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Newsletter Archives
Nov 12, 2012 - As Americans gather for the Thanksgiving holiday, many thoughts will turn to loved ones both past and present. According to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. ("CFP Board") Consumer Advocate, Eleanor Blayney, CFP®, Thanksgiving's focus on those we care about creates the ideal setting to reflect on the legacy we will leave to our family and friends. To ensure those reflections turn into reality, Blayney suggests all Americans take time this month to create their own estate plan.
"Many people wrongly assume that estate planning is only for the wealthy, or those with significant assets they want to protect from probate fees or taxes," says Blayney. "The reality, however, is that everyone needs a plan for the management and disposition of assets, the care of dependent children and relatives, and the management of health care and our physical comfort when either death or disability silences us."
Estate planning is one of 12 steps in CFP Board's year-long "12 for '12 Approach to Financial Confidence. Blayney suggests that consumers consider these four tips when creating their estate plans.
To tie all the different parts of your estate together into a plan that represents your wishes, Blayney advises consulting with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. "A CFP® professional is uniquely qualified in helping create an estate plan, given his or her comprehensive focus on all aspects of your life (e.g. your family circumstances, your personal goals and preferences, your financial resources) as well as the federal and state laws that govern the income and estate tax consequences of asset transfer," says Blayney. "He or she will know what tools, such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, additional beneficiary designations, or more complicated transfer strategies, your plan will need. Additionally, a CFP® professional can communicate your special needs to a qualified attorney and help you periodically review your estate plan."
12 for '12 APPROACH TO FINANCIAL CONFIDENCE
In January, CFP Board launched a new initiative called "12 for '12 Approach to Financial Confidence" where all the components and steps for successful personal financial management are presented, one each month throughout the year including: establishing realistic goals, tax planning, emergency and risk management, investing, retirement, debt management, and estate planning.
ABOUT CFP BOARD: The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP® certificants and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes more than 67,000 individuals to use these marks in the U.S.
Dan Drummond, Director of Public Relations
E: firstname.lastname@example.com
Twitter: @CFPBoardmedia
Work with the Highest Standard.
» Financial Planning Guides » Working with a Financial Planner » Find a CFP® Professional
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Couscous makes for a quick, versatile side dish that can be used as non-traditional ingredient in classic recipes.
Most American cooks know that couscous is a staple in North Africa, but not many understand how versatile it can be. Couscous is a tiny pasta made of wheat or barley; wheat couscous is the most widely available version in North America, and most of it is "instant" or quick-cooking. Although couscous was traditionally hand-rolled, these days it is made by machine: Coarsely ground wheat (semolina) is moistened and tossed with fine wheat flour until it forms little round balls (think of the coarse bits as the core of a kind of wheat-flour snowball). In Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, couscous is steamed over a simmered stew after being tossed with a little water or oil and water.
But couscous is more than just an accompaniment to stew. You can use it as a filler in beef patties (soak it in water for five minutes and use instead of breadcrumbs—½ cup per pound of ground beef or lamb); add leftover cooked couscous to a salad; or use it in a bread, muffin, or pancake recipe (soak in an equal volume of warm water for five minutes or more before adding it—¼ cup couscous to ¾ cup wheat flour).
But to me the most appealing nontraditional use is this cross between a pilaf and a salad; it's quick to make and a great standby any time of year. You'll find it especially useful if you are cooking for vegetarians or vegans (for whom you can omit the cheese and butter).

subset: commoncrawl


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Gossip Girl to End With a "Gasp" MondaySteve Marsi at . Comments
Much has already been said about Gossip Girl's 100th episode Monday night.
Heck, we're starting to wonder what hasn't been said about the milestone.
It's Blair's wedding! Georgina's back! Love triangles/squares galore! So many Upper East Side events are just waiting to come to a head, for better or worse. But as we learned yesterday, one big twist remains a big mystery.
That bombshell, apparently comes at the very end.
"You have to see [the last few minutes] to believe them. I really think they will take people's breath away," EP Joshua Safran says. "Someone asked on Twitter, 'Will we smile or cry at the end of the episode?'"
"And I said, 'It will be more like a gasp.'"
Executive Producer Stephanie Savage, who we can only hope played a major role in crafting the upcoming installment, explains that the final moment was something that "had to happen" in the 100th episode.
"That's one of the fun things about having a mature show in Season Five, you feel like you can really have some fun. In the first couple of seasons, you feel like you have to keep certain things very guarded and protected because the hope is that you'll have to make them last a long time," she says.
Safran adds: "What we can say is why we made that decision will become clear with future episodes because, obviously, you will learn more about why that has happened, how that has happened. You see, it was such an easy decision ... It wasn't something we belabored over or had long discussions about. It really wasn't."
"Obviously [the end] changes things. And what happens in the episode for Blair, Dan, Chuck, and Serena will become a whole new world for them. Obviously, we pushed the 100th episode as a special episode."
"A huge wedding, a royal wedding - it's a big episode. But it's also the 13th episode of the season. So, the season arc does continue. The 100th is a turning point, connected to everything happening before."
What do you think goes down at the end of the wedding-themed extravaganza to come? What could shock us at this point? Sound off on where you see the show heading - Monday and beyond - in the comments!
Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.


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About Us
Design & Imaging
Design Samples
Ordering Information
Online Ordering
Review Process
Bulk Mailing
Printing Services
Rapid Copy Services
University Mail Service
UP&G Facilities
UP&G Staff
Contact Us
2. Decide on paper type. There are many kinds of paper available in-stock or that can be special ordered for your printing. As basic terms for weight: "20 lb bond" is what letterhead is printed on. "Text" is similar to copy paper and comes in various weights. "Cover" is stiffer than text-weight. "Index" is about the thickness of a file folder.


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Top Kid-Friendly Activities in Downtown Los Angeles
What most surprised me about my visit to the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza was how much I loved exploring downtown Los Angeles with my kids. In the past, Los Angeles had a reputation of being a city without a "heart" because the downtown area wasn't developed enough to attract Angelinos and tourists. Today however, downtown is vibrant. History, architecture, and ethnic neighborhoods mix with modern art and exciting attractions. Here's my list of the top kid-friendly activities in downtown Los Angeles:


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Broome County Courts
Family Court
65 Hawley Street
P.O. Box 1766
Binghamton, NY 13902-1766
Phone: 607-240-5799
Fax: 607-240-5904
Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
(excluding state holidays)
Judges' Chambers
Family Court Judge
Hon. Spero Pines
Court Attorney
Marcy Cox
Teri Smith
Supervising Family Court Judge
Hon. Rita Connerton
Court Attorney
Jennifer Donlan-Fitzgibbon
Jane Sbarra
Family Court Judge
Hon. Richard H. Miller, II
Court Attorney
Mark H. Kachadourian
Rachelle L. Gallagher
Family Court Judge
Hon. Mark H. Young
Court Attorney
Sarah K. Loughran
Christine M. Corbin
Magistrates and Chief Clerks
Family Court Magistrate
Sam P. Monachino
Family Court Magistrate
Christopher Pogson
Family Court Magistrate
Stephen M. Dunshee
Chief Clerk
Deputy Chief Clerk
Cheryl Lidell Obenauer


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Enhanced Box Score: Cubs 1, Astros 5 – May 23, 2012
Short version: the Cubs lost. Again.
Jeff Samardzija was decent enough to win, but the Cubs' offense was – surprise – non-existent. Reed Johnson hit a first inning home run, and then the bats headed home for the night. The Cubs had runners in scoring position for nine at bats tonight, and they didn't get a single hit in those situations. It's pretty hard to do that.
Rafael Dolis screwed around in the 9th inning (non-save situation), and put the game out of reach.
Also, there was this…


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February 04, 2013 09:27 ET
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 4, 2013) - KWG Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:KWG) announces that it has agreed to fund Bold Ventures Inc. ("Bold") as the Operator to drill off the Black Horse chromite discovery, commencing with an initial program starting as soon as the transaction with Bold closes. The intent of the program is to determine whether this chromite mineralization occurs in sufficient quantity and quality to demonstrate the feasibility of mining it and transporting it to market by rail via the claims of KWG subsidiary Canada Chrome Corporation.
"The Black Horse discovery encountered 55 meters of 45% chromite, the richest drill core recovered in the Ring of Fire," said KWG President Frank Smeenk. "There is compelling geological and geophysical evidence to suggest that this mineralization could be part of an extensive continuous emplacement. If this drilling program is able to confirm that, we would wish to be the first Canadian companies to develop markets for the Ring of Fire chromite by providing transportation over Canada Chrome Corporation's contiguous claims."
Bold recently concluded a four-stage option to acquire the Black Horse claims from Fancamp Exploration Ltd., subject to Fancamp retaining a price-variable gross metal royalty (the "Fancamp Option"). Under the terms of an agreement now concluded between KWG and Bold Ventures, KWG can acquire up to 80% of Bold's interest in the Fancamp Option by funding 100% of Bold's earn-in expenditures and option payments. The current program has budgeted $2 million to drill the chromite horizon. An additional $1 million has been budgeted to drill a contiguous possible nickel target.
For nickel and other non-chromite minerals identified during the exploration programs, the parties have agreed to form a joint venture in which KWG has a 20% working interest. KWG will have a right of first refusal to purchase all ores or concentrates produced by such joint venture whenever its JV interest exceeds 50%. The agreement with Bold is subject to due diligence, all necessary approvals, and is expected to close by February 21, 2013.
Bold's interest in the 20% carried interest for chromite and the 80% participating interest for nickel and other non-chromite minerals is subject to Bold's Option Agreement with 2282726 Ontario Limited ("Bold's Co-Venturer"), a subsidiary of Dundee Corporation. Under the Option Agreement, Bold's Co-Venturer may earn a 33-1/3% interest in Bold's Ring of Fire activities around the area of Bold's Ring of Fire claims in Ontario (the "Bold ROF Project") by funding $2.5 million of exploration work, over $2.0 million of which has been expended to date. Reference is made to Bold's Press Release dated May 31, 2011 for further particulars. Once Bold's Co-Venturer earns its 33-1/3% interest, a joint venture will be formed between Bold's Co-Venturer and Bold giving Bold's Co-Venturer the right to participate for up to 33-1/3% in Bold's ROF Project by funding its portion of the project's budgets.
"We are very pleased that this transaction also provides the opportunity to work with such a renowned group of explorationists and financiers, without whom the Ring of Fire would not have been discovered when it was," said Smeenk.
About KWG: KWG has a 30% interest in the Big Daddy deposit. KWG also owns 100% of Canada Chrome Corporation which has staked claims and conducted a $15 million surveying and soil testing program for the engineering and construction of a railroad to the Big Daddy Deposit in the Ring of Fire from Exton, Ontario where the Trans Canada line of the Canadian National Railway can be connected.
No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. The foregoing information contains forward-looking statements relating to the future performance of KWG Resources Inc., including statements concerning the economic viability of the Black Horse deposit, the construction of a railway from the Ring of Fire and KWG's exercise of its option to acquire an interest in Bold's interest in the Fancamp Option. Forward-looking statements, specifically those concerning future performance, are subject to many risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from KWG Resources Inc. plans and expectations. These plans, expectations, risks and uncertainties are detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by KWG Resources with the TSX Venture Exchange and securities regulators, and also include KWG not being satisfied with the results of its due diligence, Bold not fully exercising the Fancamp Option, and exploration results not being favourable. KWG Resources does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Shares issued and outstanding: 691,577,273
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
KWG Resources Inc.Bruce email@example.com
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Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Coal
The world depends on fossil fuels for its energy, and the United States is no exception. The vast majority of U.S. energy — more than 80 percent in 2009 — comes from burning fossil fuels.
Crude oil, coal and natural gas formed from the prehistoric matter of plants, animals, zooplankton and other life that was buried sometimes miles deep inside the Earth and subjected to high temperatures and high pressure over millions of years. These three so-called fossil fuels include a wide assortment of carbon-based substances.
Humans have been using coal as a fuel for hundreds or even thousands of years, and coal fueled steam engines in trains long before the liquid fuel-powered engines of today's cars were in use.
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. It's cheap, readily mined domestically, and generated almost half of all electricity in the country in 2009 as well as more than 40 percent of electricity produced globally. Though American coal is a domestic affair — we don't need to import it — the fuel has caused substantial air pollution, as well as ground and surface water pollution from mercury and acid rain. Coal is also the source of countless mining and transportation accidents and steady supply of greenhouse gases.
Currently the United States exports more coal than it imports, but the majority of U.S. coal is produced and used domestically. In 2009, we exported about 5 percent of supply, and we imported less than half that amount, about 21 million short tons.
Like all fossil and biofuels, all coal produces carbon dioxide when it is burned. However, coal quality varies substantially based upon where it is mined. Some coals can produce more energy per pound, and each source of coal has naturally-occurring pollutants that can be released when the coal is burned or stored, including radioactive materials and toxic metals like mercury. Coal-fired power plants produce small particulates — tiny dusts — that can harm lungs, as well as sulfur and nitrogen compounds that cause acid rain. Modern U.S. coal plants are required to have scrubbers that cut down the amount of pollution. This requirement isn't necessarily the case in other countries. Currently mercury-specific scrubbers aren't required, but sulfur scrubbers do reduce mercury content. Mercury can otherwise end up in waterways and oceans, building up in living matter like the fish we eat.
In coal-fired power plants, the coal is burned to heat water into steam. The steam runs turbines to produce electricity, while the smoke from the coal fire is filtered to remove particulates and other pollutants.
Humans have known about petroleum, or crude oil, for centuries, but the substance wasn't considered terribly interesting until the mid 1800s, when it was distilled into kerosene and found to be a good, cheap alternative to burning whale oil in oil lamps. At that time, only the wealthiest could afford whale oil, which was preferred over candles or animal fats. Americans and others worldwide quickly adopted petroleum and learned to make an unending stream of useful products from it. Simultaneously, a worldwide obsession with striking oil was born.
The earliest combustion engines were invented before gasoline, diesel or kerosene, but automobiles started becoming available by the late 1800s, a few decades after petroleum exploration began in earnest.
The U.S. measurement of a barrel of oil, 42 gallons, originates from oil fields in Pennsylvania, when oil companies stored petroleum in whiskey barrels.
Petroleum Production, Consumption, and Marketing
Today, more than two-thirds of U.S. petroleum consumption is used for transportation. In 2009, petroleum fuel was the single largest source of energy in the United States, with 18,690,000 barrels per day providing 37 percent of energy. Petroleum use contributed 43 percent of 2009 energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The United States is the world's third largest crude oil producer. We produce oil in 31 states and offshore. The top three oil-producing states are Texas, Alaska, and California.
The United States produces a large amount of crude oil, and it imports just as much, or more. In 2009, we imported 51 percent of the oil we used. We are the world's largest consumer of petroleum and in 2009 we consumed 22 percent of the world's petroleum.
Of petroleum imported to the United States, half is imported from various countries in the North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.
A graph of consumption, production and imports can be found here for 1950 through 2009.
Crude oil prices are defined by the type and source of the oil. In the United States, two common indices for oil prices are the West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude.
Oil is sold by both investor-owned corporations and national, also called state-owned, companies. The United States has no state-owned oil companies. However, state-owned companies are responsible for more than half of the global oil production, and they hold the lion's share of the world's proven oil reserves, over 80 percent in 2007. Pie chart here.
The largest state-owned oil companies include:
- Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia)
- Petrobras (Brazil)
- Petróleos de Venezuela S.A.,(Venezuela)
- Gazprom (Russia)
- Statoil (Norway)
- CNPC (China)
- CNOOC (China)
- Sinopec (China)
- Pemex (Mexico
- National Iranian Oil Company (Iran)
- Petronas (Malaysia)
- Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (Kuwait)
- Qatar Petroleum (Qatar)
- Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (Nigeria)
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Abu Dhabi)
- National Oil Corporation (Libya)
- Sonatrach (Algeria)
- ONCG (India).
- Indian Oil Corporation (India)
Major investor-owned companies include:
- ExxonMobil (U.S.)
- Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands, United Kingdom)
- BP (United Kingdom)
- Chevron (U.S.)
- Total S.A. (France)
- Lukoil (Russia)
- Surgutneftegas (Russia)
- Eni (Italy)
- ConocoPhillips (U.S.).
- Valero (U.S.)
- Pertamina (Indonesia)
- Repsol (Spain)
- Marathon Oil Corporation (U.S.)
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, commonly called OPEC, collaborate to control oil supply and prices. OPEC includes: Algeria, Angola, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Venezuela.
Refining and chemical processing of petroleum and natural gas, plastics
Today, crude oil is refined and transformed into so many products it might be simpler to list the products that don't use oil. The most direct derivatives of petroleum include diesel and jet fuel, and gasoline. In 2009, less than 7 percent of crude oil became non-fuel goods, from artificial food coloring to asphalt and plastics.
One major product of petroleum is naphtha, a raw material for petrochemicals used to make things found on almost every store shelf. That's because naphtha can form the building blocks for polyethylene and polypropylene, two widely-used plastics found in packaging, chairs, textiles and even medical implants. Natural gas and petroleum are also used to make a countless array of other solvents, waxes, and non-food alcohols.
More than half the price of gasoline or diesel is from buying the crude oil, and the rest is split between refining, distribution and marketing, and taxes, according to 2011 statistics compiled by the Energy Information Administration. For more information about the price of gasoline, go here.
Petroleum transportation
Oil is transported in large quantities through long-distance pipelines and by giant oil tankers. The strait of Hormuz, a hairpin-shaped waterway between Iran and Oman, saw more that 15 million barrels of oil pass through it daily in 2009. Because so much oil has to travel through such a limited space, the strait is called a chokepoint. Other noteworthy oil chokepoints include the Straits of Malacca between Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and the Suez Canal, in Egypt. The Panama Canal is not a major oil chokepoint, as many of today's tankers are too large to pass through it.
Piracy of large tankers has been an issue in recent years, particularly along chokepoints where pirates know tankers will pass.
Most U.S. oil and petroleum products is also transported through more than 160,000 miles of oil pipelines criss-crossing the country, as well as connecting into Canada and Mexico, according to the Association of Oil Pipelines.
Natural Gas History
During the 19th century, some types of lamps ran on natural gas, usually along city streets. In 1885 Robert Bunsen invented the Bunsen burner, which mixes gas with air to produce a steady flame for heat or cooking.
Widespread household use of natural gas waited until the mid-twentieth century, when thousands of miles of natural gas pipelines were built across the country.
Today, natural gas is a popular fuel for heating homes, cooking, and powering clothes dryers, as well as for power plants and industries. Some vehicles are powered by natural gas as well. Like petroleum, natural gas is a starting material for many other goods like plastics, chemicals, and even hydrogen.
Natural gas is an especially efficient fuel when burned in combined-cycle power plants, where electricity is produced in two stages. The combusted natural gas itself runs gas turbines, and then the leftover heat is used to heat water for steam-turbines.
In recent years, geologists have revised upwards their ideas of how much natural gas we can recover, increasing estimates by 11 percent between 2008 and 2009 alone, though there has been some contention that these estimates are inflated.
Natural Gas Production, Refining and Consumption
Unlike petroleum, most of the natural gas consumed in the United States is produced here too. A small amount is imported, mostly from Canada, which provided nearly 88 percent of imported gas in 2010. Trinidad, Tobago, Egypt, Norway, Nigeria, and Qatar also provide a small amount of the natural gas supply in the form of shipped liquefied natural gas.
Domestically, natural gas is transported by pipelines. For a map of this network, see here.
Liquefied natural gas, commonly called LNG, is created solely to make it easier to transport natural gas. The gas turns to liquid at -260 degrees Fahrenheit, and requires far less volume to store, about 600 times less space. However, liquefying requires refrigeration and the location receiving the liquefied gas must have special facilities.
Sources of natural gas
Natural gas is made of mostly of methane, with some other, similar carbon-based gases mixed in. In addition to being trapped underground, methane, a greenhouse gas, is emitted from manure and agricultural waste. These sources can also be captured and burned for energy. Furthermore, some agricultural wastes can be broken down to release methane through anaerobic digestion.
After the gas is captured — from drilling or other source — it's separated to remove water and unwanted gases, which are released or burned off. Then the gas is compressed and stored, or combined with something to make it smell bad — for safety — and piped as a source of energy for consumption by industries, business, homes, and power plants. However, a small proportion of natural gas is also used by the petrochemical industry to make antifreeze, plastics, dyes, explosives, paint, fertilizers, and medicines.
Gas deposits in shale and hydrofracking
While burning natural gas is far cleaner than coal or petroleum, drilling for natural gas has raised concerns in recent years as companies have ramped up the use of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to get at shale gas. It's too expensive to plumb natural gas deposits that are trapped in shale with conventional methods. Instead, high volumes of a mixture of water, chemicals and sand are pumped into deep wells at high pressure, inducing fissures in the underground rock, through which the trapped gas can be released and collected. Conventional gas drilling requires a company to drill all the way down to where the gas is located, while "fracking" allows companies to access more gas for less cost as the drill doesn't need to go all the way to all the individual locations of the gas. A diagram of hydraulic fracturing can be found here.
Fracking requires a lot of water, which has to be treated after it's used, and any leaks can lead to contamination of ground water and drinking water with a variety of chemicals. Even though the use of fracking has been contentious in several states, the industry is rapidly expanding.
In 2009, most natural gas, 86 percent of it, came from non-shale sources. However, shale gas is expected to constitute almost half of the U.S. natural gas supply by 2036, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Historical and projected sources of natural gas are graphed here.


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Old time game warden Bland Wilson, who must have started his career in the 1940's, knew how to catch goggle-eye, or rock bass as many call them, in the winter. Unfortunately he told a few friends how to do it and they told a few of their friends and soon, everyone knew about it. Bland was a good game warden, a man dedicated to catching real violators and not at all concerned about the petty technicalities today's conservation agents are consumed with. And he was an outdoorsman. He had a big influence on me when I was young, and I would be on the Big Piney setting a trotline or fishing for smallmouth in one of my dad's old wooden johnboats, unaware of a quietly approaching canoe, handled by a true riverman. Bland could sneak up on an Indian!
Sometime in the early 1960's Bland got to wondering where the goggle-eye went in the dead of winter, and he decided they concentrated on finding spring water, which was warmer than river water in January and February. So he went to the biggest springs on the Piney, a place called Boiling Springs, where water gushed and boiled out of a big cavern beside the stream, and he put a minnow on a hook and short piece of line at the end of a long cane pole, and stuck it back into that hole from which Boiling Springs boiled. In the blink of an eye, a goggle-eye nailed it. In short order, he had a limit.
Then the idea was to find those places where underwater springs gushed into the river, and there you would find winter goggle-eye. But Bland always knew he could get a limit of goggle-eye in the winter by visiting Boiling Springs. I wish he had told me and no one else. In time the hordes of goggle-eye deep in those springs and spring holes dwindled to a fraction of what they once were.
Dad and I always caught limits of rock bass in the spring, from the middle of April to the middle of May, when they were concentrating along deeper pockets below rocky shoals in the Piney. Rock bass was an accurate name for the little red-eyed panfish, which were fond of places where large rocks or big root wads, gave them shelter. The river seemed full of them, and they are hard pressed today to a point where there are only a fraction of the goggle-eyes in any stream that you would have seen fifty years ago. But too, the filling of our rivers with gravel and silt has reduced the deep holes and covered the rock which once gave them shelter and protection.
Right now, we should impose a two-year ban on keeping rock bass in the Ozarks, to see if that protection would help bring them back, and then we should also instigate a much lower limit on the bantam-weight fish, and a suitable length limit everywhere. In time, we need to allow stream fishermen to keep Kentucky bass and largemouth bass and require all smallmouth to be released. Rock bass live much like a smallmouth, similar in many habits, so why not protect them for a while. They are too easy to catch and there are too many fishermen, numbers of anglers on streams increasing by leaps and bounds, while the fisheries decline. We do not have the conservation leadership today to do what is needed, but there are ways to find out if goggle-eye can indeed rebound. We need to do it, and the majority of today's generation of stream fishermen, if they understood a need for it, would go along with that two-year plan. Still, I am afraid the loss of good spawning water, and the continued degradation of our rivers, may be the reason we see the declines we have seen. We can change much of that, but we have to start now, and it would involve some bold leadership and some money. I don't know where that might come from in this day and time. But if you love Ozark rivers and the wild creatures living in and around them, you know we don't have forever.
We had a real tragedy up here on Lightnin' Ridge this past week. A young rain crow, also known as a yellow-billed cuckoo, flew into an office window and killed himself. I don't know how that could happen with a bird as elusive and intelligent as the rain crow. It could be he saw a reflection of himself and thought it was a female and wanted to impress her with his flying skills. But then again, and no one ever thinks about things like this but me… who's to say he wasn't depressed, perhaps deeply bothered by the fact that some young lady rain crow had declined his idea of a perfect nest. Perhaps the love of his life had flew away with an older rain crow and he was left to face life without her and couldn't.
If you think you are a wildlife photographer, go out and get some photos of a rain crow. In summer branches around my home I hear plenty of them, always forecasting a coming rain with their loud series of clucks. If it rained as often as I hear them, we'd be living in a summer monsoon. But when you look for them, you just get fleeting glances. They hide behind large branches, and in clumps of foliage. Getting a picture of one of them has been more difficult for me than chasing down a roadrunner. And by the way, a roadrunner is in the same family as the yellow-billed cuckoo. I have only seen one of them up here on Lightnin' Ridge, in the dead of winter. He ran across my gravel driveway on a 35-degree day, and I never saw him again. I think he either froze, or was eaten by one of Wily Coyote's cousins.
Well folks, mark your calendar and have nothing planned for Saturday, October 12. That's the day we are going to have the biggest outdoorsman's get together ever held in the Ozarks. It is the day of our Common Sense Conservationist dinner and annual meeting. All local CSC groups need to take note of it. Right now we are finishing final touches on a Common Sense Conservationist website, and I will have more to say about that later. The dinner will be served by Richard's Hawgwild Barbecue out of Aurora, Mo and if you have ever eaten at his restaurant there, you know why he is heralded as the very best in catering barbecued meet with all the fixin's. The meal is all anyone will pay for. The rest of the day is free, and we have a 16,000-foot auditorium to use, courtesy of the Countryside Assembly of God Church here in Bolivar, which acquired the building just outside of Bolivar this past year. This is a building you can put two basketball courts in, and we will allow outdoorsmen who want to set up a table and sell lures or old guns or that kind of thing, to do so.
We are working with Sandra McCormick, who owns McCreed Art Gallery a few miles east of Bennett Springs, to set aside a section of the building for Ozark outdoor artists and craftsmen to display and sell their work. I will be writing more about this, because we intend to make it a really big event, all tables and entrance to the event will be free. Most exciting thing I have ever been involved in, a chance finally to make our Common Sense Conservationist organization a strong and effective force in changing some things in the Ozarks. Time will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., October 12th… More information to come, but set aside that date.
On my radio program this Sunday we will talk about this and many other things. Listen in from 8 to 9 on KWTO AM, 560 on the dial. Hear it anywhere in the country via computer on www.radiospringfield.com. Write to me at Box 22, Bolivar, Mo 65613 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com. The website is larrydablemontoutdoors.blogspot.com


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
The tribute dinner for the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at The Buffalo Club.
Chaired by, the Honorable Judge Thomas Fortkort, a former Buffalonian, this annual event has funded many of the needs of the elderly and infirm sisters who reside in the health center at the Stella Niagara motherhouse in Lewiston.
The highlight of the evening is always the silent auction, featuring a week's vacation in a luxury villa at Ocean Beach Isle, N.C.; sommelier-chosen wine baskets; autographed hockey memorabilia; and extraordinary artwork by Charles Cobelle and famed Vietnamese artist Lebadang.
Assisting are dinner committee members Caroline Buerk, Delphine Burgio, Dorothy Cosgrove, David Cristantello, Amy J. Habib, Sister DeSales Hattenberger, Thomas Jambro, Katherine Juhasz, Ann Nicholson Wright, Francis J. Offermann Jr., Caroline Roeder and J. Elizabeth Tzetzo.
For tickets or further information, call 716-754-2193.


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FeaturesAug/Sep 2012 Issue
Celiac Disease and Eating Disorders
Hope Ahead
When Beth was 19 and a sophomore in college, she began to cut back on how much she was eating. In high school, she had always thought she could stand to lose 5 pounds—"What girl doesn't?," she asks—even though at 5 foot 8 inches, tall and 130 pounds, she was slim. She had dieted a few times then, following the low-carb Atkins plan. This time around, however, her motivation to diet wasn't just about dropping a dress size. It was also because she often felt uncomfortably full and bloated after eating.
"I became kind of fixated on not feeling so full," she says. "Then it changed into not wanting to feel full at all."
Before long, Beth was counting calories of whatever she put in her mouth and keeping her tally under 500 calories a day.
"I did everything I could to stay away from food," she says.
The less she ate, the more she obsessed about food. She'd spend hours carefully planning what she would or wouldn't eat each day—counting the number of peanuts or Cheerios she'd allow herself, while she staved off sharp hunger pangs with pickles, sugar-free jello and crushed ice. After starving herself for days or weeks at a time, she'd break down and binge.
"It was like my survival instinct took over and I'd binge on anything and everything I could find. Afterward, I'd feel so guilty—and panic about my weight—I'd go right back to restricting again," says Beth, now 27. "It was hell."
In between the starve-binge cycles, Beth managed to go through periods where she ate more "normally." Then something stressful would happen—a breakup or exam period—and she'd return to restricting again.
During her junior year, Beth was hit with a bout of back pain. She went to the doctor, and, while there, happened to mention her trouble with bloating and "major stomach expansion." The doctor ordered a few blood tests but didn't indicate any specific concerns. A week later, she got a phone call from a nurse telling her it looked like she had celiac disease. In a matter of days, Beth underwent a small bowel biopsy and the diagnosis was confirmed.
"I didn't know if having to go gluten free would help or hurt my eating issues," she says. Guessing the latter, Beth decided to tell her doctor about her eating disorder. Until then, she had tried her best to keep her behavior under wraps.
"It's really hard to admit the self-destructive things you do to yourself," she says. "Maybe I didn't explain it well because my doctor's only response was to up my antidepressant dosage." (Beth had taken a low-dose antidepressant since she was 16.) She filled the new prescription and gave the gluten-free diet a go—she wanted to get better—but it was a bumpy road.
"I felt deprived on the gluten-free diet," she says. Even though she'd been severely restricting her calorie intake, she hadn't faced the outright elimination of favorite foods. "Had I been able to eat a bite of something when I wanted it, like a gluten-filled doughnut or cookie, I think I could have escaped the starve-binge cycles more easily." Instead, she struggled off and on with her eating disorder for the next four years.
Linked Conditions
Beth isn't alone in dealing with an eating disorder and celiac disease. There's plenty of company online in celiac and gluten-free forums. Many describe similar stories of celiac symptoms (such as extreme bloating) leading them to restrict or even stop eating altogether for days at a time. Others describe throwing up to relieve discomfort after eating, setting the stage for bulimia. Some wonder about a gut-brain connection and how it could play a role in celiac disease and eating disorders.
Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD, a nutrition therapist, has treated people with eating disorders since 1984. When her son was diagnosed with celiac disease as a toddler in 1996, she began to specialize in celiac disease, too.
"I'm seeing two things happen right now," she says. "I'm seeing more patients who have both celiac disease and an eating disorder and, secondly, I'm seeing more in the medical literature documenting a link between the two."
In 2007, researchers at the Celiac Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston explored ten cases of eating disorders among their patients, noting an "association" between celiac disease and eating disorders. The following year, researchers in Austria looked at a much larger group of adolescents with celiac disease and found the rate of eating disorders was double that of adolescent girls without celiac disease (no males in the study had eating disorders).
"Based on what we have, we can say that eating disorders can be a significant comorbid [co-occurring] condition in patients with celiac disease," says Melinda Dennis, MS, RD, LDN, nutrition coordinator of the Celiac Center at BIDMC. "In addition, there's a well-established link between celiac disease and psychiatric disorders that frequently coexist with eating disorders, including major depression, anxiety and panic disorder."
Earlier this year, a web-based survey looked at the "psychiatric functioning" of 177 American women with celiac disease and found over a third reported symptoms suggestive of depression and 22 percent reported patterns of disordered eating.
"Although some women reported just depression and some just disordered eating, many—17 percent—had both," says lead author Danielle Arigo, a PhD candidate in clinical psychology at Syracuse University.
Not a Choice
"Eating disorders are sometimes glamorized in the media—but living with one is terrible," says Tribole. "They're not a choice—they hijack your brain."
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), an eating disorder is an illness that causes serious disturbances to one's daily diet—whether it's eating extremely small amounts of food (as in anorexia) or severely overeating (as in binge or compulsive eating). Often it starts out innocently enough. A person with an eating disorder may set out to just eat a little less (or more) but at some point, it snowballs out of control. Severe distress or concern about body weight or shape can also characterize an eating disorder.
Although the teen years tend to be a particularly vulnerable period, eating disorders are popping up at all ages, says Tribole. Of the estimated 10 million Americans battling an eating disorder (most of whom are women), anorexia is the least common type, binge eating is the most common, and bulimia, which involves a cycle of secretive binging and purging, falls somewhere in between.
Importantly, many people with eating disorders have symptoms that stop short of meeting the somewhat strict criteria for anorexia or bulimia. These individuals may be diagnosed with eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS). For many, EDNOS doesn't sound as severe as anorexia or bulimia but it can be just as physically and emotionally damaging.
Beth suspects she'd be labeled with EDNOS, although, like many, she never sought professional treatment for her eating disorder.
"I didn't lose enough weight to be considered anorexic and I didn't purge after a binge like someone with bulimia."
"There's not enough data to say which type of eating disorder is most prevalent in those who have celiac disease," says Rupa Mukherjee, MD, a clinical fellow in medicine and gastroenterology at BIDMC. "It's also not clear which comes first—celiac disease or the eating disorder. In the Austrian study, celiac preceded the eating disorder in over 80 percent of cases but the opposite has been reported, too."
Both celiac disease and eating disorders can be elusive to physicians, she points out. Celiac can have vague symptoms for years and likewise, eating disorders don't start overnight. There's also a lot of denial and concealment with eating disorders, making it hard for physicians not looking for them to spot them.
In Mukherjee's experience, the period soon after diagnosis with celiac can be very stressful—the diet is new and very demanding, and, on top of that, patients frequently gain weight. (When the intestines heal, they properly absorb nutrients again, including calories.) "As a clinician when I'm with a patient, I ask myself, am I sensing any body dissatisfaction issues?"
Diet Danger
A strict, lifelong gluten-free diet is currently the only treatment for celiac disease. With the constant attention on food and it's preparation, it's natural to wonder—particularly for those who develop an eating disorder after their diagnosis—how much the diet is to blame.
There are many reasons why someone may develop an eating disorder, according to Steven Crawford, MD, associate director of the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, Maryland. "We know there's a biologic basis, including a strong genetic component, to eating disorders," he says. "Factors like depression, low self-esteem, perfectionism, as well as cultural influences to be thin can all play a role, too." However, Crawford gives a nod to the possibility that the gluten-free diet—or other special diets—could contribute to an eating disorder, although probably not cause one on its own.
"Any time there's a focus on food, as in the case with the gluten-free diet, it sets the potential for the development of an eating disorder, if someone is predisposed to one," he explains. "Preoccupation with food is, on some level, necessary to manage celiac disease, but it can also promote obsessional food-related behaviors."
There's a major burden that comes with having a chronic illness, Mukherjee adds. When you couple that with a restrictive diet, it can lead to issues of wanting to exert control and autonomy.
"Very often, eating disorders can be associated with the feeling that you don't have control over events in your life," explains Crawford. "One's weight or meal plan can be something to turn to and exert a sense of control over."
In fact, celiac disease isn't the only diet-mediated, chronic condition linked with eating disorders. The metabolic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) has also been associated with them. In PKU, the body can't metabolize the protein, phenylalanine (Phe), which is present in many foods, particularly high-protein ones. As a result, persons with PKU must follow a lifelong, low-Phe diet, which means no meat, milk, eggs, nuts and more. One study found 23 percent of women with PKU had "eating-disordered behavior."
The same study found 33 percent of women with type-1 diabetes had "significant eating problems." Type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the body can't make the hormone, insulin. Before each meal or snack, diabetics must carefully count the carbohydrates in their food and then calculate the amount of insulin needed to "cover" the carbs. This helps keep blood sugar regulated—the goal of treatment in diabetes.
"Unfortunately, people with diabetes may end up utilizing aspects of their illness in a misguided attempt to control body shape or weight" says Crawford. "For example, misuse of insulin may result in under-absorption of calories."
A similar practice has been reported in those with celiac disease: they may intentionally eat gluten to facilitate weight loss.
Laura, 39, admits to this. When she was diagnosed with celiac two years ago, she gained ten pounds on the gluten-free diet. "I became really anxious about my weight until one day it hit me, if I cheated, I might shed a few pounds."
The next day, Laura ate a few slices of regular, gluten-containing pizza. As she suspected, she lost three pounds, thanks to three days of unrelenting diarrhea. Since then, Laura's cheated at least a dozen times, even though she knows it wreaks havoc with her body and compromises her future health.
Red Flags
Evelyn Tribole wants to be clear: It's normal to be preoccupied by food when you're first diagnosed with celiac disease. It's normal to feel awkward in social situations with food or at restaurants. That's not an eating disorder, she stresses.
Most experts recommend meeting with a dietician knowledgeable about celiac disease soon after diagnosis. If, after the initial stage of understanding how to eat gluten free, you still feel very overwhelmed or preoccupied by food, then it may be something to look at more carefully, Tribole says.
Warning signs of an eating disorder can include obsessively weighing yourself, over-exercising, compensating if you think you ate too much, avoiding social outings because you don't like how you feel in your body and excessive anxiety about what you may eat in social settings. (Note: Concern that safe food is available outside the home is valid for those with celiac disease; however, once planning and safety precautions are in place, there shouldn't be extreme anxiety.)
"An eating disorder may start with disordered eating—lots of rules and time spent around the eating process," says Tribole. "Rules that don't involve celiac disease can be a red flag."
If you suspect someone has an eating disorder, try to talk to them very objectively about what you see, she suggests. Eating disorders can have very serious and permanent health consequences, including stunted growth, dental problems, osteoporosis, infertility, electrolyte imbalances, cardiac abnormalities and even death. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness.
However, eating disorders are treatable.
"We always recommend professional treatment and the earlier it begins, the better the outcome," says Crawford. Treatment depends on the specific needs of the individual but often involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of counseling aimed at changing one's thinking about food, eating and body image.
In general, about a third of patients with eating disorders do quite well with appropriate treatment, says Crawford. Another third improve with some good intervals followed by setbacks requiring additional treatment. Unfortunately, the other third have an ongoing, daily struggle with their illness.
"We don't know if people who have chronic conditions like celiac disease have different recovery rates," he says.
Crawford's advice for those newly diagnosed with celiac disease? "Find variety and creativity in the gluten-free diet so that you don't feel deprived. You never want to eat less—just differently."
Hope Ahead
Although Beth struggled with her eating disorder for several years after her celiac diagnosis, looking back, she thinks it was a turning point. Her eating disorder gradually got better—the intervals between each starve-binge cycle, which typically lasted a few months, started to get longer.
Beth attributes part of her recovery to the resolution of her bloating and feelings of fullness. A slow but significant improvement in her depression helped, too. Beth suspects her depression had a lot to do with her urges to restrict.
"It's been almost three years since I felt like I was really battling my eating disorder," says Beth. "I'm not going to say I'll never have a problem again but this has been the longest stretch I've ever gone."
Danielle Arigo, co-author of the 2012 study on celiac disease, disordered eating and depression, says we have a long way to go in understanding all of these issues and what drives them. "Our study was just a first step in looking at behaviors and experiences. However, paying attention to the emotional functioning of women with celiac disease is potentially a huge area of opportunity for improving quality of life."
"Having a chronic illness isn't easy. Having to manage a special diet isn't easy. These things take maintenance and management for years down the line," she says. "Perhaps we should be asking patients: How are you coping?"
The complete names of two women in this article were withheld at their request.
Medical writer Christine Boyd lives in the Baltimore, Maryland, area.
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Good food guide
Kids in the kitchen
Cooking tasty, healthy food with your children is a great way to have fun and teach them about healthy eating.
Healthy food can be great fun for kids if they help you prepare it. Watch a video about cooking for kids
Kids love developing new skills. Even fussy eaters may be tempted by dishes they've made themselves.
So let them have a go in the kitchen, and praise them for their efforts. They might even help with the washing up.
Staying safe
It's essential to supervise children in the kitchen at all times.
Restrict the jobs that you give them according to their age and ability. For example, pre-schoolers might only mix dough with their hands, whereas older kids can peel and chop vegetables.
Don't forget to tell them the hygiene and safety rules before you start. Explain why some things in a kitchen are dangerous.
Important hygiene rules include:
- Always wash your hands before cooking and after handling raw meat or fish.
- Clean surfaces that have had raw meat on them immediately, such as chopping boards.
- Always check that poultry and pork are cooked all the way through, until the juices run clear.
- Wash all fruit and vegetables.
Important safety tips include:
- Never run in the kitchen.
- Mop up spills straight away.
- Hold and use knives with great care (show children the correct way).
- Turn pan handles into the hob, but not over a flame.
- Always wear oven gloves when putting something in or getting something out of the oven.
- Watch out for fat spitting from a hot frying pan or roasting tin.
Make it fun
Take kids shopping with you so they can choose the ingredients themselves.
Give yourself plenty of time, and have some spare ingredients in case the children make mistakes.
Choose something that will be simple and healthy. It can be fun to make something that the children can make into shapes or decorate with a smiley face.
To get started, try this recipe for fish cakes.
Find more healthy recipes that the whole family will love in the Change4Life recipe book
- 1 can (213g) of pink salmon
- 100g wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 tbsp horseradish sauce
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or dill
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Pinch of ground black pepper
- 4 slices of lemon
- 8 capers, drained
- 2 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
First, help the children get all the ingredients out of the cupboards and fridge. Then everyone can help prepare them as above. So beat the egg, chop the herbs, onions and tomatoes, slice and juice the lemon, and drain the capers.
Open the can of salmon and remove any pieces of skin or bones. Let the children flake the fish into a mixing bowl.
Now add the spring onions, breadcrumbs, egg, lemon juice, horseradish sauce, herbs, oil and pepper. The kids can then combine the mixture, with their hands or a wooden spoon, until the ingredients are mixed well.
Next, separate the mixture into four equal portions and make them into a round shape. (They can be made into fun shapes, but remember that they may not cook evenly.)
- Pre-heat the grill.
- Brush the fishcakes with a little oil.
- Grill the fishcakes for around five minutes on each side, until golden and sizzling. (Remember, it's not safe for younger children to use the oven.)
- Let the fishcakes cool a little, then allow the kids to make smiley faces on top of the fishcakes, using a lemon slice for a mouth, half a cherry tomato for a nose and capers for the eyes.
- Serve the fishcakes with a fresh green salad, and enjoy.
Good food guides
Family food interactive guides
Health eating self-assessment Could your diet be putting your health at risk? Find out with this short test.
Five a day meal planner This meal planner makes it easy to get your 5 a day.
Food allergies self-assessment Determine whether you have a food allergy or an intolerance.


text: Of all the photographs taken at last year's Royal Wedding, this one seemed to generate the most buzz on the internet. We came across this picture on Twitter during a wedding themed session of #FriFotos. We tracked it down and it seems to have come from TMZ. We need you to caption this Royal Wedding photo of the day!


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Mint's SXSW Party Plans...
Soon we will be ditching the woolly mittens, dusting off our sunglasses and migrating south for SXSW. This time Mint Records and the Olio Festival are joining forces to host a fierce tequila and taco-fueled afternoon party with some of the finest up-and-coming talent (and a few old favourites for good measure). Vice Magazine Co-founder and man behind Street Boners and TV Carnage, Gavin Mcinnes will be starting things off with some street fashion insights and hilarity. Following that will be Vancouver's electrifying Humans, Mint's Hot Panda, Arbutus Records' Grimes and a band from Brooklyn called Bikini. Andrew WK will also be there to party hard - possibly with Nardwuar (we can't give away all of the surprises). Did we mention it is free? See you there!
Mint Records and Olio Festival Afternoon Party - it's free! 2-6pm, Thursday, March 17th @ Headhunters back patio (720 Red River St)
2:15-2:35 Gavin McInnes (Co-founder of Vice Magazine) 2:50-3:10 Humans (Vancouver, BC) 3:25-3:45 Hot Panda (Vancouver/Edmonton, Mint Records) 4:00-4:20 Nardwuar and Andrew WK 4:35-4:55 Grimes (Montreal, Arbutus Records) 5:10-5:30 Bikini (Brooklyn, NY)
*there will also be delicious tacos!
Sponsored by: CBC Radio 3, The Georgia Straight and Exclaim!


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Triton Athletes' Council
The Triton Athletes' Council (TAC) exists as a forum for student-athletes to present and discuss issues relevant to the quality of the athletic component of their collegiate experience at UC San Diego. TAC provides not only a voice for the student-athlete, but an opportunity to have ongoing dialogue with the Athletics Department administration, initiate campus and community service projects, and forge stronger relationships among UC San Diego's 23 intercollegiate teams.
TAC Roster
TAC Gatorade Pong Tournament
2016-17 Triton Athletes' Council Members
2016-17 Meeting Schedule
TAC Statement of Structure
Student-Athlete Spectator Code of Conduct
TAC Adopt-A-Family Program Brings Holiday Cheer


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Win a Nintendo Switch
Enter now to win the latest console in gaming – a Nintendo Switch Console – Neon Red/Blue.
The gaming system that lets you play the games you want, wherever you are, however you like.
This competition is ad supported. You will have the opportunity to watch a video ad or interact with a sponsor to complete your entry.
Value: £278
Ends August 20, 2018.Official Rules
Share This Prize With Someone You Know Via:


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free standard shipping on orders over $75 with code: FREESHIP
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Carolina Hurricanes Frosty Fle...
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Monday, August 13, 2018
Summer Interns Q&A
Over the years, the internship opportunities at Logo have continued to grow as we grow. We're able to offer more areas of interest to students. Our primary goal is always to give the students real-world training that they wouldn't get in a classroom. We treat them just as any other member of our team as they work right alongside us. We currently have several staff members who started off as interns with us. We were happy to have several outstanding interns over this past summer. Let's take a minute to meet them...
Friday, July 13, 2018
First Trip to China
Our team travels to Asia several times a year to find new product ideas, visit the factories manufacturing our products and build relationships. I've heard about these trips and seen tons of pictures but finally got the chance to experience it firsthand. It was quite a trip!
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Recipe Round-Up: July 4th
To us, the Fourth of July is about family, fireworks, fun and food. We're rounding up some of our favorite EASY recipes in celebration of the good ole USA. These go-tos are a simple and tasty way to add some patriotic spirit to your Independence Day menu.
Build your custom product


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Even mild hearing loss can affect a child's ability to speak and understand language, as well as impact behavioral development. Nemours' audiologists use state-of-the-art technology and innovative testing techniques to assess your child's hearing sensitivity. We can evaluate and treat hearing at any age, beginning at birth.
Hearing loss in children occurs in an estimated three out of every 1,000 babies born in the United States each year. At Nemours, we are dedicated to finding the best solutions to address each child's hearing impairment, and we're committed to counseling and educating families to be advocates for their children in the community.
We have board certified audiologists who are licensed with specialized experience in pediatric audiology.
Our audiologists help diagnose and develop treatment plans for children with hearing disorders such as:
- hearing loss
- (central) auditory processing disorder (APD)
- auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD)
- balance (vestibular) and dizziness disorders
At Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and a number of Nemours Children's Clinic locations in the Delaware Valley and North and Central Florida, we are also able to provide children with hearing impairment special services.
These services include:
- prescriptions for hearing aids and other assistive and/or amplification devices as well as instruction on the use, care and maintenance of these devices
- cochlear implant, programming and therapy
- counseling for families regarding adjustment to hearing aids and cochlear implants
- specialized programs for children diagnosed with central auditory processing disorder or auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder
- working with a child's school and teacher to ensure proper classroom equipment and modifications are in place
We look forward to forming close relationships with our patients and monitoring their progress over time.
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Nemours Children's Specialty Care, Orlando
1717 S. Orange Ave.
Orlando, FL 32806
Get Map & Directions »
For Appointments: (407) 650-7715
For Appointments: (407) 650-7715
- photo ID
- medical and pharmacy insurance cards
- preferred pharmacy name and phone number
- names and dosage of all medications, including over-the-counter medication, your child is currently taking
- guardianship and custody papers, if a legal guardian rather than a parent accompanies your child
Resources for Patients & Families
- Insurance We Accept: See accepted insurance, listed by location.
- Pay Your Bill: Use online bill pay or send by mail.
- Financial Assistance: Get help with your child's health care expenses.
- MyNemours: Access your child's medical record online.
Hearing loss and auditory disorders can cause delays in a child's speech, language and cognitive development, so early identification and management of auditory problems and hearing loss in children is important.
Audiologists at Nemours Children's Specialty Care, Orlando are specially trained to evaluate children with hearing, balance and other ear-related problems. Our Audiology Department offers comprehensive audiological services for children from birth to age 18 — and our audiologists respect the uniqueness of your child, your family, and your culture.
Taking a Team Approach to Your Child's Care
Along with our family-centered focus, we use state-or-the-art equipment and innovative pediatric assessment techniques to obtain an in-depth view of your child's individual hearing capabilities and management needs. We can also consult nationally recognized Nemours professionals onsite in our clinic in the fields of:
- genetics
- imaging
- psychology
This multi-disciplinary input from experts on a case-specific basis helps us best serve your child and your family's needs.
Our services include assessment and management of children with conditions such as:
Children with APD have no problem hearing, but they do have difficulty analyzing or making sense out of what they hear. They may demonstrate difficulties in speech, language, and/or learning. They may also appear hearing impaired and/or be inattentive, easily distractible, hypersensitive to loud sound, or have difficulty following oral directions. These difficulties are compounded under adverse listening situations such as, in the typical,
noisy classroom.
We have a specialized program for children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD). ANSD is a disruption in auditory nerve function that can make it difficult for children to understand speech, especially in the presence of "noise". Our program targets diagnosis, treatment, and long-term support.
About 3 in 1,000 babies are born with hearing loss making it the most common birth defect. A hearing problem can also develop later in life.
Our close partnership with the physicians in the ENT department is unique
in this area. It ensures that every child will receive a comprehensive hearing test, a complete diagnosis, and timely medical input to facilitate effective intervention.
Hearing Evaluations
Our audiologists conduct full hearing diagnostic evaluations in sound-treated rooms with specialized, state-of-the-art equipment. The methods used to test hearing will be individually tailored to your child's age, ability to cooperate, developmental level, and health status.
What to expect:
- Children 6 months to 3 years: Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA). The child is seated on the parent's lap and sounds are transmitted through speakers or specialized pediatric "earbuds". The audiologist conditions your child to turn toward an interesting animated toy or video clip after presentation of calibrated sounds or speech. The child's turning response is then used to confirm that your child hears progressively softer sounds and speech.
- Children 3-5 years: Conditioned Play Audiometry (CPA). The child wears either specialized "earbuds" or traditional headphones and responds to calibrated, ear-specific sounds during a "listening game" (i.e. putting a ring on a stick, putting a block in a bucket, etc.,) immediately after hearing a sound. Responses to speech are also assessed by having the child point to pictures or repeat age-appropriate speech stimuli.
- Children 5-18 years: Standard Behavioral Testing. The child wears specialized "earbuds" or traditional headphones and responds to calibrated stimuli by repeating words and acknowledging the presence of sounds.
These are tests of eardrum and middle ear mobility. While not hearing tests, they are helpful in identifying middle ear problems, such as fluid collecting behind the eardrum.
This procedure involves gently placing a soft tip against the child's ear which, together with a computer, assesses eardrum movement, middle ear pressure, and a middle ear muscle reflex. This test does not require a response from the child.
Measures the function of the outer hair cells, or the "natural amplifiers," which are located in the inner ear.
During the OAE test, a soft tip is placed against the child's ear canal. This tip is used to send an auditory stimulus into the ear canal and to record the "echo" that is reflected back out of the canal. The strength of this "echo" is related to the health of the outer hair cells in the inner ear. OAE results can be obtained in seconds on a sleeping infant or an older child who is able to sit quietly.
A normal recording usually reflects normal or near normal hearing although in some cases hearing loss may be present due to problems in other parts of the hearing pathway. OAE testing does not provide information regarding the degree of hearing loss, if present.
Specialized Testing
If your child needs further testing beyond the behavior hearing evaluation, your audiologist may recommend one of the following diagnostic tests.
An ABR test will determine if hearing loss is present and it will provide information regarding how loud a sound has to be in order for your child to hear it. It shows how well the signal from the inner ear travels to the brain. An ABR test can NOT tell how well your child understands what he or she hears.
For the ABR test, your child must be still. Excessive movement can interfere with the test results. It usually can be performed during natural sleep in babies 5 months of age and under. Sedation is usually required after 5 months of age.
We typically use the ABR test for:
- babies that have failed their newborn hearing screening two times
- children who are uncooperative for behavioral testing
- children who cannot be reliably tested in the traditional manner (such as children who are developmentally delayed)
ABR testing is performed by placing soft "disk-like sensors" on the baby/child and an insert tip against the ear canal. The insert tip sends acoustic stimuli into the ear. Audiologists then measure the neural response and determine the child's threshold of hearing. Testing lasts approximately 1-3 hours.
If ABR testing is performed during natural sleep (babies 5 months of age and under), the parent's role in preparing the baby is of the upmost importance. If the baby does not sleep, testing usually cannot be completed.
So, how can you prepare your child for ABR testing during natural sleep? Depending on the child's age, the following suggestions may help testing:
- First and foremost, bring your child to the appointment tired and hungry.
- Keep your baby awake for a few hours before the test.
- When driving to the appointment, have an extra adult in the car to keep the baby awake.
- Do not feed your baby before the appointment. Only feed your baby after preparation for testing.
- Bring any special blankets or items that may help your baby sleep.
- Siblings must be accompanied by a second adult and cannot be in the test room.
A battery of tests designed to help identify a child who has normal hearing but has difficulty processing what is heard. AP testing is usually reserved for children 7 years of age and up. Some younger children can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Children with auditory processing problems may demonstrate difficulties in speech, language, and/or learning. They may also appear hearing impaired and/or be inattentive, easily distractible, hypersensitive to loud sound, or have difficulty following oral directions.These difficulties are compounded under adverse listening situations such as, in the typical, noisy classroom.
AP testing is administered in a sound booth and generally simulates difficult listening situations that the child typically encounters. It is for children with normal intelligence and normal hearing, who exhibit difficulties processing auditory information. This evaluation takes approximately 2 hours.
Assesses the function of the auditory (hearing) nerve. ANSD can make it difficult for children to distinguish one sound from another and understand speech clearly.
This testing is conducted the same way an ABR is done but it looks at different characteristics of the ABR response. We routinely do this evaluation as part of a diagnostic ABR, but the test can be done independently.
It would be recommended for children when:
- Parents report their child to have difficulty understanding speech clearly, especially in the presence of background noise.
- Behavioral testing reveals absent middle ear muscle reflexes and decreased speech understanding especially in the presence of noise.
- There is otherwise unexplained speech delay.
- Expected benefit is not received from hearing aids after an appropriate period of consistent hearing aid use.
Rehabilitation and Treatment
If your child is diagnosed with hearing loss or other hearing impairment, our audiologists partner with your family to make appropriate recommendations tailored to your child's unique needs.
Hearing Aids: If hearing aids are necessary, Nemours audiologists are qualified and experienced in the fitting of hearing aids for children of all ages, including babies as young as three months. We offer hearing aid evaluations, hearing aid fittings, hearing aid repairs, earmolds, and assistive listening devices. Our program is designed to closely monitor the progress of each and every child to assure maximum hearing aid benefit.
For some children with hearing loss or auditory processing difficulties, background noise and/or distance from the speaker can interfere with hearing and understanding. FM listening systems address both issues and can be used by children with hearing aids as well as those children who are not candidates for hearing aids. Although the configuration of a FM amplification listening system can vary, it generally consists of microphone/transmitter (worn by the speaker) and a receiver/transducer (worn by or placed near to the child). The microphone picks up the speaker's voice and clearly transmits it to the student's receiver via a specific FM radio frequency.
Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT): For many children diagnosed with hearing impairments, speech-language therapy or auditory verbal therapy is recommended to help them develop their hearing and speaking skills.


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10 Apr 2014 07:08:10 AM
'UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Nelson' Weigh-In Results — All Fighters on Weight, Andrew Craig Pulled Due to Tonsillitis
(LMFAO…I still can't believe this poster is a real thing.)
All fighters competing on tomorrow afternoon's UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Nelson Fight Pass card in Abu Dhabi weighed-in today without incident — although one matchup was scrapped just hours before the weigh-ins. Due to a sudden bout of tonsillitis, middleweight Andrew Craig was forced to withdraw from his bout against Chris Camozzi, which is a bummer because Camozzi was fighting for a great cause.
The removal of Craig vs. Camozzi means that the Abu Dhabi card will only feature eight matches, making it the briefest UFC card since…well look, I'm not going to burn 15 minutes on Wikipedia trying to find the answer to that, but it's been a while.
In a semi-related story, the monthly cost of Fight Pass was suddenly jacked up from 10 euros to 16 euros ($22.20) for Polish subscribers. But hey, you guys were warned, right? Weigh-in results for Nogueira vs. Nelson are after the jump…Read More DIGG THIS


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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
On extraordinary coincidences
The Grant canon is not large: there are three books based on public lecture series (Philosophy in the Mass Age, Time as History, and English-Speaking Justice), two essay collections (Technology and Justice and Technology and Empire), as well as the famous Lament for a Nation - a ninety-page, game-changing analysis of Canada's relationship to the United States, and the future of Canadian sovereignty. Those new to Grant will probably want to read the famous Lament first, which is fine, but the book would probably make more sense having previously read Philosophy in the Mass Age, which lays the groundwork for Grant's basic philosophical approach. None of the books are longer than two hundred pages, so you can test the waters without making a substantial time commitment.
The missing piece of Grantiana, though, and one I keep an eye out for in used bookstores, is George Grant in Process, a 1978 collection of essays on Grant's work, interspersed with interviews and brief pieces by Grant himself. Having no luck finding it, I finally bought a used copy from Amazon, only to open the book and find on the inside cover the label "Ex Libris Malcolm Muggeridge".
A dedication on the title page identifies it as a gift to Muggeridge and his wife from their son John, and pencil markings elsewhere state that the book was purchased in a 1991 estate sale following the sale of the Muggeridge home. I can hardly imagine how the book found its way into the catalogue of an Amazon used bookseller twenty years later, but I'm delighted to have found it.
This raises interesting questions: was Muggeridge an admirer of George Grant? (One would hardly buy one's parents a book of essays about a Canadian philosophy professor unless they had some previous interest in his work.) It is certainly within the realm of possibility that the two could have read each other, and perhaps even corresponded (the two men died within a couple of years of each other). Published biographies of both writers exist, and a volume of Grant's letters is available from University of Toronto Press - it would be interesting to follow up on this connection.
In the meantime, I will be looking for a book to read by Muggeridge, a writer I have heard about but rarely actually read.
Muggeridge's copy of George Grant in Process joins my extensive collection of Books Previously Owned by Interesting People (the sole previous member being a copy of Music Ho! from the library of Clifford von Kuster).
3 comments:
- cnb said...
I love it when that happens. I wish it would happen to me.
I have a used copy of Wade Rowland's book Ockham's Razor that was previously owned by Pamela Wallin, the former media personality who now sits in the Canadian Senate. Your find certainly bests mine.
What books is Muggeridge best known for? I have his little book on Mother Teresa, but I don't know much more about him.
- October 27, 2010 at 8:39 PM
- Osbert Parsley said...
Heh. When I saw you'd posted here, I was hoping that you'd be able to tell me something about Malcolm Muggeridge - I really know very little. I don't own any of his full-length books, although now I'm thinking I should make the investment.
I've heard good things about his autobiography, Chronicles of Wasted Time, and he has an interesting-looking book called A Third Testament that discusses the writings of (*deep breath*) Augustine, Blake, Pascal, Tolstoy, Kierkegaard, and Dostoevsky. I think his best-known book, though, is probably the one you have about Mother Teresa.
In any case - I'm interested to explore his writings, but given the number of unread books I have on hand, it could take quite a while. . .
- October 28, 2010 at 5:36 PM
- Kevin said...
Ugh. The list keeps growing and growing. I hope someone will invent age reversal pills soon.
Nice finds.
- December 22, 2010 at 4:32 PM


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Whether you're building on a new site or adding on to or renovating your existing home, you undoubtedly recognize the value of the existing trees on your property and want to keep them healthy and growing strong. But it's not always easy to do with the necessity of construction equipment crisscrossing the site. And it's not just a question of keeping the trees safe from the obvious dangers of contact with trucks and bulldozers. A tree's root system, which can extend out from the base of the tree for quite a distance, is vulnerable to damage from the soil compaction that results from heavy equipment moving across the site.
Recently Alabama Cooperative Extension System forestry agents Jack Rowe and Beau Brodbeck, working with Dr. Francisco Arriaga of the USDA's National Soil Dynamics Lab, carried out a study to assess not only how construction-related soil compaction affects trees, but to come up with inexpensive ways of lessening or preventing this problem and the damage to tree roots it causes. Advance planning is critical because, notes Rowe, it doesn't take a lot of passes of heavy equipment to create problems -- even three passes can cause enough compaction to have a large negative impact on a tree.
Fencing off the critical root zone -- the area around the tree where roots are most vulnerable to damage from soil compaction -- is key. But where constraints exist that make such fencing off impossible, the foresters discovered some simple ways to lessen the impact of heavy machinery. They found, for example, that simply spreading mulch 8 inches deep and covering it with 3/4 inch plywood distributed the weight of the equipment driving over enough to greatly reduce the amount of soil compaction below.
To read more about their project, go to Community Foresters Gaining a Clearer Picture of Building Construction Effects on Trees. The findings from their research, along with lots of helpful information on protection techniques, are detailed in the Alabama Cooperative Extension publication A Guide to Preventing Soil Compaction During Construction, available as a free downloadable PDF at ACES.


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Gemini Spies Strong Stellar Gusts in Nearby Massive Star
July 23, 2001
A dramatic infrared image released today by the Gemini Observatorysheds new light on the early stages of the formation of giant stars inour galaxy. The image, taken by the Gemini North telescope onHawaii's Mauna Kea, reveals remarkable details in a nebula of gas anddust expelled from a young star named AFGL 2591. This expulsion is acommon feature in the formation of stars similar in size to the Sun,but it is far less common in their massive counterparts.
Full resolution and other images
"Almost everything in this set of infrared images would be invisiblewith an optical telescope, since it is occurring within a densemolecular cloud of gas and dust," says Gemini scientist Colin Aspin,who made the observation. "Gemini's unparalleled sensitivity andresolution in the infrared allows us to move beyond simply detectingsuch structures in general to being able to study them in greatdetail."
AFGL 2591 is located within the Milky Way more than 3,000 light-yearsfrom Earth, in the constellation of Cygnus. Over the course of thelast few thousand years, it has created a vast expanding nebula largerthan 500 times the diameter of our solar system. The star is at least10 times the size of the Sun, and over 20,000 times as bright, butperhaps only one million years old.
The wispy white and blue structure in the expanding nebula to theright of the young star is a huge outflow of gas and dust driven bythe infall of material onto the star's surface. Gemini scientistsbelieve that the outflow is likely occurring symmetrically around thestar - a second giant-sized expanding nebula to the left of the staris hidden from view by a dense and extensive disk (or torus) ofmaterial encircling AFGL 2591.
"We strongly suspect the outflow occurs on both sides of the star in abipolar structure, because we detect faint traces of gas at thatlocation which indicate interactions between the outflowing gas andthe material forming the parent molecular cloud," says Aspin, ascientific staff member at the Gemini Observatory InternationalHeadquarters in Hilo, HI.
"A unique feature of this object is a series of four distinct rings ofnebulosity. These rings suggest that the expulsion of the material isnot constant with time, but rather has occurred several times over thelifetime of the object," he adds. "Studying the structure andvelocity of these rings, and their relation to the infalling material,will allow us to better understand why such features are created andwhat functions they serve."
This striking image is part of a series of early images taken with theGemini Near Infrared Imager (NIRI) instrument during its commissioningon the Gemini North telescope. Once fully operational later thisyear, NIRI will be the prime near-infrared instrument on GeminiNorth.
The color image and others that show hints of the left-hand outflowand more details in the right-hand structure are available on theInternet in various file sizes (different files will go here).
The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration that hasbuilt two identical 8-meter telescopes. The telescopes are located atMauna Kea, Hawaii, (Gemini North) and Cerro Pachón in centralChile (Gemini South), and hence provide full coverage of bothhemispheres of the sky. Both telescopes incorporate new technologiesthat allow large, relatively thin mirrors under active control tocollect and focus both optical and infrared radiation from space.Gemini North recently began science operations and Gemini South isscheduled to begin scientific operations in August 2001.
The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in eachpartner country with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities thatallocates observing time in proportion to each country'scontribution. In addition to financial support, each country alsocontributes significant scientific and technical resources. Thenational research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include:the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the UK Particle Physics andAstronomy Research Council (PPARC), the Canadian National ResearchCouncil (NRC), the Chilean Comisión Nacional de InvestigaciónCientifica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), the Australian ResearchCouncil (ARC), the Argentinean Consejo Nacional de InvestigacionesCientíficas y Técnicas (CONICET) and the Brazilian ConselhoNacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). TheObservatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Researchin Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF.The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the internationalpartnership.
Infrared image:
Low-res JPEG (23kb)
High-res JPEG (168kb)
High-res TIFF (2.5MB)
|This dramatic infrared image sheds new light on the early stages of the formation of giant stars in our galaxy. This image reveals remarkable details in a nebula of gas and dust expelled from AFGL 2591. This expulsion is a common feature in the formation of stars similar in size to the Sun, but it is far less common in their massive counterparts. The resolution of this image is 0.4 arcseconds.
False-color image:
Low-res JPEG (15kb)
High-res JPEG (66kb)
High-res TIFF (187kb)
|This false-color image of AFGL 2591 shows some high-resolution details in the expanding outflow of gas and dust around the massive stars that are not fully visible in the color version of the image.
Black-and-white K-band image:
Low-res JPEG (24kb)
High-res JPEG (152kb)
High-res TIFF (748kb)
|This black-and-white, K-band image of AFGL 2591 shows some fainter lobe structure and a bow shock to the left of the massive star that is not readily apparentl in the color version. This part of the expanding nebula of gas and dust around AFGL 2591 is hidden from view by a dense and extensive disk (or torus) of material encircling the star.
A dramatic infrared image released by the Gemini Observatory (see the press release)sheds new light on the early stages of the formation of giant stars inour galaxy. This image, taken by the Gemini North telescope on MaunaKea, reveals remarkable details in a nebula of gas and dust expelledfrom AFGL 2591. AFGL 2591 is located within the Milky Way more than3,000 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus. Theresolution of these images is 0.4 arcseconds.
This striking image is part of a series of early images taken with theGemini Near Infrared Imager (NIRI) instrument during its commissioningon the Gemini North telescope. Once fully operational later this year,NIRI will be the prime near-infrared instrument on Gemini North.


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Gov. Jindal orders flags at half-staff for slain, wounded deputies
Gov. Jindal orders flags at half-staff for slain, wounded deputies
LAPLACE, La. —
Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered flags to be lowered at half-staff in the wake of a shooting that left two St. John the Baptist Parish deputies dead and two more wounded.
Brandon Nielsen, 34, and Jeremy Triche, 27, were killed on Thursday morning when they were shot to death in an ambush at a home on Riverview Court in LaPlace.
Police haven't released the details on why the incident escalated, but said it began with a traffic stop near the Valero refinery where a deputy was injured when a person in a car opened fire and fled.
Michael Boyington, 33, and Jason Triche, 30, were wounded in what Sheriff Mike Tregre called an "ambush."