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By Elizabeth Aguilera | CALmatters
A teenage girl walks the hardscrabble streets of Richmond, a Bay Area city, rapping about the challenges of drugs, violence—and diabetes. Here, she says, big dreams are "coated in sugar," and innocence is "corrupted with Coke bottles and Ho Ho cupcakes."
She's performing in a video by a local youth group that counts diabetes, a national epidemic that has hit California hard, as one of the killers in her neighborhood. The disease, which is spreading and driving up health costs, now impacts more than half the state's adults, especially people of color and the poor.
Experts say it doesn't have to be that way, that prevention programs can slow the march of the illness and save money at the same time. But efforts to legislate prevention—for example, by taxing the sugary drinks whose consumption contributes to diabetes—have stalled in the face of heavy opposition by the well-funded beverage lobby.
The state will soon begin funding a program for anti-diabetes education, counseling and lifestyle coaching, but it's a modest investment regarded only as a start.
"Investing more now in diabetes prevention and education will save our state billions of dollars down the road," said state Sen. Bill Monning, a Democrat from Carmel who has proposed soda taxes in the past and tried unsuccessfully this year to require warning labels on sweetened drinks.
A University of California, Los Angeles study last year found that 9 percent of adults in California have been diagnosed with diabetes, a chronic condition in which the body does not process sugar well and which can lead to blindness, heart disease, stroke and infections resulting in amputations. Forty-six percent—including about a third of those under 40—are pre-diabetic, with elevated sugar levels that will likely develop into diabetes. That's 55 percent of the state's adult population swept up by the disease.
Treating diabetes costs government, private insurers and patients about $27.6 billion a year in California for such expenses as doctor visits, testing, medication, surgery and hospital costs, according to the American Diabetes Association. The state and federal governments shoulder most of that expense through Medi-Cal, which is California's health program for those living in poverty, and the national Medicare system that covers seniors.
A state audit of the California Department of Public Health diabetes prevention efforts released two years ago said that California lagged in such spending. The state spent about $1 million from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a sum that has since grown to $1.4 million, but did not devote state money to such programs. New York, the audit points out, was spending $7.2 million, although some of that money went to anti-obesity programs..
Beginning in July, with the next budget, $5 million in state funds will go toward a nutrition and exercise program for pre-diabetic enrollees in Medi-Cal. That project, based on a CDC model called the Diabetes Prevention Program, can cut the risk of developing diabetes in half, according to the CDC. In addition, it is expected to save about $45 million in treatment expenses over the next five years, said Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, a Kingsburg Democrat and physician who co-chairs a health subcommittee.
Flojaune Cofer, an epidemiologist and director of state policy and research for the nonprofit Public Health Advocates, said that about 25,000 people will be able to participate each year.
"We can't just wait until people get sick because it's not a viable system," Cofer said.
The largest state pension fund, CalPERs, began offering the CDC program to through its insurance plans this year and Medicare will offer it nationally next year. It is also offered by some private insurers.
But adult diabetes, or Type 2, doesn't get the same attention as some other deadly diseases, such as cancer. Nor is it considered as blameless as Type 1 diabetes, a childhood disease diagnosed when the body produces little or no insulin.
Type 2 is considered mostly preventable by changes in diet and physical activity. But its spread has increased 32 percent in California in the past decade, according to state statistics. The disproportionate impact on low-income communities and people of color may partly explain why it gets short shrift, experts say.
"There's a general belief that it's slothful, lazy people making bad choices," said Dean Schillinger, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, a leading expert on diabetes and prevention and chief of the state's diabetes control program from 2008 through 2013. "But if you have to choose between buying a fast-food meal for your family of five for $15 or going to Whole Foods and spending $80 on health food, it's very rational what people are doing."
Add to those economics the marketing of beverages and snack foods to children, especially through targeted advertising in low-income communities, and you have a natural intersection for the disease, he said. A federally funded study released this year found that diabetes grew at a rate of 4.8 percent among children each year between 2002 and 2012.
"It's an unacceptable state of affairs," Schillinger said. "We can and must do something to prevent young people from having an amputation or being blind by the age of 30."
Diabetes is also increasing among white people, Schillinger noted, just not as quickly. Sedentary lifestyles, fat-rich diets and time spent in front of screens large and small cut across all communities.
Another contributor is a health care industry that has been primarily focused on treatment instead of prevention, said Monning: "Prevention, including diabetes prevention, is not profit-generating."
He and a handful of other state legislators have been trying to pass measures to blunt the growth of diabetes for years, focusing on the role of sugar-sweetened beverages because they are the leading cause of increased calories in children. The lawmakers' targets include not just sodas but also other sugary drinks camouflaged as more healthful: sports drinks, juices and enriched waters.
Monning tried this year to require labels on certain drinks to state that "drinking beverages with added sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay." Other efforts have involved a statewide tax on such drinks, but that requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and has been a hard sell.
The beverage industry argues that the causes of diabetes are complex, involving much more than soda, and that the best way to build strong, healthy communities is to work together to "help people balance their calories and improve their diets," said Lauren Kane, a spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association.
The group says taxes don't work and labels are misleading.
"America's beverage companies are already helping people cut their sugar intake from beverages through our collective efforts to reduce portion sizes and introduce smaller, more convenient packages with less sugar," Kane said.
But Monning blames the industry for pushing hard enough—and spreading enough money around Sacramento—to scare off the "yes" votes needed to pass preventive measures. The beverage group has spent $282,000 on lobbying in California so far this year, according to its required reports to the state. The two largest soda makers, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, have spent about $248,000. And in the last five years PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have contributed nearly $783,000 to state candidate campaigns, while the American Beverage Association gave $135,000, the filings show.
There has been a slight decline nationally in the consumption of soda, studies show, although the void may be at least partly filled with other sweet drinks. Experts credit local measures to tax sweetened beverages and require warning labels on billboards that advertise them, among other moves.
Such taxes have been imposed in Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland. Others, including Richmond, have tried and failed to pass them. San Francisco approved a requirement two years ago that certain beverage ads be labeled, but the beverage industry sued to block the measure in a case that is ongoing.
More local taxes and labeling requirements could prompt state lawmakers into action eventually, as plastic-bag bans throughout the state did, said Monning. Once a tipping-point number of cities outlawed the bags, it became easier for the Legislature to adopt a statewide policy.
Schillinger said he has seen first-hand that prevention efforts can stem, or even reverse, an epidemic tide. When he started his medical career, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, half his patients were dying from HIV infection, he recalls. Within 15 years that epidemic was pushed back by a combination of grassroots activity, well-funded public health work and scientific research, he said.
"At that time, one out of 15 to 20 of my patients had diabetes," he said. "Flash forward and I have no patients with AIDS who are dying. Our AIDS ward is empty. But instead we have the diabetes epidemic," and half his patients have the disease.
Schillinger lauds community awareness efforts, like the videos posted by Youth Speaks as part of its diabetes-prevention program. Even armed with statistics and an M.D. degree, Schillinger said, he has participated in too many disappointing policy discussions with lawmakers about diabetes.
"There has to be a different way to talk about this," he said, "and it has to come from different people."
CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.


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Seaway Crude Oil Pipeline Company LLC announced today that final work is being performed in preparation for the increase in capacity from approximately 150,000 barrels per day ("BPD") to approximately 400,000 BPD. In order to complete the remaining pump station connections, transportation service has been suspended on the 500-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline and is expected to resume operations at full rates by the end of next week.
Seaway Crude Pipeline Company LLC is a 50/50 joint venture owned by affiliates of Enterprise Products Partners EPD and Enbridge Inc. (NYSE/TSX: ENB). In addition to the pipeline that transports crude oil from Cushing to the Gulf Coast, the Seaway system is comprised of a terminal and distribution network originating in Texas City, Texas, which serves refineries locally and in the Houston area. The Seaway system also includes dock facilities at Freeport and Texas City. For additional information, please visit www.seawaypipeline.com.
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein that address activities, events, developments or transactions that Enterprise and Enbridge expect, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including anticipated benefits and other aspects of such activities, events, developments or transactions, are forward-looking statements. Although Enterprise and Enbridge believe that the forward-looking statements included herein are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including required approvals by regulatory agencies, the possibility that the anticipated benefits from such activities, events, developments or transactions cannot be fully realized, the possibility that costs or difficulties related thereto will be greater than expected, the impact of competition and other risks and uncertainties included in the reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Enterprise and Enbridge, respectively, and in the filings made by Enbridge with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. While Enterprise and Enbridge make these forward-looking statements in good faith, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those expected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. Except as required by law, neither Enterprise nor Enbridge intends to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Rick Rainey, (713) 381-3635
Randy Burkhalter, (713) 381-6812 or (866) 230-0745
Investor Relations
Jennifer Varey, (403) 508-6563 or Toll Free: (888) 992-0997
Jody Balko, (403) 231-5720
Investor Relations
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


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Exercising poor time management in the gym can have a negative impact on your results.
Aside from money, if there's one thing you probably wish you had more of, it's time. Between going to work, school, working out and spending time with loved ones; sometimes it seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day to train. Considering that time has become such a hot commodity these days, you might be surprised to learn just how much of it you're wasting. I'm not talking about sitting in traffic, waiting in line, or surfing the web looking for insightful, thought provoking articles on fitness. After all, some things just can't be helped. I'm specifically referring to the time you're wasting in the gym. That's right, whether you realize it or not, you're probably guilty of at least one of these time consuming workout blunders. Read on to see if identify with any of these workout related time wasters and learn what to do to manage your workouts more efficiently and improve your progress in less time.
Performing needless exercises
It never fails. Every single time I set foot in a gym, I see at least one person performing an exercise that is a waste of their time. Take for example the self-proclaimed "hardgainer". You know who you are. You complain about how you can't make any progress, then pound your body into submission with set after set of lateral raises and cable curls. This makes about as much sense as trying to blow up a blimp with a straw. Listen up! If you want to put on some size, I mean add some serious muscle to your frame, do yourself a favor and lay off the isolation exercises for a while. To make big gains, make compound, multi-joint exercises like squats, dead-lifts, pull-ups and bench press exercises a priority in your workouts. Besides stimulating a larger pool of available muscle fibers, these exercises also cause a greater release of anabolic hormones into your bloodstream. Add isolation exercises to your workouts when are looking to fine tune your physique.
Another group that seems to have a penchant for doing isolation instead of compound exercises are overweight individuals. I mean really now, if you're carrying around an extra 20 pounds or so, how much good do you think wrist curls and calf raises are going to do? Don't get me wrong, I am by no means suggesting that if you're overweight you shouldn't lift weights. Quite the contrary, I'm of the opinion that you would be better off in the weight room than wasting your time plodding along on a treadmill. While I don't have the space to go into any great detail here, suffice it to say, that you can derive far more benefit from the long term effect weight training has on resting metabolism, than the transient caloric deficit created by aerobic exercise. It's just that, like our friend the hardgainer, you too should focus on doing more compound, large muscle group exercises. Not only do exercises like squats and bench presses increase the secretion of growth hormone, a potent fat burner, they're also far more effective in terms of building the calorie burning muscle mass you'll benefit from most when fat loss is your goal.
Too Much Volume
By volume, I mean the number of sets, reps and exercises you perform each workout. Contrary to popular belief, more is not always better. It simply isn't necessary to train your muscles from every conceivable angle with dozens of exercises. Whenever I do consultations, one of the biggest problems I encounter is trying to convince people to reduce their training volume. Much of this stems from the fact that too many people are trying to emulate the maniacal training routines of drug induced athletes that litter the pages of today's muscle magazines. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a 150-pound accountant following "Mr. Olympia's" chest routine. The fact of the matter is, even if these walking chemistry experiments actually do these routines; which by the way is doubtful, their bodies are better equipped to withstand them thanks to the miracle of modern pharmacology. You on the other hand, as a drug free trainee, will most likely end up overtraining and not reaching your goals.
All you really need to know about volume is that it's directly linked to your training intensity. The harder you push, the less you'll be able to do. If you're doing in upwards of 15 to 20 sets for a single body part, chances are your intensity ain't exactly where it should be. This is especially true for smaller muscle groups like biceps, triceps and calves.
The following guidelines should prove useful in helping you determine the proper training volume:
|*# of exercises per body part
|*# of sets
|rep range
|1 to 2
|5 to 6
|3 to 5
|2 to 4
|2 to 4
|8 to 12
Too Much Rest Between Sets
This may seem like a somewhat radical concept to some of you, but, the amount of rest you take between sets is supposed to be determined by your training goals. It shouldn't be based on how long it takes you to hit on the receptionist, or rehash last week's episode of The Sopranos with your buddies. For example, if you do a heavy set of squats (say a 6 rep max), you're going to need to rest at least 2 to 3 full minutes before attempting it again. In fact, if you're doing maximal singles, you may need as long as 5 to 7 minutes off between sets, so that both your muscles and central nervous system can sufficiently recover. This is precisely why you see powerlifters taking so much rest between lifts. Unfortunately, most of you aren't powerlifters, though you seem to have the resting part down pretty well.
By contrast, the lighter loads and higher repetition ranges typical of bodybuilding style workouts require far less recovery time between sets. Therefore, if increased muscularity is your goal, you need to keep your rest periods short and sweet; anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds. This "incomplete" recovery allows for the accumulation of metabolic waste products (such as lactic acid) which serve as a powerful trigger for muscular growth.
Low Intensity Aerobic Exercise
Can someone please explain to me why so many of you insist on doing hours and hours of low intensity aerobic work? And please, don't give me this garbage about it being a more effective way to burn fat. Oh sure, some people will tell you that it is. Just ask the legions of so called "fitness experts" that continue to perpetuate this myth on a daily basis in both the print and electronic media. The whole basis of their argument is that at lower exercise intensities, you burn a greater percentage of calories from fat. True. However, fat also provides the bulk of your energy when you're lying on the couch eating a bag of Doritos! The point being, it's the total number of calories you burn and not the distribution of what you use for fuel that matters when it comes to weight loss.
Besides being an inefficient way to burn body fat, low intensity aerobic exercise (40 to 60 % of your age predicted maximal heart rate) does little to improve cardiovascular function. I'm not saying you shouldn't do any aerobic work mind you; just make sure its worth your while. High intensity aerobic training (75 to 90% of your age predicted maximal heart rate) not only burns more calories, but, it also improves cardiovascular function to a far greater degree. And, the best part is, you're done in half the time. I mean, why waste the better part of an hour doing aerobics when you could be done in twenty minutes?
All of which brings us back to our original question. Why do so many people continue to workout this way? Simple, because it's easy. It's far too difficult to read a magazine or enjoy your favorite sitcom when you're cranking away at 90% of maximal heart rate. Granted, training this way is no picnic. Nevertheless, even if you can't maintain such an intense pace for any appreciable length of time, there's always interval training. Short bursts of higher intensity exercise followed by brief recovery intervals is still a more effective cardiovascular stimulus than trudging away at a snails pace.
Try and apply the advice outlined in this article to your next workout. Your workouts will be more intense and focused than ever. Best of all, you will reach your goals in less time.
About the Author
Michael Mejia MS, CSCS is a private conditioning specialist based out of Long Island New York. He is a specialist in the design and implementation of sports specific training programs as well as a freelance writer and lecturer. Mike can be contacted via e-mail at Michael Mejia


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Program: 3,100 sqm Public Library
Location: Daegu, South Korea
Client: Daegu Metropolitan City Suseong-gu Office
Our proposal for the Daegu Gosan Public Library challenges the conventional understanding of the spatial and social experience of a public library as a series of discrete reading rooms with defined thresholds and cluttered stacks. We propose an intelligent, open, and integrated library experience which supersedes the media storage methods of the past and changes the library space into a hybrid environment through ubiquitous information resources, integrated furnishings and active communal social spaces. The architecture is designed to enable and embody the spirit of open-source exchange and collective knowledge through free-form geometries, open plans and integrated amenities. We have minimized the thresholds between spaces, floors, and functions to consider the library as an active, continuous, and fluid field of social, cultural, and intellectual discourse. Contrary to the convention of defining the building program as a composition of platonic spaces with controlled adjacencies, we have approached it as a varied and constant programmatic gradient which allows programs and uses to bleed into one another, thus facilitating constant physical, visual, and social exchange.
Conceptually and literally, the ground field of the site swells, peels, and multiplies vertically as a continuation of the adjacent park and urban fabric. This constant sectional change is articulated as a smooth vertical gradient which merges floors, ramps, stairs, terraces and furnishings into an inhabitable and ergonomic landscape culminating in an open-air roof-scape lounge and terrace overlooking the city of Daegu. The boundaries between floors are blurred, as the continuously walk-able surface which unifies the many spaces of the library facilitates circulatory, physical and visual connections both internally within the network of spaces and externally with the surrounding context. Circulation through the library is coupled with the various programs and generates a fluid transition between different environments allowing users to freely browse the books on display while simultaneously being able to sit and use their laptops, tablets, and smart phones on the ubiquitously distributed Wi-Fi network, or locally transmitted blue-tooth hot spots.


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Christ blessing the Children
Designer: Sir Edward Burne-Jones
Manufacturer: Morris and Co.
Jesus Church
Location: Troutbeck, Cumbria (UK)
Photographer: P. Neil Ralley
P. Neil Ralley has most generously shared information, images, and text from his Stained Glass Photography site with readers of the Victorian Web. The copyright on these images remains, of course, with him. [GPL]


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As I began my PhD journey 3 years ago I never thought it would lead to exploring economic models. In my graduate program in the 90s I had taken two semesters of economics and healthcare finance and I must admit it was painful. I considered those courses my foreign languages. As a nurse, I was… Read more »
Tag: Sustainability
Education contributing to issues and being a solution for environmental sustainability
The world of education is under a tremendous amount of pressure to serve two masters. Traditional approaches are called for to ensure students gain opportunities for the next step in their learning journey and new thinking and innovation are required to ensure students are prepared for a world that is ever changing and uncertain. These… Read more »
Rethinking Ghana's Energy Future
In late 2006 and continuing into 2007, Ghana experienced a major power crisis that caused planned power outages, also known as load shedding, with outages lasting up to 72 consecutive hours. Since then, Ghana has sought to strengthen its electricity sector. However, in spite of these efforts, power supply continues to be a challenge. For… Read more »
What is the Humanistic Perspective?
In a recent letter to the Saybrook University community, incoming president Nathan Long, EdD, affirms our "passionate dedication to mission" and states that "in a day and age in which higher education is faced with myriad challenges both internally and externally, Saybrook's approach to progressive research and scholarly application is even more relevant that it… Read more »
Transforming a City Once Divided- Reflections on the Fall of the Berlin Wall
This year on November 9, the people of Berlin celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. A business trip to explore partnerships with German universities took me to Berlin one month before that anniversary to see what has been, and continues to be, an amazing transformation. What I saw taking place… Read more »
The Evolution of Chinese Worldviews
The evolutionary theorist and psychologist, Clare W. Graves, puzzled by an inability to answer his students' questions about which theory of human development was correct, dedicated his life to exploring the differences in personalities of mature adults as they relate to their human experience. From over a thousand essays from students ranging from 18-61 years in age… Read more »
The Future I Desire
The other day, I was scanning the shelves at the half-price bookstore, and came across a book entitled Imagine What the World Could be in the 21st Century: Visions of a Better Future from Leading American Thinkers, edited by Marianne Williamson. It was published in the millennium year 2000 and contained about 40 short articles… Read more »
The Dilemma of Our Time
Evolution is a constant in the human experience, although we interpret it in different manners. To some, particularly scientists, evolution is an accidental progression that yielded the cosmos, our planet and life. To others, it is a process created by a supreme being as part of a master plan. Regardless of our beliefs, life in… Read more »
Learning Across Boundaries – The ISSS-2014 Conference in Washington, D.C.
The 58th meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences was held George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Gerald Midgley president for this year, and his conference team, are to be commended for creating a great week of learning. The theme of the conference was "Learning Across Boundaries: Exploring the variety of systemic theory and practice." That theme was reflected… Read more »
The Evolutionary Journey of Life
Life is a journey. I have been keenly aware of that for a good portion of my life. I guess I became aware of the power of the metaphor in my early twenties when I broke away from some cultural patterns that diverted me from what a friend called "the franchised life" — that more… Read more »


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WASHINGTON – A massive water main break in a 60-inch pipe has prompted mandatory water restrictions for all Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission customers.
WSSC says the water restrictions for its 1.8 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties are needed to ensure fire departments, hospitals and medical facilities have the water they need.
"We want you to help us keep the pressure up for fire protection," Jim Neustadt, spokesman for WSSC, tells WTOP.
The restrictions could last up to a week, according to WSSC.
The break in Chevy Chase at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Chevy Chase Lake Drive — not far from East-West Highway — occurred around 8 p.m. Monday.
The break sent water spouting 30 feet in the air and has blocked traffic along heavily traveled Connecticut Avenue.
"We lost an estimated 60 million gallons. Most of that went into a stream nearby there," says Neustadt.
All southbound lanes of Connecticut Avenue reopened just before 7 a.m. The northbound lanes remain closed.
The break caused a tree to fall and for more than 1,100 Pepco customers to be without electricity. That tree also pushed back the road's reopening, which had been set for 6 a.m.
Additional trees are in danger of falling down, according to Neustadt.
The mandatory water restrictions apply to residential and commercial customers.
"All of the storage tanks have run down. We need to replenish the system," says Neustadt.
WSSC General Manager Jerry N. Johnson says it is "imperative" that all customers in Prince George's and Montgomery counties:
- Use water only as necessary — i.e., take shorter showers and turn off faucets after washing hands and while brushing teeth.
- Limit flushing toilets (do not flush after every use).
- Put off washing clothes if possible.
- Limit the use of dishwashers and wash only full loads.
A violation carries a fine of up to $500, WSSC says.
"Please don't hoard water. We're not running out," says Johnson, in the release.
"If everyone can cut their water use by 10 percent we should be OK. We appreciate everyone's understanding and cooperation."
Nobody is without water service.
Washington Gas and Pepco crews are on the scene securing their lines that run along the water main so that work on the main can begin. The pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe went into service in 1980, WSSC says.
WSSC has not been able to determine why the pipe burst.
Follow @WTOP on Twitter.


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Times of crisis require bold leadership and innovative solutions. Crises demand the casting aside of old, failed paradigms and the mobilization of people to create new ones.
Exactly the opposite happened when the leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the United States met in Guadalajara from August 9-10. Presidents Calderon and Obama and Prime Minister Harper spoke in generalities, avoided conflict and controversy through evasion, and repeated the formulaic proposals of a discredited past.
Faced with profound economic, environmental, health, and security crises in the region, the leaders proved once again that North America doesn't exist as a united bloc by punting on the big issues. They also called into question NAFTA's Security and Prosperity Agreement (SPP) that launched the summits in 2005 by refusing to even talk about it. U.S. and Canadian leaders used the forum to reaffirm their priority on national policies, while beleaguered Mexico received little more than declarations of support for Calderon's faltering drug war.
Summit meetings like this are often a symbolic show of unity, while the real work goes on at lower levels below the public radar. They don't tend to produce many "deliverables." However, this is no excuse for the shallowness and contradictions of the Summit in Guadalajara. More than any previous North American summit meeting, this one should have taken the bull by its horns. The populations of all three countries need deliverables from their governments — and fast.
Civil society organizations in all three nations have long protested against the NAFTA-SPP. These protests tend to flare and fade, depending on the summit calendar. An analysis of how the leaders responded to three issues at the summit provides an idea of what a more sustained civil society agenda for regional integration could include.
The Crisis and NAFTA Renegotiation
The economic crisis that began in the U.S. economy has deeply affected its neighbors in the region. The Mexican government calls it the worst crisis in 30 years. Mexico faces a 7% contraction in its economy this year. More than half a million workers lost jobs in the formal sector. Real wages fell, the government has cut back on social programs, and the foreign debt has gone up. The combination of lower oil income, reduced U.S. demand, and other factors has hit the poor hardest, resulting in a spike in poverty.
The summit's joint statement pays only lip service to the volatile situation in Mexico with its statement that "by working together, we will accelerate recovery and job creation, and build a strong base for long-term prosperity." It shunts the issue to the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, dominated by wealthy nations, and ignores regional obligations. It also calls for a stronger role for international financial institutions, especially the Inter-American Development Bank, and drops all calls for reforms in those institutions to provide greater representation of developing countries, and more sustainable and unconditioned loaning.
The three leaders emphasize further deregulation of business and reject "protectionism," with no stated role for governments, even at a time when the U.S. government is injecting unprecedented amounts of public funds into the private sector. The declaration calls for stronger intellectual property protection, as Mexico confirms its position as net payer by further cutting back on education and research.
On Drugs
If Congress approves the 2010 appropriations for the Merida Initiative, it will wrap up the three-year package proposed by the Bush administration and authorized by Congress. Obama used the summit to announce his continued support of the initiative, and to express his "great confidence in President Calderón's administration applying the law enforcement techniques that are necessary to curb the power of the cartels, but doing so in a way that's consistent with human rights."
His statements respond to concerns about human rights violations in the Mexican drug war that led to a refusal from Senator Leahy (D-VT) to accept a report from the State Department approving 15% on part of the Merida Initiative funds held up by human rights conditioning.
This is not a lack of initiative but an irresponsible repetition of past errors. The Calderon war on drugs and the Merida Initiative have resulted in the presence of 45,000 Mexican Army troops in the streets of Mexican communities. There has been a six-fold increase in reported human rights violations by the army, 12,300 drug-related homicides, and no measurable decrease in the flow of illicit drugs to the U.S. market. Drug cartels have entered into violent turf wars and a process of reorganization as a result of arrests, but interdiction actually fell by about half between 2007 and 2008, according to the 2009 U.S. Narcotics Control Strategy Report. Polls show Mexican citizens losing faith in the strategy, which has no end in sight.
Swine Flu
North America has a responsibility to the world to get to the bottom of what happened with the swine flu pandemic. The H1N1 virus first broke out in a community called La Gloria in Mexico. It was quickly dubbed the NAFTA flu because the community is next to a Smithfield hog farm that relocated to Mexico after NAFTA. The virus spread because of the movement of pigs and labor within the region. No independent investigations have been carried out on this relationship.
The summit's Declaration on H1N1 repeated platitudes about cooperation and a commitment to "inform future public health decisions, including the use of vaccine, antiviral, and non-pharmaceutical interventions" — mostly end solutions that enrich pharmaceutical companies. It did not report any specific funding for research or prevention, nor discuss the heightened risk for poor populations and women.
The three governments have touted their response to the swine flu as a "success story" of the SPP. In fact, nearly a week was lost in responding to the crisis. The SPP never provided its most vulnerable partner, Mexico, with the capacity to analyze viruses. Instead, Mexican authorities sent samples for analysis to the Center for Disease Control, which lost valuable time and added to the delays of the Mexican authorities in reporting the outbreak in La Gloria.
By emphasizing the importance of assuring "the flow of people, services, and cargo across the borders during a severe pandemic while striving to protect our citizens," the SPP mistakenly prioritized commerce over technology transfer and prevention. The press reported that Mexican officials admitted that the trilateral strategy to confront the flu pandemic includes no obligations on the part of the United States and Canada to assist Mexico, despite being ground zero and suffering from a seriously deficient health system.
What They Should Have Done
The three North American leaders missed an opportunity to take real leadership on these issues of NAFTA, drugs, and swine flu. On NAFTA, the summit should have announced a full review of the impact of NAFTA carried out by each country, with input from civil society to prepare for renegotiation. Obama stated before the summit that renegotiation would not be on the agenda, despite his campaign promises to renegotiate. While political timing is important and understandable in the United States, a review can begin immediately to provide information for a future commitment to renegotiate. The minimal reviews to date have focused only on investment and trade flows, ignoring the social and environmental impact. There has also been no civil society participation. The effect of the agricultural chapter on Mexican farmers must be a central point of the review.
In addition, the summit should have established a trilateral crisis-response fund. The three governments could direct money from such a fund at sectors and regions where the crisis has hit the hardest. Mexico would receive special attention since the government has little budgetary capacity to restore its economy. As such, the fund would redirect money away from scandalously security-heavy aid, currently flowing primarily to U.S. defense contractors and private security firms, and toward Mexican regions with high rates of emigration. The fund could also support long-term capacity-building in education and research.
Part of this redirection of aid must follow from a critical review of the results of the Merida Initiative. A more peace-oriented approach to U.S. aid to Mexico should place a high priority on human rights in the fight against organized crime. No more funds from the United States or Canada should be authorized until such a review is carried out. Alternatives to the "drug war" approach include a health-oriented approach to addiction treatment and reduction of consumption, selective legalization and regulation to remove economic incentives for organized crime, and focused intelligence cooperation on financial structures and criminal activities. Although Obama emphasized co-responsibility, reduction demand suffered a proportional decrease in funding under his administration.
On the issue of swine flu, the summit should have created a trilateral scientific commission to investigate the origins of the outbreak, with a focus on the "ground zero" discovery of the virus in La Gloria. This commission would demand independent analysis of pigs at the farm and hygiene conditions found there. The NAFTA countries missed an opportunity to do this when the disease first broke out and so may not be able to establish a cause-and-effect relationship after the fact. Nevertheless, this commission should include a scientific assessment of the possibilities for factory farms of this sort to incubate new and even more lethal viruses.
The NAFTA leaders should now request NAFTA's Commission on Environmental Cooperation to do a fact-finding report on environmental conditions at Smithfield-Carroll and other industrial feedlots, and investigate the relationship between NAFTA and increased environmental risks stemming from the location of these operations in Mexico where environmental laws and enforcement are weaker. Finally, the leaders should establish a fully funded and equipped Virus Analysis Center in Mexico, including open technology transfer and licensing for public production of needed antivirals and vaccines during any public health emergency.
Integrated Risks
After 15 years, rather than a united region with common interests, NAFTA-SPP has created a region of integrated risks rather than risk management. Regional cooperation must find ways to resolve the increasingly conflicting national and domestic interests by incorporating all stakeholders. NAFTA and the SPP as they stand now formally exclude all but security and commercial interests. As Obama has noted repeatedly, the subordinated labor and side agreements do not mitigate that central fact.
If North America really functioned as a bloc in the international market, or even as a region of shared challenges, the three leaders would have tackled the above issues — as well the issues they didn't address, such as migration — instead of covering them up with rhetoric.
If the three leaders are unwilling to produce substantive results in the SPP process, or whatever they currently choose to call these summits, then U.S., Canadian, and Mexican taxpayers should demand a stop to these costly summits until a new structure is in place that takes civil society's diverse interests into account in grappling with issues firmly, fairly, and openly.


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Elected officials, dignitaries and project partners turn the first ceremonial dirt on the site. The groundbreaking was held far in advance of major construction beginning to allow outgoing Multnomah County commissioners who pushed for the project and are leaving office at the end of the year to participate in the ceremony.
Groundbreaking shovels are adorned with gavels at the end of the handle.
The courthouse will be built on a site at the west end of the Hawthorne Bridge bounded by Southwest First Avenue and Naito Parkway and Madison and Jefferson streets.
Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Balmer, right, hands a gavel-adorned shovel to Veritable Quandary owner Denny King, who watched the groundbreaking from the patio of the recently-closed restaurant. "I'm not sure I cherish that," King joked about the shovel.
Parents Across America members Pat, left, and Jan Eck are among the opponents of the widely-supported Measure 98. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
Mary Gullickson is a renter in the Kenton neighborhood who is being forced to move because of a 19 percent rent increase. Oregon Democrats are looking to help renters like Gullickson with a legislative push in the 2017 session to lift a statewide ban on rent control and provide new protections to those facing eviction. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
Portland native Mary Gullickson moved back to the city last spring after sustaining a spinal injury working in Los Angeles, and after six months is incurring a 19 percent rent hike. In response to a housing crisis affecting vulnerable renters like Gullickson, Oregon Democrats are looking to place new regulations on rental housing next year. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
From left, Commissioner Amanda Fritz, Mayor Charlie Hales, and Commissioner Steve Novick listen to testimony on Community Benefit Agreements last month. The council last week approved receiving, but not accepting, a city-funded report that was partly critical of a pilot CBA program. (Sam Tenney/DJC file)
An 81-lot housing development in Washington County, Findley Heights, is being developed by Vic and Wally Remmers' West Hills Homes and Arbor Homes' Dennis Sackhoff. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
The second phase of construction on the modernization of Roosevelt High School project includes excavation and backfilling of a central courtyard. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
A former auditorium at Roosevelt High School has been converted to the campus' media center/library. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
New physical education space at Roosevelt High School includes a main gymnasium, as well as an auxiliary gym, weight room, and a hybrid wrestling/aerobics room. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
Students work on designs of a rural elementary school, in which they considered the relation of program spaces, energy use, materials, and landscaping.
ZGF employee Ashleigh Fischer, center, leads a group of students in a design charrette.
Benson High School student Erin Carillo speaks about site plan of his team's elementary school design.
Donavon Boyd, center, a student at Alliance High School at Meek, speaks about classroom details during the pin-up session.
Bremik Construction is converting the 101-year-old Towne Storage building in the Central Eastside into creative office space. (Sam Tenney/DJC)
(Stephanie Basalyga/DJC)
DLR Group senior associate Karen Montovino is part of a team which collaborates with school districts seeking to pass construction bonds. (Sam Tenney/DJC)


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Critical Evaluation
Last Updated on May 7, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 992
Candide, Voltaire's tour de force, surpasses most other famous satires. Like Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock (1712, 1714), it takes a swipe at the pretentiousness of the upper classes; like George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), it undercuts political systems; like Jonathan Swift's ambitious Gulliver's Travels (1726), it sheds sharp light on the grossness, cupidity, and stupidity of human beings, as well as on their crude and frequently cruel institutions. Voltaire's satire goes beyond human beings and their society, however, to examine the entire world in which they find themselves. Its thesis is contrived in explicit response to the Leibnitzian optimism that this is "the best of all possible worlds."
The existence of evil in the world has been a problem for human beings ever since they began to speculate about the nature of things. It is treated in the literature of the West at least as early as the book of Genesis, which attributes evil to human beings' disobedient nature. St. Augustine and, later, John Milton enlarged on this theory, claiming that God limited his own interference in the world when he created people "sufficient to stand though free to fall." The book of Job in the Bible centers more specifically on the problem of suffering. Its answer is essentially no answer, a restriction to an overwhelming (some have said obscene) demonstration of God's power, which humbles Job into acceptance. A third century Persian philosopher, Mani, devised the theory that Earth is a field of dispute between two nearly matched powers—one of light, one of darkness—with human beings caught in the middle.
Most later explanations appear to be variations on these three approaches. The seventeenth century Frenchman Blaise Pascal believed, like the author of Job, that human vision cannot perceive the justice in God's overall plan. Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz developed this explanation further. In his Theodicée, published in 1710, he described a harmonious universe in which all events are linked into a chain of cause and effect, and in which apparent evil is compensated by some greater good that may not be evident to the limited human mind. The English poet Pope expressed similar views.
In his early life, Voltaire was generally optimistic. Beginning in 1752, however, his writings evidence growing pessimism. On November 1, 1755, an earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal, killed between thirty and forty thousand people. This catastrophe provided Voltaire with a perfect springboard for his skepticism about the basic goodness of the world. "If Pope had been at Lisbon," he wrote, "would he have dared to say All is well?" His fellow Frenchman Jean-Jacques Rousseau responded that human beings, not God, are to blame for evil, including earthquakes: Human beings bring misfortune upon themselves by congregating in cities instead of living naturally in the country.
Voltaire continues the debate in Candide, where he creates a young, impressionable protagonist and sets him upon an incredible string of adventures, many of which he drew from real life. Historical events include the Lisbon earthquake and subsequent auto-da-fé , the political chaos of Morocco, and the execution of an admiral (Voltaire had tried to intercede in just such a situation). Like such other wandering heroes as Gulliver and Huckleberry Finn, Candide is naïve. For a time, like a schoolboy, he reacts to such events as torture, war, and catastrophe by recalling the favorite sayings of his tutor, Pangloss, among them "Every effect has a cause" and "All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." As horror piles on horror, however, his doubts increase. Pangloss reappears periodically to soothe his pupil...
(This entire section contains 992 words.)
with further examples of illogical logic, but harsh experience begins to have its effect.
Candide's visit to Eldorado, the famed lost city of the New World, is a high-water mark. Here all is placid and serene. People live in absolute harmony. Suffering and poverty are unknown. There is no greed, and the natives smile at Candide's interest in the gold and jewels that lie on the ground as "clay and pebbles." Eldorado is utopia. Because of his desire to regain his lost love, Cunegonde, Candide leaves Eldorado; having however seen a truly harmonious world, he can no longer accept cruelty, catastrophe, and suffering as necessary ingredients for a universal good.
In the final chapter, Candide and his little band, including Pangloss, his more recent friend, the pessimistic Martin, and Cunegonde, who has now grown old and ugly, settle on a small farm "till the company should meet with a more favorable destiny." There they become almost as distressed by boredom as previously they had been by disaster until two neighbors bring enlightenment to them. A dervish, questioned about the existence of evil, responds, "What signifies it whether there be evil or good? When his highness sends a ship to Egypt does he trouble his head whether the rats in the vessel are at their ease or not?" This echo of a metaphor that Voltaire had contrived as early as 1736 briefly asserts the notion that the world may in the view of the "divine architect" be excellent indeed, but it is not designed for human beings, the "mice" in the hold. The second neighbor, a contented old farmer, advises Candide's group of the value of labor, which "keeps off from us three great evils—idleness, vice, and want." For once, those philosophical opposites, Pangloss and Martin, agree; the little community settles down to work in earnest, each member doing his part with good will and deriving satisfaction therefrom.
Candide, although it is an attack on philosophical optimism, is not a pessimistic work. Its ending, with the hero remarking that "we must cultivate our garden," reminds the reader of the words of another realistic but hopeful man, Anton Chekhov, who was to observe more than a century later, "If everyone in the world did all he was capable of on his own plot of land, what a beautiful world it would be!"


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Cranberry Bog
Brief History
The Cranberry Bog comprises 151 acres of land purchased by the town of Carlisle in 1986. Chelmsford also purchased part of the 310 acres that had been owned by the Lowell Cranberry Co. Cranberries were grown here since 1904. It continues to be an active cranberry bog today.
Interesting Features
Cranberry Bog. Forty acres of the property are devoted to cranberry growing through a lease to Carlisle Cranberries, Inc., owned by Mark Duffy, a local farmer. At present, 19 acres are in active production. Around the perimeter of the cranberry growing area is a series of five educational signs with diagrams that explain a bit about cranberry growing, including the interesting way the reservoirs and dams are used during the cranberry harvest.
Upper and Lower Reservoirs and River Meadow Brook. Two reservoirs, fed by River Meadow Brook, flank the bogs. They are beautiful ponds that offer great views, particularly in the fall. A series of dams and water control structures are used to control water levels for irrigation and to flood the bog during the harvest. River Meadow Brook flows into Great Brook in the State Park.
Bog House. The four-story Bog House on Curve St. was constructed in 1905 by the original developers of the Cranberry Bog, Warren and James Nickles. Over the years it has been used for cranberry processing, produce storage (e.g., squash), equipment storage, housing for bog managers and other workers, and a dance hall for the bog workers years ago.
Hiking Trails
There is a wonderful system of trails that covers both the Carlisle and Chelmsford Cranberry Bogs. In Carlisle, the most prominent and frequently used "trails" are really the farm roads and dike tops that surround and bisect the agricultural area. These trails are out in the open and provide beautiful vistas across the bogs and reservoirs. Another portion of the Carlisle trail system follows the gas pipeline right-of-way and is mostly wooded. A third portion of the Carlisle trail system follows River Meadow Brook to the southeast after it passes under Curve Street near the Bog House. This part is also wooded. The trails in Chelmsford are mostly through woodland; one portion (leading to Fiske Street) follows a berm that is part of the retention system for the pond in Chelmsford. The Cranberry Bog is one of the most popular walking spots in Town, especially for dog walkers.
When walking near the bog itself, please don't let children or dogs walk on the bog. Footing can be uncertain, foot traffic can damage the cranberry crop, and agricultural chemicals are periodically used on the crop. Please also refrain from sampling the produce!
Trail maps are available online on the Trails Committee website and can be purchased in hard copy at Town Hall and at Ferns Country Store.
Getting There
The only available parking (and entrances) in Carlisle are along Curve Street. One parking location (4-5 cars) is alongside the 101-year-old Bog House; a second parking area (about 6-10 cars) lies among the trees on the north side of Curve Street just 100 yards from the Bog House.


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Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW). Below are some highlights from the above linked analysis:
Company Description: Lowe's Companies, Inc. sells retail building materials and supplies, lumber, hardware and appliances through more than 1,700 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Fair Value: In calculating fair value, I consider the NPV MMA Differential Fair Value along with these four calculations of fair value, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
1. Avg. High Yield Price
2. 20-Year DCF Price
3. Avg. P/E Price
4. Graham Number
LOW is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a slight discount to its calculated fair value of $27.6. LOW earned a Star in this section since it is trading at a fair value.
Dividend Analytical Data: In this section there are three possible Stars and three key metrics, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
1. Free Cash Flow Payout
2. Debt To Total Capital
3. Key Metrics
4. Dividend Growth Rate
5. Years of Div. Growth
6. Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15%
LOW earned three Stars in this section for 1.), 2.) and 3.) above. A Star was earned since the Free Cash Flow payout ratio was less than 60% and there were no negative Free Cash Flows over the last 10 years. The stock earned a Star as a result of its most recent Debt to Total Capital being less than 45%. LOW earned a Star for having an acceptable score in at least two of the four Key Metrics measured.
Rolling 4-yr Div. > 15% means that dividends grew on average in excess of 15% for each consecutive 4 year period over the last 10 years (2003-2006, 2004-2007, 2005-2008, etc.) I consider this a key metric since dividends will double every 5 years if they grow by 15%. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1961 and has increased its dividend payments for 50 consecutive years.
Dividend Income vs. MMA: Why would you assume the equity risk and invest in a dividend stock if you could earn a better return in a much less risky money market account (MMA) or Treasury bond? This section compares the earning ability of this stock with a high yield MMA. Two items are considered in this section, see page 2 of the linked PDF for a detailed description:
1. NPV MMA Diff.
2. Years to > MMA
LOW earned a Star in this section for its NPV MMA Diff. of the $3,048. This amount is in excess of the $500 target I look for in a stock that has increased dividends as long as LOW has. If LOW grows its dividend at 15.0% per year, it will take 4 years to equal a MMA yielding an estimated 20-year average rate of 3.1%. LOW earned a check for the Key Metric 'Years to >MMA' since its 4 years is less than the 5 year target.
Memberships and Peers: LOW is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers™ Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) with a 2.3% yield, KingFisher plc (KGFHY.PK) with a 0.0% yield and Rona Inc. (RON.TO) with a 0.0% yield.
Conclusion: LOW earned one Star in the Fair Value section, earned three Stars in the Dividend Analytical Data section and earned one Star in the Dividend Income vs. MMA section for a total of five Stars. This quantitatively ranks LOW as a 5-Star Very Strong stock.
Using my D4L-PreScreen.xls model, I determined the share price would need to increase to $54.13 before LOW's NPV MMA Differential decreased to the $500 minimum that I look for in a stock with 50 years of consecutive dividend increases. At that price the stock would yield 1.0%.
Resetting the D4L-PreScreen.xls model and solving for the dividend growth rate needed to generate the target $500 NPV MMA Differential, the calculated rate is 8.7%. This dividend growth rate is well below the 15.0% used in this analysis, thus providing a significant margin of safety. LOW has a risk rating of 1.00 which classifies it as a Low risk stock.
As the second-largest home-improvement retailer in the world, LOW enjoys tremendous purchasing power enabling it to provide low prices to its customers. The company is well-managed with a highly automated distribution network. LOW's largest competitor, Home Depot (HD), is playing catch up by aggressively restructuring its distribution network to improve efficiency.
Its strong balance sheet, including a relatively low debt level and impressive free cash flows, has carried LOW through the downturn. The stock is trading below my $27.60 calculated fair value. However, with a yield just over 2%, the stock does not meet my minimum threshold, so I will remain on the sidelines for now.
Disclaimer: Material presented here is for informational purposes only. The above quantitative stock analysis, including the Star rating, is mechanically calculated and is based on historical information. The analysis assumes the stock will perform in the future as it has in the past. This is generally never true. Before buying or selling any stock you should do your own research and reach your own conclusion. See my Disclaimer for more information.
Full Disclosure: At the time of this writing, I held no position in LOW (0.0% of my Dividend Growth Portfolio). See a list of all my dividend growth holdings here.
Related Articles:
- Monsanto Co. (MON) Dividend Stock Analysis
- Pepsico, Inc. (PEP) Dividend Stock Analysis
- Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) Dividend Stock Analysis
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Dividend Stock Analysis
- More Stock Analysis
Tags: [LOW] [HD] [KGFHY.PK] [RON.TO]


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Now because OMXPlayer is still very new, it is still very basic. So basic in fact it's key bindings (for play/pause/stop/quit) only function if the program is launched via the CLI. Knowing my Fiance and friends who often use the media PC would give me no end of grief if they had to open a terminal to play movies - I set about finding a solution. Today I'd like to share that fairly simple solution with you!
To allow users to simply "double click" on a media file via the file manager and have it open in OMXPlayer you need to create a .desktop file for OMXPlayer. Open a terminal on your pi and run:
Exec=omxplayer -o hdmi %f


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The insurance giant, which has recently undergone a restructure following the departure of chief executive Andrew Moss, is to implement a new global strategy based around the strapline "Little things matter".
Aviva will focus its marketing on the ways in which it looks after customers "when the big things in life happen", such as only calling when it is convenient for policyholders.
The "Matters" positioning has been developed following a global research project led by global marketing director Jan Gooding.
The new positioning will roll out in the UK with a 60-second TV ad, again featuring 'The Fast Show' actor Whitehouse.
The ad, which for the first time sees Aviva promote both general and life insurance products in a single campaign, follows Whitehouse's character from the birth of his son to the birth of his grandchild.
It will see Whitehouse assume a "much more emotional, less humorous approach", although humour will form a part of subsequent "harder working" product ads.
The TV ad, by Abbot Mead Vickers BBDO, will be supported with outdoor executions and a direct mail campaign in mid-January. Digital activity, by Dare, will include a Facebook timeline competition.
Heather Smith, UK marketing director at Aviva, said the new campaign aims to take Aviva's brand to the "next step".
She added: "There is a lot of negative sentiment in the sector, so we wanted a positioning in the market which tells the story of the breadth of our offer, and those little moments of empathy that will differentiate Aviva."
Mark Wilson is to join as Aviva's new chief executive from 1 January. The insurer recently ended its 13-year partnership with UK Athletics.


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Newly discovered papers have shed light on a fascinating episode in the history of neuroscience: Weighing brain activity with the balance The story of the early Italian neuroscientist Dr Angelo Mosso and his 'human circulation balance' is an old one - I remember reading about it as a student, in the introductory bit of a textbook on fMRI - but until now, the exact details were murky. In the new paper, Italian neuroscientists Sandrone and colleagues report that they've unearthed Mosso's original manuscripts from an archive in Milan.
Mosso worked in the late 19th century, an era that was - in retrospect - right at the dawn of modern neuroscience. A major question at that time was the relationship between brain function and blood flow. His early work included studies of the blood pressure in the brains of individuals with skull defects. His most ambitious project, however, was his balance - or as he sometimes called it, according to his daughter, his 'metal cradle' or 'machine to weigh the soul'. Here's his own 1884 drawing of the contraption:
It was in essence just a large balance. A volunteer lay on a table, their head on one side of the scale's pivot and their feet on the other. It was carefully adjusted so that the two sides were perfectly balanced. The theory was that if mental activity caused increased brain blood flow, it ought to increase the weight of the head relative to the rest of the body, so that side of the balance would fall. Mosso claimed that this, indeed, occurred - starting to read a newspaper caused the brain to get weightier, while a difficult book of philosophy was even more effective, presumably because it required more mental effort to understand. Matters were rather complex, however, because Mosso had realized that in order to obtain valid results, it was necessary to correct for things such as head movement, breathing, and pulse. These physiological artifacts still cause endless problems forneuroscientists tothis day. To measure and eliminate these sources of noise, Mosso build his balance to include a series of sphygmographs - pressure monitors (complex machines in their own right) - to record blood-flow in the hand, the foot, and also chest movements during breathing. The whole thing was connected to a pen that made a trace on a sheet of paper stuck to a rotating, clockwork drum - thus plotting the data as a graph. But did it really work? It's plausible, but Sandrone et al are noncommittal:
Overall, despite Mosso's keen awareness of the number of artifacts that might arise from this procedure, together with his extensive efforts to quantify possible confounding variables, it is not clear whether the 'Mosso method' could realistically and sensibly discriminate between the signal (real brain blood flow changes) and the noise.
While it's certainly true that local brain activity does alter local blood flow (this is the basis of fMRI and other modern neuroimaging methods), it's hard to say whether this would affect the overall weight of the head. Even if it did, the effect might be too small to detect with any technology available in Mosso's time. Either way, it was an amazing endeavor. The public at the time were sold on the idea - so much so, that they sound almost 21st century in their hopes...
On 1 December 1908, a French newspaper reported that numerous people 'were passionate about the experiments of Professor Angelo Mosso' and enthusiastically believed that this device 'would soon fully explain the physiology of the human brain' and lead to new treatments for neurological and mental illnesses.
Sandrone S, Bacigaluppi M, Galloni MR, Cappa SF, Moro A, Catani M, Filippi M, Monti MM, Perani D, & Martino G (2013). Weighing brain activity with the balance: Angelo Mosso's original manuscripts come to light. Brain PMID: 23687118


text: Main Page Revision as of 02:02, 1 February 2015 by Tony Allan (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Lost Plays Database: Introduction The Lost Plays Database is a wiki-style forum for scholars to share information about lost plays in England, 1570-1642. Its purpose is to add lost plays to scholarly discussions of early modern theatrical activity. The editors believe that lost plays are a potential source of significant information on playwrights, playing companies, venues in London and the provinces, repertory studies, and audiences. The database provides a web-accessible, web-editable site for data on these plays concerning theatrical provenance, sources, genre, and authorship. Users of the Lost Plays Database will find information drawn from the following, as applicable: • Stationers' Register • Henslowe's Diary • Legal records • Narrative and dramatic sources • Scholarly commentary • Online databases and digital archives Unlike many public wikis, the Lost Plays Database is not open to public editing: for quality control, potential contributors must apply to the editors for contributing privileges (see How to Contribute).


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With major parts of the U.S. under an intense heat wave, opting for less cooling may seem like a bad idea. But it isn't.
The U.S. General Services Administration, as part of data center consolidation and efficiency efforts, has recommended raising data center temperatures from 72 degrees Fahrenheit to as high as 80 degrees. Based on industry best practices, the GSA said it can save 4% to 5% in energy costs for every one degree increase in the server inlet temperature.
But how many data centers are near the upper data center limit recommended by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) of 80.6 degrees?
Not many, it turns out.
To run near the ASHRAE limits, "you really need to have the operations expertise on staff to manage a higher risk environment," said Matt Stansberry, director of content for the Uptime Institute.
According to 2013 Uptime Institute survey data of more than 1,000 data centers globally, nearly half of all data centers reported operating at 71 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. This is largely unchanged from last year's survey.
The next largest temperature segment, from 65 to 70 degrees, was 37% of data centers and is unchanged from last year.
Nonetheless, the survey points to changes at the margins. The most noticeable one is the percentage of data centers operating at temperatures of more than 75 degrees. That figure increased from 3% to 7% from last year. It is still a small percentage, but if it hits 10% next year, it may be a clear sign of a trend to warmer data centers.
Another sign: In 2011, the Uptime survey reported that 15% of the data centers were at temperatures below 65%. But in the last two surveys, only 6% are running below 65 degrees.
Data center equipment today is more capable of handling higher temperatures, which prompted the ASHRAE, in 2008, to raise the recommended the recommended temperature of air entering servers and other data center equipment from 77 degrees to 80.6 degrees.
"In order to implement hotter inlet air temps, you need to do it gradually, and make sure you're not causing problems in other parts of the data center," said Stansberry. "Unless you have trained staff who can do that, it's not going to happen."
Only 15% of the data center managers responding to the survey said they were measuring and controlling air temperatures from the server inlet, which Uptime considers the most accurate place, with "room level" measuring, at 27%, the least accurate.
Source: Uptime Institute
This article, It's getting warmer in some data centers, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Patrick Thibodeau covers cloud computing and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @DCgov or subscribe to Patrick's RSS feed. His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
See more by Patrick Thibodeau on Computerworld.com.
Read more about data center in Computerworld's Data Center Topic Center.


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Clear, actionable intelligence is vital to the planning and execution of any military, peacekeeping or disaster-relief operation. The success of these missions is largely dependent upon timely intelligence, fused from multiple data sources. However, the dynamic proliferation of new intelligence sources such as ground, airborne and space-based electro-optical, infrared and hyper-spectral sensors, has made it impossible to track and identify important activities solely through human analytical processes. There is simply too much big data being collected for human analysts to sort through it all – especially when time is of the essence.
A new computer-assisted problem solving methodology, known as ABI, has emerged to improve the efficiency and timeliness of intelligence analysis to better understand and take action upon historical, current and anticipated activities involving national or global security.
"I don't want our analysts to spend time searching for information," said National Geospatial-Intelligence Director, Letitia Long in a July 2013 interview with WashingtonExec. "I want to take advantage of computers and technology to serve up the information that we need to be focused on."
The ABI intelligence tradecraft organizes and collates large volumes of collected data, to make it easier for analysts to identify potential adversaries and their targets, by distinguishing relevant patterns and recognize suspicious behaviors before a possible threat may be imminent.
Throughout September, we will be profiling some of the many engineering and intelligence analysis experts behind our ABI solution to explain how this innovative methodology is impacting intelligence analysis and developing a "new breed" of analyst. See our employee profiles in the download section of this article.
Activity Based Intelligence has been defined and sponsored by the U.S. Office of the Director for National Intelligence and has been embraced by the major U.S. intelligence agencies.
Next week, our experts will share their views on the future of ABI. We will also explore how ABI can be applied to a broad range of problems outside the Intelligence Community.


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Canada Week: Integrated electric grid improves reliability for United States, Canada
Electric transmission lines crossing the U.S.-Canadian border allow electric trading across the border. More importantly, the North American electric power system is integrated, allowing the United States and Canada to pool resources to improve electric reliability.
In 2011, electricity imports from Canada accounted for only 1.4% of total U.S. electric consumption, while electricity exports to Canada accounted for only 0.4% of total U.S. electrical production. Although electricity imports and exports between the United States and Canada are low compared to total U.S. consumption and production, regional integration of the electrical grids plays an important role in improving electric reliability in both countries.
Three of the eight North American Electric Reliability Corporation(NERC) reliability regions span both the United States and Canada, effectively integrating the Canadian grid with the United States. (See NERC map) This interconnection improves reliability, both in sharing reserves and in guarding against cascading outages. Reliability problems and even blackouts remain possible and can affect both sides of the border.
Even fairly small volumes of trade enhance efficiency. For example, seasonal variation in electric demand means the two countries can share resources: electric heating causes Canadian load to peak in winter, while the United States is largely summer-peaking (because of air conditioning). Instead of each country building up capacity that would sit idle for many months of the year, sharing resources reduces the need for expensive facilities on both sides of the border.
Trade is highest in regions with large amounts of hydropower. Canadian hydroelectric generators are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest; in Northern Manitoba, which exports electricity via transmission lines running south through Minnesota and North Dakota; in Ontario bordering New York and Michigan; and in Quebec north of New England. Certain states rely heavily on imported electricity: Maine and Vermont got, respectively, 25% and 40% of their power from Canada in 2010.
There are connections between grid operators on both sides of the border. The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator controls a portion of the Canadian grid in Manitoba. Part of the grid in northeastern Maine is controlled by the New Brunswick System Operator. Alaska is not electrically connected to the Lower 48 states, but is connected to a portion of the Yukon. High levels of networked interconnectivity can have some drawbacks, particularly around geographical features: across the U.S.-Canadian border, power flows looping around Lake Erie have presented problems for electric power market participants. Both countries, and the entities that operate their electric transmission systems, are working to improve grid reliability.


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Move over arugula. This is my new favorite summer salad. So simple, sweet and savory.
Watermelon Feta Salad
serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a side
6-8 Cups rip watermelon, cold and cubed
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 2:50pm
June is berry recipe time! Add your berry recipe to the member blogs for a chance to win a copy of Ian Knauer's "The Farm: Rustic Recipes For A Year Of Incredible Food".
I love this recipe from my mom so much, that it replaced wedding cake at my…Continue
Posted on June 15, 2012 at 9:57am — 1 Comment
It was so nice to be able to picture the beginnings of the food I will be eating this summer, and what farmer Steve is up to as the ground awakens again. I thought I would share it with you, too!
An example of my CSA share - can't wait!!
Hello all!
Well, I have started planting in the greenhouse, so no matter what the calendar…Continue
Posted on March 12, 2012 at 3:30pm — 1 Comment
This less-than-wintry winter we're having here in New England has got me thinking about how to fake winter – at least the indoors part – with warming, savory foods. Part of the fun of winter is holing up inside, keeping cozy, and cooking a pot of something good. Casseroles are something good. Retro in style, usually creamy and easily portable (if one chose to leave…Continue
Posted on February 17, 2012 at 10:00am — 2 Comments
Posted on January 23, 2012 at 10:30am — 2 Comments
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X-37B unmanned space plane returns to Earth
X-37B is an unmanned US Air Force space plane. The X-37B made a successful return on Friday after 220 days in Earth orbit.
After seven months in space, the U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B unmanned space plane returned to Earth today to wrap up a debut flight shrouded in secrecy.
The robotic X-37B space plane landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to end its maiden voyage. The space plane, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle 1, glided back to Earth over the Pacific Ocean before landing at the revamped Vandenberg runway at about 1:16 a.m. PST (0916 GMT) today (Dec. 3).
"Today's landing culminates a successful mission based on close teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, Boeing and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office," said Lt Col Troy Giese, X-37B program manager from the AFRCO, which oversaw the mission. "We are very pleased that the program completed all the on-orbit objectives for the first mission."
In all, the X-37B space plane spent more than 220 days in orbit. Air Force officials said earlier this week that the X-37B could land anytime between Friday and Monday (Dec. 3 to Dec. 6).
The Air Force has kept the exact nature and cost of the X-37B's secretive mission a closely guarded secret, but some analysts and skywatchers have speculated that the spacecraft served as an unmanned orbital spy platform.
Robot space drone's long flight
The Air Force launched the robot space plane atop an equally unmanned Atlas 5 rocket on April 22. Since then, the spacecraft has orbited Earth, at times tracked by meticulous skywatchers who first spotted the spacecraft in space using telescopes, then noticed its apparent manuevers to change orbits. [Video of the X-37B in space]
"This is a historical first, not only for Vandenberg Air Force Base, but for the Air Force and our nation to receive a recoverable spacecraft here and really take a step forward in advancing unmanned space flight," said 30th Space Wing commander Col. Richard Boltz in a statement before the landing.
The X-37B space drone is robotic winged spacecraft that looks in many ways like a miniature space shuttle. It was built by Boeing's Phantom Works Division in Seal Beach, Calif., and can fly long, extended missions because of its solar array power system, which allows it to stay in orbit for up to 270 days, Air Force officials have said.
Originally, NASA used the X-37B space plane as an experimental test bed until funding for the project ran out in 2004. The vehicle then passed to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and was ultimately turned over to the Air Force in 2006.
X-37B's mystery mission
Air Force officials have said the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 1 is being used to demonstrate and test guidance, navigation and control systems, as well as evaluate autonomous landing techniques for winged spacecraft. Details about any experimental payloads on the spacecraft are classified, Air Force officials have said.
Before the April launch of the Orbital Test Vehicle 1 flight, Gary Payton, Air Force deputy undersecretary of space programs, said that the X-37B is not a space weapon.
"I don't know how this could be called a weaponization of space," Payton told reporters at the time. "Fundamentally, it's just an updated version of the space shuttle kinds of activities in space."
But some facts about the X-37B spacecraft are well known.
For example, the spacecraft has two wings, a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed and black heat-resistant tiles to withstand the searing hot temperatures of atmospheric re-entry.
This SPACE.com graphic of the X-37B depicts the characteristics and capabilities of the unmanned space plane.
The X-37B is about 29 feet (9 meters) long and has a wingspan of just over 14 feet (4 meters) across. It stands just over 9 1/2 feet (3 meters) tall and weighs nearly 11,000 pounds (about 5,000 kg).
The X-37B launches like a rocket and glides back to Earth like NASA's space shuttles, but instead of a single tail fin at the rear, the X-37B has two stabilizers, called "ruddervators," sprouting up in a "V" shape.
The vehicle was also equipped with a destruct mechanism, so Air Force officials could destroy it by remote control if it veered off course while gliding over the Pacific Ocean toward the Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Robot space plane's return
To prepare for the mini-shuttle's landing, a huge team of workers had to replace some 658 steel along the along the centerline of Vandenberg 15,000-foot (4,572-meter) runway because the older ones could pose a hazard to the X-37B vehicle's tires, according to the Santa Maria Times newspaper.
The Air Force has already ordered a second X-37B, the Orbital Test Vehicle 2, which is slated to launch on another test flight sometime in the spring of 2011.
But for now, Air Force officials said they were ecstatic to see the successful return of the first X-37B spacecraft.
"With it being such a unique mission for the base, it is exciting to be a part of this historic landing," said Capt. Dariusz Wudarzewski, 2nd ROPS range operations commander. "For how long we have been working on it, I think everyone is really excited to see it culminate."


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Resident Evil fans think a 5 remake is guaranteed after Separate Ways
News It sure does look likely
Resident Evil 5 news, cheats and reviews
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Your essential guide for staying human at the end of the world
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Anonymously submitted picture of logo indicates it will
With bonus Ashley and Code Veronica. LOOK WITH YOUR EYES!
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Resident Evil's bad guy amuses with his Old Spice parody commercial
Resi 6? Raccoon City? A new title for PSP? Your undead guess is as good as ours
SOCOM developer rumoured to have been handed the undead keys to Capcom's survival horror series