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To be honest I don't know too much about the "Mommy Wars," at least not in the context of the sociocultural phenomenon. What I do know is that well-respected authors have written essays and books about the Mommy Wars, and in some of them they claim they've witnessed working mothers turn and walk away upon discovering that their conversation partners at a social event are stay-at-home mothers. According to these writers, many working mothers believe that stay-at-home mothers have nothing interesting to say beyond topics of breastfeeding, sleep and potty training, and summer reading (hee hee, I do enjoy talking about summer reading!). I'm not calling these authors liars, truly I'm not, but I can't imagine these kinds of snubs happening here in Austin. In my opinion, the Austin culture is very family-friendly and isn't inclined to judge, much less belittle women for their personal choices in how they raise their families. Perhaps if I lived in Washington D.C. or New York City as these authors do, I'd experience working mothers walk away from me regardless of the high caliber of my conversation. :) Even still, I'm doubtful, and I just can't fathom why mothers, working or stay-at-home, would feel such an aversion towards one another for their choices. Working mothers are still mothers that feed and bathe their children and put them to sleep at the end of the day, and stay-at-home mothers are still people that have personalities and interests and opinions that transcend their roles as mothers.
Now I'm going to be candid about my own choices. I worked full-time before my kids came along, but when I was pregnant with my first I knew, I just knew, that I wanted to stay home with him, and with whoever came after him. I loved being a high school teacher but I felt that I belonged with my kids, and I have never regretted my choice. Anyone who has read my post The Days of Motherhood: Wanting to Feel Less Drained and More Joy knows that I do not romanticize the experience of being a stay-at-home mom. It is hard for me, but I believe that it is right for me and for my family. The truth is, sometimes I do wonder how full-time working mothers, especially those that work long hours, can stand to spend so much time away from their young children before their days are usurped by grade school, extra-curriculars, friends, and, well, everything else that eventually becomes more interesting than Mom and Dad. I wonder, but I make sure that I don't judge, and if I slip up and start crossing that hazy line, well, I give myself a swift kick in the you-know-what. :) I know that I am not entitled to judge what is right or best for other mothers and their families; for goodness sake's, I can barely figure this out for my own! I really enjoy having both working and stay-at-home mom friends, and I love hearing and learning from all of their different perspectives and experiences. So I really can't understand why other mothers would devalue relationships with moms that are doing it differently from them. Why are so many moms perfectly happy to keep on fighting the Mommy Wars? Why is this even a thing? You know, the more I think about it, and the more I think about my own experience, the more I believe that we're not really fighting these wars with each other. Well, maybe we are on the surface, but I think the real war behind the Mommy Wars, the war that we can never withdraw from or win, is the one that all of us mothers are fighting with ourselves.
I think that one of the main reasons that we judge and criticize each other so harshly is because we judge and criticize ourselves so harshly. Are there actually working mothers out there who believe that stay-at-home mothers have absolutely nothing interesting to say? I suppose there are, but that's probably accounted for by their own severe personality flaws. :) I for one have never doubted that a working mom can offer valuable insight about parenting or a stay-at-home mom can challenge my perspectives on gun control, global warming, and the presidential election. I have, however, at times felt that I don't get to be anything or anyone but "Mommy," at least while my kids are still young. I have felt frustrated that some evenings I don't have the will or energy to read a novel, watch the news, or pick up the phone and call a long-distance friend. And then I'm tempted to envy my working mom friends who, in my overtired imagination, get to listen to NPR during their commutes and discuss world events over the water cooler and maybe even sneak in some online shopping under the cover of their cubicles. The reality for many of them, however, is that in actuality they're frantically trying to plan dinner during their evening commutes, comparing childcare options over the water cooler, and anxiously researching developmental milestones between conference calls.
I think for many of us, judging other mothers' choices is a means, however misguided, to defending our own choices, sometimes to ourselves and sometimes to others. At least that's why I'm tempted to judge sometimes. As I've reiterated, I certainly struggle with certain aspects of being a stay-at-home mom, and sometimes I do wonder if I would be more content if I didn't spend all of my time with my children and instead pursued professional goals. This wondering sometimes leads to self-doubt and twinges of envy of mothers who have chosen to be both mothers and professionals. Well, do you all remember what we girls did back in high school when we felt twinges of envy? That's right, we talked smack! Not all of us, of course, but I'm sure we all knew girls who tore down other girls because they were jealous of them, and insecure about themselves. One of the aspects of motherhood that startled me the most was how it made me feel so insecure again. All of a sudden it was like I was in high school again and I was worrying intensely about everything I did and said, but this time it wasn't my reputation that was at stake, but merely the mental, emotional, and physical condition of my children! Yeah, no biggie! Often I feel as if I'm not doing anything right as a mother, and I worry about the long-term repercussions of every little decision I make, including the frozen waffles I sometimes feed them for breakfast, however organic and non-GMO they may be. :) And while I'm serving my kids their organic, non-GMO frozen waffles I think about my neighbor, also a stay-at-home mom, who stove-cooks steel cut oats for her kids every morning and serves it with a dazzling array of fresh berries and homemade granola. And then I feel guilty, so guilty, after which I feel immense pressure to serve those same darned oats with that same darned berry buffet! This self-imposed pressure makes me resent my neighbor for making me feel like a lesser mom, and there you have it: I have taken up arms in the Mommy Wars! I consider myself open-minded and respectfully accepting of all choices and walks of life, yet I have just become another soldier in these battles when the truth, unbeknownst to me, is that my neighbor has nothing against frozen waffles. In fact she serves them on Sundays. :) I'm not fighting these battles with her and her choices, or with the working mom farther down the street and her choices. I'm fighting them with myself and my choices, my perfectionism (an unfortunately common condition in mothers), and my fear of screwing up my kids. These are all battles I can't win. I can only surrender.
So let me wave my white flag. Let us all wave our white flags and surrender our fears of not being good enough and not doing enough as mothers. We are working hard and we are doing so much for our children. We are loving them and caring for them and cuddling them and educating them; all of us are supermoms and none of us is a supermom. We make every effort to provide our children with healthy mental and emotional lives; can't we do the same for ourselves? If we stop judging and criticizing ourselves I bet that we'll stop judging and criticizing each other, and then we can truly support each other in our motherhood journeys. After all, they don't say "it takes a village" for nothing! Is this all much easier said than done? Oh heck yes; yes yes yes. Now that I've said it, I don't even know where to begin! I guess I'll begin with compassion, for myself and for every mother I see today, whether she's in Starbucks, impeccably dressed, coiffed and manicured, or in the public library, unkempt and being trampled by her brood of hoodlums. :) I will not let myself look down at my own ragged fingernails and feel inferior to the Starbucks mom or glance at my well-behaved (for this second!) children and feel superior to the library mom. Instead I'll offer smiles and waves and sincere help when called for. Well, it's not a gigantic step forward, but I've got to start somewhere!
Ami Gandhi


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If you can imagine it, we can make it happen. Just like radio, but way more visual!
Client: Efficiency Nova Scotia
Katie at Efficiency Nova Scotia was putting together the Annual Report. And she was finding very encouraging things. Energy efficiency was actually competing with Nova Scotia's other fuel sources. Efficiency, in effect, was becoming a fuel source. And now we need to bang the drum: let's not only consider efficiency a fuel, let's make it our primary fuel!
Client: Efficiency Nova Scotia
Energy efficiency is a tough concept to make tangible. How do you quantify the value of something you don't use? To support Efficiency Nova Scotia's annual report, we created a short animation - inspired by the lyrical, poetic style of Giant Ant Media's "Educate the Heart" - to help Nova Scotians appreciate the benefits derived from the commitment to being more energy efficient.
Client: CUSO International
We worked with Sean Kelly at Cuso International for a couple of years, creating powerful stories of community projects that have a direct benefit on the lives of people in less privileged communities. For this project, the stakes were raised – to create a scripted animation that would act as a new PSA and help educate potential volunteers about how to get involved.
Client: Efficiency Nova Scotia
Efficiency Nova Scotia celebrates innovators and leaders in energy efficiency at the Bright Business Awards. This year's Leadership Award went to Rochelle Owen. A 25-year sustainability black-belt, Rochelle has formed the Dalhousie Energy Committee, enlisted volunteers, students and thesis-writers, and transformed the landscape of two campuses, for the greener!
Client: Canada Revenue Agency
Compliance in tax filing is not likely to feature in a top 10 of "most glamorous jobs", but presenting the search for wrongdoing as a detective story created intrigue and curiosity. Just another example of the Canada Revenue Agency making innovation a part of their culture.
Client: Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation
There are many challenges that come with being a newcomer to Canada, and a central one is finding a great place to live. There are so many factors to consider for comfort, safety and accessibility. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Association wants to take the "scary" out of finding the perfect spot for any new Canadian.
Client: LNG Canada
What does it take to safely navigate a 350 metre long vessel through the Douglas Channel on Canada's west coast? What are the potential impacts to consider? Mark Turner and the LNG Canada team had to answer pressing concerns when planning the best route to take carriers to and from a proposed export terminal in Kitimat, B.C.
Client: Efficiency Nova Scotia
Errol and Charles can help your business save energy and save money. The sources of those savings might surprise you. For many business owners, they just need someone to point to where they should look — and that's where Efficiency Nova Scotia steps in. They wanted businesses to know that no operations are "too unique" to create significant energy savings.

subset: commoncrawl


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Partners to Parents is an evidence-informed resource. This means the recommendations we provide are not just the opinions of a few individuals – they are based on careful research.
The peer-reviewed journal articles behind Partners to Parents are listed below.
Partners to Parents: development of an on-line intervention for enhancing partner support and preventing perinatal depression and anxiety
Pamela Pilkington · Holly Rominov · Lisa C. Milne · Rebecca Giallo · Thomas A. Whelan
Couples-based interventions to prevent perinatal depression and anxiety are needed to optimise parental well-being and infant mental health. Current interventions are limited by their focus on maternal mental health, postnatal outcomes, and a reliance on professionals for their delivery. This article describes the development of Partners to Parents (http://www.partnerstoparents.org), an online intervention for preventing perinatal depression and anxiety focused on enhancing partner support. Individual usability testing sessions were conducted with 12 parents in the perinatal period (7 women and 5 men) to assess the quality of the website. A deductive coding scheme was applied using NVivo 10 to identify comments relating to system and content quality of the website, as well as positive and negative comments. The results of the usability testing yielded more than 250 comments on system and content quality, potential barriers to accessing the website, and suggestions for improvement. This feedback was used to update the design of the intervention. The usability testing sessions suggested that the majority of the mothers and fathers involved perceived the website to be a useful new resource. Consultation with potential users of the website enabled refinement of the content and design of the Partners to Parents website.
Enhancing reciprocal partner support to prevent perinatal depression and anxiety: a Delphi consensus study
Systematic reviews have established that partner support protects against perinatal mood problems. It is therefore a key target for interventions designed to prevent maternal and paternal depression and anxiety. Nonetheless, the extant literature is yet to be translated into specific actions that parents can implement. Prevention efforts aiming to facilitate reciprocal partner support within the couple dyad need to provide specific guidance on how partners can support one another to reduce their vulnerability to perinatal depression and anxiety. Two panels of experts in perinatal mental health (21 consumer advocates and 39 professionals) participated in a Delphi consensus study to establish how partners can support one another to reduce their risk of developing depression and anxiety during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A total of 214 recommendations on how partners can support each other were endorsed by at least 80% of both panels as important or essential in reducing the risk of perinatal depression and anxiety. The recommendations were grouped under the following categories: becoming a parent, supporting each other through pregnancy and childbirth, communication, conflict, division of labor, practical support, emotional support, emotional closeness, sexual satisfaction, using alcohol and drugs, encouraging self-care, developing acceptance, and help-seeking. This study established consensus between consumers and professionals in order to produce a set of guidelines on how partners can support each other to prevent depression and anxiety during pregnancy and following childbirth. It is hoped that these guidelines will inform the development of perinatal depression and anxiety prevention efforts.
Modifiable partner factors associated with perinatal depression and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Perinatal distress is a significant public health problem that adversely impacts the individual and their family. The primary objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify factors that partners can modify to protect each other from developing perinatal depression and anxiety. In accordance with the PRISMA statement, we reviewed the risk and protective factors associated with perinatal depression and anxiety symptoms that partners can potentially modify without professional assistance (PROSPERO reference CRD42014007524). Participants were new or expectant parents aged 16 years or older. The partner factors were sub-grouped into themes (e.g., instrumental support) based on a content analysis of the scale items and measure descriptions. A series of meta-analyses were conducted to estimate the pooled effect sizes of associations. We included 120 publications, reporting 245 associations with depression and 44 with anxiety. Partner factors with sound evidence that they protect against both perinatal depression and anxiety are: emotional closeness and global support. Partner factors with a sound evidence base for depression only are communication, conflict, emotional and instrumental support, and relationship satisfaction. This review is limited by the lack of generalizability to single parents and the inability to systematically review moderators and mediators, or control for baseline symptoms.The findings suggest that future prevention programs targeting perinatal depression and anxiety should aim to enhance relationship satisfaction, communication, and emotional closeness, facilitate instrumental and emotional support, and minimize conflict between partners.
A review of partner-inclusive interventions for preventing postnatal depression and anxiety
Pamela D. Pilkington · Thomas A. Whelan · Lisa C. Milne
Preventing perinatal mood problems is critical because of the adverse consequences for the individual and their family. Partner support is an ideal target for prevention efforts as it is a protective factor for both perinatal depression and anxiety and is modifiable. This review explores the current evidence and future directions for interventions that aim to reduce the risk of perinatal mood problems by addressing partner support. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted to identify relevant peer-reviewed studies. Interventions were eligible for inclusion if they aimed to facilitate partner support or strengthen the couple relationship, and included perinatal depression or anxiety as an outcome variable. A number of prevention efforts have been developed that include a partner component, and these have reported some benefits. Even so, not all of these interventions were delivered to both mothers and fathers, and research evaluating their effects on paternal mental health is lacking. In addition, current prevention strategies tend to be limited by low attendance rates. Future research should focus on developing interventions that provide more opportunities for the active involvement of both partners. Alternatives to psycho-education groups should be explored to increase accessibility and enable scalability.
Maternal crying and postnatal distress: The moderating role of partner support
Pamela D. Pilkington · Thomas A. Whelan · Lisa C. Milne
This study aimed to investigate maternal crying as a signal of distress and request for support in the postpartum period. The development of postpartum mental illness may be prevented if spouses can recognize their partner's distress and respond supportively. A cross-sectional survey of primiparous mothers (N =137) was conducted to determine whether partner support moderates the association between maternal crying frequency and postpartum depression, anxiety, and stress symptom severity. Regression analyses indicated that, as hypothesized, women who reported more frequent crying and low partner support reported higher levels of depression. Women who reported more frequent crying and low partner support reported higher levels of depression. Conversely, women who reported frequent crying in the context of high partner support reported lower levels of depression. The expected moderation effect was not present in the analyses examining postpartum anxiety and stress symptoms as outcome variables. In keeping with the well-established finding that partner support is a protective factor for postpartum mood problems, the results indicated that the presence of a supportive partner moderates the association between crying and depression.


text: topic_data Take command of your data | Fusion Alliance Toggle navigation Expertise Products Overview Acuity ComTrac MAP About Contact Careers Chart Your Course to Success Take Command of Your Data Big data means big business, and big business moves fast. You can start tapping into previously inaccessible, unusable assets more quickly than your legacy systems can finish processing them. If your company has the technical maturity and strategic insight to capture and use raw data, you can reap the benefits of a fast-paced digital economy. Are you ready to stop building legacy systems and start exploring how new, innovative data management technologies can enable you to stop following the opportunity curve and start leading it? We're ready to help you do it. Assess your readiness DATA STRATEGY: Take the first steps toward mastering your journey. Review your data strategy, leverage its strengths and start maturing your program. Data management maturity assessment Infrastructure Data asset development Data context and analytics Governance and quality management Data maturity development Optimize your tech DATA INTEGRATION: Identify opportunities to integrate your data to improve visibility and accessibility across your organization. Data solution architecture design Data integration development Data warehousing Data mart development Data conversion System retirement and archiving Realize your vision BI AND ANALYTICS: Enable your business not only to respond quickly to marketplace changes, but to also get ahead of them with predictive analytics. Self-service business intelligence Tool assessment and selection Traditional report development Customized training Contact Us Name * Email address * I'd like to discuss: Please select one of the following: Cloud Solutions Data Solutions Digital Solutions Technology Solutions Fusion Acuity Fusion ComTrac Fusion MAP Careers at Fusion Other Have a burning question? Ask us here.


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Instructor: Max Houck, Ph.D. Course length: 8 hours
Confused by Six Sigma terminology? What's heijunka? Or muda? Ever used the Taguchi Method? Six Sigma works but takes a long time, a lot of effort, and a good chunk of money. This course provides the basics of process improvement without the jargon and hype. Solid principles, practical examples, and reliable follow-up methods using verifiable common sense. Improve your processes right now without the hassle and cost of extensive training.
Quality does not have to be complex. Most organizations only treat the symptoms and not the disease that caused them. Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method to get to the bottom of the issue and make sure it does not happen again.
This course provides a unique take on the traditional root cause analysis, weaving proven inquiry-based investigations with executive decision making into the process to help sort problems for better solutions and what to do in chaotic circumstances. The core of this course was used by the National Commission on Forensic Science as a basis for RCA in forensic science.
This course is offered on its own or as a package with the following courses: From Leadership to Management as well as Writing Proposals and Managing Projects. Times are approximate and can be altered as desired. Courses can be tailored to any group size.


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Work took me north the other day. I'm familiar with passing through Newcastle/Gateshead on the train, the high drama of the landscape, when approaching from the south mainly rolling, suddenly dropping away beneath the train, leaving you with that stunning view of the bridges and landscape beneath. But it's been any number of years since I last got off the train there.
I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again and again, but one of the things that is really striking about London is the lack of elevated positions. Apart from a few hills way out, the inner parts of London are flood-flat, a remnant of its marshy beginnings when much of it was neither land nor river. The normal experience of London, so punctuated by underground travel, is that of being hemmed in, with no terrain but buildings, and a sky with no real boundary to it. But coming from Glasgow, you're used to being able to see the hills that bound the city to either side, of being able to frame your location on a geological level. Newcastle seems to possess another quality entirely, where the buildings and landscape are almost hewn from the very same pale stone.
Where embankments, clifftops, facades and infrastructure fail to delineate themselves, become parts of each other.
Or occupy space in a completely inappropriate way, with the eaves of buildings almost kissing the bridges that thunder over.
I mean, what kind of thuggish futurism is this? Somewhere between the 19th century spatial adventure of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the now so reviled motorway flyover, this Jazz Age behemoth is an utter thrill to encounter.
The swing bridge over the Tyne was a project of William Armstrong, just one man who more or less embodied the 19th century. An engineer, inventor, a rational man of science, a good moral Christian, a millionaire philanthropist who made much of his money as an arms manufacturer, he was the renovator of Bamburgh Castle, a sublime medieval coastal fortress turned into a strikingly complex Victorian residence, and of course the builder of Cragside, that singular, sprawling, gadget-filled mock tudor country house out near Rothbury.
Newcastle is famous for its female population and their, shall we say, frugal attitude to clothing. Coming from Glasgow I'm used to seeing lines of women queuing up outside clubs on wet, windy, just above freezing evenings, each sporting little more than a vest, mini-skirt and possibly a light jacket held over their head to keep their hair dry, but elsewhere it is definitely the Tyneside lasses whose reputation precedes them. I hate to confirm stereotypes, but something was very odd while I was there - not only did the vast majority of the people out on the street seem to be at most 21 years old, but almost all of the women were totally playing up to the cliche, all out in denim hot-pants on what was by no means a warm day, while the boys all had their faded jeans and pastel coloured polo shirts on. They all seemed in good spirits, travelling in large groups, and strangely were all drifting in the same direction.
I later found out that they were all going to a music festival that was on that day, but it was a very odd experience, like something out of Logan's Run where everyone over thirty is dead and the youth do nothing but frolic.
Lord Foster, Foster and Partners... what is to be done with them? The man and his firm have been so influential, have innovated in so many ways that it's almost a shame to be forced to hate some of their shitty buildings, but there's really no excuse for the Sage Gateshead to look like some kind of digitised maggot.
Overall the banks of the Tyne are one of the most complete examples of post-industrial regeneration, speculative culture, historically aggressive upmarketising. I was heading to the BALTIC centre, originally the flour mill, now of course converted into a large gallery. It doesn't need explanation, this regeneration lark, because by now it feels like we're in a whole new world entirely. It's been more than five years since the economic collapse began, and, you know, depending upon who you talk to this collapse may well be the 'big one', a perfect storm of money and work and food and technology and weather and everything, that'll certainly not eliminate the advances of modernity, but will choke off access to them for all but the tiniest little sliver of the super-elite, with the rest of us fighting for scraps outside the gates. But even the optimists concede that it's the worst economic crisis in a whole century, with still no real sign of anything like normality approaching any time soon. With this in mind, the last decade's optimistic post-industrial reclamations for culture already feel so very far away, a paradigm-shift ago.
A Matter of Life and Death
The millenium was a whole 13 years ago now, for example.
And can you see that blue and white and red thing popping up there on the horizon? That's the tallest building in the Byker development. Designed by Ralf Erskine, it might well be one of the most significant housing developments of the late 20th century, at least in Britain. Beginning construction at the turn of the 1970s, it spent over 20 years on site, with Erskine famously opening a community office for residents to take part in consultations regarding what would get built there. At the time the development was commencing it was totally against the grain for being colourful, brash, decorative and perhaps 'unserious', but its design was still effectively late-modern or brutalist in terms of massing and formal conceptions (deck access and so on). By the time it was complete it was abnormal for not being ironically vernacular, and indeed for being newly built social housing at all.
But twenty years later, after the millenium, the Erskine design language - through the bastardisation of his work at the Millenium Village down in Greenwich - would feed into one of the dominant modes of building housing in the UK. The pseudomodernism, IKEA modernism, CABEism, call it what you want, the apologetic materials and stunted massing, the attempts to pass off Britain's zombified culture of rentierism as European civic living, it was so often dressed up in a cobbled together garb which unfortunately owes much to the experiments begun here.
And for a shocking example of this you need look no further than the devilish blocks built behind the Baltic. Tactless, shoddy, aggressive in their attempt at 'blending in', there's nothing to recommend them. In their total crassness they act as little symbols of the problems of the British attitude to housing, and to the rudderless funk that British architecture found itself in in the last decade.
But that said, the BALTIC itself was nice enough, with slightly vertiginous external lifts or wide open mirrored stairwells, and with a number of large, perfectly functional gallery spaces. At the very top there is a restaurant, which if I'm going to be thoroughly snobbish, looked to be one of those places which are so unsure, so slightly ashamed of their location that they pander to a strange notion of cosmopolitan classiness that has nothing to do with the place they belong to - overdressed staff, clingy service, a strained-stylishness to the design. Growing up, Glasgow was full of these places, London has none. At the bottom, the cor-ten steel was looking a little more grubby than it usually ought to, and the gift shop wasn't particularly large. It reminded me of Meades' talking about the glut of galleries in his On the Brandwagon, and about how there simply isn't enough good art to go round for every single city to have a massive Tate-style branded art space. But though there is a truth there, it is manifestly unfair - why the hell shouldn't every city have a contemporary art space? Why should you have to get on the train to London for anything at all, let alone to see some post-post-post-Duchampian conceptualist from Croatia? Furthermore, it's manifestly unjust for places like the BALTIC to face a 100% cut in funding, cruelly forced by directive from the callous shire-dwelling scum who 'lead' us now.
Downstairs, in the ground floor cafe, my neighbours were conversing on nihilism and sourdough bread. Perhaps it's the same everywhere after all.
And from one form of obnoxious contextualism...
...to another.
Pictured here are a number of the drifting young people I mentioned above. At this point I was almost pushing against a tide of them as I walked up the hill further into Gateshead.
The arse-end of a Foster blob, skips and all.
The crowds of young men and women were in good spirits definitely, but there was definite evidence of their commitment to the derangement of the senses.
Of course not.
A little up the hill, an example of the 19th century civic architecture that is so notable across the north of England and in Scotland. A limestone or sandstone Edwardian Baroque, robust, confident, unpretentious. This building is now marooned on a traffic island.
Here it looked as though a building had slid into the ground, leaving some kind of metallic trail in the air behind it, almost as if there's a lever that can raise or lower the facade at will.
In my hand is a postcard I bought in the gift shop at the BALTIC. It shows 'Trinity Square', better known as the 'Get Carter Car Park'. I am standing in a position that a few years ago would have shown the image depicted on the card. Behind it is what sits on the site now, a Tesco super-development featuring housing, mega-market, underground car-parking and retail units. I can still recall seeing the car park from the train in past visits, appearing just as a series of horizontal black shadows against the sky, perched at the top of a hill, appearing for all the world like one of the Northumbrian castles that dot the shores nearby - Bamburgh, Lindesfarne, or the dramatic, potent ruins of Dunstanburgh.
The Trinity Square development was designed from 1962-7 by the Owen Luder Partnership, in particular by Rodney Gordon, that debonaire playboy brutalist, one of the real architecture personalities of the era (along with but for different reasons John Poulson). Gordon died recently, but not before he had to suffer the indignity of many of his best works being humiliated and then demolished (including the 'Dunston Rocket', a gloriously barmy tower a few km to the west) . Working at the rough and ready commercial end of the industry, Gordon still managed to design and construct some of the most dramatic and masterful buildings of the post-war era, a true British brutalism comparable, as Meades says, to the insolent braggadocio of Vanbrugh. But by the end of the century the work was popularly loathed and despised, piss-stinking, rain-stained, a hellish artefact from the foolish attempt at social modernity that Britain tried and failed to achieve. Let's not go over this again, the amount of breath wasted and keyboards worn down rehashing the arguments for and against brutalism hasn't really got us anywhere.
And with the Tricorn centre gone, the Dunston Rocket gone, the Milford Towers in Catford awaiting demolition (by Tesco, again), it almost seems like there's a vendetta against Owen Luder buildings. But that's not the case - indeed, the very commercialism of their programme has worked against them. As far as Tesco are concerned, there's no aesthetic or cultural argument being made for demolition in these cases. What has now been built on the site of Trinity Square is at least five or six times bigger in terms of floor area, with units specifically configured for contemporary retail usage. It's a utilitarian, commercial decision that leads to demolition in these cases. But what happens when these plans are made is that architectural experts and aficionados point out the significance of the buildings, their importance to the history of our cities and their high quality in terms of design, and make the case for preservation. To counter these objections, all the councils (who are almost invariably in favour of redevelopment, for obvious reasons) and developers have to do is mobilise the latent public dislike of concrete architecture and turn what is nothing more than a numbers game into a crusade to rid our cities of these symbols of poverty and misery. It's worked before, and it will probably keep working, although the ongoing battle for Preston Bus Station shows that in this world of austerity, the fight for preservation has a stronger hand than it used to.
To this day, the site of the Tricorn Centre is still just a flat car-park. Not so for Trinity Square, where redevelopment appears to be around 80% complete. But just look at how bad this design is, with its silly tinfoil hats, its jolly multicoloured tiles, its half-hearted stone cladding, its Arial Bold signage.
its further examples of crass, tired, pointless contextualism (red brick! limestone! it matches, look see!)
Although across the road, THIS is still there, for some reason. Oh, what happened to the cheap metal-clad, round detailed architecture that tried so hard to cling onto brutalist principle when the tide was turning towards post-modernism and pastiche? It's not an easy kind of building to like, but is interesting for its links to both styles, as well as its affinity with big-sheds, the true architecture of post-containerisation capitalism.
Too many materials? Stupid roofs? Silly colourful cladding? Privatised public space? Quasi-policemen everywhere? Nobody is going to fight for the preservation of these buildings in 40 years time when the guarantees on the materials have all run out and the wafer-thin stone panels have fallen from their sockets.
Some more festival-style shops still exist, perhaps because of their simpler design being more amenable to conversion and internal refurbishment.
And some handsome terraces, perhaps a little to grand for worker's housing, now seemingly home to solicitors and other professional offices.
Think of what's now missing. And when you consider that take-over attempt in Peckham, where a bunch of posh, white, fabulously well-connected young people want to turn a car-park into a permanent arts space, there could have been something much better done with a partial redevelopment of Trinity Square.
It was time to go. Tower blocks across the country nowadays are so often covered in noddy hats and external insulating render, in various different friendly colours, that it can be quite odd to see examples that appear to have retained their original sombre colours. I suspect this one might have been tinted, but it's certainly not had the facade re-worked or over-clad. It stood rather lonely on the sides of the grand slope down to the river, with a verdant pathway approach from the centre. Probably not so nice to walk down at night, especially not with youths hanging around in the park, but I imagine the views from the top are something else.
Elevated concrete walkways. It's a shame how something so placid, such a sensible improvement in management of transit, such a simple concept as the raised walkway, how it became such a seemingly terrifying thing. With those staircases it becomes almost akin to moving around in an abstract sculpture, all dramatic mass and poised line. But of course there is a sense of being trapped, of being vulnerable to whoever comes along from the other end, but that is by no means a given, and we don't go ripping up Edinburgh despite the genuinely dangerous nature of the lanes that slice across the old town.
Here was another estate, largely boarded up. Low rise, stepping down the hill, nestled in the curve of the railway and the busy main road, it -again- occupied that grey area between post-war modernism and postmodern detail. Massed almost like a boxy De Stijl composition, all cubes seemingly interpenetrating with themselves, it nevertheless had classical porticos tagged onto the outsides.
It's very possible that the doorways are a later addition inspired by the work up at Byker. There was almost nobody around, although there were still houses in occupation.
Who knows if these things are effective, but there's something chilling about their perfunctory design quality and the sheer painful depth of mental state into which they are meant to intervene. Someone connected to me took their life by jumping from a bridge, their empty car was left half way along, and there were witnesses who recounted what happened, but their body wasn't found for quite a long time afterwards.
And across the bridge. At one point you would have been able to see the Dunston Rocket from here, poking up to the left of the image. Gone.
Di Dodi Die
And from here you would once have seen the Trinity Square Car Park. Gone. Along with no certain amount of civic confidence.
I swear this walkway was an unpleasant experience. About 1200mm wide, with cars passing at 60 miles per hour to one side and a 40m drop to the other, and the bridge being perhaps a mile long, it's the stuff of pursual nightmares.
MAJOR MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT (or not, perhaps)
And with more time I might have gone up to see that tall one on the Newcastle side, which looks quite exciting to me.
And back to Blairism. This concoction is one of those science museums that were built up and down the country in the last decade or so. copper clad, irregular, a mish-mash of shapes, it's got pseudomodernist brandwagon written all over it.
And this kind of bollocks again. This is exactly the kind of rubbish that Erskine was the unfortunate trailblazer for. Many materials, many colours, huge massing pretending to be a collection of smaller buildings, poky windows, a paucity of ambition.
Pictured to the right appears to be Newcastle's gay quarter, all one street of it.
And I should have known they'd have a Charles Jencks DNA sculpture in there. Always interesting, always wrong.
And getting ready to go home, there was a great addition to the genre of 'buildings within buildings', this little British High-Tech pod of shops. Shades of Richard Rogers and his factory designs, with the ringed columns and tension cables, and charming with its filleted corners and sleek shininess. I'm told it's going to be removed, as they're 'upgrading' i.e adding more shops to the station.
And a train went through, laden with coal, probably from the Port of Tyne. Of course, time was that Newcastle was a coal city, but that's pretty much all gone now too, and one can't help but reflect on the way that the decline in civic modernism, and the sense of pride that went with it, was tied in with the decline in industry, the further and perhaps final centring of the British economy in London. Let's go ahead, be vulgar and stress the connections between industry, pride, social democracy, abstraction and modernism, and conversely speculation, rentierism, 'gentlemanly capitalism' and classicism, deference and so on. It makes sense.


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Volunteer Diary
Remembering the Ghana Surgical Mission: Meghan Arnold Shares Her Experience
Meghan Arnold, a resident at John Hopkins at the time, volunteered with Humanity First in 2006 and traveled with a few other John Hopkins surgeons and medical staff to Ghana. The mission: provide free surgical operations for as many critical patients as possible in 10 days. The following is her account of the experience.
"Despair, sadness and frustration are words to describe the last 48 hours. It started off well enough, but by this afternoon I have become discouraged and whatever wind had been in my sails is gone."
After clinic, Dr. Appeadu-Mensah took us on a tour of the pediatric surgery ward. I felt like I was walking through a pediatric surgery textbook. The diversity of cases here would rival that of any large hospital in the US. The resources, however, are the differentiating factor. There are very few ventilators and even if a patient gets one, they can usually only stay intubated for a day or two before another patient needs it more. Survival of the fittest in the 21st century. The lack of IV nutrition means that children with intestinal abnormalities cannot be fed. Emaciated children undergoing chemotherapy have no way to stay nutritionally robust. There was fascination and heartbreak at every bedside. There's so much that needs to be done, but no resources to do it. One could spend a lifetime trying to fix everything in the system that's broken here.
We ate lunch at a local restaurant where I got my first real taste of Ghanaian food. Fufu with goat light soup. Fufu is a mixture of plantain and cassava that is pounded together into a white, somewhat sticky paste with a touch of a sweet taste. As much as I tried to get my fufu served with something else I was told that goat light soup was the way to go. When in Rome… While goat doesn't exactly taste like chicken it wasn't too bad. But it wasn't too good either. I've also learned the hard way that Ghanaians are not afraid of spice.
The 2nd case of the day was to repair a cloacal abnormality in a 1 year old girl. The surgery was long and at different times Fizan and I were scrubbed to help Dr. Appeadu-Mensah and his fellow with the procedure. Sean, our surgical tech, scrubbed and was quite a novelty in the OR. Here, nurses often cover multiple rooms and serve as both a circulator and a tech in all of them. Surgeons rarely have anyone to hand them instruments and having Sean scrubbed was a blessing. Not only is he extremely interested in the procedures themselves, but his knowledge of the instruments and the anatomy as well as his anticipation of what will be used next is second to none. The operation took 7+ hours but went well. Perhaps most beneficial was the development of trust between Fizan and Dr. Appeadu-Mensah and between Tarek and the anesthesia team – by the end of the day our ideas were being considered and implemented. We left the hospital as Dr. Appeadu-Mensah and his fellow were closing even though we knew that the baby's next 12 hours would be crucial for her recovery.
I'm writing tonight from the recovery room of the hospital in Dobuase. Calling this a recovery room, however, might be a stretch. There is no monitoring. There are no nurses. There are no order sheets on which to write for medication. The medication itself can be obtained from the hospital dispensary (nothing more than a cabinet) and anything other than Tylenol, ibuprofen or a multivitamin is likely only available by purchase from a pharmacy in town. Because we had such a busy outpatient clinic today there is very little Tylenol left. Narcotics are never available and are not used – even in postoperative patients. There is 1 IV pole which must also do 2nd duty in the operating room (OR). Because there is a step between the OR and the recovery room, patients who cannot walk after surgery must be transported on a stretcher. The stretcher has no wheels so it must handled carefully with its precious postoperative cargo. Think MASH.
But I'm getting ahead of myself…
Words cannot expressed how awed I have been by this experience. I am awed by the lack of what we Americans consider basic health care resources. I am awed by the observation that few buildings seem to have been built since the British left in 1957. I am awed by how much advancement needs to be made in the healthcare here – education, infrastructure, and resources. And yet I am awed by the ability of the doctors to do so much with so little. I am awed by the hospitality of the Ghanaian people and their willingness to travel hours away from home to be treated by a foreign doctor.
Click Here To Visit Mindy's Exciting 2008 Ghana Mission!
Humanity First is registered in 43 countries across 6 continents, and has been working on human development projects and responding to disasters since 1994. These have included the earthquakes in Turkey, Pakistan, Japan and Iran, floods in Africa and Latin America, hurricanes (Katrina and Rita) , tornado's (Kansas) and wild fires (California) in the USA, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and conflicts in Eastern Europe.
Since its inception and IRS registration in 2004, Humanity First has been focused on spending most of the raised funds on direct program related expenses. As a result, more than 90% of its funds are in that expense category. This is achieved through dedicated volunteers in its management, and program operation teams.


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Pre-season schedulePosted in Club News by admin, on June 20, 2018. Last changed on June 30, 2018
Return to Latest News »
Trainimg starts 23rd June then will be every Saturday (10.00am to noon) and Wednesdays (6.30pm to 8.30pm) up until friendlies start.
First team friendlies are as follows
Tuesday 17th July away to Bungay 7.30.
Sat 21st July away game at ellingham
Sat 28th July away to Scole 1.30 kick off, Reserves play after.
Tuesday 31st July Easton away 7.30 kick off
Sat 4th August home v East Harling 2.30 kick off
Wed 8th August home to AFC Norwich 6.30 kick off.
Saturday 11th August, away to Mulbarton Reserves, 2.30p kick off.
Awaiting a game response away on the 11th.


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my motto of the month is to work outside of my own habits. so many possibilities.
leave the world behind
2011 was the worst of time, but it was also a time of learning to feel the comfort of freedom from pain. to walk away from what i do not love any longer has made me believed that even nothing cannot last forever. but i do believe that these words have saved my life, "i do not need this anymore." i am grateful for what has happened because my adventures are very well in their place for 2012 to fold. X
POSTED BY SAVING BETTY at 10:36 PM
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There are only two weeks to go before people all across this great land wake up and head to their polling stations in what will be the most important midterm election in American history. Americans are fed up with the "we won, you lost" attitude and are more than ready and prepared to do something about it. We are energized like never before. We are ready to bring about our own hope and change for the greatest country in the world.
The Tea Party, as we all know, has been the loudest voice on the Republican side of the fence. This started last year with the election of Scott Brown (51.9%) to the United States Senate in Massachusetts of all states. In the same cycle, Chris Christie (48.5%) was elected Governor of New Jersey and Bob McDonnell (58.62%) for the State of Virginia. All three of these races were top targets for the Democrats to take for themselves and as we can see now, they've failed miserably. Barack Obama campaigned in New Jersey for Jon Corzine, but that didn't work out too well. Martha Coakley in Massachusetts was just a lost cause; no one could have saved her. Creigh Deeds in Virginia was no match for Governor McDonnell. Republicans did it then.
And they can do it now. The GOP can win the US Senate. We can see a probable GOP victory just by looking at some of the closer races. The big one between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former Nevada State Representative Sharron Angle is garnering national attention. Right as I type this, Mrs. Angle is ahead by four points against Harry Reid. A recent Rasmussen Reports poll finds Angle with 50% and Senator Reid with 47%. This is an extremely tight race, and a lot of things can happen between now and Election Day. Reid, along with his liberal cronies is attempting to label Sharron Angle as "too extreme." She also raised $14 million last quarter, how's that for being "too extreme" folks? This Senate seat, in my opinion, will go to Sharron Angle come November 2.
Now, in my home state of Wisconsin, a tight race is underway between Senator Russ Feingold and businessman Ron Johnson. Democrat Feingold keeps calling himself the "independent voice" in his campaign ads and at rallies. Independent voice, are you kidding me? He is one of the most liberal Senators we've got "working" for us in Washington. He voted for 33,000 Earmarks and ObamaCare. Right now, Ron Johnson has absolutely no experience in politics, and he is currently ahead Feingold 52% to 45% (Rasmussen Reports). Senator Feingold is seeking his fourth term, but I don't think that will happen. Johnson is far ahead right now, and I don't expect that to change much come the time to vote. Wisconsin will get a Republican United States Senator. The last GOP Senator was Bob Kasten from 1981 to 1993. Ron Johnson also brings to the table real-world business experience. He knows how to create jobs, balance a budget and therefore do what is right for America.
Another tight race is being waged between the self-described "Bearded Marxist" Chris Coons and Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell. If we look back a couple years, we remember that Ms. O'Donnell lost terribly against Vice President Joe Biden in 2008 with 35.3% to 64.7%. However, this time around, she seems to be much better prepared and ready to take a stand on the issues that actually matter to the American People. Current polling data from Rasmussen Reports shows Mr. Coons garnering 51% of the vote compared to O'Donnell's 40% rating. What exactly is the State of Delaware thinking? Why on earth would someone vote for and elect such a dummy who's basically a raging Communist? I still believe Christine O'Donnell can pull this one off. It may not be by much, but I know she can do it. She needs to release one or two great, hard-hitting ads and air them constantly until Election Day. Show Delawareans who Chris Coons really is! She also believes the United States should close off its borders. Please donate to Christine today!
I am also beginning to believe that the people in California are enormously confused. Ma'am "Senator" Barbara Boxer is currently polling (barely) ahead of former HP CEO Carly Fiorina with 49% to Carly's 46%. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said in a recent interview with ABC News that Barbara Boxer is "the most bitterly partisan, the most anti-defense Senator in the US Senate today." He also went on to mention that he knows this because he's had the "unpleasant experience of having to serve with her." During the same interview, he praised Mrs. Fiorina by saying that she would "never waive the white flag of surrender" as Boxer has done "every single time we have been in a conflict." Carly brings real-world business experience to the national stage, at a time where that type of experience is required and sought after by millions of Americans. Ma'am Boxer is not in the United States Senate to serve the interests of constituents in California or the people of America. Instead, she is there to feed the special interests and fight to take away more freedom from each of us. With two weeks to go, I predict that Carly Fiorina will emerge as the victor in the end.
I'm not going to go over each of the Senate races taking place this year, but the four above are some of the key races that the entire country is watching. Republicans will regain the House of Representatives; there is absolutely no doubt about that. The Senate is a toughie, but I do believe we can recapture that chamber as well. Ten is the magic number for us to garner the upper chamber of the United States Congress. I encourage all Republican voters, especially Conservatives, to get up off the couch on [Tuesday] November 2 and head to your polling stations and vote! We cannot and will not capture victory if we all don't help in the cause. This is for the sake of America's future. This is our time to take her back.
My fellow Republicans, America is calling. And she wants us to fight and succeed.


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Full time weiner
I think I have a problem.
It's big too.
This really is awful but it is the only conclusion I can come too..
I don't think I do 'holiday' mode. As in I think I'm bad at taking time off.
What the hell is wrong with me?!! I'm not really on holiday, I've been working pretty much full time at Book town since November, but the studio is in shut down mode over January. So I haven't made anything (with my bare hands!) since late December and I'm a wreck! All mopey like, can't seem to relax or enjoy moochin on the couch. Not keen. it's an illness.
I worked so hard last year and set things up so this year should be great, and I'm sure it will, but I just can't seem to enjoy the down time that i have now. Nuts right?
Yup. Nuts.
I will be 30 this year and I am only just starting to slowly learn things about myself. I have unusual work habits thats for sure. I know for certain that I become real unhappy when I am not creating. (Found that one out the hard way) And now it seems that I might only be happy when I have like a million different projects on the go, strapped for time and usually operating on mild to dare i say increasing stress levels. What the flip is up with that?
I think I have a problem.


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Apprentice Business Administration Assistant – 247 Professional Health – Level 2 Business Administration
This listing has expired
Exciting opportunity to join 247 Professional Health Nursing and Care Agency based in Blackpool FY1 – are looking for a Business Administration Apprentice to join their friendly team.
As the successful Business Administration Apprentice you will be working 35 hours Monday to Friday from 9am to 5:00pm with an hour for lunch, earning above the apprenticeship minimum wage. During the year long apprenticeship you will be given full training and support to achieving your Level 2 Business Administration qualification.
Key duties:
- Answering calls dealing with both the general public and potential candidates
- Filing, photocopying and most ad hoc office duties
- Use Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and Google Docs
- Training to broaden skills and learn about Recruitment, Compliance and Interviewing.
The successful candidate:
- Must be organised, punctual and hardworking with a confident, friendly manner
- Computer literate, conversant with MS Office, Word, Excel and Outlook
- Able to work on own initiative working towards deadlines and within a team
- Have good communication skills along with active listening skills
- GCSE in Maths and English grades A – D or equivalent
To apply all you need to do is click Find out more and make sure your CV is attached and you include a brief cover letter that explains why you're interested in this role and why you make the best person for the job!
Please note that YMCA Training is acting as a recruitment partner in this process and you are not required to contact the business directly. If you have any questions or would like some information about this or any other apprenticeships advertised here please get in touch with Tracy Pickston on 07393 750723.
Best of luck!


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7pm, Thursday, October 6
Harvard University
Jefferson Labs (see "Jefferson" here), room 256
17 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA
Occupy Wall Street has captured the world's imagination for nearly three weeks now, and it's obvious why. "The 99%" — check out this site, "We Are the 99%" — are unwilling to accept a system that treats banks as too big to fail, but the rest of us as too small to matter. Activists have started their own occupations modeled off of Occupy Wall St. in their own cities, including here in Boston.
Organized labor has stepped up its game in recent weeks. As Socialist Worker reported:
The struggles are varied. They include teachers who defied a judge's order to win a strike in Tacoma, Wash.; hospital workers who struck the Kaiser health care system in California for two days, with nurses honoring the walkout; professors on the picket line at Long Island University in New York; Hyatt hotel workers carrying out a weeklong strike at six hotels in four cities; members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) blocking trains filled with scab cargo at the port of Longview, Wash.; a strike at the Central Park Boathouse restaurant in New York City against a notorious union-buster; and the beginnings of a campaign by postal workers' unions against the assault on their members at the U.S. Postal Service.
With approval ratings for official politics incredibly low (Congress, Obama, or the Republicans who want to replace him) and willingness to take on the status quo on full display, this is a time when more people are looking for an alternative to capitalism and a strategy for confronting it. Socialists believe that those who recognize the capitalist system is the problem need to organize collectively to challenge it.
Join us to strategize about how best to put this into practice in Boston and how to make our upcoming conference — the New England Socialist Conference all weekend long, from 11/12–11/13, which will attract hundreds of socialists and sympathizers from around New England — as big and bold as possible.
Proposed agenda:
1. Perspectives for Boston - 1 hour
2. Occupy Boston - 45 minutes
3. Branch breakouts (agendas to be proposed in individual branches) - 30 minutes
1. Perspectives for Boston - 1 hour
2. Occupy Boston - 45 minutes
3. Branch breakouts (agendas to be proposed in individual branches) - 30 minutes


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Poetry and music, seen today as separate arts, were once closely intertwined and early poetry recitations were often accompanied by music. Today three-term U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky has been reintroducing these two arts to each other through his PoemJazz presentations.
On July 11 Pinsky will be joined by jazz artists Laurence Hobgood (piano), Stan Strickland (saxophone) and Catherine Bent (cello) for a PoemJazz performance at Wellfleet Preservation Hall. The event is being presented by the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill.
In a Q-and-A by email, Pinksy told The Cape Codder about his PoemJazz series and the relationship between poetry and music.
TCC: What is PoemJazz? Pinsky: PoemJazz improvises a conversation between the melodies, harmonies and rhythms of poetry and the melodies, harmonies and rhythms of music.
TCC: Poetry had once been aligned with music. Is that relationship returning and is PoemJazz a way of encouraging that reunion? Pinsky: Yes, for me they are sister arts. What I hope to do with musicians like Laurence Hobgood, Stan Strickland and Catherine Bent is quite different from setting words to music. It is different from songwriting: the vocal speech-melodies of the sentences keep their nature. The voice is in mutual, improvised responses to the instruments.
TCC: Why jazz, is it because it's more of an instrumental and improvisational genre? Pinsky: Exactly: the flexibility and spontaneity of the music is essential: the attentiveness of the musicians and me to what we hear from one another.
TCC: Jazz is often viewed as a conversation between musicians. A musician can improvise and adjust to the reading, are you able to do something similar in response to the music? Pinsky: Everything we do together in PoemJazz is a musical conversation. Pace, order of parts, repetition and refrain, variations in rhythm or pitch — all part of my effort just as with the musicians. I try to use my voice a bit like a horn: speaking, but musical.
TCC: Are you having the same conversation each time you perform or does it change from performance to performance? Pinsky: I'm happy to say it is different every time. We are all especially excited this time around for the performance in Wellfleet, because we will be adding Catherine's cello to Stan's reeds and Laurence's keyboard. (Stan also vocalizes on some pieces.)
TCC: You have said that you see your poetry as changing depending on the reader. In that way do you see it similar to how a singer or musician approaches a song? Pinsky: For me a poem is something that happens. It takes place a bit differently each time a reader encounters it. I think the great videos at www.favoritepoem.org help demonstrate that. The poem— say, Sylvia Plath's "Nick and the Candlestick" or Langston Hughes' "Minstrel Man"— remains itself, and it also is changed each time someone (in the videos, Seph Rodney, Pov Chin) gives voice to it.
TCC: You play saxophone. How does your background as a musician play into your writing? Pinsky: The expressive quality of sound is at the heart of my efforts in poetry. The melodies of sentences, the harmonies of consonant and vowel -- that is the center.
TCC: Is a lyricist a poet, is a composer a poet working in a different language? Pinsky: Sometimes, some lyricists do write something that would hold up if read by someone at www.favoritepoem.org. That is, spoken without a professional performer's musical or dramatic skill. The intimacy of poetry, its human scale, is especially important, for me, in our culture that values performance as a commodity. I like your bringing in "composer"— "composition" is a more accurate word for what I do than "writing." Most of the time it begins in my voice and ears. I hope for readers who read with their ears, not just their eyes.
TCC: You've compared what you're doing to rap. Has rap or Bob Dylan's receiving the Noble Prize for Literature redefined poetry or made it more accessible? Pinsky: Good for rap, and good for Dylan receiving the prize for being such a great lyricist. But I don't accept that poetry needs to be "made more accessible." Poetry is in us, pleasure in poetry is in us — as with dancing or singing or sports, infants respond to it. (Unfortunately, as with dancing or singing or sports, well-meaning schools and teachers somehow tell many people that it is beyond them, or alien, or arcane.)
TCC: What's the state of poetry today? Pinsky: When I recite Yeats to my infant grandchild, she seems comforted and pleased, responding in the same was as she might to a song. As with the videos at www.favoritepoem.org I think that indicates a permanent, deep-going state for poetry.
If You Go
What: PoemJazz with Robert Pinsky Where: Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main St. When: 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 11 Tickets: $25 in advance at castlehill.org/special-events/2018/7/11/poemjazz or $30 at the door
Sponsor: Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill


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The PanoramaKnife is quite nice, but where to cut on with this thing? Quite simply, on the PanoramaKnife wooden cutting boards.We have put the wonderful peaks in maple into a walnut wood board.A hand made cutting board from Ermatingen with a magnetic knife-holder, suitable for our bread knives and the cheese- or universal knives.Please wash by hand and wipe with some edible oil from time to time, then it will stay beautiful forever.Mountains: Zimba, Schillerkopf, Rote Wand, Roggelskopf, Piz Buin, Vallüla, Omeshorn, Hoher Ifen, Mittagsspitze, Kanisfluh, Hoher Freschen
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It was Thursday before noon and as we walked into 5 Spot we were greeted with a smile by the lovely hostess. She quickly scooped out the restaurant to see if a table was available. Being lunch hour there was no table available. That left us with the option to sit next to the bar area in the high top tables or by the window looking out. I love my seats by the window and so she gladly lead us to the chairs. We were quickly approached by our waitress who took our drink order because this was going to be my first meal of the day I decided to have coffee and a glass of water.
5 Spot has two menus The Breakfast Menu served from 7am-11am and the Lunch/Dinner Menu from 11am – Close. The Breakfast menu has your top usual popular items, such as waffles, omelette, eggs Benedict and the 5 Spot which is their signature dish consisting of your traditional southern entrée with eggs, grits, and choice of meat. The lunch/dinner menu has the appetizers, soups, salads and sandwiches. What caught my attention was the Eggs Rancheros ($7) it is two eggs, black beans, chorizo, avocado and pico de gallo. My mouth watered as soon as I read the entrée description, I decided then and there that I will have that as my meal. Another item that caught my attention was the steak tip with chili soup ($4 cup.) If it would have been a little later in the day I would have loved to try that but I guess it is something I will have to go back for.
Open Daily
Sun – Thurs 7a – 10p
Fri and Sat 7a – 11p
4430 Habersham Street | Savannah, GA 31405
(912) 777-3021
Menus: Breakfast • Lunch/Dinner • Dessert • Kinds Menu


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These poor people are starving. But it's not for lack of food. Moral starvation is worse when you aren't even aware you're hungry. The following is an article from "Somewhat Reasonable."
Millennials' Dangerous Growing Addiction to Government
by Justin Haskins March 27, 2015
"Is something wrong?" I asked my friend. "Are you going through a tough time or something? I know you're working and everything seems to be going well with your job."
"It's nothing like that," he assured me. "My job is with AmeriCorps though, and they just don't pay enough. That's why I'm eligible for food stamps. I figure, they aren't paying me what I should get paid so it seems fair I should be eligible for government assistance."
Somewhere in Fairfax County, Virginia, George Washington is rolling over in his grave.
Please visit the Somewhat Reasonable blog of the Heartland Institute for more thought provoking articles.


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Should I Keep my Property as Rental?
Many beginner or speculator-type real estate investors think that the crux of real estate investing is finding a distressed property, fixing it up, and selling for top profit. Keeping it as a rental ends up being a mistake, a backup plan, or a last resort for many people. But is keeping a property as a rental always a bad thing?
Regardless of how you come about owning a piece of property, there are a few things to keep in mind when considering whether you should keep it as a rental or not...
1. Is it in a Good Area?
There will be parts of your town that are known to be more desirable, are within a working class budget, and are close to important amenities like schools, grocery stores, and developed shopping centers.
Although there is the ongoing appeal and debate of buying cheap properties in war zones, the higher profit percentages may not be worth the management and maintenance headache for you. If you have no experience landlording, you typically want to avoid these areas all together.
If you've bought it at enough of a profit margin (or created forced equity through a rehab, additional square footage, etc), you may decide that the home could cash flow after you pay a monthly mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, and HOA (if there is one).
Check the rental rates in the area, how long it looks like it takes to rent a home of your mix (meaning, bedrooms and bathrooms). If you have the available credit, or a partner does, it looks like it would cash flow, it has equity, and it's in a good area, you may have a winner.
2. Is it a Cash Cow?
If you've become an accidental landlord, cash flow may have never crossed your mind. But if your property has been sitting there and it looks like refinance may be the only option, the first thing to see is how much, potentially, you could rent it out every month at.
If its a marginal deal, (ie, less than $100 cash flow for every bedroom in the property), it may not make sense to you, and it would be time to move on to plan C. If you're OK with breaking even, it could be a potential hold, but dealing with tenants every month just to cover a bill could quickly become a drain. Many a speculator found themselves in this position when the market tanked, with most letting the properties go to foreclosure or short sale. Prevention is the best medicine nowadays; buy at steeper margins.
If you've been specifically targeting properties to buy as a keeper, it will be important to review what the current leases are for, how long they are for, and if they reflect market rent. If not, why? Did the old owner keep them down just to keep the place occupied? Did he refuse to do needed updating and keep tenants at reduced rates? Either of these gives you the opportunity to do the updating needed and "clean house," literally and figuratively. Just pencil out how long it would take you to get your cash investment back (through raised rents), and if it fits your criteria.
Every once in awhile you'll find a deal that looked underwhelming at quick glance, but upon closer inspection could be reconfigured to be a gold mine. If it's in a good area, and can be a cash cow, it might just be a keeper.
3. Would it be a Good Lease Option?
Perhaps it's not a cash cow, but it's a desirable property in a decent neighborhood. With the population of displaced homeowners that went through a foreclosure, you've widened the pool of people who want to own but don't have the credit...just yet.
A lease option is when an occupant has a lease/rental in place, but also has an "Option" to purchase the house at a future date at a set price. You can collect a larger upfront payment for the option, whether it ends up being exercised by the tenant or not. They also tend the treat the house as they're own, and be more hands off renters.
If you haven't done or aren't familiar with Lease Option (or this style of resale), don't approach them ignorantly. Do your due diligence and have an attorney review your paperwork, as setting up the deal incorrectly can open a can of worms you could have easily avoided.
As the market shifts, you may notice your rehabs taking longer to sell, leaving you considering plan B. If keeping it as a rental is a possibility, these three examples can help you narrow down if the property will be an adaptable investment into your portfolio.
What do you think? What other criteria do you use when considering if a home is good to keep as a rental?
Take advantage of this little-known tax "loophole"
Recent tax increases have affected nearly every American property owner. But with the right planning, you can take steps to take control of your taxes and potentially even lower your tax bill. In our brand-new special report "The IRS Is Daring You to Make This Investment Now!," you'll learn about the simple strategy to take advantage of a little-known IRS rule. Don't miss out on advice that could help you cut taxes for decades to come. Click here to learn more.
This article Should I Keep my Property as Rental? originally appeared on The Bigger Pockets Blog and is Copyright 2014 BiggerPockets, Inc.
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Tanya Shatseva
Russian artist Tanya Shatseva works with oil on canvas creating colourful illustrations saturated with bright details. (Subconsciously we respect her works and find the influence of Lora Zombie art on her earliest works). You can easily purchase Tanya's art on different objects as iPhone cases and etc on tanyashatseva.bigcartel.com


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Here is the "go-to barbecue sauce" for all seasons: cookbookinabox® BBQ Sauce, a sweet, tangy and lip-smacking sauce for chicken, beef, pork of other meats if you desire. This is a great sauce to use as a condiment on eggs, fried potatoes, or sandwiches.In the good old summertime we think of picnics, parties, and patio barbecues. Some sauces are terrific to add to poultry and meats baked in the oven or in slow-cookers all year around.
- 2 cups ketchup
- ¼ cup molasses, mild flavor
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce, light sodium
- ¼ teaspoon of hot pepper sauce
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon granulated onion
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- (optional ¼ teaspoon powdered garlic)
- (optional 1 tablespoon mesquite liquid smoke)
- Mix ingredients in a medium heavy pan;
- Whisk to blend well.
- Heat the sauce over mediium heat, whisking to prevent sticking.
- Cover while simmering over low heat for 20 minutes.
- Pour into a quart or 2 pint jars, put on lids and allow cool.
- Keep in the refrigerator and ready for use.
Check out another great sauce: Maple Mesquite Bar-B-Que Sauce
Julia Ann and cookbookinabox® in partnership with Netta Belle's Choice® brings you great recipes for your cooking experience. ©2007-2018 Netta Belle's Choice® The Art of Gourmet Cookery® cookbookinabox® "Reg. U.S. Pat. & Trdmk. Off." Reg. "Trade-marks Canadian Intellectual Property Office. "Netta Belle's Choice® The Art of Gourmet Cookery® cookbookinabox® All rights reserved.


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Under a new advertising program, transmitters are beaming out text messages to the
phones of people walking by to ask them if they would like to watch a video-clip ad on their
phone's screen. The commercial, aimed at passengers in Virgin's first-class lounge, touts a
new SUV, the Range Rover Sport.
Two London companies are behind the new ad approach -- Maiden Group PLC, which has
handled billboard advertising for 80 years in the United Kingdom, and Filter UK Ltd., a small
firm specializing in the transmitter technology.
Maiden is installing transmitters on its billboards at 30 U.K. train stations to send video clips
related to the billboards' ads over the next 18 months, and says it plans to extend the service
to large shopping malls. Filter is working at Heathrow.
The British effort takes the nascent field of cellphone advertising to a new level. Most
cellphone ads to date consist of simple text messages, and most go out to a targeted audience
of people who have signed up and willingly given over their phone number to marketers.
Some U.S. television networks, for example, send text messages to alert fans about new
This billboard in a London train station sends related material to Bluetooth cellphones.
Maiden and Filter executives say they think they avoid annoying recipients by first sending
people a message asking them if they want to view the ad; if recipients click yes, the video
clip appears on their screen.
One limit to the spread of the cellphone video advertising will be the number of phones
capable of receiving the ads. The ads work only on high-tech phones enabled with Bluetooth,
the short-range wireless technology that allows text, sound and pictures to be sent to a
computer, phone or other electronic device.
Here's how it works: When the ad transmitter detects someone has a cellphone with the
Bluetooth function turned on within a range of typically 100 yards, it sends out a message
offering the promotional clip. The transmitters are about the size of a small car wheel and are
installed inside the billboards.
During a recent two-week test, of 87,000 phones discovered by the transmitters at the railway
stations, 13,000 people agreed to download clips. That 15% response rate is high by
advertising-industry standards.
"I think it's done very well because it enables the customers [to choose]. It doesn't force it on
them," says Charles Vine, manager of Virgin Atlantic's airport lounges, which have been
testing the system for the past two months.
Some potential recipients, however, need convincing. Kelly Edmunds, a 24-year-old ecology
and conservation graduate student in Norwich, recently upgraded to a Bluetooth-capable
phone because she likes to swap short videos with friends. She says she doesn't want to
receive ads in principle, though she would "consider" accepting ads on topics that interest her,
such as videos featuring travel destinations.
"I think there is enough advertising around, and I don't see why they have to use mobile
phones," she said one recent afternoon while waiting for a train at London's Liverpool Station,
one of the places where Maiden has installed transmitters on its billboards.
Another commuter, Geoff Green, a retiree from Essex, said an opt-out register should be
introduced so people can elect not to receive ads on their phones. The 69-year-old said he
carries a cellphone for emergencies and under no circumstances would he accept an ad.
There are no regulations in Britain restricting Bluetooth ads being sent to mobile phones,
whether owners want them or not, according to Britain's Office of Communications. However,
the Advertising Standards Authority says it has responsibility for enforcing rules of decency,
taste and accuracy over all forms of advertising, including any sent by Bluetooth. The
Authority says Bluetooth ads raise particular problems because of the difficulty of restricting
the age of people who receive them.
"Say it's an advertisement for an over-18-rated computer game," says a spokeswoman for the
authority. "If you are doing a Bluetooth ad where it is going to everyone, it could be you are
sending that ad out to under-18s with material in it that shouldn't be there."
Alasdair Scott, a co-founder and chief creative officer of Filter, says his company is aware of
potential concerns and has undertaken to abide by Britain's advertising codes, including
those applying to children. If people decline to accept an ad, they will never be offered
another in the same series, he says, although they aren't excluded from future campaigns.
Recently, Maiden's system was used to promote the new album from rock band Coldplay.
Maiden beamed 30-second spots featuring interviews with the musicians and clips from their
music videos. Because sound on cellphones is poor, the band's label, EMI Group PLC, remixed
the music to adjust the recording quality. The clips were beamed out at six central London
train stations for a week before and after the June launch of the "X&Y" album. New clips were
added at least once a day. Large video-advertising screens owned by Maiden told commuters
to switch on their Bluetooth phones to receive the material. "X&Y" hit No. 1 in the U.K. and
U.K. album charts, and EMI plans to use video-clip ads in other promotions.
British Airways used Maiden's service last month to send out ads promoting its Internet site
from billboards around London. The airline calculated that using such a high-tech method to
deliver its ad would foster a cutting-edge image. About 10,000 people accepted the ads during
a two-week period, a 10% response rate, BA says. "It is something we will be looking to do
again," says Anna Martin, an airline spokeswoman.
Maiden agreed to install transmitters on its billboards after being approached by Filter, which
has spent the last two years designing the transmitters it calls BlueCasting, a play on
Bluetooth technology. Filter contends that billboards, long the backwater of the advertising
industry, are more effective if they transmit video and sound.
Maiden's managing director, David Pugh, says he became convinced of the project's value
when the first transmitter detected 4,000 people carrying Bluetooth-capable phones in a day.
"Outdoor [billboard advertising] is seen by some as the poor cousin of TV and press. But when
you add mobile to that, it becomes really powerful," says Filter's Mr. Scott.
Europe is generally ahead of the U.S. in cellphone advertising, as more Europeans have
video-enabled phones. One of Filter's competitors, the San Francisco-based WideRay Corp., is
testing a similar system in 11 U.S. and U.K. movie theaters over the summer. It installed
transmitters in theaters operated by Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corp. so people waiting in
the theaters' foyers for the next show can download movie trailers -- recently for "Mr. and
Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and "Kingdom of Heaven," starring Orlando
Bloom -- as well as related ring tones and cellphone "wallpaper."
It isn't clear how many cellphones in use are Bluetooth-equipped, industry executives say, but
analysts say penetration rates are rising quickly. By the end of this year, 19% of all cellphones
in Western Europe will be Bluetooth-capable, estimates Strategy Analytics, a Boston-based
research firm, with the total number almost doubling to 64 million from 35 million last year.
In North America, which lags behind Europe in cellphone technology, 32 million phones --
about 14% of the total -- will have Bluetooth technology by the end of this year, Strategy
Analytics says -- more than double last year's Bluetooth-equipped total of 15 million.


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My Adopted Child is an Inconvenience
In praying though what to post this week, I felt the need to talk about our adoption.. Specifically, what are some of the experiences and emotions that I have walked through?
Maddie Kate is now six. So, if you count our birth mom's pregnancy, we are nearly seven years into the adoption experience. So I looked through some posts from the past to see what I have learned on the journey.
Something I wrote back in the fall of 2007 caught my eye. It captures a lesson I learned back in those days. In fact, I'm still learning it. Here's what I wrote back then...
My sleep was interrupted again last night. After getting four kids (now ages 7-15) through their needy preschool years, I had finally gotten used to having at least a good seven hours of uninterrupted sleep on most nights. With a new baby in our house, it has been a bit...elusive lately.
We are now two months into the adventure of welcoming Madeline Kate into our home. God willing, the adoption should be finalized by the time you read this. But our adventure includes all those things that go along with raising a newborn baby: restless nights, endless diaper changes, pesky little ailments, fussy moments where nothing seems to make her happy.Parenthood isn't easy.
And it certainly isn't convenient.
This leads me to what is perhaps the greatest lesson that God has taught me through this process. Over the past few months, God has revealed to me a hidden characteristic of my heart that has significant potential to limit His ability to work in and through my life.
Before we decided to step out in faith, I spent a good six weeks arguing with God about this whole adoption thing. Though I certainly wouldn't admit it at the time, most of my reasons for why another baby didn't make sense were based upon the fact that it would severely complicate our lives. Almost two years into our transition to Georgia, we had finally entered a time of relative ease. Our lives were quite comfortable. A new baby would only add stress to our time, our wallets and our futures. In a nutshell, it wouldn't be convenient.
What God revealed to me was that my tendency had been to run my decisions through my "easy filter." One of the key components of my decision-making process was to figure out how hard it would be. Over the past few months He has reminded me that He has not called me to a life of convenience. Rarely should a choice be made because it is the path of least resistance, especially on decisions related to following Christ (which should be most every decision I make).
As we have experienced the immeasurable joy of having Maddie Kate in our family, God has showed me that choosing what is hard will often result in the greatest satisfaction. She is a little miracle that we get to witness and enjoy in a hundred different ways every day. She is a regular reminder of God's activity that I would have missed out on had I chosen the easy way.
When we are obedient to step outside our comfort zone in any area of life, God meets us there, enriches our lives, and brings about much needed change in us. It is choices like these that make life interesting and our story compelling to others. When we choose the easy path, we just get easy…and boring. And our lives aren't the least bit compelling to a world looking for something different in those of us who call ourselves Christians.
I have a new found appreciation for the difficult things in life. Every day my kids teach me that my life is better and God is more glorified when I have to depend upon Him to get through the tough stuff. And when He is in the middle of it, even the most challenging things are laced with the joy of knowing that God is working out His perfect will in me and those who are following so closely behind me.
So now here we are, six years later. Maddie Kate continues to be a blessed inconvenience. And our lives are so much more rich because of her. How many times do we miss out on the fullness and abundance of life that Christ offers us because we choose the easy path?
May we all be willing to ask God how He wants to make our lives uncomfortable in order to accomplish His purpose in our lives and in the lives of others!


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Changes in flows from Africa are increasingly shifting global crude oil markets, adding pressure to regional prices. With our African Waterborne Crude Report, monitor this activity and optimize your trading or business decisions. We aggregate large quantities of flow data from multiple sources, track, and analyze it, so you don't have to.
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- Market Clarity: Get a full view of crude loadings by country in the WAF region and a tally of crude cargo destinations, with a follow up on any changes in destination.
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Changing flows impact and add pressure to regional prices. Our weekly report provides insights to help you forecast short-term price shifts and anticipate the arrival of crude from West Africa.
Our report keeps you informed of market trends. With increased transparency on flows coming out of West Africa, we help you gauge the market impact in Asia, Europe or the Americas.


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About Me
As many of you know, I have chosen to serve an LDS mission for a year and a half. I have been assigned to serve in Manaus, Brazil!!! Yes... I am scared, nervous, and so excited. Oh, and did I mention NERVOUS??!! There are so many unknowns. I have never left the country, I don't know how to speak Portuguese yet, I don't know anyone there, I have to leave my family, etc. I could go on for a while. SO you may be wondering why the heck I am doing this? Well I can tell you one thing, if I didn't know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the true church of God, then I would not be doing this. BUT I do know with all my heart that this church is true. I have read the Book of Mormon, studied, and prayed. I know that my Savior lives. I know that it is only through the gospel that we can find true happiness. I know I have to share this amazing gift, and I am so lucky I get to share it with the people of Brazil!!!
I am so grateful for my family and friends. Without y'all I wouldn't have the faith to embark on this wonderful journey. Please feel free to write me!!!! (Addresses are in the "Contact Me" section). My mom will be posting my emails on this blog weekly so you can follow along on my crazy adventure. See y'all in 18 months!!!!!
Love always,


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'92 LA Burning: Woman + Son Cross Still-Burning Street/
Twelve years ago, I was in my last year of art school. From my vantage points as young man looking at the world he was about to enter, things looked nuts: the First Gulf War broke out; a big, nasty Recession was looming; and the Rodney King beating had become one of the first subjects of the citizen-journalism debate.
Go here to see some photos from the riots that broke out in LA after the Rodney King verdict brought the hammer down on a city seething with rage.
From Dana Graves:
On April 29, 1992, twelve jurors rendered their verdicts in a controversial case involving the 1991 beating of Rodney King by four LAPD officers.
One of the officers was found guilty of excessive force; the other officers were cleared of all charges.
At various points throughout the city that afternoon, people began rioting. For the next six days the violence and mayhem continued."
These photos are what I saw in & around my LA neighborhood of Echo Park.


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The MetaCurrency Project
The MetaCurrency Project is building the tools and technology platforms to open source the next economy
If the next economy is going to facilitate healthy flows of resources and information which support people, society and the planet, we have a lot of changes to make. Because that's certainly not what the current economy does. The MetaCurrency project is building the means (technology platforms and protocols) for this kind of healthy economy to exist.
Just as people can create value, MetaCurrency believe communities of people should be able to decide what they value and how that will be measured and acknowledged. This means they have to be able to create their own currencies.


text: July 07, 2015 "Psalm of Life" Premieres on Utne Reader July 07, 2015/ Alexander W. The Annie Moses Band have made a name for themselves as pioneers of contemporary classical music rooted in…americana influences. Today they are sharing their video for "Psalm of Life", a song whose gorgeous arrangement puts both the band's technical skill and musical versatility to the test. — Utne Reader View on Utne Thanks for watching! Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel for more!


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Certified Instructor
News and Updates
Attention Teachers and Childcare Workers!
If you are required by the DHS to have yearly CPR training, read on! The DHS has updated its guidelines to allow a refresher course every other year. This refresher course is offered as long as the participant holds a valid CPR certification. This policy will help Childcare Providers as well as teachers manage their free time as well as finances!
Training materials
All training materials are now available (at no additional cost) in PDF format. To take advantage of these resources, be sure to have the Adobe PDF reader downloaded.
©2014 Seconds Count CPR


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Two days after a former West Virginia defensive back who plays for the Bengals was arrested, the Bengals waived a former West Virginia defensive back who recently has been arrested.
But it's not Pacman Jones who has been dumped by the Bengals. Instead, 2011 fifth-round pick Robert Sands has been released.
Sands was arrested in January 2013, accused of assaulting his wife.
The former Mountaineer appeared in only one game as a rookie. He was on injured reserve in 2012 due to a chest injury suffered in a preseason game against the Falcons.


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Patrons of Global Health
A gift from The Mortimer D. Sackler Foundation, Inc., will enable the Academy to pursue advances in the crucial area of nutrition science.
Siblings Mortimer D.A. Sackler and Kathe A. Sackler, MD spoke with magazine contributor Adam Ludwig about the founding gift made by The Mortimer D. Sackler Foundation, Inc., to establish The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science at the New York Academy of Sciences.
How did you first become interested in issues surrounding nutrition?
Kathe: As a physician, I have always been convinced that millions of infants, children, and adults in the world suffer and die from diseases that can be prevented by access to proper nutrition, clean water, and hygiene. My passion about this problem grows out of my fundamental belief that there are adequate resources for every human being in the world to have basic nutrition, water, and shelter if we take this on as a critical global priority.
Mortimer: After turning 30, I noticed it became harder and harder to stay in shape. I sought the advice of a nutritionist, who made me focus on the sources and quality of the food I was eating. Through that process I began focusing on the food other people were eating, and how poorly regulated food in this country is. I know how risk-averse the FDA is in regulating drugs, but why is it seemingly so lax about our country's food supply and what it allows to be packaged and sold to the population? This question led me to realize that governments have always had a single-purpose mission when it comes to food policy and regulation: How to make more and cheaper food? We have been very successful in producing much more food from the same amount of land, but did we actually make food cheaper, or simply shift the cost to a different area: healthcare?
How were you involved in partnering with NYAS to develop the Sackler Institute?
Mortimer: In early 2009, my father received a call from NYAS to meet and discuss a joint initiative. The team at the Academy presented a nutrition initiative, and we developed their concept into the program for the Sackler Institute. When I presented the idea to the family, it quickly won broad approval, and Kathe and our sister Ilene Sackler Lefcourt became involved in defining the creation of the Sackler Institute and its founding gift agreement.
How do you think the Sackler Institute will make an impact in finding solutions to health issues related to nutrition?
Mortimer: By bringing together some of the brightest people in the field of nutrition science and having them define the five or six most important questions in the field, and then having them tackle each question and put out challenge grants, fund research, write papers, and ultimately drive change in public policy, the Sackler Institute can make an impact that will improve people's health as it relates to nutrition and diet.
Kathe: The recipe here is to cross-motivate experts in differing fields, all of which speak to issues of nutrition science, and to challenge and support these groups to figure out the critical achievable goals that will make a positive difference. Experts across science, social policy, political action, health care, communications, and media will integrate new experiential knowledge into their work to bring about positive change.
What are your thoughts about the ironies of confronting scarcity in developing countries while addressing problems such as obesity in industrialized countries?
Mortimer: The biggest irony is that it isn't "overabundance" that is causing the obesity epidemic, but rather a form of scarcity. Both under-nutrition and obesity are caused by people not getting enough of the right nutrients in their diets. The food we have created, subsidized, and sold to the U.S. consumer may be cheap and plentiful, but it is also extremely nutrient-light. Is it any surprise that consumers eat more and more of it? Their bodies aren't getting the nutrients needed to satiate them. The worst thing we could do for developing countries is to provide them with the misguided nutrition policies, food guidelines, and products that have led to obesity here.
What is your hope for the impact of the Sackler Institute in the next ten years?
Kathe: The Institute will generate new discoveries about the nutritional and metabolic aspects of particular diseases and encourage self-sustaining farming, supported by clean water, in areas with food shortages and few resources. It will also spur better general education for children about healthy dietary choices, along with improved nutrition science curricula in postgraduate healthcare training.What has been your greatest source of inspiration in becoming involved with efforts to improve diet and nutrition on a global scale?
Mortimer: My children. By far having kids, as cliché as it sounds, changed my life and my view on the world. It is because of them that I hope that the Sackler Institute will make a difference.
Adam Ludwig is a writer in New York City.