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The body of "Growing Pains" actor Andrew Koenig has been found at a 1,000-acre park about a mile from downtown Vancouver.
His father, actor Walter Koenig, who starred as Pavel Chekov in the television series "Star Trek," said Thursday that his son took his own life.
"Andrew had some very close friends here in Vancouver. As I've said before, he really felt this was home," said Walter Koenig.
"Ten of them decided today to do yet another sweep of Stanley Park, and invited me to join them," he said.
The search party broke up into teams. Shortly before noon, one of the teams discovered the body.
"My son took his own life," said Walter Koenig.
"We've already said what a great guy he was and good human being. He was obviously in a lot of pain," said Walter Koenig.
Walter Koenig made a tearful plea to anyone considering suicide:
"The only other thing I want to say is, because I've received an awful lot of e-mails -- hundreds of e-mails from people who said they were depressed or had … contemplated the same course of action, or from families who said they had somebody in their family who showed signs of this kind of behavior or had in fact, lost members of their families because of this.
"The only thing want to say is if you're one of those people who really cant feel it, if you can't handle it anymore, you know, if you can learn anything from this it's that there are people out there who really care. You may not think so, and ultimately it may not be enough. But there are people who really, really care.
"And before you make that final decision, check it out again. Talk to somebody. And for those families who have members who they fear are susceptible to this kind of behavior, don't ignore it. Don't rationalize it. Extend a hand."
Andrew Koenig, 41, was in Vancouver visiting friends. He was last seen alive on Feb. 14. The Venice, Calif., resident is best remembered for portraying Richard "Boner" Stabone, the friend of Kirk Cameron's character in the 1980s sitcom "Growing Pains."
At Thursday's news conference, the actor's mother, Judy Levin-Koenig, begged people to get help for depression.
"For both the families and people who are suffering from depression, they don't realize that there is help, and they need help," Levin-Koenig said.
She added that Thursday's news conference will be the only statement the family makes.
"(Andrew) was much loved and had much to contribute in this world," Levin-Koenig said.


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The US Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to take up a potential blockbuster case testing the constitutionality of race-based admissions policies at the University of Texas.
The case, Fisher v. University of Texas (11-345), is being closely followed by conservative analysts who are hopeful the high court will use the Texas dispute to establish new constitutional limits on race-conscious affirmative action plans at public colleges and universities nationwide.
In announcing it would take up the case, the court also said Justice Elena Kagan would not take part in deciding the dispute. Before joining the high court, Justice Kagan served as solicitor general in the Obama administration.
Although it is unclear precisely when the case will be set for oral argument, the action brings the politically divisive issue of race to the high court in a presidential election year in which the nation's first African-American president is seeking a second term in the White House.
The Supreme Court is being asked to reverse a lower court decision upholding the use of race in the University of Texas admissions program.
At the heart of the underlying lawsuit is whether the university violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by using race as a factor in deciding which student applicants to admit and which to reject.
Abigail Fisher, who is white, applied but was denied admission to the university in 2008. In her lawsuit she alleges that her academic credentials were superior to many African-American and Hispanic candidates who were admitted after receiving preferential consideration by admissions officers because they were deemed to be "underrepresented minorities."
Lawyers for the university defended the school's use of race in admissions, saying it is narrowly tailored to help the university achieve a critical level of diversity. They said the program was patterned on the affirmative action plan used at the University of Michigan Law School that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003.
The high court ruled for the first time in the Michigan case that student diversity could be a compelling interest justifying a state university's use of race as one of many factors in admissions.
The University of Texas had maintained a race-conscious affirmative action plan until 1996, when a federal appeals court panel ruled that the use of race in admissions was unconstitutional. The state legislature responded by enacting the Top Ten Percent Law, which requires the University of Texas to admit the top 10 percent of graduates from each high school in Texas.
The law significantly boosted the level of minority enrollment at UT without any reliance on race as a factor in admissions. By 2004, black and Hispanic students comprised 21.4 percent of the incoming freshman class.
Nonetheless, in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in the Michigan case, Texas officials in 2004 decided to create a supplemental admissions program using race as one of several factors. It is that supplemental program that is being challenged by Ms. Fisher and her lawyers.
Fisher argues that the Top Ten Percent Law provides an effective means to boost minority enrollment without resorting to race-conscious admissions measures that are unfair to individual students and unconstitutional.
The university says its use of race as a selection criterion is necessary to achieve its goal of a minority student population in the same proportion as the minority population in Texas.
In addition, they say the school is trying to reach a critical mass of minority students in each classroom. That goal means the school is striving to admit enough qualified minority students to ensure there are more than two black and/or Hispanic students in every class for every subject taught at the university.
Critics say Texas's race-based plan violates the constitutional requirement that any use of race as a factor in admissions must be narrowly focused. They say the goal of achieving a critical mass of minority students in every classroom opens the door to a perpetual, ever-expanding use of race in college admissions.
A dissenting appeals court judge said the attempt to achieve diversity at the classroom level opens the door to quotas, in effect, in undergraduate majors in which minority students are perceived to be underrepresented.
"Will the university accept this 'goal' as carte blanche to add minorities until a 'critical mass' chooses nuclear physics as a major?" asked Chief Judge Edith Jones of the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals. "Will classroom diversity 'suffer' in areas like applied math, kinesiology, chemistry, Farsi, or hundreds of other subjects if, by chance, few or no students of a certain race are enrolled?"
A federal judge and a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit upheld Texas's race-conscious admissions plan. They said it comported with requirements established in the Supreme Court's 2003 Michigan Law School decision.
"Considering UT's admissions system in its historical context, it is evident that the efforts of the University have been studied, serious, and of high purpose, lending support to a constitutionally protected zone of discretion," wrote appeals court Judge Patrick Higginbotham, upholding the program.
Judge Higginbotham added that "courts must afford a measure of deference to the university's good faith determination that certain race-conscious measures are necessary."
The full New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit split sharply over whether the case should be reargued before the entire appeals court. Seven judges voted to reconsider the decision. Nine judges voted to allow the three-judge panel's decision to stand.
In her dissent, Chief Judge Jones accused the panel of "judicial abdication" for failing to subject the Texas plan to aggressive constitutional scrutiny. She said the Top Ten Percent Law had achieved minority enrollment in excess of 20 percent without resort to race-based methods. In contrast, the additional minority enrollment achieved under Texas's race-conscious program was "tiny, and far from 'indispensable.' "
"It is one thing for the panel to accept 'diversity' and achieving a 'critical mass' of preferred minority students as acceptable university goals," Jones wrote. "It is quite another to approve gratuitous racial preferences when a race-neutral policy has resulted in over one-fifth of university entrants being African-American or Hispanic."
In 2008, the year Fisher submitted her application, 29,501 students applied to the University of Texas. Of those, 12,843 were admitted. Roughly half – 6,715 – eventually enrolled for classes.
Of the 6,715 enrolled students, 6,322 arrived from Texas high schools. The Top Ten Percent Law produced 5,114 of those students for admission.
That left approximately 1,200 spots open for some 16,000 Texas students who did not place in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. The competition for those spots was ferocious.
The university's supplemental race-conscious admissions program admitted 58 African-American candidates and 158 Hispanic candidates.
In comparison, the Top Ten Percent program admitted 305 African-American students and 1,164 Hispanic students without using race as a factor.
"The university was able to obtain approximately 96 percent of the African-American and Hispanic students enrolled in the 2008 entering in-state freshman class using race-neutral means," wrote Judge Emelio Garza, in a concurrence to the original decision by the three appellate court judges.
Judge Garza agreed with the outcome in the case given the Supreme Court's Michigan precedent, but he disagreed with the underlying precedent. He said the university's race-conscious program had achieved "an infinitesimal impact on critical mass [of minorities] in the student body as a whole."
Garza said that under those circumstances there was not a compelling reason to justify the use of race in admissions, nor was such use narrowly tailored as required by the Constitution.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sagrada Familia Spain
Sagrada Familia, Spain
The Sagrada Familia is probably Barcelona's best-know tourist attraction, as well as being one of the most unusual and fascinating churches in Europe. Towering above its surroundings, it stands in the northern part of the city. In 1883 Antoni Gaudi was commissioned to complete a neo-Gothic cathedral that had been begun one year before. The church became his life's work: he radically changed the plans and spent the last years of his life, right up to his death, on the building site. Even today, the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia, as the church is called in full, has yet to be completed, but it has grown to become an impressive building and total work of art, nevertheless.
However, it is this very spectacular architecture that constitutes such an enormous challenge in terms of audio technology. Gaplasa, beyerdynamic's distribution partner in Spain, has succeeded in mastering this challenge. "In terms of acoustics, the Sagrada Familia was the most complex system that we had ever planned", says Oscar Valero, Marketing Manager for Gaplasa. "The church is so large and has such an enormous air volume, and the materials used reflect sound so strongly that the resulting reverberation time is very long. This makes it extremely difficult to achieve good speech intelligibility."
The long reverberation time increases the risk of feedback. What is known as feedback is the result of a microphone "hearing" again over the loudspeaker in the same room a signal that it had previously picked up, thus forming a loop which manifests itself in a whistling sound that not only annoys those present but also poses a hazard to the loudspeakers. It is therefore important that directional microphones are used, i.e. microphones that only receive sound from a desired direction, such as what are known as cardioid microphones. The sound signal is then processed by an equalizer in such a way that certain frequencies that cause the whistling are reduced. In addition, careful alignment of the loudspeakers is necessary, so that the microphone picks up as little as possible of the sound emitted from them.
In this case, it was necessary to plan the entire audio chain, from the microphone to the loudspeaker, precisely and to fine-tune the system to achieve the optimum result. The optical aspect was also an extremely important part of the planning to minimise the effects on the overall appearance. There were only a few places where it was permitted to install loudspeakers and lay cables.
Although the system in the church is mainly for voice transmission, concerts and choir recitals also take place there. This also had to be taken into account in the planning of the audio concept. This involved initially planning the project in the utmost detail using an acoustic simulation program in order to guarantee optimum speech intelligibility. Subsequently, tests were conducted on site. A great variety of microphones with different polar patterns and constructions were tested in order to achieve the best-possible result. After all the components of the public address system had been matched up, the final installation phase of the project took place in December 2012.
Good sound from the start
To ensure ideal electro-acoustic conditions, it is necessary to start with the right choice of microphone as the first link in the public address chain. In the Sagrada Familia, for example, the following microphones are used:
Gooseneck microphones for voice transmission
Slim-line gooseneck microphones from the beyerdynamic Classis series are used for voice transmission from the altar and the cathedra. Using the flexible neck, these microphones can be directed precisely towards the speaker. Thanks to their optimised cardioid polar pattern, these microphones ensure maximum volume, combined with high feedback stability. The microphone installed at the cathedra is the GM 314 S gooseneck, with a switch and a ring that lights up when the microphone is switched on. In this set-up, the microphone forms a unit with a height-adjustable stand, the STF 900, in which the connection cable is concealed. The Classis microphones are also used in different lengths at the altar and in the pulpit.
True condenser microphones for the choir
MC 836 and MC 930 true condenser microphones are used for capturing the choir and for events.
Wireless microphones for flexible usage
The four wireless microphones from the Opus 910 series are combined with a 4-channel receiver for flexible wireless usage.
Ribbon microphone for the organ
The organ is amplified by means of a double-ribbon microphone with a figure-eight polar pattern. This microphone picks up the sound from precisely the direction defined in the project plan and has strong attenuation in the other directions.
With more than 85 years of experience, the German audio specialist beyerdynamic offers a wide range of microphones with many different constructions and directional characteristics, thus providing optimum sound solutions for any application and acoustic environment. Most of the microphones are made in Germany at the company's site in Heilbronn.
Installed beyerdynamic products:
- 2 x gooseneck microphone GM 314 S
- 4 x gooseneck microphone GM 315 S
- 2 x MC 836 condenser microphone (lobe/cardioid) with switchable low frequency roll-off
- 2 x EA 19/25 - elastic suspension
- 1 x condenser-microphone-set (cardioid) MC 930 Stereo Set
- 1 x MAV 802 - multi-purpose mounting bracket for 2 microphones
- 1 x M 130 - dynamic double ribbon microphone (figure eight)
- 1 x WS 260 AZ - windscreen
- 1 x NE 914 718-790 MHz – 4-channel UHF true diversity receiver
- 3 x S 910 M - UHF handheld transmitter
- 3 x DM 960 S - changeable capsule (dynamic, hypercardioid)
- 1 x TS 910 M – UHF beltpack transmitter
- 1 x MCE 10.18 - condenser lavalier microphone (hypercardioid)
- 2 x AT 71 470-1000 MHz – antenna
- 2 x MS 10 – clip
- 2 x ZSH 23 FT – base plate for gooseneck microphones
- 3 x STF 900 – stand for gooseneck microphones
- 4 x GST 400 – stand
- 2 x GST 590 – stand
- 1 x DT 770 PRO 80Ω - headphone
For more information on church PA, please visit www.beyerdynamic.com/how


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Custom Kitchen Cabinets
Amish Woodworking offers a line of custom handmade kitchen cabinets to fit your specific requirements to enhance the beauty and functionality of your home. Choose from one of our existing kitchen cabinet models or design your own unique kitchen cabinets. These cabinets are handmade from the finest hand selected wood. We offer kitchen cabinets in oak, cherry, mahogany, hickory, pine, walnut, maple and knotty alder. Our kitchen cabinets are affordable and can be designed to satisfy your remodeling or new home construction needs. If your kitchen cabinets need to be shorter, taller, wider or thinner with built in features and functions that make your kitchen work for you and your guests, we will be happy to custom build them for you.
We also do furniture reproductions or we can replicate an antique cabinet to serve as a sideboard or hutch, which will complement your kitchen cabinets while providing the fit, function and look of a distinctive premium quality kitchen. Sized to fit your needs we can incorporate the look and feel of our fine furniture for your kitchen, such as a matching Amish roll top desk or a kitchen table and chairs all of which will be built and hand crafted and stained by our Amish craftsmen. Baking centers, islands and pantry units are created to be pieces of furniture.
Our kitchen cabinets are hand made by Amish craftsmen. You will appreciate the attention to detail and the old world quality of our dovetailed drawers. We are committed to the highest quality for a reasonable price. At the end of the process your kitchen cabinet will sign and date.
Your kitchen cabinet starts off with your thoughts and ideas. Usually we work with your drawings or your designer's drawings to produce our shop drawings. Before we build your kitchen cabinets we will ask you a number of questions to make sure that our past experience gives you the best fit and function to meet your specific needs. We provide you with sample stains on various woods and give you a door sample to make sure that we all agree on your requirements. We can provide matching display cabinets, bookshelves, fireplace mantles, entertainment centers or custom furniture for your home.
We believe that you should be able to think outside of the box. There is no reason or need for you to try to fit your needs into a production kitchen cabinet. We make high quality custom kitchen cabinets to fit you and your needs for a reasonable price.


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Imagine living in a town so remote, so isolated, and so dreary that the prospect of a Taco Bell opening nearby ignites a spark of hope in the populace so intense it has to be set to moving music.
Some would say Bethel, Alaska sounds like hell. Me? I say it sounds like the healthiest place on Earth, at least until Taco Bell's corruption engineers worked out a way to airlift 10,000 Doritos Locos Tacos to the once-fit people.
Apparently someone tricked the entire town into thinking a Taco Bell was coming, and that broke the heart of the restaurant's public relations department. There was only one thing to do: capitalize on the situation with a touching video, and if they made a few thousand people happy in the process? Well, that's just something they'll have to live with.
Congratulations, Bethel, Alaska. May the emergency orange never fade from your fingertips.


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The Palais Galliera is honoring Azzedine Alaïa with its opening exhibition. This first Paris retrospective, presented in the Palais's newly renovated galleries and in the Matisse Room at the Musée d'Art moderne of the City of Paris, comprises a selection of seventy iconic models retracing a unique creative career.
© Patrick Demarchelier
Courtesy Palais Galliera
Copyright © Pierre Antoine
ALAÏA is currently on view at the Palais Galliera
This post is also on the HuffPost
This post is also on the HuffPost


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Losing players but in top form. The Curious case of Borussia Dortmund.
History has proven that the Bundesliga has always been Bayern Munich and another team. From the Borussia Mönchengladbach of Günter Netzer, to the Hamburg of Felix Magath and Horst Hrubesch-Das Kopfball-Ungeheuer- The Header Beast and the Dortmund of Riedle and Möller. These sides had given Bayern a very tough time, and also excelled in Europe.
It wasn't until 2010/11 that another side emulated Borussia Mönchengladbach(69-77), Hamburg (78-83) and Dortmund (94-97). A side had emerged that began to outplay and match Bayern, not for one season, not for two seasons, but for three and counting. Even though they have lost players, they are still competing at the highest level.
In 2011 Klopp realised that preventing Nuri Sahin from moving was too much. The Turk was destined to move on after a spectacular season with Die Schwarzgelben. After it was confirmed that the midfielder will be heading to the Spanish capital, Klopp pulled off one of the transfers of the season.
Nürnberg midfielder İlkay Gündoğan was signed as the potential Sahin replacement. Few can deny Gündoğan's ability. His nonchalant nature in the middle of the park was one of the main reasons why Dortmund reached the Champions League Final.
In that same year, Paraguayan talisman Lucas Barrios had been an integral part of the Bundesliga-winning side, bagging 16 goals in the league. It was at that stage that Klopp took the risk. Barrios, who had attracted sides like Chelsea, was demoted to the bench. His replacement: A Pole by the name of Robert Lewandowski.
After that historic double winning season in 11/12, Shinji Kagawa was sold to Manchester United for a price around £17m. When you bear in mind that he was bought from Cerezo Osaka (a club plying its trade in the 2nd tier of Japanese football) for a price of €350k, it makes it more intriguing.
Despite being unable to prevent Kagawa's departure, Klopp pulled off a masterstroke. A Dortmund fan since childhood, Borussia Mönchengladbach star Marco Reus was recruited for €17.1m.
23rd April 2013, twenty-four hours before a crucial Champions League semi-final Mario Götze's departure to Bayern Munich was confirmed. The transfer led Dortmund fans to raise banners that read 'The pursuit of money shows how much heart one truly has'. Questions like 'Is the Dortmund renaissance over?' were beginning to be asked.
Klopp did not stop and weep about the loss of one of his star players, tying up Shakhtar man Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Saint-Étienne's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Both signings are proving to be something special. The latter has an average rating (WhoScored.com) of 7.21, while the former has a rating of 7.53.
To put these stats into perspective, it's Robben's fifth season in the Bundesliga and he has an average rating of 7.93! These stats show us that Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang are adapting really well.
It will not be a surprise if Dortmund pull off another masterstroke in January. Özil's claim that they are 'better than ever' and Fredi Bobic's (Stuttgart's sporting director) claim that they 'are stronger without Götze' is not coincidental.
Die Schwarzgelben's magic trio of Klopp, Watzke, and Zorc has done it time and time again. In addition to the fact that there hasn't been a drastic change in the team's back-bone after their memorable 12/13 season. With the exception of Götze, all the other important Dortmund players (Błaszczykowski, Reus, Subotić, Hummels etc..) remained at the club.
There are claims that Gündoğan is set to leave Dortmund, Lewandowski is set to leave as well. Where will they go, when will they go? In Dortmund's case it doesn't matter, they have proved that they always have a solution to the given problem.News Now - Sport News


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Candice Choi
AP Food Industry Writer
NEW YORK: Taco Bell is name-dropping an unlikely clown to promote its new breakfast menu � Ronald McDonald.
The fast-food chain will begin airing ads Thursday that feature everyday men who happen to have the same name as the McDonald�s mascot known for his bright red hair and yellow jumpsuit. The marketing campaign is intended to promote Taco Bell�s new breakfast menu, which features novelties like a waffle taco.
The chain, owned by Yum Brands Inc. of Louisville, Ky., is looking to boost sales by opening most of its roughly 6,000 U.S. stores a few hours earlier at 7 a.m. starting this week. But Taco Bell has a long way to go to catch up with McDonald�s, the No. 1 player in breakfast with about 31 percent of the category, according to market researcher Technomic. The popularity of Egg McMuffins and other items have been a consistent sales driver for McDonald�s over the years, with breakfast accounting for about 20 percent of the company�s U.S. sales.
By comparison, a Yum executive has said that breakfast accounted for just 4 percent of sales when it was being tested at Taco Bell stores in select markets. That was before national marketing began, however, and Taco Bell president Brian Niccol said in a phone interview that the goal was to get the figure to a level �much greater than that.�
Taco Bell said the real-life Ronald McDonalds featured in its new ads were paid for their appearances. But Niccol, who said he didn�t know how much they were paid, insists their enthusiastic reactions to the food were real.
�All of them resoundingly loved the food,� he said.
Taco Bell�s ad agency, Deutsche LA, found around 400 men and women with the name Ronald McDonald, Ronnie McDonald or some variation, Niccol said. A couple dozen were selected to represent different regions around the country including Bossier City, La.; Chicago; Dubuque, Iowa; Kane, Pa. and Worcester, Ma.
The men show their approval of the food with comments like, �It�s not messy� and �Mmm, wow� and �Mmm, real good� and �It has everything I like.�
In case it wasn�t clear, tiny print at the end of the ad notes that, �These Ronald McDonalds are not affiliated with McDonald�s Corporation and were individually selected as paid endorsers of Taco Bell Breakfast.�
�We like to do things with a wink and smile,� Niccol said. �We have a sense of humor.�
As for Ronald McDonald the fast-food clown, the character was first played by Willard Scott in 1963. He was initially depicted as a character that magically pulled hamburgers and fries out of his belt. But the mascot eventually became a target of critics who say McDonald�s uses him to market to kids.


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Monthly Archives: December 2015
December 2015
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Hellen Wills is a female athlete and tennis player. She is known for wearing the perfume: Jean Patou Ma Collection.
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When Brenda Brown stood before a judge, she figured she had only one real option: plead guilty. She had been caught with three bags of marijuana in her pocket in Northwest Baltimore.
She didn't know that Kendell Richburg, the arresting officer, had lied about having seen her buy the drugs, potentially violating her constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure. Now, her case is among hundreds under review by prosecutors in light of Richburg's conduct.
Brown, 52, is serving a sentence that includes a year of probation, court costs, counseling, drug testing and another possession count on a lengthy rap sheet. But she wonders whether the new revelations mean her conviction might be scrapped.
"You mean I'm off probation?" she asked after hearing of Richburg's guilty plea this month to armed drug trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors said the Baltimore police officer set up innocent people, falsified reports, skimmed police money, and protected a drug dealer working for him as an informant.
Brown's case — and others like it — are part of a complicated puzzle prosecutors will have to solve in coming weeks.
"This could be a very big undertaking the state's attorney's office will have to embark on," said Glenn F. Ivey, a private attorney who served as Prince George's County state's attorney for eight years. He said one police officer's misconduct can ruin many cases.
The Richburg affair has endangered cases against people caught engaging in criminal activity. And it illustrates how seemingly incidental, but fabricated, information can slip through the court system, limiting suspects' due process.
"Whether the person is guilty or not, the police have to put truthful information in the report about him or her," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said. "You don't make cases by lying."
Brown was arrested Sept. 18. That night, she said in an interview, a young man on a bike rode up to her at a bus stop in the 5100 block of Park Heights Ave.
"Hey mama, I got some weed but you got to look out," Brown said he told her. "Some knockers down there."
He pointed toward an area being monitored by plainclothes officers from Baltimore's Violent Crime Impact Section. Brown discreetly handed the man $15 for three "nickel" bags — enough to roll a joint, she said — and boarded a bus.
Several minutes later, she said, a police car pulled in front of the bus. Richburg stepped onboard and pulled Brown off.
"What you got?" she said he asked. "I know you have something."
He reached into her pocket, pulled out the baggies. She never questioned how he knew she was holding marijuana.
In the statement of probable cause for the arrest, Richburg wrote that he witnessed the buy. He said an "unidentified black male" in a white T-shirt and blue jeans approach Brown at the bus stop. Money changed hands, he said. "This detective believed that he had just witnessed a narcotic transaction," he wrote. He and his partner walked up and made the arrest.
There was no mention in the report of Richburg stopping the bus.
That wasn't the only omission. According to federal prosecutors, the entire arrest was set up. Earlier in the day, federal investigators, who by this time were monitoring Richburg, had been wiretapping his conversations with a confidential informant.
According to Richburg's lawyer, Warren A. Brown, the officer had been under immense pressure to make cases, which led him to arrange busts with the informant. That day, the two discussed the potential drug arrest.
"I'll write it up like I saw hand to hand," bits of the conversation made public by federal prosecutors show.
It was unclear whether the man on the bike was the informant. But after the drug deal was brokered, the informant gave Brenda Brown's description and location to Richburg, who texted back several minutes later: "I got her."
Richburg's attorney said the officer felt he had to resort to such tactics to keep his job.
"This unit, which was ostensibly meant to combat violent crime, was under extreme pressure to make arrests," Warren Brown said. "It was a numbers game and the higher ups didn't care what kind of arrests they were — they just wanted numbers."
Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi called any claim of top-down pressure to make arrests "absurd" and denigrating to honest police officers. "It was clear he was operating alone."
Richburg was involved in hundreds of cases since April 2009, when he forged the relationship with the informant that would play a key role in his downfall. The street-level dealer, who has not been identified, was facing arrest when he agreed to help police.
He worked the streets for tips in the same area he had been caught dealing drugs and was assigned to Richburg, who was part of Baltimore police's Northwestern District's special enforcement section.
The relationship developed into a quid pro quo, authorities say: Richburg tipped off the informant about areas police were monitoring so he could avoid them when he sold cocaine, crack, heroin and marijuana. The informant told the officer who his customers were so Richburg could arrest them.
Richburg never revealed that the informant was the dealer in many of his arrests. He even fueled the informant's illegal enterprises, prosecutors said, paying him for tips with police money — which Richburg skimmed — and resupplying him with drugs police had confiscated.
The state's attorney's Police Integrity Unit began reviewing Richburg's cases weeks ago after they learned of the allegations against him. Officials have been consulting with every prosecutor who worked on a Richburg case to determine whether convictions or plea agreements need to be thrown out, spokesman Mark Cheshire said. Prosecutors are obligated to notify people who could be potentially freed or exonerated if they uncover evidence that might be favorable to them.
The office of the public defender is conducting its own review. "We're looking into all of these cases, and we'll be pursuing it quite aggressively," District Public Defender Elizabeth L. Julian said.
In the case of Brenda Brown, Byron L. Warnken, a University of Baltimore law professor and attorney who specializes in appellate cases, said that if it turns out Richburg had no probable cause to search her, it won't matter whether she had marijuana. "If the only thing that establishes that she did the crime was his statement and he lied, sounds like she didn't do the crime," he said.
Brown, who is unemployed and on disability, said she grew up in West Baltimore and got caught up in doing and dealing hard drugs at a young age.
Since 1984, she has been arrested 16 times, according to records read at her Sept. 27 court hearing. Court records show several convictions over the years, including multiple charges of possession of a controlled substance and theft.
She said she has been "clean from the coke and the dope" for 13 years, since serving a seven-year sentence that ended in 2004. But she acknowledged continuing to smoke marijuana to help combat pain from surgeries and arthritis, and fatigue from HIV, which she has been fighting for 15 years. "I do it for me to get an appetite."
For months, Brown thought it was just bad luck she had been prosecuted for buying marijuana last September. Usually, officers in special enforcement units focus on drug dealers, not users, she said.
"Most of the knockers, when they find [drugs] they just smash it and tell you to go on your way," she said.
Before she bought the marijuana, she had been out buying a pair of glasses. She joked that the glasses "must not have been that good" since she didn't notice police around witnessing her buy drugs. Now, she said, she knows they never saw anything at all.


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Science Friday® is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Science Friday® and SciFri® are registered service marks of Science Friday, Inc. Site design by Pentagram; engineering by Mediapolis.
|We'll talk with public health expert DA Henderson about his new book "Smallpox - the Death of a Disease." Henderson, an American physician and epidemiologist, headed the international effort during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox worldwide.


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Big money's grip stronger than ever
The Watergate investigation was still raging. The pardon of Richard Nixon, barely a month old, still reverberated in the nation's consciousness. Against that backdrop, on an October afternoon in 1974, President Gerald Ford signed his name to legislation aimed at purging the corrosive influence of money in politics.
The law included new contribution limits and mandates for financial disclosure, as well as the first provisions for public funding of presidential elections. "By removing whatever influence big money and special interests may have on our federal electoral process," Ford said," this bill should stand as a landmark of campaign reform legislation."
Story Continued Below
Forty years later, campaign finance experts agree that the grip of big money over the American political system has never been greater — or not in a century, since the days when Montana mining baron William Clark bribed a state Legislature into naming him to the U.S. Senate.
( Also on POLITICO: Big donors fear shakedown)
Washington is not now as readily for sale as it was in Clark's day ("I never bought a man who wasn't for sale," he is supposed to have said.) But a combination of already-permeable campaign finance regulations and Supreme Court decisions gutting even those legal restrictions have left money pouring into the electoral arena at a historic volume.
The Supreme Court's decision this week striking down cumulative caps on individual hard-dollar donations was yet another blow to the post-Watergate finance regime that has sought for decades – with only the most modest success – to banish special interests from the political process.
Former Watergate prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste said the state of play for money in politics is "certainly" as bad as it has ever been. If Nixon's lieutenants maintained a $350,000 political slush fund that outraged the nation, that money is a drop in the bucket compared with the tens of millions spent these days through groups that face no contribution limits and do not disclose their donors.
( Also on POLITICO: SCOTUS on money and politics: A reader's guide)
"Money has polluted the political process beyond recognition," Ben-Veniste, a Democrat, said in an interview. "The Watergate reforms, which were in fairly short order by any historical perspective evaded by lawyering, lobbying and general U.S. ingenuity, soon became hollow."
"Clearly, the system is severely broken and the Supreme Court has not helped us," he said.
The Supreme Court's decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission tore another hole in a regulatory framework so tattered that even ardent campaign finance regulators sigh over its impotence. Many of the current restrictions seem more geared toward providing gainful employment to compliance attorneys than toward truly getting cash out of elections.
There are still a handful of meaningful limits on political giving: Donors cannot give more than $5,200 directly to a single candidate over the course of an election cycle. Their contributions to party committees are capped as well. Thanks to the Watergate-era laws, far more political donations are disclosed now than in the past.
( WATCH: Alex Burns on 'Driving the Day')
And even though the Supreme Court opened the door to corporate political spending in the Citizens United decision, the barrier on businesses giving directly to campaigns remains intact.
The money, however, is still there – just channeled from megadonors, corporations and heavily funded interests through a range of exotic independent-spending organizations, instead of through political parties. It adds up to what many call a worst-of-both-worlds situation in which money pours into politics at a historic clip, but often to unaccountable outside entities that can push around candidates every bit as readily as the million-dollar party donors of old.
In that sense, some campaign attorneys argue, finance regulations may have made the influence of money even more acute or at least less transparent, driving funds away from candidates and parties and toward shadowy outside groups.
( WATCH: Open Mike with political 'data scientist' Alex Lundry)
Prominent Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, a former top counsel to the Mitt Romney and Bush-Cheney campaigns, said of the current campaign finance framework: "If you're going to be remotely objective about it, [it] has failed."


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Published May 23, 2015
Fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, guacamole oh my! Whatever brings you in, where do you like to feast Mexican-style?
These restaurants take old ideas and melt them into tasty new ones. Who... see the Top 5 →
Candlelight, soft music, and the best company. Who's #1 for your date... see the Top 5 →
If it comes from the sea, these restaurants know how to serve it right... see the Top 5 →
So many choices… porterhouse, T-bone, filet… what's your choice? see the Top 5 →
There's nothing like fresh, carefully prepared sushi. Who makes the best? see the Top 5 →
Little dishes with a lot of flavor. Who has the best flair for tapas? see the Top 5 →
The 2015 KCRA 3 A-List awards are based on more than 207,000 votes from local Sacramento-area experts.


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- 10
- Fundo
- ca. 1915-1919
The fonds consists of photographs likely taken by A.F.R. Wollaston in Uganda, the Congo, New Guinea, and Fiji. Also included are the envelope in which the photos were posted, and a note from M (Marjorie Halpin) to Audrey (Shane? Hawthorn?) regard...
A.F.R. Wollaston


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Join us for play time in the meeting room, with all of our toys!
For kids of all ages.
- Date:
- Monday, July 16, 2018 Show more dates
- Time:
- 10:30am - 1:30pm
- Location:
- Eads Room
- Location:
- Aurora Hills Branch Library
- Audience:
- Events for Babies and Preschoolers Events for Elementary Schoolers
- Calendar:
- Aurora Hills
About Our Events
Library events may be photographed or videotaped by staff for archival or promotional purposes.
Please email or call 703-228-5993 one week in advance.


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Katelyn Dorroh for the Sketchbook Project
The Sketchbook Project is a mobile library of handmade sketchbooks contributed to by thousands of creative people from across the globe. The Project encourages everyone — from anywhere — regardless of their creative background, to create and share their process with the public.
Participants sign up online (2013 registration now underway) to receive a blank sketchbook, then fill it with artwork and mail it back. The results are cataloged in the Brooklyn Art Library's permanent collection, displayed online in the Digital Library, and exhibited at museums and arts festivals from coast to coast including right here at The Gladstone July 19th (opening reception), 6-10pm at the 2nd floor gallery. Demonstrating the power of collaboration: when 10,000 people get together with a common purpose, we can create something uniquely awesome, here's a look at Katelyn Dorroh for The Sketchbook Project 2012. Theme: Encyclopedia of, Untitled. Location: La Crescenta, CA.
2nd Floor Gallery:
July 19th (opening reception), 6-10pm
July 20th-22nd, 2-6pm


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Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, March 18-31, 2012, is the perfect time to discover world-class dining while exploring the scenic, historic and agricultural wonders of New York's famed Hudson River Valley. This culinary extravaganza runs a full 14 days, including two weekends, making it tantalizing for those looking for a tasty overnight getaway.
More than 170 participating restaurants will offer three-course prix-fixe din ners at $29.95 and three-course lunches at $20.95. Participating restaurants are located in seven counties (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster and Columbia) along the Hudson River from north of New York City to just south of Albany.
Because of the Valley's strong agricultural base, the use of locally-produced ingredients on Restaurant Week menus is part of the event's appeal, Crawshaw says. "Our chefs find both inspiration and amazing ingredients in the surrounding farms, orchards and vineyards."
Hudson Valley Restaurant Week is presented by The Valley Table in partnership with Dutchess County Tourism and Westchester County Tourism. Major sponsors are M&T Bank, WHUD Radio, The Gold Standard, The Cul inary Institute of America, Hudson Valley Bounty, Crown Maple Syrup and Millbrook Vineyards and Winery.
To consult the list of restaurants participating in Hudson Valley Restaurant Week 2012, as well as hotels offering special overnight rates, go to www.HudsonValleyRestaurantWeek.com.


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Charles J. "Chuck" Biggins, who served as head of security at the Gallery from 1987 until his retirement in 1993, died December 16, 2011 at his home in Bergen, NY. He was 80.
Biggins, who came to MAG after a 25-year career in law enforcement, oversaw the expansion of the security staff following the 1987 opening of the Vanden Brul Pavilion. For his efforts, he was named 1989 Officer of the Year by his employer, Pinkerton Securities Services.
photo by Gary Graham


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And reading the comments we found where the taxpaying grab from the
Lynn, if you come on board as a member we can show you our shiny vote-targeting efforts We have sophisticated models which worked rather well for us a year ago…Corrupt, stealing, thieving, communists.
There are still deficiencies in our planning and effort, but we're working on those. The asset-sales referendum is important in its own right, but it's certainly an excellent mobilisation tool and chance to build a few other things.


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I blogged about this topic when I built my first proof of concept. I read the feedback and considered all options and have decided that my original plan seems the most robust, stable and feature rich. The HP thin clients run a Debian build, so I installed proftpd and got it working. The beauty of FTP is that it's stateless. Anyone that supports users of differing skills knows they will find ways to disrupt the best laid technology plans. :) I therefore did not want any stateful mounts from the servers to the thin clients. With the various techniques used by people, I know they would find a way to cause a problem with a mount or get something locked/stuck. FTP performs a task (list, upload, download) and then is immediately finished. Very clean, to me. I added a permissions based icon to the desktop:
When launched, the script gets the hostname of the thin client currently connected and then opens a nautilus window. The FTP account on the thin client has a password that is entered via the dialog window.
SDISPLAY=` echo $DISPLAY | awk -F ":" ' {print $1}'`
nautilus ftp://media@$SDISPLAY
From the users perspective they don't think about the technology, and simply get a file manager as expected. The files can be moved to the server or desktop as desired. Files on USB sticks at remote sites will upload and move right to the servers located here at City Hall.
Here are the lines in proftpd.conf of interest in this deployment:
ScoreboardFile /etc/proftpd.scoreboard # file system allows writes
DefaultRoot /media # FTP can only get to media only
MaxInstances 100 #Lots of quick UI clicking counts as new users, increased
HideFiles (\.bas|\.bat|\.cab|\.cmd|\.com|\.dll|\.exe|\.inf|\.js|\.mdb|\.msi|\.vb|\.vbe)
IgnoreHidden on
The last section hides most executables from view completely. If they are on the users USB stick, GNOME won't even see or display them. If you can't see them, you can't drop and drag them.
I'm sure there will be some tuning, but it's working well enough for a pre-release.
We are testing some perks of this design:
- Being able to share your USB stick with other users, from any facility.
- Someone in our support group might be at a remote site fixing something, and they need a utility or program here at City Hall. Staff can push it right to them.
Fun stuff, it will be interesting to see how it goes.


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Boeing 787 test flight ends in emergency landing
NEW YORK A Boeing 787 jetliner on a test flight over Texas made an emergency landing Tuesday after smoke was detected in the main cabin, the latest setback in development of the new plane.
The plane landed safely in Laredo and the crew was evacuated, Boeing spokeswoman Loretta Gunter said. Boeing is still gathering information about the incident, she said.
The smoke appeared in the rear cabin of the plane, farthest from the cockpit, said Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
"The pilot landed and advised he was declaring an emergency," said Lunsford, who added that the airport fire department was called to the scene. He said the FAA would look into the incident.
CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports the smoke was apparently coming from the jet's electrical instrument bay, a sensitive area home to much of the plane's control instrumentation, and the 787 did lose some of its engine controls prior to the emergency landing.
Boeing said one person suffered a minor injury as the crew of 42 people were being evacuated down exit slides. The cause of the smoke was unknown Tuesday night, Gunter said.
The 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner, is made of composite material designed to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient, but Boeing has run into a series of delays in developing the big, two-aisle passenger plane.
More delays for Boeing's Dreamliner
Boeing's Dreamliner makes its U.K. debut
Boeing has said it will deliver the first production models of the 787 to Japan's All Nippon Airways in the middle of the first quarter of next year - about three years behind schedule.
Development of the aircraft has been pushed back several times by snags including availability of Rolls-Royce engines and supplier workmanship issues. The company halted test flights last summer after finding that some parts in the tail were not properly installed.
It was unclear whether Tuesday's incident would add to the delays.
Boeing is conducting flight tests with several 787s, some with Rolls-Royce engines, which will be the first models delivered to airlines, and others with General Electric engines.
The Rolls-Royce engines are not the same models mounted on Airbus A380s currently being pulled out of the sky by Qantas and Singapore airlines over oil leaks that may have cause one of the massive engines to explode midflight on a Qantas jet last week.
The company said last month it had completed takeoff and handling tests for the initial version of the plane but that more testing was needed for 787s with GE engines.
Boeing is relying on suppliers from around the country and the world to build components for the plane. The company has taken 847 orders for the plane from 56 customers.


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Some people say there was heaven and hell, others think about soul, some also believes in reincarnation.. how about you? what do you think of it? what will you do if this is the end of everything?
Views: 1548
And just don't come to us with a "proof" we've refuted 10 zillion times. Like the watchmaker argument, the first cause argument, the argument from design, etc., unless you have a totally new wrinkle.
I've got one of those - I just noticed it in the mirror this morning.
I notice Micmic put his question in the "Welcome to Think Atheist" section. It's a good thing he didn't post it in the "Argument" area.
And if we really knew anything about death, we would not be so smug!
....and maybe there is a difference between believing "in god" as opposed to believing there is a god??
Reg - yes, having faith in something as opposed to taking something on faith. ???
We all go to munchkin land and eat fairy cake.
Is this anything like blue bubbleup?
Hi Micmic,
I gather you are exploring atheism, and you are trying to see how it might be for you. I also understand English is not your first language and I think you are doing very well in putting your thoughts down.
This is about understanding for yourself. Actually, I like the title of your post, because to me that is a statement and not a question. Life is everything. This is the only life you will experience, certainly as you exist, in this place and time. Atheists are people who do not believe in gods. So this life is an amazingly precious one to us. Irreplaceable, in fact.
Mostly atheism rules out any afterlife you will ever have heard of, because these all have some kind of god in them, judging and rewarding and punishing. Theists believe that If you are obedient in your life, there will be a lovely second life waiting for you with a god in the middle.
Some atheists are open to there being some kind of evolved or scientific afterlife, but not with a reward/punishment crossroads. You see we have a problem with the 'judging' because we don't accept there's a judge (god), so any vague feelings an atheist would have about what happens after you die, would be more than likely based on the idea of a natural progression, not a designed one.
A 'soul' has a different meaning to every person because it is, by its very nature, a self-perception.
But THIS is not the end of everything. THIS is today, in 2012. There will be next year, for you, and the year after that, and so on. I hope you will have a long and happy life. Let me ask you something. Think of your absolutely most ideal day. How many years do you think you could live that same day over and over again before you went crazy?
If we stop learning, and we stop changing, what is left? Boredom. If we are in a place (heaven) where we are going to be perpetually happy, there is nothing to learn because there is no point doing a puzzle when you have the answers in the back of the book. Now, how long do you think we would last, until we just screamed for change? A hundred years? I doubt I could manage ONE year.
But that's OK, because I won't have to. When I'm dead, my atoms will go spinning back into this planets recycling system, explode with the sun, and be scattered across the universe. No insane repetition for me.
What a relief, eh?
Good points all, Strega, except for one: "If we are in a place (heaven) where we are going to be perpetually happy."
That's what most imagine when they think about going to "heaven," skipping down the streets of gold, hand in hand with their loved ones, but that's not why you're there - you're there for the sole purpose of praising god for all time. If you think endless perfect days could be maddening, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
That's my point, though. Monotony of even the most delightful kind will still drive you insane. (The praising stuff is just silly, nobody really expects they'll have to do things they wont like, or it wouldn't be heaven.) It's just that that way leads to insanity or lobotomy, and you'd be praying your knees off to the god for the gift of oblivion.
Where I will be already.
Does one get a free lobotomy as you pass through the pearly gates? People should know this! LOL


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Gary T. Klugiewicz
Gary is employed by PoliceOne as a Use-of-Force subject matter expert, researcher, program developer, and training specialist. He is also the director of ACMi® Systems, and a member of the Team One Network that, in cooperation with the Northwest Wisconsin Technical College, provides defensive tactics, firearms, and tactical training throughout the United States.
He is retired from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department after 25 years of service where he was promoted to the rank of captain. As former Street Survival® Seminar instructor and internationally known defensive tactics instructor, Gary has impacted hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers.
Even more importantly, as a righteous police officer use-of-force defense expert , Gary has defended scores of officers in legal proceedings.
Gary Klugiewicz is the director of research & development for the Verbal Judo Institute. He has collaborated with Dr. Thompson to develop a series of specialized training programs for corrections, mental health, and other public service employees, as well as, one for private citizens, including children and young adults. Currently, he is the lead instructor for Verbal Judo's (Tactical Communication for the Correctional Professional) training program.
As of July of 2009, several new online Verbal Judo resources are available:
For free audio newsletter for police, corrections and security professionals click here.
To obtain the free multi-media newsletter for civilians click here.
Online and telephone coaching program for individuals who have received prior training in Verbal Judo are available as well. Simply click here.
Contact Gary Klugiewicz


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Restruct® Protein Bond Shampoo
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Protein, your hair needs it as much as your skin. Now the miracle protein that powers Restruct® Facial Remapping Cream gives new life to hair.
This sulfate-free, fragrance-free shampoo morphs into a creamy lather, thoroughly washing every strand and gently cleansing follicles. Infused with biological proteins that bond with hair and facilitate repair of frail, damaged cuticles while strengthening the shaft. Helps restructure and recondition, brittle hair. Safe for color-treated, bleached, and highlighted hair.
- Sulfate-free. Fragrance-free.
- Creamy, luxury lather gently cleanses follicles.
- Strengthens the hair shaft.
- Contains biological proteins that bond with hair.
Apply a generous amount to wet hair and massage into a rich, dense lather. Rinse thoroughly. Follow with Restruct Protein Bond Conditioner.


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Washington, D.C. (June 21, 2009) — Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President and CEO Billy Tauzin issued the following statement regarding the agreement with the White House and the Senate Finance Committee to help close the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug program:
"This marks an important first step toward our shared goal of providing high-quality, affordable health care to everyone in America. We applaud President Obama and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus for their commitment to comprehensive health care reform – one of the most challenging issues of our lifetime. Health care reform is important to patients, the economy and the future of America.
"Millions of uninsured and financially-struggling Americans are depending on us to accomplish comprehensive health care reform this year. America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are signaling their strong support for these critically important efforts. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and, working together, we can make this hope for a better tomorrow a reality today."
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures. PhRMA members alone invested an estimated $50.3 billion in 2008 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-wide research and investment reached a record $65.2 billion in 2008.
PhRMA Internet Address: www.phrma.org
For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit: www.innovation.org
For information on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, visit: www.pparx.org
For more information on public health emergencies, visit: www.rxresponse.org
For information on the danger of imported drugs, visit: www.buysafedrugs.info


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Whenever Will Allen arrives in a neighborhood, scores of curious children seem to come out of nowhere to see what he's about. His pickup truck carries spades, hoes, earthworms, seeds, and a truckload of compost – all the components needed to make a garden.
Mr. Allen knows a garden not only gives inner-city kids something to do, but it can also feed them good, nutritious food and invigorate the community at the same time.
This vision of symbiosis between an urban setting and locally grown food is what prompted Allen, a 6 ft., 7 in. former professional basketball player, to purchase the last three farm acres in Milwaukee 16 years ago and invite inner-city youth to help him grow vegetables.
"Food is at the very foundation of community development," Allen says.
His efforts have paid off in significant ways. Today his nonprofit, Growing Power, operates a handful of urban farms and community growing centers around Milwaukee and downtown Chicago.
In addition, Growing Power is helping to develop urban gardening sites and training centers in several other states and two international centers in Kenya and Ukraine. Its website, www.growingpower.org, posts research on its farming techniques as well as various how-to gardening videos.
Allen's low-tech, low-cost farming approach has earned him a reputation as a leader in the urban gardens and sustainability movement and a "genius grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Yet Allen doesn't want to just grow food, he wants to build healthy communities. The strength of Growing Power's success is centered on the philosophy that a community must literally be grown from the ground up.
"Every human being should have access to affordable food," he explains. Around this concept of good food for all, Allen has built a network of relationships among neighborhoods, schools, universities, government, and funding agencies. "Everyone has to be involved. Everyone!" he says.
Hands-on education
Children are the immediate beneficiaries of urban gardens. By involving scores of youngsters in his projects, Allen hopes to give them a sense of purpose and belonging as an alternative to joining gangs.
Through Growing Power programs young people gain practical skills such as operating power tools and teamwork. They learn marketing by selling their produce at farmers markets.
And they absorb gardening know-how such as building "hoop houses" (greenhouses with arched roofs) and raised beds, vermiculture (worm farming), and composting.
Applying their reading and math skills in the garden also helps to improve their grades at school. As a result, an increasing number of schools are signing up for Growing Power's six-week hands-on courses to learn about sustainable farming methods, entrepreneurial skills, and healthy eating habits.
The simplicity and practicality of Growing Power's mission has attracted attention from the halls of higher education as well. College students from Grinnell in Iowa and Oberlin in Ohio have worked in Growing Power's greenhouses, milked goats, fed animals, and made compost.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Great Lakes WATER Institute consults with Allen's aquaculture (fish farming) operation, which raises 10,000 yellow perch and tilapia a year on its urban farms. Allen's system costs $3,000 to build, as opposed to a $50,000 conventional system.
"You need an engineering degree to operate one of these [conventional] systems. I can teach you our system in a five-hour workshop," says Allen, who also consults Madison's microbiology department. "Our object is to make it as simple as possible."
Urban farming has its challenges, and the key to its success is the soil, especially when the land may be contaminated from past uses, he says. "Without good soil, crops don't get enough of the nutrients they need to survive. When plants are stressed, they are more prone to disease and pest problems."
To achieve an organic label for its produce, Growing Power makes 6 million
tons pounds of compost for its soil each year from the collected food wastes of grocery stores, wholesale produce companies, and moldy hay.
But the success of Growing Power relies on more than just rich soil. Its programs are a shining example of "sustainability," a key buzzword in the local-food movement.
In addition to providing local alternatives to processed food found at corner stores, its viable urban farms create jobs, develop small businesses, and keep precious dollars in the community, says Jerry Kaufman, a professor emeritus of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Growing new farmers
Allen hopes to recruit and nurture a new class of farmers from among the young people he meets through Growing Power's presentations, demonstrations, workshops, and weekend seminars. He strives to show them that small farm operations are not only doable but essential in promoting sustainable agriculture.
"They're the ones to take this forward," he says.
Allen's passion for agriculture springs from his childhood on a farm in Maryland where he and his brothers cultivated their own garden. Although they were never wealthy, Allen recalls the many times his mother kept a stirred pot on the stove in order to be ready to feed dozens of family, friends, and neighbors.
He never expected that he'd return to farming in his adult life, but Allen discovered during his professional basketball days in Europe that he just couldn't resist the pull to dig around in the soil.
His daughter, Erika Allen, continues the family tradition by serving as director of Growing Power's Chicago projects.
In September Allen was awarded a MacArthur "genius grant" of $500,000, which is given to individuals described as "creative, bold, energetic and promising of more achievement."
Allen plans to use his grant money to continue providing fresh produce to the poor while he searches for new and creative ways of improving the health and diet of inner-city communities.
(NOTE: To go to the Monitor's main gardening page -- which contains articles and blog posts on many topics -- click here.)


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On January 28, 2008 the Founder and Chairman of MJF Group of Companies (Dilmah Tea), Mr. Merrill J. Fernando, its Marketing Director, Mr. Dilhan Fernando and a team from Dilmah visited IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.
They were met by the Director General of IUCN, Ms. Julia Marton-Lefevre, Deputy Director General, Dr. William Jackson, Mr. Mohammed Rafiq, Head, Business and Biodiversity Programme, Shiranee Yasaratne, IUCN's Country Representative in Sri Lanka and other senior staff of the organization.
The Dilmah Group is one of the world's largest non-alcoholic beverages companies, and is active in production, processing and marketing of tea as its core business. The MJF Charitable Foundation, an NGO and recognized Charity, works with underprivileged persons in Sri Lanka.
IUCN Sri Lanka entered into a partnership with the MJF Group in 2003. This resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations on agreed work streams: Ecosystems and Livelihoods, Gender and Environment and Species Conservation - supporting IUCN's efforts of conserving threatened and endangered species emerging from the Red Listing Process. As a consequence of this partnership, IUCN has been successful in facilitating the establishment of Dilmah Conservation – the first conservation arm of a private sector corporate entity.
The Dilmah team discussed experiences gained in Sri lanka on integrating an environmental dimension to is work and expressed hope that the partnership could be expanded to a global level. Mr Merril Fernando stated that he was very happy with the association between his organisation and IUCN and was appreciative of the collaborative work done. The Director General of IUCN appreciated the efforts of Dilmah Conservation and the MJF Foundation in supporting and nurturing its Business and Biodiversity Programme in Asia and stated that the innovative initiatives and results of the partnership will be show cased in IUCN's work worldwide.
Mr. Merrill J. Fernando's efforts were recognised by IUCN for the positive contribution his company has made in integrating environment and livelihoods enhancement for the betterment of communities dependent on natural resources and for the pioneering work carried out, recognising the need and opportunities for mainstreaming and integrating environmental aspects in businesses.


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In a city where new bands pop up every week, you have to find a way to stand out — especially if you're a cover band.
But for the Bellevederes, finding a niche in the old-school music scene seemed almost effortless. Wanting a name representing their love for Baltimore, the group was inspired by the iconic Belevedere Hotel. With big instruments and bigger vocals, the Bellevederes hope to excite their audience while maintaining an authentic performance. The eleven members tell b that they "search '50s and '60s hidden soul gems for inspiration, homage and reinterpretation — songs that make us tap our toes and smile." The band's secret weapon? Their very own master of ceremonies to pump up the crowd during performances. The Bellevederes have not announced any shows for this year, but when they do you can check out their schedule at thebellevederes.com. This week, the group collectively talks to b about leftover pizza, mom jeans and more.
Worst pet peeve? People who will not dance – we call them shoegazers
What's on your iPod? Mulatu Astatke and the Ethiopiques, Astrud Gilberto, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Dawes
What song are you hating/loving right now? "Baby I Love You" by Aretha Franklin – a collective obsession
Last concert/gig you went to? Baltimore Afrobeat Society, even though some of our horn players were actually on stage
Your worst habit? Saying "your mom" after the end of every sentence
Trend that has exceeded its natural lifespan? AUTO-TUNE (notice we have it in all caps to emphasis how much we despise it)
Favorite band? How do you even choose? The Band ranks pretty high on the list.
Any guilty pleasures music-wise? "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Last movie you liked/disliked? HATED "Black Swan," but we LOVE "The Cannonball Run"
Last video that made you snort with laughter? Jimmy Fallon doing "The Barry Gibb Talk Show." It's wet-your-pants funny.
TV shows you can't get enough of? "Tosh.0," "30 Rock," "The Daily Show," anything on YouTube
Favorite book you recently read? "I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Except When I Hate It)." [Author Brian Boone] speaks the truth, and the "rules of being in a band" at the end of the book are priceless.
Last great meal you had? Meatballs and spaghetti pizza from Joe Squared. Preferably cold at 2 a.m.
Food you hate? Mother's popcorn
Favorite place to get a drink? The Brewer's Art
Favorite and most loathed fashion statements? Well-tailored men's suits never go out of style. Ed Hardy puke couture has never been IN style. And we sincerely hope "mom jeans" don't make the comeback we're afraid of.
Best venue in town? Hands down, the Windup Space. It's a great place to see bands, art, movies and Russell the owner is our hero (and has a nice beard).
Favorite quote/saying? "Puts smiles on lips and dips in hips"
Favorite way to relax? Hanging with friends, listening to great music
Source of inspiration? Old hidden soul gems — the folks that never got famous but made music they love.
Best thing about Baltimore? That it's Smalltimore. It's a big city with a small town heart, and nobody takes themselves too seriously.
Members of the Bellevederes include: Sean Beier, 33, keyboard; Kelly Butcher, 29, vocalist; Tiffany DeFoe, 35, tenor saxophone; Denny Finnerin, 36, vocalist; Ryan Finnerin, 37, bass; Greg Hamilton, 33, trumpet; Rose Hammer, 29, baritone saxophone; Micah Huerta, 33, trombone; Justin Metzger, 36, master of ceremonies; Burke Sampson, 39, guitar; E.J. Shaull, 41, drums.


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Paris-Roubaix: Tom Boonen wins survival of the fittest
Crashes don't stop Tornado Tom winning his third Hell of the North
Belgian star Tom Boonen joined an elite club of three-time Paris-Roubaix winners by surviving one-day cycling's toughest battle of the fittest on Sunday.
In a race marked by a dramatic finale in which three big favourites hit the cobblestones one after the other, Boonen fought off a desperate challenge from Italian Filippo Pozzato to claim his third win here after 2005 and 2008.
Becoming the first rider since compatriot and former teammate Johan Museeuw in 2002 to win cycling's toughest one-day classic three times, Boonen admitted it had been his toughest ever Roubaix.
"Without a doubt this has been the hardest," said Boonen, who crashed early in the race and had to carry out a frantic change of bike with 29km to go as he and five other frontrunners drove for the finish line.
Katusha rider Pozzato, who had effectively stymied Boonen's bid to win a third Tour of Flanders last week, had an uneventful race and seemed happy, for the second week in a row, to follow wheels all day.
But despite surviving the late carnage which took down Juan Antonio Flecha, Leif Hoste and then Thor Hushovd, Pozzato's bid to stay with Boonen inside the final 15km came undone as the big Belgian gritted his teeth and powered his way to the outdoor velodrome finish here to leave the Italian runner-up at over 40secs.
Moments later Norwegian hope Hushovd took third in a sprint with Silence-Lotto rivals Hoste and Johan Vansummeren.
It was an incredibly tough result for Hushovd, like Boonen a former winner of the Tour de France green jersey for the race's points classification.
Cervelo's team leader for the day had done well to avoid Flecha's crash on a left hand band 17.5km from the finish which took down Hoste, and which Boonen narrowly avoided. But as Hushovd fought to get back on Boonen's wheel, the Norwegian misjudged an even tighter left-hand bend before hitting the deck after a collision with the barriers.
That left Boonen on his own, with only Pozzato 100 metres back for company.
Boonen's crash had left him with abrasions on his left arm and leg, and with just 29km left his mechanical setback forced him into a two-kilometre chase of his fellow frontrunners.
As he later underlined, it takes more than good legs and strong tactics to win the cobblestone-riddled race known ominously as the 'Hell of the North'.
"Paris-Roubaix is just one long day. And the important thing is not to die, you must survive, survive, survive and save as much energy as possible," said the 29-year-old Boonen, who began the race super-motivated after seeing teammate Stijn Devolder fly to victory in Flanders last week.
"For me, I've already had a good season so far but this is really the cherry on the cake."
Hushovd had been given good support throughout the day from his Australian-born German teammate at Cervelo, Heinrich Haussler, who began as an outside bet for victory himself having placed second in Flanders and Milan-San Remo.
In the final third of the 259km race Haussler and Boonen took turns in upping the pace to try and shake off their rivals, which worked to an extent.
Saxo Bank trio Fabian Cancellara, the 2006 winner, Matti Breschel and Kasper Klostergaard had helped force a significant split in the peloton with 67km to race but they soon paid for that effort after Haussler forced another split, and Boonen, with 46km left, upped the pace yet again to leave the final six frontrunners on their own.
Podium: Filippo Pozzato (3rd), Tom Boonen (1st) and Thor Hushovd (2nd)
Top sprinter Hushovd's presence was a big worry for Boonen and without his later crash the race could have been decided in a two-man sprint.
"If I hadn't had this stupid crash I would have been with him (Boonen) into the velodrome and sprinted with him and either won or came second," said Hushovd. "If I'd lost to Tom because he was strong in the sprint then its okay, but today I lost because I had a stupid crash and that's hard for me.
"I'm really disappointed. It's hard for me to forget this moment."
Tom Boonen's Paris-Roubaix
|1 Tom Boonen (Bel|Quick Step)
|2 Filippo Pozzato (Ita|Team Katusha)
|3 Thor Hushovd (Nor|Cervelo Test Team)
|4 Leif Hoste (Bel|Silence-Lotto)
|5 Johan Van Summeren (Bel|Silence-Lotto)
|6 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa|Rabobank)
|7 Heinrich Haussler (Ger|Cervelo Test Team)
|8 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra|Quick Step)
|9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita|Liquigas)
|10 Matti Breschel (Den|Team Saxo Bank)
For full results, report and photos, visit Cyclingnews.com.


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This luxury gift box contains a print of my Stag design on a high quality, 100% cotton tea towel.
The tea towel is carefully folded and comes supplied in a lovely kraft presentation box.
Send this gift directly to your recipient
If you would like to send this gift straight to your recipient, I provide a gift wrapping and tag-writing service for an extra 50p. Enter their 'Delivery Address' at checkout and leave a message in the comments/enquiries box with your desired message; please also remember to say when you'd like it to arrive for.
The box will be wrapped in brown kraft paper and will fit straight through the letterbox!
First class postage is just £2.50 to any UK mainland address. I am happy to ship worldwide - please choose your destination country at checkout.
If you would like to send a matching greetings card, please select this below, and remember to also select the 'Personalised greetings card message' if you would like this service. Just leave a message in the comments/enquiries box at checkout with your desired message. I will match your greetings card design to the tea towel.
About the tea towel
This is a print of my original, handmade Stag textile piece. It is digitally printed on a high quality, 100% cotton tea towel. The tea towel measures 48 cm x 76 cm and is an all-over edge-to-edge) print.
I created the original handmade piece using my unique style of free-motion embroidery. The gorgeous pinks, purples and natural colours of the design were recreated in appliqué and stitch. This is a beautiful way to bring a little bit of nature into your home!
This printed tea towel is a work of art! Not just for drying up, it could be so much more: leave the dishes and have it on display! You could stitch two little loops in the top two corners and hang it on a piece of dowel. It also makes an excellent gift.
Hemmed on all four sides for a professional, quality finish. It also comes with my Jo Hill label stitched in (on the reverse) so you know you are receiving an authentic Jo Hill product!
This tea towel is heat-cured through huge gas dryers ensuring excellent colour-fastness.
The supplier where I have my tea towels printed carefully source their fabric from various countries including Turkey, India and Pakistan and are woven and finished in the UK to their own specifications.
All intellectual property on this website belongs to Jo Hill and infringements will be dealt with seriously.


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MetOp-B is ESA test centre's latest task of busy year
The Payload Module of the giant MetOp-B weather satellite has been lowered into ESA's largest vacuum chamber. ESTEC Test Centre engineers will be subjecting it to prolonged space conditions – their latest assignment in a busy year.
"2010 is turning out to be an extremely demanding year for the Test Centre," said Gaetan Piret, head of the centre. "From January to December we don't have a single day free in our Large Space Simulator."
The largest European spacecraft pass through this unique Netherlands site on their way to space. The ESTEC Test Centre offers a multitude of testing facilities enclosed within cleanroom conditions under a single roof, able to simulate all the rigours of an actual flight into orbit, including vibration and acoustic effects, temperature extremes and, of course, exposure to hard vacuum.
MetOp-B's Payload Module (PLM) was placed inside the Large Space Simulator (LSS) on 12 June. The LSS is the largest vacuum chamber in Europe: its cylindrical chamber can accommodate a double-decker bus standing upright.
MetOp is Europe's biggest and most complex Earth observation satellite since Envisat. For convenience of testing, MetOp-B has been divided into two. The PLM, housing MetOp's suite of meteorology instruments, is being put through its paces at ESTEC while its Service Module is being evaluated separately at Intespace in Toulouse, France.
Once preparations are complete at the start of July, the module will be subjected to thermal-vacuum testing in the LSS during a continuous 17-day period. It will be subjected to different thermal environments to validate its assembly.
The performance of the instruments mounted on the module will be checked thanks to a number of cold 'blackbodies' located very close to them and controlled at temperatures varying between –243°C and –183°C.
AMS-02 testing delivers decisive result
Back in March, the LSS housed a different guest: the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), a unique particle physics experiment looking for evidence of antimatter and dark matter. It is intended to be the Space Shuttle's last ever cargo to the International Space Station.
Made up of elements from many European countries, AMS-02 was assembled in CERN in Switzerland before being shipped to ESTEC in mid-February for environmental testing.
"AMS-02's testing began with a session in our Maxwell test chamber, to confirm its electromagnetic compatibility with the Shuttle and ISS systems," explained Mr Piret. This was important because AMS-02 includes a powerful magnet to bend the path of incoming charged particles on their way through a stack of detectors.
The initial version of the magnet was so powerful, in fact, that it relied on superfluid helium to achieve superconducting temperatures, down to just 1.8°C above absolute zero.
Next came thermal-vacuum testing in the LSS, to prove the thermal performance of all AMS-02 subsystems in space conditions. The results, coupled with the news that the Space Station's lifetime is being extended beyond 2016, helped the team to decide to swap their original superconducting magnet for a permanent magnet previously employed in orbit during 1998's AMS-01 Shuttle-based test.
This replacement magnet is less powerful but means that AMS-02 will be able to operate continuously on the Station for 10 years, versus three years or less for the original.
"The evaluation of AMS-02's performance by the Test Centre proved very important for the payload, as well as for NASA's Shuttle manifesting and ISS planning," added Mr Piret.
"This demonstrates once again the critical importance of performing thorough testing of space hardware."
BepiColombo among tests to come
The first part of the BepiColombo mission to Mercury is due to arrive in September. Japan's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter will be the first specimen to experience the 14 kW/m2 illumination produced by the improved Sun simulator in the LSS – 10 times the strength of the Sun from Earth orbit. Soon after, the craft's ESA-built sunshield will arrive for a tandem test.
At the end of the year Europe's Mercury Planetary Orbiter is due at ESTEC for the same simulation. The remaining Mercury Transfer Module, which will transport these other elements to the innermost planet, will reach the Test Centre next year.
"The Sun test for BepiColombo has also been a challenge for the Test Centre," explained Mr Piret.
"We will produce for them what must be the highest artificial Sun intensity a full satellite has ever been subjected to. If all the modules survive, the first challenge of the Sun simulation, they will have to be piled up on the shaker to demonstrate that they will survive the vibrations of launch."
And demonstrating how the ESTEC Test Centre is also able to serve wider European industry, Airbus recently completed a complex set of vibration tests on a fuselage section using ESTEC's largest vibration facility, called Hydra.
"All these activities are possible thanks to the competence and the motivation of the people working in the Test Centre. It is during such a period that you realise just how dedicated ESA and European Test Services staff who operate this facility really are."


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Four different drive variants, three different fuels, one common goal: to retain the uniquely high ride comfort of a Mercedes-Benz and at the same time to achieve astonishingly low consumption and emission values. This is taken care of by a complete package of innovation, at the technological helm of which is a new transmission drive system: 9G-TRONIC and 4MATIC.
The GLC cushions the occupants so that they almost feel as though they are travelling on air.
Via AIR BODY CONTROL air suspension. It ensures outstanding ride comfort even when the vehicle
is fully laden. Through the automatic height regulations, depending on the current speed, the fuel consumption can be reduced and handling safety improved.
Gear changing in the GLC is handled by the 9G-TRONIC automatic transmission developed by Mercedes-Benz. It is the world's first 9-speed automatic transmission in the premium segment that can be used with longitudinally mounted engines.


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Ooh ooh Pick me!
I have no idea what i am going to play. Wish I had UM so I could play a Magus!
Pathfinder # 25473
I have no idea what i am going to play. Wish I had UM so I could play a Magus!
Pathfinder # 25473
Pathfinder Society: The Official Myth Weavers Chapter
Pathfinder Society: The Official Myth Weavers Chapter - Forum
Pathfinder - Golarion
The Pathfinder fans have spoken!
Interest is at a fever pitch over on the Game Planning thread, and now the doors are being thrown open to the masses! If you haven't already, express your desire to join the Pathfinder Society here. But first, run over to the official Pathfinder Society home page and join up. It's free and painless, I promise!
Registering will generate a unique ID number for you. When you have this number in your grubby little hands, come back here and present that number in your post. Link it to your profile on Paizo's site. If I see a valid number, you get an invite. It's that simple, and it's probably the easiest application you've ever had to produce here on the Weave!
I am also always on the lookout for GMs willing to run scenarios! If you want to run simple, straightforward, and short mods, please let me know! The larger the stable of GMs, the more players we can support!
Game Description:
The OFFICIAL Myth Weavers Chapter
Last edited by Chemalle; Aug 11 '11 at 4:24am..


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Older Issues
May/June 2006
by Melinda Whiting
Summer Festivals 2006
SYMPHONY's annual listing of music festivals is your key to the outdoor season's offerings.
The New Philanthropists
by Peter Panepento
They're young, energetic, and committed to their communities. How can orchestras attract these dream donors?
Joining Hands
by Chester Lane
Violinist Midori is as passionate about education and collaboration as she is about her solo career, building a network of activities that weave music into everyday life.


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IT Solutions for FinTech and ISV Organizations
As new payment systems providers, peer lending networks and other cloud-born financial services companies emerge in the market, those creating cutting-edge solutions and agile delivery models are delighting customers in new and innovative ways. But they must also address an ever-changing regulatory landscape and protect their clients' data — creating a burden on crucial resources.
To reduce expense and risk, FinTech firms and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) need a trusted partner to help them meet compliance regulations, stay competitive through rapid innovation and continue to evolve the digital customer experience.
Let our experts help you address current and emerging regulations and scalability, so you can focus on growing your business.


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Present in the following artist' galleries
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It is so hot in Minneapolis. We have a heat index of 115º F and a dewpoint that is higher than the Amazon. I'm not kidding. Our dewpoint was 86 on Sunday. The only other place in the Western Hemisphere with a dewpoint over 80 at the time was the Amazon, and that was in the low 80s. Take that, Brazil, ha!
Why do I live in a place that tortures residents with windchills of -30º F in the winter and then does this in the summer? Am I insane?
To add insult to injury, the power went out on my street last night. I was out picking up an air conditioner from my friend, and returned home about 10:30 pm to find my block powerless. So, I left the air conditioner in my car, and I spent the evening sweating my brains out. The air was still, heavy, and hot, and had it not been 11:30 by the time I was ready to get to bed, I would have sought refuge at someone else's house! It was awful. I kept waking through the night, only to find myself drenched in sweat and feeling faint. At 5 am I gave up, took another shower, gathered my stuff, and went to work, which is where I sit now, basking in the air conditioning. The power on my street may not be fixed until 6 pm tonight, and I'm imagining that all the food in my fridge is going bad as I write this. Ugh. Being without electricity is fine when you are living in a situation that doesn't require it, like when you're camping or at a cabin. But when everything you need to live your daily life is dependent on electricity, it sure is a pain to not have it.


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Powerful opioids affect many parts of the body, but the drugs' most deadly effects are on breathing.
A mass oral vaccination program in Ethiopian wolves could pave the way for other endangered species and help humans, too.
Call to Action
Editor's Note
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute enthuses about learning how ancient plans may have helped make Earth muddy.
A mass oral vaccination program in Ethiopian wolves could pave the way for other endangered species and help humans, too.
Powerful opioids affect many parts of the body, but the drugs' most deadly effects are on breathing.
One photon can transmit information in two directions at once.
The ancestor of today's domesticated horses remains a mystery after a new analysis of ancient horse DNA.
Google's 72-qubit quantum chip may eventually perform a task beyond the ability of traditional computers.
Not just by-products of busy nerve cells, brain waves may be key to how the brain operates.
An analysis of more than 4.5 million tweets discussing false and true stories reveals that in the Twittersphere, fake news gets more views.
Scientists find materials that conduct electricity without resistance in two meteorites.
When graphene layers are twisted to a "magic angle," the material superconducts.
Short, REM-heavy sleep bouts separate humans from other primates, scientists find. Sleeping on the ground may have a lot to do with it.
Polar cyclones, surprisingly deep atmosphere and a fluid mass spinning as a rigid body are among the latest discoveries at Jupiter.
New research suggests early land plants called bryophytes, which include modern mosses, helped shape Earth's surface by creating clay-rich river deposits.
On their latest master list of arthropods, U.S. entomologists have finally declared termites to be a kind of cockroach.
Strains of a bacteria that live on human skin make a compound that suppressed tumor growth in mice.
The first stars lit the cosmos by 180 million years after the Big Bang, radio observations suggest.
Microbial life in Chile's Atacama Desert bursts into bloom when moisture is available.
Mice infected with influenza had memory problems a month later, a result that hints at a link between infections and brain performance.
Regulations that have reduced nitrogen runoff into the Chesapeake Bay are driving the recovery of underwater vegetation.
Artificial intelligence could help diagnose blinding eye diseases and other illnesses, speeding up medical care in areas where specialists might be scarce.
Weird loner clumps of gas that have wandered for 1 billion years may have been stripped from a trio of larger galaxies.
These elegant eggs hint that a tardigrade found in a Japanese parking lot is a new species.
Pack hunting among goatfish is really about self-interest.
Hundreds of Red Sea species used the Suez Canal to migrate to the Mediterranean Sea, leading to the decline of some native species.
Structurally complex coral reefs can defend coasts against waves, even as sea levels rise.
Reviews & Previews
In The Big Ones, seismologist Lucy Jones examines the science behind some of the most catastrophic natural disasters in human history.
Letters to the Editor
Readers had questions about children's fantasy play, lasers creating 3-D images and dust storms on Mars.
Science Visualized
For decades, all viruses were thought to be small and simple. But the discovery of more and more giant viruses shows that's not the case.


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The Swiss television reported about the new building and the move of Monte Rosa, the largest Swiss supercomputer (Cray XE6) with two broadcasts: On March 26th: See the broadcast » And on March 27th: See the broadcast »
Latest Posts
Swiss Radio Reporting about CSCS New Building and Move
The Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI) reported in different progras about the new CSCS building and the move from Manno to Lugano The scientific transmission "Il giardino di Albert", reported in a 24 minutes long broadcast (in Italian) about CSCS: "Computing Power and Energy Efficiency". Listen to Il giardino di Albert from RSI web page » Abstract: […]
Slidecast: New HSM over GPFS/TSM at CSCS
Stefano Gorini (CSCS) presented at the HPC Advisory Council in Lugano the storage of CSCS based on a GPFS / HSM solution. The GPFS filesystem at CSCS QFS/SAM-FS to GPFS TSM Migration Data topology (file size range as a function of last access time) TSM/HSM Open issues Future plans (please apologize for the low audio […]
Slidecast: HPC Disaster Recovery at CSCS, Hussein N. Harake
At the last HPC Advisory Council Workshop in Lugano Hussein N. Harake presented how the storage disaster recovery is implemented at CSCS based on HSM solution of IBM. Contents: Overview of CSCS resources Disaster Recovery Requirements Data & File Systems Archiving and Backup Solution Backup & Restore The challenging part


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I am about to give an invited talk at the Workshop on Categorical Logic and Univalent Foundations 2016 in Leeds, UK. It's a charming workshop that I am enjoing a great deal. Here are the slides of my talk, with speaker notes, as well as the Andromeda examples that I am planning to cover.
- Slides: AndromedaProofAssistant.pdf
- Andromeda files: nat.m31, universe.m31