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Laser Pegs build hand-eye coordination so you can play like you're in the MLB.
For kids who have grown up playing sports or love shooting around with their friends on the playground, there are no bigger heroes or superstars than the athletes that they look up to on television. Whether your child wants to shoot the hockey puck like Wayne Gretzky, hit a three-point shot like Steve Nash or hit homeruns like Babe Ruth, these all stars are who many children dream of growing up to be.
However, as any of these hard working, professional athletes will tell you, they were not born with the skills and discipline that make them great. They worked hard at their craft and put lots of time, effort and training into becoming the best. Many of them even started playing when they were just in grade school, and this is why they encourage many children to never give up on their dreams of playing sports and to begin working hard now.
One of the most important skills that all athletes in every single sport must excel at is hand-eye coordination. This developmental skill is usually learned early on, but can be improved upon and worked at in order to master it. It is the skill that helps professional baseball players connect with the ball from home plate, football players catch a Hail Mary pass in the end zone and basketball players slam dunk a ball for the game winning basket.
Luckily, improving a child's fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination can be easy as playing with their favorite toys. Laser Pegs, for instance, help develop and improve these skills for many children―even kids with developmental disabilities.
By picking up each Laser Peg and connecting each block in place on the Laser Light Board, children are not only making reaching and arm extension a natural part of their play, but they are also learning to control their hand strength. For example, gripping the structure too hard will cause it to break, while not gripping the pieces hard enough will not allow them to connect or stay lit.
Laser Pegs are also beneficial for reinforcing hand-eye coordination because they provide children with immediate positive reinforcement for their actions. A child knows when they have successfully completed an action because the lights will come on in their creation. Therefore, completing a Laser Pegs kit is not only fun and vibrant, but can also build confidence and motivate continued progress towards building up their hand-eye coordination.
Improving hand-eye coordination in order to train to be like your favorite professional athlete has also never been easier with Laser Pegs upcoming Major League Baseball-endorsed light toys, coming this upcoming September. This line of specially designed Laser Pegs light kits will be a hit for any sports fan, and even allows you to recreate some of your favorite baseball plays with your Laser Pegs toy, such as "The Slide" or "In A Pickle." You can even recreate "The Catcher" or bring lights to the big screen with the "Scoreboard."
The MLB line delivers endless fun and sparking creativity. Plus, these kits allow plenty of opportunities for creativity , as the unique toy construction kits build into more than just one model. The family of MLB products will include a 6-in-1 kit, a 12-in-1 kit and a 24-in-1 kit.
Be sure to stay tuned for more information about Laser Pegs partnership with the MLB! In the mean time, enjoy all of the fun and developmental benefits that Laser Pegs can bring to your child athletes.
Image: Source


text: It?s true, however, that we couldn?t fit a few things into the eBooks due to lack of digital space ? C-3PO in the Tatooine desert; an ILM crew led by Richard Edlund filming the sandcrawler; Luke swinging back and forth on a vine in the Dagobah forest ? but we did manage to find room for quite a lot of material (see below for the complete list). I?d say we got about 95 percent in. Hopefully we?ll find a way to show the other 5 percent in other ways in the future.

subset: commoncrawl


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707 Parnassus Avenue, D4000
Dental Clinics Building, Fourth Floor
San Francisco, CA 94143
Phone number(s):
Days/hours of operation:
Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM
Description of Services:
Our clinic specializes in crowns, bridges, implant-supported restorations, cosmetic procedures, complete and partial dentures, and complete mouth reconstruction. We are organized to provide the best possible customized care for each individual patient's needs. It is our goal to help our patients retain their teeth as long as possible, and when necessary, to restore their mouth to maximum comfort, function, health and esthetics.
In the Post Graduate prosthodontic practice, treatment is performed by our postgraduate resident/faculty team. All faculty members are board certified prosthodontists.
Outpatient services:
Not available.
Our clinic does not accept insurance plans, however we will assist with completing and submitting your forms, your insurance company will reimburse you directly. Fees are expected at the time of service. All treatment over $500 requires a signed contract, 1/3 down payment and a payment plan. For your convenience we accept cash, personal checks and all major credit cards.
Special instructions for new patients:
Your first visit will be a screening appointment only. You will not receive any treatment on this visit. A screening fee will be charged and is due at the time of service. Please bring any recent x-rays.
Special instructions for referring providers:
Please send preliminary information, specific reason for referral and radiographs if available.
Emergency Dental Services:
Non-Prosthodontic patients of record please call 415-476-5814 (School of Dentistry emergency line) for dental emergencies. Emergencies are defined as minor dental, oral, or dental prosthesis (denture) problems which may cause slight to severe pain, swelling, or negative esthetic condition which require immediate attention.
Established Prosthodontic patients of record please call 415-476-1784 and listen to the message in case of emergency.


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McMaster Gallery to present 55th Annual Art Auction
Sculpture, photography, paintings and ceramics created by faculty and students at the University of South Carolina will go to the highest bidders April 21 at McMaster Gallery's 55th Annual Art Auction.
The popular event will be held in the Campus Room of Capstone House, beginning with a preview party at 6 p.m. followed by the auction at 7 - 10 p.m. The art will be on display beginning at 1 p.m. that day for public viewing. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided.
The auction is sponsored by the department of art in the university's College of Arts and Sciences. Proceeds will be divided between the artists and the university's art scholarship and gallery fund. Credit cards and checks will be accepted.
For more information, contact Mana Hewitt, gallery director and organizer of this year's event, at 803-777-7480, 803-777-4236 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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The CX750 is 80 PLUS Bronze certified for excellent efficiency, and like all the CX series PSUs, is an ideal solution for those who want a no-compatibility. With a temperature controlled fan for low noise levels, long cables with tons of connectors for flexibility, and fully sleeved cables, the CX750 is a great choice at a great price.
The following resources are available for the Corsair 750W CX Builder Series 80PLUS Bronze PSU


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Visitors and Page Views
With more than a million pageviews per year, and about 1,000 unique visitors per day, CivilWarTraveler.com is the most popular place on the Web for people planning travel to Civil War sites and events.
For evidence, try a Google search for "Civil War Travel" and "Civil War Sites."
When you consider a particular page for your banner ad, we can tell you the number of views to expect, based on current and historical data (Google Analytics).
Pixel dimensions:
120 wide x 172 deep
Animated gif or
Gif or
(No flash)
Maximum file size: 50 KB
Requested documents (please submit all):
• The file
• The exported html code
(if roll-over)
• The URL you want the ad linked to
If you have a graphics designer for your ad, that's great. If you don't, we are here to help at no extra charge. We can take your text, your photo, and/or your logo and make a banner ad for you.
Your Link
When visitors click on your ad, they will go to the web site that you specify.
Want to know more?
Please email your questions or requests for page-view numbers to Norma Pierce (design, technical) or Don Pierce (pricing, general).
"By far best, most useful site I've found to help plan our trip."
— SK, Sea Cliff, New York
"This is a fantastic website. Very informative. Keep up the great work." — M.J., Darnestown MD
"Just the kind of website I was looking for!" — S.P., White Bear Township MN
"Fantastic! Great website! Very easy to use and full of information." — E.J., Weaverville NC
"Your site is brilliant...." — D.Y., Hallstead, Great Britain
"...it's the best I've seen." — C.K., Chester VA


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If Horta had tried to apply pressure, he'd have turned obstinate on the instant.
We anchored in the open roadstead of Horta, half a mile from the shore.
First the girl and now Horta tried to lure him with mystery and assurance of interest in high places.
The town of Horta contains, I was told, upwards of 10,000 inhabitants.
We found several sailing vessels at anchor in the roadstead of Horta.
Why—our agent in Horta tells me they spend fifty thousand pounds every year in advertising all over the world!
Without being given any orders, they accepted the parcels Horta handed out.
The short-wave call ended, with Horta too much disturbed to refer again to Jimenez.
The day after my arrival at Horta was the feast of a great saint.
As it happened, she landed in the wrong harbor, but picked herself up and found Horta a few minutes later.


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Pope Benedict XVI stunned the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics when he announced last month that he was resigning for health reasons, becoming the first pontiff in six centuries to step down from his post.
His abdication at age 85 sets into motion the ancient ritual of selecting the next pope amid worldwide speculation about who can best address the challenges facing the church.
During the papal conclave, scarlet-clad members of the College of Cardinals meet behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel as they undertake a process rich in tradition and symbolism.
Today we look at how the "princes" of the Catholic Church will choose a new leader.
Cardinal Ratzinger becomes pope
Benedict is the name that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger assumed when he was elevated to the papacy on April 19, 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II.
As dean of the College of Cardinals, the 78-year-old Ratzinger presided over the top-secret conclave that gathered in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to elect the successor to Pope John Paul.
The 115 cardinals attending the 2005 conclave - half of them from Europe - took four votes over two days before choosing the German-born Ratzinger as pope.
During his eight-year papacy, Benedict remained firmly in line with Catholic doctrine in supporting priestly celibacy and Vatican authority and opposing women priests, abortion, gay marriage and other liberal reforms.
Fast-tracked succession
Pope Benedict XVI changed the rules of the conclave so the cardinals can move up the start date if all of them agree. They have called a meeting for today to schedule the opening of the conclave.
The timing of the vote is important because church leaders want to have the new pope installed by Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday on March 24, and culminates with Easter Sunday on March 31.
That means the new pope would have to be installed by March 17, since such ceremonies are traditionally held on a Sunday. Under previous rules, the conclave could not start until March 15, which would make it very difficult to meet that deadline.
Scandal overshadows final days
Cardinals are appointed by the pope and carry the title for life, although only those under 80 can vote for pope. Those 80 and older can participate in College of Cardinals meetings, but not the conclave or vote.
The upcoming conclave is expected to be attended by 115 cardinals from about 50 countries, including 11 from the U.S.
Two eligible cardinals won't be making the trip, including Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja of Indonesia, 78, who is suffering from ill health.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Britain's highest-ranking Catholic leader, withdrew from the conclave on Feb. 25 amid allegations that he had inappropriate relationships with three priests and a former priest back in the 1980s.
"I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor," said O'Brien, who also resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.
It was the first time a cardinal recused himself from a conclave because of personal scandal, according to Vatican historians.
Black and white smoke: The historic ritual
Using paper ballots inscribed with the Latin phrase Eligo in Summum Pontificem - "I elect as supreme pontiff" - the cardinals write their candidate's name in pen.
The ballot is folded twice and ceremonially placed in a receptacle to be counted by "scrutineers" chosen by lot from among the cardinals.
Each ballot is reviewed by three scrutineers, the last of whom pierces it with a needle through the word Eligo and strings it on a length of thread. When all the ballots have been tallied, the ends of the thread are knotted for security, and the ballots are placed in another receptacle.
The ballots are then burned, with the smoke appearing over the Vatican alerting outsiders that a vote has taken place. If no pope has been chosen, a chemical is added so the burning ballots create black smoke. White smoke signals that a pope has been chosen.
Cut off from the world
The pope is elected in conclave, a top-secret meeting of the College of Cardinals held in the Apostolic Palace's Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.
Historically, the cardinals were sequestered inside the Sistine Chapel during the days-long conclave to ensure they wouldn't be influenced by outsiders. Today, they're staying in a 130-room residence called St. Martha's House inside Vatican City, but will have no access to TV, radio, telephones, newspapers and the Internet during the conclave.
The cardinals first hear from two church leaders, who outline the state of the church and suggest qualities the next next pope should have.
The cardinals then attend Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and take an oath to follow set procedures in electing the pontiff. They also swear to maintain secrecy, and Pope Benedict has threatened to ex-communicate anyone who breaks that promise.
They're then locked inside the chapel, where one vote may be taken the afternoon of the first day. If no one is elected, four votes can be held on each successive day - two in the morning and two in the afternoon.
A two-thirds majority is required to elect a pope.
Another cardinal controversy
This will be the second papal conclave for Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who also participated in the gathering that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.
He is the most senior of the 11 cardinals from the U.S. who will be electing Benedict's successor.
Mahony has been under pressure to withdraw because of recent disclosures that he'd deliberately shielded scores of sexually abusive priests.
He has ignored calls to recuse himself, and has been tweeting (@CardinalMahony) and blogging about the upcoming conclave.
"(T)here is great anticipation and expectation everywhere," he wrote on cardinalrogermahonyblogsla.blogspot.com. "People on the streets are wondering which Pope God has chosen to replace Benedict. Questions abound: where will he be from? How old will he be? What new directions for the Church will he bring? How will he deal with problems - older ones, and newer ones?"
Papal name
As soon as he's elected, the new pope is asked, "By what name shall you be called?" The new pontiff's choice of his so-called regnal name may be to honor a predecessor or to signal whom he hopes to emulate.
No pope has ever chosen "Peter II," because that would infringe on the honor of St. Peter, an apostle who is considered the first pope of the Catholic Church.
Life in retirement
With his retirement, Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "Your Holiness Benedict XVI" and will bear the title of emeritus pope.
He'll continue to wear a white cassock, but not his signature red shoes. Instead, he's taken a liking to a pair of brown loafers made for him by artisans in Leon, Mexico and given to him during his 2012 visit.
He'll be living in Mater Ecclesiae, a refurbished convent located next to Vatican Radio, with a view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
Church officials have said he will live a life of prayer and reflection. He will play no part in the election of his successor or the future management of the church.


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Buckwheat wrote:Alex123 wrote:Ron made a good point that climatologists have trouble making accurate predictions more than 4 days in advance.
This shows you don't understand the difference between climate and weather..
Or you didn't understand the point. If we have trouble to predict how warm/cold it will be 4 days or more in advance, then what can we say about 10-100 years?!


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Samantha Crawford (Lynn Collins) is a children's author. She and her husband live on a Tennessee ranch where she has her own horse and life good. But when her husband is killed Sam loses the will to live. She is relentless in trying to identify her husband's killer to the point that the detective (Bruce McGill) doesn't want to hear from her any longer.Through two children that Sam meets and befriends she reunites with her best childhood friend, Joe (Michael Ealy). Joe's work is with inner ci … [Read more...]
"Unconditional" works
September 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment


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Lacrosse news straight to your inbox.
Tuesday August 6th, 2013 1:05am
MISENHEIMER, N.C. — Pfeiffer University athletic director Mary Ann Sunbury has announced that Peter Milliman has resigned his position as head coach of the men's lacrosse program effective immediately. Current assistant coaches Steve Torkington and Brad Conlon will assume all daily responsibilities as Pfeiffer undergoes a search for the next head coach. Milliman moves on to take a position with the Princeton Tigers, one of the most successful NCAA lacrosse programs in history.
The Tigers are coming off an 11-5 season where they went 6-0 in the Ivy League and finished the season with a 6-5 loss to Virginia in the NCAA playoffs. Princeton has won six national championships since 1992 and 26 Ivy League Championships overall. "The opportunity to be a part of the lacrosse program at Princeton University is a tremendous honor," stated Milliman. "As tough as it is for me to leave Pfeiffer, I am really looking forward to this next step in my coaching career."
Since arriving in Misenheimer four years ago, Milliman has amassed 37 victories and helped 13 players to earn 21 all-conference selections. This includes a program-record nine selections in 2012 as well as the last two conference Freshman of the Year recipients. In addition, he coached the programs first All-Americans since 2001 and was twice selected as the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2011. This comes after Milliman took over a team that was 4-22 in the previous two seasons.
"This was a very difficult decision for me to leave this group of guys who I have built such strong relationships with. I'm very proud to have been able to serve as the head coach at Pfeiffer and I would like to thank the administration and support staff for that opportunity."
The Pfeiffer Falcons appear to be in great position as they are coming off consecutive trips to the Conference Carolinas championship and a school-record 12 wins in 2012. With the return of six all-conference honorees and almost 300 points from last year's team, the 2013 season looks to be very promising.
"Pfeiffer has a very strong alumni base and they, along with the current staff, are dedicated to keeping the current momentum of the program moving forward," commented Dr. Allen Snook, Associate Athletic Director. In a recent article by Lacrosse Magazine, Pfeiffer was ranked #10 in the country after closing out the 2012 season at #11 in the USILA polls.


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Dragons ready to make history
Dayton will host its 815th consecutive sellout crowd Saturday
By Benjamin Hill / MiLB.com | July 8, 2011 6:00 AM ET
The packed house wasn't just an Opening Day anomaly, it was a sign of things to come. The Dragons have gone on to sell out every single game they've played since, 814 in all, drawing close to 600,000 fans each season. Once tomorrow's game against South Bend becomes official, they will overtake the 1977-95 Portland Trail Blazers and find themselves at the top of a very prestigious list: most consecutive sellouts in professional sports history.
The impending milestone has resulted in a deluge of media attention for the Dragons, with nearly everyone asking the same question: How did this come to be?
A simple formula
The Dragons moved to Dayton from Rockford, Ill., where they had alternately been known as the Expos, Royals, Cubbies and Reds. The team was purchased by Mandalay Baseball Properties in 1999, with the intent of moving to a brand-new facility in Dayton. Fifth Third Field, as it came to be known, was funded jointly by Mandalay, the city of Dayton, and naming-rights partner Fifth Third Bank. Like many so-called "Rust Belt" cities -- Toledo, Akron, Columbus and Fort Wayne come to mind -- the ballpark was built in a downtown location as a means to revitalize and recontextualize an area decimated by the exodus of once-prevalent manufacturing jobs.
Farm's Almanac
The Week That Was
5 pitchers, 2 no-no's
Four Red Wings pitchers combined on a no-hitter Wednesday; Austin Kirk got one by himself on the Fourth.
2 batters, 6 homers
Jake Kuebler (left) slugged three homers on Wednesday after Will Swanner smacked three on Monday.
Choice keeps clouting
Michael Choice homered in his fifth straight game on Wednesday for first-place Stockton.
On Deck
Triple-A All-Star Game
Salt Lake City hosts festivities from July 9-13, culminating in the cl ash of Triple-A stars from the PCL and IL.
All-Star Futures Game
Minor League stars divide into World and US teams to play the XM All-Star Futures Game on MLB All-Star Sunday.
Eastern League ASG
The Home Run Derby concludes during the second inning of the Eastern League All-Star Game on Wednesday.
Team president Robert Murphy has been with the Dragons throughout their existence, assuming his position in February of 1999 after he and vice president Eric Deutsch relocated from Las Vegas (where they had been employed by the Mandalay-owned Las Vegas 51s). As such, he played a crucial role in establishing the team's identity.
"As soon as we got on the ground and began working with community leaders, we started to see signs that Dayton was going to be an exciting place for Minor League Baseball," said Murphy. "The city and surrounding region are filled with great sports fans, who really embrace their teams. It's amazing how many people here are so attached to their memories of the Reds, whether it's Dad taking them to a game at Crosley Field or going to Riverfront Stadium and seeing the Big Red Machine. They just really love the sport of baseball." Murphy also gives plentiful credit to Mandalay Baseball Properties, whose roster of teams also includes the Oklahoma City RedHawks, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Erie SeaWolves, Frisco RoughRiders and Staten Island Yankees.
"They wanted this to be a first-class organization from the start and provided us with great resources," he recalled. "They've given us everything we've asked for, never once saying 'no.' This vision in how the organization is run and the way they treat their employees has led to an area in which we've been lucky and blessed: many of our senior leaders have been here since Day One."
And from the start, this consistent cadre of leaders has sworn to a simple but effective business strategy in which the following five elements are emphasized: affordable product, family entertainment, community relationships, customer service and corporate sponsorships.
It's a model familiar to anyone who has worked in Minor League Baseball, but no team has been able to apply it more effectively than the Dragons. Approximately 6,200 of Fifth Third Field's 7200 theater-style seats are sold in advance through a multitude of season-ticket plans ("We're real big on mini-plans and 17-game plans, making sure we can offer packages that match our fans' budgets and the time they have available to go to games," explained Murphy.) The remaining 1,000 seats for each game are sold by the group sales department, and between 1,000 and 1,200 overflow lawn seating tickets are sold for each game as well. On any given night, Fifth Third Field is filled to approximately 115 percent capacity.
This enviable situation appears likely to continue for quite some time. Murphy estimates that between 93 percent and 95 percent of season ticket packages are renewed, and those that aren't are quickly snapped up by fans on the waiting list.
"One of the benefits of season tickets is that most of our tickets are sold before the season begins. [Sales] are not dependent on the team's performance or the weather," said Murphy.
This point was driven home in a tragicomic fashion last season, as the last-place Dragons went a horrific 53-85. The lowlight of the season was a 24-game home losing streak, one that stretched from June through August, but this epic string of ineptitude had no bearing on the bottom line.
"What we can control is the physical environment, customer service, food and beverage, and the entertainment," said Murphy.
The streak has also been able to survive despite the down economy, a foe that could be seen as far more formidable than a losing product on the field.
"As long as folks feel there is great value in what we provide, and that it matches their disposable income, then there's a fit for what we are doing even when there's a slide toward a bad economy," said Murphy. "The question becomes, 'How can we make it easy to continue this love affair?' We constructed some really nice payment plans, making sure that nothing came due during the holiday season, and ended up having our absolute highest renewal rates. ... People really appreciate it when you're willing to work with them."
Keep on keepin' on
Dayton's success is in some ways the result of a perfect storm, the combination of an ideal ballpark, fan base, affiliation and front office. But the national media attention that has resulted from the streak provides an opportunity to highlight the excellent value provided by Minor League Baseball teams nationwide.
"When you talk about Minor League Baseball playing a role in urban renewal, Dayton comes to mind pretty quickly," said Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Conner, also citing recent successes such as the Durham Bulls and Oklahoma City RedHawks. "[The streak] has provided us with a platform in which to spread the gospel and share the good news. ... It's nothing but a positive for the club, the city and all of Minor League Baseball."
The Dragons plan to acknowledge their sellout record on Saturday as soon as the game becomes official (weather-permitting, of course). A larger-scale celebration is planned for July 23, one that Murphy says will "bring the community together, recognizing key groups that have contributed to us being successful."
But the primary focus, as always, is to keep the streak going.
"When we started here, we set a goal of 500 straight sellouts," said Murphy. "And even before we hit 500, the goal became setting a new record of 815. Now when I'm asked what our goals are, I just say that we'll stay on the path we've been on and continue to sell this place out. It's hard to imagine the Dayton Dragons not being a sellout experience."
Benjamin Hill is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.View More


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Figure 1. Total mean Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) scores with standard deviation bars at 12 months of age for high-risk (HR) siblings with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 3 years, HR non-ASD siblings at age 3 years, and low-risk (LR) non-ASD groups. All differences between groups are statistically significant (P < .01 for all).
Figure 2. Total mean Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) scores with standard deviation bars at 12 months of age for high-risk (HR) autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cluster 1, and cluster 2 groups. The HR ASD group scores are shown for descriptive purposes so that the cluster analysis results can be placed within the distribution/context of autistic-like traits in all HR siblings. All differences between groups are statistically significant (P < .01 for all).
Georgiades S, Szatmari P, Zwaigenbaum L, Bryson S, Brian J, Roberts W, Smith I, Vaillancourt T, Roncadin C, Garon N. A prospective study of autistic-like traits in unaffected siblings of probands with autism spectrum disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. 2012;69(9):doi:10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.1.
eTable. Descriptive characteristics for 260 children without a diagnosis of ASD at age 3 years
Georgiades S, Szatmari P, Zwaigenbaum L, Bryson S, Brian J, Roberts W, Smith I, Vaillancourt T, Roncadin C, Garon N. A Prospective Study of Autistic-Like Traits in Unaffected Siblings of Probands With Autism Spectrum Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013;70(1):42-48. doi:10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.1
© 2017
Author Affiliations: Offord Centre for Child Studies and McMaster Children's Hospital, McMaster University (Mr Georgiades and Dr Szatmari); Bloorview Research Institute (Drs Brian and Roberts); University of Toronto (Drs Brian and Roberts); University of Ottawa (Dr Vaillancourt), Peel Children's Centre (Dr Roncadin), Ontario; University of Alberta, Alberta (Dr Zwaigenbaum); Dalhousie University/IWK Health Centre, Nova Scotia (Drs Bryson and Smith); and Mount Allison University, New Brunswick (Dr Garon), Canada.
Context The presence of autistic-like traits in relatives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is well recognized, but, to our knowledge, the emergence of these traits early in development has not been studied.
Objective To prospectively investigate the emergence of autistic-like traits in unaffected (no ASD diagnosis) infant siblings of probands diagnosed as having ASD.
Design Two groups of children unaffected with ASD were assessed prospectively—siblings of probands diagnosed as having ASD (high risk [HR]) and control subjects with no family history of ASD (low risk [LR]). Scores on a measure of autistic-like traits at 12 months of age were used in a cluster analysis of the entire sample.
Setting A prospective study of infant siblings of probands with ASD from 3 diagnostic centers in Canada.
Participants The study included 170 HR and 90 LR children, none of whom was diagnosed as having ASD at age 3 years.
Main Outcome Measures The Autism Observation Scale for Infants was used to measure autistic-like traits and derive clusters at 12 months of age. Clusters were compared on ASD symptoms, cognitive abilities, and social-emotional difficulties at age 3 years.
Results Two clusters were identified. Cluster 1 (n = 37; 14.2% of total sample) had significantly higher levels of autistic-like traits compared with cluster 2. Within cluster 1, 33 children came from the siblings (19.4% of HR group) and only 4 came from the control subjects (4.5% of LR group). At age 3 years, children from cluster 1 had more social-communication impairment (effect size > 0.70; P < .001), lower cognitive abilities (effect size = −0.59; P < .005), and more internalizing problems (effect size = 0.55; P = .01). Compared with control subjects, HR siblings had a relative risk of 4.3 (95% CI,1.6-11.9) for membership in cluster 1.
Conclusions Study findings suggest the emergence of autistic-like traits resembling a broader autism phenotype by 12 months of age in approximately 19% of HR siblings who did not meet ASD diagnostic criteria at age 3 years.
There is now substantial evidence that autism and the related autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) aggregate within families and that the mechanism of that familial aggregation is likely influenced by both genetic and shared environmental factors.1- 5 Given this high recurrence risk for ASD within families, investigators have turned their attention to the examination of autistic-like traits and/or characteristics evident in relatives of probands with ASD who themselves do not meet criteria for an ASD diagnosis. This effort has been accelerated by recent twin studies demonstrating that the variation in autistic-like traits in the general population shares genetic variance with those at the extreme end of the distribution (ie, those who receive a diagnosis of ASD).6 Family studies have provided evidence that relatives of individuals diagnosed as having ASD demonstrate mild symptoms of ASD but without clinically significant impairment.7- 11 These milder manifestations of ASD have been termed the broader autism phenotype (BAP) and are believed to be associated with social, communication, and cognitive deficits; restricted, rigid behavior patterns; and certain personality characteristics and psychiatric difficulties.7- 18
Most studies of the BAP focus on parents of children with ASD, although there is a growing literature examining traits related to the BAP in siblings of probands with ASD.12,19- 22 For example, Constantino et al23 reported that roughly 20% of siblings from families with more than 1 case of ASD showed elevated scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale, a measure of social impairment. This was not found in families with a single affected child. These traits were surprisingly common in female siblings, narrowing the sex ratio from that usually seen in ASD. Although informative in many ways, previous studies may be limited by participation bias because they were conducted in the context of genetic research. In such studies, families with more autistic-like traits in parents or siblings might tend to enroll more commonly than families without such characteristics. In addition to ascertainment bias, previous studies may also be limited by measurement issues. In studies that rely on retrospective or cross-sectional data from a parent, the rater may be especially attuned to, and therefore report more, autistic-like traits in a sibling after receiving the diagnosis of ASD for the proband. Alternatively, a parent may deny traits in a second child to experience a sense of reassurance about that child's development. In either situation, this bias may not occur in control subjects, leading to differential misclassification10 and a bias in the estimation of sibling risk.5 Furthermore, retrospective reports do not easily address the possibility that a child may have exhibited aspects of ASD in infancy but then lost those symptoms/traits with development. For example, individuals who exhibit the BAP as adolescents or adults may in fact have had more severe symptoms in early childhood, meeting criteria for ASD earlier but subsequently experiencing a resolution or reduction of symptoms owing either to development or intervention.
The baby siblings research paradigm has generated new knowledge about the early signs and symptoms of ASD and may be able to address many of these methodologic issues.24 In this high-risk research design, families of children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD (ie, probands) are enrolled soon after the delivery of a new baby. That child (ie, the baby sibling) is followed longitudinally with regular evaluations of social-emotional reciprocity, communication and play, and cognitive skills. Siblings who are subsequently diagnosed as having ASD (usually by 36 months of age) can be compared with high-risk unaffected siblings and a low-risk comparison group (control subjects) to identify the nature and developmental course of the earliest signs of autism using measures independent of a parent.25 The combination of prospective data collection and a blinded objective assessment provides an important justification for the use of this design to study autistic-like traits in unaffected siblings of children with ASD.
In general, baby sibling studies have demonstrated that the onset of autism-specific symptoms is usually evident after 6 months of age, up to which point siblings who later develop ASD are either largely indistinguishable from control subjects or exhibit nonspecific delays (eg, in motor control).26,27 Cardinal symptoms of ASD (eg, reduced social communication) emerge by 12 to 18 months.28 For example, our group reported that several behavioral markers at 12 months (as assessed using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants [AOSI]29) were predictive of subsequent ASD classification in a cohort of 65 high-risk infants. These markers included atypical/reduced eye contact, social smiling, orienting to name, social interest, and reactivity, as well as the presence of atypical sensory oriented behaviors such as intense visual inspection of play materials. Total scores were strongly predictive of ASD.30 Bryson et al26 reported the detailed case histories of the first 9 children diagnosed as having ASD from within our high-risk cohort. Although there was substantial clinical heterogeneity among this group, the emergence of atypical social-communicative and play behaviors around the first birthday was a consistent finding.26 Similar behavioral differences as identified on the AOSI have been independently observed at 12 to 14 months in high-risk infants subsequently diagnosed as having ASD in other longitudinal cohorts.22,28 Another important finding has been that the recurrence risk for ASD in these high-risk cohorts has been higher than anticipated, approximately 19% rather than the 5% to 9% reported in older studies that used retrospective designs.31 This may reflect in part a broader conception of the term ASD because most early studies only counted the more narrowly defined autism (as defined by earlier versions of the DSM).
The baby siblings design provides an ideal opportunity to study the emergence of autistic-like traits in unaffected siblings of probands with ASD. Here, using prospective data, the emergence of such traits in baby siblings who do not go on to develop full-blown ASD by age 3 years can be studied. In a cross-sectional study, Stone et al21 reported that younger siblings of children with ASD (mean age = 16 months) demonstrated lower scores across measures of social-communicative development and cognitive functioning, as well as higher scores on autistic symptoms relative to control subjects. According to Stone et al,21 the weaker performance of the ASD sibling group may represent early-emerging features of the BAP, highlighting the importance of developmental surveillance for younger siblings. However, to our knowledge, no study has evaluated prospectively the emergence of autistic-like traits in infant siblings focusing specifically on those who do not develop ASD. It is possible that the group referred to by Stone et al21 as displaying a weaker performance is largely accounted for by those who develop the disorder.
Our study used a high-risk versus control subject design to investigate prospectively the occurrence of autistic-like traits among high-risk (HR) unaffected baby siblings (ie, those not diagnosed as having ASD at age 3 years) and a low-risk (LR) control group of children with no family history of ASD. Our main hypothesis was that, as early as 12 months, elevated levels of autistic-like traits would be more prevalent among HR siblings than LR control subjects. Furthermore, we hypothesized that these elevated autistic-like traits (identified in a subgroup of HR siblings) at 12 months would be associated with ASD-related outcomes at age 3 years (ie, 24 months later).
Participants were recruited from a prospective study of early development in ASD from 3 multidisciplinary autism diagnostic and treatment centers in Canada, including McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, as well as from clinicians in the surrounding regions. The study was approved by the research ethics boards at the 3 participating centers, and all parents gave written informed consent for their children to participate. A total of 222 HR infants (younger siblings of children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD) and 91 LR infants (no family history of ASD) were followed up to age 3 years. All participants were born at 36 to 42 weeks' gestation, had a birth weight greater than 2500 g, and had no identifiable genetic or neurologic disorders.
At 3 years of age, an independent evaluation of each participant was conducted by an expert clinician blind to assessments from previous study visits. Autism spectrum disorder diagnoses were assigned using DSM-IV-TR criteria, based on the best judgment of the clinician (all with at least 10 years of diagnostic experience), taking into account current information from the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised (ADI-R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and concurrent assessment of cognitive, language, and adaptive skills. The 3-year ADOS was completed blind to both prior visits and risk status for every participant. Parents were asked not to reveal prior diagnoses in the younger sibling or whether they had a child with ASD. In most cases, the ADI-R was also completed by the clinician responsible for the blind 3-year assessment, although in some cases, the ADI-R was completed by an experienced research assistant who was not blind to the child's risk status. Even in those cases, the clinician reviewed the ADI-R blind to prior visits and risk status when establishing a best-estimate clinical diagnosis. Some children with a clinical best estimate (CBE) diagnosis of ASD had subthreshold algorithm scores on the ADI-R or ADOS but met DSM-IV-TR criteria based on expert review of all available data. This approach is consistent with current best practice, informed by a solid evidence base indicating that both a structured diagnostic interview (such as the ADI-R) and interactive assessment (such as the ADOS) are essential to ASD diagnoses, but neither, on their own or in combination, are an adequate proxy for clinical judgment, particularly in this age group.32,33
For the purposes of this study, we excluded the 52 HR children and 1 LR child who were diagnosed as having ASD at age 3 years (based on the ADI-R; ADOS; and expert clinical assessment using DSM-IV-TR, blind to prior study assessments). Thus, the study sample consisted of 170 children from the HR siblings group (84 males; 49.4%) and 90 from the LR control group (45 males; 50%) for a total of 260 children, none of whom were diagnosed as having ASD at 3 years based on CBE (eTable).
The AOSI29 is a semistructured direct observational measure developed within the context of our longitudinal study to identify behavioral markers of autism in infancy. Standardized activities are used to allow the examiner to observe and systematically rate the occurrence/nonoccurrence as well as the quality or severity of behaviors deemed to be informative of the earliest emergence of ASD. The assessment is designed to take 15 to 20 minutes, although administration times vary depending on the infant's ability to engage with the examiner, as well as his or her temperament, state, and developmental level. Behaviors are rated on a scale from 0 to 2 or 3, where 0 implies typical function and higher values indicate increasing deviation. Behavioral markers rated on the AOSI include visual tracking and attentional disengagement, coordination of eye gaze and action, imitation, affective responses, early social-communicative behaviors, behavioral reactivity, and sensory motor development. Ratings on the 16 items are summed to generate a total score. Further details on AOSI items and scoring are available from Bryson et al.29 The AOSI has excellent interrater reliability at 12 and 18 months (0.94 for total score), good test-retest reliability at 12 months (0.61 for total score),29 and good predictive validity at 12 and 18 months for its original 16 items.30One of the coauthors of this article (L.Z.) is co-first author on a study involving a different sample investigating the relationship between AOSI scores and ASD outcomes. In the context of that study, a random sample of 54 AOSI assessments were further assessed through video coding by examiners blind to the risk status of participants to assess for rater bias. There were no differences between blind and unblind AOSI total scores, regardless of risk status (A. M. Estes, written communication, May 2012). In our current study, the total AOSI score was used as an indicator of autistic-like traits in the cluster analysis.
The ADOS34 uses standardized activities and presses to elicit communication, social interaction, imaginative use of play materials, and repetitive behaviors, allowing the examiner to observe the occurrence/nonoccurrence and severity of behaviors important to the diagnosis of ASD. Subscale scores for communication and social domains are based on a subset of items previously identified to best discriminate autism/ASD from other developmental disabilities, and they are summed to generate an overall diagnostic algorithm score. The ADOS consists of 4 modules, each of which is appropriate for individuals with differing language levels. A calibrated total severity metric that accounts for differences in age and module was used in our study.35
The ADI-R36 is an investigator-directed interview used to elicit information about social development; verbal and nonverbal communication skills; and repetitive, stereotyped interests and behaviors required to make a diagnosis of autism. The questions were designed to distinguish qualitative impairments from developmental delays, identify behaviors that would be considered deviant at any age, and examine current and most abnormal behaviors for those strongly influenced by maturational age. The ADI-R discriminates well between autism/ASD and other forms of developmental disability, and inter-rater reliability is excellent. For this study, we used domain scores for social impairment; communication skills; and repetitive, stereotyped interests and behaviors.
The Mullen Scales of Early Learning37 consists of 4 scales: visual reception, receptive language, expressive language, and fine motor (a fifth gross motor scale is only administered with children younger than 30 months). An Early Learning Composite can be calculated based on scores from these 4 scales for children aged 0 to 69 months. Inter-rater and test-retest reliability are excellent.
The Infant-Toddler Social-Emotional Assessment (ITSEA)38 is a parent-report instrument, with subscales covering attachment status, task mastery, emotion regulation, and coping behaviors. The acceptability, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity of the ITSEA are excellent, as assessed in a diverse sample of 214 parents of typically developing children between the ages of 12 and 36 months. The ITSEA scales correlate well with laboratory measures of emotional regulation. Domain scores of externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, dysregulation, and competence were used in our study to index variables previously found to be associated with ASD-related symptoms in very young children.39
To explore the distribution of autistic-like traits, mean total scores from the AOSI at age 12 months were compared on 3 subsamples of interest: (1) HR siblings with a diagnosis of ASD at age 3 years (HR ASD; n = 52); (2) HR siblings without a diagnosis of ASD at age 3 years (HR non-ASD; n = 170); and (3) LR control subjects without a diagnosis of ASD (LR non-ASD; n = 90). Figure 1 depicts 2 findings: (1) the distribution of autistic-like traits appeared to lie on a continuum/gradient of severity across these 3 subsamples (HR ASD>HR non-ASD>LR non-ASD; all differences were statistically significant; P < .01) and (2) there was notable heterogeneity of autistic-like traits within the 3 subsamples, and the subsample distributions appeared to overlap.
Next, to better understand the observed heterogeneity of autistic-like traits in the non-ASD population (the focus of our study), mean total scores from the AOSI at age 12 months were used in cluster analysis (K means) to test for the existence of a distinct subgroup of children with elevated scores. Our primary hypothesis was that this group would contain more HR siblings (of probands with ASD) than LR control subjects and be associated with more ASD-like outcomes at 36 months. This method used the technique of Euclidean distance to the mean of the cluster and an algorithm to minimize within-cluster variance and maximize variability between clusters in an analysis of variance–like fashion. Specifically, analysis of variance F tests were conducted to examine differences between clusters on each variable used in the analysis; the magnitude of the F value was used to evaluate how well the variable discriminated between clusters. Cluster centers shifted with each iteration. The process continued until cluster means did not shift more than a given cutoff value or the iteration limit was reached.40
A 2-cluster solution was specified to test our hypothesis that the sample consisted of 2 distinct groups/clusters: those with high and those with low levels of autistic-like traits as measured by high and low total AOSI scores. As a second step, each participant was assigned to 1 of the 2 clusters based on probability scores. Cross tabulation with χ2 test was used to describe the count of individuals from the 2 clusters within the HR sibling and LR control groups and to see whether there was differential distribution of HR siblings and LR control subjects in the 2 clusters. The relative risk for cluster membership was calculated for the HR and LR groups.
Finally, t tests were used to compare cluster mean scores on independently determined (1) ASD symptoms (indexed by the ADOS severity metric and ADI-R domain scores); (2) cognitive ability (indexed by the Mullen Early Learning Composite); and (3) emotional and behavioral symptoms (indexed by the ITSEA domain scores) 24 months later at 3 years of age. Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was applied separately within the ASD symptoms domain (P > .01) and the emotional and behavioral domain (P > .01). Effect size (ES) was calculated for cluster mean differences on these variables using the formula41: ES = (mean [cluster1] – mean [cluster 2]) / standard deviation (SD) (cluster 2).
Two distinct clusters with statistically significantly different scores on the AOSI at 12 months were derived. Cluster 1 (51.4% male) had more autistic-like traits, with a total mean AOSI score of 10 (SD = 3.0) and consisted of 37 children (14.2% of total sample). Cluster 2 (49.3% male) had a total mean AOSI score of 2 (SD = 2.0) and consisted of 223 children (85.8% of total sample). The relative proportion of HR and LR infants differed between the 2 clusters (χ21 = 10.8; P < .01). Within the HR group, 33 of 170 children were assigned to cluster 1 (19.4%) and 137 to cluster 2; only 4 of 90 (4.5%) of the LR group were assigned to cluster 1. Compared with LR infants, HR infants had a relative risk of 4.3 (95% CI, 1.6-11.9) for membership in cluster 1. There was no difference in the distribution of sex across clusters (P > .05).
Mean comparisons (t tests) showed that, at age 3 years, children in cluster 1 (identified at 12 months) had significantly higher scores (ie, more autistic-like behaviors) than children in cluster 2 on measures of social (ES = 0.86) and communication (ES = 0.72) impairment, as indexed by the corresponding ADI-R domains (P < .001). Children in cluster 1 also had lower cognitive levels, as indexed by the Mullen Scales of Early Learning–Early Learning Composite (ES = −0.59; P < .005). Children in cluster 1 scored higher on the internalizing problems domain of the ITSEA (ES = 0.55; P = .01). Finally, children in the 2 clusters did not differ significantly on the ADOS severity metric, although the effect was in the expected direction, with cluster 1 trending toward higher scores (ES = 0.35; P = .06) (Table).
Using prospective data, our study examined the presence of autistic-like traits at age 12 months among HR siblings (of probands with ASD) who did not go on to receive a diagnosis of ASD by age 3 years in comparison with LR control infants. A cluster/subgroup of children had elevated levels of autistic-like traits at 12 months but did not meet CBE criteria for an ASD diagnosis at 36 months. This cluster comprised approximately 19% of the HR unaffected siblings, or 15% of the entire HR group (ie, including those receiving the ASD diagnosis by CBE at age 3 years). Cluster 1 comprised primarily HR siblings of probands with ASD (33 of 37, or 89%) and included only 4 children from the LR control subjects. Compared with the rest of the children at age 3 years (ie, 24 months later), children within this cluster had, on average, more social and communication challenges, lower levels of cognitive functioning, and more internalizing problems.
Post hoc analysis showed that cluster differences on levels of autistic-like traits were also evident at age 6 months (cluster 1: mean (SD), 8.48 (5.37) vs cluster 2: mean (SD), 5.24 (2.92); ES = 1.11; P < .001). However, available AOSI data at age 6 months was limited to only 23 of 37 children from cluster 1 and 177 of 223 children from cluster 2.
Study findings suggest that autistic-like traits emerge very early (by 12 months), although children in cluster 1 ultimately experienced different outcomes than those HR siblings who were subsequently (ie, at age 3 years) diagnosed as having ASD. However, it is important to note that, with currently available data, we cannot yet confirm that these are the same children who present with the BAP at later ages (at least, as it is currently understood). For example, rigidity, pragmatic language deficits, and circumscribed interests are a prominent part of the BAP but are not relevant traits to be measured at 12 months. Moreover, we cannot say that some of these siblings will not eventually (ie, say at age 5 years) be diagnosed as having ASD. However, it would be reasonable to suggest that children within cluster 1 present with features that could reflect the earliest manifestations of a BAP; whether this phenotype is the same (qualitatively and/or quantitatively) as the one defined in older populations remains an empirical question. Our continuing follow-up investigation of this sample will address these critical issues.
The question then that arises is whether HR unaffected siblings from cluster 1 (n = 33; used in our study) and HR affected/diagnosed siblings (n = 52; not used in our study) started (at 12 months of age) with similar or different levels of autistic-like traits. As depicted in Figure 2, post hoc analysis showed that at 12 months of age, the AOSI scores for the 2 groups were significantly different (unaffected siblings from cluster 1: mean [SD] = 9.7 [2.5] vs siblings with an ASD diagnosis: mean [SD] = 7.6 [5.1]; P < .01; ES = 0.46). We believe this finding (higher score in the unaffected siblings) is owing to a statistical artifact (ie, the cluster analysis applied only to unaffected siblings data derives a subgroup with extreme scores). Nevertheless, the finding that both HR children diagnosed as having ASD at 3 years and a subgroup not diagnosed as having ASD have elevated symptom scores at 12 months relative to control subjects raises interesting questions about what factors might influence variation in subsequent trajectories and outcomes among the combined group of 12-month-old symptomatic HR siblings.
Our study has methodologic strengths that enhance the validity of the results compared with previous studies that retrospectively assessed the BAP in unaffected siblings recruited largely through genetic studies. We had the advantage of following up these siblings prospectively and using a reliable and valid observer-based assessment of autistic-like traits designed for infants, the AOSI. The assignment to clusters was based on information gathered prior to outcome assessments at age 3 years (which were blind to 12-month data), and we used a data-driven approach to assign children into clusters rather than using AOSI scores arbitrarily to divide the sample.
This study also has limitations that need to be taken into account. Most importantly, the assessors administering and scoring the AOSI at 12 months were on occasion not blind to HR sibling or LR control status. For example, some parents lacking a child care arrangement brought the affected older child to the appointment. In addition, the sample sizes of the clusters (especially cluster 1) were small. The fact that the ASD diagnosis at age 3 years was based on the CBE procedure means that some HR siblings (especially from in cluster 1) might in fact have had true ASD at age 3 years but may have been missed by the CBE. A descriptive analysis showed that of the 33 children in cluster 1, 4 met the ADI-R cutoff for ASD and 10 met the ADOS cutoff for ASD at age 3 years; however, none of these children met both ADI-R and ADOS criteria for ASD.
Although the cluster difference on the ADOS severity score (at 36 months) was not statistically significant (P = .06), the ES (0.35) was in the expected direction. Several measurement issues may have influenced this result. One possible explanation is that because the ADOS severity metric used in our analyses reflects a combined score from all ASD symptom domains, it cannot distinguish children from cluster 1 who had elevated severity only on social-communication symptoms but not repetitive behaviors (Table). An alternative explanation is that some children from cluster 1 had more severe autism symptoms during infancy, but that those symptoms may have resolved by the time these children were 3 years of age. One final explanation for the lack of statistically significant cluster differences on the ADOS severity metric could be that the variability of the severity metric is (by definition) reduced in unaffected children (the metric was developed such that non-ASD scores range from 1-3, whereas ASD scores range from 4-10).
Despite the limitations just noted, results from our study, if replicated, could have important clinical and research implications. First, the results imply that genetic liability in these families is more normally distributed than restricted only to those with the disorder. Even children who do not go on to develop ASD could potentially benefit from surveillance and early intervention should there be impairment. Second, genetic, epigenetic, and environmental studies of these children might help us understand the mechanisms leading to variation in familial aggregation of ASD and related traits. Third, it will be important to follow these siblings to see whether they develop other forms of psychopathology (such as internalizing disorders), and/or whether persistent social and communication difficulties, despite being subthreshold for an ASD diagnosis, affect functional outcomes or quality of life.
The fact that the overall risk for ASD and these milder autistic-like traits now reaches almost 40% (based on a study by Zwaigenbaum et al42 and our study) with an equal sex ratio has implications for our understanding of the genetic architecture of the disorder. It appears as if roughly 40% of infant siblings of autistic probands have autistic-like traits at 12 months. Traits persisted in half of the group who received a diagnosis of ASD at age 3 years. In the other half, those traits attenuated to some extent so that at age 3 years, mild ASD-like traits, lower cognitive scores, and more internalizing symptoms were seen relative to LR control subjects, but these individuals fell below the diagnostic threshold for ASD. One unanswered question is, "Why do autistic-like traits persist in one group and attenuate in the other?" This question will require further research and provides a focus on studying potential modifying mechanisms that might explain the variable expressivity between the cluster 1 siblings and the ASD probands. These modifying factors might provide an opportunity for intervention in all children at risk for ASD and autistic-like traits. This study supports previous recommendations of continuous monitoring of all HR siblings of probands with ASD.
Correspondence: Peter Szatmari, MD, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Chedoke Site, 1280 Main St W, Patterson Bldg, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada (firstname.lastname@example.com).
Submitted for Publication: February 7, 2012; final revision received July 26, 2012; accepted June 21, 2012.
Published Online: September 3, 2012. doi:10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.1
Author Contributions: Mr Georgiades and Drs Szatmari and Zwaigenbaum had full access to all of the data in the study, conducted the statistical analysis and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the analysis.
Financial Disclosure: None reported.
Funding/Support: This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Autism Speaks, and NeuroDevNet. Mr Georgiades' work is supported by an Autism Research Training fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Szatmari's work is supported by McMaster Children's Hospital. Dr Zwaigenbaum's work is supported by the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation Chair in Autism and a Health Scholar Award from Alberta Innovates–Health Solutions.
Role of the Sponsor: The sponsors had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.
Previous Presentation: This study was presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research; May 13, 2011; San Diego, California.
Additional Contributions: The authors thank all the children's families who participated in the study.


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We were not in the game at the beginning and it took us a while to get going, Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. We pinched down both walls and played reckless hockey, which ended up creating a lot of chances and gave them a lot of problems in the third period.
Capitals 3, Sabres 2
February 26, 2003 Submitted by
Via: AP


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- Research
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Our project was to recreate a painting using digital medium. I chose to do an Alphonse Mucha advertisement from the Art Nouveau period in France entitled "Bières de la Meuse." I used a Wacom Bamboo tablet and Corel Painter Lite.


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Will Outkast reunite at Coachella?
Listen to Outkast on iHeartRadio
OutKast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi may be ready to take the stage together again.
A source tells Billboard.com that the pair have had "some conversations" about reuniting on stage at next year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
However, another source claims the talks are further along and that it's "all systems go" for an Outkast reunion.
If Outkast does end their six year hiatus at Coachella, sources say it could be the start of a tour that would take the duo to several music festivals in 2014.
In the 15-years before their hiatus in 2007, Outkast rose to the top echelons of hip-hop, winning six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for their 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
Photo Credit Getty Images


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The ideal situation is to have a greywater reuse system that links directly with a subsurface drip irrigation system feeding a select group of landscape beds. On paper, this is how most greywater systems are designed.
However, according to some greywater experts, the majority of successful greywater systems are so simple as to not be noticed by regulators, manufacturers, consultants and salespeople and, as such, may utilize manual irrigation techniques. These irrigation methods might be as simple as a garden hose with an on/off nozzle hooked up to a small graywater storage tank.
Few greywater systems will ever feed into automatic clock driven irrigation systems. There simply isn't a larger or reliable enough supply of greywater for that type of system. Instead, many greywater systems use gravity to irrigate plants that are downhill from the greywater storage tank. In these systems, subsurface drip irrigation is often utilized.
Some greywater systems do feature pumps capable of providing enough pressure to run spray irrigation emitters or even dirty water sprinkler heads. These systems are more expensive and more complex to install.
Click here for more information on greywater irrigation systems.


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TED PILTZECKERAffiliation:
Group: TedVibes & Company
Organization: Purchase Conservatory (Chair, Department of Studio Composition)
Artist's BiographyTed Piltzecker
Composer • Vibraphonist • Educator
Ted Piltzecker has recorded three albums as a leader. His debut album, Destinations, climbed to number eight in national jazz airplay, and his second release, Unicycle Man on the Equilibrium label (featuring Bob Minter, Harvie S, James Williams, and Dave Meade) remained on the Gavin Jazz Chart for months. The Victory Music Review calls it "a thoughtful recording filled with tasteful flair, the product of confident mature musicians who are committed to the ensemble." Jazz writer and critic, Nat Hentoff praised the album as "a lyrical, thoughtful, relaxing meeting of mutually appreciative improvisers whose time is timeless." Ted's most recent recording, Standing Alone, a collection of standards for solo vibraphone has also been critically acclaimed. All About Jazz reports - "He fills the 43-minutes with expressive grace, maintaining interest throughout." Muse calls it "a simultaneously technically impressive and deeply relaxing listening experience." He tours internationally with the George Shearing Quintet and has performed in festivals as well as with his own unique ensembles.
The National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts (Fellowship 2000) have awarded grants to Ted in both performance and composition. His works have been aired on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" and the Canadian Broadcasting Company's "Arts National" and most recently have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
Ted has held faculty positions at the University of Michigan, William Paterson University and the Manhattan School of Music. He is an associate professor at the Purchase Conservatory of Music, State University of New York, and chair of the Studio Composition Department. Ted is a popular Conn-Selmer clinician in universities across the country. For eight years, Ted directed the jazz program at the Aspen Music Festival where he regularly performed with many of the great names in jazz. (Jimmy Heath, Joe Williams, Clark Terry, Mel Torme, Ernie Watts, Hubert Laws, Slide Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and many more)
Ted has performed in New York area concerts and clubs with guitarists Gene Burtoncini, Randy Johnston, and Vic Juris, bassists Rufus Reid, Harvie S. and Todd Coolman, drummers Lewis Nash, Dennis Mackrel, and Clarence Penn, pianists Jim McNeeley, John Hicks, and Bill Charlap, Trumpeters Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, and Ray Vega, and saxophonists Chris Potter, Steve Wilson, and Javon Jackson. He recorded with the Shearing Quintet featuring John Pizarrelli for Telarc. Jazz USA said, "The vibes are glassy and glamorous - this is Ted Piltzecker, who always finds the right thing to say."
Ted appears as a featured soloist in percussion and jazz festivals around the world (Hannover's Deutsches Percussion Symposium, London's Percussive Arts Society UK, Brazil's Ritmos da Terra, New Mexico Jazz Festival, the Primer Festival Percusión Patagonia, Argentina, the IX Festival International de Percusión in Puerto Rico, Arkansas Jazz Festival, the 1st Encontro Internacional de Percussåo in Tatui, Brazil, and the Festival Internacional de Percusiones in Monterrey, Mexico, Gibsons, BC Jazz Festival, Nürnberg Jazz Circus). His appearances with orchestras have variously spotlighted Ted as a performer, composer, and conductor and include the Tucson Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and the Regina Symphony. European engagements as a jazz headliner include the esteemed UMO Jazz Orchestra in Helsinki (guest soloist/composer) and several tours of German clubs and concert halls. In June of 2008 he will make his first appearance in Japan. His diverse performing interests have included tours with the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble, appearances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York with organist Dorothy Papadakos, and chamber music concerts with classical cellist, Yehuda Hanani.
Ted is a graduate of the Eastman and Manhattan Schools of Music. He is also a licensed pilot and unicyclist.
Additional information is available at: TedVibes.com


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MARYSVILLE — Police continue to investigate a serious collision in Marysville on Tuesday afternoon.
The crash was reported about 2:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of Cedar Avenue, Marysville police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux said.
A small sport utility vehicle was southbound when it was crossed into the northbound lane, he said. The SUV sideswiped a car and then hit a pickup head-on.
The SUV's driver, a 41-year-old Everett woman, was flown to a local hospital in a medical helicopter. Her injuries were described as life-threatening.
The pickup driver also was taken to a local hospital and later released, according to police.
The city's Collision Investigation Team will "try to determine what caused the SUV to drift into the oncoming lane of travel," Lamoureux said.
No arrests have been made.
Police did not respond to requests for information about the crash until late Wednesday afternoon.


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LONG BEACH - A trial date was set Wednesday for two Long Beach men charged with the alleged hate crime attack of two gay men last Halloween.
Defendants Marquise Anton Lucas, 19, and Sierus Lamar Dunbar, 27, are each charged in the attack, which took place at about 8:15 p.m. near Fourth Street and Cherry Avenue, just west of The Gay and Lesbian Center of Greater Long Beach.
Witnesses said the two victims, one of whom is 52 years old and the other who in his 60s, were assaulted after they left the center and after walking past Lucas and Dunbar, who yelled out a derogatory name for gays.
One of the victims took a cellphone picture of one of the defendants while the other victim tried to call police. Before they could summon help, one victim said, the suspects attacked.
One victim suffered a cut over his left eye, a bruised hip and blunt trauma to his left hand. The other survivor suffered injuries to his mouth, including smashed teeth.
Both suspects fled on foot, but were caught by Long Beach police officers near Third Street and Cherry Avenue, police said.
The attack occurred in front of several witnesses, who came to the victims' aid, police and prosecutors said.
Both men are charged with two counts of assault likely to produce great bodily injury, including an allegation that the assault was a hate crime, said Deputy District Attorney Robert Hight.
A third count of battery causing serious bodily injury was filed against both defendants for the attack on the second victim, Hight said.
Both Dunbar and Lucas have been held in custody at the Men's Central Jail since their Oct. 31 arrest. The pair were ordered Wednesday to return to the Long Beach Superior Court on April 4 for trial.
Opening arguments could begin late that week or early the next week, Hight said. email@example.com, 562-714-2150, twitter.com/tmanzer


text:
the wicd command is need before wicd-client can run try configure the manager to run it will run auto at startup here is my script
more .kde3/Autostart/start
#! /bin/sh
wicd-client & <optional>
conky &
CORRECTION: This button is to run the "/etc/init.d/wicd start" command (the precursor to running the actual wicd application).
To configure the button:
1) Right click on the task bar.
2) Scroll down to "Add application to panel"
3) In sub-menu, select "Add non-KDE Application"
4) In the Button title field type "WICD Start" as your label.
5) In the Description field type: "Start wireless networking"
6) For the Executable field, enter: /etc/init.d/wicd start
7) In the Command line arguments field type: "./" (without the quotes, of course).
8) Check the box "Run in terminal window"
To change the icon theme of your button:
1) Click on icon in the top left of the configuration screen.
2) Use the drop down menu and scroll through the different icon sections and choose an icon theme of your liking.
If configured properly, you should now have a working button for your task bar that when pressed, will enable the wireless network manager script, so you can then launch wicd.
I've installed BT4 onto a pendrive via Unetbootin and set it up for persistent changes (using the casper-rw, 2nd partition configuration) and this button works like a charm. This type of installation does not require the use of sudo; and this procedure can be adapted to set up a button, to enable LAN access, using "/etc/wit.d/networking start".
the wicd command is need before wicd-client can run try configure the manager to run it will run auto at startup here is my script
more .kde3/Autostart/start
#! /bin/sh
wicd-client & <optional>
conky &
couldnt u just click and drag the icon from the start menu into the task bar :S i could be wrong though but thts how i remember doing it.
Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious...
for me:
worked and now I don't need to start anything...Code:sudo update-rc.d wicd defaults


text:
Weeds of the West, Whitson et al. - One of the most extensively read weed identification books published. Life cycles and identification characteristics of more than 350 species considered weedy across the western U.S.
Wildflowers and Other Plants of the Larimer County Foothills Region, Larimer County Department of Natural Resources - A local field guide that is geared toward the amateur and expert alike. Highlights include over 100 species of local wildflowers, grasses and woody plants, comparison pages of similar species, genus pages and a convenient size (4"x 6").
Biology and Management of Noxious Rangeland Weeds, Roger Sheley. - Description of the most important noxious weed species in western U.S. and various methods of management.
Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the United States, Eric Coombs. - A review of biological control agents and effectiveness for management of noxious weeds. Includes techniques for release, identification of agents and symptoms, monitoring, and geographical range.
Invasive Plants of Range and Wildlands and Their Environmental, Economic, and Societal Impacts, Celestine Duncan. - Summarizes scientific literature regarding economic, environmental, and societal losses to range and wildlands caused by 16 key invasive plants in the U.S.
Aquatic and Riparian Weeds of the West, Joe Ditomaso. - Life cycles and identification characteristics of aquatic and riparian weeds.
Horse Brochure - "Colorado's Poisonous Menace - Do You Know What Your Horse is Eating?"Vie Brochure
Biological Control of Noxious Weeds in Colorado, www.palisadeinsectary.com
Noxious Weeds of Colorado - A 210 page spiral-bound booklet featuring photos and descriptions of Colorado's noxious weeds. Colorado Weed Management Association
Garden Smart Colorado - A booklet highlighting native and non-invasive alternatives to some ornamental noxious weeds. Colorado Weed Management Association
Weeds of the Great Plains, James Stubbendeck, Mitchell Coffen, L.M. Landholt - Descriptions and pictures of weeds from the Great Plains.
Aquatic Nuisance Species Pocket Guide, Colorado Department of Agriculture and Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Thistles of Colorado, Larimer County Weed District
Knapweeds of Colorado, Larimer County Weed District
Weed Management Reference Guide, Larimer County Weed District
Fundamentals of Weed Science, Robert L. Zimdahl - A comprehensive textbook for understanding all concepts of weed science.


text:
Results 1 to 2 of 2
Thread: Trying
Hybrid View
17th April 2014 05:06 AM #1
- Join Date
- Apr 2014
- Posts
- 5
My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for 3 years now. We haven't seen a specialist yet but was wondering if there was a step in between that we needed to check on first? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
4th May 2014 06:43 AM #2
Dear Tina,
I'm sorry to hear that you have not been able to conceive yet.
I would strongly recommend that you see your doctor now. Given that it has been three years of trying to conceive it would be best that you both have your fertility levels checked.
Have you had sex regularly during all this time? It is particularly important to have sex during your 'fertile period' each month. This fertile period is the only three days (on average) that you can get pregnant each month. Are you aware of how to look for natural signs of your fertile period such as changes in your cervical mucous? Have you ever used an ovulation tracking kit?
Do you mind if I ask how old you are? Unfortunately fertility levels start to drop quite significantly from age 35 for a woman although many women after this age are still able to have a healthy pregnancy.
Could I also ask if you are a healthy weight for your height?
It is important to eat a balanced diet when you are trying to conceive with plenty of fresh fruit and veg. You should also drink plenty of water and continue to exercise regularly. Smoking and drinking are best avoided. Try to keep stress levels to a minimum.
Do you have regular periods?
Thinking of you and hope you are able to conceive very soon.
Warm wishes,


text:
Submit News
While Other Retailers Settled, Newegg Crushes Shopping Cart Patent Troll on Appeal
Shane McGlaun
January 28, 2013 10:06 AM
Recipient E-mail
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"We basically took a look at this situation and said, this is bullshit." -- Newegg Chief Legal Officer Lee Cheng
Patent troll Soverain sued 50 different high-profile e-commerce websites over patent infringement (some big names like Amazon, Avon, and Victoria's Secret actually settled for millions with Soverain), alleging that it owned three patents pertaining to digital shopping carts. Early on, the case looked rocky for Newegg, an online technology products retailer, when the judge overseeing the case refused to allow Newegg to argue that the Soverain patent was invalid.
However, on appeal Newegg's legal team was able to trot out prior artwork to help get the patent case defeated. That prior artwork came from 1984 in the form of a magazine ad from CompuServe bragging about an electronic mall. The District Court judge had originally denied the invalidity argument because the judge said there wasn't "sufficient testimony" and that making the argument to the jury would be "very confusing" to them.
Soverain continued to argue that the system CompuServe used didn't include a "product identifier" as its patent defines. The patent troll also argued that CompuServe's system lacked a "shopping cart database." Those arguments didn't work for Soverain, as a three-judge panel decided that all of the shopping cart patent claims the company made were rendered obvious in the light of CompuServe Mall.
As a result, Soverain won't get the $2.5 million it hoped to snatch from Newegg's bank account. In addition, retailers in currently pending lawsuits will also likely be off the hook to feeding the troll.
Newegg chief legal officer Lee Cheng said in an interview with
Ars Technica
We basically took a look at this situation and said, this is bullshit. We saw that if we paid off this patent holder, we'd have to pay off every patent holder this same amount. This is the first case we took all the way to trial. And now, nobody has to pay Soverain jack squat for these patents.
Cheng also noted that Newegg decided to fight to the death over this lawsuit versus settling because the company is majority owned by its founder, Fred Chang. There are no shareholders to answer to, so Chang has the long-term prospects of his company in mind rather than short-term gains to temporarily help out the balance sheet.
In his parting words to
Ars Technica
, Cheng didn't have many good things to say about what he calls "submarine" trolls – those that lurk under the surface for years, and then hit unsuspecting companies for millions.
"Then they pop up and say 'Hello, surprise! Give us your money or we will shut you down!' Screw them. Seriously, screw them. You can quote me on that."
Ars Technica
"Spreading the rumors, it's very easy because the people who write about Apple want that story, and you can claim its credible because you spoke to someone at Apple." -- Investment guru Jim Cramer
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text:
Shakira Becomes Most-Liked Musician On Facebook
Listen to Shakira on iHeartRadio
Shakira is thanking fans for making her the most-liked musical artist on Facebook.
The Columbian superstar broke the record on Friday night when her Facebook follower count reached up to 86.3 million!
Shakira edged out the previous best set by Rihanna, who she shared a duet with on her recent single "Can't Remember To Forget You." Shakira writes in a post that she feels "so humbled" by the social media milestone, and jokes that she "always wanted to have a lot of friends, but never imagine it would be so many!"
The singer is prepping for the release of her new self-titled album later this week. Before it officially drops on Tuesday, Shakira will be holding an iHeartRadio release party to introduce her latest tracks.


text:
Awareness, Feminism | Posted by Grace Brown on 08/22/2012
A Letter To Each Of You
I'm sure you've seen it in the news this week. The headlines are everywhere and my Twitter feed is decorated with rants from various people I follow: a man running for senate named Todd Akin used the term "legitimate rape" when asked about abortion legality. He has also used a modifier in the past, stating the phrase "forcible rape". It is clear that the reality of "rape is rape" is lost on him.
Stepping away from the abortion debate, I wanted to address this because I know how upsetting it was to read that headline at first. My heart sunk. For ten seconds, I felt a mixture of anger and sadness and frustration, as if all of the work I put into this topic just continues to fade into the …


text:
Thought some of you guys might appreciate this. It's amazing.
Thought some of you guys might appreciate this. It's amazing.
Looking for injury, rehab or nutrition advice? visit combatsportsclinic.com
Fighting out of Next Generation
Racists who repeatedly contradict themselves are fucking hilarious.
MMA Strength, Conditioning and Awesomeness Blog- UPDATED 8/2/11 Random Musings prior to actual content http://maccavelli.wordpress.com/
First off I would like to point out Nick Griffen is ugly as sin. Infact from what I've noticed they certainly do not have a braw bunch in there party. Fuck going to a BNP singles night, that's all that needs to be said about that.
BNP pick on Muslims by pointing out that Muslims are secluding themselves from Britain. Funny that because BNP are doing the same when there's a massive amount of other religions, non religions, different skin colour... there's all shapes and forms in the UK and BNP seem to want it to be an all white protestant country.
Muslims similar to BNP because they wouldn't mind at all if we all converted to Islam and then they might start to integrate with us.
As for the "BNP babes" I think even the strictest of practising catholics would double wrap for them. Munters.
Last edited by OverhandRighT; 06-01-2012 at 05:22 AM. Reason: End up getting lifted for my view on this shit
Helen Riddell, from Newcastle
VICE: How old are you?
Helen: 19. Wait, no, 18. 19 next month.
One of the funniest things I have seen on the web for a long time.
Edit to add these gems
What nationality would you most like to keep on in the UK?
African, because my nana's African.
Sure thing. What ethnicity would you most like to make love to?
Oh, God, British.
Outside of that?
Say... black.
Last edited by jose969; 06-01-2012 at 11:04 AM.
I particularly liked:
"When people say the BNP is a fascist party, what do you think?
Fascist – I don't understand that word."
Looking for injury, rehab or nutrition advice? visit combatsportsclinic.com
Fighting out of Next Generation
What should we do with Lenny Henry? LOL priceless that was..!!
that is fantastic.
You don't have to be a racist to want Lenry Henry deported, you just have to have watched an episode of the sitcom Chef.
Real men pull guard.
The 19 year old looks about 50?!


text:
Was explaining Lineage to another martial artist the other day and came up with a theoretical situation I couldn't answer.
I know that your Lineage is that of the Black Belt who gave you your last grade so if you are a creonte your lineage can 'change' if you switch clubs and receive a new belt
So if X goes through all their grades with a particular instructor/team but then after receiving their Black belt they change their affliation to a new team/instructor with a different lineage, some time after this Y starts training BJJ with X when Y gets their first grade from X what will Y's lineage be??
X's lineage from their old team or their new team??
Yes a very geeky question I know (and completely ignoring the should they be changing teams at black belt etc etc) Thank you in advance!


text:
DataNucleus supports persisting/retrieving objects to/from OOXML documents (using the
datanucleus-excel plugin).
It makes use of the Apache POI project.
If you wish to contribute to this plugin either by contributing or by sponsoring particular
functionality please contact us via the
DataNucleus Forum.
DataNucleus supports file-based OOXML documents currently.
The following persistence properties will connect to a local file on your local machine
replacing "myfile.xlsx" with your filename, which can be absolute or relative.
So you create your PersistenceManagerFactory or
EntityManagerFactory with these properties.
Thereafter you have the full power of the JDO or JPA APIs at your disposal, for your
Excel datastore.
Access Platform allows you to query the objects in the datastore using the following


text:
Fox Pundits Mum On South Korea Trade Deal After Earlier Criticism
Research ››› ››› NED RESNIKOFF
When President Obama's November trip to Asia did not immediately result in a trade agreement with South Korea, Fox News' top pundits Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity were quick to paint the entire tour as a failure. Now that Obama has secured the trade deal, both O'Reilly and Hannity have ignored the achievement.
O'Reilly, Hannity Assailed Obama Trip To Asia As A Failure
Wash. Post: U.S.-South Korea Negotiations Faltered Because Of "Domestic Political Concerns." In an article about Obama's trip to South Korea, The Washington Post reported:
Negotiations over a U.S.-Korea free-trade agreement faltered Thursday after four days of discussions, a setback for the leaders of the two nations and a blow to efforts to rekindle broader world trade talks.
White House officials said the discussions foundered over long-standing disagreements over U.S. access to the Korean auto and beef markets.
Despite optimism from both sides as they began bargaining, domestic political concerns weighed heavily on the talks and ultimately appeared to have prevented the final compromises needed to secure an agreement.
The two sides pledged to continue the discussion, and said that they had made progress in recent days toward narrowing disagreements. [The Washington Post, 11/11/10]
O'Reilly On Obama Asia Trip: "It Tells Me That The World Leaders Feel That This Is A Weakened President." On his Fox News show, O'Reilly said:
O'REILLY: I felt sorry for Barack Obama, and let's be honest, when he was in Asia 'cause he didn't get what we needed. We didn't get the Korean trade agreement. He didn't get the Chinese to stop, you know, flouncing around their currency. And what it tells me -- and you're in a position to correct me if I'm wrong here, Hume, and I expect you to do that.
It tells me that the world leaders feel that this is a weakened president. They don't have any incentive to do business with Barack Obama the way he is now inside this country. That's what that told me. [Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, 11/15/10, via Nexis]
Hannity Described Obama's Trip As "Disastrous." Discussing the Asia trip, Hannity stated: "Just days after returning from a disastrous trip to Asia, President Obama slated to depart for Europe later this week." [Hannity, 11/16/10, via Nexis]
Hannity: The Trip To Asia Was "A Complete And Utter Waste Of Time And Your Taxpayer Dollars." On his show, Hannity listed Obama's Asia trip among events that he claimed would make the month "not ... a November to remember for President Barack Obama." Hannity continued: "Now earlier this month, his party suffered historic losses in the midterm elections. His recent trip to Asia can be summed up as a complete and utter waste of time and your taxpayer dollars." [Hannity, 11/18/10, via Nexis]
O'Reilly, Hannity Silent On What Would Be "Largest" Trade Deal Since NAFTA
Wash. Post: "U.S., South Korea Complete Free-Trade Deal." In an article headlined, "U.S., South Korea complete free-trade deal," the Post reported:
U.S. and South Korean negotiators agreed Friday to a free-trade deal that the Obama administration hopes will increase American exports by billions of dollars annually and create momentum for a broader push on free trade in 2011.
The pact is the administration's first major foray into the arena of free-trade politics, and officials said it may be followed by efforts to have Congress approve pending deals with Panama and Colombia, and reinvigorate the larger Doha round of global trade talks.
The deal marks a victory for President Obama, who was widely criticized after failing to secure the pact during his Asia trip after last month's midterm elections.
"Today's agreement is an integral part of my Administration's efforts to open foreign markets to U.S. goods and services, create jobs for American workers, farmers and businesses, and achieve our goal of doubling of U.S. exports over five years," Obama said in a statement Friday night.
The South Korea agreement was first negotiated by the George W. Bush administration, but during follow-up negotiations the Obama administration won further concessions considered important to American automakers. Those include a slower reduction of U.S. tariffs on imported South Korean vehicles and a provision under which South Korea will exempt up to 25,000 of any American company's cars from its strict safety standards, as long as they meet similar U.S. regulations. [The Washington Post, 12/03/10]
AP: Trade Deal "Would Be The Largest Since The North American Free Trade Agreement." The Associated Press reported:
The pact, which requires congressional approval, would be the largest since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in 1994. Obama said the South Korean deal would support at least 70,000 American jobs -- welcome news with the latest unemployment figures showing nearly stagnant job growth. The president said that jobs report showed more needed to be done.
"Essential to that is opening new markets around the world to products that are made in America," Obama said. "Because we don't simply want to be an economy that consumes other countries' goods."
He said U.S. automakers would gain greater access to the expanding South Korean market. "It will continue to ensure a level playing field for American automakers here at home," he added.
Exports of U.S. goods to South Korea could soar to $10 billion under the deal, which won rare praise for Obama from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as some Republicans. The pact originally was negotiated under George W. Bush's administration but had stalled. [Associated Press, 12/04/10]
O'Reilly, Hannity Have Not Mentioned Trade Deal. On the December 6 edition of their respective Fox News programs, neither Hannity nor O'Reilly mentioned the trade deal.
- Network/Outlet
- Fox News Channel
- Person
- Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity
- Show/Publication
- The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity
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