text:
>>> ADDED 1/26/12: Read THE TRUTH about Tennessee Williams death (a murder) here: http://scottkenan.blogspot.com/2011/05/finally-truth-about-tennessee-williams.html
BUY my memoir about working for Tennessee Williams here (site now includes PROFESSION REVIEWS): http://www.amazon.com/WALKING-GLASS-TENNESSEE-WILLIAMS-ebook/dp/B0053480S2/
>>> ADDED 4/3/2017: My memoir can now be read for FREE in a blog format, here: http://laterdaysoftennesseewilliams.blogspot.com/
Read the original blog post here: http://bluenred.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/ropes-end/
especially if the rich photos do not show on your computer.
Rope's EndPublished July 31, 2010 Cineman , Eros 9 Comments
Wrong. He huffily rejected my effort, and I stuck it in a drawer. Where it re-mained until I was up against a deadline for one of the shooting-star newspapers I worked for later in the decade; I dug out the Puerto Vallarta thing, entered it into the tubes, and thereby was done for the week.
(When that paper's website went dark, together with the paper, I figured the piece was lost. Then today, looking for something completely different, I stumbled across it in this strange ghostly wormhole on the tubes. I don't know how long it's going to persist in that place, so I'm bringing it here.
(I am charmed by loose location stories like this one, because they remind me of the lubricious, bibulous mayhem I experienced while working with other young rebels in putting out fine and feisty "alternative" newspapers, back in the day. Of course, no one can live forever in such a manner—the Iguana people who went at it hardest (Gardner, Burton) were the first to leave their bodies. It's not really necessary, I know now, to live like that at all. William Blake, for instance, managed to behave himself, and he did alright, art-wise. He was even visited by angels.)
Without John Huston's 1963 film The Night of the Iguana there would not exist today the gringo tourist mecca of Puerto Vallarta. Before Huston & Co. arrived to transfer the prizewinning play of Tennessee Williams to the big screen, Puerto Vallarta was an unknown, "undiscovered" village just entering the age of electricity. As The Night of the Iguana became one of the most publicized film shoots in the history of the movies, the town was transformed from a sleepy backwater on the heat-plagued west coast of Mexico into one of the most attractive jetset destinations on the globe.
Ray Stark brought the Iguana property to Huston. The rookie producer had put but one film upon the screen when he acquired the rights to the play, believing it "would make a wonderful picture, especially in Mexico. John, of course, was the guru of Mexico. I just got him at a lucky time when he wanted to go back there."
Huston had shot The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Unforgiven in Mexico and had planned to lens The Misfits there until overruled by that film's writer/producer, Arthur Miller. Williams had specified Acapulco as the location of his play, but Huston scoffed at the notion of staging his film there. He sought a place more
wild and forlorn, one that would reflect the torment of the work's characters, par-ticularly protagonist T. Laurence Shannon. This defrocked clergyman, locked out of his church for fornicating with a young parishioner, finds himself adrift, awash in alcohol, reduced to escorting elderly churchwomen on fourth-rate bus tours through fifth-rate sites in Mexico and the southwest US. The Night of the Iguana is, in Huston's words, the story "of a man, desperate and full of despair, at the end of his rope."
On a long-ago 1929 voyage off the coast of western Mexico, Huston had been struck by the splendid isolation and smothering atmosphere of an insect-infested promontory known as Mismaloya. He found that in 1963 this lonely spot on the Bay of Banderas was still the domain of mosquitoes and lizards—unmarked on any map, surrounded by thick rainforest, accessible only by dugout canoe, populated by less than 100 Tarascan people. Huston determined to make his film here, shooting bits of early action in the hamlet of Puerto Vallarta, some 15 minutes away.
Huston learned that Mexican architect Guillermo Wulff held a lease on Mismaloya. He then contracted with Wulff to build, under the supervision of set director Stephen Grimes, an exact replica of a weathered Mexico hotel at the very tip of Mismaloya, some 300 feet above the sea. Huston also ordered construction of 40 bungalows as living quarters for cast and crew; he and Wulff hoped after the film to turn this "temporary" housing into a profitable resort.
When Grimes saw Wulff using beachsand to make cement, he demanded the architect desist, arguing the sand contained so much salt it would inevitably and prematurely weaken the concrete. Wulff and Grimes first quarreled, then compromised: beachsand would be used for the bungalows, less salty material would go into the actual set.
While 283 workers and 80 burros labored in Mismaloya, Huston and writer Anthony Veiller went to work on the script. In the play, a panicked Shannon, desperately fleeing a swarm of interior "spooks" and seeking to move his crumbling life from "the fantastic level to the realistic level," more or less hijacks his tour bus full of straightlaced females and strands it in an isolated out-of-season hotel run by the widow of an old friend. There he is set upon by Nazi tourists and plagued by a rapacious trio of women, eventually driven to his death by the poisonous emanations of the spiderlike widow Maxine.
Huston and Veiller first jettisoned the Nazis, then transformed Maxine from the agent of Shannon's destruction into his salvation. Richard Burton was chosen to play Shannon; Ava Gardner signed on as Maxine. Deborah Kerr would appear as the asexual itinerant sketch-artist Hannah, who
arrives at the hotel with grandfather Nanno, "the world's oldest living and practicing poet." Sue Lyon, fresh from Lolita, was cast as Charlotte, the insis-tent nymphet whose presence after hours in Shannon's room precipitates the mad-dened minister's panicked flight to the sanctuary of Maxine's hotel.
Burton, his inamorata Elizabeth Taylor, Gardner, Kerr, and Lyon, as well as Huston and Williams, were at or near their peak period of popular acclaim. The press slowly became aware that a clutch of filmdom's most fascinating personalities was inexplicably bound for some isolated place none of them had ever heard of. Surely bloodshed or other scandal must result. In newsrooms around the world, inkstained wretches began making plans to be there.
The converging journalists soon found that even reaching Mismaloya from Puerto Vallarta qualified as a harrowing ordeal.
"There's no harbor at Vallarta," scribe Stephen Birmingham would report. "You climb into a native dugout canoe on the beach—which they call the Beach of the Dead—then wait for a wave big enough to carry your canoe into deep water. Then you are paddled out to a waiting motor launch. There you stand up and leap for the other boat—which is always tricky since the rim of the launch is considerably higher than the rim of the canoe. Next comes the eight-mile trip across the bay to the peninsula itself. Disembarking at Mismaloya is equally nervewracking. You must leap from the launch onto a floating pier, where you wait till a wave carries the pier close to shore. Then you literally fling yourself onto some rusted steps leading to a kind of wharf, which puts you on dry land. Catching your breath, you doggedly tackle the 134 earthen steps which have been carved into the mountainside—to the pinnacle where Huston has his hotel."
Most believed the trip worth the effort, however. For Huston had assembled in and around The Night of the Iguana what was without doubt one of the most incestuous grouping of Hollywood glitterati in the history of motion pictures. The prospects for disaster were so great that before filming began the director summoned Burton,
Taylor, Gardner, Kerr, Lyon, and Stark to the bar of his newly completed Misma-loya hotel and presented each with a gold-plated derringer in a velvet box. Each of the six also received five golden bullets, engraved with the names of the other five.
Richard Burton, still legally wed to wife Sybil, arrived in Puerto Vallarta accompanied by lover Elizabeth Taylor, still legally wed to Eddie Fisher. Taylor was not in the film, but Gardner, Kerr, and Lyon were. "I trust Richard completely," Taylor assured a skeptical press. "It's just that I don't trust Fate. After all, Fate threw us together in Cleopatra." Burton's agent Hugh French brought his assistant Michael Wilding, better known as the second Mr. Taylor. As part of his official duties Wilding publicized the romance between Burton and Taylor, rented the couple a yacht so they could glide in comfort from Puerto Vallarta to Mismaloya each day, and often thoughtfully packed picnic lunches for Burton and his own once-upon-a-time blushing bride.
The thrice-wed Ava Gardner had once been legally linked to Artie Shaw, who was currently married to Huston's most recent ex-wife, Evelyn Keyes. Years before, a bleary-eyed Huston had driven to Las Vegas to marry Keyes only hours after Gardner refused to conclude an inebriated pool party in the director's bed. Deborah Kerr was on set with current husband Peter Viertel, who had been Gardner's bedmate during the filming of The Sun Also Rises. Author Budd Schulberg dropped in for a week: first wife Virginia Ray had left him to marry Viertel; Schulberg arrived still miffed at producer Stark for purchasing the rights to The Disenchanted, his bleak novel of the last days of a burnt-out Fitzgeraldesque writer that Stark wanted to turn into a sappy love story. Viertel had written screenplays for Huston, and would do so again, but the two men were currently estranged over Viertel's searing portrait of the director in his "novel" White Hunter, Black Heart, an only occasionally fictionalized account of the pair's nightmarish adventures during the making of The African Queen.
In Wulff's newly constructed bungalows Sue Lyon entertained her fiancee Hampton Fancher III while a few doors down Fancher's wife roomed with the starlet's mother. Lyon also brought companion Eva Martine, a beautiful young opium aficionado. Back in the states, Skip Ward's wife was furious to learn the actor had arrived on location with inamorata Julia Payne. Tennessee Williams, who had never married anybody, flew down with lover Freddy in tow, as well as a poodle named Gigi who proved pathetically susceptible to sunstroke.
No mix was ever too volatile for Huston, so he added a few fiery locals as well. First he hired a pair of dissolute beach boys to prance around Gardner onscreen and off; then the director sent one of the loosest cannons in all Mexico rolling inexorably towards the most famous adulterers in filmdom.
When Burton and Taylor's plane touched down in Mexico City, thousands of people were there to greet it. As Taylor wondered whether it was safe to leave the craft, a large, sombrero-shrouded Mexican with one pistol in his belt and another in his fist suddenly clambered aboard the plane, grabbed the stunned actress with his free hand, and bellowed confidently, "Follow El Indio! You will be safe with me!"
"Get this bloody maniac off the bloody plane before I bloody well kill him!" shouted an enraged Burton. A brace of crewmen grappled with the armed intruder, eventually disarming the man and escorting him out onto the tarmac.
Turns out he'd been sent by Huston. "El Indio" was in truth Emilio Fernandez, a notorious Mexican director known to resort to firearms in both his life and his art. Occasionally he would pistol-whip a particularly slow actor; on the set of his most recent film, he'd shot the producer. Fernandez had worked with Huston in The Unforgiven and would work with him again in Under the Volcano; for Iguana Fernandez had been hired as an assistant director and cast in a bit part as a bartender. He served admirably in both capacities; official greeter, however, was a role he was never meant to play.
"Contingencies are bound to arise," was Huston's comment when he learned of the El Indio airport incident. "Emilio's only weakness is his tendency to shoot people he doesn't like. Luckily, he did not fire upon Richard. This means he likes him. I'm sure they'll adjust to one another."
With the press distracted by the antics of all these other sybarites in Iguana's promiscuous zoo,
Hus-ton was able to make his film in the company of lover Zoe Sallis and their 18-month-old son Dan-ny without attracting a single line of salacious media coverage.
Alcohol was a unifying force for many of the film's principals. The theme was sounded even before production began, when Huston and Stark flew to Madrid to convince Gardner to accept the role of Maxine.
"I knew damn well that Ava was going to do it," Huston recalled. "She did, too—but she wanted to be courted. So we went out with my beloved Ava two or three nights running. She lived a very rigorous existence, I must say. We'd meet late in the afternoon, have drinks, then go to dinner around ten o'clock. After dining, it was the clubs and the dancing, and this would go on all night. Ray was made of stronger stuff than I—not quite of the metal and fiber of Ava, who was quite capable of going on through that night and through the next day and the next night and the next. I presently dropped out and Ray went on as her escort for several nights until we left Madrid."
On location, when the likes of Taylor demanded daily doses of hamburgers slathered with onions, imported at great cost from the US, and the 17-year-old Lyon insisted she could not act unless supplied with gefilte fish and red horseradish flown in each morning from Cuernevaca, Gardner requested only that her icebox remain fully stocked at all times with bottles of Mexican beer.
Although she moved five times during production, Gardner would invariably awake each morning to find her beach boys "dead drunk on the patio. Once I had a house with no roof and a twenty-foot wall on the outside. They could scale it like monkeys." She eventually abandoned the abode because "you never knew in the morning when you woke up who would be lying there next to you." The pair consistently appeared on camera "high on pot and this cactus booze called raicilla, which kind of twists your mind."
Burton too was quite taken with raicilla, a paralyzing 180-proof blend of cactus brandy. "If you drink it
straight down," he confided to one reporter, "you can feel it going into each individual intestine." Huston, who was also known to imbibe a glass or nine of the stuff, claimed this effect was due to the fact the distillery "left the needles in."
"They were all into the tequila," Sallis recalled. "Burton and Elizabeth had a lot of rows. Steve Grimes was with some weird German who kept dancing on the tables nude." One evening the usually mild-mannered Williams felt compelled to batter an unconscionably slow Puerto Vallarta bartender. Cinematographer Gabriel Fig-ueroa, most often a quiet, sensitive man, became, when one with tequila, an opera singer of considerable lung power; only unconsciousness, it seemed, could stop the music.
Shooting began each morning promptly at 7:30 a.m.; Burton usually popped his first beer of the day some time earlier. "It used to amaze me, seeing Burton at seven in the morning drinking beer," said assistant director Tom Shaw. "And he'd drink beer all morning long. By the time we finished he would have had a case of beer. And then he'd shift into high gear." One morning Burton apparently experienced difficulty with his gearbox: while the cameras rolled, Burton poured out of a chair onto the cement, slashing his thigh. Stoically he waved away assistance and went on with the scene.
When he first arrived on Mismaloya, Burton was horrified to hear Kerr and Lyon state their belief this would be a "dry" set. "Preposterous!" he bellowed. "Inconceivable! Whoever heard of a location site without a bar? In England, while working with Pete O'Toole on Becket, I was stoned for three entire days—and that was a much more religious role. I was the Archbishop of Canterbury! Why, a bar is absolutely ethnic to our culture."
Huston's cotillion of libidinous, bibulous gringos quickly attracted the wrath of Siempre, a local newspaper that editorially thundered "our children of 10 and 15 are being introduced to sex, drink, drugs, vice, and carnal bestiality by the garbage of the United States: gangsters, nymphomaniacs, heroin-taking blondes." The paper called for the prompt deportation of the Iguana troupe, vowing "it is not too late. Responsible Mexicans can still save Puerto Vallarta." Huston's public response was a verbal shrug: "I am far too busy to spread any carnal bestiality." (The finished film, however, contained a scene
in which El Indio, as the proprietor of a beachside boozeshack, upbraids Charlotte for her sensual three-step with Maxine's beach boys. "No more!" he shouts. "Stop it, I say! Senorita, go home. Take your dollars with you. I am a rich man; I do not want your dollars. I do not want you dancing to my music. No more music! We do not want our sons to know that young girls can be like you.")
In the end some 130 members of the world press descended on Puerto Vallarta for The Night of the Iguana. "They're giving us ten million bucks of free publicity," crowed producer Stark. "We've got more reporters up here than iguanas." The newshounds grew increasingly frustrated, however, as the expected offscreen orgy of sexfueled violence failed to materialize. In desperation, some members of the press tried to manufacture a romance between Fernandez and Gardner, a fantasy that intrigued the former and amused the latter. Gardner was in fact spending much of her time in the company of a local beach bum named Tony, but where they went and what they did remained a secret, for no reporter was ever able to follow long Gardner's sleek new Ferrari.
At one point the shoot was plagued by rumors El Indio had suddenly gone for his guns in a Puerto Vallarta cantina, wildly emptying his revolvers and killing two gringo tourists. When a persistent reporter for a Fleet Street rag demanded details, Fernandez claimed he'd only knocked the two unconscious. "I have not shot a tourist in seven years," he protested.
In truth, the biggest news on Iguana, as on many Huston films, was the cast and crew's daily battle with their own mortality. To begin with, Mismaloya was home to an astonishing variety of malevolent fauna—scorpions, midges, chiggers, mites, mosquitoes, fleas, flies, spiders, and snakes.
"Turn on a light and your wall is covered with insects," moaned one principal. "Walk outside and a spider lands in your hair." Shooting was interrupted while Lyon recovered from a serious scorpion bite. When Taylor blithely strutted about in open-toed sandals, chiggers bored into her feet and had to be carved out with a knife. "They burrow under the skin until they find a vein," the chastened chiggerbearer explained, "then they enter your bloodstream. After that, the only time you can see them is when they're passing across your eyeballs." Huston was proud of Taylor's courage beneath the blade: "That Liz is sure a cool veteran of operations. She's had thirty of 'em to date. Someone is always putting that girl on an operating table and slicing her up."
Before they even reached Mismaloya Huston nearly lost most of his cast in Puerto Vallarta. Skip Ward was set to careen through the streets of town behind the wheel of the bus full of biddies; on one curve he swerved too close to the edge of a cliff, and the soft dirt shoulder began to crumble away. The panicked cast scrambled off the bus as the puzzled vehicle teetered ponderously at the lip of the sea. When he reached solid ground Burton purposefully strode over to the
script assistant and patted her affectionately on the rear, explaining "I just wanted to make sure we were still alive."
The actor's comeuppan-ce arrived when it was time to shoot the film's epiphany. The script had a now-becalmed Shannon, as an act of empathetic anthropomorphic mercy, cutting loose a tethered iguana bound for the stewpot, thereby freeing "one of God's creatures at the end of his rope." Problem was the iguana, a congenitally sluggish animal, refused to move. Shouting and stomping did no good; the thing also ignored brandished broom handles; turpentine applied to its tail produced only a slight twitch. Finally Huston instructed a technician to rig a charged wire to deliver 110 volts of electricity into the flesh of the recalcitrant beast. But when Huston gave the word it was Burton who did the dance of St. Vitus: he'd been unaccountably stroking the reptile and the current passed directly into his hand.
The most serious accident to strike the set occurred early one morning when it became clear Gardner's big dramatic moment would have to wait until she had only 10 or 15 beers in her system, rather than the 40 or 50 she'd that eve consumed. Assistant director Tom Shaw retired to the balcony of his room, calling over to neighbor Terry Morris to come by so the two could discuss the next night's shoot. When Morris joined Shaw on his perch, some 18 feet above the ground, the entire balcony collapsed. The salty beachsand Wulff used to construct the bungalows had at last given way. Morris landed atop Shaw and limped off with minor injuries; Shaw's back was broken in two places. He was placed aboard a boat and floated to Puerto Vallarta, where he was flown the same morning back to the US.
"Here we go again," said a member of the crew as the groaning Shaw was lifted from the rubble. "On John's pictures somebody is always being flown to a hospital. I'd say Shaw was lucky to get off Mismaloya. It's like having a war wound; they take you out of the battle zone and send you home."
A disgusted Huston walked into another bungalow and with a single kick knocked over the balustrade. As the stunned director gazed upon this latest manifestation of entropy a panting crewmember dashed up to inform him the roof of a third structure had suddenly collapsed. "God alive!" Huston swore. "We'd better get this damn picture finished before we're all covered with rubble."
"We had a sixty-day schedule and half the bungalows started to fall apart after sixty days," said Stark. In the end, only the set was left standing. "A nice twist," Grimes added. "Looks better now than when we shot it. Aged beautifully."
The press could expend only so many inches on chiggers and crumbling stone. What readers wanted was human dirt, and the Iguana people obdurately refused to provide it. None of the principals were even remotely close to resorting to their derringers, and, on Huston's orders, even El Indio had been shorn of his six-guns ("It's like asking Samson to get a crewcut," Fernandez complained). So, inevitably, the 130 scribes, to justify their continued existence in sunny Mexico, began instead to file stories on the
place instead of the people. In a matter of months Puerto Vallarta was transformed from a small coastal village into one of the top ten "in" spots in the western hemisphere.
"The press gathered down there expecting something to happen with all these volatile personalities," Huston said years later. "They felt the lid would blow off and there would be fireworks. When there weren't any, they were reduced to writing about Puerto Vallarta. And, I'm afraid, that was the beginning of its popularity, which was a mixed blessing. The beaches became lined by hotels and condominiums. The natives have became waiters, chambermaids, or cops. There are traffic jams, burglaries, muggings. Most of the shops are tourist-oriented.
"But the water is potable. Nobody's face is pitted with smallpox anymore. Typhoid and typhus have almost ceased to exist. And children have as good a chance to be born alive here as anywhere in the world."
9 Responses to "Rope's End"
>>> ADDED 1/26/12: Read THE TRUTH about Tennessee Williams death (a murder) here: http://scottkenan.blogspot.com/2011/05/finally-truth-about-tennessee-williams.html
BUY my memoir about working for Tennessee Williams here (site now includes PROFESSION REVIEWS): http://www.amazon.com/WALKING-GLASS-TENNESSEE-WILLIAMS-ebook/dp/B0053480S2/
- August 1, 2010 at 6:37 am
I have not seen this picture. Will see if I can find it someplace.
I will then see if I can notice any of the problems with the effects left over from the continual bouts of drinking. Enjoyable
- August 1, 2010 at 9:21 am
I am too excited to find this posting and have no time now to even read all of it, but rest assured, you and I need to speak. I was TW's last significant assistant, and in the process of trying to get my Tennessee Williams memoir published, I stepped into two GIANT piles of Republican Party (USA) doo-doo.
Eventually, I escaped to Puerto Vallarta where I am now partnering with several Mexican businessmen to develop and/or sell land to high-end people in Hollywood, Broadway, and elsewhere, and this includes the movie set property of LA Noche Del Iguana!!! We need your knowledge and can cut you in on some great fun and profit as well.
See my book's site: http://www.walkingonglass.net and my political blog: scottkenan.blogspot.com .
Muchos gracias!!!
- August 1, 2010 at 10:19 am
Honey-pot: I LIVE this film!!! Did you look at the reviews page on my book's website??? Where exactly but this moview do you think I got my title??? Night of the Iguana is considered by me and most Williams scholars to be the best Williams thing done. Better than the play. I've all but worn my DVD out!!! Scott
- August 2, 2010 at 7:01 am
Wow, great article and plenty of good "behind the scenes" info.
The Ava Gardner Museum is showing The Night of the Iguana at this year's Ava Gardner Festival, October 8-9. We are doing a "Reading Tennessee Williams" reading series with local libraries where they will be reading the play and this Thursday, August 5th is John Huston's birthday—anyone who mentions his birthday will get "Buy One, Get One Free" admission. Keep up the good work!
Leave a Reply


text:
Is there any requirement of adding any third party firewall or antivirus.
In modern heterogeneous networks, a single virus can spread very quickly because it is virtually impossible to isolate an infection of the newly detected network immediately. Corporate users often held in different archives of files, the exposure of all nodes in the network at risk, shared workstations and file storage.
Is there any requirement of adding any third party firewall or antivirus.
That would depend on your environment. If it is corporate or institutional it is common practice to deploy a third party hardware security solution.
OK it isn't "hardware" in the strictest sense, as it uses software but it is known as such because it runs on its own dedicated platform(s)
This leads us to another consideration?
For some years now the conventional software security solutions have been pretty useless, mainly because they are reactive rather than proactive.
For most corporations and institutions the purpose of third party security software is mainly to cover the asses of the CIO and administrators
Not really a requirement but if you are going to implement it, be sure to check out
Just go checkout technet for "recommended" things to do with AV but as others said, your question is so broad, try and be more specific or give specifics regarding the network
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
Albert Einstein
Im guessing donald answered joshuas question?
Although I'm confused.... Are (As Nihil suggested in a previous thread) these 'automated helpdesk' bots going to start a thread and end it without any human intervention???
This intrigues me. Bots needing help and getting help by other bots. Man.. THATS AWESOME!
(Donald is a bot, right?)
I believe in making the world safe for our children, but not our childrens children, because I dont think children should be having sex. -- Jack Handey
Hi mungyun,
You are quite correct, donaldsmith is a bot. I am afraid I must take the blame for him still being around, as I managed to persuade my Admins and fellow Mods to let him live out of curiosity.
He lives in Pakistan, and I suspect is a college IT project of some sort.
They are becoming more common, as I shot another one earlier today..........one is enough for any forum?
This intrigues me. Bots needing help and getting help by other bots. Man.. THATS AWESOME!
Actually it is just automating a well known form of spam: leading question from the OP, and the shill comes up with the an$wer???
You could run sock accounts that way as well.
Now Joshua was the one I shot earlier........dozens of accounts on all sorts of sites (favouring automobiles) and banned from a few so far. His IP address is India, so he wouldn't be politically or religiously affiliated to Donald...............and I do know where Folsom is, even if he only heard of it from a Johnny Cash record
I am beginning to suspect that there is an industry in creating valid accounts on forums then selling them to spammers? You need a number of posts to be allowed to post a URL on most sites, which is why we get these spammy submissions, to make the account valuable.
Donald, on the other hand does not seem to be aiming at a post count.
Good here isn't it?
Awww cute, we have a pet!
It's certainly fine with me to keep him around as I am rather curious as well. I mean, i've seen plenty of spam bots everywhere but its rare that i see one with such passion for sharing knowledge of technology and computers
I've never really cared about them so I never really thought much about the future of spamming and mining data.
In my view this is one helluva project the guys have taken on-board.
At the moment Donald only seems to respond once in a thread, and does not seem to take into account the various other suggestions and comments that have been offered?
It looks like an attempt to develop a support system somewhere between the rather lame Microsoft "troubleshooter" of XP days, and the standard flowchart chasing stuff offered by level one human support, where you can force the issue up to l2/l3?
If it is to progress, the developers will have to handle the "follow-on-fire" that troubleshooting involves.
We are not a terribly good testbed as it happens because we have multiple posters to a thread rather than a one-on-one that you would get in a normal troubleshooting situation?
That makes it very difficult to determine which subsequent posts to take into account.
And that is made worse by people who post questions and then never respond to the thread again!!!
OK you lot, and listen up! Just because you got your answer doesn't mean you are entitled to just slither back under your rock...........have the manners to give feedback please! That will help others with the same problem in the future.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The London Centre Anniversary Scholarship was established in 2012 in recognition of the powerful and transformative experiences of the London Centre and as a tribute to the program's fortieth anniversary. The fund assists Lawrence students participating in the London Centre program. A common impediment for students interested in the London Centre is that of cost; the London Centre Anniversary Scholarship will enable future students to live and learn in this great world city.
Scholarships of up to $1,000 will be awarded to students attending Lawrence's London Centre program.


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Jee-Money Vs. Unorthodox Phrases Rap Battle Pt. 2 [Grind Time]
Second part of the main event battle from August 30th in Orlando. On Grind Time
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Top São Paulo attractions
- São Paulo Cathedral: largest Catholic cathedral in the city and features neo-Gothic architecture.
- Museu do Futebol: a museum housing everything from traditional exhibits to interactive displays of everything 'futebol'.
- Liberdade District: Japanese district offering an abundance of Asian markets and shops.
- Ibirapuera Park: equivalent to New York City's Central Park, where visitors can bike, jog or simply relax under a shaded tree.
- Banespa: a 161-metre-high skyscraper that offers a spectacular view of the city.
Want more ideas of what to do and where to eat while you travel through São Paulo? Check out our travel guide to get expert tips on everything you need to know.
What's the best way to get around São Paulo?
São Paulo has a convenient public transport system, with the metro being the easiest way to get around. Four lines run through the city; however, you'll have to hop on the bus to get to some specific locations and should stick to taxis for late night outings. It may best to avoid hiring a car to drive yourself. Automobiles constantly flood the streets, and parking is nearly impossible to find.
What's the weather in São Paulo?
The weather varies, but one thing is for sure, you'll need an umbrella, especially if you're visiting in the summer (January through May). During summer, temperatures vary between lows of 19°C (66°F) and highs of 28°C (82°F). However, the city still experiences four seasons, where winters are mild and sub-dry.
Weather in Sao Paulo
Powered by: OpenWeatherMap.org
24 °CTuesday11/08/2020
27 °CWednesday12/08/2020
30 °CThursday13/08/2020
30 °CFriday14/08/2020
28 °CSaturday15/08/2020
22 °CSunday16/08/2020
20 °CMonday17/08/2020
*All amounts are in USD. Taxes and surcharges are included. No booking fee is applicable, but a payment surcharge may apply. Prices shown may vary depending on fare availability. You will see the final amount when selecting your payment method.


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SplRateIt was created to be completely customizable, It comes with a password
protected admin panel, 4 pre-made
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script, ad, or whatever you would like to rate. The rating is based on a numerical scale
from 1 to any number. You will be able to display number of votes, percentage of votes,
and comments. Comments will be filtered and any bad language will be commented ( **** )
out. Now with the ability to set cookies, which help prevent multiple voting.
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How to create JavaScript in the admin panel
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The Admin Settings form, Add/Delete Curse Words
form and the Add/Delete IDs form have all been disabled.
Ratings Form |
Admin Panel
The beginning of your JavaScript will look something like below:
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.your-website.com/cgi-bin/ratings/splrateit.cgi?
Right after the "?" you will need to type "id=", then create a rating ID.
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Trouble Shooting
1. Make sure all .cgi and .pl files are chmod 755.
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Congradulations, its installed!
SplRateIt has been downloaded


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Singer Lana Del Rey reportedly is set to walk down the aisle with Scottish rocker Barrie-James O'Neill after becoming secretly engaged last year.
The singer sparked rumors a wedding was on the horizon early last year, when she was first spotted wearing a diamond on her ring finger at the U.K.'s Brit Awards.
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Del Rey and Kassidy singer O'Neill began dating in 2011. They have yet to comment on the engagement news.
The 27 year old previously revealed the pair bonded over its shared love of late rocker Kurt Cobain.
Last year, she told Nylon magazine, "(Cobain's) a big part of our daily conversation. Jeff Buckley is another big inspiration. And Jim Morrison – I mean, we talk about these people like we know them. They're part of our relationship. We always say, 'All our friends are dead, and they never met us.' I'm lucky to have met someone who feels that way, too."


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Bovine/cattle diseases
Pasteurella multocida , Mannhemia haemolytica, and histophilus somni are important causes of bacterial pneumoniae. When a calf's immune function is impaired by stress or diseases such as bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBR), parainfluenza virus (PI-3), or bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), these bacterias can invade and cause disease.
Bovine besnoitiosis is a vector-transmitted disease caused by the protozoan parasite Besnoitia besnoiti. The disease spreads from one animal to another by insect vectors—specifically, biting flies such as Tabanus and Stomoxys. All cattle breeds, independent of sex or age, can be infected.
Cattle can show severe clinical signs of the disease, whereas infected sheep are often asymptomatic. Affected cattle can experience different stages of the disease with a range of symptoms including skin thickening and swelling, hair loss, and skin necrosis; bulls can become infertile. In severe cases, the disease can lead to the animal's death.
Cysts (200–600 µm in diameter) are found in the subcutaneous tissue, fascia, and mucosa of infected animals and can survive for over 10 years in the host animal.
Human health risk
It does not appear that besnoitiosis presents a zoonotic risk.
Economic impact
Besnoitia besnoiti infections cause substantial economic losses, especially among cattle breeds, due to high morbidity and mortality rates.
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Bluetongue, or catarrhal fever, is caused by a double-stranded RNA virus of the genus Orbivirus and family Reoviridae. It is a noncontagious disease transmitted by insects to wild and domesticated ruminants, especially sheep.
Seven or eight days after infection, sheep develop acute signs—high temperature, lethargy, and self-isolation from the herd. Shortly after the rise in temperature, the buccal mucosa becomes red and swollen, and large volumes of foamy saliva are produced. The tongue swells up and in some cases turns blue (hence the name of the disease). The crown of the unguis becomes red and painful. Affected animals can limp and ewes may abort. In most cases, growth is retarded and there is coat loss. Severely affected sheep may die eight to 10 days into the infection.
In cattle and goats, the infection is usually asymptomatic. When there are signs in cattle, the most common are hyperthermia, abortion towards the end of gestation (in the eighth month), edema (of the udders, teats, vulva, and hocks), and erythema (mucosa, teats, and udders).
The spread of BTV
Bluetongue was first reported in 1876 in South Africa. While it used to be believed that is was confined to Africa, over the last 10 years the disease has spread to Asia, the southern United States, Australia, and southern Europe. A total of 24 different serotypes of the bluetongue virus are known, of which eight have been reported in Europe (serotypes 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 16).
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BCV is an enveloped, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus belonging to the Coronaviridae family that causes intestinal and respiratory infections in ruminants worldwide. Infection can cause winter dysentery in adult animals, as well as calf enteritis and enzootic pneumonia complex in calves. Bovine coronavirus is transmitted via the oral-fecal or respiratory routes, and infected animals will typically shed the virus in their feces, particularly during parturition.
BCV may also reproduce in the upper respiratory tract, causing reoccurring respiratory or gastrointestinal infection in an animal. Infected wild ruminants have the potential to transmit the disease to domestic ruminants.
BCV signs may include diarrhea, tarry stool, indigestion, reduced appetite, weight loss, anorexia, weight loss depression, and dehydration. Additionally, BCV may present various respiratory signs such as nasal discharge, coughing, shortness of breath (dyspnea), and rapid breathing (tachypnea).
Human health risk
It does not appear that BCV presents a zoonotic risk.
Economic impact
Bovine respiratory complex in feedlot cattle, as well as acute intestinal disease in dairy cows, can contribute to financial losses and significant economic consequences.
Bovine Herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a gammaherpesvirus ubiquitous of bovine. It belongs to the Rhadinovirus genus.
Some strains are implicated in ocular and respiratory affections (conjunctivitis, rhinitis, tracheitis, pneumonia). Other strains have been isolated in genital affections (orchitis, epididymitis, vaginitis, abortion, metritis, mastitis) and in disorders associated with the digestive tract (glossitis, enteritis, tumors of the rumen). Distribution is worldwide and the virus infects a range of ruminants, including bison, buffalo, sheep, and goats.
Mycoplasmas—most of which are host-specific—cause chronic diseases that progress slowly in humans and animals. The bacterium Mycoplasma agalactiae is a common pathogen of small ruminants and is of major importance in veterinary medicine. In ovines this disease is always due to M. agalactiae, but other Mycoplasma species, M. mycoides and M. capricolum, can cause a similar disease in goats.
Mycoplasma agalactiae is the causative agent of contagious agalaxia, the main form of mycoplasmosis in European ovines and caprines that has a serious impact on the dairy industry. Antibiotics often fail to eradicate these infections, and in food animals mycoplasmosis is responsible for substantial economic losses.
Infection is often oral or mammary, with an incubation period ranging from two weeks to two months.
Closely Related to M. agalactiae
M. bovis, which is closely related to M. agalactiae, causes respiratory and mammary pathology in bovines and is also important in economic terms (causing calf pneumonia, mastitis, and arthritis). These two pathogens induce similar signs in their respective hosts, and they are difficult to differentiate using conventional diagnostic methods because they are so closely related.
Bovine respiratory syncytial virus is a pneumovirus belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family. It is closely related to human RSV, which often infects the airways of children. Both are single-stranded RNA enveloped viruses. In bovines, RSV causes respiratory infections in young animals and dairy cows. The virus is mainly present in the lower airways (the lobes of the lungs), where it damages ciliated epithelial cells that normally protect the lung against microbial invasion. RSV infection often leads to secondary bacterial infection, notably with Pasteurella haemolytica and Corynebacterium pyogenes.
The signs of the disease are hyperthermia, coughing, nasal and ocular discharge, anorexia, and dyspnea (if the disease is progressing towards fatal pneumonia). In dairy cows, milk production falls off.
RSV is transmitted by direct contact through nasal secretions, and its spread is favored by proximity, for example in winter stabling, and as a result of licking in the milking room.
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TSEs are infectious diseases of the brain that affect animal species in various forms, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, affecting cattle), scrapie (affecting goats and sheep) and chronic wasting disease (CWD, affecting deer). The diseases are caused by altered prion proteins that are resistant to chemicals and heat, and are very difficult to decompose biologically, often surviving in soil for several years.
The diseases are reported worldwide, with BSE found most frequently in Europe and CWD being most prevalent in North America. TSEs cause a slow degeneration of the central nervous system that ultimately leads to the death of an animal, and there is often a significant lapse of time between an animal becoming infected with the disease and displaying the first symptoms. As an example, at the point of infection, cattle may not show clinical symptoms for up to 6 years, and sheep may not show signs for up to 4 years.
Transmission of BSE in cattle occurs through ingestion of feed containing contaminated bone and meat meal. Transmission does not appear to occur naturally between cattle, though some evidence suggests there may be a maternally associated risk for calves born to infected cows. While pathogenesis details are unknown, studies have shown that after the agent enters the animal through oral exposure, it replicates in the Peyer's patches of the ileum and migrates to the central nervous system via peripheral nerves.
Clinical signs of TSEs are often subtle and may include nervousness, aggression, low head carriage, ataxia, tremors and increased sensitivity to touch (hyperesthesia). Animals may also have a reluctance to be milked and experience weight loss and diminished milk production.
Human health risk
Humans can develop a form of TSE known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) by consuming food products that have been contaminated with BSE. Initiatives are in place to remove high-risk bovine tissue from the human food chain, and for products containing bovine proteins (cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, etc.), measures have been instituted to help ensure that raw materials are sourced from BSE-free regions.
Economic impact
TSEs can contribute to significant economic losses, whether it be culling of animals linked to BSE or scrapie cases, the destruction of Specified Risk Material (SRM) derived from ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats), or the impact that export restrictions in affected areas may have on the meat industry as a whole.
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Bovine tuberculosis is a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. It is a major infectious disease found worldwide in domestic animals, particularly cattle, as well as in certain wildlife populations.
Airborne transmission is the primary pathway for infection of M. bovis within and between species; however, animals may also become infected if they ingest large quantities of the bacterium.
Bovine tuberculosis is predominantly a respiratory disease affecting the lungs and associated lymph nodes. Infection is often subclinical, while clinical signs, when present, are not specifically distinctive of the disease. Symptoms may include physical weakness, anorexia, emaciation, enlargement of lymph nodes, and coughing, particularly in advanced cases of bovine tuberculosis.
Human health risk
Bovine tuberculosis is a significant zoonosis and presents a serious health risk to humans. The bacterium can be spread from animals to humans through aerosols, or through the consumption of unpasteurized milk or dairy products from infected cows.
Economic impact
An outbreak of bovine tuberculosis may have a significant negative impact on the farming industry as a result of reduced milk yields, culling of herds, and restrictions on meat exports from affected areas.
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The BVD virus is a small, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus Pestivirus. Two other animal viruses belong to this genus, namely the viruses that cause border disease (BD) in sheep and classical swine fever (CSF) in pigs.The virus that causes bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) was first identified in 1946. The disease is found throughout the world and its prevalence among animals exposed to the virus ranges from 30–80% in different countries and regions.
BVD impacts fertility in the herd
The infection compromises the herd's fertility and induces the return of heat following death of the embryo when the cow is infected between the first and second months of gestation. Abortion and birth defects are possible throughout gestation.
BVD-PI animals serve as a reservoir of infection
A common consequence of prenatal infection by members of this viral genus is the birth of infected offspring that are permanently immunotolerant (BVD-persistent infection (BVD-PI)), which disseminate the virus throughout the herd. BVD-PI animals (i.e., those infected between the second and the fourth months of gestation) carry the virus throughout their lifetime and constantly secrete large numbers of viral particles. This group therefore constitutes a major source of infection for the rest of the herd. In addition, BVD-PI animals sooner or later develop the fatal form of BVD called mucosal disease (MD). The number of BVD-PI animals in an infected herd is of the order of 1% (although the percentage can be as high as 27%) and detecting them is primordial in the control of Pestivirus disease.
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See all tests for ruminant abortion pathogens
Brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by Brucella bacteria. Brucella species of major concern are B. abortus, primarily affecting cattle; B. melitensis, primarily affecting sheep and goats; and B. suis, primarily affecting pigs. All these Brucella species are non–host-specific and may be transmitted to other animal species or humans under appropriate conditions.
Brucellosis is commonly transmitted to susceptible animals by direct contact with infected animals or in an environment that has been contaminated with discharge from infected animals. Brucellosis is thus a herd or flock problem.
Brucellosis is a notifiable disease, and any occurrence of it has to be reported to the local health authority. Depending on the species and the infection rate, different eradication programs are effective. Where incidence rates are high, vaccination programs are necessary to lower the infection rate. Once this has been achieved, surveillance programs linked to slaughter of infected animals are introduced. These programs lead to "Brucellosis-Free" and "Officially Brucellosis-Free" status for specified regions or whole countries. In Europe, surveillance is regulated in the EU Directive 2003/99/EC on monitoring of zoonoses.
Symptoms of a Brucella infection are often decreased milk production, weight loss, abortion, infertility, and lameness. Brucella uptake occurs orally and via skin wounds or mucus membranes. Brucella bacteria are mainly excreted with aborted fetal tissue and placenta, and with semen and milk.
Occasionally, animals may recover after a period of time. More commonly, however, the symptoms disappear but the disease prevails. Such asymptomatic animals are dangerous sources of infection.
Human health risk
Raw milk and unpasteurized cheese represent the most frequent sources of human infection. Farmers and veterinary staff run an increased risk of infection due to direct exposure to aborted infected materials. In humans, the disease is not usually fatal, but if untreated, it can last for many years.
The incubation period is usually one to three weeks, but can sometimes be as long as several months. Patients show nonspecific symptoms such as undulating fever, chills, malaise, and headache.
Economic impact
Brucellosis is a major public and animal health problem in many regions of the world. Although it rarely kills infected animals, considering the economic damage the disease can cause, brucellosis is one of the most serious livestock diseases worldwide.
This zoonosis has been or is close to being eradicated from a number of countries, but it is still prevalent in the Mediterranean region, Africa, Asia, and South America.
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The genus Campylobacter is composed of Gram-negative spiral-shaped bacteria. Campylobacter fetus includes the species Campylobacter fetus subsp venerealis (CFV) and C. fetus subsp. fetus (CFF). CFV is the causative agent of bovine genital campylobacteriosis. In female cattle, typical signs are frequent returns to estrus, prolonged intervals between estrus, prolonged intervals between calving and, rarely, abortions in early pregnancy.
In bulls, the contamination occurs without causing symptoms, but the infectious agent often survives for years in the lining of the foreskin.
The infection can be transmitted during intercourse with infected semen. This infection can cause significant economic losses because it causes fertility problems and infectious abortions in domestic sheep, goats, and cattle.
Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is a notifiable disease (2012 OIE List) and is considered to have socio-economic implications for public health and, in particular, international trade in animals and products of animal origin.
In ruminants, chlamydiosis is a contagious disease caused by a bacterium that also infects birds and humans. It can cause abortion, premature delivery, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, and arthritis in ruminants. The infection can be transmitted to the newborn, young, or adult ruminant by the large numbers of bacteria excreted in fetal envelopes and fluids, feces, urine, and milk, although the main route of infection is via the inhalation of contaminated aerosols. Chlamydia taxonomy was revised by Everett in 1999. In the new classification, the species are divided between two main genera:
- The genus Chlamydia, which includes C. trachomatis (humans), C. suis (pigs), and C. muridarum (mice and hamsters)
- The genus Chlamydophila, which consists of six species, namely Cp. abortus (mammals), Cp. psittaci (birds), Cp. felis(cats), Cp. caviae (guinea pigs), Cp. pecorum (mammals), and Cp. pneumoniae (humans)
In ruminants, two species have been identified: Cp. abortus (which causes abortion) and Cp. pecorum (which causes asymptomatic gut infection, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, arthritis, abortion, and infertility). In pregnant women, C. abortus can also induce abortion with serious complications.
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Q (Query) fever is an ubiquitous zoonosis that is found throughout the world (apart from New Zealand). It is caused by Coxiella burnetii, an obligate intracellular bacterium that can infect many different animal species, including ruminants, dogs, cats, birds, and arthropods as well as humans. In ruminants (which are believed to be the main reservoir for human infection), the disease is mainly associated with reproductive dysfunction. It usually remains asymptomatic and is not usually screened for unless an animal has aborted several times or shows reproductive problems. Coxiella burnetii colonizes the placenta and causes premature delivery, low birth weight, and abortion.
Impact of Q fever on humans
The main route of infection in humans is through the inhalation of contaminated aerosols, but pregnant women should not drink unpasteurized milk or consume dairy products made with untreated milk. Q fever often goes unnoticed because it can be mistaken for an influenza-like syndrome. The consequences can be dramatic in pregnant women (abortion or premature delivery) and in immunodeficient subjects or patients with valvular heart disease.
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Cryptosporidiosis is caused by microscopic intestinal parasites that are excreted through the feces of an infected animal. Found throughout the world, the parasites commonly interact with other enteropathogens to produce diarrhea and intestinal injury in neonatal farm animals such as piglets, kids, lambs, and foals.
Studies have shown that concurrent infections with other pathogens such as coronavirus and rotavirus can result in more severe diarrhea. While mortality rates in cryptosporidiosis are usually low, it can be fatal when complicated by other factors such as an animal experiencing energy deficit as a result of low colostrum or milk intake, concurrent infections, or chilling caused by adverse weather conditions.
Transmission of the disease may occur directly from animal to animal, or indirectly from environmental contamination, fecal contamination of the water or feed supply, or human transmission. Infection in calves can be detected as early as 5 days of age, with diarrhea occurring between 5 and 15 days of age.
In small ruminants, infection can be associated with severe outbreaks of diarrhea, resulting in high mortality rates in lambs 4–10 days of age, and goat kids 5–21 days of age.
Although cryptosporidiosis is not generally regarded as an important enteric pathogen in pigs, infections can be seen over a broader age range (1 week of age to market age), and can contribute to postweaning malabsorptive diarrhea in infected pigs.
Cryptosporidiosis is less prevalent in foals, but when infections do occur, it is typically at 5–8 weeks of age.
Signs of cryptosporidiosis can include diarrhea that persists for several days, significant weight loss, emaciation, apathy, anorexia, and dehydration.
Human health risk
Cryptosporidium can be a common nonviral cause of diarrhea in immunocompetent persons (e.g., children) and can have a severe health impact on immunocompromised persons. Infected animals can transmit the disease directly to humans, and there is also a risk of cryptosporidiosis being transmitted through surface and drinking water that has been contaminated with the feces of an infected animal.
Escherichia coli is a bacterial cause of diarrhea in calves, and there are at least two distinct types of diarrheal disease associated with different strains of the organism. One type has two virulence factors associated with the production of diarrhea, and fimbrial antigens such as K99 or F41 enable them to colonize villi of the small intestine.
These enteropathogens, also known as attaching and effacing E. coli, may produce verotoxins that contribute to more severe hemorrhagic diarrhea. The infection can reside in the colon, cecum, and distal small intestine, with severe infections causing edema, mucosal erosions, and ulceration.
Transmission routes include respiratory aerosol, fecal aerosol, and oral–fecal. Healthy carrier cattle may periodically excrete the organism in feces, and under the stress of parturition, excretion may increase. These conditions can lead to infection of the udder and perineum of the dam, along with contaminated calving environments. Alternately, the presence of several scouring calves can severely contaminate a calf-rearing area.
K99-bearing E. coli can cause the sudden onset of profuse diarrhea in calves that are typically <5 days old, resulting in calves becoming depressed and recumbent. Calves may experience significant weight loss (>12% of body weight), and potentially hypovolemic shock and death within 24 hours.
Human health risk
Cattle can be a reservoir for verotoxic E. coli serotypes associated with human hemolytic uremic syndrome and hemorrhagic colitis. Infection can occur through the consumption of contaminated food, but enteric livestock pathogens can also be transmitted to humans via direct contact that may occur during visits to petting zoos, farm tours, or livestock fairs.
EHD is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by a virus belonging to the Orbivirus genus of the Reoviridae family (like the bluetongue virus). Between eight and 10 different serotypes have been identified.
The virus is more-or-less exclusively transmitted by the bite of a small hematophagous dipteran of the genus Culicoides in the Ceratopogonidae family. The vector becomes infected when it feeds on an infected animal and then the virus replicates until it reaches the density necessary for transmission to another susceptible animal.
The EHD virus can infect bovines and cause signs similar to those of bluetongue (i.e., fever, erosive lesions and ulcers of the oropharyngeal mucosae, stiffness, collapse, and cutaneous edema). In gestating cows, infection can induce abortion or hydranencephaly if the infection appears between 70 and 120 days of gestation.
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FMD is a highly contagious viral disease that affects all cloven-hoofed animals, and is widespread throughout the world. FMD cannot be differentiated clinically from other vesicular diseases such as swine vesicular disease (SVD).
The virus is a member of the genus Apthovirus in the family Picornaviridae. There are seven serotypes of FMD virus: O, A, C, SAT 1, SAT 2, SAT 3, and Asia 1. Infection with any one serotype does not confer immunity against other serotypes.
Of the domesticated species, cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats are susceptible to FMD.
Clinical signs of FMD are the appearance of vesicles (small blisters) on the feet, in and around the oral cavity, and on the mammary glands of females. Vesicles can also occur inside the nostrils and at pressure points on the limbs, especially in pigs.
Transmission generally occurs through contact between infected and susceptible animals. The virus can be excreted into the air during the acute phase of infection.
Human health risk
It does not appear that FMD presents a zoonotic risk.
Economic impact
The presence of FMD is a very important economic threat to the livelihood of the livestock industry due to the culling of herds and the restriction on meat exports from affected areas.
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IBR is caused by a herpes virus (BHV-1), which infects the respiratory tract, causing problems on these channels (tracheitis and rhinitis), fever, abortions and infertility. It can cause death when the disease spreads rapidly within a herd. IBR is transmitted by direct contact through respiratory, eye and genital secretions.
IBR virus has an immunosuppressive effect and little infection predispose the host to a secondary bacterial infection. The infection can be latent: although primary infection may seem healed, the virus is still present in the lymph nodes and can be reactivated to spread throughout the body.
Incidence and prevalence
Although the incidence and prevalence of the disease vary in different continents, it is present worldwide and almost 50% of all flocks of adult cattle have already been exposed.
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Leptospirosis occurs worldwide, and while the disease is typically reported in tropical climates, it can also be found in temperate climates during periods of rainfall. Leptospirosis most commonly affects pigs, cattle, and horses, and displays a variety of clinical effects ranging from mild infection to organ failure to death.
The disease is prevalent in wild mammals, but is often only noticed when the wildlife serve as an infection source for domestic animals and livestock. Leptospirosis can be transmitted transplacentally or venereally, but most often through direct contact with infected milk, urine, or placental fluids.
The signs of leptospirosis can vary greatly depending upon a herd's immunity, age of an infected animal, and the infecting serovar. In respect to infecting serovars, there are >220 pathogenic serovars of Leptospira that can cause leptospirosis.
As an example, cattle are the maintenance host for Leptospira hardjo-bovis, which can affect an animal's kidneys, resulting in long-term urinary shedding. L. hardjo-bovis is also associated with persistent reproductive tract infections that can cause infertility in cattle.
For other Leptospira serovars such as grippotyphosa, icterohaemorrhagiae, or pomona, cattle become incidental hosts for the disease and may display various clinical signs such as lethargy, jaundice, fever, anemia, and red urine. While adult cattle do not usually die from leptospirosis, the disease can be fatal to calves and may affect pregnant cows, causing abortion, stillbirth, and the birth of weak calves.
Human health risk
Leptospirosis is considered to be zoonotic, and can be transmitted to humans if a person comes in contact with water or soil that has been contaminated by urine or body fluids of an infected animal.
Economic impact
The infertility that can result from persistent reproductive tract infections is perhaps the most economically damaging aspect of leptospirosis.
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Mycoplasma bovis is a member of the Mycoplasma genus of bacteria, found.. it Causes a chronic disease causing long-term losses to dairy and beef producers, and potentially resulting in severe disease and significant welfare issues. Mycoplasma bovis causes a constellation of diseases, including mastitis in dairy cows, arthritis in cows and calves, pneumonia in calves, and various other diseases likely including late-term abortion. Not all infected cows get sick – some shed the disease without becoming ill, allowing for transmission between farms if these cows are moved. Mycoplasma bovis does not cause disease in humans. It does not cause severe disease in animals besides cattle, although it can cause rare mild infections in sheep, goats, and other related species.
Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite first observed in dogs, in which it causes myositis and encephalitis. However, in the 1990s it was observed that Neospora was a major cause of abortion in cows, usually between the fourth and seventh months of gestation. Depending on the number of infected cows in the herd, the abortion rate ranges from 5–30%; the higher rates are characterized by serial abortions occurring in less than a month.
It is not fully understood how the parasite is transmitted, but the main route seems to be from mother to offspring, with at least 80% of the calves born to seropositive cows infected. In addition, it has been suggested that dogs may be involved in the transmission of Neospora to bovines. This infection is known on all continents and is the leading cause of bovine abortion in some countries (ahead of BVD and IBR).
Regulatory requirements vary by country; products may not be available in your geographic area.
See all tests for ruminant abortion pathogens
Parainfluenza virus type 3 (PI3) is an RNA virus belonging to the Paramyxoviridae family, which is extremely common in livestock throughout the world. PI3 has been detected in both respiratory and digestive conditions, and it causes respiratory problems in young bovines. PI3 is also considered a cofactor in conditions associated with infection by certain bacteria (Mycoplasma bovis and Pasteurella haemolytica), and other viruses (including those that cause BVD and IBR).
The signs of the disease are hyperthermia, coughing, ocular and nasal discharge, anorexia, dyspnea, and diarrhea. PI3 is also immunosuppressive, and infected animals are predisposed to secondary infections.
PI3 is usually transmitted in nasal secretions, and its transmission is favored by animal transport (direct contact, poor ventilation, and a stagnant atmosphere). To confirm PI3 infection, serological testing is strongly recommended.
Regulatory requirements vary by country; products may not be available in your geographic area.
Paratuberculosis, also known as Johne's disease, is caused by the presence of Myobacterium avium spp. paratuberculosis (sometimes abbreviated MAP) in the small intestine of ruminants. It is a worldwide animal health problem, especially affecting beef and dairy herds.
Paratuberculosis is a chronic debilitating enteritis, and its presence in an animal herd can have serious effects on production.
Diagnosis of clinical infection is usually confirmed by the demonstration of the causal organism, M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis, in feces or in intestinal tissues postmortem. The identification of subclinical disease in animals, which can shed the organism over long periods and thus be the source of infection for other members of a herd, is more difficult. The prevalence of bovine paratuberculosis in Europe varies from country to country, ranging from 7% to 55%.
Chronic inflammation of the intestine, mesenteric lymph node lesions, diarrhea, weight loss, and edema usually appear in animals of over 2 years of age with an advanced stage of the disease.
Human health risk
The causative bacterium of paratuberculosis, M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis, is known to survive pasteurization of milk and other dairy products, and therefore could be a risk to human health. Increasing scientific evidence indicates that there is a link between paratuberculosis in dairy herds and Crohn's disease in humans. Crohn's disease is an incurable chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
Economic impact
Paratuberculosis in domestic livestock may entail significant economic losses due to several factors, such as reduced production, premature culling, and veterinary costs. In the United States, paratuberculosis is of growing concern to the cattle industry because the presence of the disease impacts international marketing of cattle and cattle products, which causes economic losses to producers. Consequently, the Voluntary Johne's Disease Herd Status Program for Cattle (VJDHSP) has been established. In April of 2002, USDA-APHIS-Veterinary Service incorporated parts of this program into its national program standards.
Within the European Union, there are no official programs in place; however, country-specific policies apply. Australia has a National Johne's Disease Control Program (NJDCP) that aims to reduce the spread and the impact of Johne's disease. It is a cooperative program involving Australian livestock industries, government, and the veterinary profession. Animal Health Australia manages the program on behalf of these key stakeholders.
Regulatory requirements vary by country; products may not be available in your geographic area.
Bovine rotavirus is categorized within the Reoviridae viral family, and along with coronavirus, contributes to >50% of the diarrhea problems in calves. While rotavirus is common in cattle herds, other animals such as pigs, chickens, sheep, horses, and rabbits are also susceptible to the disease.
The virus enters through the small intestine, attacking villi and making it difficult for material to be effectively absorbed into the animal's body. This condition leads to water loss from the epithelial cells and body, causing dehydration and potentially death if there is significant dehydration and emaciation.
Transmission generally occurs when an unaffected animal has oral contact with infected feces and contaminated feed, or if they are exposed to living quarters with poor hygiene characteristics. Cows displaying signs and symptoms may shed the virus for as long as a week, while some cows can become reinfected and shed the virus throughout their life and remain asymptomatic.
The primary sign of rotavirus is a runny, often yellow diarrhea that contains mucous, blood, or both. Additionally, the animal may become lethargic and have a disinterest in drinking or feeding, which could result in mild to severe dehydration, depending on the animal and the circumstances.
Human health risk
Bovine and human rotavirus strains are specific to their hosts and are not considered a transmission risk from one species to another.
Economic impact
Significant economic loss may occur due to increased morbidity and mortality in neonatal ruminants, treatment costs, and reduced growth rates.
Salmonellosis is an infection caused by Salmonella bacteria. The presence of salmonellosis has been identified in countries throughout the world, but it appears to be most prevalent in areas of intensive animal husbandry, especially occurring in pigs, calves, and some types of poultry.
The disease can affect all domestic animals; however, young animals and pregnant or lactating animals are the most susceptible to the disease. The clinical signs that may be seen are abortion, arthritis, respiratory disease, and acute septicemia. Enteric disease, often presenting as a bloody, watery diarrhea with pyrexia, is the most common clinical manifestation.
Many animals, especially pigs, cattle and poultry, may also be infected but show no clinical illness. Such animals may be important in relation to the spread of infection between flocks and herds and also as a source of food contamination and human infections.
Typical clinical signs can include fever and severe watery diarrhea with subsequent rapid onset of dehydration. The diarrhea is usually putrid and may contain blood and mucus. Salmonellae produce toxins that can contribute to gut damage and have systemic effects. If sufficient damage occurs to the intestinal lining, the bacteria may enter the bloodstream, resulting in septicemia, and the bacteria can spread to the brain, lungs, joints, uterus (causing abortion in pregnant cows), and other organs.
Human health risk
Salmonellosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases that can cause serious clinical symptoms in humans. Pigs, cattle, poultry, and eggs have been recognized as important sources of these Salmonella infections. The existence of this disease presents great risks for human health. Salmonella infections of animals intended for the food industry play an important role in public health, as these animals are considered to be the major source of human Salmonella infections.
Economic impact
Salmonellosis has a serious economic impact on the cattle industry worldwide. Livestock mortality, treatment costs, abortion, reduced production, discarded milk, and reduced consumer confidence all contribute to the cost of Salmonella to cattle industries.
Regulatory requirements vary by country; products may not be available in your geographic area.
See all tests for ruminant abortion pathogens
The Schmallenberg virus belongs to the Bunyaviridae family, genus Orthobunyaviridae and is closely related to Akabane, Aino, and Shamonda viruses. This virus was first identified in November 2011 in Germany. It was found in several samples coming from bovine and ovine hosts showing atypical symptoms, not characteristic of known diseases at the time.
This virus induces weak clinical symptoms affecting the global health of the animal, such as hyperthermia, loss of appetite, decreased milk production, and in some cases, diarrhea. Infection of female ruminants during gestation can also result in the birth of malformed animals (e.g., hydrocephalus).
Virus detection is optimally performed using the brain of an aborted fetus, but the virus can also be detected in blood, serum, and the spleen (FLI—German National Reference Laboratory).
See all tests for ruminant abortion pathogens
Trichomoniasis (Trich) is a venereal disease that occurs in cattle worldwide and is typically characterized by infertility and abortions in cows and heifers, which contributes to extended calving intervals.
The disease is caused by Tritrichomonas foetus (T foetus) a small, motile protozoan that lives in the reproductive tract of cows and the penis sheath of bulls. The disease organism is transferred to a cow's vagina from the bull during breeding and causes infection as it migrates to the uterus resulting in a white sticky discharge from the vulva of the infected cows.
When an infected bull is naturally bred with cows, 30%–90% become infected, which may suggest the existence of strain differences as well as a variation in breed susceptibility to the disease. Bulls of any age can remain infected for an indefinite period of time, but in younger males this scenario is less likely to occur. In contrast, cows are typically free of infection within 3 months of breeding, though they are still susceptible to reinfection. T foetus may also be transmitted when the semen from infected bulls is used during artificial insemination.
The primary sign is infertility caused by embryonic death, which contributes to repeat breeding and scenarios where cows are in heat when they should be pregnant. In addition to reduced calving rates and calf crops being extended over 3-6 months and increased number of cows may be associated with nonpregnant abnormal reproductive diagnosis such as endometritis and pyometra. Bulls will display no signs of the T foetus but can shed the organism for an indefinite period of time. Diagnosis of the disease in bulls requires the collection and testing of a preputial fluid sample taken from the sheath of the bull's penis.
Human health risk
It does not appear that Trichomoniasis presents a zoonotic risk.
Economic impact
The economic losses associated with affected herds are primarily the result of smaller, less uniform calf crops, as well as increased culling, testing and prevention costs. Various studies and models have estimated income reduction anywhere between 20%-40% when trichomoniasis is present in a herd.
Regulatory requirements vary by country; products may not be available in your geographic area.
See all tests for ruminant abortion pathogens
For veterinary use only.


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By Jan 10, 2011 2:03 PM ET –
A statewide class action in which Massachusetts homeowners accuse U.S. Bancorp and Ally Financial Inc. of faulty foreclosures will resume now that the state's high court ruled in a similar case last week.
The litigation was on hold while the Supreme Judicial Court decided whether state law required foreclosures to be conducted by the mortgage owner. The high court ruled Jan. 7 in U.S. Bank v. Ibanez that an industry practice allowing post-foreclosure assignments violated state law.
"This is a statewide class action and it's going to bring relief to all of the people who are dispossessed homeowners in many instances," Kevin Costello, a lawyer for the borrowers, said in a telephone interview today. Costello said he will file a motion to restart evidence gathering in the case today.
Claims of wrongdoing by banks and loan servicers triggered a 50-state investigation last year into whether hundreds of thousands of foreclosures were properly documented as the housing market collapsed.
Unwinding of foreclosures may lead to loan workouts with homeowners or force originators to buy back loans that ended up in mortgage-backed securities.
[ipaper docId=46617196 access_key=key-n31m0kugzm5zqylmo8c height=600 width=600 /]© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.


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Original Guns N' Roses Lineup To Attend Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Current Guns N' Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed has confirmed that the entire original lineup of the band will be in attendance for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony April 14 in Cleveland, Ohio.
After tons of speculation and indecision from all involved parties, Reed tells Billboard that the 'Appetite for Destruction' lineup of Guns N' Roses will be present for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. "I know that all the original band is going to be there," said Reed of the upcoming ceremony. "I don't know exactly what's going to go down. It's one of those things I'm sure will all come together and be really cool. I'm just going to go in with a good attitude and a clear head and a grateful heart."
The big question now is, of course, whether the original lineup will perform together for the first time in 22 years. The biggest obstacle standing in the way of the reunion performance is, and has always been, the ongoing bad blood between singer Axl Rose and guitarist Slash. Perhaps Slash's recent Tweet wishing Axl a happy birthday brought an end to the decades-old feud — it's not likely, but it's possible.
The original lineup consisting of Rose, Slash, Steven Adler, Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin last performed together at Farm Aid on April 7, 1990 — almost exactly 22 years before their scheduled April 14 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Reed and drummer Matt Sorum of the 'Use Your Illusion' lineup are also expected to be inducted.


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Christian Teens Embracing Harder Rock Music
The younger generation of Christians is embracing music with a harder edge, according to a popular magazine for Christian teens that announced in its latest issue its readers' top music choices.
For the past few years, singers from traditional pop/rock favorites claimed top positions in Ignite Your Faith's annual readers' choice awards, dubbed the Golden Ear Awards.
But this year, a majority of the 5,000 magazine readers who voted, aged 13 to 18, leaned in favor of hard rock bands bumping down pop and soft rock groups. The results are published in the April/May issue.
The trend is most evident in the award's Best Vocalist category.
John Cooper of Skillet won the Best Male Vocalist – a title that bounced between Jason Dunn (Hawk Nelson), Matt Thiessen (Relient K) and Jeremy Camp in previous cycles of the awards. Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch placed second.
The Best Female Vocalist category welcomed its first ever winner from a hard rock band: Lacey Mosley of Flyleaf. The frontwoman beat out former holders of the title, Tricia Brock (Superchick) and Alyssa Barlow (BarlowGirl).
"That one surprised me most," said Todd Hertz, managing editor of Ignite Your Faith, to The Christian Post. "I did not think our readership would go in that direction."
Meanwhile, pop artist Rebecca St. James, who placed third in that category in 2006, moved down to fifth. Any lower than fifth would have placed her only in the honorable mention list.
Hertz, who oversees the Entertainment part of the 100,000-circulation magazine, said he sees three main factors that account for the readers' shift in musical preferences.
One factor is loyalty, he said.
Skillet fans, who call themselves "panheads," are "ferocious in their loyalty to this band," explained Hertz. "They are always flocking to support this band."
The fans are loyal to the point that they voted for John Cooper's wife Kori Cooper in the Best Female Vocalist category even though she was not a nominee and for Skillet in the Best New Artist category when the rock band has been around for years, he noted.
Secondly, Hertz said the recent results show a shift in the types of music that appeal to young people these days.
"I think it comes from mainstream culture. Harder rock appeals to younger kids, whether it helps get out the feeling or emotion...I'm not sure what it is," he shared, adding that what was once considered rock is now considered Pop music.
And lastly, the magazine's managing editor believes the iPod culture has allowed teens to access a variety of musical genres instead of only hearing songs selected by radio stations.
"Christian music is more diverse than it's ever been," Hertz added.
Voting for the Golden Ear Awards were held last November.
The magazine, part of Christianity Today International, is currently gathering votes for its Golden Remote Award, which recognizes the most redeeming TV character. Voting will be open until May 8 with the results announced in the Sept./Oct. issue.
In February, readers weighed in for the Golden Nacho Awards, selecting the most redeeming movies. Those winners will be revealed in the June/July issue.
According to Hertz, a bulk of the content from the magazine caters to young readers' entertainment interests.
Last November, Ignite Your Faith launched "THE HEROES OF ROCK," an online cartoon series starring popular bands. The first episode's special gueststars Superchick members who performed their own voiceovers. The latest episode, slated for release at the end of April, features Hawk Nelson and a special music artist, whose identity is yet to be revealed, said Hertz.
The winners for Best Vocalist are listed below:
Best Male Vocalist
1. John Cooper, Skillet
2. Trevor McNevan, Thousand Foot Krutch
3. Matt Thiessen, Relient K
4. Jeremy Camp
5. Jon Foreman, Switchfoot
Honorable mentions: Mark Hall, Casting Crowns; Jason Dunn, Hawk Nelson
Best Female Vocalist
1. Lacey Mosley, Flyleaf
2. Alyssa Barlow, BarlowGirl
3. Tricia Brock, Superchick
4. Krystal Meyers
5. Rebecca St. James
Honorable mentions: Plumb, Bethany Dillon
Christian Post reporter Katherine T. Phan contributed to this report.


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The new Bond movie has reportedly been put on ice to allow Daniel Craig to recover from an ankle injury.
The 51-year-old suffered the injury while filming in Jamaica, according to The Sun, and a shoot planned for Pinewood Studios near London, which had been scheduled for this weekend, has been cancelled.
Craig and the Bond producers have yet to comment on the story.
Filming on Bond 25 began last month, with Rami Malek confirmed as the new Bond villain. Cary Joji Fukunaga is directing the latest 007 film.
Reports suggest the first round of filming in Jamaica has wrapped and Craig, Naomie Harris, Lea Seydoux, Lashana Lynch and Ana de Armas are now on their way to Britain, to link up with Malek and Bond regulars Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw.


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This HD NATO features a stitched construction. 3.25mm heavy duty hardware and a matching sewn in buckle finish off this HD NATO strap. Brushed and Black PVD hardware options.
Please note: 18mm Heavy Duty NATO straps are only available in the 3-ring style configuration.
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of International Watchman, Inc.


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This week on Baghdad by the Bay on Pirate Cat Radio, tune in to 87.9 in SF or LA or listen online starting at 2pm:
Anderson's voice and lyrics combined are enough to make your heart swell. The vocal qualities he produces are somewhere between Macy Gray and Bob Dylan (forgive that terribly random pairing), and his lyrics tell simple love stories, trials and successes alike, with grace and candor ("I could write you a novel tonight / I could write you a new song each day / It's a natural part of my day," "I know who my sunshine is," and "There's always an upside" just three small but effecting examples).
Okay will be appearing at Bottom of the Hill on July 28th.
The Blammos
BLAMMOS' sound has graced many first-class stages across the country, including Sin-e and The Living Room in New York, The Hideout in Chicago and The Dirty Dog in Austin, as well as numerous Northern California music halls. In October of 2007 they were chosen to take the stage at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York alongside five other acclaimed Bay Area bands at the Talking House Productions SF@CMJ showcase.
The Blammos will be appearing at the Elbo Room on July 28th


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3 Simple Steps to Achieve Your Goals
On any Road to Success there will be many obstacles to overcome. A Road to Riches is laden with obstacles. A great person once said if it were easy everyone would be doing it. Any great achievement takes time, perseverance, hard work and consistency. WHAT WE HAVE IS WHAT Darren Hardy calls the Compound Effect. This is doing simple little steps consistently over time to achieve great things.
The Key is to NEVER give up!!! Failure is not an option. I will proceed until I achieve my goals…
The Only way to Fail in the Network Marketing industry is by GIVING UP!! DONT give up 🙂
I have a few simple steps to take to help you on your path to Success and achieving your goals so you can "Live Your Dreams" !!!
3 Simple Steps to Achieve Your Goals
- Write Down Your Goals: Writing down your goals is the first thing you want to do. Why do you want to do this? Because have you never written them down in the past! If you do write your goals down in a journal, have you evaluated and modified them lately? You see the definition of insanity is to do the same things day in and day out and expect things to be different. Writing down your goals will solidify, or in other words make real, the thoughts floating around in your mind. Your goals will also hold you accountable.
- Action Plan: Next you are going to need a plan of action. these are the money making steps you will need to do daily and consistently to take you on your path to achieving your goals. These may be things like; making a list, daily marketing, calling leads, calling prospects, having meetings learning new skills and bringing value to the marketplace. This is also where time management comes in handy. Give your time limits for each action; such as I will make calls between 5:00PM and 7:00PM. Or write and article and post it and syndicate it 1 hour per day; say between 10:00 AM to 11:00AM
- Start NOW and Take Action consistently. Procrastination is the number one cause of failure. Putting things off until tomorrow will guarantee you do not achieve your goals. The thing is if you wait for tomorrow, tomorrow will never come. Life is a now experience. Now I make a change, Now I take the first step of many. Also remember: to achieve great things you will have to step outside of your comfort zone. You know you are making progress when you feel uncomfortable and you do it anyways!!
Alrighty then…
Now that you have these three important and simple steps to get you going on the path of positive change and transformation go right now and pick up a nice journal from your local store, if you dont already have one, and start writing down your goals.
Give yourself a 10 year plan, where you want to be in 5 years, 3 years 1 year and a month from now. You can always reevaluate and create new goals as you achieve the ones you set for yourself so stop procrastinating and plug yourself into the Law of Attraction of the Universe!!


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The Stream
Tjoonz.com publishes new free mixes every day, covering bass music in a plethora of genres. You can also find mixes by using our advanced filter.
Membership is free, and gives you access to exciting extra features. If you were signed in, you'd see recently uploaded mixes that match your musical preferences below!
In the mean time, here is our Latest Uploads chart.


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(BPT) – Summer snacking is among the most popular of American traditions – right up there with baseball and apple pie. When the sun is shining and the weather is wonderful, we love to feast on our favorite treats at ballgames, picnics and outdoor activities.
Yet the desire for indulgent taste can often get in the way of making good nutritional choices, especially while out and about. Here are some easy tips for planning flavorful, healthy and satisfying snacks that you and your family can pack for any activity this summer.
Navigate concession stands with ease
Chips. Popcorn. Soft pretzels with cheese sauce. Candy bars. Ice cream. Whether you're enjoying a day at the beach or the ballpark, the spread offered at concession stands rarely varies. Be smart when you're navigating the snack line-up with simple tricks such as determining whether you are hungry or just thirsty; opting for the most nutrition-packed foods that are low in fat and high in protein, so that your snack satisfies you longer; skipping the bun; and paying attention to the recommended serving size for your snack-of-choice.
Keep protein-packed snacks on hand
Snacks high in protein will keep you and your family feeling energized throughout the day's activities. Ever since Native Americans and early settlers sought portable, satiating foods, jerky has been a popular take-along choice. Today's jerky is conveniently packaged and requires no refrigeration. And, while jerky may be as American as apple pie, it is often a better choice. A slice of apple pie can have nearly 20 grams of fat, more than 400 calories and only 3 grams of protein – whereas a 1.25-ounce serving of Jack Link's Beef Jerky has 18 grams of protein with only 1 gram of fat and 100 calories. Jerky is so popular that it even has its own holiday, National Jerky Day, celebrated annually June 12.
Create snacking pizzazz with fun pairings
Instead of traditional party-pairing standbys like chips and dip or crackers and cheese, plan a beer and jerky get-together, with a selection of brews paired with a bevy of jerky. Jack Link's offers more than 100 options made from lean cuts of beef, turkey, chicken or pork, and flavors that range from savory or sweet to spicy. When making your beer selections, try interesting options from local and regional craft or microbreweries, to create the perfect snacking combo.
Stay hydrated
Most summer get-togethers offer a variety of beverages to satisfy every guest, such as wine, beer, spirits, fruit juice or soda. In moderation, these beverages can be a refreshing treat. They can, however, also leave you dehydrated and consuming more calories than you intended. Try pairing your beverage of choice with a healthy glass of water. Recent research shows that drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner, while also cutting back on portions, can help you meet your weight loss goals. While each person's hydration needs are different, the Institute of Medicine advises that men and women should try to consume about nine to 13 cups of water a day, including water that can be found in food and other beverages, such as fruit, vegetables or even coffee.
Celebrate summer snacking the smart way this year. Create on-the-go feasts by taking healthier snacking choices with you – wherever you go under the sun.


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Company sells man an electric bike with dead battery | News
LAKE CITY, Fla. -- Richard Cox, 71, wanted a vehicle to get around. He has a disability and can't drive.
"I have eye problems and can't get a driver's license, so I have to have something to get around," said Cox.
Cox found the cozy bike electric bicycle sold by Omegastores, a Connecticut company and purchased it.
"February 16 is when I put my order in," said Cox, "It got here on March 3rd."
Since March, the $1,200 electric bike has been in Cox's garage because of a dead battery. Pedaling the bike to charge the battery is no help.
"I have not been able to use it, not once," said Cox.
Cox has made several attempts to reach the Wallingford Connecticut company, but has had little response.
"They don't answer the phone," he said, "they don't have no service department."
Cox said he has lost his spark of excitement over his electric bicycle
"I am very frustrated with them," said Cox.
And now even making a trip to the doctor's office is going to cost him even more.
"I've got an appointment with a doctor and it is going to cost me $50 round trip for a cab," said Cox.
Cox said the company responded once to his first concern and asked him to return the battery charger they still have it.
"I've asked them and asked them to send it back," he said.
Cox is now stuck with a dead battery an a cozy electric bicycle that goes nowhere.
"I want it working, or my money back," said Cox.
On Your Side contacted Omegastores and left a message for Gabe Smatko. So far, no response.
On Your Side also contacted the Connecticut Attorney General's office.
The Better Business Bureau gives the company an "F" rating due to the number of unresolved complaints.
The bicycle has a bad battery. If you think you can help Mr. Cox, let us know on our Facebook and Twitter pages.