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The two-year period marking the Grateful Dead Vault's transition from the band's hands to Rhino when no archival releases came out seems like a distant memory now as the record company continues to put out new titles at a staggering rate. This week comes word that Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 1 features three discs worth of music from the Primal Dead era, while a two-pack of Garcia Estate approved releases contains the Complete Repertoire of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band.
Back on May 23 – 25, 1969, the members of the Grateful Dead made their way down to South Floria for the Big Rock Pow Wow festival at the Seminole Indian Reservation in Hollywood. Road Trips Vol. 4 No. 1 contains the Dead's complete sets at the festie as recorded by legendary sound man Bear. We're talking the Live Dead sequence (Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Lovelight) in all its glory plus some of the best material from those days including the gorgeous He Was a Friend of Mine, a rippin' Doin' That Rag and a Morning Dew for the ages. You can listen to that Morning Dew here and pre-order Road Trips here.
On the Garcia end of things we have two releases that feature the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band – a short-lived ensemble that performed 30 shows from 1987 to 1988 including a run on Broadway opening for the electric JGB. Almost Acoustic was put out in 1988 but has been hard to find in recent years. A new re-issue has been lovingly remastered. As a companion, the long planned but never released Ragged But Right contains the rest of the band's repertoire that didn't make it on Almost Acoustic taken from the Broadway run and six-show California tour. Each release is available individually or together as a bundle along with a 3,000 word essay on the JGAB by Steve Silberman. You can check 'em out here.


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Social security recipients get their cost-of-living increase
President Reagan signed legislation Tuesday ensuring a cost-of-living increase for 36.1 million social security beneficiaries whose increases once appeared threatened by the low rate of inflation.
He also signed into law legislation setting aside as wilderness areas more than 1 million acres of federal land in six states. The states involved are Wyoming, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

subset: commoncrawl


text: Hey guys, I've been working with Photoshop for a long time and I think I need to expand my learning curve and dip my feet in the programming section. What should I learn first? and why? also, how long will it take for me to that programming language fluently? I kinda wanna go make some bots or go more on web design. But I just need some good ideas from the experienced. Hope to get some good suggestion. Thanks


text:
Skip to Main Content
Find a park
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Volunteer Program
Volunteer Program
Do you love your Washington state parks?
Would you like to volunteer in a state park and play a role in keeping parks open, clean and green? We have many short- and long-term volunteer opportunities, such as:
Interpreting natural and cultural resources
Maintaining trails
Making minor repairs
Mowing lawns
Organizing events
Performing office duties
Picking up litter
Researching park histories
Restoring habitats and waterways
Spiffing up park grounds
Trimming and pruning trees and shrubs
And much, much more!
State Parks volunteers play a vital role in sustaining the treasures that are Washington state parks, providing more than 250,000 hours of service each year.
Anyone can be a Washington State Parks volunteer, including:
Individuals, couples
Groups (families, school groups, citizen groups, service organizations and corporations.
Volunteering has its rewards: earn a Discover Pass!
Hours spent on certain volunteer projects can qualify volunteers for a complimentary Discover Pass.
Learn more
Volunteer opportunities
Find out about volunteer work parties, training and more on our
calendar of events
. Enter "volunteer" in the search area.
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For more information, including park contact information for volunteering, check out the
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text:
Green Facility and Practices
Upon opening our doors in 2004, we have been actively engaged in working to reduce our environmental footprint, both locally and globally. As a result, AMVS is the first PACE-certified veterinary hospital in the state of Colorado.
Dedication to providing the highest quality of care to patients and clients is the top priority of every veterinary practice. Living up to this commitment requires specific resources like disposable medical supplies, powerful medical equipment, and industrial strength kennel and facility cleaning products.
Access to these resources can make for a fully operational and successful clinic, but it can also make for a highly wasteful and polluting facility. In the medical world, taking care of patients while being environmentally friendly can be difficult. But here at Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists, we have made the commitment to provide the highest level of care while being "green."
We have received consultation from Partners for a Clean Environment (PACE) a voluntary, non-regulatory program which offers free pollution prevention education and technical assistance to Boulder County businesses.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
AMVS is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified status. Once certified, AMVS will be the first veterinary clinic in the country operating in a LEED certified building.
Our hope is that other veterinary organizations can see what we have accomplished and know that it is possible to provide the best care for both their patients and the environment.
Key Steps and Practices for Greening our Facility:
- Building plans include green architecture and construction.
- Owner,Dr. Matt Rooney, is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification status. Once attained, AMVS will be the first LEED-certified clinic in the country.
- The building is 8,400 square feet.
- The building has five exam rooms, a physical therapy suite, a radiology suite, intensive care unit, procedure room, isolation ward, and two operating rooms, providing the same equipment and abilities as the local human hospital.
- What's green about this building?
- Architectural
- Designated parking for low emissions and hybrid vehicles.
- Painting existing roof elements white and providing reflective white membrane to deflect heat.
- Recycling areas throughout.
- Composting on site.
- All recycled concrete.
- Re-use of doors, frames, storefront, drinking fountains, windows, walls, and roof.
- Sustainable "teaching" signs.
- Recycled content carpet, ceramic flooring, laminates, solid surface counter tops
- FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) wood doors.
- Low emitting materials (low VOC) such as paint, carpet, sealants and adhesives used exclusively.
- Electrical
- Energy efficiency lighting and day lighting.
- Fluorescent light fixtures equipped with high performance T-8 lighting system.
- Fixtures will turn off if ample amount of daylight is in the interior spaces.
- Timers, dimmers, double switched lighting, motion sensors.
- Green power
- 100 percent of total energy use created by 100 percent wind power through Community Wind Energy.
- Light pollution reduction
- All outdoor light fixtures designed so there is no light going up into the sky or off of the property.
- Does not intrude into nocturnal life habitats.
- Designed with the capacity to generate some of its own electricity in the future.
- Energy efficiency lighting and day lighting.
- Mechanical/plumbing
- Refrigerant management – new equipment utilizes environmentally-friendly refrigerants and techniques.
- Outdoor air delivery monitoring with carbon dioxide sensors.
- Highly efficient HVAC with energy recuperation system that draws out the energy in the old air [hot or cold] and uses it to heat or cool the new air coming in.
- 30 percent increase in ventilation above ASHRA requirements with carbon dioxide censors.
- Thermal comfort design.
- Low-flow fixtures and dual flush toilets.
- Other green design features
- Site is within ½ block of at least two public transportation bus lines, a key site selection criteria.
- Bike racks, showers, and lockers to allow employees to bike to work or work out while on break.
- Architectural
- For several years, the AMVS (formerly part of Flatiron Veterinary Specialists) has partnered with Eco-Cycle of Boulder County and Eco-Products to work towards being a zero-waste business. Even before moving to its planned LEED certified building, AMVS has already been doing everything it can to reduce its environmental impact: using recycled and biodegradable products (i.e. compostable plates, silverware, paper towel, and cups); recycling, composting and reusing our waste (i.e. even hard to recycle materials like the plastic syringe cases); and conserving energy and increasing energy efficiency.
- AMVS is a Partner for a Clean Environment (PACE) certified organization, which is a voluntary program that recognizes leaders in the business community who are setting the standard for environmental sustainability. Certification criteria are based upon the following categories: Culture of Sustainability, Energy Efficiency, Water Conservation, Resource Management, and Transportation.
To learn more about how you can make your clinic greener or to find out more about Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists, please email or call 303-678-8844 and ask for owner, Dr. Matt Rooney.
Links to any media featuring our greenness:
Powerpoint presentations by Matt Rooney:
Energy Partners


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The Mühlesteg Footbridge in the center of Zurich has always been a favorite spot for lovers. The small and noticeably very calm bridge is filled with Love Padlocks right over the Limmat, Zurichs main River. Stumbling upon the bridge on my way to meet a friend for Coffee i took some pictures wearing Elisabetta Franchi ripped jeans, a local design Shirt from Malaysia with a beautiful Butterfly print. Those Earrings are truly one of my favorites and I have been wearing them a lot lately.
Earrings: Cream Boutique by Zeina Abillama
Bag: Chanel
Shoes: Zele (Lebanese Local Designer)
Sunglasses: Boss Orange
Bracelet: Hermes
Jeans: Elisabetta Franchi


text:
People I Know (May 8/03)
Though People I Know is a fairly lousy movie, Al Pacino should nevertheless be commended for refusing to go the Robert DeNiro route with his career. Rather than take the easy way out and appear in a variety of disposable comedies, Pacino continually seeks out actual characters to play - rather than the caricatures DeNiro seems to specialize in.
In People I Know, Pacino plays Eli Wurman - a New York City based publicist whose best days are behind him. In an opening credits montage, we see Eli hanging out with dozens of well-known figures; nowadays, his only client is a sleazy actor named Cary (Ryan O'Neal). Through the course of one particularly tumultuous night, Eli winds up escorting one of Cary's latest flings (played by Tea Leoni) around town. After an excursion into an opium den, the two crash at her hotel - where she is seemingly murdered by an unknown assailant. Eli doesn't remember a thing the following day, and begins to put the pieces together while coordinating a benefit dinner for a group of jailed Nigerians.
There's not much of interest in People I Know, starting with Pacino's character. Though the actor does a good job of portraying Eli's addiction to various pills and ceaseless confusion, the character never becomes someone the audience cares about in the least - mostly because we're never given a reason to. There's no doubt that Eli is likely an accurate representation of a man whose glory days are firmly behind him, but that doesn't mean that he's a character worth following for 90+ minutes. It certainly doesn't help that Eli spends the majority of the film in a groggy stupor, preventing us from ever sympathizing with the man.
The look of the film isn't much better, as it presents a view of New York City that's dark and grungy. The initial trip through the opium den is an incredibly disorienting experience, and not in a good way. Like the jaunt into a bordello in last year's Roger Dodger, the film mistakes darkness for realism - but there's a crucial difference between the two. Aside from that brief sequence, director Dan Algrant keeps the majority of People I Know shrouded in murky grime - whether this was for aesthetic reasons or a necessity due to the low budget, it's hard to tell. But either way, it ensures that the film is incredibly unpleasant on a purely visceral level.
Add to those failings a silly half-baked conspiracy plot involving a cabal of rich businessmen, and you've got a film that's ill-conceived on so many levels. Simone features Pacino playing a similar character, but it's far more successful and entertaining; skip People I Know and rent that.
out of


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Membership Information
RPSEA is a new model for a public/private partnership that has never existed at this scale in the natural gas and oil industry and resembles the model recommended by the 1999 National Petroleum Council (NPC) study. Using a collaborative approach with industry, academia and government to advance technology, RPSEA's membership includes corporations, service companies, producers, research organizations, universities, national laboratories, financial entities, nonprofits and consumer and civic organizations from all levels and sectors of both the oil and gas E&P and R&D communities. The model, uniquely developed for the natural gas and oil sector, seeks to replicate the success of other models developed for other public and private sectors such as the National Aeronautical Space Administration and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which employed flexible, innovative and relevant methods to achieve their objectives by matching capabilities with needs and goals. This "network of networks" avoids reinventing the wheel by utilizing and leveraging the robust individual capabilities of the network components. Moreover, member company volunteers are subject matter experts in their lines of work, who routinely collaborate to solve problems and fill the most important technology needs. This breadth of membership helps ensure that consortium-administered R&D funds are directed towards key problems in ways that leverage existing industry efforts. Membership has more than doubled since the inception of the Program in January 2007. These members represent 26 states, the District of Columbia and Provinces of Canada. These members collectively have more than 650,000 employees worldwide and represent approximately 55 percent of U.S. natural gas and oil production. Thirty-five percent of RPSEA membership is U.S. small businesses.
Participation in RPSEA is open to all organizations resident or incorporated within the United States, Mexico and Canada and that are actively engaged in the energy industry or energy-related research.
- Commercial energy companies, regardless of size, engaged in the business of energy exploration, production, field operations and/or transportation, and/or in the business of energy technology research, development, deployment or commercialization;
- National laboratories/Federally Funded Research Development Centers;
- Academic institutions involved in natural gas and other energy research and development;
- Non-government organizations and industry trade associations with an interest in energy and/or environmental science, technology or policy; and Federal or state governmental agencies.


text:
Find out why a Claflin education is more than a means to a degree.
The best way to get a feel for Claflin is to visit us.
Claflin students work with the best leaders in their fields.
You'll find endless opportunities here to get involved.
There is always something happening at Claflin!
Claflin is #1 in alumni giving among all HBCUs, thanks to you.
"Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives" will be the theme of the fifth annual Women's Conference, March 26-27 (Thursday-Friday) at Claflin University. The opening day of the conference includes a health fair focusing on women's health issues and free screenings from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Room in the Claflin Student Center.
The second day of the conference begins at 9:30 a.m. with panel discussions with women from throughout South Carolina who have launched distinguished careers in literature, politics, media, performing arts and film.
Camille L. Threats will serve as the keynote speaker at a noon luncheon in Minister's Hall. Threats is a public relations account executive for Stone Ward, a full-service advertising agency based in Little Rock, Ark. and Chicago. Their clients include U.S. Soccer, Snap-on Tools, and Terminix. Threats received a bachelor's degree in English at DePaul University in Chicago, and her master's degree in journalism at Columbia College. She earned a juris doctor degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. While attending Loyola, Threats received the Public Interest Recognition Award for her volunteer work in Chicago's legal community.
The day will conclude with a Red Carpet event and screening of the film, 12 Dogs Days Till Christmas. The moviewasproduced byG It's Entertainment!, an independent production company based out of both South Carolina and Los Angeles. Executive producer Elizabeth Snoderly founded the company in 2007. 12 Dogs Days Till Christmasstars Reginald VelJohnson, best known for his role as Carl Otis Winslow on the popular television sitcomFamily Matters.
The Red Carpet presentation starts at 5:30 p.m. at the W.V. Middleton Auditorium on the Claflin University campus. Souvenir pictures can be taken with Snoderly for a $10 donation to the Evening of Elegance Scholarship Fund for Claflin students. The reception starts at 6 p.m. followed by introductions and the screening of the movie at 7 p.m. Snoderly will be available for questions and interviews after the screening.
Evening attire is required. No cameras, cell phones or recording devices will be allowed in the auditorium.
The purpose of the Claflin University Women's Conference is to enhance the status of women and perpetuate their legacy of outstanding contributions to humanity. In addition, the conference cultivates the development of the key competencies of visionary leaders through intellect, creativity, service and leadership.
Registration is $35 for the general public which includes admission to all programs and a souvenir picture on the Red Carpet. Admission is free for Claflin faculty, staff and students.
For more details, contact Sadie Jarvis (email@example.com) or Dr. Donna Gough (email@example.com).


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Wagah is a village divided by the border of India and Pakistan, with each side belonging to a different nation. The border checkpoint in Wagah is closed each night, and the daily ceremony has become something of a celebratory gathering for the people of Wagah, as the citizens living on each side of the divide are given an opportunity to see one another and enjoy a reminder of what their community used to be. Filmmaker Supriyo Sen brought a camera crew to the village as the townspeople observed the common...more
All Wagah cast + crew photos
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2018 FANDANGO MOVIES.


text:
Investors who don't know about Allentown's rental rehabilitation program are missing a good bet, the city superintendent of housing and rehabilitation said yesterday.
Eric Weiss said property owners could get loans as low as 3 percent for half of the cost of improving apartments for low- and moderate-income families. The owners would have to match the loans with conventional financing.


text:
29 - 33 Hallamway
Old Mill Lane Business Park
Mansfield Woodhouse
Tel: 01623 672070Come and Visit our Showroom
The Maja Saturn aluminium and white glass office desk is a designer Office Desk from Maja Furniture. Designed for use with laptops, Macs, and Tablet PC's, this workstation features a large, 1402mm wide, White Glass desktop. This desktop uses 6mm toughened safety glass to ensure user safety and combines Glass with Brushed Aluminium to create an elegant, minimalist styled desk. The desktop also has a convenient storage drawers located into the front panel and this is lined with felt making it ideal to store your laptops, notebooks, tablets etc. On the right hand side is a convenient desk return with a sliding door ideal for hiding away accessories.
|This product has no reviews yet.
This item has an extended delivery time of between 4 to 6 weeks. We will contact you within a few days of placing your order to inform you of the likely delivery timescale. Once your order is available for delivery we will contact you by phone to arrange a convenient delivery date and time. We will not deliver this item without first contacting you.
Please call us on 01623 672070 first to discuss why you may wish to return an item and to receive a returns number. We will take all steps possible to solve your problem / offer you a replacement or exchange product, or a refund.
We have a no quibble returns policy within 30 days of purchase, and we will issue a full refund provided the item is in a re-saleable condition, (i.e unused, unassembled, unmarked and in original unmarked packaging). It is the responsibility of the customer to return the item and ensure the package has been reasonably protected in return transit. You must include a copy of your invoice with the return.
Now: £269.00


text:
ZAGREB Croatia might deploy its armed forces to help police control migrant flows in response to the refugee crisis, Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic said on Tuesday.
"If it becomes necessary to use the army, we will activate that option. It would be an assistance in easing procedure," Oreskovic told a news conference in Berlin after meeting German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Neighbouring Slovenia approved such a move last month after amending existing laws [nL8N1614MA]. Croatia would have to follow a similar process to do likewise.
Oreskovic said Croatia favoured a European Union-wide solution to the migrant crisis.
Since last September more than 650,000 migrants have passed through Croatia towards western Europe, primarily Germany, but border restrictions imposed by countries along the Balkan route have led to a build-up of new arrivals in Greece.
(Reporting by Igor Ilic; editing by John Stonestreet)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Updated Date: Mar 02, 2016 03:47 AM


text:
Walls of Ancient Tiryns, Greece
C036/9262 Rights Managed
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Request/Download high-res file
Uncompressed file size: 99.9MB
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Keywords: ancient civilisation, ancient greece, ancient tiryns, archaeological, archaeological site, archaeology, archeological, archeology, battle of platea, battlements, bronze age, building, classical greece, cyclopean walls, cyclopes, cyclops, fortification, heracles, herodotus, hill fort, homer, hoplite, mycenae, mycenaean, myth, mythological, mythology, platea, proteus, tiryns, walls
Licence fees: A licence fee will be charged for any media (low or high resolution) used in your project.


text:
Klei Entertainment's first work that SPOnG is aware of is the 2013 title, "Don't Starve" (PC).
The company has been involved titles released on the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
The company is currently involved with the forthcoming 2018 release "Hot Lava" (PC).
Know something we don't? Let us know! If you work for Klei Entertainment, register now to manage this listing.
14 Dec 2017


text:
Pushing onward and remaining positive
13 posts,
8 voices
Back to Ask a Psychic!
Back to Ask a Psychic!
|10 months ago
Job hunting is so hard :( Praying that a full time position comes thru soon. I'm self employed, but my business alone won't make all the bills. Needing a primary "stable" income to add to my business income, that I will do in my off time. Does anyone see when this will be happening? I don't want to lose everything I have.
10 months ago
Psychic Insight (truepsychicinsight)
30 posts
You are not going to lose everything you have… If you need to chat I am available now for a live session.
10 months ago
marva.lee (sunn10020)
3543 posts
Hello, Let me help you and give you full insight and details . You are coming out of it . I see a lot through spirit around you . Come in and let me help you and give you full insight and details and when you will have it better . I have specials today . On line now – Live chat . Blessings
|10 months ago
Thank you, both. It's hard to remain positive in times like this. To gain some insight helps. I had an event today that could lead to more business. Even, ran into a friend while there, who told me about a school position helping children with disabilities. She was very encouraging and told me to apply. The hours would be great with my business- plus no weekends- which would be great and other perks of it. I'm going to check into it :-) thank you both again for reaching out to help.
10 months ago
Ornacia (houseofedwards)
130 posts
Thank you for reaching back out to them .. on here only ha! Try John g sutton or miss Ann
|10 months ago
They both responded so I don't find the humor in what you said (HOE)
Marva said, you are coming out of it. – I honestly feel as if I am.
Psychic Insights response was – I won't lose everything. That is in question. Yes. But she has a gift she's responded to me several times before and WAS RIGHT with very little info.
So please don't be so cynical towards people you don't know.
10 months ago
Advisor Angelina (advisorangelina)
41 posts
come and see me for a full reading on this I am a natural born gifted reader and will be able to help and give you a timeframe on when things are goingto get better for you and stay better because it seems that things get better but do not last
|10 months ago
begining to think I'm not going to get a second job. My buisness thank goodness has picked up but it won't last. Holidays are busy for me. I just need another job to make it. Can anyone tell me when this will happen?
10 months ago
LionHearted (natashanyc)
124 posts
Remain positive! Im hoping this passes and u find stable income! Also hoping you don't lose everything u have! I agree miss ann, john and sophea are great. Psychicreader as well. Best of luck and Prayers to u
|10 months ago
Thanks Natasha :)
I was turned down for a position at a local hospital. But I have submitted other applications I just need a second income. My business is doing well right now with holiday sales but I know that won't last. Just would be nice if anyone saw something soon. I truly am trying to maintain positive and not think negativitly. I do believe that we must overcome what's thrown st us and persevere and I know I will -
|10 months ago
Really busy at work I just know it's not going to last. Sales will decrease. Does anyone see if I get the school job I applied for?
10 months ago
LeeLoo's Esotericorner (lunamadalina)
508 posts
Let's take a look, Ann :) In all cases, I wish you success!
|9 months ago
call me, i specialize in love n relationships


text:
Billed as the "State Theatre of Arizona", ATC offers an exciting season of area premieres and important classics that play venues in both Tucson and Phoenix. Pulling an impressive roster of local and Broadway talent, ATC prides itself on outstanding production values and extensive education and outreach programs, offering patrons and students a vast array of master classes and talk back sessions. With over 40 seasons of professional productions under its belt, Arizona Theatre Company is the complete regional theatre experience.
Arizona Theatre Company Information
- Other Venue: The Herberger Theater Center (222 East Monroe Street, Phoenix)
- Public Transportation: Good (a 5-minute walk from Sun Tran buses 7, 8, 16, 21, 22, and 421 at Broadway Boulevard/Stone Avenue)
- Handicapped Accessibility: Good
- Performance/Programs: 6 shows per season, usually including Broadway musicals and plays, classic American dramas, and a world premiere. Several special events are also presented throughout the year
- Ticket Prices: From $32–$69 depending on show and venue. Discounts are offered for seniors, students, and groups
- Subscriptions: Tucson: Six-Play ($108–$311); Five-Play ($140–$275); Four-Play ($112–$220); Three-Play ($84–$165); Flexpass (4 tickets – $152). Phoenix: Six-Play ($108–$384); Five-Play ($115–$315); Four-Play ($92–$252); Three-Play ($69–$189); Flexpass (4 tickets – $180). Subscriber benefits include easy ticket exchanges; ticket insurance; discounts on additional tickets ($8 off); the opportunity to purchase tickets at 50% off for subsequent performances of the same play; a 20% discount on pre-paid parking at the Chase Tower (Phoenix only); early notice by e-mail (Perk Alerts) of special events and discounts at ATC; priority seating; and the chance to renew subscriptions before they go on sale to the public.


text:
FirstMarch 22, 2013
We have lots of firsts. Memories of many bury themselves deeply within our minds because they seem inconsequential to our daily lives, but there they stay. There must be some reason that the vestiges of those firsts remain in our memories—perhaps to aid us when we experience similar things in our lives, or maybe they dwell there simply to give us a smile on a winter's night when an old friend pops up and says, "Remember?"
He is an old friend, and he did pop up a few nights ago on Facebook and said hello. He's an important old friend, someone with whom I shared entry into the world of true romance.
We were seven. He is upper left; I am the blonde smack in the middle.
It was early fall and second grade had just begun. I had little interest in boys beyond how hard I could kick them in the shins when they got too close (yes, I was a bit of a terror), or which would play the best "Batman" on the playground to my "Catwoman." Our Batman play involved a large, heavily rooted tree on the edge of the asphalt playground. We ran around and around the tree before taking off to the monkey bars that would, today, cause cardiac arrest for any observing safety inspectors. We would then return to the playground over a cracked and weed-infested concrete area with tall chain link fences at either end that was once a tennis court; our school had been a high school a decade before. After traversing the tennis court, the running around the tree began again. I am not sure how our play re-enacted the Batman show, but that was how it worked.
The boy that caught my attention was not a Batman. He stood off to the side, often staring at me, and I didn't know what to do with that. He didn't come close enough to kick him, so he was a complete enigma.
He drew me away like no one has done since. How could one not investigate such a mystery?
When we recently chatted he casually mentioned being near "The Portables," which were portable classrooms outside of the main school whose use was reserved for cool second graders, because who else was there in the Universe?
He mentioned the grass near The Portables as if it was just grass. It wasn't. It was the grass of the kids who were separate from the rest for good reason—we were cool second graders with cool portables. There was a small hill of mown grass near The Portables on which only cool kids could sit (including some older student usurpers), and of those cool kids, only those who were romantically involved.
We had only the slightest idea of what romantic meant, but we were placed in a situation where we needed to learn quickly. If we had not, the older kids might have chased us off of our little hill of grass, and the weight of that embarrassment could not be borne.
I followed the boy with the brown-red hair to be near The Portables. I pretended I had a reason to be there and kicked other boys when necessary, to prove I had a reason. That boy with the brown-red hair had nothing to do with my being there. I didn't like him at all. I went home and expounded on how I didn't like him at all.
A couple of days ago when I mentioned his name to Grandma Beanie, her eyes lit up with recognition. She knew I didn't like him at all. That is why we all remember his name forty five years later. He meant nothing. Nothing.
He meant everything, but it was a hard sell to get me to admit that when I was seven. I wasn't going to like him, because that was not what self-respecting tomboys did. They didn't like boys, not at all.
During the time I was not going to like him at all Grandpa John often said, "We are going to have a bunch of little Gooshwalls running around here." The whole family teased me with that for years—no—decades. The last conversation I had with Johnny as he taught me to reload shotgun shells included hunting, field dressing game, baby powder and Gooshwalls.
My old friend will recognize that murdered name. I hope he will know that we all remember his real name and appreciate him. I hope he will understand that all of my family could not have recognized his name if I had not spoken of him constantly when I was a very romantic seven year old child.
He was my first.
He held my hand on the mown grass outside of The Portables when we seemingly had no idea of what romance was about. But we did know. We knew romance in its purest form. We knew it in the best form.
We didn't have any Gooshwalls running around here, but we all have irreplaceable memories because of my dear old friend that said hello a few nights ago.
Thank you, Jerry. Thank you for then, and thank you for now.


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Recently, an increasing number of pharmaceutical manufacturers have sought to provide limited free supplies of their drugs to patients initiating therapy, including those who experience delays in obtaining insurance coverage. A significant question facing those manufacturers has been whether to exclude federal healthcare program beneficiaries from such programs to minimize risk under the federal anti-kickback statute. In Advisory Opinion 15-11,1 issued on August 12, 2015, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) approved a "quick start" program for the first time, concluding that although the program could potentially generate prohibited remuneration under the federal anti-kickback statute, OIG would not impose sanctions based on the program under either the anti-kickback statute or the beneficiary inducement provisions of the civil monetary penalties law. The OIG's reasoning relies heavily on the narrow tailoring of the program, as well as on several unique aspects of the drug itself. As the Advisory Opinion itself acknowledges, OIG might well reach a different conclusion regarding a free supply program that did not include the same requirements, limitations, and scope as the program addressed in the Advisory Opinion.
The Drug
The Advisory Opinion emphasizes several unique characteristics of the drug provided through the requesters' program. The drug is approved to treat two serious and potentially fatal diseases. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated the drug as a "breakthrough therapy," a designation given only to drugs (1) intended to treat a serious or life-threatening disease or condition (alone or in combination with one or more other drugs) and (2) for which preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over existing therapies on one or more clinically significant endpoints.
The drug is taken orally and obtained through specialty pharmacies, so physicians cannot bill either for the drug itself or for its administration. In addition, the drug is indicated only as a second-line therapy, i.e., it is prescribed only after another therapy has been tried and failed. While other on-label treatments exist as a second-line therapy for patients with the diseases, most of those alternative treatments have serious potential side effects, including some that have led the FDA to impose so-called black box warnings on the labels of some of the alternative drugs. However, there is no clinical barrier to switching a patient from the drug to alternative therapies, and the typical response time to the drug is under two months.
The Free Supply Program
In addition to the unique characteristics of the drug itself, the Advisory Opinion also lays out considerable eligibility requirements and other restrictions that sharply limit the scope of the requesters' program, which OIG refers to as the Free Supply Program.
Basic Eligibility Requirements. To be eligible to receive free products under the program, a patient must have received a prescription for the drug, for an on-label diagnosis, and be insured (either by a public or private payer).
Delay in Insurance Coverage Determination. A patient is eligible for the program only if he or she experienced a delay of at least five business days in obtaining an insurance coverage determination. In practice, the patient submits a prescription for the drug to his or her pharmacy, and if the pharmacy does not receive a determination from the patient's insurer within five business days, the patient's prescriber or pharmacy may submit a request for a free supply of the drug under the program to a contracted pharmacy responsible for dispensing drug under the Free Supply Program.
No Commercial Role for Contracted Pharmacy. The contracted pharmacy verifies eligibility and requests that the patient's prescriber provide a new prescription solely for the purpose of dispensing the free drug supply. The contracted pharmacy only dispenses drug for purposes of the Free Supply Program and other special programs, and is not otherwise involved in commercial distribution and dispensing of the drug. Thus, if the patient's insurance eventually approves the drug, any future orders outside the Free Supply Program must be dispensed by another pharmacy selected by the patient or physician.
Limited Supply. If eligible for a free supply, patients initially receive one 30-day supply. If the insurance coverage delay persists or the insurer has denied coverage but the patient is diligently pursuing appeal rights, the patient may receive one additional 30-day refill. After these two supplies are exhausted, the patient may not receive additional free drug supply under the program, regardless of the status of insurance coverage or appeal.
No Billing. Participants in the program are informed that no patient, pharmacy, or payer may be billed for the free supplies. If the patient is a Medicare Part D beneficiary, the contracted pharmacy notifies the Part D plan that the free supply of the drug should not be counted toward the patient's true out-of-pocket (TrOOP) costs and that no claim should be submitted to the Part D plan sponsor for the free supply. OIG notes that applicable Part D formulary and coverage determination rules make it unlikely that many Part D beneficiaries will be eligible for the program in any case.
No Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. Another significant characteristic of the program is that the requesters certified they will not advertise the program directly to consumers or through third party media, though they will provide information about the program on their own websites and to healthcare providers.
Low-Volume Use of the Program. Finally, the actual volume of patients obtaining free drug supply through the program has been small. Since the program began, 0.0008% of all shipments of the drug were shipped under the program, of which about one third went to Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries.
OIG's Analysis
In concluding that it would not impose sanctions based on the program under the anti-kickback statute, OIG relies heavily on many of the specific facts and circumstances of the drug and the program laid out above. This highly fact-specific analysis reinforces the extremely narrow scope of the Advisory Opinion's endorsement of this type of free supply program.
OIG's most significant point of emphasis appears to be the distinction between the Free Supply Program and other programs in which the manufacturer offers free or reduced-price drug to steer patients to use that drug and obtain other items billable to federal health care programs. OIG cites the following factors to support its conclusion that there is minimal risk of such steering or "seeding":
- The program is not actively marketed to patients;
- The actual volume of patients using the program has been very low;
- Treatment alternatives for the drug are limited; and
- Patients will incur significant cost-sharing if they choose to remain on the drug.
These factual circumstances appear to have been essential to OIG's analysis. Indeed, OIG underscores the limited scope of its approval by explicitly advising that it might reach a different conclusion on different facts, particularly "if the Arrangement were used as a marketing tool or if the Arrangement appeared to be used at a greater rate than would be expected based on typical insurance approval rates."
OIG also cites other case-specific factors in approving the program. For example, OIG emphasizes the small patient population for the drug, the stringent insurance coverage delay requirement, and the maximum 60-day supply to support its conclusion that the program limits the risk of overutilization. Likewise, OIG cites several factors supporting its conclusion that participants have no opportunity to gain a financial benefit, including that prescribers cannot bill for the drug or its administration, that the contracted pharmacy dispensing the free supply cannot obtain further orders from patients outside the program, and that no party (including federal government payers) may be billed for the free supplies.
Advisory Opinion 15-11 is significant in that it represents OIG's first approval of a program providing free supply of drug for patients experiencing insurance coverage delays. However, because OIG's analysis and conclusion rely to a significant extent on facts particular to the drug and the program at issue in the opinion, manufacturers should continue to carefully analyze the risks raised by such programs.
If you have any questions related to the new OIG advisory opinion, please contact one of the lawyers listed in this client alert, or the Hogan Lovells lawyer with whom you normally work.


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But "Blue," and its "Blue for Business" spinoff launched earlier this year, is not the only marketing activity AmEx launched this year. It also broke new campaigns for its main brand and its small business unit.
"Blue has been a tremendous success . . . one of the most successful product launches we've ever done," says John D. Hayes, exec VP-global advertising and brand management at American Express. Although he would not quote figures, outside observers have estimated "Blue" met its 2000 target of 2 million cards issued by the end of the first quarter.
The new card bowed with a saturation campaign in many media American Express had never used before, such as wild postings and ads on health-club water bottles. Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, New York, handled TV and print, while Bronner.com, New York, ran an extensive online and outdoor campaign.
AmEx has adopted the multimedia strategy for its other products as well.
Mr. Hayes says "Blue" enhanced AmEx's presence as a sponsor of the U.S. Tennis Association's U.S. Open tournament with promotions to encourage card use and expanded its relationship with golfer Tiger Woods by hosting golf clinics with Mr. Woods for fans who buy tournament tickets with their American Express card.
These events not only help increase the cards visibility at the events, but also create word of mouth beyond the venue, says Mr. Hayes. The sponsorships and events don't take the place of traditional advertising, but they add an extra ingredient in the media plan, he says.
American Express added many new products to its lineup in the 1990s and, in the process, the card itself repositioned from a travel and entertainment vehicle to an instrument for daily purchases, says Mr. Hayes.
With this type of positioning, he says ads had to create a broader relevance for the brand.
The Blue card was one of several efforts designed to reverse a drop in market share. AmEx dropped to 13.9% of the $1.34 trillion U.S. credit-card volume in 1999 from 25% in 1985, according to The Nilson Report, an industry newsletter. Industry observers say that's due to aggressive marketing and new features added by its main competitors, Visa Corp. and MasterCard International.
The multiple products are backed by separate efforts from Ogilvy, each with a distinct look. While Blue has a futuristic ad campaign, the Small Business Services unit runs a "Voices from Main Street" campaign featuring real-life small business owners. Also, the main brand this year broke, "Moments of Truth," a slice-of-life effort featuring everything from slackers shopping at a food warehouse to a father struggling with online bill payment while his teen-age daughter looks on.
Absent from all of these has been American Express' longtime pitchman, comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Mr. Hayes says American Express has a continuing relationship with Mr. Seinfeld, and hinted there will be more ads to come.
"Now we're looking at how to evolve that relationship . . . all I can say is stay tuned," he says.


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|What Grit Antiques Did With My Bag
Personally, I like to toss them in on fluff for a few minutes after they dry flat if softness is important. My friend Joy, uses her washing machine to wash them and allows her bags to soak in a fabric softener before the final rinse. She then tosses them in the dryer and the textural softness she gets is incredible. Personally, I'm afraid to abuse my washer by washing burlap in it. Mr. Vintage doesn't know that some bags get the dryer treatment. He'd be sure that I'd burn the motor out. So be careful if you take this route.


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Children love playing games with Dad. With this traditional game, you can find out who's the really strong one in the family!
What you need
A rope (a skipping rope will do)
A jumper
Develops balance, flexibility and coordination
Builds muscle and strength
Learning through watching and copying others
Encourages teamwork and cooperation with others
And don't forget, the everyday things you do together make a big difference and can help your child to grow up healthier and happier.
How long will it take?
An afternoon
What to do


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Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Main Idea
Well, This Is My First Blog. This Blog Will Be For Future Animators, In Which I Shall Give Lessons. I'll Post Up The First Lesson Tommorrow From A Wonderfull Animation Book By Preston Blair. Construction, Which Is One Of The Essentials To Know. In Cartoons, Good Drawing Is Better Than Anything. Thats Why You Shouldn't Stuy Modern Cartoons Unless They Were Started BEFORE The Mid 2000's. They'll Teach Ya' Nothin' But Bad Habbits. When These Animators Study To Be Cartoonist, The TEACHERS Don't Teach Ya Anything. No Line Of Action. No Construction. If You Look At Some Of The Art That Comes Out, Geez. " Oh, The Reason Why That Came Out So Sloppy Was Because I Did It In 5 Mins." HOW DO YOU LEARN ANYTHING IN 5 MINUTES?!?!?!?! So Study Old Cartoons Like Debuty Dawg, Huckleberry Hound ,Top Cat , So On And So Forth. AND DRAW SLOW. If You Draw Fast, You Wont Learn Anything. Draw Your Character A Couple Of Times, And Then Study Your Mistakes Untill It Comes Of Right. Dont Listen To People That Say "Oh, It Came Out Good Enough." If You Try To Draw Like That, It'll Get Your Head On A Sliver Platter. PRACTICE, PRACTICE , PRACTICE, And You'll Be Fine. Anyway, See You Tomorrrow.
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These are the dog days of summer in a non-election year, with nothing particular in the news. Yet there is so much going on that we can hardly keep up with it all. No one site can possibly do justice to all of the stories that are percolating, so let's just note that our friends around the blogosphere have been busy, and if you haven't been reading them for the last day or two, you've missed out. The tireless Michelle Malkin has been covering the Air America scandal, along with many other stories. Captain Ed Morrissey owns the Able Danger story, and is on top of just about everything else. This is because Ed never sleeps, I think. Hugh Hewitt understands that there is a war on, so if you want to know how it's going, his site is a must. Glenn Reynolds, who has been accurately described as the best editor in America, can direct you to the best of the blogosphere. And two of the funniest sites on the web, Lileks and Fraters Libertas, are run by fellow Minnesotans who are–with all due respect–more or less nuts.
We are privileged to call these commentators, and many others in the blogosphere, our friends. One good way to keep up with the leading conservative blogs is by checking Power Line News, which has breaking news, links to major newspapers around the world, stock market updates, daily humor in the form of Chris Muir's Day By Day cartoon, and RSS feeds to ten prominent center-right blogs. You won't miss a thing if you bookmark Power Line News.
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Free Download Check Point ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus+ 2017 Lates Version part and Identity and Data Protection were dynamic in the program's begin window, however the fundamental segment, the antivirus assurance, was debilitated because of a contention with our current antivirus arrangement, which we'd left dynamic to gage ZoneAlarm's reaction. We handicapped our current instrument, and ZoneAlarm naturally grabbed the slack, demonstrating our status for Real-Time Protection, Antivirus Scan, and Antivirus Update. The main thing to do when you're introducing another antivirus program is to overhaul its definitions and make a pattern sweep of your PC. We did that, picking Full Scan with Archives, which we're happy to say found no terrible stuff. You can plan sweeps, obviously, and ZoneAlarm's Settings let you tweak examines, as well, and also dispatch focused on outputs, set special cases, see isolated documents, empower On Access checking (which filters when you get to records) and different choices. One element ZoneAlarm offers is Behavioral Scanning, which incorporates a broad agenda of choices the program can screen for suspicious movement. The well known ZoneAlarm Firewall incorporates Application Control, which pieces unapproved access by projects. The Identity and Data tab incorporates two security components, Web and Identity, in addition to 5 GB of online storage room.
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MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry offered an on-air apology to the Romney family for the jokes made by a panel of comedians that were on her Dec. 29 show towards the former 2012 presidential runner up's family, specifically focusing on Kieran Romney, a black child who was recently adopted into the family.
During the segment, the panel captioned popular photos from the year 2013. One of the photos they captioned was the awkward sit down between President Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. When they posted a Romney family photo with young Kieran as a part of it, actress Pia Glenn started singing, "one of these things is not like the others," focusing on the race of Kieran. Harris-Perry described Kieran as "gorgeous," but followed it by predicting that the child would marry North West, the daughter of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, in the future as she, along with the rest of the panel, laughed at the idea of Kanye West and Mitt Romney being in the same family.
She received plenty of backlash for her segment, and deservedly so. Going after public figures is fine, but when you throw children into it, you're taking things too far. I enjoy her show, but she knows this as well. Although her statements didn't didn't directly mention the racial makeup of the Romneys during the segment, it is her show and her responsibility to control the conversation of the rest of her panel.
Throughout the week, she offered multiple apologies and explanations to the Romneys through tweets.
On the MSNBC website, the segment, titled "Nerdland Plays Caption That!" was replaced with her apology. Any websites that embedded her controversial segment will notice that her apology is there in its place.
To hear her apology, please check out the video below. To her credit, it wasn't the usual political apology of blaming others and the media for calling her on it. She thanked her critics and said at times, they can be the best teachers.


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New Details Emerge From Nintendo Direct
Last night's Nintendo Direct broadcast revealed some juicy details about Animal Crossing 3D and Fire Emblem: Awakening... before slapping a 2013 release date on them.
Animal Crossing 3D will, for the first time, allow players to become the mayor of their town, which will grant us more control over the look and layout of the village as well as physical customisation options. With luck, Tom Nook will also treat us with a little (goddamn) respect. Overhauled graphics will improve character animations accross the board, while nifty new StreetPass functionality will let us trade house designs with other players.
New Fire Emblem Awakening: features include SpotPass and StreetPass support, which will deliver DLC as well as allowing players to interact.
We can't wait to play these two games, but sadly we'll have to. Ninty president Satoru Iwata explained that they won't hit Europe until the first half of next year.
"In order to provide the best end result and give fans the quality they expect from Nintendo, we can confirm today these two titles will now be launching in Europe in the first half of 2013."
"We are sorry you will have to wait a little longer but we hope you understand our desire to ultimately deliver a game fans will love."


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Wiggio Reaches 1 Million Users
In the words of Dr. Evil, one meelion users might not be a big thing in tech anymore. But for a site like Wiggio – whose userbase is 80% college students – it is.
I've spoken about Wiggio before - they're a collaboration suite that's suited for student organizations or other small groups that have a userbase that communicates best via text messages, e-mail, and quick cell phone conference calls.
Full disclosure – I was a previous Wiggio user for some student organization I was a part of, but my involvement with than organization has since ceased. And since my involvement has ceased, I've noticed a few other collaboration tools that rival Wiggio.
The main competitor is Google Apps. Since Google's e-mail and calendar are pretty much ubitiquous for casual users, a transition to a organization's site seems simplistic and frankly a no-brainer. When set with a domain name, Google sites can provide personalized e-mail, document sharing, and the whole gamut of collaboration tools.
But it's not as convenient as it seems. Google Apps usually requires clients to log in separately from their personal Google accounts, for security's sake. It makes sense, but it's not always practical. If I have to check an e-mail someone sent me on my personal account, then update the Google site, it might require 4 separate login dialogs (2 log-ins, 2 log-outs) before I get back to what I was doing.
Furthermore, Google Apps is the Linux of collaboration suites. It's free (for the most part), and allows 100% complete customization by the admin and end-users to dictate exactly what type of site they want to experience. Now, we all love freedom, but sometimes it could be taxing to set up an entire system from scratch in a Google Apps site.
I've recently moved my fraternity's chapter's website from Google Apps to Chapterboard. Chapterboard is just one site that is customized for fraternities and sororities, but unlike its competition it's free to use. It allows me to set up certain chapter specific functions, but the biggest problem I've been experiencing is a lack of participation from users.
Why? Because they're not thinking of navigating there. They can go to Facebook and create a group and do effectively the same things. They can set up polls via Questions, mass message members, use a Group to plan a specific event. Why bother using a collaboration suite?
Wiggio reaching 1 million users shows that it has found a niche in a market that's often hard to conquer. Although Facebook has integrating video calling, they've not integrating conference calling like Wiggio. The "file cabinet" Wiggio provides for each organization is not yet effectively replicated on any social network, so it adds the punch of having organizations keep their files in one place without having to worry about a separate service like Dropbox or Google Drive.
Cheers to Wiggio and its employees, and best of luck to collaboration suites as a whole as they navigate the ever-changing fickle college student market.
[Photo courtesy of Flickr user w00kie. Licensed courtesy of CC BY 2.0.]


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Thursday, September 15, 2016
Rules Governing a Doctor in an ICU
Sunday, September 06, 2015
Global Warming
Although this has been generally known for decades, the global will to do anything to counteract the trend of global warming has been, basically, a dismal failure. The Kyoto protocol, so celebrated in its time (back in the 1990s), was, with all its faults, a wonder of international diplomacy. Yet there were major national polluters who never adopted it at all and others who never acted within its principles in a serious fashion. And the reason for this is obvious. In a competitive world, to ask the nations of the world to voluntarily gear down on their economic engines, is wasted breath at best. Indeed, knowing a little bit about human behavior, it should be obvious that just asking the world to try to cut down on its energy use, is a strategy of minimal efficacy.
To my mind, it kind of like asking a severe diabetic to, y'know, try to cut down on the sweets. That strategy might work on a minority of well-motivated patients, but will far and large be an abject failure. Global warming is just like many modern human diseases - they are problems stemming from human behavior. Granted, they could be fixed by simply changing people's behavior, but that just ain't going to happen. I think that continuing to harp on trying to reduce carbon emissions are well intentioned, but just are not going to cut it. The world's appetite will not slake and the CO2 will continue to rise.
So, why aren't we trying other things? There are plenty of drugs that exist which treat and control diabetes, heck there are even surgeries which may even offer a cure. Sure, most type-2 diabetes is caused by human behavior, but so what? We can treat it by intervening in other ways. Can the same be said about global warming?
Yes! The issue is not that humans are releasing too much CO2 into the atmosphere. The issue is that it stays there and causing too much warming. But there are things we can actively do which can pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and put it in safe places. This is little different from pulling sugar out of the bloodstream and putting it back into cells where it's safe. For one, a major carbon sink are the world's forests. When trees grow they grab carbon from the air and use it to grow. Granted, stopping active deforestation is the simplest and cheapest way to maintain this carbon sink, but the world could also be actively reforesting millions of acres of unused flatlands. It's so simple, but adding millions of trees to our world would be awesome for our ecology, biodiversity and would suck in billions of tons of CO2 from our atmosphere. Why is this not already being done?
Iron is an excellent fertilizer for ocean algae. With carefully selected ocean sites, we could be dropping tons of cheap iron particles which would create huge algae blooms with loads of carbon dioxide stuck within it. The algae would eventually die and then sink to the ocean floor, taking all of that carbon down with it. This literal carbon sink could keep the carbon safely out of the atmosphere for millennia. There are numerous other hypothesized mechanisms to trap carbon out of our atmosphere. Some are higher tech and may cost more, but are still worth considering. I don't need to list all of them here. If you are truly interested, the internet is available to all for perusal.
Now, managing the carbon is just one side of the equation. The other major variable is simply the heat itself. Even if atmospheric carbon levels remained unchanged, is there something we can do that would cool the Earth? Of course! What killed the dinosaurs? Global climate change set off by a meteorite which on impact released huge amounts of dust into the atmosphere which blocked the Sun's rays and cooled the Earth. It's also been shown that the release of sulfate compounds from volcanic eruptions cause climatic cooling effects. Could this be done artificially? Sure. There have even been more imaginative proposals to modify sunlight by placing mirrors or lenses in orbit.
The bottom line is that global warming is happening. The best solution would be to cut down on our emissions, but that just ain't gonna happen - and even if it did, it's probably too late. The next best thing is to make some alternative interventions. Like in medicine, there may be side effects, but I'd rather brave those than to just allowing global warming to happen.
[Plus, keep an eye on this venture. It's the most reasonable engineered mechanism for fusion power that I have yet to see.]
Friday, June 19, 2015
Matir Issurim
Interesting project and so clearly to be the food of the future. Making meat and animal byproducts like milk in the lab has clear benefits in the long run in simple terms like financial costs and environmental preservation. It'll just be quicker and easier with better quality control to make this stuff in vitro than with actual animals. With advances in food science what they produce may be indistinguishable from the natural version. It also has the added benefit of limiting the cruelty to animals, which is an endemic problem in modern factory farming. In the future it will be bizarre and backwards to eat something that comes from actual, unsanitary animals.
But besides all the above benefits, what will it do to the kosher food industry? Is it meaningful to talk about the kashrut of single cells or the byproducts of micro-organisms? If the whole world will be eating foods made from GMO bacteria or yeast - what exactly would ever not be kosher?
Perhaps it is in this way that the midrash about pigs one day becoming kosher will actually come true.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Shabbos in a Pepper Shaker
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Exodus 40:
Friday, June 05, 2015
Is Belief a Jewish Notion?
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Philosopher of the Week
This is my favorite modern Jewish philosopher this week: Samuel Lebens. I came across his work actually by accident just recently, but what I've seen so far appears intriguing. [It doesn't hurt that he kind of looks like Ted Mosby and has a great English accent.] I thought it was worth sharing, especially given the paucity of jblog material lately.
He also has separate paper which I found rather interesting about the epistemology of religious experience, which I quote below:
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Where is Everybody?
Come back.
Friday, February 21, 2014
The Moral Landscape
Since my last post, I've gotten married, I now have a year and a half year old son and have been working hard in my surgical residency - which I am just now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Suffice it to say that my recent life has seriously curtailed my elective reading.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I liked the book for the most part. Besides for one odd chapter where he seem to tangentially go off on Francis Collins, Sam Harris does a good job defending the concept of a secular objective basis for morality. He does this by identifying the common values of humanity being human flourishing and wellbeing and that there are acts and social policies, etc, that objectively either progress or regress on those goals. Morality is then that which moves us towards greater human wellbeing; immorality that which moves us further from it.
Here's Harris giving the general argument in a TED talk:
It also helps that before my hiatus I had made some very similar arguments on my own. Much of my discussions were found on the now defunct blog of XGH, but as I wrote in the comments of this blogger post from 2009:
"Morals are made in response to human nature and the human condition - objective facts. People may disagree on methods and mechanisms but the goals are always to do what is in the best interests of man. And unless you believe all interests are equally rational and valid, i.e. to eat an apple is as valid a choice as is swallowing a gallon on bleach, then you must recognize a hierarchy of objectively correct decisions: that some acts, some moral codes, make more sense than others. The value of human life makes sense whereas it's non-value is self-defeating.
With that recognition and the assumed goal that rules be made to lead to the best interests of man then it becomes potentially able to be studied scientifically - objectively. Does a given moral in a given society lead to the wellbeing of man in that society? By the mere process of evolution of human civilization, we have already learned how a great deal of once-idealized moral behavior is in fact counterproductive."
Of course different people can converge on similar ideas, but it makes you wonder if Harris was a Jblog fan himself...
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Paul Davies' God
What Happened Before the Big Bang?
By Paul Davies
It is often said that science cannot prove the existence of God. Yet science does have value in theological debate because it gives us new concepts that sometimes make popular notions of God untenable. One of these concerns the nature of time.
Many people envisage God as a sort of cosmic magician who existed for all eternity and then, at some moment in the past, created the universe in a gigantic supernatural act. Unfortunately, this scenario raises some awkward questions. What was God doing before he created the universe? If God is a perfect, unchanging being, what prompted him to act then rather than sooner?
The fifth-century theologian St. Augustine neatly solved the problem by proclaiming that the world was made with time and not in time. In other words, time itself is part of God's creation.
To make sense of Augustine's concept, it is necessary to place God outside of time altogether, and the notion of a timeless Deity became official church doctrine. However, it is not without its own difficulties. How can a timeless God be involved with temporal events in the universe, such as entering into human history through the Incarnation?
Today, religious people like to identify the creation with the Big Bang of scientific cosmology. So what can we say about the nature of time in the scientific picture?
Albert Einstein showed us that time and space are part of the physical world, just as much as matter and energy. Indeed, time can be manipulated in the laboratory. Dramatic time warps occur, for example, when subatomic particles are accelerated to near the speed of light. Black holes stretch time by an infinite amount. It is therefore wrong to think of time as simply "there," as a universal, eternal backdrop to existence. So a complete theory of the universe needs to explain not only how matter and energy came to exist, it must also explain the origin of time.
Happily, Einstein's theory of relativity is up to the job. It predicts a so-called "singularity" at which time abruptly starts. In the standard Big Bang scenario, time and space come into being spontaneously at such a singularity, along with matter.
People often ask, What happened before the Big Bang? The answer is, Nothing.
By this, I do not mean that there was a state of nothingness, pregnant with creative power. There was nothing before the Big Bang because there was no such epoch as "before." As Stephen Hawking has remarked, asking what happened before the Big Bang is rather like asking what lies north of the North Pole. The answer, once again, is nothing, not because there exists a mysterious Land of Nothing there but because there is no such place as north of the North Pole. Similarly, there is no such time as "before the Big Bang."
Of course, one can still ask why a universe popped into existence this way. Cosmologists believe the answer lies with the weird properties of quantum mechanics, a topic beyond the scope of this essay.
We can now see that Augustine was right, and popular religion wrong, to envisage God as a superbeing dwelling within the stream of time prior to the creation. Professional theologians acknowledge this. The doctrine of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) does not mean God pushing a metaphysical button and making a Big Bang, then sitting back to watch the action. It means God sustaining the existence of the universe, and its laws, at all times, from a location outside of space and time.
Can science give any credibility to such a notion? Mostly, scientists either are atheists or keep God in a separate mental compartment. However, there is a strong parallel in the scientific concept of the laws of nature. Like the theologians' God, these laws enjoy an abstract, timeless existence and are capable of bringing the universe into being from nothing. But where do they come from? And why do these laws exist rather than some different set?
Science is based on the assumption that the universe is thoroughly rational and logical at all levels. Miracles are not allowed. This implies that there should be reasons for the particular laws of nature that regulate the physical universe. Atheists claim that the laws exist reasonlessly and that the universe is ultimately absurd. As a scientist, I find this hard to accept. There must be an unchanging rational ground in which the logical, orderly nature of the universe is rooted. Is this rational ground like the timeless God of Augustine? Perhaps it is. But in any case, the law-like basis of the universe seems a more fruitful place for a dialogue between science and theology than focusing on the origin of the universe and the discredited notion of what happened before the Big Bang.