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Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
Black Carbon Symposium
More Information
Conference Documents
- Black Carbon Symposium Agenda (PDF)
(3 pp, 100K)
- Preparatory Briefing Paper (PDF) (2 pp, 200K)
- Black Carbon Resource Packet (PDF)
(83 pp, 4.6M)
- Anenberg - Overview of Black Carbon (PDF) (57 pp, 4.7M)
- Bauer - Historical and present day climate effects (PDF) (26 pp, 1.4M)
- Birkett - Technologies for mitigating diesel black carbon (PDF) (8 pp, 452K)
- Bond - Black Carbon Climate Science and Major Sources (PDF) (23 pp, 2.3M)
- Burkhard - Biomass Heating Technologies (PDF) (33 pp, 4M)
- Chow/Watson - Black and Organic Carbon Emission Inventories in California (PDF)
(30 pp, 2.4M)
- Christofk - Placer County Forest Resource Sustainability Initiatives (PDF) (26 pp, 2.5M)
- Croes - Black Carbon Research in California (PDF) (10 pp, 427K)
- Fine - Black Carbon in the South Coast Basin (PDF) (4 pp, 1.6M)
- Greenbaum - Black Carbon and Health (PDF) (36 pp, 3.2M)
- Jacobson - Effects of Black and Brown Carbon on Clouds and Climate (PDF)
(11 pp, 441K)
- Minjares - Best Practices for Diesel BC Control (PDF) (8 pp, 291K)
- Ramanathan - Black Carbon Reductions: Emerging Science (PDF) (19pp, 2.6M)
- Rizk - Mitigation Session (PDF) (4 pp, 352K)
Sponsored by EPA's Regional Science Council
On November 14, 2012, EPA hosted the Black Carbon Symposium in San Francisco. The purpose of this meeting was to share the latest scientific advancements on black carbon public health, climate, and air quality impacts. The symposium featured several experts on black carbon to explain the basic science of black carbon and its effects on human health and global climate change.
In March 2012, EPA issued a Report to Congress on Black Carbon. This report, which had been requested by Congress, summarizes available scientific information on the climate and health impacts of black carbon.
Major Agenda Topics
- EPA's recent Report to Congress on Black Carbon
- Short-lived climate forcers as a complementary strategy to greenhouse gas abatement
- Climate effects and modeling of black carbon
- Health impacts of black carbon
- Developing inventories of black carbon at the state and local level
- Climate and health benefits of historical mitigation of black carbon from diesel vehicles
- Prospective mitigation opportunities for black carbon
- Policy perspectives and paths forward for state and local action
Speaker Biographies
Susan Anenberg
Senior Advisor in the State Department
On detail from the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation
Susan Anenberg is a Senior Advisor for U.S. Cookstove Initiatives in the State Department's Office of the Secretary's Global Partnership Initiative. Susan is on detail to the State Department from EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, where she leads evaluations of the health and climate benefits of air pollution mitigation, both within the U.S. and globally. She is a lead author on several major publications related to international transport of air pollution and emission control measures that achieve simultaneous benefits for climate change and air quality. She recently led the quantification of the global air quality and health co-benefits that could be achieved by mitigating near-term climate change through black carbon and methane emission control measures. Susan received her Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a sub-focus in Environmental Policy. She also has an M.S. from UNC in the same field and a B.A. from Northwestern University.
Dr. Susan Bauer
Research Scientist
The Earth Institute at Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Susanne Bauer is a research scientist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York. She is an expert in atmospheric chemistry and climate modeling. Her research activities focus on improving the representation of aerosols in global climate models by incorporating process level understanding of aerosol microphysics and chemistry.
Climate change and air pollution have, to a large extent, a common cause emissions from fossil fuel burning. Up until now however, these two problems have been addressed by separate policies. Susanne's research focuses on developing complex atmospheric models, combined with a strong link to field, laboratory and satellite measurements, in order to apply these models to answer socioeconomic questions to support more integrated and effective policies.
She received her Ph.D. from the Max-Planck Institute für Meteorologie in Hamburg, Germany, and has spend her post-doc years at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement in Paris, France, before she joint Columbia's Earth Institute almost a decade ago.
Dan Birkett
Environmental Scientist
U.S. EPA Region 2 Office in New York, NY
Dan Birkett is an environmental scientist with EPA's Region 2 office in New York. Dan has a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master's degree in Environmental Science from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Since joining EPA in 2007, Dan has worked to promote EPA's diesel emission reduction partnership programs in New York, New Jersey and the Caribbean, specifically those related to bio-fuels and marine ports. He has also worked with EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality in Washington, DC to develop international rules to limit greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.
Jared Blumenfeld
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator
U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest
Jared Blumenfeld was appointed by President Barack Obama and former Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to serve as EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest in November 2009. Region 9 is home to more than 48 million people in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands, and 147 tribal nations.
Mr. Blumenfeld has spent nearly two decades on the front-lines of protecting the environment both at home and internationally. His priorities at EPA include strong enforcement; environmental justice; protecting and restoring our air, land and waters; building strong federal, state, local and tribal partnerships; and taking action on climate change.
During his tenure at EPA Mr. Blumenfeld has taken a number of significant actions including: designating the Los Angeles River as a "protected" under the Clean Water Act; stewarding a comprehensive judicial settlement to improve the water quality for Honolulu; protecting over 5,000 square miles of California's coastal waters by proposing to ban discharge of sewage from cargo vessels and cruise ships; bringing together diverse stakeholders throughout the San Joaquin Valley to develop solutions to some of the nation's worst air quality problems; and leading innovative efforts and building partnerships to support the economy, environmental justice communities and air quality in the Goods Movement sectors (ports, rail, truck).
Before becoming Regional Administrator, Mr. Blumenfeld was the Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment where he spent eight years as the primary environmental decision-maker for the city. Jared helped to initiate many landmark environmental laws that became part of the municipal Environment Code. These included San Francisco's ban of plastic bags, a 2020 zero waste goal, LEED Gold building standards, and an overarching precautionary principle framework.
Mr. Blumenfeld's environmental leadership includes, chairing the first United Nations World Environment Day hosted by the United States - Green Cities: Where the Future Lives (2005), overseeing the Treasure Island Redevelopment Authority, directing international initiatives to protect eight million acres of wildlife habitat and editing an annual report on international environmental case law at Cambridge University. He is a founder of the Business Council on Climate Change, an organization that unites businesses around the challenge of climate change. Mr. Blumenfeld has worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The Region 9 offices include a talented and diverse team of more than 850 lawyers, engineers, scientists, inspectors, environmental specialists, analysts, and administrative support working to protect human health and the environment across eight time zones.
Mr. Blumenfeld received his law degrees at the University of London and the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Tami Bond
Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Tami Bond is Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research addresses how energy use affects atmospheric composition and global climate, which is an academic way of saying that she likes to burn things and watch other people doing so. Research activities include development of past, present and future global emission inventories, global simulations of aerosol transport and fate, and laboratory and field measurements of particle emission rates and properties from diesel engines, small industrial combustors, and cooking stoves. Most recently she has served as Associate Editor at the journal Aerosol Science and Technology and co-chair of the Standards and Testing Working Group for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
Dr. Ellen Burkhard
Senior Project Manager, Clean Energy Research and Market Development
Dr. Ellen Burkhard is a Senior Project Manager with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's Clean Energy Research and Market Development group (NYSERDA). Ellen manages projects that evaluate air quality and health effects from energy production and use. These include projects that measure diesel and wood combustion emissions from various technology designs and fuel types, long-range transport of pollutants from upwind sources, localized air-quality effects of high-emitting sources, and cardiovascular and pulmonary effects from air pollution exposure. For the past five years Ellen has co-managed NYSERDA's biomass heating program which: works with manufacturers to develop high-efficiency and low emitting heating systems; supports third-party performance evaluations of technologies and; demonstrates new technologies in representative applications to support market transformation. Ellen earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Health and Toxicology from the State University of New York at Albany's
Jack P. Broadbent
Executive Officer/APCO
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Jack P. Broadbent serves as the Chief Executive Officer/Air Pollution Control Officer, for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District). In this position, Mr. Broadbent is responsible for directing the Air District's programs to achieve and maintain healthy air quality for the 7 million people that reside in the nine county region of California's San Francisco Bay Area.
Mr. Broadbent joins the Air District after serving more than two and a half years as the Director of the Air Division at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX. In that position, Mr. Broadbent was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Clean Air Act as well as indoor air quality and radiation programs for the Pacific Southwest region of the United States. Before serving at the EPA, Mr. Broadbent worked for the South Coast Air Quality Management District as a Deputy Executive Officer, Director of Planning and other senior management positions. While at the South Coast District, Mr. Broadbent directed the development of a number of landmark programs that contributed to significant improvements in air quality in the Los Angeles region.
Mr. Broadbent also has experience in private industry. In the 1980s, Mr. Broadbent served as Corporate Environmental Programs Manager for the largest private employer in California: Hughes Aircraft Company.
Mr. Broadbent holds a Master's degree in Environmental Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science—both from the University of California at Riverside.
Dr. Judith C. Chow
Chair (DAS)
Desert Research Institute (NSHE)
Dr. Judith C. Chow, Nazir and Mary Ansari Chair in Entrepreneurialism and Science and Research Professor in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), part of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), has over 37 years of experience in conducting air quality studies and performing statistical data analysis.
She received her Doctor of Science degree in Environmental Health Science and Physiology from Harvard University in 1985. As leader of DRI's Environmental Analysis Facility (EAF), Dr. Chow supervises a group of 30 research scientists and technicians in developing and applying advanced analytical methods to characterize suspended atmospheric particles.
Dr. Chow is the principal author or co-author of ~315 peer-reviewed articles and ~90 peer-reviewed book chapters and has been recognized by ISIHighlyCited.com in ecology and environment with more than 8,200 citations of her work.
Thomas Christofk
Air Pollution Control Officer
Placer County Air Pollution Control District
Tom Christofk was appointed the Air Pollution Control Officer for the Placer County Air Pollution Control District in 2002 after having served as the District's General Manager since December 1999. Prior to this he was a Senior Management Analyst with the Placer County Executive Office, responsible for emergency/incident management and special projects and served as a Planning Section Chief on an Incident Command Team for the California Division of Forestry and Fire Protection. From 1973 through 1981 he was an officer in the US Marine Corps, serving in a variety of command and staff positions, to include development testing of new systems in ship to shore movement and advanced munitions. From 1981 until 1990 he held a number of different positions with Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation to include Training Section Supervisor, Program Manager, and Marketing Manager for both ordnance and advanced technology programs. Thereafter he was a general manager of a small manufacturing company and marketing consultant until moving into the public sector in 1995 with Placer County. Additionally, Tom is a past President of the Western States Trail Foundation, an association dedicated to preserving and maintaining the historic trail through the Sierra's from Lake Tahoe to Auburn and has actively been involved both in competing and directing the annual 100 mile Western States Trail Ride (Tevis) endurance event since 1996. Tom is also on the Board of Directors for the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA), and is a Past President of the Association. He is also a member of the Air and Waste Management Association. Tom has a BA in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles.
Bart Croes
Research Division Chief
California Air Resources Board
With his bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, Santa Barbara, Bart Croes supervises staff of 100 engineers, scientists and other staff studying the effects, causes, and control of air pollutants in order to direct the California Air Resources Board toward effective strategies to combat California's air quality and climate change problems. As such, Bart Croes role is instrumental in:
- Setting California ambient air quality standards for particulate matter, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide in response to Senate Bill 25.
- Assessing personal exposure and indoor air quality for homes, schools, and in vehicles for Assembly Bill 1173.
- Publicizing health and exposure findings to the California Air Resources Board, news media, schools groups, and the general public.
- Incorporating health impacts, cost/benefit analysis, and model of the California economy into the Diesel Risk Reduction Program and other major regulations.
- Supporting rule development for Assembly Bill 1493 (greenhouse gas emission reductions for light-duty cars and trucks) on non-CO2 climate forcers (i.e., HFCs, N2O, CH4, black carbon), economics, and environmental justice.
- Regulating high global warming potential gases, conducting scientific and economic assessments, evaluating emission inventory estimates, and developing tools to promote voluntary change for Assembly Bill 32 (greenhouse gas emission reductions).
- Managing a research portfolio with $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 million in new projects each year.
- Developed 10-year strategic research plan, annual research plans, and research plan for vulnerable populations. Raised over $5,000,000 from other organizations.
- Estimating the contribution of atmospheric pollutants to Lake Tahoe water clarity for the 2007 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) planning process.
- He has also implemented Innovative Clean Air Technologies program ($1,000,000 per year) to commercialize air pollution control and monitoring technologies. He has raised over $1,000,000 from other organizations.
John Dawson
Physical Scientist
National Center for Environmental Research
EPA Research & Development
John Dawson is a Physical Scientist in the National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) in the US EPA's Office of Research and Development. John joined NCER in September 2010 after an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship in EPA's Office of Research and Development and Office of Air and Radiation.
John works in the EPA STAR grants program, where he manages grants related to air quality and climate change. John's own research has focused primarily on the impacts of climate change on air quality.
John received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University and his Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy and Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Philip Fine, PhD
Planning & Rules Manager
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Philip Fine, Ph.D. is currently a Planning and Rules Manager at the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Diamond Bar, CA. His responsibilities include Air Quality Management Plan development, particulate matter control strategies, climate and energy, meteorology and forecasting, air quality evaluation, emissions reporting, and air toxics risk assessment. Prior to transferring to this position, he served for over five years as the Atmospheric Measurement Manager at AQMD overseeing the AQMD ambient network of over 35 air monitoring stations and all field activities for numerous special air monitoring research projects focusing on air toxics and the local impacts of air pollution. Prior to joining the AQMD, he was a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles where he conducted extensive research on particulate pollution, its health effects, atmospheric science, and measurement methods resulting in over 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
He received his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in Environmental Engineering Science, and his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Larry F. Green
Executive Director
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
Larry F. Greene is the Executive Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. Larry has a Bachelors Degree in Science Education from NC State University, and Masters Degrees in Logistics Management from Florida Institute of Technology and Human Resources Education from Boston University. He is a Past-President of the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) and serves as a permanent member on the CAPCOA Board of Directors. He serves on the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) Board of Directors as Co-Vice President and Co-Chair of the Global Warming Committee.
Daniel S. Greenbaum
Executive Officer/APCO
Health Effects Institute
Dan Greenbaum joined the Health Effects Institute as its President and Chief Executive Officer on March 1, 1994. In that role, Greenbaum leads HEI's efforts, supported jointly by US EPA and industry, with additional funding from US DOE, Federal Highway Administration, US AID, the Asian Development Bank, and foundations, to provide public and private decision makers – in the US, Asia, Europe, and Latin America - with high quality, impartial, relevant and credible science about the health effects of air pollution to inform air quality decisions in the developed and developing world.
Greenbaum has been a member of the U.S. National Research Council Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology and vice chair of its Committee for Air Quality Management in the United States. He recently served on the NRC Committee on The Hidden Costs of Energy and serves currently on their Committee on Science for EPA's Future. Greenbaum also chaired the EPA Blue Ribbon Panel on Oxygenates in Gasoline which issued the report Achieving Clean Air and Clean Water and EPA's Clean Diesel Independent Review Panel, which reviewed technology progress in implementing the 2007 Highway Diesel Rule. In May 2010, Greenbaum received the Thomas W. Zosel Outstanding Individual Achievement Award from the U.S. EPA for his contributions to advancing clean air.
Greenbaum has over three decades of governmental and non-governmental experience in environmental health. Just prior to coming to HEI, he served as Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection from 1988 to 1994, where he was responsible for the Commonwealth's response to the Clean Air Act, as well as its award-winning efforts on pollution prevention, water pollution and solid and hazardous waste. Greenbaum holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from MIT in City Planning.
Mark Z. Jacobson
Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
Mark Z. Jacobson is Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Woods Institute for the Environment and Senior Fellow of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering with distinction, an A.B. in Economics with distinction, and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, in 1988. He received an M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences in 1991 and a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences in 1994 from UCLA. He has been on the faculty at Stanford since 1994.
His work relates to the development and application of numerical models to understand better the effects of human and natural emissions on climate and air pollution and the analysis of renewable energy resources. He has published two textbooks of two editions each and 130 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. He received the 2005 American Meteorological Society Henry G. Houghton Award for "significant contributions to modeling aerosol chemistry and to understanding the role of soot and other carbon particles on climate." He co-authored a 2009 cover article in Scientific American with Dr. Mark DeLucchi of U.C. Davis on how to power the world with renewable energy. He has also served on the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Advisory Committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
Ray Minjares
The International Council on Clean Transportation
Program Lead, Climate and Health
Mr. Ray Minjares leads the Program on Climate and Health at the International Council on Clean Transportation where he distills policy-relevant science of non-CO2 pollutants into best practice policies for the transportation sector. In 2007 he earned a masters degree in public health with a concentration in health policy and management from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
He has previously worked in Washington, DC with the American Cancer Society to develop analytics for measuring mission delivery success, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute where he managed the National Clean Bus Project. In 2002 Mr. Minjares earned his bachelor's degree from UCLA with a focus on International Development and the Environment. He is a native of Los Angeles and is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan
University of California, San Diego
Chair, Project Surya
Dr. Ramanathan discovered the strong greenhouse effect of CFCs in 1975 and along with R. Madden, predicted in 1980 that global warming would be detected by 2000. In 1985, he led the first international NASA/WMO/UNEP assessment on the climate effects of non-CO2 greenhouse gases and concluded that they are as important as CO2 to global climate change.
He was among a team of four which developed the first version of the US community climate model in the 1980s. He led an international field experiment in the 1990s, with Paul Crutzen, that discovered the widespread Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs) over S. Asia, which have devastating health and climate impacts. He developed light weight unmanned aerial vehicles to track pollution plumes from S. Asia, E. Asia and N. America. His recent finding is that mitigation of short lived climate pollutants (black carbon, methane, ozone and HFCs) will slow down global warming significantly during this century. This proposal has now been adopted by UNEP and 12 countries including USA.
He now leads Project Surya which will mitigate black carbon emissions from solid biomass cooking in S. Asia and Kenya. His awards include the Tyler prize, the Volvo Prize, The Rossby and the Zayed prize. He has been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society, the Pontifical Academy by Pope John Paul II and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 2012, he was honored by Pope Benedict with an appointment to the Council of the Vatican Academy.
Barry R. Wallerstein, D. Env.
Executive Officer
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Barry R. Wallerstein holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in biological science. He has over 30 years of experience in urban planning and environmental studies, with an emphasis in air pollution control and public policy development.
Barry has served AQMD in various positions since 1984, and was appointed Acting Executive Officer in August 1997. The Governing Board unanimously elevated him to Executive Officer in November 1998. Barry has also worked as an Environmental Control Administrator for Northrop, and was a member of the rule development staff in the Mobile Source Division of the California Air Resources Board.
Dr. John G. Watson
Research Professor, DAS
Desert Research Institute (DRI)
Dr. John G. Watson, Research Professor in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), part of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), has over 41 years of experience in physics, environmental sciences, air quality network design and measurement, and source/receptor modeling.
He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Oregon Graduate Institute (now Oregon Health and Science University) in 1979. Dr. Watson has conducted and managed >100 air quality studies. He is known for formulating conceptual models as well as organizing and planning large-scale, multi-year air quality studies in the U.S. Dr. Watson established DRI's Source Characterization Laboratory and developed an in-plume sampling system for real-time measurement of vehicle exhaust.
Dr. Watson is the principal author or co-author of ~270 peer-reviewed publications and ~65 peer-reviewed book chapters and has been recognized by ISIHighlyCited.com in ecology and environment with more than 7,000 citations of his work.


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Mayor Rob Ford is attending today's Falcons-Bills game in Toronto, but he's apparently not in his assigned seat. Musician Matt Mays went to his seat to find that Ford's butt occupied it—look at him enjoying a chicken wing!—and faced a conundrum. Do you kick out the mayor for taking your spot?
Rob Ford is sitting in my seat at the Bills game. He stole my seat. I don't know what to do.— Matt Mays (@MattMays) December 1, 2013
I'm by myself. I gotta kick him out right? I mean I would kick anyone else out... Am I wrong?— Matt Mays (@MattMays) December 1, 2013
The mayor stole my f@#%ing seat man!!— Matt Mays (@MattMays) December 1, 2013
OK, Matt. Just say, "Excuse me, Mr. Ford. I believe you're sitting in my seat," and show him your ticket. We all know Rob Ford is a reasonable man with a level head.
Update: Mays got his seat back.
Got my seat back.— Matt Mays (@MattMays) December 1, 2013
Photo: Gary Wiepert/AP

subset: commoncrawl


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Finn and Jake Clean Up in 'Adventure Time' #4 [Preview]
Saving the planet is dirty work, but for full-time heroes Jake (the dog) and Finn (the human), cleaning up is even messier business in this week's Adventure Time #4 by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb. Boom! Studios has provid


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Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band that formed in McHenry, Illinois, in 1996. The band''s line-up consists of Matt Skiba (vocals, guitar), Dan Andriano (vocals, bass), and Derek Grant (drums). Their eighth studio album, Damnesia, was released July 12, 2011.
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Thai Peanut Butter Cups
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Author Notes: Take your favorite spicy Thai peanut butter sauce and put it in a chocolate candy cup and voila: two great tastes that taste *really* great together (to coin a phrase). We make these every year with our collection of holiday confections and they're a big hit with grown ups and kids alike despite the heat and spice. Part of its appeal is the excitement of seeing something that looks familiar, but then being surprised by the decadent, mischievous filling. I admit, it's a little bit of work, but for such tasty results, I think you can make the time.
You'll wind up with more filling than you need for 36 cups, but once you taste the filling, I don't think you'll have trouble thinking of ways to eat it. —vrunka
Food52 Review: WHO: vrunka lives in Portland, OR and blogs at http://www.tinysandwiches.com.
WHAT: Homemade peanut butter cups that put Reese's to shame with a complex base of Thai flavors.
HOW: You infuse coconut milk with all your favorite curry flavors: galangal, lime zest, lemongrass, and Thai chilis. But the similarities end there -- the strained milk is blended with peanut butter and piped into tiny chocolate cups.
WHY WE LOVE IT: These treats are definitely for grown-ups! Not-too-sweet and with a hint of spice, we'll never turn to the storebrought stuff again. —The Editors
Makes 36 cups
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 stalks lemon grass, cut into 2-inch segments and bruised with the back of a knife
- 4 large coins galangal, bruised with the back of a knife
- 3-5 Thai chilis
- 2 teaspoons lime zest, grated
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 pounds bittersweet chocolate
- 36 small candy cups
- 36 small strips of candied ginger (optional)
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts (optional)
- In a small sauce pan, bring the coconut milk to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the lemon grass, galangal, chilis and lime zest. Muddle the spices with the back of a spoon. Continue to simmer very low for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and strain out the solids.
- In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, coconut milk and lime juice. Mix thoroughly and spoon into a piping bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or until it solidifies slightly.
- Meanwhile, chop the chocolate into chunks. You may temper the chocolate for a nice, finished look. For directions on how to do that, see David Liebowitz's website. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/08/tempering-choco/ You may also simply melt the chocolate by placing it in a large bowl and microwaving it for 30 seconds at a time. Stir well between each round in the microwave.
- Once the chocolate is ready, prepare your chocolate cups. Keep all the cups in a stack, but loosen the top one. With a pastry brush (silicone works great), coat the inside of the cup with melted chocolate. Set aside and continue doing the same with all of the cups. Whatever chocolate is leftover, set aside and you can retemper (or just remelt) for the topping later.
- Once the chocolate in the cups has hardened, take your peanut butter mixture and pipe it into the cups, leaving about ¼ inch at the top. Remelt or retemper the chocolate and either put it in another piping bag or leave it in the bowl. Top the candy cups by piping the chocolate in a spiral from the outside in. Or you can simply spoon the chocolate from the bowl and gently spread it over the tops of the cups.
- You may optionally top each cup with a roasted peanut and a sliver of candied ginger. Drop them on the top while the chocolate on top is still melted so that they'll stick.
- These peanut cups are considerably creamier than the store-bought kind so it's best to eat them in a single bite. They'll keep for a couple days in a cool, dark place (they'll last a bit longer in the fridge).
- Your Best Chocolate & Spice Contest Winner!
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Comments (81) Questions (2)
over 1 year ago EGlove
Can you make these cups ahead of time and freeze them?
over 1 year ago Gaia Goodness Natural Foods
Wow! This sounds amazing and delicious. What a creative combination. When I try this recipe I think I'll swap the sugar for coconut sap and see what happens.
about 2 years ago kmpmilano
Oh great, just what I need: another addiction.
I only had big cups and the result was about 15 or so. I can see how bite-size would be better cos the big ones were pretty intense. Plus my galangal was ancient and I toned down the chili cos not everyone in my house is a spicy fan. They were still fantastic; I'm looking forward to making them again with a bit more heat and some fresh galangal.
over 2 years ago Burf
These are awesome! I had an eye on a 9-week old pup, so my coconut milk mixture stayed on the heat a little longer, but it made the PB filling a little firmer than was probably intended. FANTASTIC. I used the mini liners because it's what I had. The hardest part was painting the bottom chocolate on those little buggers, but it was a small price to pay. I'll definitely make these again.
over 2 years ago vrunka
SO glad you enjoyed them! I agree that it's kind of a pain to paint the little cups. I've learned that the key to making it less tedious is to keep the cups in a stack (for structure) and to really get a lot of chocolate on the brush so that you can "paint" the bottom and sides in one big swirl.
over 2 years ago ThereseTetzel
Instead of making cups could you make the filling into truffles and dunk them into chocolate?
over 2 years ago vrunka
Hi Therese, The filling on these is quite soft so I don't think that would work. But I have experimented with adding melted white chocolate to the mix -- this makes it firm enough to cut when it's cooled, but does dull the flavor a little. I've also thought about adding coconut oil to get it to set up more, but haven't experimented with that yet. If you do try dipping the centers, let me know how it goes!
almost 2 years ago Eva
over 2 years ago RavensFeast
It's worth mentioning that these are made by a beloved Portland chocolatier called Alma Chocolates. Sarah's known for her Thai Peanut Butter Cups: http://www.almachocolate...
over 2 years ago vrunka
Hi RavensFeast -- I've seen Alma's version, but I've never tried them. I'm sure they must be awesome, though, because all their chocolates are!
about 2 years ago kmpmilano
Ooh, I do like the idea of a little sea salt on top. I'm a bit of a sucker for adding salty to sweet.
almost 3 years ago Cinnamin
Lemongrass and chocolate- who'd a thunk it? Now my Reese's Peanut Butter cups just look boring.
over 3 years ago midnitechef
Congrats on winning with a family favorite ;)
over 3 years ago
Natalie is a recipe tester for Food52.
Added bonus- these are vegan!
over 3 years ago vrunka
yes, indeed!
over 3 years ago vvvanessa
Deee-licious! As a close relative, I claim first dibs on all future batches of Thai Peanut Butter Cups!
over 3 years ago
hardlikearmour is a trusted home cook.
These have a great blend of sweet and savory with a nice little kick from the spices. I claim second dibs!!
over 3 years ago lapadia
I claim long distance dibs!!! :)
over 3 years ago Kitchen Butterfly
Leaving me with.....distance-cannot-separate-a-girl-and-her-food dibs! I'm in Nigeria....so what :-)
over 3 years ago vrunka
haha! Looks like I need to buy some stamps! Kitchen Butterfly, you're in NIgeria?! You should be able to get some great local (or local-ish) peanut butter and chocolate!
over 3 years ago lakelurelady
Congrats vrunka! Brilliant recipe.
over 3 years ago
Emily is a trusted source on Scandinavian Cuisine.
Huge congrats vrunka! These look so yummy!
over 3 years ago Marlin Darlin
Congrats! this is the bomb! Can't wait to try these.
over 3 years ago Midge
Congrats vrunka!! A brilliant recipe and well-deserved win!
over 3 years ago Panfusine
YAAY!! COngratulations Vrunka!
over 3 years ago
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Congrats Vrunks, love the Thai flavors in these.
over 3 years ago
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Congrats, vrunka!
over 3 years ago NakedBeet
Look forward to making these—love the lemongrass and thai flavor angle!
over 3 years ago vincentinparis
Ohmygosh, the filling is really tasty. I had to substitute kaffir lime leaves for the lime zest, but I think I have been faithful to the spirit of the original recipe.
I now have a bag of it waiting in my fridge, ready to be piped as soon as I can get my hands on some chocolate. I am just hoping that I don't suck it all right out of the bag before then.
over 3 years ago vrunka
can't wait to hear how they turn out!
over 3 years ago Nico-Nico
These look so great, but I have one question. Does the peanut butter need to be commercial peanut butter that doesn't separate like Jiffy or can natural peanut butter be used?
over 3 years ago vrunka
Hi Nicole. I've used natural peanut butter and it's fine. You may get a little separation, but these are meant to be eaten in one bite so it doesn't really matter. They also don't keep for terribly long -- but that's not usually a problem!
over 3 years ago vrunka
Hi Nicole. I've used natural peanut butter and it's fine. You may get a little separation, but these are meant to be eaten in one bite so it doesn't really matter. They also don't keep for terribly long -- but that's not usually a problem!


text:
Interpretive Handbook
87283 :
Fungal Culture, Dermal
Clinical Information Discusses physiology, pathophysiology, and general clinical aspects, as they relate to a laboratory test
Fungal infections of keratinized tissues (hair, skin, nails) can be caused by dermatophytic fungi belonging to the genera Epidermophyton, Microsporum, and Trichophyton. Opportunistic superficial infections resembling dermatophytoses may be caused by yeasts or by unrelated filamentous fungi that are normally saprobes or plant pathogens. Dermatophytes are usually unable to penetrate deeper tissues. Infection may range from mild to severe.
Useful For Suggests clinical disorders or settings where the test may be helpful
Recovery and identification of dermatophyte fungi from hair, skin, and nail infection specimens
Interpretation Provides information to assist in interpretation of the test results
Positive cultures are reported with organism identification.
Negative reports are issued after 30 days incubation.
Cautions Discusses conditions that may cause diagnostic confusion, including improper specimen collection and handling, inappropriate test selection, and interfering substances
Aseptic techniques should be used when collecting specimens to minimize contamination.
For optimal recovery of organisms, sufficient clinical material should be collected.
Reference Values Describes reference intervals and additional information for interpretation of test results. May include intervals based on age and sex when appropriate. Intervals are Mayo-derived, unless otherwise designated. If an interpretive report is provided, the reference value field will state this.
If positive, fungus or yeast will be identified.
Clinical References Provides recommendations for further in-depth reading of a clinical nature
Summerbell RC, Weitzman I, Padhye AA: Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton and agents of superficial mycoses. In Manual of Clinical Microbiology. Ninth edition. Edited by PR Murray, EJ Baron, et al: Washington DC. ASM Press, 2007, pp 1874-1897


text:
Hang tight!
Recipe by smithey3000
"These blue cheese and turkey meatballs are my own recipe."
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4 cloves
onion, cut into chunks
jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded
1 pound
ground turkey
3 tablespoons
blue cheese
1/2 cup
bread crumbs
egg whites
3 tablespoons
olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons
soy sauce
1 tablespoon
dried parsley
1 tablespoon
Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon
ground black pepper
1 teaspoon
chili powder
These meatballs were absolutely fantastic. I made a few changes, such as omitting the jalapenos for personal preference, and I used a bit less ground pepper and chili pepper than were called for because I had never cooked with ground turkey before and didn't know how the flavor was going to be. The mixture seemed a LITTLE too wet but cooked up just perfectly. The Meatballs were juicy and extraordinarly flavorful. The italian seasoning I think is what really made these great. As I said, I wasnt sure how strong the flavor of the Turkey would be so I had reservations about what sort of Sauce I could serve these with. I ended up doing a garlic and olive oil angel hair pasta, but the Meatballs could have gone REALLY well with a Creamy mushroom sauce or even a marinara. I added an extra tablespoon of blue cheese and I still didnt think the flavor of the Blue cheese was very strong.. My father couldn't taste it at all! Will definitely add more next time and will DEFINITELY make these again and again.
One major problem is that the recipe calls for way too much black pepper. I would cut it to 1 tsp at most. I have to wonder it the tblsp is a misprint.
It is OK, but I will do it much different next time.
323 Ratings
Don't let the somewhat unusual combination of ingredients throw you off. This is a fantastic, flavorful recipe that can be easily altered to suit your own tastes.
My wife and I are cooking more with turkey these days (sorry, beef!) and no flavor was lost by using it. I was a little skeptical about the blue cheese. (I love it and she hates it). One of the other reviewers said it was undetectable, and I would have to agree... my wife didn't complain one bit!
I skipped the jalapenos simply because I didn't have any, but basically followed the rest of the instructions closely and can't think of anything I would change.
We'll make these again, maybe for a dinner party we have later this month.
I made this recipe almost exactly as written (I used half the black pepper called for). Unfortunately the meat mixture was too wet to form into meat balls. An additional 1/2 cup of bread crumbs did the trick. I really enjoyed this recipe. The ingredients were subtle and complemented each other well. I served the meatballs with a balsamic reduction along with sides of wilted spinach and pasta with homemade pesto sauce. YUM! On a sorry note, my husband and children are traditionalists and prefer the same old turkey meatballs I usually make (not your fault). They gave you between 1 and 3 stars. However, I gave you 5! Since my vote counts more (after all, I searched for recipe, made recipe, prepared appropriate accompaniments and took the time to review said recipe), I gave you an average 4 star rating. You did a great job and should be proud of this recipe. I am impressed that this was submitted by a 15 year old. I look forward to great things from you!
Very tasty recipe. I only had feta on hand, so I upped the oregano, and added a lot of crushed hot "pizza style" pepper. Nice Greek style meatballs. TIP OF THE DAY. Use mini muffin trays & make the meatballs a little larger so they sit up on the tray. Nice way to cook them, and the drippings are in the bottom of the trays.
Loved these meatballs! So tasty. My only problem was that they did stick to my aluminum foil a little too much. In the future I may let them cool and firm up some before trying to take them off of the cookie sheet.
I served with a spicy marinara sauce and a spinach salad.
When my husband takes these to work people gather around the microwave to see what smells so good! Only tihng I changes was to use 1 Tbsp olive oil instead of 3. I am going to make these once a week.
This was a great new way to prepare ground turkey. I followed the recipe except I added only one jalepeno plus seeds and they were so good! Will make again.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Tantalizing Turkey and Blue Cheese Meatballs
Serving Size: 1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 247
Calories from Fat: 129
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An essential component of the SDDC is the VMware vCenter Server which can centrally manage hundreds of hosts (up to 1,000 per vCenter) and thousands of virtual machines (up to 10,000 per vCenter), delivering operational automation, resource optimization and high availability to IT environments. Using a single web-based client for all tasks, administrators can provision, configure, start, stop, delete, relocate and remotely access virtual machines with keyboard and mouse control. VMware vCenter Server also has a Linked Mode that provides visibility across multiple vCenter Server instances, with roles, permissions and licenses replicated across the infrastructure so you can simultaneously log in, view and search the inventories of up to 10 vCenter Servers.
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text:
The "Perfect Christmas Gift"
I was watching TV this morning before I came into work and I saw an ad for rubber vehicle floor liners that the announcer dubbed "The Perfect Christmas Gift". Really? Sometimes I wonder how far marketers are willing to go in terms of selling crap by calling it the "Perfect Christmas Gift":
"Wouldn't you hate to die right before Christmas and leave your loved ones to foot the bill? Isn't winter in Montana hard enough? Why not buy your own burial plot? It makes the 'Perfect Christmas Gift'!"
"Here in Montana the roads can often get icy


text:
but there is no doubt in my mind that it is due to the option being ON in T-Clock.
I'm inclined to agree at this point. Can you think of anything that may be unique about your config? Any security or system management software that it may be interacting badly with?


text:
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text:
Guest DJ: Strange Talk
Listen to Strange Talk's Guest DJ'd station on iHeartRadio
Australian synth-pop band Strange Talk is releasing their debut album Cast Away, which includes their latest single "Young Hearts." The guys have already found success with their previous tunes "Climbing Walls" and "Eskimo Boy," and are busy promoting their music on the road, recently making an appearance at this year's SXSW Festival.
[Buy "Young Hearts" and pre-order Cast Away on iTunes]
Strange Talk teamed up with iHeartRadio to Guest DJ a radio station that represents them. Check out the band's top ten tracks below, with accompanying explanations from the guys.
1. Michael Jackson - "Billy Jean"
Gerard: Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" is such an iconic track off such an iconic album. The bass-line, the drums, you know it's something that whenever you think about programming drums or bass, you automatically think of the crack of the snare, or the punch of the kick drum, and the full round bass sound - it's something that's iconic that stays with you whenever you're writing I think.
2. Daft Punk - "Around The World"
Gill: I'm a massive Daft Punk fan and I think we get a lot of influence from them. Funnily enough, the film clip for this [the song] is amazing, which I really like, so I think it's the bass line which was, they referenced "Good Times" Chic, and now they've got Nile Rodgers playing with them on "Get Lucky." He produced the album [Random Access Memories]. So that song's just got a great vibe. It just brings me back to when I was in grade six. It's just funky and one of my favorites.
3. The Police - "Roxanne"
Stephen: Stylistically, the Police, funnily enough, was actually the style that when we first formed as a band, we wanted to kind of explore that genre with a kind of reggae idea. I've always been a massive fan of Bob Marley growing up and the Police kind of targeted that I guess and brought it to that kind of rock sense. I mean I'm a massive fan of Sting and Stuart Copeland as well, he's just a phenomenal drummer and not only that but we've also done our own kind of cover which we recorded in 2012 - which is on all the social medias. We put it up, just for a bit of fun and it was kind of an electronic take on that song.
4. Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Travis: It's pretty much a masterpiece of music written by one of the best bands in the world, and composed by one of the greatest artists in the world, Freddie Mercury. This obviously is an iconic track everyone knows has a lot to do with mainstream through Wayne's World, and I know that's one of the first times I heard that track. But I grew up with it. [It was] one of the CDs that was in my mom's collection. And even though it's an epic 6/7 minute song, it's one of those songs you can just listen to over and over and over and never get sick of.
Stephen reveals he's heavily influenced by Freddie Mercury...
Stephen: He's one of my idols. Just his vocal ability and his presence on stage, those are just two things I really draw a lot of inspiration from. And not to mention, I was reading that song, in its time, was the most expensive song ever recorded. I think because they used so many channels for all the harmonies and the vocals and all the instrumentation, they actually had to burn tape together to actually create the recording. With Queen, they're always groundbreaking and I mean I guess it's hard to be groundbreaking these days, but that influence of always challenging yourself, is something us as a band really strives for.
5. Outkast - "Hey Ya"
"Hey Ya" was the track that kind of really brought me towards Andre 3000, cause when they came out with the double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, "Hey Ya" was their Andre 3000 track where they had him playing every instrument in the video clip. It was a super cool video clip, and this is where I got into Andre 3000. I always think about that film clip, he was the manager, he was the drum player, and he came up with characters for each member in the band and introduced them. It was just a really cool video clip and a great song and something that always throws me back to my late teen years, and from that point on I've always paid attention to Andre 3000. They influenced one of our songs "Is It Real," and this whole vibe, this song must have been one of the first ones that kind of brought that '40's '50's vibe to commercial radio. They were an innovator.
6. Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Gill: You won't find many guitarists who haven't had to play that in a cover band when they're at school, so I was one of those. I had two older sisters and they used to teach me Nirvana songs. So it was the first kind of guitar playing that I learned when I was first starting out. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was one of my favorites, and I think I might have even won some sort of school rock challenge playing it as well, so it means a lot to me, (laughs). I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for "Smells Like Teen Spirit." And I mean, they're just groundbreaking, Nirvana. I've never met anyone who hasn't been influenced by them.
7. Oasis - "Wonderwall"
Steve: This is definitely one song that we couldn't leave off our top ten and I think growing up, there were always those parties that you'd go to, and by the end of the night - after a big night of drinking - everyone was just screaming this song at the top of their lungs. And I guess Liam Gallagher, I've watched many interviews of his, and he's quite an interesting character. I guess you could call him the modern day John Lennon. And for me it's a shame that the two brothers just split when they did because I think they had so much more amazing music left in them. But at least we got a song like "Wonderwall." But that whole (What's the Story) Morning Glory album is just one of the best albums I think to have been written and hopefully one day they can both swallow their pride and get back together. I've always wondered about their parents at Christmas time…awkward.
8. Michael Jackson - "Thriller"
Gerard: Again, this album, such a big influence to so many genres. This track, it was written by one of my favorite programmers, and one of the main musicians on the album, Rod Temperton who came up with the song - just the chord sequence in the intro, the wolf howling, like there's so many avenues to the song, let alone the film clip. It was groundbreaking as a song, it was groundbreaking as a film clip, it was groundbreaking as a dance routine still known to today. And it's still a song that heavily influences us. Just the programming, the harmonies, the arrangements, everything about this song is incredible. And just the team they had involved from Quincy to Bruce Swedien to Rod Temperton to Greg Phillinganes on keys, it was like, the A-team of production and writing during the '80's and into the early '90's. It's just such a historical, iconic song and album, so there's not much more you can say about Michael and that track. And he's probably my biggest influence and will continue to be, just that this song stands out.
9. Notorious B.I.G. - "Juicy"
Gill: Obviously I love all of Notorious B.I.G.'s stuff, but "Juicy" for me is one that stands out, it's just got an infectious sample. It's actually kind of cool because as we've since signed a recording deal in the U.S., the label that we signed to, they have a recording studio in New York and it was actually where all of Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac for that matter, all of their stuff was recorded. And apparently rumor has it that it's the same studio that 2pac was shot the first time in 1994, which is kind of cool. I mean [during] my childhood, I grew up listening to a lot of Michael Jackson, and then as I got sort of into my early teens, I was listening to kind of the gangster rap, I don't know why, I just used to love it, but this is definitely one song that always brings back memories for me.
10. Jackson Five - "I Want You Back"
Travis: Staying on the Michael Jackson theme, early Jackson in the Jackson Five, and one of their biggest hits "I Want You Back." Everyone would've heard this track, and it has been sampled so many times as well, from the bass-line to the drum groove. Obviously it just starts in a real interesting way with the piano slide, and comes into one of the most well-known, iconic bass riffs of all time, pretty much rivaling "Billy Jean." But this song I've known since I was quite young, and I remember watching footage of them on the Ed Sullivan show doing a medley of this and "ABC." I loved the track that much and not only did I want to play drums along to it, but actually wanted to learn the dance moves. I think I did for a bit until I realized I wasn't gonna pull it out anywhere, I think it's back in the dancing vault in my brain somewhere…I just have to find out when the appropriate time to bring it out is. But it's such an amazing song, totally fun, you can't help but get up and dance to it when it starts because it just has that amazing dancing vibe. And it's just credit to not only Michael but the whole Jackson 5 and Berry Gordy, and the guys who found them and put them together.
Photo Credit Katherine Tyler for iHeartRadio


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Box Text: "Maurice Richard had a dream to play in the National Hockey League. Through hardships and hard work, he became a hero. This film is the extraordinary true story of the man they called The Rocket, who led a team to greatness, inspired a generation, gave passion to his country and brought a national sport to the world. THE BEST SPORTS DRAMA SINCE RAGING BULL! (Yves Beaupré, Infoculture). Starring Roy Dupuis, Stephen McHattie, Julie le Breton, Philip Craig. Special guest appearances by Mike Ricci, Vincent Lecavalier, Stephane Quintal, Mathieu Dandenault, Sean Avery, Ian Laperriere."
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... reports lower first-quarter profits
1:36 PM MDT | April 26, 2013 | —Natasha Alperowicz
Sabic's first-quarter net income declined 10%, to 6.56 billion Saudi riyals ($1.75 billion), compared with the first quarter of 2012, but increased 13% compared with the SR5.83 billion reported in the fourth quarter of 2012. Sales were down 3.3% year-on-year (YOY), to SR46.75 billion. Gross profit in the first quarter was down 2% YOY, at SR14.02 billion, and operating income decreased 4%, to SR11.05 billion. Earnings per share in the first quarter were SR2.19 compared with SR2.42 in the year-earlier quarter. The company cites lower production and sales...
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- Independent
- The Enterprise
- The Recorder
Small business owners learned how they, along with health care providers, employees and individuals, would be affected by Maryland Health Care Reform changes during a panel presentation Wednesday evening.
Calvert Memorial Hospital president and CEO Jim Xinis began the presentation, hosted by the Calvert County Chamber of Commerce at the College of Southern Maryland Prince Frederick campus, with discussion of how health care reform under the federal Affordable Care Act is going to affect consumers and the "provider community" once it becomes effective Jan. 1, 2014.
Xinis said as a health care provider, although Calvert Memorial Hospital has "issues with the reform bill, overall in the grand scheme of things we support health care reform."
From a consumer standpoint, the reform bill is beneficial because it expands coverage to dependents and children up to the age of 26; requires insurers to cover children with pre-existing conditions; prohibits pre-existing conditions in adults; requires insurers to spend 85 percent of the premiums on medical claims and quality improvements; provides drug discounts to seniors; ends lifetime limits; prohibits insurers from charging women more than men; and limits higher premiums based on age, Xinis said.
The foundation for the health care reform, Xinis said, is getting access to care to more people, which means "dramatically lowering the number of people who have no health care coverage" on a national basis. Xinis said CMH writes off roughly $8 million in "bad debts and charity" each year, and having more people covered by insurance would greatly reduce that number.
One of the "biggest challenge[s]" Xinis said he sees with the reform is that there are not enough providers in the Southern Maryland region to take care of all of the people who will be newly covered by insurance. Xinis said a recent study showed Maryland has 16 percent fewer physicians available for clinical practice than the national average, and Southern Maryland has the largest shortage of physicians in the area.
"When you expand benefits … that, in theory, would mean people have access to health benefits that have not had access before," Xinis said. "One of the things we're concerned about here in Calvert County … is do we have enough providers to take care of everyone?"
An "unintended consequence" of the reform for consumers, Xinis said, is increased insurance rates by 25 to 60 percent. He said the increase is due to the elimination of pre-existing conditions, mandated benefits, more people who are less healthy accessing the system and getting insurance coverage and new taxes and fees charged to insurers that will most likely be passed onto consumers.
Kevin Yang, chief information officer for the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, said the exchange was created by "an act of legislature" with a purpose of implementing portions of the Affordable Care Act and setting up regional exchanges. He said state-based exchanges will be set up in regions throughout the state as marketplaces to help determine the eligibility of individuals and employers — whether they qualify for Medicaid, advance premium credits or small business subsidies — and will allow individuals, employees and employers to select and set up health plans.
"It's not an issuer of a health insurance plan," Yang said. "We're a marketplace, a conduit."
Currently, Calvert Healthcare Solutions provides insurance to more than 1,800 people in the county who did not have access to health insurance, Xinis said, but the health care reform could put the center out of business. Xinis said the center has applied to serve as the "navigator role" for the Southern Maryland region's exchange to prevent the center from closing. The designation for the exchange will be announced at a later date, and Xinis said he hopes the center will be the organization chosen to be the exchange.
The Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, is a program within the exchange to allow small businesses and its employees access to affordable coverage, Yang said. Benefits of using the program are that employers can offer employer or employee plan choices; can continue to use brokers; can use online tools to pick their plans and set up costs; and can qualify for tax credits.
Insurance plans will be offered at "different medal levels," Yang said. Insurers were asked to categorize their plans by bronze, silver, gold and platinum designations, he said, and each plan is "based on the actuarial value." He said the silver plan is a 70 actuarial value, meaning that "on average, that plan should pay 70 percent of your medical costs and the consumer would pay 30 percent" through their deductible. The gold plan pays for 80 percent on average and the platinum plan pays for 90 percent on average, he said.
For small businesses, the exchange sets up the employer choice or employee choice models. The employer choice model is "similar to today," Yang said, which allows the employer to pick a single carrier and have all employees select either a bronze, silver, gold or platinum level of coverage from that carrier.
The employee choice option, Yang said, allows employers to select what level of coverage to offer to employees and allows the employee to choose which provider they want that level of coverage from.
Jon. S. Frank, president of Jon S. Frank & Associates Inc., an employee benefits brokerage that advises small and medium size businesses on employee benefits with a primary focus on health plan management, said qualified plans in the levels will be available without medical underwriting during the open enrollment period, which in its first year this year will run from October to March. Many small businesses, Frank said, will not be impacted by the reform until its anniversary date after the reform's implementation date of Jan. 1, 2014.
Frank said Maryland Health Care Exchange is an entirely online system, and access to the SHOP exchange for small businesses would begin online. He said tax credits are only available to small businesses purchasing insurance through the SHOP exchange as an added benefit of using the program.
Although enrollment will be conducted by "certified navigators" at the exchange, small businesses can still use brokers, as they "have not been eliminated from the process," Frank said.
The "small group market," Frank said, is defined in Maryland as having 50 or more full-time employees. Under the reform, small businesses that have 50 or more full-time employees must offer health care coverage to them.
For a business with more than 50 full-time eligible employees, "employer responsibility" will be triggered under "pay or play," meaning it is the employer's responsibility to offer health insurance benefits or pay a penalty, Frank said. Health care coverage must be offered to "actual full-time employees who are either salary or working more than 30 hours a week after a waiting period of not-to-exceed 90 days," he said.
Plans must also meet the minimum essential coverage, or the bronze level, and must be affordable as measured against an employee's W2 earnings, Frank said. If an employer does not meet these requirements, penalties starting at $2,000 per eligible employee will be enforced, he said. If employers opt out of offering benefits to eligible employees, Frank said, they will end up paying roughly the same amount in penalties as they would pay to offer health care benefits.
The exchange's navigators also will work with individuals without insurance options, Frank said.
If someone purchases insurance through the exchange as an individual, subsidies are provided from 133 percent to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. As an example, Frank said if a "party of one" is making 200 percent of the federal poverty level, their income will be about $22,000, which will determine what subsidy that person gets.
"A subsidy is not a freebie," Frank said. "It's an advance tax credit."


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Information Centers Guide
Browse over 15,000 articles, activities, and expert answers in education and child development. Education.com features authoritative content from over 450 of the nation's top non-profit, universities, and government institutions.
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5th Annual Birmingham Ice Bowl
Saturday, February 4th, 2012
George Ward Park Disc Golf Course
Birmingham, AL
A DGB Charity Event to benefit the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama
Entry Fee: $30 for All Divisions
Receive a $1 discount per item off your entry fee by donating non-perishable food items.
(limit $5.00 discount)
First 50 players to sign up receive a Ice Bowl stamped disc !
Pro Men - Pro Women - Advanced
Intermediate - Novice - Am Women
Mulligans for Sale !
$3.00 each or 4 for $10.00
(limit 2 per round)
Ace Pot -- $2
(if not hit, will be donated to the charity)
Hole Sponsorships -- $20
You pick the pin position !
(Sponsorships will go to the charity)
The AM payout for the Ice Bowl this year will be "pick your payout" from Eat.Sleep.Disc.
Come on out & work the winter rust off your game while helping those less fortunate !
Check out discgolfbirmingham.com to pre-register & additional info.


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What are practically useful ways of modelling the effect of liquidity on options?
Take the 2-minute tour ×
Quantitative Finance Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for finance professionals and academics. It's 100% free, no registration required.
In general liquidity is most often modeled, for most types of instruments, via proxy by the 'bid-ask spread' (wider = less liquid, narrower = more liquid)
You can choose to model the bid-ask spread in dollars, or what is often most helpful, for options, is to model the bid-ask spread in terms of implied volatility (of the difference between the bid and ask prices). This lets you make consistent cross-sectional comparisons of liquidity, and do hypothesis testing.
here's a sample paper that uses the implied vol appraoch: http://www.ccfr.org.cn/cicf2010/papers/20091215131015.pdf


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Definitely, Maybe
Comedy, Romance
Will Hayes is a 30-something Manhattan dad in the midst of a divorce when his 10-year-old daughter, Maya, starts to question him about his life before marriage. Maya wants to know absolutely everything about how her parents met and fell in love. Will's story begins in 1992, as a young, starry-eyed aspiring politician who moves to New York from Wisconsin in order to work on the presidential campaign. For Maya, Will relives his past as an idealistic young man learning the ins and outs of big city politics, and recounts the history of his romantic relationships with three very different women. Will hopelessly attempts a gentler version of his story for his daughter and changes the names so Maya has to guess which woman her father finally married. Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl next door Emily? Is she his longtime best friend and confidante, the apolitical April? Or, is she the free-spirited but ambitious journalist Summer? As Maya puts together the pieces of her dad's romantic puzzle, she begins to understand that love is not so simple or easy. And as Will tells her his tale, Maya helps him to understand that it's definitely never too late to go back... and maybe even possible to find a happy ending.
Cast: Abigail Breslin, Derek Luke, Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher
Produced by: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Directed by: Adam Brooks
Written by: Adam Brooks
Running time: 1hr 52min
Opens: Feb 14, 2008 Nationwide
|Theaters for Today
Pick a day
on this day.


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Bug Check 0x61: HAL1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
The HAL1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED bug check has a value of 0x00000061.
This bug check appears very infrequently.
|Important Info If You Have Received a STOP Code
If you received a blue screen error, or stop code, the computer has shut down abruptly to protect itself from data loss.
For information about how to recover from this error, see Resolving Blue Screen errors in Windows.


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I know there are plenty of Incubus fans that live in Orange County like me. So join! :D
Nothing against LA, but Orange County is different ;)
Location: Orange County, CA
Members: 83
Latest Activity: Dec 6, 2013
Started by Brenda Esparza. Last reply by Karla Aguirre Sep 13, 2011. 1 Reply 0 Likes
hey fellow fans! I am in serious need of one GA Incubus ticket for the show at the hardrock. I already had one set to buy and the seller sold it to someone else. ---______--- anywayy now im stuck…Continue
Started by Jon San Agustin. Last reply by Michelle Jun 2, 2011. 7 Replies 2 Likes
so we've seen them play at Verizon Wireless in Irvine a number of times, and the Honda Center in Anaheim but what would we have to do to get them to play at HOB Anaheim? Ya, it seems unlikely seeing…Continue
Started by Jon San Agustin. Last reply by Jon San Agustin Jun 1, 2011. 2 Replies 0 Likes
Well, most people already know that it's either between Verizon Wireless in Irvine or the Hollywood Bowl. The likely scenario is Hollywood Bowl...but we need to do something to get them to play…Continue
Did I mention that I am selling my extra tix at a discount? I'll deduct the Ticketmaster convenience charge just so I can get rid of them...
Please contact me if you or someone you know is interested.
I have an extra pair of tickets for Irvine Meadows that I need to get rid of if anyone is interested. Loge 5.
thanks for joining Gil!
which page were you apart of before? going good over here, how are you doin?
good news! Ren told me "with a little luck we might get OC done this year."
so all we have to do is be patient guys :)


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For the week ending Wednesday, December 26, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds reported net inflows of $3 billion, excluding the inflows of $18.2 billion to money market accounts, according to data from Lipper.
All Financial Planning articles are archived after 7 days. REGISTER NOW for unlimited access to all recently archived articles, as well as thousands of searchable stories. Registered Members also gain access to exclusive industry white paper downloads, web seminars, blog discussions, the iPad App, CE Exams, and conference discounts. Qualified members may also choose to receive our free monthly magazine and any of our daily or weekly e-newsletters covering the latest breaking news, opinions from industry leaders, developing trends and growth strategies.


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Holistic Health
Create greater health, happiness and peace of mind in your life.
Posts filtered on Tag
If tastebuds could talk
Competition between food producers for a place in your grocery cart, dinner menu or lunch box is now high science. Millions are invested in research to discover that winning combination of sugar, salt, fat and feel that will make us crave a particular food. The bottom line? How to increase what's called the "Stomach share" […] [Read More]


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The mission of the Grace College Foreign Languages and Cultures program is to equip students to serve Christ in a global community through language proficiency, cultural competence, and general knowledge of the humanities.
Goals for language majors include communicating in another language, engaging in aspects of another culture, and acquiring broader experiences as world citizens through the study of language.
The requirements of an overseas study distinguishes the Grace language program from other programs. The purpose of courses offered on campus is to prepare students for the Study Abroad Program.
Recognizing that God is the creator of language and that languages are the ultimate avenue of many creative abilities, English and Journalism programs seek to expose all Grace College students to God-honoring courses in writing and in literature. Students will leave furnished with a versatile communication skill set necessary to be articulate and successful in any career field.
The goals of these majors are to develop perceptive and critical thinking abilities through the study of literature, the English language, and journalistic media and to furnish creative, journalistic, and academic researched methods of writing to express these insights.
Communication programs aim to promote an awareness of the complexities of the human communication process, to assist in the refinement of communication skills, and to encourage the free and responsible use of communication abilities and mediums.
The study of communication is especially recommended for students who are considering future occupations or training areas such as public relations, theatre, management, missions, counseling, the youth pastorate, marketing, consulting, law, media communications, personnel management, teaching or the ministry.
Download our Department Brochure
Creative Writing


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Gucci Mane, Assault — Another Charge for Troubled Rapper
Gucci Mane's problems are starting to pile up.
Just days after an arrest warrant was issued for him in Atlanta -- stemming from him allegedly hitting an Army solider over the head with a champagne bottle -- another man is now making similar claims.
Identified by WSBTV 2 in Atlanta as TJ, this man says he was assaulted by Gucci on March 18, two days after the champagne bottle incident occurred.
"I haven't ever be


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If we didn't know any better, we'd think that the opening of this clip from the "Breaking Bad" season finale was from some high-adrenaline action thriller.Until, that is, you get to the part where Wal More »
A brutal, extended, grueling fight between former friends and partners broke out on Breaking Bad this week . Will we ever see Walt and Jesse in the same room again? Not next Sunday, based on the fo More »
It's no wonder Jesse's favorite show is Ice Road Truckers . He must identify with the rush and fear of cruising along calmly before suddenly spinning out of control, possibly to your death. This frigh More »
Last week, it was curious that the writers were suddenly peeling back some of the layers to Gus' character on 'Breaking Bad' (Sun., 10PM ET on AMC). An extended flashback scene showed what happened wh More »
"Can you cook Walter's formula?" That phrase has become a death sentence on this show and the ramifications of the scene it was asked in are going to open yet another chapter in Breaking Bad 's sto More »
For the Whites, honesty stopped being the best policy a long time ago. Walt has been lying to his family about the extent of his drug involvement for months, while Skyler has never been as clean as More »
On tonight's episode of "Breaking Bad," "Bug," Walt and the other characters are figuratively stepping gingerly in a field of landmines. Which mines are duds, and which ones explode? Read on… The epis More »
A review of tonight's "Breaking Bad" coming up just as soon as I enter it in the Quicken... "Then get the fuck out of here and never come back." -Jesse I'm so glad I get these "Breaking Bad" episo More »


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Sweetest Day Gifts
Home > Personalized Gifts by Occasion > Sweetest Day Gifts
Sweetest Day, celebrated in October, is a day to thank and appreciate family, friends, the elderly, and the less fortunate. If you have someone special in mind you'd like to extend your thanks to on this special day, express your sentiments with a personalized Sweetest Day gift. Our special touch of customization takes our Sweetest Day gifts ideas to the next level of consideration and thought, making your gift one-of-a-kind.


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Less than a month before Maryland's Republican party elects a new chairman, Montgomery County's GOP leader says the party's grassroots and established factions are at odds.
Bitter attacks between party members have flooded the blogosphere and social media, as the chairman election approaches. It will be at the party's April 19-20 spring convention.
At the center of the quarrel are actions by the party's leadership, Interim Chairwoman Diana Waterman and Executive Director David Ferguson.
What has drawn ire within the party includes: Ferguson's March 22 trip to South Carolina to counter a visit by Gov. Martin O'Malley (D); the party canceling a leadership training; Waterman's removal of Nicolee Ambrose from the Republican National Convention Standing Committee on Rules; and Waterman's defense of these events.
Waterman was unavailable for comment.
Ferguson refused to comment.
Complicating the controversy is the race to replace Republican Party Chairman Alex X. Mooney, who resigned effective March 1.
Roll Call reported March 11 that Mooney bought land in West Virginia and is considering a run for the Mountain State's 2nd District seat in the House of Representatives.
West Virginia's 2nd District currently is represented by U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican planning to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014.
Waterman, Greg Kline of Anne Arundel County and Collins Bailey of Charles County are running to replace Mooney.
Only those who support a candidate for chairman, or who support Ambrose, appear to be joining the fray, said Donald Murphy, a former Maryland district 12A delegate and more-than-casual GOP political observer.
"When we fight Democrats, it's over politics and policy. When we fight with our own, its personal and petty," Murphy said.
"It's gotten out of control and ugly," he said. "It's embarrassing and unfortunate. These are the kinds of the fights that in the past were not hung out on the line. Now, everybody is weighing in on things that otherwise would have been part of the whisper campaign."
For Montgomery, home of about 125,000 Republicans, the in-fighting and even the election won't affect the county much in the grand scheme, said Mark Uncapher, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee.
Montgomery will welcome the three chairman candidates at a forum next week. Uncapher said any of the candidates would do well as party leader and likened the upcoming election to a race for student council.
Murphy said he agreed, saying the campaign for party chairman is about personality, not politics.
"The Republican party apparatus does not have a carrot or a stick," Murphy said. "Unless one of these candidates is my friend, and I want to get my friend in a position they want to be in, what does it matter to me who is chair?"
As for the controversy embroiling the candidates for chairman, Uncapher said the divergence between factions likely stems from frustration at the party's showing in the 2012 election.
But Kline said the controversies are the reflection of a status quo that needs to change.
"The key is the way [the controversies] have been handled, not the decisions made, which I disagree with," Kline said. "The way they were handled is what has been wrong with our party for a long time."
Kline said the decisions by Waterman and Ferguson were made without informing members.
State party leadership is insular, like an elite country club, creating a gap between party activists and grassroots members and its leadership, he said.
"It's caused a lot of distrust," he said. "It's only made some of these divisions worse. It hasn't created an opportunity for folks to come together."