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Building on a strong core of faculty with a history of distinguished contributions to African American studies, Princeton University is establishing a new center to serve as a model for teaching and research on race in America.
President Shirley M. Tilghman launched the Center for African American Studies in a statement announcing that historic Stanhope Hall on the University's front campus is being renovated to serve as its home.
Princeton will enhance its curriculum -- particularly at the undergraduate level -- double the size of the faculty in African American studies, and seek funds to endow the new center with the resources necessary to ensure its success, Tilghman said. The expansion is based on recommendations from an Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Future of African American studies at Princeton, which was convened last fall to consider how the University could enhance the excellence of the program and establish it as a national leader in its field.
"Of all the challenges that confront America, none is more profound than the struggle to achieve racial equality and understand the impact of race on the life and institutions of the United States," Tilghman said.
"As a University dedicated to 'the nation's service and the service of all nations,' Princeton must be in a position to contribute to this quest through research that yields valuable insights into the nature of racial identity and social justice, and through education that trains new generations of leaders to solve problems that have persisted too long, both in this country and abroad," she said.
By establishing a center and expanded curriculum for African American studies, Princeton will be able to diffuse the study of race issues throughout its liberal arts education in a manner unique to the field.
Princeton's current Program in African American Studies has offered an interdisciplinary certificate -- similar to a minor at other institutions -- for undergraduates for 37 years, and also offers doctoral students an opportunity to work with faculty in African American studies. Central to discussions about the program's growth was whether it should become a department.
"The committee recommended that we become a center rather than a department because we felt that a center could do everything that departments do and more," said Professor of English Valerie Smith, the director of African American studies. "We wanted to be able to appoint faculty solely in AAS, as a department would be able to do, but we also imagined ourselves having a broad impact on the University curriculum and supporting new African American studies research."
Many institutions have academic departments dedicated to black studies, but philosophy professor K. Anthony Appiah, who chaired the president's advisory committee, said a center will give African American studies at Princeton a greater ability to reach students and faculty in numerous disciplines.
"I believe that if the center functions the way it should, it could have a big impact, not just on graduate and undergraduate education here, but also the shape of the field," said Appiah, the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values.
"What we're bringing together is a combination of things that departments don't usually do," Appiah said. "It's not normal for a department to have general education at the center of its mission, while the idea behind a center is of spokes radiating out to make connections with students studying art, music, history, literature, philosophy, politics, religion and other fields across the departments."
The center will have interdisciplinary reach, while enjoying the new ability to make sole faculty appointments to African American studies, rather than its current reliance on half-time faculty assigned through joint appointments from other departments.
Recruitment efforts will double the number of current, full-time-equivalent faculty positions allocated to African American studies -- from 5 to 11 -- so that with the capacity for joint and sole appointments, the center will have the potential for 11 to 22 faculty working to support more course offerings and, eventually, an opportunity for students to major in African American studies.
Also, a program for visiting research fellows will bring scholars from around the country and around the world, and additional freshman seminars will give undergraduate students an opportunity to study race issues before establishing their majors. An existing interdisciplinary graduate seminar will expand to a year-long course.
"We're building on Princeton's strengths of a core faculty that recognizes that you can't do jazz studies now without taking on board the work of African American cultural studies, and you can't study politics or public policy, or even bioethics, without work that has been done in the areas of race," Appiah said. "We believe that it's important for this field to be very much a presence in the life of most undergraduates."
The time is ripe for the evolution of Princeton's program because the field of black studies is thriving, but finding it difficult to survive in many of the country's institutions, said Eddie Glaude, a member of the advisory committee and an associate professor of religion.
To provide permanent resources for its initiative, Princeton will seek significant support from individuals and institutions that share the University's commitment to the principle that African American studies is central to a liberal arts education.
"This is a moment of profound transition," Glaude said. "As many black studies programs and departments around the country struggle to attract funding from their respective institutions, we are expanding our program to ensure the presence of African American studies in the education of Princeton students."
Public dialogue about the importance of the black experience and culture has reached a new height, and Princeton is in a position to sustain and broaden that dialogue, Glaude said.
"What excites me most is the University's firm commitment to avoid the trap of thinking of African American studies as a place where a select group of students goes to feel good about themselves, but instead to understand it as a viable field of inquiry critical to understanding the American experiment," he said.
Princeton's African American studies program has seen a recent increase in enrollment, attracting 33 certificate students last year, above its average of 20 undergraduates per year since it was founded in 1970.
However, the program has faced challenges in coordinating course offerings with departments to make it easy for students to pursue the certificate. To address these issues, the new center will appoint a director of undergraduate studies who will work with the many departments affiliated with African American studies.
The retooled curriculum will differ from broader programs of ethnic studies or studies of the African Diaspora at some other universities. The certificate program will reorganize itself around three themes: race and ethnicity; African American culture and life; and African Americans and public policy.
The president's advisory committee recommended this focus, noting that, "because of the continuing and evolving centrality of race in American political, economic, social and cultural life, reflection on race and on the distinctive experiences of black people is an indispensable element in a preparation for life in this country."
"This expansion will enable us to appoint faculty in fields where African American studies scholarship has historically been underrepresented at Princeton," said program director Smith, who is also the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature. "Once we have enough faculty to staff a full complement of courses, we will be able to offer a major."
The president's committee proposed a five-year goal for building the faculty and course offerings needed to support a major at Princeton. The formation of the center will be immediate, though African American studies will not relocate to Stanhope Hall until the fall of 2007, after renovations are complete.
"By committing now to the future of this important field, Princeton can not only make it a source of strength on our own campus, but help the field more generally to achieve its highest aspirations," Tilghman said. "That is exactly the sort of leadership initiative that Princeton is almost uniquely capable of undertaking and that can enable us to make a transformative contribution to higher education and the world."
The text of the President's Statement on the Program in African American Studies is available online.
The president's Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Future of African American Studies at Princeton included members from various departments across the University: Smith; Appiah; Glaude; Eduardo Cadava, professor of English; Daniel Rodgers, the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History; Michael Smith, professor of philosophy; Cornel West, the Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion; and Jennifer Widner, professor of politics and international affairs and director of the Bobst Center for Peace and Justice.


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email@example.com • www.californiajobshop.com • cell: 818.633.0783
Dear Mr. Frederik Schulin
We are delighted that Insight Treatment Programs ("you" or "your") has chosen to work with CaliforniaJob Shop to search for the right candidate to fill your open Part-Time Therapist (Pasadena) position. The purpose of this letter is to confirm the terms of California Job Shop's engagement and to provide you with a description of the scope and method of how we are going to help you ("Agreement").
1. California Job Shop Sources Qualified Candidates.
Job Shop's first step upon engagement is to initiate a comprehensive search to locate candidates with qualifications that closely match your requirements. This includes researching appropriate organizations in order to locate individuals who meet your requirements and have demonstrated patterns of accomplishments and success in positions that closely match the one sought to be filled. Prospects will also be identified through our confidential database files and we will utilize industry appropriate advertisements and social media.
The process is designed to yield a number of qualified candidates that can be compared and competitively evaluated in order to determine the best candidates that merit an initial screening interview.
2. California Job Shop Screens Identified Candidates.
Qualified candidates that merit a screening interview will be contacted on a direct inquiry basis. The screening interviews are conducted over the phone or via Facetime, Skype or Zoom. The purpose of these interviews is to obtain a realistic, "real world" understanding of each candidate's accomplishments, capabilities and potential. Candidates are further evaluated to determine any limitations that they might bring to the position.
3. California Job Shop Presents the Best Qualified Candidates to Client.
After California Job Shop identifies and evaluates the best qualified candidate or candidates for the target position, the candidates will be presented to you for consideration. You will receive the name of each candidate, the candidate's resume that was provided to us by the candidate, and other information that we have gathered about the candidate through the identification and screening process. We will also provide suggestions regarding compensation.
4. Client Interviews Chosen Candidates and Decides Whether to Offer Employment.
Job Shop will try to find you the best candidates with regards to their skills, background and personality for the job that you want filled.
It is your responsibility to interview any candidate and decide whether or not you want to hire them. You are also responsible for the additional diligence and investigation that any employer may wish to do before hiring an employee.
Job Shop does not do civil or criminal background checks, skills tests, drug tests, degree verifications, license or certification reviews, nor any other test or screening to verify any candidate's resume, materials or abilities, express or implied. The responsibility for all such verifications rests solely on you, the potential employer.
5. Client Pays California Job Shop Fee.California Job Shop fees are significantly lower than accepted standards for the employee search industry.
If you hire one of the candidates that we present to you at any time up to 12 months after presentation, then you will pay California Job Shop a fee of three week's salary for that candidate, based upon a 40 hour week. (whether the candidate is hired part time or full time.) For example, if you hire the Part-Time Therapist (Pasadena) candidate for a regular hourly rate of $30, then our fee for successfully filling each (1) position will be $3600 ($30*40*3).
We will send you an invoice within 5 business days after learning that you have hired one of the candidates that we present to you, or that the flat fee requirement has been triggered. By engaging Job Shop, you agree to pay our fees in full within 30 days after invoicing. Late fees of 1.5% will be charged on any delayed payments.
You also agree that we have up to 30 days to send you at least four candidates, and that you will pay us a flat fee of $500 if you either cancel our search before the 30 days are up, or if we send you at least four candidates who meet your requirements within 30 days and you reject all of them.
Communication is extremely important to the success of this search. If California Job Shop does not get a response to a business email within 3 business days, we also consider the search a cancelled search and you will be charged the search fee of $500.
6. Additional Terms and Conditions.
Both California Job Shop and you have the right to terminate this agreement at any time, provided, however, that all obligations under this agreement remain except for California Job Shop obligation to provide you with any candidates.
You acknowledge and understand that California Job Shop is not your employee or agent, nor is it the employee or agent of any candidate. California Job Shop is not responsible for any candidate's conduct, both before and after the candidate is interviewed by you and whether or not you decide to hire the candidate.
You release California Job Shop, its members, employees and agents, from any and all liability or claims, known or unknown, whatsoever associated with your interview and employment of any candidate presented to you by Job Shop, and shall indemnify and hold harmless California Job Shop from any and all claims asserted against California Job Shop arising from or related to this Agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if California Job Shop is held liable to you for any reason, the amount of damages to which you are entitled shall not exceed the total amount of fees that you paid to Job Shop for this specific agreement.
We appreciate this opportunity, and look forward to serving you and helping you find the best employees for your success. Your signature below represents and warrants that you are authorized on behalf of your company to enter into this Agreement. Please sign below and return to us via email at your earliest convenience so that we can get started!
California Job Shop, LLC
Estee Cohen, President
Insight Treatment Programs
Mr. Frederik Schulin, Managing Partner
Please sign this document as a confirmation.
Client Information
Signed on Wed Mar 31 2021 21:40:05 GMT-0700 (PDT)
IP Address: 22.214.171.124

subset: commoncrawl


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We are very lucky to have local family who live in an even more idyllic spot than we do and that can accommodate us for Christmas. The fact that the weather on Boxing Day was lovely in the morning meant that a few of us were able to go and work off some of the Christmas excess:
My children had both received Christmas hats too so this was a chance to give an outing to Mr Tiger:
and Miss Bunny (alongside Miss Wolf):
The country lanes were almost deserted and there were just a few puddles to negotiate or circumnavigate. Along the way we acted out the Lord of the Rings and had to sneak past fields of orcs (sheep) and wargs (cows)! It kept the children happy for our little outing.
There were plenty of intriguing footpath signs to follow on day when we all have proper footwear on:
Of course with grown up cousins around my daughter took a chance to take it easy:
She did then help to rescue an exercise ball that had been blown into the beck before it did any harm to the local wildlife:
This little section of footpath was nicely tucked away although the beck itself was close to over flowing after all the rain:
This area used to be a hive of wood turning just like the village of Staveley close by. You can still see the evidence of the mills along the beck:
A great way to clear out the cobwebs and drag the children away from their new toys!


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Make Your Child's Shots Less Stressful
Published 9:18 am Wednesday, December 5, 2012
(NewsUSA) – Vaccines help protect babies and young children against 14 serious diseases. Even though you are keeping her safe from diseases, it's hard to see your child cry when she gets her shots. But you can take some steps before, during and after a vaccine visit to ease the pain and stress of getting shots.
Read about the shots your child will get in advance. Bring your child's vaccine record to show the doctor. Pack a favorite toy, book, blanket or other comfort item. For older children, be honest — shots can pinch or sting, but not for long. Remind them that shots help keep them healthy.
Ask your child's doctor any questions you have about vaccines. You may even want to ask about cooling or numbing the area of your child's arm or leg before the shots.
Distract your child with a toy, a story, a song or something interesting in the room. Make eye contact with your child and smile, talk softly or sing. Hold your child tightly on your lap if you can. Take deep breaths with an older child to help "blow out" the pain.
After the shot, hug, cuddle and praise your child. For babies, swaddling, breastfeeding or a bottle may offer quick relief. Comfort and reassure older children if they cry.
"Read the Vaccine Information Sheets from your doctor so you know what to expect after the shots," said Dr. Melinda Wharton, Deputy Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Some children have pain or swelling where a shot was given, a rash or a fever. These reactions are usually mild and resolve on their own without needing treatment."
If you notice redness, soreness or swelling from the shot, place a clean, cool washcloth on the area. If your child runs a fever, try a cool sponge bath. You can also use a non-aspirin pain reliever if your doctor says it's OK. Some children eat less, sleep more or act fussy for a day after they get shots. Make sure your child gets plenty to drink. If you're worried about anything, call your doctor.
"Shots can be stressful," said Dr. Wharton. "But you can ease your child's discomfort. And keeping your child up to date on vaccines is the best way to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases."
Learn more about childhood vaccines at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents or call 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636).


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Welcome to beyondevery.com. We are a team of enthusiastic developers and entrepreneurs who decided to convert their common experience into this web store. We hope you'll like it as much as we do and have a great shopping experience here. Our prime goal is to create a shop in which you can easily find whatever product you need.
Our team is passionate about making it easier for you to shop online.
We care about your time so we try our best to make your shopping experience pleasant, seamless and hassle-free.
We're committed to offering the lowest prices and also frequent promotions and seasonal sales.
We hope to build relationships with our customers so we'll do everything we can to ensure you're satisfied.
For your convenience we've partnered with several organizations.
Our team is made up of experienced developers, designers and marketers who do their best to create the interface comfortable to use. It is vital for us to make your shopping easy and pleasant.
We're continually working on our online store and are open to any suggestions. If you have any questions or proposals, please do not hesitate to contact us.


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Brentwood Concord Forest Real Estate
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Thinking of buying a property in Brentwood? Our buyer's agents are at-the-ready to assist you. If you're selling a home in the Brentwood, TN area, contact us to speak with one of our Brentwood REALTORS® about listing your home. We will provide current market data, comparison property information, and a highly-tailored marketing plan to make sure you get the best price for your home. The Global Partners Group will put their expertise to work for you in your Brentwood, TN real estate transaction.


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Days after it signaled that an upcoming launch might be delayed, North Korea fired a long-range rocket, heightening regional concerns about its growing ability to threaten its neighbors. North Korean state media said it had launched a weather satellite, and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed that the rocket appeared to have successfully put an object into orbit.
The launch, which allowed Pyongyang to test its ballistic-missile capability in defiance of U.N. restrictions, angered the U.S. and its Northeast Asian allies. The White House called the launch "a highly provocative act that threatens regional security." South Korea Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan called the launch "a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula and around the world," the Yonhap News Agency reported, while Japan called it "intolerable." The U.N. Security Council passed resolutions banning North Korea from such launches after its nuclear tests in 2006 and '09.
(MORE: North Korea Launches a Satellite. Why Now?)
Unlike a similar attempt in April, which exploded shortly into its flight, stages of the Unha 3 rocket launched Wednesday landed in the Yellow Sea, west of the Korean Peninsula, and 300 km east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean, Japanese officials said. That would make it North Korea's most successful missile flight to date, and a worrying sign that it has resolved technical flaws that have plagued earlier launches. "Initial indications are that the missile deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit," NORAD said.
China, North Korea's neighbor and only significant ally, had said it was "concerned" about North Korea's launch plan but refrained from condemning it beforehand, saying it hopes "all parties concerned can exercise calmness." Pyongyang's move comes just one month into China's political transition, with Xi Jinping taking charge as General Secretary of the Communist Party and its military commission. But while the men at the top are changing in Beijing, there are no signs of a tougher stand toward Pyongyang. "I don't see changes in China's North Korea policies," says Linda Jakobson, director of the East Asia program at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Australia. "They will continue to put their own concerns about instability erupting in North Korea before their objective of denuclearization."
In a commentary published shortly after the launch, China's state-run Xinhua news service called for a quick return to the six-party talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The long-dormant meetings between North and South Korea, China, Russia, the U.S. and Japan were last held in 2007. China, which has hosted the talks, has pushed for their continuation, though a 2009 North Korean missile launch and attacks on a South Korean navy ship and the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010 have blocked any resumption. While Wednesday's launch will lead to further pressure on China to corral North Korea, China is unlikely to take any steps that might weaken its neighbor. Instead Beijing will look to the U.S. to compromise, says Fang Xiuyu, a North Korea expert at Fudan University in Shanghai. "The pivotal problem of the North Korean nuclear issue is North Korean–American relations," Fang says. "If there is no improvement in North Korean–American relations, if North Korea's security has no guarantee, neither China nor the U.S. can persuade North Korea to stop."
(MORE: Meet Kim Jong Un)
The launch coincides with events in North Korea marking the first anniversary of the death of leader Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17. It is the most prominent achievement of his youngest son and successor Kim Jong Un, who has reportedly purged several top military officers in an indication of potential challenges to his rule. After eluding his father for more than a decade, the satellite launch should help Kim Jong Un tighten his grip on power and offer a powerful tool for domestic propaganda. "I do see this very much as Kim Jong Un consolidating his position now as the head of the Kim dynasty," Jakobson says.
The Japanese government says the missile flew over Okinawa, an indicator of North Korea's ability to menace even the most distant Japanese islands. "The launch is intolerable to Japan, and the government lodges a strong protest to North Korea," Osamu Fujimura, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, said at a press conference. The launch comes just four days before Japan's general election and a week before South Korea will elect a new President. While the likely impact on voting patterns is unknown, the subject of North Korea's launch will surely dominate the final days of campaigning.
North Korea attempted to launch a satellite in 1998, and while that was widely believed to be a failure, the regime claimed success. A long-range-missile test in 2006 ended with an explosion shortly after liftoff, and a subsequent test in 2009 also ended in failure. While previous launches had been separated by years, the latest attempt comes just eight months after its failed April launch, raising questions of whether its engineers solved the earlier problems.
Pyongyang had initially announced a Dec. 10–22 launch period, but on Monday the government said it was pushing the window back to Dec. 29 after its technicians found a "technical deficiency in the first-stage control engine module." Wednesday's launch within the original timetable came as something of a surprise, then, and displayed again the limits of outsiders to predict the behavior of the isolated regime, even with the aid of satellite imagery of the launch site on North Korea's west coast. "We know very little, if anything, about North Korea," says Jakobson. "This was just one more indication."
— With reporting by Gu Yongqiang / Beijing
MORE: Escape from North Korea: New Book Takes Us Inside a Hermit Kingdom


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Google today announced a new Chromebook from Samsung with refreshed specs and a $249 price point, pitching the computer as an additional laptop for people who do their primary computing on a Windows or Mac computer. Think of it as a computer for your kitchen counter. The new device is the first Chromebook to use an ARM chip rather than an Intel one, which may well prove to be a better fit for what has historically been a niche device.
Google's Chromebook has its fans, and it has seen adoption in school settings, but it hasn't achieved any sort of mass success. But Google has steadily improved both the software and hardware, earlier this year introducing the Aura interface that made viewing multiple windows at the same time possible. A few months later, the company announced software tweaks to the OS and the Chromebox, a desktop running Chrome OS. This time, though, it hopes to move away from the school-and-business market to users who want a simple extension of their home network.
The Samsung-made device is designed to be cheaper, faster, and easier to use than other comparable laptops. The company says the laptop will be much more widely available in brick and mortar stores starting next week (and you'll start seeing jazzy new commercials from its new ad campaign tonight). The new laptop—which SVP of Chrome and Apps Sundar Pichai says will be simply called "the new Samsung Chromebook"—will be available in the US and UK only.
The specs
The $249 device is the first consumer-oriented laptop to ship with the A15 ARM chip from Samsung, the Exynos 5250 or "5 dual" chip. (This was designed to show great performance in smartphones and tablets.) Google went to lengths to differentiate its offering from Windows RT devices. Pinchai speculated that most Windows RT devices will be more expensive than the new Chromebook, while not operating on the newer A15. "Certainly some [Windows Devices] will be on A9," he noted.
The "New Samsung Chromebook" is Wi-Fi-only, weighs 2.5 pounds, and is 0.8 inches thick. The laptop also supports 1080p video at 30 fps for an 11.6" display. Google claims it has 6.5 hours of battery life. While previous Chromebooks have come with built-in 3G connectivity and a limited amount of free access from Verizon Wireless, the low price of the laptop makes the decision to include only Wi-Fi a lot more tolerable.
The computer comes with 16GB of flash storage, 2GB of RAM, and a free 100GB allotment of cloud storage on Google Drive for two years with the purchase of the new Chromebook. Google's Pichai said, "We really want people to rely on keeping their information in Google drive so they have access to their information everywhere," and naturally, extend Google's reach to improve search.
The Chromebook will have a full-size keyboard and trackpad. It also lacks a fan—so it will be nice and quiet. The device comes with one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, and an HDMI port.
The software updates
Google reminded the press that it updates its OS "every six weeks." The newest iteration emphasizes one-click access to Google Play, as well as much-needed one-click access to a Windows or Mac machine (an improvement over previous remote-capabilities that were more difficult to use).
"We've really made it easy for consumers to remote into a Windows or a Mac machine," Pichai said, referring to Chrome OS's remote desktop service. Google also noted it was making integration with Android phones and tablets more seamless, with a single sign-in to access various Android devices from the Chromebook and vice versa. For example, if you look up directions to a restaurant on the Chromebook, Google Now assumes that you're going there and sends a notification to your phone. If you use your Chromebook to wirelessly print a flight boarding pass, Chrome OS can send that boarding pass to your phone.
Offline capabilities are somewhat improved in this version of Chrome OS as well. Any game or movie downloaded from Google Play can be accessed offline, and there's a shortcut to editing and viewing Docs offline (an activity that has previously been slightly more difficult than it should have been). An offline version of Gmail is similarly available with one-click access.
Will it catch on?
Ars was able to play around with the new Chromebook, and it seems snappy and easy to use (look for a longer hands-on in the coming weeks). Samsung's casing does feel about as expensive as you'd imagine for a $249 laptop; the cheap plastic doesn't feel flimsy but it doesn't feel sleek either. The screen also leaves a little to be desired if you're used to an iPad, Kindle Fire, or something in a comparable market and price range.
As the SVP of Chrome and Apps noted, "people who actually live in the cloud have a really good experience." That's pretty consistent with how the Chromebook has always presented itself to its audience. But this time, the more robust offline capabilities and a slicker way to remote into a user's primary desktop(s) will make the pitch for your dollars more respectable.
When asked whether the low-priced laptop can compete against tablets that do essentially the same thing, Pichai said the Chromebook does address a lot of the same needs a tablet does. But "students really need a device with a keyboard." So how well would this laptop fare against a Macbook Air? That's like "taking a Nissan leaf and comparing it to a Tesla Model X," Pichai said.
And, Pichai said, using it should be dead simple for even the least technical people: "You start using the computer, you sign in, [and] there's pretty much nothing else you need to do. The only thing you need to do is charge the battery."


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India has accused Pakistani troops of killing five Indian soldiers after firing across the Line of Control, the de facto border in disputed Kashmir. Pakistan denies any firing from its side, and calls the allegation "baseless."
This latest incident comes amid attempts to renew diplomatic overtures for peace between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
Indian officials say Pakistani soldiers fired into Indian territory overnight, ambushing a patrol of Indian troops.
"The ambush was carried out by approximately 20 heavily armed terrorists along with persons dressed in Pakistan army uniform," Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony said.
Omar Abdullah, the chief minister of the Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, said on the microblogging site Twitter:
Kashmir is the long-disputed territory between India and Pakistan. Thousands of people have been killed in the Indian-administered side of the valley, which has been seething since an armed revolt erupted in 1989 against Indian rule. Pakistani militants believed to be supported by Pakistani intelligence harassed Indian forces there in a policy that was aimed at "bleeding India."
Pakistan's new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, took office expressing the hope of improving relations. Sharif and India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, are due to meet in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September. Sharif has urged India to join Pakistan in cutting defense spending to end an arms race in the region.
The Indo-Pakistan dialogue was all but broken earlier this year over a series of skirmishes that included the beheading in January of an Indian soldier in Kashmir that enraged New Delhi. Then, as now, Pakistan denied any involvement.
A disbelieving Indian Parliament adjourned in an uproar over Tuesday's early morning incident, demanding that the government take firm action.
Antony, the Indian defense minister, told Parliament the government "has lodged a strong protest with the government of Pakistan through diplomatic channels."
He said: "The numbers of infiltration attempts have doubled this year in comparison to the corresponding period [Jan. 1-Aug. 5] of 2012."
This latest incident aggravates tensions that lie just beneath the surface of these two wary neighbors who have fought three wars in the past six decades, and it is expected to sour attempts to normalize relations.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Wing IDE 4.1.7 Released: July 9, 2012
Wingware has released version 4.1.7 of Wing IDE, an integrated development environment designed specifically for the Python programming language.
Wing IDE is a cross-platform Python IDE that provides a professional code editor with vi, emacs, and other key bindings, auto-editing, auto-completion, call tips, refactoring, a powerful graphical debugger, version control, unit testing, search, and many other features.
Changes in Version 4.1.7
- Support for Stackless Python 3.2
- Support for Maya 2013
- Support for Visual Studio 2010 builds of Python 2.6 and 2.7
- Update Python 3.3 support to the beta1 release
- Pretty Print option in Python Shell and Debug Probe
- How-To for using Wing IDE with Pyramid (thanks to Eric Ongerth)
- Improved tab key action in Eclipse key binding
- Several auto-editing improvements
- Improved experimental Turbo completion mode
- Improved heuristic for auto-indent after paste
- Added open-url-from-editor and open-clicked-url-from-editor commands
- Ability to set options sent to Python while debugging
- Toolbar icon for viewing and changing the Python configuration
- Preference to disable editor scrolling past the last line
- Support _thread module under Python 3.x
- About 35 other bug fixes and minor improvements
See the change log for details.
New Features in Version 4
Version 4 adds the following new major features:
- Refactoring -- Rename and move symbols, extract to function or method, or introduce a new variable
- Find Uses -- Find all points of use of a symbol
- Diff/Merge -- Graphical file and repository comparison and merge
- Django Support -- Debug Django templates, run Django unit tests, and more
- matplotlib Support -- Maintains live-updating plots in shell and debugger
- Auto-editing -- Auto-enter closing characters, spacing, invocation args, and more
- Simplified Licensing -- Includes all OSes and adds Support+Upgrades subscriptions
To see some of these features in action, see What's New in Wing IDE 4. See the change log for details. For details on the new licensing see Wing IDE Licensing Changes.
About Wing IDE
Wing IDE is an integrated development environment designed specifically for the Python programming language. It provides powerful editing, testing, and debugging features that help reduce development and debugging time, cut down on coding errors, and make it easier to understand and navigate Python code. Wing IDE can be used to develop Python code for web, GUI, and embedded scripting applications.
Wing IDE is available in three product levels: Wing IDE Professional is the full-featured Python IDE, Wing IDE Personal offers a reduced feature set at a low price, and Wing IDE 101 is a free simplified version designed for teaching beginning programming courses with Python.
Version 4.1 of Wing IDE Professional includes the following major features:
- Professional quality code editor with vi, emacs, and other keyboard personalities
- Code intelligence for Python: Auto-editing, auto-completion, call tips, find uses, goto-definition, error indicators, refactoring, smart indent and rewrapping, and source navigation
- Advanced multi-threaded debugger with graphical UI, command line interaction, conditional breakpoints, data value tooltips over code, watch tool, and externally launched and remote debugging
- Powerful search and replace options including keyboard driven and graphical UIs, multi-file, wild card, and regular expression search and replace
- Version control integration for Subversion, CVS, Bazaar, git, Mercurial, and Perforce
- Integrated unit testing with unittest, nose, and doctest frameworks
- Django support: Debugs Django templates, provides project setup tools, and runs Django unit tests
- Many other features including project manager, bookmarks, code snippets, diff/merge tool, OS command integration, indentation manager, PyLint integration, and perspectives
- Extremely configurable and may be extended with Python scripts
- Extensive product documentation and How-Tos for Django, matplotlib, Plone, wxPython, PyQt, mod_wsgi, Autodesk Maya, and many other frameworks
Please refer to the feature list for a detailed listing of features by product level.
System requirements are Windows 2000 or later, OS X 10.3.9 or later (requires X11 Server), or a recent Linux system (either 32 or 64 bit). Wing IDE supports Python versions 2.0.x through 3.3.x and Stackless Python.
For more information, see the Wing IDE product overview.
Wing IDE Professional and Wing IDE Personal are commercial software and require a license to run. A free trial can be obtained directly from the product when launched.
Wing IDE Pro -- Full-featured product
Wing IDE Personal -- A simplified IDE
Wing IDE 101 -- For teaching with Python
Purchasing and Upgrading
Wing 4.1 requires an upgrade for Wing IDE 2.x and 3.x users at a cost of 1/2 the full product pricing.


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Officials from BP, formerly British Petroleum, will be back in a New Orleans courtroom next week. It's part of a complex federal case that will ultimately determine responsibility in damages for the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. And that's the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. NPR's Debbie Elliott's been following the trial and joins us. Deb, thanks for being with us.
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Glad to be here.
SIMON: Remind us of what's at stake in this phase of the case.
ELLIOTT: You know, this is a civil case. It's a civil trial that's been brought by the U.S. Justice Department and Gulf States, and they're suing BP and the other companies that were involved in the Deep Water Horizon explosion. This is being heard by a judge, not a jury. It will determine ultimately, you know, who is to blame for the accident and how much will be paid in penalties for the spill.
Judge Barbier has already heard testimony after phase one of the trial about a cascade of problems that led up to the April, 2010 well blowout, you know, that exploded the Deep Water Horizon rig, 11 rig workers were killed, and then oil started spewing and unleashed about a three-month gusher in the Gulf of Mexico.
SIMON: And I gather that at the heart of this second phase of the trial is a disagreement between the company and the government about the amount of oil that spilled.
ELLIOTT: Right. This is the phase where Judge Barbier will determine how much oil actually made it into the Gulf of Mexico. The Justice Department estimates that about 4.2 million barrels of oil spewed from the out of control well, but BP thinks it's more like 2.4 million barrels. So that's what Judge Barbier is going to have to figure out, and in pretrial proceedings he has admitted that that's not going to be an easy task.
Scientists differ on even how to go about figuring out how much oil came from such a deep-water well. That has been a source of contention from the beginning. Early days of the spill, BP and the Coast Guard released figures that turned out to be drastically lower than what was actually flowing into the Gulf.
SIMON: And how does the amount of oil that spilled figure into any finding the judge has to make?
ELLIOTT: You know, it's a really critical number because ultimately Judge Barbier is going to determine how much BP and its partners should pay in Clean Water Act fines and other environmental penalties under the Oil Pollution Act and we're talking billions of dollars at stake. BP will be fined based on how much oil escaped the well. That could range from $1100 a barrel up to $4300 a barrel if the judge finds gross negligence.
So when you do that math pretty quickly, you're talking this could be up to $18 billion at stake here. And, because Congress has since passed a law called the Restore Act, the bulk of that money will end up coming back to the five Gulf States to be used for projects that can restore the ecosystem and the economy.
SIMON: Which raises the question, more than three years after the BP spill, how much has the Gulf Coast recovered and what remains to be done?
ELLIOTT: You know, there are still some problems, but in general, looking at the broad five state area, traditional tourism and fishing industries are for the most part back, and you don't have the massive oiling that we saw in the wake of the spill. However, you still have evidence that there is oil in the Gulf. Tar balls tend to show up pretty regularly on beaches along the North Florida shore, they Alabama shore, the Mississippi shore.
And in Louisiana, which was, you know, closest to the spill point, there are still more than 200 miles of shore and wetlands that still have evidence of oil today. This summer, a giant tar mat surfaced just off Louisiana's coast. So there's always this concern that there's oil that remains in the Gulf and that will continue to be a problem as it gets churned up by tropical storms, hurricanes, and it resurfaces and comes back to shore.
The environmental damages assessment is underway. It continues, and that's still a big question mark, you know. Just this week a new study came out showing that there's been a reduction in biodiversity on the sea floor near the site of the BP well, but scientists say they're just beginning to understand what the impact is and it really could take decades to fully understand what happened to the Gulf ecosystem because of this disaster.
SIMON: NPR's Debbie Elliott. Thanks so much.
ELLIOTT: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Quick review – Nokia Wireless Charging Stand
The Nokia Wireless Charging Stand (DT-910) is one of numerous accessories the company has released this year for the Lumia 810/820/822 and 920 series. It's similar to the Wireless Charge Pad that many have received via AT&T (or should) but it does have a few additions too.
The retail price is $69.99 and like all things Nokia these days, it's hard to find. We had one backordered from AT&T for weeks but finally went the eBay route (and saved $10).
The Wireless Charging Stand differs from the Pad in two ways: the device is propped vertically and it features NFC. The vertical position has its obvious benefits, especially if you keep it bedside or on your office desk. Being able to see the display when a call comes in, alarm goes off or a new text message arrives is certainly convenient.
The other is the inclusion of NFC at the base. When you first tap it with your Lumia phone, it will ask to pair it up with an app. This launches the Nokia Accessories under Settings, which then allows you to associate any third-party app with that wireless charge stand. For instance, you could tap it have it launch your favorite weather app or alarm clock.
The feature is not too bad but it's not exactly super fast either. For instance, the Nokia app needs to enumerate all of your installed apps first before giving you a choice. This process took about 2 to 3 minutes and you need to do it each time you want to configure the pairing (luckily that shouldn't be too often). Also, once you tap to launch, you still need to tap the screen and approve the app launch. In that sense, we're not sure how much more convenient it is as opposed to just tapping the Tile (assuming you have that app pinned).
Still, NFC can have its advantages and there is a certain neat factor in being able to launch an app this way. And let's not forget, the main function here is to charge the phone while having the display being visible and there the DT-910 does well. One complaint though would be the inability to charge the phone in a horizontal position, something that you might want to do if you put on Netflix. It's an odd omission and we assume it has to do with the hardware configuration and limitations. Be forewarned though if that is what you had planned on using it for.
So is it worth the $70? It is pricey but the build quality and cool factor are both high with this accessory. We prefer the vertical orientation to the flat one of the Wireless Charge Pad as it makes the 920 look like a trophy phone. The white stand against our white phone really looks good together, making it seem more art than technology. So in that sense, yes, we recommend the Stand if your wallet agrees.
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The stand comes in black or glossy white and can be found through various retailers for $69.99. Make sure to watch the video review for our 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.


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DETROIT (AP) — It's not quite boom times for the U.S. auto industry. But it's getting there.
Sales of new cars and trucks are likely to reach 14.5 million for 2012. And if they climb much beyond that, they'll be closing in on a high set in 2005.
Cheap loans, a host of new cars and greater confidence in the economy are drawing buyers into showrooms. Plus, Americans who hung on to aging cars during the recession are ready to trade them in.
Here are the highlights and lowlights of 2012, and what's coming from the industry in 2013:
Volkswagen saw a 35-percent jump in sales in 2012, one of the biggest increases in the industry. The new Passat midsize car was the driver, with sales up 413 percent over 2011. Chrysler's sales jumped 21 percent thanks to strong sales of the Dodge Caravan minivan and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.
Both General Motors and Ford gained sales in 2011 when the earthquake hurt their Japanese competitors. But the Japanese snatched those sales back in 2012, and GM and Ford lagged behind the industry. GM saw a 4 percent sales increase for the year, hurt by weak truck and Cadillac sales. Ford's sales were up 5 percent after new versions of some of its biggest sellers — the Ford Escape SUV and Fusion sedan — had to be recalled for safety problems. But they still had plenty of bright spots. Car and SUV sales were solid. New models like the Ford C-Max hybrid and the Buick Verano small car were well received.
Those who wrote off Japanese carmakers after Toyota's recalls in 2010 and earthquake-related car shortages in 2011 were wrong. Japanese companies, who struggled after the earthquake, got their U.S. supplies back to normal in the first few months of 2012 and never looked back. Toyota's U.S. sales rose 28 percent and the Camry sedan had its best year since 2008. Honda's sales rose 24 percent.
The Chevrolet Sonic, GM's first really competitive small car, quickly became the best-selling subcompact in the U.S. last year. Sales hit 81,247. Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle surged 400 percent to 28,654 after a more aggressive, masculine design hit showrooms. The latest version of the Honda CR-V, a favorite family hauler, set an annual sales record of 281,652. The Toyota Prius jumped 73 percent to 236,659 thanks to new wagon, subcompact and plug-in versions.
The new Dodge Dart, a compact that was rolled out with much fanfare last summer, didn't start gaining momentum until the end of the year. December sales were 6,105, or more than double those in August, but still just a fraction of competitors like the Chevrolet Cruze. Sales of the new Chevrolet Malibu were up just 3 percent in 2012. The new Nissan Altima, which has a more dramatic design and a host of advanced features like a lane departure warning system, has struggled in a crowded market. Altima sales were flat or down for three of the last four months of 2012.
Small cars were big sellers as gas reached $3.60 per gallon, which AAA said was the most expensive annual average on record. The Ford Focus compact jumped more than 40 percent and outsold Ford's midsize Fusion. Honda Civic sales jumped 44 percent and nearly outsold the Accord. Sales of the Fiat 500 mini car more than doubled.
After four years of lackluster sales, big pickups started to gain traction late in the year. Home construction began to recover. That directly affects pickup sales because builders feel more confident and replace old trucks. Those trucks needed replacing; the average U.S. pickup is more than 11 years old. Sales of Ford's F-Series rose 10 percent for the year. Chrysler Ram sales rose 20 percent, and the Toyota Tundra was up 23 percent. Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for the TrueCar.com auto pricing site, said businesses buy trucks when they see new ones on the road.
"When a couple of businesses buy, other businesses see this as a 'go' sign," he said.
Electric cars continued to struggle because of high price tags and worries about a lack of places to charge up batteries. GM cut production of the Chevrolet Volt in the spring and later began offering big discounts to juice sales. The Volt ended 2012 with total sales of 23,461, which was triple its sales in 2011. But the electric Nissan Leaf was up just 1.5 percent to 9,819, far short of Nissan's goal of selling 20,000 Leafs in the U.S. in 2012.
Carmakers don't expect the tax increase on people making more than $400,000 a year to impact sales. Ford's chief economist says only 2 percent of new-vehicle buyers are in the top tax bracket. Audi of America President Scott Keogh says the increase won't cut disposable income enough to hurt luxury sales. He says the average income of an Audi buyer is about $191,000, not in the status-conscious top tax bracket. "We are not what I would call a frivolous, over-the-top vanity purchase," he said.
GM and Ford investors had a happy finish to 2012. Ford's stock price is trading at more than $13, up 22 percent over the past year. It has climbed steadily since October, when the company announced an overhaul of its struggling European operations. GM's stock price has jumped 42 percent in the past year and is now nearly $30. The carmaker turned a strong profit over the summer. It also restructured in Europe and has started buying back the government's stake in the company.
There's cause for optimism this year because of employment, housing and consumer confidence gains, said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends for the TrueCar.com auto pricing site. Interest rates remain low. Fierce competition is holding car prices in check. And many people simply need to replace their cars, whether they were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy or because they're just getting too old. Toprak predicts that Americans will buy a million more cars this year than they did in 2012. Ford thinks sales could reach 16 million. The most recent high set in 2005 was nearly 17 million.


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3 Reasons Chocolate Is Healthier Than You Think and You Should Eat More of It
Can eating more chocolate actually be a smart, healthy decision? Yes, it can, despite everything your parents used to say.
(We'll give you a minute to run out and pick up a Snickers.)
Wait, put that candy bar down! We didn't mean all chocolate-related goods are now good for you. But there are plenty of reasons to add a bit more of the glorious brown stuff to your diet—you just need to know how to do it right.
Dr. David Katz, author of 'Disease-Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well,' spoke with Will Clower, author of 'Eat Chocolate, Lose Weight: New Science Proves You Should Eat Chocolate Every Day' about the not-so-well-known health benefits of chocolate. Here are a few key points:
1. Dark Chocolate Is Good for Your Heart and Your Brain
Eating chocolate just makes you feel better—that's actually true, when you do it right. Chocolate comes naturally with healthy components like cocoa butter and fiber, plus it has lots of great protein. As Dr. Clower says, "All of the health benefits for your heart and for your muscles and for your basal metabolic rate, all that comes from the cocoa itself."
Eat chocolate, feel better, get healthier? That's right.
2. But Candy Bars Are Still a Bad Choice
Sorry, but things like nougat and caramel—in other words, most of what comprises a Snickers or a Milky Way—are not at all healthy. "If you've got nougat and caramel and wafer, all that stuff is terrible for you, when in fact the good chocolate is the solid dark chocolate," Dr. Clower says.
So just stick with the solid chocolate, okay? Is that really too much to ask?
3. Eating Chocolate Can Keep Your Weight Down
Now this sounds totally counterintuitive, but it's true. The way chocolate interacts with your digestive system actually leads to a lower appetite. Just listen to Dr. Clower:
The cocoa butter and the fiber and the protein that just comes naturally in chocolate helps to slow the rate that your stomach empties into your small intestine which helps to slow the rate the blood sugar is absorbed into your system—so that you're not hungry. Because of that physiological response people end up controlling consumption by adding that chocolate.
See? It's just science.


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Preventing Frozen Pipes (and What to Do if Your Pipes Are Frozen)
How Cold Does it Have to Be for Pipes to Freeze?
In early December, the temperature in Jacksonville, Fla., hit a record low of 21 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly the temperature that should start to cause concerns about frozen pipes. On the same day in Minneapolis, the low was 8 degrees.
Still, frozen pipes may have been a bigger concern in Jacksonville, where homeowners are less prepared and homes are less likely to be adequately designed for freezing temperatures. Exposed pipes are most vulnerable to freezing. Pipes near exterior walls or in poorly insulated crawl spaces, basements and attics are also likely to freeze.
The Building Research Council at the University of Illinois determined that uninsulated pipes in an unconditioned attic are likely to start freezing at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but drafty gaps and cracks can lead to frozen pipes at higher temperatures. The wind chill effects that make temperatures feel colder also contribute to freezing pipes, according to University of Illinois researchers.
It takes a few simple upgrades and some common sense to keep pipes from bursting and causing expensive headaches, particularly in climates where freezing temperatures are rare but possible. To help prevent burst pipes, drain or insulate plumbing, reduce water pressure and minimize exposure to the elements. Carefully thaw frozen pipes, and be prepared so you can minimize damage if frozen pipes burst.
Drain Exterior Pipes
- In any area subject to even occasional freezing temperatures, swimming pools and sprinkler lines should be drained before the first freeze. Don't put antifreeze in the lines, as antifreeze is toxic and environmentally damaging.
- Detach outside hoses and close inside valves to the exposed hose bib, then open the hose bib to let any remaining water drain.
- If you are leaving for an extended period during the winter, consider draining the entire water system for your house. Shut off the water main, then open all taps and fixtures until the water drains out of the system.
Insulate Interior Pipes
- The best way to protect other vulnerable pipes is with insulation. Caulk and seal any gaps and cracks in the house, and add insulation to crawl spaces, attics and other areas that may lack insulation.
- You can also insulate pipes with thick pipe sleeves, available at plumbing supply stores and specialty insulation suppliers. Heat tape and heat cable is also available.
- For a cheap, temporary insulation fix to protect against a once-a-year freeze, tape some newspaper around the pipes.
Keep Pipes Warm
Interior pipes are often overlooked, but the pipes to your kitchen sink are likely among the most vulnerable, as they are closest to an exposed exterior wall. Keep cabinet doors open during cold snaps to avoid freezing these pipes.
If you are going to be away during a cold snap, you might be tempted to turn off the heat to save some money on utility bills. However, the plumbing bill after a frozen pipe will more than offset any potential savings. Instead, turn down the heat to save some energy but leave it above 55 degrees.
Consider asking a neighbor to check on your house regularly while you are away to make sure the power or fuel supply didn't shut off and leave your house vulnerable to freezing.
Reduce Pressure in Pipes
Frozen pipes typically burst because excessive water pressure builds up between the faucet and a chunk of ice in the pipe. A slow drip will relieve this pressure.
- Let water drip from faucets with exposed pipes, such as the kitchen sink. A slow drip won't necessarily keep a pipe from freezing, but it could keep a frozen pipe from bursting. Again, this wastes a little bit of water (and energy, in the case of hot water lines), but the added cost is far less than the potential plumbing bill. Remember, you can capture and use the dripping water.
Thawing Frozen Pipes
- Step 1: Check and turn off the water main: Before the temperatures drop, find your water main and learn how to shut if off. If you turn on a faucet and there is no water, you may have a burst water main. In that case, shut off the main and call a plumber. Then start investigating the plumbing for cracked pipes and pooled water.
- Step 2: Find the problem spot: If you get a trickle of water, the pipe is likely frozen. Leave the tap on and try to thaw the pipe, starting near the faucet. If you leave the tap on, flowing water will help thaw the blockage, and is a good indicator you found the problem spot.
- Step 3: Thaw it out: You can thaw pipes with an electric heating pad, hot soaked towels or an electric hair dryer. Never use an open flame, as you are liable to damage the pipes, start a fire or generate dangerous carbon monoxide poisoning.
Remember that water only has to freeze once to burst a pipe. In any area subject to even occasional freezing temperatures, protect pipes from freezing, minimize pressure in cold pipes and thaw frozen pipes before they burst.
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To the many and varied OSR publishers, I offer one comment. As Grognardia marks its fourth anniversary in 2012, the OSR has re-published a plethora of variants on the core D&D concepts. The target customer is offered no shortage of retro-clones, adventures centered on goblin raiders, excursions into the underdeep, and genre-based campaign settings. I started work on the volume you hold in your hand because I believe the time has come to break the chains of D&D convention and step back one era further, to the original inspiration of Appendix N, beyond the confines of genre assumptions. DCC RPG offers a free license to third party publishers who wish to publish compatible material. Even if you choose not to take advantage of this license, I ask you to consider moving past the boundaries of "TSR mimicry." The time has come to offer our shared customer something both new and old-school.What Joseph Goodman says above is a sentiment I regularly hear in various quarters. I don't exactly disagree with what he says, but I do think, based on experience, that it's a little naive. Firstly, here's an awful truth RPG designers don't want to hear: a significant majority of gamers only care about D&D. It was the first RPG and, nearly 40 years later, it's still the most popular (I consider Pathfinder to be D&D for the purposes of this discussion). Whether they play LBB-only OD&D or multi-splatbook, computer-assisted 4e, D&D -- and, more importantly, its broad conventions -- is what people think of when they think of "roleplaying games." Heck, that's as true of video games as it is of tabletop ones, so I don't expect there's a huge demand for games that challenge the prevailing paradigm. That's not to say no one wants something different; I simply don't think there's anything wrong with sticking with and preferring an approach that's deeply, deeply ingrained in the hobby.
Secondly, I think people misunderstand nostalgia. These people throw the term around dismissively -- "Oh, you only like that out of nostalgia." Now, even if that criticism were true, so what? People can and do like things for all kinds of reasons. Ultimately, all that matters is that they like them. If someone likes D&D and its conventions (or anything else) because it reminds him of early days in the hobby, what's so wrong with that? Underlying the critique of nostalgia is the notion that we should only like things for "serious" reasons, which is to say, reasons that others can not only understand but agree with. It's an odd criticism in my opinion, since I suspect most of us like all sorts of things for no reason other than that we like them. When I say I like the taste of a certain food or the way a certain piece of music makes me feel, I have no expectation that anyone else will agree with me. At the same time, I'm not deluded in using words such as "like" or "feel" to describe what I'm experiencing.
Thirdly, and lastly, I think the word "new" gets overused, mostly by the jaded. By that I mean that the cry for "the new" is often a function of what one has experienced. Sure, for many gamers who've been playing for three decades, "goblin raiders" or "excursions into the underdeep" may be old hat, but not everyone has been playing for that long. For a lot of younger and/or less experienced folks, The Keep on the Borderlands or The Village of Hommlet is new. And, for us older and more experienced players, seeing a new spin on these old adventures can be just as fun. This isn't intended as a rebuke to anyone seeking something different, but I do think the cult of the new is frequently selfish and myopic.
I suspect this post has gotten a bit away from me. I really appreciate what Joseph Goodman did with DCC RPG. I think it's a fantastic game and a big part of its fantastic-ness is that he made a game that appealed to him. That's why I find the paragraph I quoted above a little grating. I'm sure there are some folks involved in the OSR who've written stuff not out of personal interest but because they thought it's what others wanted them to write, but their numbers are probably very, very small. There's not enough fame or fortune in this to not follow your heart and do what it commands of you. My advice to anyone who feels that there's "too much" of X and "too little" of Y in the OSR is to go ahead and make it themselves. That's why Joseph Goodman did, to great success, and that's what nearly everyone else in this corner of the hobby is doing, so why not you too?


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Bowel incontinence is the loss of bowel control, leading to an involuntary passage of stool. This can range from occasionally leaking a small amount of stool and passing gas, to completely losing control of bowel movements.
Urinary incontinence, a separate topic, is the inability to control the passage of urine.
Among people over age 65, most surveys find that women experience bowel incontinence more often than men. One to three out of every 1,000 women report a loss of bowel control at least once per month.
To hold stool and maintain continence, the rectum, anus, pelvic muscles, and nervous system must function normally. You must also have the physical and mental ability to recognize and respond to the urge to have a bowel movement.
Incontinence is not a hopeless situation. Proper treatment can help most people, and can often eliminate the problem.
Treating bowel incontinence should begin by identifying the cause of the incontinence. There are several ways to strengthen the anal and pelvic muscles and promote normal bowel function.
Fecal impaction is usually caused by chronic constipation. It leads to a mass of stool that partially blocks the large intestine. If constipation or fecal impaction contributes to fecal incontinence, usually laxatives and enemas are of little help. A health care provider may need to insert one or two fingers into the rectum and break the mass into smaller pieces that can pass more easily.
Take measures to prevent further fecal impaction. Add fiber to your diet to help form normal stool. Use other medications your health care provider recommends. In addition, drink enough fluids and get enough exercise to enhance normal stool consistency.
Bowel incontinence often occurs because the rectal sphincter is less able to handle large amounts of liquid stool. Often, simply changing the diet may reduce the occurrence of bowel incontinence.
Take alcohol and caffeine out of your diet, because they may cause diarrhea and incontinence in some people. Certain people develop diarrhea after eating dairy foods because they are unable to digest lactose, a sugar found in most dairy products. Some food additives such as nutmeg and sorbitol may cause diarrhea in certain people.
Adding bulk to the diet may thicken loose stool and decrease its amount. Increasing fiber (30 grams daily) from whole-wheat grains and bran adds bulk to the diet. Psyllium-containing products such as Metamucil can also add bulk to the stools.
Formula tube feedings often cause diarrhea and bowel incontinence. For diarrhea or bowel incontinence caused by tube feedings, talk to your health care provider or dietitian. The rate of the feedings may need to be changed, or bulk agents may need to be added to the formula.
In people with bowel incontinence due to diarrhea, medications such as loperamide (Imodium) may be used to control the diarrhea and improve bowel incontinence.
Other antidiarrheal medications include anti-cholinergic medications (belladonna or atropine), which reduce intestinal secretions and movement of the bowel. Opium derivatives (paregoric or codeine) or diphenoxylate (lomotil), as well as loperamide (Imodium) increase intestinal tone and decrease movement of the bowel.
Other medications used to control bowel incontinence include drugs that reduce water content in the stools (activated charcoal or Kaopectate) or that absorb fluid and add bulk to the stools (Metamucil).
With your health care provider, review all the medications you take. Certain medications can cause or increase bowel incontinence, especially in older people. These medications include:
If you often have bowel incontinence, you can use special fecal collection devices to contain the stool and protect your skin from breakdown. These devices consist of a drainable pouch attached to an adhesive wafer. The wafer has a hole cut through the center, which fits over the opening to the anus.
Most people who have bowel incontinence due to a lack of sphincter control, or decreased awareness of the urge to defecate, may benefit from a bowel retraining program and exercise therapies to help restore normal muscle tone.
Special care must be taken to maintain bowel control in people who have a decreased ability to recognize the urge to defecate, or who have impaired mobility that prevents them from independently and safely using the toilet. Such people should be assisted to use the toilet after meals, and promptly helped to the toilet if they have the urge to defecate.
If toileting needs are often unanswered, a pattern of negative reinforcement may develop. In this case people no longer take the correct actions when they feel the urge to have a bowel movement
See also: Toileting safety
People who have bowel incontinence that continues even with medical treatment may benefit from surgery to correct the problem. Several different options exist. The choice of surgery is based on the cause of the bowel incontinence and the person's general health.
Sphincter repair is performed on people whose anal muscle ring (sphincter) isn't working well due to injury or aging. The procedure consists of re-attaching the anal muscles to tighten the sphincter and helping the anus close more completely.
In people who have a loss of nerve function in the anal sphincter, gracilis muscle transplants may be performed to restore bowel control. The gracilis muscle is taken from the inner thigh. It is put around the sphincter to provide sphincter muscle tone.
Some patients may be treated with an artificial bowel sphincter. The artificial sphincter consists of three parts: a cuff that fits around the anus, a pressure-regulating balloon, and a pump that inflates the cuff.
The artificial sphincter is surgically implanted around the rectal sphincter. The cuff remains inflated to maintain continence. You have a bowel movement by deflating the cuff. The cuff will automatically re-inflate in 10 minutes.
Sometimes a fecal diversion is performed for people who are not helped by other therapies. The large intestine is attached to an opening in the abdominal wall called a colostomy. Stool passes through this opening to a special bag. You will need to use a colostomy bag to collect the stool most of the time.
Report any problems with incontinence to your health care provider. Call your health care provider if:
The health care provider will perform a physical examination, focusing on the stomach area and rectum. A finger exam of the rectum and anus will be performed. The health care provider will insert a lubricated finger into the rectum to evaluate sphincter tone, anal reflexes, and to check for any abnormalities of the rectal area.
The health care provider may ask the following medical history questions:
Diagnostic tests may include:
Uncontrollable passage of feces; Loss of bowel control; Fecal incontinence; Incontinence - bowel
Nelson H. Diseases of the rectum and anus. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 148.
Rao SSC. Fecal incontinence. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 17.
Reviewed by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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