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The Gorilla illusions and the illusion of memory
Here is a reprise from the archives – a post primarily about the illusion of memory. The story here from Chabris and Simons raises some disturbing issues about the trustworthiness of tacit knowledge over a long timescale.
I have just finished reading The Invisible Gorilla, by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons (an extremely interesting book). These are the guys who set up the famous "invisible gorilla" experiment (if you don't know it, go here). The subtitle of the book is "ways our intuition deceives us", and the authors talk about a number of human traits – they call them illusions – which we need to be aware of in Knowledge Management, as each of them can affect the reliability and effectiveness of Knowledge Transfer.
The illusions which have most impact on KM are
- The illusion of memory
- The illusion of confidence
- The illusion of knowledge
I would like to address these three illusions in a series of blog posts, as its a bit much to fit into a single one.
The illusion of memory has massive impact in KM terms, as it affects the reliability of any tacit knowledge that is held in human memory alone.
I have already posted about the weakness of the human brain as a long-term knowledge store. Chabris and Simons give some graphic examples of this, pointing our how even the most vivid memories can be completely unreliable. They describe how one person had a complete memory of meeting Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard of Star Trek) in a restaurant, which turned out not to have happened to him at all, but to be a story he has heard and incorporated into his own memory. They talk about two people with wildly differing memories of a traumatic event, which both turn out to be false when a videotape of the event is finally found. And they give this story of a university experiment into the reliability of memory.
On the morning of January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. The very next morning, psychologists Ulric Neisser and Nicole Harsch asked a class of Emory University undergraduates to write a description of how they heard about the explosion, and then to answer a set of detailed questions about the disaster: what time they heard about it, what they were doing, who told them, who else was there, how they felt about it, and so on.
Two and a half years later, Neisser and Harsch asked the same students to fill out a similar questionnaire about the Challenger explosion.
The memories the students reported had changed dramatically over time, incorporating elements that plausibly fit with how they could have learned about the events, but that never actually happened. For example, one subject reported returning to his dormitory after class and hearing a commotion in the hall. Someone named X told him what happened and he turned on the television to watch replays of the explosion. He recalled the time as 11:30 a.m., the place as his dorm, the activity as returning to his room, and that nobody else was present. Yet the morning after the event, he reported having been told by an acquaintance from Switzerland named Y to turn on his TV. He reported that he heard about it at 1:10 p.m., that he worried about how he was going to start his car, and that his friend Z was present. That is, years after the event, some of them remembered hearing about it from different people, at a different time, and in different company.
Despite all these errors, subjects were strikingly confident in the accuracy of their memories years after the event, because their memories were so vivid—the illusion of memory at work again. During a final interview conducted after the subjects completed the questionnaire the second time, Neisser and Harsch showed the subjects their own handwritten answers to the questionnaire from the day after the Challenger explosion. Many were shocked at the discrepancy between their original reports and their memories of what happened. In fact, when confronted with their original reports, rather than suddenly realizing that they had misremembered, they often persisted in believing their current memory.
The authors conclude that those rich details you remember are quite often wrong—but they feel right. A memory can be so strong that even documentary evidence that it never happened doesn't change what we remember.
The implication for Knowledge Management
The implication for Knowledge Management is that if you will need to re-use tacit knowledge in the future, then you can't rely on people to remember it accurately. Even after a month, the memory will be unreliable. Details will have been added, details will have been forgotten, the facts will have been rewritten to be closer to "what feels right". The forgetting curve will have kicked in, and it kicks in quickly. Tacit knowledge is fine for sharing knowledge on what's happening now, but for sharing knowledge with people in the future (ie transferring knowledge through time as well as space) then it needs to be written down quickly while memory is still reliable.
We saw the same with our memories of the Bird Island game in the link above. Without a written or photographic record, the tacit memory fades quickly, often retaining enough knowledge to be dangerous, but not enough to be successful. And as the authors say, the illusion of memory can be so strong that the written or photographic record can come as a shock, and can feel wrong, even if it's right. People may not only refuse to believe the explicit record, they may even edit it to fit their (by now false) memories.
Any KM approach that relies solely on tacit knowledge held in the human memory can therefore be very risky, thanks to the illusion of memory.
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Tags: Archive, cognitivie bias, forgetting


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A Statistical Search for Genomic Truths
"We don't have much ground truth in biology." According to Barbara Engelhardt, a computer scientist at Princeton University, that's just one of the many challenges that researchers face when trying to prime traditional machine-learning methods to analyze genomic data. Techniques in artificial intelligence and machine learning are dramatically altering the landscape of biological research, but Engelhardt doesn't think those "black box" approaches are enough to provide the insights necessary for understanding, diagnosing and treating disease. Instead, she's been developing new statistical tools that search for expected biological patterns to map out the genome's real but elusive "ground truth."
Engelhardt likens the effort to detective work, as it involves combing through constellations of genetic variation, and even discarded data, for hidden gems. In research published last October, for example, she used one of her models to determine how mutations relate to the regulation of genes on other chromosomes (referred to as distal genes) in 44 human tissues. Among other findings, the results pointed to a potential genetic target for thyroid cancer therapies. Her work has similarly linked mutations and gene expression to specific features found in pathology images.
The applications of Engelhardt's research extend beyond genomic studies. She built a different kind of machine-learning model, for instance, that makes recommendations to doctors about when to remove their patients from a ventilator and allow them to breathe on their own.
She hopes her statistical approaches will help clinicians catch certain conditions early, unpack their underlying mechanisms, and treat their causes rather than their symptoms. "We're talking about solving diseases," she said.
To this end, she works as a principal investigator with the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Consortium, an international research collaboration studying how gene regulation, expression and variation contribute to both healthy phenotypes and disease. Right now, she's particularly interested in working on neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, which are difficult to diagnose and treat.
Quanta Magazine recently spoke with Engelhardt about the shortcomings of black-box machine learning when applied to biological data, the methods she's developed to address those shortcomings, and the need to sift through "noise" in the data to uncover interesting information. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
What motivated you to focus your machine-learning work on questions in biology?
I've always been excited about statistics and machine learning. In graduate school, my adviser, Michael Jordan [at the University of California, Berkeley], said something to the effect of: "You can't just develop these methods in a vacuum. You need to think about some motivating applications." I very quickly turned to biology, and ever since, most of the questions that drive my research are not statistical, but rather biological: understanding the genetics and underlying mechanisms of disease, hopefully leading to better diagnostics and therapeutics. But when I think about the field I am in — what papers I read, conferences I attend, classes I teach and students I mentor — my academic focus is on machine learning and applied statistics.
We've been finding many associations between genomic markers and disease risk, but except in a few cases, those associations are not predictive and have not allowed us to understand how to diagnose, target and treat diseases. A genetic marker associated with disease risk is often not the true causal marker of the disease — one disease can have many possible genetic causes, and a complex disease might be caused by many, many genetic markers possibly interacting with the environment. These are all challenges that someone with a background in statistical genetics and machine learning, working together with wet-lab scientists and medical doctors, can begin to address and solve. Which would mean we could actually treat genetic diseases — their causes, not just their symptoms.
You've spoken before about how traditional statistical approaches won't suffice for applications in genomics and health care. Why not?
First, because of a lack of interpretability. In machine learning, we often use "black-box" methods — [classification algorithms called] random forests, or deeper learning approaches. But those don't really allow us to "open" the box, to understand which genes are differentially regulated in particular cell types or which mutations lead to a higher risk of a disease. I'm interested in understanding what's going on biologically. I can't just have something that gives an answer without explaining why.
The goal of these methods is often prediction, but given a person's genotype, it is not particularly useful to estimate the probability that they'll get Type 2 diabetes. I want to know how they're going to get Type 2 diabetes: which mutation causes the dysregulation of which gene to lead to the development of the condition. Prediction is not sufficient for the questions I'm asking.
A second reason has to do with sample size. Most of the driving applications of statistics assume that you're working with a large and growing number of data samples — say, the number of Netflix users or emails coming into your inbox — with a limited number of features or observations that have interesting structure. But when it comes to biomedical data, we don't have that at all. Instead, we have a limited number of patients in the hospital, a limited number of genotypes we can sequence — but a gigantic set of features or observations for any one person, including all the mutations in their genome. Consequently, many theoretical and applied approaches from statistics can't be used for genomic data.
What makes the genomic data so challenging to analyze?
The most important signals in biomedical data are often incredibly small and completely swamped by technical noise. It's not just about how you model the real, biological signal — the questions you're trying to ask about the data — but also how you model that in the presence of this incredibly heavy-handed noise that's driven by things you don't care about, like which population the individuals came from or which technician ran the samples in the lab. You have to get rid of that noise carefully. And we often have a lot of questions that we would like to answer using the data, and we need to run an incredibly large number of statistical tests — literally trillions — to figure out the answers. For example, to identify an association between a mutation in a genome and some trait of interest, where that trait might be the expression levels of a specific gene in a tissue. So how can we develop rigorous, robust testing mechanisms where the signals are really, really small and sometimes very hard to distinguish from noise? How do we correct for all this structure and noise that we know is going to exist?
So what approach do we need to take instead?
My group relies heavily on what we call sparse latent factor models, which can sound quite mathematically complicated. The fundamental idea is that these models partition all the variation we observed in the samples, with respect to only a very small number of features. One of these partitions might include 10 genes, for example, or 20 mutations. And then as a scientist, I can look at those 10 genes and figure out what they have in common, determine what this given partition represents in terms of a biological signal that affects sample variance.
So I think of it as a two-step process: First, build a model that separates all the sources of variation as carefully as possible. Then go in as a scientist to understand what all those partitions represent in terms of a biological signal. After this, we can validate those conclusions in other data sets and think about what else we know about these samples (for instance, whether everyone of the same age is included in one of these partitions).
When you say "go in as a scientist," what do you mean?
I'm trying to find particular biological patterns, so I build these models with a lot of structure and include a lot about what kinds of signals I'm expecting. I establish a scaffold, a set of parameters that will tell me what the data say, and what patterns may or may not be there. The model itself has only a certain amount of expressivity, so I'll only be able to find certain types of patterns. From what I've seen, existing general models don't do a great job of finding signals we can interpret biologically: They often just determine the biggest influencers of variance in the data, as opposed to the most biologically impactful sources of variance. The scaffold I build instead represents a very structured, very complex family of possible patterns to describe the data. The data then fill in that scaffold to tell me which parts of that structure are represented and which are not.
So instead of using general models, my group and I carefully look at the data, try to understand what's going on from the biological perspective, and tailor our models based on what types of patterns we see.
How does the latent factor model work in practice?
We applied one of these latent factor models to pathology images [pictures of tissue slices under a microscope], which are often used to diagnose cancer. For every image, we also had data about the set of genes expressed in those tissues. We wanted to see how the images and the corresponding gene expression levels were coordinated.
We developed a set of features describing each of the images, using a deep-learning method to identify not just pixel-level values but also patterns in the image. We pulled out over a thousand features from each image, give or take, and then applied a latent factor model and found some pretty exciting things.
For example, we found sets of genes and features in one of these partitions that described the presence of immune cells in the brain. You don't necessarily see these cells on the pathology images, but when we looked at our model, we saw a component there that represented only genes and features associated with immune cells, not brain cells. As far as I know, no one's seen this kind of signal before. But it becomes incredibly clear when we look at these latent factor components.
You've worked with dozens of human tissue types to unpack how specific genetic variations help shape complex traits. What insights have your methods provided?
We had 44 tissues, donated from 449 human cadavers, and their genotypes (sequences of their whole genomes). We wanted to understand more about the differences in how those genotypes expressed their genes in all those tissues, so we did more than 3 trillion tests, one by one, comparing every mutation in the genome with every gene expressed in each tissue. (Running that many tests on the computing clusters we're using now takes about two weeks; when we move this iteration of GTEx to the cloud as planned, we expect it to take around two hours.) We were trying to figure out whether the [mutant] genotype was driving distal gene expression. In other words, we were looking for mutations that weren't located on the same chromosome as the genes they were regulating. We didn't find very much: a little over 600 of these distal associations. Their signals were very low.
But one of the signals was strong: an exciting thyroid association, in which a mutation appeared to distally regulate two different genes. We asked ourselves: How is this mutation affecting expression levels in a completely different part of the genome? In collaboration with Alexis Battle's lab at Johns Hopkins University, we looked near the mutation on the genome and found a gene called FOXE1, for a transcription factor that regulates the transcription of genes all over the genome. The FOXE1 gene is only expressed in thyroid tissues, which was interesting. But we saw no association between the mutant genotype and the expression levels of FOXE1. So we had to look at the components of the original signal we'd removed before — everything that had appeared to be a technical artifact — to see if we could detect the effects of the FOXE1 protein broadly on the genome.
We found a huge impact of FOXE1 in the technical artifacts we'd removed. FOXE1, it seems, regulates a large number of genes only in the thyroid. Its variation is driven by the mutant genotype we found. And that genotype is also associated with thyroid cancer risk. We went back to the thyroid cancer samples — we had about 500 from the Cancer Genome Atlas — and replicated the distal association signal. These things tell a compelling story, but we wouldn't have learned it unless we had tried to understand the signal that we'd removed.
What are the implications of such an association?
Now we have a particular mechanism for the development of thyroid cancer and the dysregulation of thyroid cells. If FOXE1 is a druggable target — if we can go back and think about designing drugs to enhance or suppress the expression of FOXE1 — then we can hope to prevent people at high thyroid cancer risk from getting it, or to treat people with thyroid cancer more effectively.
The signal from broad-effect transcription factors like FOXE1 actually looks a lot like the effects we typically remove as part of the noise: population structure, or the batches the samples were run in, or the effects of age or sex. A lot of those technical influences are going to affect approximately similar numbers of genes — around 10 percent — in a similar way. That's why we usually remove signals that have that pattern. In this case, though, we had to understand the domain we were working in. As scientists, we looked through all the signals we'd gotten rid of, and this allowed us to find the effects of FOXE1 showing up so strongly in there. It involved manual labor and insights from a biological background, but we're thinking about how to develop methods to do it in a more automated way.
So with traditional modeling techniques, we're missing a lot of real biological effects because they look too similar to noise?
Yes. There are a ton of cases in which the interesting pattern and the noise look similar. Take these distal effects: Pretty much all of them, if they are broad effects, are going to look like the noise signal we systematically get rid of. It's methodologically challenging. We have to think carefully about how to characterize when a signal is biologically relevant or just noise, and how to distinguish the two. My group is working fairly aggressively on figuring that out.
Why are those relationships so difficult to map, and why look for them?
There are so many tests we have to do; the threshold for the statistical significance of a discovery has to be really, really high. That creates problems for finding these signals, which are often incredibly small; if our threshold is that high, we're going to miss a lot of them. And biologically, it's not clear that there are many of these really broad-effect distal signals. You can imagine that natural selection would eliminate the kinds of mutations that affect 10 percent of genes — that we wouldn't want that kind of variability in the population for so many genes.
But I think there's no doubt that these distal associations play an enormous role in disease, and that they may be considered as druggable targets. Understanding their role broadly is incredibly important for human health.
This article was reprinted on Wired.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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One of the very first field tests of the B1 off-camera flash has dropped, courtesy of San Fransisco-based wedding photographer Michael Corsentino and Resource Magazine.
Michael brought two B1 off-camera flashes, an Air Remote TTL-C and two Beauty Dishes with him to Brooklyn, New York, to, as he eloquently puts it, "create magic with these game-changing lights."
"There are so many things to love about the B1!" he writes. "First and foremost – TTL (through the lens metering) on a robust 500 watt second head. TTL does the heavy lifting for you, determining a rock solid exposure on the fly, allowing you to simply set up your lights and shoot. This means you can work intuitively without metering or worrying about technical issues. If you are technically inclined, no worries, the B1 has a full Manual Mode feature set as well. Profoto calls the B1 an Off-Camera Flash because it fills the void between handheld flashes and Monolights. By any name it's a first of it's kind and definitely a welcome addition. It would take approximately 10 Speedlights to equal the output of 1 B1 and Monolights don't have TTL. Enter the B1!"
Head over to Resource Magazine's website for the full story. You should also check out Michael's website.


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text: SAGITTARIUS PIR-41 (30 June 1994) variant ***************************************** SAGITTARIUS PIR is a highly compact databank variant of original PIR database designed to assist individual researchers and software developers in utilization of sequence database information without huge storage space requests. It contains custom compressed PIR information and C-written interface which allow fast direct access to the stored information without total decompressing of corresponding files. Starting from this PIR-41 version, one and the same databank files as well as interface C-file can be used on both PC-compatibles and UNIX V computers (with forthcoming Mac interface version), without any modifications. Interface supports all standard PIR Request Network queries (i.e. get databank SEQ number by entry; for the defined databank SEQ number, get specified information like: name, organism(s), keyword(s), sequence, sequence features with coordinates etc.). 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For example, a file set which contains protein sequences itself and their PIR entry indexes (including reverse indexation arrays) takes less than 12Mb of disk space. For PC-compatibles (with fortcoming version for UNIXV/Xwindow), a dialog shell is available which supports all standard PIR Request Network queries plus homology searches, alignments etc. SAGITTARIUS PIR is distributed freely (all databank file sets, interface C-file, test/example program C-file, PC-shell executable) via anonymous FTP. File sets and interface can be used/included in any commercially distributed package without any restrictions. Consultations and advanced interface variants (currently used to support fast effective database manipulations in other SAGITTARIUS family packages) are available from the developers upon request. 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Core (minimal configuration supported by available PC-shell) variant of databank files includes only indexes and sequences. All more complete configurations could be produced by simply adding (depacking from distributive) of corresponding file sets. 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Recommended minimal size of memory allocation by disk optimizer is 512 Kb, but shell will be still usable (but significantly slower) even without any optimizer. The dialog data shell supports the following main operations: - selection of sequences to bank buffer by - dictionary-defined record for specified informational field (name, source, keyword, feature etc.) - user-defined context in specified informational field (name, source, keyword, feature etc.) - set of dictionary-defined records for different informational fields (source, keyword, superfamily etc.) - SEQ (non)perfect homology with user-defined short sequence - store and retrieve buffer content (SEQ bank numbers and indexes) between sessions - output user-specified (buffer) SEQ data to disk files - fast SEQ homology searches (for user-defined SEQ of length not more than 50-100 positions, only 1 hour with full PIR bank on 486/33) - fast subregion-sensitive pairwaise alignments (user-defined sequence with buffer SEQ's or full bank) - easy data access from user programs (C) as a support for applications development SAGITTARIUS data bank files are usually filled out by current available PIR database information only by distributors (2 to 4 times in a year). 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Bamboo postcard - Rectangular - Vertical - White border
Bamboo postcard - Rectangular - Vertical - White border
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J L Stream has launched a made in India social live streaming app. With over 680 million active internet users and 450 million social network users, and the world's most competitively priced data in the world, India is the second largest online market and fast growing to be one of the largest consumers of content globally.
The app has a unique feature called K.I.S.S. that stands for Keep It Simple Streamer and gives an option to the users to share a short video of their talent along with their introduction to help get discovered faster. On J L Stream, users can stream anywhere any time, showcase their talents, give shout-outs to their audience & earn money with instant cash out. The app will be available worldwide barring China. Users will be able to purchase coins in-app and pay streamers via virtual gifts during the live sessions. Streamers can withdraw their earnings instantly via multiple digital payment options.
J L Stream India Pvt. Ltd is founded and promoted by entrepreneur Raj Kundra. J L Stream is a seamless social live streaming app. The Logo J L comes together to form a Namaste, a traditional Indian greeting of respect and gratitude towards others.


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Cuffing- Birds-Royal Blue
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Add a professional finish to your garment with this cuffing pack.
It is perfect for finishing off the cuffs, neckband/waistband of a project. Each pack contains ribbing 110cms long.
We do our best to get accurate images of all of our fabrics, but due to varying monitor screens colours may differ . If you are unsure about the colour, weight or scale of the fabric it would be a good idea to request a fabric sample.
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Gold experienced an upward trajectory on Monday, bolstered by a decline in bond yields. Investors held their breath for the impending U.S. inflation data, set to be released later in the week. This data is eagerly awaited as it promises to shed more light on the Federal Reserve's potential interest rate adjustments, following a recent dovish turn. As of 0458 GMT, spot gold registered a 0.2% increase, reaching $2,023.13 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures maintained stability at $2,036.70.
Tim Waterer, Chief Market Analyst at KCM Trade, explained the market sentiment, stating, "The yields are on a slippery slope after the FOMC meeting last week, and that's allowing some further upside in the gold price." In parallel, Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields have been hovering near their lowest levels since July. This phenomenon has diminished the opportunity cost associated with holding non-interest-bearing gold, thus boosting its appeal.
The Federal Reserve, in its recent meeting, chose to maintain interest rates at their current levels. Furthermore, they signaled the conclusion of the historical tightening of monetary policy that has been in place over the last two years, hinting at lower borrowing costs expected to materialize in 2024. However, New York Fed President John Williams voiced his dissent regarding the market's growing anticipation of rate cuts. He emphasized, "We aren't really talking about rate cuts right now" at the Fed and deemed it "premature" to speculate about such actions.
Market sentiment now suggests a 70% probability of a Fed rate cut occurring in March, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Traders are currently keeping a close watch on an array of U.S. economic data scheduled for release this week, including the November core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index report set for Friday. Analysts have projected a 0.2% rise in the core PCE for the previous month, with the annual inflation rate expected to decelerate to its lowest point since mid-2021, standing at 3.4%. Tim Waterer further emphasized, "Softer macro data from the U.S. this week would support the case that the Fed could be more aggressive next year with rate cuts. So, that would bring the dollar and bond yields lower and would suit the gold price."


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Processed food industry
The Processed Food industry is "the transformation of livestock and agricultural products into products for intermediate or final consumption." [1]
In 2004, Reuters reported that food processing was one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the United States; accounting for approximately 10% of all manufacturing shipments by value). Between 1998 and 2004, the industry grew by over 10% to a approximately $470 billion dollars a year. The largest sectors of the industry, in terms of value are the meat & dairy industry, seafood, fruit & vegetable preservation and specialty foods. Other niche sectors include bakeries, tortilla manufacturing, grain and oilseed milling, sugar, confection and pet food.
- 1 General food related issues
- 2 Animal testing
- 3 Top meat, egg & dairy companies & purchasers
- 4 Articles & sources
Food Additives & adulteration
Today, over 6,000 synthetic chemicals are officially condoned for use in the processed-food industry. These include some that are known carcinogens. Processed foods contain high levels of the debilitating, denatured ingredients such as white sugar, refined starch, pasteurized cow's milk, land mined salt and hydrogenated vegetable oils. The human immune system correctly recognizes chemical food additives as toxic foreign agents and attempts to rid the body of them; thus causing severe biochemical reactions and stress on the immune system.
After years of daily exposure to inorganic chemicals, the immune system breaks down and burns out, leaving the body vulnerable to microbes, toxins and cancerous cells. The food industry has duped the public and government health agencies into believing that their products are safe for human consumption; even in the face of abundant scientific evidence to the contrary. In fact, such information is in the public domain and openly available to anyone who seeks it.[2]
In March of 2000, Monsanto merged with two other companies to form the Pharmacia Corporation. The NutraSweet Company was divided and sold and the company's tabletop sweetener division, (Equal and Canderel brands), was purchased by Tabletop Holdings; an investment group comprised of Pegasus Capital Advisors, computer mogul Michael Dell's MSD Capital and Brener International.
On March 20, 2000, the new company was formally launched under the name Merisant. In August of 2006, the product was "owned by four companies", Ajinomoto , "Merisant (a bunch of Monsanto managers)"; J.W. Childs Associates, L.P. of Boston and MSD Captial. [3] See also Aspartame.
Genetically-engineered (GM) Foods
See also biotechnology.
Pet food contamination & recall
See also Pet food contamination and recall.
Processed Food Packaging
Teepak is cellulose and fibrous casings for the processing and packaging of frankfurters, dry and semi-dry sausages, smoked meats, sausages, deli meats, poultry and dairy products.[4]
Funding studies
According to researchers:
- "If a beverage manufacturer or industry group funded the research, the finding may be biased. Before you take to heart any research about the health effects of beverages such as milk, fruit juice or soft drinks, find out who paid for the study.[5]
Animal testing
See also animal testing, section 3 on product (toxicity) testing.
Splenda: Sadistically Sweet
See also Splenda: Sadistically Sweet.
Iams investigations (US & UK)
See also Proctor & Gamble.
Top meat, egg & dairy companies & purchasers
Tyson Foods became the world's largest poultry and red meat provider after buying Iowa Beef Processors, Inc. (IBP) in 2001. [6] Tyson controls 27% of all meat and poultry sales in the U.S. One out of every four pounds of chicken, beef and pork consumed in the U.S. is a Tyson product. [7] Smithfield Foods is the world's largest pork producer. Smithfield is the largest pig farming operation in the U.S. and a major producer abroad. Smithfield controls 26% of the U.S. pork market, raising 14 million pigs at it's facilities and killing 27 million of the 60 million that went to slaughter in 2006. [8] Cargill is the second largest meat processing company in the U.S., after Tyson Foods. It is the second largest supplier of animal feed in the world. [9]
Willmar Poultry Company is the largest turkey producer in the U.S. It produces over 45 million turkey poults (young birds) annually at its two hatcheries in Minnesota. The Willmar hatchery is the largest turkey hatchery in the industry and delivers over 600,000 poults weekly to customers. [10] Cal-Maine Foods is the largest egg producer in the U.S. In fiscal 2009, Cal-Maine sold approximately 778 million dozen shell eggs, representing approximately 18% of domestic shell egg consumption. The company's approximately 27 million laying hens and 6 million pullets and breeders is the largest concentration of chickens in the U.S.[11]
Nestle is the world's leading producer of dairy products.[12] Dean Foods is the leading producer of fluid milk and dairy products in the United States and the second largest dairy company in the world. Dean Foods is second only to Nestle in terms of global dairy sales. [13]
McDonalds is largest purchaser of beef and the second largest purchaser of poultry in the U.S. [14]
Organizations that support CAFOs
Organizations that support Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO)s include member organizations of the Animal Industry Foundation; the American Veal Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Milk Producers Council, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation, United Egg Producers, U.S. Poultry and Egg Association and the American Feed Industry Association. [15] Also member organizations of the American Meat Institute, the Meat Promotion Coalition, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Dairy Council. Other industry-funded organizations which support CAFO's include the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) and the Animal Welfare Council (AWC).
CAFO's & health issues
See also meat & dairy industry, sections 4 & 5.
Animal products & health issues
See also animal products & health issues.
CAFOs & animal welfare issues
See also animals raised & hunted for food.
Articles & sources
SourceWatch articles
- Alternative Medicine
- American Dietetic Association
- Animal testing
- Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
- Avian flu pandemic
- Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food
- David W.K. Acheson ("Food Safety Czar")
- Deborah Platt Majoras
- David Rockefeller
- Dioxin in US beef
- Food Safety Act of 2007
- Free trade
- Humane Movement
- International Trade Strategies
- Mad cow disease / Mad Cow USA
- McDonald's
- Nanotechnology
- Obesity PR
- Organic Consumers Association
- Pharmaceutical industry
- Rockefeller Foundation
- Swine flu
- U.S. Government's War on Animals
- War on Cancer
- Weston A. Price Foundation
Case studies
- Aspartame
- Benzene in Soft Drinks
- Goliath and David: Monsanto's Legal battles against farmers
- Isopropyl Alcohol in Soft Drinks
- Monsanto and the Campaign to Undermine Organics
- Splenda: Sadistically Sweet
- Trashing organic foods
Processed food suppliers
- Abbott Laboratories (Similac, Ensure)
- Anheuser-Busch
- Archer Daniels Midland Company
- Cal-Maine Foods
- Campbell Soup Company
- Cargill Inc.
- Chiquita Brands International, Inc.
- Coca-Cola Co.
- ConAgra Foods, Inc.
- Dean Foods Company
- Del Monte Foods Company
- Diageo
- General Mills, Inc.
- Hershey Company
- H.J. Heinz Company
- Johnson & Johnson (Splenda)
- Kellogg Company
- Land O' Lakes Inc.
- Mars Inc.
- Nestlé S.A.
- PepsiCo Inc. (Quaker Oats)
- Philip Morris (Kraft Foods Inc.)
- Proctor & Gamble (Eukanuba, Iams)
- Sara Lee Corp.
- Schwan Food Company (largest school food service supplier in U.S.)
- Smithfield Foods, Inc.
- Tyson Foods
- Unilever N.V. / Unilever plc
- Ventura Foods, LLC (largest institutional supplier of cooking oils/shortenings in U.S.)
- Willmar Poultry Company
Regulatory Agencies
- Food Standards Agency (UK)
- Food Additives and Ingredients Association (UK)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Contract Research Organizations (animal testing)
Industry Associations
- American Frozen Food Institute
- American Veterinary Medical Association
- British Soft Drinks Association
- Food Products Association
- Grocery Manufacturers of America
- Institute of Food Technologists
- International Dairy Foods Association
- Meat Promotion Coalition
- National Cattlemen's Beef Association
- National Milk Producers Association
- National Pork Producers Council
- Pet Food Institute
- The Food Institute
- United States Tuna Foundation
Front Groups & industry-funded organizations
- Agribusiness Freedom Foundation
- Alliance for Better Foods
- American Beverage Association
- American Beverage Institute
- American Farm Bureau Federation
- American Meat Institute
- Animal Welfare Council
- Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness
- Canned Food Alliance
- Center for Consumer Freedom
- Council for Responsible Nutrition
- Food Security Network
- International Food Information Council
- National Animal Interest Alliance
- National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy
- National Dairy Council
- Policy Directions Inc.
- ↑ Regional Industry Cluster Overview: Processed Food, Northwest Iowa Developers Coalition, 2005
- ↑ Daniel Reid Processed Food, Helping People Survive Online, accessed December 2010
- ↑ Bans in India of Coke and Pepsi due to pesticide and aspartame ingredients, Indybay, August 2006
- ↑ About ViskoTeepak, ViskoTeepak, accessed December 2010
- ↑ Kathleen Doheny On Nutritious Drink Studies, Consider the Funding Source If industry pays for the research, bias may result, study suggests, Health Day News, December 2007
- ↑ Donald John Tyson, Forbes, 400 Richest Americans, accessed February 2009
- ↑ Tyson Foods: Overview, United Food & Commercial Workers Union, accessed May 2009
- ↑ Merritt Clifton Smithfield & Maple Leaf Farms will phase out gestation crates, Animal People News, March 2007
- ↑ Steve Hannaford Oligopoly Brief: Cargill, Oligopoly Watch, updated September 2007
- ↑ Welcome to Willmar Poultry, Willmar Poultry Company, accessed December 2010
- ↑ About Cal-Maine Foods, Cal-Main Foods, accessed December 2010
- ↑ Nestlé SA, Company analytics, 2009
- ↑ Know Your Dairy Giants: Dean Foods, Family Farm Defenders, March 2005
- ↑ John Robbins Old McDonald Had a Factory: Did Somebody Say McLibel?, Celsias.com, October 2007
- ↑ John Robbins Old McDonald had a Factory, Celsias.com, accessed February 2009
External articles
- Fred J. Ruppel, J. Michael Harri "US trade surplus in processed foods expected to continue - includes related article," Food Review, May-August 1996.
- Chris Bolling et al., "U.S. firms invest in Mexico's processed food industry - Statistical Data Included," Food Review, May-August 1999.
- "USDA Creates Trade Advisory Committee. GMA Applauds Addition of New Committee for Processed Foods," Grocery Manufacturers of America, May 20, 2003.
- Michele Simon, "Low carb means high profits for food giants," San Francisco Chronicle, January 23, 2004.
- Caroline E. Mayer, "Putting a Healthy Spin On Processed Foods. Companies Cut Sugar, Add Vitamins," Washington Post, January 10, 2005.
- Michele Simon, "Weak Links in the Food Chain. Why Uncle Sam Won't Tell You What Not to Eat," San Franciso Chronicle, January 15, 2005.
- "Nanotechnology to increase shelf life of processed foods," NANO Techwire.com, May 30, 2005.
- Alex Renton "If MSG is so bad for you, why doesn't everyone in Asia have a headache?" The Observer (UK), July 10, 2005.
- Melanie Warner, "Science's Quest to Banish Fat in Tasty Ways," New York Times, August 11, 2005.
- Unions Petition OSHA To Deal With Slow-Motion Chemical Disaster, Confined Space, July 2006
- ConAgra to drop fake butter flavor one month before EPA study release, Americablog, September 2007.
E. coli bacteria
- Annys Shin, "Outbreaks Reveal Food Safety Net's Holes. Produce Growers Balk At Calls for Regulation," Washington Post, December 11, 2006.
- "Dozens sickened after eating at Taco John's. 14 hospitalized in Iowa with symptoms consistent with E. coli, officials say," Associated Press, MSNBC, December 11, 2006.
- Hillary Profita, "That Salad Will Probably Kill You. The Skinny: Taco Bell E. Coli Outbreak Freaks Out U.S. Vegetable Lovers," CBS News, December 11, 2006.
- Denise Grady, "When Bad Things Come From 'Good' Food," New York Times, January 2, 2007.
- Goody L. Solomon, "Hearing Highlights Produce Safety. Creation of Federal Standards Is Seen as Avenue to Improvements," Washington Post, April 25, 2007.
Food Additives & adulteration
- "Sweet deal for Dell," Austin Business Journal, February 11, 2000.
- Betty Martini, "EU Calls For New Investigation Of Aspartame And Stevia," Mission Possible International (naturodoc.com), April 12, 2003.
- "Coke, Pepsi banned in India over harmful levels of aspartame, pesticides and other chemicals," NewsTarget, August 7, 2006.
- "Bans in India of Coke and Pepsi due to pesticide and aspartame ingredients," Indybay, August 10, 2006.
Soft Drinks
- News Release: "Analysis of preservatives in soft drink beverages," Metrohm UK, September 22, 2003.
External resources
- Food Quality News, accessed December 2010
- "Exports: Processed Foods Index Page," International Trade Commission (ITA).
- "The U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement." Report of the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Processed Foods, March 19, 2004.
- "2005 Processed Foods Outlook," U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Health and Consumer Goods.
- Sucralose Toxicity Information Center, Holistic Healing Web Page, accessed January 2011
Industry Publications
- Beverage & Food World Journal: A Journal Devoted To The Indian Processed Food Industry, accessed January 2011


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Customers who purchased this item also purchased:
What our customers are saying:
"Pegasus is an excellent business. I rely on Pegasus for high quality (hi-temp and hi-pressure) custom racing hoses. They use the highest quality components and the finished products are outstanding. Shipping is prompt and service is the best. Of course, they are from Wisconsin, one of the last remaining sites of professionalism and courtesy and the only source of good cheese."
D.N. from California


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Latin Dance Cardio - Jen's 52nd Birthday Class
Thanks for purchasing!
Instruction for download to PC
Press Start Watching Now from the e mail sent to you
Press Start Watching again
Video will come up full screen
Scroll down to box that said video downloads/ pick 1080
In the lower right corner of video look for download arrow (arrow pointing down, if you don't see this, hover over video until taskbar shows)
Video will start to download
Latin Dance Cardio - 90 minute - Jen's 52nd Birthday Class
An energizing dance fitness class featuring Latin and International music! We call this one exercise in disguise. You'll burn calories and have fun doing it! An interval style workout sure to get your heart pumping and your feet moving.
Song List:
Make Some Noise Warm Up
8:17 Let's Get Loud


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Police investigate threats against Trey Gowdy
The U.S. Capitol Police are investigating threatening emails against Rep. Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Republican recently tapped to lead a special panel probing the Benghazi terrorist attacks.
The investigation comes after POLITICO reporters and journalists at other outlets received two emails on Tuesday warning that Gowdy would be harmed because of his role in investigating the 2012 attacks.
The Capitol Police would not comment on the scope of the investigation but Officer Shennell Antrobus confirmed that there is "an active, open investigation."
Gowdy was tapped on Monday to lead a new select committee on Benghazi. His office referred all questions to the Capitol Police.
Capitol Police investigate all threats against members of Congress but they've paid especially close attention to death threats — even those that seem improbably — after former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) survived an assassination attempt in 2011.
In 2012, a woman approached Gowdy with a gun while he was sitting in his car in Spartanburg, S.C.


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These napkin rings are quick, easy, and inexpensive to
create and they match the previous tutorial --Thanksgiving turkey silverware pockets. The fun part is that they are also dimensional with the turkeys standing at attention. They will surely get the attention of your guests as well.
You will need:
Cardboard tube from the inside of a paper towel roll
Embossed felt
Small foam turkey stickers
22-gauge wire
White colored pencil for marking on dark felt
Tacky craft glue
Wire cutters
1/8" hole punch
E size seed bead for each napkin ring
Clothespins are handy for holding felt till the glue dries
Measure and cut four pieces off the
cardboard tube to 1 ½" lengths. Trim the rings evenly around.
Measure and cut 4 pieces of embossed
felt 1 ½" x 6".
It is a good idea to put two fingers
inside the ring to hold it while you are gluing. Spread a generous
amount of glue all over the outside of the ring. Attach the felt piece working
around to cover. Trim the ends to make sure the ends meet. Let
dry. Trim the felt all around the edges of the cardboard to form the
ring base.
On the opposite side from where the
ends meet, punch a hole in the center with a 1/8" hole punch.
Using the wire cutters cut a 2 ½"
piece of 22 gauge wire. Thread an
E sized seed bead on it and bend in half.
(See photo) Thread the bended wire with the seed bead attached through
the inside of the napkin ring base.
Two wire pieces will protrude.
Remove the paper backing from one
small foam turkey sticker and attach to the two wire pieces protruding from the
napkin ring. Make sure the turkey
bottom touches the base. Trim wire
if necessary.
Remove the paper backing from a
second turkey and attach to the first turkey covering the wires.
Add your napkins and enjoy!


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Ages ago we discussed ELPA, the emacs packaging system. It allows you to
browse through an online repository of emacs packages and install, uninstall
and upgrade them, all from within the emacs comfort zone (menu:
Options/Manage Emacs Packages
Emacs 24.1 (a pretest is available) will include a version of ELPA --
; the version included with emacs 24 supports multiple
archives. The official archive is the one provided by GNU, then there is
the current one for ELPA, but there's now a third one available: Marmalade.
Marmelade ('Spreadable Elisp') offers a very easy way for developers to
make their packages available to emacs users, and an even easier way for
users to test out interesting packages.
To use all available package repositories (GNU, ELPA and Marmalade), add
the following snippet to your .emacs
(setq package-archives '(("ELPA" . "http://tromey.com/elpa/") ("gnu" . "http://elpa.gnu.org/packages/") ("marmalade" . "http://marmalade-repo.org/packages/")))
This works out-of-the-box for Emacs 24; for Emacs 23, you'll need the newer
, which you can get from the emacs 24 repo (if necessary, remove
the old package.el
Currently, there are 870 packages listed in the three repositories – a lot of
toys to play with! In fact, it is already getting quite hard to find what
you're looking for; a bit more structured way (maybe using categories) would
be useful. Also, a bit more information than the one-line description would
be very useful.
Nevertheless, it's a great addition to emacs, which will make it much easier
to play with packages – without even having to read the installation


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Admission Process
As a Parent, if you intend to develop your child through the right educational process and values, we would welcome your initiative as an effective citizen of our country to join us in building our Nation's most important student resource. For enrolling your child to our institution, please send an email to the school of your choice. To select the school, please click on "Locate Our Schools" menu on the home page.
Studying at Ryan is your first step to holistic education. With a world-class environment that fosters sharp learning skills, a top-of-the-line curriculum that offers the best in education and a management that has been at the forefront of propagating quality education in the country, you will find all the right reasons to be part of this blue-chip brigade.
The curriculum practiced at the Ryan Schools provides an unparalleled learning experience and a global platform for all our students who are now placed in the best universities across the globe. At Ryan, we take immense pride in our unique approach to academics. Apart from classroom learning, we have a rich outdoor activity calendar to focus on the holistic development of our students.
We host some of the biggest international school events in the country like the International Children's Festival of Performing Arts, The Indian Model United Nations and annual trips to the NASA to inculcate the scientific spirit. We also organize various sporting, social and creative events to develop the leadership spirit among the children to prepare them for life beyond classroom.


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First of all, I can't believe I haven't blogged in a year. Yikes!
Second ... it's Shoebox Project for Shelters time again! This is the third year in Vancouver, and we've expanded:
- We added new drop-off spots, including Kitsilano, Olympic Village and another in East Van.
- In addition to the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, we're working with shelters in North Vancouver and Surrey.
- We've set an aggressive goal of 750 boxes. Last year we collected just over 400 - can we do it? I think so!
One of the things that I have been touched by in particular this year is families that put boxes together and take the opportunity of collecting a shoebox to talk about charity and giving. Yoyomama.ca has a great post about sharing the experience with your kids.
And I received a lovely email from Christy, one of our donors, in which she shared her story:
I shopped with my girls yesterday and honestly it was one of the most meaningful experiences we have had. The conversations we had were so thoughtful and it almost made me cry watching a four year old and ten year old shop for items so carefully and seriously. These shoeboxes are so very special and we are so happy we found a way to help directly in our community.
I love this. I've written before about why this project is so dear and important to me, so I won't repeat that here. But I love that so many of our donors have turned this into a family experience. It actually doesn't take much time to put a box together, but by doing so, you have the opportunity to double your impact: transform the life of the woman who is receiving the box and create a positive and transformative memory for your family.
All of the details about creating a shoebox are on the Vancouver page on the main Shoebox Project website, but below are a few As to our most received Qs.
Frequently Asked Questions about Creating a Shoebox:
Wait ... what is the Shoebox Project for Shelters?
The Shoebox Project for Shelters was co-founded in Toronto in 2011 by four sisters-in-law, who asked their friends to fill shoeboxes with $50 worth of little luxuries, so they could deliver them to a local shelter. Today, the Shoebox Project operates in 30 communities across Canada and is still growing! Since inception, the Shoebox Project has delivered over 15,000 gifts to women in almost 200 shelters. The Shoebox Project is a registered charity, headquartered in Toronto.
What should I put in my shoebox?
Items that, in a time of budget constraint, could be considered a luxury or that someone wouldn't be able to splurge on. Something that YOU would like to receive if you were in a strange, unfamiliar environment at a difficult time in your life. Some ideas:
- Nice socks, gloves, scarves, or hat
- Compact (travel) umbrella
- Rain ponchos
- Gift cards in $10 or $20 (coffee shops, drug stores, movie theatre, grocery stores)
- Anything chocolate or candy
- Full bottles of personal care products - a nice lotion, body wash or scrub
- Hair stuff: brushes, hair ties, clips
- Simple jewelry: earrings or bracelet
- High-end razor (e.g. Venus)
- Face pads/cleansers
- An inspirational card or note in the box
IMPORTANT: Please make sure that the individual items are all packaged, sealed and unused! Also, this is a list tailored to requests from Vancouver shelters (e.g. high-end razors are OK) so please make sure you check your local page or ask your local coordinator if you have any questions!
How much should I spend?
We are asking that the value of the contents be around $50. If that amount isn't doable, consider going in with a friend on a box. Or, make a small box and bring it by one of the drop-off locales (see below). We can often supplement a box to bring it up to the $50 value.
$50 is a lot - I'm on a budget. Can I still participate?
YES! A lot of groups are putting together boxes. If you don't have $50, maybe you and 4 friends have $10 each? Rosemary has written a post about putting together a box as a group. And there are tips for hosting a Shoebox party on the website as well.
Does it have to be in a shoebox?
Nope, you can bring it by in a Shopper's Drug Mart bag. But if you do have a box, please use it. If you have two boxes, please bring the extra empty one with your full one. :)
Should I wrap my shoebox?
You can decorate it or wrap it, but it should not be wrapped shut (all the boxes are inspected by the shelters). You can wrap the lid separately if you have a two-piece shoebox. Those one-piece shoeboxes are tricky to wrap, but it can be done (I did about 50 of them last year). However, if you bring by your plain ol' box, we'll Christmas it up for you.
When and where can I drop off my shoebox?
In Vancouver, we have seven locations. Days & hours vary per location. You don't have to call prior to drop-off unless the location specifies - see below:
East Van: 2305 McLean Drive
Monday to Friday - 8:00am to 6:00pm
Saturday - 11:00am to 5:00pm
Kate at 778-997-5283
East Van: 4289 Elgin Street
Monday to Friday – 5:30PM to 8:00PM
Sat & Sun – 9:00AM to noon
Jackie at 604-874-5574
False Creek: 181 West 1st Avenue (Corner of West 1st Ave and Columbia in Olympic Village)
Wednesdays – 7PM to 10PM
Please email [email protected] to confirm prior to drop off.
Downtown: Accenture (leave box with reception), 15th floor, 401 West Georgia Street
Monday to Friday: 1:00PM to 4:30PM
Burnaby: Metrotower II, Suite 2100, 4720 Kingsway
Monday to Friday - 8:30AM to 4:00PM
Amy at 604-671-7881
West Vancouver: Re/Max Business Center, 1453 Bellevue Avenue
Monday to Friday - 9:00AM to 5:00PM
Kitsilano: 3078 W. 14th Ave.
7 days a week - 8:00AM to 8:00PM
What is the last day for drop-off in 2014?
Friday, December 5th is the last day in Vancouver. Other cities, check the Shoebox Locations page.
Is this just Vancouver?
Definitely not! There are over 2 dozen locations across Canada participating in the Shoebox for Shelters project! Check out the Shoebox Locations page.
What if I don't know what to put in a shoebox and just want to make a donation?
No problem! Shoebox Project for Shelters is a registered charity and uses CanadaHelps for online donations. When you donate, you can specify the community where you want your funds directed.


text:
Updated at 3:09 p.m. ET
The release of former national security adviser John Bolton's new book, The Room Where It Happened, remains on track after a federal judge on Saturday rejected the Trump administration's request to block its release.
Judge Royce Lamberth of the D.C. District Court said that Bolton may still be facing legal trouble and that because of a rush to print, it was likely his book contains classified information.
But with hundreds of thousands of copies of the book already out for sale, according to its publisher, the judge ruled that the administration's efforts had come too late. "The damage is done," he wrote in a 10-page opinion.
"Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability," Lamberth concluded. "But these facts do not control the motion before the Court. The government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm."
The Justice Department had sought a temporary restraining order against Bolton and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, citing what it called the presence of classified information in Bolton's manuscript. But the book already has been widely reported on, and it is scheduled to be released Tuesday.
"We are grateful that the Court has vindicated the strong First Amendment protections against censorship and prior restraint of publication," the publisher said in a statement shared Saturday with NPR. "We are very pleased that the public will now have the opportunity to read Ambassador Bolton's account of his time as National Security Advisor."
Simon & Schuster previously said the injunction "would accomplish nothing."
Indeed, a number of the book's most damaging allegations against President Trump are free to find in a variety of media outlets, with the book already widely reviewed — including by NPR.
Bolton, who served in the administration for nearly a year and a half, alleges a wide array of indiscretions and outright violations of law, including promising favors to foreign leaders for help with Trump's reelection and conducting "obstruction of justice as a way of life" at the White House.
"In fact," Bolton writes in the book, "I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn't driven by reelection calculations."
The president and other deputies havedenied the allegations made in the book and dismissed them as "lies and fake stories."
Despite the judge's ruling, the president sought to frame the decision on Saturday as a "BIG COURT WIN".
Trump tweeted that although it was too late for the judge to stop the book's release, Lamberth's rebukes of Bolton offered vindication for the administration.
"Bolton broke the law and has been called out and rebuked for so doing, with a really big price to pay," the president said. "He likes dropping bombs on people, and killing them. Now he will have bombs dropped on him!"
In preparation for publishing, Bolton undertook a months-long review of his manuscript with an official on the National Security Council. According to the government's complaint against Bolton, in late April, that official, Ellen Knight, concluded "that the manuscript draft did not contain classified information." The government says Bolton abandoned the process after the launch of "an additional review" by another member of the NSC, Michael Ellis. Bolton's attorneys deny that claim, saying he "has fully discharged all duties that the Federal Government may lawfully require of him."
The judge made his distaste for Bolton's conduct clear in order. He noted that, in opting out of the government's review process, the former national security adviser was likely to run afoul of his nondisclosure agreements with the government.
And that promises peril for Bolton, who still faces the possibility of prosecution and the government's attempts to claw back his profits from the book.
"Unilateral fast-tracking carried the benefit of publicity and sales, and the cost of substantial risk exposure," Lamberth said.
"This was Bolton's bet: If he is right and the book does not contain classified information, he keeps the upside mentioned above; but if he is wrong, he stands to lose his profits from the book deal, exposes himself to criminal liability, and imperils national security," the judge added. "Bolton was wrong."
Bolton's legal team said Saturday that it welcomed the decision — but took issue with the judge's preliminary finding that Bolton didn't comply with the government's prepublication review.
"The full story of these events has yet to be told," attorney Charles J. Cooper said in a statement, "but it will be."
Trump hired the George W. Bush administration veteran as his third national security adviser in 2018. But the two men clashed repeatedly over foreign policy and split in a flurry of acrimony last fall. Trump says he fired Bolton; Bolton says he offered to resign first.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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In some cases, spies and covert operations are found in war grounds or politically tense regions. Now however, you can find spies and covert operations running undetected within your personal computer system as you use your computer and the Internet.
Have you noticed a suspicious slow down of your computer's processing without any particular reason? Are you bombarded by unsolicited pop up ads that indiscriminately appear whether you are running a program or not? These symptoms may continue to happen despite checking your system and running your recently updated anti virus program to run diagnostics on your computer.
Unless you run the correct program, you will not be able to detect the real problem in your system: spyware and adware.
Adware are unsolicited programs that usually come bundled with freeware or shareware. Yes, sometimes things that seem to be good to be true usually come with unwanted invisible strings attached. Companies usually pay freeware or shareware creators to be able to capitalize and prey on unsuspecting individuals who download these programs. Adware cause unsolicited pop up advertisements in your computer and in severe cases, adware causes pop up advertisements to pop up soon as you boot your system.
Spyware on the other hand is more covert and usually undetected in your system until you run an anti spyware program. Spyware is used exactly to spy on you. In relatively mild cases, spyware is used to track your Internet browsing habits so that the spyware can report your preferences to build a marketing profile. This means that as you go about your Internet business, you are under surveillance and your basic right to privacy is impinged upon.
In severe cases though, certain spyware better labeled as malware, are used for criminal purposes and can steal keywords and other sensitive information based on your computer and Internet usage.
For instance, malware can take note of your keystrokes or take note of your credit card number and other vital information that can be used to steal your identity and generally put your security at risk.It is said that 9 out 10 computers are infected with spyware and to make sure that you are not part of statistical majority, you need run an adware and spyware cleaner to detect unwanted security and privacy breach within your system.
There are a lot of reliable adware and spyware cleaners in available to remove these unwanted programs in your computer. You must note however that some adware and spyware are intricately bundled within their parent programs that cleaning them out from your computer will inadvertently disable the legitimate programs they infect. This consequence is a necessary evil to clean your computer of unwanted adware and spyware. You should choose an adware and spyware cleaner that can also work proactively by preventing future accidental installation of these nuisances.
Adware and spyware cleaners work like your anti virus programs except that these particular cleaners target adware and spyware.Considering the trouble adware and spyware creators take to ensure that extracting installed adware and spyware from your computer system will be difficult, the adage about an ounce of prevention being worth more than a pound of cure applies in this situation. Be sure to install a reliable and secure adware and spyware cleaner in your system to remove existing security and privacy risks as well as preventing future hassle.


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Suvana Beauty is an Australian owned, cruelty free natural beauty company who strive to create organic products that nurture and love your skin. Using 100% natural and OFC certified organic ingredients that are Australian made with care, this Paw Paw & Honey Balm contains healing properties and unlike the most popular paw paw ointment on the market, is FREE from petroleum jelly! Choose THE YELLOW TUBE, choose Suvana.
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Adult Learners
Whether you've been out of high school for four years or 40, we will help you build a better future. Here's everything you need to know about applying to MCC as an adult student.
There's associate degrees or a certificate, or you can explore your interests in continuing education classes—whatever your goals are, we have a program for you. Many of our programs are especially designed for working adults, with classes on Saturdays and online.
Applying to MCC as an adult student is easy, and we'll support you every step of the way.
Apply for Degree & Certificate Programs
- Submit the Application for Admission. It's free, and it only takes 15 minutes to complete.
- Send us transcripts from high school and any colleges you've attended.
- Submit your ACT or SAT scores or the results of placement testing.
- Explore financial aid. Our generous scholarships, grants and loans make a great education even more affordable. Here's how.
Questions about applying to MCC as an adult? Give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to helping you reach your goals!


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Looking for a British Shorthair kitten or cat in Methuen, Massachusetts? Adopt a Pet can help you find an adorable British Shorthair near you.
Use the search tool below to browse adoptable British Shorthair kittens and adults British Shorthair in Methuen, Massachusetts.
We've got all the info you need on adopting and caring for a British Shorthair kitten. Check out the links below for everything you ever wanted to know about British Shorthair kittens and adults.
Where do British Shorthairs come from? How many types of British Shorthairs are there? From the history of the breed to question about average height, weight and size, brush up on these basic facts about the British Shorthair.


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Indoff Incorporated ("Indoff") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy ("Privacy Policy") explains our information gathering and dissemination practices. If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact Indoff at the e-mail address provided at the end of this Privacy Policy.
1. WHAT INFORMATION IS COLLECTED. We collect a limited amount of personal information from you in certain areas of the website (the "Website") for various reasons. The following is a description of what information is collected:
Registration Information. Registration may be necessary to use certain areas of the Website. When you register at the Website, we ask you for a few items of personal information. All of this information is used to deliver a more personal and pertinent experience for users of the Website.
IP Addresses. An IP address is a number assigned to your computer when you connect to the Internet. As part of the protocol of the Internet, web servers can identify your computer by its IP address. In addition, web servers may be able to identify the type of browser and/or type of computer you are using. Indoff collects IP addresses and related information for the purposes of system administration, to assess the traffic to the Website and to maintain and improve the Website. We do not link IP addresses to your personally identifiable information. We can and will use IP addresses, however, to identify a user when we feel it is necessary to enforce compliance with our Website Terms and Conditions or to protect our service, the Website, customers or others.
Use Of Cookies. Cookies are small bits of information that some websites (including the Website) transfer to an individual's hard drive for research purposes. Indoff uses cookies to analyze the traffic, such as total visitors and pages viewed on the Website, and make improvements based on the data we collect. Indoff never saves passwords or credit card information in cookies. The use of cookies has become a standard in the industry, especially at websites that provide any kind of personalized service. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can usually set your browser to refuse cookies or indicate when a cookie is being sent. If you refuse cookies, you may not be able to use some of the functionality of the Website. The Website's advertisers and other partners may also use cookies in connection with the services and websites to which the Website links. We do not control these cookies.
2. WHO IS COLLECTING THIS INFORMATION. Indoff collects the information described above via the Website. In the case of third party features such as advertising, co-branded areas or links to other websites, such third parties may also collect information. You should review the applicable privacy policies of these third parties before providing personally identifiable information. Indoff is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties.
In General. Indoff uses registration information to learn more about how visitors use the Website and to measure areas of interest. This allows Indoff to build features and functionality that will enhance your Website experience. If you so choose when you register, registration information might also be used to send you information about new features and services on the Website or offered by Indoff, or to send you information from selected third party product or service providers. We might also use this information to respond to e-mails, provide customer support, enforce our Website Terms and Conditions or other similar matters. Aggregate information is also used to help us run and maintain the Website, study traffic patterns and generally learn about the usage of the Website.
Unrelated Companies. Indoff occasionally shares limited customer information with companies we hire to provide operational, marketing, or advertising support, companies that help us distribute our products and services, or companies that provide products and services we want to offer. The companies we choose must satisfy our security and privacy requirements. We share your information with these companies only if they agree to treat it confidentially and only if it is legally permissible to do so. We limit the information we provide these companies to what we reasonably believe they "need to know" in connection with their agreement with Indoff and we don't permit them to use our customer information for any purposes outside our oversight or control.
Government Authorities and Litigation. Sometimes a law, court order, or other judicial or administrative process requires us to provide information to a government authority or party to a private lawsuit. We will provide the information that we in good faith believe is required to comply with the law, order, or other process. We may also have to disclose certain information in court documents if we have to bring an action against you, for example, to collect a debt you owe us.
4. CHOICES IN THE COLLECTION, USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION. At the time of registration, you may be given a choice whether you want to receive information about new features, events, offers and special coverage on the Website and about special offers from Indoff's partners. When you register, you must click in a box if you do not want to receive either type of information. Unless you affirmatively choose not to receive these materials, your registration information may be used to send you this information.
It is important to know that you may inadvertently provide personally identifiable information to third parties through your postings to a forum or participation in a chat session and we have no way to limit their use of the information you may provide. Please keep in mind that whenever you give out personal information online (for example, in forums, message boards or chat sessions) that information can be collected and used by people you don't know. While we strive to protect our user's personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you voluntarily disclose online and you do so at your own risk.
5. WITH WHOM THE INFORMATION MAY BE SHARED. Except for your choices described above, we will not knowingly disclose or authorize the disclosure of personal identifiable information (other than aggregate statistical information) to any third party without your consent unless (1) we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may have breached our Website Terms and Conditions or who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) Indoff's rights or property, other Website users, or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities or (2) we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
6. CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13 YEARS. In accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Indoff will not knowingly collect or accept personally identifiable information from a child under the age of 13 without a parent's or guardians prior consent. Indoff will also allow the parent or guardian of a registered user under the age of 13 to review, update, change, delete or refuse to permit further collection of any and all information collected by the Website. A child's personally identifiable information will be treated with the same care and respect as an adult's information. To change, update, review, delete or refuse to permit further collection of your child's information, please send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com , call Indoff at 1-800-486-7867, or send a letter via postal mail to: Indoff, , Attn: Children's Privacy Information.
7. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES. While you are using the Website, you may be linked or directed to other third party websites outside the Website that are beyond Indoff's control. Each of these third parties may have a privacy policy different from that of Indoff. Indoff is not responsible for any actions or policies of such third parties. You should review the applicable privacy policies of these third party websites before providing personally identifiable information.
8. HOW YOU MAY CHANGE, CORRECT YOUR REGISTRATION INFORMATION. If you want to change, correct, update or delete your registration information, please contact Indoff via e-mail at email@example.com , call Indoff at 1-800-486-7867 or send your request to Indoff, 11816 Lackland Road St. Louis, MO 63146 , Attn: "Registration Information Correction" and the necessary revisions will be made. This provision applies only to registration information collected via the Website.
9. SECURITY PROCEDURES WE USE. We are very concerned with the security of your personally identifiable information and take great care in providing secure transmission of your information from your computer to our servers. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us.
Once we receive your information, we take appropriate steps that we believe are reasonable to protect the security of your data on our system, both internally and from outsiders, and to ensure the integrity of the data we collect. We use a combination of technological and policy methods to protect this data. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords and any account information. Please be aware that Indoff will never ask you for your password in an unsolicited phone call or e-mail.
10. CHANGES IN THESE TERMS. We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time and will post notices on the Website at the time of any material changes to this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.


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Obedience training helps prevent negative encounters between family members and the dog. It reinforces the bond between the handler(s) and pet. Obedience Training A MUST for every good family dog, regardless of size or breed! Puppies may start classes when they are as young as 8 weeks old. Obedience
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A few months ago, radio producer Sandy Tolan was supposed to do a documentary about strippers with an aspiring writer — and stripper — named Susan. A few days before they were to begin working together, Susan disappeared, presumed dead.
Download Control-click (or right-click) Tap and hold to download
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- Transcript
Act One
Sandy Tolan interviewed Susan's friends and family to make an unusual and powerful documentary about who she was and about the world she inhabited. (30 minutes)
Act Two
A story by therapist Lauren Slater about a case she had with a tough man obsessed with porn and how he changed. (23 minutes)


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O Jehovah my God, you are very great.+
With majesty* and splendor you are clothed.+
3 He lays beams of his upper rooms in the waters above,*+
Making the clouds his chariot,+
Moving on the wings of the wind.+
6 You covered it with deep waters as with a garment.+
The waters stood above the mountains.
At the sound of your thunder they ran away in panic
8 —Mountains ascended+ and valleys descended—
To the place you established for them.
11 They provide water for all the wild beasts of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Above them roost the birds of the sky;
They sing among the thick foliage.
13 He is watering the mountains from his upper rooms.+
With the fruitage of your works the earth is satisfied.+
14 He is making grass grow for the cattle
And vegetation for mankind's use,+
To grow food from the land
15 And wine that makes man's heart rejoice,+
Oil that makes the face shine,
And bread that sustains the heart of mortal man.+
16 The trees of Jehovah are satisfied,
The cedars of Lebʹa·non that he planted,
17 Where the birds make nests.
The home of the stork+ is in the juniper trees.
22 When the sun rises,
They withdraw and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes to his work,
And he labors until evening.
24 How many your works are, O Jehovah!+
You have made all of them in wisdom.+
The earth is full of what you have made.
28 What you give them, they gather.+
When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.+
29 When you hide your face, they are disturbed.
If you take away their spirit, they die and return to the dust.+
31 The glory of Jehovah will last forever.
Jehovah will rejoice in his works.+
34 Let my thoughts be pleasing to him.*
I will rejoice in Jehovah.


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Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett Joining 'The Voice' as Season 15 Advisors
Two more country singers are joining NBC's The Voice in important roles next season. Keith Urban and Thomas Rhett will serve as advisors during the Battle Rounds after the show begins in September.
Urban is set to join Blake Shelton's team, while Rhett has been asked to mentor Kelly Clarkson's team. It's the "Life Changes" singer's first time coaching or advising or judging a major television reality competition. Urban served as a judge on American Idol for the show's final four seasons on Fox.
Halsey (Team Jennifer Hudson) and CeeLo Green (Team Adam Levine) are the other two advisors for Season 15. Green was an original coach on The Voice, serving Seasons 1-3 and 5. The news of the four advisors was split across four different news outlets, with Access Online getting the scoop on the Shelton and Urban pairing and E! Online getting rights to the Clarkson and Rhett combo share.
This makes the second straight year Shelton and Clarkson have borrowed their advisors from country music. Cassadee Pope did the job for Clarkson last season, while Trace Adkins helped his old friend Shelton. Clarkson's team won when Brynn Cartelli earned America's vote. She and Shelton battled vigorously and vocally throughout the duration of the season, her first on the show compared to Shelton's 14th.
Urban is currently on tour with Kelsea Ballerini while Rhett is currently on the road with Kenny Chesney.
Season 15 of The Voice begins on Sept. 24.
Cassadee Pope Watching Her The Voice Win Is Everything!
The Most Successful Singers on The Voice? No. 1 May Surprise You!


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Design Tips« Back to Ideas Collection
More Design Tips
- • Designing Memorable Experiences
- • How "Category Creators" Inspire and Empower Customers
- • Draw People into Your Story with the Rule of Three
- • Three Steps to Great Design
- • Overcoming Obstacles in Design
- • Try Word Lists for Advertising "Gold"
- • Attract Magazine Readers with Short-Form Columns
- • Grab Them Right Out of the Gate
Draw People into Your Story with the Rule of Three
Good design, like storytelling, brings ideas to life.
When designing a piece to persuade, your first goal is to draw people's attention. Whether crafting memorable brochures or data-rich infographics, designers invite viewers to enter a scene and explore what is there.
Easy as 1-2-3
Three is a magic number, and it resonates with the human spirit.
Important tasks have three basic steps (Stop, Drop, and Roll). Punchy slogans come in groups of three (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness). And every epic story has a beginning, middle, and end!
Sets of three push people to act, and – as a bonus – they provide a powerful memory aid. When you want to maximize visual impact, here are several ways to use the rule of three in your designs:
Three Steps
It takes courage to move forward, so give people a visual path to follow. Try a 3-step infographic, a 3-part "make the switch kit," or 1-2-3 arrows (with corresponding action steps) on a winding visual highway.
Three Pathways
New platforms can overwhelm people, and clients aren't always sure WHAT they want to do.
Offer "design hospitality" by using three pathways on your postcards (view samples/get a quote/connect with a specialist). Or build apps and landing pages offering three channels at key junctures (enroll/log in/ask me later).
Three Choices
People faced with too many choices are less likely to make any decision at all.
In your pitch, try offering purchase options in groups of three (platinum/silver/gold plans or 30-60-90/day subscriptions) to encourage a decision.
Three Panel Stories
One memorable way to sell products is by creating a third visual panel that surprises or delights.
Like a comic strip with a punchline at the end, three-panel stories should end with a splash of humor or a surprise. Here's one example from a mattress sell sheet:
Panel 1: A donut with legs sitting on a luxurious mattress.
Panel 2: A donut hole with legs running at full sprint.
Panel 3: The running donut hole dives through the hollow belly of the seated donut and lands on the bed with a goofy smile.
Punchline: "The Perfect Mattress for Finding Your Center."
From Disengagement to Delight
Good design takes people from confusion to clarity and from disengagement to delight. Use a narrative arc in your visuals to increase conversions and make your message stick!
Design Is Storytelling
by Ellen Lupton
The latest book from award-winning writer Ellen Lupton is a playbook for creative thinking, showing designers how to use storytelling techniques to create satisfying graphics, products, services, and experiences.
Design Is Storytelling explores the psychology of visual perception from a narrative point of view. Presenting dozens of tools and concepts in a lively, visual manner, this book will help any designer amplify the narrative power of their work.


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Estampa Gold Syrah Blend 2010
A blend from Colchagua Valley, Chile. Consists of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec, from a single vineyard. Sounds pretty exciting, time to dive in.
Colour: Dark ruby-purple core, medium garnet rim.
Nose: Crème de cassis, black currant leaf, pepper, meat, liquorice, mint, black raspberry, faint cigarette smoke.
Palate: Dry, medium+ bodied, high acidity, medium tannins. Plum, black cherry, sour cherry (almost tomato like), blackcurrant, light vanilla.
Finish: Long finish, liquorice, sour cherry, oak.
Score: 80/100
Hits you in the face with an initial blastoff crème de cassis, then followed by a peppery, meaty nose, black fruits and very specifically cigarette smoke on the exhale (I am not a smoker). Surprising amount of acidity suggest this is best consumed with food. Loads of dark fruits to start, very juicy due to the acidity. Towards the end vanilla, liquorice, and oak kicked in, lingering. Paired with sousvide rack of lamb later on, wonderful pairing. A decent blend, not intrigued by its complexity, but works wonders with food. The finish lasts for minutes. Drink now or in the coming 2-3 years.


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Sidas Ski Boot Traction
Ski boot traction devices allow you to walk confidently and comfortably with your ski boots. Their tapered shape at the tip makes the movement of the foot easier and their asymmetric crampon design makes walking on snow safer.
- Flexible and resistant rubber.
- Inner frame for better grip on your shoes.
- One size
- Makes it easy to walk with your ski boots
- Protects the outer sole of your shoes
Size adjustment:
- Check the length of your ski boot in mm
- Adjust the ski boot traction device to the corresponding size (round down). The tip of the arrow indicates the size selected.
- Screw in with a Phillips screwdriver.
Fitting the device on the shoe:
Strap on the ski boot traction, starting from the front of the boot, then pull back to adjust it on the heel. This product should be stored in a dry place, away from heat and UV sources. It is recommended to check the product every year.