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European Commission
Brussels, 17 December 2013
A comprehensive EU response to the financial crisis: substantial progress towards a strong financial framework for Europe and a banking union for the eurozone
This memo will be updated regularly to reflect latest developments. This memo is meant as information tool: it is not a legal text.
The financial crisis highlighted the need for better regulation and supervision of the financial sector. It is the reason why the European Commission has since 2010 proposed nearly 30 sets of rules to ensure all financial actors, products and markets are appropriately regulated and efficiently supervised. These rules are the basic framework for all 28 Member States of the EU and underpin a properly functioning single market for financial services.
The ensuing eurozone crisis added an extra dimension, highlighting the need for a better governed and deeper economic and monetary union for a single currency to work in the long run. In 2011, the crisis took a new turn with the eurozone debt crisis: it highlighted the potentially vicious circle between banks and sovereigns.
For that circle to be broken, a more robust financial sector is not enough. In particular for countries which share a currency, a deeper more integrated approach is necessary - basically ensuring centralised delivery of the rules for all 28 Member States.
This is why EU Heads of State and Government committed to a banking union in June 2012. The vision was further developed in the European Commission's blueprint for economic and monetary union in November 2012 (MEMO/12/909). Heads of State and Government have agreed the legislative work underpinning the banking union should be completed before the end of this legislature which thus requires important milestones to be met before the end of 2013. Thanks to hard work and a spirit of compromise demonstrated by both Member States and the European Parliament, Europe is well on the way to live up to its commitments.
This memo sets out what has been done so far to create a robust financial framework for all 28 Member States and where we stand in building the banking union. The banking union is specifically for countries which share the euro, although it is also open to all non-euro EU Member States who want to join.
When the financial crisis spread to Europe in 2008, we had 27 different regulatory systems for banks in place, largely based on national rules and national rescue measures, although some limited European minimum rules and coordination mechanisms already existed. The pre-crisis framework was incapable of responding to the financial crisis, in particular its systemic nature. There were for example no tools in place to deal with the collapse of large cross-border banks.
Since 2008 the European Commission has tabled around 30 proposals1 to create piece-by-piece a sounder and more effective financial sector. Better regulated and supervised banks will be stronger, more resilient, and operate to benefit the real economy at large.
This framework will also ensure that taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for banks' mistakes. And it will underpin financial stability in Europe which is a pre-condition for a sustainable recovery. Indeed, banks need to resume their normal function: to start lending again to the real economy, to households and SMEs in particular.
The robust financial framework being created is for all 28 Member States and both preserves and strengthens the single market. It also corresponds to the EU's implementation of its G20 commitments on financial regulation.
1.1 Measures to secure better supervision of the financial system
Regulation alone is not enough.
Without good supervision, regulation can be worthless.
That is why we have revamped the supervision of the financial sector at EU level, improving both coordination between national supervisors and enhancing EU-wide supervision to deal with risks and issues with cross-border effects. Both supervision levels are complementary and essential for the sake of financial stability in Europe.
Three European supervisory authorities (ESAs) were established on 1 January 2011 to introduce a supervisory architecture (MEMO/10/434):
The 28 national supervisors are represented in all three supervising authorities. Their role is to contribute to the development of a single rulebook for financial regulation in Europe, solve cross-border problems, prevent the build-up of risks, and help restore confidence.
A European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) was established to monitor and assess potential threats to financial stability that arise from macro-economic developments and from developments within the financial system as a whole ("macro-prudential supervision"). To this end, the ESRB provides an early warning of system-wide risks that may be building up and, where necessary, issue recommendations for action to deal with these risks.
1.2 A single rulebook for all banks in Europe (8300 banks)
The European Council of June 2009 unanimously recommended establishing a single rulebook applicable to all financial institutions in the single market.
The rulebook is a corpus of legislative texts covering all financial actors and products: banks have to comply with one single set of rules across the single market. This is crucial to ensure that there are no loopholes and good regulation everywhere in order to guarantee a level playing field for banks and a real single market for financial services.
1.2.1 The backbone of the single rulebook: Stronger prudential requirements
The package on capital requirements for banks, the so called "CRD IV" (see MEMO/13/690), which transposes via a Regulation and a Directive the new global standards on bank capital (commonly known as the Basel III agreement) into the EU legal framework, was published in the EU Official Journal on 27 June, 2013. It entered into force on 16 July.
The new rules which will apply from 1 January 2014 tackle some of the vulnerabilities shown by the banking institutions during the crisis, namely the insufficient level of capital, both in quantity and in quality, resulting in the need for unprecedented support from national authorities. The timely implementation of the Basel III agreement features among the commitments taken by the EU in the G20.
The new framework sets stronger prudential requirements for banks, requiring them to keep sufficient capital reserves and liquidity. This new framework will make EU banks more solid and will strengthen their capacity to adequately manage the risks linked to their activities, and absorb any losses they may incur in doing business.
Furthermore, these new rules will strengthen the requirements with regard to corporate governance arrangements and processes of banks. For example, a number of requirements are introduced in relation to diversity within management, in particular as regards gender balance. In addition, in order to tackle excessive risk-taking, the framework imposes tough rules on bonuses.
1.2.2 Agreement on the recast Directive on deposit guarantee schemes
A second strand of a more robust financial sector is ensuring bank deposits in all Member States are guaranteed up to €100 000 per depositor per bank if a bank fails. From a financial stability perspective, this guarantee prevents depositors from making brutal withdrawals from their banks, thereby preventing severe economic consequences.
In July 2010, the Commission proposed to strengthen existing rules in this area (IP/10/918). While the €100 000 guarantee remains appropriate, the reform will ensure faster pay-outs (currently 20 working days, to be reduced to 7 working days). The proposal also includes strengthened financing, notably through a significant level of ex-ante funding. The exact numbers are still being discussed in negotiations but the Commission would hope to see a minimum of 1% of covered deposits to be collected from banks over a 10-year period. In case of insufficient ex ante funds, the DGS will collect immediate ex post contributions from the banking sector, and, as a last resort, it will have access to alternative funding arrangements such as loans from public or private third parties. There will also be a voluntary mechanism of mutual borrowing between the DGSs from different EU countries.
The new Directive also improves depositor information. For example, when depositing money at a bank, depositors will countersign a standardised information sheet containing all relevant information about the coverage of the deposit by the responsible DGS. Banks will also inform their depositors about the protection of their deposits in their regular account statements.
The European Parliament and EU member States are in the final stages of negotiation on this important text which should be formally approved early next year.
1.2.3 Agreement on a framework for bank Recovery and Resolution
Repeated bailouts of banks have created a situation of deep unfairness, increased public debt and imposed a heavy burden on taxpayers.
To ensure that the taxpayer won't have to end up bailing out banks repeatedly, the European Commission proposed a common framework of rules and powers (see IP/12/570 and MEMO/12/416) in June 2012 to help EU countries intervene to manage banks in difficulty.
The European Parliament and the Member States reached agreement on this framework on 11 December 2013, subject to technical finalisation and formal approval by both institutions. (MEMO/13/1140)
The new rules, which should enter into force on 1st January 2015, provide authorities with the means to intervene decisively both before problems occur (for instance by ensuring that all banks have recovery and resolution plans in place) and early on in the process if they do (for instance the power to appoint a temporary administrator in a bank for a limited period to deal with problems). If, despite these preventive measures, the financial situation of a bank deteriorates beyond repair, the new law ensures through a "bail-in" mechanism that shareholders and creditors of the banks have to pay their share.
If additional resources are needed, these will be taken from the national, prefunded resolution fund that each Member State will have to establish and build up so it reaches a level of 1% of covered deposits within 10 years. All banks will have to pay in to these funds but contributions will be higher for banks which take more risks.
How will the bail-in mechanism work in practice?
The mechanism will stabilise a failing institution so that it can continue to provide essential services, without the need for bail-out by public funds. Recapitalisation through the write-down of liabilities and/or their conversion to equity will allow the institution to continue as a going concern, avoid the disruption to the financial system that would be caused by stopping or interrupting its critical services, and give the authorities time to reorganise it or wind down parts of its business in an orderly manner. This is what is called bail-in.
In short: if a bank needs to resort to bail-in, authorities will first bail-in all shareholders and will then follow a pre-determined order. Shareholders and other creditors who invest in bank capital (such as holders of convertible bonds and junior bonds) will bear losses first.
Deposits under € 100 000 will never be touched: they are entirely protected at all times.
Deposits of natural persons and SMEs above EUR100.000 will 1) benefit from a preferential treatment ("depositor preference") ensuring that they do not suffer any loss before other unsecured creditors (so they are at the very bottom of the bail-in hierarchy) and 2) Member States can choose to use certain flexibilities to exclude them fully.
The outcome of the compromise supports a regime which, to the furthest extent possible, places the responsibility of covering bank losses on private investors in banks and the banking sector as a whole.
In some cases, in particular in the context of a systemic crisis, it may be necessary to depart from that principle and allow for the use of public funds to finance bank resolution. There is the necessary flexibility in the compromise text to do that.
The flexibility is appropriately framed and does not detract from the need for banks to develop sufficient capacity to allocate losses to their shareholders and creditors. This will apply in all circumstances. Indeed, the granting of any rescue aid in systemic crises will only come after the required bail-in and will remain governed by the EU framework for State Aid.
The Council and the European Parliament are expected to formally approve the text early next year.
The European Commission has adapted its temporary state aid rules for assessing public support to financial institutions during the crisis. A EC Communication sets out the up-dated EU crisis rules for state aid to banks during the crisis from 1st August 2013.
The main changes include namely strengthened burden-sharing: banks are required to work out a sound plan for their restructuring or orderly winding down before they can receive recapitalisations or asset protection measures. Moreover, in case of capital shortfalls, bank owners and junior creditors are now required to contribute as a first resort, before banks can ask for public funding.
The rules will be revised as necessary. In particular, they may need to be adjusted in light of the evolution of the EU regulatory framework for banking.
See IP/13/672 and MEMO/13/886
1.2.4 Other chapters of the single rulebook
To complement the key pillars of the single rule book set out above, the Commission has tabled legislation on other aspects to make the financial sector as a whole more robust.
The following rules are now in force:
Other proposals made and to be hopefully before the end of this legislature:
A final proposal will be made early January to finalise the framework:
2.1 Why a banking union for the euro area?
Uncoordinated national responses to the failure of banks have reinforced the link between banks and sovereigns and led to a worrying fragmentation of the Single Market in lending and funding. This fragmentation is particularly damaging within the euro area, where monetary policy transmission is impaired and the ring-fencing of funding impedes efficient lending to the real economy and thus growth.
Swift progress towards a Banking Union, comprising single centralised mechanisms for the supervision and restructuring of banks, is indispensable to ensure financial stability and growth in the euro area.
Building on the strong regulatory framework common to the 28 members of the Single Market (single rulebook), the European Commission has therefore taken an inclusive approach and proposed a roadmap for the Banking Union with different steps, potentially open to all Member States but in any case for the 18 Member States currently within the euro area. (6000 banks)
2.2 Creation of the single supervisory mechanism
On 4 November 2013, about one year after the Commission had proposed to set up a single banking supervision mechanism in the euro area (see IP/12/953), the SSM Regulation entered into force. This mechanism will be fully operational next year.
In the meantime, the ECB is actively preparing to take up its new role of supervisor. The ECB is currently carrying out a comprehensive assessment of all banks which will be under its direct supervision and the balance sheets of those banks. In parallel it will have to recruit high quality supervisory staff and build up a new supervisory structure that integrates national supervisors before it commences its activities.
That said, Europe's banks are in a much better place today than they were two years ago. They have raised substantial amounts of capital on the markets, so that levels of capital for big European banks are now equivalent to American banks.
Main features of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM):
2.3 Towards a fully-fledged banking union
The reinforced regulatory and supervisory framework of the SSM and enhanced prudential requirements will bolster the safety of banks. However, the risk of a bank experiencing a severe liquidity or solvency problem can never be totally excluded. In the Banking Union bank supervision and resolution need to be exercised by the same level of authority and be backed by adequate funding arrangements. Otherwise tensions between the supervisor (ECB) and national resolution authorities may emerge over how to deal with ailing banks, while market expectations about Member States' ability to deal with bank failure nationally could continue, reinforcing feedback loops between sovereigns and banks and fragmentation and competitive distortions across the Single Market. Swift and decisive action at the central level, backed by EU-level funding arrangements, are also needed to avoid nationally conducted bank resolution from having disproportionate impacts on the real economy, and in order to curb uncertainty and prevent bank runs and contagion to other parts of the euro area.
2.3.1 Single Resolution Mechanism
That is why the European Commission proposed a single resolution mechanism to complement the SSM in July 2013 (see IP/13/674 and MEMO/13/675). It will basically apply the substantive rules of the draft Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (see 1.2.3 above) in a coherent and centralised way ensuring consistent decisions for the resolution of banks thanks to a Single Resolution Board and it will include common resolution financing arrangements [including a Single Resolution Fund].
The Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) will ensure that – not withstanding stronger supervision - if a bank subject to the Single Supervisory Mechanism faces serious difficulties, its resolution can be managed efficiently. In case of cross-border failures, it would be much more efficient than a network of national resolution authorities and avoid risks of contagion.
The SRM will take over when the ECB, as the supervisor, would flag a bank, which needs to be resolved in the euro area or established in a Member State participating in the Banking Union.
In terms of timing, Member States hope to reach a political agreement in the coming days and the SRM should be finally agreed by co-legislators before the end of the mandate of the current Parliament in spring 2014.
As the SRM is corollary to the SSM, Member States outside the euro zone which join the SSM will also join the SRM.
2.3.2 Will the banking union include a supranational Deposit Guarantee Scheme?
It is not envisaged to equip the banking union with a single supranational DGS at this stage. The priority is to reach an agreement on a common network of national deposit guarantee schemes. The proposal on DGS once agreed will ensure that every Member State has a deposit guarantee fund which is properly funded, ex ante. The text also opens the way to a voluntary mechanism of mutual borrowing between the DGSs from different EU countries. This is the only form of mutualisation foreseen at this stage.
2.3.3 Bank recapitalisation and EU backstops
Once a robust financial framework is operational, including stronger prudential requirements and the ability to resolve banks in an orderly fashion including a bail-in under the BRRD rules, the Commission's estimate is that needs for further emergency recapitalisations will be very rare. If we look at the past, no bank which faced problems since 2008 in the European Union - apart from a handful of exceptions - would have needed extra recapitalisation from public funding if it had held CRD IV levels of capital and been subject to bail-in as proposed in BRRD.
Nevertheless, the euro area summit on 29 June 2012, it was proposed that once an effective supervisory mechanism involving the ECB was established for banks in the euro area, the future European Stability Mechanism (ESM) could have the possibility to recapitalise banks directly. This will further contribute to breaking the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns, as the ESM loans would not add to the debt burden of countries facing intense market pressure. The Eurogroup agreed on the main features of ESM direct bank recapitalisation on 20 June, which will be reflected in the operational framework of the instrument.
To reflect the close correlation between two important parts of the new EU financial framework (most importantly the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive and the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Directive), on which the banking union is based, the Eurogroup agreed that the operational framework will be finalised as soon as these proposals are adopted by the European Parliament.
It has been agreed that the maximum exposure of the ESM for direct bank recapitalisations will be fixed at €60 billion.
The ECB will start exercising full supervision as from November 2014. However, from the entry into force of the SSM Regulation, and upon unanimous request by the ESM, the ECB may immediately take over direct supervision of a credit institution as a precondition for direct recapitalisation from the ESM, following a decision addressed to the national entities and the national supervisory authority concerned.
2.3.4 What happens if capital shortfalls are identified before the banking union is in place?
A comprehensive exercise of assessments and stress-tests is being carried out by the ECB and EBA before SSM.
In case capital shortfalls are identified for banks of the banking union, there will need to be public backstops in place. Member States taking part in the SSM were called by the European Council in October 2013 to make all appropriate arrangements, including the establishment of national backstops, ahead of the completion of this exercise.
The Council has clarified2 on 15 November 2013 the order of the public backstops. In a first instance, banks should raise capital in the market or raise capital from other private source. Should this not be sufficient, public money could be engaged at national level in line with State aid rules and if needed, through the provision of public backstop. In the first instance, national frameworks will be activated. In the second instance, if national backstops are not sufficient, instruments at the European level may be used, including the ESM.
Finally, discussions are ongoing to explore how equivalent support mechanisms can be established for non-euro area members willing to join the banking union.
2.3.5 What about backstops once the banking union is in place?
There will also need to be public backstops in place once the banking union is in place in case the combination of higher prudential requirements, the tool kit for crisis management including bail-in and a Single Resolution Fund are not enough. The Council should agree in coming days on the nature of those backstops.
See Council statement http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/139613.pdf
Side Bar


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Inquiry Question
A Place for Study and Recreation--
Supplementary Resources
By looking at Boston's Arnold Arboretum: A Place for Study and Recreation, students discover how the first arboretum in the United States became part of the burgeoning urban park movement in the second half of the 19th century. Those interested in learning more will find that the Internet offers a variety of interesting materials.
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
National Park Service (NPS) Historic Landscape Initiative
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Visit Some of the Parks Created by Frederick Law Olmsted
The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Library of Congress
American Journal of Botany
The Industrial Revolution
For Further Reading

subset: commoncrawl


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It seems small business development rather than large industry recruitment is the way to go, especially here in Galax and the Twin Counties, after the Small Business Development Center recently announced that it helped gain funding for 100 businesses in the past three years, with 96 of those still operating.
Though a large manufacturing company willing to put hundreds back to work would be nice, when the economy turns bad, it seems large industries leave the threat of hundreds being stranded without jobs all at once.
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I have a problem with a Clare/Seaward HAL H104 safety tester, when we do a hi-pot test on the check box or on one of our products the voltage ramps up but we do not get any leakage values, we have had both the unit and check box inspected by 2 different companies and they have not found any problems, I done a factory re-set and put the test programs back in, but still no joy.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I would prefer not to send it back to Seaward if possible


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Summer picnic at Golden Gardens Park
Join us for the first of our seasonal potlucks on Saturday, June 30th!
We plan to hold potlucks for each of the coming seasons and this one marks the beginning of summer with all of it's bountiful ingredients. Share your favorite BBQ/picnic dish with fellow Slow Food members and supporters in the beautiful Golden Gardens park, with a view of the Olympic Mountains.
Bring a dish and bring the family!
We'll provide some refreshments, briquettes for the BBQ and condiments. Please bring your own plates, napkins, eating utensils and cups. Also additional beverages are welcomed. This is an alcohol-free picnic site and we leave the rest to your discretion. Families, kids, all welcome. Dogs are required to be on leash. We have the site from 3-10pm and will start clean up at 9pm as the sun sets.
$5/person (kids free) suggested donation to help offset event costs. We also have a pay what you can option, where you can pay less or if you'd like to or add in an extra donation too. RSVP by Friday, June 29th via Brown Paper Tickets.
Contact firstname.lastname@example.com
The Details:
Summer Potluck at Golden Gardens
DATE: Saturday, June 30, 2012
LOCATION: Golden Gardens Park - 8498 Seaview Pl. NW, Seattle, WA - directions here


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A Whiter Shade of Pale
This past week I neglected to post any cakes highlighting the Native Americans' vital role in the founding of Thanksgiving. This is a grievous oversight, and one which I will attempt to remedy now.
"Well, I *could* make his hair lighter, but there's a problem."
"What's the problem?"
"That's our Jesus design."
Hey, Shahala H. & Michele P., don't be afraid to let them show; your true colors are beautiful. (Like a rainbow.)
- Related Wreckage: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Note: Just to be clear: I am NOT making fun of Jesus. I am making fun of the fact that He is so often portrayed here in the U.S. as a blue-eyed Caucasian. That is all. Grain of salt, folks: take everything here with one.


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Mark Bohlen Of Bent Custom & Performance Shows Us The Basics Of Custom Hard-Line Bending.
Penultimate. It means next to last, and this is it. Our twin-turbo F-Bomb Camaro has been lingering around these pages for six issues-this month we're finally done showing you how to build it, and in the September issue we'll be able to gloriously reveal what it's like to drive the thing. For a lot of the players, that moment will culminate with one big sigh of relief. That's certainly true of Mark Bohlen, who's the last in a long line of F-Bomb craftsmen we've introduced you to.
Along with his wife, Michelle, and Twig, the ubiquitous Italian greyhound shop dog, Bohlen operates Bent Custom & Performance out of a supertidy shop that's in the same industrial complex as Nelson Supercars, the instigator of the Bomb. While Bent is a full-service fabrication shop-regularly handling minitub jobs, chassis modifications, and street rod setup-he's become known around here as the go-to guy for custom-bent hard lines for anything that carries automotive fluid or air. Applications include fuel systems, air conditioning, brakes, oil coolers, vacuum lines, airbag-suspension plumbing, and anything else you can think of.
The Bent shop creates all the hard lines for Nelson Racing Engines' twin-turbo engines, and that's how we got hooked up with Bohlen for the F-Bomb. In addition to the engine plumbing, he handled all the complex fluid conveyance systems on the chassis. Ninety percent would be hard line; flexible braided line would only be used in areas that need vibration damping, such as between the engine and frame, and in spots that require quick-release AN fittings.
The first step with hard line is to choose the material. While some racers prefer it for its light weight, Bohlen rarely uses aluminum tubing, telling us, "It's easy to bend by hand, but you can hardly ever get it perfectly straight since it always comes in rolls. It's so soft that it flattens out if you try and unbend it, and AN flares in aluminum gall up after a few times being connected or if you overtighten them. It can be polished, but it gets dull quickly." Another option is mild-steel tubing, which has the advantage of being easy to bend. Even so, Bent does not use it often because it has a seam that can be problematic, and because it cannot be polished. Bohlen's material of choice is aircraft stainless tubing, despite the fact that it is the hardest material and the most difficult to bend. However, Bohlen says, "Stainless is great because if you leave it unpolished it looks race, or the show guys can polish it and it stays shiny forever. Small dings can be polished out. It's hard enough that you can use single flares rather than the double flares that you have to do with soft mild-steel tubing. It might take more effort to make an actual bend in it, but it's cleaner to work with overall."Even so, Bohlen warns that some so-called aircraft-quality stainless tubing still has a seam inside it. He's found that the seam leaves a hard bump anytime a flare is added to the tubing, and that the imperfection can cause sealing problems at the junctions. Bent sells its own true seamless stainless tubing to avoid those problems. Bohlen typically uses 0.035-inch-wall tubing in sizes 11/42 inch in diameter and smaller, and 0.040-inch-wall for 51/48 inch and up. The thicker walls on the bigger tubing help prevent it from collapsing in hand benders, which do not have a mandrel inside them to support the i.d. of the tube as it is formed.
The F-Bomb uses all Bent aircraft stainless, but all the assorted fittings came from Orme Brothers down the street. While Orme Brothers is a local supplier for Bent, it is also a sponsor of street car racing sanctioning bodies and a mail-order firm that can send you any AN or industrial plumbing or hydraulic fitting you can dream of. The company can also supply custom-made, pre-terminated flex lines for brakes, power steering, or any other application. For the F-Bomb, most of the fittings from Orme Brothers are either natural stainless to match the unpolished lines or are nickel-plated. Where anodized aluminum was the only option, we chose black (though Nelson cheated and painted some fittings that were only available in blue).
In all, the bending job helps the car look very orderly and purposeful, and is easier to work on than it would have been if we'd done everything in flex hose. This story will show you some tips and ideas from Bent, using the F-Bomb and a few other cars, so you can get the same look for your ride.
The F-Bomb engine, as seen on our Oct. '06 cover, has lots and lots of plumbing by Bent with the turbos, twin fuel systems, power steering, and Hydratech hydroboost. This guide will help you know what's what. A) Tandem fuel injector rails; B) twin Aeromotive fuel-pressure regulators (return lines extend from the bottom of each one); C) boost-reference line to both regulators; D) braided flex lines from the power steering pump to the Hydratech booster; E) brake proportioning valve and Line-Loc; F) oil feed to the turbos (the oil return to the pan is a flex line on the underside); G) boost-reference lines to the dual blow-off valves and wastegates. What you can't see are the oil and trans cooler lines underneath.
Bending Tip
>1. Here's Bohlen's 15-year collection of hand-benders in a number of tube sizes and jaw styles. The various brands clamp the tubing in individual ways, allowing different shapes to be formed without the bent tube interfering with the tool itself. Don't buy electrical conduit benders.
>2. While the benders have clamps that hold the tube, Bohlen has found that he can often get the bend closer to the end of the tube-especially when a fitting is in the way-by holding the tube closer to the die using a pair of pliers with the teeth ground off of the jaws to prevent galling. Note that the bender is marked in degrees; this tube has been bent just past 90 degrees, though it will likely spring back to a clean right angle.
>3. Here is an example of a tube bent using the normal method (top) versus one held with the pliers. Note how much closer the bend is to the end. This is also handy for getting lines parallel with each other, as shown.
Flaring Tips
>1. While some insist that you should not cut tubing with a hacksaw, Bohlen does it every day. He recommends a 32-tooth-per-inch blade and never uses a regular tubing cutter. After hacking, he squares and cleans the end of the tube with a sander, as shown, making sure not to overheat the material, which will tend to reharden the annealed stainless.
>2. After sanding, the end of the tube is further cleaned using two deburring tools to clean the i.d. and a fine file to smooth the outside.
>3. While Bent has a trick aircraft flaring machine, tubing can also be hand-flared. This is a Ridgid single-flaring tool available at Home Depot or other hardware stores. It can be used with stainless tubing.
>4. If you are working with mild steel, the tube must be double-flared with a tool like this that includes dies (arrow) used to fold the tube in on itself. These tools are always pretty frustrating to use.
>5. To double-flare the mild steel, you first flare it with the die, then remove the die and advance the tool's cone-shaped bit into the mouth of the tube (arrow) to ensure a double layer of metal that helps prevent cracking.
>6. Remember that in the world of flares, there are two common types: 37 degrees in the AN world and 45 in the automotive and industrial hydraulic venues. Most 45-degree fittings are brass or steel, while AN is usually aluminum. It is by far best to mate 45 to 45 and 37 to 37, and stainless-to-stainless tapers need to be the most concentric because the metal is so hard. Going aluminum to stainless, you can often get away with mating 37 and 45 degrees, though the sealing surface is smaller so this is not optimal.
>7. If you have a poor seal in a tapered fitting, these soft brass tapered washers can help by making a soft surface for the taper to seat upon. They are available through Orme Brothers.
>8. Look closely at the arrow and you can see the hard spot that is created in the tubing when you flare a stainless tube with a seam in it. The tube to the right is Bent's seamless tubing.
|TUBE (in)
To see the other installments of our series on the buildup of the F-Bomb '73 Camaro, visit www.HOTROD.com.
Carb Inlet How-To
>1. Want to make your own carburetor hard inlet kit? You'll need 31/48-inch lines, two male -6 fittings that fit your float bowls (Holley and Demon are different), a -6 tee, and three sets of -6 nuts and sleeves. Start by deciding how long the front line must be to clear the carb linkage, then cut the line to length. Don't forget to install the nuts and sleeves before flaring.
>2. Flare one end of a length of tubing and attach it to the front tube with the tee. Using a pen and a piece of hanger or welding rod, mark the center of the secondary inlet.
>3. Next, put the tubing in the bender, lining up the mark you made with the 90-degree indicator on the tool (arrow). Shape the tube, and the center of the bend should end up right at the mark.
>4. Finally, eyeball the location of the flare on the carb fitting to determine where to cut the tube, then slip on a nut and sleeve and flare the end.
>5. There you have it-your first custom bending project. If you're too lazy, Bent Custom & Performance sells premade carb inlet kits like this starting at around $65. HRM


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It's well known that Hollywood is out of ideas. But it's always fun to see all the bizarre ways they take old ideas and attempt to convince you they're somehow new. And that's how we end up with today's strangest item: Jamie Foxx writing the screenplay to a "Laverne & Shirley" movie. Via William Keck of TV Guide:
L&S producer Garry Marshall, who was honored at the 18th Annual Night At Sardi's Fundraiser for Alzheimer's (his mother died of the disease), tells me the script is now being written by "Valentine's Day" co-star Jamie Foxx.
"Jamie and I are trying to do it," Garry confirms. "He's writing it. It's a whole different modern day take on how they came up on the streets during difficult times. Laverne would be this very tough girl with a big 'L' tattooed on her arm. Jennifer Garner would play Laverne and Jessica Biel would play Shirley."
Wait, what? Laverne has an L tattoo? And no sweater? Is she some sort of arm wrestling champion as well? I love the fact that the reimagining of the story is dependent on the placement of a letter. "It's totally new! This time, Shirley wears a kimono!"
Listen, I never really watched the original show (though I know the lyrics to theme song backwards and forwards), but millions of people have, and I think they'd be just fine with Laverne's L staying where it originally was. Jamie Foxx is a talented fellow who has spent the past few years coasting on a Best Actor Oscar. I assume he'll be either Lenny or Squiggy. Garry Marshall's best work is pretty far back in the rear view mirror. Put them together to make the film version of a classic TV how and you get… Well hey, at least Jessica Biel's backside is involved.


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Looking for Ferrell of Southern Illinois
Looking for anyone with information on Clem Ferrell married to Clara Newbold. His father name was Jackson Andrew and mother name was Lucy. They lived in New Burnside Il. I do know that Clems parents are buried at Coal Banks Cemetery in Dykersberg Il.
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Rocky Mount, North Carolina
(map) Rocky Mount is the junction of the CSX and CLNA.
January 9th, 2018
We explored the North Carolina Coastal Railway (CLNA) on our way to Wilson, North Carolina for a meeting inspired by an article on net neutrality in Wired.This image viewed 3 times, as of last night.


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Office, showroom and storage in one
Fagerhult provided functional lighting for all the different areas at Stenbergs modern office in Jönköping. Stenbergs is one of the leading suppliers of machines for the engineering industry in Sweden.
The large Stenbergs complex was completed in 2012 and lies next to the big European route E4 that runs though the town Jönköping. Stenbergs is a supplier of machines for the engineering industry in Sweden and their new premises operates as an office, showroom and storage area. It is build with large windows and functional luminaires that give a light atmosphere and comfortable workspaces.
Indoor solutions
The Stenbergs project has impressive lighting function. DTI* pendants with an indirect and direct lighting distribute efficient work light in the office areas being installed as single installations over the work desks and as continuous installations over the large conference tables.
The large windows give an abundance of natural light while the DALI dimming ensures a balanced daylight level.
Fagerhult's popular downlight series Pleiad with switchDIM is installed in the corridors and the large circulation area, giving a comfortable ambient light. The industrial luminaire Inducon is tailored to high ceilings. In this project it is chosen to illuminate the large storage and showroom area. Surface mounted AllFive Clear illuminates the car park.
Outdoor lighting
Azur** is one of Fagerhult's big families of outdoor luminaires. The wall version is welcoming at the entrance and the bollard version illuminates the parking lot and the paths along the building.
*DTI has been replaced by DTI LED.
**Azur Bollard has been replaced by Azur Bollard LED.


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"Everybody wants their daughter to go be a doctor and not a millwright or a welder," says Mr. Smillie. "Part of what we do is to change that perception, that [construction] is not a last-chance alley."
"It's a demographic timebomb," says Christopher Smillie, a senior advisor of the Canadian Building Trades, which represents more than 550,000 skilled tradespeople in 15 trades across the country.
The oil and gas industry depends heavily on the construction industry to execute its projects before it can go anywhere near realizing production from an oil and gas well. But construction itself faces an impending labour crisis.
The Construction Sector Council estimates half the $250-billion of construction projects underway are in the oil and gas sector in Alberta.
"Fort McMurray might be seen as the largest of these centres of resource construction, with the other projects competing for resources at different times and places," a CSC report says. "But the proportion of this work outside Alberta has increased, creating a new dimension for national competition across specialized labour markets. The scale of this work makes it a powerful draw for labour and a major competitor for specially skilled people."
Mr. Smillie says Canada is entering a critical phase in its labour market, mainly due to retirements, an under-performing training system, and unprecedented economic growth, which will generate demand for 200,000 skilled tradespeople by 2018.
From 2010 to 2018, construction employment is forecast to rise by 180,000 jobs. Added to these demands are replacements for retirements of 189,000, and the loss of 26,000 workers due to mortality, Mr. Smillie told a standing committee on human resources earlier in the year.
"There are 169,000 new entrants from the Canadian population to meet these needs, leaving a recruiting effort to find 200,000 new construction workers from other industries and outside Canada. If this isn't a call to action for the committee I'm not sure what is."
Faced with inadequate training in schools, the Canadian Building Trades spends about $100-million a year on training young recruits. That's in addition to the millions of dollars construction companies spend on training domestic supply.
"Everybody wants their daughter to go be a doctor and not a millwright or a welder," says Mr. Smillie. "Part of what we do is to change that perception, that [construction] is not a last-chance alley."
Canada has vastly improved its immigration policies, and trade certificates held by foreign workers are now considered equal to post-secondary education. TD Bank economists estimate Canada will have to raise its annual immigration target from 250,000 to at least 350,000 after 2016. While older workers are delaying retirement and Baby Boomers remain a strong force in the workforce, by 2016, the economy could start facing an acute shortage.
"At this point, labour force growth grinds to a halt and higher levels of immigration are likely necessary to sustain a modest pace of labour force growth," Craig Alexander, co-author of the TD report, said.
This is also the time when a number of key projects would be in execution stage. The CSC estimates Alberta's construction local workforce to be exhausted by 2015 and will have to entirely depend on labour from other provinces. Analysts expect Alberta's construction industry to surpass its 2008 peak over the next decade, driven by oil and gas projects.
The development is far from certain. A drastic fall in crude oil prices could make many projects uneconomical, while regulatory and logistical issues such as the delays in the developments of pipelines could further dampen investor enthusiasm. Dramatic transformation in the U.S. energy sector could also have huge implications for the energy industry and wider Canadian economy.
But for Mr. Smillie, the biggest obstacle remains the labour crunch. "The opportunity is immense but so is the risk. Talk to any of our members and any of their customers like Suncor, Enbridge or whomever, and the third piece of the stool is always the ability to secure workforce. It could absolutely be a show stopper."


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Cisco at OOW 2012 : Empowering your Innovation
Oracle Open World is around the corner – And as usual Cisco will be there to showcase a partnership which is flourishing with the extension of the UCS family , which provides to the Oracle users and administrators , better performance and better platform management, not even mentioning cost reduction .(check here the excellent analysis from Bill Shields ).
As a matter of fact we just announced today a world-record TPC benchmark result with Oracle beating the nearest competition by 7% better performance and 11% lower price performance ! Read "Introducing World's Fastest 2-Processor Server "
Our team of engineers has been extremely busy over the past months , developing numerous Cisco Validated Designs, an engineering and collaborative program which guarantees a high level of quality for the implementation of a solution – Here are some recent achievements that you want to keep in mind
Certification of 11gR2 on SUSE SLES 11
-New CVD on Oracle PeopleSoft on UCS
-New CVD on JD Edwards running n MS SQL Server on UCS
-New CVD on Siebel on UCS
-New CVD Oracle Database on Flexpod (Cisco /NetApp integrated platform)
If you are planning to be at the Moscone Center in San Francisco this coming week, here are some activities in addition of stopping at the Cisco booth ( #1221) for demos and meeting with experts that you don't want to miss
Speaking Session
Paul Perez, Cisco VP and CTO Data Center Group, will be on stage on Wednesday, October 3 at 11:45 AM PST
Cisco Innovation: Business Solutions Delivered in Proven Secured Clouds
The one constant is change. Yesterday's technology cannot support today's demanding business requirements. Cisco addresses data center IT challenges with the Cisco Unified Computing System, bringing unification of server, network, and storage access that provides unparalleled performance, lower cost, and management efficiencies. Customer challenges that range from linking data centers, moving virtual machines between private and public clouds, and securing of priority bandwidth can be successfully supported with Cisco business solutions. Hear from Paul Perez how proven and secure Cisco cloud infrastructure solutions deliver customers a competitive advantage in today's dynamic business world and view into cloud infrastructures of the future. Also hear from Oracle how they leverage Cisco's technology to benefit our joint customers.
Location: Lam Research Theater at YBCA (Seating Capacity of 700)
Other sessions that I would like to suggest are
Big Data Performance Delivered: Oracle NoSQL Database on Cisco UCS
Cisco Unified Computing System: The Ultimate Platform to Drive Oracle Solutions
Check the complete list of Cisco sessions here
Theater Presentation
We will have this year again 3 days (10 am to 4 pm) of short speaking sessions (20 mn each) with Cisco and partner experts
Check on your arrival the latest list of presentations- You may be able to win a very nice reward in participating in one of these sessions
Cisco is working diligently not only with Oracle, but also EMC , NetApp, Intel, and other partners such as VCE , and of course numerous resellers
Check on the Cisco booth for your participation to a passport program
I will be at the Moscone Center with a video crew , and will report to you what's going on this year at Oracle Open World, providing as well blogs and tweets (@ciscodc and @drombaut) – Please follow the hashtag #oowcisco I hope to see you soon
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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Assault weapons ban a poison pill?
Senior Senate Democrats want to postpone the fight over a new assault weapons ban until gun control legislation hits the floor in the coming weeks.
But they may not have a choice.
Story Continued Below
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) — the lead sponsor of a measure to ban assault weapons — is seriously weighing whether to propose the new ban at a Judiciary Committee markup later this month, a move that could upend the Democratic leadership's carefully hatched strategy to handle the controversial gun-control debate.
( PHOTOS: Senate guns hearing)
"Probably," Feinstein told POLITICO when asked if she would offer her measure as an amendment in committee. "This is a ways away."
If Feinstein ultimately decides to go that route, some Democrats fear the move could ironically end up sinking a new universal background checks bill, which is considered a key piece of President Barack Obama's gun control agenda that stands a serious chance of passing the Senate.
That's because if Feinstein's assault-weapon proposal is adopted in the Judiciary Committee — which seems probable based on the Democrats who serve on the panel — it would become part of overall gun-control legislation, which includes universal background checks, before it heads to the Senate floor. The move in committee would make the assault weapons language that much harder to strip out of the legislation during floor debate.
( PHOTOS: Politicians with guns)
Senate leaders — including Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) — would prefer to see the assault weapons ban offered as an amendment to gun control legislation on the floor, which would allow red-state Democrats up for reelection in 2014 to vote against it without opposing the overall legislation.
But Leahy doesn't plan to stand in Feinstein's way.
The Judiciary chairman told POLITICO he would have "no problem" if Feinstein offered the amendment in committee.
"You know me, I never prevent anybody from offering anything," the Vermont Democrat said.
( PHOTOS: Will these guns be banned again?)
The Feinstein push underscores how Senate Democrats are far from united in their response to the spate of deadly shootings across the country, including at an elementary school at Newtown, Conn., late last year. And it comes as a bipartisan group of four senators is quietly trying to draft a new gun compromise — likely to focus on background checks and gun trafficking — that could be floated as early as next week . Feinstein herself plans to hold a hearing on gun violence later this month.
Liberals and gun-control advocates sense the time is ripe for a sweeping new agenda to ban the deadliest firearms and high-capacity ammunition clips from the streets.
But moderate Democrats from red states — including those who are up for reelection in 2014 — are extremely sensitive to Second Amendment concerns. Democratic leaders believe that tightening background checks is the one measure that can garner the support of most Democrats — and a handful of Senate Republicans — and are nervous about upsetting that balance by attaching potential deal-breakers like the assault weapons ban.
Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, a red-state Democrat up for reelection in 2014, is the type of swing-vote senator who could potentially back new background checks, but could be turned off if the assault weapons ban is added to the package.
"We should look at it, if we can make it better, and make it more comprehensive somehow, I think we ought to consider that," Pryor said when asked whether he could support a universal background checks bill. "But again, it depends on how they put that together."


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Valentine's Day is the sweetest of all the holidays, both in sentiment and in sweet treats. But with candy and confections being shared and parties being thrown, it's also a good time to review some basics of effective food allergy management.
Here are some helpful reminders for parents of children with food allergy as this holiday approaches:
- Remember that candy manufacturers may change packaging for holidays like Valentine's Day. For example, a peanut butter cup might come in the form of a foil-wrapped heart instead of the tell-tale cup shape. Don't assume anything. Read every label, every time. If a label is not available, don't take chances and avoid the treat.
- Buy some safe candy or inexpensive toys or trinkets and prepare a special Valentine's goodie bag for your child. Or have these items available for a trade in case your child receives treat that he or she cannot have. Re-emphasize to your child that these sweets shouldn't be eaten unless a trusted adult has read the labels and said it's okay.
- Invent your own holiday tradition, such as making homemade Valentine's cards or baking allergy-friendly treats together and decorating them in keeping with a Valentine's theme. (Need inspiration? Check out this recipe for Valentine's Day Cake Pops on our Teen Blog)
Happy Valentine's Day!


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Polarized Eyewear & Angler Accessories by Flying Fisherman
Availability: In Stock
Blue Marlin Soft Strap Retainer
Neoprene retainer with Blue Marlin design slips onto temples of sunglasses, and keeps sunglasses in place and from getting lost. Prevents Loss of Eyewear. Ends of Strap Attach to Sunglasses Temple Tips. Soft Neoprene Strap is Comfortable To Wear. Lightweight and Durable. Hand Washable.
Flying Fisherman® Sunglass Retainers:


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In what may be the ultimate expression of conspicuous consumption, Starbucks says you can now pay for the company's products with selected handheld devices.
That's right. Your overpriced cell phone, connected to the Internet thanks to an overpriced data plan, will be able to reimburse Starbucks for its overpriced coffee. A trifecta!
Starbucks has been testing payments via smartphone at stores in Seattle, New York, parts of California and in the Starbucks stores found in Targets. The New York Times says the program is going nationwide, covering more than 7,500 stores.
The program uses an app that can be downloaded by BlackBerry, iPhone or iPod Touch users. You'll need a Starbucks account and a physical Starbucks card. Enter the number found on the back of the card into your phone.
Once that's done, you can load your Starbucks card with cash from a credit or debit card, and the amount will show up on the phone. When you're ready to pay, tap a button and the phone displays a barcode that the barista will scan.
The app also can show you nearby Starbucks stores that are participating in the program, and will keep track of your rewards points.
Not all Starbucks will participate, however. Store that don't normally accept the cards – such as those inside Barnes and Noble bookstores – won't take the app. Check with your friendly neighborhood barista to see whether the app works there before flashing your smartphone around.
Update: It turns out there also is an Android app that will let you pay at a Starbucks. It's not an official app, but rather a widget created by a third-party developer. It's free, and requires at least Android 1.6.


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Jody Wempe, daughter of Jim Wempe and Cindy Schoning, and Daron Buresch, son of Byron and Keri Buresch, are planning their wedding this August.
Daron and Jody are both recent graduates of South Dakota State University. After the wedding the couple will be living in Lakefield, Minn., where Daron will be working with the Buresch Farms Establishment and Jody will be substitute teaching in Iowa and Minnesota.
The couple plan to be wed on Saturday, Aug. 28, at the First United Methodist Church in Windom, Minn.
Article Photos


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arete needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 73 designs submitted by 24 freelance designers.
Design a logo for Southwest Commercial Properties, a commercial real estate investment firm based out of Phoenix, Arizona.
Southwest Commercial Properties
Desired Style:
Contemporary, Professional, Southwestern
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
Design should communicate professionalism and be web 2.0 friendly -- the company will be using a website extensively to advertise properties, find business partners, and blog about the real estate market. It would also be helpful to incorporate some element(s) associated with Phoenix and/or Arizona into the design, to distinguish us from commercial real estate firms in other cities; e.g. outline of the state of Arizona, the Phoenix skyline, etc.
Flexible on color scheme, but whatever colors are used should look professional and be applicable to multiple corporate branding purposes such as website, business cards, etc.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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The Core Details:
When: Saturday, January 14th, 2012, 10 am to 4pm
Where: The Atrium, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn campus, 467 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122
Entrances located at:
- John Street, just north of Mcleod Lane (you can enter John Street either from the south at the Burwood road end, or from the north at the Glenferrie Station end).
- William Street, just north of McLeod lane.
(Please see the Attend page for more info.)
To Contact us:
Please email: info (at) makerfairemelbourne (dot) com
What and Why:
A Maker Faire is about celebrating learning and doing – not the finished and perfect end product. It's a place to share what we're learning with others, and celebrate the fun and freedom of being an amateur.
Featuring both established and emerging local "makers," the Melbourne Mini Maker Faire is a family-friendly celebration coming to Australasia for the first time on Saturday, January 14th, 2012. It will feature rockets and robots, DIY science and technology, urban farming and sustainability, alternative energy, bicycles, unique hand-made crafts, and educational workshops and installations.
Mini Maker Faires such as this have started to sprout up around the United States, Canada, Europe and now Australia. Maker Faire started back in 2005 as a spin-off of Make Magazine. The Melbourne Mini Maker Faire will follow the big Maker Faire model of celebrating do-it-yourself creativity and tinkering, but will be smaller in scale and – although predominantly showcasing the wonders of the local Melbourne Maker community – will include exhibitors from around Australia and beyond. See the sections at the end of this page for additional information.
Other Channels:
Follow the development of the Melbourne Mini Maker Faire by following this blog, or follow along on your choice of:
- Google Plus +makerfaire melbourne
- Twitter @makerfairemel and the hast tag: #mfm or #mfm2012
- Our Facebook fan page.
- Or subscribe to the Google Group Mail List.
You can also check out the organisers website at: Hack Melbourne, the online home of the Connected Community Hackerspace.
About Maker Faire:
The mission of Maker Faire events is to inspire, inform, connect and entertain thousands of Makers and aspiring Makers of all ages and backgrounds through the public gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkers, hobbyists, science clubs, students, authors and commercial exhibitors. The inaugural Maker Faire was held in San Mateo, CA and just celebrated its sixth annual Bay Area event with some 100,000 people in attendance. As Maker Faire continues to grow in popularity and relevance, it expanded to Detroit and New York City in -2010, Community-driven, independently produced Mini Maker Faire events inspired by Maker Faire are now being produced around the United States and the world, including Mini Maker Faire Melbourne. Maker Faire is supported by MAKE Magazine and O'Reilly Media, the premier information source for leading-edge computer technologies.
About MAKE Magazine:
MAKE is the first magazine devoted entirely to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technology projects. MAKE unites, inspires, informs, and entertains a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages. MAKE celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your will. MAKE is published quarterly by Maker Media, the division of O'Reilly Media, Inc., that also produces the wildly popular Make: Online (www.makezine.com), CRAFT (www.craftzine_com), the Maker Shed online store for DIY kits, books, and more (www.makershed.com), and the world's biggest DIY festival. Maker Faire (wwwmakerfaireßom),
About O'Reílly Media:
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines and conferences. Since 1978, Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cuttingedge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making and evangelism.


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Centers of Excellence
Featured Services
A-Z Index
See full list of Medical Services
Analgesia Medication used to decrease the sensation of pain.
Anesthesia: A medication or other agent is used to cause a loss of feeling. With General Anesthesia, a gas or intravenous medication is used to make the mother unconscious during delivery. With Spinal Anesthesia, a drug is injected into the lower spinal area to numb the vaginal region. With Epidural Anesthesia: a drug is given through a fine tube inserted in the mother's lower back to numb the vaginal area and lower abdomen. With Paracervical Anesthesia: a drug is injected into the cervix (opening of the womb) to relieve the pain of labor.
Augmentation of Labor: A drug is used to help labor contractions continue or become stronger.
Birthing Room: An in-hospital arrangement in which labor, birth and immediate recovery after birth all occur in the same room. In some hospitals, it's called an "LDR" or "LDRP."
Breech Birth: A birth in which the infant's buttocks and/or feet enter the birth canal first.
Cesarean: A surgical operation in which the baby is delivered Section through incisions (cuts) made in the mother's abdomen and uterus. A Primary Cesarean Section is a mother's first, even if she has given birth vaginally before. A Repeat Cesarean Section is when a mother has had a previous cesarean section/s.
Episiotomy: An incision (cut) sometimes made to enlarge the vaginal opening.
Fetal Electronic Monitoring: recording of contractions and the baby's heartbeat.
External Fetal Monitoring: involves the use of small instruments held in place or the mother's abdomen by belts.
Internal Fetal Monitoring: involves inserting a small tube with a fine wire into the uterus and attaching the wire to the baby's scalp. Also, a soft tube may be placed along side of the baby's head to measure contractions.
Forceps Spoon-shaped Delivery: instruments called forceps, are used to help deliver the baby's head. In a Low Forceps Delivery the instruments are not used until the baby's head has moved through the pelvis. In a Mid Forceps Delivery, the instruments are used before the baby's head has moved through the pelvis.
Medical Induction of Labor: A medication is used to start labor contractions.
Nurse Midwife: A registered nurse who has had specialized midwifery training to care for women and babies during pregnancy childbirth, and after birth.
Rooming-In: An arrangement in which the mother and infant are cared for in the same room for all or a substantial part of the day.
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Section (VBAC): The mother has had a cesarean section previously, but delivers this baby vaginally.
4802 Tenth Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11219
Appointments: 718-283-2665
General: 718-283-6000
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About The Konkapot Family
Konkapot Lodge, is a Native American owned hotel which is privately-owned, but of course is open to the public. Most of the owners and staff of Konkapot Lodge are descendants of Popewannehah "John" Konkapot, a Mohican Chief who served as a selectman in George Washington's Army during the American Revolution. The Stockbridge Mohicans were the only Native Americans to serve with the Colonists in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars, and the first Native Americans to be granted U.S. citizenship. Chief Konkapot also played a vital role in the negotiations with early missionaries, bringing education and Christianity to the tribe.
After being removed from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and then Stockbridge, New York, Konkapot and the Mohican Nation were merged with Munsee and Brotherton Indians, and eventually forced to move to the current reservation, which was carved from the Menominee Nation in 1856.
Today, 140 + years later, Konkapot Lodge possesses a great collection of family heirlooms and historic information that are available for guests to view. To learn more, we suggest visiting the many local historic museums including the Stockbridge-Munsee Library and Museum and the Menominee Logging Museum.
Carol and Merton Vele, founders of Konkapot Lodge, raised 5 children and lived on the reservation their entire lives. In 1972, Merton, with a lot of help from extended family, built a cozy 2 bedroom cabin on the reservation. While growing up it was perfect for family week-ends and summer visits "home". Several years ago while the children were visiting the folks (who retired in the cabin), it became painfully obvious that the family of twenty-four no longer comfortably fit in the cabin. It was too cozy for comfort!
After a family pow wow, we decided to build a family lodge and name it after our ancestors. In particular, we wanted to honor our ten aunts and uncles who were raised in a small stone house on the reservation not too far from the lodge. Before long, as is often the case, one thing led to another and before we knew it we were planning a 28 room lodge.
Our goal was to create a sense of quiet and peace which is what the Reservation means to us personally. We want you to experience The Great North Woodsand the Reservation in it's full and natural splendor. We hope your stay is an unique and enjoyable experience – one we hope you will want to enjoy again and again and share with friends.
We know that there is a lot of lodging to choose from and we are grateful you are considering us for your stay.
The Merton M. Vele Family, Proprietors


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It's been baking for so long that I forgot Groovy 1.6 was still in release candidate mode! Well, it's here at last and Guillaume wrote a good overview on InfoQ.
Groovy 1.6 provides two options for hooking into the Groovy compiler for compile-time metaprogramming: local and global AST transformations. This post explains how to write and debug a local AST transformation.
As a naive and simple example, consider wanting to write a @WithLogging annotation that would add console messages at the start and end of a method invocation. So the following "Hello World" example would actually print "Hello World" along with a start and stop message:
def greet() {
println "Hello World"
An incredibly poor man's aspect oriented programming, if you will.
A local AST transformation is an easy way to do this. It requires two things: a definition of the @WithLogging annotation and an implementation of ASTTransformation that adds the logging expressions to the method.
An ASTTransformation is a callback that gives you access to the SourceUnit, through which you can get a reference to the AST. The AST is a tree structure of Expression objects that the source code has been transformed into. An easy way to learn about the AST is to explore it in a debugger, which will be shown shortly. Once you have the AST, you can analyze it to find out information about the code or rewrite it to add new functionality.
The local transformation annotation is the simple part. Here is the @WithLogging one:
import org.codehaus.groovy.transform.GroovyASTTransformationClass
public @interface WithLogging {
The annotation retention can be SOURCE, you won't need the annotation past that. The element type here is METHOD, the @WithLogging annotation applies to methods. But the most important part is the @GroovyASTTransformationClass annotation. This links the @WithLogging annotation to the ASTTransformation subclass you will write. gep.LoggingTransformation is the full package and class of my ASTTransformation. This line wires the annotation to the transformation.
With this in place, the Groovy compiler is going to try to invoke gep.LoggingASTTransformation every time an @WithLogging is found in a source unit. Any breakpoint set within LoggingASTTransformation will now be hit within the IDE when running the sample script.
The ASTTransformation subclass is a little more complex. Here is the very simple, and very naive, transformation to add a method start and stop message for @WithLogging:
public class LoggingASTTransformation implements ASTTransformation {
public void visit(ASTNode[] nodes, SourceUnit sourceUnit) {
List methods = sourceUnit.getAST()?.getMethods()
// find all methods annotated with @WithLogging
methods.findAll { MethodNode method ->
method.getAnnotations(new ClassNode(WithLogging))
}.each { MethodNode method ->
Statement startMessage = createPrintlnAst("Starting $method.name")
Statement endMessage = createPrintlnAst("Ending $method.name")
List existingStatements = method.getCode().getStatements()
existingStatements.add(0, startMessage)
private Statement createPrintlnAst(String message) {
return new ExpressionStatement(
new MethodCallExpression(
new VariableExpression("this"),
new ConstantExpression("println"),
new ArgumentListExpression(
new ConstantExpression(message)
Starting at the top...
The @GroovyASTTransformation(phase=CompilePhase.SEMANTIC_ANALYSIS) line tells the Groovy compiler that this is a local transformation that applies to the SEMANTIC_ANALYSIS CompilePhase. Local transformations can only be applied at semantic analysis or later phases, and this line is required!
The public visit(ASTNode[], SourceUnit) method is invoked for each source unit that contains your target annotation. The AST you receive is not for the @WithLogging annotated method, it is for the entire file that contains @WithLogging. In this example, I'm just using findAll to locate methods that are annotated with @WithLogging, then using an each statement to wrap any annotated method with print lines. A method to the compiler is simply a list of Statement objects, so I'm adding a statement zero logging the start message and appending a statement to the list with the end message.
Note the creation of the new println statements in the createPrintlnAst(String) method. Creating AST for code is not simple. In this case I need to construct a new method call, passing in the receiver/variable, the name of the method, and an argument list. When creating AST I like to write the code I'm trying to create in a Groovy file and then inspect the AST of that code in the debugger to learn what I want to create. Then I write a function like createPrintlnAst using what I learned through the debugger. Cumbersome, for me at least.
The final result:
def greet() {
println "Hello World"
Starting greet
Hello World
Ending greet
Enjoy! Full code available at: http://svn.assembla.com/svn/SampleCode/gep/src/gep/transform/local/


text:
How to break your cell phone contract without breaking the bank!
Written by Administrator on Friday, November 23rd, 2007 in Compare Cell Phone Contracts.
So, you want to break your cell phone contract without incurring encumbersome fees. What can you do about the two-year contract that you are locked into? There are several ways that you can effectively negate your cell phone contract without having to pay an early termination fee. As a side note, known of these suggestions involves ingenious escape tricks or faking your own disappearance. Here are six suggestions that have proven effective at freeing boggled down mobile phone users from their old and out-dated contract.
Read the Fine Print of Your Contract
If you have recently signed up for new service, there is a simple way to break your cell phone contract. You will commonly find a clause in the contract that allows someone to drop the contract within the first fourteen to thirty days of service. You will only have to pay a prorated amount for the length of time that you used the service. In order to break your mobile contract this way, you have to call or visit your cell phone carrier for more information.
Find Someone to Take Over Your Contract
You may have heard of people finding someone to take over their auto loan or mortgage. Thanks to the power of the Internet, you can now do the same with a cell phone contract. Before you abandon ship though, there are some requirements that you and the potential candidate must meet.
There are now many websites dedicated to cell phone contract transferring/swapping. For example, you can find someone who might want to take over your contract at www.Celltradeusa.com . This is a site that specializes in connecting individuals, who want to transfer their cell phone contract, with someone who is interesting in obtaining a new contract. This is probably one of the most effective ways of breaking your mobile contract and believe it or not, it is fairly quick and effective.
One consideration to keep in mind so that you do not get bombarded with a hefty early termination fee is to be sure that the potential candidate for your contract meets all of the qualifications, such as a credit check.
Relocate to another Area
Okay, so this may seem like a drastic way to get out of your cell phone contract. If a person moves to an area that there current cell phone carrier does not service then the contract is no longer in effect. It is quite simple to change your address with a cell phone carrier. Now, this option does not have a high success rating since cell phone coverage has grown immensely, but it is always worth a shot. In addition, if you have a move imminent in the near future, one perk may be the ability to change cell phone carriers should you desire to do so.
Read the rest of this entry »


text: I see you over there, so young, eager, excited, confused and scared shitless. That's ok. Here's some help for your biggest creative assignment yet - selling yourself. Stay tuned for tips, articles and advice on everything from compensation, competitions and not coming off like an idiot, or worse, an asshole.


text:
Reducing Academic Pressure May Help Children Succeed
12-Mar-2012 9:00 AM EDT
American Psychological Association (APA)
Available for logged-in reporters only
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Telling children learning is difficult could reduce fear of failure, research finds
Newswise — WASHINGTON — Children may perform better in school and feel more confident about themselves if they are told that failure is a normal part of learning, rather than being pressured to succeed at all costs, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. "We focused on a widespread cultural belief that equates academic success with a high level of competence and failure with intellectual inferiority," said Frederique Autin, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Poitiers in Poitiers, France. "By being obsessed with success, students are afraid to fail, so they are reluctant to take difficult steps to master new material. Acknowledging that difficulty is a crucial part of learning could stop a vicious circle in which difficulty creates feelings of incompetence that in turn disrupts learning."
The study, published online in APA's Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, could have important implications for teachers, parents and students, said Jean-Claude Croizet, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Poitiers who supervised the research based on Autin's doctoral dissertation. "People usually believe that academic achievement simply reflects students' inherent academic ability, which can be difficult to change," Croizet said. "But teachers and parents may be able to help students succeed just by changing the way in which the material is presented." In the first experiment with 111 French sixth graders, students were given very difficult anagram problems that none of them could solve. Then a researcher talked to the students about the difficulty of the problems. One group was told that learning is difficult and failure is common, but practice will help, just like learning how to ride a bicycle. Children in a second group were just asked how they tried to solve the problems. The students then took a test that measures working memory capacity, a key cognitive ability for storing and processing incoming information. Working memory capacity is a good predictor of many aspects of academic achievement, including reading comprehension, problem solving and IQ. The students who were told that learning is difficult performed significantly better on the working memory test, especially on more difficult problems, than the second group or a third control group who took the working memory test without doing the anagrams or discussions with researchers. A second experiment with 131 sixth graders followed a similar procedure with the difficult anagrams and discussions with a researcher. An additional group of students took a simpler anagram test that could be solved, and this group was not told that learning is difficult. All of the students then completed a reading comprehension test. The children who were told that learning is difficult scored higher than the other groups, including the students who had just succeeded on the simple test. How students think about failure may be more important than their own success when learning challenging skills, the study noted. A third experiment with 68 sixth graders measured reading comprehension and asked questions that measured students' feelings about their own academic competence. The group that was told that learning is difficult performed better in reading comprehension and reported fewer feelings of incompetence. The study noted that the students' improvement on the tests most likely was temporary, but the results showed that working memory capacity may be improved simply by boosting students' confidence and reducing their fear of failure. "Our research suggests that students will benefit from education that gives them room to struggle with difficulty," Autin said. "Teachers and parents should emphasize children's progress rather than focusing solely on grades and test scores. Learning takes time and each step in the process should be rewarded, especially at early stages when students most likely will experience failure."
The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 154,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.
Article: "Improving Working Memory Efficiency by Reframing Metacognitive Interpretation of Task Difficulty," Frederique Autin, PhD, and Jean-Claude Croizet, PhD, University of Poitiers and the National Center for Scientific Research, Poitiers, France; Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, online. http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-ofp-autin.pdf


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To keep the grass greener on your side of the fence next spring, there are a few steps you should take now.
For example, if you use a sprinkler system to help keep your lawn in great shape, there are certain tasks you must perform to protect your system before winter arrives.
Experts recommend that you winterize your system around the middle of autumn to make certain that the job is done before any freezing occurs. The process mainly consists of getting all the water out of the lines. When water is left in the system and freezes, it can damage the valves, pipes and other system com-ponents.
Here are some tips from the experts at Rain Bird, an irrigation product manufacturer:
• Start by turning off the timer. Automatic irrigation systems have a controller or timer. Most controllers have a "rain" or "off" mode that shuts off the signals to the valves. Turning it "off" allows the controller to keep all the essential programming information stored. The only change is that the valves will not turn on. If you unplug or cut the power to your controller, you may need to reprogram it in the spring.
• Make sure the water is off. Shutting off the irrigation main water supply helps to protect the system from damage. If your system doesn't have a main shutoff valve, it's a good idea to install one to protect your investment.
• Wrap it up. It's a good idea to insulate any aboveground pipes, backflow preventers and valves by wrapping them with foam insulation tape and a plastic bag.
• Next, drain the pipes. People who live in regions that freeze should remove the water from pipes to protect them from freezing and bursting. There are several ways to drain pipes, including opening the valves manually and using compressed air to "blow out" the system. Since there can be some risk involved, it's always a good idea to contact an irrigation contractor who specializes in winterization.
For more irrigation tips as well as information on where to find a specialist, visit www.rainbird.com or call 800-RAINBIRD.


text:
ALOHA and welcome to my website!
I hope you enjoy your stay.
See the Appearances section to find out where you can see me in the upcoming months!
I'm sharing some of my favorite pictures in the gallery, so take a look. There are photos from all parts of my career and some fun ones from my personal collection.
Also I'm sure you'll enjoy my behind the scenes look at Magnum P.I. in my book. I promise you'll discover secrets from the show you never knew!
In Aloha Magnum, the first-ever book about Magnum, P.I., I tell all!
I reveal
what really went on behind the scenes during Magnum,
P.I.'s successful eight-year run
Find Aloha Magnum: Larry Manetti's Magnum, P.I. Memories on Amazon.com
or Order Here!