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It started today. And if you add up the numbers, it's the largest airlift of horses to a single event in history. An estimated 500 of the horses who will be performing and competing at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will land at Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport in the next two weeks.
Isn?t that great? And then what happens?
If you watched the video, and listened to Rusty Ford, you know what happens. Those horses aren?t going anywhere–not for 42 hours, anyway. They'll stay right on the grounds of the airport, in temporary stabling under tents. To them, it will be just another horse show, without the show.
They'll be attended by veteinarians and grooms who will be watching their vital signs and attitude and eating and drinking behaviors for the slightest evidence of illness. Blood samples will be shipped via UPS to a testing lab in Iowa. And they?ll wait: Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, Andalusians, Lipizanners, Friesians, Arabians all camped out together. A tapestry of languages will be heard through those tent walls.
Horses coming from Asia and Australia are going through a similar quarantine in Los Angeles, while horses coming from South America are processed through Miami. Whatever their port of entry, they must pass through the rigors of U.S. importation requirements. Before these horses ever left their home countries, there were vaccinations and USDA health certificates to complete.
I felt a chill today when Anky Van Grunsven, at 3:18 p.m., posted in English on Twitter, ?Horses arrived safe and sound. I can sleep well :-)? She was referring, of course, to the Dutch shipment and to her reining horse, in particular, since the defending WEG champion in dressage will be riding on the Dutch reining team this year! Dressage rider Edward Gal, too, posted to let everyone know that his champion horse, Moorlands Totilas, had landed.
The arrival of the horses is an exciting time. The grooms and vets and farriers are making their way through customs as I write this. When they arrive in Lexington, they have to unpack and build little stable villages for their nations at the Horse Park. They'll zoom around in golf carts and on bikes and get fork lifts to help them.
When they?re all done next week, when all the countries are in place and all the horses are here, the little stable villages will have melded into the World, right there on the back side of the Kentucky Horse Park.
Welcome to America! Welcome to the World!
Video courtesy WCPO-TV.


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The following is the text as prepared which U. S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) delivered today for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Washington Forum on the topic: "Dictators and Dissidents: Should the West Choose Sides?"
Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr.
"U.S. Policy on Syria"
December 6, 2012
Thank You, Ken for your kind words and friendship. I also want to thank FDD's chairman, Ambassador Jim Woolsey, its president, Cliff May, its executive director, Mark Dubowitz and its staff for being so responsive to our office when we have reached out to them.
As chairman of the Near East, South and Central Asia Subcommittee, the founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Caucus on Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism I value the work you do on the range of topics associated with these issues – the security of our troops in Afghanistan, Syria policy, and of course, the work you do to strengthen our Iran policy. Your team has brought to the forefront carefully thought out and persuasive research and policy positions that have been outstanding resources for those of us in Congress focused on these issues.
The theme of this year's Washington Forum is "Dictators and Dissidents: Should the West Choose Sides?" Quite topical given the events of the Arab Spring and the nascent democratic openings in other places like Burma. I would argue that the central question is actually one of process. The central question is whether the U.S. and the West should support the democratic process such that citizens are able to choose their own leaders. Democracy does not begin or end with elections, but includes the active engagement of civil society, a free press and a fair environment in which candidates and parties can compete. All of these components are required for true democratic development to take place. These processes may give rise to political movements and leaders that may disagree with the U.S. or even oppose certain western policies.
In years past, U.S. and western diplomats have often had a sole address to call upon in many countries, usually a dictator's doorstep. Today, the job of a western diplomat and U.S. diplomatic engagement more broadly, particularly in the Middle East, has expanded greatly to include the necessity of engaging directly with a wide swath of society, to include human rights and policy advocates, journalists and others. I would argue that relations with countries that have duly-elected leadership are built on more stable foundations than the substantial, but ultimately brittle ties that the U.S. maintained with for example Mubarak in Egypt or Saleh in Yemen.
Nowhere in the region is the struggle against dictatorship today more vital and acute than in Syria. Over the course of the past 20 months, it has become abundantly clear that with Bashar Al Assad in power, there is no possibility for a democratic process in the country.
For years, Syria has been one of the most repressive countries in the world, according to the State Department's human rights reports and analytical studies done by Freedom House. Political dissidents were routinely imprisoned or disappeared and journalists were silenced. Human rights activists operated underground, living in constant fear of the dreaded mukhabarat. Meanwhile, Bashar Al Assad professed a commitment to playing a constructive role in the region and he was cast by many as a reformer. But his terrible treatment of his own people should have been a strong indication of who he really was. How a government treats its people a true testament to its character. How a government treats its own people is an indication of how it will act on the world stage.
We have seen how Assad operates in the region and how his ties with Iran and Hezbollah have strengthened over the years. Iran has desperately sought to bolster the regime in Damascus, its only true ally in the region. This has meant providing weapons, logistical support and tactical advice to the Syrian government forces.
Iran has also used Syria as a conduit for support to Hezbollah as that terrorist organization has substantially increased its arsenal of rockets and missiles, a restocking after the 2006 war against Israel. I have sought to use my position in the Senate to put a bright spotlight on the destructive terrorist activities that Hezbollah continues to conduct in the region and around world. After Al Qaeda, Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization. In recent years, Hezbollah and its Iranian backers have been tied to terrorist attacks or planned attacks in Turkey, Cyprus, India, Thailand and Azerbaijan. The investigation into the July 18th attack in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver, appears to have the markings of a Hezbollah strike. Last year, I chaired a foreign relations committee hearing on the growing threat posed by Hezbollah and in September, I led a letter signed by 76 Senators to EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton strongly urging that the European Union designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. In her response, Ms. Ashton laid out the bureaucratic hurdles to a designation, something which I believe can and should be overcome. In the coming days, I will introduce a resolution with Senators Lieberman and Risch with the same message.
Degrading the destructive power of Iran and Hezbollah is in the national security interests of the United States. Bashar al -Assad is a key link between them. Efforts to support moderate forces opposing him within Syria should be considered now and considered seriously.
I recently called for a more robust U.S. response to the crisis in Syria. I believe that a political transition to a government that reflects the will of the Syrian people is in the core interests of the United States in the region. Moreover, this change would align with our values of supporting the democratic process and the basic rights and freedoms that should be enjoyed by all people, regardless of religion, ethnicity or gender.
Over the course of the past 20 months, the Assad regime has unleashed a barrage of unspeakable terror across the country with the sole aim of remaining in power. More than 40,000 have been killed and countless injured. Refugees have surged into neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, taxing the limits of those countries' capacity and creating a regional crisis. Assad's escalation of violence has reached a point where fighter jets have been used to kill civilians standing in bread lines, according to Human Rights Watch. Fighter jets are used to kill civilians standing in bread lines. This regime's shocking capacity for widespread terror may only grow, as we see reports that chemical weapons are being prepared for use.
Meanwhile, international institutions have largely remained on the sidelines, held hostage by the reprehensible policies of the Russian and Chinese governments. The administration was right to initially work through the United Nations, but unfortunately, due to Russian and Chinese intransigence, these efforts have only served to prolong the suffering of the Syrian people. We need a new course.
Ambassador Ford has led the charge in coordinating humanitarian assistance. Let me just share a few thoughts on this brave American. I am glad that he spoke here earlier today. His personal courage and commitment to seeing a way forward in Syria are remarkable. His visit to Hama in July 2011 stands as a testament to America's commitment and concern for the Syrian people. I was proud to chair his confirmation hearing to serve as Ambassador and have appreciated his friendship and openness to engaging with Congress over the course of this crisis. He is precisely the kind of diplomat that we need during these challenging times in the Middle East. We need more Robert Fords.
Ambassador Ford and his team have led an important effort to support a more cohesive and moderate opposition political group in Syria. This has not been easy. Opposition political organizing is difficult in the best of circumstances, nevermind during a war and after decades of severe repression by the Syrian government. Despite these considerable challenges, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces was recently established in Doha. This group is not perfect, nor should we expect it to be. I don't need to tell anyone in Washington that the work of political consensus is hard. Moving forward, I expect that the administration will communicate clear and achievable criteria for the formal recognition of this group as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Once met, the U.S. should move quickly to recognize and show support for this group and continue to repeat the central importance of commitment to democratic principles and human rights for Syrians of all religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Time is growing increasingly short for those moderate elements among the political and armed opposition, as we see reports of increased influence of foreign fighters and jihadis in Syria. The space to positively influence the environment is narrow and may be closing. The establishment of the new opposition group, combined with a better understanding of the armed opposition, provides a renewed opportunity for a more assertive U.S. policy. I propose that the administration should consider the following measures:
- First, the U.S. must lead an effort to better coordinate international support for the moderate Syrian opposition. Several countries over the past 20 months have provided different degrees of military, political and humanitarian assistance to Syrian opposition groups inside the country, which has led to a common complaint from those in the opposition – they say that the U.S. and international community have applied considerable pressure on the Syrian opposition to coalesce and coordinate, yet those countries providing assistance to the opposition are sometimes not coordinating among themselves and sometime work at cross purposes. They want us to heed our own advice, which I think is fair. Lack of international coordination has served to exacerbate tensions within the opposition inside the country and to empower jihadi elements active there. U.S. leadership among interested countries would help to better coordinate these efforts and bolster the position of moderate elements in the country.
We must also work closely with Syria's neighbors, who are suffering greatly from the spill-over effects of this crisis, to ensure that they are committed to hastening the end of the Assad regime. I am very concerned that Iraq continues to allow Iranian flights to use Iraqi airspace to transport military supplies disguised as humanitarian aid to the Syrian regime. Iraq's failure to inspect all flights and turn back any that are carrying illicit cargo violates international sanctions and directly undermines U.S. security interests. The Iraqi government must commit to inspecting all Iranian aircraft passing through its airspace to ensure that Iran is not able to facilitate Assad's brutality and prolong the survival of the regime. As a major recipient of U.S. assistance, Iraq must not continue to undercut our key interests in the region.
- Second, the U.S. should consider initiating security cooperation to include training and intelligence sharing with heavily-vetted opposition groups that are committed to the democratic process and universally accepted human rights principles. I understand that organizations like the Syrian Support Group have developed criteria and secured commitments from many commanders on the ground to abide by internationally accepted human rights norms and conventions relevant to behavior during armed conflict.
- Third, the U.S. should consider measures that would hamper the ability of the Syrian Air Force to conduct aerial attacks on civilians. NATO is finalizing the fielding of Patriot missile batteries, which is an important step in the right direction. While defensive in nature, I think that these batteries are an important display of international solidarity with Turkey and the Syrian people. The administration should also examine and assess other ways in which the Syrian Air Force can be deterred and degraded including the use of surface-to-surface tomahawk missiles to degrade the Syrian air force on the ground.
- Fourth, as part of our support for the opposition, we should be working to identify ways to strengthen moderate elements within the country with direct monetary support. Years ago, the international community provided oil and energy assistance to towns led by democratic forces opposed to Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia. This assistance helped to bolster the standing of these leaders in the eyes of their constituents and helped them to provide much needed heating services during the cold Serbian winter. In Syria the humanitarian situation is considerably more dire, but so is the need for Syria's emerging democrats to deliver. If we can help on that front in a way that does not exacerbate internal opposition dynamics, then we should.
- Finally, as soon as the security situation permits, the U.S. should enhance our diplomatic engagement in Syria by sending emissaries to meet with members of the political opposition in the northern part of the country. This important display of solidarity would greatly enhance U.S. standing among the moderate opposition and would improve our ability to understand what will be considerable challenges in post-Assad Syria.
Greater U.S. engagement is essential to ensuring that this conflict ends with the removal of Assad and that Iran and Hezbollah are significantly weakened. This is clearly in our national security interests. While I do not support the use of U.S. forces on the ground in Syria, I believe that the U.S. can and should take more concrete steps to demonstrate support for this transition. While we can't predict exactly what a new Syrian government will look like, we can encourage moderate actors to take center stage and emphasize the importance of the process – the process of building institutions, the process of electing new leaders, and the process of bringing together Syrians of different backgrounds to pursue a common goal of peace and representative government. This is a goal worth supporting, and I hope that the U.S. will demonstrate our commitment to these core principles in the weeks and months ahead.

subset: commoncrawl


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Three-Point Hitch Models (4' to 6') SSP-4
The SSP Series is available in 4', 5' and 6' sizes. Equipped with a meter and agitator box as standard equipment, these three-point hitch models will do everything the larger machines can do, only on a much smaller scale. Coil tine wheel track removers and blade agitators in the rear seed box are standard. The close coupled hitch on these models allows use with compact tractors for excellent maneuverability in close quarters. These units may be small in size but they are big on features. - Less
The SSP Series is available in 4', 5' and 6' sizes. Equipped with a meter and agitator box as standard equipment, these three-point hitch models will do everything the larger machines can do, only on a much smaller scale. Coil tine wheel track removers and blade agitators in the rear seed box are standard. The close co... + Read More
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Three-Point Hitch Models - 4' to 6'
- Three-Point Hitch - Cat. I, II Free Link
- Three-Point Hitch - Cat. I, II Quick Coupler Hitch
- Micro-Metered Front Seed Box
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- 11.5" Gray Cast Iron Front Pulverizer Roller
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- Greaseable Axle Bearings
- Coil Tine Wheel Track Remover Standard
- Lift Sling Kits Available
- Speed Up Kit (Doubles Output) Available
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|Approximate Weight
|844 lbs. (380 kg)
|Working Width
|4 ft. 0 in. 1.2 m)
|Transport Width
|5 ft. 0 in. (1.25 m)
|Transport Height
|Dependent Upon Tractor
|Overall Height
|3 ft. 7 in. (1.08 m)
|Overall Length
|2 ft. 6 in. (0.8 m)
|Seed Box
|All Steel Construction with Cover
|Seed Box Capacity - Meter Box
|1.75 bu.
|Seed Box Capacity - Agitator Box
|1.75 bu.
|Seed Meters
|"Micro-Meter" / Blade Agitator
|Seed Meter Drive
|Ground Driven
|Seed Meter/Opening Space
|8 in. (203 mm) / 4 in. (102 mm)
|Seed Delivery
|Broadcast with Wind Deflector Tray
|Pulverizer Roller - Front
|11.5 in. (292 mm) Gray Cast Iron
|Pulverizer Roller - Rear
|9.5 in. (241 mm) Gray Cast Iron
|Pulverizer Axle Bearings
|Pulverizer Axle Size - Front
|8.625 in. (219 mm)
|Pulverizer Axle Size - Rear
|1.75 in. (44.5 mm)
|Three-Point Hitch
|Cat. I, II Free Link; Cat. I, II Quick Coupler Hitch
|Coil Tine Track Remover
|Lift Sling Kit
|Electronic Acre Meter Kit
|Brush Agitator Kit for Brome Box
|Speed Up Kit (Doubles Output)
|SMV Emblem
|Powder Coat Paint, Red
|Horsepower Requirements
|35 HP (26.88 kW) and up
|Recommended Operating Speed
|3 to 5 MPH (5 to 8.3 km/h)
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Happy Sunday! Where has the weekend gone? I can't believe tomorrow is Monday already!
It's Taco Sunday tonight at my house! I made scallop tacos. It's funny because a few years back I wouldn't touch a fish or shrimp taco. I fully believed that tacos were meant for steak or chicken. It wasn't that I didn't like shrimp or fish because I love both those things. I just thought it was weird to put that on a taco. Fast forward a few years later and I love them! I make shrimp tacos often but today I wanted to try something out of the box. That is where scallop tacos came from. Scallops have a mild sweet flavor and I thought it would pair well with certain flavors in a taco. Check out the recipe and give it a try. It's a good take on a taco and great for a dinner party. It's sure to wow your guest and make a lasting impression with this elevated taco dish.
Scallop Tacos with Avocado Cilantro Crema
16 sea scallops, rinsed
1 T low sodium taco seasoning
1/2 T olive oil
Sprinkle: salt
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup queso fresco, crumbled or chopped small
4 tortillas, taco size
Avocado Cilantro Crema
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup + 1 T light sour cream
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes, juiced
1 jalapeño, seeds removed (keep seeds in if you want a spicier taste)
1 T milk
1 t salt (more to taste)
Directions: In a blender or a food processor add all ingredients for the avocado crema. Mix until smooth. If it's too thick just add a little more milk. Put in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For the scallops, heat a medium saute pan on high. Sprinkle the scallops with the taco seasoning and salt. Once pan is heated add in the olive oil and scallops and cook 2-3 minutes on each side. They will get a little dark in color from the taco seasoning however it's not burnt. Once scallops are done, set on a paper towel. Heat the tortillas in a paper towel in the microwave for 30 seconds. Next assemble the tacos. Place 4 scallops on the tortilla and top with sliced onion, cheese and finish it off with the avocado cilantro crema. Serve immediately. Then enjoy!
Notes: Make sure you rinse your the scallops. You don't want to feel sand in your mouth. You can add only 3 scallops to each tortilla if you'd like. The sea scallops I used were a little smaller then normal so I put 4 on each tortilla. The sauce should last in the refrigerator for a few days. The lime juice should keep the avocado from turning brown.


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By: Amber Joiner-Hill, MSSW
Associate Policy Analyst, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
I started developing a vocabulary around the criminalization of students—particularly those in elementary and middle school—about four years ago when I participated in my city's "Citizen's Academy". The program exposed residents to various government services, functions, and challenges. The intent was to show what it took to keep the city going and hopefully generate a sense of ownership and connectedness to our community. One of our sessions was with a school resource officer from the local police department. I had not heard that term before and learned that this particular officer was assigned to patrol the hallways of a nearby middle school and high school and participate in disciplinary actions as requested or deemed necessary. The concept of having a police officer regularly present in a school and not just responding to an emergency was bizarre to me. When I was in school, the most threatening figure was Sister Stephanie—the Catholic principal who never smiled. She did not walk amongst us with a taser, baton, bullet-proof vest, or loaded gun like this school resource officer did.
Years before meeting this officer, I researched and wrote papers about the mass incarceration of Black and Latino men. Listening to the school resource officer talk about her job gave me a clear picture of what likely happened to those incarcerated men before they entered the adult criminal justice system. They could have been victims of the school to prison pipeline.
The Issue
The school to prison pipeline is a journey from the education system to the juvenile justice system and perhaps then the adult criminal justice system. There are some specific "stops" along the pipeline that people experience before entering a justice systemi. Two stops often highlighted are the introduction of police officers into schools, and the zero tolerance approach implemented by school administrations.
School resource officers are local police officers who work on the school grounds and have the ability to ticket, arrest, and detain students in response to a violation of a school policy. When teachers have a student who they would like to discipline but feel they cannot do it themselves, they can give that responsibility to a school resource officer and the consequences (legal and emotional) might place the student in the school to prison pipeline. This criminalization of students was highlighted in recent years with the release of several videos showing physical altercations between officers and the students they were trying to arrest, and encouraged conversations about racism within schools and the need for law enforcement on school campuses.
The zero tolerance approach is similar to the criminological theory of broken windows—if you punish individuals for minor offenses, then they are less likely to commit more serious offenses or violations in the futureii. For example, if we handcuff a student and take him to the principal's office for talking back to his teacher, then maybe he will not do it again. There is no data to support the effectiveness of such policies but there is evidence to suggest that they both enforce racial stereotypes against Black and Latin boys and meniii,iv.
Why It's Important
The most commonly used forms of disciplinary action taken in schools are expulsions and in-school and out-of-school suspensions. The use of disciplinary actions that remove students from school, for any length of time, has the greatest impact on Black and Latino students, who are up to three times more likely to be suspended than their White peersv,vi. According to Rumberger and Losen (2016) students who receive a school suspension are 15-27% less likely to graduate high school. Nationally, students who do not graduate from high school are three and a half times more likely to get arrested in their lifetime and eight times more likely to spend time in jail or prisonvii,viii. One cannot draw causal conclusions here but the data supports the existence of a school to prison pipeline and also touches on the disproportionality of Black and Latino men in the adult criminal justice system.
Communities as a whole suffer when residents are incarcerated because those individuals do not have the ability to work, and therefore are unable to support local businesses, pay taxes, volunteer in their community, or mentor younger generations.
This is just a snapshot of the impact of the criminalization of students. In part two of this post, I will describe an alternative that school administrators should consider: restorative justice. Do you have a student, client, or family who has been affected by the school to prison pipeline?
Look out for Part 2 on Friday!
Additional Resources
1 American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). Locating the School-to-Prison Pipeline. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/asset_upload_file966_35553.pdf
2 Skiba, R. (2004). Zero Tolerance: The Assumptions and the Facts. Indiana University: Center for Evaluation & Education Policy.
3 Vedantam, S., Benderev, C., Boyle, T., Klahr, R., Penman, M., & Schmidt, J. (2016, November 1). How A Theory of Crime and Policing Was Born, And Went Terribly Wrong [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2016/11/01/500104506/broken-windows-policing-and-the-origins-of-stop-and-frisk-and-how-it-went-wrong
4 Advancement Project (2005, March). Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track. Washington D.C.: Advancement Project.
5 Losen, D., Hodson, C., Keith II, M. A., Morrison, K., & Belway, S. (2015). Are We Closing the School Discipline Gap?. UCLA: The Center for Civil Rights Remedies.
6 U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. (2014, March). Civil Rights Data Collection Data Snapshot: School Discipline. (Issue Brief No 1). Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
7 Rumberger, R. W. & Losen, D. J. (2016). The High Cost of Harsh Discipline and Its Disparate Impact. UCLA & UCSB: The Center for Civil Rights Remedies
8 Christeson, B., Lee, B., Schaefer, S., Kass, D., & Messner-Zidell, S. (2008). School or the Streets: Crime and America's Dropout Crisis. Washington D.C.: Fight Crime Invest in Kids.


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Stefania Passamonte
Stefania Passamonte is an international concert pianist, recording artist, radio broadcaster, music director and entrepreneur. Since 2018, she is producer and radio presenter of her original program "Future Classic Women awards" on the Women's Radio Station.
Her recording of Clara schumann's Romance Op.21 no.3 is the soundtrack of her radio show and won great acclaim from press and audiences alike, including the Akademia Award for Best Classical Album and Artist of The Year 2019.Founder and owner of the award winner Music Academy "London Piano Masters" as well as the classical record label Master Chords Records, Stefania is also voting member of the Recording Academy for the Grammy's Awards in the USA and member of the Classical Committee of the BPI for the Classic BRITS Awards in the UK.


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The Son-Tector is solid, dependable, easy to use, and backed by over 50 years of experience. It's rugged housing and noise-excluding head phones are designed for industrial use. This tool easily locates leaks and mechanical malfunctions.
The 123 package is the most flexible package and offers maximum opportunity for cost savings. It contains everything necessary for ultrasonic leak and mechanical malfunction location.
The 112 package omits the ultrasonic noise generating
Son-Caster II-S. You would choose this package if you are looking for pressurized leaks or mechanical malfunctions, and would never need to find non-pressurized leaks such as those found in containers or vehicle windshields.
INDIVIDUAL PACKAGE COMPONENTS DESCRIPTIONS (price chart below)
1. Son-Tector 110M. Leather-cased base tool hears the source of the problem. The loudspeaker is more convenient than headphones when background noise is not an issue. The loudspeaker is essential in industrial applications where personnel are not allowed to wear headphones for safety reasons. Hearing a leak or malfunction is easier and far superior to meter-only read-out. The meter is used when hard hats prohibit use of headphones and background noise prevents hearing the loudspeaker. Leather case has handy belt clip. Sturdy, lightweight, anodized aluminum chassis.
2. Hand probe. Microphone hears airborne ultrasonic sound generated by compressed air and gas leaks, vacuum leaks, and corona discharge. It is also used in conjunction with the ultrasonic noise generator Son-Caster II-S to locate pin hole leaks in seals, containers, vans, and tanks. Far faster and easier than soap bubbles.
3. Sound concentrator. Flexible, rubber funnel slips over the hand probe in order to sharply reduce the effect of ultrasonic noise originating away from the leak. The hand probe is used to locate the general area of the leak. Then, the sound concentrator is slipped over the probe to pinpoint the leak. The sensitive area is reduced to a circle of about 1/4 inch in diameter. The flexible rubber allows bending around pipes or into other difficult to reach locations. Unlike rigid sound concentrators which can make quite a racket when bumped, rubber is completely silent.
4. Contact probe. Metal rod hears mechanical malfunctions in steam traps and condensers, hydraulic valves, by-passing cylinders, bad bearings, and worn gears by touching the probe tip directly to the housing, pipe, or valve. Far more sensitive than a stethoscope.
5. Headphones. Essential accessory in noisy environments such as industrial and commercial settings. Headphones increase effective sensitivity by sharply reducing the intensity of outside interfering sounds.
6. Son-Caster II-S. Ultrasonic noise generator for locating non-pressure leaks. Place the Son-Caster inside the tank, vehicle body, trailer, or watertight compartment in order to fill the area with ultrasonic sound. Leaks will be found on the other side of the container using the Sontector. The generated sound will be heard through the leak point. Excellent way to test for vacuum seal and gasket leaks.
7. Squeeze bottle. Included with every Son-Tector 110M. Squeezing the bottle simulates a leak and is a quick, simple way to field test the unit for proper operation.
8. Carrying case. Lightweight, durable, dye-cut foam interior keeps and protects all components in one handy place.
9. Coil Cord. Connects Hand Probe, Contact Probe and Headphones to Son-Tector 110.
10. Pole mounting amplifier. Used for semi-remote leak detection, such as overhead telephone cables, or where an operator must be completely isolated from a hazard, such as high voltage in the leak area. The receiver/amplifier is mounted on a swivel which will fit most poles or hot sticks. The transmitting probe is mounted on a clamp about 3 feet lower on the pole. The Son-Tector probe is mounted near the bottom of the pole to receive the ultrasonic transmissions for the conversion in the usual way.


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It's Wicked Wednesday, when we all weigh in on a topic. As mystery writers, we often joke about what would happen if people overheard our crazy dinner conversations on top murder methods or saw our frantic Googling sessions to find out the most logical place to hide a body. So today, we're going to get a little silly and talk about the craziest thing we've ever researched. In other words, which search would end with you on some kind of watch list?
Edith: For me it's got to be poisons. In past books and stories I have killed someone off with Datura tea, with liquid nicotine, with cyanide salts, with arsenic, with an unspecified botanical toxin, with Tylenol plus alcohol, and one coming up will use rosary peas. Deadly, deadly stuff, all of it! So if the NSA is tracking my searches, I'm, uh, dead in the water. But if the Poison Lady can stay in operation, I figure I can, too!
Liz: I think probably the weirdest thing I ever Googled was if you could kill someone with a corkscrew. Believe it or not, it has been done before….
Jessie: Disguising the smell of a decomposing body and composting a body probably would be mine.
Barb: For me, it's probably arson. I have Googled so much about various ways to start fires, what happens when a body burns and arson investigation techniques that I hope no one ever has a reason to go through my search history.
Sherry: So many things to choose from and so little space. It's probably from visiting so many sites with three letter acronyms — FBI, CIA, NSA, NGA, the list goes on and on. About six months after 9/11 my daughter and I were flying to Disney World with friends, when we went to check in we found out we were on the Do Not Fly list. After an airline employee spent thirty minutes on the phone we were finally allowed to fly — so maybe it started back then.
Readers: Do you think you are being watched? Why?


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Former Rhode Island Congressman and recovering addict Patrick Kennedy is spearheading the fight against the legalization of marijuana in the United States through his new nonprofit organization, 'Smart Approaches to Marijuana.'
Kennedy, who struggles with alcohol and drug addictions, said in an interview, "I am not the best messenger on this but I am a concerned citizen."
While marijuana possession is still illegal on the federal level, Colorado and Washington state legalized possession up to one ounce in the recent November elections. Other states, including Massachusetts and New Hampshire, are set to vote on the matter in the coming months as well.
"Our country is about to go down the wrong road, in the opposite direction of sound mental health policy," Kennedy said. "It's just shocking as a public health issue that we seem to be looking the other way as this legalization of marijuana becomes really glamorous."
Read more: The most tragic Irish American Joseph Patrick Kennedy
On SAM's website, Kennedy is quoted as saying, "We cannot promote a comprehensive system of mental health treatment and marijuana legalization, which increases permissiveness for a drug that directly contributes to mental illness."
During his time as Congressman for Rhode Island, Kennedy, the son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, championed mental health insurance and coverage. During his 16 year tenure, the Congressman revealed that he suffered from alcoholism and depression, as well as addictions to cocaine and prescription painkillers.
Kennedy said, "I can't stand by and let this move forward without any kind of debate or questioning."
"This thing could pass right underneath the radar and we will wake up one day and say what were we thinking? I have had a lot of moments like that in my life."
According to SAM's website, the organization says it looks to "neither legalize, nor demonize, marijuana," but does support "smart policies that decrease marijuana use — and do not harm marijuana users and low-level dealers with arrest records that stigmatize them for life and in ways that make it even harder for them to break free from cycles of substance dependence."
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance, slammed Kennedy by saying, "It's almost 'Reefer Madness'-type stuff about marijuana he's [Kennedy] saying."
"There's something remarkable about Patrick Kennedy deciding to go after users of a drug that is by almost all accounts less dangerous than the drugs he struggled with. Where Patrick Kennedy could have made a really important contribution is by saying that we need a responsible public health model for dealing with legal marijuana."
Read more: VP Joe Biden suddenly looks like the smartest politician in America
The Boston Herald writes that SAM 'hopes to raise money to oppose legalization messages around the country, shape the legalization laws taking effect in Washington and Colorado, promote alternatives to jail time for pot users and speed up scientific research on the effects of marijuana.'
On the panel for Kennedy's SAM organization is Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy adviser under President Obama; David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush; and Dr. Sharon Levy, chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on substance abuse.
The other board members insist that they are not looking to force marijuana-users into treatment, but that there should be more of a public health intervention. They also insist that there are dangers linked to marijuana that are not being publicized properly, similarly to how tobacco boasted no negative side effects originally.


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*rugenius in travel , 10:01
NotVentures Roundup- 04.29.11
So much gorgeous travel inspiration at NotVentures this week! Where will you be heading? Underwater in the Galapagos? A scenic drive through Colorado? Or perhaps something a bit more extreme? To find out more about each post, click on its individual image.


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By KEN RITTER Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two former investment executives from Japan have pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to wire fraud in what prosecutors have called a $1.5 billion international Ponzi scheme with 10,000 victims in the U.S. and abroad.
Junzo Suzuki and his son, Paul Suzuki, entered their pleas Wednesday in U.S. District Court in a plea deal that has each man facing five years in federal prison and three years of supervised release, according to court records.
Their pleas to one count of wire fraud avoided a trial that had been set to begin next month on 15 federal fraud charges. The father and son remain free under federal supervision pending sentencing May 11.
Attorneys Richard Wright and Junji Suzuki, representing the defendants, did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for comment on behalf of their clients. Junji Suzuki is not related to the defendants.
Prosecutors have compared the case involving Las Vegas-based MRI International Inc. with the biggest-ever U.S. fraud cases.
Junzo and Paul Suzuki were arrested in Japan in January 2019, two months after a federal jury in Las Vegas found their co-defendant, Edwin Fujinaga, guilty of 20 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
Fujinaga, now 75, is serving a 50-year U.S. prison sentence.
Junzo Suzuki was 70 when he was arrested. Paul Suzuki was 40.
From about 2009 to early 2013, the three drew thousands of Japanese investors who were told they were buying claims from a medical collection business, according to court documents.
Fujinaga ran the Las Vegas operation. He was found guilty of using new investors' money to pay off previous investors and spending the rest on himself, including a Las Vegas golf course mansion, a private jet, luxury cars and real estate in California wine country, Beverly Hills and Hawaii.
Junzo Suzuki was MRI International's executive vice president, prosecutors said, and Paul Suzuki managed Tokyo operations.
U.S. attorneys had compared the case with the Ponzi scheme convictions of Bernard Madoff in 2009 in New York, Allen Stanford in Houston in 2012, and Scott Rothstein's in 2010 in Miami.
Madoff, now 82, was sentenced to 150 years in prison for bilking thousands of investors out of at least $20 billion. Stanford, 71, is serving 110 years for a scheme involving more than $7 billion. Rothstein, 59, is serving 50 years in a $1.2 billion case.
Prosecutors said that when the Japanese government revoked MRI's license to market securities in April 2013, the firm owed investors more than $1.5 billion.
The U.S. Department of Justice has offered a website to provide information to victims of the MRI International scheme.


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Ever since the motorized gimbal made it into the industry about two years ago, that market segment has been getting more accessible to low budget shooters. From the $15,000 MoVI through the $2,499 DJI Ronin and now DJI announces a smaller sub $2,000 Ronin M.
But it is not only the price that matters, DJI made a huge change where it has been getting the most feedback – the weight of the system. The Ronin M is down to 5 lbs while the previous bigger brother weighs 9.3 lb. This is almost a 50% weight decrease. Of course that with a mounted camera that difference will shrink, but it is still 4.3 lb off the load.


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Acclaimed artist and instructor, Darwin Murphy, shared his talents with a group at the FCAC sponsored Acrylics class at the Century House on Saturday the 19th of March.
The results were outstanding as new friends and new talents were found in a relaxed and challenging experience.
More classes will be upcoming.
The Fairfield County Arts Council meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Century House at 6 pm. Gatherings are open to the public and are usually joined by an always interesting guest speaker.
Posted on March 19th, 2016.


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LIVESTRONG Foundation and Demand Media envisioned LIVESTRONG.COM as the destination website for those who want to take control of their health and build their own success story. They believe that every person should be given the right information concerning food, fitness and the necessary inspiration for them to live a healthy and good life. The fact remains that eating well and exercising often is very important in preventing cancer and other diseases.
People at LIVESTRONG believe that to achieve anything, one needs to be educated first. Then what follows is the person will have to make small daily commitment to effect a change. The site offers content to first inform the reader but also to engage him by offering him practical tools that he can rely on to put himself on the path to a healthier lifestyle progressively.
LIVESTRONG.COM does not doubt that to prevent cancer and other illnesses it is essential that one lives a healthy life. This is why the website has a licensing partnership with LIVESTRONG Foundation and to support their mission have contributed over $3M to assist those already affected by cancer. The company helps bring awareness to millions of people about the fight against cancer and support those who a willing to change their old lifestyle in pursuit of a better one.
What makes the website unique
The website wants to help its members reach their health goals. The health writers are passionate about the transforming power that the combination of the right food and fitness can offer. So they encourage their members to celebrate their victory on daily basis as they develop good practices. There is a section where members personal success stories are shared and that can be used as a catalyst for other health aspirants to evolve and make that change.
Members are assisted in the realization of their potential so that they can also help others get to that same level of success.
Why you should visit the website
On the health website, you will be provided with tools and applications that will make it easier to track your progress on your journey to change your health lifestyle. There is a flagship tool on the website called MyPlate. It is a comprehensive food and fitness tracking device taking advantage of the largest food and fitness database that can be found online. There is also a mobile version, MyPlate Mobile, an app that you can take along everwhere you go. It offers the same functionalities. This is one key tool that can help users by providing them with the information they need to develop the good habit of choosing the right food.
For those who want to quit smoking, they can rely on the app MyQuit Coach. An app that offers a personalized quitting plan. The users also received daily encouragement and support from social circles.
This is how the community on the website gets engaged and challenged to meet long-term or short term goals.
There is a recipe section offering the largest database of food. The team of health writers believes that as a part of living healthy, it is important to also enjoy the food that we eat. That is why members are allowed to create and share food options with respect to dietary preference and get information about the nutritional value of their choices.
There is an app for exercising too, Loops. It is a mapping tool that can be used in walking, running, hiking and cycling to track the progress of the user.
The information shared on LIVESTRONG comes from experts in nutrition, diet, wellness and fitness fields. The content shared includes feature content created by leaders in the field of healthy living, articles from freelance professionals showcasing practical solution oriented ideas, instructional video series that are educational as well as entertaining and a lot of Q&A format pages.
The site is headed by people who know that information related to health keeps evolving and the content they share keeps adapting to that. The website is a safe and encouraging space where the average person wouldn't feel embarrassed to directly engage with respected experts in the field and ask questions.
The content provided is to enable readers to find the practice that work for them.
One of the cornerstone of the website is its peer-to-peer support system. It presents itself as a platform for members to connect, share information and inspire one another. They are encouraged to interact more often than not and that brings about a collective growth.
Who does the website support
LIVESTRONG was designed to support those affected with cancer and give them the power to fight against the world's leading cause of death. It was originally created by cyclist Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor, in 1997 as the LIVESTRONG Foundation.
The organization has now turned into a popular website which leads the global movement for cancer, representing 28 million people around the world affected by it. The brand is now known for its iconic yellow wristband which is a symbol of hope and inspiration for cancer people. From the time it was created, the organization has been able to raise $400 million to fight cancer.
For the organization to make its dream come true, it had to rely on Demand Media, a content and social media company that is able to create a platform that can generate revenues by combining the work of publishers, creative professionals with advertisers.
Take note that even though the content shared on LIVESTRONG is provided with the best of intentions, one is expected to see it as educational content only. Readers are not in any way encouraged to replace the information given by professional medical personal with the one given on the website. The products advertised on the website are not endorsed by the brand LIVESTRONG which has no particular selection as to the advertising company that would want to see its products showcased on the website.


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The TEAS Test (Test of Essential Academic Skills), an entry-level exam that measures basic abilities in reading, math, science, and language arts will no longer be offered for nursing students at UWG.
"There have been predictions that the TEAS Test determines the success of students, but we have found this not to be true and this is why we have decided to remove the test," said Cynthia Epps, Associate Dean of the Department of Nursing. "We have had many students take the test repeatedly, so we are taking that matter into consideration"
The School of Nursing has yet to finalize a decision regarding a new criterion to replace the TEAS Test. The nursing school will make an announcement for incoming nursing students once a decision has been reached.
UWG nursing students have mixed feelings about the school's decision.
"When I heard the TEAS Exam was no longer a requirement for West Georgia's nursing program, for a slight moment I was relieved because I'll be saving so much money that way," said Samantha Subramani, a junior pre-nursing major. "Then it made me worry how the outcome would affect me when I am applying for the program and what my chances of being accepted will be based on. I don't think the TEAS Exam should be eliminated as a requirement but it should weigh less than the nursing GPA when applications are evaluated for admission."
Subramani added that her experience taking the test was a little nerve-wracking, but that she will take it repeatedly from other schools if necessary.
"I will be applying to UWG's nursing program, as well," said Subramani. "My goal right now is to work on as many applications as I can in hopes of starting nursing school next year."
"I think it was a good idea to do away with the TEAS Test because I firmly believe standardized tests are not for everyone," said Emily Deaver, former nursing student. "The wait to get into nursing school can be quite extended due to the amount of competition and limited seats in the program. I honestly would have loved for this decision to eliminate the TEAS Exam to take place while I was a nursing student." Deaver is now a mass communications major.
The School of Nursing stands firm on its decision to cancel the TEAS Test and does not plan to bring it back. Still, the University of West Georgia's School of Nursing will continue to strive for academic excellence by providing quality education for students seeking work in the field of nursing.
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3 thoughts on "TEAS Test Canceled at UWG"
I agree with this article since US has been flooded with foreign nurses, probably many of them won't passed the TEAS test, and US student has to suffer to become a nurse! complete BS
Foreign nurses Come here and just study so hard for the nclex and if they pass they become nurses. Most of these nurses I personally know are from countries where education standard is not high, and nursing is for students who didn't do well on their high school tests. We are struggling here to get into nursing school, and they just come and become nurses. I bet they couldn't get into the program if they started here, and we spend so much on education, and they spend nothing and get to be nurses so fast. It is unfair to the American prospective nursing student
I bet you that foreign students will outperform you. Here in the US, they are persuading people to go to school, but they are not willing to take the chance. What foreigners got to do with the test the University canceled? Please, don't start hating because foreigners are part of the Economic building in the U.S. Just read your book and don't be happy that the college scrapped out a test and you start hating.


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Heringman, Noah
Noah Heringman is Professor of English at the University of Missouri. His scholarship is concerned with forging links between British and European Romanticism and the history of science. He has published two monographs, Romantic Rocks, Aesthetic Geology (2004), and Sciences of Antiquity: Romantic Antiquarianism, Natural History, and Knowledge Work (2013), as well as an edited volume, Romantic Science: The Commerce of Literature and Natural History (2003). Heringman has published articles on Romantic poetry, the history of geology, and the Anthropocene, among other topics. His current book project, Deep Time and the Prehistoric Turn, is supported by a National Humanities Center Fellowship (2014-2015).


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Summer Academy 2015
A super inspiring Summer Academy it was this year in Denmark!
We started with a Selected Trainers meeting followed by the public evening in which Bent Branderup showed the training and progression of his own horses. I was surprised when in the morning, Bent asked me if I could show Valentino in the longe work during the public evening. Quite a happening to show our work! Valentino is a horse with physical as well as mental issues. Lately, the mental part has improved tremendously, with him staying in much more relaxed focus with me. Therefore, we have only now been able to really start dressing his physical challenges; stiff hind legs and weak knees. During our longe work at the public evening, Valentino was very relaxed. Even though he is not spectacular on the longe, the fact that he stayed calm and remained focus on me was spectacular enough! And that with such an audience! The applause at the end did not bother him at all. Who knows, maybe he will become a show horse some day after all!
The next days, we had very interesting lectures and discussions on the topics of feeding and shoulder-in, and we had fantastic exchange going on between the trainers. I was honoured to teach both Katrin and Kathrin :-) on the seat using Centered Riding techniques, and received very nice insights from Pia Haas on my body language in ground work.
During the round table, my dear student Eef Nibbelink was taken into the book as a new squire and my colleague Marion vd Klundert received the knight status, Congratulations to both and to all others for updating, ring tests etcetera!
It was such a pleasure this year to be present and to be there with my horse was even more special.
Below, you can watch an impression of the 2015 Summer Academy.
Thanks to all for making it a great experience!
After the summer academy, we travelled another day up to Sweden, to the home of Christofer and Rebecca Dahlgren. It is beautiful up here in Hallekis, and I am glad my family is here too to enjoy a little vacation time at the same time.
Yesterday and today, I had lessons with both trainers in the AAoR and the liberty work with Valentino.
My main goal was to discuss with Christofer how to address the issue with Valentino's hind legs (they are stiff and weak and need to become more bendable to make riding comfortable for the both of us, but how do I bend them without straining his knees?). With Rebecca, I want to confirm the liberty ground work and make a start in the riding without bridle.
In the first lesson with Christofer we focussed on getting Valentino off the outside shoulder by making the circle smaller in travers on the longe. Important is with Valentino to keep the tempo very slow so he doesn't start to push. The second pointer I got is to make V. more responsible for his own gaits: working on a bigger circle on which he can keep the canter in a relaxed 3beat.
The collected work we have been doing along the wall was OK and we will continue to develop it into piaffe and into transitions more forwards.
Rebecca finally convinced me to go for a stick with a string attached. The 2nd day and lesson, Valentino started to respond instead of react to the string and I experienced the calming effect the string can have on the horse. In this lesson, we added another new exercise for me and Valentino; to sling the string around his chest to catch the shoulder. I feel like a true cowgirl doing it, but we both enjoy it!
The 2nd lessons with Christofer went already much easier with getting V. off the outside shoulder. Along the wall we focussed on making transitions from collected walk to a fwd trot and back without V. falling into my hand. The goal is to release his energy by increasing my own and not by using a stick to activate his hind legs. The aim is not to get maximum bending of his haunches, as this is very difficult with his hind legs, but to keep the roundness in his upper line in all gaits and transitions.
We look fwd to tomorrow!
preconditions to training
It is so normal for us to prepare properly when we decide to start a new sport. Take running; we decide that from now on, we plan to run twice a week. We go to the sport store and buy ourselves shoes that fit properly and maybe even a fancy watch that can monitor our distance, speed and heart rate. We ask the assistant in the store for advice and try out different shoes to find what fits us best. We all know that our training will be uncomfortable and more likely to fail if we go for the wrong shoes. We also know that we should follow a training schedule to gradually increase the distance we can run. If we have a physical problem, we will adjust our training schedule accordingly.
However, with horses, loads of owners seem so believe that meeting all the proper preconditions to successful training are not that relevant. Is it because when we run without the proper preconditions such as fitting shoes, we ourselves are the ones that suffer? And with our horses, as most of them suffer in silence, we can choose to ignore these preconditions with excuses such as 'limited funds' or 'he doesn't seem to mind'?
Imagine having to go to school each day with an empty stomach, or having to sit at your desk doing your work on a chair with nails sticking out of the seat into your delicate behind.. You would not be able to focus 100% on your work, would you? Same goes for our horses.
For me, before training starts, it is important that in my horses and with my students and their horses, all preconditions to successful training are met. These include: teeth care, hoof care, feeding, housing, social contact, regular vet checks and fitting tack. It basically means the horses should be free of any kind of stress. The Art of Riding is all about a 2-way communication, about building a relationship with your horse, about 2 bodies and 2 minds working together in harmony. How is harmony ever going to be reached with a horse that has stomach aches from chronic ulcers because he is never allowed outside his box and gets fed 5 kg of concentrated food each day? Or with a horse that has pain because of an ill fitting saddle or a jaw that can't move properly because his teeth are neglected? Therefore, I always engage in a conversation with my students about these preconditions when they come and train with me. I want to check the tack that they are using and sometimes, I have to advise them to change something. Instead of disappointment that something isn't right, most of my students are grateful to get this information so they can take action to improve their horses well-being and to optimise their training. You can't help not-knowing about things you haven't learned about before, so there is no personal blame to anyone who rides with an ill-fitting saddle or with neglected teeth on a horse if they believe (and often are told by their expert saddle-fitters and equine dentists) that everything is allright. But there is blame to put on those who know things aren't right and who continue in the same way anyways.
Often, I encounter people that have a horse, acknowledge the problem of bad teeth or a poorly fitting saddle, but then tell me the horse will have to deal with it, because it will be sold anyways, or because they have no more money in their bank account. Would you deal with bad fitting shoes and still run with them, even if they hurt your feet and give you blisters or ruin your knees? If you have the means, you will buy better shoes. If you can't afford that, you may have friends that can lend you another pair of shoes or in the worst case scenario, you would rather stop running than ruining your feet. Why not do the same with your tack, for instance? If you know that your saddle doesn't fit and hurts your horse while you ride, no matter what excuse, you simply don't use it anymore. Borrow another one, ride bareback or simply train your horse from the ground until your circumstances change. There are always solutions for those that look for them, and there will never seem to be a solution for those who are not really willing to change.
Here is the deal if you want to have a horse and train with it: you have to start addressing all of the preconditions first. When people ask me for advice about buying a horse, I always stress the point that buying the horse is not the biggest issue. The biggest thing is then to get it vet checked, to purchase proper fitting tack, arrange for a dentist and a good hoof trimmer and to find suitable housing for the horse with turn-out and social contact. The responsibility never stops. Training only starts after you have looked into all these preconditions and concluded that your horse is free of pain, stress and frustration.
Most of the times, the training horses that come to us because of behavioural problems improve simply by being housed in our Paddock Paradise, with the balanced, stable group of horses that we have here. They get educated in manners better then I could ever do in the same time, they get to move as much as they like and play and groom with other horses. People are amazed about how well-behaved their horses come home again. Well.. they will have to make sure to keep the preconditions like turn-out, social contact, movement and healthy food and the chances that their horses stay that nice increase tenfold. Good training is only the icing on the cake.
Make yourself known with not only the training aspect of horses, but with all related topics that can influence the welfare of your horse. A horse that is stressed, in pain, hungry or annoyed cannot learn! Proper feeding, feet, teeth and equipment are nescesary for proper training. Do not just trust the experts when they tell you something. Make sure you understand WHY and WHAT when you speak with experts and always ask for a 2nd opinion if your gut feeling tells you something isn't right. But most important, never make ANY excuses to justify the continuation of something that you know is bad for your horse. Change it! He is under your care, it is your responsibility. If you want him to work with and for you, make sure he can, optimally.
The School Exercises
Yesterday, one of my working students asked me "What exactly is a school exercise? And which exercises are school exercises?"
I explained to her that in my opinion, a successful school exercise shows that the horse is fully schooled in this exercise. Meaning, that you can decide the shape (where to place the shoulders, hips, head of the horse), the direction of movement, the speed and the degree of collection. All within the physical limits of the horse at that point in time.
For me, a school horse is a horse that responds to the seat, leg and rein aids. That allows itself to be shaped, collected and extended at the rider's request. This does not mean that it needs to be able to make a perfect piaffe. For me, the trot is schooled when the horse can collect and extend in the side movements within the horse's physical limits at that point in training. This means for me that school exercises are those exercises that we use to, exactly, school our horses. To educate them, to let our seat, reins and legs shape and guide them. Side movements are meant to teach the horse that we can place their shoulders and hips, transitions to practice their response to our seat and legs and to prepare them for collection. We explain to them that our seat asks them for collection and extension.
A school horse is for me a horse that lets itself be shaped by the rider. This does not mean it is a 'pre-programmed' horse to perform it's tricks under novice riders. A properly schooled horse will follow your seat, and therefore respond to everything you ask it to do, even if you did not intent to ask anything, he will respond to each change in your balance.
We in the Academic Art of Riding world, have a tendency to put 'school-' in front of things. We make school-halts, school-walk, school-trot, school-canter. With this, we try to discern this type of halt, walk, trot or canter from 'normal' canter and indicate that in this exercise, the horse is properly schooled to be 'between our aids'. For me, it does not automatically imply that the horse needs to be at the maximum of his capacity in collection. Just that we could take the horse there if we want to and take it out of it again too. So a school halt is not a fancy looking shaped horse with a front leg in the air. It is the horse that makes a halt being exactly between the rider's aids, halting exactly as the rider asks. Unfortunately, I see often people pursuing perfection in an exercise by repeating the exercise, rather than working on bringing the horse more to respond to the aids, and training their bodies to give the aids in a subtle and correct way.
Christofer Dahlgren described schooling horses beautifully to me: imagine that everything your horse is capable of doing is already there, in his body, just like a wood sculpture is already inside wooden log. It takes time to cultivate the wood and to slowly bring the sculpture out. This is what we do when we school horses. Our horses are able to do all these beautiful movements in their fields. We teach them to respond to our aids so that we can ask them to make the same movements with us on top, at the moment we ask for it. Our horses are schooled in a certain exercise when they can perform the exercise in the shape, direction, speed and degree of collection that we ask.
1. Stelling: check if there is space between the lower jaw and the atlas vertebra.
2. Stelling: Check is the lower jaw has moved a little over to the outside, aligning the molars on the outside
3. Stelling: Check is both ears are on the same horizontal plane, with the outside ear a bit forward compared to the inside ear.
4. Bending: Check for a fluent curve in the spine, from tail to ears.
5. Bending: Check if the distance between the outside hip and shoulder is bigger compared to the distance of the inside hip and shoulder.
6. Bending: Check if the manes drop gently to the inside.
7. Bending: Check if the ribs on the inside swing down when the inside hind leg steps forward.
8. Bending: Check if you can see the inside of the pelvis swing forward-down when the inside hind leg comes forward.
9. Bending: Check if the tail also curves inwards in bending.
10. Bending: Check if the inside hind leg steps under the point of weight (under the girth, between the front legs).
Stelling and Bending
This is part III of the Art of Riding by Ylvie Fros video series: Stelling and Bending
Introduction to the Art of Riding
As video says more than 1000 written words, I have been working on a series of video's introducing myself and the Art of Riding.
Watch part I and part II here:
What to do with that outside rein?
There has been a lot of confusion among riders about what to do (or not to do) with the outside rein. Many riders that I meet have learned to ride the horse 'on the outside rein'. Often this is interpreted as keeping the outside rein short and keeping the horse (too) straight. This interferes with the bending and suppleness of the horse. On the other hand, riders that work too much with their inside hand and do too little on the outside create too much neck bending in their horses which causes them to fall over the outside shoulder. The outside rein in Academic perspective:
When the goal of your training is to supple your horse up through straightness training exercises and then to collect the horse, you first need a horse that can bend to both sides evenly. When it can bend evenly, you can straighten it. In this context straight means: with hips and shoulders aligned. Straightness training exercises are necessary to conduct the power generated by the hind legs through the body in a biomechanically correct way. When the shoulders are in front of the hips, no matter if the horse is on a straight or on a curved line, the energy can flow from back to front. It creates a balanced horse that can move supple and elegant. The suppleness is achieved by bending the horse to both sides, stretching the muscles along the spine. With a stiff horse, that is why in first instance we focus only on the inside rein (bring your nose in) and the inside leg (bend around me). This we alternate to left and right. Consider a stiff garden hose with some kinks in it. By bending it gently to left and right we supple it up and smoothen the kinks. Then we can shape it in a curve and allow the water to flow through it fluently. Any kink would block the flow.
Now, when the horse can bend around your inside leg, sometimes you will notice that it is getting too much and that the horse breaks out over the outside shoulder. Now there is the job for the outside rein: to reduce bending when it gets too much, and to guide the flow of energy around the bend towards the mouth of the horse and into your hands. When the horse bends too much in its neck, it is as if the garden hose got a kink in it and the power of the hind legs gets partially lost over the outside shoulder. It is the outside rein that smoothens it out. You bring the outside of your body through the curve by allowing our outside ribs and shoulder to move forward, and by touching the outside shoulder of your horse with the outside rein (we call this indirect rein), you place the shoulders inwards, in front of the horses hips. If you start using your outside rein before you have bending, you limit the amount of suppleness and flow that your horse can develop. The outside rein is a reducing and a guiding rein, do not reduce or guide something that is not there! A too short outside rein or backwards working outside hand keep the horse stiff and prevents the back muscles to supple up. That is why in the Art of Riding we work in phases. In the first phase with a stiff horse, we work on inside leg and inside rein to achieve bending and suppleness. Only in the next step we reduce and guide with the outside rein. When we can bend the horse only from the seat, then we leave the inside rein and only guide the horse from the outside rein. A pitfall is that sometimes people get stuck too much in the first phase, pulling the inside rein and bending the necks of their horses too much. So in the end, it is the outside rein that is most important! However, not with every horse we can start with it. That is why often we need to start with phase 1, the inside aids. But always keep the end goal in mind: a horse that is supple and balanced and can bend from your seat. Start using the outside rein as soon as you can to guide your horse through turns. Distinguish direct rein (placing the head) and indirect rein (placing the shoulders). Only use the outside rein as direct rein when the horse bends its neck too much and otherwise use it as an indirect rein placing the shoulders in front of its hips (guiding the horse). This allows the energy to flow freely from the hind quarter into your hands.
Traversal Excercises
Travers (Hind quarter-in):
When the horse has an inside hind leg that can bend (from working with shoulder-in), this leg can also be trained as an outside hind leg. Travers (or quarter-in) reduces the push of the outside hind leg and stimulates the development of the carrying capacity in that leg. Travers is the result of bringing the hindquarter in while keeping the shoulders in their original position. The point of weight of the horse is placed in front of the outside hind leg. This leg is placed under the weight, causing the leg to bend. In canter, the outside hind leg is a very important leg. By training travers in walk, the canter can improve significantly.
Derived exercises:
Renvers, half-pass and pirouettes are derived from quarter-in and also make the body and hind legs more bendable. Gradually, the exercises become more difficult as the horse needs more self carriage and collection.
In quarter-in, the horse moves with its shoulders against the wall. In renvers, the horse keeps his hindquarter against the wall. Renvers is a good test to check whether the horse really can bend and can carry more weight with its hind legs. If this is not the case, the horse usually tends to fall on the outside shoulder towards the middle of the arena, or on its inside shoulder towards the wall. Usually, the renvers is started from shoulder-in. When you change the bending and maintain the front legs on the inside track, this results in the renvers. The renvers by itself is not more difficult than the travers, but it is the transition shoulder-in to renvers and back which is most difficult.
Half-pass is a travers across the diagonal. During half-pass, the horse has no support from the wall. Therefore it must be able to do the exercise on its own 4 feet, without any support.
In a pirouette, the horse walks in a travers on a small circle. The front legs make a bigger circle than the hind legs. The shorter steps of the hind legs on the small circle require the horse to put a bigger weight on the hind legs. The hind legs have to carry this weight, making the shoulders move more freely.
With patient, consistent exercising and by slowly increasing the level of the exercises, the horse will become more flexible, stronger and more supple. In these exercises, it is very important to involve the inside hind leg by preventing it to step too much to the inside. The next step is bending the hind legs simultaneously, this is where straightness training as a basic training ends, and the Art of Riding begins.
To Bit or not to Bit?
Bits, one of many discussion points between horse lovers. Do we need them?
In this article I'd like to share my thoughts on this subject.
There are those who claim it is not possible, ever, to control your horse without using a bit. To those people I'd like to say: control is not force, control is not reached through pulling an animal in the mouth. Control, if you want to use that word, is reached through understanding and through communication.
Then there are those that say that it is not 'natural' is it to put a piece of metal in a sensitive mouth, and therefore bits should never be used. To those I'd say that in that case, we should not ride horses at all, as it is also not natural for a horse to have a rider on his back.
Yes, a lot of harm can be done by using a bit wrong. I have seen terrible things done in a horse's mouth; from mouth corners bloody and cut, to splintered bars, damaged teeth and scarring inside the mouth.
However, it is also possible to damage a horse's head severely using a rope halter, cavesson or any other tool on the nose bone. I have seen broken nose bones, excessive scarring on the nose from 'serreta's' (cavessons with pointy bottom) and terrible wrong doing with hackamores.
So in my opinion, the discussion should not be about the type of tool ("mine is better then yours"), but let's have a sound discussion about how tools should and should not be used. A rein, connected to the horse's head in whatever way, whether to the mouth or nose, should NEVER be used in a pulling way, there should NEVER be placed force on the horse's head. One main reason of course is the damage that can be done with each tool that takes influence on the skull. Not only the damage I mentioned above, but also damage to the horses esophagus, windpipe, tong bone, salivary glands and neck vertebrae.
Another reason why one should never pull on the reins is a biomechanical one: When a hand works backwards, pulling on the horse's head or mouth, the spine is compressed. This works its way backwards through the spine into the pelvis and results in a flattened pelvis and hind legs that are being pushed backwards out. This creates a bigger push from the horse forwards, which in most cases is then caught again in the rider's hand, which has to pull harder, and so on. In short; it does not work to pull on reins to stop a horse. Actually, pulling has the opposite effect. That is why in racing, you see the riders pull on the reins. It creates a 'pushing' speed. Unfortunately, it also creates a 'spectacular' extention in the front legs and it gets awarded with high scores in too many competitions, both in dressage and in gaited competitions. This way of extending damages the front legs and stiffens the back and is in no way a harmonious or natural way of moving.
In the Art of Riding, our aim is to work the hind legs forwards under the point of weight and allow the horse to carry us in a balanced, healthy and harmonious way, with movement that adds beauty to the natural gaits. For that, the pelvis needs to tilt, bringing the tail down. This does not work with a rein that is pulled or simply held (what some call the 'resisting hand'). Even with a hand that does not literally pull but is just held to resist the effect is that of pulling; it pushes the hind legs backwards out.
What we strive for is a horse searching towards a giving hand. This does not mean there is no contact. Our definition of contact is simply lighter than many other trainers. For many, contact equals weight. For us, weight equals wrong biomechanics. Contact should be subtle, should be vibrations, should be energy, should never be strong, should never be fixed. That is why in the Art of Riding, you can see reins slightly hanging through. This does not mean that there is no contact, horses can still feel our half halts and vibrations through the reins, and we can still feel the horse.
You can imagine that using a bit in that manner, or a cavesson or a hackamore or whatever bitless bridle, has a different effect than using a strong contact with tight reins.
So, here is how I like to use my tools:
With a young horse, I prefer to start bitless. I use a cavesson on the nose. I use this tool, because it has an influence on the upper jaw and through the skull into the spine. Snaffle bits and many bitless bridles take influence on the lower jaw, which is moveable. I like the lower jaw to be placed correctly by the horse itself. When I ask with a direct cavesson rein for a horse to look to the left, when his nose turns left, his lower jaw is free to move to the right, aligning the molars on the right side of his jaw. This is what we call stellning, or correct bending at the poll. It creates a freedom between the jaw and the atlas vertebra. When I ask the same with a snaffle or a bitless bridle that crosses underneath, I actually pull the lower jaw to the left, which can result in a tilting of the head, a stiffening in the jaw or a wrong rotation into the horses spine.
With the cavesson, I teach the horse the direct and indirect rein, my half halts, the stops. I bend the horse and send him forward down towards a giving hand.
When I am ready to ask more collection, I add the curb bit. The curb is an unbroken bit with shanks. The use of the curb is through the leverage system of the shanks and the chin chain. The effect of a correct use of the curb, is that it stretches the muscles in the upper line in the neck, causing the ears to move forward and the skull to be placed more vertical with an 'open neck'. Meaning, the space between the jaw and the atlas should be kept 'open' so that the horse's biofunctions remain intact. A snaffle cannot do this, as it does not have this leverage system and would simply pull the lower jaw closer towards the neck, compressing the windpipe, salivary glands and esophagus.
Many consider the curb to be a cruel tool and a snaffle bit more friendly. Snaffles are widely accepted in the horse community. However, with the snaffle there is much more risk of compression of the neck and of damaging the bars and the teeth. Many riders ride with lots of weight on the snaffle reins. With a curb, you already have a good communication with a loose rein. Yes, it looks more scary with the shanks, but as with any tool it is not that scary once you understand how to use it. Many of the Old Masters would only use cavesson and curb and you can find many images of them riding with a loose rein. That is the beauty of the curb; you have communication with a very loose rein, and you can stay very quiet and soft in your hands. Of course, the image of the curb nowadays is a bit different, as we see many riders misusing the curb, riding with tight contact and shanks pulled backwards vertically.
An alternative for the curb for those who do not want to use or cannot use a bit is the hackamore. It uses the same principle of the leverage through the shanks. Nowadays, we even have a combination of cavesson and hackamore available: the cavemore.
So, for a long time I train my horses with the combination of the cavesson, for bending and half halts, and the curb for collection.
When my communication with my horse is good enough, when my horse understands me through my seat and when my control over my seat is precise enough, I can stop and turn my horse in correct bending and with the right forward-down just from my seat. Then, I do not need to use the cavesson anymore and can ride with curb only. As the curb is unbroken, you cannot use your reins separately. Therefore, the curb should be used one-handed. When I become even more advanced with my seat and my horse is able to collect from the seat, you can take everything off and ride without anything on the head.
This should always be the goal of the Art of Riding; to master the seat and the communication with your horse to a degree that you do not needs as many tools anymore. However, there will be very few riders that have this control over their seat to be precise enough right from the beginning. And there will be very few horses who will instinctively understand what we mean exactly and who are able to execute all exercises without some extra support. For most horses, we will need these tools, whether a cavesson, curb or other bridle, to explain to the horse in a clearer way what we want.
So for those riding naturally, with no contact to the head, the discussion is what kind of communications you can have going with your horse and how many nuances you can have in this communication. Can you ask your horse to place its jaw in the exact position to allow a good biomechanics, can you truly free the shoulders?
For those riding with tight contact, is your horse truly stepping forward under and bringing up the back? Is the jaw moveable and the mouth soft? Can you ask your horse to place its jaw in the exact position to allow a good biomechanics, can you truly free the shoulders?
You see, both 'extremes' probably want the same end result; a horse that can move freely, feels good about itself and sits comfortably. But by fighting over the tools and not questioning the use and how we could learn from each other in finding a way to reach our goals, we will not resolve our issues. In both worlds, I see good trainers and bad trainers. The good ones all have in common that they are able to communicate with their horses and give them a biomechanical correct shape.
In my opinion, we should treat bits and all other types of bridles as a tool to communicate with our horses, to be replaced by our seat when our communication gets better.
So in this whole discussion, let's not blame the screwdriver for doing a bad job, let's blame the handyman who is using it.
Any device on a horse's head will be as severe as the hand that holds the reins!
Ylvie Fros
Is an accomplished rider, clinician and published author who combines her extensive knowledge in classical dressage, biomechanics, ethology, human anatomy and zen principles to guide riders on their journey to self-improvement. The goal: harmony & lightness in the cooperation between human and horse.
July 2017


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Nicklaus lauded in America's 100 Greatest, 100 Greatest Public, and Best Courses in Each State lists
Golf Digest has selected five Nicklaus Design layouts among its prestigious roundup of "America's 100 Greatest" golf courses. Muirfield Village Golf Club, the annual host of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, ranks highest on the biennial survey at No. 15. Sebonack Golf Club (Southampton, N.Y.) was ranked No. 38, Castle Pines Golf Club (Castle Rock, Colo.) was ranked No. 40, Whispering Pines Golf Club (Trinity, Texas) was ranked No. 68, and Valhalla Golf Club, host of the 2014 PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky., was ranked No. 97.
This year, Golf Digest named 12 Nicklaus Design golf courses to its Second 100 Greatest list. Those are: No. 101 Mayacama GC (Santa Rosa, Calif.); No. 102 Shoal Creek (Ala.); No. 106 Harbour Town Golf Links (Hilton Head Island, S.C.); No. 124 The Concession GC (Bradenton, Fla.); No. 138 Sycamore Hills GC (Fort Wayne, Ind.); No. 143 Sherwood CC (Thousand Oaks, Calif.); No. 156 Pronghorn Club Nicklaus Course (Bend, Ore.); No. 158 Atlanta CC (Marietta, Ga.); No. 170 Spring Creek Ranch GC (Collierville, Tenn.); No. 175 May River GC at Palmetto Bluff (Bluffton, S.C.); No. 179 Desert Highlands GC (Scottsdale, Ariz.); and No. 183 The Club at Carlton Woods—Nicklaus Course (The Woodlands, Texas).
The magazine included eight Nicklaus Design courses on its 2015-2016 list of the 100 Greatest Public Courses. Harbour Town Golf Links, Jack Nicklaus' collaboration with Pete Dye and the first course the Golden Bear ever designed, led the Nicklaus Design courses named at No. 19. Others to make the list were: No. 28 Manele GC (Lanai City, Lanai, Hawaii); No. 33 Pronghorn Club—Nicklaus Course (Bend, Ore.); No. 70 The Bull at Pinehurst Farms (Sheboygan Falls, Wis.); No. 81 The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa (Acme, Mich.); No. 94 Old Works Golf Course (Anaconda, Mont.); No. 95 Great Waters Course at Reynolds Plantation (Eatonton, Ga.); and Hualalai Golf Course (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii).
The Best Courses in Each State included 84 Nicklaus Design courses in 32 states. Five of those took top honors in their respective states: Shoal Creek ranked No. 1 in Alabama; Castle Pines Golf Club ranked No. 1 in Colorado; Valhalla Golf Club ranked No. 1 in Kentucky; The Country Club of Louisiana ranked No. 1 in Louisiana; and Muirfield Village Golf Club ranked No. 1 in Ohio. The rest of the courses to rank in the Golf Digest's 2015-2016 Best Courses in Each State are included below.
Since the genesis of America's 100 Greatest list in 1966, 22 Nicklaus Design courses have been selected. Harbour Town Golf Links, which opened in the fall of 1969, remained on the list for 42 consecutive years. Other courses to be included in the ranking have been Annandale GC (Madison, Miss., ranked for 4 years); Dallas Athletic Club Blue Course (Mesquite, Texas, ranked for 1 year); Desert Highlands GC (Scottsdale, Ariz., ranked for 10 years); Desert Mountain Club Cochise Course (Carefree, Ariz., ranked for 2 years); Desert Mountain Club Renegade Course (Carefree, Ariz., ranked for 6 years); Grand Cypress Golf Club North and South courses (Orlando, Fla., ranked for 4 years); Kauai Lagoons—Kiele Course (Kalapaki Beach, Hawaii, ranked for 2 years); Lost Tree Club (North Palm Beach, Fla., ranked for 3 years); The Loxahatchee Club (Jupiter, Fla., ranked for 2 years); Mayacama GC (Santa Rosa, Calif., ranked for 10 years); Mayacoo Lakes GC (West Palm Beach, Fla., ranked for 12 years); Scarlet Course at the Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio, ranked for 3 years); Sherwood CC (Thousand Oaks, Calif., ranked for 4 years); Shoal Creek (Ala., ranked for 34 years); Sycamore Hills GC (Fort Wayne, Ind., ranked for 18 years); and Wynstone CC (North Barrington, Ill., ranked for 2 years).
America's 100 Greatest list is a story of the evolution of Golf Digest and the growth and change of its rankings through the years. In the 1960s, the late William H. Davis, a founder of Golf Digest, conceived the idea of a ranking of championship courses, basing it primarily upon USGA Course Ratings, the figure long used to determine each amateur's handicap. The first ranking took three years to compile, was called "America's 200 Toughest Courses," and printed in Golf Digest's October 1966 issue. In 1969, Davis assembled a national board of notable golfers to produce a tighter vision, America's 100 Most Testing Courses. In 1971, the ranking was renamed America's 100 Greatest Tests of Golf. In 1975, the board began meeting to debate factors beyond championship worthiness, and the list became America's 100 Greatest Courses.
A decade later, board members became panelists, who were required to play and evaluate courses using a series of architectural criteria, and their evaluation numbers produced the first numerical ranking of the Top 100. In the beginning there were 125 panelists; today there are 10 times as many. The same process is used today, although the categories have been redefined over the years.
The magazine has also expanded the depth and breadth of its rankings, which have included everything from the "Best New," to Reader's Choice, Best Courses in 203 Countries, Best Golf Resorts, Most Fun Courses, and more.
The complete list of Nicklaus Design courses to make the Best Courses in Each State list:
Best Courses in Each State
Alabama (of 10)
1. Shoal Creek, Shoal Creek
Arizona (of 25)
7. Desert Highlands Golf Club, Scottsdale
10. Desert Mountain Club (Chiricahua), Scottsdale
16. Desert Mountain Club (Renegade), Scottsdale
18. Desert Mountain Club (Geronimo), Scottsdale
25. Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain (Saguaro/Tortolita), Marana
California (of 45)
12. Mayacama Golf Club, Santa Rosa
16. Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks
41. Toscana Country Club (South), Indian Wells
Colorado (of 20)
1. Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock
9. Aspen Glen Club, Carbondale
10. Roaring Fork Club, Basalt
13. Country Club of the Rockies, Edwards
Delaware (of 10)
2. Bayside Resort Golf Club, Selbyville
5. The Peninsula, Millsboro
Florida (of 35)
7. The Concession Golf Club, Bradenton
8. The Bear's Club, Jupiter
20. John's Island Club (West), Sebastian
35. The Loxahatchee Club, Jupiter
Georgia (of 20)
6. Atlanta Country Club, Marietta
14. Champions Retreat Golf Club (Bluff/Island), Evans
15. Great Waters at Reynolds Plantation, Eatonton
Hawaii (of 15)
6. Manele Golf Course, Lanai City
7. The Club at Hokuli'a, Kailua-Kona
12. Hualalai Golf Course, Kailua-Kona
Illinois (of 25)
20. Wynstone Golf Club, North Barrington
Indiana (of 15)
4. Sycamore Hills Golf Club, Fort Wayne
13. The Sagamore Club, Noblesville
Kentucky (of 10)
1. Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville
Louisiana (of 10)
1. The Country Club of Louisiana, Baton Rouge
Michigan (of 25)
18. Grand Traverse Resort and Spa (The Bear), Acme
Mississippi (of 10)
3. Annandale Golf Club, Madison
5. Grand Bear Golf Course, Saucier
Missouri (of 10)
3. Dalhousie Golf Club, Cape Girardeau
6. The Club at Porto Cima, Sunrise Beach
Montana (of 10)
7. Old Works Golf Course, Anaconda
Nebraska (of 10)
5. Dismal River Club (White), Mullen
Nevada (of 10)
4. The Golf Club at SouthShore, Henderson
8. Montreaux Golf & Country Club, Reno
10. Coyote Springs Golf Club, Coyote Springs
New Mexico (of 10)
1. The Club at Las Campanas (Sunset), Santa Fe
3. The Club at Las Campanas (Sunrise), Santa Fe
New York (of 30)
7. Sebonack Golf Club, Southampton
North Carolina (of 25)
19. The Cliffs at Walnut Cove, Arden
Ohio (of 25)
1. Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin
23. Ohio State University Golf Club (Scarlet), Columbus
Oregon (of 15)
7. Pronghorn Club (Nicklaus), Bend
South Carolina (of 30)
3. Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head Island
9. May River Golf Club at Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton
10. Colleton River Plantation Club (Nicklaus), Bluffton
19. The Reserve at Lake Keowee, Sunset
26. The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, Salem
Texas (of 30)
2. Whispering Pines Golf Club, Trinity
9. The Club at Carlton Woods (Nicklaus), The Woodlands
13. Summit Rock Golf Club, Horseshoe Bay
24. The Hills Country Club (Hills), Austin
28. Lochinvar Golf Club, Houston
Tennessee (of 10)
3. Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club, Collierville
Utah (of 10)
3. Red Ledges Golf Club, Heber City
6. Promontory Club (Painted Valley), Park City
Vermont (of 10)
4. Vermont National Country Club, South Burlington
Virginia (of 20)
11. The Club at Creighton Farms, Aldie
20. Bay Creek Resort & Club (Nicklaus), Cape Charles
Washington (of 10)
10. TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie
West Virginia (of 10)
9. The Greenbrier (Greenbrier), White Sulphur Springs
Wisconsin (of 15)
9. The Bull at Pinehurst Farms, Sheboygan Falls


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Based on the draft guidelines that the state had released in advance, San Francisco has determined that it will fully align with the state plan with some limited exceptions of extremely large events
San Francisco: Staring from June 15, the city of San Francisco will fully reopen and eliminate capacity limits, according to an announcement by Mayor London Breed.
Based on the draft guidelines that the state had released in advance, San Francisco has determined that it will fully align with the state plan with some limited exceptions of extremely large events and specific institutional settings with heightened risk, such as acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and jails, Xinhua news agency quoted Breed as saying on Thursday.
"On June 15, we will be taking an incredible step forward by aligning our reopening with the state. I'm excited that the city is coming alive again and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for San Francisco," she said, urging residents to continue to get vaccinated.
Except for schools, childcare and youth activities, San Francisco will lift much of its health order sector-specific restrictions and rescind all business sector directives.
With the impending elimination of the state's tiered reopening system and local health directives for industry sectors, it is expected that many aspects of San Francisco businesses will return to usual operations for attendees, customers, and guests.
"Most notably, health order changes include the elimination of local capacity limits as well as local requirements for physical distancing, masking, and operational procedures and protocols in almost all instances," the announcement said.
"With much of the health risk contained, the most important thing we can be doing now is supporting the economic recovery and revitalisation of our commercial and downtown corridors and the city," said Kate Sofis, the city's director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
Currently, 79 per cent of San Francisco residents eligible for Covid-19 vaccination have received at least one dose.
As of June 7, the city's case rate was 1.5 per 100,000, 25 per cent lower than the state and representing a 96 per cent decrease in San Francisco Covid-19 diagnoses since January.


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Coloured Asphalt
Why should you choose the coloured asphalt we provide instead of interlock blocks or standard concrete in walk ways and drive ways you ask?
Because asphalt has lower stiffness than the alternatives ensuring more comfort for both cars and pedestrians. The lower stiffness also provides a more comfortable walk and a quieter ride. That is from a comfort point of view but from a design and appearance point of view there is our wide range of colours available to choose from. Our colours can be used to make all sorts of complicated patterns leaving the design limitations to nothing but your imagination. Also if a permeable system is installed nor the walk ways or the drive ways will have visible drains. Traditionally, hardscape does not allow water to pass through it this results in various drainage issues and makes putting visible drains necessary, however by using our self-draining asphalt system, this problem will be left to the past. As our permeable hardscaping allows water to go through it and then be collected by an underground drainage system.