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Slash Social Security to Pay for War? Dems Slam Boehner for Remark He Denies
Democrats are slamming House Minority Leader John Boehner for reportedly saying the Social Security retirement age should be raised to pay for the war in Afghanistan -- though Boehner's office vehemently denies he made that connection.
The comment came during an interview Monday with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Boehner said the retirement age should be raised to 70 for those at least 20 years away from retirement and suggested wealthy taxpayers should not be receiving benefits at all.
"I think we need to look at the American people and explain to them that we're broke," Boehner, R-Ohio, said.
Though a video clip of his Social Security comments does not include any reference to Afghanistan, the newspaper's article on the interview said Boehner cast the changes as a way to pay for the war.
Democrats seized on the interview, accusing Boehner of wanting to pay for war on the backs of seniors. Ohio House Democrats held a press conference Wednesday to denounce Boehner, with Rep. Marcy Kaptur calling it "un-American" to cut Social Security.
"The House Republican Leader John Boehner and his GOP colleagues want to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 and cut benefits in order to pay for George Bush's war and their failed policies of the past," House Democratic Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said in a written statement. "Democrats will not stand for this."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office put out a "fact sheet" accusing Boehner of wanting to "slash" Social Security not to stabilize the program, but to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan - though Iraq was not mentioned anywhere in the Tribune-Review article.
South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler called on her state's Republican congressmen to "renounce" Boehner's comments, accusing him of looking to "break America's promise to her seniors."
However, Boehner's aides say the claims are false and that he never made any connection between Social Security changes and war funding.
Further, the idea of raising the retirement age is a bipartisan one. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in a speech last week that the change should be considered. The bipartisan commission appointed by President Obama to recommend ways to reduce the debt and close the deficit is also looking at the option. That commission is meeting Wednesday.
Asked about Hoyer's comment on Wednesday, Ohio Democratic Rep. Zack Space said: "Well, sometimes the majority leader gets things wrong too."

subset: commoncrawl


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Membership policy and fees explained.
Job Opportunities
The Roundhouse is a great place to work (and play). When something comes up, we'll post it here. Vancouver Park Board positions are posted here.
Program Proposals
Do you have an idea about a great program to offer community members at the Roundhouse? We'd love to hear from you.
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Volunteering at the Roundhouse
The Roundhouse has a dedicated group of volunteers who take part in a range of activities and events during the year. Our volunteer team represents the diversity of our community, with youth to older adults and everything in between!
How to Join Our Volunteer Team
Details about the requirements of the Roundhouse Volunteer Program, filling out our online application form, signing up for information sessions and interviews…
Volunteer Opportunities
Check back here for postings of all available volunteer positions, as well as Board of Director and Committee opportunities.
Volunteer Stories
We are proud of the volunteers that take their time to support the Roundhouse and help build our community. We hope their stories will inspire you as much as they inspire us!
Name a Seat & Park Your Caboose!
After 20 wildly successful years the Performance Centre in the Roundhouse needs an upgrade. Sadly, our well-loved bleacher seats have reached the end of their usable life and must be replaced. The new seats will not only increase the capacity of the theatre but will be a more comfortable place to park your caboose.
We are excited to offer this unique opportunity for you to be a special part of the Roundhouse history and have your wonderful contribution to the arts recognized with a beautiful custom-engraved plaque on one of the new Performance Centre seats.
Please join the Name a Seat & Park Your Caboose Campaign and your generous gift to the Roundhouse will be recognized for years to come.
We have made available a number of ways that your gracious contribution can be recognized:
DIAMOND VIP Level – $1000 (Front row seats)
GOLD Level – $500 (Aisle seats and front of the house excluding 1st row)
SILVER Level – $400 (Middle rows excluding aisle seats)
BRONZE Level – $250 (Back rows excluding aisle seats)
Our Diamond VIP Level contributors will have a choice of which available Front Row seat they wish their striking plaque attached. Gold, Silver, and Bronze level contributors will have their seat assigned by lottery.
In addition, all of our wonderful contributors will receive the following additional exciting benefits:
- Prominent recognition in the Society's Annual Report
- Prominent recognition on the Roundhouse website
- Your plaque will be in place until the new seats need replacement (hopefully not for another 20 years!)
- Exclusive event unveiling the plaques after the upgrades have been completed
- Fully tax deductible receipt from our partner, the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.
This is a unique opportunity to showcase your business or honour someone special, while supporting a vibrant arts community in Yaletown.
We happily accept any donation and we will recognize all contributors on our website and in our Annual Report – click on the DONATE NOW button below or contact the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Society at:
181 Roundhouse Mews
Vancouver, BC
(604) 713-1800
All cheques must be made out to the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation to be eligible for a tax receipt.
*Please note that we cannot ensure that you will be able to sit on your named seat during future performances.


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Author: Steven Heimann
We have assisted in many high profile situations
Serving the NSW community since 1969
Find your nearest Volunteer Rescue Squad
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
VRA AGM 11th October, 2014
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2014 (All day)
State Rescue Board new Vertical rescue directive version 2 now issued
The State Rescue Board has endorsed version 2 of the Vertical Rescue directive – May 2013. The main change is the removal of the previous first aid units of competency and replacement with the requirement for all vertical rescue operators to hold a nationally recognised senior first aid certificate. All agencies are required to comply […]
State Rescue Board endorses minimum training standards for general land rescue with 2 year implementation
On 7 March 2013, the State Rescue Board endorsed the minimum training standards for general land rescue. Minimum Training Standards General Land Rescue Accreditation Version 2.0 – January 2013 PUACOM001C Communicate in the workplace PUACOM002B Provide services to clients PUALAW001B Protect and preserve incident scene PUAOHS001C Follow defined occupational health and safety policies and procedures […]


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Unveiled just recently, the 2018 Honda Accord is completely transformed from the wheels to the roof. Honda's new midsize sedan, the 10th generation of an already popular model, is now targeting the top of its segment in terms of sales. To do this, the new Accord will offer much sharper road handling, a more versatile cockpit, new comfort and connectivity technologies, and even more safety.
Indeed, from a safety standpoint, the 2018 Honda Accord will now be equipped out of the gate on every model with the Honda Sensing package, a group of driver assistance technologies that aim to prevent accidents even if the driver is not in a position to do so.
In addition to all of these technologies, the new Accord offers more powerful and more efficient engines along with significant changes to its overall body and design that make the car even more comfortable to drive and more enjoyable as well.
Let's take a look at the numbers that summarize the new 2018 Honda Accord.
The most powerful engine in the 2018 Honda Accord range will be paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. This is an exclusivity for the segment and the reduced weight of the automatic transmission means better efficiency.
The 2018 Honda Accord's trunk now promises 472.9 liters, 25.5 liters more than the previous model. The new Accord thus becomes one of the most versatile cars in its segment.
The 2018 Honda Accord will be powered out of the gate with a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 192 horsepower and 192 lb.-ft. of torque. That said, a second, more powerful engine developing 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque will also be offered as well as a new hybrid engine.
The 2018 Honda Accord will be built on a new structure composed of 54.2% high-strength steel. This type of steel makes it possible to improve both the rigidity of the structure and to reduce its weight. The end result is a more balanced and efficient drive along with a higher level of comfort.
This number refers to the more space we find in the rear seats of the 2018 Honda Accord. The latter now offer 75 mm more legroom!
To learn more about the new 2018 Honda Accord, contact us today at Bathurst Honda!


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Other available options
Classic 9ct yellow gold studs are given a stylish twist with these polished gold knot earrings. The perfect jewellery staple for everyday wear.
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- 9ct Yellow Gold
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At H.Samuel we offer a range of delivery options to suit you:
- Free Standard Delivery available on orders of £49 or more
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- Free Click & Collect to over 300 H.Samuel stores in the UK
For more Delivery Information click here
Returns policy: you can return items to us by post or in store within 30 days for a full refund or exchange.*
*We cannot refund or exchange pierced jewellery, e.g. earrings, if they have been removed from the original sealed packaging due to hygiene reasons.
For our full returns policy click here.
Help Centre
For assistance with your purchase, visit our help centre for advice & tips so you can buy confidently with H.Samuel.


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Interested in renting a nice location for...
Our space is 5,000 square feet with a projector and 13 foot screen in the main area. Our 400 square foot classroom space has a TV with computer connections available. Our cork floor
provides a comfortable surface for exercise classes. The building is fully accessible, and all on one level. Interested in renting the space?
Please Contact us for more information.


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Could President Obama be leaning toward rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline? Huffington Post's Sam Stein reported less than a half hour before the speech:
President Barack Obama will ask the State Department not to approve the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline unless it can first determine that it will not lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions, a senior administration official told The Huffington Post.
Juliet Eilperin clairified via Twitter, saying that the pipeline "won't be approved if it would emit more GhG [greenhouse gases] than not building it."
Here is what the president actually said about Keystone:
I know there's been, for example, a lot of controversy surrounding the proposal to build a pipeline — the Keystone pipeline, that would carry oil from Canadian tar sands down to refineries in the Gulf. The State Department is going through the final stages of evaluating the proposal. That's how it's always been done.
But I do want to be clear. Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation's interest. And our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. The net effects of the pipeline's impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward. It's relevant.
This is closer to what the Administration has said in the past on Keystone approval, though President Obama was clearer. If the process determines that the pipeline causes more emissions, he said it would not be in our nation's interest. Today's speech was supposed to avoid Keystone altogether. Senior administration officials responded to questions about the pipeline on Thursday with the usual answer: they were waiting for the State Department to complete its process. This process is key.
Earlier this year, the State Department released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) written by a consulting firm paid by TransCanada, the company trying to get the pipeline built. After a public comment period which ended in April, State is reviewing those comments and will release a Final EIS later this year.
One notable public comment was submitted by the EPA, which said that the draft EIS had "insufficient information" and needed to go back to the drawing board. It also questioned the report's conclusion that the extraction of tar sands is inevitable.
After the Final EIS is released, then the administration will determine whether the project is in our national interest — which is where the President's comments come into play.
There are still open questions:
Could this be a simple restatement of typical Administration policy on Keystone? The State Department concluded that the pipeline would lead to no new greenhouse gas emissions because it assumed that the tar sands oil would be extracted pipeline or no. Many other experts concluded that this was not the case — transporting tar sands by train is expensive and not feasible.
Will they determine that offsets are adequate emissions reductions? If TransCanada purchased offsets somewhere else that were carbon-negative, in theory they could argue that building the Keystone XL pipeline would not not lead to a net increase in emissions.
Would the "net" extend to emissions outside of the U.S.? The State Department could argue that any oil exported from the U.S. should not be counted in the determination of whether the pipeline would increase greenhouse gas emissions. Building the pipeline and burning the oil is certainly more carbon-intensive than not doing that, but it all depends on where the borders are drawn around which emissions.
This post was updated to reflect President Obama's comments during his speech.


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You're invited to National Democracy Slam 2015--and you won't want to miss it. You can attend or watch online and be an active participant either way!
Working with the Washington College of Law, FairVote has taken the lead in organizing this innovative gathering. The event is a day-long conference that will explore 17 bold ideas for breaking partisan gridlock, ending gerrymandering, and improving America's elections and politics. The conference will feature leading electoral reform thinkers and policy makers. Participants include two Members of Congress and a remarkable array of talent and fast-paced sessions. We expect to have a big media star moderate our final Slam -- stay tuned! Online you can read a detailed agenda of the day's events and register.
We're asking you to register regardless of whether you plan on attending in person or online through the live webcast. The conference will present attendees with plenty of opportunities to engage with the reforms via a live polling system that will be used throughout the day. Since the conference is being broadcast via webcast, both in-person and online attendees will have an opportunity to weigh in on each of the 17 electoral reforms that are discussed, with real-time results for each poll. You'll also be able to access papers written for the conference online starting on April 15th.
Please Register Now!
Rob Richie in New York Times and Baltimore Sun and on CSPAN: In response to a David Brooks column titled, "The Field is Flat," our executive director Rob Richie had a New York Times letter on April 3rd on how the 2016 electoral landscape will be anything but flat without statutory changes to adopt the National Popular Vote plan for president and fair representation voting in multi-winner congressional districts. Rob also joined with colleague Dania Korkor in a Baltimore Sun oped on March 29th making the case to ensure voters always choose their U.S. Senators. On Tuesday night, April 7th at 10:40 pm ET, CSPAN will air a forum from last month's National Conference of Independents where Rob as a panelist makes the case for ranked choice voting and fair representation.
FairVote board chair Krist Novoselic makes news. FairVote's board chair Krist Novoselic was featured in an excellent Oregonian profile after he and Rob Richie spoke last month at Reed College in Portland. Krist has also gotten involved in a major voting rights case in Yakima (WA), where city leaders have embraced a remedy that includes a fair representation voting system; see a Seattle Times oped by the Yakima mayor.
2015 is another important year for ranked choice voting (RCV). More legislation than ever before has been introduced in state legislatures around the nation. Check out the blog for an overview of RCV legislation that has been introduced thus far. There will also be new RCV elections in cities in California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota, and an exciting effort to allow Mainers to vote to adopt RCV for all state and congressional elections. Check out the blog for an overview and see links to new RCV resources.
The Democratic National Committee's Executive Committee unanimously pass a resolution in support of a Constitutional Right to Vote Amendment. The resolution was proposed by DNC Vice Chair of Voter Expansion and Protection Donna Brazile, and marks a major step forward for advocates like FairVote who have been fighting for a constitutional right to vote for some time. Executive Director Rob Richie writes more at the FairVote blog. See our Right to Vote Amendment website and our Promote Our Vote site on ways to translate work for the amendment into local change.
The ninth annual Voting and Elections Summit 2015 was a big success. FairVote was thrilled to co-sponsor this year's summit, which showcased an impressive lineup of speakers and presenters. The summit presented an excellent opportunity to insert FairVote's innovative democratic ideas, and allowed for productive dialogue among leaders in the voting community. If you couldn't make it, we've got you covered--check out video clips of FairVote's segments from the conference, including short introductions to each of our core priorities and a fun hands on demonstration of how RCV works.
The Academy used RCV to select Birdman as the winner of this year's Best Picture Award. In our very own FairVote poll, however, participants ranked their choices to select Boyhood. Check out a round by round break down of our poll's results and visit our blog, Oscar Votes 123, for further analysis of the Academy's selection of Birdman. The Academy also uses RCV for nominations in all major categories.
National Popular Vote plan keeps moving. The National Popular Vote won't be in place in 2016, but this groundbreaking effort keeps building support. Stay tuned for potential wins in 2016 and read a recent Reuters oped by FairVote's Rob Richie and Claire Daviss about Electoral College reform
To keep up with the latest at FairVote, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and visit our main blog and "quick news blog." And yes, we do depend upon the support of individuals like yourself -- if you haven't made a 2015 donation, please consider a gift today.
Austin Plier, FairVote


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Steamboat Springs' King shines on the DU volleyball court
Steamboat Springs — Colleen King grew up as a setter.
"In high school, the best feeling was setting up (former teammate) Devin (Wilkinson) and her getting a kill," King said. "I loved that."
She considered herself a setter, and some of her favorite moments came as a setter. But King's athletic gifts have positioned her well for the right side.
King, a 2010 Steamboat Springs High School graduate, finally focused on hitting this past season at the University of Denver and turned in a breakout year.
The Pioneers junior led the team in kills and was a first-team All Western Athletic Conference selection.
"She was one of the top athletes on the team," said first-year Pioneers coach Jesse Mahoney. "I said regardless of whatever issues she might have, we need to get this kid on the floor and put her in this situation. I'm not saying putting her on the right side was a genius move. It's where she was meant to be all along."
King certainly impressed. She was recruited to DU by the former coaching staff as a right-side hitter and setter.
After battling injuries early, King found playing time but never could get comfortable in her role.
When Mahoney was hired away from Colorado State University, the transition was easy for King. Mahoney had recruited her in high school.
Initially, King was told to continue working on both aspects of her game. But by spring, the Pioneers had picked up a setter as a transfer, and King focused just on hitting.
"I was told I would be blocking and point scoring for us," King said. "Before, I was stuck and wasn't sure if I was a hitter or a setter. It really helped my confidence."
King's newfound confidence immediately paid off. Her kills per game increased from 1.5 her sophomore year to 3.5 this past season.
She became a focal point of the offense and started to see more double blocks.
"Those numbers are a huge amount of growth," Mahoney said. "They will get incrementally better from here. If we can get her to be a little more efficient, she'll take more swings for us."
The focus now is to continue to work on King's swing. Mahoney also said he would like to see King become a better defensive player. Last year, she was taken out when she rotated to the back line. This year, Mahoney said he hopes King can become a six rotation player.
King is now getting into winter workouts and said she can't wait to start playing again. Although the move from setter wasn't easy, she said the support from her family — especially her parents Buddy and Joanie — was instrumental in her breakout year.
With the Pioneers moving to the Summit League this season, King said the goal is to win the conference and make the NCAA tournament.
"That's what gets me through workouts now," she said.
King said she isn't looking past this year. Instead, she's trying to enjoy her last season. But when it's over, she said she would love to play professionally overseas like her sister Tara. Considering the growth she has shown, she should be able to do it.
"She has a really high ceiling and is not close to it," Mahoney said. "I know she aspires to play after college, and she will. She's a really special player."
To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email email@example.com
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text: Our ammunition is gone and our water dried up. Now is the time for us to make the final counterattack and fight gallantly, conscious of the Emperor's favor, not begrudging our efforts though they turn our bones to powder and pulverize our bodies. I believe that until the island is recaptured, the Emperor's domain will be eternally insecure. I therefore swear that even when I have become a ghost I shall look forward to turning the defeat of the Imperial Army to victory.


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At the stroke of the midnight hour, when most people were asleep, petrol prices awoke to a new high, and were hiked by Rs. 7.5 per litre. Over the past two years, they have been acting like the children of Osama Bin Laden in his prime: constantly increasing. Many people are awaiting with dread the day when prices will reach the magic figure of Rs. 100 per litre.
I personally think that a small figure like Rs. 100 per litre is aiming too low. After all, who would ever have thought that petrol prices would one day beat beer? Here is a list of a few price milestones that the Governments of India should strive to reach in the future. At the rate we're going, I think we can cross even the last milestone in a few years. Yes, we can!
1. Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 – Ice Cream family pack: A typical ice cream 1 litre family pack costs Rs 150 if you go for a conventional flavour like chocolate or butterscotch. If you want nuts or chocolate chips in your ice cream, you may have to fork out Rs. 200. If you like high end brands, you'll have to pay even more. Be that as it may, petrol must – and will – soon overcome ice cream to be taken seriously as a luxury.
2. Rs. 300 – Fake gangajal: This is a product that is only known to those who have gone to the Himalayas for a pleasure trip, bearing with them instructions from all their elderly relatives to bring back enough gangajal to wash away the whole family's sins. Of course, these things are sometimes forgotten on pleasure trips. Only when you get back home do you remember, and then you go in search of fake gangajal. And this saves your life. This interesting liquid retails at around Rs. 300 depending on how authentic you want it to be. But for petrol, it is just another milestone.
3. Rs. 600 – Deodorant: A normal deodorant might cost Rs. 100 for a 150 mL bottle, or about Rs. 600 per litre. When petrol prices beat deodorant prices, we can expect to see people do without deodorant, and then we will all die of holding our breath during summer. Either that or the human race will evolve to a form without noses at all.
4. Rs. 1000 – Nirupa Roy's tears: This, of course, is based purely on guesswork. We guess that Nirupa Roy was paid Rs. 50,000 for her performance in Deewar. Assume she spent 50 minutes prominently featured on screen. Assume she cried 1 litre of tears per minute (an accurate estimate; she was the reason the term 'crying buckets' came into being). This would mean 1 litre of her tears earned her Rs. 1000, and will represent a noble landmark, indeed, for petrol prices as they try to complete their first millenium.
5. Rs. 1000 – Moisturiser: Even a low end brand of moisturiser might cost about Rs. 1000 per litre. Once petrol gets to this price level, people will choose transport over moisture, and we will all be great candidates to star in any Ramsay Brothers film with monsters who have skin constantly peeling off their bodies.
6. Rs. 1500 – Blood: This represents the final frontier for petrol prices. On the grand day when they surpass even that liquid which flows in our veins, our world will change. People will donate blood in exchange for petrol. WWE wrestlers and movie stuntmen will be arrested when they try to trade tomato juice for diesel. A new blood group – P+, which stands for 'give me petrol instead of blood' – will be added. And the famous quotation 'Give me blood and I will give you freedom' won't sound so grand any more.


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Whew! Where have I been? It's been a long few weeks- to be honest, I have been writing some intensely taxing material, and in doing so, I flooded away my desire to do much else. I spent some time ruminating and feeling sorry for myself, and then I got back with it (with some help from a few indispensable friends). So here's what I've been up to that doesn't involve sad poetry or trigonometry (or both?)…
Two Fridays ago, Maurya and I took the kids to Peace Valley Park and hung out on Lake Galena! Gorgeoussss!
That Saturday, my Mum and I took the kids to Newtown's Market Day. I hadn't been to Market Day in years, so it was refreshing to walk around and check out the different booths.
Book sale in front of the library!
Fabulous fall decor everywhere!
A booth selling little pewter figures. I so badly wish I had gotten some for J & C!
The Milk House stand, of course.
Rag rugs!
A gorgeous old loom in action!
Jack and I took a ride on the horse-drawn cart. These are the same gorgeous Belgians that were at the Grange Fair!
We had such a wonderful time! Jack was going crazy for all of the activity, and he absolutely loved the wagon ride. Doing things like this with him and Carolyn have filled my life with so much fun- I look forward to different seasons for different reasons now, because I know that there's always something to do with J & C. Children make it so easy to love life 🙂
Sunday was, of course, CSA pickup. Included: two acorn squash, one head of cauliflower, four ears of corn, five scallions, four turnips, five carrots, a big bag of wax beans, two tomatoes, two giant beets, and three peppers. All of this has been eaten, save for the beets.
Last week I also had some fun growing my own alfalfa sprouts. I have another jar and seed packet, so I'm planning on doing a full write-up of the process (so easy), but for now I'll give you a preview of the result:
These are so yummy stuffed inside a pita with a great glob of hummus.
This past weekend, Mum and I actually drove up to Connecticut! She had a cocktail reunion party in Norwalk, and since my night was free, the kids and I went along for the ride. We made a stop over to visit Yaya and baby Kathleen…
I know, that lead-in was a bit misleading, but it was actually really peaceful. The weather was perfect and the grounds were empty, so we were able to just sit with our memories of Yaya and appreciate the beautiful day.
We also spent some time visiting family friends and old neighbors of my grandparents. It was a short but lovely trip, and I'm looking forward to returning.
And then, of course, there was Sunday- my birthday! As I get older (although, I'm still very young), my birthday becomes less about what I do and more about who I am with. I spent most of the day with my Mum and the kids, and it was perfect!
Breakfast at C'est la Vie! Hands down, the best bakery in the area. After breakfast, I took the kids to the park up the street, and then out to Small World Coffee over in Princeton. I love to coffee shop hop, so it was really special to bounce around to my favorite cafes all day long.
Maurya, Julius, and Moms stopped by later with Babycakes cupcakes! Maurya and Julius were coming home from New York Comic-Con, and they blew me away with baked goods from my favorite bakery.
Honestly, it was one of the best birthdays I have ever had. I feel so fortunate to have such an amazing group of friends, and a supportive and inspiring family.
Next week, Mum and I are driving out to Ohio to visit R.S., and we're stopping in Bloomsburg for dinner with James, so that's when the family celebrations are going down. My brothers and I are all in October (James is the 2nd and R.S. is the 11th), but this year we were all in different cities and couldn't get together on any of the birthdays, so next week is standing in as all of our birthdays, and we'll be able to celebrate together. There has been talk of a traveling birthday cake…but more on that later 😉
Sunday was also CSA pickup (again!). In this week's share: five leeks, snap peas, four peppers, a head of green cabbage, six potatoes, three jalapenos, one each of spaghetti, acorn, and butternut squash, a big bag of wax beans, a head of Romanesco broccoli, and an ear of fresh popcorn. I am super stoked about the popcorn- that's on the menu for tomorrow afternoon.
Busy, busy! I have been so swamped with schoolwork, for a while there it felt as though I was drowning in it. This week is a bit more manageable, but only because I pulled a really late night staying up getting some work done to turn in early. It took a lot of the pressure off for this week, but now it's back on with a heap of assignments due next Monday and Tuesday. I'm looking forward to heading west next week and seeing my brothers, and have been thinking about that each time I feel overwhelmed. I'm going to try to keep the energy up on here too, if only because I have a ton of fun things to share- just as soon as I carve out enough time. As for right now, it's bedtime for this sleepy Momma!


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We have just recently moved into our Sherman Oaks location from a previous location in the Valley. While we have plenty experience, and a faithful returning clientele, we are pretty much starting fresh. So if you have never heard of us, or have us confused for the previous salon ownership, do not look us over. Come try us out, and maybe you will understand why we have had so much customers follow us to our new location.
The owner of the salon is, Sebastian Reyes. Sebastian has 10 years of salon experience in the San Fernando Valley and 4 years of salon management.


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Folks who know Circonus and use it regularly for operations also know that its API is an important part of efficient management for your monitoring facility.
For example, after building out a new datacenter with our SaaS application, we wanted to apply tagging to our checks to make searching more effective. The UI is easy to use, but I needed to tag batches of checks rather than one at a time, which is a job for the API.
I could also write a small program to do a search and populate tags. That's when a co-worker suggested I use circonusvi (https://github.com/circonus-labs/circonusvi).
Circonusvi is a neat little tool contributed by Ben Chapman to the Circonus Labs github repo. It's a natural tool to use for most folks who work with unix or unix-like platforms. Blend that with the JSON input/output of the Circonus API and you have a quick way to make adhoc changes.
So after installing the python requirements for circonusvi, I generated a normal API token from the browser, ran circonusvi once, and validated the token in the browser user interface.
My first run of circonusvi without arguments returned everything, allowing me look over things and understand the JSON structure.
Now for the business.
This returns a list of common servers JSON output that I can now edit in vi:
./circonusvi.py 'display_name=servers([0-9]).foo.net json:nad'
And this example finds all the empty tags and populates it with something useful:
%s/\"tags\"\:\ \[\]/\"tags\":\ [\"component:http\",\"datacenter:ohio\",\"os:plan9\"]/g
After saving the changes and verifying the results, circonusvi prompts you one last time about updating the server. Then it updates and you're done!


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- Methodology article
- Open Access
Screening synteny blocks in pairwise genome comparisons through integer programming
© Tang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011
- Received: 8 December 2010
- Accepted: 18 April 2011
- Published: 18 April 2011
It is difficult to accurately interpret chromosomal correspondences such as true orthology and paralogy due to significant divergence of genomes from a common ancestor. Analyses are particularly problematic among lineages that have repeatedly experienced whole genome duplication (WGD) events. To compare multiple "subgenomes" derived from genome duplications, we need to relax the traditional requirements of "one-to-one" syntenic matchings of genomic regions in order to reflect "one-to-many" or more generally "many-to-many" matchings. However this relaxation may result in the identification of synteny blocks that are derived from ancient shared WGDs that are not of interest. For many downstream analyses, we need to eliminate weak, low scoring alignments from pairwise genome comparisons. Our goal is to objectively select subset of synteny blocks whose total scores are maximized while respecting the duplication history of the genomes in comparison. We call this "quota-based" screening of synteny blocks in order to appropriately fill a quota of syntenic relationships within one genome or between two genomes having WGD events.
We have formulated the synteny block screening as an optimization problem known as "Binary Integer Programming" (BIP), which is solved using existing linear programming solvers. The computer program QUOTA-ALIGN performs this task by creating a clear objective function that maximizes the compatible set of synteny blocks under given constraints on overlaps and depths (corresponding to the duplication history in respective genomes). Such a procedure is useful for any pairwise synteny alignments, but is most useful in lineages affected by multiple WGDs, like plants or fish lineages. For example, there should be a 1:2 ploidy relationship between genome A and B if genome B had an independent WGD subsequent to the divergence of the two genomes. We show through simulations and real examples using plant genomes in the rosid superorder that the quota-based screening can eliminate ambiguous synteny blocks and focus on specific genomic evolutionary events, like the divergence of lineages (in cross-species comparisons) and the most recent WGD (in self comparisons).
The QUOTA-ALIGN algorithm screens a set of synteny blocks to retain only those compatible with a user specified ploidy relationship between two genomes. These blocks, in turn, may be used for additional downstream analyses such as identifying true orthologous regions in interspecific comparisons. There are two major contributions of QUOTA-ALIGN: 1) reducing the block screening task to a BIP problem, which is novel; 2) providing an efficient software pipeline starting from all-against-all BLAST to the screened synteny blocks with dot plot visualizations. Python codes and full documentations are publicly available http://github.com/tanghaibao/quota-alignment. QUOTA-ALIGN program is also integrated as a major component in SynMap http://genomevolution.com/CoGe/SynMap.pl, offering easier access to thousands of genomes for non-programmers.
- Whole Genome Duplication
- Syntenic Region
- Synteny Block
- Syntenic Block
- Whole Genome Duplication Event
Many eukaryotic lineages have experienced whole genome duplication (WGD) events, including fungi [1], animals [2, 3] and especially flowering plants, where WGDs are prevalent [4–6]. Over evolutionary time, evidence of WGDs is obscured by loss of duplicate genes, gene movement and genome rearrangements. Unequal evolutionary rates for different lineages and gene families further complicate this problem, making phylogenetic inferences from distributions of pairwise distances between paralogous genes difficult and occasionally leading to erroneous findings. Conservation of collinear gene order (or "synteny") is less subject than sequence conservation to difficulties with phylogenetic inference, and is the basis for the discovery and dating of ancient genomic events where whole genome sequence is available [6, 7].
WGDs can present a major challenge for accurately attributing synteny blocks to different evolutionary origins, especially when there are multiple sequential WGD events. In particular, some WGDs may be species-specific and others shared by multiple species (i.e. the polyploidy occurred before their lineages diverged). In order to automate the classification of different evolutionary origins for sets of syntenic blocks in lineages with a history of WGDs, it is essential to identify the relative ages of the WGDs and their placement relative to the divergence of the genomes being compared before performing in-depth analyses (see an example in Figure 1).
Current softwares to identify synteny blocks often uses chaining or clustering of putative homologous gene pairs [4, 8–10]. It is common to then use custom schemes to score each block and apply a cutoff [8, 11]. Existing methods do not differentiate the evolutionary origin and age of these synteny blocks. However, specification of identity and age is crucial for any downstream evolutionary analysis. These software packages for identifying syntenic blocks will identify some blocks that are derived from shared, ancient whole genome duplications as well as false syntenic regions created by repeats and local gene duplications, creating ambiguity in the identification of true syntenic orthologs.
Methods that find syntenic regions between vertebrate genomes often rely on "best-in-genome" (or "one-to-one" reciprocal best) criteria [12] in order to remove noise from the exhaustive enumeration of synteny blocks. This is not appropriate when studying plant or other genomes affected by multiple rounds of polyploidy. The orthologous blocks between two genomes under WGD scenarios can be one-to-many, or many-to-many depending on when the WGD(s) occurred in the evolutionary history of one or both lineages.
There have been ad-hoc rules in pairwise comparisons to extract synteny blocks under the influence of WGDs. For example, approaches that find "Doubly Conserved Syntenies" (DCS) were extensively used in yeast [1] and fish [3] genomes. The DCS method attempts to find 2 chromosomal regions that both match the same single region in the outgroup. However, it is only designed to work with the 2-to-1 case and does not deal with hexaploidy, double tetraploidy, or more general n-fold polyploidy. Additionally, the DCS method still relies on ad-hoc rules to classify the 2:1 pattern. Without an explicit optimization objective, the DCS method is not fully reproducible. DCS also requires the sequence of an unduplicated outgroup species, a resource not available in many cases.
To generalize the concept behind DCS, we observe that when aligning two genomes with known polyploidy events in one or both lineages, we often have expectations for the number of subgenomes, or "multiplication level", or "depths" [6, 7, 13, 14]. Such a priori information can be used as a guide to screen synteny blocks. If we set up an upper bound ("quota") for the expected number of subgenomes, the synteny blocks will then "compete" for the specified depths and the identification of synteny blocks will then be selective, excluding weaker matches that are more ancient or simply artifacts. As more flowering plant lineages with complicated polyploidy histories are sequenced, tools to automate the identification of synteny blocks with known evolutionary origins will become valuable to a wider range of researchers.
The algorithm we present here, called QUOTA-ALIGN, is a method that screens synteny blocks based on the expected number of subgenomes, effectively eliminating more ancient (weaker) or spurious alignments. In its simplest usage, a quota of 1:1 between genomes of different species corresponds to orthologous blocks in the traditional sense, i.e. neither of the genomes have duplicated since their divergence (e.g. between two mammalian genomes) and will contain an approximately 1:1 syntenic mapping of genomic regions. In QUOTA-ALIGN, the quota constraint is generalized to Q X :Q Y in order to handle lineages with different duplication histories, a case found frequently in flowering plant lineages.
The quota-based screening of synteny blocks is a difficult problem because the goal is to simultaneously maximize synteny blocks' scores on both the x-axis and y-axis in a dot plot [15], where simple sorting along any one axis will not necessarily be optimal on the other axis. Even in the case of 1:1 quota, the problem is known to be NP-hard [15]. Herein, we show that it is possible to translate the problem into "Binary Integer Programming" (BIP), which is well-studied and has efficient software implementations. After converting to a BIP problem and solving it, QUOTA-ALIGN produces cleaner sets of synteny blocks and eliminates most ambiguous matches.
Impact of gene loss (P lo s s ) and chromosomal inversions (P inversi o n ) on the performance of QUOTA-ALIGN using the simulated genomes.
P loss = 0
P loss = 0.3
P loss = 0.6
P loss = 0.9
P inversion = 0
P inversion = 0.005
P inversion = 0.01
P inversion = 0.015
P inversion = 0.02
Estimating quota ratios
QUOTA-ALIGN can be used to identify paralogous syntenic blocks in addition to orthologous blocks. To identify paralogous blocks, the first and second values of the quota ratio are both multiplied by the product of one or more shared polyploidy events in the common ancestor of X and Y. To identify paralogous syntenic blocks within a single genome, both values of the quota ratio are the expected multiplication level minus 1 (to account for the self-self match). If the most recent polyploidy within a lineage is genome doubling, every genomic region will match one other region within the same genome (excluding the self-self match), therefore the expected quota is 1:1. If the most recent polyploid event is a genome triplication, every genomic region will match two other regions within the same genome, giving a quota ratio of 2:2.
Applications to real data
Summary of synteny blocks before and after quota-based screening in the four examples used in this study.
# of anchors
# of blocks
Percentage of regions exceed quota
Run time
CoGe link
A. thaliana vs. A. lyrata (1:1)
A. thaliana vs. poplar (4:2)
A. thaliana vs. A. thaliana (1:1)
grape vs. grape (2:2)
Example 1: Orthologous blocks between A. thaliana and A. lyrata (quota 1:1)
Example 2: Orthologous blocks between arabidopsis (A. thaliana) and poplar (P. trichocarpa) (quota 4:2)
Comparison of A. thaliana and poplar illustrates a "multiple-to-multiple" case, i.e. where both genomes have experienced duplications since their divergence (Figure 2). We know a priori that A. thaliana had 2 sequential tetraploidies, while poplar had 1 tetraploidy since diverging from their most recent common ancestor; therefore the expected quota is 4 (22) A. thaliana regions to 2 (21) poplar regions. After 4:2 screening, relics of older WGD events (γ) in their shared lineage are removed, and only putative orthologous blocks are retained. Compared to Example 1, the higher quota ratio (4:2) in this example represents a much looser constraint. Therefore more blocks are kept, as also reflected in the smaller number of constraints - in this example there are a total of 1084 variables, but only 326 constraints.
Example 3: Arabidopsis duplicated blocks (quota 1:1)
Arabidopsis has undergone three WGD events and traces of these events are evident on the arabidopsis-arabidopsis dot plot [4] (Figure 2). The synteny blocks, if unscreened, will include both recent duplicates (α event) and older duplicates (β and γ event), which are difficult to differentiate. Bowers et al. (2003) manually curated a list of arabidopsis blocks involved in the most recent duplication (α event) (Figure 2), applying an implicit rule to always use the higher scoring synteny segments when two synteny segments are conflicting [4]. With QUOTA-ALIGN, we formulate this rule more explicitly by specifying our quota 1:1 when finding synteny blocks within the arabidopsis genome. The final problem contains 440 variables and 152 constraints. The final blocks we find are mostly consistent with Bowers' manually identified blocks and are in agreement with 94% of Bowers' data (3581 out of 3822 total pairs). However, QUOTA-ALIGN discovered an additional 1153 gene pairs that were missed in Bowers' data. We further note that some of our additional gene pairs are microRNA genes that were only recently added to the latest Arabidopsis annotation after Bowers' study. In addition, we found two small alpha syntenic blocks that were entirely missed in Bowers' curated set of duplicates.
Example 4: Grape triplicated blocks (quota 2:2)
The grapevine genome contains many triplet sets of syntenic regions, suggesting its genome is derived from a triplication (also known as the γ event) [4, 5] (Figure 2). Therefore, for each grape region, there are two additional matching grape regions and so we enforce a quota of 2:2 in QUOTA-ALIGN. The γ event is the only known polyploidy event in the grape lineage, and has very few overlapping blocks. The problem contains 270 variables and only 12 constraints.
Results from the four examples are summarized in Table 2. Following the quota-based screening, the retained blocks conform more closely to expected ratios. Before the screening, there are many overlapping synteny blocks that exceed the expected ratio, ranging from 9% to 76% of the total blocks. After the screening, in all four examples there are fewer than 5% of the genomic regions that exceed the given quota. There are still minimal overlaps after the screening, because of the relaxation of "strict overlapping" with the N m parameter (see Methods).
Choice of quota
Selecting an appropriate quota ratio represents the single most important parameter affecting the outcome of screening syntenic regions. A loose quota (ploidy level set too high) imposes fewer constraints on overlapping syntenic blocks and leads to incomplete screening. An overly stringent (too low) quota, on the other hand, might accidentally remove some relevant synteny blocks, resulting in over-screening. Currently, the user must specify the quota ratio used by QUOTA-ALIGN; therefore the user must know a priori the polyploidy history of the genomes to be compared.
In cases where the polyploidy history is unknown, one strategy is to use different quota ratios (e.g. starting with 1:1, then 1:2, 2:1, etc.) to screen the synteny blocks and then inspect the dot plot to see if major features are included. To aid the user in selecting the quota correctly, QUOTA-ALIGN reports statistics on coverage that can be used by the user to validate the choice of quota. For example, in the sorghum-maize comparison, where maize has a WGD following the divergence of their lineages, a quota ratio of 1:2 should be used. Using a ratio of 1:1 instead only aligns 63% of the maize genome, this low percentage indicates that the user is likely missing one duplicated subgenome. Another helpful tip is to color syntenic gene pairs based on their Ks values (Figure 1). Such visualization can quickly identify shared or independent WGD events, and identify syntenic regions of varied ages.
Comparison of quota-based with divergence-based screening
As discussed above, most existing methods for screening syntenic blocks are based on ad-hoc rules. Some previous method uses frequency of synonymous substitutions (Ks) between syntenic gene pairs to differentiate the age of the blocks [16, 17]. Ks-based methods are not always effective for distinguishing synteny blocks from different events because: 1) Ks-based screening is contingent on multiple genomic events that are separable on the Ks distribution; 2) even in cases where different events are separable, Ks-based screening still involves an arbitrary cut-off that best separates different events. This is further complicated by large variations of Ks distributions derived from a single event, temporally continuous gene duplications, and limited resolution of Ks rate estimates over long evolutionary distances.
In contrast, QUOTA-ALIGN seeks to maximize the coverage (reflected by the block range) as well as divergence (reflected by the block score). This assumption complements the approach of using Ks values as the proxies of age of the blocks. For example, the Ks distribution for A. thaliana - A. lyrata (Example 1) clearly shows multiple peaks and a cutoff value at Ks ~0.5 can be applied in order to select only the orthologous gene pairs that are at lower Ks range (Figure 3A). In contrast, for the arabidopsis - poplar comparison (Example 2), the peak in the Ks distribution contains a mixture of orthologous and out-paralogous (derived from more ancient WGDs) gene pairs, with no conspicuous "saddle" point to be used as cut-off to select only orthologous blocks (Figure 3B). In summary, Ks is less effective at discriminating older evolutionary events when they occurred close together in divergence time, or a very long time ago, when synonymous substitutions saturate.
Studying genome rearrangement events
With the GRIMM algorithm [18] and its web-based interface, we can analyze the possible rearrangement scenario between two genomes in an automated fashion. GRIMM calculates the number of inversions, translocations, chromosome fusions and fissions under a most parsimonious scenario. We further note that such rearrangement analysis is only possible with our screening of synteny blocks since the inclusion of blocks from more ancient genome duplications will confound the actual block order.
For example, with QUOTA-ALIGN, we found that there are 69 synteny blocks between A. lyrata and A. thaliana (Example 1 in Results). One most parsimonious solution to transform the order of these 69 blocks in A. lyrata to the order in A. thaliana involves 34 steps -4 chromosome fusions, 3 translocations and 27 inversions. Previous results based on the genetic map between A. lyrata and A. thaliana suggested fewer steps: 3 fusions, 2 translocations and 5 inversions [19]. Clearly the genome sequences offer higher resolutions than marker-based genetic maps, especially for finding small inversions. However, the higher number of rearrangements suggested by QUOTA-ALIGN might also be due to relative incompleteness of the current A. lyrata genome assembly. For example, the additional fusion event suggested by QUOTA-ALIGN appears to be caused by two large scaffolds that failed to join in the genome assembly.
One limitation of GRIMM is that it can only solve non-duplicated blocks. The reason for this is that the reconstruction of rearrangement history involving duplicated blocks is difficult algorithmic problem known as the "genome halving" for tetraploid genomes, or "genome aliquoting" for n-fold polyploid genomes [20]. These problems remain open and are only solved under strict assumptions. As such, the rearrangement analysis for ratios different than 1:1 is currently not supported in QUOTA-ALIGN.
Since the binary integer programming is NP-hard, the worst-case execution time increases exponentially with larger problem size. The size of the integer programming problem is determined by the number of binary variables (n) and constraints (m). However, due to the branch-and-bound and other heuristics employed by the solvers, the average running time is often dependent on the structure of particular data and not entirely predictable. We typically screen <1000 synteny blocks with the integer solver taking at most a few seconds to solve on a single-threaded 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon CPU. In all examples used in the Results, the screening step was able to finish within 1 second (Table 2).
QUOTA-ALIGN can also handle the Multiple Alignment Format (MAF) which is often the direct output from BLASTZ/LASTZ [21]. This allows us to perform synteny block selection on the nucleotide alignment blocks as well. However, it is not yet scalable for the solver to solve the problem instance except for small genomes or chromosome pairs, since BLASTZ output between two large genomes are typically on the order of ~100,000 blocks even after chaining (Kent, et al., 2003), which is prohibitively expensive for integer programming solvers on current computers.
We need to point out that the scalability issue is dependent on the integer solver that we used. We rely on open-source integer solvers (SCIP and GLPK) in our program, but faster commercial solvers (e.g. CPLEX or GUROBI) could be used when available with only minor modifications to the linear programming interface in QUOTA-ALIGN. Furthermore, when an exact method is too costly, approximate methods could be applied for dealing with large number of synteny blocks and constraints.
Synteny identification and attribution to specific genomic events in an automated fashion remains a nontrivial task [22]. QUOTA-ALIGN solves the problem of selecting a subset of synteny blocks by using the expected quota known a priori from the inferred occurrences of past WGD events. This permits the user to identify subset of synteny blocks more relevant to a specific evolutionary event (e.g. species divergence or genome duplications). Quota-based screening is a good alternative to the Ks-based classification methods and is always superior when multiple genomic events cannot be distinguished by Ks.
Chaining synteny anchors to generate all syntenic blocks
First, the anchors (gene or marker pairs that show sequence similarities) can be generated by sequence alignment software like BLAST [23] or BLASTZ [21] based on all-against-all comparison between gene sequences of genome X and genome Y. Local gene duplicates and matches to multiple alternative splicing isoforms of the same gene are removed before chaining. Multiple models tend to place heavier weights on only a few genes and produce artifacts. The weight associated with each anchor reflects the similarity level for the match. We often use a scoring scheme for BLAST matches that transform the E-value to a score between 0 and 50, S = min (50, -log(E-value)), but other empirical scoring schemes are accepted. The sum of the weights of the anchors represents the weight of the synteny blocks: these weights are used in the screening of blocks.
Identification of 1D-overlapping syntenic blocks to find conflicts
With genome duplications, synteny blocks that are distinct on the 2D synteny plot might still overlap in their projections onto the 1D axes along one or both genomes (Figure 1) [25]. If all duplicated regions are retained, the depths of their projection onto 1D axes (x-axis and y-axis) should reflect the duplication history. Identifying these 1D-overlapping blocks is thus essential for the subsequent screening of the synteny blocks. If at a certain position, the number of overlapping blocks exceeds the expected number of duplicated regions, then we probably should exclude some weaker blocks derived from more ancient events.
Before we describe the 1D-overlapping detection algorithm, we need to consider the scenario when there are synteny blocks that are only slightly overlapping but are blocks we do not want to exclude. This overlap is due to the over-extension in the previous chaining step. Therefore, we relax the criteria and specify a distance cutoff (N m ) below which blocks are not considered overlapping.
Using a similar concept as employed in the chaining step, we again correct the boundaries of the synteny blocks. But this time instead of expanding, we shrink all our block boundaries by N m (Figure 5B). This boundary correction procedure simplifies the identification of the 1D-overlap using the aforementioned Six and Wood sweep line algorithm [24]. The set of overlapping blocks are then converted into constraints in the integer programming instance discussed in the following paragraph.
Binary integer programming formulation
Linear programming is a method for finding the values that optimize a given model where all the constraints are represented as linear equations. The binary integer programming (BIP) problem is a special case where all the variables are required to be either 0 or 1. This is a well-known NP-hard problem [26].
Our problem formulation for QUOTA-ALIGN is the following: given the expected depth (quota) along the genomes on both x- and y-axis, select a subset of the synteny blocks with maximized total sum of scores of the selected blocks. We introduce a decision variable x i to determine whether or not we select each block S i . Let w i be the weight (or score) for synteny block S i for a total of n blocks, where w i is the sum of the weights in all the anchor points within S i . The binary integer formulation for our problem can thus be represented in a standard form:
Objective function has the form maximize ∑ w i x i , for i = 1,2,... n
The m constraints are inequalities of the form ∑ x j ≤ Q X and ∑ x k ≤ Q Y where the set of blocks they represent are overlapping on the x-axis and y-axis, respectively; Q X and Q Y represent expected numbers of subgenomes in genome X and genome Y.
All of x i where i = 1,2,... n are binary variables to represent decisions (0 to discard the block, 1 to retain the block)
Note that in the simplest case when the quota is 1:1, the problem is the same as choosing a maximum weight independent set [15] in a conflict graph where edges represent 1D conflicts identified in the previous step.
Solving the integer programming problem
After converting constraints of the synteny blocks to BIP problem, we use two free solvers - SCIP http://scip.zib.de/ and GLPK http://www.gnu.org/software/glpk/ to solve the instance. Our default solver SCIP was chosen for its superior performance http://plato.asu.edu/ftp/milpf.html. Both SCIP and GLPK generate the same solution in all test cases. Based on the output from the BIP solver, we keep all synteny blocks whose indicator variables are determined as 1. These are the "screened" blocks that maximize the total weights of the blocks while respecting the required quota. After screening with quota Q X :Q Y , each region in genome X will have at most Q Y matching regions in genome Y, while each region in genome Y will have up to Q X matching regions in genome X, thereby fulfilling the constraints.
Chromosome segmentations for studying rearrangements
In the simplest case of quota 1:1, QUOTA-ALIGN produces synteny blocks that do not overlap in 1D projections, which is essential for studying rearrangement history [25]. We can then process the synteny blocks and represent the order of the blocks as integer sequences (where the integers represent identifiers of distinct blocks). Signs for the individual blocks were automatically determined by inspecting the start and stop anchor of the synteny block, to reflect whether the two matching regions are in the same or the opposite orientation [18]. The signed integer sequences can then be exported to the GRIMM web server [27] to search for one most parsimonious rearrangement scenario (Figure 4).
Integration with SynMap application
We have included pre- and post-processing scripts in the QUOTA-ALIGN software package, as well as scripts to visualize the final blocks that have passed the quota-based screening. However, most users still need to download and process each individual genome and gene annotations. CoGe's database provides an integrated solution for data management, contains updated genome sequences and gene annotations, and provides a suite of web-based tools for comparative genomics [28]. Therefore we integrated QUOTA-ALIGN within CoGe's SynMap application to allow easier non-programmatic access to thousands of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes.
We appreciate financial support from the US National Science Foundation (MCB-0820821 to M.F., MCB-0821096 and DBI-0849896 to A.H.P.)
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text:
Harikamboji is an ancient raga and one of the important ones. Its presence in the Pann system of ancient Tamil music (where it is called Sempaalai) underscores this point. It is one of the important classical scales and has an universality about it. The importance of the scale can also be gauged from the fact that Harikamboji is one of the ragas that comes up in the graha bheda sequence that also includes Shankarabharanam, Todi, Kharaharapriya, Kalyani and Natabhairavi, all six of which make up the most important melakarta ragas.
However, in recent decades, maybe even centuries, Harikamboji has ceded a good part of its popularity to other closely related ragas such as Kamboji and Khamas. M S Subbulakshmi was one musician who used to sing Harikamboji quite often. In recent years, young musicians such as Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Vijay Siva and Sowmya have contributed to a renewed interest in the raga.
In terms of prayogas, taking the more popular Kamboji and Khamas as reference points, Harikamboji has a lot in common with these two ragas, which might be a reason for its diminished popularity.... Some of the well known songs in the raga are Dinamani Vamsha, Rama Nannu Brovara and Entaraani Thana, all by Tyagaraja. Incidentally, there are recordings of all the above kritis by M S Subbulakshmi, whose rendition of Vandaadum Solai is also popular. In recent years, Mysore Sadashiva Rao's Saketa Nagara Naatha and Papanasam Sivan's Enadhu Manam Kavalai Enum Irul Soozhndhaal have also formed part of the Harikamboji repertoire in concerts.


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The Man in Red
A thousands in that crowd, movements everywhere. With the speed of the train, faces would be unrecognizable
But through the ruck, with such speed of the train, my eyes darted on the man in red.
It was you.
Have I veered my head on the other side, have I blinked my eyes on a split second, it wouldn't happen at all.
But it did. In that littlest bit of moment, it did.
That "one in a million possibility"
and "strange things happen" moments really do exist.
It was so perfectly timed. You, being there at that certain moment
and my head veering at that certain moment.
It was so perfectly woven. You, standing right at that very spot and me, sitting at my very spot.
It was so perfectly put together. Who knew, it would be so perfect that I was led to believe in destiny and coincidences.
And right then, I uttered your name with a smile full of amazement for the perfection of it all. That littlest bit of that certain moment..
But perfection…
It doesn't exist.


text:
21min Fudge Brownies
Has anyone missed my recipes? I apologise for my hiatus but I have not had time to blog my recipes for the last 3 months. I didn't have time to even try new recipes with my own twisted version of them. But I made time for this recipe as it simply had to be posted.
My older 16year old girl had just completed her mid-term exams and was bored with too much time in her hands. She decided to venture into the kitchen to try her hand at baking instead of her usual scrambled eggs or spinach banana smoothies. She came across this one bowl easy brownie recipe and turned out fabulous! Never mind my kitchen which looked like a tornado has just passed through. Never mind the cleaning I had to do after. I enjoyed it tremendously. This recipe is really worth sharing here on my blog. Of course, I replaced 1 cup of caster sugar with a mix of 1/2 cup caster and 1/2 cup brown sugar, to avoid that cloyingly sweet aftertaste.
The key to getting really choclatey ooey gooey fudgy brownies? A few points to note :
Yields 18 squares
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tbsp canola/sunflower oil
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract/essence
1/2 cup plain/all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
A few crushed pieces of walnut/cocoa buttons (if you prefer nut-free brownies)
1. Preheat oven to 175deg C. Spray cooking spray onto 10 x 6 inch flat brownie baking tin and line with baking paper. Set aside. Whisk the melted butter, oil and the sugar for 1-2 mins.
2) Add the eggs and vanilla essence and whisk further for another 1-2 mins.
3) Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Do it over the butter egg mix for a one bowl less clean up baking.
4) Add the sieved flour and cocoa to the butter egg mix. Mix well but do not over mix. You can add walnuts at this point.
5) Pour the batter onto the prepared baking tin.
6) Top with cocoa buttons or more crushed walnuts. Bake at the top shelf for excatly 21 mins. Remove, let it cool for 10 mins and cut into squares. Enjoy for a sweet after dinner treat.
Almond Banana Cake
A twist to our regular banana cake with the substitution of half the salf raising flour with Almond flour. My banana cakes are very light as they are low in sugar and I only use canola oil. With this change, a slightly rich and moisture rich banana cake ensued. Try it to believe it!!
Ingredients (yields two 7 x 2 inch high cakes or one 7 x 4inch high cake )
4 over ripe bananas, mashed
3 eggs, at room temperature, beaten
130ml canola oil
125gm self raising flour
125gm almond flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
150gm caster sugar
25gm almond slivers and extra for the top
Almond Cream Tart
This is one of the recipes I hae learnt recently in a shortcrust pastry baking course in June. Held over 5 days from 8-2pm, I learnt Apple Cranberry Pie, Flan Parisian, Tarte Normande, Tarte Bourdaloue and Quiche Lorraine... the latter two were the ones that brought me to my knees (with all that butter and cream!). I devoured with my family as soon as I brought them home.
Tarte Bourdaloue is a classic pear and almond tart and originates from Paris in 1906. I omitted the pears this time I didn't have any preserved pears at home. So what resulted was an Almond Cream Tart which is equally delicious. Don't be alarmed by the number of ingredients and steps. What results is a beautiful decadent tart which you can enjoy for days :)
I will make the classic Tarte Bourdaloue in one of the future blog posts.
Ingredients (yields a 8inch round tart)
Shortcrust Pastry
200gm plain flour
4gm Salt
20gm Sugar
100gm unsalted butter
1 egg
5gm water
2gm vanilla essence
Almond Cream Filling
60gm softened butter
60gm sugar
60gm ground almond
10gm plain flour
1 egg
2 gm vanilla essence
1 cup almond flakes/almond slivers
40gm Apricot glaze (for the shine - optional)
1) First and foremost, cut the butter into cubes, put them in a small bowl and place them in the freezer. I can't emphasize how important it is that the butter is ice cold. It can't be soft as then it would affect the pastry dough texture. It will not hold itself well and will crack easily in the later stages.So, please please make sure the butter is hard and frozen.
Sieve the plain flour, sugar and salt.. After sifting, put these ingredients into a mixing bowl.
2) Now, take out the hard cubes of butter from the freezer and place them into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture. Use a plastic scrapper for 5 mins to break the butter into the flour.
3) Working very quickly so that the dough still remains cold, use your finger tips to get a flaky dough texture like glass shards.
4) Mix the egg, ice water and vanilla essence in a another small bowl pour this mix into the butter dough.
5) Knead the entire mix quickly into a ball. Don't over knead.
6) Using your cleaned kitchen counter or a pastry mat, sprinkle a little flour (don't use too much flour - this will result in a hard dough) and crush the dough little by little using the heels of your palm. This is called fraisaging.
7) Continue fraisaging until all the dough is used up.
8) Again, working very quickly, join the fraisaged dough pieces into a round lump. then wrap in cling wrap. Keep it in a chiller for 20mins.
9) At this juncture, preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Start preparing the almond cream. Cream (beat with a wooden spoon) the softened butter by hand for a few minutes. Sieve the flour, ground almonds and sugar and then add this to the creamed butter. Cream again for another 2 mins. Mix the beaten egg and vanilla essence in a small bowl.. then add a little at a time (like 1/3 at a time). Mix well till well combined. Set aside in a cool place.
10) Take the chilled dough after 20 mins and roll it out on a slightly floured surface. It shouldn't be too thick and should be big enough to fit into a 8 inch tart ring or pan.
11) Butter the ring or a tart pan. Then place the rolled out flat dough into the ring gently and carefully. Smooth the dough into the ring and press along the edges. Trim off any extra dough using a rollling pin to go over the top of the ring. If there are holes or parts where the dough has been stretched out too thin, patch it up with small pieces of dough.
12) Pour in the almond cream and spread it out evenly.
13) Top with almond slivers/flakes.
14) If there is any extra dough and almond cream, make mini versions of this almond cream tart.
15) Pop the big tart and the mini ones into the oven for 25-35 mins till the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let it cool down for 10mins. If you are using the apricot glaze, warm the glaze in a small pot till it reaches jam consistency. Then, brush over the tart. Enjoy delicious Almond Cream Tart!
My sister's husband Shahid was kind and generous to order for my family a crate of sweet Pakistani Chaunsa mangoes recently. Chaunsa mangoes are exceptionally sweet, succulent, almost fibreless and emit a wonderful sweet fragrance. They are commonly called the 'King of Mangoes'. What better way to use so many of them (there were 8!) then to use them in a refreshing smoothie perfect for hot summer days? Simple and quick and so so refreshing. I didn't add any water as I wanted it to be thick and creamy as a dessert.
Ingredients (yields 3-4 ice cream cups)
400gm Mango pulp (roughly 2 large ripe mangoes)
300gm plain yoghurt
30gm brown sugar
8-12 ice cubes
2 tbsp chopped pistachios for garnish
1) Get all the ingredients ready.
2) Blend all the ingredients (except the chopped pistachios) till they are all well incorporated and till you get a thick creamy smoothie. Chill further, garnish just before serving and enjoy!
Date and Walnut Oatmeal Crumble
Dates are in season again as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is upon us. Fasting is mandatory in Islam for all Muslims and we must not eat or drink (not even a sip of water) from sunrise to sunset. It is certainly a very testing month of our faith for all Muslims but we somehow manage and soon the 30 days get over and we get back to our regular eating. Dates are always eaten when breaking the fast at sunset because dates are highly nutritious (dates are very rich in iron, manganese, potassium and copper). It is recommended to eat 2-3 dates when breaking fast because dates provide the body with natural sugar, helping to restore the low blood sugar after fasting all day. And it helps to kickstart the digestive process.
So, I happen to be in a supermarket the other day and was thrilled to see boxes and boxes of dates displayed all ready for the approaching fasting month. I quickly grabbed two boxes and brought them home only to have my husband requesting a loaf/bread/cake or bars using the dates. You see, its always a challenge to please my husband's taste buds when it comes to confectionaries because he is so particular about the usage of butter, sugar and eggs. So whatever recipe I come across online, I have to tweak it to replace the butter (for this recipe I used coconut oil), eggs and reduce or sometimes completely omit the sugar. And I am not always successful.
The following recipe gives a no-butter no-egg Date and Walnut Oatmeal Crumble - essentially a date and nut filling sandwiched between two layers of crispy crumb mixture.
Ingredients (Yields around 18 crumbled squares)
For the Crumb Base and Topping
1 3/4 cups rolled oats (or even fruit-free muesli)
1/2 cup brown granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup coconut oil
For the Date Filling
250 gm dates
1/4 cup brown granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup grated white coconut
1) Firstly, you have to pit and chop the dates into small pieces. This is the most time consuming step of this whole recipe.
2) Then, place the chopped dates, water and brown sugar into a small pot. Boil till the dates become soft and mushy. This will take roughly 5 mins on low heat. You can mash the date mix to speed up the process.
3) Then, add in the chopped walnuts, grated coconut, vanilla and coconut oil and give it a good mix.
4) Switch off and let this date mixture cool.
5) Take a medium sized mixing bowl and add all the ingredients - plain flour, rolled oats or fruit free muesli, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and coconut oil. Mix it well and divide into 2 portions.
6) Spread out half the crumb mixture into a greased 10inch by 6inch glass baking dash.
7) This will be followed by the date filling. Use your fingers, to spread it out evenly, if you need to. That's exactly what I did!
8) Top off with the remaining crumb mixture and spread it out evenly.
9) The side view.
10) Bake in a preheated oven for 30-45 mins at 180 deg C or 350 deg F. Once baked, let it cool down bwfore slicing the block into squares.
11) It wasn't easy to cut into perfect squares because of the sticky date filling but they tasted so delicious! The sweet filling complemented the not-so sweet crumb mixture very well.
When my girls were much younger and were studying in a local elementary school in the East of Singapore, I would volunteer on a weekly basis to keep the kids gainfully occupied while the teachers were engaged in their staff meeting. Occasionally, we would hold meetings related to th volunteering within the school and food was always brought in. One of the parent volunteers, Niza, made an amazing bread pudding that I can't replicate even till today. Attempts to obtain her recipe were always met with vague answers and that she would bring the recipe the following week. I guess when you have an absolutely delicious out of the world recipe, you wouldn't want to share it with friends you don't know so well.
Perfectly understandable but something I wouldn't do. I share my recipes with everyone. I believe that everyone brings a different, their own unique touch to the food they make and it never turns out exactly the way the original cook makes it. For example, let's take my own recipe below. Some may make it full fat, some may use blueberry bread instead of the stipulated banana walnut bread. You get my gist? So go on and share your recipes with everyone. You'll make that person's day! And the fact that someone actually asked for your recipe is a compliment and vouches for your culinary skills. What a boost to your ego :)
For those who may not know, bread pudding is essentially a bread based dessert. It is popular in many countries around the world. Bread Pudding uses stale bread pieces spread with butter and then soaked in a sweet creamy egg mixture and then baked till the custard sets and the top is a glorious golden brown. One of the easiest desserts to prepare and it can be both sweet or savory. Interesting fact - Bread Puddings were first found in a published recipe book in UK dated 1728. We are looking at a close to 300 year old recipe!
Many recipes online use actual bananas and walnuts for their Banana Walnut Bread Pudding. I needed a quick and easy recipe so I used the slices of a Banana Walnut bread loaf, instead. Such an easy fool proof way to bake the perfect Banana Walnut Bread Puddng. It tasted heavenly, by the way :) And look out for the wholemeal version. Couldn't resist not topping off with more walnuts, though!
Ingredients ( Yields 8 big square chunks)
1) First butter a 10 by 6 inch rectangle glass baking dish.
2) Then cut the bread slices into 4 triangles each and butter both sides.
3) Arrange them into the baking dish in an alternate fashion, till all the pieces are used.
4) Preheat the oven now at 180 deg C or 350 deg F. Then beat the eggs lightly with an electric beater.
5) Add the sugar and keep on beating till all the sugar has dissolved around 5 mins.
6) Now, you will add the cinnamon powder, vanilla essence, cream and skim milk. Whisk everything till all are mixed well.
7) Pour this egg cream mix into the baking dish with the prepared bread slices. Bread slices will start to float, so gently press them down with a spoon. Set aside for 10 mins.
8) Top with the chopped walnuts.
9) Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 mins or till the top is golden brown.
10) Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an added indulgence.
Imagine cheecakes in bite size? The idea for this came from a request from my daughter Riya who requested for an Oreo Cheesecake (after watching videos on Youtube) and I had a tea gathering to attend yesterday (4 Apr) at a friend's place and I wanted to bring something bite-sized.
I had a fabulous hilarious time catching up with this fun group of ladies. We met eons ago through our parent volunteer group while our kids were in Temasek Primary School - an elementary school in the east of Singapore. Our kids have long graduated and have gone on different ways but our friendship is still growing. Some of us haven't met up with others for a while but we didn't take long to warm up to each other again.
Like what Saras, our host, quipped 'If one treasures a relationship, no matter what, it cannot break. All it takes is a hug and coffee'. Well said dear.
So, coming back to the recipe, this is a rather simple cheesecake recipe involving baking. I like the base which has crushed Oreo biscuits and Pretzels. Why Pretzels? The filling has condensed milk which can be very sweet for some. The addition of the Pretzels gave a nice balance to the overall taste - it turned out salty sweet chocolatey and creamy. If you find the base rather dry add a bit more butter to the recipe below (10gm more). Cheesecakes can sometimes be quite big a slice and over filling to the point of one gasping for breath and going 'Enough! There isn't any space left in my tummy!' However, the size of these cheesecakes, being mini, is ideal for tea parties and post dinner desserts when you have had just too much to devour and you just want something sweet to complete your meal!
I have used a mixture of Ricotta and Cream Cheese in the filling. Ricotta is not technically a cheese as it is actually from whey, a by product of cheese making. It has a solid texture compared to cream cheese and must be beaten well to ensure all the lumps are smoothened out well to use in the cheesecake recipe. I have used Ricotta in baked pasta dishes but this is the first time I have used it in a dessert. I loved the mix - in fact I was spooning and gulping down the remaining batter mix!! Yum.
Ingredients (for 24 mini chesecakes)
For the biscuit pretzel base
100gm Oreo biscuits (18 biscuits) (Split and filling removed. Keep the filling)
50 gm Pretzels
70 gm unsalted butter, melted
For the filling
1 cup ricotta cheese
250gm cream cheese
1 cup condensed milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, extra for decorating
24 hole Mini Muffin Non Stick Pan
1)Start preparing the mini muffin pan by greasing it with a brush of butter. This ensures that the cheesecakes do not stick to the muffin pan base.
2) Process the Oreo biscuits and Pretzels in a food pocessor or a blender. It will be time consuming if you try to crush them using a rolling pin and you will not get a fine texture that is required. Mix in the melted butter.
3) Press the crumb base mixture into the 24 holes of the mini muffin pan. Use the end of a rolling pin - it works out really well then using a spoon. Leave the pan aside while you prepare the filling.
4) Preheat the oven to 170 deg C or 325 deg F. Whisk the Ricotta and cream cheese well, then add in the orea filling, condensed milk, beaten eggs and vanilla bean paste. Whisk until smooth and until there are no more lumps.
5) Add in the choc chips in the end.
6) Spoon the prepared batter mix into the greased holes of the mini muffin pan. The cheesecakes expand a little so don't over pour. You may have some remaining mix. (Go on take a spoon and taste it. Your knees would buckle, I promise!)
7) Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins max. The sides will be set and the middle will be slightly wobbly. Remove from oven and quickly top a few choc chips so that they melt in the warm cheesecakes. Leave them to cool. Once cool, scoop them out from muffin pans and chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours before serving.
8) Enjoy a little bite of sweet chocolate cheese heaven!
Classic No-Bake Cheesecake
Cheesecakes are a favourite dessert for a lot of people, including me. I like them plainly classic or with blueberries. My first introduction to cheesecake was around 15 years ago when my then neighbour Malar ( and always a close friend) had requested her husband, Nathan, to get the famous New York Cheesecake for me. It was creamy, light and so heavenly. I was hooked. Then, I remember years ago we had a small birthday celebration for a friend ( for those who hv read my earlier blog posts - it was for Supermom actually) who had just turned 40 at a Cheesecake Cafe near our house in the East of Singapore. It was a beautifully decorated cafe - very Victorian with fountains and statues. And of course, the cheesecakes were to die for!! When I returned from America 2 years ago, I found out, with much dismay, that it had closed down. Now, where would I get my cheesecake fix?
I came across some fun facts about our fav dessert... Did you know that the first cheesecakes may have been created in the Greek island of Samos? There were considered to be a good source of energy and were served to athletes in the first Olympic Games in 776 BC. Instead of all the complicated recipes of today - they just used flour, wheat, honey and cheese! Then, the Romans conquered Greece and modified the recipe to include eggs, cooked it over a hot brick and served it warm. They brought this modified Cheesecake recipe to Europe. The version we see today was not created till the 18th Century and adding cream cheese was an American addition to the cake.
Enough history. Having a no bake simple cheesecake recipe on hand will always prove useful. Using very few ingredients and inolving no baking, you can come up with this dessert in no time. This particular version is rather unique in that the base has a crunchy bite because of the addition of demerara sugar and the whole cheesecake comes together quite tastefully. On the other hand, if you prefer a sugarless base (I understand, there is enough sugar in the cheesecake filling), do it without the demerara. I have used a flat 10 inch pie pan which gave me rather thin slices but if you prefer a higher thicker cheesecake, do use a pie pan or a sprinform pan with a smaller diameter (8 inches). I promise - this is a keeper! :)
Ingredients (for 8 thin slices)
100gm Digestive biscuits, crushed to fine crumbs
50gm demerara sugar (optional)
50gm butter, melted
150gm icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
500gm Philadelphia cream cheese (2 blocks)
200ml Creme Fraiche (or double cream)
1) First, line your pie pan or springform pan with baking paper. This helps to lift the cheesecake from the sides easily.
2) Get the melted butter and crushed digestive biscuits ready and place them in a mixing bowl. If you are using demerara sugar, add now. Mix everything well.
3) Then, spread it out onto the prepared pie pan and flatten it out using the back of a metal spoon or a palette knife. Refrigerate in the freezer section for an hour.
4) Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Get the ingredients ready. From the top, block cream cheese, creme fraiche, vanilla essence and icing sugar.
5) Do note that the actual filling prepration should only be done half an hour before the time to take out the chilled base from the freezer. Whisk the icing sugar, vanilla essence and cream cheese first. Then whip the cream fraiche/double cream seperately and add it to the icing sugar mix. Fold it in using a wooden spoon, mixing well.
6) After an hour, take the chilled base from the freezer and spread the cream cheese filling onto it and even it out. Make sure there are no air bubbles. Chill for another hour in the freezer and its ready to be served.
7) Cut into desired number of slices and enjoy! If you are serving this in a party, keep bowls of blueberries or raspberries in sauce nearby so your guests can have it plain or with fruit on top.
Skinny Choc Chunk Brownies
Brownies are on everybody's list of favourite snacks, favourite desserts etc. I have a family recipe which I have been using for years involving a whole load of butter and eggs, which I am not too fond of. I remembered Michelle Obama advocating applesauce instead of butter in her bid to reduce obesity in America. Surfing through the internet for a healthier brownie recipe but which doesn't alter its taste too much, I came across a few using applesauce and even sour cream (instead of butter)!... interest piqued, I tried them out but wasn't too happy with some of the ingredients. What follows is a modified combined version of a few recipes :
Ingredients (yields 16 -20 squares)
2. Get all the ingredients ready.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl, whisk together apple sauce, brown sugar, sour cream, melted chocolate, eggs and oil until well combined.
5. Add the flour mixture and stir until just lightly mixed.
6. Spread batter into the pan and sprinkle the chopped almonds and chocolate chunks. Bake until a wooden skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs - around 30-35 minutes. Its your call here, use your own judgement.
7. Let the brownie cool completely in the pan, Lift brownie using the paper overhang. Discard the paper and cut into squares. Enjoy guilt-free brownie squares on their own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
I attempted to make modaks (or steamed rice dumplings with sweetened coconut filling) for the very first time for Vinayagar (elephant god)'s birthday which fell on Sep 5th this year. I am a Muslim who has married a Hindu. I try to follow some of the Hindu festivals to my best ability. Anand, my husband, was specially pleased that I made that effort to make Vinayagar's birthday special this year.
I specially decided to do it with love and dedication and prayed to Vinayagar for guidance and success. Modaks are Vinayagar's favourite sweets thus Hindus all over the world make them as an offering to him. Remember that if you are making Modaks as an offering, refrain from tasting them during the cooking process. It is traditional to serve to Vinayagar first before having your first bite.
Ingredients (for 12-14 modaks)
For the dumplings
1 cup rice flour
1.5 cups water
1 tsp oil
a pinch of salt
For the filling
1 cup fresh grated coconut
3/4 cup grated jaggery
seeds of 3 -4 cardomaoms, pounded coarsely
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp rice flour in the end (to absorb moisture should the filling still be wet)
1)To make the filling, heat the oil and roast the pounded cardamom seeds.
2) Add the grated jaggery and let it melt in the heat.
3) This will be followed by the grated coconut.
4) Mix well and let it cook till the mixture dries up
5) Let this cool on the side.
6) To make the dumpling, heat the water, oil and salt in a small pot.
7) When the water comes to a rolling ball, add in the rice flour and quickly mix till it forms a lump. Cover and remove from heat.
8) Let it cool for 5 mins.
To make the modaks, follow these steps...
9) After 5 mins, knead the dough and roll into 14 balls. Be careful as the dough will still be hot.
10) Then, flatten each ball into a hollow disc. Put in the filling and start pinching at the sides till 6 grooves are formed.
11) Join these grooves at the top. Make all the other balls the same way. Do note that the rice dough will be sticky. Either oil your fingers or use rice flour to coat your fingers. My mom has heard that adding a bit of milk to the dough helps.
12) Steam the modaks for 12-15 mins. In the meantime, make the kolam (floor designs using rice flour) outside your front door.
13) Serve the modaks to Vinayagar.
February 2019