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"Explaining the size of tree leaves using physics"
Chris Lee
February 28th, 2013
Ars Technica
One of the most useless-but-cool things about physics are the post-hoc explanations it offers for the field of biology. I suspect that these physics-focused explanations really piss biologists off, and rightly so, since they tend to offer an explanation for observations, but have no predictive power to point us beyond what we already know.
Biology is a big field with lots of sub-fields, though. For the most part, biologists interested in mammals and birds have had to bear the burden of physicists' attention. But that's changing, as plant biologists have become the latest victims. Yes, physics now offers an explanation for why tall trees have such, ahem, tiny leaves.
Before we get to the trees and their pitifully small leaves, let's take a quick look at the sort of arguments and insights that physics offers biologists. For instance, it can help you determine why the smallest and largest land-dwelling mammals are about the size that they are—look no further than the balance of energy. Mammals are warm-blooded, and that costs some energy. And, to make matters worse, they lose energy through their skin simply through heat conduction. The smaller you are, the greater the proportion of your energy is spent maintaining your internal body temperature, simply because you have more surface area relative to body mass. At a certain size, you simply cannot eat fast enough to maintain an internal body temperature.
On the upper end of the scale, you have many more cells to supply with energy, so you spend more energy foraging for food. At some point, you end up spending more energy on foraging than the total available energy in the food being foraged. Hence, at the bottom of the scale shivers the shrew, scurrying around desperately eating to keep warm, while at the upper end, an elephant is constantly and slowly eating everything in sight.
It is possible to make similar arguments based on the strength of bone vs. total mass, blood pressure for height, and metabolic rate for average lifetime. Now, I know I made this look a bit of a joke in the introduction, because, truth be told, these sorts of arguments are fun. In all seriousness, though, this form of reasoning—figuring out limitations due to the way that physical processes scale with increases and decreases in particular parameters—is very handy. More fascinating is that they are at least broadly in agreement with observations.
Resistance makes growth futile
Now a pair of scientists have applied a scaling law arguments to the leaves of trees. The heart of the argument is about how fast sugar flows down the trunk of the tree. A tree has to be able to distribute energy from the leaves to the roots, and this is all governed by flow through a network of tubes, called phloem.
The speed of the flow is in turn governed by just a few factors: two different flow resistances, and the pressure difference between the top and the bottom of the tree. It turns out that the pressure difference is independent of height, but the flow resistances are a different matter.
Flow resistance in the trunk depends on the length and radius of the phloem tube. As the length increases, the flow resistance increases. But, as the radius increases, the resistance drops. For small trees, both the radius and the length increase with height, so the flow resistance may drop as the tree grows. Unfortunately, for taller trees, the radius tops out at 20 micrometers, leaving the flow resistance to continue increasing as the tree grows.
For leaves, the story is a little more complicated. The phloem has permeable membranes that are designed to accept increasing amounts of sugar from the leaf. The argument is that the increased permeability and phloem surface area result in greater concentration differences that drive a higher pressure differential within the leaf. Looking at the leaf as a black box, it simply appears that the internal resistance has dropped. The upshot is that the flow resistance of the leaf decreases as the leaf size increases.
Why does this matter? Both resistances contribute to slowing the flow but, if one is much larger than the other, then changing the smaller resistance has no impact. So, for a tall tree, increasing the leaf size doesn't result in faster flow, since the phloem's resistance dominates. For smaller trees, a larger leaf size does result in faster flow. And this changes the energy balance for the tree.
My, what expensive leaves you have
The speed of energy flow has a maximum when the leaf resistance is zero, but that maximum is approached very, very slowly. At some point, the cost of maintaining the larger leaf is greater than the marginal increase in energy flow. Once you choose a tree height and a cost factor, you end up with a maximum leaf size.
On the lower end of the scale, the tree requires a minimum flow of energy. This is governed by cell-to-cell diffusion of sugar-water. Once you plug this number in, for any given tree height, a minimum leaf size pops out.
As the tree grows taller, the minimum leaf size goes up, while the maximum leaf size goes down. At around 100m, the two cross, so that the minimum required leaf size is greater than the maximum useful leaf size. And, guess what, the tallest known trees top out at around 100m. More importantly though, the variation in leaf size decreases with increasing tree height, and this is exactly what the observational data shows.
In fact, the data fits remarkably well. For the largest leaf size, there is a cost-factor that they have to fit. But, considering that a single parameter fits the data for multiple species within the angiosperm family (flowering plants; the study didn't consider anything else), that is pretty good. The lower limit on leaf size is a lot rougher, but the data is also a lot noisier at the lower bound, so no simple curve fit that data well.
What I love about papers like this is how a few simple physical principles come together to provide a rough explanation for observed data. What makes it more interesting is that it sets criteria that can help us find exceptions, and exceptions make for interesting research.
[The article is by subscription/purchase only. Physical Review Letters .]


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Thursday, January 1, 2009
Wasted Cakes
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Binky here is part of the new "scare 'em sober" line of cake kits. Nothing says "drink in moderation" quite like a deceased flattened clown with charred lumps for feet, right? "And that's why it's important to remember "stop, drop and roll" when doing flaming shots, boys and girls!"
Look familiar? I hope not; anyone who keeps a big mass of string cheese in their bathroom has serious hygiene issues. I'm glad the guy is labeled a "Party Animal", though: otherwise you might think this was celebrating the flu or food poisoning.
(Bonus Side Tangent Competition: Who can be the first to find me an actual cake celebrating the flu or food poisoning? C'mon; you know they're out there!)
And then there's Charlie, who shows us once and for all that you're never too old to party:
Charlie apparently likes to rock the Casbah with a couple of redskin potatoes shoved down the back of his pants. He also has a gargantuan toilet with a joystick on the seat, which he doesn't like to talk about.
[whispers] Shhh. He's sleeping. That pink shag rug and the smell of 2000 Flushes gets him every time. Aren't they just the cutest when they're dreaming?
(Yes, it's "professional". What, don't you trust me?)
Well, Happy New Year, everyone! Here's to a Wrecktastic 2009.
Thanks to Sarah N., and Stefani H.!
63 comments | Post a Comment
Are those used maxi-pads littering the floor on Daz's cake?
- January 1, 2009 at 9:36 AM
- The Courteous Chihuahua said...
What, you've never rocked the Casbah with a couple of redskin potatoes crammed down your pants? Don't knock it until you've tried it!
- January 1, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Not a flu cake, but could help your guests from getting the flu from your cake!! - January 1, 2009 at 9:42 AM
- Boozy Tooth said...
NO! Nooooooo! No puking geriatrics head down in blue water cakes(well, at least it's still blue, so that's something I guess).
Have we really sunk to such lows?
(Just kidding. I love it!) - January 1, 2009 at 9:44 AM
- RooManda said...
I have always wondered how a toilet would taste....Mmm, chocolatey!
- January 1, 2009 at 9:55 AM
- Joanie said...
Oh my! Now I've seen everything!
- January 1, 2009 at 9:56 AM
- Sheri said...
The candle plungers on the Party Animal cake are just priceless--what a clever idea!
P.S. WOW! I never got to be first comment before! I guess this means I drank less than everyone else last night? heh
P.P.S. Word Verification: lubisclu = The new "private" version of Rubik's Cube, using KY Jelly. - January 1, 2009 at 9:57 AM
- D.B. Echo said...
The "Party Animal" looks like he's trying to retrieve something his kids tossed into the toilet that is now blocking it.
I assumed the geriatric toileteer was holding a bong or crack pipe, until you showed the other angle. Now....yeesh. Live the pink rug, though! - January 1, 2009 at 10:19 AM
I wasn't hungover but now I do feel sick...
- January 1, 2009 at 10:21 AM
- Angie McCullagh said...
At least that last cake has some FRESH, Sno-Bol water. Either that or the old guy was yacking up blue jellybeans.
Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com) - January 1, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Ok, they aren't cakes. But they are the grossest jello desserts you'll ever see! In real petri dishes!!
http://mark.rehorst.com/Dessert/index.htm - January 1, 2009 at 10:46 AM
- Unknown said...
Great. Toilet cakes with "joysticks". That's just not right. Ick.
And the first one looks like the poor clown got run over by a drunk driver!
Funny stuff. I laughed so hard my 12 year old came out of her room to check on me.
Happy 2009!
~Amy B - January 1, 2009 at 10:50 AM
- Malibu Niki said...
I'm not too sure about that "joy stick" on the last cake... maybe that's really a bidet he's puking into?
- January 1, 2009 at 10:54 AM
- Unknown said...
Are you sure that Charlie isn't dead??? (I had wallpaper very similar to Charlie's -- scary, huh?)
Happy new year! - January 1, 2009 at 11:04 AM
- joyce said...
I never. I keep thinkin' it can't get much worse, and then, someone does a much worse cake. Wow. The tile floor does look awesome, but who wants to eat grout? Not to mention eating toilet....yuck
- January 1, 2009 at 11:06 AM
So what IS that joystick thing? Is it supposed to be a plunger? A tad under-scaled for that massive commode, I'd say...
- January 1, 2009 at 11:08 AM
What on Earth is the stuff on the floor of Daz's cake? I believe the white crumpled-up thing is a towel, but I'm loathe to consider Anonymous's suggestion that those are [gulp] maxi pads. And what about the brown thing with the yellow stringy stuff? Any ideas?
- January 1, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Meghan, I'm pretty sure the brown thing with the yellow stringy stuff is a slightly melted candy bar with cheez-whiz topping.
I don't even have a guess about the maxi-pads, although the red circle with the "S" on top appears to be an attempt at some sort of corporate logo. - January 1, 2009 at 11:37 AM
My guess on the Party Animal cake was that the white things with "S"s' on them were cans...beer cans of some sort...maybe a local brand of beer to the party goer? Also, I thought the weird cheesy looking thing was pizza in a cardboard box??? Symbolizing drunk munchies, perhaps and its ensuing visit to the porcelain throne?
- January 1, 2009 at 12:06 PM
I promise, I promise...I'll never again drink too much or eat the blue icing!
- January 1, 2009 at 12:41 PM
- SuperJediMom said...
Maybe the designer of the last cake wasn't going for the joystick look, but more of the "Flotation Tube" look. You know with the nozzle that you air it up with sticking up. Kind of symbolizing that he is hanging on for dear life.
Verification word: acksh. Which is the sound that I make when I see some of these cakes. - January 1, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Is that supposed to be a brown paper bag of barf in the second one?
- January 1, 2009 at 1:16 PM
- Susan said...
Okay, but someone actually MASS PRODUCED the Light Beer candles on Nicole's cake. If you're gonna have fake beer cans...
Never mind. I get it. Light. Beer. Wick. Yecch.
WV: phordned, like "We got her the best cake we coulda phordned." - January 1, 2009 at 1:28 PM
- Etiquette Bitch said...
happy 2009, everyone!
okay, i showed my husband CW2 and 3. His comments:
CW2: "It looks like he's having sex with the bathroom."
CW3: (after I said, 'what is that?' referring to the toilet-joystick:)
"It's a plunger." - January 1, 2009 at 1:29 PM
"Joystick." Yes. Your mastery of the euphemism is unparalleled. My hat's off to you.
- January 1, 2009 at 1:39 PM
- Hyena Overlord said...
ugh..toilets as food. I think Charlie had too much blue icing.
wvotd...drocy... The toilet cakes make my feel drocy. The clown cake too...ew.. - January 1, 2009 at 1:56 PM
- WM said...
These are just wrong! Do people actually order this stuff?
The clown is just plain scary. Are those olives for his feet? I think this comes under the "Scared Straight" for drinking. After a cake like that, who would want to? Does everyone have scary clown issues?
Jen...I think you have outdone yourself. Where can you go from here? - January 1, 2009 at 2:05 PM
- T said...
omg, the commentary on the old dude at the toilet cake has me cracking up!
- January 1, 2009 at 2:23 PM
My guesses:
2nd cake
white things with red spots = beer cans
brown thing with yellow string = brown towel covered in vomit
3rd cake
"joystick" = cigar
Eh, whatever they're supposed to be, they sure are wreckstastic! - January 1, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Um, is that a plunger the old guy is holding? That was my first thought. Ew...who needs a plunger after they puke?
- January 1, 2009 at 3:05 PM
cheers! - January 1, 2009 at 3:13 PM
- Jessica said...
Does the party animal cake seriously have 3 plungers?
- January 1, 2009 at 3:23 PM
- sendingtheclowns said...
Oh, yick. If Charlie really looks like that guy- blue hair, bony butt hanging out of his JEANS, drinking himself into oblivion at the "dignified" age of 83- he deserves to be sick. He deserves the toilet the size of a VW. AND, he deserves the pink shag rug.
I don't think I like Charlie.
(Better get a bigger plunger, Chuck.) - January 1, 2009 at 3:24 PM
I think Charlie is a plumber. The "potatoes" are his plumber crack, the "joystick" is a plunger and he is looking into toilet rather than throwing up in it.
- January 1, 2009 at 4:25 PM
- Scritzy said...
This really isn't fair. I have bronchitis, and going into convulsive laughing fits causes me to cough more. Ohhhh ... my ribs ...
After this batch of wackos, I think I'm going to need my own face-to-face confrontation with Porcelain Patty.
I think the unidentified thing on the floor next to Mr. Passout is a giant bean burrito with extra cheese.
And I want a joystick on my toilet.
Happy New Year! - January 1, 2009 at 4:57 PM
- Sammee said...
This blog brings more joy then a new pair of shoes!! I came across it by accident and now every day I get to share new posts with the ladies at the office and we all get a giggle over our morning coffee:).
Sammee Pearson
Sandy, Utah - January 1, 2009 at 5:19 PM
- Aviatrix said...
No! No! We trust you, but I disbelieve. That cannot be a professional cake. Not made by a professional cake decorator. Maybe by a professional streetwalker who accepted payment in hallucinogenic drugs, and had a broken arm.
But maybe I can accept that the client -- do we call people who commission cakes like this "johns"? -- actually requested these details. Then yes, we must all applaud the professionalism of this baker, who fulfilled the client's wishes despite his or her personal standards of decency and taste. - January 1, 2009 at 5:19 PM
- Kate said...
i think that the last one is for an old guy who's been a plumber for a long time! that's his "plumber's crack" and the plunger makes more sense that way. it's just really poorly done, and they couldn't figure out a way to make his head do anything other than lay on the toilet in that creepy way. some of the other explanations are more fun though. love the site!
- January 1, 2009 at 5:50 PM
- Miranda said...
Am I the only one who thinks Daz's cake, while in questionable taste, is awesomely executed?
- January 1, 2009 at 6:01 PM
oh my goodness
i've been a wreck follower for .... well it seems like forever (that lifelike bride cake sticks in my mind) .... but this is the first time i've commented - because these have made me laugh until i have tears running down my face ... seriously .... the gigantic toilet bowl with potatos down your pants .... OMG *snicker*
i wonder if my 'Daz' would like a cake like that one for his 40th this year ??? - January 1, 2009 at 6:49 PM
- rhiannon said...
I don't think the old guy is puking. I think he's a plumber... thus I assume the potatoes are actually a case of "plumber butt," and the joystick is a plunger!
Now, what kind of plumber rests his chin on the toilet, I have no idea. - January 1, 2009 at 7:08 PM
I actually think the last cake was made for a plumber.. hence the PLUNGER he is holding and the plumber pants buttcrack he is rocking in the back!!!
- January 1, 2009 at 8:53 PM
- Mr. Becksfort said...
i almost shot milk out my nose with the red potatos thing. that's hilarious, a great post!
- January 1, 2009 at 9:03 PM
- Suzanne Dargie said...
OMG! I really can't believe that toilet cakes exist. I guess that's where 2008 belongs...in the toilet.
- January 1, 2009 at 9:41 PM
- Miranda said...
oh, gods. That was me bringing up my toenails this morning. X( If anyone gets me a cake commemorating it, they are going to be wearing the blasted thing.
- January 1, 2009 at 11:44 PM
- Stephanie said...
"couple of redskin potatoes shoved down the back of his pants"
I think I just snorted soda up my nose. SO fuunny. - January 2, 2009 at 12:09 AM
For the first one: do you think her parents got her that cake?
- January 2, 2009 at 12:24 AM
The first cake looks like a crime scene.
- January 2, 2009 at 2:08 AM
- Christine said...
There's this cake http://www.flickr.com/photos/20358768@N00/2866675301/ Looks like it's more about the chicken pox than the flu. (and it looks like it's non-professional)
- January 2, 2009 at 2:35 AM
I was coming here to post the Get Well Soon cake but Christine beat me to it. Not exactly celebrating flu/food poisoning but here's a different get well cake: http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/gwcakeh5.jpg
Not sure what "Stay off the Boof" means, or what Mowgli is up to but I'm sure it made the recipient feel better. - January 2, 2009 at 8:33 AM
those are freaking awesome! Someone who does that (been there done that) deserves a cake like that!!!!! That ball of "string" worries me some. WTF is that? Isn't that "joystick" the plunger? Ewwwww
- January 2, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Anonymous, I too thought it was a brown towel covered in vomit. Ew. On a cake.
- January 2, 2009 at 9:25 AM
- queenb said...
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear....the blue water in that ginormous toilet is the funniest part to me..."rocked the Casbah with a couple of redskin potatoes crammed down your pants"? HILARIOUS...
(sigh) my day doesn't begin until I've seen some wreckiness...
Happy New Year everyone!
~Bonnie B~ - January 2, 2009 at 10:04 AM
That is so funny and so unappetizing at the same time!
- January 2, 2009 at 10:53 AM
- Christy Bishop said...
thanks for another laugh-til-I-cry posting!!! even the comments on your blog are funny! My day is better for stopping by the cake wrecks blog!
- January 2, 2009 at 11:16 AM
The giant toilet's shag carpet is freaking me out. Plus it looks like the "sleeping guy" is biting the toilet seat. Gross!
- January 2, 2009 at 11:26 AM
- Rebecca said...
Wow. I think the old guy's "joystick" must be a pipe. Or a brown butt blug. I enjoy his little angry red butt crack peeking out.
- January 2, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Uh. On the "21st birthday" clown cake..
WHAT is behind the 21 candles? Scary! - January 2, 2009 at 6:36 PM
The guy depicted on the last cake looks like Bill Clinton!
- January 2, 2009 at 6:54 PM
I wish someone could teach me how to make that cake with a red ribbon.. it looks funny.. at least the toilet is dandy clean..
Happy New Year!!! - January 17, 2009 at 5:38 AM
- Unknown said...
Charlie and his potatoes remind me of my dad's favorite joke, the one with the punchline that you were supposed to put the potato down the FRONT of your Speedos.
- February 1, 2009 at 2:45 PM
I agree that the third cake is probably for a plumber. He's examining the toilet rather than puking into it.
- February 18, 2009 at 10:17 PM
That last cake is plumber! The brown "joystick" is a toilet plunger, and the potatoes are a plumber's crack....
- May 27, 2011 at 12:03 PM
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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.
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These aren't just lovely portraits of people posing with their pets, but look a little closely and you'll see that the owners are wearing sweaters and vests that resemble the fur of their dogs. And they should because they were literally made from them.
Below is a series of photographs (an ongoing project) by photographer Erwan Fichou of people posing with their beautiful dogs, sporting canine couture... actual sweaters and vests made from the hair (fur?) of their own pet dogs.
Here is the description of the series:
Dogwool series, 2005-2007. Eleven portraits (in progress)
The hair, especially hair known as the stuffing, once recovered after brushing, is carefully preserved until the amount necessary to achieve the knit structure.
The hair is spun into balls of 50 g by a specialist before returning via mail, to its owner.
C-prints, 40 * 50 cm, Marie-Louise, glass, wooden framework.
To see more of photographer Erwan Fichou's unusual work, go here.
Apparently there are a few people out there who actually make clothes from your pet's hair or fur.
Pet Yarn Chic makes hats, scarves and wraps from your pet's 'yarn'.
Above: Bettina Menkhoff, 50, from Stoetze in Germany makes scarves, gloves and other clothes and sells them over the internet at www.jolly-fellows.de
Above: Pam Gardner, of Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, has at least six jumpers and cardigans made from her pet Old English sheepdogs. She says they are warm and soft, similar to jumpers made from Angora goats' wool. Mrs Gardner, who charges £11 to turn 100g of dog or cat hair into wool, says the conversion is too labor-intensive to be anything more than a hobby. She has made wool from about 30 breeds of dog, including alsatians and chow chows, and had about 200 customers.
Above: Betsy Willis first used the fur of Kara, to knit her husband's sweater in 1990. Mrs Willis, 71, said she had the idea after seeing a picture of Princess Diana wearing a dog fur stole at Crufts.
She said: "Kara was a pedigree Samoyed. She was so posh, if she could have talked she'd not have spoken to the likes of us. "We found out from the breeders we got the pups from that it was possible to use their coat for clothes. "It is the most amazing stuff. It's like mohair but more lightweight and more soft, and the more you wash it, the more soft and fluffy it gets." Mrs Willis added: "People are surprised when they find out we're wearing dog wool clothes. Some think it's disgusting and ask how we can do it, but it seems very normal to us." Even now, Mrs Willis has enough hair left over to make a new jumper, and it has been sent to a friend in Derby to be spun.
Wanna try it yourself?
My apologies to the owners of such sweet dogs as Chinese Cresteds and American Hairless Terriers. Thanks to an anonymous reader who sent me this:
Now for you Cat lovers, be sure to check out the jewelry made from Cat hair!


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June 25, 2008
Admixture estimate Vs. Population-of-origin estimate
The classification problem assumes that each individual has a single origin, e.g., "NW European" or "SE European" and attempts to guess this origin.
For example, EURO-DNA-CALC 1.02 is a classifier, and tries to guess an individual's origin out of the set {"NW EUropean", "SE European", "Ashkenazi Jewish"}.
The admixture estimate problem assumes that each individual is a mixture of groups, and attempts to guess the relative strength of the components in the mixture.
EURO-DNA-CALC 1.1.1 is an admixture estimator, and tries to guess an individual's admixture from the groups "NW EUropean", "SE European", "Ashkenazi Jewish".
In many of the testees that have communicated their results to me, the classification provided by 1.0.2 is equal to the most important component identified by 1.1.1. But this does not need to be the case.
To understand why, let's consider some real-life examples.
The Proto-Uralics
Using skull measurements, scientists have identified traits that seem to have belonged to a Proto-Uralic human group. Presently, individuals of Northern Eurasia, especially Uralic speakers are a mix of Western Eurasian (Caucasoid) and Eastern Eurasian (Mongoloid) elements, but they also possess a small and varying component of this old Proto-Uralic group.
So, an individual could be guessed as a Uralic speaker with some success, and yet his Uralic admixture would be generally low.
African Americans
It is well-known that African Americans have European admixture which varies a lot individually. Indeed, some African Americans are more European genetically than they are African. On the other hand, European Americans generally tend to have insignificant African admixture. This assymetry is due to the fact that individuals of partial African ancestry were reckoned to be "Black", no matter what the exact percentage of their African ancestry.
Now, a classifier that would distinguish between Whites and African Americans would have no trouble distinguishing between the two groups easily. But this classification would not need to be concordant with their admixture estimate:
A person of 25% African ancestry is extremely more likely to be (in the US) an African American than a White. And yet, the high classification probability that he is African American is discordant with their most important component, i.e., European.
The "Brown" Cluster
In the recent paper on human genetic variation using 650K SNPs, a "Brown" cluster was identified. Middle Eastern populations seemed to have a high fraction of their ancestry from this cluster:
If we built a classifier to distinguish between Europeans and non-Europeans, the presence of the "Brown" cluster would give us near certainty that an individual is non-European and yet there are non-European individuals (e.g., the Druze), where the "European" component (average for the group 52%) is greater than the "Brown" one (34%).
27 comments:
- terryt said...
"scientists have identified traits that seem to have belonged to a Proto-Uralic human group ... Uralic speakers are a mix of ... elements, but they also possess a small and varying component of this old Proto-Uralic group".
And of course this old Proto-Uralic group didn't magically appear from nowhere. It's more than likely it in turn was a product of an earlier mix of people. I would be extremely interested if anyone can nominate any human population that is not a product of mixing. - Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:09:00 pm
- Dienekes said...
Identifiable groups may form as a result of mixing, but this must be followed by a period of relative intermarriage, so that the group acquires its own distinct allele frequencies/traits.
- Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:14:00 pm
- Dienekes said...
read "intramarriage".
- Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:15:00 pm
- terryt said...
True. They have to become a stabilised hybrid to be recognised as a "breed" for example. This will happen within within some variable number of generations.
- Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:19:00 pm
- Mitovski said...
Do you think it will be possible one day to geneticaly classify Serbs and Croats separately?
- Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:23:00 pm
- Dienekes said...
It's possible to devise a test in the future, although I doubt its accuracy will be very high at the individual level.
- Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:32:00 pm
- Dean said...
Can these tests be further refined? For example, one study lumped Greeks, Armenians and Jews in the same cluster and called them Southeast Europeans. Can these groups be differentiated on the genetic level?
It seems like it's no big deal if someone is part Southeast European, for example, because so many diverse people have been found to have Southeast European admixture. The question is, which group's admixture does a person have. Testing companies are refining the tests to smaller and smaller groups. - Thursday, June 26, 2008 2:12:00 am
- Crimson Guard said...
How come there is no Southwest cluster?
- Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:19:00 am
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
I wouldn't mind being admixed historically-as long as I get to know what it IS.If it's not detrimental,it'll probably give you a bit of spice and a broader mind.ANyway,I think this is good to address as it further informs us of our origins.I'd like to know what my classifier and admixture estimator is-maybe I'll find out later-it'll help me understand my origins and maybe my tendencies.
- Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:50:00 am
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
For the person above ,who ask what of the diferences between, SouthEastern Europeans (Armenians,Greeks,and Jews).I think these cluster identifications are looking at broader Regional Race,whereas what you are looking for is individual, which I think can be found in those people's SNP's code,which can determine small differences,even between people in a similar,but not identical classification.
- Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:59:00 am
- UncleTomRuckusInGoodWhiteWorld said...
Miz Rand:
I'm 10% Caucasian, likely from the British Isles, some mix of Northern Germanic and Celt.
I'm 2% Native American.
The rest Sub-Sahara African...likely West African...and some Western coastal Bantu or proto-Bantu (think Cameroon and Angola). All this is based on admixture testing I took.
Uhm...I don't know what special feel like but I don't feel it. LOL
Nigerians think I'm Nigerian all the time, the only difference is I'm usually taller and my nose has a higher bridge...that's about it. haha.
So my kids will be 5% Caucasian, 50% East Asian (Japanese...which is basically some mix of North Asian mongoloid/Ainu), 1% Native (which is basically a type of Mongoloid), 44% West African.
If they look like my friends kids (he is African American, about my complexion and his wife is Korean) they will look like tall Southeast Asians with hair that is frizzy. LOL
I guess that is special. :-) - Thursday, June 26, 2008 2:31:00 pm
- Dean said...
Not only have Greeks and Jews been separated for thousands of years from some similar or common early group, but Greeks have been a mix people of Near Eastern and European origins for thousands of years. So it does not seem right that Greeks and Jews should be lumped together and be called Southeast European.
The best tests will be profile tests that look at genetics from different perspectives, such as autosomes and gender DNA combined. - Friday, June 27, 2008 5:30:00 am
- terryt said...
Mitovski asked, "Do you think it will be possible one day to geneticaly classify Serbs and Croats separately?"
Now I understood both groups speak virtually the same language and so I've always assumed Serbs and Croats were simply two tribes that had developed with the introduction of "civilisation", writing and religion. Presumably they share the same collection of haplogroups, perhaps varying in proportions a little as a consequence of their separation over the last 600 or 700 years. I mean we can't totally dismiss the operation of bottlenecks, drift and founder effect.
Can anyone explain where this perspective is wrong?
And Joe's comment regarding Jews. Sure, they have a few haplogroups from outside the Middle East but the vast majority carry Middle Eastern haplogroups. But again these are shared with their neighbours in the Middle East. As above I would regard them as being simply a tribal group that developed in the Middle east around two and a half thousand years ago.
I presume any explanation for the separation of Serbs from Croats would apply equally well to the separation of Jews from other Middle Eastern tribes. - Saturday, June 28, 2008 1:56:00 am
- a poster said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Monday, June 30, 2008 1:25:00 am
- a poster said...
Still at it spreading race myths. I guess if it helps you sleep at night, its what you have to do. I guess it hurts that the mediterranean race myth has been debunked and is laughed at.
Funny how everyone is obsessing and needing African Americans to be mixed. Why do they occupy so much of your minds?
If African Americans are so mixed then how come they don't have the thick baggy destined to be wrinkled skin that white/European Americans have?
You know the type of skin white people posses that has made the makers of Oil of Olay billionares? LOL
If African Americans are so mixed then how is it that Africans from all corners of Africa are mistaking African Americans for one of themselves?
If African Americans are so mixed why are they being mistaken for Egyptians, Moroccans, South Africans, Ethiopians, etc. when they visit those countries?
Funny as to how such things never happen to whites/Euros unless they happen to be Portugues or Italians. And we all know their story of African admixture. LOL
Face it white people have the least diversity of any group of people on the planet. Any belief that they make African Americans look like Ethiopians, Moroccans, Egyptians, Sudanese, South Africans, etc. is mental illness. And reflects the low self-esteem that the Euros/whites have in how they have to create and invent fantasy in order to lay claim to both Africa and Africans. Whites don't have that kind of juice. That's why Viagra, Cialis, etc was specifically invented for them. LOL
What's wrong with Europe? Is it too cloudy and dreary?
Poor things. - Monday, June 30, 2008 1:28:00 am
- a poster said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Monday, June 30, 2008 7:11:00 pm
- a poster said...
Awww you poor, poor pitiful po chu geez. Is this the only way you can have self-esteem? Lie to yourself about everyone and their brother outside of the cloudy, cold Europeans being mixed.
LOL LOL Double LOL!!
Po thang, you need to go outside and relax. Go get some sun.
Ooooops you're in Europe, there is no sun. LOL
What a loser you are to get mad at the fact that African Americans look like Africans from all corners of Africa because of the fact they have ancestry from Africans from all corners of Africa.
Screws up your ideological (in your case "idiotlogical) racial fantasies doesn't it? Now go cry oh po pitiful po chu geez. It's not our fault that even Italians call you mixed. LOL
Dumb yetti. : ) - Monday, June 30, 2008 7:20:00 pm
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
To a poster:I like Europe,but I'm stranded in America,like a cripple in a wheelchair.But If I have to go to Europe the I think each race should go back to their own country,and "get real",for a change,no Cadillacs,just dust and dirt,and disease.And stink-monkey soup for dinner Yum!'Fro man oughta love that-it's his country.But every land has their own plagues and savages...
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 1:41:00 am
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
These are just opinions,some infused with humor-don't be worried by them. If everyone goes home(not that their nations invited them back),then the Native Americans can retake all the empty,desolate cities and make it into a place of their own and hunt whales and deers and gather lots of eagle feathers.But maybe that isn't God's will,nations and turmoils are overseen by God (says the Bible).
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 1:56:00 am
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
What I said to dragon horse-that a bird-nose Black is still too Black,I don't mean to say that Blacks are no good; American Blacks are clever and invented lots of things,and they are 20-30 percent White or 70-80% Black. Almost as pure as White is White.But just having a higher nose wouldn't make me want to be Nigerian -that's how I feel.Hell I'd rather have an all Nigerian nose,if I'm gonna be Nigerian.Nigerians I've seen are very tall or elongated,thin elaborated attired,not ugly,and has a special velvety deep color-very few short,fat or (faint)orange people there.Maybe those belong to some other tribe,but not theirs.
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:06:00 am
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
to Joe: I'm not racist when I say that I think there are real Jews.America counts them as a religion,and not as a group of people.But if only a religion,then why don't everybody ,just up and become a jew themselves? It's easier for a Jew to become Catholic than for a Gentile to become a Jew.Even with admixture I think that the 12 sons of Abraham view themselves as a distinct nation and breed.And some Admixture does not erase their whole ancestry-just as being 30% mixed does not get you classified as the opposite race.Besides I can always tell a Jew from A Non-Jew,there has to be a tribal reason why.
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:14:00 am
- Dienekes said...
Stop spamming.
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:31:00 am
- miz RAND BLOWTON said...
I think the racial classifier is a little crooked.If a 75% Black is Black,the why isn't the person 75% White,called white?
Whites would marry an Asian,or an Hispanic,but not a 75% White person? I 've read of a White in Britain who is 40% White,and the rest is Native American.I thinks that's because everyone will screw around with any person as long as it isn't written down on paper and a big deal isn't made over it.I mean a butt is a butt so to speak,and if it's kind and helps out.....it's basically as good as any 100% White,as long as they don't wreck the whole country.Besides it's probably an isolated incident.Theoretically-thoughtwise. - Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:37:00 am
- Dienekes said...
miz rand blowton, take a long break from commmenting.
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 2:52:00 am
- terryt said...
Dienekes. Miz Rand Blowtown blew his cover when he wrote, "But maybe that isn't God's will,nations and turmoils are overseen by God (says the Bible)". He's a Christian looney. Unfortunately George W. Bush has shown we take them for granted at our peril.
- Wednesday, July 02, 2008 6:09:00 am
It would be interesting if a percentage of admixtures were applied to all of these clusters; e.g. the Caucasoids, who appear to be the most varied, esp. outside of Europe.
Indeed it is very interesting that there's a significant European influence on the ME's & NA's. It seems most likely associated with the Roman Empire rather than pre history. If this is the case then I guess that it completely debunks the popular assertion that non-Europeans influenced the DNA of Southern Europe significantly at this time, but rather suggests the opposite.
Regarding Tuscany, the brown cluster appears to constitute a total of about 3 % admixture - does this seem reasonable Dienekes? - Saturday, July 19, 2008 11:31:00 pm
- Dienekes said...
Rather, I think that the "European" cluster reflects the older Caucasoid substratum that is common to both Europe and the Middle East, while the "brown" cluster reflects the more recent events associated perhaps with the spread of Islam.
- Saturday, July 19, 2008 11:41:00 pm


text:
The United States ranks as the most religious country in the developed world. And New York Times columnist Ross Douthat says that despite our politics, debates and doubts, this country is as God-besotted today as ever.
But in his new book, Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Douthat argues that religion has fallen into heresy (hence the feisty subtitle). Douthat recently spoke with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about why he thinks American Christianity has become distorted.
Interview Highlights
On the decline of institutional Christianity
"Institutional religion in the United States — institutional Christianity in particular — is much, much weaker today than it was 40 years ago. But religion itself is as strong as ever. ... But the eclipse of institutional faith, and the eclipse of what I would say was a kind of a Christian center that the country used to have, has created a landscape where religion divides us much more than it used to."
On heresies
"The heresies that I write about are what flourish in the vacuum that's left by institutional Christianity's decline. So if the country remains religious, but the institutional churches are weaker than they used to be, what steps into the breach?"
On the heresy of The Da Vinci Code
"I start with the project to basically go back into the gospels of the early church ... and to sort of fashion a Jesus who seems to fit the modern world better than the Jesus of the Nicene Creed. And this project is best embodied by Dan Brown and by The Da Vinci Code. ... Brown himself is very explicit that he has a theological, philosophical message about what direction Christianity — what direction religion — should go in. And that direction is toward this alternative Jesus that he's sketched out, who is ... a much more congenial figure for a lot of Americans than the Jesus of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
On the heresy of the prosperity gospel
"From there I move toward heresies that are about money, basically, and about the idea that God wants you to get rich. This is the prosperity gospel. It's Joel Osteen. It's the televangelist you see on TV. All of these heresies I talk about speak to aspects of contemporary life, where traditional Christianity rubs up against the way we live now, and people don't like it. ... We're a rich country. We're a capitalist country. We're a country of strivers and go-getters. And the prosperity gospel says that's what God wants. God wants you to be rich. Which is not precisely the message of the New Testament."
On the heresy of Eat, Pray, Love
"From there I move to what I call the god within, which is the heresy of Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love, of Oprah Winfrey, of Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle. ... It's less that God wants you to be rich and more that God is there to make you feel happy about yourself. And that the point of spiritual wisdom is not necessarily strenuous prayer and fasting and moral transformation. It's more sort of blessing impulses you already have. ... This ends up putting a kind of Christian stamp on narcissism, where the things we already want to do, we tell ourselves, are things that God wants us to do, too.
On what Christians should do about these heresies
"I don't have sort of a five-point plan for rebuilding Christianity in America. ... The main point that I'm trying to make is that whatever happens to the institutional churches, individual Christians can try to essentially be better Christians, and honor the complications and paradoxes and tensions of this ancient faith a little better, and not just go as quickly to the easy answer."
On Christianity's staying power
"I'm not without hope. I mean, Christianity is a 2,000-year-old religion. And if you look back across these various crises in Christianity's past, there's again and again been an assumption: Well, the Roman Empire is falling and Christianity will fall with it. Islam is rising, and it's going to just erase Christianity from the map. Charles Darwin has just disproved Christianity, and nobody's ever going to hear from it again. And Christianity has been very resilient."
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Thurston Moore, you guys!
I also wrote something for Style.com. It is about fashion! And also style. You never know what to expect with me! Quite the card, I am! Etc.
They have a ton of fancy lists up right now in honor of their 10th anniversary. Two thumbs up, fine holiday fun.
I also styled a shoot for BlackBook? It was such a good time. We went to the Sticks & Stones Farm in Connecticut where they had tiny sheds and beds and it made the whole thing way more relaxing and fun. The whole team was really great to work with, and the model was really sweet...I won't talk about the clothes since they should speak for themselves, but hope you like it and all that. Also, they named it after the new Hole album! Aw.
Also, I was thisclose to stealing everything.


text:
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text:
President Obama hosted House Speaker John Boehner today, spending nearly an hour together in which they reportedly discussed ways to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax hikes that are due to strike at the end of 2012. Boehner left the White House at 6 p.m., ET, apparently without reaching a deal. As Politico reports, the Republican plans to return to his home state of Ohio this weekend.
The speaker's meeting with the president began around 5:10, just more than an hour after the White House announced that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, a subject of steady criticism from congressional Republicans, had "removed her name from consideration for Secretary of State."
Obama and Boehner have recently ramped up their negotiations as the deadline for a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" nears. The pair met at the White House Sunday, and they have traded counteroffers to each others' original plans.
The president has called for $1.4 trillion in revenue over the next decade, which would include higher taxes for the wealthiest taxpayers as well as $400 billion in spending cuts.
The speaker has put forth a plan that includes $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over the same period, as well as $800 billion in new revenue — much of it derived from restructuring the existing tax code.
This afternoon meeting between President Obama and Speaker Boehner came on the same day the Pew Research Center released a new national poll that gauged Americans' views on the fiscal cliff and the efforts to avoid it.
The poll found that 55 percent of respondents believe Obama "is making a serious effort to work with Republicans. But just 32% say Republican leaders are making a serious effort to work with Obama on a deficit deal."
Pew Research Center president Andrew Kohut discussed the poll on today's All Things Considered.
At his weekly news briefing earlier today, Boehner maintained his stance that spending cuts are the best remedy for the U.S. economy's ills.
"While the president promised the American people a balanced approach, his proposals have been anything but," said Boehner, according to a partial transcript on his website.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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text:
If you close your eyes and take a deep breath, you can feel the warm fuzzy feeling of the holidays, warm, gooey, rich, chocolatey like Nutella. If you are out in the mall you can feel the last minute crazy holiday shopping. Both ways you feel the warmth of the season and you need that because it is so darn cold out there that you would want to hibernate.
Christmas always holds a special place in my heart, a convent school does that to you. You spend winter holidays copying red poinsettias and waxing candles from glossy gilted Christmas picture cards and impose those works of art unto gullible relatives, you insist your parents bake or at least get a cake on Christmas because it is Jesus' birthday, you think "Silent Night" is the most melodious thing on earth and you wish you could hang up a stocking.
I appreciate Christmas all the more now, it is at least something to look forward to till Spring makes its arrival. Imagine cold dark winters without a single house with twinkling fairy lights in your neighborhood , how dull would that be. I like it better because I don't have much shopping to do, I can relax and just bask in the holiday feeling.
To light up your cold days, I have something special today. Guess what ? Nutella and Chocolate Truffles. If someone would have told me last week that I would make chocolate truffles I would have muttered "in your dreams". I always thought truffles or anything that sounds as "ruffles" is mighty hard. Right ? Absolutely wrong. These Nutella Chocolate Truffles are so easy that a 8 year old could make it. This absolute gorgeous recipe is from Sunita's Nutella and Dark Chocolate Truffles. I blindly followed her recipe and because S loves decorating sprinkles I used those instead of using nuts etc. to roll the truffles in. I rolled some in cocoa powder though. These were a big surprise for S and she couldn't believe I made them at home. Thanks Sunita.
These make great holiday gifts for the kiddos and their play dates and their Moms and Dads and grandparents and....
I am sending this off to Cham@Spiceclub for her MEC event which was originally started by Srivalli. This also goes to Sugar High Friday -- Holiday Edition @Cherrapeno
Happy Holidays
Read more...
Nutella and Chocolate Truffles
What You Need
400 gms of nutella
100 gms of dark chocolate
4tblsp of honey
1 tblsp of ghee ( clarified butter)
How I Did It
In a microwave safe bowl, place all the nutella, dark chocolate, honey and ghee.
Microwave the mixture till the chocolate melts. In my microwave it took about 2 and 1/2 mins at full power
Remove the bowl from the microwave. With a spoon, stir the mixture vigorously till smooth. Magically the mixture will slowly start transforming to a dough. Shape it into a lump, place it again in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill till the mixture is firm enough to roll into balls. I chilled the dough for about 40 mins.
While rolling, work fast and with your hand make balls by rolling between your palms like you would do for say Coconut Laddoos. Wet your palms to avoid chocolate sticking to the palm.If the mixture begins to feel too soft, chill a little more. Place the balls in mini muffin cups.
If you are rolling the balls in cocoa powder or rolling in sprinkles, do so and chill again before serving. For other ideas see Sunita's recipe.
Take out from the refrigerator a minute before serving to soften it a wee bit.


text:
The composition of President Barack Obama's second term Cabinet became clearer Wednesday, with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis resigning and three other members of the president's team deciding to stay on amid concerns about diversity in Obama's inner circle.
Solis, a former California congresswoman and one of the highest-ranking Hispanics in the Cabinet, said she was departing after leading the department during the economic storms of the first term. She was the nation's first Hispanic labor secretary.
A White House official said three Cabinet members — Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki — would stay on as the second term begins. It would ensure diversity among the president's leadership team — Holder is black, Sebelius is a woman and Shinseki is of Japanese-American descent.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel changes, said the three remaining officials were not an exhaustive list of which Cabinet members intended to stay.
Some Democratic women have raised concerns that the "big three" jobs in the Cabinet — State, Defense and Treasury — will be taken by white men. Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has been tapped as the next secretary of state; former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican, was picked to run the Pentagon and White House chief of staff Jack Lew is expected to be named treasury secretary later this week.
The White House is expected to announce more members of Obama's Cabinet in the coming weeks, giving the president a chance to present a team that reflects the diverse coalition of women, Hispanics and minorities that helped give him a second term.
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a close friend of the president, removed her name from consideration for the State Department last month following criticism from Republicans over her initial comments about the attacks on Americans in Libya. Several female House Democrats said the criticism of Rice, who is black, was indicative of sexism and racism.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said last month she is stepping down after nearly four years as the administration's chief environmental watchdog. No replacement has been named, although several names are reportedly under consideration, including Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Jackson's deputy, Bob Perciasepe.
Gregoire is a longtime Obama ally who is leaving office next week after two terms, while Perciasepe is slated to take over as acting EPA administrator after Jackson leaves, expected in the next few weeks.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu, meanwhile, is expected to leave sometime after the inauguration, while Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's plans are unknown. Contenders to replace Chu include former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Gregoire.
The only current Republican in the Cabinet, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, has not indicated whether he will leave the administration.
Obama said Solis was a "tireless champion for working families" and had been a key member of his economic team during a first term marked by efforts to rebound from the recession. She won praise from labor unions for an aggressive enforcement of wage and hour laws and job safety regulations but business groups criticized her as not taking a more cooperative approach.
Solis is expected to return home to California to run for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
Sebelius, a former Kansas governor and insurance commissioner, had been widely expected to stay on to shepherd Obama's health care overhaul to its fulfillment. The big push to cover some 30 million uninsured Americans starts next year.
Holder, who served in the Justice Department during the Clinton administration, has faced a rocky tenure as attorney general, dealing with civil rights and terrorism cases along with a botched gun smuggling probe along the Southwest border.
He ordered a review of CIA interrogations during the Bush era amid disclosures that agency interrogators once threatened to kill a Sept. 11 suspect's children and suggested another would be forced to watch his mother be sexually assaulted. The outcome of the exhaustive inquiry — it lasted three years and resulted in no criminal charges — prompted more criticism, this time from human rights groups.
Shinseki has sought to manage a large agency closely watched by returning troops as the war in Iraq ends and another one winds down in Afghanistan. He has dealt with problems ranging from homeless veterans, rising troop suicides and veteran unemployment and growing mental health care needs.
Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Pete Yost contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright © 2013 Capitol Hill Blue


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Welcome to Bulbapedia, Putrid76!
As a new user, you may wish to learn a few things that will be useful in your editing:
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Thank you, and have a good time editing here! --☆ケンジガール 02:45, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
Slow down on editing the User:
namespace. There are only three userspace edits allowed per day, and you have gone over the limit. Editing your userpage too much will lead to it being locked again. Instead of making multiple small edits, why not instead use the preview button (Alt + Shift + P) to check your edits before saving the page? Thank you. ----The Kkllnnator サンタクロース 22:20, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
I was unaware that I had gone over the limit. I will avoid editting the page until tomorrow. I will often save the page because my sister gets on the computer and I don't want her to edit my page. -Putrid76 02:00, 20 December 2008 (UTC)


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Controversy is nothing new to figure skating, so perhaps it's not surprising that team figure skating, new to this Olympics, has already come in for some unwanted attention. The Russian and U.S. figure skating teams are strongly denying reports that they are in collusion.
L'Equipe, the French sports website, is quoting an unnamed Russian coach as claiming that the American and Russian teams will help each win gold medals. The allegation goes like this: the Russian judges will help U.S. team captain Charlie White and his partner, Meryl Davis, win ice dance in exchange for the U.S. clearing the way for the Russians to win pairs and team dance.
At a news conference, U.S. pairs skater Simon Shnapir defended the team: "We're not aware of this. And our focus is just on our skating and our work and our performance and that's it," he said.
U.S. figure skating spokesperson Barbara Reichert also denied the allegations. "I'll use the word laughable," she said.
"You saw them last night and they were excellent," Reichert said, "They're always excellent."
Interestingly, team figure skating is so far the best chance for Russia to win gold after Julia Lipnitskaya blew away the competition in her short program.
The allegations come at a time when figure skating, an already popular sport, is getting even more time during this Olympic Games.
Team figure skating allows for more televised ice time, with some skaters doing double duty for both the team competition and the individual competition.
Even so, the U.S. is not as strong this year after a marquee name has been kept on the sidelines: 2010 gold medalist Evan Lysacek has been forced to sit out this Olympics due to a hip injury. That leaves the figure skating field open. The favorite is Canadian Patrick Chan.
"I always think that a scary competitor is a consistent competitor," says Lysacek, who believes Chan, 23, is just that. Lysacek, who's 28, points to Chan's experience with injuries, coaching changes, and in a previous Olympics. "The most consistent ones are the ones who made me not sleep at night," Lysacek says.
On the women's side, there's controversy, as Ashley Wagner prepares to skate in the individual. Her ascendancy to the Olympics was controversial after she faltered in the U.S. Nationals.
But criticism of Wagner may have subsided a bit after her strong showing in the team short program on the first day at Sochi. And about the stress and the criticism, the 22-year-old says with a laugh, "You just try not to think about it."
Update at 12:30 p.m. ET. Russians Win Gold In Team Figure Skating:
Lipnitskaya and Evgeni Plushenko secured the gold by winning free skates, The Associated Press reports. The win was the first for host Russia at the Sochi Games.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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In the end, I wasn't saying those things so ecstatically or loudly, but I was still really really happy with the end result.
First remember our guest bedroom?
We attempted to use an IKEA Lack side table and decided it wasn't right for the space. After some additional thought, I changed my mind and decided to make it work {surprise surprise right?}
But something was totally missing. Something to fill that giant gaping hole staring at you right when you enter the room.
I brainstormed a few options and landed on some sort of basket to hold a few cozy throws for our guests. I really wanted another rope utility basket. Have you seen them? I love.
They offer of softness and texture and something about them just makes me smile. In fact, I splurged on one during a flash sale last year for the playroom, and it's been really fantastic for the kids. However, coming in typically between $70 and $100 {or between $40-$60 on sale}, they absolutely are not a guest bedroom budget friendly option.
So I decided to make one myself!
The idea was simple. I had some extra rope from our DIY canvas bin handles (cotton filler cord found at JoAnn with a coupon or online on Amazon), so it would only be a matter of purchasing some more and wrapping it around a dollar store basket.
So, off to the dollar store I went. My particular store had a variety of baskets, but for the size I wanted, unfortunately for me they only carried a black option...
But that is what spray paint is for right?
I will save the step by step spray paint process, but basically it was a coat of primer and two coats of matte white, left to cure for two days. I only worried about the inside since the outside would be covered by the magical rope.
I did a test run of wrapping the rope around the basket. Based on how much I was able to get around the basket, I figured I would need about five packages of rope total. I already had almost one full package left from my last project. I bought six more just to be safe. At $2.99 a pack, it was already becoming a bit more expensive than I was hoping....
In looking at the rope I made a last minute decision that I wanted to bring in some color. That the creamy colored cotton rope would be a little bland in the room. But I was already home from the craft store and ready to get started {and the craft store is over 30 minutes away}... so I needed to think about potential ways to turn the rope a new shade. The only thing I could come up with was to mix a little bit of paint with water....
The trick to getting the color to stick to the rope was to actually squeeze the rope under the water so it would absorb it. Then, it was a waiting game while it took a few days to sit out and dry...
I thought stripes/alternating color would be good, so I only colored half of my rope stash.
Once the rope was dry and the spray paint was cured, it finally came time to attach the rope to the basket. This part was easy peasy but a bit time consuming.
Using a hot glue gun, we just ran the glue and pushed down the rope... we started under the basket lip to get a nice straight starting line.
Then we just kept on going, around and around and around. Yes, we used the glue along every inch of the rope, just to be sure it would be nice and sturdy since the basket really wasn't {it was only a buck, you get what you pay for}.
It was stacking up oh so nicely! We continued until the entire thing was covered.... And then added rope around the top as well to give it a nice finished look.
I quickly popped it into it's new home. I adore!
Making for an oh so pretty before and after story!
Total cost for supplies came in at around $20, since I used each package of the rope I purchased. It also took about four days since I had so much hurry up and wait time for paint to dry. In the end, not as quick and cheap as I thought it would be, but it was still far less than my inspiration basket and customized to fit my needs so I will check it off as a win!
It also inspired me to look at other basket wrapping options and check out less expensive finish alternatives such as jute and twine...
Anyone else been making over dollar store finds lately? How about getting halfway through a project and realizing it wasn't going to be as inexpensive as you were hoping, but you loved the results anyway?


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DALLAS, August 13, 2013 (fxmultiprod.wpengine.com) – Due to sustained growth, Flexjet – the world's second largest fractional jet ownership services provider – is intensifying its recruitment of pilots throughout the aviation community to satisfy increasing demand. Flexjet recently reported 96 percent growth of new fractional and jet card sales when comparing January to June 2013 to the same period in 2012.
"Flexjet's commitment to offering its owners exceptional private jet travel experiences starts with our dedicated pilots, who uphold the highest safety and service standards in the industry," said Jason Weiss, Vice President of Operations, Flexjet. "We are thrilled to be expanding our dedicated pilot team during this exciting growth period, and anticipate hiring in the double digits in 2013 and beyond."
Flexjet crews are trained to a higher standard than required by the FAA's FAR Part 135 regulations. First officers are all type rated in their assigned aircraft and complete the same training as required by captains. Additionally, pilots are trained and checked every six months regardless of seat assignment. Flexjet pilot training extends beyond the aircraft to make sure owners are not only safe and on time, but also receive a premium experience each and every time they fly.
Once hired, new pilots are enrolled in a comprehensive one-month training process. The initial 10-day new hire course covers everything from internal topics to FAA-required subjects. After its completion, crews move into aircraft specific ground school – ranging from seven to nine days –followed by six simulator sessions prior, to their type rating check ride. New pilots are then put through a line oriented flight training (LOFT) session in the simulator before they move on to the aircraft portion of their operating experience.
In addition to displaying a true passion for service, interested pilots should have at least 2,500 hours of total flight time, 500 hours of multi-engine flight time and 500 hours of turbine time. Additionally, all new pilots are required to have an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and a First Class Medical.
For more information or to apply for a position, please visit fxmultiprod.wpengine.com/careers/.
About Flexjet
Richardson, Texas-based Flexjet—a division of Bombardier, the world's largest business aviation manufacturer—first entered the fractional jet ownership market in 1995. Flexjet now offers whole aircraft ownership and management, fractional jet ownership, jet cards and charter brokerage services. Flexjet's fractional aircraft program is the first in the world to be recognized as achieving the Air Charter Safety Foundation's Industry Audit Standard, and Flexjet is the first and only company to be honored with its 14th FAA Diamond Award for Excellence. Flexjet's fractional program fields an exclusive family of Bombardier business aircraft—some of the youngest in the fractional jet industry with an average age of approximately six years—including the Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 XR, Learjet 60 XR, Challenger 300 and Challenger 605 business jets. For more details on innovative programs and flexible offerings, visit fxmultiprod.wpengine.com. Flexjet has an approved fractional ownership program pursuant 14 C.F.R. Part 91, Subpart K, and manages flights for individual aircraft owners under Part 91 whole aircraft management program.
All jet card flights are operated under Part 135 by U.S. air carriers. Flexjet acts as an agent for the air carrier or the customer in arranging transportation operated under Part 135 by the U.S. air carrier. Flexjet acts as an agent for the customer with on-demand charter broker services when arranging transportation operated under Part 135 by U.S. air carriers.
About Bombardier
Bombardier is the world's only manufacturer of both planes and trains. Looking far ahead while delivering today, Bombardier is evolving mobility worldwide by answering the call for more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable transportation everywhere. Our vehicles, services and, most of all, our employees are what make us a global leader in transportation.
Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada. Our shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and we are listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Indexes. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012, we posted revenues of $16.8 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.
Bombardier, Challenger 300, Challenger 605, Flexjet, Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 XR, Learjet 60 XR and The Evolution of Mobility are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
For Information
Erin Portman
(512) 448-0502
[email protected]


text:
What Is an Annuity?
An annuity is a contract with an insurance company that is funded by the purchaser and designed to generate an income stream in retirement. It is a flexible financial vehicle that can help protect against the risk of living a long time because it provides an option for a lifetime income.
Two advantages of annuities are that the funds accumulate tax deferred and they can be distributed in a variety of ways to the contract owner.
There are many different types of annuities. Immediate annuities are designed to provide income right away, whereas deferred annuities are designed for long-term accumulation. Some annuities offer a guaranteed rate of interest, whereas others do not.
Generally, annuities have contract limitations, fees, and charges, which can include mortality and expense charges, account fees, underlying investment management fees, administrative fees, and charges for optional benefits. Most annuities have surrender charges that are assessed during the early years of the contract if the contract owner surrenders the annuity. Withdrawals of annuity earnings are taxed as ordinary income and may be subject to surrender charges, plus a 10 percent federal tax penalty if made prior to age 59½. Withdrawals reduce annuity contract benefits and values. Any guarantees are contingent on the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing company. Annuities are not guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency; they are not deposits of, nor are they guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank or savings association. For variable annuities, the investment return and principal value of an investment option are not guaranteed. Variable annuity investment options (also known as subaccounts) fluctuate with changes in market conditions; thus, the principal may be worth more or less than the original amount invested when the annuity is surrendered.
Variable annuities are sold by prospectus. Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus, which contains this and other information about the variable annuity contract and the underlying investment options, can be obtained from your financial professional. Be sure to read the prospectus carefully before deciding whether to invest.
The information in this newsletter is not intended as tax, legal, investment, or retirement advice or recommendations, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. You are encouraged to seek guidance from an independent tax or legal professional. The content is derived from sources believed to be accurate. Neither the information presented nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. This material was written and prepared by Broadridge Advisor Solutions. © 2024 Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
Information provided has been prepared from Broadridge Advisor Solutions sources and data we believe to be accurate, but we make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness. Data and information is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended for solicitation or trading purposes. Broadridge Advisor Solutions is not an affiliate of Equitable Advisors, LLC. Please consult your tax and legal advisors regarding your particular circumstances. Neither Equitable Advisors nor any of the data provided by Equitable Advisors or its content providers, such as Broadridge Advisor Solutions, shall be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for the actions taken in reliance therein. By accessing the Equitable Advisors website, a user agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of the site including not redistributing the information found therein.
Securities offered through Equitable Advisors, LLC (NY, NY 212-314-4600), member FINRA, SIPC. Annuity and insurance products offered through Equitable Network, LLC and its subsidiaries.


text:
NPR's business news starts with a surprising ad campaign from Wal-Mart.
INSKEEP: OK. Charlotte, North Carolina, is the scene of Wal-Mart's latest ad. The commercials here are unusual because they mention a competitor - a small, regional grocery chain - by name.
As Scott Graf of member station WFAE reports, Wal-Mart says it's the first time it's ever done this.
SCOTT GRAF, BYLINE: One of the commercials goes like this:
GRAF: The shopper ends up buying all the same things, and saving about 10 percent over North Carolina-based Harris Teeter. The commercial highlights price differences at the world's largest retailer, compared to those at the 207th largest.
David Livingston is a Wisconsin-based grocery analyst.
DAVID LIVINGSTON: What's someone going to do to fight back? When your prices are 15, 20 percent below your competitor, what can your competitor do at that point - especially in a weaker economy?
GRAF: So what is a small chain like Harris Teeter to do? The company declined to be interviewed. But Jared Hansen, a professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte - who used to work in marketing for Wal-Mart - says chains that have higher prices than Wal-Mart shouldn't concentrate on cost.
JARED HANSEN: Keep focusing on the quality they're offering. The customer service, the cleanliness of its stores, the relationships it has within the community. And that's what's going to keep them going. Because there will always be people who will shop Wal-Mart because of the cost, who will shop Harris Teeter because of the quality.
GRAF: Wal-Mart says it plans more commercials like those in Charlotte, in other markets soon. The company hasn't said where or when those ads will begin.
For NPR News, I'm Scott Graf in Charlotte. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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His lease renewed in trying economic times, President Barack Obama claimed a second term from an incredibly divided electorate and immediately braced for daunting challenges and progress that comes only in fits and starts.
"We have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come," Obama said.
The same voters who gave Obama another four years also elected a divided Congress, re-upping the dynamic that has made it so hard for the president to advance his agenda. Democrats retained control of the Senate; Republicans renewed their majority in the House.
It was a sweet victory for Obama, but nothing like the jubilant celebration of four years earlier, when his hope-and-change election as the nation's first black president captivated the world. This time, Obama ground out his win with a stay-the-course pitch that essentially boiled down to a plea for more time to make things right and a hope that Congress will be more accommodating than in the past.
The vanquished Republican, Mitt Romney, tried to set a more conciliatory tone on the way off the stage.
"At a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering," Romney said after a campaign filled with it. "Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work."
House Speaker John Boehner spoke of a dual mandate, saying, "If there is a mandate, it is a mandate for both parties to find common ground and take steps together to help our economy grow and create jobs."
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell had a more harsh assessment.
"The voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses of the president's first term," McConnell said. "They have simply given him more time to finish the job they asked him to do together" with a balanced Congress.
Obama claimed a commanding electoral mandate — at least 303 electoral votes to 206 for Romney — and had a near-sweep of the nine most hotly contested battleground states.
But the close breakdown in the popular vote showed Americans' differences over how best to meet the nation's challenges. With more than 90 percent of precincts reporting, the popular vote went 50 percent for Obama to 48.4 percent for Romney, the businessman-turned-politician who had argued that Obama had failed to turn around the economy and said it was time for a new approach keyed to lower taxes and a less intrusive government.
Obama's re-election assured certainty on some fronts: His signature health-care overhaul will endure, as will the Wall Street reforms enacted after the economic meltdown. The drawdown of troops in Afghanistan will continue apace. And with an aging Supreme Court, the president is likely to have at least one more nomination to the high court.
The challenges immediately ahead for the 44th president are all too familiar: an economy still baby-stepping its way toward full health, 23 million Americans still out of work or in search of better jobs, civil war in Syria, an ominous standoff over Iran's nuclear program, and more.
Sharp differences with Republicans in Congress on taxes, spending, deficit reduction, immigration and more await.
And even before Obama gets to his second inaugural on Jan. 20, he must grapple with the threatened "fiscal cliff" — a combination of automatic tax increases and steep across-the-board spending cuts that are set to take effect in January if Washington doesn't quickly come up with a workaround budget deal. Economists have warned the economy could tip back into recession absent a deal.
Despite long lines at polls in many places, turnout overall looked to be down from four years ago as the president pieced together a winning coalition of women, young people, minorities and lower-income voters that reflected the country's changing demographics. Obama's superior ground organization in the battleground states was key to his success.
The president's victory speech — he'd written a concession, too, just in case — reflected the realities of the rough road ahead.
"By itself the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won't end all the gridlock, or solve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward," Obama said.
"But that common bond is where we must begin. Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over, and whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you, I have learned from you and you have made me a better president."
The president said he hoped to meet with Romney and discuss how they can work together. They may have battled fiercely, he said, "but it's only because we love this country deeply."
Romney's short concession — with misplaced confidence, he'd only prepared an acceptance speech — was a gracious end note after a grueling campaign.
He wished the president's family well and told subdued supporters in Boston, "I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so Ann and I join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation."
Obama's re-election was a remarkable achievement given that Americans are anything but enthusiastic about the state they're in: Only about 4 in 10 voters thought the economy is getting better, just one quarter thought they're better off financially than four years ago and a little more than half think the country is on the wrong track, exit polls showed.
But even now, four years after George W. Bush left office, voters were more likely to blame Bush than Obama for the fix they're in.
It wasn't just the president and Congress who were on the ballot. Voters around the country considered ballot measures on a number of divisive social issues, with Maine and Maryland becoming the first states to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote while Washington state and Colorado legalized recreational use of marijuana.
From the beginning, Obama had an easier path than Romney to the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. The most expensive campaign in history was narrowly targeted at people in nine battleground states that held the key to victory, and the two sides drenched voters there with more than a million ads, the overwhelming share of them negative.
Obama claimed at least seven of the battleground states, most notably Ohio, the Ground Zero of campaign 2012. He also got Iowa, New Hampshire, Colorado, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin, and he was ahead in Florida. Romney got North Carolina.
Overall, Obama won 25 states and the District of Columbia and was leading in too-close-to-call Florida. Romney won 24 states.
It was a more measured victory than four years ago, when Obama claimed 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173, winning with 53 percent of the popular vote.
Obama was judged by 53 percent of voters to be more in touch with people like them. More good news for him: Six in 10 voters said that taxes should be increased. And nearly half of voters said taxes should be increased on income over $250,000, as Obama has called for.
Obama's list of promises to keep includes many holdovers he was unable to deliver on in his first term: rolling back tax cuts for upper-income people, immigration reform, reducing federal deficits, and more.
A second term is sure to produce turnover in his Cabinet: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has made it clear he wants to leave at the end of Obama's first term but is expected to remain in the post until a successor is confirmed. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival for the presidency four years ago, is ready to leave too. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta isn't expected to stay on.
To the end, the presidential race was a nail-biter. About 1 in 10 voters said they'd only settled on their presidential choice within the last few days or even on Election Day, and they were closely divided between Obama and Romney. Nearly 1 percent of voters went for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, who was on the ballot in 48 states.
In an election offering sharply different views on the role of government, voters ultimately narrowly tilted toward Obama's approach.
"We have seen growth in the economy," said 25-year-old Matt Wieczorek, a registered Republican from Cincinnati who backed the president. "Maybe not as fast as we want it to be, but Obama has made a difference and I don't want to see that growth come to an end."
Notwithstanding his victory, Obama will lead a nation with plenty of people who were ready for a change.
"The last four years have been crap," said 73-year-old Marvin Cleveland, a Romney supporter in Roseville, Minn. "Let's try something else."
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nbenac