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See also: How the City of Gardena Turns Every Piece of Graffiti Into a Felony Crime
The Secrets of L.A. Street Art: Bumblebee, Sharktoof and Linelinedot Discuss Their Work
Back when L.A. graffiti artist Sight was a teenager, he began slipping out of his mom's South Central home late at night, armed with a razor blade or a can of spray paint, to claim the city's surfaces as his own.
"When you go out in the nighttime, there's nobody out there," he recalls. "There's a full moon; the air's crisp. I'm with just me and my thoughts. It's a beautiful experience."
Marilyn Avila, Sight's high school sweetheart and, now, the mother of his two children — 6-month-old Sofia and 18-month-old Adam — says, "I saw how happy it made him. It almost freed his mind."
Sight was so prolific in his early days that he was known by peers, and graffiti watchers at large, as the "King of South Central."
Avila recalls: "We would get on the bus, and if there was other graf artists in there, he would know almost all of them. If not, he'll be, like, 'Oh, I'm Sight,' and they'll be, like, 'What?! You're Sight?!' "
By the time the young vandal began attending Los Angeles City College, though, he claims he didn't have time for the all-night branding sprees of his adolescence. He was working two jobs on top of journalism classes, and drove a car instead of riding and cutting up windows on the bus.
When he did break out the spray paint, says Sight, now 30, he had evolved from bus scribing and tagging to throwing up (spray-painting his name in big bubbly letters) and piecing (collaborating with friends on complex, mural-type works). His code of ethics was: "We're not going to write on anything that looks good. We'd look for abandoned buildings, and walls that were really tagged up. We'd want to put some color right there."
Along with his dream of becoming a journalist, Sight hoped to publish poetry and learn to piece like Saber and Revok, his heroes in the legendary Mad Society Kings (MSK) crew.
"It was like springtime," he says of the early 2000s. "Everything was blossoming — there was so much potential.
"Now, it's wintertime."
In 2006, Sight was handed the harshest sentence any artist or law enforcement official can recall for graffiti vandalism: Eight years and four months in state prison.
Released after four years for good behavior, he's perhaps the most dramatic casualty to date in L.A.'s war on street art — a multipronged effort that views young graffiti artists as public enemy No. 1 and has destroyed even those graffiti-style murals painted with full consent of building owners. As galleries and museums increasingly recognize the movement's artistic value, government officials only become more determined to wipe it from the streets.
Sight — a short, burly black man with a fuzzy beard and a gentle disposition — had and has no record of violence. "He gets mad at me if I kill a spider," his girlfriend says.
From the couple's one-bedroom apartment in South Central, Sight relives the morning the cops came for him: Ten to 15 deputies busted into his grandmother's house with "laser guns and body armor," he says, barking at him to hand over his drugs and weapons. Finding none, they took his paint and his poetry books, Sight says.
Because Sight's most expensive — and thus felonious — damage was beyond the five-year statute of limitations, he says, police asked him to date evidence photos of his graffiti "for a more recent date," in return for which, they told him, " 'We'll let you go and get you probation.' "
Sheriff's deputy Devin Vanderlaan, who investigated Sight, calls his accusation "absolutely ridiculous." UPN member Tahoe claims the same happened to him.
Sight would spend a one-year stint alongside rapists and murderers at Folsom State Prison, where he says fellow inmates almost killed him for hanging back during a race riot. But worse than hard-core Folsom was L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca's own Men's Central Jail, where Sight says that, among other degradations, he saw prison guards break the fingers of inmates who misbehaved.
Today, two years after his release, with 10 unusual "felony" counts for nonviolent vandalism on his permanent record, Sight can't even get a job as a dishwasher. He says he's filled out hundreds of job applications, but potential employers won't believe that spraying paint on walls or etching one's name onto bus panels could lead to felony charges in America.
"They think I blew up cars or smashed out windows or something," Sight says. "They think I'm a terrorist."
To believe Metro's version of the damage Sight did to L.A., he nearly was. They claimed he caused $70,000 in damage, on the basis that each Metro window or metal panel he etched was replaced. In fact, bus windows often are sanded down by graffiti-abatement crews — and tend to be marred by tagger upon tagger long before parts are actually replaced — but the exaggerated cost claims play well in court.
The fallen street legend is almost too humiliated to admit that the only work he's been able to find — through a program that helps ex-felons — is buffing out graffiti for a company contracted by L.A. City Hall.
"It hurts. It sucks," he says. "I love graffiti — I don't want to take down no graffiti."
The job, Sight says, is ruining his identity and credibility; he would rather do anything else in the world. Before the buffing gig, Sight worked part-time for the same company as an alley cleaner, where he picked up "trash, shit buckets, dead cats and rats."
He would do it again in an instant if it offered the same long hours he needs to support his family.
His girlfriend, a full-time vendor at Staples Center, says Sight doesn't write poetry or talk about the future anymore. "It's almost like his spirit kind of died," Avila says.
That's what he gets for messing with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — and, in effect, messing with the Special Problems Unit of Sheriff Baca's Transit Services Bureau, whose sole job is to ferret out troublemakers on the Metro system.
The unit is widely recognized as one of the most ruthless and effective anti-graffiti task forces on Earth, and it has mastered the all-crew takedown, according to critics such as the ACLU and admirers such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Sight and his crew, UPN, were among the Special Problems Unit's first big trophies.
L.A.'s rampant graffiti problem, a major source of public outcry, has been called an "epidemic" by county Supervisor Gloria Molina and "a problem that demands action" by City Councilman José Huizar. The city spends about $7 million and the county about $30 million per year on graffiti removal and etching repair. More than $8 million of that goes to fixing Metro property.
"When we have a target, it starts on Metro," says Sgt. Christian Meadows, second in command at the Special Problems Unit. The team's jurisdiction is any Metro property, including subway cars, stations or buses.
In 2010, some 20 deputies and sergeants in the Special Problems Unit served 414 "social media" search warrants on Twitter and other accounts and conducted 96 probation or parole searches — resulting in 183 felony and 173 misdemeanor arrests.
The tagger roundup is accelerated by digital-age technology: Not only do deputies snoop through social media accounts, but a new, game-changing graffiti database called T.A.G.R.S. allows them to browse through its extensive, countywide photo archive for suspects' scrawled monikers.
The tie between graffiti and public transit runs deep. Hard-core L.A. gangsters have been marking up the city since the early 20th century. But nongang graffiti in the wildstyle form was born decades later, on the New York City subway system in the turmoil-filled protest society of the 1970s.
So crews such as Sight's UPN — also called Under Pigs' Noses or Ur Property Next — are posing a direct challenge to the Sheriff's Transit Services Bureau when they scrawl or scratch their letters on Metro property. "Ever since the beginning of tagging, it's been kind of a cat-and-mouse thing" between cops and the taggers who taunt them, says Special Problems Unit detective Michael Thibodeaux. "That's part of the excitement to it."
The key, for Baca's bunch, was learning how to round up the mice en masse — and finding a Los Angeles prosecutor and courts that would go along.
Perhaps the most brazen cop taunt in the history of L.A. graffiti was staged by the crew MTA, or Metro Transit Assassins, in 2008.
Unidentified Metro Transit Assassin members used hundreds of gallons of paint to tag the huge, slanted side of a concrete Los Angeles River bank near the Fourth Street Bridge and 101 freeway with "MTA." That name, of course, belonged to the wealthy transit authority they were mocking, an agency that has steadily cut the region's heavily used bus service for poor minorities while pouring billions into far less utilized rail lines for white-collar commuters. The giant, 3-D block letters, thought to form America's largest tag, were 30 feet tall and a half-mile wide.
No plane, train nor freeway commuter within eyeshot could avoid bearing witness.
The Metro Transit Assassins, even those who did not participate, were punished accordingly.
Because Baca's underlings couldn't prove who did it, they rounded up 11 taggers linked to MTA — including rising graffiti artist Smear, who had begun selling his works in galleries — and, supported by L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, built a backbreaking civil lawsuit against them.
Dangling a $3.7 million cleanup cost before them, Trutanich offered the defendants a deal: If they paid off their previous graffiti damage in L.A., did community service and promised to be good, Trutanich would forgive the alleged $3.7 million in damages.
But the young people were in fact agreeing to far more: a watershed settlement that, according to the city attorney's office, creates the world's first "tagger injunction." It can be used much like a gang injunction and opens the door for more such "tagger injunctions" against other graffiti crews.
To the art world, crews like MTA are collaborative groups that encourage creativity and growth. But the injunction would let cops arrest anyone tied to MTA, or to any other crew slapped with a similar injunction, merely for hanging out together in public, carrying a can of spray paint or violating a 10 p.m. curfew.
Peter Bibring, the ACLU lawyer who represented Smear, says the injunction "raises clear First Amendment concerns" and puts "really serious restrictions against people's liberty."
City attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan says in an email that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deirdre Hill is expected to approve the injunction deal in October without a hitch. If that happens, somewhat incredibly, when MTA members try to use their well-known street names to launch legitimate art careers, they may face Carmen Trutanich in court. Under the proposed injunction, Trutanich claims stamping their night-vandal names on legal artwork is an "unfair business practice," because they achieved their fame through illegal acts — tagging others' property.
Rime, a highly skilled graffiti writer with L.A.'s artistic MSK crew, says, "When you do a good job in anything you do, there is that hope for growth."
But if government officials take away legal options for graffiti artists to rise and perhaps even earn a living through self-expression, "They're pushing good kids into felons," Rime says.
The ACLU's Bibring argues, "You can't say someone who has previously engaged in a crime can't engage in certain kinds of expression in the future. I would hope the city would encourage people to turn their talents to productive and legal uses."
While violent gang members face injunctions that stop at the edge of their turf in East Los Angeles or South Central, Bibring calls this tagger injunction aimed at nonviolent young people "remarkable" in its geographic reach: It applies statewide.
"They should stop making false bad guys out of us," says Saber, another MSK celebrity.
But the truth is, the Special Problems Unit and Sheriff Baca don't even need the new injunction Trutanich is so excited about. Metro and the sheriff already treat taggers as full-on gangsters, under the California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act (STEP Act).
Designed to combat rampant gang crime in 1980s ghettos, the act lets gangsters be punished more severely if cops prove their crimes are on behalf of a criminal organization. The Special Problems Unit, however, is using the STEP Act to add "gang enhancements" to misdemeanor-level Sharpie doodles drawn on walls, thus promoting those marks to a felony. The $400 minimum damage normally required to turn a California citizen into a felon is waived.
Under Metro's use of the STEP Act, a colorful loop of words that might cost $150 to paint over can make a young person a felon for life. "All these crews are just gangsters at the end of the day," Sgt. Meadows says.
But a growing body of critics says law enforcement is stigmatizing a vibrant — albeit unpopular with many residents — subculture by focusing on the violence of gangsters who tag, a different group. According to L.A. graffiti historian Steve Grody, almost every graffiti artist currently taking galleries by storm started out as a garden-variety tagger.
"People want the rain without the thunder and the lightning," Grody says. "If you're going to let a culture have some sense of self-expression, then that includes youth-movement things. That doesn't mean all 'bombing' should be left alone. [But] when it's treated as though it's some sort of horrible, harmful felony, it's out of balance."
Grody, author of Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art, and co-curator of last year's "Street Cred: Graffiti Art From Concrete to Canvas" show at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, sees clear visual distinctions between gang and nongang graffiti.
"If you're a gangster, you write in a certain way that makes it clear that you're a gangster," he says.
While some popular graffiti is "gang-influenced in its letter forms and its badass attitude," Grody feels that any cop trained in the nuances of both cultures could tell the difference.
On a recent L.A. Weekly ride-along with the Special Problems Unit, two undercover, plainclothes deputies lingered at the Green Line's Willowbrook station for just 10 minutes before spotting someone suspicious. A Latino teenager waiting for the train with his sister had meticulously tagged the surfaces of his backpack and skateboard.
The deputies started questioning the boy about his choice of decor: Was he a tagger? What crew? And what was in the backpack?
He never gave up his moniker ("Realm" and "WDK" were prominent on his backpack and board) but admitted he was a tagger and was carrying a box cutter and spray paint. The 14-year-old was handcuffed and placed in the back of a squad car. It was his first encounter in what officers predicted would be a long relationship with the law.
Deputy Kevin Hom tells the Weekly that even without the spray paint, the graffiti-style writing covering the boy's belongings created probable cause to search him for tagging tools.
Unlike most gangsters, a tagger often touts his crew on his sleeve. "Here's what's weird about taggers: They're proud of what they do and want to talk tons about it," Sgt. Meadows says.
Experts say many taggers don't think of themselves as criminals, and — like many young people — need a way to release their frustration, desire, independence, freedom and rage.
Historian Grody even goes so far as to argue that tagging — while a nuisance to many that does warrant some punishment — is also a stepping stone to perfecting the graffiti style, without which many of the genre's talented stars would not exist.
"They have evolved their styles under pressure to distinguish themselves stylistically and, in terms of scale, from other people," Grody says. "The seeds of it are the tags. The tag grows into the 'throw-up'; the throw-up grows into the 'piece'; the piece grows into the mural."
Graffiti was honored as a respected urban art form last year in L.A., when the Museum of Contemporary Art hosted its controversial "Art in the Streets" exhibit, making global headlines. LAPD and sheriff's officials used the hubbub to publicize their own Koreatown tagging crackdown, claiming that vandals inspired by MOCA's show had gone on a destructive spree.
"The exhibit kind of glorifies graffiti," Sgt. Augie Pando, of the Special Problems Unit, told the L.A. Times. "It puts taggers on front street."
Many in law enforcement, watching graffiti move from the alleys to pop culture, see little good coming from this evolution. Ramona Findley, head of the LAPD's anti-graffiti unit, says it's feeding the city's graffiti epidemic. "Even Hello Kitty has a line of graffiti makeup," she says. "This makes kids think it's OK. Young children don't know the difference between art and vandalism."
Vyal, a seasoned L.A. graffer who runs youth workshops out of his East L.A. studio, and recently did graffiti-style works for Lexus and Neiman Marcus, says sheriff's deputies often pester him about his colorful walls, criticizing him for inspiring kids to illegally scar the city.
After the MOCA show, he says, they prodded him about an old bus that MSK artist Risk bought and painted, saying it encouraged kids to tag Metro property.
Trutanich snagged the crackdown's boldest headlines by serving multiple probation-violation arrest warrants against Revok, one of L.A.'s most internationally renowned graffiti talents, and Smear, whose raw, explosive gallery work was getting the attention of art critics. Metro's Transit Services Bureau, working with Trutanich, arrested Revok in 2011 at LAX as he headed to Ireland — where he's admired by many as an edgy, urban artist — to do a commission. Trutanich sought a steep bail, and a judge agreed to $300,000 — citing Revok's high risk of fleeing the country. The L.A. celebrity got 180 days in jail and later moved to Detroit in disgust.
Smear, who says he was only a member of Metro Transit Assassins for a year or two in the early aughts, was subjected to multiple sheriff's raids at his art studio. The more press he got — such as a sympathetic 2011 spread in the Los Angeles Times — the more he felt targeted by Trutanich and Metro.
On the L.A. Weekly ride-along, Sgt. Meadows of the Special Problems Unit gave his opinion of Smear: "He was part of MTA, so he was a bad guy."
More and more, police are furtively invading art galleries and shows. A spokesman at Known Gallery on Fairfax, one of the first to bring graffiti indoors, says openings are frequented by undercover cops, who ask "uncomfortable questions" about particular artists — such as whether they also create illegal outdoor art. Smear says MOCA's show also was "crawling with pigs."
Rime argues that by denying graffiti as a creative outlet and a form of art — by "making this clear black-or-white definition of it, that either you're a vandal or you're an artist that doesn't use spray paint" — city and county officials are revving up young people to defy them. "They think that if they can make an example out of Revok, they can discourage a new generation. But they're having the opposite effect: They're making [kids] act out."
For better or worse, a new generation loves this form of self-expression, and can't get enough of the spray. L.A. galleries such as Lab Art on La Brea Avenue and Hold Up in Little Tokyo almost exclusively show street artists, their crowded openings often spilling out onto the sidewalks.
In Los Angeles, which Councilman Huizar likes to boast is "the mural capital of the world," the painting of any mural on an outdoor wall, even with permission from that wall's owner, is illegal.
This, thanks to a 2002 billboard ban by the L.A. City Council, crafted to protect it from being sued by wealthy, multinational billboard companies. According to L.A. City Planner Thomas Rothman, billboard firms argued that one type of "speech," billboard advertising, could not be banned in L.A. if another type of "speech," outdoor art, was allowed.
Ironically, ever since, City Hall has been destroying public art but has given a free pass to illegal billboards. City officials believe at least 1,000 illegal billboards clutter the skyline. They are not being torn down. But hundreds of graffiti-style murals are being painted over — at taxpayer expense, on orders of the Department of Building and Safety and the Department of Public Works.
"There are a number of illegal billboards in Los Angeles, but no one at City Hall is calling them vandals," says Gwenaëlle Gobé, director of documentary This Space Available. "It is easy to demote graffiti art as a vulgar business practice, [but] to me it is a political act. They are there as a reminder that we have a voice in our spaces."
The City Council has spent a full four years trying to undo the mess it created, by writing a special "mural ordinance" to allow art on walls. Still months from approval, it would require a building owner to pay a $60 fee and hold a neighborhood hearing before any mural could go up.
In the meantime, the Department of Public Works often gives minimum-wage buffers — like Sight — the discretion to decide which walls would look better beige. More often than not, artists say, works done with spray paint are targeted over pieces by European artists or designs that look more calm or traditional.
Earlier this month, Man One and Vyal, local graffiti icons, saw their neon-electric collaboration on a brick wall downtown painted over in the early morning hours. A week later, they were flown out to the United Kingdom and Germany to stage live graffiti demonstrations for fans abroad.
"How is it that we can't paint in our own backyard?" Man One asks. "It's destroying our mural culture, our art culture in L.A."
The city denies it ordered the buff-out. But a security guard at a building across the street tells L.A. Weekly that the buffer was dressed like a city employee, and carried a bucket of paint matched precisely to the wall's dead-brown hue.
"The upsetting part is tracking down who the hell is responsible for this coming down," Man One says. "Someone is dictating whether that should happen. I'm curious about who picked this wall, and why."
Smear asks, "Do people really want to see boring old walls, driving around, just like bland beige and gray and palomino walls? Just concrete, and everything all manicured?"
Detective Findley, with LAPD's anti-graffiti unit, has an answer to that: "There's still a sense of fear to [aerosol work]," she says. "It reminds people of the downfall of a neighborhood. In the community's mind, it means gangs. It scares people."
It apparently scared Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who ordered a massive community graffiti project led by Man One to be buffed from the L.A. River in 2007. That was followed by the recent obliteration of an all-female production commissioned by A&K Auto Repair in East Los Angeles. Just days after bouncy graffiti chick Sand One and a visiting Miami artist, Miss Reds, put up a stunning mural on the auto repair shop — to ward off gang tags — L.A. County sent a crew of buffers by to blot out their work.
"It was helping keep the taggers away," says auto shop manager Maria Martinez. Not only that, but Asian tourists were stopping by to take photos in front of the mural.
When the Weekly called the L.A. County Department of Public Works, graffiti-abatement staffer Tino Kallamanis rushed over to apologize to Martinez. The shop manager says Kallamanis told her that Supervisor Molina ordered the mural removed because it featured the words "Eastside Chola" in a heart in the bottom right corner.
Molina's spokeswoman denies that. However, Public Works spokesman Bob Spencer affirms that the mural was destroyed "because of the gang-affiliated term that is featured on it: 'Eastside Chola.' " The county's policy, he says, is to remove any paintings that "contain gang-affiliated references or vulgarity."
Directly above the painted-over wall looms a billboard reading "1-800-GET-THIN," touting a controversial medical procedure. The county's Department of Building and Safety spokesman says that if it got a complaint about offensive language on a billboard, it wouldn't paint over it; it would seek a resolution between the company and the neighbors.
Sand, who adores the word "chola" and says it is part of her culture, is furious. "When I say the word 'chola,' it's not negative," she says. "It's so Latin girls can relate to what I paint. What I'm showing is that if you come from a low-income, gangbanging area, like me, you can break out of that."
Her trademark characters — sexy cartoon girls with giant, feathery eyelashes — are among the cutesier outdoor artworks dotting the L.A. area. But since last year, Sand, who's in her early 20s, has seen five of her murals, all painted with permission from a building owner, destroyed by officials in downtown Los Angeles and in East L.A.
"It's, like, 'Dude, I just painted a mural with a girl eating a cupcake. You're really going to send your squad every single morning to bother the owners and harass them to erase the wall?" she says.
Another artist who's been putting up a lot of work around South Central, Chelo from the K4P crew, says he soldiers on because "around my neighborhood, everything has to do with gangs. Everything has to do with negativity. I thought I could change that."
His admirers see his intricate, alienlike characters and eye-popping wildstyle as being on par with major MSK works in Hollywood, giving South Central something to be proud of.
But anti-tagger legislation like Molina's "graffiti ordinance" and Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey's "Graffiti Prosecution Program" — which the women drafted in response to tragic murders by violent taggers — have made it easier to lock up graffiti vandals on felony convictions, even if they are not part of that violent world. (Lacey is running for DA, touting her toughness on graffiti.)
The tagger-murderers turned out to be hard-core gangsters — people even the graffiti writers fear. Says Saber: "Just the fact that, if a kid writes on a pole on an illegal billboard he'll receive a felony, already shows you the disproportionate mess that is the Los Angeles penal system."
Grody, a scholar who has devoted decades to documenting outdoor art, thinks the city's and county's approach is tragically simplistic, quoting a 19th-century Swiss historian: "The essence of tyranny is the denial of complexity."
Rime adds that L.A. officials "need to accept that it's going to be there, and accept gray-area solutions. ... Can you imagine Los Angeles without graffiti?"
But this is a culture clash between the anti-graffiti residents of Los Angeles, fed up with ugly scrawls and backed by law enforcement, and the intrigued art world, which is embracing graffiti's more practiced and nuanced forms, including major labels and museums.
Clearly, the law is winning. As Detective Thibodeaux puts it: "I love art. But I kind of feel that maybe art should be inside."
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See also: How the City of Gardena Turns Every Piece of Graffiti Into a Felony Crime
The Secrets of L.A. Street Art: Bumblebee, Sharktoof and Linelinedot Discuss Their Work
Reach the writer at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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By: Mark McGrouther, Category: Science, Date: 08 Sep 2010
In 2009, colleagues at the University of Washington, created quite a stir when they described a new species of frogfish from Indonesia. The fish goes by the scientific name Histiophryne psychedelica. When you watch the movie you'll probably agree that psychedelica is a good name for this strange fish.
Pietsch, T.W., R.J. Arnold and D.J. Hall 2009 A bizarre new species of frogfish of the genus Histiophryne (Lophiiformes: Antennariidae) from Ambon and Bali, Indonesia. Copeia 2009(1):37-45.
Tags fishes, ichthyology, Psychedelic frogfish, Antennariidae, Histiophryne psychedelica,

subset: commoncrawl


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Graduate- Investment Management company
- Recruiter
- Real Staffing
- Location
- City of London
- Salary
- £25000 - £27000 per annum + excellent benefits
- Posted
- 21 Feb 2013
- Closes
- 21 Mar 2013
- Ref
- Contact
- Nisha Somaia
- Sector
- Banking, Finance & Insurance
- Function
- Finance
- Contract Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full Time
Graduate, Investment management, asset management, IT, technical, graduate opportunity,
Graduate required for Investment management company- London
Graduate required to join a London based Investment Management Company to join their prestigious graduate scheme. This role is an exciting opportunity for a graduate to join a company who offer extensive training and exposure to different areas of the business. The graduate will start of the scheme working in the IT team and moved to other areas before specialising in a certain area of the business by the end of the scheme.
The successful candidate will need to have obtained a 2.1 degree in any discipline but should have a particular interest in the Business or Science field.
This role is based in the City and will pay a base salary of £25,000-£27,000 dependent on experience.
This is a great opportunity for a graduate to join a leading financial organisation providing fantastic career prospects.
If you have the above skills and a natural passion for both finance and technology then please apply to this position or contact Nisha Somaia on 02073983600.
Graduate, Investment management, asset management, IT, technical, graduate opportunity,
To find out more about Real, please visit us on www.realstaffing.co.uk


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Gulf Coast Electric Deploys Safety Software for Compliance
Toronto - January 16, 2013 - Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative, a leading Florida-based electric service provider, has deployed Field ID's industry-leading inspection and safety compliance software to improve efficiency, training management and compliance across its operations.
Gulf Coast Electric, part of the national Touchstone Energy Cooperatives
alliance, now uses Field ID for the iPhone and the web to manage safety
and compliance for approximately 75 employees serving 2,500 miles of
power lines in Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Walton and Washington
counties and in the municipalities of Wewahitchka, Ebro, Lynn Haven,
White City, Fountain and Southport.
"Providing high standards of service and accountability to our electric service customers requires efficient tracking of training and safety compliance," said Lacy Pettis, Compliance Officer, Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative. "Staying compliant with OSHA and ANSE requirements can be a big job for a utilities operation like ours. Field ID helps us increase efficiency, save time, and ensure the safety of our workers."
Previously, the cooperative used traditional paper-based inspections and spreadsheets to manage safety records. With Field ID, Gulf Coast Electric has digitized employee certifications. Equipment such as personal protective gear and fire extinguishers is inspected using smartphones and tracked within Field ID's cloud-based system. Workers, crews, vehicles and equipment can be electronically identified by badge, ID or serial number to ensure complete compliance with relevant training requirements or regulations.
"At Field ID, we make safety and compliance as simple as possible for our users by powering processes with the latest technologies," said Somen Mondal, CEO, Field ID. "Gulf Coast Electric is one of many organizations combining our cloud-based software with smartphones and tablets to eliminate inefficient paper-based compliance work."
About Field ID
Field ID is the world's leading safety inspection and compliance management system for the web and mobile devices operating on Google Android, Apple iOS and Windows Mobile. The company's easy-to-use, cloud-based inspection software has revolutionized the way companies manage safety compliance and create safer workplaces. Field ID combines web-based and mobile technologies with the power of electronic identification (RFID and barcodes) to improve the efficiency, reliability and reporting of workplace safety management. Manufacturers, distributors, third party inspectors and end users worldwide use Field ID to inspect facilities and equipment, conduct job site audits, manage corrective and preventive actions, improve training/certifications management, and track assets such as cranes, slings and harnesses. For more information, please visit www.fieldid.com.
About Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative
Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative is part of the Touchstone Energy® national alliance of local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to members large and small. Approximately 75 employees serve more than 20,000 meters and 2,500 miles of line in Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Walton and Washington counties and in the municipalities of Wewahitchka, Ebro, Lynn Haven, White City, Fountain and Southport.
For more information contact:
Jeff Ling
Marketing Manager
Field ID
Lacy Pettis
Compliance Officer
Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative


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2007-06-06 / Front Page
Two women robbed at mall; police ask public for help in apprehending suspect
Shoppers were moving in and out of the Westfield Mall in Massapequa on Friday morning, most unaware that the night before a woman and her daughter were held up there by an armed gunman who demanded their handbags and fled. "I didn't hear about it," said Lucia Troiano of North Massapequa, who was at the mall shopping on Friday. "It doesn't scare me; it happens.
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A new song will be posted in this thread every day. Hopefully this will help people discover some new music. I'll be posting songs from basically all genres.
Today's Song of the Day:
Previous Songs of the Day:
Today's Song of the Day:
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots


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BRUSSLES, Belgium, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- British and Belgian officials have reached an agreement that will re-open the European market to diamonds from Zimbabwe, sources told the EU Observer.
The Observer said Saturday the deal on diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange region was struck late this week during telephone discussions between British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders.
The agreement lifts the ban on Marange diamonds but warns Zimbabwe it will be reinstated if President Robert Mugabe rigs the presidential election expected to be held in July.
Mugabe's soldiers have been accused by human rights organizations of using forced labor to mine for diamonds in the Marange and funneling the revenues to Mugabe's political party.
The Observer said Mugabe himself and 10 companies would remain blacklisted from the European diamond trade but the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp., which oversees mining in Marange, will be removed from the roster.


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Republicans believed a Mitt Romney win would seal Obamacare's fate. Democrats — or rather, the lonely two-fifths of Americans who support the president's beleaguered healthcare law — believed an Obama win would secure its future. Both sides were kidding themselves.
Romney may have pledged to repeal the law, but his positions on Obamacare had the life span of a rainbow. He supported an identical law when he got the credit for signing it as governor of Massachusetts. He then opposed Obamacare when that's what GOP primary voters wanted to hear, and later endorsed parts of it when he thought that's what moderate voters wanted to hear. Anyone who put stock in Romney's pledge to fight for repeal simply wasn't paying attention.
Democrats are likewise deluding themselves if they think the law is safe because Obama wields the veto pen. The greatest threat to Obamacare was never a Romney presidency but Obamacare itself.
The law remains vulnerable because of its unpopularity, the compromises that unpopularity forced on its authors and the Supreme Court's ruling that part of it is unconstitutional. These factors guarantee repeal will remain a viable issue, and — I predict — that the president will ultimately sign a bill making major changes, at the very least.


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Reading Development
Risk Factors for Reading Problems
Get the facts on risk factors for reading problems to help put all kids on the path to reading success, right from the start.
How does Nemours BrightStart! help educators?
Nemours BrightStart! offers educators and child care professionals practical, science-based tools and training to address the real-life challenges of building reading readiness skills in kids. We also offer training and professional development for early educators.
Designed with educators and early learning specialists, Nemours BrightStart! programs and curriculum have been field tested with thousands of prekindergarteners at risk of reading failure. They have proven highly effective in building alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness skills that support future reading success.
Since the beginning of Nemours BrightStart! in 2005:
- Tens of thousands of prekindergarteners have been screened on early literacy skills, with thousands of at-risk children receiving Nemours BrightStart! intensive educational instruction.
- Two-thirds of participating at-risk children who have received the Nemours BrightStart! educational instruction have moved to the typical range in their reading readiness skills.
- At-risk prekindergarteners completing the Nemours BrightStart! intensive educational instruction gain an average of 114 percent on their reading
readiness scores.
Originally, Nemours BrightStart! staff solely provided the Nemours BrightStart! screening and instruction. In 2009, the Nemours BrightStart! delivery model added training for early childhood educators to conduct screenings and instruction using the Nemours BrightStart! curriculum (a capacity-building
model approach).
The children in the capacity-building model groups averaged nearly 150 percent annualized gains in early literacy skills, actually surpassing the 114 percent historical benchmark average gain set by Nemours BrightStart! staff (see question above). When taught by their own teachers using Nemours BrightStart! curriculum, child outcomes exceeded expectations.
Nemours BrightStart! has formed a relationship with Kaplan Early Learning Company to carry Nemours BrightStart! programs and products throughout the U.S. Call Kaplan Early Learning Company at (800) 334-2014 or visit them online.
The Nemours BrightStart! Program for Early Literacy Success includes:
- Lesson Plans Kit: includes scripted lesson plans, related materials
to complete each lesson, and learning objectives tied to state and
national standards
- Manipulatives Kit: provides multisensory materials that help children learn with fun, motivating and developmentally appropriate activities
- Book Set
Nemours BrightStart! conducts workshops that provide current information on best practices that prepare young children for reading success. All professional development courses incorporate research-based best practices for adult learners. They are designed to make the best use of your time and give you knowledge and skills to apply immediately in your work setting.
Please call us at (877) 878-3118 for more information.
Current courses include:
- Overview of Nemours BrightStart!
- Enhancing the Literacy Center
- Reading Aloud to Young Children
- Emergent Writing
- Dyslexia 101
- Basics of Multisensory Instruction
- Phonological and Phonemic Awareness
New topics are added periodically, and we can customize presentations in some instances. We also give presentations at regional and national conferences, such as National Association for the Education of Young Children and its state affiliates, International Reading Association, International Dyslexia Association and its state affiliates, and One Goal in Tampa, Fla.
Please call us at (877) 878-3118 for more information.
Learn More
More information
Smart Horizons
In addition, Nemours BrightStart! has partnered with Smart Horizons, an online training provider, to host Nemours BrightStart! online workshops and courses, continuing education and other resources for educators.


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American beauties were everywhere you looked at last week's Tod's and Vogue co-hosted party, appropriate enough given that the champagne was flowing to toast the book launch of Claiborne Swanson Frank's American Beauty. Held at the massive party space du jour, 583 Park Avenue, a former synagogue, the spate of gorgeous girls (including our own global editor Connie Wang) on hand were actually also subjects of photographer Frank's camera skills, as evidenced by all the cellphone snaps we saw of the beauts mugging with their portraits.
The hotness scale was averaging a "9,"—Claiborne's all-American women included a very pregnant Lily Aldridge (who literally defines the term "glowing"), R29-faves Solange Knowles and Elettra Wiedemann, an elaborately dressed Bettina Prentice, jewelry designer Lisa Salzer (with BF Marlon Taylor-Miles in tow — swoonage), Scene editor Peter Davis, the LSD, and a, yes, happy-looking Anna Wintour, Claib's former boss. To quote another movie title sans Kevin Spacey, the night was crazy beautiful. We can prove it—click through our selection of the most—you know what's coming— beauteous snaps.


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If you have a family with little children and full time wife, then you will always want to spend much time with them and watch your kids grow up. As the parent, you always want to give them the best that you can get but some accidental moments can break your dream. To prevent them suffering if you leave them earlier, you need life insurance as the best protection for the future and give them hope to survive although you are not with them anymore.
What you Need To Know About Life Insurance?
Though you think that the result is easy, but you may not know the system procedure behind and you need to understand few things about life insurance before getting it such as:
• This protection has contract called policy
This protection also has contract called policy as the basic and foundation of the agreement so you will not get protected if you don't follow the rule inside the policy. Basically, a policy is the contract between the consumer who wants to be protected and the company who provides the protection. Inside that, both insured people and also company must follow the rule and both parties will get a copy of this thing. The agreement ends with signatures from both parties and also premium payment. In certain of time, the insured people must pay for premium in order for the exchange of protection.
• There are four players in the policy
In the policy of life protection, there are four important roles or players. The first one is insurer. It is the company and owner of the product and they are responsible to protect you and pay for the claim. Second, there is owner and this owner is responsible to take care of the premium payments of company and next is the insured. The insured is someone whose life is in the policy or the person who want to get protected with policy. The last is beneficiary or the receiver of the claim payment if something happened to insured.
By knowing the important parts of life insurance, you may get to know the benefits you can have if you are registering in that protection for your family's future.


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Galileo Educator Network Professional Development Workshop - Georgia
The Aviation Museum at Robbins Air Force Base, Warner Robbins, GA (near Macon, GA)
Saturday, March 22 & Saturday, April 12 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
The NASA Galileo Educator Network (GEN) is a NASA-funded teacher professional development program managed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. GEN professional development engages teachers of astronomy and general science, especially in grades 3-9, in effective instructional strategies and educational resources to teach space and Earth science in the context of the Next Generation Science Standards.
GEN makes effective use of NASA-developed and NASA-supported resources, integrating astronomy/space science content with Galileo-inspired science inquiry and exploration.
Teachers who participate in this 15-hour GEN teacher workshop (12 hours of contact time supplemented with 3 hours of online work) become Galileo Educators. Participants will receive NASA education materials, including The Universe at Your Fingertips, which includes 133 classroom-tested hands-on activities, and additional resources on a DVD-ROM.
For additional information and to register, contact GEN Fellow Frank Lock at firstname.lastname@example.com or 941-475-1578.
Saturday, March 22, 2014 - 9:00am to 3:30pm
Venue name if any:
The Aviation Museum at Robbins Air Force Base, Warner Robbins, GA (near Macon, GA)
Fee for participation:


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Free Headboard with All Bed Purchases is Better Furniture's offer to you. There is no better price than FREE! Free Delivery and Free Headboard! Free Premium Delivery Included. Great Value Two-Man Delivery Service Furniture delivered to a room of your choice Informative up-to date communication throughout. With so many… Read more →
Tag: beds electric care adjustable
Sleep Luxury at Better Furniture – Great Yarmouth
Sleep Luxury can be a luxury not everyone can achieve for themselves. We have such busy life schedules and stressful times which create a catalyst into us 'grabbing' a snatched 'snooze in the armchair when we get home from work! When we do actually get to our beds , what should be sleep luxury turns into a sleep nightmare! The sleep… Read more →
Your Own Bed !There is No bed Like it!
Your Own bed is special. There is No bed Like Your Own Bed. Hello Bed Blog Readers! I have been on holiday to Barcelona! 'Oh, what a beautiful City' I stayed in the Gothic Quarter with family and aswell as the 81 steps to get to our accomodation I have walked miles and miles, and this was just getting lost every… Read more →
Bed Buying Guide
Bed Buying Guide and Some Frequently Asked Questions As part of the Bedding Team at Better Furniture, I was asked to come up with some questions that I frequently get asked in our Great Yarmouth Store. I thought I would share these with my Blog followers! Bed buying guide… Its by no means fully comprehensive and as I always explain to… Read more →
Adjustable Beds – For Everyone
Adjustable beds really are for everyone. It is a commonly held misconception that adjustable beds are just for the elderly or sick, as our minds think of old fashioned heavy metal beds with a noisy frames and antiquated foot pumps. Our thoughts are with the hospital varieties with one of those invalid tables across the front to hold the jug of water and… Read more →


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The process of buying a new Jaguar car or truck can seem overwhelming if you don't know where to begin. Edmunds.com can get you started on the right track with a convenient directory of Jaguar car dealerships in and around White Post, Virginia. Compare online price quotes on the new or used car, truck, SUV, minivan, or wagon of your choice to locate the best deals. Edmunds.com makes it easy to find trusted Jaguar car dealers in White Post, saving car buyers time and money on what will be an important purchase.
Non Display Review Name "I have been to many dealerships in my lifetime and none impressed me more then this dealership. Everyone was well experienced and took great care of m"... Read more Review by: JLecuyer


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Osteoporosis is a condition where a loss of bone density and decreased strength of the skeleton results in an increased risk of fracture. The prevalence of osteoporosis is thought to be underestimated in Australia because, due to its lack of signs and symptoms, it often goes undiagnosed until a fracture occurs. Fractures as a result of trauma that would not cause normal bone to break, for example falls from standing height or minor bumps, are often the first sign of osteoporosis. The risk of further fractures increases with each fracture. Osteoporotic fractures, especially hip and pelvic fractures, are associated with an increased risk of death in following years. About 24% of people who sustain a hip fracture are estimated to die in the following 12 months (AIHW 2008, 2011).
Arthritis and musculoskeletal disease was identified as either an underlying or associated cause of death for 6,400 (4.6%) deaths registered in 2009. Of all deaths due to arthritis or musculoskeletal disease in 2009, 71% were females (ABS Causes of Death, 2009).
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On 09.03.2011 12:54, Petri Hintukainen wrote: > Klaus Schmidinger wrote: >> On 08.03.2011 22:31, Udo Richter wrote: >>> Am 08.03.2011 22:09, schrieb Klaus Schmidinger: >>>> Don't get too excited about the TrueColor OSD, though. >>>> What comes with VDR is only the basic OSD platform that >>>> allows plugins to use full screen 32 bit ARGB color, >>>> with alpha blendable pixmaps and such. >>> >>> Do you have any numbers on OSD speed for, lets say, some prototype >>> output device you may have at hand? >>> >>> An old-style 720x576x8 display has just 400k size, HD RGB32 however has >>> 6Mb. This could limit display update speed notably for animations or >>> video overlays using OSD. Would be nice to know how much is possible. >> >> Sending the full screen OSD with 32 bit ARGB to the TT-S2 6400 takes >> roughly 500ms. Most of the time, though, only small portions of the >> screen are modified and need to be transferred to the hardware (or >> whatever device actually displays the OSD). > > What kind of interface is provided to output device plugins ? It would > be nice if output devices could hook to the drawing primitives instead > of plain ARGB OSD plane. > When the output device is behind network, transferring just the > primitives would give huge speed gain (drawing background using filled > rectangle, drawing text using cached pixmaps etc.). Using derived > cBitmap class would allow preloading pixmaps so that those could be > transferred to the device memory in advance.
It's exactly that way. The new cPixmap class can be reimplemented by the OSD device to make all the actual processing happen in a device specific way. The default implementation works on a local array of 32 bit pixel values. Klaus _______________________________________________ vdr mailing list email@example.com http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vdr


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Will the U.S. economy make or break commodities?
That was the question posed by UBS in a note to investors on Monday, as gold and other precious and base metals enjoyed a snappy little recovery. April gold was up nearly $20 an ounce. Gains were helped in part by a global equities rally that looked to be taking hold Monday. Read more on gold trading.
So, the conclusion from UBS? As analyst Julien Garren explains in a note, the role the U.S. economy plays in influencing commodity prices is a delicate dance, but providing investors can be patient, it\'s a winner for gold. Part of the selloff for gold last week was blamed on Fed minutes that triggered worries the central bank would wrap up its big asset-buying program faster than expected. That means holding gold as an alternative to the U.S. dollar, seen as vulnerable to the Fed\'s stimulus policies, is less urgent.
Here\'s how Garren expects things to play out for gold:
\"A recovery that led to strong job gains and an unexpected rise in inflation would likely force the Fed to end QE, and that would be very bearish for commodities. However, given the Fed voters\' highly dovish bias, we expect them to continue printing into 3Q13 when we in commodity strategy, in contrast to our economists, expect global growth to lose momentum. That sets up a major gold rally in Q3,\" says Garren.
Straight out U.S. demand for commodities is also a potential boost for prices, says Garren. The U.S. accounts for 10% of global aluminum and copper demand, but adding in finished goods imports, that total rises to 15%. Last year, he says UBS estimated the U.S. destocked 10% of a year\'s demand for those metals. Maury Harris, chief economist at UBS, is forecasting demand-led restocking in the first half of 2013, which means the U.S. could add around 1.5% to 2% to world demand for metals in the first half, much more than the 0.2% that consensus expects.
UBS\'s Garren tosses in some stock picks for good measure, such as buy-rated Rio Tinto , Glencore , Xstrata , Ferrexpo uk , Kazakhmys and Freeport . He also likes Franco-Nevada, though investors should be aware that gold \"sweetspot\" is coming mid-year.
An upbeat word or two from UBS looks well-placed on a Monday where it\'s all go for gold. So toss that in the ring with Citigroup\'s bearish call on gold last Friday. Citi went as far as to warn about \"hibernation\" from gold prices and slashed ratings on three miners.
– Barbara Kollmeyer
– Follow The Tell blog on @thetellblog
– Follow this reporter on @MWBarbaraKollmeyer


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Saturday's a big day for the family: Haircut day.
Wife, daughter and son. I'm left out as per usual. Just not cost-effective for the follically challenged to go to the barber. I can spend five minutes a couple of times a week and do it myself.
Haircuts are a big deal in our house because they don't happen all that often. It will be a first for baby Brant. Just to trim some around the ears. And maybe corral that stuff on top that gets unruly when he gets sweaty. I sort of chuckle when I see it get out of control because I know, if genetics really do have anything to do with it, he's already used up about 10 percent of the time he's even going to have hair. Poor kid doesn't even know yet.
How he is going to handle it, I have no idea. He made it through his first trip to the movie theatre last week, but no one was putting sharp objects in his face and his older sister wasn't drooling all over him as she will this weekend. Like most 2-year-olds, he's not real fond of sitting still for more than about 3 seconds, so we will see.
Now the day is also a rarity for Maren, who despite nearing her eighth birthday, is only going for her third haircut. Three. Ever. I cut my hair more times in a seven-day window than my daughter has in about 2,900 days on earth.
While Maren has certainly turned the corner into girlie girl, one thing she has not really concerned herself with is her hair. She prefers to wear it down rather than up in a ponytail, or even wear a headband to keep it back. She hates brushing it.
If she only knew what Brant was in for in about 25 years, she'd treat that stuff like Rapunzel's golden locks.


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Early Embraces: True Life Stories of Women Describing Their First Lesbian Experience
Lindsey Elder
Alyson Publications, 1996 - Social Science - 190 pages
An excerpt
RSVP by Julia Willis
"Can you come to a fish fry?" you asked. Leaving me there in that windowed stairwell where we'd been talking, you rushed away to your next class after the final bell rang. I watched you below dart out of the building and down the sidewalk, stop, turn, look up, and catch me watching you. Then embarrassed from being caught, I waved, casually, friendly, you know -- but instead of going on your way, you dashed right back into the building and called up the stairwell to me. "Can you come to a fish fry?"
I thought you were joking. "A fish fry?" I laughed.
"We're having one at my house." That house you shared in town with three other women -- Susan, who would end up spending all the money she'd collected for the utility bills before moving in with her married and gray-haired abnormal-psychology professor; Lisa, whose childhood had been nastily scarred by a father's promise to have TV's Annie Oakley at her eighth birthday party (he brought home the actress while she was on a 10-city promotional tour--a grown-up lady in a suit, a lady no one recognized without her trademark pigtails, guns, fringed vest and cowgirl boots, and ten little girls wept bitterly); and finally Margaret, your best friend from high school, who I and most people assumed you were or had been lovers with, since the air around you both was so thick with longing that we could all taste it.
"Bring everybody from Duchess house, if you want," you said. Duchess House being that collapsing country farmhouse I lived in with Dick and Diana, a young married couple -- too young and too married--and an assortment of other revolving students. The house was so named because our English teacher, Dick's and mine, said all great literature made use of religion, sex, or the aristocracy, hence the greatest sentence ever written would go something like: "My God," said the duchess to the bishop, "take your hand off my thigh." Duchess. House.
We wrote and painted and acted, your household and mine--all of us talented, all of us terrified of that talent, that it wouldn't be enough (as indeed it wouldn't be) or that it might be too much (as it most certainly would). You were a visual artist, but your father was head
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The Moon Now and Then
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U.S. News And World Report Recognizes Lake Region Union High School
BARTON - For a third straight year Lake Region Union High School has received a prestigious award recognizing the school's academic achievement. The U.S. News and World Report rewarded the school with a silver medal, ranking eighth in the state of Vermont. Last year the school finished third in the state. Please see The Newport Daily Express for the complete story.


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Flight returns, 2 women facing charges
TORONTO (AP) — Two Canadian women are facing charges after authorities say they drank their duty free alcohol in the flight's bathroom, triggered the fire alarm with a cigarette and got into a fight each other, forcing a Sunwing flight bound for Cuba to return to Toronto under a military escort.
Peel Region police Thursday said Lilia Ratmanski, 25, and Milana Muzikante, 26, have been charged with smoking on board an aircraft and endangering its safety.
The airline said the flight had left Toronto late Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 when it was disrupted by "two unruly female passengers."
Sunwing vice-president Janine Chapman said the passengers had consumed a "significant quantity of their duty-free alcohol purchase in the lavatory."
She said they lit a cigarette, triggering the smoke alarm, and "proceeded to get into a physical altercation with each other and made a threat against the aircraft."
NORAD said it scrambled two CF-18 fighter jets based out of Bagotville, Quebec, to escort Flight 656 back to Toronto.
Major Julie Roberge, a spokeswoman for NORAD based in Colorado Springs, Colo., said the CF-18s met the aircraft at the Canadian border and did not venture into American airspace.
She said the pilot had decided to turn the plane around over South Carolina and "that's when NORAD got involved," adding there was no escort in U.S. airspace.
Roberge said the aircraft landed at Toronto's Pearson International airport at about 8:30 p.m. and that the CF-18 escort lasted just four minutes. She called the military escort a precautionary measure and a standard procedure in such incidents.
Peel Region Const. Thomas Ruttan said the entire plane "erupted in cheers" when the two were removed from the aircraft after it arrived back at Pearson. He said the pair will appear in court later Thursday for a bail hearing and will also face additional charges including mischief endangering life and uttering threats.
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START ME UP: iPOP! attendees quickly fill up queues as agents, managers, and production company reps meet with the many talented students hoping for a chance to work in show business.
THE KID JAMS: Six-year-old JRP-Connecticut student Kai Rumcheran finds a fan in MTV's Yo-Mamma star Sam Sarpong, who was so impressed with Kai that he invited him to a live taping session on the day they met.
Summer 2016
Factors For Success
To guide you on your road to success, Eve Matheson goes to the pros for answers to essential industry questions.
By Eve Matheson
Spring 2016
Making it in the Midwest
While it has never seemed possible in the past, America's heartland has become a great launching pad for young models to make it big.
Winter 2015
Starting from Scratch
Former international model Raquel Ann Repka went from runway to representation, and offers her advice for chasing dreams in this fast-paced glamour industry.
Fall 2015
Follow in Legendary Footsteps
If you want to become a superstar in the modeling industry, look no further than Gisele Bündchen for inspiration, motivation, and the guts to keep trying.
Summer 2015
The Value of Hard Work
Breaking into the modeling industry isn't simply about having a beautiful face, as much as it's about working to prove you're worth it.
Spring 2015
Turning the Modeling World Upside Down
Australia's Greg Tyshing is creating runway-ready models by using the lessons that he has learned from the industry since childhood.
Winter 2014
Cutting to the Chase
The 2014 European Model Showcase stole the spotlight from some huge events in Paris, while featuring the next models to walk the international runways.
By Eve Matheson
Fall 2014
Your Perfect Portfolio
While there's no specific style set in stone for your modeling photo album, there are things that you can do to definitely catch a scout's eye.
Summer 2014
Following Your Dreams
Nobody is going to deny you the opportunity to follow your dream of becoming a model, but that doesn't mean the journey will be easy.
Spring 2014
Clicking at the Right Time
Endurance and a universally respected name have made CLICK one of the
most important and successful names in the world of modeling.
Winter 2013
Opportunity Knocks
Thanks to the blossoming eCommerce industry, modeling agencies like Leni's Model Management have been able to succeed despite the economy.
Fall 2013
Breaking Barriers
Models from countries that have never been synonymous with fashion are suddenly finding success as the industry opens more doors.
Summer 2013
Broadening Your Horizons
Industry experts Tony Perkins and Anna Lewkowska encourage models to reach beyond the runways of Paris and NYC.
Spring 2013
Think Before you Ink
From tattoos to tanning, aspiring models should put considerable thought into decisions that could possibly affect their long-term appearances.
Winter 2012
From London to Las Vegas, success knows no bounds for some of the biggest up-and coming names in modeling and entertainment representation.
Fall 2012
Calling for More Support
Inspirational organizations like Models For Christ are becoming more valuable to the careers of aspiring models in need of direction.
Summer 2012
Words of Wisdom
Between the expertise of scouts at IMTA and the ever-changing methods of industry geniuses, there is plenty of advice out there for aspiring models.
Spring 2012
Passport to Discovery
For most people, a cruise is just a relaxing vacation, but this special cruise is packed with the modeling opportunities of a lifetime.
Winter 2011
Time Honored
New York City and Washington D.C. played host to two historical events for the modeling and entertainment industries.
Fall 2011
Thinking About Japan
After dealing with consecutive tragedies, Japan's modeling industry is ready to resume being a major international influence.
Summer 2011
Your modeling career can be a short one if you don't take advantage of the right opportunities when they are presented to you.
Hollywood hopefuls packed the house at IMTA with the desire to become the next Ashley Greene.
By Angel Anthony Mendez
The talented stars of Nickelodeon, Twilight and iPOP! once again raised money for the Starlight Children's Foundation.
Spring 2011
Some of the modeling industry's experts weigh in on what it takes for young talent to get to Italy.
Winter 2010
Hard work and dedication are your tickets to achieving your goals, and even being on the front of Pageantry.
The International Modeling and Talent Association provides some insight as to what makes their convention an amazing tool for aspiring models and actors.
Ryan Lionberger and Nicole Geiger were named this year's Mr. and Ms. Barbizon at the International Modeling and Talent Association convention in New York City.
The International Presentation of Performers [iPOP!] once again helped guide aspiring young models and actors to achieving their dreams of fame and stardom.
Christina Alvarez and Justin Luz walked away winners with the titles of Miss and Mr. iPOP!.
Fall 2010
Karen Lee has used her extensive background to develop a new series of modeling and acting workshops.
Summer 2010
On the Upswing
The modeling and entertainment industries show enthusiasm about a rebounding economy and more jobs.
They're in the Zone
By earning the titles of Ms. and Mr. Barbizon, Meredith Masteller and Joey Rodriguez are staring at a wide open future.
Wish Upon a Star
iPOP! celebrates with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Starlight Children's Foundation at the bi-annual convention in Los Angeles.
"It's" all up to You
The only person who can truly define the X-Factor known as "It" is you.
By Angel Anthony Mendez
Spring 2010
Only the week survives
Fashion Week invades new cities and proves that even a slow economy can't stop the power of creative designers.
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100DollarLeads needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 45 designs submitted by 7 freelance designers.
100DollarLeads.com produces business cards that resemble real money and are great for sales persons in almost any field. Real estate agents, multi-level marketers, auto sales professionals, stock brokers, financial counselors…the list is endless.
Potential clients are business people who are looking for a way to stand out from the competition.
We are looking for a professional yet high energy website design
that will catch a visitors attention. It needs to be hip and trendy, but also show professionalism.
Looking for someone that is creative and thinks outside the box.
100DollarLeads.com - The business card no one throws away!
The design should feature most of the same menus as http://www.dollarcardmarketing.com OR http://WWW.CreativeCashCards.COM But SHOULD BE COMPLETELY ORINGINAL AND STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION! PLEASE DO NOT DIRECTLY COPY ANY ELEMENTS FROM A COMPETITORS SITE IT NEEDS TO BE ORIGINAL AND CREATIVE!
It needs to be vibrant, but also show professionalism. Looking for something that is creative and outside the box thinking.
Must stand out - Could incorporate a flash video or design.
100dollarleads.com logo design.
Must Provide All Website layout pages - if selected I will
have you provide me with any other graphics needed such as
menu buttons for other pages etc
Anything copied from a competitors website! Everything should be original and creative! I challenge you to think outside the box!


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By Matthew Hurley; He was blessed with smooth boxing skills and crunching power in both hands. But his inner demons led him down a self-destructive path that robbed him of his career, his family and his sense of self-worth. When he rallied, pulling himself together with the help of treatment and a return to the ring, the damage already done to his body over those years of abuse conspired against him and left him dead at the age of thirty-four in parents' home.
There was a time when Edwin Rosario was touted as the next great Puerto Rican fighter, and some even made comparisons to Roberto Duran. His popularity grew exponentially over a short period of time and by 1983, at the age of twenty, he became the WBC lightweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over future hall of fame inductee Jose Luis Ramirez.
His star on the rise, he then knocked out Roberto Elizondo in one round and then engaged in a dramatic twelve round give-and-take with 1976 Olympic gold medalist Howard Davis Jr. Trailing the crafty boxer on the scorecards Rosario, always dangerous, dropped his rival flat on his back with only seconds remaining in the final round to hang on to his title by split decision. It was the type of victory that propelled him to the upper echelon of boxing's biggest television stars and onto many a pound-for-pound best list.
And then things would never be quite the same.
A rematch with Ramirez produced the kind of fireworks fans crave and it garnered fight of the year honors. But there was no comeback in this return match for Edwin. Despite flooring Ramirez twice, in the first and second rounds, Rosario fell apart in the fourth, crashing into the turnbuckle after a relentless Ramirez assault forcing referee Steve Crosson to stop the fight.
Edwin Rosario was born in Ingenio, a rough barrio of Toa Baja in Puerto Rico. As a youngster he was nicknamed 'Chapo' by playmates – a condensed version of chaparrito meaning "little man".
According to Rosario at around the age of eight or nine he discovered the Lecittown Gym and decided to see what it was all about. The smell of the gym, the rat-a-tat-tat of the speed bags and the machismo of the fighters in training captivated little Edwin and trainer Manny Sciaca would later say the kid was a natural. His innate ability was pulled out of him easily and Rosario had the look early on of a future world champion.
There was another inspiration for 'Chapo' as well – his older brother 'Papa' Rosario who had become enamored with boxing a few years earlier and was in the beginning stages of a promising career. In a foreshadowing of what would happen to their younger son that would leave any parent stricken with grief, 'Papa' succumbed to the often tragic lure of the streets and all the dark shadows therein. He would die in a drug related incident. Edwin, only two years into his career, was devastated and would dedicate all his future hard work in the ring to his older brother.
When the title shot eventually came against Ramirez, Edwin was ready but his older opponent was more experienced. In a close fight, Rosario came out on top but suffered a severe setback when he injured his right wrist. The subsequent surgery left him on the sidelines for an extended period of time. Edwin always felt the procedure done on his wrist, which would become an intermittent hindrance throughout his career, never took or healed properly.
"That first operation was not a success," he lamented. "They wanted to do another one, with a bone graft. But if they had I don't think I would have been able to fight again. It was a real tough time. I was worried about the future of my career."
Rosario opted for acupuncture instead and moved on until the loss against Ramirez in the rematch. He was convinced the wrist hadn't properly healed, or it simply played on his mind making him more tentative to throw the right hand. This lapse would often plague some of his performances. He would often start strong, looking for the early knockout, as he did against Howard Davis Jr. If it didn't come his punch rate would drop alarmingly. Sometimes he seemed to sleepwalk through rounds. But then, more often than not and with the prodding of his corner men, the fire would return and something dramatic would happen.
He would move on from the Ramirez defeat amidst whispers that he was never quite as good as everyone initially thought. Those criticisms bothered him to no end. One loss, in the fight of the year no less, should not have dissuaded fans and the press of his abilities. According to Edwin it was simply a bad night.
"I took a chance on knocking him out early," he said later. "I lost. That's part of boxing."
No other explanation should have been necessary. Undefeated records in boxing are rare and in most cases the result of a fighter avoiding top competition. Still, to this day, a zero in a fighter's loss column seems to hold some significance with some people and it is utter nonsense. But it did get under Rosario's skin making him ask the same questions of himself as others were lobbing at him.
Oddly, after a few comeback victories including one over future Julio Cesar Chavez conqueror Frankie Randall, it would be another loss that revived his career and put him back on center stage.
In June of 1986, as a significant underdog, he faced off against one of the biggest names in the sport, Hector 'Macho' Camacho. In a fight many thought would be a walkover for the streaking Camacho, Rosario badly staggered his cocky foe in the fifth round with a perfectly timed left hook. With the rounds tightly contested the big fifth seemed to turn the crowd in Rosario's favor. He did it again in the eleventh with another short left hook that had Camacho back peddling and holding on for the remainder of the fight.
Then, when the judges scorecards were read, the split decision went to Hector. Edwin appeared shell-shocked at the announcement but it was the crowd's reaction that boosted his spirits.
"I was down when the decision was announced," he said, "but the people started to boo him and cheer for me."
In hopes of a rematch that would never come – Camacho, for all his braggadocio, never wanted to tangle with Rosario again – the WBA elevated 'Chapo' in its rankings, forcing a showdown with champion Livingstone Bramble.
Once again a huge underdog Rosario entered the ring poised, confident and unusually calm. It was all over in the second round when a right hand exploded on Bramble's usually reliable chin and ended matters.
Rosario immediately called out Camacho, who fought to a tedious decision victory in the main event on the same card against an aging Cornelius Boza-Edwards. But Hector waved a rematch off. Many believe those two near knockdowns he suffered through against Edwin broke his fighting spirit. He was never the same fighter again.
Things looked to be back on track for Rosario but in 1987 he ran into a prime Julio Cesar Chavez. Chavez systematically broke Rosario apart in one of the best performances of his lengthy career. With his eye swollen shut, blood pouring from a cut in his mouth, his body ravaged by left hooks to the liver, Rosario fought with a champion's heart until the bout was finally stopped by his corner in the eleventh round.
Once again Edwin was forced to climb the ranks and when Chavez moved out of the division he fought again for his old title against Anthony Jones, stopping him in the sixth round. With the victory he became one of only a handful of fighters to win world championships in the same division three times.
He then took on Juan Nazario, a fighter he had already defeated by eighth round knockout three years earlier. But this time Nazario turned the tables stopping Rosario because of cuts after eight stanzas.
It was around this time that rumors about Rosario's outside ring activities began to surface. But he would seemingly put them to bed when he moved up to the junior welterweight division and stopped WBA champion Loreto Garza in the third round. And then, in his first defense, he was shockingly stopped in the first round by Akinobu Hiranaka.
After that nothing was the same. He would lose in another rematch to Frankie Randall and then vanished into a sea of drugs and alcohol that kept him out of the ring for over four years.
So desperate had his plight become that he was arrested after stealing a case of beer from a local supermarket. His downward spiral nearly complete, his wife and kids were gone and in his shambolic state he had moved back in with his parents, Edwin decided his only safe haven was the boxing ring.
He entered a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program and eventually went back to the gym. But he was no longer a star or courted by the major TV networks. Instead he was fighting on obscure cards and the ignominy of where he was as opposed to where he once was tortured his now fragile psyche.
On December 1, 1997 he visited his ex-wife and four daughters but left their home abruptly, complaining of not feeling well.
After returning to his parents' house he again said the same thing and went to his room to lay down. About an hour later his father went in to check on him and found his son dead in his bed. Just like that, at only thirty-four, he was gone.
An autopsy would later reveal that he had died of an aneurysm, with fluid having accumulated in his lungs. Doctors would also add that his past history with drugs and alcohol were a major contributing factor, although neither were found in his system at the time of his death. Sadly, it looked as though Edwin was trying to stay clean and get his life together when it suddenly ended.
Despite the sad deterioration of his final years, and never quite reaching his full potential as a boxer, Rosario's funeral in Puerto Rico become an event for a fallen hero. It was estimated that over five thousand people went to the funeral or lined the streets as the coffin was driven slowly to the cemetery.
It wasn't supposed to end that way for Edwin Rosario. There was too much promise and too much talent for such a depressing conclusion. But drugs and booze don't discriminate. They can cripple anyone from any walk of life. The real tragedy of Edwin's short life is that in that final year or two he was trying to get his life back on track. But his body had enough and time ran out on him where it all began, in his parents' home.
Still, Edwin Rosario left behind a career that is worth rediscovering. When he was good he was very good, bordering on great. There are at least a dozen fights that he was involved in that should be required viewing for any diehard boxing fan. And it was that excitement he brought to the ring, along with his proficient skills and fighting spirit that led to his induction into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in 2006. In that sense, Rosario now resides peacefully alongside all the other inductees at Canastota – a warrior gone home. And there is something comforting in that.
Note: Direct quotes were provided by video owned by the author.
November 21, 2012
© 2000 - 2011 Knockout Entertainment Ltd & SecondsOut.com


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Noosa Library Service hosts a range of fun activities for children each school holidays. From storytelling to wacky workshops, there is something to suit every child.
downloadable: "Noosa Library Summer School Holidays" pdf flyer
Join us for a interactive presentation by Coolum and North Shore Coast Care. Learn about the endangered loggerhead turtle, local nesting sites and join in the craft. Ages 5+.
Bookings required. Gold coin donation appreciated. Book
Noosaville: 10am to 11.30am, Monday 11 Jan 2016
Learn fun and simple coding using a miniature robot- the Ozobot. Create mazes and tracks on paper, game boards and digital screens. Ages 7-10.
Bookings required. Free. Book
Noosaville: 10.00am to 11.00am, Friday 18 Dec 2015 & Thursday 14 Jan 2016
Cooroy: 10.00am to 11.00am, Thursday 17 Dec 2015 & Thursday 21 Jan 2016
Give your imagination a workout in the free play Lego Lounge and create to your heart's content. All ages.
Bookings required. Free. Book
Cooroy: 10am to Noon, Tuesday 12 Jan 2016
Noosaville: 10am to Noon, Tuesday 19 Jan 2016
Come along to a freeform art and craft session. Make a beautiful weaving from waste, create with cardboard and let your creativity run wild. Ages 5+.
Bookings required. Free. Book.
Noosaville: 10am to Noon, Wednesday 13 Jan 2016
Cooroy: 10am to Noon, Wednesday 20 Jan 2016
Steampunk is back. Turn recycled items into funky wearable art. Ages 12+.
Bookings required. Free. Book
Cooroy: 10am to Noon, THursday 14 Jan 2016
Noosaville: 10am to Noon, Thursday 21 Jan 2016
Enjoy the show, then create your own sock puppet with Judy from the Puppet Hut. Ages 9+ Bookings required. Bring your own sock.
Cost $5 pay at the door. Book
Noosaville: 10am to 11.30am Friday 15 Jan 2016
Cooroy: 10am to 11.30am Monday 18 Jan 2016
School Holidays at Noosa Library Service
December 2015 - January 2016
Cooroy, Noosaville and Mobile Library
Bookings required
Ph: 5329 or www.libraries.noosa.qld.gov.au
Summer Reading Club
This year, the Summer Reading Club is all about discovery. There are Lost Worlds to explore, alternate universes to discover and mythical creatures you wouldn't believe - all in your library!
Follow the clues in the exciting online scavenger hunt, visit your library often to check out what's on, and you could win an iPad, iPod, book bundles, movie tickets, and more.
To get onboard register online at www.summerreadingclub.org.au/theclub or at your local library from December 1.
Come along for christmas art and craft after story time. Make an ornament, tree or card. Ages 5+. Bookings required. Free. Book
Noosaville: 10am to Noon, Tuesday 15 December 2015
Cooroy: 10am to Noon, Wednesday 16 December 2015
Come along for christmas stories and songs. There may even be a special visitor! All ages. Bookings not required. Free.
Noosaville: 10am to 11am, Tuesday 22 Dec & Thursday 24 Dec 2015
Cooroy: 10am to 11am, Wednesday 23 December 2015
How to Train Your Dragon 2 rated G, is presented in partnership with Starry Nights Outdoor Movies. For all ages, no bookings required.
Entry by gold coin. www.starrynights.com.au
Cooroy: from 6.30pm Friday 01 January 2016
Noosa Library, Noosaville
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A Victorian amateur footballer who said he acted in self-defence when he fatally punched another man in a drunken Adelaide street fight has been acquitted of manslaughter.
Bradley John Nelson was on an end-of-season trip with other members of the Inverleigh football club, from west of Geelong, when he punched Clint Hislop, 28, in October 2012.
The South Australian Supreme Court jury was told Mr Hislop had been aggressive and punched two footballers before being ejected from a backpackers' hostel at Glenelg.
The crown alleged some of the footballers followed Mr Hislop into the street where there were several skirmishes before he was punched in the face by Mr Nelson.
He fell and hit his head on the road, causing the brain injury from which he later died.
Mr Nelson, who was found not guilty by the jury on Friday, testified that he acted in self-defence, saying he had been scared for his life and thought Mr Hislop was going to hurt him.


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Photo by Joe Giron
On The Sarah Silverman Program, comedian Brian Posehn became the ungayest-looking gay man in television history. With his nerd glasses, gravelly stoner voice and Black Sabbath T-shirt, he played Silverman's next-door neighbor and toked bud with Steve, his equally husky, more-orange-than-Snooki bear lover.
Comedy Central canceled Silverman last year, and Posehn, who's instantly recognizable with his ZZ Top-esque beard terminating in a tumbleweed of gray fuzz, says he sure misses those halcyon days of plotlines that involved marathon Dungeons and Dragons sessions and rocking bong hits with God.
But the 45-year-old,...


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Suunto is committed to protecting the environment and preventing pollution through responsible design, manufacturing and delivery of high quality products and services. Suunto respects nature in all of its facets.
Suunto's environmentally notable principles are:
- Selecting durable materials
- Reducing waste and recycling efficiently
- Collaborating with suppliers for improving environmental performance
- Saving energy in all operations
Suunto is committed to fulfil its compliance obligations in the countries we operate. Suunto is also committed to continual improvement of the Environmental Management System to enhance environmental performance. Suunto is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified.
Suunto environmental management system scope:
- Suunto Vantaa headquarter
- Suunto Vantaa production facility
- Suunto Vantaa repair center


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Kentucky Ag News
Cecil, Imel, Mackey are KFB Farmer of the Year finalists
Kentucky Farm Bureau
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The competitive field for one of Kentucky Farm Bureau's (KFB) top honors has narrowed to its three finalists as preliminary judging of the 2013 "Farmer of the Year" nominees is now complete. Gary Cecil of Daviess County, Kenny Imel of Greenup County, and Ray Allan Mackey of Hardin County are the finalists considered for this year's prestigious award.
KFB initiated a "Farmer of the Year" awards program as a way to recognize its members for their commitment to excellence in agriculture, efficiency in farming practices, sound financial management and outstanding leadership in their county Farm Bureau and other civic organizations. The award recognizes an individual whose personal efforts not only strengthen the state's agriculture industry but also demonstrate service and leadership on and off the farm.
Gary Cecil
Cecil, a 38-year farming veteran, raises tobacco, watermelons, corn, wheat, pumpkins and other miscellaneous vegetables on his 705-acre farm in Owensboro, and is currently the only commercial watermelon grower in the state. His farming career began in the mid-1970's when he rented his first 10 acres of land to grow tobacco and helped local farmers haul their hay and corn. A family endeavor from the beginning, Cecil's wife, Imelda, helped provide additional income by working as a nurse while raising their three children. Their son, Ryan, and daughter, Suzanne, have both returned to the farm to fill integral roles in the operation today. Working with labor-intensive crops like tobacco and vegetables, Cecil now employs more than 20 workers and has added two greenhouses for early vegetable production. He is a long-time KFB member and has served on the Daviess County Farm Bureau board of directors for nearly 30 years, including two terms as president. He also represented Kentucky for 10 years on the U.S. Potato Board, served on Kentucky's Soil Conservation board for 16 years, and has offered his time and leadership to numerous other local civic and industry-specific organizations.
Kenny Imel
Imel, a 37-year farming veteran and first-generation horticulturalist, manages a greenhouse nursery of ferns, mums, hanging baskets and specialty pots on his 129-acre farm in Greenup. He also raises cattle and mixed grass hay, and operates a successful agritourism business that attracts thousands of visitors each year. Imel started farming when he was just 14 years old, inspired by an FFA project that introduced him to raising cattle, hogs and produce. As he moved into full-time farming, Imel also raised field crops, chicken, and hogs, but he eventually focused his efforts on greenhouse, cattle and hay production and added agritourism features as a way to continue growing his farm. Imel has served on the Greenup County Farm Bureau board of directors since the early 1980s, including four terms as its president and vice president, is presently a member of the KFB Certified Roadside Market Advisory Committee and the state Horticulture Committee. Imel volunteers much of his remaining time to assist local industry clubs and other civic organizations.
Ray Allen Mackey
Mackey, a 27-year farming veteran, raises corn, soybeans, tobacco, beef cattle and swine on his 4,535-acre farm in Elizabethtown. He began farming immediately after graduating from college, first helping his father manage the family farm, then sharecropping some neighboring land, and eventually purchasing his own farm in 1986. As the size of Mackey's farmland and facilities continued to grow with more acquisitions over the following years, so did his family's involvement on the farm. Mackey's brother, wife, and both of his sons all play integral roles on the farm today. Mackey has been a member of the Hardin County Farm Bureau board of directors since 1985 and served as its president since 2004. He is also vice chair of the KFB Swine Advisory Committee and the KFB District Three chairman. Mackey is additionally very active in the Kentucky Corn Growers Association, serving on its board since 2003 and serving as president for a two-year term.
Judges visited the finalists in late September to conduct interviews and see the farms first-hand. The "Farmer of the Year" award will be announced at KFB's 2013 state annual meeting in Louisville on Dec. 6, and the winner will receive $1,000 from the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation. All three finalists will be given a KFB jacket, and the runners-up each will receive $250 from the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation.
In addition to the statewide recognition and prizes, KFB's "Farmer of the Year" winner will represent Kentucky in the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern "Farmer of the Year" contest, the South's most prestigious agricultural award, in Moultrie, Ga., Oct. 14-16, 2014. The state winner will also receive $2,500 from Swisher International, a customized jacket and a $200 gift certificate courtesy of The Williams Dickie Company, and a $500 gift certificate from Southern States Cooperative. Kentucky's winner will compete against nine other state winners for the chance to win a $15,000 award from Swisher International and several other sponsor-based prizes.


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A Conversation with Food Safety Czar David W.K. Acheson
A exclusive conversation with food safety czar David W.K. Acheson, FDAs Associate Commissioner for Foods.
Diane Toops, our News & Trends Editor, recently sat down with David W.K. Acheson, FDA's Associate Commissioner for Foods.
FP: In May 2007, you were appointed you to the new position of Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection. Then in January this year you became Associate Commissioner for Foods, to provide guidance on food safety and defense strategies. What was your immediate focus?
DA: The first focus was to develop an integrated Food Protection Plan for FDA that needed to embrace both food safety -- the unintentional part of food contamination -- and food defense – the intentional piece -- linked together under food protection. Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach [Acheson's boss] set up the new part of this position to raise the profile of food issues into the commissioner's office, which it hadn't been before, and integrate the various parts of the agency that deal with food for humans and for animals. We're dealing with the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition on the human side, Center for Veterinary Medicine on the animal side, the Office of Regulatory Affairs, which deals with inspections, National Center for Toxicological Research, the research arm of FDA in Arkansas and various other components, like Office for International Programs and Office of Crisis Management. It was a central role to integrate, organize and develop a strategic vision of where we should take the agency in the future to protect the food supply. That resulted in the Food Protection Plan.
(For a downloadable copy of the Food Protection Plan go to http://www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/advance/food/plan.html)
FP: What are the core elements of the Food Protection Plan?
DA: A high-level strategic vision of the approaches to protect the food supply, it is built on three core elements: prevention, intervention and response. Prevention is all about building safety up front. Intervention is about risk-based targeting of inspections sampling and getting a handle on problems early on. When something starts to go wrong, how do we get in there quicker in tracking adverse events, consumer complaints and the results from samples? The third element is response. When you have a situation and need to respond, how can you do it more efficiently, faster and improve the communications up and down the channel, sideways to consumers, to industry and regulators as part of the response?
One of the big shifts for FDA was to put more emphasis on prevention. We've always worked on trying to build preventative strategies because that's clearly the smart way to go, but this plan is a deliberate shift to put more focus on prevention – both domestic and imports. Much of the plan is focused on how we deal with the global food supply.
The reason we developed the plan was to respond to many global changes and challenges – rapid distribution, changes in distribution practices. The global food supply is a huge part of that with the increasing number of imports and increasing susceptibility of the population. There are multiple things going on that needed a new approach.
FP: Consumer confidence has been shaken by a number of high-profile food safety scares, 57 percent of Americans think imported foods are unsafe, and many fear a terrorist attack on the food supply. How can the food industry and the FDA reassure consumers?
DA: I think the short answer is to communicate to consumers the extent to which preventative controls have been put in place. It isn't a matter of saying, "Trust us, we've got it taken care of." Consumers don't respond well to that; I don't respond well to that. We have to demonstrate through a clear articulation of what's been done, so when we say that we have a program in place to make sure seafood from China is safe, we have to tell them exactly what we are doing and explain the process. The key is not only to determine what preventative strategies are going to work, but to articulate and communicate them to consumers.
Now, we'll never get to the point where foodborne illness is zero; it's beyond the bounds of possibility and research. So, part of this is controlling expectations for consumers. Think about it with regard to fresh produce: You grow something in the dirt, don't cook it, you know that washing removes a significant portion of bacteria, but not all. There's an inherent risk associated with consuming foods grown in the ground. The goal is to minimize that risk, but I'm certainly never going to tell you or anybody else that we've taken it to zero. That is one way to restore consumer confidence. Another piece to this is when things go wrong – and they will -- we do a better job of communicating to consumers what is going on, what we know and don't know, what the process is and to get on top of it as fast as possible. Those are all goals in the Food Protection Plan.
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