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Posts Tagged Hamamelis vernalis 'Amethyst'
Before Winter Finally Arrived
Posted by piedmontgardener in Favorite Plants, Native Wildlife, piedmont gardening on January 22, 2020
Winter cold finally arrived in my area about three days ago — highs in the upper 30s-low 40s, lows in the low 20s, and a wind chill that hurt skin accustomed to the weather of the previous four weeks, when nighttime temperatures rarely dropped into the upper 30s, and daytime temperatures stayed in the upper 60s and low 70s. During the 60+ years I've lived in North Carolina, an occasional winter warm weather interlude has not been unusual, but I can't recall an entire month of such weather from mid-December to mid-January.
Such a prolonged warm spell caused many plants in my yard to break dormancy far earlier than normal — by at least six weeks. Many birds began displaying signs of territorial behavior as mating instincts awakened. Bluebirds burbled to each other as they discussed the merits of nesting box options. Insects were everywhere, as were the frogs, snakes, and lizards that eat them. It all felt very wrong.
The day before winter cold finally arrived here, I walked around the yard and took a few photos. Now that ice covers the abundant shallow water in channels on the floodplain, I suspect my late winter bloomers that opened four weeks early are probably now brown. I haven't looked yet; that wind chill is mean. To remind myself of their loveliness, I include a few shots here, along with photos more typical of winter vegetation.
January jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) usually starts blooming in February, a few blooms at a time until March approaches. Many folks confuse them with forsythia, but a close examination makes the differences abundantly clear.
A native late winter bloomer, Hamamelis vernalis, is usually only showing a few petals by now. But the warmth caused the cultivar I grow to open more fully, scenting the air with a light, clean perfume that I always associate with spring cleaning.
An array of winter buds, remnant leaves, and bright moss lush from winter rains also caught my eye.
Late on the afternoon I took these shots, I was on my back deck when I noticed an insect on a window. I couldn't believe my eyes when I realized it was a Green Lacewing adult, much smaller than the ones I routinely see in my garden during the growing season. It saddened me to know that this delicate-looking beneficial insect would certainly perish soon. If the freeze didn't kill it, the absence of food certainly would.
Horticultural Therapy
Posted by piedmontgardener in horticultural therapy on March 4, 2016
Most serious gardeners have long recognized the therapeutic effects of gardening — to their bodies, minds, and yes, their souls. These effects are well-recognized, and embodied in the discipline known as horticultural therapy. Where I live in central North Carolina, horticultural therapists work with an array of clients — from teenagers with eating disorders to folks recovering from brain damage to children enduring long-term hospitalizations, those suffering from mental illness, and those afflicted with memory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
I don't think this discipline gets enough recognition, so I've decided to feature articles about its therapeutic effects from time to time in this blog. Today's entry features a description of a an upcoming two-day (March 18-19) conference led by several horticultural therapists working in Greensboro, NC. They are welcoming all horticultural therapists — and gardeners interested in learning more about this discipline and in visiting some of the beautiful gardens of their city — to attend this event. The conference is free, but they ask that you e-mail them a completed registration form, or call the organizer, by next Friday, March 11.
Here are all the details from Sally Cobb, the horticultural therapist organizing this event:
Hello Horticultural Therapy Enthusiasts!
Fountains, statues, bridges, wandering pathways, fresh air, and plants of all descriptions: let's spend time outdoors and honor the foundation of our profession's source of power – NATURE!
Greensboro has four public gardens, eager to rejuvenate us through exploration and contemplation. Come join us Friday and/or Saturday to hear about the programs of the three Horticultural Therapists living in Greensboro and lose yourselves in the beauty of the Greensboro gardens!
Friday: March 18, 2016
3:30-4:00 — Meet at Gateway Gardens, at the Book Stage, East Gate City Boulevard, Greensboro, for welcome and immersion in Greensboro's newest public garden which integrates elements of history, movement, discovery and community into its landscape. Socialize between 3:30 and 4 and we will get started at 4:00.
6:00 — Reservations at Southern Lights Bistro and Bar, 2415 Lawndale Drive, Greensboro, NC 27408
Saturday: March 19, 2016
8:30-9:00 — Gather at Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, 2500 Summit Avenue, Greensboro 27405, for a light breakfast. Socialize between 8:30 and 9 and we will start at 9:00, hearing about the happenings of Greensboro's three HT's: Jennifer Manning, Catherine Crowder, and Sally Cobb.
11:00 — Meet at Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden, 1105 Hobbs Road, Greensboro 27410 to explore this popular and relaxing garden. Wander to the Bog Garden, directly across the street, to experience its elevated boardwalks and massive, recirculating waterfall feature.
12:30 — Lunch at one of the many offerings at Friendly Shopping Center, within walking distance, less than a quarter of a mile from these two gardens!
1:45 — Meet at the Greensboro Arboretum, 401 Ashland Drive, at the entrance. Then we will go to the outdoor circular seating area for sharing experiences and reflections. Afterwards, spend as much time as you like walking the paved and woodland paths of the Arboretum with its ten woody plants collections and fabulous structural features.
Information on one of Greensboro's reasonable and centrally located hotels, the Battleground Inn:
- Double — $79.00 ( $89.56 with tax)
- King — $76.00 ($86.18 with tax)
- Queen — $68.00 ( $77.16 with tax)
Continental Breakfast: No hot food. (Cereal, muffins,pastries etc coffee, tea, juice)
They have a total of 48 rooms. The website is www.battlegroundinngso.com. The phone number is 336-272-4737.
Please return the form below, if you will be joining us, by March 11, 2016.
Hope to see each of you here in March!!!
Sally, Catherine and Jennifer
Sally Cobb
Horticultural Therapist
(336) 544-2289
Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro
Carolinas Horticultural Therapy Network
There is no fee to register for this networking meeting; however, please complete the form below so we can make dinner reservations and other preparations as necessary.
I will be attending the following session(s):
Friday afternoon at Gateway Gardens
2924 E Lee Street, Greensboro, NC 27406
Friday dinner at Southern Lights
2415 A Lawndale Dr. Greensboro, NC 27408
Saturday morning, Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro
2500 Summit Ave, Greensboro, NC 27405
Please help us by identifying your area of work in HT
|Work in HT
|If yes where
|Volunteer in HT
|If yes where
Please return the completed form to Sally Cobb at:
email@example.com or call 336-314-0931.
Accommodations: Battleground Inn www.battlegroundinngso.com 336-272-4737
I'm going to try to attend at least some of the meeting. I hope some of you gardeners — especially all you master gardeners out there — who live nearby will consider attending this event. You'll never meet nicer people than those who practice horticultural therapy, be it formally or informally. And those of us who interact with the public regarding gardening will almost certainly pick up some useful tips from these experts.
I can't think of a better way to usher in the spring season. Can you?
Late Winter Pluses and Minuses
Posted by piedmontgardener in Favorite Plants, Greenhouse growing, Native Wildlife, piedmont gardening, Vegetable Gardening on February 22, 2016
It's been too long since I posted here. My apologies. Late winter in my corner of North Carolina has been a mostly soggy mess. And as I type this, yet more rain is pouring down upon my mushy landscape. I have been posting small items regularly on the Piedmont Gardener Facebook page; if you use that social media tool, you may want to check out the photos and announcements of relevant events that I post there.
As I've noted on the PG Facebook page, beavers have once again moved into the wetland adjacent to my creek. They have built a dam downstream and off my property, which has raised the water level in the creek so that every rain event involving more than a half-inch is causing the creek to overflow in numerous places along my property, even cutting channels into what has been a stable, flat floodplain for over 25 years. It's a real mess, and we're not sure what, if anything, we can do about it.
The beavers are actively foraging all up and down the creek. In addition to harvesting a few saplings, they even "tasted" two of the Leyland Cypresses still standing beside the creek. To discourage them from returning, I sprayed the entire lower trunks of all the Leylands with a deer repellant spray in the hopes that it would make them taste bad enough for the beavers to ignore. So far <knock wood>, it's working, but all this rain probably means I need to reapply the repellant.
But not all my landscape surprises are less than wonderful. Case in point: a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers appear to have chosen a sycamore just across the creek to raise this year's brood. Until the forest leafs out, I can see this spot from my living room window and back deck. That's a good thing, because when I try to walk near this tree, the woodpeckers make it clear that I am not the least bit welcome.
Another pair of late-winter nesters has settled in, as usual, in the wetland forest — Red-shouldered Hawks. They often lurk in the trees near our backyard bird feeders, but I haven't seen them catch any songbirds. Frogs, salamanders, and earthworms, on the other hand, seem to be dietary staples. Wonder Spouse took that spectacular hawk photo two days ago when it decided to hunt from a tree in our backyard. He actually took the shot from inside our house. He is a wizard with his camera — and his post-processing software.
When we've gotten a few back-to-back days of sunshine, we've been hard at work preparing the vegetable garden for another season. All my seeds have arrived, and last Wednesday (2-16), I sowed my first batch of greens in my germination chamber. The ones in the above photo germinated in two days! I'll enumerate the spring garden veggie varieties I'm trying in a new post soon. All the lettuces germinated instantly, along with baby kale and radicchio. The spinaches and parsley are only just now showing signs of germinating, which is entirely normal. When they are all well up and moved out of the germination chamber, I'll sow another batch of spring veggies.
The two varieties of onion plants I ordered arrived mid-week, and I managed to get them all planted in their garden bed yesterday. I know they don't look like much now, but if the voles will leave them alone, we have big hopes for these.
It's always amazing how these stubby little onion starts that arrive with shriveled roots plump up in just a few weeks. I was delighted to get them planted the same week they arrived. Usually I'm not this organized and they wait a week or more. I'm hoping my efficiency will pay off in bigger bulbs. Stay tuned.
We've had a few bouts of deep cold and some ice — mostly freezing rain — which damaged my Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star' flowers. They opened too early, thanks to the absurdly warm December we had here. Fortunately, not all the buds opened before the cold, so I'm able to enjoy a round of new blooms during our current milder spell of weather.
In addition to the witch hazel 'Amethyst' blooming well in the first photo of this post, my Cornus mas 'Spring Glow' trees are bursting with bright golden flowers. I'm hoping they will cross-pollinate each other this year and produce some of the red berries that give them their common name: Cornelian Cherry. I was thus heartened to see a pollinator on these flowers yesterday.
Of course, spring bulbs are well up. My crocuses were eaten by deer before I remembered to spray them with repellent. Snow drops and myriad daffodils are all loaded with buds and will soon be glowing in the landscape as it wakens from its winter slumber. Meanwhile, the lushest, greenest parts of my yard are the lichens, soft and fluffy from abundant rains.
Fast forwarding into Spring
Posted by piedmontgardener in Favorite Plants, Greenhouse growing, Native Wildlife, piedmont gardening on February 24, 2014
OK, there's still a pile of snow in my back yard. Really. It was a huge pile from cleaning our back deck, and it's still not quite gone. But don't tell that to the Spring Peepers or the Red-shouldered Hawks nesting on the floodplain, or the Red Maples throughout my yard. They all seem to be persuaded that Spring has arrived. It hasn't, of course — not quite yet. But it seems as if the plants and animals in my yard have been biding their time, waiting for the frigid air to exit so they could explode into Spring Mode.
Most of the early-flowering plants had impressed me with their patience, not showing a hint of bud break as the arctic air ruled my region. The flowering apricots were hit pretty hard, of course. Many just-opening buds were browned by freezing temperatures. But the unopened ones still tightly shut have now opened with enthusiasm. The air around my front yard is fragrant with their perfume. I am delighted, and so are the honeybees finally making their appearance during recent warm afternoons.
The Cornus mas trees burst into spectacular bloom, yellow spotlights in a mostly brown landscape.
The Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star' had been exhibiting unprecedented patience with the weather, but recent 70-degree days have caused its flowers to begin opening.
The snow drops survived being buried by six inches of snow and ice and are in full bloom.
And the Witch Hazel 'Amethyst' is scenting the breezes with the fragrance of gorgeous purple flowers.
The warmer temperatures have all the early-nesting birds displaying territorial behavior as they pair off and claim nesting sites. Woodpecker drumming punctuates the air from dawn to dusk.
And the salamanders somehow managed to complete their late winter mating activities despite the cold and ice, as evidenced by this glob of eggs in our tiny pond.
Of course, my gardening fingers got itchy the minute the weather warmed and the frogs began chorusing 24/7. I got out the seeds that I'd ordered and contemplated my strategy.
Because I can't expect the spring-like temperatures to last just yet (They're on their way out as I type this), I can only start as many containers as will fit at one time in the germination chamber in my greenhouse. I settled on starting a few of all of the greens I'm trying this year (4 lettuces, 2 spinaches, and an arugula) plus the four flower varieties that require the greatest amount of time to reach blooming size. I sowed the seeds last Thursday, and here's what they looked like this morning:
The nonpelleted lettuce seeds are well up. The coated lettuce seeds are still meditating on the merits of germination. One Tyee spinach has emerged; spinach is always slower than lettuce. All the arugulas are up and growing. And the dahlia seeds I sowed have begun to emerge — the first of the flowers, and a bit of an early surprise.
Now that I've got seeds going, it was time during our first warm weekend in forever to return to the vegetable garden and begin to prepare the early spring garden beds. I've got one weeded and ready to go for the greens. I'll do more as weather and my aging joints permit.
Greeting me with enthusiasm were the chives I grew from seed two years ago. I was a bit worried that our prolonged freezing winter temperatures might have killed them. I worried for naught. These beautiful, delicious herbs are well on their way to growing tall enough to once again season salads, eggs, and whatever else can use a light taste of oniony goodness.
This week's return to winter temperatures will be harder on me than the plants and animals, I imagine. It felt so wonderful to be back in the dirt, pulling weeds, cleaning up old flower stalks, discovering sudden flowers tucked into various parts of the yard.
On the other hand, my creaky joints could use a day or two — OK, maybe three or four — to recover from my pent-up gardening enthusiasm. Perhaps I'll even feel a bit nostalgic toward this latest round of wintry temperatures. Because now I'm sure — Spring really is almost here!
Blooming Today
Posted by piedmontgardener in Favorite Plants, piedmont gardening on December 26, 2013
One of the advantages of living in the Piedmont region of NC — most years, at least — is that it is possible to have blooming plants in your landscape every month of the year. To do it, you have to sneak in some well-behaved non-native beauties, but I think it's worth it for year-round blooms.
Granted, most gardeners aren't too fond of that little weed above. But I've always liked dandelions. These non-native naturalized weeds were brought to North America by early colonists. It was considered an essential medicinal plant, and is still consumed in tonics, wines, and salads by many people. In fact, you can find horticulturally improved dandelion seeds in the greens section of many seed catalogs.
In my yard, the dandelions seem to prefer our gravel driveway. I know most folks would eradicate them, but I love their cheerful yellow faces on gloomy winter days. And if it's warm enough for the honeybees to fly, you'll find them swarming every yellow lion they see.
Most of the flowers blooming today are non-native trees and shrubs, all but one of which I added to our landscape. I apologize for the less-than-stellar photos. My camera objected to the limited light offered by today's mostly cloudy skies.
As has been the case in recent years, the pink-flowering ornamental apricot (Prunus mume) variety has begun to bloom before Peggy Clarke. For better pictures of this variety, try here.
Right on schedule, the January Jasmine began blooming last week. Judging by the number of still-unopened flower buds, it should be brightening the landscape through January.
The January Jasmine usually blooms several months before forsythias start, but not this year. Our November was deeply cold, but our December was visited by several very warm bouts of weather. I think this may have prompted the forsythia thicket that grows along my road front to open a few flowers ahead of schedule.
Prunus mume 'Peggy Clark' isn't quite open yet, but many of the buds on both my trees are showing hints of rose pink.
And finally, one named variety of a native tree species that I recently added to my landscape is just beginning to bloom. Hamamelis vernalis 'Amethyst' has partially opened a set of flower buds closest to the ground, where I suspect temperatures are just slightly warmer. I added this variety of witch hazel specifically for its winter blooms. The strappy purple flowers should be dangling in clusters from all the branches very soon.
One other native currently has two sets of flower buds that may manage to open before the next round of deeply cold weather. The coral honeysuckle vine growing on the trellis along my front walk, though mostly devoid of leaves, is sporting crimson flower buds.
Such floral enthusiasm is welcome in my mostly drab winter landscape. Every bloom reminds me of life's persistent resilience, promising Spring's imminent return.
Bewitched by Witch Hazels
Posted by piedmontgardener in Favorite Plants, piedmont gardening on November 19, 2012
Up until last year, my yard lacked Witch Hazels (Hamamelis spp.). They weren't here when we moved onto our five acres 23+ years ago, and somehow I just hadn't gotten around to filling that void.
Adding this genus finally rose to the top of my garden must-plant list when I was wandering around the Meadowbrook Nursery Web site. I've purchased lovely, healthy native perennials from them before, but I had not noticed that they offer an entire plant category devoted to a gorgeous array of Witch Hazels.
I've known about the native Witch Hazels of my region since I was a teenager. Late autumn strolls through nearby woodlands often included a surprise find of a so-called Common Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) in fragrant bloom. In its native habitat, H. virginiana can be easy to overlook. Its leaves tend to cling to the plant through early winter, masking the strappy yellow crumpled petals of this understory species. Most of the ones I stumbled on were a bit misshapen from bending to find sunlight through the canopy trees.
But horticulturalists have long appreciated the aesthetic potential of this genus, and have created a diverse array of colorful forms with varying blooming times that can adorn Piedmont gardens from October through February. Yes, that's right, you can have blooming shrubs and trees in your Piedmont garden through our winter months if you pick the right plant and put it in the right place.
Last year, we planted a hybrid between a Chinese and a Japanese species of Witch Hazel. These hybrids are called Hamamelis x intermedia. The cultivar we chose is Aurora. Our little shrub arrived loaded with fat flower buds that opened to reveal vivid yellow-orange flowers in late winter. It is loaded again this year, and its fall leaf color includes a dazzling array of warm reds, oranges, and yellows. We have every expectation that this thriving specimen will eventually be a breathtaking shrub at least eight feet tall. Imagine a stark February morning woodland landscape warmed by sunny blooms on such a big specimen. It will be magnificent.
But that will be a few years. In the meantime, we still get a surprising number of flowers from our small plant. Here's a recent photo of it that gives you an idea of its flower bud abundance.
I've been so pleased with Aurora that it was easy to talk myself into another Witch Hazel when I needed to add a second plant to my order to meet the minimum cost required for shipping from Meadowbrook Nursery. I had ordered a second Corneliancherry Dogwood (Cornus mas), because the one I planted last year is thriving and I needed a second one to get fruit production via cross pollination.
When I realized I needed a second plant, I instantly turned to the Witch Hazel options. The myriad choices made it tough to decide, but I finally settled on a cultivar of the other North American native species, H. vernalis. This species is native to the Ozark Plateau in central North America, but it happily grows elsewhere when provided good growing conditions. I decided to go with H. vernalis 'Amethyst," a beauty with mildly fragrant purple strap-petaled flowers.
The plant I received was already in bloom and is still holding on to green leaves, and I can tell I'm going to very much like this more subtle addition to our landscape. Here it is just after planting.
In this photo, the flowers look more maroon than purple, but in life they do look more purple. Note the abundant healthy green leaves. Theoretically, this plant will bloom a bit later in future years when it is settled, which will make it more likely that the leaves will be gone, thereby allowing the flowers to stand out more. Even now, though, I think the contrast between flower and leaf color is enough to draw attention to the blooms.
Here's a final shot of the new arrival with a nice layer of mulch surrounding it.
See the plant label? I confess our five acres looks a bit like an arboretum, because many of the plants are labeled. About Year Two into our time here, Wonder Spouse noticed that I was losing track of the names of the cultivars we were adding. And since I'm not a great record keeper (at least not until I started this blog), he insisted that a permanent marker accompany every new plant. This has turned out to be very helpful.
On the front of the metal marker, I write the species and cultivar of the plant. On the back side, I write where I got the plant and when I planted it. The permanent marking pens we use keep the labels legible for at least ten years, depending on the amount of sunlight they receive. If the plant comes with a plastic label looped around it, I usually attach it to the permanent marker. It helps me avoid running over the little newbies when I'm riding around on the lawn tractor.
Coincidentally, the latest edition (November/December) of The American Gardener magazine features a great piece on Witch Hazels. The photographs that accompany the article wonderfully illustrate the visual impact a mature blooming specimen can have in a winter-bare landscape. I highly recommend that you find this article; it's worth it just for the pictures.
Witch Hazels grow best where soils remain relatively moist. I planted mine at the base of the hill on the north-facing side of my yard. Judging by the health of Aurora, I think I've sited my Witch Hazels well. As they grow into mature specimens, I'm expecting that they will light up my winter landscape with color and gentle fragrance. What better way to lead us into the abundance of spring?


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Kettle Moraine Lutheran storms back in second half to rally for sectional title over Waupun
WHITEFISH BAY - The Waupun boys basketball team's season came to a surprising end Saturday.
The Warriors held a 13-point lead at halftime in a WIAA Division 3 sectional championship game against East Central Conference rival Kettle Moraine Lutheran, then went cold in the second half.
As a result, the Chargers stormed back and beat the Warriors 53-48 to advance to the state tournament.
Waupun finishes the season with a 24-2 record, with both losses coming against the Chargers. KML beat the Warriors 58-51 on Jan. 5.
Kettle Moraine Lutheran (22-5), which won its eighth consecutive game, opened the second half with an 18-4 run to take a 39-38 lead.
The score was tied at 43 with a little more than four minutes remaining and the Chargers pulled away from there.
"They made more shots than we did at the end of the day," Waupun coach Dan Domask said. "Basketball is about a game of runs. They had a few more runs that they converted than us and it led them to victory."
Marcus Domask scored 24 points to lead Waupun. He was the only player in double figures for the Warriors.
The Chargers had four players score in double figures, led by Solomon Zarling with 14 points and Zachary Zuleger with 13.
"I think that was a major factor, them scoring with multiple guys," coach Domask said.
Kettle Moraine Lutheran 21 32 - 53
Waupun 34 14 - 48
Kettle Moraine Lutheran: Biesterfeld 5, Stoltz 10, Zarling 14, Heckendorf 10, May 1, Zuleger 13. 3-pt: Zarling, Heckendorf. FT: 11-20.
Waupun: Domask 24, VandeZande 8, Lenz 6, Theune 6, Hartgerink 2, Homan 2. 3-pt: Domask 4, Lenz 2, VandeZande. FT: 9-11.

subset: commoncrawl


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1. He never mentions his exes. Unless you're in high school, or this guy is really shy and introverted, you'd think he'd have racked up at least a few ex-girlfriends. Sure, it'd be in bad taste to bring them up all the time, but zero mention of past relationships is suspect. Even if he's had a few, they seem … fleeting.
2. He's admittedly "not the relationship type." If there's an undeniable sign on this list, it's this one. This is his way of letting you down gently. You might see it as being "commitment-phobic" but he sees it as just being a free spirit. See also: "not into labels," "just into having fun right now," etc.
3. He travels a lot … maybe too much. He lives the kind of lifestyle where, even if he wanted to, it'd be impossible for him to fit a relationship in. Maybe he's a jet-setter, or he's just always visiting friends out of state, or has the kind of job where he's never home. No matter the reason, it seems like he's very happy having that buffer there.
4. He finds excuses to avoid doing anything that could be considered a typical date. Dinner that isn't takeout is off the list. Seeing a movie that isn't on Netflix is out too. And forget ever doing anything with him before 7 p.m.
5. He doesn't even have close friends. You don't hear much about his social life. It's either because he tries to share as little about himself as possible, or he really can't (or won't) have close relationships of any kind. He could be afraid of commitment, or maybe he just has a sexy and dark secret he doesn't want anyone except the love of his life to find out once she finally tears down the emotional walls he's built up. PRO TIP: It is never the "sexy and dark secret." Ever.
6. He dodges anything that could be considered a relationship milestone. He doesn't want to meet your parents or friends that would vet him for you. He'll never leave a toothbrush at your place or come visit you at work. He does not want to do anything that would make it seem like the relationship is making progress, because in his mind, there is no relationship.
7. He avoids staying overnight. He tries to sneak out early in the morning, way before you could even offer up the idea of going to brunch together. If you try to get him to stay, he mumbles some excuse about having to be up early or not being able to sleep when he's not at home. Then he slips out the door while you're still rubbing the sleep from your eyes. Or, these guys could just be hiding a lifelong fear of the dark and don't want you to find out.
8. You don't hear from him for days at a time. He goes from coming over to fool around for five days in a row to completely ghosting you for another three more. Then he acts like nothing happens. You notice it happening more often when things are feeling like they could finally get serious.
9. He's adorable when you're together and frigid when you aren't. He's the king of mixed signals. He seems into you whenever you hang out, but when you try to get in touch with him, you get one- or two-word responses, or maybe a few half-assed emojis.
10. He avoids bringing you to parties and weddings. He's casually mentioned events that it sounds like you probably could've tagged along to, but he wanted to go to by himself instead. He's also bowed out of any of your offers to go to similar events. You can take solace in knowing you dodged a bullet though. Do you really want to go to a dumb wedding where you don't know anyone except for one guy who is systematically trying to pretend that he doesn't know you?
11. He laughs you off when you say you want things to get more serious. He either acts like you're crazy and imagining things, or he reminds you that he said he's not much of a relationship guy. If it's the latter, he has a point. And if you were ever waiting around hoping he'd change his mind on relationships, this is the time to cut ties. If it's the former, he can go fuck himself.
12. He loves sex. OK, who doesn't love sex? But in this instance, he's pretty much about sex and sex only. Even your not-really-dates just seem to be a means to an end (and to be clear, that end is sex). This guy really just wants a FWB relationship. Which is fine, he just needs to come out and say it. And that's the real "problem" here: If he wants something very casual, and you're hoping things are going to progress, neither one of you will get what you want.
Follow Frank on Twitter.


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Airline: Delta
Incident Date: Dec 12, 2011
Report Date: February 2012
Incident Type: Death
Animal: Cat
Brachycephalic: No Definition
Animal Age: 5 years
Flight Number: 15
Originating Airport: FRA (Frankfurt International Airport )
Destination Airport: ATL (Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta Intl)
Reporting Airport: ATL (Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta Intl)
Carrier: Delta Air Lines
Flight Number: 15
Date and Time of Incident 12 December 2012, 4:30 PM
Type of Incident: Death
Description of Animal Breed: Cat Age: 5 years
Description of Incident: Two cats traveling together in a single kennel arrived in Atlanta from Frankfurt, Germany. One of the cats had passed away en route. The cat was removed from the kennel. The other cat arrived at the final destination in Fayetteville, NC without further incident. The passenger handled the disposition of the remains so were not available for an autopsy.
Cause of Incident: The kennel was properly loaded and there were no indications of mishandling. Because the cat's travel mate arrived in good condition there are no indications to establish a cause of death.
Corrective Action Taken: No corrective action is warranted at this time.
PetFlight Report:
February 2012 Airline Pet Travel Report
Original Report
Map of all airports that have reported an air travel, pet related incident.
The inspiration for PetFlight.


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I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black
– Rolling Stones
Hi, I am Senator Ted Cruz and I believe the Cleveland Browns should trade Buster Skrine to Philadelphia so he can be Philly Buster. Let me keep talking.
I am talking because I believe, like all real Americans, that the Cleveland Browns should be allowed to play in the Super Bowl without having to win any more games. My request is perfectly reasonable in my opinion. Other opinions, to me, are weird.
I have a really important opinion. Just ask me. I'm glad you asked. I know the odds of my succeeding are worse than, say, the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Denver Broncos. Go on, call me the Jacksonville Jaguars of the United States Senate. So what? Harry Reid still has to play me. I am on the schedule.
So when I talk about nonsense, I can make it seem like sense. I just keep talking and once you are numb enough to get hypnotized, you'll be as angry as me. Yet I appear to be the most reasonable man on Earth. Just ask me.
Look, I never get my way. So I've finally decided to do this. I don't care if I shut down the NFL.
Oh, you do? I can shut down the government, but not the NFL. Wow, you people are real Americans.
At this point, I don't care whatzgonnahappen.
49ers AT RAMS – Colin Kaepernick has gone from the model quarterback of the future to a guy who was a questionable second round draft pick. Didn't it used to be the other way around? Rams 23, 49ers 20
RAVENS AT BILLS – The Bills already begin thinking about the quarterbacks in next year's draft, and how nice it is in Los Angeles. Ravens 20, Bills 10
CARDINALS AT BUCCANEERS – In his first start, Mike Glennon will throw for 400 yards and five touchdowns. It will be the only good game of his career. Buccaneers 38, Cardinals 31
STEELERS AT VIKINGS AT LONDON – This smells like an international incident, the kind of intentional toxic attack that clearly crosses Obama's red line. Steelers 10, Vikings 6
GIANTS AT CHIEFS – The Chiefs are rolling. The Chiefs are at home. The Giants look lost. Yes, looks like an easy win for the the Giants. Giants 27, Chiefs 16
COLTS AT JAGUARS – Blame Gabbert is back, but I blame luck. Colts 40, Jaguars 9
SEAHAWKS AT TEXANS – I'm selling on the Texans. "Forever mediocre" should be the new slogan. Seahawks 22, Texans 17
BENGALS AT BROWNS – The best way to improve the passing game in the modern NFL is to remove the running game. That's why the Trent Richardson trade was so brilliant. Browns 60, Bengals 10
BEARS AT LIONS – "The Bears are going to the Super Bowl," said the guy who sold me the bridge. Lions 20, Bears 19
JETS AT TITANS – Geno Locker or Jake Smith? Both go by the name of "Next!" Titans 13, Jets 10
REDSKINS AT RAIDERS – The Raiders defense makes RGIII's knee look much better. Redskins 27, Raiders 17
EAGLES AT BRONCOS – Chip Kelly and Philadelphia is going to be a fun marriage to watch, as fast-paced train wrecks usually are. Broncos 51, Eagles 25
COWBOYS AT CHARGERS – Sure, the Cowboys can win in hostile territory, if you can call San Diego hostile. Cowboys 34, Chargers 21
PATRIOTS AT FALCONS – The Patriots are getting better. The Falcons look vulnerable. In truth, the Falcons are better and the Patriots are vulnerable. Falcons 29, Patriots 20
DOLPHINS AT SAINTS – What's that music they like in New Orleans? Oh yeah, the funeral march of the Dolphins undefeated season. I love the trumpet solo. Saints 41, Dolphins 30
BYE AT PANTHERS – Several Panthers say they are better able to use the bathroom without Rod Chudzinski around.
BYE AT PACKERS – Aaron Rodgers cuts the cheese. People applaud.
This column is sponsored by a pre-existing condition.


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It didn't surprise many people — whether they loathe President Trump or love him — that a decade ago, when he was merely "The Donald," Trump allegedly treated himself to an extended romp with a porn star named Stormy Daniels.
According to a Wall Street Journal exclusive, since bolstered by a 2011 interview Daniels gave to weekly tabloid InTouch, the adult film performer met Trump in a penthouse suite at Harrah's Hotel and Casino in Lake Tahoe in 2006 and began a sexual relationship with him the day they met. The most relevant part of the Journal's scoop is that when Daniels started blabbing about the affair in 2016, Trump's personal lawyer paid her $130,000 in hush money.
In the old days of journalism, which is to say before Bill Clinton got himself impeached by having sex in the White House with an intern and lying about it under oath, media attention would have focused on how the first lady was taking this news. At the time of her husband's apparent dalliance, Melania Trump's own days of provocative modeling were behind her. She was home taking care of the couple's 4-month-old son.
Most of us are beyond sounding all moralistic about Trump, having been desensitized by Hillary Clinton's tribulations, Trump's previous tabloid-fodder marriages, and his leering leadership of the Miss Universe pageant — not to mention the sexual harassment allegations against him that cropped up in 2016.
The upshot is that the Stormy Daniels story has been mostly played for laughs even in journalism's dependably liberal precincts. Little harm in that; we could all lighten up a bit these days. But there's a serious aspect to this mini-scandal that might be pertinent to the ongoing Russia investigation.
If Trump's interactions with Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) had a familiar ring, you may be recalling details of the infamous "dossier" that purportedly detailed the man's dealings in Russia. Trump's defenders in Congress and the conservative grassroots have come to view the dossier as a smear orchestrated by an alliance that includes Hillary Clinton's campaign, the FBI, and a Washington opposition research firm that peddles dirt on Democratic Party opponents. That's a reasonable view, especially since the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee financed the firm, GPS Fusion, which paid Christopher Steele, the retired British intelligence officer who produced the dossier.
Among its more salacious allegations was that Trump cavorted with prostitutes while on a 2013 visit to Moscow, and that he paid bribes to Russian officials for various business and personal considerations. Steele's report also alleges that the Kremlin had proof of Trump's sexual activities at the Moscow Ritz-Carlton, and asserted in another portion of the dossier that he had "paid bribes and engaged in sexual activities" in St. Petersburg. The dossier alleges that Russians knew about these activities and that this information was gathered to hold leverage over Trump — to blackmail him, in other words. This is such a common tactic dating back to the Soviet Union that there's a Russian word for it, "kompromat," or compromising material.
The dossier's allegations are unverified hearsay — Steele didn't even go to Russia himself to gather this gossip — and Trump specifically denied the allegations about the hookers, while denouncing those responsible. "A thing like that should have never been written, it should never have been had and certainly should never have been released," he said, later adding that the memo was written by "sick people [who] put that crap together."
But here's the thing: The Stormy Daniels affair is the first corroborative bit of evidence suggesting that Trump does this kind of thing. How much corroboration, exactly, is open to interpretation.
A section of the U.S. criminal code, Rule 404, Section B, offers guidance to judges about whether to consider a defendant's previous misconduct. Known colloquially by prosecutors and defense lawyers as "prior bad acts," the standard for when to allow it into evidence is whether the "probative value" of the earlier behavior outweighs its "prejudicial effect." In everyday English, what this means is that the actions must be pretty similar to the current case in order to be admissible.
This case is not in litigation and rules of evidence in the court of public opinion are lax, but let's give Trump the benefit of the doubt and apply the logic of federal law. We can start with this: A Trump lawyer would point out that porn stars are not prostitutes.
This is true, but it's not always a clear-cut a dichotomy. Practitioners of both professions are "sex workers," to use the industry term — and Daniels herself acknowledged some similarity by relating that while having sex with Trump the first time she wondered if he thought she was a hooker, adding: "While we were having sex, I was like, 'Please don't try to pay me.' And then I remember thinking, 'But I bet if he did, it would be a lot.'"
The Steele dossier also alleges that Trump had more than one woman of the night present in his Moscow hotel room. This is interesting because Alana Evans, a friend of Stormy Daniels and fellow adult film star, has come forward to say publicly that Trump and Daniels tried to get her to join them in a ménage à trois.
In his client's defense, Trump's counsel would point out that while the Steele dossier alleges that Trump engaged in kinky sex, Stormy Daniel specifically told InTouch magazine that Trump said or did "nothing freaky." Trump made this point in real life, scoffing at the claims in the dossier by saying, "I'm also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me." A prosecutor might assert that this claim is undercut by Daniels' assertion that she and Trump had unprotected sex.
Finally, and most important, the dossier claimed that Trump "paid bribes." What else would you call making a $130,000 payment to a porn star so she'll deny having sex with you? Also, four days before Election Day in 2016, the Wall Street Journal broke a similar story detailing how the company that owns the National Enquirer, a tabloid that backed Trump, paid $150,000 to a onetime Playboy centerfold model for her story about another 2006 affair with Trump — and then never published it.
To be clear, these reports don't involve crimes, let alone Russians. But do they bolster the claims of misbehavior on Russian soil? Do they qualify as "prior bad acts"?
Last year, the House Intelligence Committee was sufficiently worried about the possibility Trump had left himself open to blackmail that Keith Schiller, the president's longtime bodyguard, was reportedly questioned about it in a closed-door interview. Schiller testified that someone in Russia offered to send five prostitutes to Trump's Moscow hotel room in 2013 but that this offer was not accepted.
He said that Trump laughed off the offer and went to bed — alone. For the good of this country, I hope that's true.
Carl M. Cannon is executive editor and Washington Bureau chief of RealClearPolitics.
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Bricocenter, the largest chain of DIY stores in Italy, part of the Adeo Group, has asked us to create a purchasing method that facilitates the consumer, always maintaining customer loyalty towards the point of sale.
After completing the redesign of the corporate website, we implemented the Bricocenter 2015 seasonal catalogs, integrating the new online booking flow "Pick and Pay in Store", in order to allow users to purchase the products chosen in the online catalog and then collect them directly at the nearest sales point.
A new online shopping method that shortens purchase time without allowing the personalized relationship between customer and store staff to suffer, which has always been a focal point of the brand's philosophy.
The assignment follows the recent redesign to an adaptive version of the Bricocenter corporate site, again by O-One, which allowed all users to access it even on the move. On bricocenter.it, thanks to an interactive map, the users can choose the closest of the 78 existing sales points, accessing the section dedicated to each individual city, where they can find useful information on contacts, extraordinary openings and promotions in the selected store. Bricocenter's philosophy was brought to fruition, which has always had human and geographical proximity to the customer at heart.


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How Top Doctors Follow Up After an Appointment
You might invest in marketing to attract new patients and provide excellent care during each and every appointment. But if you don't excel at follow-up, your practice could still be falling short of its potential.
From the patient perspective, follow-up is key to understanding medical care. A study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that, within four to 18 days after being discharged from the hospital, just 64 percent of patients could name their new medication(s) or understand their purpose. What's more, only 56 percent of these patients could remember their medication dosages, and a mere 11 percent could recall being informed about their medications' potential adverse effects.
High-quality providers understand that follow-up has other benefits, too. It can strengthen the patient-provider relationship, help patients get involved in their own treatment, and even serve as a marketing tool for the practice. If you're ready to amplify your follow-up game, use these 5 tips to get started.
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Attract new patients and reduce your no-shows.List your practice
Follow up every time
Top physicians don't just follow up when it's necessary; they touch base with a patient after each appointment. You're already doing necessary follow-up to share abnormal lab results or schedule additional appointments, but what about follow-up after routine examinations? Quickly check in with patients after every visit to see how they're feeling and answer any lingering questions. The exceptional service and your attention to detail will stand out.
Use this same philosophy when sharing lab results. Most patients think that no news is good news when it comes to medical tests, but a lack of follow-up could signal that the physician hasn't reviewed the results yet. Not only is this poor practice, but it could pose a serious health risk to patients, as found in a 2012 review paper of 760 articles. Following up on lab results every time puts your patients at ease and helps ensure you don't accidentally miss reviewing their results.
Make follow-up interactive
There is a large opportunity to use follow-up as a tool to help patients become more actively engaged in their healthcare. For example, you could point patients to an app that encourages regular blood pressure checks as a way to keep your treatment plan top-of-mind.
Related Article:
How Well Do You Understand Millennial Patients?
Giving homework after an appointment creates an opportunity for follow-up since you can reach out to ask patients if they have any questions about their assignment. This approach also means that patients will come to their next appointments with additional health information to share.
Use several communication methods
Chatting on the phone is the most appropriate way to follow up after certain appointments, and it may feel most natural to some patients. However, feel free to explore the other options. Consider using email or text messages to follow up after routine appointments so patients can respond at their convenience.
You can even semi-automate the process, crafting a few brief template emails or SMS notifications that can be customized in seconds. A small time investment up front can help streamline your process for years.
Turn follow-up into feedback
Following up isn't only a great way to enhance the patient experience, it can also be a powerful tool for your practice. Email your patients a satisfaction survey after their appointment to help you identify what you're doing right (and wrong) and catch any patient complaints early.
You may get a glowing review that you could, with permission, use as a testimonial to bring in more business. Sending a survey may also create an opportunity to smooth over a relationship with an upset patient before you lose them.
Keep the conversation going
A strong plan for following up can turn one-time appointments into long-term patients, the lifeblood of a successful specialty practice. Follow up to remind patients about upcoming routine appointments, and keep your client base engaged with a monthly or quarterly email newsletter full of helpful and shareable information.
Ongoing communication merges follow-up with marketing, allowing you to advertise your practice and boost patient retention in a way that feels organic and authentic.


text: Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci is an action that aims to use trans-national co-operation to enhance quality, promote innovation and support the European dimension of vocational training systems and practices. In specific terms, Leonardo da Vinci pursues three central aims: to facilitate occupational integration, improve the quality of training and access to this training, and to boost the contribution of training to innovation. What instruments are available? The programme provides for five types of Community measures, which correspond to five specific types of activity: · Mobility: support for transnational mobility projects for people in vocational training, especially young people, and for those responsible for training · Pilot projects: support for transnational pilot projects to develop and transfer innovation and quality in vocational training, including actions focusing on the use of information and communication technologies in training · Language skills: support for schemes to promote language and cultural skills in vocational training · Trans-national networks: these aim to assemble, distil and build on European expertise and innovatory approaches, improve the analysis and anticipation of skills requirements, and disseminate the outputs and results of networks and projects throughout the Union · Reference material: comparison of data, surveys and analyses, observation and dissemination of good practice Which countries are involved? Leonardo da Vinci is open to the participation of EU Member States, EFTA/EEA countries, the associated countries from Central and Eastern Europe, Cyprus and Malta. The participation of Turkey is subject to the conclusion of an agreement between Turkey and the European Union. Who may apply? Leonardo da Vinci is open to public and private sector organisations and companies operating in the field of training, or concerned by vocational training issues, and grouped in an international partnership. How to apply? The eligibility conditions for a project proposal are detailed in the guide. Proposals should be sent: · for thematic actions, joint actions and reference material, to the European Commission in Brussels · for mobility actions, pilot projects (with the exception of thematic actions), language skills and transnational networks, to the National Agency.


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Master of aural gloom and suspense, the Japanese musician and composer Akira Yamaoka is best-known for his work on the soundtrack for the Silent Hill video game series, where he used a mixture of ambient, trip-hop, rock, and industrial to chilling effect. The Niigata-born Yamaoka, who names Depeche Mode, Metallica, and Angelo Badalamenti as his influences, initially wanted to be a designer, and graduated from Tokyo Art College, but fell under the sway of artists such as Mick Karn of Japan and Steve Strange of Visage, who, in Yamaoka's words, "combined the notions of Art and Music with their own new style." He debuted in 1991 with the soundtrack to Smart Ball game, done with Yasuhiko Fukuda and Manabu Saito; in 1993, he joined Konami and continued to work on game soundtracks, keeping a relatively low profile through most of the '90s. His big break came in 1999, when he convinced the producers that he was the man to score the first Silent Hill game. It was a best-seller, and Yamaoka became the main composer for the whole franchise (excluding two minor spin-offs), adding duties as the producer of the game after Silent Hill 3 (2003); since the third installment of the series he also began working with vocalists Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Joe Romersa. Music from Silent Hill 2 was performed at the Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig in 2005, and in 2006, some compositions from the series were included in the "Play! A Video Game Symphony" live performance, Yamaoka with a seven-string guitar sharing the stage with an orchestra at its world premiere in Chicago. His music for the games was used in the 2006 movie adaptation of Silent Hill, which also included work by Jeff Danna; the same year Yamaoka released his debut album, the electronica-leaning iFUTURELIST, and then did soudntracks for the two next Silent Hill games, Origins and Homecoming, which followed in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Master of aural gloom and suspense, the Japanese musician and composer Akira Yamaoka is best-known for his work on the soundtrack for the Silent Hill video game series, where he used a mixture of ambient,…
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Akira Yamaoka Biography
by Alexey Eremenko


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You are currently viewing the 2012 - 2013 Academic Catalog. The current catalog is located here.
General Biology II
|Course Title
|Lab/ Shop
|Clinical/ Co-op
|General Biology II
|Prerequisites: BIO 111
|Corequisites: None
|Effective Term: Summer 1997
This course is a continuation of BIO 111. Emphasis is placed on organisms, biodiversity, plant and animal systems, ecology and other related topics. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate comprehension of life at the organismal and ecological levels. This course has been approved to satisfy the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement general education core requirement in natural sciences/mathematics.
- : Comprehensive Articulation Agreement - This course is recommended for students transferring to a four-year university.
- : Local Requirement
- : Instructional Service Agreement
- : Universal General Education Transfer Component (UGETC)
- : Global Distinction
- : Requisite(s)
This Course can be found in these Programs of Study
- Associate in Arts - Pre-Major
Physical Education - Associate in Arts (Day and Evening)
- Associate in Arts - Pre-Major
Social Work - Associate in Arts (Day and Evening)
- Associate in Science - Pre-Major
Biology and Biology Education - Associate in Science (Day and Evening)
- Biotechnology - Associate in Applied Science (Day, Evening)
- Environmental Science Technology - Associate in Applied Science (Day)


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Report Blames GM Crops for Herbicide Spike, Downplays Pesticide Reductions
Read time:
- Cormac Sheridan, Nature Biotechnology, vol. 12(2), pages 112-3 February 2010
A recent report published by the Organic Center, an organic farming advocacy organization headquartered in Foster, Rhode Island, claims that the use of herbicides in weed control has risen sharply since transgenic crops' commercial introduction in 1996. Increasing cultivation of glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine)-tolerant transgenic crops, particularly soybean, has led to an aggregate increase in herbicide use of 383 million pounds over the past 13 years, on top of what the Organic Center's chief scientist Charles Benbrook models suggest would have been applied had the technology never been deployed (http://www.organic-center.org/science.pest.php?action=view&report_id=159). The report also downplayed that transgenic corn and cotton have delivered reductions in insecticide use totaling 64.2 million pounds over the same time period.
The report's findings on herbicides are in stark contrast to the standard agrochemical industry line that transgenic crops have reduced the chemical load on the environment. Several critics have questioned the assumptions underlying the analysis and any significance that can be drawn from it, particularly as the report comes from an advocacy group seeking to "communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society."
Rising glyphosate resistance is a plausible explanation for the increasing use of herbicides, however. Among plant scientists, there is little disagreement on the problem of glyphosate-resistant weeds. "It certainly is fair to point out the failure in glyphosate stewardship, that the threat of resistance wasn't appreciated, that more diverse management wasn't used to try to prevent or delay resistance emerging," says Chris Boerboom, extension weed scientist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
The issue of herbicide resistance has already become acute in some US states. Report author Benbrook claims that the cotton and soy industries in the Southeast are on "the brink of collapse" because of the cost of dealing with glyphosate-resistant weeds. Benbrook goes on to argue that increasing reliance on herbicides paired with more expensive, engineered tolerance traits will erode farmers' profitability, while compounding environmental and public health risks (through increased chemical exposure).
The report's other main finding-that insect-resistant transgenic crops have helped cut pesticide use-was downplayed by Benbrook, who claims the increase in the volume of herbicides applied "swamps" the benefits of decreased insecticide use attributable to corn and cotton expressing genes that encode one or more Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insect toxins. Bt crops could have a brighter future than herbicide-resistant transgenic varieties, the report states, "but if, and only if, [insect] resistance is prevented."
The report is based on extrapolations of pesticide use survey data compiled by the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Benbrook relies on annual trait acreage data compiled by St. Louis-based Monsanto to disaggregate transgenic crops from the total crop acreage. However, no NASS data on corn or soy are available for 2007 or 2008, years for which Benbrook posits unusually large pesticide increases of 20% and 27%, respectively. The main uncertainties stem from gaps in NASS data, which, since 2001, have only been gathered intermittently, and from that data's failure to distinguish between pesticide use on transgenic crop varieties and on their conventional counterparts.
Benbrook postulates the emergence of glyphosate resistance has fueled a sharp upswing in the use of other herbicides on glyphosate-tolerant crops, whereas levels of herbicide used on conventional crops have fallen because of ongoing improvements in potency. But Janet Carpenter, formerly of the Washington, DC-based US National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy and now an independent agricultural biotech consultant, disagrees. "That's all extrapolation," she says. "The bottom line is we don't know what has happened to pesticide use in the last couple of years."
Benbrook says that additional data from future surveys can be factored into his model when it becomes available. "The valid criticism-or valid question-is these are all average numbers," he says. "I would place a fair amount of confidence in these averages as a reflection of what's going on out there."
In a published critique of the report, Dorchester, UK-based consultancy PG Economics argues that Benbrook overestimates herbicide application rates for biotech crops and underestimates them for conventional crops (http://www.pgeconomics.co.uk/pdf/OCreportcritiqueNov2009.pdf). It cites a new study from the US Geological Survey, which found that concentrations of several major pesticides either declined or remained constant in US corn belt rivers and streams during 1996-2006 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5132/).
However, the study period does not include the two most recent years, during which Benbrook claims the greatest increase in herbicide use has occurred. PG Economics, which also published a lengthy study on the global socioeconomic and environmental impacts of transgenic crops in May last year, has drawn on two sources: pesticide use data from a commercial source, DMR Kynetec, of St. Louis, which Benbrook says is in general agreement with his own findings; and what he describes as 'faulty' simulation data generated by the Washington DC-based National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, based on exercises run with university extension weed scientists. "It's impossible to reconcile their estimates with the NASS data," Benbrook says.
In the meantime, several scientists have voiced support for the general thrust of the study. "There's nothing surprising there," says Matt Liebman, who holds the H.A. Wallace chair for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University in Ames. Dealing with glyphosate-resistant weeds will require alterations in cropping systems that rely solely on the marriage of the herbicide-tolerance trait and the associated herbicide to control weeds. Widespread convergence on a narrow range of options, such as the rotation of glyphosate-resistant corn and glyphosate-resistant soybean, has been a significant factor, says Liebman. "You have good conditions for rapid selection of herbicide resistance."
Monsanto and its competitors are responding to the problem by offering farmers subsidies to include third-party herbicides in their weed control systems. They are also stacking additional tolerance traits that can be paired with other herbicides, such as dicamba (3,6-dichloro-2-methoxybenzoic acid), glufosinate (phosphinothricin) and 2,4-D (dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). External factors have hampered progress, however. "The biggest contributor to weed resistance has been the European Union's slow approval process for new biotech-enhanced seeds. After many years of delays, the EU finally granted approval of Liberty Link [phosphinothricin-acetyltransferase] soybeans, which are resistant to a different active ingredient [L-phosphinothricin]," says Bob Callanan, communications director of the American Soybean Association, located in St. Louis.
Critics argue that more diversified approaches will be needed, such as alternative crop rotations, novel herbicides-it's 20 years since a new mechanism of action was commercialized, notes Boerboom-and alternative weed control methods. "If you want to keep this tool available and effective there has to be some way, short of fallowing a field, of delaying the development of resistant weeds," says Robert Kremer, of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service at Columbia, Missouri. The market dominance of transgenic crop varieties limits some of the options, however. "It's very difficult to go and find nontransgenic soybean," he says. "Conventional corn rotated with Roundup Ready [glyphosate-resistant] soybeans would be very logical," says Boerboom. "We have an excellent selection of conventional herbicides we can use in corn."
That Monsanto's Roundup Ready cropping system has been a major hit with farmers is not in dispute. "The simplicity, the high efficacy and the perceived low cost have been very attractive," says Liebman. In this respect, even Benbrook agrees: "The weed management systems that Roundup Ready [crops] replaced were unforgiving and required a high level of skill and management to get the benefits out of them," he says. What's more, glyphosate, which inhibits 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase, a plant enzyme involved in amino acid biosynthesis (the engineered trait comprises a bacterial form of the enzyme, which is unaffected), has a relatively benign environmental profile in comparison with many other herbicides. Moreover, it has allowed many crop growers to shift to no-till agriculture, which reduces fossil fuel inputs.
The problems farmers are encountering now are not new. "The selection for glyphosate resistance is not unique. We've selected for a whole lot of other herbicide families as well," says Aaron Hager, weed science extension specialist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. "There's a plant somewhere in the world that's resistant to an herbicide that hasn't even been discovered yet. That's how selection occurs."
As glyphosate has played a central role in US crop production over the past decade, it can be argued the technology has become a victim of its own success. For many farmers, weed control will, however, soon become more complex. Some of the alternatives offer less favorable environmental profiles. Dicamba, a synthetic auxin or plant hormone, can drift off-site and interfere with flowering plants, for example. "There will be objections raised to it by the environmental community because of nontarget effects," says Liebman.
Nevertheless, US agriculture is not facing a doomsday scenario, according to Boerboom. "I don't think it's like we're going into some dark age of chemical use on the landscape," he says. But a new phase in the molecular arms race between biotech and nature is getting underway.


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The Destination of Procrastination
Isn't it true that most of us have been around the block enough to know that we are sure of nothing when it comes to our future? We know intuitively that our level of certainty is extremely low. Still, we somehow live our lives as if this isn't the case. We are certain we will grow old. We are certain our children will outlive us. We're certain we'll get into college, certain we won't get AIDS, certain we won't have trouble getting pregnant when the time comes. We were once certain our homes would hold their value. Despite this uncertainty, we put off things we know are important in hopes that we will surely get to them soon.
In the United States, census data showed that almost 50 million people had no health insurance in 2010. According to the Commonwealth Fund (a research organization in New York), twenty-six percent of people ages 16 to 64 had no health insurance for at least part of last year. 30% of American households don't have life insurance (individual or employer-provided coverage), according to a recent survey by LIMRA. While some of this is economy induced, it seems clear that many of us don't view these things as a financial priority. In particular, term life insurance is not terribly expensive ($200,000 coverage is $7 per month for age 25-29, less than $20 per month for ages 45-49). Some amount of coverage is certainly affordable for most of us. The question is whether or not it's a priority. Unfortunately, it's not a risk that we will reap the consequences of for ourselves. If the worst happens, our spouses and children are the ones who will be left with nothing. We will be long gone by then.
There is certainly deception in the certainty we find in this life. Many of us go through life believing that neither we nor those around us will be harmed or negatively impacted by opportunities lost. Still, deep down we know that we have no guarantees. And many of us have had our certainties come back to haunt us.
Indefinite Postponement
How often do we say, "I'll do it tomorrow" or "I'll do it next year?" It's so easy to decide to do the right thing later. Next time things will be different. "I'll work out tomorrow." We still do this, even though many of us know that tomorrow turns into a week which turns into a month and all the while we're still saying the word "tomorrow" as if the day of our deliverance is right around the corner. "I'll stop smoking next month." "I'll start saving for retirement next year." But we don't, do we?
When I was a kid, my teacher gave us something like two months to do our science projects. One day I showed up at school and my teacher let us know that our science projects were "due tomorrow." Of course I had done nothing. Panic stricken, I now had to figure out how to do a science project in less than a day. Ironically, I ended up forgetting about it until bedtime at which point I mentioned to my mom "Oh! Can you help me do my science project?" Naturally she asked, "When is it due?" She wasn't impressed with my answer.
Couples knee-deep in debt continue to spend money today as if tomorrow they fully expect an enormous sum of money to just drop out of the sky and solve all of their problems. Debt itself is, in its very essence, a dependence on tomorrow. Those of us who have run down the path and reached the end know how suffocating debt can be. Many of us are in our thirties or even forties and still haven't started saving for retirement yet. We've decided we'll "do it next year," while today we are falling further and further behind.
It's easy to assume that the opportunity will always be there to do that thing we've put off, but often this isn't the case. Many of us have waited and waited to mend broken relationships with our parents only to look up and discover that they're not with us anymore. Smokers keep smoking, despite watching their fellow smokers shrivel away much younger than they should. Eventually, they discover that they too have COPD (or emphysema) which is characterized by a long-term decline in lung function which can't be stopped. Some of us wait to have children until late thirties only to discover that we are now classified as higher risk for miscarriage and genetic abnormalities. Some of us steal time and energy from our families and give them to the office instead, only to wake up one morning with broken relationships and a broken home. Many Christians ask God to take a backseat in our lives so we can focus on what we want without his input, knowing that it's God who protects us--who provides for us. God wants our undivided attention, and He is willing to do what it takes to get it. There are many other examples of this. In the end, allowing the urgent to outweigh the important is not a good long-term life strategy.
The Obvious Answer
In Luke chapter 12, Jesus tells a story that reminds us that we are not in control and cannot accurately predict where our paths will take us.
Then he told them a story: "A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, 'What should I do? I don't have room for all my crops.' Then he said, 'I know! I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I'll sit back and say to myself, "My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!"' But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?' Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." (Luke 12:16-21 NLT)
The message here is clear. In fact, it's not a shock to anyone! If it's important to you then do it now! If it's important to you to make sure your wife and children are taken care of, buy life insurance now. Start saving for retirement now. If it's important to you to live a long time with your family, stop smoking now. Start exercising now. Start eating right now. There's nothing earth shattering here. It's intuitively obvious really, but we naturally do exactly the opposite. What important things have you put off? How long have you been putting them off? Today, let's decide to be intentional about our lives and invest in things we know are important to God, to us, and to our families. Imagine how much better your life could be if "now" became the buzz word for your life rather than "later."


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Tiger Woods sues his megayacht builder
The golf superstar says Christensen Yachts illegally used his name to promote the company
The golf superstar says Christensen Yachts illegally used his name to promote the company
Tiger Woods says there's nothing private about his new megayacht, Privacy. The golf superstar is suing the boat's builder, Vancouver, Wash.-based Christensen Yachts, for using his fame to promote the company.
"As its name implies, 'Privacy' was intended to be a private respite for Woods and his family to relax and escape the rigors of Woods' celebrity," according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The suit also names as plaintiff Cayman Island-based Privacy Ltd., a corporation affiliated with Woods that owns the yacht. The suit was filed Oct. 29, a day after Woods' newlywed wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, saw the 155-foot trideck motoryacht being promoted by Christensen at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, according to court documents. The suit also claims that "unauthorized use of Woods' name and photographs of Privacy has occurred in numerous nationally circulated publications, including Power & Motoryacht magazine."
The suit seeks a permanent injunction banning the builder from using Woods' name and up to $50 million, based on the value of an endorsement by Woods. The golfer, a Florida resident, has several multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts with such companies as Nike, Titleist and American Express.
Shortly after the legal action was taken, Christensen agreed to a preliminary injunction stopping it from disclosing information about the megayacht and from using Woods' name and likeness for any purpose, according to court papers.
The custom yacht was featured in the November issue of Power & Motoryacht in a list of America's 100 largest yachts. A separate article in the same issue describes the yacht and its interior appointments. Although it doesn't include the vessel's name, it identifies Woods as the owner. Other publications, including Yachting and Sports Illustrated, also carried articles about Privacy.
A contract allows Christensen to use photographs of Privacy for promotion, according to court papers, but the name of the yacht and the identity of the owner were to remain undisclosed.
The $23 million fiberglass composite vessel has five staterooms, numerous amenities, and quarters for nine crewmembers. Powered by twin 1,800-hp MTU 12V 4000s, the megayacht has a cruising range of 4,000 nautical miles and a top speed of 19 knots.
The Christensen yard initially built the yacht, hull No. 86, on speculation. The three-year construction project was a few months from completion when the yacht was sold Feb. 6, 2004. The interior was finished at the buyer's request, and Privacy was launched in May.
Privacy has been in the spotlight since the golfer and Nordegren, a Swedish model and nanny, married Oct. 5. The couple wed at a luxury resort in Barbados, then set sail for a Caribbean honeymoon. Photographers took pictures of the newlyweds dinghying to and from Privacy. The yacht also made news when it was detained briefly in Puerto Rico for not giving 96 hours advance notice of arrival, a violation of maritime security laws for large vessels. n


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Professionals who work alongside victims of trauma listen to heavy stories day in and day out. These narratives can take a toll, sometimes causing a phenomenon now known as "vicarious trauma." Also known as compassion fatigue or secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma is known as the "cost of caring" for others (Figley, 1982). These professionals often absorb the full weight of traumatic stories and experience the trauma of the people they serve first-hand. They become "witnesses to the pain, fear, and terror that trauma survivors have endured." (American Counseling Association, n.d.).
When working with a vulnerable population like children and young adults who have previously experienced trauma — such as those often found in foster, adoptive, or kinship situations — it is common for professionals to develop such vicarious trauma through their support efforts. It is also possible for parents of these individuals to develop vicarious trauma through listening to their children's stories and dealing with resulting behaviors. Therefore, it is imperative that professionals and parents are able to recognize signs of vicarious trauma in themselves, and know simple ways to combat it.
According to the American Counseling Association, signs and symptoms for vicarious trauma can include:
- Difficulty talking about their feelings
- Free floating anger and/or irritation
- Startle effect/being jumpy
- Over-eating or under-eating
- Difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep
- Losing sleep over patients
- Worried that they are not doing enough for their clients
- Dreaming about their clients/their clients' trauma experiences
- Diminished joy toward things they once enjoyed
- Feeling trapped by their work as a counselor (crisis counselor)
- Diminished feelings of satisfaction and personal accomplishment
- Dealing with intrusive thoughts of clients with especially severe trauma histories
- Feelings of hopelessness associated with their work/clients
- Blaming others
Thankfully, there are simple ways to both prevent and soften the effects of vicarious trauma. According to Trippany et al., the ABC's of anticipating and protecting oneself from vicarious trauma are Awareness, Balance, and Connection (2004). Professionals and parents should be aware that they are at a higher risk for vicarious trauma; have a proper balance of work- and personal-related tasks; engage in personal counseling, emotional support from a loved one, or journal writing to unload any burdens you may be holding onto.
Self-care is a vital part of preventing and treating vicarious trauma. Often, self-care is not thought of as preventative; however, vigilant self-care allows a professional or parent to increase their mental health and better care for those who depend on them. Mindfulness and meditation are two simple ways to increase self-care. Regular exercise and therapy have also proved extremely beneficial.
The American Counseling Association further suggests that transforming the pain of vicarious trauma is an effective way to process it. One must transform the negative impact of the work into a positive one. Suggestions for this transformation include creating meaning, infusing meaning into current activities, challenging negative beliefs, and participating in community building. In short, anything that can encourage the professional to find meaning in their lives outside of their line of work will help the impact of vicarious trauma.
When dealing with vicarious trauma, it is imperative to remember that you are not alone. By recognizing the symptoms and signs, treatment, and prevention, you are a step closer to protecting your mental health.
Abby Zerull is the Development Coordinator at Adoption Network Cleveland.


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The rise of the ACO and lessons learned from the Medicare Physician Group Practice demonstration
As envisioned in the health reform law, the latest evolution of health delivery system reform involves consolidating the fragmented system of health care providers into efficient groups that take responsibility for a population of patients. Called accountable care organizations, this model boils down to three concepts: providing coordinated care by using all members of the health care team, measuring performance against evidence-based benchmarks, and reforming a payment system that currently rewards quantity over quality and reactive medicine over preventive medicine. The hope is that coordination, performance measurement, and payment reform will allow physicians to improve the quality of care for patients and reduce the cost.
Coordinating care to reduce cost isn't a new concept. Some liken it to health maintenance organizations of the '80s and '90s, others to the patient-centered medical home. There is plenty of literature on both, and we won't delve into them here.
If you're looking for guidance on ACOs, one of the most useful sources is the five-year CMS pilot project that began in April 2005 and concluded in March 2010. (When lawmakers were crafting the health reform law, they had access to years 1 and 2. Now we also have 3 and 4, and are waiting for 5.)
In the Medicare Physician Group Practice demonstration, CMS contracted with 10 large multispecialty groups with varied organizational structures to see whether care management initiatives could produce cost savings for the system and improve quality. [Spoiler alert: All of the groups improved quality, and about half produced cost savings. More on this below.]
On top of individual physicians' fee-for-service claims, groups were eligible for an 80 percent share of Medicare's savings if they collectively achieved quality and cost targets for the patients loosely assigned to their group. There were no penalties for missing the targets. To qualify for these performance payments, groups had to generate savings for Medicare parts A and B of more than 2 percent of their target expenditures. CMS established the spending targets by creating a comparison group of Medicare beneficiaries in the same geographic area and comparing the organization's per capita expenditures in its base year with those for the comparison group.
As hinted above, results revealed that all 10 entities achieved significant improvements in patient quality of care and patient satisfaction, with half receiving performance payments of $31.7 million in the fourth year of the program. The groups that earned bonuses attributed the savings to changes in their organizational structure, investments in care management programs and health information technology, and continuing education and feedback for providers.
Interestingly, the four groups that earned performance payments by the second year were affiliated with an academic medical center or were unaffiliated physician groups, and the majority of the savings at all sites occurred in outpatient services. The big winner was the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wis., which received the most over the first four years—a total of more than $40 million.
The five groups that received no performance payments in the second year were part of integrated delivery systems with hospitals or physician networks sponsored by hospitals. Some were able to turn this around in years 3 and 4, most notably the Geisinger Clinic in Danville, Penn., and St. John's Clinic in Springfield, Mo.
All of this is to say that implementing ACOs probably won't produce immediate savings, but they will almost certainly improve the patient experience. And because of that, it's likely this concept will continue to gain in popularity.
That means that both hospitals and physicians must learn how to function in a new system, which will likely require figuring out how they can align their goals and incentives to drive the highest-quality care in the most cost-effective way. It's about better managing utilization of services, to provide exactly enough care for patients and cut down on waste and duplication. If that is achieved, we'll be on the right path.
Watch for more on ACOs in the next issue of Texas Family Physician magazine. AAFP is currently working on a ACO special section of their website, http://www.aafp.org/, that should be available soon. We'll post it when it is. For now, check out the Joint Principles for Accountable Care Organizations released by AAFP in November 2010.
– kalfano


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After spending three years in Japan and trying out some of the best-known and respected Japanese denim brands, I was ready for something different. As much as I love the Japanese brands and what they represent, the fit isn't always the best for a tall, slim man such as myself. So when I found out that my friend Danny from Rivet and Hide–-England's premier denim store–was getting ready to launch the long-awaited debut jeans by Dawson Denim, my interested was immediately piqued. Made from start to finish by the two-person team of Scott Ogden and Kelly Dawson in Brighton, England, Dawson is a true small-company brand dedicated to producing classic denim products with an English touch.
We've heard a lot about Made in Japan and Made in America denim, but not nearly as much about Made in England. I decided to give Dawson's new jeans a try, and about two weeks later, I had a pair of Dawson's new jeans on my legs – serial number 4, in fact. I was immediately impressed by how great these jeans felt and looked right from the start, a very different story from some of my Japanese pairs.
- Name: Dawson Regular Fit
- Fabric: 14.25 oz sanforized Japanese selvedge denim, made by Kaihara Mills
- Fit: Regular rise, slim-straight leg
- Unique features:
- Deadstock World War II-era heavy pocket twill
- Deadstock pocket bag bindings
- All felled seam construction, selvedge fly
- MSRP: $351 at Rivet and Hide
One extremely special facet of Dawson's production is that the patterns are all hand-cut. Even the artisan Japanese brands tend to cut their patterns using power tools, usually across ten or more layers of denim at once. Not so with Dawson; every pair of jeans is individually cut by hand, with scissors. For a hardcore denim nerd such as myself, this exceedingly inefficient process gives the jeans a level of personality that more than makes up for a lack of conventionally lavish detailing (unsanforized mithril weft denim, adamantium rivets stamped with Elvish runes.)
But all of that would be irrelevant if these jeans weren't an awesome fit. Fortunately, these might just be the best-fitting jeans I've ever worn. For years I've struggled to find a jean that fits how I want: with a regular rise, slim through the hip, a slim top thigh, and a gradual taper that's not too tight in the knee. These Dawson jeans absolutely nail my desired slim straight fit, and fans of popular fits like the A.P.C. New Standard, 3sixteen SL-100x, and Samurai S710xx will find a lot to like here.
The hem is the perfect size, and looks good whether worn with sneakers or my John Lofgren engineer boots. The 36″ inseam is just right for me, and looks good with or without cuffs. Even after only a few days of wear, the jeans have already developed a great-looking honeycomb and whiskering pattern, and I expect that they'll look fantastic after a few months of constant wear.
The Dawson Straight Fit is made from a mid weight 14.25 oz. selvedge fabric, a special order denim woven by Kaihara Mills in Japan, and rope-dyed sixteen times with pure indigo. Over the past three years I'd spent so much time wearing denim that was super dark, very hairy, slubby, or otherwise unique–as well as dealing with constantly measuring pairs, soaking, washing, and trying to calculate the correct fit–that I'd forgotten the simple joy of putting on a no-frills, medium-weight sanforized selvedge fabric. The weave on the Dawson denim is based on a 1950s pattern, and the fabric is clean, attractive, and comfortable right from the start, with a great-looking selvedge line.
Amongst denim nerds, the prevailing view is that unsanforized denim is superior to sanforized, but after years of wearing both types I don't think that's necessarily true: they're simply different flavors with different things to offer. Unsanforized denim can offer more dramatic fading and texture, but on the other hand, it's also more prone to wearing out and damaging the stitching because of its abrasive nature. And heavily-worn, unwashed sanforized denim has a nice sheen to it that you don't get from unsanforized fabrics. The two types of denim complement each other and I think these jeans will fade great over time.
Details and Construction
Getting past the denim, though, these jeans are pure English. The pocket bags are actually made from a deadstock heavy twill fabric dating back to World War II–an extremely cool touch that adds to the character of these jeans. The patch is natural veg-tan leather, and thankfully it's of regular thickness as I've never been a huge fan of super-thick patches. Scott and Kelly brand the patches by hand, using a branding iron custom crafted by Kelly's father, and the brand's logo is inspired by the lever of a 1912 British motorbike, The Bat – reflecting Dawson Denim's love of vintage motorbikes.
One of my favorite details is absent from Dawson's jeans–they don't use rolled belt loops with a bulging center (common to Japanese jeans) and the back pocket lip doesn't bulge either. But considering that I'm probably the only person in the western hemisphere obsessive-compulsive enough to care about such minutiae, this is clearly nitpicking; especially in light of how many other great details make up for these minor omissions. Plus, the loops are made with a vintage sewing machine, a 1957 Union Special Cover Stitch.
The inside of the fly is made from selvedge denim, the inseam is hand-felled for a clean, smooth appearance, and the belt loops are sewn into the waistband. The hem is, of course, sewn with a Union Special; it's one of many vintage sewing machines used, which include a 1956 Union Special used to sew the waistband, the Union Special 35800 Lapseamer was used for the inseam stitch, and the Reece 101 button hole machine that uses the rare "ato-mesu" technique in which the keyhole outline is sewn before the hole is punched. The buttons and exterior copper rivets are stamped with Dawson's name, while the underside of the rivets and hidden rivets are stamped Ogden (co-founder Scott's last name). The jeans are entirely stitched with poly/cotton stitching in an earthy beige color that compliments the denim, which is something of a rarity with sanforized fabrics. Dawson strikes an great balance between classiness and utility that's present in every aspect of these jeans.
The best part, though, is the finishing on the inside of the pocket bags, where they meet the outseam. The edge of the pocket bag is neatly sewn over the outseam, for an exceptionally clean appearance and feel. According to Kelly Dawson herself, this was accomplished by using deadstock cotton binding from the 1930s, sourced from a Saville Row tailor, which was then hand-dyed to match the pocket fabric. This is a detail I can't say that I've ever seen before, and really reflects how well-made these jeans are. Looking inside, the stitching and sewing is absolutely flawless: it's actually much better and cleaner-looking than some high-end Japanese jeans I've worn. I'm convinced that the small scale of Dawson's operation really takes their garments to the next level, and contributes to a unique pair of jeans.
The back pockets deserve special mention: they're splayed, meaning that the pockets are slightly farther apart from the center seam. As a result, the contents of your pockets are not directly under your bottom, which makes them a bit more comfortable to use. The size is just right, and accommodates my cordovan Flat Head card wallet very comfortably. I do wish, though, that the front pockets had a larger opening. I don't keep anything in my front pockets so it's not a big deal, but it's nice being able to comfortably put my hands inside. Hopefully the opening will stretch a bit to make this a little easier.
The Bottom Line
These jeans are outstanding by just about any metric. With classy, understated denim and detailing, the immaculately-constructed Dawson Regular Fit is a true standout among a sea of indistinguishable Kickstarter and heritage brands. As if that wasn't enough, Dawson included some great extras with these jeans. The tote bag is very attractive and functional, too–and it's also actually made by Dawson, unlike most companies who might make such bonus items in China. The Log Book is inspired by the 1930s driver's license belonging to Scott's grandfather, and it's a classy-looking document that serves as a record for repairs as well as a durability guarantee entitling the wearer to free repairs for the first six months of wear.
For a seasoned denim nerd such as myself, simply making a high-quality pair of jeans with good materials isn't enough; it's crucial that the jeans have a compelling story behind them that differentiates them from other brands making five-pocket raw jeans. I'm pleased to say that Dawson's jeans have a great story and are filled with a lot of personality, fully living up to their Made in England reputation.