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Bailey makes offensive support stick to take finale
SAN DIEGO -- None of the games from the Reds' five-game losing streak can be brought back, and all the issues that helped contribute to those outcomes aren't solved.
But a 2,000-plus-mile flight home to Cincinnati, followed by a much-needed off-day, goes down much more enjoyably following a win. Homer Bailey once again provided a strong pitching performance and this time the offense backed him up during a 4-1 victory against the Padres.View Full Game Coverage
SAN DIEGO -- None of the games from the Reds' five-game losing streak can be brought back, and all the issues that helped contribute to those outcomes aren't solved.
But a 2,000-plus-mile flight home to Cincinnati, followed by a much-needed off-day, goes down much more enjoyably following a win. Homer Bailey once again provided a strong pitching performance and this time the offense backed him up during a 4-1 victory against the Padres.View Full Game Coverage
"We really didn't want to come in here and get swept," Bailey said. "We've been pitching really well and we were just trying to go out there and end this trip on a good note."
Bailey, who took a shutout into the bottom of the ninth, gave up one unearned run and six hits with seven strikeouts for his first victory since throwing a no-hitter against the Giants on July 2.
Entering the day, Cincinnati had scored just five runs over its past five games, totaling 47 innings. No pitcher in the Reds' rotation was more desperate for run support than Bailey. He was 0-4 with a 4.68 ERA in his four starts since the no-hitter while his lineup averaged two runs per game. The Reds were shut out four times in his past 21 games, scored one or no runs seven times, and scored two or fewer runs 11 times.
"The law of averages was on our side to win on the road and for Homer to win," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It's been a long time since he has won. There were some big hits we got today that had been eluding us the last few days. It's great to have a great flight home, take a day off and sort of take it easy and lick our wounds so to speak and get back at it."
The third-place Reds open a key three-game series against the suddenly struggling second-place Cardinals on Friday at Great American Ball Park.
One of the Reds' big weaknesses much the season, two-out hitting, proved big in their favor during a pivotal three-run seventh in San Diego. It was a 1-0 game against Padres starter Eric Stults when a costly Padres error opened the door for more runs.
With Zack Cozart on second base, Derrick Robinson reached on third baseman Chase Headley's throwing error. Chris Heisey followed with a softly lined RBI single to left field that scored Cozart. Joey Votto then ripped a two-run double to right field.
"That's the difference every day," Baker said of two-out hitting. "In San Francisco, we got a lot of those. In L.A., we got none and here we got none. That's big if you can get those two-out, RBI knocks. They're hard to get, and the other team, it breaks their back."
Also encouraging was the three-hit game for Brandon Phillips, who has been struggling since the All-Star break and entered batting .178 his last 12 games. Phillips staked Bailey to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when he hit a 1-2 Stults pitch to center field for his 13th home run of the season. It was Phillips' first homer since July 2, however.
"Brandon looked good and put us on the board," Baker said. "It was good to see him swinging again."
It wasn't an entirely clean game though. In the third inning, with two on and no outs and the team's best hitter in Votto at the plate, Robinson was caught trying to steal third base. It cost the Reds more runs as no one scored when Phillips hit a two-out single.
The rest was up to Bailey, and he did not disappoint. Now 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA in three career starts at Petco Park, the right-hander had complete control throughout. All of San Diego's hits were singles, including two in the infield. Two of the hits were later rendered moot by double plays.
"Bailey was good, held his velocity," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He did a nice job at the top of the zone, a good split-finger to the lefties, a couple good breaking balls to the righties and good fastball command. We just couldn't seem to square the fastball well. He had good movement. He's got that capability, he's got a good arm."
Bailey took the mound for the ninth already at 107 pitches. Votto muffed leadoff batter Everth Cabrera's grounder to first base for his career-high 12th error of the season. It came back to haunt the Reds when Headley scorched a one-out RBI double through the gap in left-center field.
Closer Aroldis Chapman was summoned for the final two outs and notched his 25th save in his first outing since giving up a walk-off homer in Monday's 2-1 loss.
"When they changed pitchers, you kind of cool down a little bit," Bailey said. "I felt good. I definitely wished I could have finished that one, but we've got a pretty good closer coming in behind me."
The Reds, now 60-49, finished their 11-game West Coast road trip with a 5-6 record, after it started out at 4-1. The win also put them over .500 to end the month of July at 14-13.
"Very relieved," Baker said of the losing streak's end. "We left some runners out there early and again had a couple of baserunning miscues. We battled and battled, and Homer gave us all we needed."
Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon.

subset: commoncrawl


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Residents of the Arab town of Beit Omar between Jerusalem and Hebron strung up a large Nazi flag adjacent to their local mosque on Monday in a clear message to the Jews living nearby.
A resident of the nearby Jewish communities of the Etzion Bloc said the incident was very jarring. "I felt we were going back 75 years, losing our hold on the land," he told the Tazpit News Agency. "The Arabs no longer feel the need to hide their murderous intentions, announcing out loud that they wish to annihilate us."
The Israeli army was notified about the Nazi flag, and sent in a team to remove it.
The Nazis and Adolf Hitler have long been idolized in much of Palestinian society. Hitler's "Mein Kampf" remains one of the 10 bestselling books in the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories today, and has a local distributor.
During World War II, the Palestinian leader in the Middle East, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was a close confidante of Hitler, and actively recruited fellow Muslims to the Nazi cause.
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I have a long, long list of sandwiches to try from Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day, and I'm going to slowly make my way down that list of yummy delights. This week I finally made the High Protein Wraps, which caught my eye the very first time I opened that book.
We both really loved this dinner. Instead of being delicate and making the filling last for four wraps, I divvied it up into 3 portions for 3 giant wraps. The filling is a quinoa-white bean salad
All together, the various elements came together to create an explosion of flavor. This baby really packs a punch! I especially loved the crisp, clean crunch of the cukes and bell peppers, along with the rich tapenade.
While I have a yummy pack of tortillas in the fridge, I decided to also make the Chickpea Shawarma wraps - even though the recipe called for pita breads, I figured this would be an okay sub. When I told Mr. VE&T what we were having for dinner, he said "huh. I don't really like chickpeas" (he often makes this claim). However, as soon as he took his first bite, he said "Oh wow! Is there more?!" So, that's pretty great. The chickpeas are roasted with some lovely spices to give them a lot of a flavor and a little bite, plus the fresh tomatoes & lettuce and some amazing tahini sauce. The whole concoction is a total win. We both loved these!
Bonus Picture of Yummers Potatoes and Mr. VE&T snuggling together. Yummers didn't seem to mind having all those pillows on top of him at all!


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Decision : 32 COM 8B.25
Examination of nomination of natural, mixed and cultural proprerties to the World Heritage List - Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca (MALAYSIA)
The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Documents WHC-08/32.COM/8B and WHC-08/32.COM/INF.8B1,
2. Inscribes Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca, Malaysia, on the basis of criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv);
3. Adopts the following Statement of Outstanding Universal Value:
Melaka and George Town, Malaysia, are remarkable examples of historic colonial towns on the Straits of Malacca that demonstrate a succession of historical and cultural influences arising from their former function as trading ports linking East and West. These are the most complete surviving historic city centres on the Straits of Malacca with a multi-cultural living heritage originating from the trade routes from Great Britain and Europe through the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Archipelago to China. Both towns bear testimony to a living multi-cultural heritage and tradition of Asia, where the many religions and cultures met and coexisted. They reflect the coming together of cultural elements from the Malay Archipelago, India and China with those of Europe, to create a unique architecture, culture and townscape.
Criterion (ii): Melaka and George Town represent exceptional examples of multi-cultural trading towns in East and Southeast Asia, forged from the mercantile and exchanges of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures and three successive European colonial powers for almost 500 years, each with its imprints on the architecture and urban form, technology and monumental art. Both towns show different stages of development and the successive changes over a long span of time and are thus complementary.
Criterion (iii): Melaka and George Town are living testimony to the multi-cultural heritage and tradition of Asia, and European colonial influences. This multi-cultural tangible and intangible heritage is expressed in the great variety of religious buildings of different faiths, ethnic quarters, the many languages, worship and religious festivals, dances, costumes, art and music, food, and daily life.
Criterion (iv): Melaka and George Town reflect a mixture of influences which have created a unique architecture, culture and townscape without parallel anywhere in East and South Asia. In particular, they demonstrate an exceptional range of shophouses and townhouses. These buildings show many different types and stages of development of the building type, some originating in the Dutch or Portuguese periods.
The integrity of the nominated areas in both towns is related to the presence of all the elements necessary to express their Outstanding Universal Value. The properties have retained their authenticity; listed monuments and sites have been restored with appropriate treatments regarding design, materials, methodologies, techniques and workmanship, in accordance with conservation guidelines and principles.
The protective measures for the properties are adequate. Both towns exhibit a generally acceptable state of conservation, although efforts are required to ensure the conservation of shophouses. The management plans and structures are adequate, and can be enhanced through the continuing conservation programs of the State Party.
4. Requests the State Party to:
- a) submit a comprehensive conservation plan dealing with all the buildings and its schedule for implementation in both cities;
- b) develop measures for decreasing motor traffic;
- c) improve the definition of key indicators for monitoring the architectural heritage components.
DocumentsDecisions Report
Context of DecisionWHC-08/32.COM/8B


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Are private fleets about to hit a wall?
What are the nation's private fleet managers doing to help mitigate the costs of two new expensive regulatory initiatives? We found some of the best private fleet operators and most knowledgeable industry insiders to discover how they're preparing their operations for this ongoing one-two regulatory punch.
in the NewsDOT mulling HOS changes, split-sleep exemption alterations Digital Container Shipping Association is launched this month CEMA: 2018 shipments in North America up 18% What Happens When a Business Becomes a Combination Manufacturer, Wholesaler and Retailer Pack Expo International and Healthcare Packaging Expo rank 5th on 2018 TSNN Top Trade Show list More News
The trucking world is about to be turned on its regulatory head. An aggressive and costly new truck safety agenda is being rolled out this year by the Obama administration that promises to increase costs for all fleets. Carriers will have to spend more on equipment, personnel, and planning in order to comply with the new regs.
While few are disputing that the potential changes in trucking enforcement will toss the "bad apples" out of the bushel of 4 million truck drivers, the cost of making the highways safer for all of us will eventually be paid through higher driver wages that carriers will be offering to a diminished pool of available, qualified, legal drivers.
CSA stands for "Comprehensive, Safety, Accountability," a program that's being rolled out in earnest over the course of 2011. It's a new initiative designed to improve the efficiency of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) enforcement and compliance program to achieve the agency's stated mission of reducing commercial motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, and injuries.
How big of a change is this? American Trucking Associations' President and CEO Bill Graves has called CSA potentially the biggest change in the industry since trucking was economically deregulated in 1980.
Scott Willert, senior manager of private and dedicated fleets at Kraft Foods, calls CSA "a very significant change" in the way truck safety is measured and monitored. In fact, Willert says it has the potential to greatly reduce the availability of qualified drivers at Kraft, which operates more than 2,500 power units and 1,100 trailers. Willert says Kraft Foods "fully supports" the new initiatives because of their overall benefit to highway safety, but acknowledges the new system will be more complex, and expensive for all carriers.
In a nutshell, CSA uses a new safety measurement system that's more comprehensive and is better able to pinpoint specific violations to better identify high crash-risk behavior by drivers. It involves more interventions, and a wider range of inspections to try and match the government's enforcement efforts with fleet safety performance levels.
By their very nature, private fleets have a huge advantage over the for-hire sector when it comes to CSA 2010, industry officials and private fleet operators say: Their more stringent hiring and operational procedures are already in place.
"We don't think CSA will be a big problem for our members," says Gary Petty, president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council. "When there's an economic turnaround, truck capacity may not be available to shippers at any price. So, from the private fleet perspective, we feel that this has a pretty positive outlook."
The second half of the double-whammy about to hit trucking is proposed changes on the HOS rules. A highly-charged political issue, HOS has the potential to reduce available truck capacity by about 9 percent if the legal daily limit on driving is reduced from the current 11 hours a day to 10 hours.
"A change in the HOS rules is going to have some effect on how we operate," says Greg Whisenhant, a 16-year industry veteran and transportation safety manager for Shaw Industries, a Dalton, Ga.-based floor covering business that operates a sizable private fleet consisting of 900 drivers and 1,400 power units.
"We won't be able to get as many drop offs in a day if we went back to a 10-hour driving day," Whisenhant says. "It's going to be a financial hit in some lanes where we now run single drivers, but might have to use a team operation. Teams are a tougher dog."
In a typical Washington move, the federal government has not actually ordered such a reduction, at least not yet; although FMCSA has indicated it would like to make that change. According to our reporting, the trucking industry is united in wanting to maintain the current 11 hours, though there will likely be reductions through greater mandatory off-duty time and other driving limits.
Again, while the private fleet sector is not immune from these changes, private fleet operators say that any changes in HOS will be mitigated by the very high-service, high-cost nature of fleet operations.
So, what are the top private fleet managers doing to help mitigate the costs of these expensive new regulatory initiatives? Logistics Management found some of the best private fleet operators and most knowledgeable industry insiders to discover how they're preparing their operations for this ongoing one-two regulatory punch.
Not since deregulation…
Trucking veterans say CSA 2010 has the potential to be the biggest thing to affect the industry in three decades of deregulation. The ramifications of CSA are multifold—legal, operational, planning, and financial.
First, let's look at some of the myths associated with CSA: it will kill the trucking industry; that no one will make any money after CSA starts rating everyone; more "good" drivers will lose their jobs; that it was begun to create more government revenue; and that you have nothing to worry about if you're a carrier with a current "satisfactory rating."
It is none of that. In reality it's a sophisticated program that will use technology to gather data collected at roadside inspections and through crash reports to identify unsafe carriers and drivers in an attempt to pinpoint their exact problems.
In short, it gives the federal government and state enforcement personnel more accurate tools to cite and crack down on the estimated 150,000 "bad apples" who give truck driving a bad name and are involved in a disproportionately high percentage of accidents that lead to the 40,000 or so truck-related fatalities every year.
It takes the best points of the current audit system and enhances and supplements it with other tools in an attempt to improve truck fleet safety through a less intrusive, more focused fashion. Data involving fleets and individual drivers will be uploaded monthly, creating more visibility and accountability on both sides.
"It's just a new way of accounting for the rules," says Tom Moore, executive director of the NPTC Institute and vice president of public affairs. "It creates a minimum standard of truck safety compliance. But our members are so far beyond these minimum levels. If you're already above and beyond and over the top, it's not going to be a huge adjustment."
Still, there will be adjustments. Individual driving records will be available to both carriers and shippers. Private fleet drivers average about three more years of driving experience at their current companies, and managers say the advent of CSA will cause them to work even harder to keep the good drivers they already employ. "Drivers are going to be given better pay, better equipment, more sophisticated technology, and other incentives that make the job worth keeping," Petty predicts.
Fleet managers agree. Kraft Foods' Willert predicts that the shorter length of haul and more regular schedule that characterize many private fleet operations tends to attract very well qualified drivers and minimizes turnover—Kraft Foods' driver turnover is less than 5 percent, compared to around 100 percent for truckload sector in total.
"In that respect we would anticipate that private fleets as a group may be less affected than contract carriers," Willert says. However, this could change though with the aging workforce and eventual need to replace current drivers.
Kraft Foods is one of thousands of private fleets directly affected by the changes, however. As Willert explained: "The vast majority of our freight is handled by contract carriers. As such, we are putting in place enhanced monitoring of CSA scores as well as considering changes to our contract language to reflect the new expectations. In the case of our private fleet, the safety and compliance programs we've had in place—electronic logs, regular safety training, and incentives based on safety performance—mean that for the most part it has just been a matter of educating our team on the new expectations."
Jim Angel is a former private fleet manager with Atrium Co., a manufacturer of aluminum and vinyl doors and windows. Angel currently is product manager of safety and compliance for PeopleNet, a provider of Internet-based and integrated onboard computing and mobile communications systems for fleet management. He sees a stark difference between the safety cultures at the top private fleets compared with the typical for-hire carrier.
"Private fleets have the name of their company on the side of the trailer in huge letters," Angel says. "They have much better control of their operations. They're willing to use speed governors. They're interested in better fuel mileage. On the flip side, the for-hire guys hanging on by a shoestring are just interested in survival."
If survivability isn't the main concern on the private fleet side, profitability surely is. Kraft Foods is one of many well-run private fleets taking early steps to educate its work force about CSA ramifications when it is fully implemented later this year.
"We're focusing on educating our management teams and driver groups," Kraft's Willert says. "Through these discussions our people have given us ideas on what we can do to help them—such as the development of a maintenance kit that drivers can use on the road for small repairs or quick fixes that will get them to a shop. The conversations have also allowed the drivers to ask questions and share their concerns."
Kraft has also developed computer-based training for employees and tied this to an incentive program where employees are awarded points to use for prizes for completing the training. "We are also monitoring our data and promptly addressing any issues that arise," Willert says.
The most contentious issue
No trucking topic evokes a hotter response than the proposed HOS rules that were formally proposed in a rulemaking set out by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on Dec. 23.
The government has been fiddling with HOS revisions since 1999. In that time, the industry has endured at least two changes, and the federal government has fought at least three lawsuits challenging the propriety of its proposed changes. Throw in three changes in administrations—with Republicans likely to be perceived as softer on the industry than Democrats—and the result is utter confusion when it comes to any type of long-term planning.
The federal government is due to come out with a final rulemaking this summer that could reduce the actual driving time of an operator from 11 to 10 hours. In addition, there are proposed changes requiring more half-hour breaks during a driver's on-duty time, current 14 hours in a day. That could also reduce productivity. But there are provisions that would allow the standard 14-hour window to be extended to 16 hours twice every eight-day driving period.
Just the thought of reducing driving time by one hour causes trucking executives to break out their pocket calculators to estimate the cost and inefficiencies that would result. That's because their networks are built typically on a series of regional distribution centers, serviced by TL and LTL moves, typically with "pedal runs" of about 200 miles to 400 miles—easily accomplished in one day's driving.
If that driving time is reduced, analysts say, it would be nothing short of chaos. Dick Armstrong, chairman of Armstrong Associates, a supply chain management consulting company, predicts a one-hour reduction would be "very disruptive."
The biggest immediate impact of HOS will likely be the cost and the increasing calls to end the 70-year-old outdated practice of paper log books, often called "comic books" by drivers and industry officials.
Shaw Industries was among the first private fleets to recognize that the government was going to crack down on HOS, forcing violators to use electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) instead of paper logs to track hours. The company was an early adaptor and has used electronic logging for nearly a decade.
"I wish they were mandated for all carriers," Whisenhant says. "I'm already running legally, but am competing on backhauls with some drivers who are shaving a 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there off their actual driving time. It isn't fair."
How to avoid the brick wall
In NPTC surveys, the overwhelming reason for operating a private fleet was service. If HOS were reduced, that would strain available for-hire capacity even more, further tipping the service equation in favor of private fleets.
"As capacity is affected and some carriers fall to the wayside, rates are going to go up," says Peoplenet's Angel. A recent Morgan Stanley survey showed 84 percent of shippers expect rates to go up at least 5 percent because of CSA as capacity is going to get stretched. If an hour of driving time was also eliminated, that would effectively cut capacity by 9 percent and raise carrier costs.
Private fleet advocates say this all plays to their advantage. "Companies will make the investment to go to private fleets to get their product to market," adds Angel. "If loads are sitting on their dock for two days, somebody in C-level management is going to say, 'Enough of this, we're going to get our own trucks.'"
Other wild cards in the CSA equation are how the insurance companies and plaintiff lawyers will react to this flood of new safety data now available to all. If, say, a shipper is involved in an accident and knowingly used an unsafe operator, how much does that increase one's legal liability? The limit is bound only by the fertile imagination of plaintiff lawyers, insiders say.
"Negligent hiring lawsuits are possible," Angel says. "All these tentacles are out there. We've yet to see how the effects of CSA and HOS will rear their head. But on the other hand, it will make the highways safer for everyone."
Mostly everyone agrees CSA and HOS are works in progress. "Consistent enforcement across individuals and regions is a concern, especially in the "start-up" period," Kraft's Willert says. "We understand CSA is something of a work in progress that we expect will be refined over time. We would like to be involved in any conversations and forums that are taking place. This will give us a chance to hear what is being experienced so far and to share our thoughts and ideas."
There doesn't seem to be any shortage of thoughts and ideas, but the real concern is the significant costs for everyone.
See below for related articles.
Uproar over proposed HOS regulations not abating anytime soon
Trucking industry officials, analysts, shippers, rip FMCSA proposal to reduce driving time
Uncertainty over HOS aside, truckers see "opportunities" ahead in transport policy
About the AuthorJohn D. Schulz John D. Schulz has been a transportation journalist for more than 20 years, specializing in the trucking industry. John is on a first-name basis with scores of top-level trucking executives who are able to give shippers their latest insights on the industry on a regular basis.
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Article TopicsCSA · HOS · March 2011 · Transportation · Trucking ·
Next-Generation Data Capture Emerges 2019 Air Cargo Roundtable: Volumes and pricing gathering speed View More From this Issue


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421 - Scotch Malaria
Brussels-born Éric Maltaite learned the comic trade from his father, Willy Maltaite, the comic artist better known as Will. After brief appearances in Tintin and BideVision, he started out helping his father on some of the 'Tif et Tondu' short stories. Eventually, in 1978, he teamed up with his father's scenarist, Stephen Desberg, to work on his own comics. After humorous series like 'Jules et Gil' and 'La Famille Hérodius', Maltaite and Desberg came up with the espionnage series '421', starring special agent Jimmy Plant (a name derived from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant).
The graphics of the series were at first strongly influenced by the humorous style of Will. Eventually, the artwork turned more realistic, as did the scripts. In the mid-1980s, Maltaite also started a collaboration with Denis Lapière for the exotic series 'Mono Jim', that was at first published in L'Écho des Savanes. After quiting '421' and their affiliation with publisher Dupuis in 1992, Maltaite and Desberg continued their collaboration at P & T Productions with the series 'Carmen Lamour'.
Maltaite reappeared in Spirou with 'Nationale Zéro' (scripts by Janssens, 1995) and 'Dédé et Dédé' (scripts by Jean-Michel Thiriet, 1997). In 1999 he also returned to L'Écho des Savanes with erotic stories like 'Robinsonne, la Naufragée' and '1001 Nuits de Schéhérazade', both published in album by Albin Michel. Together with Jean-Pierre Autheman, Maltaite created the action mini-series 'Zambada', published by Glénat between 2001 and 2006.
In 2006, he returned to the humorous genre for Éditions Bamboo with 'Les Campeurs', a series scripted by Dugomier, and some books in the series 'Les Fondus' by Hervé Richez and Christophe Cazenove. Maltaite returned to his roots in 2014 with the publication of 'Choc', a graphic novel series depicting the origins of 'Monsieur Choc', one of the most emblematic villains in franco-belgian comics, that was created by his father and Maurice Rosy for the 'Tif et Tondu' series. The story is written by Stéphane Colman and published by Dupuis. Éric Maltaite lives and works in Spain.


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It awards the Nobel Prizes in science and proudly portrays not a political figure but one of its most eminent scientists, botanist Carl von Linné (1707–1778), better known to the world as Linnaeus, the father of biological nomenclature, on its ubiquitous 100-kronor note (about $16). So it is hardly surprising that Sweden is the home of a large and vibrant skeptics group and was the able host of the 2013 European Skeptics Congress (ESC), August 23–25, in Stockholm.
The fifteenth in the series of biennial congresses created by the European Council of Skeptical Organizations (but first in Scandinavia), ESC 2013 featured speakers from ten countries and plenty of time for socializing and networking. Martin Rundkvist and P.J. Råsmark of the Swedish Skeptics officiated and kept things running smoothly.
Most all the usual academic topics were covered, but there were also magicians and even Sweden's first astronaut, PhD physicist and CERN Fellow Christer Fuglesang of the European Space Agency, a veteran of two space missions to the International Space Station (including five spacewalks totaling nearly thirty-two hours), in 2006 and 2009. He proudly noted he has been a member of the Swedish Skeptics almost from their beginning, in the early 1980s. In his lively presentation of phenomenal photos of Earth from space he included one of himself wearing an "Always Be Skeptical" T-shirt while peering down at Earth from the International Space Station.
Physician and statistician Hans Rosling (Karolinska Institute) and his son Ala Rosling jolted attendees' preconceptions from the start with their "fact-based worldview with animated data." Founders of the Gapminder Foundation, which develops the Trendalyzer software system for visualization of statistics, they took the audience through rapid-fire animated displays of world demographic trends. Much of what we think we know about world population trends is wrong, they told us, and then demonstrated, first using an instant electronic feedback system to take the audiences' answers to a series of questions and compare them with reality.
Today half of the world's population is in Asia and Africa, but by the year 2100 that figure will leap to 80 percent. "CEOs know this better than academics," said Hans, a bow to the practical value of modern demographic knowledge.
A dramatic new reality has set in. Whereas couples used to have on average six children of whom four died, the new balance is now two kids per couple, with most of them surviving. This dramatic decline in babies born per woman is true of all religions and regions. Europe just started doing it earlier. As a result world population will continue rising but not at the steep rate predicted three or four decades ago.
And so it went.
Max Maven, the mentalist and illusionist, gave both a lecture where he praised somedeception ("art is a beautiful deception") and later a two-hour evening performance. Even our audience of skeptics found ourselves repeatedly mystified (but with no implication of paranormality), a good lesson for everyone.
Kristine Hjustad (Norway), a medical student and PhD candidate (and also a performer of theatrical magic), performed knot-tying and other illusions to demonstrate how we are fooled and how we interpret our perceptions, add meaning to them, and simplify them, usually without realizing it. "Our brain is in control. It decides."
Magician Tom Stone (Sweden) continued that theme. He showed and then patiently explained some of the psychological and perceptual principles behind creating some illusions. "So now you won't be fooled," he added wryly. He then performed them again, and fooled everyone again.
Neuroscientist Beatrice Mautino of Italy's CICAP skeptics group emphasized the value of solving mysteries to learn science (and vice versa). She said skeptical investigation can kill three birds at once when it not only solves a mystery but explains some scientific facts (like the physics of firewalking) . . . and then goes on to tell something about how science works. Hands-on activities are especially productive. CICAP takes people out to make their own crop circles (they start with thirty-meter-diameter circles) or test "the blood of San Januarius" or lie on a bed of nails. As for assertions about an Apollo landing hoax, she and her colleagues go through the evidence for that, and then ask people to investigate and test the claims themselves. This seems to be an effective strategy.
Shane Greenup (Australia) reinforced that theme. Instead of telling people they are wrong, he urges leading them to question the belief using the Internet to find the right information. And that right information could come via his Rbutr.com software. You install Rbutr in your browser and it finds rebuttals to extraordinary claims. Skeptics can establish a link from any web page making a claim to the rebuttals of their choice.
As journalistic organizations cut costs and staff, they do less real reporting. Michael "Marsh" Marshall (United Kingdom), who writes about the role of PR in modern media, warned against a spreading practice he calls "churnalism"—printing press releases as news. A particularly popular new practice is publishing what are essentially advertisements hidden as "research" based on online polls. Companies sponsor simple online polls, paying people to fill out what he calls "B.S." surveys filled with dodgy and leading questions and all calculated to lead to some favorable view about the particular business—say preferences about travel or fashion. He has a "fourth paragraph rule"—if a company name appears around the fourth paragraph, there is a strong chance it paid for the article. London's tabloid Daily Mail, the biggest newspaper in Britain, is notorious for this, he said. It runs these paid surveys in almost every issue. "They'll put out anything to get attention."
Psychologist Tomasz Witkowski (Poland), familiar to our readers from several recent pieces in SI, gave a nuanced talk addressing the question of whether the social sciences are what Richard Feynman called a "cargo cult science." Witkowski has his criticisms of social science—too much of it deals with unimportant topics, and its surveys often use students and other biased samples. But he ultimately came down in defense of the social sciences, which he said have great hidden potential. One example is the research that showed that adding a third brake light on the rear of vehicles would drastically reduce accidents and injuries, or that emergency vehicles should be painted lime green to be most easily seen—practices, along with many advances in passenger airline safety, that have now been widely adopted and save lives.
Dr. Catherine de Jong (Netherlands), an anesthesiologist, addiction researcher, and president of the Dutch Society Against Quackery, described pseudoscientific addiction treatments that contradict treatments based on science. These questionable treatments include the Prometa protocol , disulfiram injections, and Ibocaine. The latter is described as "a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in plants in West Africa," implying that since it is natural it is safe. Ibocaine use carries a high risk of heart arrythmias and death, and it has been forbidden in the USA. Some of these addictions treatments claim FDA approval (but any approvals are not for addiction treatment) or "almost 100 percent success" or offer a dubious hypothesis about the working mechanism. Good science, better cooperation among health authorities, and investigative journalism all can help get rid of such pseudoscientific treatments.
Anna Bäsén gave many examples of such investigative journalism. A medical reporter for a leading Swedish daily newspaper, she specializes in undercover health journalism, going undercover to nursing homes or alternative medical practitioners (such as a health coach who claimed you can cure deadly viruses with positive thinking) or psychics (she got a cold reading of "one of my not-real dead relatives") and then simply reporting what they say. Undercover medical journalism shouldn't be used recklessly, Bäsén says, but "I also get upset when people get ripped off." Her published exposés have put some of these people out of business.
Science teacher Dénis Caroti (France) described teaching about intellectual self-delusion in France (where the word "zetetics" rather than "skepticism" is used to avoid the negative connotations of the latter). He touted physicist and CSI Fellow Henri Broch's Laboratory of Zetetics at the University of Nice, Sophia, where critical thinking is an official skill to be acquired by students.
On the final morning, Chris French (United Kingdom) gave a survey of anomalistic psychology (also the title of his forthcoming book), Hayley Stevens (United Kingdom) described some of her experiences as a skeptical ghost hunter, and I ended the conference with a talk on "Why We Do This: The Higher Values of Skeptical Inquiry" (to be published in the November/December 2013 Skeptical Inquirer).
There was more, a lot more, but you get the idea. For three days in Stockholm science and skepticism were the central theme of stimulating intellectual discussion and exchange. Young skeptics were everywhere and lent vigor and freshness. And until there is a Nobel Prize in science-based skepticism or a distinguished skeptic makes it onto some nation's currency, that will just have to do.


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Explore Seattle's Green HomesApril 20th, 2012 | Posted by in Environment | Green Homes
Earth Day weekend in Seattle means an excellent opportunity to see some of the latest trends in Green Building in action. To celebrate Earth Day, the NW EcoBuilding Guild is hosting a 24-site Green Home Tour around central Puget Sound. From the zHome project `in Issaquah, to the Mighty House Heat Conversion remodel in West Seattle, there will be lots of projects to learn from on this home tour. This year Green Depot is participating in the tour by hosting one of the homes – and with a Green Home Expo on Saturday!
Here are some highlights from this year's Seattle Green Home Tour:
Site Wo1: Envision Home features include green roof, solar hot water, radiant heating, tight building envelope, salvaged and reused materials, and healthy living. 2216 Walnut Avenue SW
Site No3: The ShelterKraft CargoCottage™ is a compact home built from a reclaimed steel shipping container, using green building products (e.g., recycled countertops, salvaged materials, zero-VOC paints) and integrating green technologies like solar and wind power, graywater reclamation, and other alternative energy and off-the-grid systems. 1210 W Nickerson Street
Site Wo5: GreenPod Development's WaterHaus is a modular home that features SIP construction, built-in infra-red heating, a living wall with edibles, sustainable finish materials, and fish pond fed by an alternative water system. The WaterHaus will be parked at Green Depot Seattle during the Green Home Tour, and for the week following.
If you aren't able to make it on the tour, take it virtually by checking out the tour website where there are a lot of details on every site on the tour!
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Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down
Big happenings on the hill
THUMBS UP: The Diocese of New Ulm broke ground on Friday at the site of its new diocesan Pastoral Center. The new Pastoral Center will be a year in the building, and will replace the current pastoral center, built in 1960 as a bishop's residence office building. The new Pastoral Center will have plenty of room for a new chapel, 28 offices, four conference rooms, and all the amenities needed to house the 20 diocesan offices and its employees.
Budgeted at $7.5 million, the new center will cost not much more than renovating and repairing the current center.
With the construction set to begin as soon as weather permits, the Pastoral Center brings to three the number of multi-million dollar building projects going on within a few blocks of each other up on the hill. The Pastoral Center is only a block or two away from the Martin Luther College Early Childhood Center, a $4 million building project with another $1 million raised for early childhood education financial aid. Not far away, the New Ulm Medical Center has started work on its clinic expansion, a $5.3 million project financed entirely by Allina Health.
With two or three good-sized apartment projects set for this year, it is a big expansion year for the city.
We look forward to next year, when these projects are expected to be completed.
Fuel sales tax?
SIDEWAYS THUMB: Gov. Mark Dayton is opposed to raising the tax on a gallon of gas to finance much-needed road projects in Minnesota. Senate Democrats are countering with a tax of 5.5 percent on the sale of fuel at the wholesale level, a proposal that would lower the 28.5 cents-per-gallon tax, but would still raise an extra $200 million.
Make no mistake. This tax will get passed on to the consumers at the pump. We'd guess the governor won't like this idea either. He thinks Minnesotans won't accept another gas tax increase.
We think Minnesotans are smart enough, however, to know that the good roads they want come at a price, and that price is paid with taxes. Dayton should give this a chance.
Good nursing home rating in hard times
THUMBS UP: Oak Hills Nursing Home received a fiv-star, or top overall rating, in U.S. News & World Report's 5th annual Best Nursing Homes ratings.
Like all nursing homes in Minnesota, Oak Hills is working on a limited budget – limited by the state's policy of allowing nursing homes to charge is residents no more than the state Medicaid reimbursement rate. And the state keeps that rate low.
Nonetheless, Oak Hills has done an admirable job of creating a more livable atmosphere and keeping the care of the residents at a high level.
Leigslators are now considering a bill to allow nursing homes, group homes and other long-term care facilities money to provide pay increases to their workers who have suffered through several years of pay freezes.
Sen. Gary Dahms and Rep. Paul Torkelson said they support the legislation, which would provide money for the raises without making nursing homes dig into other funds to make up the difference. We think it's a bill that should pass.


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To date, my information about Windows 8.1 Update 1 has come from sources at Microsoft and from leaks from Russian and Chinese hackers. But this week, finally, I was able to get my hands on a pre-release build of Update 1. And as you might expect, this build reveals a lot more information than we previously knew about this release.
Here's a quick overview of what's immediately obvious in this build (9600.16596).
Start and apps
Start screen – Search and Power Options button. As seen in previous leaks, the Start screen now sports prominent Search and Power Options buttons; the latter triggers a menu with power management (shut down, restart, etc.) options.
Start screen – Mouse improvements. As seen in previous leaks, the Start screen and Apps screen both provide context menus when you right-click with a mouse instead of using the Metro-style app bar as in Windows 8.0 and 8.1.
Start screen - App installed notification. One of the weird things about Windows 8.1 is that newly installed apps no longer pin a tile to the Start screen. So in Update 1, there is now an app installed notification at the bottom left. You can tap this to jump to Apps and find the newly installed app.
Apps screen – Show more apps. Because users complained that the icons in the Apps screen were too big on large displays, Microsoft added a Show More Apps option that bumps up the density of app icons.
PC Settings tile. There is now a PC Settings button on the Start screen by default so you can find this crucial interface more easily. (It was previously available in the Apps screen.)
Metro apps
PC Settings – Control Panel link. There is now a Control Panel link in the navigation bar in PC Settings.
Metro apps – Mouse improvements. If you mouse up to the top of the screen in any Metro app, a black bar appears with a Close button (and in some cases, Minimize as well) on the right.
Desktop - SkyDrive tray icon. The SkyDrive tray icon is back! Sadly, icon emblems in the SkyDrive folder are still missing in action.
Desktop – Pin Metro apps. A Store button is pinned to the taskbar by default and you can pin other Metro apps here of course. As expected, these apps simply run full screen.
Desktop – Show Metro apps. Separately from pinning Metro apps to the taskbar, you can also configure the taskbar to show any running Metro apps in the taskbar as well.
I'll have more soon. But Rafael Rivera has also written about another Windows 8.1 Update 1 feature in his own post, Internet Explorer Enterprise Mode. Be sure to check that out.


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The Fender Wide Range style humbucker is an important part of many Fender guitars that incorporate a humbucker in their design. In 2004 Fender re-issued a number of guitars that use the wide range humbucker, including the Telecaster Deluxe, the Telecaster Thinline, and the Tele Custom. These re-issue era Fender wide range humbuckers are different than the original Fender wide range humbuckers – in terms of internal construction and sound.
After several years of research (and debating if the cost of tooling would be worth it), we've come up with a reproduction of the wide range pickup that sounds and functions almost identically to the originals. In fact, we actually prefer ours. The Lollar version of the wide range humbucker style pickup sounds a little bit clearer than the vintage version. Partly because our pickup covers are made out of slightly thinner material, which reduces the dampening of tone that metal pickup covers can sometimes cause. The original Fender wide range humbuckers had the same winding specs for the neck and bridge. We've decided to vary ours a little from neck to bridge, for better volume and tone balance.
We make the custom sized bobbins in our shop. The covers, base plates, lead wire, and magnet wire are made to spec for us in the US. Our new covers will be engraved with the Lollar logo and will be available in nickel, chrome, and gold.
The new Lollar wide range humbucking style pickups will likely be available in early September. Make sure to watch this blog for more information – we will announce when they are ready for purchase.
In the meantime, listen to these sound clips of the new Lollar Pickups wide range humbucker:
Lollar wide range humbucker neck, clean.
Lollar wide range humbucker neck, dirty.
Lollar wide range humbucker neck and bridge, clean.
Lollar wide range humbucker neck and bridge, dirty.
Lollar wide range humbucker bridge, clean.
Lollar wide range humbucker bridge, dirty.


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Welcome to OnSale at FOXBusiness, where we look at cool deals and insane bargains.
Continue Reading Below
This Android app makes it easy to find your lost or stolen phone while another new database takes the hassle out of searching for a new physician or specialist. And Target's bringing back the QR code with some bargains.
Phone Finder
A new app for Android mobile devices says it will help you find your phone if it has been lost or stolen as well protect it from malware, so your phone stays virus and spam free. It also has a feature that helps you block unwanted calls and SMS texts.
The anti-theft protection system will locate your missing phone with a little help from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) maps, pinpointing your smartphone's location even if the SIM card has been damaged or replaced. If your phone has been stolen and you're worried about the data you have stored on the device, you can disable, block or clean your phone remotely. The $14.95 price tag may seem like a hefty sum, but if it saves you from having to buy a new phone, consider it a bargain. You can download it here.
House Calls
If you've recently relocated and are looking for a new doctor, or if you've realized it's been a while since your last dental visit, you'll want to check this out. A new database aims to pair people seeking doctors, dentists or optometrists with the specialist of their choice. It's called Better Doctor, and it helps you find the type of doctor you're looking for, whether or not they accept your insurance and if they're accepting new patients – before you even pick up the phone to schedule an appointment.
You can easily sign up using your Facebook account. Bookmark your favorites and share recommendations with your friends.
Deals at Target
Consider yourself on red alert: Target (NYSE:TGT) will begin issuing QR codes for shopping deals on October 14. All you need to do is download the app.
The season's top 20 toys are on sale. If you're running errands with the kids and you find yourself in the toy section, divert their attention elsewhere, snap the select toy's QR code and order the item via your Target app. Free shipping is an added bonus to this super-convenient way of shopping. Want to see what the hottest toys are this year and get a jump on your holiday gift list? Visit Target.com/TopToys.
Know of a killer deal or insane bargain? Email the goods to email@example.com and share the wealth.


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Acting Without Shame: HIV-Focused Bilingual Telenovela Informs and Entertains
An Interview With Actors JM Longoria III and Joanna Zanella
January 16, 2013
Family secrets ... betrayed trust ... condom usage?
The classic, persistent themes of Spanish-language soap operas, also known as telenovelas, get a refreshing, enthralling update in Sin Vergüenza (Without Shame), the new telenovela that is taking the Internet by storm. Presented in English as well as Spanish, and imagined and realized by California's vast AltaMed health care network, the aim of the show is to "educate without being educational." The project is a unique endeavor -- it combines a fresh narrative format with the ability to tackle real-world issues such as HIV, stigma, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) issues, family issues, infidelity, shame, aging, dating and more.
Before you read, make sure to watch Episode 1 of Sin Vergüenza. Stay tuned for three more episodes in the coming weeks -- each accompanied by a conversation with key people involved in the production!
Haz clic aquí para ver la telenovela Sin Vergüenza, capítulo 1, en español.
In the first interview in this four-part series, TheBody.com was lucky enough to sit down with two of the series' main actors -- JM Longoria III, who plays gay son Enrique Salazar, and Joanna Zanella, who plays doting daughter Christina Salazar. Both are performances not to be missed, and in this interview they discuss the honor of spreading HIV awareness through this project, why timing is essential and what they took away from playing Latinos who are dealing with issues of sexuality, condom usage, HIV and family secrets.
Mathew Rodriguez: How did you hear about this opportunity to get involved with the telenovela, Sin Vergüenza?
Joanna Zanella: I was submitted for it by my agent, and it said it was a theatrical project, and it was for HIV awareness and it was going to be in a telenovela style, so they wanted bilingual actors who could speak perfect English and Spanish. I saw it, and I thought, "Oh my God, I think I should audition for this, because I speak perfect Spanish and perfect English and I think it's a great opportunity and a great cause to talk about: HIV awareness." I went into the audition, and that's where I met Paco [Farias, director of Sin Vergüenza]. I went in with another actor, and I thought I did pretty well, and I got a callback.
At the callback, there was Natalie [Sanchez, AltaMed's HIV prevention and education program manager], Hilda [Sandoval, manager of the psycho-social services and mental health clinician program at AltaMed], Paco, and a whole bunch of other people, and I actually ended up going in with Eric, who plays Hector, my boyfriend, in Sin Verguenza. And, I think we both did so well. Our chemistry was there from the beginning. When we went in, everybody started laughing when we acted it out. We added on to the actual script, which was great, that Paco let us play with it.
I got the call; they said "You booked the job," and it was amazing. It was wonderful news. As a Latina actress, getting the opportunity to play the same role in English and Spanish was such a blessing.
JM Longoria III: For me, it was sort of a happy mistake. I ran into a friend the night before the audition, and he was saying there was an audition going on at this casting office, and I was a little hesitant. Typically, your agent should submit you. One of my coworkers convinced me to show up, so I show up to Blanca Valdez's casting office. They told me I was too young for another role that I was trying to get an audition for. They recommended me to audition for this project, Sin Vergüenza, and I had no idea what it was. I was like, "Well, I'm on my lunch break, I need to go back." And they said, "Well, you're next." So they paired me up with another guy and had me read.
I had no idea what the project was about, or what the context of the scene was. Paco was there, and at the end he said, "Oh my gosh, thank you, this is what I've been looking for all day!" And I was like, "Great!" Then I ended up getting the callback, and I had to tell my agent I got a callback for this role that she hadn't submitted me for -- but she had actually submitted me for Hector's role, which is funny.
At the callback, I just felt so comfortable. We had fun, and thank you Paco for allowing us to kind of improv a little bit more, to add on and bring our own personalities. It's such a great role for Latinos. It's bilingual. And playing the gay son who's in law school in this Mexican-American family, where there are so many taboos and machismo mentality, is wonderful. It's being put in such a positive light, and it being surrounded by HIV awareness is beautiful. It's a great project. And I hope this message gets out there and educates the Latino community.
Mathew Rodriguez: It sounds like the HIV awareness aspect of the project made it more attractive to both of you.
JM Longoria III: Oh, definitely. As I continued to find out more and more about the project, I was like, "Wow!" I felt like I had found this gem. As an actor, these are the kinds of project you want to find: doing work that has so much more meaning than something that you can forget about as just one performance.
Joanna Zanella: I'm with JM. When we went to the screening for the first episode on World AIDS Day: Usually, like JM said, when you see your work, it's an amazing feeling. But when you know it's for a great cause, it's a one thousand times better feeling than it is to just be doing something because it's just a project.
That day, one of the ladies who was a speaker at the event had been living with HIV for 22 years, and she was telling us her story, and I was in tears. This whole time I was in tears because of the strong woman that she was. But what really hit me was that she came up to me, and she hugged me, and she told me, "Thank you so much for doing this, for helping the community understand." When she said that to me, I just started crying, because, to me, I felt like I really didn't do anything. It's such a small thing that I felt that I did. But to other people, they're really appreciative, because we were able to express real people's stories in the novela. You get into a character that is actually someone's life. To me, it's one of the most amazing projects that I've been a part of.
This article was provided by TheBody.
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PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The Navy retains female sailors at half the rate it holds on to men. One result is that it doesn't have enough senior enlisted women on some ships stationed overseas, leaders of the Navy say.
The Navy's top commander for personnel said the service has repeatedly learned problems develop if a ship has many junior enlisted females but no senior enlisted women on board to mentor them.
Vice Adm. William Moran told reporters during a visit to Pearl Harbor on Thursday he thinks the fundamental reason is that women want to start families and need more time to do so. This often makes women choose between staying in uniform and starting a family, he said.
"What can we do different that doesn't make that choice so hard? Or gives them an opportunity to go and then come back?" Moran said.
He called retaining women at a rate that allows the Navy to sustain the workforce one of the Navy's most significant challenges. The poor retention rate is the same across ranks, Moran said, from officer to junior enlisted.
Moran said commanders are talking to sailors to learn what changes could be made to encourage women to stay. "We're looking at everything we can possibly do to change that dynamic," he said.
The Navy currently offers women six weeks of paid maternity leave. New mothers may also defer deployments for a year. Adoptive mothers are eligible for three weeks of paid maternity leave and may defer deployments for four months.
The Navy has already experimented with reforms. A pilot program allows sailors of both genders to take sabbaticals, for example.
Legislation before the U.S. Congress may also help. The Military Opportunities for Mothers Act would enable women giving birth an additional six weeks off unpaid, for a total of three months of maternity leave.
The bill aligns military maternity leave with guidelines for other federal employees, U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, who introduced the legislation with Rep. Kristi Noem, a Republican from South Dakota, said in a news release on the legislation. The bill would allow commanders to recall women to duty if needed.
The House passed the legislation Wednesday as an amendment to a defense spending bill.


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Store identity-preserved grains
Storing identity-preserved (IP) grain can be an organizational challenge compounded by the physical challenges of inadequate storage space. Westeel introduces the SeedStor-K, a hopper-bottom bin designed with a bottom cone that can be shipped flat and assembled on site. Westeel promotes the bins as ideal for IP storage or storage of higher-density crops such as durum and peas. The company also claims the bins are easy to clean out because they have no internal stiffeners, which can lead to fungal growth or insect migration. The bins can hold up to 11,200 bu. and are tested to 50% overload to ensure against structural failure. Options include a removable hopper-to-ground ladder. Price not established at press time. Contact Westeel Ltd., Dept. FIN, 803 25th St. N., Fargo, ND 58102, 800/472-4624, www.westeel.com.
Validate tracking
These days it's important not only to track your identity-preserved crops, but also to validate that the tracking was done correctly with no mistakes. This can be a tall order for even the most organized farmer.
, an online crop monitoring and certification company, and Pike Management Group (PMG), an ag consulting agency, are now teaming up to help farmers fill this order. The two companies will assist clients with crop management, validation and certification of crop growth processes. The companies will also develop joint marketing and promotional programs.
With CropVerifeye, farmers can prove and verify crops for contracts using an online database. PMG offers AgCoach, a system that matches producers with trained coaches to offer advice, mentoring and information. The agreement between the two companies will also allow them to expand into international markets.
Producers can sign up on the Web site at www.cropverifeye.com. Cost averages $3 to $4.50/acre for corn and $2 to $3/acre for soybeans. Contact CropVerifeye, Dept. FIN, 111 Whittier, Suite 140, Wichita, KS 67207, 866/639-2767.
Redesigned augers
Brandt Industries has redesigned its 10-in. augers (in 60- and 70-ft. lengths) to offer more capabilities than before. The augers feature a scissor lift replacing the A-frame to provide greater reach and lower maintenance. The improved swing-away assembly has a totally sealed and flexible transition area and a heavier gear box. Price: $5,950 for the 60-ft. model and $6,150 for the 70-ft. model. Contact Brandt Industries Ltd., Dept. FIN, 13th Ave. & Pinkie Rd., Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4P 3A1, 306/525-1314, www.brandt.ca.


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Telephone Interview with Robert S. Earle, 24 February 2002
Carolyn Earle Billingsley
Daddy used to go fishing in Fourche Creek in Little Rock when he was a little boy. He often went with his cousin James Lee Branch, the son of G. F. (Flynn) Branch and his wife Earl Elrod.[1] They crossed over Roosevelt Boulevard near where the State Police Headquarters are now and down Brown Street to Fourche. Daddy said he caught sunfish (perch) and one time caught a catfish that must've been all of seven inches long—but he thought he'd hooked a monster.
G. F. and Earl Branch had another son, G. F. Branch They also had a daughter Margie, who married a Graves and now lives in El Dorado (Dad just talked to her recently and got James Lee's phone number in Florida but he never did reach him) There was another daughter (name not remembered) who lived with Daddy's grandparents in Little Rock so she could go to high school there while her parents were living in Pine Bluff. Her father Flynn worked at that time as a janitor at Watson Chapel School. At one time the Branches lived at 2004 Valmar Street, right down the street from where Daddy was born and lived when very young.
James Lee Branch was older than Daddy by about four years. One time, he was flipping Daddy and broke his collarbone. His grandfather took him to the doctor and then brought him home on the trolley with a big board supporting his back and collarbone, but his grandmother took one look at that and said, "He's never going to keep that on his back for six months!" and sent it back to the doctor.
James Lee Branch flew missions over Germany during WWII and was shot down over Bremen. He spent a couple years as a POW.
Gene Hudson was another friend of Daddy's (and his aunt was ____ Millican). They went off to some school in Oklahoma together at one point. Gene's mother owned Eula's Shoe Shops in Little Rock and had seven or eight stores. Gene was going to set up another shop somewhere and Daddy set up a shoe repair shop in Rose City, but he never really had much business. Mother was working at some job and they had $40 a week to live on. Gene Hudson was a distributor for some food company and could get them all the macaroni they could eat, so they lived on that, plus eggs from Daddy's grandparents and milk and beef from Mother's parents.
A few years ago (Daddy estimates about 1998–1999), Gene came up missing and they finally found him dead in his car along the Pine Bluff Highway. He'd had an accident and I guess no one could see the car from the road.
[1] I'm not sure how Earl Branch and Robert S. Earle—or his grandmother Sarah Jane "Janie" Elizabeth (Keesee) Earle—were related, but since Earl Branch's maiden name was Elrod, I suspect that she is a descendant of one of Sarah Jane Elisabeth (Keesee) Earle's half-siblings by her mother's first marriage to an Elrod. Daddy stated that he and James Lee Branch were definitely cousins through his grandmother Janie Earle.
24 February 2002
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VHCA/VCAL Accepting Award Nominations
Each year the Virginia Health Care Association (VHCA) and the Virginia Center for Assisted Living (VCAL) recognize leaders in post-acute and long term care facilities at the Awards Banquet held during the Annual Convention. VHCA/VCAL celebrates the outstanding achievements of administrators, nurses, volunteers and others who help make possible the delivery of high-quality long term care services within Virginia's nursing and assisted living facilities. The Recognition Awards are the highest honor that can be received by long term care professionals and volunteers in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In addition, the D. A. "Woody" Brown Community Involvement Awards Program recognizes VHCA/VCAL facilities that demonstrate a high degree of professionalism and creativity in a program that encourages and supports strong community relations. Facilities are encouraged to submit scrapbooks of text and illustrations which exhibit successful facility-based programs.
Brochure information for both the D. A. "Woody" Brown Community Involvement Awards Program and the Recognition Awards will be mailed out early next week. However, both awards packages are now on the VHCA website.
The deadline for submitting nominations is June 1st.