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To the Wilkes Family,
I just want to share with you the immense gratitude that was shared with me by the directors of the four sites we collected gifts for this past holiday season. Because of your generosity, we were able to provide gifts to 150 children and youth in the Wilkes-Barre area this holiday season. Please know that your generosity is greatly appreciated by myself, the directors of the sites we worked with, and the children, youth, and parents.
Thank you all again!
Caitlin Czeh
Interfaith Coordinator


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I disagree. Legendaries are flavor, and they are another step in competitiveness if you are in the higher end guilds. It gives them something to farm/do while waiting for the new raid, and encourages everyone to behave themselves if they want to stay together and on top.
Also, heroics are for the elite tier, and this new raid finder option is just proof of that. If you can't stand the heat, get away from the melting Deathwing. Go back a tier, play in the league you are most comfortable with, the one that's fun and on your personal cutting edge, not the one that makes you THE best. Around. (Nothing's gonna ever keep you down!)
Blizz knows that legendaries break things, but yet they keep them around. Because if everyone is special, no one is.


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Word of Mouth: Clabber
Clabber, noun: soured milk
Back before there was baking powder to use as a quick leavener in baking, there was clabber. This was something that every farm wife or person with access to fresh milk could make, no additional ingredients necessary!
To make clabbered milk, the fresh, raw milk was simply left out at room temperature. Bacteria in the milk would start converting the lactose (sugars) into an acid, causing the milk to thicken and sour while also keeping it from actually spoiling. According to the Joy of Cooking, clabber is milk that has "soured to the stage of a firm curd, but not to a separation of the whey."
In baking, clabber would react with the baking soda to give baked goods a quick rise in the oven. It was also sometimes curdled further to make cottage cheese or simply fed to livestock as part of their feed.
We're speaking in past tense here because clabber isn't something that can be found or even made very easily anymore. It waned in popularity as baking powder (which doesn't require an acid to activate) became more commercially available and as regulations began to require that milk be pasteurized. The pasteurization process kills the bacteria necessary for this kind of souring.
With the popularity of raw milk on the rise, maybe we'll get to try clabber for ourselves one of these days. Until then, buttermilk is about as close as we can get to what clabber was probably like!
Has anyone ever made, tasted, or baked with real clabber?
Related: Good Tip: Freezing Leftover Buttermilk
(Image: LIFE Magazine via Google Images)
13 Comments
There is nothing like it! Growing up my great grandmother was a true farm wife. She taught me how to milk the cow, shake a mason jar until the butter came out, pluck a chicken, take care of eggs and how to make a goose a friendly. (It was all in the marshmallows!) But clabber always fascinated me. At home, milk that was left out was practically the start of the plague. A huge no go zone. But at her house, she'd set a pail on the kitchen counter away from the windows. And I've never tasted cornbread like it! I wish she were still around now that I'm older. I could sure use her wisdom.
Yes I have! Anyone who can get ahold of raw, unhomogenized milk, cream, or cheeses needs to jump on the chance. The milk is a hundred times better for you, and when the milk begins to ripen (vs. spoil like pasturized milk) it's fantastic for a hundred different recipes. When the milk just starts to get a bit acidic it's wonderful in gravies and soups, a little more towards clabber and it gives a fantastic richness and complexity to baked goods and pancakes and the like. Raw unhomogenized milk will also make the best yoghurt, kefir, cottage cheese, labneh, or other soft cheese you've ever tasted -- and it's easy to do!
If you don't know where to get it, here is a really good resource for finding raw milk at
And no doubt the origin of the brand name Clabber Girl... I always wondered where such a strange name came from...
I never really new what it was, what a great post! I always shudder a little at the Clabber Girl name because there's a terrible scene in Toni Morrison's Beloved that involves clabber. The English major in me is showing, isn't it?
The only time I'd ever heard of clabber (other than the brand name) was in Bridge to Teribithia. They make fun of the girl for eating clabber, excep she's really eating yogurt. Thanks for finally solving the mystery for me!
My grandmother used to love to eat a glass of clabbered milk with cornbreak broken up in it. And when I tried it, I found it was delicious.
Oops.. Should be "cornbread."
Clabber was mentioned in The Color Purple by Alice Walker, too - Harpo stops by to see Celie and has a glass of clabber with cornbread crumbled into it.
Oh yes! I may only be 55 years old, but I grew up on a 160-acre farm with goats. We had no electricity, no running water, and no indoor plumbing, and I learned to cook on the Oval wood cookstove (complete with warming oven and reservoir - those suckers cost around $5-7,000 now!!!) and iron with two sad irons, alternating back and forth (I am hooked on the Leman's Non-Electric Catalog!!!).
Yet, I digress...I always remember my mom pouring a gallon or so of fresh milk (we never used the term "raw" back then) into the base of a roaster, and letting it sit on the table overnight until it "clabbered". I always loved it with brown sugar sprinkled generously on top. Yogurt doesn't compare in flavor (though I never heard of yogurt until well after I was married in 1973). I have pined for a nice bowl of clabber for YEARS!!!
Yesterday, I found a store that sells raw milk, and I promptly bought a half gallon. At $4.49, that's VERY prohibitive, but I have since found a local farm that sells inspected raw milk and I have a gallon on order. I immediately tore up two slices of whole wheat bread and made myself a bowl of bread and milk...ahhhh, comfort food!!! I have also enjoyed several chocolate milks!!!
I thought that I had outgrown my taste for milk, which I thoroughly loved as a child and even as a young adult, until I got married and left home. I understand now; once I started drinking pasteurized milk, it lost my interest because it didn't taste right to me.
I CANNOT WAIT until I can make my first pan of clabbered milk!!!
In winter we feed some of our milk to the pigs. We keep several of our neighbor's sows to breed them during the coldest part of the winter. If I feed milk to our five pigs, they drink it faster than I can pour it. If I clabber the milk before I give it to them, they are happy and full on about a third the amount of milk.
I find using Clabbered milk for pancakes is very much to my liking.
As a side note, the first batch I did took four days to Clabber, since then, milk put in the same bucket with just a bit of yesterday's milk, will clabber in 12 hours.
Oh, yes! I also grew up on clabbered milk (real, home-made clabber). From what I have been reading today, some people add all sorts of things to it - molasses, for one, and other things I forget. But our clabbered milk was just that - nothing added until we crumbled in the corn bread. Now they are making what they call clabbered milk from pasteurized milk and vinegar. Yuck!
They had good reason for trying to ban raw milk. Having been a victim of brucellosis, I'll not fault them there. But I do miss the old foods that we don't see any more. Real buttermilk is another.
I don't agree that old fashioned clabber tasted like buttermilk or yogurt. When I was a child my father's best friend owned a farm and sometimes brought a gallon jar of clabber when he came to visit. It tasted a lot like present day cottage cheese. We ate it plain, out of a bowl with a spoon. Nothing added. I loved it. We crumbled up our cornbread in sweet milk.I hate buttermilk. Wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole. Anybody ever had swamp cabbage? That's good too. People call it "hearts of palm" these days.
Here's a great short video about clabber! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=545399762246049&set=vb.371560899629937&type=2&theater


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Necessary - a sense of humour
April 11 2008 at 9:52 AM
Just as a starter:
After God created the world, He made man and woman. Then, to keep the whole thing from collapsing, He invented humour. ~Bill Kelly, "Mordillo"
If I had no sense of humour, I would long ago have committed suicide. ~Mahatma Gandhi
The kind of humour I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think for ten minutes. ~William Davis
Above all else: go out with a sense of humour. It is needed armour. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life. ~Hugh Sidey
(from the Quote Garden)
I see this next quote as one that helps a lot of us get through the traumas of the world, personal or global.
Humour prevents one from becoming a tragic figure even though he/she is involved in tragic events. ~E.T. Eberhart
I read something just now. It said religious zealots have no humour.
Recently it has seemed the case 'elsewhere'.
This next quote though I would read as in the presence of the religious zealot because I know we have our more humorous Christian sisters and brothers with a lot of laughs to share and that humour sharing, I feel, is a great communicator.
A sense of humour always withers in the presence of the messianic delusion, like justice and truth in front of patriotic passion
Henry Louis Mencken
I just got these jokes from a Christian joke web site. Its quite funny actually!
(OK, so I like silly but clean humour..
Nelson Mandela is sitting at home watching the telly when he hears a knock at the door. When he opens it, he is confronted by a little Chinese man, clutching a clip board and yelling, "You sign! You sign!" Behind him is an enormous truck full of car exhausts. Nelson is standing there in complete amazement, when the Chinese man starts to yell louder. "You sign! You sign!" Nelson says to him, "Look mate, you've obviously got the wrong bloke. Push off", and shuts the door in his face. The next day he hears a knock at the door again. When he opens it the little Chinese man is back with a huge truck of brake pads. He thrusts his clipboard under Nelson's nose, yelling, "You sign! You sign!" Mr Mandela is getting a bit hacked off by now, so he shoves the little Chinese man back, shouting: "Look, push off ! You've got the wrong bloke! I don't want them!" Then he slams the door in his face again. The following day, Nelson is resting, and late in the afternoon, he hears a knock on the door again. On opening the door, there is the same little Chinaman thrusting a clipboard under his nose, shouting "You sign! You sign!" Behind him are TWO very large trucks full of car parts. This time Nelson loses his temper completely, he picks up the little man by his shirt front and yells at him; "Look, I don't want these! Do you understand? You must have the wrong name! Who do you want to give these to?" The little Chinese man looks at him very puzzled, consults his clipboard, and says: "You not Nissan Maindealer?" (boom boom
A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter. As the panda stands up to go, the manager shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!" The panda yells back at the manager, "Hey man, I'm a PANDA! Look it up in the dictionary!" The manager opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for panda: "A tree dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and white colouring. Eats shoots and leaves." (haha -
What do you get when you cross an atheist with a Jehovahs Witness?.... Someone who knocks at your door for no apparent reason.
And one for the atheists .smile! Bet ya will just love it. (Whoever you are..
The story is told of the Atheist who accosted a preacher. "Do you believe in eternal life?" The preacher has no time to reply. "Well its a load of rubbish!" shouted the Atheist. "I believe in science, evolution, survival of the fittest, and when we die, that's it! No eternal life, no great judgement, and no God!" The Atheist continues his assault against the preacher repetitiously and tirelessly. "Eternal life! Eternal life! Ha! "Its all pie in the sky when you die." When I die that's it, the end, no eternal life, no nothing. He continues, until he reaches his climax, "I will be buried six feet under when I die and that's it! Nothing! Caput! When I die I am utterly convinced that that will be the end of me!" "Well thank God for that" replies the preacher!
Indeed, life is a serious business but without joy in one's life forget putting any wrongs to right.
Love and LIGHT
We are all of 1 Spirit
1 Spirit is The All That Is!
Respond to this message
Jackie those are great
April 11 2008, 8:01 PM
I especially like the one about the panda - "eats shoots and leaves" hehehe
"Just another leper in the colony"
Respond to this message
Von Klumpen
I liked the one
April 11 2008, 10:31 PM
about crossing an atheist with a JW.
Now, what would you get if the Mormons sent out pairs that were Mormon and atheist?
An entertaining debate in your own living room.~
Respond to this message
What do you get?
April 11 2008, 10:47 PM
What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?
Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog!
Don't blame me - Groucho Marx is responsible
"Just another leper in the colony"
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Von Klumpen
That's pretty good
April 12 2008, 1:56 AM
Bob. Have you had enough sleep lately?~
People have asked me at times whether I've been hitting the sauce while posting. I honestly wasn't drinking (alcoholic content drink) but ............ I might have been sleep-deprived, I suppose.~~
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Necessary - a sense of humour
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#18 - Celeste and Jesse Forever, 2012 (dir. Lee Toland Krieger)
Hooray! I've officially documented more films this year than I did last year. I know, it is pathetic how I've only watched 18 new to me films this year so far. I'm hoping I will end the year off with at least 100. Crossing my fingers!


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Person DetailsUpdate
Alan has a deep interest in the future of education and learning.
Prior to Catalyzor he worked at Google managing special projects such as strategic deal development and negotiation, internal cross-functional trouble shooting and managing tricky partners.
He helped guide Google.org during its formation and made its initial set of grants. Prior to Google he played early roles in sales and business development at startups (at the time) Netscape, Infoseek, Shutterfly and Network Computing Devices, all of which went public, and Kontiki, which was acquired by Verisign.
In prior lives he was a science researcher and software engineer working on high speed parallel computing, radio astronomy and high energy physics at NASA/Jet Propulsion Lab and the California Institute of Technology; a software analyst for advanced aeronautics at Lockheed for Cray Research; and a systems engineer at Sun Microsystems.
Alan has a B.A. in Physics from Occidental College.
Experience (10)Update
Imagine K12
Founder and Managing Partner
Feb, 2011 - Dec, 2012
Strategic Partnerships & Special Projects
2001 - Jan, 2007
Partnership Development
2000 - Jan, 2001
VP of Strategic Sales
1999 - Jan, 2000
Director of Business Development and OEM Sales
1995 - Jan, 1999
Director of Business Development
1994 - Jan, 1995
Network Computing Devices
Sales Manager & Systems Engineer
1990 - Jan, 1994
Sun Microsystems
Systems Engineer
1988 - Jan, 1990
Education (1)Update
Occidental College
BAPhysicsJan 1, 1982
News (1)Update
Education Incubator Imagine K12 Picks Ten Startups For Its First Class06/16/11 -techcrunch.com


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Volkswagen Polo
Bijoy Kumar Y, Consulting editor, India Syndicate
Editor, BS Motoring
It will be an understatement of the new decade if one says that VW has done their homework for India. You don't even need to drive the car to understand that. A glance at the tech specs reveal it all - small capacity petrol and diesel engines that are tuned for economy, feature rich Trendline (basic) trim level, VFM Comfortline and adequate safety kit for the top-end comfort line. And then the prices - who would have thought you, could get a car wearing a VW badge for under Rs 5 lakh? The 1.2 L litre petrol starts at Rs 4.34 lakh while the diesel 1.2 L at Rs 5.32 lakh. To put it perspective, the entry level VW Polo is more affordable than the similar spec Hyundai i20 and is only marginally more expensive than the entry level Suzuki Swift. A mainstream car from Europe's largest car maker at an oriental price tag interests you, right? What is the catch, you ask? As they say driving is believing, so read on.


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Pharmacy or Pharmacology is one of the main disciplines under Biomedical Science and the pharmaceutical industry. There are many disciplines within the Biomedical sciences. Pharmacy is related to health sciences. It is the profession responsible for the preparation, dispensing and appropriate use of medication and which provides services to achieve optimal therapeutic outcomes. A Pharmacists job is to prepare, mix, compound or dispense drugs and medicines, ointments, powder, pills, tablets and injections on the prescription of a medical practitioner, dentist or veterinarian. In detail, they are concerned with production of pharmaceutical products, development of the methods or processes of production and quality control. Those in research concern themselves with synthesis of new drugs (what is commonly referred to as molecules), new processes, clinical testing of the effects of such drugs on animals and humans, and obtaining the required License from the drug control authorities. A pharmacist is required to explain the mode and precautions regarding the use of medicines dispensed in a hospital pharmacy prepare special formulations normally not available in the market, assist the physician in rendering necessary information about various drugs, their contra-indications, incompatibility etc. There are over 225 programs in Pharmacy conducted by different universities in India. The main courses in Pharmacy are the 2 years Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm), 4 years Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm), 2 years Master of Pharmacy (M.Pharm) and PhD programmes. The admission announcement usually comes out in May- July. India has a vast and growing pharmaceutical industry. Increasing number of hospitals, nursing homes and pharmaceuticals companies all over the country is a clear indication of the growing scope in this area. Pharmacy offers reasonably good career opportunities both by way of jobs as well as in terms of starting your own business. The job avenues for a pharmacist are with pharmaceutical industry, government departments, universities, teaching hospitals, investigation and research institute etc. Within the pharmaceutical industry you might be involved in activities relating to the development, formulation, production or marketing of new drugs for clinical use. Drug control administration and armed forces also offer a wide range of opportunities to pharmacists. Appointments are also available in sale promotion work as medical representatives. As a Medical Representative he keeps the medical practitioner informed about the new drugs and treatments developed by various pharmaceutical companies and thus indirectly promote their sales. M.Pharm or PhD holders are normally absorbed in research work, to develop new useful drugs, in laboratories and in production work in pharmaceutical industry and analyzing them for purity and strength. Pharmacist may also take up teaching as a profession as lectures in pharmacy colleges and universities. Pharmacists are hired within the central and state government departments- the Health Protection Branch of the Department of Health and Welfare, the Pest Control Division of Agriculture, the Department of National Defense, Provincial Research Councils, and the Provincial Departments of Agriculture or the Environment. There are also employment opportunities within the food and cosmetic industries or within any other industry that requires the assurance that new products are as safe and effective as possible. In government departments, a pharmacist maintains proper records according to various Government acts governing the profession of pharmacy. As a drug inspector or government analyst he is to make sure that the drugs manufactured and sold, are of standard quality. A diploma or degree holder in Pharmacy, after registering with the State Pharmacy Council, can set up and run their own pharmacy or chemists and druggists shop to stock and sell medicines and dispense them according to doctor's prescriptions. In a retail Pharmacy he has varied duties, including buying and selling of related items demanded by the public. Pharmacy is a highly reputed job. In this field, monthly salary is according to the jobs, the pharmacist have taken up. The average starting salary for a pharmacist is around Rs 4,000. Research Scientists Rs.10,000 - 40,000 per month, Medical Representative Rs. 5,000 - 10,000 per month + incentives, Manufacturing Pharmacists Rs. 5,000 upwards, Hospital Pharmacists Rs.3,000 - 5,000 per month, Government Jobs Rs. 1,500 - 2,500 per month (basic) along with Contributory Provident Fund, D.A., Insurance, Medical reimbursement, and other allowances and benefits as per government rules.
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Astralonym on Soundcloud
I'm mostly experimenting and trying stuff out. It is not one fixed genre, but guess it ranges from hiphop/triphop to jazzy chillout electronic. For now.
Got loads of forgotten, half-assed tracks that might never become anything - but these are the few finished ones of mine that I've uploaded with time. Feedback is appreciated!
SLACKR project on Soundcloud
Ongoing project under construction, together with my best bro no-future-forever forming SLACKR. Not many people seem to fully understand the sound we create, probably because it doesn't fit into any specific genre. Being a genre for itself, it surely is unlike anything you have ever heard before.
Take a listen and enjoy the experience of:
We've set up a youtube channel where we will also upload most of the music we make with respective artwork. TheGrownupsRecs channel
Follow us on soundcloud, youtube, or here if you like.


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Artist Dresses Baby Up Like Hitler
Here's one Halloween costume option that you won't see in the infant section: baby Saddam Hussein.
Ronda Kaysen: But that didn't stop Danish artist Nina Maria Kleivan from making one of her own and then photographing her infant dressed up like the Iraqi dictator. She also dressed her daughter like Adolf Hitler -- and a host of other 20th-century tyrants. The photo essay, called "Potency," is now on display as part of an exhibit that's touring Europe.
See baby Faustina decked out in a swastika and square mustache a la Adolf Hitler, or with a leopard-print wrap a la Idi Amin. Faustina also makes appearances as Joseph Stalin, Augusto Pinochet, Slobodan Milosevic and Chairman Mao Zedong.
"We all have evil within us," Kleivan told the Israeli paper Haaretz. "Even small children are evil towards each other. Even my daughter could end up ruling Denmark with an iron fist. The possibility is still there."
Kleivan's father survived World War II in a German prisoner-of-war camp, and her Jewish aunt lost most of her family in the Holocaust. Kleivan grew up hating Germany and wanting to kill the guard who'd tormented her dad in prison. So, when she was on extended bedrest after a difficult childbirth with her daughter, she began to channel her rage and sew costumes. She started out with characters like Catherine the Great and Napoleon, but soon turned to more modern harbingers of doom.
Her husband was less than thrilled to see his newborn baby sport a swastika. "'I'm aware that you're an artist, but this is wrong,' he told me," she said. "I've pondered that a lot myself: Could I really do this? I agree it's on the verge, especially Hitler, whom I and most others view as the incarnation of evil. He and Stalin were the hardest to do. It hurt."
Despite her daughter's early exposure to the darker side of politics, little Faustina is doing just fine these days. She's now 11 years old and shows a "remarkable talent" for the violin, according to her mom. (Faustina's name, by the way, comes from a doctor in a German legend who made a deal with the devil to sell his soul for knowledge.)
What do you think? Would you dress your baby up like a tyrant for art's sake?
|Ronda Kaysen is a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, BusinessWeek.com, Architectural Record, Huffington Post, The New York Observer, Babble.com and AM New York. She lives in New Jersey with her family. Follow her on Twitter.
The Onion already did this. http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34766
You are aware that Norway and Denmark are in fact two different countries? They say Norway/Norwegian in all the videos of this, but yet you call them Danish. Hmm
Oh my gosh!
Would I dress up my baby up like a tyrant for art's sake?
I don't need to hesitate one moment to answer this question: NO.
I don't understand how this is a form of artistic expression? And even if some people deemed it to be so, how does that make it acceptable?
Can't understand why a mother would actively create such a costume.
I don't see what's so wrong with this, I think it's kind of funny.
Useful stuff, but the theme do not display correctly on my Powerbook…maybe you should check that out. Thanks, anyway.


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Park Ranger William Baldwin recently reported the killing of five mountain lion in the vacinity of the Ohanapecosh Hot Springs in three consecutive days. Deer are very numerous in the low valleys at this time of the year due to the heavy snow in the hills. It is safe to say that with the elimination of these five 'killers' at least 100 of these deer will avoid appearing on their menus during the remainder of the winter. As Bill says, "that aint doing so worse, is it?".
Ranger Baldwin is a real mountaineer of the old school and a mighty valueable man on a district such as the Ohanapecosh. The account of the hunt which he mailed in has a peculiar woodsy flavor to it that we cant equal, so we quote Bill. His companion was Mr. C.H. McMillion, Biological Survey hunter for the lewis district.
"... at 12 oclock N. we had made it to a point about 1 mile below the hot springs, when we suddenly come upon the sign of 4 cougar. These cougar was traveling down the Ohanapecosh from the park. Mac gave the dogs the tracks and they was soon away on persuit of cat. We followed as fast as we could, wallowing thru the deep snow. After some time we came within hearing of the pups and could tell by their talk that they had a cougar up a tree. We crept up as quiet as we could but when we got close she left the tree, Mac taken a flying shot which missed.
The dogs had to tree this varmint three times before it would let us shoot it. This cougar proved to be an old female which had had kittens this past year.
Night was coming on and a storm was raging when we got this one skinned and we was compelled to make tracks for camp arriving there late. Next morning bright and early we was on our way to look for the other three cats. Late in the day we struck the trail of one lone cougar, Mac allowed his dogs to take the track. They was soon away on the hot scent of mountain lion. We followed on and soon herd them saying we have him up a tree. This cougar acted very nice and we approached near to the tree. This cat after being killed proved to be another old female but she showed no signs of having raised kittens the last year.
The third morning found us very early making our way back to the place where we had killed the first cougar to look for the other to. Upon arriving in that locality we was unable to find any recent sign of cougar but later found the carcass of a deer that had been killed and most all ate up. We hunted all around but could only find sign of what we thot was to young cougars made the day before. As we was unable to find fresh tracks Mac decided to let the dogs take the old trail and track them up. The dogs taken the scent and was soon away trailing out into some high cliffs and rocks. Lucky the cougars had not gone far - they never do when their bellys are full - and when the pups routed them they was all together. They was three cats in this bunch instead of to, as near as we could guess their age was about one year. They would measure about 6 feet as they lay on the ground with their tails stretched out. The old cougars measured about 7 feet the same way. One was a tom cat and the other to was females. The old female which we got the second day did not belong to the bunch of four which we saw sign of the first day. We have saw no further sign of cougar. Will Baldwin".
Apparently Bill got a mother cougar and her three last years kittens. Triplets are not unusual among the cat tribe and the ratio of one male to two female is well nigh universal.
Few of these giant cats have been reported in the park during this season altho deer are very numerous. During the week we visited a large beaver colony near the mouth of Tahoma creek and found the old trail of one small cougar, the only one reported from the Nisqually district this winter. There are at least fifty deer in that vacinity and it is likely that he will remain. If so we hope to add one more to Bills list.
In spite of the cold weather and three feet of snow we found the beaver quite active. Their tracks and cuttings were frequently seen.
|<<< Previous
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If a murderous alien invasion ever took place then you'd hope that bankers, estate agents and dot-com entrepreneurs would figure highly on their hit-list.
Unfortunately, irritating internet whizz-kids Sean (Hirsch) and Ben (Minghella) are among the only survivors when an extra-terrestrial force descends on Moscow, zinging the population into a pile of ash and sparks.
Hooking up with a pair of gap year party babes (Thirlby and Taylor), they strike off through the eerily deserted city along with the Russian wideboy who pinched their TripAdvisor-style web idea. Perhaps the entry should read 'don't go to Moscow'.
In novel fashion, their invisible unearthly foes announce their lethal proximity by setting off anything electrical from car alarms to streetlamps.
Yet the guys fight back, finding sanctuary with a renegade electrician who has put together a gun made from bits of microwave oven and a Moscow street gang whose leader has chain mail made out of lots of keys.


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Now Playing:
Brandon Heath-Your Love
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On Air: Afternoon Show: Lindsey & Johnathon
Category: Meals
We have six children and cooking can be very time consuming. When I am going to brown hamburger, I might brown 15 pounds of hamburger at one time. I will portion it off and use some for chilli right away, put some in a tupperware container for tacos tomorrow and bundle the rest in one pound bowls to use for quick hamburger helper. Same goes for potatoes. When I make potato soup, I will peal 20 pounds of potatos. Half of that is for soup which will be made that night. The rest will be mashed and then put into tupperware containers and into the freezer for quick homemade mashed potatos later in the week sometime. Same with chicken. I cook up a ton of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at one time. We may have chicken that night and I will shred the rest of it to be used in chicken tetrazinni or white chicken chilli later in the week. It may seem simple, but these are HUGE time savers!! I spend less time over the stove and in the kitchen and more time with my husband and my family.
If your cookies got slightly overcooked - or they got dried out for one reason or another - don't throw them out! You can return them from crisp and crunchy to soft and chewy just by storing them in an airtight container with 1-2 fresh pieces of bread. By the next morning (or sooner) you will have soft and chewy cookies to enjoy! I have done this for so long that my own kids think that's how everyone keeps their cookies.
I'm a single mom and my son is 11. Hes always so hungry when he gets home from school, and usually I am too. I work and Im a full time student, so our dinner is at 4 everyday. Every Tuesday we have spaghetti and we call it "Raguesday" because my son only likes Ragu traditional sauce so we have indeed made it a "tradition" eating early gives us the entire evening free, also saves on groceries when you skip that after school snack.
When my children were young and they would take their lunch to school, I would make their favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I learned a little trick to make sure the bread wouldn't get soggy from the p.b. and the jelly. I would lightly spread a thin layer of butter or margarine on the bread before putting either p.b. or jelly on it.The sandwich would stay fresh for them until time to eat at lunch. Now I have a new grandson and will do the same for him someday.
We eat a lot of chicken at our house, and a lot of recipes call for shredded chicken- from casseroles to Mexican dishes to chicken salad. I buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts, stick them in the crockpot with a little bit of water and 8 hours later you have chicken falling part and easy to shred. You can stick it in the fridge and use it for your recipes that week. I assumed everyone did this, but I have found that many people bake the chicken breasts or bake an entire chicken and debone it, etc. The crockpot way is the easy way!
I HATE cutting onions and found a little trick to sometimes help keep the burning and watering of my eyes to a minimum. :-) I grip a match stick in my teeth when cutting the onion, now this method is not 100% but it works for me about 95% of the time.
I was tired of always having to answer the question, "Mom! What's for dinner?" I made a dinner menu board that hangs in my kitchen. I simply pick out what we're going to eat that week and attach the right dinner card to the day of the week. You can check out an example of it at my website, www.kristinakreations.etsy.com. It has helped keep me more organized as well as let all of the members of my family know what's for dinner for the week.
I do once a month freezer cooking. I joined a website for once a month moms and I get the recipes, cards, labels and instructions. I was so tired of running to fast food places because we are too busy and this website has a gluten free menu. I just pull out the meals at the beginning of each week and whoever gets home first puts the food in the oven. My 9 yr old gets paid to help and he's learning a lot of cooking skills. They have meal plans for a variety of special diets, including gluten free.
One of my biggest problems is things boiling over when I'm cooking! If you take a wooden spoon and lay it across the top of the pot it won't boil over! (This isn't a 100% guarantee, but 95% or better!)
Want to snack healthier, but find when you are hungry it's easier to just grab for a bag of chips? I have found that when I buy fruits or veggies, when putting them away, I take a minute to wash them and cut or divide into snack sized portions before refrigerating. This way when I want a snack, I can grab the bag of pre-washed grapes (no stems, no fuss) or carrots or whatever and eat that instead of potato chips or candy. Simple, easy, and you don't feel guilty for snacking! :)


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Iran News
'Noose Tightening' Around Iranian Government as European Union Boycott Iranian Oil
Jan 25, 2012
Embargoes on Iranian oil exports are having the desired effect, but military options should still remain on the table to deter Tehran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, Jane Harman, director, president, and CEO of The Wilson Center told FoxNews on Tuesday. "The escalating rhetoric from Iran is proof that the sanctions are biting," Harman said, noting a recent European Union boycott of Iranian oil. "All of this means that the noose is tightening around the Iranian government." Harman stressed sanctions are aimed at dissuading Tehran from pursuing a nuclear weapon. "The goal of these efforts is not to hurt the Iranian people but to get the government to abandon its potential nuclear ambitions," she said.
Serious Concerns Shroud Iran's Nuclear Program
Nov 09, 2011
The United States has already signaled that it will use the IAEA report in its continuing campaign to get tougher sanctions against Iran to force it to negotiate on its nuclear ambitions, says Public Policy Scholar Michael Adler. Washington wants to increase international pressure now that it has a documented report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog that Iran has done much more to obtain nuclear weapons than was previously known.
Iran's Nuclear Program: Reaction to the IAEA Report
Nov 08, 2011
Is Iran destined to become a nuclear power? Aaron David Miller and Michael Adler weigh the options, including whether military action might succeed where sanctions and diplomacy so far failed.
Trouble over Tehran
Nov 08, 2011
There are major reasons that Israel and the United States might want to think long and hard about preemptively striking Iran's nuclear facilities, according to Aaron David Miller.
The Iran-Iraq War: The View From Baghdad
Oct 22, 2011
The enduring legacy of the Iran-Iraq War will be the focus of the panel discussion, The Iran-Iraq War: The View from Baghdad, to take place Tuesday, October 25, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Foiled Iranian Terror Plot
Oct 20, 2011
The alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador has increased the fear of more attacks on American soil and raised questions about what could be gained from such a bold provocation. Wilson Center experts provide broader context to this bizarre and disturbing news.
NPIHP partner and former Wilson Center scholar Avner Cohen interviewed in Jerusalem Post
Oct 13, 2011
Avner Cohen, senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and a close NPIHP partner was recently interviewed by the Jerusalem Post on Iran's nuclear program.
Obama Administration Tells Syrian President to Step Down
Aug 18, 2011
The U.S. has finally reconciled its policy between Syria and Libya, says Aaron David Miller, but this does not mark the end of the Assad regime.
NPIHP Partner Dima Adamsky Publishes Response in Foreign Affairs
Mar 15, 2011
Writing in Foreign Affairs, NPIHP partner Dima Adamsky explores a variety of possible Israeli responses to the advent of a nuclear armed Iran.


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Offer Your Condolences
Families treasure kind words of support from friends, colleagues
and acquaintances. Offer your condolences to a bereaved family by
choosing an obituary from the list below. Browse this page for our
most recent obituaries, or use the search function to locate a
specific listing.
On September 11, 2014, Victoria Salazar Sainz peacefully passed away surrounded by her family at the age of 81.
She was born on April 23, 1933 in Jalisco, Mexico to Leonides and Maria De Jesus Sainz.
Victoria was a resident long-time resident of Watsonville, CA since 1967. She worked for the Watsonville Canning Company for over 30 years. After retiring she enjoyed spending time with her family and friends who meant the world to her. To a...
Joshua Adam Price was born on March 9, 1979, in Watsonville, CA, to Harry and Jo Price. Josh, 35, went home to be with the Lord on September 6, 2014. He was on his way to his sister's house to help move a project when he was killed in a tractor accident.
As a boy, Josh was energetic, mechanically gifted, imaginative and creative. The "hilltop" was his playground where his imagination and ingenuity were expressed almost without limit....
Adolf Galván passed away on Thursday, September 4th at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, at the age of 70. He died of complications from a tragic hit and run on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz on the 24th of August.
Adolf was born in El Control in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. His father, Manuel Galván, was born in Bishop, Texas and his mother, Guadalupe Vasquez de Galván, was born in Matamoros in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Adolf...
Estelle Larkin passed away peacefully in the presence of her loving family on August 28 after a 10 year battle with breast cancer.
Estelle was born in San Jose, CA, to William (Bill) and Cynthia Fiscus and grew up in Morgan Hill, CA. She attended Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill where she was a cheerleader and graduated in 1957. She was a member of and officer in the Morgan Hill Assembly #171, Order of the Rainbow for Girls. She attended...
Alvin was born July 4, 1909, he died peacefully at home on August 27, 2014, he was 105 years old. He was born in Rural Alabama and then moved to California when he was about 24 years old.
Alvin was an avid golfer which he indulged in as often as he could. He also enjoyed gardening, fishing, camping and spending time with his family.
Alvin spent 35 years working for Bud Antle, a Salinas based produce company where he held numerous positions...
On August 22, 2014 Francisco Macario Diaz unexpectedly passed away at the age of 45.
Francisco was so full of life and was a very happy man. He enjoyed working, detailing cars and loved building low rider bikes. Francisco also valued family gatherings and they meant the world to him.
To a loving Husband, Father, Grandfather and Friend, you will always be in our hearts and will be truly missed.
Francisco is survived by his beloved wife...
On August 22, 2014 Esperanza Caballero Mercado, peacefully passed away at Watsonville Community Hospital, at the age of 84.
She was born on March 6, 1930 in Araro Michoacan, Mexico to Ignacio and Marciala Caballero.
Esperanza loved cooking, gardening, camping and valued family gatherings. Her life was devoted to her family and their happiness and they meant the world to her.
Esperanza has peacefully gone to be with her heavenly Father as...
This is dedicated to Stephen R Barnes (9/13/57-8/16/14); an amazing father, husband and friend who's charisma and quick wit won the respect of many.
His advice, stories, consideration and love will allow for his legacy to live on within everyone he met. Steve's life has allowed everyone to see how great a man can be. He will be celebrated by his wife, two children, sister and mother… and the best group of friends any man could ever ask for....
On August 16, 2014 Daniel R. Torres, peacefully passed away at the age of 80.
He was born on April 12, 1934 in Tamazula de Gordiano Jalisco, Mexico .
Daniel was so full of life and was a very happy man. He loved to travel, playing cards and spend his free time by the beach (Guayavitos.) Daniel valued family gatherings and they meant the world to him.
To a loving Husband, Father, Grandfather Great Grandfather and Friend, you will always...
Daniel E. Lester, aged 75, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on Aug. 15, 2014, the day that commemorates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven.
Dan was born on Oct. 8, 1938 to proud parents Ed and Willa Lester, residents of Santa Cruz, California. The family moved to Watsonville where Dan attended Freedom Elementary School and Watsonville High School – where he met his only love and lifetime soulmate,...
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Spiro Zavos
Domestic rule essential to breeding good Wallabies
Spiro Zavos Now where are we after the pleasant interruption of the Wallabies three Test triumph over France? Ah yes, the 17th round of the 2014 Super Rugby tournament resumes this weekend. Good.
Spiro Zavos
Bulls' success shows Australian teams can prove pessimists wrong
Spiro Zavos AFTER seven rounds of this year's Super Rugby tournament the Reds (26 points) are equal second on the ladder and the Waratahs (22) are fifth.
Spiro Zavos
Some hope for Wobblies in Brisbane
Spiro Zavos BEFORE the Wallabies left to play the Springboks in South Africa, I had a chat with Robbie Deans, and said to him, rather naively: "At least you'll have some advantage that the Springboks coach,...
Spiro Zavos
Full ELVs deserve a fitting farewell
Spiro Zavos THE Super 14 final at Pretoria next Saturday night between the Bulls and the Chiefs will, unfortunately, be the last major match to be played under the full ELVs.
Spiro Zavos
Forget kicking, spoiling and boring, super rugby is as easy as one-two-three
Spiro Zavos THE Zavos theorem of rugby states that players and coaches regard the laws rather like questions in an HSC examination with only four to be attempted.
Tahs must adapt quickly or suffer more shellackings
SPIRO ZAVOS Change the interpretation of the rules governing the tackled ball, offside play and scrums, as SANZAR has done this season, and you change the way winning rugby needs to be played.
Turner's luck and pluck save teammates from case of the Wara-wobbles
SPIRO ZAVOS For a minute or so at the SFS on Saturday it seemed the dreaded Wara-wobbles were about to infect the side.
How the Reds mastered art of war to behead the Bulls
SPIRO ZAVOS An aphorism taken from The Art of War, a textbook of tactics and theories on how to wage war successfully written by Sun Tzu, a fourth-century BC military strategist, reads: "All battles are won...
Spiro Zavos
Don't despair - fitter Wallabies might rise from last in Tri Nations rankings
Spiro Zavos The famed Australian writer Tom Keneally once described the intense build-up to a big sporting occasion as the foreplay before the climatic event itself is played out.


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Stainless Steel Charm With Clasp
#521 Stainless Steel Medical Alert Charm
Our new medical id alert stainless steel charm with attached lobster clasp is great for key chains, kids zippers and more.
Our medical alert charm measures about 5/8" in diameter and a total from end to end about 1 1/4" in length.
This can be custom engraved at no extra charge.


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Design Meets Cookware: Silicone Steam Roasting Bowls
Roasting something with steam sounds like a contradiction in terms. And maybe it is. Even so, we think this flexible silicone bowl designed by Compeixalaigua Designstudio for Lékué has some serious potential.
In its open form, the bowl can be used for mixing and preparing ingredients. Then the bowl folds in half and hooks to close at the top, creating a kind of hammock for food that can go straight in the oven.
We saw this design and immediately thought, "Wow." The bowl itself has the kind of simple and elegant design to which we always feel drawn. We also really love this "prep table to oven to dinner table" concept.
At the same time, we're a little dubious about its functionality. Silicone is notorious for interfering with the browning process in the oven, so we have trouble imagining that food would really get as crusty or roasted as these pictures would have us believe. We also wonder how stable the bowl would be in the oven. Doesn't it look like it might easily tip over?
What do you think? Has anyone cooked with one of these before?
• Silicone Steam Roaster from Compeixalaigua Designstudio (via Gizmodo)
• Find It! Silicone Steam Roaster, $30 EUR/$38 US from Lékué
Related: Trapdoor in the Kitchen Floor: Spiral Wine Cellars
(Image: Compeixalaigua Designstudios)
6 Comments
Love the idea and especially the prep to oven to table concept -- fabulous. But not a fan of silicone and wouldn't consider purchasing it for this reason. I'm weary of silicone not only for its functionality, but also because I trust silicone in the oven as much as I trust plastic in the microwave (which is to say, not at all.)
I must have one.
i think the openings would prevent it from steaming. u can just put a pyrex bowl of water into the oven and it would "steam" just as effectively
ive cooked fish on my silpat. i had believed that flavors would not transfer, but it is not true. if you use your silicone tools with fish, expect to use it only for fish.
I'd love to see a review of these. It's an intriguing idea.
I need one. Now.


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24 in. Classic Black Pre-lit WreathItem # HN-EWB421
- Bold accent wreath
- Durable PVC construction
- Easy-to-hang design
- Measures 24 inches in diameter
Recommended Accessory
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The Classic Black Pre-lit Collection
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Reviewed by 1 customer
the item i ordered was delivered as promised and was exactly what i was looking for. The only negative aspect was the item was in a box much larger than it needed to be expecially since there was no internal packing material to protect the item. While the wreath itself was not breakable there were lights on it that could have been damaged.
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Full Moon Personalized Banner
Design: B1692
Made to Order - 1 business days processing+shipping
Horizontal Vinyl Banner sizes:
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Reviewed by 1 customer
- Attractive Design
- Durable
- Good Value
Best Uses
- Celebration
- Themed Parties
I bought a Halloween banner because Halloween is my favorite holiday and I have a party every year. This banner is SO PERFECT, and very high quality. It will adorn my Halloween parties for years to come!
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The horrifying news of the recent Norwegian tragedy, though an incident that occurred thousands of miles away and to the people completely unfamiliar, made this scribe much upset and ruminate for long. In fact, this should have been a matter come in this and go out that ear at a time when the world seems to be parched to the limit wanting blood, the spilling of fresh human blood and in countless measure when my own country has been at the crossroads of such shoot and run extravaganza, my concern for these far off men might sound not much justifiable. But somehow it feels nowadays all men, even nature, have been unavoidably associated with one another and incidents in any part of the world affect people from any other parts. The frequent explosions in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere that have killed many Nepalis have rendered many Nepali women widowed and children destitute. The ambition of America and her allies and the vengeance of Bin Laden (or his successors) intertwine the entire mankind more or less directly and hence no one can escape their tragic (or joyousif any) outcome. Though the actual reason for this madness is not known yet, still killing anyone in any pretext is inhuman and damnable.
Besides, this cruel manslaughter reminded me of the famous stanza of Kingsley Amis and set me in great shock about the nature and certitude of death. The stanza reads:
Death has got something to be said for it:
Theres no need to be out of bed for it;
Wherever you may be,
They bring it to you, free. (from Delivery Guaranteed )
How ironic but how fitting! In any part of this world one must make payment for whichever service or whatever purchase, but not death. Its found free of cost! Even one doesnt need to take a slight effort to find it as it comes itself to where the victim is. In the present case, the 93 youths were in a camping spree far from the roads or the towns or any hustle-bustle of everyday chores. Death came to them unexpected and unnoticed, of its own effort and in a flash offered them His free service. The same was true with seven others killed in the car-bomb explosion the day before and the victims of the recent or a year old Mumbay blast. Same with the death of brother Karjai or with the death of Laden, Indira Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi, Luther King Jr., Kennedy, Lincoln or those millions killed in Hitlers gas chambers. None wanted death, none invited it nor went looking for it. Death came to them, as stated by Amis, where they were.
And the most intriguing thing is that giving death is not easy or without charge. In fact, every death one gives is tagged with far serious consequences than the joy or the satisfaction the killer usually must have imagined before or experienced during the act. For giving death incurs death in return through execution or the immediate counterattack or a long and tiring process of legal prosecution and finally in the form of life imprisonment along with a waste of a lot financial resources. And as bonus every death incurs the killer as well separation from all the kith and kin and with an irredeemable wound in the heart of every one related. Still the giver offers it without any price or service making every effort and expense by himself! Isnt it wonderful?
This aspect of death is quite challenging because death is always like that uninvited, offered without effort and cost. A fanatic was giving death at the Utoiya island of Norway, and here in Nepal, a jeep plunged into the Kaligandaki River thereby giving uninvited and a cost-free death to the seven passengers of the ill-fated vehicle. There may be hundreds of such marauding episodes of death staged throughout the world irrespective of the differences of the victims identity, time, place, means or method and whoever the killer, but with one common characteristic-- that they were given death where the victims were, they were given without the victims wish and without charging any price for the service.
There is a strange notion associated with death. Most people believe that death is already scheduled with birth and it is unavoidable. No death is possible otherwise or other ways than the prior arrangement. And thats why when one desires death He is nowhere to be seen but when one wants to avoid, He knocks the door at any time.
Thats why its quite interesting to note that people call every instance of death untimely because no one knows the right time of ones death. One can die any time after ones birth, be it just a minute later or hundred years or more. Thats why in Nepali language death is used synonymously to kala--time. They say one died because of the kala; kala took one away; none can escape kala and so on. Following this fact perhaps may have many famous poets enumerated this truth in striking verse-lines. One is Kala Mahima by Nepalese poet Lekhnath Paudyal:
ayo tappa tipyo lagyo miti pugyo tarera tardaina tyo
Just in the same way James Shirely summarises it in his verse Death the Leveller
..And must give up their murmuring breath
When they, pale captives, creep to death
Death is always painful, an extremely painful experience just fleeting to those who die but a long course of rigorous forbearance to those who survive behind. The spouse of a deceased man, the orphaned children of deceased parent (s), the death of those whom children, old, physically impaired ones are dependent upon; know the exact intensity of the pain.
But death is a natural process too. For nature the death of a man might be as simple as the death of any other animal as an egg dropped from the nest or an apple snapped from the branch or a hare hunt by the jackle. But since man has been a rational being, an animal with so many superior abilities like ability to speak, laugh and cry, to deceive, to plan systematically, organize and execute an to get confused and err and create his own world, he has no longer remained all dependent on the nature. Besides, loaded with extensive experience and range of observation, he has developed his own theory, opinion and interpretation about the universeits origin, working procedure and every living and non-living thing here including himself. All these findings have fuelled his vision, ambition and idealism, e.g.:
To dream the impossible dream
To reach the unreachable star
(Joe Darion)
As a result man sees everything, including death, from exclusive perspective. True too, a life begins to grow, blossom and dry and decay in its own process not by undue and untimely interference. To kill a man arbitrarily overcome by whims of this or that kind or simply out of anger or want is not manlike. Of course, because of the complicated turn the human world has been ever taking, man has been discontent, quarrelsome and intolerant. As a traveler lost in the forest he has been lost in the things and ideas of his own invention. Most importantly, none of them has been absolute and final because of the never ever predictable dynamism of the universe and its variability in all aspects; his interpretations remain no more than the observation of an elephant by the blind men. Hence there is no place far off vis-à-vis the question of death or killing, even coercion and despotic attitude in the management and running of human society be it whatever levela family or an association/union, a state or interstate. Still as days are inevitably followed by nights such inhuman behaviours have been part of the civilization despite mans invention of electricity, solar energy and many other light producing devices. Lets hope man will before long learn to use these lights to light his insight as well.
The author can be reached at email@example.com.
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text: Table T3_4_1_1-1 2012 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities ReportsThis appendix provides detailed data tables for all measures analyzed for the 2012 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Tables are included for measures discussed in the main text of the reports as well as for other measures that were examined but not included in the main text. Table 3_4_1_1.1Hospital patients who received an anticoagulant who had an adverse drug event with warfarin, age 18 and over, United States, 2009–2010a 20102009Population groupSample sizePercentSESample sizePercentSETotal 5,2495.490.312,7594.390.39AgeUnder 651,4233.580.497473.480.6765–741,3415.370.627094.370.7775–841,5536.700.638474.960.7585 and over9326.550.814564.821.00GenderMale2,5255.310.451,2723.850.54Female2,7245.650.441,4874.840.56Race/ethnicityNon-Hispanic, White4,4305.330.342,4114.400.42Non-Hispanic, Black4786.691.14DSUDSUDSUNon-Hispanic, AsianDSUDSUDSUDNADNADNANon-Hispanic, AI/ANDSUDSUDSUDNADNADNANon-Hispanic, NHOPIDSUDSUDSUDNADNADNAHispanic, all racesDSUDSUDSUDNADNADNADiabetesYes1,9846.800.579436.150.78No3,2654.690.371,8163.470.43ObesityYes1,4595.410.597225.540.85No3,7905.510.372,0373.980.43Cerebrovascular diseaseYes1,0347.740.835076.511.10No4,2154.930.332,2523.910.41CHF/pulmonary edemaYes2,9176.170.451,2805.080.61No2,3324.630.441,4793.790.50COPDYes1,7547.700.648616.500.84No3,4954.380.351,8983.420.42SmokingYes7965.280.794454.490.98No4,4535.520.342,3144.360.42CorticosteroidsYes3977.561.3318210.442.27No4,8525.320.322,5773.960.38Coronary artery diseaseYes2,7716.890.481,2555.180.63No2,4783.910.391,5043.720.49Renal diseaseYes1,5577.960.696307.621.06No3,6924.440.342,1293.430.39a Data were sampled from the CMS Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update program, which includes data for adults 18 years and older who were hospitalized for one of four conditions: heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and a subset of major surgical procedures. Data for 2009 include records for discharges that occurred from January to September. Data for 2010 include records for discharges that occurred from January to December 2010, excluding Maryland, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.DNA - Data have not been analyzed.DSU - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; CHF: congestive heart failure; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; SE: standard error.Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System. Current as of June 2013 Internet Citation: Table T3_4_1_1-1: 2012 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. June 2013. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr12/3_patientsafety/T3_4_1_1-1.html


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Is Orangutan Culture Made of Ideas?
December 20th, 2012 | 5
The chimpanzee's clever use of sticks to fish for termites is fairly well known. In 1964, Jane Goodall announced her groundbreaking discovery to the world, writing in the journal Nature, "During three years in the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanganyika, East Africa, I saw chimpanzees use natural objects as tools on many occasions. These [...]Keep reading »
When Faced With A New Problem, Vervet Monkeys Look To Mom
A trip to an unfamiliar part of the world is all you need in order to realize that humans have vastly different ways of eating, playing, talking, problem-solving, and so much more. Some of us use forks, while others prefer chopsticks, and still others simply eat with their hands. All three of these solutions emerged [...]Keep reading »
How Do You Figure Out How Chimps Learn? Peanuts.
What is culture? One simple definition might be: a distinctive behavior shared by two or more individuals, which persists over time, and that ignorant individuals acquire through socially-aided learning. There are at least four different ways to learn a particular behavior or problem-solving strategy. That is to say, there are four different ways to learn. [...]Keep reading »


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Proposal on referrer spam: Background and blacklists
Referrer (or referer) spam has become a serious problem in the blogosphere. We need an intelligent way to eliminate this growing nuisance. I've thought about and researched this for the past few days, and below I offer a proposal for a technological solution to this problem. It requires programming, and I am not a programmer, so I welcome suggestions, corrections, and improvements to this proposal.
I hope that this blog entry can serve as something of a starting point for information about referrer spam as well as a sandbox for exchanging ideas about methods of curbing or eliminating it.
Table of Contents
- Background
- Doesn't rel="nofollow" solve the problem?
- Recommended webmaster practices
- The .htaccess arms race is unwinnable
- Technical characteristics of referral spam
- Idea #1: Filter referrer URLs against Jay Allen's MT-Blacklist
- Idea #2: Filter referrer IPs against spam blacklists
- Conclusion
- Addenda
- Other resources
- TrackBacks
- Comments
- Post a comment
I will not go into much detail about the definition or origins of or reasons for referral spam. Please refer to other sites for that. I will mention that spammers are not stupid, and their activities always have a purpose. Spammers' activites consume their own resources, and as long as bloggers continue to publish records of referrers, it will be profitable and worthwhile for referral spammers to continue in their endeavors.
Doesn't rel="nofollow" solve the problem?
As you may have heard (or were hinted at), an illustrious coalition of blogging and search engine companies recently announced support for a new HTML attribute designed primarily to combat comment spam. Potentially, it's even more effective for referral spam. The attribute is called
rel="nofollow",and many bloggers are already praising it as the silver bullet the Web's been waiting for.
The idea is actually quite simple; the hard part was getting the major players (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) to agree on it. Basically, if a link is tagged with the
rel="nofollow" attribute, it won't contribute to that site's PageRank. ("PageRank" is a Google-specific term, but I'm using it in the generic sense here.) Blogging tools such as Movable Type have implemented this standard by inserting the nofollow attribute in links in comments and TrackBacks. This link would not boost my PageRank even a smidgen:
<a href="http://underscorebleach.net" rel="nofollow">
That means comment spammers and referral spammers won't get rewarded for their nefarious activities on websites that implement
nofollow. So, is the problem solved? Maybe. Partially. But ultimately? Not in my view. Here's why:
nofollowwill never reach 100% adoption, so there will always be some incentive (even if it's decreased) to spam.
- Spammers have shown that they do not care whether their techniques are effective in specific so long as they are effective in general. I have never published my referrer logs and referrer spammers have no real reason to hit my site, yet they do. They are targeting the blogosphere, not my site. Thus, as long as the blogosphere remains even partially vulnerable to referral spamming, it will continue. (Mark Pilgrim agrees with me here.)
- The resources required to fight spam, especially referral spam, so far oustrip the resources required to create it that
nofollowis not a strong enough disincentive.
To expand upon point #3, consider just how easy it is to create referral spam. It's far easier than comment spam—there are myriad tools in MT, WP, and other publishing systems to combat this nuisance, so comment spam is not nearly as simple an enterprise as it used to be. It's also simpler to create than spam e-mail (and most e-mail users are protected by at least some sort of spam filter; logfiles are not). Referral spam is one HTTP request. The client need not acknowledge the response. It need not send anything but a simple packet with formatted text.
Here, why don't you spam Google for fun: go to wannaBrowser, enter Google.com as the Location, and enter anything (how about "This is referral spam!") as the Referrer. Voila! You sent referral spam to Google. Amazing.
Moral of the story: Since
rel="nofollow" is not a panacea, bloggers are still going to get referrer spam.
Recommended webmaster practices
Referer spam is a problem because spammers can improve their sites' Google PageRank by getting listed on popular sites through spoofing of the
HTTP_REFERER field in an HTTP request. (Jay Allen has suggested in the past that referral spammers want clickthroughs, but in an e-mail exchange, now agrees that they probably do it for the PageRank. Still, clickthroughs could be part of the equation, given that so many of these spamming sites are shut down quickly by their hosts.)
Best practice #1: Don't publish your referrers
If bloggers (and other website maintainers) did not publish this information, spammers would not bother to send these spoofed requests to blogs—it would be pointless. (For a humorous example, check out a blog entry on this very subject that's actually being targeted by pr0n site referral spammers.) Therefore, I propose that bloggers discontinue this practice. Others agree. I, for one, have never clicked on a link published in a blog's "Sites referring to me" (or similar) section. I think many bloggers simply believe this is a neat feature and have not evaluated its detrimental effect on the blogosphere as a whole.
Best practice #2: If you must publish referrers, include the page in robots.txt
If you're married to the idea of publishing referrers, you might want to try dasBlog 1.7, which looks to have built-in support for a referral spam blacklist. Also, take note on this great idea from Dave Winer (of Radio UserLand fame):
Winer says, "A couple of weeks ago we finally figured out why porn sites add themselves to referer pages on high page-rank sites: to improve their placement in search engines. Last night at dinner Andrew Grumet came up with the solution. In robots.txt specifically tell Googlebot and its relatives to not index the Referers page. Then the spammers won't get the page-rank they seek."
Grumet's idea is echoed in a recommendation for b2evolution users. Of course, this works only if you publish your referrers separates from the rest of site's content. If it's embedded, robots.txt can't help.
Best practice #3: Rob spammers of PageRank with rel="nofollow"
With the introduction several weeks ago of
rel="nofollow", you can also rob the spammers of PageRank at the link-level, not just the page-level using robots.txt. All links referrer section of your website linking to externals websites should carry the
rel="nofollow" attribute, without question.
Best practice #4: Gather a cleaner list of referrers using JavaScript and beacon images
As detailed by Marcel Bartels, referrer statistics gathered from beacon images loaded via JavaScript
document.write statements are far more trustworthy than what the raw web server logs will contain. You may choose to disregard the referrers section of your server logs altogether and rely wholly on beacon images for referrer stats.
.htaccess arms race is unwinnable
Referrer spammers are becoming more clever. They're registering odd- or innocuous-sounding domains that redirect to the "mothership"—sites with names like houseofsevengables.com (not teen-fetish-sex.com) that are difficult for a human to distinguish from a legitimate website. It's especially difficult because bloggers like to pick odd-sounding domains for their websites anyway. (For some fascinating speculation about referrer spam, see Nikke Lindqvist's post, "Referral spammers – why are they doing it and what should we do about them?")
In response to the ever-growing problem, many bloggers, including me, have begun fighting an unwinnable war with the referer spammers at the
.htaccess level with
mod_rewrite. (Some have even taken steps to automate this, such as with Referrer Spam Fucker 3000 or homebrew scripts).
But it's not working. Take a look the following:
- My current
.htaccessrules to block referral spamming websites. There are 58 separate lines of
- he Referring Sites section of the Analog report for underscorebleach.net for 13 January 2005.
There are legitimate referrers in the file, but many illegitimate sites as well. Can you tell at a glance which are which? Not without visiting them… and that's a problem. The
.htaccess grows, and the spam still comes in. And more RewriteCond's = greater chance of false positives.
Moral of the story: The arms race of
.htaccess blocking is unwinnable.
Technical characteristics of referral spam
I started to look at the individual HTTP request made by the referral spammers. Here's an example:
The spammer has taken pains to make the request look legitimate. The
user_agent string looks very much like MSIE. (Interestingly, the request is in HTTP/1.0. Perhaps one could write a rule to exclude logfile entries in HTTP/1.0 with referrers. Normally, spiders that use HTTP/1.0 do not pass a referrer. Someone else more knowledgable than me would need to verify this.)
Also, it's not as if all of the referral spamming is coming from the same IP or set of IPs. Someone is commanding a large set of zombies here. (About a year ago, juju.org tackled the referral spamming problem with some nice directions and found that the spam was coming from a single IP, but I believe things have gotten more complex since then.) I trawled through the logfile for 13 January 2005 for eight random referrer spams and found eight different IPs.
BUT what is special about the request from the referrer spammer is that his IP is probably blacklisted somewhere. Now, as long as we follow through on the recommendation above to stop publishing referrers, there's no need to try and block the request in real-time. Besides, this would be a waste of resources and would hurt the 99% of users who are legitimate. However, we can query blacklists, such as through Distributed Sender Blackhole List (DSBL), at logfile analysis time to filter out the referral spam.
Also see Nikke Lindqvists's technical analysis of referral spam.
Idea #1: Filter referrer URLs against Jay Allen's MT-Blacklist
Previously on this site, I have criticized MT-Blacklist. That doesn't mean I don't think Jay Allen has done great work, and the current blacklist is a masterpiece—when used properly.
In this situation, I believe the blacklist could be a powerful, efficient weapon against referrer spam. See the current master blacklist file and compare it against my
.htaccess rules, for example. Sites like houseofsevengables.com and canadianlabels.net are listed in the master blacklist file.
Therefore, if a logfile analysis program was to filter referrers against this list, it would certainly help root out spam. Also, the master blacklist is a simple text file that can be downloaded from a website (and also easily mirrored). It seems to me that this idea could be easily implemented. In fact, Omar Shahine has already written a .NET class to filter URLs against the MT-Blacklist.
The master blacklist isn't perfect, however, and a quick check of the file against the referrers that got through on 13 January 2005 shows that few or none of them were listed. That's why we should also consider Idea #2.
Another interesting development to note in this area is the Manila Referrer Spam Blacklist (MRSB). It seems to still be in the experimental stage at this point, but its XML-RPC approach is interesting. It would be fairly trivial to write plugins for popular blogging software allowing users to contribute spamming URLs to the MRSB database. The trick, I believe, would be in the vetting process. Right now I don't see that one exists (or I just don't understand it).
UPDATE 1/21/05: The idea is starting to catch fire. (Perhaps I originally posted this entry in one of those rare times when a few people are thinking about the same problem and arrive at the type of solution via multiple paths.) In any case, Tony at juju.org has developed the derefspam.pl Perl script to filter log files against Jay Allen's blacklist. In a similar vein, Rod at Groovy Mother wrote a patch for AWStats to do the same thing. Mark McLaughlin has followed suit for Shaun Inman's Shortstat. Great work!
UPDATE 2/1/05: Peter Wood has extended this idea to mod_security, writing the Perl script blacklist_to_modsec to combine the Jay Allen's blacklist and web server-level spam control. This goes "beyond the blog," baby. Nice.
Idea #2: Filter referrer IPs against spam blacklists
I recently implemented Brad Choate's MT-DSBL, a plugin that checks a commenter's IP against the blacklist maintained at DSBL (a service that keeps a list of open relays). I believe the general idea of combatting comment spam by harnessing the DSBL or DNS-based blackhole lists could also be used to ferret out referral spam.
I queried eight randomly selected referrer spamming IPs against OpenRBL.org. This website queries 28 blacklists and returns a Positive/Negative score, with a "positive" indicating that the IP is listed on the given blacklist.
|IP address
The above table's scores are as of evening, 13 January 2005 (CST). They may be different if you check an IP's blacklist presence now.
My proposal for log file filtering of referrer spamming is rather simple:
- For a request with a referrer, query the IP against a blacklist. This might be DSBL or another list. I'm certainly not the best one to decide.
- If the IP is blacklisted (or has a high score among a multitude of blacklists), refrain from listing that referring URL in any section of a site's Web stats.
- Once a given site has been identified as a referral spam hostname (e.g. houseofsevengables.com, as mentioned above), do not bother querying the blacklist again for any IPs with this hostname in the HTTP request. This is simply for efficiency's sake.
- Once an IP has been identified as a referral spamming IP, do not bother querying the blacklist again. Again, efficiency's sake.
UPDATE 1/16/05: Also, Chris Wage has written up a great set of directions for using the mod_access_rbl module in Apache to match IPs against DNSBLs. While this won't catch 100% of referral spamming IPs (see the variation in scores above), it should cut down on the number that get through. You might wonder what sort of affect this method would have on site performance. Here's Chris' response:
Response time is affected, but not much for normal usage. The query responses are cached by [your] local nameserver on the same network, so the most someone would notice is a slight delay on the first load of the page.
Referral spam will not go away until bloggers make it a useless enterprise for spammers. Spammers are not stupid, and they will gradually stop the practice if they see that their efforts have no return.
In the meantime, I propose the above methods for filtering the referrer stats of websites. This is performed at logfile analysis time, not when the HTTP request is made. It seems to me that Ideas #1 and #2 could be combined, with #1 more efficient for client and server and #2 more likely to be up-to-date in real-time.
I welcome all comments. I am certainly no expert in these matters, but in searching the Web, I have found a lack of discussion in this area.
It's also been suggested that Web stat scripts could check the referrer's website for a link back to one's website. If no link is found, the script would assume that the site is a bogus, spam URL. I see two problems with this approach:
- Blog indexes change quickly. What's on the index page at 2:00 p.m. might be gone at 2:30 p.m. This can be because the blogger deletes the link to your site or because the index "rolls over" and displays only the past 10 entries.
- Spammers could quickly adapt. They could simply link to every site they spam.
If you do use the
.htaccess method to combat referrer spam, I suggest wannaBrowser to test your rewrite rules. It's the simplest way to see whether you're properly blocking spam URLs. The htaccess blocking generator will help you write the rules. SixDifferentWays has a pretty complete post on battling the spam this way. Ed Costello's article is also good.
Other resources
- CentreBlog's background on referrer spam
- Tao of Mac's "Referrer Spam Should Be a Crime"