, of the Linux kernel, which became the kernel for operating systems (and many distributions of each) such as GNU and years later Android and Chrome OS. He also created the distributed revision control system Git. Torvalds believes "open source is the only right way to do software." He currently resides in a suburb of Portland, Oregon.
Note: Despite his generous open-source software contributions, Torvalds is notorious for his gruff attitude that serves as a form of self-deprecation: "I'm not a nice person, and I don't care about you. I care about the technology and the kernel—that's what's important to me." – Linus Torvalds


text: Are you sitting down? Grab the edge of something sturdy and steady yourself – because this post contains neither apples nor squash. I know, it's crazy. But I think we need a little break from the autumnal explosion, and probably some sugar, too. Fear not – we'll be back to our regularly scheduled fall programming in no… [click for recipe and more]


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Mumbai's dark nights
Streets in the island city may plunge into darkness as the maintenance contract of nearly 416 streetlights has expired; it couldn't be renewed on time due to long procedures and red tape at BEST
If you find that the roads near your house are completely dark, blame the BEST. The maintenance contract of nearly 416 streetlights in the island city between Colaba and Sion-Mahim expired on August 31.
According to sources at BEST, the annual maintenance contract for the 416 streetlight poles (SLPs) was for a period of one year, from September 2012 to August 2013. The contract couldn't be renewed on time since it has to go through long procedures and many approvals are required for the same.
The BEST operates a total of 39,700 streetlights in the city, many of which are new. Compared to this figure, 416 streetlights may seem negligible. But with the advent of the Ganpati festival, it is necessary that the streets are well-lit. If a large stretch of a road plunges into darkness, it will cause several problems to motorists.
Allaying such fears, A Tamboli, senior spokesperson, BEST, said, "There is no need to worry as these streetlights will be maintained by the existing contractor till the new ones are appointed." Since the contract has expired, it is not mandatory for the contractor to maintain the lights. In that case, it is the responsibility of the BEST to maintain the streetlights. But BEST doesn't have the manpower to do so.
The undertaking incurs an expense of Rs 2 lakh every month for the comprehensive maintenance of streetlights during the contract period. The average life of a streetlight pole is around 10 to 12 years. The life of streetlight poles depends on geographical conditions and the quality of the road they are installed on, among other things.
Currently, around 15 per cent of the streetlights have been installed on or before the year 2000. BEST has already begun inspection of these streetlights. They are also contemplating the use of LED lamps for their streetlights, as it will help them save at least 40 per cent on electricity bills.


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Jacob Kepas the Baptist minister, native to Papua New Guinea (raised in the eastern part of the mainland), has assisted a number of Americans, for many years, in searching for the ropen. Few persons have contributed more to cryptozoological expeditions searching for living pterosaurs. Here is what is written about him on one blog, "The Bible and Modern Pterosaurs":
. . . Kepas and his guide described how they had observed the sleeping winged creature. They had tried to videotape it from the hill they had climbed, but the resulting footage was poor . . . But even with binoculars, Kepas had been uncertain that it was the creature that they sought until his guide climbed up higher for a better view, confirming that it was an indava. . . . Regarding the objectiveness of Kepas, in his 2006 sighting of what was identified as an indava, consider this: Kepas himself voiced his uncertainty that what he was observing was the creature that they had sought; the distance and viewing angle made identification difficult. After the other man had climbed higher, obtaining a better viewing angle, it was confirmed to be an indava. This confirms that Kepas is capable of objectiveness in his observations, for he did not force a conclusion when the conditions were inadequate for certainty.
As I recall, this photo of Pastor Kepas was for requesting financial assistance for one or more of the churches in Papua New Guinea (a roof for a church and new hymn books, or something like that), so, for those to whom it may apply, your assistance would be very much appreciated. The contact person in Papua New Guinea would probably be the American missionary James Blume. Thank you.


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Odemwingie To Fulham?
Silly season returns, and it's being reported that Fulham have lodged a £3m plus performance related additions for our striker.
The Daily Mail are saying that Martin Jol has moved for the striker as he has doubts about the futures of Adam Johnson and Bobby Zamora.
They state Albion are demanding in the region of £5m up front, but Fulham prefer £3m plus additional clauses based on his success.
It won't be the first Odemwingie link, but I'd be amazed if we moved him on now that he seems to be getting back to firing on all cylinders.
Vital West Brom on:
Vital West Brom on:


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It's the breaking point: the moment when someone has pushed you too far and you know that the rest of your time with that person will be spent managing as you find a way to make your exit.
The moment you realize you've had enough is so awkward because, usually, in addition to feeling angry and possibly embarrassed or ashamed, you are asking yourself "how the FUCK will I get out of this." (If this is happening in your head, how censored are you really going to be?)
So then you start assessing how this is going to go down, how you're going to make your escape and possibly let the other person know that you are D.O.N.E. This is when ideas of revenge start flooding through your head and you make a list.
Contemplating the list gives your rational brain a split second in which to punch through the other side and keep your anger from boiling over.
It's a split second that can determine how much longer you will live with someone, how much longer you will continue in your present job or how much longer you will sit in a chair at a conference.
These situations usually involve a compromise in dignity. Professional life seems especially rife with personal indignity because the stakes are high. If you have a mortgage or aren't sure how you would otherwise make money…yeah. Work or even peer situations in our industry can require checking your dignity at the door and putting up with some awful shit. Maybe you hate yourself for it and maybe there really isn't a good way out even after you assess all of your options.
And then you get to that moment with a boss who keeps pointing out what they feel are your numerous personal failures while you're sitting in the middle of a crowded open office with people swirling all around you in oblivion as the insults fly or you're stuck listening to someone at a conference on or off of a stage who is saying things that offend you so deeply you just want to jump up and scream, ENOUGH!!!
What happens next?
Here is what I did:
I had just moved to the Bay Area and was attending my first tech Meetup in San Francisco. It was exciting to finally talk to some people and to participate in the San Francisco "tech scene." I noticed that there were even a few women in the audience which made me happy. There were 2 speakers on the schedule and the second speaker was in the middle of his talk when he cut to a slide of naked male parts. You know what he said?
"This is San Francisco, I'm sure we're all ok with this."
I was not ok.
I was disgusted and embarrassed. I looked around at everyone else looking around. My internal conversation went something like this:
Angry Marlena: I'm gonna stand up and scream at that motherfucker that IT IS NOT OK!!!!!!!!
Friendly Marlena: Shut up! You came here to make friends! Who will want to be friends with you if you shout down a speaker at this tech talk where you don't know a soul?
Angry Marlena: (Heavy sigh) Fine! But I'm gonna stand up anyway and just STARE HIM DOWN!
Friendly Marlena: Would you shut up! That'll just make you look crazy.
Angry Marlena: $%^^%$$%^&(&%$%^&*(*^%$#$^&**&
Friendly Marlena: %#$%^&J#$@#$#&^((^$#&*^%$#%@#%^%^&*&$
After another 2 minutes of mortification, I noticed that the bus I needed to catch would be arriving directly across the street in 15 minutes, so I got up and quietly exited. It was a while before I came back to San Francisco for a Meetup.
But that's not my only example.
A few months later, I was at an internal corporate conference (for someone other than my current employer), sitting in one of those "seating areas" with some co-workers. The conference had just wrapped up and we were all sitting around being pretty quiet as our energy was at a low ebb. Through the thin veil of fake-conference-plants behind me, I overhead a conversation.
"But how do you get the motion of them so that they're nice and bouncy? Like you just want to grab 'em?"
"Oh, there's a library for that. I love using it for 3-D tits."
People who know me will know exactly the look that was on my face.
The conversation continued and I kept doing my best to let it go. I was not in the best place with my job at the time, and it would have been horrific timing for me to rock any kind of boat. This made it hard to have a realistic perspective in the moment.
Also, as an aside, I'd just like to say that I LOVE California for making people at larger companies take an online workplace harassment course created by the state. With the B-movie actors and the hysterically cheesy script, I laughed my way through when I took it, but there have been so many times when I've been glad that I took it and glad that my co-workers have also taken it. It set the right baseline.
Back to the conversation about how to create the best virtual female parts.
I tried to be quiet. I did. But I wasn't. I jumped up, turned around and screamed, "WOULD YOU STOP TALKING ABOUT ME???!!!!!!!"
The guy turned around with the most freaked out look on his face and he screamed back, "NO, NO, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU!!!!"
That was the end of it. Was there a better way to handle this? Of course there was! But, the split-second opportunity for my rational brain to make a better assessment was not long enough. I guess this was me finding my voice, and even though I'm not 100% proud of what I did, I'm glad that I did something because if I hadn't said something, I would have been bottling my rage at this incident for the next unfortunate person who told an inappropriate joke in a professional situation.
And that's the double-edged sword that gets plunged through your heart when you've been pushed too far:
- If you don't do anything and stay quiet, you bottle your emotions up for later which means you'll be even more rage-tastic the next time something similar happens even if the offhand comment isn't as cut-and-dried or your boss is making the only fair point he's ever gonna make.
- On the other hand, if you do say something, plenty of people will say you're a crazy paranoid freak on a rant and you just might get fired (in Joan's case, burned at the stake).
At this point, I've been through enough to know that no matter how bad things get immediately after you say what you need to say, even if you lose your job or popular opinion is not on your side, at least you've said your peace and let it go.
My thoughts are with Adria Richards.


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Wine in NY food stores – food in NY wine stores? A 2,400 part series
Buying crudité and rosé at the same time might help New York solve its budgetary woes. Or so Governor Paterson thinks.
That's why he has proposed to allow food stores to sell wine, a subject we discussed the day the idea was floated. To recap the budgetary logic, he proposed to more than double the excise tax on wine and increase the points of sale beyond the 2,400 wine and liquor stores in the state and allow the 19,000 grocery stores to sell wine. The Governor's office estimates that it will bring in an additional $150 million over three years, presumably from new store license fees and excise taxes rather than an increase in overall purchases. The deficit for next year alone is forecast to be $15 billion.
Shortly after I moved to New York State from Chicago four years ago, I was looking for a supermarket wine for a story and wondered where you found "supermarket wine" in New York. The answer is epitomized in this store I saw the other day, which we can call "Wines & Liqu" since that's the only part of the neon sign that was illuminated. It's these stores, uninspiring package stores, that don't much invest in human capital and stock high-volume brands that will be most threatened by the impending change.
But alongside the Wines & Liqu stores are thriving boutiques that is probably the best concentration of wine stores in the universe. Check them out on my map of NYC wine stores if you want to explore some of the rich tapestry that blankets NYC. In the best of times, these stores would have little to fear from Costco, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Food Emporium, and Fresh Direct (oh wait, they already do) selling wine. But this is not the best of times; it is the worst of times economically so an erosion of even a small percentage of these stores' business could bring them to the edge of a precipice.
So the challenge for these stores is to make this into an opportunity. One option is to take a page from the Chicago store playbook and add cheese, cured meats, and craft beers, sort of a gourmet deli with a strong wine focus. Another option is to continue to invest in staff training, since big box retailers all too often let the flaps of paper do the talking. In my view, the staff represents one of the great assets of small stores; forming a good relationship with someone on the staff can be worth it's weight in, well, Cabernet. A final strategy that requires more capital (you remember back when banks made loans, don't you?), would be taking a winning wine store and expand it to other parts of the city or state.
Many stores offer a discount to purchases of 12 bottles or more, in part because they get volume discounts when they buy from wholesalers. But food stores selling wine could siphon off the one or two bottle customer. Far be it for me to want to clog up my wallet any more, but perhaps a loyalty card scheme might come in handy and apply a discount retroactively after twelve bottles purchased. Or take a page from the air miles rewards program and offer customers tiered service through loyalty discounts or other perks based on total expenditure in the year. Price competition is likely to be more acute in the next chapter of NY wine retail, particularly if interstate wine shipping becomes a more widespread reality (but even this holds within it the opportunity to legally expand the market for boutique wines to states that don't have such a varied selection).
Could interesting wines end up on supermarket shelves? Absolutely; I've certainly gotten interesting wines in supermarkets in Chicago and California. But supermarkets often operate with a regional buyer who sets up an approved list. And the list at even the best may not be extensive and small wineries, often the source of tasty bargains and interesting splurges, may not on the list since they don't have sufficient volumes to supply a regional or national chain. As to drinking locally made wine, it's probably a fair guess that since most wineries in New York don't produce a lot of volume, they wouldn't be winners under the reform either.
It will be fascinating to see what New York wine retail looks like in five years, assuming the proposed legislation passes. But to survey what the situation looks like now and hopefully generate some ideas, I've talked to several wine shop owners about their stores and their thoughts going forward. Check back for the first in our 2,400 part series, Better Know a Wine Shop.


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How Do I Love Thee
by Richard Soule
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Like many men, I suspect, I do not welcome the questions "how or why do you love me?" Either by nature or cultural programming, most men are just not wired for emotional confessions. Perhaps we fall back on a snippet of poetry we remember from some high school English class: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..." We probably can't go past the first line or maybe the second ("I love three to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach"), but then we're lost. "Go on," my wife would say, but I'm at a loss. It's not surprising that classic love poem was penned by a woman (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, #43, 1850).
"I love you because I'm commanded to," I offered recently. That wasn't received all that well, but let me suggest in this issue of ET&N that it is the best possible affirmation of love, more reliable and lasting than a mere poet can conceive.
Biblical Love
Koine Greek, the primary language of the New Testament, included at least five words for specific kinds of love, four of which are used in Bible.
The idea we usually associate with "love"�EROS (romantic or sexual love), from which we derive the word "erotic"�is never used in the New Testament. It is not that the Bible denigrates sexual love. In fact, an entire Old Testament book (Song of Songs) is laced with it, and it is viewed as a vital part of marriage. I find Paul's view of marital sex a bit stilted but since he was apparently never married, he can be forgiven if he does not fully appreciate this marvelous gift of God. He seems to prefer that no one ever had sex, allowing it in marriage "so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (1 Corinthians 7:5b, ESV).
God created hormones, sex, and human sexual desire. Properly exercised, it is a form of glue that binds husband and wife together. As such, it does not merely serve to keep us from sinful expressions of eros, it also reinforces the other forms of love.
A second type of love, familiar love�love of parents for children or children for parents�is STORGE, and is only used in a negative sense in the New Testament. In his list of sinful behaviors in Romans 1, Paul includes astorgos, which is translated "unloving" (NASB), "heartless" (ESV, NIV), "without natural affection" (KJV, YLT), or "show no kindness" (NCV). Paul was probably referring to those who lacked the normal love and concern for their own families (1:31).
SPLAGCHON literally refers to internal organs (spleen, intestines, heart) but figuratively means "emotions," such as sympathy, pity, or affection. Paul, for example, used splagchon in Philippians 1:8�"For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection [splagchon] of Christ Jesus." John used it in 1 John 3:17: "But if anyone has the world�s goods, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart [splagchon] against him, how does God's love [agape] abide in him?" That Paul refers to the affection (sglagchon) of Jesus helps demonstrate His humanity. He had emotions like the rest of us and certainly wrestled with competing emotions.
Another type of love is PHILEO, which is used many times in the New Testament. This is a close love, often rendered "brotherly love." It is the type of love Jesus had for Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha (John 11:3). Phileo is a deep, meaningful love, as demonstrated by a comment by Jesus: "the Father himself loves [phileo] you, because you have loved [phileo] me and have believed that I came from God" (John 16:27).
The final form of love�some would say the highest form�is AGAPE. It is also the most difficult for human beings to display because it is self-sacrificing and altruistic. While the expression of phileo or storge might call for giving others what they want, agape calls for giving what they need, implying both an intimate knowledge of the individual and a sense of the larger picture of human existence. Agape is the kind of love God displays towards people: "For God so loved [agapao] the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16.) and "Greater love [agape] has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). These are God's answers to Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetic question�"How do I love thee?"
Regardless of how difficult it may be for humans to maintain agape, however, that is precisely the kind of love we are called to. It calls for denial of self, putting the needs of others first.
The well-known exchange between Peter, who had denied Jesus, and the resurrected Jesus, who knew Peter needed reassurance and rehabilitation in order to fulfill his particular mission, involved both phileo and agape. The conversation goes like this:
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'
"He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'
"He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep'" (John 21:15-17).
English versions almost always lose the nuances of the interaction because of the use of "love" as a translation for different Greek words. The first two times Jesus asks Peter "Do you love me?" (vv. 15-16) He uses the word agape, but in his responses, "You know that I love you," Peter uses the word philao. A better translation/ interpretation therefore might be "Peter, are you prepare to sacrifice yourself for me?" to which Peter responds, "Lord, you know I care about you."
It sounds as if Peter, knowing how he failed on the night before Jesus' crucifixion, could not bring himself to claim an unqualified commitment�a marked change from his brash "I will lay down my life for you" (John 13:37). There is an overtone of shame in Peter's response to Jesus�"I care about you, but I have shown that I lacked complete agape."
The third time Jesus asks "Do you love me?" (v. 17), He uses philao. It is as if Jesus understands that Peter's shame prevents him from claiming total self-sacrifice and in using philao says, "I understand that you lack confidence. Philao is enough is enough for now." Jesus does not leave it at that, however; He goes on to tell Peter that he will sacrifice himself for the Gospel: "...when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go" (John 21:18b).
God knows, of course, that it is not in human nature to love consistently. Scripture therefore includes many commands about loving�God (Mark 12:30) and others (Mark 12:31). The works of John (his Gospel and his letters) are particularly identified with the importance of love in the Christian life.
As I said in the introduction, my wife was less than impressed when I told her once that I love her because I am commanded to do so. She probably would have preferred to hear I love her because she is a beautiful woman, a great mother, a caring wife, a sensitive giver, a wonderful teacher, a thrifty shopper, a creative cook, or a deep thinker (all of which she is), but I'd like to suggest that my perception of all of those characteristics and others is inconsistent and unreliable. Consequently, the only genuinely meaningful and reliable reason for love comes from God's commands.
Part of this hinges on how we view God's commands�as capricious, dictatorial demands or as paternal guidelines for human joy. The fleshly self tends to resent authority, but the renewed self is submissive and understands that God's commands are issued out of agape love�knowing what we need rather than what we want.
So, with apologies to Ms. Browning, let me offer something to my wife publicly that I do far too little privately:
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
In eros, we conceived
Our beautiful child,
Our greatest gift.
And continue to share
Our vulnerable shells
In ways no other can.
We share our storge
For our children,
Delighting in their faithfulness,
And agonizing in their missteps.
We are together
In celebration and agony.
Just as that first time,
My splagchon leaps
When you enter a room
And simply smile
Or come my way
With a gentle touch.
You are what God
Knows I need,
And among His perfect commands,
This is the easiest to obey.
Yes, I love thee
To the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach.
With profound agape
I would gladly sacrifice
Myself for you.
Jesus says there is
No marriage in heaven.
But when we leave this life
For timelessness wiht Him,
We will still be together
Best friends...forever.
This article was originally distributed as an issue of Ekklesia Then & Now (ET&N), a free bi-weekly essay available through the inJesus.com service.
For more information on ET&N or to subscribe, go to www.ETandN.com
� Richard M. Soule, 2005
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright � 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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(part one)
I've stated prior that my cocktail tends to make focus/concentration difficult, especially when I'm excited about something. That being said, I'm breaking this ode to my love for Rooibos tea into parts, so as to not come across like a total spaz.
Picture it: Kauai, 2002. Your driver's license got lost at the airport before you left the mainland, so the best way to get around this Paradise is mountain bike. You spend peak sunshine hours biking in red clay dirt, with the waves and lava outcroppings on one side, fragrant trees and the mountains on the other. After returning your bikes, you find a cafe, as you're parched for refreshment.
Hawaii. The most beautiful place on Earth was where I was introduced to Rooibos tea. That cafe had some kind of hippie/granola iced tea, full of ingredients I had never heard of. I tried it, and it's not those other ingredients that stick to my memory— it's the baseline of that Rooibos flavor. Simple, comforting, and a little exotic— just like Hawaii.
Within a month of returning home, I ordered a canister of Rooibos (with mango bits, if I recall correctly), and that canister held me over for a few years.
A little bit on the history of this tea:
Shortly after Whitey arrived to colonize the Cape of Good Hope (17th cent.), in what we now call South Africa, local Khoisan tribesmen were observed harvesting a local shrub, bruising it with crude implements, and leaving it out in the sun to dry. Afterward, when oxidation/fermentation turned the leaves red, the product was brewed in water for use as a tea, a tonic, and a topical medicine for any number of skin ailments.
The Cape is in a biome that is unique to South Africa. The Afrikaans call it the "Fynbos" and science calls it the "Cape Floral Kingdom." The flowering plants here are found nowhere else in the world. Within this region, Rooibos only grows naturally in the Cederburg Mountains, about 300km north of the Cape.
The centuries of internecine war that followed between European powers meant that oftentimes "globalism" was interrupted; it became too difficult and/or expensive for settlers to obtain standard tea from India/China. Therefore, both the Anglo and Boer settlers began drinking what they called red or redbush tea. To this day, a "red latte" or a "red espresso" is a South African beverage made in coffee's style, but with Rooibos instead.
And now, a bit on nomenclature:
It frustrates me a bit that technically the only true tea is the beverage brewed from the camelia sinensis plant. By this I mean all black teas and green teas. As in: "tea" as we know it is naturally caffeinated.
Why does this frustrate me? Because I arrived late in the game to "tea." Continental Europeans don't really drink tea the way the Brits do; for them, it's an herbal tea or "tisane" before bed, as a reward for a hard day.
So we call Rooibos "red tea" but it's actually not a "tea." Further, by nutritional standards, it's not even an "herb." Rooibos has so many valuable minerals and plant compounds that technically it is classified as a "dietary supplement."
Why? Rooibos is calorie-free and teeming with mineral salts, or electrolytes, that dissolve in water. These compounds pass through a cell membrane, telling each cell they enter to absorb MORE WATER. Electrolytes also improve your body's electrical current, speeding up neuron response time (I'm not a scientist; this took a lot to get my brain around).
In other words, Rooibos tea is more hydrating than a bottle of smart water, with plenty of additional and unique plant compounds besides that (I will hold off on these amazing substances for the next part). That it contains NO caffeine only ups its ability to deliver water to your body.
And it's for these purposes, and more, that Rooibos is an IDEAL choice of tea for those suffering from compromised immunity.
One week after diagnosis and a week before I began my meds, I decided to try an aggressive Rooibos regimen for 2014:
5 cups of strongly-steeped (10 minutes plus) tea per day, saving grounds for later.
Rooibos is an adaptogen, a term created by Soviet scientists in 1959 after discovering the unique homeostatic properties of the Siberian root Rhodiola Rosea (more on this later). Homeostasis is taken most seriously in the field of pharmacology, as a certain "balance" or "equilibrium" is every Rx's desired outcome.
An adaptogenic herb is a grand equalizer, as in: tired? it will perk you up; wired? it will calm you down. The plant compounds in adaptogens stabilize blood sugar levels, aiding in fat loss; they also contain minerals which aid muscle gain. These are just examples, but a true adaptogen, at its core, is a substance you CANNOT overdose on, as its main purpose is to nudge you toward internal balance.
A month in, here is what I am noticing (and I will submit the disclaimer that I started my meds during this period, so some of these benefits may be indirectly associated with my Rx):
- the health of my hair and nails is rebounding— remember, I'm in the deep-freeze, and therefore it's very dry out. Usually this time of year my nails are very weak and my hair begins to break. NOT AT ALL this winter;
- I brew a pitcher before bed. I drink tea from a latte cup, so that's 40% of my "requirement" right there. When I go to bed, I go to sleep— I do not toss and turn, I do not get up in the middle of the night. When I wake up, I feel rested.
- Hold onto the leftover tea from that pitcher, pour into a decanter or 2liter bottle with ice cubes/honey and chill overnight in the fridge. As I mentioned in my last post, I get nauseous/barfy/etc pretty easily these days. I drink a cup of iced rooibos tea first thing in the AM and I swear I can almost feel the soothing liquid calm my digestive system. I'd like to say it's helping me crave foods that are better for me, but it could be that I'm more aware of what I'm ingesting overall.
- I'm reluctant to go into heavy science in this "prologue," but since the umbrella topic is HIV, I will say: a compound in Rooibos has been shown to have a natural effect upon suppressing the cytopathicity of HIV (as in: gets in the way of its replication). Compounds in Rooibos also aid in Interleukin expression. Interleukins perform many roles, but most have to do with immunity. HIV in the gut will attempt to disrupt Interleukin communication.
So. Before I continue, dear reader, I would like to recommend you ALL try a "4 Week Rooibos Challenge." It will make my pep and zeal for this "tea" seem much more plausible LOL.


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Silicon Valley Conjoined Triangles of Success T-Shirt
Richard is just becoming acquainted with Conjoined Triangles of Success, but as soon as he gets the hang of it, Pied Piper will be the next Silicon Valley powerhouse, right? The ridiculous business model may have led New CEO Jack Barker to success in the past, but perhaps Richard's got the right idea not wanting to follow this how shall we put it? square. Whether it works for Pied Piper or is too big a compromise, show you've got a mind for success and humor with the Silicon Valley Conjoined Triangles of Success T-Shirt. Learn from one of the best in the biz: Success is the compromise between growth, sales, engineering and manufacturing. He can't make this stuff up even though he literally just did.
Read MoreLess
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- Color: Black
- Made Of: 100% Cotton
- Weight: 1
2.52.5(2 reviews)See all 2 reviews
Reviewed by 2 customers
- Stylish
- Thin Material
Best Uses
- Casual Wear
Comments about this product:
I love how only people who watch the show get it.
- Fit:
- Feels true to size
- Length:
- Feels true to length
- Was this a gift?:
- No
- Soft
- Loses Shape
- Poor Quality
- Thin Material
Best Uses
Comments about this product:
I figured for the price of the shirt the material/quality would be a bit better.
- Fit:
- Feels true to size
- Length:
- Feels too long
- Was this a gift?:
- No


text:
I started the Paleo Plan in only three weeks immediately before Thanksgiving in 2009. I had done research and some preliminary planning and content aggregation beforehand, but really moved into sprint mode at the beginning of November.
Working quickly and with agile methods, I got the site live and started tested user feedback. By harnessing AdWords search ads, I was able to quickly drive a sizable amount of traffic and adapt to the immediate feedback. Within 45 days I had paid off my initial cash investment, and the site is now very profitable.
The goal of the site is to help make following the Paleo Diet easier, by providing tools and resources and shopping lists.
Who I work with:
Holly Glaspey
What I did:
I was in charge of strategy, planning, overseeing the design, production, content aggregation and development, marketing, customer service, and whatever else. Holly Glaspey did all design and helps with ongoing content production.


text: Using geothermal energy for heating asphalt surfaces on bridge decks can prevent the need for winter maintenance, minimise the use of de-icing salt, and contribute to increased road safety. The _rst application of this bridge heating technology was implemented in 2010 on an arched composite road bridge, with a suspended deck in Germany. The objective of this trail is to warm the asphalt surfacing during winters. Such a system can also be used in the summer for cooling the asphalt layer in order to reduce the unwanted rutting and help minimise maintenance costs. The trial is carried out on behalf of BASt, the German Federal Highway Research Institute.


text:
With that being said, LOOK at all the wonderful works of art that this week's challenge inspired!
Next week's challenge will be *Peaches and Cream*, brought to us by our lovely Sharon of Mana Moon Studios. Thanks so much Sharon! Please stop back by tomorrow for more details on this new challenge. Also, don't forget that the winner of November's Giveaway will be announced on Tuesday, December 1.
Thank you so much to everyone that participated! I am just in awe of these wonderful works of art.


text:
While executing a search warrant Tuesday night, police uncovered a marijuana distribution operation in Hermitage, seizing 12 guns in the process.
A complaint led members of the Metro police Specialized Investigations Division and the Gang Unit to 5017 Bonnavista Dr., where they found eight pounds of marijuana in brick form and the weapons, which included an AK-47-type rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun.
Police stopped the resident, Jonathan Andrew Campbell, 30, as he arrived to the scene. In his car were two loaded semi-automatic pistols and an extended 30-round magazine, according to police.
Officers said Campbell, after they read him his rights, also admitted to storing marijuana inside a safe at the home. There, police found four two-pound bricks and seven firearms, including an AR-15 rifle.
The AK-47 was found next to his bed along with a semi-automatic pistol in his nightstand, and a 12-gauge shotgun in between the mattress and box springs.
Police charged Campbell with possession of marijuana for resale in a drug-free school zone (he lives within 1,000 feet of Hermitage Elementary School), possession of drug paraphernalia, and a Crooks with Guns law violation. His bond was set at $40,000.


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Of course, once a signal were established, the LHC experiments would certainly want to measure all its properties as precisely as possible: mass, angular distributions, cross section in all the production mechanisms, and decay modes.
In theoretical terms, determining angular distributions would answer the question "is this a scalar particle", or "what is its spin-parity", something technically labeled as "0+" in the standard model, much like the blood type of most of us. Definitely a very important theme; but maybe even more important would be to use the production and decay information to decrypt the higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, and crucially, its self couplings.
"Self coupling" means that a particle can split into two copies of themselves (in the simplest realization): definitely not something trivial to do for matter particles, and indeed, fermions cannot do it, for a number of reasons (charge conservation, or angular momentum conservation, come to mind). Bosons instead are not prevented by the conservation of angular momentum rules, so the question is whether they possess or not other quantum numbers that would change in a 1->2 or 1->3 process. Photons cannot split into two photons, for example, because of the conservation of charge conjugation.
A boson which is perfectly happy to split into copies of itself is the gluon. The presence of a self-coupling of gluons is in fact built into the theory of gluons - Quantum Chromodynamics, QCD - because QCD is based on a non-abelian gauge group, SU(3). For the Higgs, the group-theory reason of the existence of three- and four-particle vertices is to be found in the very electroweak symmetry breaking mechanism, which in the unitary gauge does the miracle of creating mass degrees of freedom to W and Z bosons. I will not bother you with mathematical expressions, but the two things really have the same source in the standard model: the Higgs has self couplings if EWSB works the way it is supposed to. So comparing measured and predicted Higgs boson self couplings is the ultimate dream of the Higgs phenomenologist !
The paper therefore examines the possibilities to measure these self couplings. What we need to do is find processes whereby two Higgs bosons are simultaneously produced: this would both be due to independent Higgs boson radiation (off a quark line, for instance), and from the production of a single Higgs boson which then materialized a pair, thanks to the self interaction; some possible leading-order diagrams are shown in the figure on the right. One would thus need to measure the production precisely in order to understand how much of the total rate is due to the self interaction diagram. And alas, double Higgs production is predicted to be quite rare at the LHC !
Theoretical calculations indicate that the rate is of the order of one thousandth of the production of a single Higgs; then of course, if self interaction were much larger (due to some new physics intervening in the double Higgs production, for instance), one would observe more than that. But can such a few-femtobarns-cross-section process be seen ? That is the question to address. One should consider the full powers of a endgame LHC, that is 14 TeV running conditions and hundreds, or even thousands, of inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity. In that case, it seems that the thing is doable -but only marginally so.
Having read the article, which deals with details of the most promising signatures (e.g. when the two Higgs bosons are produced "boosted", recoiling against a hard jet, or when the Higgs decay into specific topologies that may beat other standard model backgrounds), I am unsure whether I should be excited by the prospect, or draw home the lesson that if the LHC finds the Higgs we need to build a different machine to study in detail its properties. The latter points to a linear collider as the natural choice: but a linear collider had been advocated for decades as "the" machine to build after the LHC "because LHC would find SUSY particles, and then we'd need to study them in detail in a linear collider". Now using the same argument with only the Higgs boson as a target appears problematic to me...
Hi Tommaso,
very nice post! I'd like to point out that the first of the Feynman graphs is zero due to color conservation.
We forgot to add that to the figure caption ;-)
Cheers Chris.
Higgs coupling was already observed in form of top quarks decays or not? According to this interpretation, a top quark bound by to its anti-matter partner, the antitop, would act as a version of the elusive Higgs boson, conferring mass on other particles. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110723/full/news.2011.436.html
By the way, the article mistakenly attributes the top quark condensation idea to Christopher Hill. The idea came from Nambu, Jona-Lasino 1961, Nambu 1988, Miransky et al 1989, Tanabashi and Yamawaki.
The reason of why Higgs field exists is essentially dual to the reason, why in general relativity the flat Universe cannot exist. The space must be always curved, or it couldn't exist at all. The water surface analogy of space-time demonstrates that every space, i.e. the path requiring some time for its passing must be composed of huge amount of tiny gradients, the overcoming of whose requires repetitive acceleration and deceleration. The cumulation of large amount of these gradients is what makes the traveling trough space so slow, i.e. the space so large. But the requirement of these gradients introduces the necessity of some intrinsic inhomogeneity of space-time, i.e. the presence of Brownian noise. Without Brownian noise the water surface is unthinkable and it couldn't be composed of particles. Well, and the Higgs field is the manifestation of this intrinsic inhomogeneity of the space-time at quantum scale. It principally doesn't differ from CMBR noise at the human distance scale.
The Higgs field therefore manifests in the same way, like the CMBR field: with Yukawa force, which is low-dimensional analogy of Cassimir-Polder force at the microscopic scale and it's responsible for gluing of massive particles into pairs, for example for formation of top-quark pairs. The simplest way, how to detect the Higgs field is therefore the detection of particle pairs, i.e. symmetrical products of particle collisions occurring in particle accelerators. The main problem in interpretation of Higgs boson in this way is, in Standard Model it should manifest preferably with formation of heavier particle pairs rather than with production of gamma ray photons. It's because the massive particles exhibit more intensive Yukawa force than the lightweight ones. We know about dimers of top quarks, but not about dimers of up/down quarks. This is the introductory point of the characterization of LHC collision products as a Higgs boson compliant with Standard Model.
IMO the most probable explanation of this controversy is in fact, the Standard Model is not complete yet and it allows the forth generation of particles: the superheavy quarks and neutrinos. The pairing of these particles in Higgs field is indeed the most intensive, but because these particles are extremely unstable, they decay directly into shower of gamma ray photons before they can be detected as such. Which is what we are observing by now: the excess of gamma photons pairs over the pions and muon pairs. Therefore the most systematic explanation in context of Standard Model would probably consist from introduction of the fourth mixing angle into Cabbibo matrix and from consideration of quark oscillations between third and fourth particle generation. To prove this model we should detect this oscillation first for example for neutrinos and maybe even for top quarks directly.
Zephir said, "The reason of why Higgs field exists is essentially dual to the reason, why in general relativity the flat Universe cannot exist. The space must be always curved, or it couldn't exist at all."
That's not true at all. When the universe 'burns out' and all mass decays into energy, there will be no gravity left to curve spacetime. And furthermore, spacetime was flat before the big bang. And further-furthermore, the entire discussion may be mute because there is ample evidence the big bang didn't happen. And finally-furthermore, I guarantee that either the Higgs particle is not found, or if it is found it is not the 'higgs' particle and it certainly isn't behind the mechanism that endows mass. Hit me up after July 4th and I'll explain it to you in detail.
> and all mass decays into energy
> there will be no gravity left to curve spacetime.
Since when does energy density not have gravitational effects?
> there is ample evidence the big bang didn't happen.
> I guarantee that either the Higgs particle is not found, or if it is found it is not the 'higgs' particle
You better buy a toaster for this guarantee. You will need it.
> Hit me up after July 4th and I'll explain it to you in detail.
Do you even know what a complex number is?
>> and all mass decays into energy
> Eh?
Eh what? You seem confused. No worries, I'll restate for your benefit. There will necessarily come a time when the universe expands to a point where all physical matter comprising 'mass' has 'decayed'. The term 'mass' is employed above because people who comprehend the meaning of E=mc^2 understand that 'mass' is rightfully used interchangeably with the term 'matter' when the main context of the discussion revolves around 'matter', and those people would not make the mistake of confusing matter and mass-energy. The term 'decay' is employed above because it more clearly demonstrates the final state that the universe will take, which is a state wherein entropy has increased to a maximum, whereby the totality of invariant mass contained in all matter has been reduced to energy, whereby all particle production has ceased, and whereby this state will become eternal unless the total energy contained in the universe allows it to contract given the radius it will have at the point of total matter-->energy conversion.
>> there will be no gravity left to curve spacetime.
>Since when does energy density not have gravitational effects?
Don't quite understand that one. Maybe you meant to ask, 'since when does a gravitational field not have an energy density'?
And since when was there a quantum theory of gravity?
Regardless, I'll answer your 'question'. At the precise and potentially discontinuous time (discontinuous in the case the universe is allowed to contract when it reaches the expansion/contraction interface radius), when all matter has been transformed to energy such that the total rest mass of the universe is zero (i.e. total mass of particles which are _allowed_ to be put at rest so that they can have their mass measured in the first place), such that spacetime has its metric converted to a form equipped with a tensor which does not provide for the curvature which is necessary for gravity to arise.
> there is ample evidence the big bang didn't happen.
Sorry, I don't speak 'Idiot'. Would you please translate? And if you get a chance to take a break from that, read up a little on the galaxies that exist which are older than the universe itself (where the big-bang necessarily defines a time zero). But that's only if you have the energy to translate all that text you need to read from English into your native tongue of Idiot.
>> I guarantee that either the Higgs particle is not found, or if it is found it is not the 'higgs' particle
> You better buy a toaster for this guarantee. You will need it.
Now, why did you truncate the most important part of my quote? I was conveying that if 'a' particle is found, it won't possess the function that the higgs boson is theorized to have.
>Do you even know what a complex number is?
Yes, I think I can maybe remember if I try real hard?? Do you even know the most basic principles geometry, let alone general relativity?
You know, I can be just as rude as you, if not more. And I'll fire back harder than you'll ever be able to fire in the first place. But if your method is to demean and ridicule people who have a different opinion than yours, or a level of intelligence that you incorrectly "perceive" to be lower than your "high-functioning" level, then that's your choice and your problem. But for the record, I ain't playin' that game with you.
In dense aether model the universe is steady state and infinite and the red shift is a product of light scattering with density fluctuations of vacuum. The galaxies are condensing and evaporating randomly in this model like giant fluctuations of dense gas. The vacuum fluctuations are independent on gravitational field created with massive objects, until space-time exists at long distance scale, this noise must exist too at the small scale. You may consider Mach principle in this regard: the bucket filled with water will "recognize" its rotation in the Universe even without any massive objects in its neighbourhood.
∇ψ = m φ
Here ∇ is the quaternionic nabla. ψ is the quantum state function of the particle. m is the coupling factor. m φ is the source term. ∇ψ is the corresponding drain.
It is a full quaternionic balance equation. Usually only the real part is taken as a balance equation. The Dirac equation also covers the imaginary part.
The source part φ can be interpreted as a QPAD that consists of the local superposition of the tails of the quantum state functions of distant particles. In that way it acts as an anchor that couples the quantum state function of the electron to all particles that exist in universe. This coupling establishes inertia. The principle of this coupling is treated in "The origin of inertia" by Denis Sciama
The factor m can be computed by multiplying both sides of the equation with the conjugate of φ and then taking the integral over the whole universe.
According to this view the QPAD φ has the functionality of the Higgs field.
See the manuscript at: http://www.e-physics.eu for more details.
Hi Tommaso,
Thank's for clarifying particle self-coupling in the Standard Model.
Joe P.
""0+" in the standard model, much like the blood type of most of us" -- NO,
the universal donor, not the majority blood type unless you are Hispanic. See
percentages at
I am a bit confused on the terminology. Strike that -- I'm very confused on the terminology.
The 'mexican hat' potential, which it often used to illustrate what is the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the ground state --- is this potential the "higgs field", and then the low energy field excitations in this potential are the "higgs bosons"? And is the shape of this potential the higgs "self-coupling"?
How are all these concepts related, and what precisely are the potential vs. field vs. non-zero vacuum expectation of the field vs the actual higgs bosons being measured, etc?
Isn't the form of the potential already affect the non-zero vacuum expectation, and thus do we really need a direct higgs boson to measure this? And why do we need two-higgs to see the self-coupling? Can't the self-coupling be seen with the interaction of a higgs-boson with the non-zero vacuum expectation?
For an essentially beginner physics student, I can never keep straight what the particle physicists mean by all these terms they seem to use interchangeable because of an (unrealistic in my opinion) hope that we can tell what they mean from the context what was actually meant.
I'd appreciate it very much if you could help clarify all this for me and others.
the self coupling of course affects the phenomenology of the particle, but the only way
to measure it directly is by observing the diagram on the right in the post above, or
similar ones.
To really understand where that arises from, you need to look at the electroweak
lagrangian and then apply the choice of vacuum, breaking the symmetry, and developing
the product of terms - you will get h^3 and h^4 expressions in the new lagrangian.
These are responsible for three- and four-particle vertices. I have no simpler way
to explain this unfortunately... It requires the math.
One imagines that a year or two more of LHC data would greatly refine both the predicted background and the predicted SM Higgs coupling event predictions, allowing analysis of older LHC combined with new LHC looking for evidence of a Higgs self-coupling to be conducted with greater power. For example, Higgs branching fractions appear to be quite sensitive to the Higgs boson mass even within a 123 GeV-127 GeV range, so pinning this and other details down could reduce the uncertainty in everything else and increase the significance of any detections of Higgs self-couplings. One also ought to be able to reduce systemic error as well as theoretical error at LHC by the tail end of the run through calibration of the results to date against theoretical benchmarks.
There oughts to be something on the order of 600,000+ Higgs events when the LHC is finished with its initial planned run, so getting a statistically significant result (even if it is not a 5 sigma result) once the parameters are tightened up on the SM v. non-SM hypothesis seems fairly doable. And, even a mere 2-3 sigma confirmation of a SM result is probably still good enough to rule out of lot of BSM theories to a much higher level of significance and with pretty narrow error bars.
to get a better feeling for sigmas, could you answer a question: when the W boson (or the Z boson) was discovered in the 1980s, roughly how many sigma did the data show at the time?
I am afraid I do not know the answer to that question; it might even be that the number of standard deviations was not quantified. I know that when Rubbia made his announcement he only had a handful of W events; however, they were very clean and backgrounds were very small to non-existent.
In the old days, one event could make a discovery: if you have zero background, one event has infinite significance in principle... The Omega minus, for instance, is a clear example: one event was sufficient to discover it (back in 1964).
thank you. Your answer suggests that the sigma number required/common for a discovery was much higher in the past. Why then do we only ask for 5 sigma now?
5 sigma are not "only" - they are a pretty tough level to reach for a signal. I thnk it would be much more sensible to go down to 4 sigma once one has corrected for the look-elsewhere effect, in fact, and I have been trying to converge on that in common meetings of the ATLAS and CMS statistics committees. But twenty intelligent physicists will have about 20 different opinions on such matters ;-)
Don't rule out the idea of a muon collider as the successor to the LHC.


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Taking you to a New Level of Health
We are in an extraordinary time of shift… and Ultimate Health is required.
What we are going through right now is the shift from merely surviving to boldly stepping into thriving.
What would life be like if you were thriving?
Beyond survival there is creativity, beauty, full self-expression, there is music and art. Beyond survival there is love, contribution, community.
Beyond survival there is Ultimate Health:
YOUR life fulfilled in every way such that your body, mind and passion work together harmoniously to give you FREEDOM, JOY and PEACE to be who you know you really are living the life of your deepest desire.
What do you really want?
What really matters to you?
NOW is the time…
to disappear your concern for your energy level, your hormones, your diet your exercise routine. It is time to move past the struggle to get through another day to wake up energized and excited to dive into playing full out in your life.
Dr. Sarah Marshall powerfully and compassionately guides her clients on the greatest adventure there is, the journey to Ultimate Health.
- The natural state is health. Dr. Marshall has the tools to restore your body to a state of ultimate well-being simply and efficiently.
- Your body isn't broken. It is talking to you! Dr. Marshall is an expert in interpreting your body's signals to rapidly regenerate balance.
- There is more to life then surviving. Dr. Marshall's programs lead you beyond simply "feeling better" to having an extraordinary experience of living.
By working with her you will learn how to take the necessary steps to transform your health and live a created life of your dreams.


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Fundamentals of Advanced Accounting
McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007 - Business & Economics - 618 pages
Fundamentals of Advanced Accounting, 2/e is ideal for those schools wanting to cover 12 chapters in their advanced accounting course. Typically, this course covers 5-6 consolidations chapters, two foreign currency chapters, two partnership chapters, and 2-3 governmental and not-for-profit chapters. Fundamentals of Advanced Accounting boasts the same great assets that have made the authors' longer Advanced Accounting a success, including the incorporation of the latest FASB pronouncements, the integration of skill preparation for the new CPA exam, and of course, great authorship.
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The Equity Method of Accounting
Accounting Procedures Used in Applying the Equity
Elimination of Unrealized Gains in Inventory
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Fundamentals of Advanced Accounting
Joe Ben Hoyle,Thomas F. Schaefer,Timothy S. Doupnik
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Joe Ben Hoyle,Thomas Schaefer,Timothy S. Doupnik
No preview available - 2003
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20 percent accrual acquired Additional paid-in capital Amerco amount assets and liabilities Assume balance sheet BigNet book value business combination capital balance carrying value cash flow common stock company's computed consolidated balance consolidated financial statements consolidated totals Consolidation Entry consolidation process consolidation worksheet Corporation cost method Current assets debt December 31 Depreciation expense Dividends paid economic unit concept eliminated Equipment exchange rate Exhibit fair value FASB financial records firm commitment foreign currency option foreign exchange forward contract funds hedge income statement intangible assets inventory investment account investor issued January Land liabilities and equities million noncontrolling interest operations outstanding owners ownership parent company concept partial equity method partners partnership payment pooling of interests preferred stock profit purchase method recognized reporting unit Retained earnings SFAS Smallport sold spot rate stockholders Sun Company Total assets Total liabilities transaction translation adjustment U.S. dollar unrealized gain variable interest entity worksheet entries


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Can your non-committed relationship lead you to happily ever after? Not without a little pillow talk
Here's how it typically goes down. One of you recognizes the proverbial butterflies indicating that that pheromonal musk you whiff is pure love. You anxiously reveal your newfound desire to be totally committed to a full-fledged relationship. Flabbergasted, your lover, a)says he needs time to think, gathers his clothes and bolts out the door; b) is perplexed by your change of heart because he is perfectly content with the way things are; or c) states that he feels the exact same way, rushes into your arms and agrees to let you to toss his hideous bachelor-pad furniture.
There's no way to know if your partner will respond in favor of your new-found adoration but one thing is for sure. You'll never get your happily ever after without begin honest about what you really want in your relationship. Friends with benefits tend to unravel because parties find themselves no longer on the same page. You'll begin fighting for something that was not initially an option. And on top of that, you will find yourself trying to establish an emotional comfort in a relationship that was built on less than solid footing.
While you may have carefully crafted this friends with benefits thing, true love can be totally unexpected, unplanned, and unconventional. Even if you feel the lovebug infiltrating your non-committed relationship, it's always best to be honest with yourself and your partner about where each you stands. Understanding that what you wanted in the beginning could and eventually will change over time is key. And it's okay if it does. What's not okay is changing the game but not telling all the players.
Could your friend with benefits turn into your longtime love. Perhaps. But certainly not without an attempt on both your parts to bridge the emotional gap left vacant by your lack of relationship status. If one of you isn't interested, it probably isn't meant to be. But if both of you are up for the challenge, it could be worth your while. Remember: in some of the most successful relationships, they were friends before they were lovers.


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Fall in New England leaves no shortage of weekend activities, especially when the weather is fine, and it's a wide open Saturday. This past weekend we slept past high tide, meaning we couldn't take the boat out for a final brunch at Liberty Wharf, as planned. But sometimes sleep is needed more than boating, and our plans quickly changed to a trip to Concord to check out the leaves and see what else we could find along the way.
First, we found tons of traffic heading to our hopeful first stop, Walden Pond. We decided to drive toward Concord center instead, and remembered that Verrill Farm was somewhere nearby. A quick GPS search and a few miles later, we were pulling up to the farm, which was having a harvest festival. The festival turned out to be for kids, so instead of going on a pony ride, we decided to put a dent in our week's grocery shopping at the farm store.
The farm store at Verrill Farm is pretty great, featuring baked goods, prepared foods, local milk, eggs, and cheese in addition to their own homegrown produce and their free range, Concord beef. If my grocery budget was larger, I would shop exclusively at a place like this. We figured buying some locally produced food was better than nothing though, and I love how the New England terroir shines through in the food we did buy.
Since we were so close to Acton, we HAD to go to the new-ish Bueno y Sano there. The Bueno y Sano in Amherst was one of my favorite parts of college. Their tacos and hot sauce are addictive, and I could eat them every day. If I could only find the hot sauce recipe somewhere, my life would be complete.
While we had a really great day, I do have a confession to make. I've recently decided that I dislike fall almost as much as winter. It's been too cold for me already, dark too early, and the dreary Sundays have meant little fall boating. The fall recipes I make tend to be delicious, but they're ugly in photos, photos that now lack natural light because it's dark too early! The one thing I love is fall produce, the beautiful colors and funny shapes and the plethora of uses in food and drink. Our trip to Verrill Farm helped me to shape our week's meal plan around local produce, something that excites me probably a lot more than it should.
On the menu this week:
pulled chicken sandwiches with vegetable bbq sauce – with apples, onion, and zucchini from Verrill Farm
roasted pumpkin, kale, lentil, and goat cheese salad – with sugar pumpkin from Verrill Farm
chicken sausage skillet – with potatoes and chicken sausage from Verrill Farm
roasted turnips and a turnip gratin
apple cider cocktails – apple cider from Verrill Farm, plus whiskey and pumpkin pie spice. . . yum!
What are you cooking up this week?
Related Posts :
Tags: apples, autumn, Concord, fall, fall foods, farms, New England, pumpkins, Travel
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Beautiful pictures and a perfect Autumn post!


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Television reception problems continue to plague local viewers, with the the dreaded 'atmospheric ducting' problem interfering with the signal of commercial broadcasts at times of temperature fluctuation. Unfortunately these fluctuations occur at the beginning and end of the day, coinciding with peak viewing times.
An indication that broadcasters were aiming to fix the problem by this summer has not been met. See earlier story here.
Resident Marian Rogan became a magnet for complaints about the interruptions, given representations she has made over the years to broadcasters and politicians in an effort to upgrade the transmission towers to overcome the problem. She feels it is now time for community action, as she has exhausted all avenues as a sole protester.
The latest response from communications minister Mitch Fifield, delivered via local member Barnaby Joyce, suggests those experiencing problems could apply to access VAST (Viewer Access Satellite Television).
"Should an application for VAST be denied, the applicant can submit a complaint to the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority)," Mr Fifield said. "The ACMA will then require the broadcasters to provide evidence that reliable terrestrial reception is available at the applicant's address or alternatively approve the application."
According to the VAST information website, the township falls into the 'good' category for TV reception, meaning residents won't automatically qualify for satellite access.
"Don't (the commercial broadcasters) have a license?" Mrs Rogan's husband Bob said. "Aren't they bound by that licence to provide good service? The government doesn't seem to care."
While it may be a means to an end, he doesn't feel VAST itself is a satisfactory alternative, given that it doesn't provide local content.
He feared that the threshold for 'acceptable service' may be something like receiving signal 90 per cent of the time which the service may reach, the issue being that the 10 per cent the stations are offline are peak viewing times.
"People have to complain in bulk," he said. "It's the only answer.
"We all know there's a technical problem and that it's expensive to fix. It might be acceptable to them, but they're not living in Tenterfield."
Mr Rogan said before the switch to digital television, it wasn't an issue.
"Why in this day and age is technology making us go backwards? For us, digital TV has been a backwards step."
Information on the application process for VAST is available here.


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The Building Managers: Libby Raines
A musician friend of Libby Raines recently said to her "You don't choose a life in music, it chooses you."
With a facility operations résumé that spans 32 years, Raines knew exactly what her friend meant.
"The same thing could be said for the event management life," she said. "Once you get into it, it just grabs ahold of you and doesn't let go."
"I figured out quickly that I wouldn't be happy starving," she said. "So when I came out of college with a liberal arts degree, I naturally didn't really have a career plan!"
Upon graduating in 1981, she took a short-term position in the ticket office of the Calgary Stampede, the city's annual fair and agricultural exhibition, where she spent a lot of time "counting deadwood" (unsold seats). In 1983, she became the second employee at the new $61 million Olympic Saddledome (now Scotiabank Saddledome) when the Stampede was awarded the building's management contract. When the Calgary Flames took over arena operations in 1994, she became an employee of the team and has held the position of vice president of building operations since 2001.
She has guided events around the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, three Stanley Cup playoff series and the 2006
|Raines prepares to drop the honorary puck at a Calgary Flames exhibition game at the Saddledome, which recognized her efforts to repair the arena from extensive flood damage.
Yet many of her most vivid memories include animals, rather than athletes or singers. One such event occurred about 25 years ago when a circus was in town.
"The Stampede was hosting their annual bull sale and the circus had come to town," she said. "The building was still in hockey mode, so during the conversion the elephants were being set up in an adjacent barn normally reserved for the bulls. One of the ag guys was moving the bulls as the elephants were being moved in."
When an elephant announced his presence with a loud trumpet, it startled a bull, which picked up its handler and dropped him to the ground, breaking the man's arm. An earlier incident saw a member of her crew picked up by a pachyderm and dropped, also resulting in a broken arm.
But few memories will be as lasting as those surrounding the floods that devastated the city this summer, with water levels reaching the eighth row inside the arena.
"As much as it was a terrible thing, it was such a positive team building within our operation and for our city," Raines said. "We had so much support from ticket holders, sponsors and partners. We had fans showing up with pumps. Season-ticket holders calling and asking how they could help. It was really a heartwarming time. We feel so honored that we serve such a wonderful community."


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Whats' New in PCB – a 60 second show of new stuff on Panama City Beach.
This week, join us as we hang the Pier Park sign at the Front Beach Road Entrance.
On Tuesday the main sign at the Front Beach Road entrance was installed. The grand opening is next Thursday (2/14, Valentines day), and crews are working rapidly to be sure they are ready.
Click the "more" link below for the video and pictures.
Larger version here.
You can see all posts on Pier Park here.Print Story


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Pics to follow when adapter arrives next week. The unit arrived early this morning, I am speechless and waiting for the sun to go away. Tube Stats: Thin filmed,signal to noise 27.42, FOM 1974.24, resolution 72lp, Fina_white ....2589.000 ...EBI 1.460 against a white wall my 20/10 vision was able to pick out one visable speck, stareing intently as i said , at a white wall. The unit is flawless and my friend, who just picked himself off the floor and reinstalled his jaw after a brief 30 second session in the pitch blackness of my garage, agrees. It is superb in every detail right down to the impecable and ultra friendly phone service and corespondance i recieved. Ordered unit thursday, arrived friday. Oh sure fed ex rocks no doubt but you michael and those who help there ......deliver professionalism milspec.
Also ordered an eotech 552 , concerning reflecting ir off lens of eotech ....honestly the ir is handy but even in my closet without ir on(cant see hand in front of face dark.....to my unaided eyes) the unit managed to somehow get light from the doorcrack which wasnt enough to make out text on paper...without the ir on i could see fine in there scary.not much needs be said about the eotech system. I chose the 552 simply cuz i can still fit everything i need on the RAS and i desire the extra large 1100 plus hours of operation ill enjoy with the AA batteries which the mini 14 also can make use of. The Unit is a revision F hws and is marked LAW ENFORCEMENT/MILITARY USE.
Also ordered the ELR ir illuminator....again wow, my garage which has zero light cracks...pitch black, turned to brightday when i turned it on and merley pointed it at my feet...the entire garage lit up like noon ...in fact honestly lol i saw details in my garage with the ELR/mini on in the dark that would be hard to see in the light ...the unit is very powerful imo. I beleive my friend stated it more aptly then i ...i said "remarkable huh?" he replied" unbelievable!", i agree. The unit is very well made and reaking of quality. One question michael or someone there if yah read this ....Is it waterproof/resistant/submersable?
Ordered a Helmet mount and it is a modular design so that the headgear supplied uses the same mount to attach. Going from weapon to headgear to pasgt helmet is all about 2 QD buttons and 15 seconds if yer slow and fumble about.....if not ...5 secs
Ordered Universal adapter and was assured via timely coorespondance the day i placed order that it was backordered and i would be notified ...im told next week sometime ...when they are avail . When i do get it as i stated ill get some pics with this pinacle quality tube.
Thanks again michael for delivering as promised , you did say youd be sure i was happy and the fact 1 im wearing the bloody thing around my neck atm and its not dark yet and 2 i now hate the sun and 3 my cat is jelous of me atm cuz i can see better .....yup in the garage that was pitch black my cat displayed quite clearly when she didnt look at me norm100% but in the direction of my voice that she couldnt see me or if she could it wasnt well , while I owned the night.
If you want the best optics for the best price ..(i know i priced every single retailer carring the unit i could find via google....lol most wernt even offering data cards on there alpha selects can you imagine. Whew so glad i ended up here the experience has left me with .....Buyers Glee...yeah that says it.