text:
On this date in 1896, outlaw Bill Doolin is killed by a posse at Lawson, Oklahoma.
Born in Arkansas in 1858, William Doolin was never as hardened a criminal as some of his companions. He went west in 1881, finding work in Oklahoma at the big ranch of Oscar D. Halsell. Halsell took a liking to the young Arkansan, taught him to write and do simple arithmetic, and eventually made him an informal foreman on the ranch. Doolin worked for several other ranchers in the next decade and he was widely considered trustworthy and capable. By the 1890s, however, Doolin had become at least a part-time thief. For six years, he participated in a variety of bank and train robberies, sometimes in partnership with the infamous Dalton gang. A careful and methodical man, Doolin planned his robberies well. Though he was shot several times, the wounds were never serious. Success inevitably brought increased pressure from law enforcement. In 1895, Doolin and several of his partners went into hiding in New Mexico. Doolin made several offers to surrender in exchange for a light sentence, but his offers were rejected. In January 1896, the famous lawman Bill Tilghman single-handedly captured Doolin at Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The outlaw, who was at the springs to take in the medicinal waters, was caught by surprise, and Tilghman arrested him peacefully. Jailed at Guthrie, Oklahoma, while awaiting trial, Doolin escaped on July 5, 1896. Doolin managed to elude the pursuing posse for nearly two months. When the posse finally caught up with him at Lawson, Oklahoma, Doolin apparently decided he was not going to be captured alive. Badly outnumbered, Doolin drew his gun. A rain of shotgun and rifle fire instantly killed him. He was 38 years old. Doolin was buried in Guthrie, Oklahoma.


text:
Statement by Julian Assange
As I type these lines, on June 3, 2013, Private First Class Bradley Edward Manning is being tried in a sequestered room at Fort Meade, Maryland, for the alleged crime of telling the truth. The court martial of the most prominent political prisoner in modern US history has now, finally, begun.
It has been three years. Bradley Manning, then 22 years old, was arrested in Baghdad on May 26, 2010. He was shipped to Kuwait, placed into a cage, and kept in the sweltering heat of Camp Arifjan.
"For me, I stopped keeping track," he told the court last November. "I didn't know whether night was day or day was night. And my world became very, very small. It became these cages... I remember thinking I'm going to die."
After protests from his lawyers, Bradley Manning was then transferred to a brig at a US Marine Corps Base in Quantico, VA, where - infamously - he was subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at the hands of his captors - a formal finding by the UN. Isolated in a tiny cell for twenty-three out of twenty-four hours a day, he was deprived of his glasses, sleep, blankets and clothes, and prevented from exercising. All of this - it has been determined by a military judge - "punished" him before he had even stood trial.
"Brad's treatment at Quantico will forever be etched, I believe, in our nation's history, as a disgraceful moment in time" said his lawyer, David Coombs. "Not only was it stupid and counterproductive, it was criminal."
The United States was, in theory, a nation of laws. But it is no longer a nation of laws for Bradley Manning.
When the abuse of Bradley Manning became a scandal reaching all the way to the President of the United States and Hillary Clinton's spokesman resigned to register his dissent over Mr. Manning's treatment, an attempt was made to make the problem less visible. Bradley Manning was transferred to the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
He has waited in prison for three years for a trial - 986 days longer than the legal maximum - because for three years the prosecution has dragged its feet and obstructed the court, denied the defense access to evidence and abused official secrecy. This is simply illegal - all defendants are constitutionally entitled to a speedy trial - but the transgression has been acknowledged and then overlooked.
Against all of this, it would be tempting to look on the eventual commencement of his trial as a mercy. But that is hard to do.
We no longer need to comprehend the "Kafkaesque" through the lens of fiction or allegory. It has left the pages and lives among us, stalking our best and brightest. It is fair to call what is happening to Bradley Manning a "show trial". Those invested in what is called the "US military justice system" feel obliged to defend what is going on, but the rest of us are free to describe this travesty for what it is. No serious commentator has any confidence in a benign outcome. The pretrial hearings have comprehensively eliminated any meaningful uncertainty, inflicting pre-emptive bans on every defense argument that had any chance of success.
Bradley Manning may not give evidence as to his stated intent (exposing war crimes and their context), nor may he present any witness or document that shows that no harm resulted from his actions. Imagine you were put on trial for murder. In Bradley Manning's court, you would be banned from showing that it was a matter of self-defence, because any argument or evidence as to intent is banned. You would not be able to show that the 'victim' is, in fact, still alive, because that would be evidence as to the lack of harm.
But of course. Did you forget whose show it is?
The government has prepared for a good show. The trial is to proceed for twelve straight weeks: a fully choreographed extravaganza, with a 141-strong cast of prosecution witnesses. The defense was denied permission to call all but a handful of witnesses. Three weeks ago, in closed session, the court actually held a rehearsal. Even experts on military law have called this unprecedented.
Bradley Manning's conviction is already written into the script. The commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces, Barack Obama, spoiled the plot for all of us when he pronounced Bradley Manning guilty two years ago. "He broke the law," President Obama stated, when asked on camera at a fundraiser about his position on Mr. Manning. In a civilized society, such a prejudicial statement alone would have resulted in a mistrial.
To convict Bradley Manning, it will be necessary for the US government to conceal crucial parts of his trial. Key portions of the trial are to be conducted in secrecy: 24 prosecution witnesses will give secret testimony in closed session, permitting the judge to claim that secret evidence justifies her decision. But closed justice is no justice at all.
What cannot be shrouded in secrecy will be hidden through obfuscation. The remote situation of the courtroom, the arbitrary and discretionary restrictions on access for journalists, and the deliberate complexity and scale of the case are all designed to drive fact-hungry reporters into the arms of official military PR men, who mill around the Fort Meade press room like over-eager sales assistants. The management of Bradley Manning's case will not stop at the limits of the courtroom. It has already been revealed that the Pentagon is closely monitoring press coverage and social media discussions on the case.
This is not justice; never could this be justice. The verdict was ordained long ago. Its function is not to determine questions such as guilt or innocence, or truth or falsehood. It is a public relations exercise, designed to provide the government with an alibi for posterity. It is a show of wasteful vengeance; a theatrical warning to people of conscience.
The alleged act in respect of which Bradley Manning is charged is an act of great conscience - the single most important disclosure of subjugated history, ever. There is not a political system anywhere on the earth that has not seen light as a result. In court, in February, Bradley Manning said that he wanted to expose injustice, and to provoke worldwide debate and reform. Bradley Manning is accused of being a whistleblower, a good man, who cared for others and who followed higher orders. Bradley Manning is effectively accused of conspiracy to commit journalism.
But this is not the language the prosecution uses. The most serious charge against Bradley Manning is that he "aided the enemy" - a capital offence that should require the greatest gravity, but here the US government laughs at the world, to breathe life into a phantom. The government argues that Bradley Manning communicated with a media organisation, WikiLeaks, who communicated to the public. It also argues that al-Qaeda (who else) is a member of the public. Hence, it argues that Bradley Manning communicated "indirectly" with al-Qaeda, a formally declared US "enemy", and therefore that Bradley Manning communicated with "the enemy".
But what about "aiding" in that most serious charge, "aiding the enemy"? Don't forget that this is a show trial. The court has banned any evidence of intent. The court has banned any evidence of the outcome, the lack of harm, the lack of any victim. It has ruled that the government doesn't need to show that any "aiding" occurred and the prosecution doesn't claim it did. The judge has stated that it is enough for the prosecution to show that al-Qaeda, like the rest of the world, reads WikiLeaks.
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people," wrote John Adams, "who have a right and a desire to know."
When communicating with the press is "aiding the enemy" it is the "general knowledge among the people" itself which has become criminal. Just as Bradley Manning is condemned, so too is that spirit of liberty in which America was founded.
In the end it is not Bradley Manning who is on trial. His trial ended long ago. The defendent now, and for the next 12 weeks, is the United States. A runaway military, whose misdeeds have been laid bare, and a secretive government at war with the public. They sit in the docks. We are called to serve as jurists. We must not turn away.
No copyright has been asserted for this document. Julian Assange has entered it into the public domain.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I had a meeting yesterday morning with a very nice, very well respected, and very well connected physician and public health advocate.
We were chatting about how I may be able to help him out in his endeavours and of course we chatted about health advocacy in general.
It turns out we come at things from two sides of the same coin. He thinks we need to pressure industry to affect changes to trickle down to the consumer (change the environment) while I think we need to pressure the consumer to increase awareness and knowledge to trickle up to industry to affect change (change the environment).
Of course both are good ideas and plans and I'm certainly not sure which is better.
I'd like to see nutrition taught better in schools to indoctrinate our children regarding the importance of food and health. I don't want there to be whole courses dedicated to boring kids about food and making them hate learning about nutrition, instead I want to see nutrition insidiously rolled out the entire curriculum, from reading comprehension exercises, to math problems, to healthy foods being served in cafeterias, nutritional information posted on cafeteria menu boards, unhealthy food policies abolished (junk food fundraising), and the truth of energy balance being effectively addressed (to explain how it's not a level playing field and that intake matters far more than output ultimately to weight).
Because I don't think industry believes in health altruism. They're not going to, on their own volition, recommend that vending machines be removed from schools. They're not going to recommend that we ban advertising towards children, they're not going to recommend that governments encourge the consumption of less food. And why should they? Their job is to sell food and make profits for their shareholders.
What will industry respond to? Consumer demand and governmental regulation.
Consumer demand wise look no further than the recent ban on bPA in baby bottles. Regulation wise look no further than California. California mandated that calories be placed on menus and suddenly restaurant calories are getting makeovers. Salads that had 1,270 calories suddenly have 390 and Denny's rolls out lower calorie Grand Slams.
I believe that demand is a function of awareness and that neither industry nor government is going to act without the public being behind an idea.
To boot you just watch what happens over the next 5 years with both industry and regulatory approaches to sodium, trans-fat and posted calories because suddenly the public wants to see those things change.
At the end of the day there's need and value for both approaches and I'm thrilled that there are folks out there fighting the good fight.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Advocacy via the public or via industry?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
3 Cheers for Cancer Project Dietitian Krista Haynes!
She should start a blog!
I just came across an op-ed piece she wrote that was published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in October last year. In it she works the argument that providing processed meat to children in schools is tantamount to schools handing out cigarettes.
Click the link above and see what you think of her arguments.
Me? I'm right beside her.
(the Heart and Stroke Foundation not so much as processed meats are still a category of foods to which they award their hellacious Health Check).
I wonder if she wants to move to Canada - we're looking for another dietitian!
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: children, Health Check, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Opinion
Monday, September 28, 2009
iPhone's new killer app food diary
Got an iPhone?
If you do and you want to track calories then there's a new kid on the block that may help. It's called Food Scanner and the premise is simple, all you've got to do is use your iPhone to scan a bar code or you can type in a food name and presto, nutritional information.
According to the creators there are already over 200,000 different foods in their database and you can of course add your own if they're not there.
For my Canadian readers, it may be worth contacting the folks at the Daily Burn to find out if it works with Canadian bar codes (does anyone know if they differ from the US?).
If you want to see it in action you can watch the video.
(Oh, and I've got to say, while this may be the first such app for the iPhone, I can say with some certainty that it won't be the last with future apps not only able to track your food but also able to suggest healthier alternatives when you're shopping. Will cover that app when it launches.)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Why Government rarely works
Today's Funny Friday may not be so funny to anyone who's ever had to participate, care or watch governmental committees trying to figure out what they ought to do.
Have a great weekend!
(Remember email subscribers you've got to go to the blog to watch the video)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A personal request for help.
Today I'm taking a day off nutrition blogging to ask you for your help.
On October 4th I'm running in the CIBC Run for the Cure, a charity run supporting breast cancer research.
Last year 55 communities and 170,000 Canadians participated and together helped to raise $28.5 million for breast cancer research, education and awareness programs.
I've been doing the Run for the Cure for years now and while it's true that there are many worthy charities and causes out there, one of the reasons I love the Run is because of the day itself. Tens of thousands of Canadians in cities across the country join together fostering an incredible sense of community. It's a day to be active with your family, a day to teach your children about the importance of giving, and of perseverance, and of kindness.
This year my two "older" daughters (5 and 2.5) will be doing the run themselves for the first time while my wife and I push our baby. The big girls are excited to run with mom and dad and we're excited to start teaching them about why they're running - not necessarily teaching them about breast cancer but more about helping people, charity, making a difference and never giving up.
If you're a regular reader of my blog (or even just a passer-by) you'll know that I put a tremendous amount of work into my daily posts. I do it because I love to do it. My blog's not monetized (and never will be) and doesn't have ridiculous ads promoting dubious weight loss solutions and nobody pays me for my opinion.
All that said, if you enjoy my blog, please consider donating to my Run for the Cure efforts.
To donate click the pink button below which will take you to the CIBC Run for the Cure website. You can choose to give anonymously, you can use a credit card and if you donate more than $10, you'll receive a tax receipt.
Thank you and back to normal programming tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
What do you call the person who graduates last in their medical school class?
I'll get to the answer in a minute but first let me tell you about the most jaw-droppingly, mind-numbingly, stupid weight loss invention I've ever had the displeasure of coming across.
It's called the Chugay Tongue Patch and is named after its inventor, plastic surgeon Dr. Nikolas Chugay.
The premise is simple. Dr. Chugay sews a postage stamp sized "patch" onto your tongue. The patch,
"makes chewing of solid foods very difficult and painful, limiting the patient to a liquid diet."Yes, Dr. Nikolas Chugay believes that the answer to weight loss lies in causing his patients to experience physical pain.
I wanted to learn a little bit more about Dr. Chugay because I was having a really hard time with the concept that an actual physician was misguided enough to believe that he could help his patients by creating a "yes pain, no gain" weight loss aid so I decided to head over to his RateMDs page. There I learned that of the 6 people who rated him he received an average score of 1/5 with comments like,
"I regret the day I ever heard about this so-called doctor forever."Which brings me back to the joke, "What do you call the guy who graduates last in their class in medical school?"
"I have a broken looking, crooked nose that I need to fix by having a reconstructive surgery recommended by three other doctors that were amazed how badly Chugay has ruined my nose."
"He is a ****. He is the worst thing could happen to you."
"Do Not let him touch you even for free."
"I will not recommend him to my worst enemies."
Unfortunately you call him Doctor.
[Hat tip to my friend Julie Deardorff from the Chicago Tribune who first showed me the "miracle patch" and who got me at my snarkiest for her blog]
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Calling all Canadian Dietitians!
I need your help!
My office, the Bariatric Medical Institute needs a part time dietitian.
Our current part-timer Candace is getting tired of working two jobs and because she's really enjoyed working with us she was kind enough to give us "unlimited" notice and while selfishly I'd love to make that about two years, I don't think that'd be particularly fair.
If you're a dietitian in Canada and you or someone you know might want to work with us, please pop me an email and pass this post along far and wide!
Right now we're only looking for 6 hours/week to start but given our plans for the near future, we suspect that number will grow by the New Year and certainly has the long term potential to morph into a full time job.
As far as job description goes, here's the ad we took out when we found Candace:The Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa, a multi-disciplinary holistic weight management office that includes medical doctors, personal trainers, registered dietitians and a clinical psychologist is looking for a part-time dietitian to join our professional and unique team.
We are looking for someone who loves working with people, is great at multi-tasking, is a team player, thrives off of challenge and responsibility and wants to utilize his or her skills in making a dramatic positive difference in people's lives. Our office is incredibly unique in that enrollment in our program provides patients with unlimited access to dietetic counseling and therefore you'll have all the time in the world to actually steer people towards healthier lifestyles.
Responsibilities will include:
The skills you'll need:
The requirements we're looking for:
Working with us you will have access to a full gym facility as well as shower and change rooms. Physical activity and healthy living are the primary focus of our work and therefore we view your active lifestyle as a great asset.
You will be starting with a fixed number of part time hours and our offered hourly wage is highly competitive. More importantly, the position has ample room for growth into a future full time position.
We look forward to meeting with you.
Heath Canada's latest failure hits mothers, babies and pocketbooks.
According to a report written by Canwest reporter Sarah Schmidt, Health Canada has rejected calls from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to restrict infant-formula manufacturers from printing undeserved health claims on their products.
The claim in question has to do with the addition of DHA which is touted to support healthy brain development. Currently Health Canada allows formula manufacturers to include a DHA related health claim even if the formula only contains smelling salt amounts.
According to Sarah's article, in the EU such a claim could only be made if the fatty acid content of the formula is at least 0.3% DHA as this would be the amount required to be consistent with the studies supporting its use. According to the CFIA there are formulas being sold in Canada that contain as little as 0.1%.
Sarah reports that in a letter obtained from an access to information request (click the photo at the top to see part of it) the CFIA pleaded with Health Canada to set a minimum DHA level if a manufacturer wanted to make a claim, with the letter stating,
"It is unfortunate that the Health Canada is removing the proposed revision to require that a food actually contain a significant (source) amount of the nutrient that is subject to the claim, otherwise you end up with situations like this one where a big deal is made about a food containing what appears to be a significant amount of a nutrient.So what did Health Canada do with CFIA's well grounded concerns and their request that claims only be allowable on products with claim based contents consistent with research?
I would question how a biological role claim could be generally recognized as an aid in an organic function without some source level established as part of the generally recognized role"
They denied it.
By denying the CFIA's request Health Canada has given the green light to infant formula manufacturers to continue to peddle insignificant amounts of DHA as brain/baby enhancing which in turn may have the potential to sway some mothers to think that formula is as good as breast and decrease the time they'd decided to breast feed their infants.
Gee thanks Health Canada, you're sure doing a swell job.
(Oh, and guess what, formula with miniscule amounts of DHA costs a heck of a lot more than plain old formula so if you are duped by overly optimistic claims you'll be paying a premium for Health Canada's pandering to industry.)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Danone's latest sexy health claim (sarcasm alert).
Somehow I don't think you'll be seeing this one on the side of your Activia anytime soon, but not because it isn't true.
If you remember a while back I observed that if Danone's Activia health claims were really as robust as they like to present them, that perhaps they wouldn't have withdrawn them from consideration in the EU where the rules of proving your claim to be true are much, much more stringent.
Well Danone's resubmitted a claim all right, but it's not the claim that Activia helps keep you regular, instead it's,
"Fermented milk that contains the probiotic Lactobacillus casei, reduces the presence of Clostridium difficile toxins in the gut, associated with the incidence of acute diarrhoea."Sexy.
And very possibly true as Danone funded a double blind, placebo controlled trial involving 135 hospitalized patients taking antibiotics and found that only 12% of the probiotic group contracted diarrhoea associated with antibiotic use compared with 34% of the controls.
So once again I've got to wonder aloud - if their evidence regarding their Activia health claims were as robust as those referred to above, why did they withdraw them from consideration in the EU and why haven't they been resubmitted?
Hickson, M., D'Souza, A., Muthu, N., Rogers, T., Want, S., Rajkumar, C., & Bulpitt, C. (2007). Use of probiotic Lactobacillus preparation to prevent diarrhoea associated with antibiotics: randomised double blind placebo controlled trial BMJ, 335 (7610), 80-80 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.39231.599815.55
Friday, September 18, 2009
Schadenfreude (I'm a bad man)
All I know is when I watch today's Funny Friday video suddenly my day doesn't seem as bad.
Have a great weekend!
[Hat tip to BMI's fitness director Rob]
Sorry for the late post!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Artificial sweeteners help keep it off.
Not exactly a surprising result, but likely one that will be poo-poo'd by all those who love to vilify artificial sweeteners.
Researchers in New Zealand studied folks who had successfully lost weight and their dietary consumption patterns. More specifically they looked at folks who had maintained a weight loss of greater than 10% of their weight for 11.5 years and they compared these folks' dietary strategies to folks of similar weights who had never been overweight.
What unshocking yet valuable results did they find?
They found that folks who lost the weight had to work harder at their dietary strategies to help keep that weight off than folks who never had weight to lose. Their strategies included consuming fewer calories from fat (though the importance of this one's debatable as the 90s were the low-fat decade and more recent data from the National Weight Control Registry suggest that low-calorie is of course more important than low-fat and can be accomplished many different ways), consuming more of sugar and fat modified foods (reduced fat, reduced sugar), consuming more water, less pop and three times more daily servings of artificially sweetened soft drinks.
Go figure - folks who are predisposed to weight gain can help themselves keep the weight off by employing dietary strategies to help themselves consume fewer calories.
Go ahead, drink your diet Coke.
Phelan, S., Lang, W., Jordan, D., & Wing, R. (2009). Use of artificial sweeteners and fat-modified foods in weight loss maintainers and always-normal weight individuals International Journal of Obesity DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2009.147
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Jamie Oliver - the video game?
Oh, and if you were wondering if it were a good game, here's what one review had to say,
"After the first few recipes, you quickly realize that this is a game of rolling through monotonous motions. Long before the game is finished, you will become very bored and have no desire to return."Ouch.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Heart and Stroke helps sell Franken-goo to your kids
In their press release regarding their childhood obesity report the Heart and Stroke Foundation states,
"The most disappointing finding is the number of children meeting the daily recommendations for fruit and vegetables"So I thought it might be illuminating to discuss what the Heart and Stroke's Health Check program considers fruit and why juice sweetened options like "Dole Squish'ems!" are not fruit equivalents.
Dole Strawberry Squish'ems! come in 90 gram packages. Each package contains 50 calories, 11 grams (nearly 3 teaspoons) of sugar and 1 gram of fibre in a red fruit based goo that you're meant to squish into your mouth.
Strawberries on the other hand come in self contained berries. An equivalent 90 grams of them contain 29 calories, 4.2 grams of sugar (1 teaspoon) and 1.8 grams of fibre.
The 2 added teaspoons of sugar and nearly double the calories in the 90 grams of Squish'ems! vs. actual strawberries comes from added sugar, though not the white stuff, instead it's the sugar that comes from adding juice concentrates and fruit purees. Of course it's still just sugar and certainly the addition of fruit juice concentrates will have the same metabolic effects as would the addition of table sugar or high fructose corn syrup (a vegetable based concentrate). I guess the Heart and Stroke Health Check technical advisors skipped that day of school. Great job Heart and Stroke Foundation - I'm sure adding sugar to fruit and berries can only help improve childhood obesity rates.
Wondering how many strawberries your kid could have for those same 50 calories? 50 calories worth of strawberries would be just over a cup of berries and would still give your kid 1 fewer teaspoon of sugar and triple the fibre of the "no-sugar added", sweetened with juice concentrate, certainly not actual berries, Frankenfood you and/or your unsuspecting children squish into their mouths with the blessing from the Heart and Stroke Foundations' dietitians that it's good for you.
So clearly berries are far healthier. That said, also important in obesity prevention is satiety. What do you think would be more filling? A bit more than a cup of berries or just over a third of a cup of goo?
Eat food, not goo!
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: children, Frankenfood, Health Check, Heart and Stroke Foundation
Monday, September 14, 2009
A doctor other than me bashes the Heart and Stroke kids report.
Just got an email from my friend and colleague Dr. Barry Dworkin. He hosts a few weekly medical radio programs that are syndicated nationally (Sunday House Call - Sundays from 3-5 EST). He read my blog today and rightly told me that he beat me to the punch last Thursday.
Click below (email subscribers you may need to head over to the blog) to hear his discussion with Steve Madely regarding the recent Heart and Stroke Foundation report on childhood obesity.
Thanks for the heads up Barry!
Hypocrisy & the Heart and Stroke Foundation's kids report
"FAT - Saving a generation before it's too late"The report received tremendous press and rightly points out that in the past 10 years we've done an absolutely miserable job of stemming the tide of childhood obesity and it's full of pictures of obese children wearing T-shirts with scary facts. The accompanying press release then spews statistics about how kids these days eat even less fruits and vegetables than they did in the 90s, and in general eat far less fresh food.
So Freedhoff, where's the hypocrisy? Isn't it true that obesity rates are rising and that kids don't eat well?
Sure it's true, but the Heart and Stroke Foundation itself discourages the consumption of fresh, healthy food.
You heard me - the Heart and Stroke Foundation discourages the consumption of fresh healthy food because the Heart and Stroke Foundation effectively discourages cooking.
By promoting consumption of boxed foods by adorning them with a health halo that lets you feel good you're not bothering to cook.
And who do they sell their logo to that scores at most 5 (and usually only 3 or 4) nutritional criteria?
Oh, and guess what, Health Check's nutritional criteria, even though in 2006 the Heart and Stroke Foundation identified childhood obesity as "a critical issue for the future health of Ontario" and even though they've just published and promoted their scary report on how your kids aren't going to live as long as you because they're so obese, their nutritional criteria don't include calories.
So what types of foods get the Health Check logo?
- Health Checked boxed, highly processed, not fresh, lowest common denominator, white flour, salty, sugar sweetened, too busy or lazy to cook for their family, types of foods.
- 188 different Health Checked fruit juices with not one warning or proviso that states that medical organizations the world over recommend a 1/2 cup daily juice maximum for young children and 1 cup daily maximum for older ones.
- Health Checked beef in all shapes and sizes despite its clear cut link to cancer and with no mention or warning regarding the Canadian Cancer Society's recommendation of a 255gram weekly beef maximum.
- Health Checked processed meats despite the World Cancer Research Fund and the Canadian Cancer Society's warnings that there is virtually no safe amount of processed meat one can consume and therefore it should be limited to, "special occasions, such as ham for a holiday dinner or a hot dog at a sporting event".
- Health Checked French fries, Fruit Roll Ups, Dole Squish'Ems (see tomorrow's blog), canned fruit and apple sauces - and if you're looking for fresh fruit with Health Checks you'd better get ready to look hard because of the 531 current fruit or vegetable products with Health Checks only 11% are for fresh fruits or vegetables.
Health Check is a healthy eating abomination - it discourages healthy eating, fails to guide Canadians to truly healthy choices, by its nature regularly steers consumers away from even healthier options (if they don't pay, they don't play so if there's a healthier option on the shelf that didn't cough up to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, unless you're a back of label reader you're going to miss it), encourages people not to cook, and still allows for tremendous amounts of even the few criteria they monitor (is there a particular reason why Health Checks are awarded to 17% fat ground beef when 10% extra lean exists or why tomato juices are allowed to provide 480mg or 1/3 of your total daily HSF sodium allotment in 1 cup?).
If the Heart and Stroke Foundation and its spokespeople were actually sincere in their desire to help our swelling children they'd put an end to Health Check tomorrow and instead focus their significant amounts of time, energy and clout into promoting the importance of decreasing juice and calories, not skipping any meals and snacks, proper exercise nutrition, loudly promoting school cafeteria reform, discouraging the consumption of processed foods and teaching kids and their parents how to actually cook.
Fat chance there though as Health Check generates millions of dollars for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and despite it's glaring, unforgivable, pathetic shortcomings, they're still actively promoting and expanding it - and in so doing harming the health of Canadian children and guiling parents into thinking that boxed food is nutritious and that cooking fresh, healthy meals isn't necessary.
And really, it's not as if they don't understand just how grave the situation is. Here's a collection of all of their annual reports' t-shirts.
"My parents may live longer than I will"We deserve better and the Heart and Stroke Foundation's advisers and health professionals know it and so do nutritional professionals the country over - they're just too scared to say anything because the Heart and Stroke Foundation's reach is tremendous. Heart and Stroke Foundation representatives sit on boards of directors of NGOs, provide grants, fund research and help shape Canadian health policy. Perhaps that's why in frank and candid off the record discussions with me I've found academic researchers and nutritional professionals to be uniformly terrified of biting the hand that feeds them despite behind closed doors agreeing that Health Check is awful and likely does more harm than good.
"28% of kids in Ontario are overweight or obese. And it's not their fault"
"I've got 3 times greater risk of high blood pressure than kids 20 years ago"
"My parents care more about my grades than heart disease"
"If I stop obesity can I keep the $1.8 billion saved in healthcare?"
"Only 1 out of 10 kids is fit"
"9 out of 10 kids parents THINK their kids are fit"
"Inactivity makes me decades older"
"Too much screen time is GAME OVER for my health"
"Healthy food feeds my whole body"
"Build me a sidewalk and I'll walk to school"
"My Cafeteria needs an urgent Health Check"
"We should all get in the game"
"Healthy living is smart. Just check my grades."
"Let the TV eat by itself. I'm better off eating with my family"
"Race ya to the park and back"
"Eat well. Get active. Live longer"
"I have the right to grow up healthy"
Too bad too because the hand that hand feeds them offers metabolic syndrome promoting, obesity inducing, diabetes promoting, blood pressure raising, cancer causing, crap.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Arnold Schwarzenegger - a dumbbell divining rod
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Badvertising: Mott's Fruitsations miracle sauce.
"Your taste buds and your immune system will thank you."Because they've got shares in Cadbury (the owners of the Mott's brand)?
Because they're not fond of you and like to laugh at you behind your back?
Because they've got a bet going that they think you're too dense/harried/pre-occupied/distracted/lazy to see through shameful badvertising?
Am I being too harsh?
Have I been out of medical school for too long?
Maybe it's the current standard of practice to prescribe apple sauce to treat a myriad of conditions.
Stupid, stupid, stupid me.
All hail apple sauce - purveyor of health, banisher of disease and ambrosia of the gods.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Hydroxycut - a case study in scumbaggedness.
And if that's not a word yet, in this case it should be.
Remember a few months back when Hydroxycut was pulled from the market because it injured livers and killed people?
Well guess what?
It's back!
And not only is it back but reportedly the only ingredient left from the original formulation is caffeine.
Pretty neat stuff eh? Bing-bam-boom and a bit of bibbidity bobbidy boo and presto - a new fantastic supplement that, "really works!". Clinical trials are so 1990s!
So what does it work at?
Well that's a great question.
According to Iovate's new Thermogenic Hydroxycut Advanced website, it
"Boosts Metabolism to Burn Calories"How you ask? Well according to the fine print,
"Increased energy and boosted metabolism to burn more calories is supported by its key ingredient, caffeine"So I guess it's like an awesome cup of coffee and yet unlike the box of Thermogenic Hydroxycut Advanced I've never seen a Starbucks cup that brags about its,
"SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED PRIMARY INGREDIENT".So is coffee a weight loss supplement?
Um, no.
Is Hydroxycut Thermogenic Advance a weight loss supplement?
Looking at the box you might think so as right there at the top in big banner letters you'll read,
"From the makers of America's #1 selling weight-loss supplement brand of 07-08"(I'm guessing it was also America's #1 killing brand of 07-08 but somehow that doesn't have the same zing)
Well guess what, if you read the smaller letters you'll find out that not even Hydroxycut's parent company Iovate calls it a weight loss supplement as in the tiny fine print you'll note they say,
"It is not a weight control product"Yeah, I know, caveat emptor but do remember emptors, what you've got to caveat are scumbags that try to pawn off expensive, overhyped, deceptively marketed neutraceuticals "that really works!" as useful where the only "scientifically researched" ingredient is one you can get in a cup of coffee.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Big Food flexes marketing muscles to combat fat taxes
There are two consumer options for "fat taxes".
There's disincentive taxation whereby for instance sugar sweetened beverages are taxed so dramatically that it decreases their consumption or there's incentive taxation where a nominal tax is levied to raise money to be spent on educational programs, health food subsidies etc.
Not surprisingly Big Food's not happy.
So what are they doing about it?
Well aside from intense lobbying and pressuring of elected officials they're after your hearts and they're doing it under cover.
They're calling themselves, "Americans Against Food Taxes", but looking at their About Us page you'll quickly find that they're a collection of who's who in Big Food.
They've put together an ad campaign meant to paint any type of consumer taxation as governmental quashing of good healthy fun and simple pleasures.
Looking back at Kelly Brownell and Kenneth Warner's Big Tobacco playbook their initial 30 second ad makes these 3 plays
Brownell KD, & Warner KE (2009). The perils of ignoring history: Big Tobacco played dirty and millions died. How similar is Big Food? The Milbank quarterly, 87 (1), 259-94 PMID: 19298423
Monday, September 07, 2009
Frankenfood - Deep Fried Butter!
Sorry, that was the sound of my breakfast being retched up.
Yup, someone has invented deep-fried butter.
My favourite part of the video below? I think it's when the inventor explains it's not as if he's just taking big slabs of butter and then deep frying them and then he just takes big slabs of butter and deep fries them.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Do you really want to send that meal back?
Warning - this video is meant for my more juvenile readers.
If juvenile humour doesn't appeal to you, please, please, please, don't watch today's Funny Friday video (and remember, email subscribers you'll need to click the post title to head to the blog to view the video).
Have a great weekend!
[Hat tip to Lorne, BMI's Director of Operations]
Thursday, September 03, 2009
World's most affordable treadmill desk!
Treadmill not included.
It's call the SurfShelf and this thing looks perfect. It's a simple stand that attaches to most treadmills that supports a laptop.
Walk at 1-2 miles an hour and build up your NEAT while working or pop in DVDs to watch videos while running. p
It'll also fit recumbent bikes, ellipticals etc.
Want one?
Click here!
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
World's Stupidest Childhood Obesity Tie-in?
At the very least it's in the top three.
You see childhood obesity intervention sells. It sells magazines, newspapers and apparently it helped sell the concept of a $10 million seal exhibit at an aquarium.
Say what?
Yup - the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center recently unveiled its $10 million dollar seal habitat and Move It! program. The program basically involves people, presumably including children, watching seals with the hope that watching seals while the children themselves are either stationary or seated will translate into improved childhood fitness and a reduction in childhood obesity.
I kid you not.
Apparently not only will children be able to stand still and watch seals playing actively, they'll also be able to stand still and look at panels around the aquarium that show seal "moves" like stretching, jumping and swimming which encouraging the kids to, "Try it!"
Here's what Paul Boyle, vice president of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums had to say about this mind-numbing initiative,
"You can almost see a child in front of the exhibit, gyrating, trying to mimic the seal and saying, 'Well this is pretty cool,'" he said. "Then they go home and they may roll around in the backyard and then they may start to, you know ... run"Better not take your kids to a bird sanctuary Paul - they might climb up on the roof and try to fly.
[Hat tip to my friend and colleague Dr. Sara Kirk]
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
World's Greatest Measuring Cup?
I can't imagine any other contenders.
Pour stuff in - digital measurement on handle.
Not sure about you folks but all my cheapy plastic cups end up having their side printed gradations erase over time.
It can even do imperial to metric conversions!
I want one!
[Via Engadget]


text:
Family Funday on SundayEnjoy a story in the library at 10:30, followed by a guided walk at 11 through the Garden of California Native Plants, where the guide will connect the morning's story to living plants. Drop by the garden activity station between 11:30-1:30 to create a garden craft project to take home.
For: Families with children ages 3-10.
When: Sundays, April 7 & 21, May 5 & 19; 10:30-1:30
Cost: FREE (admission required for docent walks and craft activities following story readings – free for San Francisco residents with proof of residency)
The rest of the time - you can enjoy the seasonal flowering of California native plants - the state has almost 6,000 native ones, more than all other states combined, says the Botanical Garden. The 4 acre Garden of California Native Plants blooms April through mid-May, and there are hundreds of species on view. You'll see blue wild lilac, golden poppies, white and yellow meadowfoam, purple irises, and more. Check out the Garden's arroyos, ponds and woodlands.
Then go to the Garden's famed Redwood Grove to see the century-old grove, with towering Coast Redwoods, shade-loving ferns, flowering currant, western azalea, huckleberry, and more than 100 species of plants that make their home in the redwood forest.
When: April 1 – May 15, 2013; open every day
Time: 9-6 (spring and summer – closing times vary in other seasons) Where: San Francisco Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco Tickets: SF residents: FREE with proof of residence (CA ID with SF address, or photo ID and utility bill); Non-residents: $7 general, $5 youth 12-17, seniors and students with ID; $2 children 5-11; FREE for children 4 and under; families of 2 adults and one or more child pay just $15 More info: here or call www.SFBotanicalGarden.org, (415) 661-1316


text:
MeteorCalc SL
Digitally signed app
MeteorCalc SL is a powerful CAD plugin for designing electrical parts of outdoor lighting networks such as street lighting and tunnel lighting installations.
The main features of MeteorCalc SL are:
- Calculation of short-circuit currents according to IEC60909 (last edition 2016);
- Calculation of voltage losses in street lighting feeders with an unbalanced load;
- Calculation of power sum and load currents in street lighting feeders and distribution panel boards;
- Automated computation of specifications and explications of equipment;
- Automated drawing of single-line schemes of street lighting feeders.
- New package of 3D commands let you create 3D visualization models of simulated street lighting networks.
- New 3D block constructor allows you to quickly create realistic 3D blocks of street lighting objects.
For more product information visit https://meteorcalc.com
Electrotechnical calculations
The program has a calculation process, which is open to monitoring. Every step of all the electrical calculations (including interim and auxiliary results) can be thoroughly checked on the user request.
Build-in Help system contains detailed descriptions of all calculation procedures and recommendations for the selection of protective devices in street lighting feeders.
Specifications of equipment
The following specifications are available: street lighting poles, pole foundations, luminaries, power cables, cable tracks, earthing devices, electrical equipment and internal wiring.
External reports with results of specifications and explications can be exported to an external spreadsheet application.
Street lighting models and schemes
The MeteorCalc SL enables the creation of street lighting network models of any level of complexity. There are no restrictions on the number of branches in street lighting feeders.
Drawing accurate and detailed schemes of street lighting feeders is very simple with the MeteorCalc SL. Single-line schemes will be drawn automatically from a feeder start point to each selected endpoint.
Data libraries
There is a built-in database of cables used in the networks of street lighting. We permanently expand the cable database and we'll add new cable types according to customer requests.
A customizable Data Library for street lighting units (with luminaires, street lighting poles and foundations) is intended for repeated use in your projects.
Compatibility and localization
MeteorCalc SL has localized versions for different regions because there are different types of power cables and different electrotechnical calculation settings in various countries.
Just tell us, where are you from, and we will make and provide a corresponding regional version to you.
MeteorCalc SL supports the 230/400V (TN) 50Hz voltage systems in street lighting networks and the Metric system of units in dwg-files. The nominal voltage is adjustable within 220/380V - 250/440V according to regional standards.
Connection with low-voltage distribution networks
There is the partner software named MeteorSpec LT. Any junction of low-voltage network simulated by the MeteorSpec-NETWORK can be used as a power supply point of a street lighting cabinet designed by the MeteorCalc SL.
You can find more information about the MeteorSpec LT on the website: https://meteorspec.com
For more MeteorCalc SL information visit https://meteorcalc.com
Your advantage
MeteorCalc SL will help you to create high-quality street lighting projects, including accurate schemes, precise specifications, and detailed descriptions of equipment. The complex of electrical calculations carried out by MeteorCalc SL allows designing safe electrical installations.
The productivity of outdoor lighting designers increases several times when using this plugin.
For more product information visit https://meteorcalc.com/feedback
We wish you productive work with the MeteorCalc SL!
Note: This app uses a custom installer (and not the standard App Store installer).
Description de la version d'évaluation
Trial version
The fully functional 30-day trial version has only one restriction: the number of street lighting unit blocks in a dwg-file should not exceed 50 pcs.
For first start we recommend you refer to the Getting Started (Beginners Guide) brochure and use the MeteorCalc_SL_Example_1_Street_Lighting.dwg file. This step by step example is adapted for the trial version.
The trial version has the cable database, which is intended for demonstration and evaluation purposes only. Please, contact us, and we'll add all the necessary cable types for your location.


text:
City Commission of Pembroke Pines Vote to Study DP Benefits
Message from Nathan Klarfeld, Broward Steering Committee Chair
Thank you Pembroke Pines for this important first step:
City Commission of Pembroke Pines, Florida votes unanimously to direct City Manager to obtain necessary information to include Domestic Partner Benefits for City Employees.
On direction from District 3 Commissioner Iris Siple, a motion was brought forth to study amending the City's Employee Benefits Policies to include Domestic Partners and their dependents. Commissioner Siple noted in her presentation that not only would the cost to the city be minimal, it was the right thing to do given Pembroke Pines' commitment to embracing diversity and progress. Representatives from the Policeman's Benevolent Association, the AFL-CIO, and the Firefighters' Union all spoke in favor of not only the study but quickly adopting a Domestic Partner Benefits package. Clerk of the Broward County Courts, Howard Forman, a resident of Pembroke Pines, also spoke in favor of the motion noting that his office of over 700 employees has offered Domestic Partner Benefits for over a decade with negligible cost increases. Nate Klarfeld, speaking on behalf of Equality Florida delivered a statement offering support and guidance in implementing this program.
Letter read by Nate Klarfeld from Equality Florida's Deputy Director Stratton Pollitzer:
April 17th, 2013
Dear Mayor, Vice Mayo, and Commissioners,
On behalf of Equality Florida's more than 165,000 members including more than 10,000 members here in Broward County, we would like to thank you and the commission for taking up the issue of Domestic Partner benefits for your city employees. The item put forward by Commissioner Siple will ensure you have all the facts necessary to evaluate the costs and steps necessary to provide these vital benefits for your employees.
Equality Florida has worked with dozens of cities and counties across Florida to help them implement DP benefits for their employees. A list of Florida municipalities that offer these benefits is below.
The cost of providing Domestic Partner coverage is very low and the benefits are many. A study done by the City of Fort Lauderdale in preparation for implementing their own DP benefits program showed an average increase in the number of plan participants of just .53%, or less than one percent increase. Domestic partnership policies have been in place throughout the country for more than 20 years, and numerous studies demonstrate that a majority of all DP policies add less than 1% cost to the overall benefits plan.
There are many important benefits to adding DP coverage. In addition to simply being the right thing to do on behalf of your dedicated employees, DP benefits have become an expected standard for most corporations and most South Florida communities. DP benefits are a powerful incentive for attracting and retaining top talent and a failure to offer them puts a city at a significant disadvantage. Studies also show that employees who have access to DP benefits are healthier, more satisfied, and less likely to leave their jobs.
Domestic Partnership policies have become a basic standard for fair employee treatment. Thousands of companies and hundreds of municipalities including over 30 cities and counties here in Florida provide these benefits to employees.
For all of these reasons, an overwhelming majority of Florida voters also support Domestic Partnership benefits.
Equality Florida is happy to be a resource and to assist in any way we can as you work to bring DP benefits to the City of Pembroke Pines.
Stratton Pollitzer
Equality Florida is a statewide education and advocacy organization dedicated to building a state of equal rights for all Floridians inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities.


text:
I spoke to Pat Jordan this morning. I don't need to borrow his gun after all–and oh, I learned that you can't polish a Glock because it's plastic–but he might want to put his to good use as his beloved 'Caines were trounced by Florida State last night. He got so pissed watching football, he turned to the Yankee-Twins game. Then he got furious with the Twins, who went out like mice against the Yanks.
Me? I was at the game with the Mrs, sitting in the Todd Drew box, and I have to admit–by the ninth inning, I felt bad for the Twins. Or at least their fans. There was a group of five of them sitting in the row in front of us and by the time Time "Enter Sandman" played over the loudspeakers, these fans were getting heckled pretty good. On their way to another loss, another loss to the Yankees. They have a guy on their team named Hardy (first initial J and everything)–Damned Yankees, indeed.
The Twins had a few chances last night to do some damage and came up short. They had pitches to hit and they missed them, striking out, popping-up. The Yankees, on the other hand, removed any tension from this game early on, put up runs in the second, third and fourth innings, capped by a two-run dinger by Marcus "They Call Me Mr." Thames. Phil Hughes pitched about as well as we could have hoped, and the only trouble the Yanks encountered was a lousy outing by Kerry Wood, who let up a run and loaded the bases, recording just one out in the eighth. But Boone Logan and Dave Robertson got out of it–Jason Kubel and Delmon Young missed their pitches and hit sky high, yet harmless fly balls.
Then it was time for the Great Mariano who retired the Twins in order and for the last time of the season. Jim Thome, a future Hall of Famer, faced Rivera in each game–popped-out to Rodriguez in Game One, and popped-out to Brett Gardner, who had him played perfectly, in Game Two. Now, in Game Three, Thome led off the ninth and saw three pitches. The last one, fastball on the outside corner, froze Thome, and he walked off the field, dismissed for the year.
Final Score: Yanks 6, Twins 1.
Yanks advance, looking every bit the part of defending world champs.
Emily and I had a good time–and I thoroughly enjoyed scoring the game in my new scorebook—but from the time we got off the subway, the energy around us was subdued. And it remained that way for most of the game, the by-product of the Yankees' great success. There was no urgency in the building, something closer to entitlement. I don't think that's unnatural–how else would a fan base that has been so spoiled react?–but Emily turned to me late in the game and said, "This doesn't feel any different than a regular season game."
That said, we'll take it. Another series win. Never gets old.
[Photo Credit: Andrew Burton/Chris McGrath–Getty Images]


text:
Reverse Sneezing in Dogs & Cats – Should You Be Worried?
With the warmer weather months upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, so too are environmental allergens. Those pesky particles blowing around in the wind wreak havoc on many of us because they irritate our upper airways. Naturally our bodies try to expel them through various routes – sneezing, tearing, nasal discharge, etc. Dogs and … [Read more…]


text:
All you farm loving bloggers can link up here on Friday's to share posts about your farm: house, cooking, crafting, animals, gardening, photography and more. It will be a great way to meet new farm friends and see lots of different views and perspectives on farm life. We can't wait to see all the posts shared, so here are the directions:
1. Post your Farm Friend Friday story
2. Copy the link to that post from your url browser
3. Click below on "Click here to enter"
4. Type your name or blog name in the Linky box
5. Paste the url for that post in the Linky box
6. Right click on the Farm Friend Friday button and do "save as" to your computer
7. Upload the picture/button to your post and add the following link: www.verdefarm.com or
8. Just link back to Farm Friend Friday by posting the link
9. This will allow others to come back here to see all the other posts shared
That should just about do it but if you have any issues you can e-mail us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 18 July-13 September 1981, and London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981, Eastern Ceramics and Other Works of Art from the Collection of Gerald Reitlinger: Catalogue of the Memorial Exhibition, Deborah Willis, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum and London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1981), no. 285 on p. 103, illus. p. 103
earthenware, glaze
Ceramic material made of clay which is fired to a temperature of c.1000-1200⁰c. The resulting ceramic is non-vitreous and varies in colour from dark red to yellow.
Vitreous coating applied to the surface of a ceramic to make it impermeable or for decorative effect.
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum


text:
So Hungary started erecting a barbed-wire fence on the border with Slovenia as well yesterday morning. Since the Orban government was busy doing exactly that for the past few weeks on its borders with Serbia and Croatia, seemingly to stem the influx of refugees, the move shouldn't come as a surprise. But Ljubljana was surprised and has officially yet to respond to the move.
According to media reports, it was the Slovenian police which first noted the Hungarian army fooling around with metal constructions at Pince border crossing. The foreign ministry was notified and – nothing. Foreign minister Karl Erjavec lamented the fact that Hungary did not notfiy Slovenia ahead of time and later said that his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto told him in an informal phone call that fence is "a temporary installation". Yeah, well, so was the Berlin wall.
Admittedly, the joke in this case is on Slovenia. The country's intelligence services apparently failed to even predict let alone detect Hungarian moves. Even worse, three weeks ago Slovenian president Borut Pahor met Victor Orban and said that some Hungarian measures need to be taken into account. To Pahor's credit, he did manage a between-the-lies criticism of Orban's policies by stating that "some of his assessments left me [Pahor] speechless". But actions speak louder than words. And one wonders just how speechless the Prez was yesterday, when he woke up to an iron curtain on his North-Eastern border. Needless to say Slovenia has yet to lodge a formal protest with the Hungarian ambassador in Ljubljana.
Now, clichés about temporary solutions having a tendency of becoming permanent aside, we really need to talk about Hungary. On an Europe-wide level. The country has now erected or is in the process of doing so, a barbed wire fence on the border with three of its seven neighbouring states. Since its borders with Romania and Ukraine are also the outer borders of the Schengen Area and the EU respectively, the only intra-EU borders which remain non-fenced one way or another are borders with Austria and Slovakia. And those two countries suspended Schengen rules on their side of the border (as did Slovenia last week, mind you), making Hungary, well, fenced-off from the rest of the world.
And that is a huge problem.
You see, the difference between this latest case of Hungarian metal works and all the preceding ones is that this is the first instance of a newly installed physical barrier between two Schengen Area members. Which sort of defies the point of a common Schengen area and raises the question of just how much Hungary can get away with in terms of breaching basic EU agreements. Because unlike other suspensions of Schengen rules, this one wasn't announced. And even those countries that did suspend Schengen, are doing so in terms of reintroduced border-crossing check-points rather than the new Iron Curtain.
Which brings us to the next problem: in his previous post, pengovsky wrote that the barbed-wire fence, while officially meant to stem the influx of refugees is indeed a show for domestic consumption and a message to any Hungarian who wants to challenge Orban's grip on power. Fact it that Hungarians can not cross a single neighbouring border without someone at least knowing about it. If – or, rather, when – the fence project continues, that particular somenone will be tempted to start allowing prohibiting travel. Which is why Klaxons should be ringing in Brussels. Loudly.
And if that is not enough for you, try this on for size. Days ago Hungarian parliament by a large majority passed an act increasing powers of the police and the military in responding to the refugee crisis. Those powers now include use of nonlethal firearms as well as disregarding the right of the privacy of home in search of "illegal migrants" as the official term goes.
So, now we have a fenced-off country where the police and the army have hugely increased powers and overlapping jurisdictions. Suppose in a few months or years someone comes up with an amendment to the increased powers act, replacing the term "illegal migrants" with, say, "enemies of the state".
Worried yet?
UPDATE: According to Slovenian media Hungarian army began dismantling the fence with Budapest apparently claiming it was all a misunderstading. Riiiight….
UPDATE 2: This via Andrew MacDowall via Hugarian Spectrum. Apparently the offical term for the installation on the border was not "a fence" but "a wire obstacle". Brilliant! 😀


text:
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Presidential Memorandum -- Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
SUBJECT: Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
Since 1991, the United States has provided safe haven for Liberians who were forced to flee their country as a result of armed conflict and widespread civil strife, in part through granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The armed conflict ended in 2003 and conditions improved such that TPS ended effective October 1, 2007. President Bush then deferred the enforced departure of the Liberians originally granted TPS. I extended that grant of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to March 31, 2013. I have determined that there are compelling foreign policy reasons to again extend DED to those Liberians presently residing in the United States under the existing grant of DED.
Pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States, I have determined that it is in the foreign policy interest of the United States to defer for 18 months the removal of any Liberian national, or person without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who is present in the United States and who is under a grant of DED as of September 30, 2011. The grant of DED only applies to an individual who has continuously resided in the United States since October 1, 2002, except for Liberian nationals, or persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia:
(1) who are ineligible for TPS for the reasons provided in section 244(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(B);
(2) whose removal you determine is in the interest of the United States;
(3) whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States;
(4) who have voluntarily returned to Liberia or his or her country of last habitual residence outside the United States;
(5) who were deported, excluded, or removed prior to the date of this memorandum; or
(6) who are subject to extradition.
Accordingly, I direct you to take the necessary steps to implement for eligible Liberians:
(1) a deferral of enforced departure from the United States for 18 months from March 31, 2013; and
(2) authorization for employment for 18 months from March 31, 2013.


text:
Acquitted of the deaths of two Antifa protesters, Kyle Rittenhouse is a free man. During an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, he said he is considering becoming a nurse or lawyer. The Associated Press has the story:
Rittenhouse's next steps include leaving the Midwest, maybe attending Arizona State University
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — When he was acquitted of murder in shootings during unrest in Wisconsin, Kyle Rittenhouse went from staring at possible life behind bars to red-hot star of the right: an exclusive interview with Tucker Carlson and a visit with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago capped by a photo of both men smiling and snapping a thumbs-up.
For Rittenhouse, a year of legal uncertainty over whether his claim of self-defense would stand up has given way to uncertainty over what's next. He told Carlson, in an appearance that spiked the host's ratings by some 40%, that he hoped to become a nurse or maybe even a lawyer. He planned to "lay low" but would for sure leave the Midwest.
Even as Rittenhouse figures out his next moves, fundraising continues on his behalf, ostensibly to retire legal bills from his trial but perhaps in recognition that he may face civil lawsuits over the shootings. Rittenhouse has hinted he may bring defamation claims of his own, and could seek possession of $2 million in bail money raised by his supporters.
And some marketing experts say Rittenhouse — at least for a short while — may be able to leverage his story into lucrative paid appearances and even a book.
"I wouldn't go near it on a number of levels," Ric Bachrach, CEO of branding and marketing company Celebrity Focus, said. "But somebody out there is going to want to tell his story."
"He could easily secure a seven-figure book contract," said Andrew M. Stroth, a former talent agent and an attorney in Chicago with no ties to Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse, he said, "could monetize his brand and potentially make in the millions."
Rittenhouse could get the $2 million that was raised for his bail, though there is a legal battle for it. In Kenosha County, where he was tried, if a defendant is acquitted, the entire bail amount is typically refunded to whomever posted it, upon a judge's order. The poster of the bail is not necessarily the defendant, said Rebecca Matoska-Mentink, the clerk of courts for Kenosha County.
Rittenhouse's bail was posted by his former attorney, John Pierce, who said he has relinquished claim to the money. Mark Richards, Rittenhouse's current attorney, said in a Friday filing it should go to his client. Fightback Foundation, the organization that raised the funds and transferred them to Pierce so bail could be paid, argues that the money should be refunded to the organization.
Other fundraising opportunities have opened up.
After his acquittal, GoFundMe lifted a ban on Rittenhouse fundraisers that had been in place as part of a policy blocking fundraising for the legal defense of someone accused of a violent crime. There didn't appear to be any new fundraising efforts for Rittenhouse on the GoFundMe website.
But there are at least three efforts to raise money for Rittenhouse or his family on GiveSendGo, one of which has raised more than $625,000 — including thousands since his acquittal. It's not clear how much an additional website, freekyleusa.org, has raised.
One email Tuesday from "Free Kyle USA," sent under the name of Rittenhouse's mother, Wendy, called his acquittal "a victory for the truth, for justice, and for every American's God-given and unalienable right of self-defense." It said funds would go toward case-related debts, legal bills and then toward a scholarship fund for Rittenhouse so he can graduate from college without debt.
He may not have to wait around for donations. Stroth estimated Rittenhouse could command a speaker's fee on the lecture circuit of anywhere between $2,500 and $25,000 a speech.
Both Stroth and Bachrach said they would never seek to represent Rittenhouse, and that many speakers' agents and publishers would consider him too toxic. But some who cater to conservatives could jump at the chance to sign him.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was released from prison last year after then-President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, told reporters in August that money he earns sending personalized greetings via the Cameo app is "surprisingly lucrative." A personal video greeting from Blagojevich costs $100 and messages for business use are $500.
Blagojevich also started a podcast, another possible option for Rittenhouse.
There's also merchandise. "Free Kyle" T-shirts and other items that were sold online after the shootings were eventually dropped by the vendor after prosecutors criticized the sales. Acquittal might re-open that market.
In his interview with Fox News, Rittenhouse hinted that he was looking into possible libel lawsuits. "I feel like my life has been extremely defamed," he said, adding: "I have really good lawyers who are taking care of that right now."
It's not at all clear whether Rittenhouse has a strong libel case. The threshold for proving libel is far higher for figures in the public eye and those charged with crimes, even if they were later acquitted.
And Rittenhouse could be open to some civil liability of his own.
The man who was shot and wounded by Rittenhouse and the family of one of the two men killed are suing Kenosha officials. Neither lawsuit names Rittenhouse as a defendant, and it wasn't immediately clear if claims would be filed against him. The standard of proof is lower in civil trials than in criminal ones.
As Rittenhouse weighs his next moves, many conservatives are rushing to tie themselves to him as a symbol of the vindicated right to self-defense.
Besides Carlson's exclusive interview, the host has a documentary on Rittenhouse upcoming in December, with footage from an embedded camera crew. Trump talked up Rittenhouse's visit to Mar-a-Lago on Sean Hannity's show, complete with photo.
Some of the most conservative members of Congress — Reps. Madison Cawthorn, Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz — took to social media to dangle internship offers for Rittenhouse, though it's not clear whether they were serious or if Rittenhouse even has an interest in such work. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a bill to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Rittenhouse himself may need to move fast for the most gain from his story, Bachrach said.
Of Rittenhouse's fame, he said: "I think it has a shelf life, but I don't think it will ever go away."
By MICHAEL TARM and AMY FORLITI


text:
Drink Spirits Articles
The Difference Between Tanqueray Gin and Tanqueray 10 Gin
Tanqueray London Dry Gin and Tanqueray 10 Gin are both iconic spirits. Drink Spirits reviews both and explains the differences between the two gins.
Review: Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 vs. Johnnie Walker Gold Label...
What's the difference between Johnnie Walker Gold Label and Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve? We look at both these whiskies with an in-depth comparison.
Review: Crown Royal Regal Apple Flavored Whisky
Crown Royal releases its latest flavor - Crown Royal Regal Apple, and the result tastes a lot more like a low-end flavored whiskey than a premium Canadian Whisky.
It's Time For Nutritional Information on Alcohol Labels
The latest flap about Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and propylene glycol reinforces the need for alcohol companies to put nutritional information on the bottle.
Danny DeVito's Premium Limoncello Original
When it comes to spirits backed by celebrities, we typically have pretty low expectations. Great spirits don't often come out of vanity companies that rely...
Top 10 Irish Whiskey Picks for St. Patrick's Day
Drink Spirits reviews over 20 different kinds of Irish Whiskey to bring you the best Irish Whiskeys you can buy for St. Patrick's Day.
Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey Review
Jack Daniel's hits a home run with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey one of the most drinkable liqueurs we've had.
Review: Jack Daniels's Winter Jack Tennessee Cider
Jack Daniels brings out a seasonal Cider Liqueur which is meant to be consumed warm. Drink Spirits reviews it and discusses how it stacks up to Tennessee Honey.
Review: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire
Jack Daniel's releases its next major flavor offering with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire. Drink Spirits has a review.
Best Rye Whiskey Reviews
Drink Spirits brings you reviews of some of the best rye whiskey on the market and helps you figure out which ones to buy.


text:
MBA Mondays: Best Hiring Practices
Hiring is a process and should be treated as such. It is serious business.
The first step is building a hiring roadmap which should lay out the hiring plan over time by job type. This should be built into your operating plan and budget. You want to be very strategic about how you invest your scarce resources into hiring and think carefully about when you need to add resources.
Once you have done that, you want to have a system for opening up these positions for hire. This should not be done lightly because each position will require a fair bit of work by a bunch of people to hire for. Don't open up your hiring process lightly.
The first step in opening up a position for hiring is to define the position you are looking for. Most companies call this a job specification (or spec). The spec should outline the role that is being filled and the characteristics of the person who will be successful in the job. Here is a job spec for a brand strategist job in Twitter's office in NYC. If you click on that link, you will see that it starts with a high level description of the role within the context of the larger Twitter organization. Then it gets into what it will take to be successful in the role. Then it lays out specific responsibilities and finishes with the background and experience that Twitter is looking for in the candidate.
The manager who is directly responsible for the person being hired should draft the job spec and it should be signed off on by the CEO and whomever is in charge of HR (which could be the CEO in a small company). Once this job spec is published on your jobs page, this position is officially open for hire and the process begins.
Your company should have a jobs page. Even if you are a five person startup, you should have one. It should articulate what it is like to work at your company and list any open jobs. It should be linked to at the bottom of your webpage, right next to the link to your about page. This is important. Don't put it off. Here is Etsy's "careers page". It's a good example of what you want to do on your jobs page.
There are web-based solutions to get your open positions onto your jobs page, track the candidates through the hiring process, and provide workflow for your hiring team. In the industry vernacular, these systems are called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Many of our portfolio companies use Jobvite, but there are plenty of other options out there as well. You do not need to build this stuff yourself.
Once the position is open, you want to crank up the sourcing process. We talked about where to find strong talent two weeks ago. Do not take the "put the job opening up and let the applicants come" approach. That will not get you the best people. You must go out and find the talent you want to hire. You can use your existing team, that is where the best leads always come from. You can use your network. You can use recruiters, both contingency and retained, and you can use services like LinkedIn and Indeed. You want to cast a wide net and work hard to source the best candidates you can. This is a time intensive process. Many companies will hire an in-house recruiter to help with this process, particularly when recruiting engineers, designers, and product talent. I've seen companies as small as ten employees bring on in-house recruiters. I am a big fan of making that investment because it pays dividends in terms of better talent.
Once the candidates start coming in, you will need to vet them to determine who gets an interview and who does not. Someone inside the company must lead this process. If there are HR resources, this vetting process starts with them. But the manager who is hiring for this position must be directly engaged in this vetting process. A HR professional can identify the candidates who don't come close to meeting the requirements of the job and filter them out. But the hiring manager should go through the applications of everyone who is close to being a viable candidate. He or she knows best what the job entails and can make the kind of "gut calls" that often lead to the best candidates.
You will want to interview a decent number of folks for every position. There are no hard rules for this, but the more people you meet, the better job you will do with the hire. Of course you can't meet everyone. Many companies like a 15 minute phone call (the phone screen) as the first filter into the interview process. A skype video call is also a good way to do this. At USV we have experimented with a video application (using a service called Take The Interview), with good results. The phone or video screen is an efficient way to identify the small group (a half dozen to a dozen) that you will want to do a face to face interview with.
Once you get to face to face interviews, you will want to figure out how to get as many folks in the company to meet the candidates as possible. Our portfolio company Return Path has each candidate meet with four to eight employees during their interview process. That is a lot but Return Path makes a huge investment in team, culture, and their employees and they feel it is worth it. It may be worth it for your company as well.
Many employees don't know how to interview and you should teach them the basics as well as educate them on what you are looking to learn from their interview. Some training on interviewing as well as a quick feedback form for each employee to fill out will provide consistency and clarity from the employee interview process.
Most CEOs I know interview every hire their company makes until they get to be more than 100 employees (or more). Even if you have a head of HR and a top notch recruiting team, the responsibility for hiring is yours and yours only. A bad hire is your fault. A good hire is your success. So do not abdicate your responsibility to make the final call on each hire until your company is developed enough and strong enough to start making these hires themselves. This is how you build a great team, a great culture, and a great company.
Once the successful candidate is identified, you will want to do some checking on the person. I am a fan of making reference calls on everyone. They are not that hard to do and you will learn more from them than any other source of background checking. LinkedIn is particularly good for this. If you connect to the candidate on LinkedIn, you can quickly figure out who you know that knows them. Call those people and do your homework. It is also pretty wasy to do a simple background check for criminal or civil information. We don't do that at USV but I know a lot of companies that do it as a matter of good corporate practice.
When you are ready to make the hire, you must prepare an offer letter. The offer letter will outline the compensation you are offering and any other salient terms of the employement offer. Have your lawyer help you draft the first one you send out and use it as a template for all future hires. Offer letter are written agreements between you and the employee and treat them as such. Sign the employment offer and have the employee sign it to acknowledge that they are accepting it.
That's the hiring process. Done right, it involves a huge investment in each and every position. So many startups cut corners on it because they simply don't have the time or the resources to do it right. I would encourage everyone to take a step back and think about the costs of not doing it right and commit themselves and their companies to doing it right. You will see the benefits in time. And they are large.


text:
Afghan Biographies
Baryalai, Hassam Eng
Name | Baryalai, Hassam Eng |
Ethnic backgr. | Tajik |
Date of birth | 1963 |
Function/Grade | Ministry of Communications and IT Deputy |
History and Biodata | 3. Biodata: Eng. Baryalai Hassam Barialay was born in 27July, 1963 in Faizabad city of Badakhshan Province. He has been in charge of Telecommunications and IT affairs of the Government of Afghanistan as Deputy Minister-Technical in the Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) since Dec, 2001. H.E. Hassam is Bachelor Degree holder and has Diploma in Liberalized Telecom Market from Sweden. He has also obtained Business Administration Degree from Kardan Institute of Higher Education Kabul in 2010. His field of study is Specialization: Electrical, Telecom, and Management; Hassam has more than 20 years of total experience in the Management of Telecom and IT Sectors of Afghanistan. He has worked in the Telecom Services Department of the Ministry of Communications and IT of Afghanistan from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, he undertook Senior Management Position in the Office of His Excellency President of the Country, where he worked as a Member and also as Chief of the President's Office from 1994 to 2001. After having a successful tenure of 07 years in the Office of the President of the country, he was appointed as Deputy Minister-Technical of the Government in the Ministry of Communications and IT of the Government of Afghanistan in Dec. 2001. For the last 10 years (from 2001 till date), he has been working as Deputy Minister-Technical of MCIT, where he has been managing all the Telecom and IT Projects of the Country. In MCIT, he has been holding the topmost management positions like Chairman of the Technical Board and the Chairman of the Project Implementation Coordination Unit. As Deputy Minister-Technical of MCIT, he has been dealing with Technical Management related activities of all the Telecom and IT Projects funded by the World Bank, USAID, ADB and many other leading Donors since 2002. Hassam has played a leading role in revolutionizing Telecommunications in Afghanistan, where the Telecom density has grown from 5 % to 70 % during last 10 years. H.E. Hassam's current major responsibilities are
- Deputy Minister-Technical of the Ministry of Communications and IT - Chairman of Overseas Events Commission of the Ministry - Chairman of Technical Board of the Ministry - Board Member of GSM Company (AWCC) - Board Member of Afghan Telecom - Board Member of Information and Communications Technology Institute - Member of Media High Council. Beside his current job in MCIT, he is researching in the Development Studies for Masters (MBALS) at University of Cambria & Robert Kennedy College, the UK. |
Last Modified | 2013-02-26 |
Established | 2013-02-26 |


text:
Incandescent and Traditional Light Bulbs
While these normal light bulbs aren't seen as often as they used to be, thanks to more energy-efficient alternatives becoming more widely available, they are still sold in a range of sizes, shapes and colours. LightBulbs Direct stocks a variety of traditional incandescent candle bulbs, GLS bulbs, golf ball bulbs, candle lights and many other different types. Whatever you need traditional bulbs for, we're here to help - and with our huge stock, you're sure to find what you're looking for at an affordable price.


text:
You're viewing Apigee Edge documentation.
Go to the
Apigee X documentation. info
In this topic you will learn how to use JavaScript to dynamically add HTTP headers to a response message and how to parse a JSON response and return a subset of its properties to the the requesting app.
Download and try out the sample code
About this cookbook example
This cookbook example illustrates an API proxy pattern in which you implement API behavior in JavaScript. The JavaScript examples are designed to show you how to work with simple variables and message content. One sample shows you how to get and set variables. The second example shows you how to parse JSON and construct a message from the result.
Two JavaScript samples are in the API proxy:
: This JavaScript gets the values of a few variables that are set when an API proxy is invoked. The JavaScript adds those variables to the response message so that you can see their values for each request that you make.minimize.js
: This JavaScript shows you how to work with message content. The idea behind this sample is that a service often returns more data than is necessary. So, the JavaScript parses the response message, extracts a few interesting properties, and then uses them to build the content of the response message.
The code for setHeader.js
context.setVariable("response.header.X-Apigee-Target", context.getVariable("target.name")); context.setVariable("response.header.X-Apigee-ApiProxyName", context.getVariable("apiproxy.name")); context.setVariable("response.header.X-Apigee-ProxyName", context.getVariable("proxy.name")); context.setVariable("response.header.X-Apigee-ProxyBasePath", context.getVariable("proxy.basepath")); context.setVariable("response.header.X-Apigee-ProxyPathSuffix", context.getVariable("proxy.pathsuffix")); context.setVariable("response.header.X-Apigee-ProxyUrl", context.getVariable("proxy.url"));
The code for minimize.js
// Parse the respose from the target. var res = JSON.parse(context.proxyResponse.content); // Pull out only the information we want to see in the response. var minimizedResponse = { city: res.root.city, state: res.root.state }; // Set the response variable. context.proxyResponse.content = JSON.stringify(minimizedResponse);
You can access flow variables in JavaScript through the context object. This object is part of the Edge JavaScript object model. For details about the object model, see JavaScript object model.
Before you begin
Before you explore this cookbook example, you should also be familiar with these fundamental concepts:
- What policies are and how to attach them to proxies. For a good introduction to policies, see What's a policy?.
- The structure of a proxy flow, as explained in Configuring flows. Flows let you specify the sequence in which policies are executed by an API proxy. In this example, several policies are created and added to an API proxy flow.
- How an API proxy project is organized on your filesystem, as explained in API proxy configuration reference.
- A working knowledge of XML, JSON and JavaScript. In this example, you build out the API proxy and its policies with XML files that reside on the filesystem.
If you have downloaded the sample code, you can locate all of the files discussed in this topic in the javascript-cookbook sample folder. The following sections discuss the sample code in detail.
Understanding the proxy flow
To get JavaScript to execute in an API proxy, you have to attach it to a flow using a policy attachment called a 'Step'. A policy of type Javascript (note capitalization) simply contains a reference to the name of a JavaScript file. You point the policy to a JavaScript file using the ResourceURL element.
For example, the following policy references the JavaScript file called
<Javascript name='setHeaders' timeLimit='200'> <ResourceURL>setHeaders.js</ResourceURL> </Javascript>
If you open this flow configuration in the management UI, you will see the flow configuration below.
Select Proxy Endpoints > default > PostFlow in the Navigator pane.
The corresponding XML configuration for the ProxyEndpoint named 'default' is shown below.
<ProxyEndpoint name="default"> <PostFlow> <Response> <!-- Steps reference policies under /apiproxy/policies --> <!-- First, set a few HTTP headers with variables for this transaction. --> <Step><Name>setHeaders</Name></Step> <!-- Next, transform the response from XML to JSON for easier parsing with JavaScript --> <Step><Name>transform</Name></Step> <!-- Finally, use JavaScript to create minimized response with just city and state. --> <Step><Name>minimize</Name></Step> </Response> </PostFlow> <HTTPProxyConnection> <!-- BasePath defines the network address for this API proxy. See the script 'invoke.sh' to see how the complete URL for this API proxy is constructed.--> <BasePath>/javascript-cookbook</BasePath> <!-- Set VirtualHost to 'secure' to have this API proxy listen on HTTPS. --> <VirtualHost>default</VirtualHost> </HTTPProxyConnection> <RouteRule name="default"> <TargetEndpoint>default</TargetEndpoint> </RouteRule> </ProxyEndpoint>
Here's a summary of the flow's elements.
- <Request> - The <Request> element consists of several <Step> elements. Each step calls one of the policies that you create through the rest of this topic. These policies attach a JavaScript to the API proxy flow, and the location of the policy attachment determines when the JavaScript executes.
- <Response> - The <Response> element also includes
<Steps>. These steps also call policies that are responsible for processing the final
response from the target (which in this example is Apigee's mock service target--note the
HTTPTargetConnection setting in under
.) - <HTTPProxyConnection> - Specifies the host and URI path that
define the network address that apps call to consume this API.
- <RouteRule> - This element specifies which TargetEndpoint configuration is invoked by the ProxyEndpoint.
Adding JavaScript code to a proxy
JavaScript (like Python scripts, Java JAR files, XSLT files, and so on) are stored as resources. When you are just starting to work with JavaScript it is easiest to store your JavaScript files in the API proxy. As you advance, JavaScript should be made as generic and reusable as possible, and then stored at the environment or organization level. This prevents you from having to store the same JavaScript files in multiple API proxies, which can quickly become unmanageable.
To learn about storing resources at the organization and environment level, see Resource files.
Try it out
For instructions on deploying and calling the proxy, see the JavaScript cookbook README.
Importing and deploying the API proxy
After you make changes, you can Save the API proxy in the API proxy builder tool in management UI.
Or you can run the following command in the directory
$ sh deploy.sh
Testing JavaScript
Run the following command in the directory
$ sh invoke.sh
The curl flag -v
is used in the shell script to view HTTP headers on the response
message modified by the JavaScript.
You can directly submit a request as follows:
$ curl -v http://{org_name}-test.apigee.net/javascript-cookbook
If the JavaScript executes properly, you will see a response like the following:
< X-Apigee-Demo-Target: default < X-Apigee-Demo-ApiProxyName: simple-javascript < X-Apigee-Demo-ProxyName: default < X-Apigee-Demo-ProxyBasePath: /javascript-cookbook < X-Apigee-Demo-ProxyPathSuffix: /xml < X-Apigee-Demo-ProxyUrl: http://rrt331ea.us-ea.4.apigee.com/javascript-cookbook/xml {"city":"San Jose","state":"CA"}
You can now modify the JavaScript to try new things, redeploy the API proxy, and verify the results by submitting the same request. Always make sure you deploy the API proxy that contains your JavaScript to have your changes take effect.
Script errors
You will inevitably see errors when writing JavaScript. The format of JavaScript errors that you will see issued by an API proxy is shown below.
{ "fault":{ "faultstring":"Execution of rewriteTargetUrl failed with error: Javascript runtime error: \"TypeError: Cannot find function getVariable in object TARGET_REQ_FLOW. (rewriteTargetUrl_js#1). at line 1 \"", "detail":{ "errorcode":"steps.javascript.ScriptExecutionFailed" } } }
When to use JavaScript
If performance is a concern for custom functionality, use Java where possible.
In this cookbook topic, you learned how JavaScript can be included in an API proxy configuration to implement custom behavior. The custom behavior implemented by the samples demonstrate how to get and variables, and how to parse JSON and construct custom response messages.


text:
The truth is not always intuitive or obvious. Claims and counterclaims abound in our day, many of them helped along by the rapid spread of ideas on the internet. But false ideas are often very dangerous.
I'm thinking of ideas like creationism, a young Earth, vaccines causing autism, the denial of climate change, and many others like them.
It's been a while since I posted regularly on this blog, but I'm going to try to get back to it. Some of the posts might examine one or other of these ideas. But at the root of all them lies a common issue - are we going to begin with the evidence? The alternative is to begin with a position and seek to justify it by finding evidence to support it. But to see the universe as it truly is we must begin with the evidence and argue from that. Often, this will lead us to ask more questions. This is the scientific way.
What we must not do is begin with a preferred view of the way things are and sift the evidence, gathering anything that supports our starting position and ignoring whatever seems to go against it.
I can assure you of one thing. If, as a society, we ignore the evidence, eventually our decisions will come back to bite us. It's happened before; here's one cautionary tale.
Lysenkoism - Jean Baptiste Lamarck was a distinguished French scientist working in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He developed an early theory of evolution and thought that organisms could inherit acquired features from their parents. This was a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence available in his day. But later evidence showed it was incorrect.
In the 1930s a form of Lamarckism was adopted in the Soviet Union. It was called Lysenkoism (after the Soviet scientist Trofim Lysenko). Based on his work to improve crop yields, his theories were approved by Stalin and laws were made to outlaw opposing theories. But the opposing theories were correct (inheritance and evolution as we understand them today).
How did this mistake come back to bite the Soviet Union? To put it as simply as possible, crops failed and people went hungry, biology and agriculture in western capitalist nations forged ahead, while Soviet biology and agriculture stagnated. Eventually Lysenko's ideas were discredited.
The moral of the story is this. Let's not ignore evidence and let's not pick and choose evidence to support our pre-existing ideas. If we do, the consequences may be very severe.


text:
Our delicate and beautiful Jado rose gold eternity ring is a classical overture, a prelude that leads to a pleasant romantic surprises.
Each ring is composed and hand-crafted in 18K gold or platinum with brilliant diamonds set pave style in full circle, weighing approximately 0.54 ct.
Pairing two Jado Crowns and two Jado Eternity Rings makes up to 21 unique stacking combinations, creating a new look every time. We also feature a number of pre-selected combinations.
Choose Your Look and Create Your Style - Wear it Your Way Any Day.
Explore our feature line of elegant Crowns and Eternity Rings, crafted from all colors of 18Kt gold and 18Kt gold over silver. Choose to adorn your set with brilliant diamonds, deep blue sapphires and luscious rubies, all which can be stacked together in over 21 variations. Combine in endless variety. A Jado Crown also makes the perfect wedding ring.