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The second annual Worldwide Knit in Public Day will take place on June 10, 2006. This event was the brainchild of Danielle Landes, who maintains a site with details and history here. There are listings of where local meet-ups are happening and who's in charge of them.
As is so often the case around here, Aidan has taken the burden of local organization on himself. If you're a Chicagoland knitter, here are the details for what should be quite a happening:
Millenium Park, ChicagoAidan asked me to design a flyer for the event, which I've done. Then I decided to put it on a shirt. Then I decided to put it on lots of shirts, marked with the names of places in which people might be knitting in public.
Boeing Gallery South (just east of the "Faces" fountain) - barrier-free access
Noon–4 p.m.
Bring a lawn or folding chair, sunscreen, and your knitting.
In case of rain, kniters will meet up at the Randolph Cafe on the first floor of the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington St. If that happens, you can skip the folding chair and the sunscreen.
If you not only wish to have been there and done that, but also wish to have bought the t-shirt, have a look in the shop. There's a bunch of cities already available on shirts and bags, chosen off the top of my head.
If your city, town, or country isn't there, let me know at franklin at franklinhabit daht cahm by Wednesday, May 24 and I can create a version for you. Please use the subject line "KIP T-SHIRT" or your request may well vanish into thin air.
If you use the above e-mail address to write and say, "Franklin, you stupid pig, how could you make a shirt for __________ and not for my beloved, sparkling municipality of _________," I will send Dolores over to your house to do something nasty on your doorstep.
If you are one of Danielle's local leaders and you'd like to use this design for your KIP Day flyers, write to me and I can send a blank version in PDF format that you can fill in with your local information. (I'm sorry I can't do local information layouts for anybody...it's a touch busy around here.)
Danielle Landes, if you're reading this, I think that for this idea you ought to get a free shirt. Drop me note, won't you please?


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Editorial: Fitbit One or Nike FuelBand for Windows Phone users?
Confession: I personally started "February Fitness Month" back in mid-January and have been regularly exercising for the last few years, including a more aggressive cardio routine starting last summer. Because of this, I've been using the Nike FuelBand ($150) and Fitbit One ($99) for quite some time and I can definitely tell you which one I think is the best.
While I won't do a complete teardown I will give you the pros and cons of each and as you will see, the decision between the two is very easy.
Wait, what are these things and why?
First and foremost, the reason why we're doing Fitness Month is simple: We want to talk about how technology can improve your life, specifically in regards to exercise.
The Nike FuelBand and Fitbit One are physical devices you wear that give you personalized feedback on your activity level. While you may feel like you walk around or move during the day, technically speaking you don't have a way to qualify that "feeling". That's where these devices come in as they give you some sort of measurement.
By setting "goals" within the apps for these devices, it can help put you on a path to getting back in shape. Or even if you don't want to do that, you'll at least know how inactive you are (trust me, as a writer this can be depressing).
Make no mistake: these are possibly the most powerful motivators you can buy if you're serious about getting in shape. In fact, I'd go so far as to say they are essential if you're starting a new routine or trying to get back into exercising.
The idea that a device will give you information about how many footsteps you take, activity level, integrated with "social" aspects to compare to your friends is an excellent usage of modern technology (as opposed to Facebook or shoes that light up).
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The question is, which one should you get?
Nike FuelBand is garbage, Fitbit One is the best
Ah dang, I gave away the conclusion in the lead.
That's because it really is that simple. Don't get me wrong, I had the Nike FuelBand first and it was enough to make me go "oooo!" especially with its cool OLED screen that comes alive out of the otherwise dark wrist band.
But at $150 it doesn't hold a candle to Fitbit's One device, which is not only $50 cheaper but does more than Nike's offering. For instance, the One has an altimeter in it for measuring changes in height (stairs climbed) and since it can clip anywhere, it can be more accurate (although it is easy to lose too, ask Rich).
The Fitbit One also measures sleep efficiency by seeing how often you wake up and move during the night. Sleep is mucho important and as a former polysomnographer, I can't tell you how many people I witnessed "sleeping wrong" (to keep it simple).
Fitbit integrates with a lot of services. Nike? Not so much.
So what don't I like? Nike has terrible battery life (2 to 3 days) whereas the One can go a week without a charge. And yes, it matters because having to constantly charge the FuelBand is annoying.
Nike is also dreadful with data. They're like Sony-- all proprietary--and you can't import or export anything with their service. You use MyFitnessPal? Endomondo? Sorry, it has no incorporation with the FuelBand because Nike doesn't allow it.
Fitbit nevertheless are like the Linux of exercise devices. They threw their doors open, released their APIs and in turn, anyone can integrate with them. That's why you can have third-party apps access your data e.g. Endomondo, MyFitnessPal, Microsoft Health Vault, MapMyRun, etc.
What this means is if you use MyFitnessPal to enter in calories, it will sync over to your Fitbit account for full integration. It also means you can use third party apps on Windows Phone, including Fitbit Tile, Fitbit Companion, Fitbit Activity, Health State and more.
Sure, some of those apps may not be top notch but compared to what Windows Phone devs can do with Nike? Take your pick.
Features: Device
In terms of features, Fitbit One clobbers the Nike FuelBand.
Nike FuelBand ($150)
- "Fuel" (Nike's formula for measuring overall activity)
- Steps: Yes
- Estimated calories: Yes
- Clock: Yes
- Battery: 2-3 days
- Bluetooth Sync: iOS only
- Altimeter: No
- Sleep monitor: No
- Distance: No
- Daily Alarm: No
Fitbit One ($99)
- Steps: Yes
- Distance: Yes
- Calories Burned: Yes
- Floors Climbed: Yes
- Flower (activity level, akin to Fuel)
- Clock: Yes
- Sleep monitor: Yes
- Battery: 5-7 days
- Bluetooth Sync: PC, Mac, iOS, some Android phones
- Altimeter: Yes
- Daily Alarm: Yes (vibration)
Oh sure, neither sync with Windows Phone but two things on that issue:
- If any company were to do Windows Phone sync, bet on Fitbit in the long run and not Nike. Fitbit already have a Windows 8 RT app and they have been coy if there is a Windows Phone app in the works (translation: sounds like it's in the works).
- The Fitbit One syncs with my PC. Nike FuelBand? I have to take it off and plug is into to manually sync whereas the One simply automagically connects up whenever I am within 20 feet of my PC. The FuelBand has Bluetooth but for some reason, Nike could not be bothered to make a sync app for it.
Fitbit's Web dashboard rocks
Features: Web
It's also night and day between online features. Fitbit is the whole package: calorie counter, steps, graphs, sleep, weight and more. Nike only offers to view your Fuel and set arbitrary goals.
One really nice feature of Fitbit is the ability to monitor your weight. You can even use their super pricey Fitbit Aria scale, which auto-syncs your weight, body fat and BMI to your account. It can do that because the damn scale has Wi-Fi built into it. You can set weight goals and based on your height, current weight, age, gender and activity level, Fitbit can recommend how many calories per day you can consume to reach that desired poundage.
Nike? They have some pretty graphs and a little robot that dances around if you hit your goal. Yay.
Wrapping it up
The Fitbit One is $50 less than Nike's FuelBand and does way, way more on top of having better battery life and more robust support. Fitbit is also more accurate for steps with FuelBand constantly over estimating from my experience.
It's really not even a choice between the two and if I could return the FuelBand, I would.
Neither device currently syncs with Windows Phone directly but Fitbit has better third party support and are more likely to support Windows and Windows Phone in the future.
For the record, we have a few of us here at Windows Phone Central rocking the FitBit: Sam, George, Rich, Seth and myself. The rest of the Mobile Nations team (myself, Editors) are on the Nike FuelBand.We'll have more feedback on both technologies over the following weeks, so stay tuned.
Am I wrong on the Nike FuelBand? Are you planning to get back into shape? Sound off in comments and share your thoughts!
Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

subset: commoncrawl


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Transmission Service and Repair
If you need transmission repair in the Strathmore AB area, Strathmore Ford is your premiere transmission service provider for Ford vehicles, as well as other makes and models of cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs.
Did you know that most modern automobiles have transmissions that are controlled by computers? You need a transmission expert like Strathmore Ford to correctly diagnose any transmission repair you need, as well as to fix your manual or automatic transmission to restore it to optimal running condition.
Common transmission repairs include replacing the transmission fluid or oil, inspecting the fluid to ensure it is clean and if not, completing a transmission fluid flush or transmission oil change. When necessary, we complete transmission rebuilds using OEM transmission parts for the best performance. Rebuilt transmissions and remanufactured transmissions can help minimize your cost, and remanufactured transmissions often carry a warranty (see your service tech for full details). We also handle simple repairs such as replacing a transmission filter. Our goal is to provide the best value transmission service to put your vehicle back on the road in its best running condition.


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Atara Laor's bat mitzvah last October turned out to be more than a milestone coming-of-age event for a just-turned 13-year-old girl.
It also paved the way for Yad Vashem possibly conferring "Righteous Among the Nations" status on a woman who saved the life of Atara's great-uncle.
Maybe more importantly, it allowed Atara's great-uncle, Claude Moskovic, to emerge from the shadows of the Holocaust and come to terms with a past he had ignored for decades.
"Atara made me open up," Moskovic said in a recent interview with The CJN. "What she did was amazing. It changed my whole thinking about things, made me realize that family is everything."
Last fall in her bat mitzvah address, Atara recounted Moskovic's story to congregants at Congregation Dorshei Emet: The Reconstructionist Synagogue of Montreal.
About a year before Atara's bat mitzvah, Moskovic lit a yahrzeit candle at a Grade 6 Yom Hashoah ceremony organized by Jewish People's and Peretz School. It was then that Atara decided she wanted to learn about Moskovic's life.
"He had never talked about his life during the Holocaust to anyone," Atara told those gathered at the shul, "but after he lit the candle, he began to talk about his experience."
Atara discovered that Moskovic, the middle sibling of five brothers, was, in 1943, a three-year-old toddler in Mouscron, Belgium. His family had for three years been paying people to hide them from the Nazis (who had invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940), and they had run out of money.
Atara described how, in desperation, Moskovic's mother, Regina Friedman, hid his two older siblings, David (now deceased) and Maurice, in an orphanage and the two younger ones, Robert and Albert, in a nursery run by the queen of Belgium, while Friedman and Claude went "on the run."
Friedman and Claude were confronted in the street by Nazis when an older Catholic friend of Friedman's, Emma De Maeght, in "a moment of bravery and menschlichkeit," Atara said, walked up to Friedman, pretended that Claude was her son, slapped her in the face and demanded to know what she was doing with him.
"By claiming Claude as her own, in a split second stroke of genius," Atara told the listeners at the shul, "she saved Claude from the fate of his mother who was taken to concentration camps."
While Moskovic's father, Adolf, ended up perishing in Auschwitz, Friedman and her five sons survived the war. They came to Montreal in 1953 with her new husband, Eugene Herskovitz, and two stepsons.
Moskovic's memories of his childhood are sketchy, but in some respects still vivid, coming back in fits and starts, and prompted by his wife, Yetta.
In Belgium, Moskovic was raised Catholic. He sometimes refers to himself as a "Juif Catholique."
Because the household he grew up in was in the yeast delivery business, its scent memory is still in his nostrils, he said. He remembers "big wooden garage doors" and a warehouse. Moskovic knew De Maeght as his "beau maman" but never learned her first name.
That is, until recently. Atara first heard of her great-uncle's past through his brother, Robert, who maintained contact with his brother Maurice's daughter, Edith, now 81. She lives in Belgium, and unknown to Claude, she was in hiding across the street from De Maeght during the war and could directly observe him.
Atara and Moskovic learned that Emma was De Maeght's first name only after Atara returned from a family trip to Israel this past summer and heard from Edith, who had investigated the situation with officials in Belgium.
Edith also found out that De Maeght, who died in 1973, had a living grandson in Belgium, René Jerome Taillard. Atara told the shul that Taillard "remembers my [great] uncle Claude from when he was a child."
Everybody involved, including Atara's parents, Cynthia Weinstein and Aviv Laor, have been in regular contact ever since via email and Skype. Because De Maeght's first name is now known, it allowed her file at Yad Vashem to be completed, with the application for her Righteous Among the Nations status now being considered by officials.
As well, Moskovic and De Maeght's story is to be deposited with the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem for possible inclusion at the Yom Hashoah ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Atara has been asked to speak to students about her project at the Akiva School, where Carmela Aigen, the wife of Reconstructionist synagogue's rabbi, Ron Aigen, teaches.
Should De Maeght be named a righteous gentile, Moskovic said, plans are for her grandson to come to Canada to accept the honour on his grandmother's behalf.
"If she had been caught, she would have been shot," Moskovic said. "What this woman did without regard for her own life was an amazing thing."


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Sinfonia in Sol minore con 2 Flauti traversieri, 2 Oboi, 2 VV.ni, Viola, Fagotto e Basso
The reference source is a ms. of separate parts Mus. 2199-N-2. This Sinfonia in g has been classified by: GiaA 110, TalAl Si 7, RosA II.D.2.3.1. In this version it could be an arrangement of a symphony for a string orchestra to the needs of the Dresda orchestra: flutes and oboes are always doubling the violin parts. Even bassoon is doubling the bass part.
Sample — 403x ⇩
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Release notes:
Version 1.0 with a new editorial format.
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When me and amma sat to have dinner,she casually asked me what I had cooked and I said,Mixed Vegetable Sambhar amma.Sambhar?then why is it reddish in colour?,she asked.Me-Maybe because of the beetroot.You added beetroot to Sambhar..?,she asked and laughed loudly and I saw all her tired-with-journey fatigue melting away and then we had a good laugh over it.I had no clue which vegetables were added to Sambhar:)
I was that bad [still am] when it comes to vegetables.I cook with a set of vegetables and whenever I try to cook a new vegetable,I am at a loss.While we were in Bangalore,ma-in-law prepared this delicious side-dish made with Gulla[also called Matti Gulla] and drumstick and I saw myself liking it immensely.We do not get Gulla here and she said it can be easily substituted with Brinjal.I loved it and can see myself shopping for Brinjal more often!!
Gulla –Mashingasaang Saglen – Brinjal and Drumstick in a Coconut based Masala
Gulla/Brinjal – 3,cut into 4 pieces
Drumstick – 3,cut into 1' pieces
Onion – 1,chopped
Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
Roasted red chillies – 3-4
Tamarind – a small pea size
Coriander – 1 ½ tsp [roasted in ½ tsp oil]
Urad dal – ½ tsp
Methi – ¼ tsp
Oil – I tbsp
Salt to taste
Grind grated coconut,roasted red chillies,tamarind and roasted coriander to a coarse paste.
In a kadai,add oil and splutter urad dal and methi seeds.
Add in chopped onion and sauté till it turns light brown.
Now add the cut brinjal and drumstick and mix well.
Mix in the ground masala,salt to taste and enough water to cook the vegetables.
Close with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes or till the vegetables are cooked well and coated with the masala.
Serve hot with Rice and Dali thoy.


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Oil and Filter Change
The Basics Behind Oil and Filter Change Services at Greulich's Automotive Repair
Oil is a lubricant that keeps your vehicle functioning properly. Oil plays an essential role in the engine of your vehicle, where it helps alleviate friction between various moving components. Without the protective layer that oil provides, the heat created from friction would melt an engine's parts together. As oil runs through your vehicle's system, it also collects sludge, grime, and other contaminants that can harm the engine. In turn, the oil filter catches these contaminants and helps to prevent them from mixing with the oil. However, the filter can only hold so much. Over time, the small bits and miscellaneous muck will break down the filter's defenses. When this happens, the result is dirty oil. In addition to being less effective overall, dirty oil can cause permanent damage to some parts of your vehicle. As such, oil and filter changes are considered an important part of vehicle maintenance.
Why Should You Have Oil and Filter Change Services Performed at Greulich's Automotive Repair?
Are you in need of an oil and filter change or uncertain about the last time you had this service done? Allow us to help. Our expert staff can tend to your vehicle and assist you with any questions you may have in regard to our oil change and filter change process. If you are uncertain about what grade of oil is best for your vehicle, or if you are curious about the differences between synthetic, semi-synthetic, and conventional oil, we are happy to share our knowledge. Similarly, we can go over the micron ratings of different oil filters to help match you with the best possible oil filter. Simply contact us online or give us a call when you are ready to change your oil and filter.
We proudly service the Oil and Filter Change needs of customers in Scottsdale, AZ, Cave Creek, AZ, Phoenix, AZ, and surrounding areas.


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Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for you to find the helpful information before you buy your dream home.
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You just don't know what you'll find on the beach.
One very smelly sperm whale secretion may soon make one lucky British beachcomber a very happy man.
Ken Wilman told British broadcasters that he had been walking along Morecambe beach in northern England when his dog, Madge, discovered a hard, soccer ball-sized piece of smelly rock.
"She wouldn't leave it alone. I picked it up and it smelt horrible so I knocked it with my walking stick and a small lump came off," he told Sky News television in comments broadcast Thursday. "I put both pieces back on the beach but something in the back of my mind told me it might be something unusual."
One Google search later and Wilman realized that Madge had found ambergris, a waxy byproduct of sperm whale digestion that has traditionally been used in perfumes, spices, and medicines — and can fetch large sums of money. He said he immediately drove back to the beach to find the ambergris. He said he has been offered €50,000 ($68,000) for the musky material.
Callum Roberts, a professor of marine conservation at the University of York, said the find appeared legitimate.
"It's a waxy, yellow-gray piece of flotsam. I'm sure that 95 percent of people would walk past it without further thought," he said in a telephone interview. He praised Wilman's quick thinking, invoking the scientific dictum that "fortune favors the prepared mind."
Wilman, 50, had a slightly different take on his find, telling BBC television that people should trust their dogs.
"If your dog pays an interest in something, YOU pay an interest in something," he said. "Because you never know. There's gold out there on that beach — floating gold."


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You have a unique medical history. Therefore, it is essential to talk with your doctor about your personal risk factors and/or experience with erectile dysfunction. By talking openly and regularly with your doctor, you can take an active role in your care.
Here are some tips that will make it easier for you to talk to your doctor:
- Bring someone else with you. It helps to have another person hear what is said and think of questions to ask.
- Write your questions ahead of time, so you do not forget them.
- Write down the answers you get, and make sure you understand what you are hearing. Ask for clarification, if necessary.
- Do not be afraid to ask your questions or ask where you can find more information about what you are discussing. You have a right to know.
- What is the cause of my erectile dysfunction?
- Is there more than one cause?
- Do I have a medical condition that is affecting my sexual function? If so, how can we treat it?
Are any of my medications affecting my sexual function?
- If so, can we change them?
- Is there an alternative medication that will not affect my sexual function?
- Could any of my lifestyle habits be affecting my sexual function, such as smoking?
- What are the possible treatments for erectile dysfunction?
- Which treatment is appropriate for me? Why?
- What should I do to prepare for treatment?
- What risks and side effects should I expect?
- Will treatment affect my normal activities?
- Will I be able to father children after treatment?
- What is likely to happen without treatment?
What medications are available to me?
- What are the benefits/side effects of these medications?
- Will these medications interact with other medications, over-the-counter products, or dietary or herbal supplements that I am already taking?
- Are there any alternative or complementary therapies that will help me?
- Can you recommend a counselor to help with this problem?
- Can you recommend a program to help me quit smoking?
- Can you recommend a program to help me stop using recreational drugs?
- Should I stop drinking alcohol?
- Should I change my diet? If so, what dietary changes should I make?
- What are my chances of returning to satisfying sexual function?
Erectile dysfunction. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T113875/Erectile-dysfunction. Accessed January 29, 2021.
Tips for talking to your doctor. Family Doctor—American Academy of Family Physicians website. Available at: https://familydoctor.org/tips-for-talking-to-your-doctor. Accessed January 29, 2021.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: EBSCO Medical Review Board Adrienne Carmack, MD
- Review Date: 03/2020
- Update Date: 01/29/2021


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Sometimes all credit cards can seem alike — or, at least, not different enough to spend a lot of time trying to figure out their differences. We sympathize with the sentiment, which is why we periodically try to cut through the clutter and, based on insight from impartial experts, highlight some of the best cards out there. Depending on your needs and spending habits, some cards are indeed sometimes better than others.
But the flip-side is also true: Some cards are worse than others. CardHub.com recently sifted through more than 1,000 credit cards to determine which offer the least appealing trade-off between, on one hand, perks, rewards, and services and, on the other, fees and interest rates. We also contacted some other credit card experts to find out their least-favorites. Here's what we found:
Visa Black Card: It's modeled after the American Express Centurion (aka "Black") card, but this one, issued by Barclays, is more likely to put you in the red. It comes with a hefty $495 fee — and you don't really get all that much for your money, according to CardHub, which labels it the worst general consumer credit card for rewards among the 1,000-plus it evaluated. Cardholders earn a measly one point per dollar spent, while many other rewards cards offer 2 points per dollar (and don't charge you nearly $500 a year, either). And while we've seen many penalty interest rates that hover near the 30% mark, the Visa Black takes it over that threshold, with a default rate of 30.24%.
Yes, you get access to airport lounges along with some other perks, but there are plenty of cards that offer airport lounge access and similar benefits for less than $495. CardHub calls it a "cheap imitation" of the AmEx Black Card.
(MORE: Do Credit-Card-Comparison Sites Work As Promised?)
Best Buy Reward Zone Credit Card: As a rule, retailer-issued cards aren't so hot. They tend to have relatively low credit limits (which can hurt your credit utilization ratio if you come too close to maxing them out) and high APRs. Even so, some stand out as particularly unworthy of space in your wallet. The Best Buy card is one of these, says Curtis Arnold, founder and CEO of CardRatings.com. The rewards program is decent, he says, but the credit card is another story. "We have heard consumer complaints about this card for years," he says, noting in particular its strict rules that can saddle you with potentially huge amounts of accumulated interest. "Watch the 'special' 0% financing offers," Arnold warns. If you don't pay your entire balance off by the end of the promotional period, which can be as short as six months, or if you make a single late payment, that hefty APR can really trip you up. "Interest will be charged retroactively back to date of purchase — ouch," Arnold says.
The interest rate is high, too: Depending on your credit, the APR is either 25.24% or 27.99%, and the default rate is 29.99%.
UBS Preferred Visa Signature Credit Card: Another one in the what-am-I-paying-for-anyway? files, this card also charges $495 a year for the privilege of carrying it. The benefits it touts, like no foreign transaction fees and accelerated rewards on gas and groceries, can be found on plenty of other cards that don't cost nearly as much.
The hefty cost of ownership doesn't end with the annual fee. CardHub says this card has the highest introductory balance transfer APR — 9.99% — of all the cards it evaluated, and it also charges a separate 3% balance transfer fee. For that, you'd expect a long period of lower interest, but this intro period only lasts six months before the regular APR of 13.24% kicks in.
(MORE: Your Credit Card Rewards Aren't Worth As Much As You Think)
Apple Barclaycard: "I know everyone loves Apple but you shouldn't love their credit card," says John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com. The current APR on this Visa card, which is issued by Barclays, is a variable 22.99%, even if you have stellar credit. Like the Visa Black card (also issued by Barclays), the penalty rate on this card is a whopping 30.24%.
The card does offer 0% introductory financing for 6 months on purchases under $999, or for a year on purchases over that amount. We get the impression, though, that Apple really, really doesn't want you to transfer a balance onto the card. The APR for balance transfers is 22.99%, on top of a 4% balance transfer fee. "If you fell out of a tree you'd hit a half dozen credit card offers with 0% rates on balance transfers on your way down," Ulzheimer said.
First Premier Bank Gold Credit Card: "A lot of the worst credit cards on the market are for people with bad credit," says Adrian Nazari, founder of CreditSesame.com. "In general the fees on credit cards for people with bad credit are extremely high and can eat into a starting balance."
The First Premier Bank Gold Credit Card was one that most of our experts flagged in particular. In addition to a 36% APR, it charges an initial "processing fee" of $95 and an annual fee of $75 for the first year and $45 in subsequent years. On top of this, it throws in monthly "service fee" of $6.25 after the first year — which means that even though the annual fee goes down, you'll be paying an additional $75 per year. It even charges cardholders a "credit limit increase fee" of 25% of the amount of the increase. Even if your credit is poor, you can likely do better.
MORE: 5 Weird Reasons You Might Get Rejected for a Credit Card


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Hair loss is a common side effect of chemotherapy. But not all drugs cause hair loss. Your doctor can tell you if hair loss might occur with the drug or drugs you are taking. The hair may become thinner or fall out entirely. Hair loss can occur on all parts of the body, including the head, face, arms and legs, underarms, and pubic area.
The hair usually grows back after the treatments are over. Some people even start to get their hair back while they are still having treatments. Sometimes, hair may grow back a different color or texture.
Hair loss does not always happen right away. It may begin several weeks after the first treatment. Many people say their head becomes sensitive before losing hair. Hair may fall out gradually or in clumps. Any hair that is still growing may become dull and dry.
Caring for Your Scalp and Hair
Here are some tips on caring for your scalp and hair during chemotherapy:
- Use a mild shampoo.
- Use a soft hairbrush.
- Use low heat when drying your hair.
- Have your hair cut short. A shorter style may make your hair look thicker and fuller. It also will make hair loss easier to manage if it occurs.
- Use a sunscreen, sun block, hat, or scarf to protect your scalp from the sun if you lose hair on your head.
- If you usually curl your hair, avoid using brush rollers.
- Avoid dying, perming, or relaxing your hair.
Some people who lose all or most of their hair choose to wear turbans, scarves, caps, wigs, or hairpieces. Others leave their head uncovered. Still others switch back and forth, depending on whether they are in public or at home with friends and family members. There are no "right" or "wrong" choices; do whatever feels comfortable for you.
If you choose to cover your head:
- Get your wig or hairpiece before you lose a lot of hair. That way, you can match your current hairstyle and color. You may be able to buy a wig or hairpiece at a specialty shop just for cancer patients. Someone may even come to your home to help you. You can also buy a wig or hairpiece through a catalog.
- You may also consider borrowing a wig or hairpiece, rather than buying one. Check with the nurse or social work department at your hospital about resources for free wigs in your community.
- Take your wig to your hairdresser or the shop where it was purchased for styling and cutting to frame your face.
- Some health insurance policies cover the cost of a hairpiece needed because of cancer treatment. It is also a tax-deductible expense. Be sure to check your policy and ask your doctor for a "prescription."
Losing hair from your head, face, or body can be hard to accept. Feeling angry or depressed is common and perfectly all right. At the same time, keep in mind that it is a temporary side effect. Talking about your feelings can help. If possible, share your thoughts with someone who has had a similar experience.
American Cancer Society http://www.cancer.org/
National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov/
BC Cancer Agency http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/default.htm/
Canadian Cancer Society http://www.cancer.ca/


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Now that the federal government is playing an ever larger role in the economy, a look at Washington's track record seems to be long overdue.
The release of the Federal Reserve Board's transcripts of its deliberations back in 2007 shows that their economic prophecies were way off. How much faith should we put in their prophecies today — or the policies based on those prophecies?
Even after the housing market began its collapse in 2006, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in 2007, "The impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained."
It turned out that financial disasters in the housing market were not "contained," but spread out to affect the whole American economy and economies overseas. Then Chairman Bernanke said: "It is an interesting question why what looks like $100 billion or so of credit losses in the subprime market has been reflected in multiple trillions of dollars of losses in paper wealth."
What is an even more interesting question is why we should put such faith and such power in the hands of a man and an institution that have been so wrong before.
This is not just a question of a bad guess by Ben Bernanke. The previous chairman of the Federal Reserve System, Alan Greenspan, likewise misjudged the consequences of the housing boom and bust. Nor was the Federal Reserve's staff any more accurate in its prophecies. According to the New York Times, "The Fed's own staff still forecast that the economy would avoid a recession."
Today, the economy has not yet fully recovered from the recession that the Federal Reserve System's staff and chairmen thought we would avoid.
We all make mistakes. But we don't all have the enormous and growing power of the Federal Reserve System — or the seemingly boundless confidence that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke still shows as he intervenes in the economy on a massive scale.
Not only does the Federal Reserve System control the money supply and regulate banks, the Fed's willingness to keep buying hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of government bonds makes it easier for the Obama administration to keep engaging in massive deficit spending that runs up a record-breaking national debt.
The reason that the Federal Reserve can afford to continue buying huge amounts of government bonds is that the Fed is authorized to create its own money out of thin air. They use the fancy term "quantitative easing," instead of saying in plain English that they are essentially just printing more money.
Being wrong is nothing new for the Federal Reserve System. Since this year is the one hundredth anniversary of the Fed's founding, it may be worth looking back at its history.
President Woodrow Wilson explained the reasons for creating the Federal Reserve System. He said that the Federal Reserve "provides a currency which expands as it is needed and contracts when it is not needed" and that "the power to direct this system of credits is put into the hands of a public board of disinterested officers of the Government itself" to avoid control by private bankers or other special interests.
The Federal Reserve was supposed to prevent shocks to the economy that can come from drastic inflation or deflation, and reduce the dangers that can come from widespread bank failures. These are all good goals. But what is the Fed's track record?
In the hundred years before there was a Federal Reserve System, inflation was less than half of what it became in the hundred years after the Fed was founded. The biggest deflation in the history of the country came after the Fed was founded, and that deflation contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. As for bank failures, they reached levels unheard of before there was a Federal Reserve System.
Like so many "progressives," then and now, Woodrow Wilson seemed to think that, if those who made government decisions had no financial interest in those decisions, then they could be trusted to wield their powers in the public interest.
But the enormous power wielded by the unelected leaders of the Fed over the economy, unchecked by the constraints of the market, has repeatedly turned out to be more than human beings can handle.


text:
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text:
Executive Summary
This report is based on findings from a pair of Pew Research Center surveys conducted this spring. One is a telephone survey taken among a nationally representative sample of 2,142 adults ages 18 and older. The other is an online survey, done in association with the Chronicle of Higher Education, among the presidents of 1,055 two-year and four-year private, public, and for-profit colleges and universities. (See a description of our survey methodology.)
Here is a summary of key findings:
Survey of the General Public
- Cost and Value. A majority of Americans (57%) say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend. An even larger majority—75%—says college is too expensive for most Americans to afford. At the same time, however, an overwhelming majority of college graduates—86%—say that college has been a good investment for them personally.
- Monetary Payoff. Adults who graduated from a four-year college believe that, on average, they are earning $20,000 more a year as a result of having gotten that degree. Adults who did not attend college believe that, on average, they are earning $20,000 a year less as a result. These matched estimates by the public are very close to the median gap in annual earnings between a high school and college graduate as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010: $19,550. A more detailed Pew Research Center analysis (see Chapter 5) shows that this gap varies by type of degree and field of study.
- Student Loans. A record share of students are leaving college with a substantial debt burden, and among those who do, about half (48%) say that paying off that debt made it harder to pay other bills; a quarter say it has made it harder to buy a home (25%); and about a quarter say it has had an impact on their career choices (24%).
- Why Not College? Nearly every parent surveyed (94%) says they expect their child to attend college, but even as college enrollments have reached record levels, most young adults in this country still do not attend a four-year college. The main barrier is financial. Among adults ages 18 to 34 who are not in school and do not have a bachelor's degree, two-thirds say a major reason for not continuing their education is the need to support a family. Also, 57% say they would prefer to work and make money; and 48% say they can't afford to go to college.
- Split Views of College Mission. Just under half of the public (47%) says the main purpose of a college education is to teach work-related skills and knowledge, while 39% say it is to help a student grow personally and intellectually; the remainder volunteer that both missions are equally important. College graduates place more emphasis on intellectual growth; those who are not college graduates place more emphasis on career preparation.
- For Most College Graduates, Missions Accomplished. Among survey respondents who graduated from a four-year college, 74% say their college education was very useful in helping them grow intellectually; 69% say it was very useful in helping them grow and mature as a person; and 55% say it was very useful in helping them prepare for a job or career.
- Above All, Character. While Americans value college, they value character even more. Asked what it takes for a young person to succeed in the world, 61% say a good work ethic is extremely important and 57% say the same about knowing how to get along with people. Just 42% say the same about a college education.
Survey of Presidents
- Right or Wrong Direction? Six-in-ten college presidents say the system of higher education in this country is headed in the right direction, but a substantial minority—38%—say it is headed in the wrong direction.
- Declining Student Quality. A majority of college presidents (58%) say public high school students arrive at college less well prepared than their counterparts of a decade ago; just 6% say they are better prepared. Also, 52% of presidents say college students today study less than their predecessors did a decade ago; just 7% say they study more.
- We're Not Number One. Only 19% of college presidents say the U.S. system of higher education is the best in the world now, and just 7% say they believe it will be the best in the world ten years from now. Most presidents —51%—describe the U.S. system as one of the best in the world.
- Doubts about Achieving Obama's Goal. Nearly two-thirds of college presidents (64%) say it is unlikely that, by 2020, the U.S. will achieve the goal set by President Obama to have the highest share of young adults with a college degree or certificate of any country in the world.
- Who Should Pay? Nearly two-thirds of college presidents (63%) say students and their families should pay the largest share of the cost of a college education. Just 48% of the public agrees. An equal share of the public would prefer that the bulk of the cost of a college education be borne by the federal government, state governments, private endowments or some combination.
- Split Views of College Mission. Presidents are evenly divided about the main role colleges play in students' lives: Half say it is to help them mature and grow intellectually, while 48% say it is to provide skills, knowledge and training to help them succeed in the working world. Most heads of four-year colleges and universities emphasize the former; most heads of two-year and for-profit schools emphasize the latter.
- Measuring Grade Inflation: Just over a quarter (27%) of college presidents say that the faculty at their own institution grades students too leniently. Only 1% says they grade students too stringently. The vast majority (73%) says students are graded about right.
- Scant Enthusiasm for Faculty Tenure. Only a quarter (24%) of presidents say that, if given a choice, they would prefer that most faculty at their institution be tenured. About seven-in-ten say they would prefer that faculty be employed on annual or long term contracts.
About the Surveys
This report is largely based on findings from two Pew Research Center surveys conducted in the spring of 2011.
The general public survey (GP) is based on telephone interviews conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,142 adults ages 18 and older living in the continental United States, including an oversample of 336 adults ages 18-34. A total of 1,052 interviews were completed with respondents contacted by landline telephone and 1,090 with those contacted on their cellular phone. The data are weighted to produce a final sample that is representative of the general population of adults in the continental United States. Survey interviews were conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, in English and Spanish. For more details, see Appendix 1.
- Interviews conducted March 15-29, 2011
- 2,142 interviews
- Margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points for results based on the total sample and 4.5 percentage points for adults 18 to 34 years old at the 95% confidence level.
The college presidents survey (P) is based on a web survey conducted with 1,055 college and university presidents in the U.S. The survey was designed by the Pew Research Center in association with the Chronicle of Higher Education. Overall, 1,022 interviews were completed online and 33 interviews were completed by phone (for the presidents who requested being interviewed by phone). The college and university presidents surveyed are from four major sectors: 1) private four-year colleges and universities; 2) public four-year colleges and universities; 3) two-year public and private colleges; 4) four-year and two-year for-profit colleges and universities. The data were weighted to correct for disproportionate non-response that might bias sample estimates. The weighting accounts for both the institution type and geographic distribution of the colleges and universities eligible to take part in the survey. Survey interviews were conducted in English under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. For more details, see Appendix 1.
- Interviews conducted March 15-April 24, 2011
- 1,055 interviews
- Margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for results based on the total sample, 4.8 percentage points for presidents of four-year public universities, 3.8 percentage points for presidents of four-year private universities, 4.6 percentage points for presidents of two-year colleges (public or private), and 11.3 percentage points for presidents of private for-profit colleges and universities.
Notes on Terminology
Unless otherwise noted, "college graduates" refers to those who graduated from a four-year college and hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
In referring to institutions of higher education, the terms "school," "institution," "college" and "university" are used interchangeably, except that "university" does not apply to two-year institutions.
"Private college" refers to private (as opposed to public) not-for-profit (NFP) colleges and universities. This term is not intended to apply to private, for-profit colleges.


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Consequently, I am keenly aware of how hard it must be to produce four issues of Fight On! magazine each year. Merely laying out each issue must be a mammoth undertaking. Add to that the challenge of choosing which articles to include and you've got the makings of a thankless job that I could never take up. My proverbial hat is off to Ignatius Ümlaut and his assistants. They deserve a lot of gratitude and praise for soldiering on despite the difficulties inherent in making a magazine in the 21st century, especially one whose readers likely visit blogs, forums, and websites that release material very similar to its own contents and do so gratis.
So, how does one justify charging for material in a magazine like Fight On! at this time? I don't think there's a single answer to this question and, seeing as I'm not the one who labors to produce an issue each quarter, I'm not sure that my opinion on the matter amounts to much anyway. But, were I the one making the call, I'd focus on two criteria for potential content. First, provide material that can't easily be presented on a blog or forum, meaning lengthier, more substantial articles, not ephemera like spells, monsters, or magic items. Second, provide material that has lasting value, which is to say, material to which readers will want to refer later rather than simply read once and never look at again.
Now, obviously, such criteria, if taken seriously, would complicate producing even a single issue a year, let alone four, which is why, armchair editor that I am, Ignatius Ümlaut and company should take my advice with a huge grain of salt. However, I offer the advice sincerely and with the hope that the spirit behind it will be well-received. Fight On! is, in my opinion, one of the pillars of the old school renaissance, attracting an audience well beyond the echo chamber of the blogs and forums. For that reason, it ought to be of the highest quality possible, with content that allows it to stand head and shoulders above what most of us can read daily on, literally, hundreds of online venues.
From the beginning, Fight On! has been special and, having read the recently released issue 10 ($9.99 in print, $7.00 in PDF), I worry that its specialness is slipping, at least a little bit. At 138 pages, issue 10 is a very hefty one, the second largest to date, I believe. While its content is solid, very little of it comes close to meeting either of the criteria I set out above. I regret saying that, because it might give the false impression that I felt the current issue was significantly below the quality of previous ones, when that's not the case at all. I do think, despite its length, that issue 10 is one of the weaker Fight On! volumes. That's doubly disappointing, both because of the role Fight On! plays in the old school community and because this issue is dedicated to the memory of Tom Moldvay, one of a handful of people whose work back in the heyday of the hobby laid the groundwork for its continued endurance. I wish this issue had been as strong as, say, the one honoring Erol Otus, a man whose contributions, while significant, don't compare to those of Tom Moldvay.
Rather than continuing to speak in generalities, let me illustrate what I mean through some concrete examples:
- The Time-Displaced: This is a new character race for Mutant Future and it's pretty well done, adding something that's genuinely lacking in the rulebook. It's an example of the kind of thing I'd like to see in Fight On! since I think it has lasting value.
- Cult Leader: Though more fitting for NPCs than PCs, this is similarly useful.
- Grognard's Grimoire: I think there's potential in presenting new spells, but, in general, I find most installments of this column brief and under-developed in a way that is fine for a blog or forum rather than a print periodical.
- Knights & Knaves: I've honestly never seen much value in presenting fully-statted up NPCs outside of an adventure.
- Khosura: City State of the Four Mysteries: I love seeing snippets of other people's settings, as well as scenarios, like this one, that give a taste of what it's like to adventure there. These shouldn't be too long, though, and I fear this one is.
- The Gozillas Will Breath on You! and Futa-kuchi-onna: I expect to catch flak for this opinion but here goes: much as I appreciate both Encounter Critical and Bushido, how many people actually play these games? Both these articles are short, yes, but, even so, why are they here?
- Education of a Magic-User: Sue me -- I find this comic quite funny.
- Trolls Will Be Trolls: I've been critical of the one-page dungeon format in the past, but I do think it works really well as part of a magazine feature.
- The Heart of Darkness: The same goes for the one-page wilderness format.
- Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments: Like Grognard's Grimoire above, I think there's potentially a place for such a column but I'm not sure I've ever seen an example of it that struck me as "magazine-worthy."
- Lost Dragonia: This is a neat "lost worlds" style mini-setting and feels somewhat Moldvayan in character, but it's very long and I think unnecessarily so.
- Dungeon Modules: I like the idea of plug-and-play dungeon locales.
- Moulin Rouge 1955: I'm as big a fan of cross-dimensional fantasy gaming as anyone, but I really don't know what to make of this article, which presents a Las Vegas hotel and casino, for use with ... some game or other. It feels very out of place.
- The Darkness Beneath: The latest installment continues a long-established trend of being overly long and quirky. There's much to like in this level, but, again, does anyone use this?
- Reviews: This is the kind of content that works best, in my opinion, on blogs and forums.
- Everyone is Here to Have Fun: A reminiscence of Tom Moldvay. There should have been more articles in this vein.
I get the sense that, for a lot of people, the mere fact that Fight On! exists as a printed journal is good enough and, on some level, I am sympathetic to that point of view. And, in its early days, maybe that was enough. I'm not so sure that's the case any longer, though. There are now so many old school blogs and forums that I can't keep up with them all. Many of them produce a great deal of material of very high quality and it's available for free. In such a world, what role does Fight On! have?
That's a question that I am glad I don't have to answer for everyone, but I can answer it for myself. In an ideal world, Fight On! would serve as a kind of "archive" for the best free material already out there, cleaned up and edited, with accompanying artwork, and supplemented by new material not well served by an online format -- character classes, useful random tables, modular settings and adventure materials, etc. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what I even mean by suggesting this. I'm not even sure it's a coherent idea.
I can only say that, after reading issue 10 of Fight On!, I can't shake the feeling that the 'zine needs to "find itself" again and more firmly establish its purpose within the old school renaissance. Right now, it feels somewhat adrift -- unfocused and unsure of itself. If so, the fault for that lies as much with us as it does with its editorial staff. A fanzine is only as good as its contributors and, if Fight On! seems less than it once was, then any of us who complain ought to put our money where our mouth is and see what we can do to change that.


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Or maybe her exact words were "Father's Day Only" - it's kind of hard to say...
I realize this is going to seem nit-picky, but I really want to know why the "t" is the only letter not capitalized. Seriously. Does that strike anyone else as odd?
There are perils in the world of random capitalization, though:
See? In addition to being ugly as original sin, this CCC [pthoo!] looks like it says "Worid's Best Dad". Not good.
Ok, obviously these inscriptions are just too long and complicated. So let's cut out all the extraneous stuff and get right to the heart of the matter:
Justin F., Kristina B., Mike H., & Erin H., Wreckporters!
- Related Wreckage: Dial-A-Wreck


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Innovate meaning in Hindi is Ni Khoj Karana (नई खोज करना) - Synonyms and related Innovate meaning is Introduce. Check out Innovate similar words like Hindu Translation is Ni Khoj Karana नई खोज करना.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Paris Saint-Germain - Dream Into Action
38 comments:
If the FFP regulations are to have any teeth then this club could well be the first one sanctioned. And yet...Platini's son works for QSI, isn't that interesting. I wonder who will be the first person to point out the closeness of the top of UEFA with PSG, probably around the time their team is paired against them in the knockout stages of the CL and PSG are still making a few additions during the January window...
The ties with Al Jazeera are also interesting, you can't directly overpay for sponsorship, but you can indirectly prop up the whole league by overpaying for TV rights, Sky have been doing this for decades, just so the English clubs can afford some of the best players to make more people watch on TV.
However, that wasn't directed towards one club, if it is coupled in France with a move to less equitable distributions of TV money...it could be the old one-two from the crafty Qataris!
I was also interested in Andrea Traverso's comments : "Before we apply any penalties, we will look at a club's financial situation in its entirety." This seems to be suggesting they perceive bigger problem to be clubs with unsustainable debts, rather than banning owner financing from propping up a club (financial doping), I fear this is what FFP will become, no sanctions for the wealthy, and still no level playing field financially.
C'est vraiment très intéressant...
P.S. what with Sarkozy losing the election, the presidency and the levers of power - and his replacement's big idea for a 75% tax income tax rate - one wonders whether anyone in Qatar is going to start getting cold feet...Replies- AnonymousJuly 19, 2012 at 4:08 PM
The worst part of this is that if Platini lets PSG off the FFP, it gives Man Citeh the chance to follow them through the same door!
I think Platini really wants to penalise an EPL club for FFP failure but his family involvement with PSG may void the whole issue.
- FlorentJuly 18, 2012 at 11:24 AM
As much as I don't like PSG, I always was more of a OM man, I have to admit I am not displeased by the turn of events there. As you said, the L1 needs glamour and a bit of glitz to be exciting again. As much as I like to watch Evian-Thonon compete at L1 levels, the L1 was never really part of the Zeitgeist of European football in recent years. I am glad this might change...
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJuly 18, 2012 at 12:42 PM
Bring in wage cap across Europe. Financial doping is destroying the game: PSG, Chelsea, Man City etc are small clubs that have simply lucked out on getting wealthy owners.
Real Madrid, Barcelona etc. are simply clubs that benefit from a totally biased and unfair TV deal. Without the media they would be nothing (the same applies to Man Utd etc.)
Football is not a fair, genuine competition. It needs a major overhaul!!Replies- AnonymousJuly 19, 2012 at 4:48 PM
Real Madrid and Barcelona your having an laugh they owe between over £600 million in tax to the Spanish government. And if you noticed they are ripping off every other club in la liga as the both get £140 million each in TV rights.
They are both massively in debt,and can`t afford to pay for it. They will be in serious financial problems when the personnel tax code goes up,paying millions more on the massive wages they pay.
Say what you want about PSG, Chelsea or man city at least they don`t need to go running to the government to bail them out - AnonymousJuly 23, 2012 at 1:05 AM
I would describe PSG as more an underachieving club than a "small" one. As the only top-flight team in a huge metropolitan area, they've had incredible potential.
Delete - AnonymousJuly 28, 2012 at 12:29 PM
This is just nonsense, Real Madrid is almost without any net debt and have the lowest wage to revenue ratio of the top clubs. I reccomend u to read, a lot, dont stop in a million years!! u absorb some intellegence
- AnonymousJuly 18, 2012 at 12:43 PM
Arsène Wenger: "What needs to be done is to get a group of investors around the table to provide the club with some financial muscle." Wouldn't that be the sort of financial doping you're always wailing about Arsene? Much like you enjoyed at Monaco?
ReplyDelete - StephenJuly 18, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Thanks Swiss
Regarding FFP could PSG form a company eg Al Jazeera (France) and divert profits from its French TV subscribers into the club to meet the break even criteria? - AnonymousJuly 18, 2012 at 12:45 PM
"promised to spend €100 million a year for the next five or six years in order to build a strong team, before slowing down the investment. Although Al-Khelaifi claimed that this level of expenditure was "normal for a top-ranking club", only Manchester City have really done anything similar for such an extended period."
a) City haven't done that
b) Chelsea haveRepliesChelsea's net transfer spend in 6 years following Abramovich's takeover:
2003/04 - £153m
2004/05 - £47m
2005/06 - £91m
2006/07 - £(4)m
2007/08 - £8m
2008/09 - £(11)m
City's net transfer spend in 4 years following Sheikh Mansour's takeover:
2008/09 - £118m
2009/10 - £99m
2010/11 - £117m
2011/12 - £48m
Source: www.transferleague.co.ukCity have spent only £3million in 2012 so far on making Pantilimon's deal permanent. Of course they will be spending but there's an obvious prudence now as they take these rules seriously unlike some of the other newly rich clubs.
- AnonymousJuly 18, 2012 at 12:49 PM
What about the genuine old, giants of the game - the clubs that created the game? The Aston Villas of this world have far greater histories than all of these financially doped/media clubs...why should such great, historic clubs lose out to greed and financial doping? If there was no Aston Villa there would be no football! It took Villa one hundred and forty years to build up a fine trophy cabinet through diligence and integrity yet Roman Abramovich has nearly brought Chelsea's trophy count equal to Villa's in LESS than ten years through simply pumping unnatural levels of money into a club of very little history/significance.
Football is broken and it needs FIXING urgently.RepliesWhat about the genuine old, giants of world history - the empires that created western civilization? The Ancient Romes of this world have far greater histories than all these free market democracies. Why should such great, historic civilizations lose out to social and economic change? If there was no Rome there would be no western civilization! It took Ancient Rome one thousand years to build up a fine trophy cabinet through diligence and integrity yet Queen Victoria and George Washington brought their nations' trophy count to equal in LESS than two hundred years through simply pumping unnatural levels of money into countries of very little history/significance.
Western civilization is broken and it needs FIXING urgently.
- AnonymousJuly 18, 2012 at 2:05 PM
Sure that AC Milan never never bought several player to win trophy ...
Real Madrid too ...
should i continue ?
Even when the teams were not allowed to have more than 3 foreign players on the field, it was the same ...
The questions are : will those new businessmen be able to make or earn money with football ?
will the clubs (MANC , PSG, Malage...) be able to survive to their (businessmen) leaves , or not ? THIS is the question i think ...Replies- HelderJuly 18, 2012 at 3:21 PM
Swiss Rambler,
do you see any of these investors in PSG, Malaga... or even City or Chelsea, making a profit in the long therm?
Meaning, aren't they just playing with money, because from an investment perspective, they will never get a return for their investment?
In American Sports, like in the NFL, the value of the franchises seem to be always growing and everyone could sell their franchises for great profit. Would it be the case with European clubs?
While everyone welcomes money, I think ultimately, in a rational world, this absurd spending from these billionaires are immoral. They obviously are just toying away with money.
The only big teams that will adhere to the Financial Fair Play, are the Italian teams. Only because the Italian owners are tired of losing money. Maybe Roma will spend more than they earn, because they have foreign owners. But at the end of the day, UEFA will not ban the big spending foreign owned teams from the European competitions anyway. They will give them a pass. So, Milan is making a big mistake as they will become like a Ajax, a selling club. Berlusconi should sell the club to a rich Arab or Russian.
ReplyDeleteReplies- AnonymousJuly 20, 2012 at 4:35 PM
FC Barcelona just posted a 49 million profit this season.
just sayin...
Thanks for this article, which you must have written at an amazing speed considering the arrival of Zlatan is still the main sports article in the news here in France.
There are several questions being asked about the new PSG and its owners:
- what happens when the Qatari a fed up of pumping cash into the club?
- how on earth can PSG be sustainable financially without its backers? Ligue 1 is no Premier League, TV deal is half of that of England, fans are fewer and pay less for a ticket, grounds are awful except for the few new stadia being built, atmosphere is nowhere near as good as England, Spain or Germany.
- if PSG run away in the league, will that make the league better or worse? Stronger or weaker?
- how can one justify that transfer fees (not mentioning salary) for two players (Ibra and Thiago Silva) represent the combined budgets of clubs such as Montpellier and Nice?
- where is the economic sense is spending over 200 - 230 million euros (wages + taxes + Social contributions) over three years on one player?
There has to be a hidden agenda, surely?
I didnt know about Platini's son working for QSI. So no conflict of interest there!!Replies- AnonymousJuly 23, 2012 at 1:08 AM
The key for PSG, long-term, is a new stadium. The Parc des Princes is a nice stadium but it's too small. They will eventually build something like Emirates Stadium, which is an enormous money-maker for Arsenal, or else simply move to the Stade de France and its 80,000 seats. Given the local population base and their rise in status, I could see them eventually filling that stadium up.
I have to laugh at the fans slating what they percieve as smaller clubs taking the glory that they feel should be reserved for 'special' clubs only
tough - its the ultimate competitive sport also the biggest which is why so many usually sensible billionaires lose their marbles when they buy into it
everything is cyclical - liverpool were a small time club till shankly started the ball rolling in the sixties - does that make them an upstart outfit because their main period of success only lasted 25 years?
NO - less of the snobbery- Mich_CHJuly 20, 2012 at 2:49 AM
Thank you so much for another amazing article!
It's more than a week (since Thiago Silva & Ibra's bids announcement) that I'm looking for to someone writing about how (and If) PSG will be able to face FFP. I found terrible that any journalist has been able to write an article like this, you find just "bla bla bla" without concrete numbers/data/budgets and plenty of people writing event without knowing the difference between a cost and an investment.
Thanks again, and don't give up writing please ;-) - AnonymousJuly 25, 2012 at 4:28 PM
Interesting, we shall see if PSG can achieve the consistency of Chelsea abroad, surely domestic success is a given against Ligue 1. What is for sure is that it will be a very long time before the Qatari's see any return on their investments.
SwissRambler, can you see any way for them to break even through 'on the pitch' income? Personally I cannot, I think it will come down to some clever accounting (not just by PSG to be fair) in order for them to be able to meet the FFP rules.
I am also sceptical about how keen UEFA will be to impose sanctions on clubs that fail to meet the FFP criteria, as by denfition the clubs that break it will be the richest, the biggest and the most influential clubs in Europe. But that is a conversation for another day...
JH Howdy, Thanks a lot for this interesting argumentation - For my point of view, PSG will play a major role internationally because "Ibracadabra" will stick to his guns and keep on playing godlike :) at least I hope so hehe - please see my blog about bonus paris sportif. thanks for consideration! keep on doing great work though!
Sorry to go off topic here but I was wondering if you will be covering any of the recent saga relating to the GM sponsorship deal with Man Utd? Seems a hell of a lot of money to me and with GM firing their marketing guy, maybe there is some level of back hander or corruption involved.Any idea what the French transfer record was before PSG this summer? Personally, I think that FIFA can't bring in some fair play rules soon enough and once they do hopefully it will mean these clubs with "projects" will have hampered themselves and the clubs that have built there success over decades such as United will resume to be seen as prestigious by the players that they bid for.
ReplyDelete- AnonymousSeptember 10, 2012 at 7:21 PM
you seem to know a lot about PSG, congrats on that, this is the best article about PSG I have ever read (and I've been an actual PSG fan for 10 years). However, it struck me that on the one hand, you know the story of the "Colony: a great PSG or get lost"-banner, and that on the other hand, you seem to ignore the hard times the parisian supporters have been facing since 2010. And I am talking the real, active supporters, including those who made the banner you refered to.
One of the main reasons why PSG could be sold to QSI was because in 2010, Colony Capital had gotten rid of 13,000 PSG-supporters, and dissolved the most important supporter's groups of the Parc des Princes, which were the groups who created the great atmosphere you also refered to in the first place. The CEO of Colony Capital admitted himself that the deal with QSI could only be made if he got rid of the acid-tongued, wild, unpopular, critical fans. A "clean" PSG with calm stands was needed. People should beat that sacrifice in mind.


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WARNING! The SPACI score for this entry is not valid. The R-factor is not available and an abitrary R-factor has been used. The PROCHECK parameters for this entry could not be obtained, and poor results have been arbitrarily assumed.
PDB Entry: 1mnm
SPACI score: 0.26 (not valid)
AEROSPACI score: 0.26 (not valid)
Experiment type: XRAY
Resolution: 2.25
R-factor: 0.25
PCK1 PROCHECK Ramachandran: N/A
PCK2 PROCHECK Chi-1 angle: N/A
PCK3 PROCHECK H-bonds: N/A
WCK1 WHAT_CHECK Packing: -1.014
WCK2 WHAT_CHECK Ramachandran: -1.375
WCK3 WHAT_CHECK Chi angles: -1.665
WCK4 WHAT_CHECK Backbone: 4.857
Note: Here are links to pages about PROCHECK and WHAT_CHECK.
Here is the full WHAT_CHECK report on this protein (linked from the WHAT_CHECK site).


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Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) — A few weeks after her foray into the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, Barbie is entangled in controversy again, this time over her ties with the Girl Scouts.
Two advocacy groups often critical of corporate advertising tactics - the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for a New American Dream - on Thursday urged the Girl Scouts of the USA to end its partnership with the doll's manufacturer, the Mattel toy company.
The partnership, announced last August, includes a Barbie-themed activity book, a website, and a Barbie participation patch - the first Girl Scout uniform patch with corporate sponsorship.
"Holding Barbie, the quintessential fashion doll, up as a role model for Girl Scouts simultaneously sexualizes young girls, idealizes an impossible body type, and undermines the Girl Scouts' vital mission to build `girls of courage, confidence and character,'" said Susan Linn, director of the Boston-based commercial-free childhood organization.
She said the Barbie patch - targeted at 5-to-8-year-old Daisies and Brownies - would transform these girls into "walking advertisements."
"This is product placement at its worst," said New American Dream's executive director, Wendy Philleo, who described herself as a longtime admirer of the Girl Scouts.
"Our children are already being bombarded by marketers' pitches at stores, at home, online, on TV, and in school," said Philleo, whose Charlottesville, Va.-based group tries to counter the commercialization of American culture.
The Girl Scouts' national headquarters in New York rejected the groups' appeal.
Holding Barbie, the quintessential fashion doll, up as a role model for Girl Scouts simultaneously sexualizes young girls, idealizes an impossible body type, and undermines the Girl Scouts' vital mission to build `girls of courage, confidence and character.'
–Susan Linn
"Our partnership with Mattel focuses on career exploration and teaches girls about inspiring women in a fun way," its statement said. "We stand behind this partnership, as it helps us bring to over 2 million Girl Scouts the message that they can do anything."
That's the essence of the Barbie uniform patch - a bright pink oval with a gold-letter slogan stitched on it: "Be anything. Do everything."
Barbie - still slim-waisted and long-legged after 55 years - had pursued roughly 150 different careers, and she stretched her boundaries again in February by posing along with real-life supermodels in Sports Illustrated's 50th anniversary swimsuit issue. Anticipating the criticism that ensued, Mattel promoted the campaign with the catchword "unapologetic."
In announcing the partnership with Mattel last August, Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chavez depicted both her own organization and Barbie as "American icons."
"Together, we are teaching girls that their futures are wide open with possibilities," Chavez said at the time.
The Girl Scouts have not disclosed the monetary value of the partnership with Mattel.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood said that a game on the Girl Scouts' Barbie-themed website encouraged girls to identify careers based on attire - "from a veterinarian in a frilly miniskirt, to a pink-suited U.S. president, to a race car driver in stilettos."
Said Susan Linn, the campaign director, "The website is little more than an interactive ad for Barbie promoting the brand's insidious message that women really are what they wear."
Due to their size and high profile, the Girl Scouts have been a frequent target of criticism over the years, notably from certain conservatives who contend - despite the Girl Scouts' repeated denials - that the organization tilts toward the abortion-rights side of the national abortion debate.
Last month, some anti-abortion groups launched a boycott of the Girl Scouts' annual drive to sell cookies.
Follow David Crary on Twitter at HTTP://WWW.TWITTER.COM/CRARYAP


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Tummy Tuck
What is a tummy tuck?
Abdominoplasty, or "tummy tuck" as it is commonly known, is a procedure that contours the abdominal area. With this procedure, the surgeon makes a long incision from one side of the hipbone to the other. Excess fat and skin are surgically removed from the middle and lower abdomen, and the muscles of the abdomen wall are tightened with sutures.
Possible complications associated with abdominoplasty
Possible complications associated with abdominoplasty may include:
Significant scarring. If the incision area does not heal properly, there is a chance of poor quality scar. This can often be treated by a second operation. There can be delays in wound healing if you have problems with the blood supply in your skin.
Blood clots and infection. As in any surgery, there is a risk of bleeding, infection, blood clots, or reaction to the anesthesia.
Who are candidates for tummy tuck?
The best candidates for abdominoplasty are men or women who are in good physical condition, but are bothered by large fat deposits or loose abdominal skin that does not respond to diet or exercise.
People who intend to lose weight, and women who plan future pregnancies, should postpone the surgery.
About the procedure
Although each procedure varies, tummy tuck surgeries generally cover the following considerations:
Location options may include:
- Surgeon's office-based surgical facility
- Outpatient surgery center
- Hospital outpatient
- Hospital inpatient
Anesthetic options may include:
- Local anesthesia and intravenous sedation
- General anesthesia
Average length of procedure:
- Complete abdominoplasty usually takes several hours, depending on the extent of work required.
Some possible short-term side effects of surgery:
- Abdomen is swollen
- Abdomen is painful
Final results:
- Healing is a slow and gradual process. It may take weeks or months to reach a full recovery.
- Scars may appear to get worse during the first 3 to 6 months as they heal. It may take up to a year for scars to flatten out and lighten in color, although they may never completely disappear.


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So Sunday I went to the huge flea market with Suz and Rich from Weardrobe (sidenote: SO MANY awesome things in store in their cray heads. Seriously. They almost make me want to skip summer break ahead to September.) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and, dear God, was it amazing. Completely exhausting but so worth it. I have never seen so much crap in my life. But I live for crap! I love crap! Yay crap! So it was just the right place to get a sunburn and spend hours at. Also, wacky coincidence that a comment from a lovely reader was what prompted us to go and that the same girl recognized me in line for tickets (hiiii Emily, hiiiiiiiiiii)
a very enthused rich
pooey, too big
The friends my dad and I stayed with had been a good 30 or 40 times and told us which sections had the best selections and deals. We went to literally hundreds, football fields of stalls and got a good haul. They picked up stuff for the Weardrobe closet and themselves and I was mostly "OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS SO COMPLETELY USELESS AND POINTLESS I NEED IT."
I went a good hour or so without finding anything at all, then once I got something I just sorta kept going...like all problems in this world, we can blame BARBIE. I saw this Skipper (her lil sis, duh) case from 1969, bought it for $8, then set off to find a dress with all the same colors from the case in it. Foun
d it, hyperventilated for a couple seconds or so about how awesome crazy it would be to wear them together, then put on a "what a piece of crap" face to negotiate the price down from $15 to 8, which still felt like a bit too much but it is really perfect).
time for a gogo girl summer
Also got: black crinoline, some pins, and some stuff for Laura and Kate.
Without turning this into a LET'S BE RECESSIONISTAS!!! TYRA SHOW ME HOW TO MAKE CLOTHES OUT OF DOG FOOD!! type thing, one thing I am completely glad to have been told before going to the Rose Bowl was how to negotiate. Some of the people are really weirdly intimidating but there's really nothing to lose and every dollar counts, especially at a flea market. The c
rinoline was originally $5, which is not much compared to some online and store prices, but getting it down the 3 allowed me to get the pins. Keep a straight face and act like the seller is lucky enough to have you even considering buying a piece of their junk. When I was trying to get the price of the dress down, Suz jumped in and was all "Seriously, no one else here would buy this because it's so small and would only really fit her," so then I was all, "Yeah, we haven't seen many kids here at all, kids aren't even PEOPLE," etc. Which was partly true, though not entirely (Hi Annie!)
So all the crap was fun but being with Suz and Rich only made it mayyyyybe a billion times better. Then we were good little tourists and tried to find an ice cream place. We got slurpees instead and talked more about Weardrobe and blogs and fashn and etc etc. I don't think you understand how awesome these people are.
silver peacock!
this little child was at one of the first booths we saw. as we made our way back to the entrance he was nakey.
ugh, there were SO many crinolines, i wanted all of them so as to fully emulate this.
each one of these is worth 45 exclamation points
i honestly would have bought these if they fit
Til we meet again, you crazy cats!


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Class Central Tips
Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy offers an overview of the latest research findings and international recommendations on a variety of nutrition-related aspects and outcomes of pregnancy. Ensuring a healthy nutritional status and lifestyle prior to and during pregnancy is one of the best ways to help support the healthy growth and development of the unborn child. We will look at how a healthy diet and lifestyle should ideally be achieved prior to conception and provide recommendations for pre-conception counseling of women.
We will also look at the nutrient recommendations for a healthy pregnancy to ensure optimal maternal and fetal outcomes as well as focus on the most common nutrition-related pregnancy complications; obesity and gestational diabetes.
The learner will have the opportunity to delve into the cutting-edge world of epigenetic and metabolomic research and appreciate the enormous role that these programming effects have in long-term health and disease outcomes.
Finally, we offer real-life, everyday situations and questions from pregnant women to aid healthcare professionals in the nutrition-based counseling of pregnant women and their families.
In addition to the English original, subtitles in Portuguese language are available now!
Once you finish this course, we invite you to navigate the world of nutrition in infancy during the first six months of life through our newly launched course "Breastfeeding and Adequate Substitutes".


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It's Wednesday,
May 29th, 2024
logged in
Run Dirty 5K/10K: It Never Rains in Sunny Indiana!
Sunday August 3rd, 2014
Rich Limacher
How does the song go? "It never rains in Southern California"? (Hence the drought?) Well, it never seems to rain in Lemon Lake County Park, Crown Point, either. Certainly not on the first Sunday of August, at any rate. Not for quite a few years now! In fact, it never even seems to "mist" during a Misty Chandos event! All the more reason to note this on your race calendar for next year. We can't remember when climactic conditions for the Run Dirty 5K/10K weren't perfect!
Although the weather was pretty easy to take, the course itself was a tad tougher. At least this is what the finishers were saying. Mud? Dirt? Well, these things might not be caused by rain, but they ARE caused by creek (maybe rain causes the creek?) and all the runners MUST run thru the creek! Which, of course, might also explain the conditions of legs and shoes, as seen on the following web page full of photos.
Everyone said that everything about this event was spot-on, well-organized, the course was well-marked, and we heard no complaints. Everything seemed to go smooth as ooze. ;-) No one apparently tried to defy our popular Race Director and "test" her start-line instruction that: If you suddenly decide mid-race to change distances, you CAN'T! So nobody changed "can~do's" in the middle of the stream, as it were. Everybody ran the distance they signed up for, and so the Results were spot-on as well. Go ahead and look them up! You can click on them from RunRace's Home Page. Check out some of those amazingly fast times!!!
We tried to take a ton of pictures, capturing "on disk" as many participants as possible. Both cameras that we had, however, at various times decided to act goofy, so we failed to "click" everybody, and these that we do have are downsized for "website convenience." If you see yourself and would like the much bigger, better, fully-pixilated and highly-resolutioned version, all you need to do is email and ask. We're happy to send "the big picture" for free!
Good news! As of right now, ALL of our Run Dirty 5K/10K photographs are on the website. [Some were delayed. Thanks for your patience!] You can see them all by clicking on the next tab "View Photos."
RunRace's most hearty congratulations go out to all the finishers, and our heartfelt thanks is extended to everyone involved with making the Run Dirty 5K/10K happen: Misty and her crew, all the helpful volunteers, course marshals, Fleet Feet Sports, the Calumet Region Striders running club, and of course The Water-and-Gatorade Man! (His pic is on the next page as well.)
All in all, "a splendid time was guaranteed for all" and it actually happened! We hope to see everyone next year in early August when, once again, those Indy rainmakers promise to hold off and keep the weather perfect!
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Stone Age Stew? Soup Making May Be Older Than We'd Thought
Soup comes in many variations — chicken noodle, creamy tomato, potato and leek, to name a few. But through much of human history, soup was much simpler, requiring nothing more than boiling a haunch of meat or other chunk of food in water to create a warm, nourishing broth.
So who concocted that first bowl of soup?
Most sources state that soup making did not become commonplace until somewhere between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America says, for example, "boiling was not a commonly used cooking technique until the invention of waterproof and heatproof containers about five thousand years ago."
That's probably wrong — by at least 15,000 years.
It now looks like waterproof and heatproof containers were invented much earlier than previously thought. Harvard University archaeologist Ofer Bar-Yosef and colleagues reported last year in Science on their finding of 20,000-year-old pottery from a cave in China. "When you look at the pots, you can see that they were in a fire," Bar-Yosef says.
Their discovery is possibly the world's oldest-known cookware, but exactly what its users were brewing up isn't certain. Perhaps it was alcohol, or maybe it was soup. Whatever it was, the discovery shows that waterproof, heatproof containers are far older than a mere 5,000 years.
That kind of container, though, isn't even necessary for boiling. An ancient soup maker could have simply dug a pit, lined it with animal skin or gut, filled his "pot" with water and dropped in some hot rocks.
The power of the expanding steam cracks the rocks, a distinct characteristic that first shows up in the archaeological record around 25,000 years ago in Western Europe, says archaeologist John Speth, an emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
But Speth says boiling, and soup, could be even older.
He started thinking about ancient boiling after watching an episode of the television show "Survivorman," in which host Les Stroud boils water in a plastic container. "You can boil without using heated stones," Speth realized. All you need is a waterproof container suspended over a fire — the water inside keeps the material from burning.
Long-ago cooks could have fashioned such a container from tree bark or the hide of an animal, Speth says. Finding evidence of such boiling, though, would be incredibly difficult because those types of materials usually don't get preserved in the archaeological record.
Speth has argued that Neanderthals, ancient human relatives that lived from around 200,000 to 28,000 years ago, would have needed boiling technology to render fat from animal bones to supplement their diet of lean meat, so that they could have avoided death by protein poisoning.
The kidneys and liver are limited in how much protein they can process in a day — when more than that amount is consumed, ammonia or urea levels in the blood can increase, leading to headaches, fatigue and even death. So humans must get more than half their calories from fat and carbohydrates.
If Neanderthals were boiling bones to obtain the fat, they could have drunk the resulting broth, Speth says.
Neanderthals were probably cooking in some way, scientists have concluded. A 2011 study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found evidence of cooked starch grains embedded in 46,000-year-old fossil Neanderthal teeth from Iraq.
"This doesn't prove that they were making soups or stews," Speth says — some have suggested the meal would have resembled oatmeal — "but I would say it's quite likely."
Putting a date on the world's first bowl of soup is probably impossible. Anthropologists haven't been able to determine for certain when man was first able to control fire, or when cooking itself was invented (though it was likely more than 300,000 years ago, before Homo sapiens first emerged, Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham says in his book Catching Fire).
And the story is probably different for people in different parts of the world. It appears that pottery was invented in eastern Asia thousands of years before it emerged in western Asia, Bar-Yosef notes. "Maybe boiling wasn't so important because you had bread" in the West to balance out all that protein, he says.
Other parts of the world never had any tradition of boiling food. "A lot of hunter-gatherers didn't use containers at all," Speth says. In places like Tanzania and the Kalahari, there are tribes that didn't boil water until after Europeans arrived.
Speth says, though, it's very likely that humans were concocting soup at least 25,000 years ago in some places. Whether our ancestors were boiling up broth before that — well, we'll just have to wait and see what the archaeologists dig up.