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This city has several area methadone clinics providing methadone replacement therapy and structured counseling. Available via local physicians is suboxone (with buprenorphine) which provides relief from opiate withdrawal symptoms for a significant number of people. Below are links to more info on methadone program effectiveness, opioid dependency, addiction & recovery counseling, and job openings in methadone clinics.
Comprehensive Opioid Treatment at Behavioral Health Group
Behavioral Health Group (BHG) currently provides 54 top flight opioid addiction treatment centers in the United States. The company specializes in medication-assisted treatment using methadone, buprenorphine, and buprenorphine/naloxone.
BHG takes a patient-centered approach to treating addictive disorders offering counseling as a fundamental component of the overall treatment model. Because of this individualized treatment approach, 97% of patients surveyed indicate they would recommend BHG Recovery to a friend or family member suffering from opioid addiction.
Additionally, 99% of patients report that their mental health and quality of life improved since their BHG admission. 60% of unemployed patients were able to obtain employment after one year of treatment.
Hope, Respect, and Caring are tenets of BHG's treatment program, and their staff strive to provide this from the moment a patient first walks in to receive help. All of BHG's treatment centers provide care in an outpatient setting.
In 2019, BHG Recovery added (6) additional U.S. clinics to the Methadone.US national directory list …
1. Franklin, VA – BHG Franklin Treatment Center
Posted in BHG Recovery, Buprenorphine, Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Opioid Treatment, Suboxone, Suboxone Doctors Tagged Behavioral Health Group Comments Off on Comprehensive Opioid Treatment at Behavioral Health Group
Acadia Healthcare Experts in Opioid Addiction Treatment
Acadia Healthcare is a leading provider of addiction treatment and behavioral healthcare services in the USA, the UK, and Puerto Rico. Worldwide, they operate a network of 593 facilities with 18,100 beds in 40 U.S. States. Of these locations, Acadia offer medication-assisted opioid treatment in 127 of their facilities.
In 2019, Acadia added 11 additional U.S. clinics to the Methadone.US national directory list …
1. Aberdeen, WA – Grays Harbor Treatment Solutions
While Acadia are experts in the treatment of opioid misuse disorders, they treat a wide variety of addiction-related problems utilizing traditional outpatient programs up to inpatient detoxification and residential treatment. You can view Acadia's Levels of Care descriptions to gain a better view of the breadth of their substance abuse services.
Here is a complete listing of Acadia opioid treatment clinics.
Posted in Acadia Healthcare, Addiction Treatment, Buprenorphine, Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Methadone Treatment, Opiate Treatment, Suboxone Comments Off on Acadia Healthcare Experts in Opioid Addiction Treatment
Subutex and Methadone in Treatment of Opioid Addiction
Recovery from opioid addiction initially centers around physical stabilization: specifically the management of opioid withdrawal. This is an essential step for the vast majority of opioid addicted people seeking help. Research has shown a 90% failure rate for opioid treatment programs that do not offer medication assistance.
Methadone was the original medication FDA-approved for treating opioid addiction although Subutex has been recently introduced into opioid treatment programs around the country as a viable alternative. Subutex is effective especially for milder levels of opioid dependency.
Subutex is a brand name version of buprenorphine, the partial opioid agonist that reduces withdrawal symptom sickness. Most patients are familiar with "Suboxone" which is a popular buprenorphine-based film that is dissolved under the tongue and is taken once per day. It differs from Subutex in that it contains naloxone so that it cannot be easily abused intravenously.
A number of methadone clinics began offering subutex in the past few years in an effort to expand treatment options for patients. Because subutex can be abused, it is typically administered daily in the clinic by a nurse where it can be supervised.
If you are considering entering a treatment program for opioid misuse, you may want to ask about the variety of medications utilized by the clinic or physician. Some patients have successfully transitioned from methadone to subutex while others enter the program starting with subutex. This is a decision best made in conjunction with your treating doctor who can formulate a treatment plan based on your history of opioid use.
Posted in Addiction Recovery, Buprenorphine, Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Suboxone, Subutex Tagged Subutex Comments Off on Subutex and Methadone in Treatment of Opioid Addiction
Opioid Treatment Program Rules
Methadone programs and doctors who prescribe buprenorphine serve a very important function in helping the country cope with the opioid crisis. They are also a life-saving link for patients who have suffered for years with an overwhelming addiction.
Operating a methadone clinic or buprenorphine/suboxone practice is typically a complex endeavor. Clinics that offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) must comply with a myriad of mandates and policy requirements from the DEA, the local State Methadone Authority, accreditation organizations like CARF and JCAH, SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration}, and 3rd party payers who help fund treatment services.
Patients understand that a well-run treatment clinic offers many benefits. Quality services are only delivered when there is an organizational commitment to helping people while also being able to meet all of the operational requirements such as timely documentation of services (paperwork) and appropriate support of staff & counselors,
Sometimes patients will complain about "so many clinic rules" although many patients appreciate their clinic's dedication to professionalism and its ability to meet the standards of good quality care. Within most treatment facilities are several key staff who oversee its daily operation and the provision of services. These are the Clinical Director, the Medical Director or primary prescribing physician, the Nurse Supervisor, and possibly clinical staff Team Leaders who do the work of coordinating the clinics many daily activities.
While the list of clinic rules can seem long, there is nearly always an important underlying reason for that rule to exist. Most methadone clinics distribute a Handbook for clients that outlines their rights as an opioid treatment patient as well as guidelines for obtaining dosage adjustments and progressing successfully through treatment.
Opioid treatment, and medication-assistance in particular, must be carefully monitored. This is to insure patient safety and to minimize the risk of medication errors. Please support your local methadone or suboxone clinic with words of encouragement and positive feedback when it is earned. Conversely, it is important to speak up as well if serious problems are occurring. Always make an effort to communicate first with the clinic's clinical and administrative staff if experiencing a problem. If an honest effort to resolve an issue in this manner is not productive, then contacting one's local State Methadone Authority is sometimes a logical next step for addressing an important concern.
Posted in Buprenorphine, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Methadone Programs, Methadone Treatment, Recovery, Suboxone, Suboxone Doctors Tagged methadone, opioid treatment, OTP Rules Comments Off on Opioid Treatment Program Rules
Ohio Town Hall on Opioid Addiction
Several organizations in Ohio recently hosted a town hall discussion on the opioid crisis still occurring there and across the country. News commentator, Eric Bolling, was a moderator of the event which was held at Cedarville University.
Eric and his wife, Adrienne, lost their 19 year old son in 2017 due to an accidental overdose with the powerful opioid, fentanyl.
This town hall discussion was designed to continue raising public awareness on the danger of opioid misuse and the continuing need for treatment and recovery support services to help families deal with this perpetual problem.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that there were 70,237 drug overdoses in 2017 with 47,600 involving opioids specifically. The article linked above states that the state of Ohio ranked 2nd in overdose deaths only behind West Virginia.
There is promising news in that more Americans are now being educated on opioid risks, and consequently are taking better precautions as well as actively accessing methadone & suboxone programs offering helpful medication-assistance and behavioral counseling. Saving lives and offering recovery are messages that are being heard.
Posted in Buprenorphine, Fentanyl, Heroin Overdose, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Opioid Addiction, Recovery, Suboxone Tagged Eric Bolling, Ohio Comments Off on Ohio Town Hall on Opioid Addiction


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These posts were supposed to be in chronological order after I wrote about Ratatouille, but due to an error with Netflix, I'm writing about Finding Nemo before Monsters, Inc..
Andrew Stanton's Finding Nemo was the fifth film from Pixar and broke records for the box office. In many ways, it's the perfect family film with the wacky sidekick, the heroic journey and the relatable kid who is different in some way but triumphs in the end. Finding Nemo is a beautiful film, but I find that I have problems with the film.
The film follows a clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) who has had to raise his son Nemo (Alexander Gould) on his own after his wife, Coral (Elizabeth Perkins), was tragically killed. While Nemo is on his way to school, he swims away to be captured by a diver while Marlin looks on, horrified. His father follows the boat, only to lose it and meet a Pacific Regal Blue Tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres). The two then meet three sharks attempting to convert to vegetarianism, Bruce (Barry Humphries), Anchor (Eric Bana) and Chum (Bruce Spence). Then they find a mask that dropped from the boat and discover an address in Syndey. They then meet up with a school of fish (John Ratzenberger), clash with jellyfish, and meet up with a group of sea turtles led by Crush (Stanton). Meanwhile, Nemo has found himself in a dentist's fish tank, surrounded by a group of neurotic fish led by Gill (William Dafoe).
My main problem with Finding Nemo is the character of Dory. Dory serves as a great method to push Marlin, but at a certain point her short-term memory borders on being annoying. I remember when the film came out that everyone talked about Dory and Crush—I actually thought the movie was about them rather than Marlin searching for his son—so her comedy in the role worked at engaging with the kids. There is the problem that if you cut out the character of Dory, Marlin probably wouldn't grow as a character. It's more like a character trait that eventually becomes schtick that is no longer fresh after a certain point. But in the end, her short term memory does help save the day, so is she really that bad?
There are two things that do make Finding Nemo a wonderful film. One is the ability to see the journey of both Marlin and Nemo as characters, how they grow as a result of having to go outside of their reef. In some ways, I expect Marlin to grow and not be so insecure, but to see Nemo grow as a result of being separated from his clingy father was nice. But the beautiful thing about the film is its animation. From what I remember of the animation in Monsters, Inc.—prior to starting this series, it was one of the films I had watched most recently—the animation in this movie is vastly better. Water would seem to be an incredibly difficult setting to animate, but Pixar manages to make it look uncannily realistic. With this film, we also start to see the humans look a little more realistic in jawlines and hair colors. Although, for some reason, Pixar presents yet another creepy child with braces in this film. While the headgear on this child, Darla, makes her look more menacing than Sid, it does seem odd as to why the genuinely scary children in Pixar films have braces.
Yes, I'm conflicted about this film and that's resulting in this being my shortest post. But what this comes down to is that a lot of people like this movie and for the most part it is a good movie. At the very least, it's an incredibly imaginative film which makes it all the more enjoyable.

subset: commoncrawl


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= Old Minutes (2010) =
= Old Minutes (2010) =
Revision as of 19:15, 16 December 2011
OE Technical Steering Committee
The TSC consists of 5 people and will be elected by, and ultimately be answerable to, the members of the OE e.V.
Here is the working copy of the new TSC charter.
Khem Raj (khem) Koen Kooi (koen) Mark Hatle (fray) Richard Purdie (RP) Tom Rini (Tartarus)
One member stands for election every two months. Richard Purdie was most recently re-elected in June, 2011.
On a day-to-day basis the TSC will be responsible for making tactical policy decisions, resolving disputes between contributors, administering access control to the git tree, and generally promoting good development practice.
Decision Making
Decisions are made where necessary by majority vote. Once a decision is made by the technical steering committee, the decision should be respected as a democratic decision.
Outstanding items (sorted by occurence)
- Convert remaining recipes to new style staging
- Make the insane.bbclass mandatory, make it default to only complain
- Ongoing campaign to deprecate/remove old recipes (use common sense, allow review)
- Rename org.openembedded.dev to master
- Document revert policy on Wiki
- Document TSC issue escalation procedure
TSC list archive
2011 Minutes
- 14-Feb-2011
- 21-Feb-2011
- 28-Feb-2011
- 10-Mar-2011
- 17-Mar-2011
- 25-Mar-2011
- 31-Mar-2011
- 10-Apr-2011 (face to face at ELC 2011)
- 28-Apr-2011
- 05-May-2011
- 12-May-2011
- 19-May-2011
- 26-May-2011
- 02-Jun-2011
- 09-Jun-2011
- 16-Jun-2011
- 23-Jun-2011
- 30-Jun-2011
- 14-Jul-2011
- 21-Jul-2011
- 04-Aug-2011
- 11-Aug-2011
- 01-Sep-2011
- 16-Sep-2011
- 29-Sep-2011
- 06-Oct-2011
- 20-Oct-2011
- 03-Nov-2011
- 17-Nov-2011
- 22-Nov-2011
- 13-Dec-2011
Next meeting: 03-January-2012


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Neurology and mental health
The most sensitive instrument of the human body is the brain and the disorders that affect it. Disorders and diseases such as stroke, epilepsy, mood disorders, dementia and sleep apnoea, are each key areas of research carried out by The George Institute.
We aim to reduce the worldwide burden of neurological and mental health disorders by evaluating current knowledge, conducting major research studies and developing new strategies to influence how medicine is practised in this field. Our work addresses stroke incidence using large scale, collaborative, epidemiological and clinical trials methodology; and also looks at how chronic disease can skew the incidence of mood disorders and how physical recovery may be aided if mood disorders are closely managed.


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Before my kids were able to fully express themselves through words, they were little artists creating images as bold and unique as they were. And while mini masterpieces on important papers, floors, and walls tested my patience at times, it didn't take long for me to realize that a crayon in the hand was worth more than 64 in a box.
I first noticed my eldest son's emotional connection to art in preschool. While all his classmates had drawn charming stick families with giant, endearing smiles for an Open House display, mine created a small forest of trees. When I asked why he didn't create a family portrait like everyone else, he dramatically confessed that he had: "I made us into forest trees so we could be very big and live forever!" My son is an introvert who struggled to articulate his daily needs, wants, and fears; art gave him a voice to express the contents of his heart in a way that made sense to him.
Soon, drawing became everything. He drew during meals, car rides, shopping trips, and bedtime. Notebook upon notebook filled with the creative thoughts and ideas of a boy who saw a world of forgotten possibility. He lit up creating and describing his images. He grew confident and proud, thinking one day he'd become an artist. What he didn't know was that he already was an artist. His work was being seen by family, friends, and viewers online, and that same work was making people smile. He was an artist of more than pretty pictures — he was an artist of possibility and imagination.
I suppose it came as little surprise when my youngest followed a similar artistic path. Born into his brother's renaissance, my little one strived to create the moment he was old enough to grasp a crayon with chubby, determined fingers. Together, my boys joined forces to create memories and masterpieces. They turned scribbles into fireworks in the night sky, transformed wrinkled papers into textured mediums and accidental tears into objects of deliberate expression. They made little art books for family and friends, created special occasion cards, comics, and even illustrated a children's book I'd been toying around with. They created together and they created apart, but they mostly created because their imaginations were too big not to.
Eleven-year-old Autumn's creative journey began in quite the same way. After an accidental discovery of her artistic talents at age 5, her passion and determination led her to become a respected young artist within the art community. Take a look at her incredible story:
What my sons and I noticed most about Autumn was her undeniable passion — a light that shined so bright, her spirit possessed each work of art she created. And it's no wonder. Autumn revealed, "When somebody takes home a painting, I feel as though they're taking a part of my imagination."
Pablo Picasso once said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Picasso understood the precious gift of creative expression free from fear, criticism, and crippling self-doubt. As masters of potentiality and accidental artistic radicals, creative kids serve as a testament of organic soul expression. "I just go for it," Autumn explains. "I let my heart go." With the support of parents who nurtured her small creative spark at age 5, Autumn's creative freedom continues to inspire and delight art lovers of all ages.
When it comes to encouraging the creative talents of our children, there are five simple things parents can do to make a powerful difference.
1. Be on the lookout.
Every child is a natural creative born with talents and passions. Tap into your child's gifts wherever you may find them. What begins as a doodle on a folder, short story in a notebook, passion for performing, love of sports, or academic aptitude can kick-start your child's incredible journey of creative self-expression.
2. Foster your child's interests.
Thankfully, we don't have to spend a lot of money to foster our children's natural talents. Get involved in city programs that cultivate your child's interests and lend your energy into helping your child learn more.
3. Offer inspiration.
Your local library is a great place to take in many of the sights, sounds, and resources required on your child's creative adventure. Museums, exhibits, festivals, and free public events are also a wonderful way to encourage artistic growth and development.
4. Provide encouragement.
Recognize your child's efforts and progress. Compliment them, showcase their work, and express pride in their determination and personal commitment.
5. Get creative!
It's important for kids to see their parents exercise creative muscle and try new things – even if we don't know what we're doing! Following personal passions and expressing creative interests sends a powerful message about the joy that comes from personal discovery.
More On


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BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Solar stocks are starting to heat up, and investors need to pay attention because there could be some big money to be made in these stocks in 2011.
Since I am a dedicated trend trader, I am always looking for sectors and stocks that are starting to trend in a clear direction where I think the potential for profits are high, and I'm seeing some very bullish signs in the solar sector. One of the main reasons that the solar sector is starting to heat up is due to rising oil prices. The recent geopolitical events in Egypt are helping to put a floor under oil prices, but oil was already trending higher before the problems broke out in the Middle East.
Higher oil prices tend to make traders run into the solar stocks. They're in many ways a great hedge against higher energy costs. The thinking here is that companies will start to look more seriously at solar solutions once oil starts to spike higher. That's a very reasonable assumption, so solar companies have a higher likelihood of seeing new orders whenever oil prices are getting out of control to the upside.
3 Earnings Short-Squeeze Stocks
To demonstrate how strong crude oil is, just take a look at a chart for the black commodity. Since September 2010, light sweet crude oil has soared from $72 a barrel to $93 a barrel. The current price of crude is hovering around $88 a barrel. What market players should watch for now is a breakout if crude can manage to get above some past overhead resistance at $93 a barrel. If crude gets above that resistance area, then I expect the next leg of the bull market for oil to begin. This could mean that oil is going to easily push well above $100 a barrel.
Oil above $100 a barrel will be a boon for the solar stocks. The solar names are already starting to take off, so any move above $100 will provide the next catalyst to take this sector higher. Higher oil prices aren't the only thing that's working in the favor of solar stocks. The German government could also be close to providing some much needed certainty for the entire sector.
A recent report out of
said that the German cabinet will agree soon to cut solar power subsides by up to 15% in July, according to government sources. This would be a key for the solar sector because it would end the uncertainly and the dispute between the economy and environmental ministries. It had been previously reported that the German economy ministry wanted to see cuts of up to 25% to slow the booming growth for the solar industry in Germany.
The bottom line: The solar sector is starting to see some uncertainly lifted, and the sector is trending in the right direction as a number of catalyst play out. These are the reasons I believe that investors should strongly consider
these solar stocks before the bull run is over
When I see a sector that looks ready to take off and uptrend, I love to look for leading names that are heavily shorted. One solar stock that fits this bill is best-of-breed
First Solar
(FSLR) - Get Report
. First Solar is engaged in the manufacture and sale of solar modules with an advanced thin film semiconductor technology, and it designs, constructs and sells photovoltaic solar power systems. It's hard not to like this name because Fist Solar is considered to be the best-managed solar company in the entire complex.
Goldman Sachs Group recently reiterated its buy rating on the stock saying First Solar is its top pick based on one of Godlman's key themes for solar stocks in 2011: owning long-term structural winners that are low-cost, well-funded producers with visible demand and credible capacity growth.
First Solar isn't an expensive stock, either, with shares trading at just 18 times forward earnings. The company also has a very strong balance sheet, with around $581 million of net cash on the books. This excessive cash will give the company the advantage to expand factory capacity and take advantage of growing demand from around the world for their thin film semiconductor technology.
What I like most about this stock is what I mentioned earlier: It's a market leader in a sector that's heavily shorted and uptrending. The current short interest as a percentage of the float for First Solar is currently a ridiculously large 30%. This stock doesn't have a large tradable float, with only around 55.4 million shares available for trade and around 16.6 million of those shares currently sold short.
If all of the bullish trends in the solar sector continue to come to fruition, then this stock is going to
experience a massive short squeeze
that should eventually take the stock back to its all-time higher above $300 a share.
Another solar stock that I think is extremely attractive at current levels is
GT Solar International
( SOLR), which through its subsidiaries is a global provider of polysilicon production technology, crystalline ingot growth systems and related photovoltaic manufacturing services for the solar industry. Basically, GT Solar is the arms dealer for solar companies around the world since the firm makes the equipment that enables solar firms to manufacture solar panels.
The company isn't a one-trick pony, either. It's recently started to branch out into other markets such as the light-emitting diode equipment sector to help fuel growth well into the future. The company bought a sapphire crystallization firm, Crystal Systems, last year, which marked its entrance into the LED market. GT Solar has already reported in December 2010 that it has booked two orders for LED system that totaled more than $84 million.
Just like First Solar, this stock isn't expensive, trading at just 9 times forward earnings. The company has a market cap of only $1.17 billion and an enterprise value of just $1.4 billion. GT Solar also has a cash rich balance sheet, with around $259 million of cold hard cash on the books and no debt. This stock is also heavily shorted, with the current short interest as a percentage of the float currently at around 7.9%.
From a technical standpoint, this stock is quickly approaching a breakout if it can manage to trade above some past overhead resistance at around $12 a share. If the stock can get above that key technical level, then the shares will be trading in new 52-week-high territory and should set up nicely to trend much higher. The all-time on this stock sits just under $18 a share, so the upside potential in this name is tremendous if GT Solar wants to enter a sustainable uptrend.
With a B- buy rating, GT Solar is one of TheStreet Ratings'
top-rated semiconductor stocks
Another way to play the solar complex is to buy the leading China-based names because these companies have the advantage of low labor and production costs. We all know that China is the world's favorite place to put a factory since you can pay your workers next to nothing. This gives the China-based solar players a clear advantage because their bottom line will increase under better pricing environments that are spurred by growing worldwide demand. These firms are also committed to bringing down their operating costs and unwinding some of their high debt levels, which at least weren't accumulated in a high interest rate environment.
Some of the market-leading China-based names that you should consider are
Trina Solar
(SOL) - Get Report
Yingli Green Energy
JA Solar Holdings
. All of these names are starting to see strong volume inflows and bullish technical patterns setup as we begin to see traders jump back into the group. All of these stocks trade at very cheap valuations: Trina trades at a forward prices-to-earnings of just 7, Yingli Green at 8.44, ReneSolar at just 5.40 and JA Solar at a very cheap 5.42.
I just don't see a lot of downside risk in these China-based names when you consider how cheap they trade vs. forward valuations and when you consider how bullish the backdrop is for solar companies.
To see more solar stocks that look attractive, check out the
portfolio on Stockpickr.
-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Winderemere, Fla.
>>Dividend-Increasing Stocks of the Week
>>3 Earning Short-Squeeze Stocks
>>11 High-Yield Stocks With Staying Power
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At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.
Roberto Pedone, based out of Windermere, Fla., is an independent trader who focuses on stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. He is also an outside contributor to Beconequity.com and maintains the website Maddmoney.net, which he sold to Blue Wave Advisors in 2008. Roberto studied International Business at The Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany.


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240 spectators for sports events.
This product is only available as a download.
The 240 clip-maps are perfect "cut-outs", i.e. blend into their respective background and surrounding beautifully and naturally - they become part of the overall scene and don't look artificial or super-imposed. The high-resolution images have a size of around 2000 x 4000 pixel per person.
The clip-maps are directly provided as Artlantis Billboards - and can directly be used in Artlantis, starting version 2. Now the product supports Artlantis 5. The billboards are directly provided as .atlo files.
Each picture comes with the matching alpha-channel. As usual with Dosch Design products all Dosch Viz-Images are license-free, and can therefore be used in commercial pictures & designs at no extra charge.
Artlantis (1.035,30 MB)
Artlantis Billboards V5 (1.034,53 MB)
This product is only available as a download.


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Reuters reports that the EU now has made it easier to sue the ratings agencies for errors they have made, as excerpted:
Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of regulation who helped broker a deal on the new law, said it aimed to reduce the over-reliance on ratings and establish a civil liability regime.
The new rules should make it easier to sue the agencies if they are judged to have made errors when, for example, ranking the creditworthiness of debt.
The agencies came under fire for giving top-notch AAA credit scores to debt that later unravelled and they provoked more criticism by downgrading countries at sensitive moments of the crisis.
The EU PTB need to make up their collective minds. If the agencies are to correct the (purposeful) errors made in giving entities AAA ratings that didn't deserve them, then those very same entities will (and should've) been downgraded at sensitive moments in the crisis. This is the kicker, and the statement really should make the EU officials regret they did this, as well as bring back true returns on fundamental analysis realistic market pricing:
The EU's executive said that the new rules ensured that a rating agency could be held liable in cases of negligence or intent that damaged an investor.
You see, if you can really sue the agencies for being wrong, slow or negligent, then the Pan-European Sovereign Debt Crisis is a civil litigators 30 year capitalized Christmas present come true (even if they are Jewish). Let's look at how this would have played out with the Greek debt and banks which should have traded as junk nearly 3 years ago as foretold by BoomBustBlog:
- Lies, Damn Lies, and Sovereign Truths: Why the Euro is Destined to Collapse! It was clear all were too optimistic regarding the Greek situation.
- Moody's Follows Suit Behind Our Analysis and Downgrades 4 Greek Banks Moody's downgrades after the fact, and after investor losses are taken - LAWSUITS???!!!
- As I Explicitly Forwarned, Greece Is Well On Its Way To Default, and Previously Published Numbers Were Waaaayyy Too Optimistic! Greece's default was a foregone conclusion easil seen on BoomBustBlog, yet the agencies didn't reflect this in ratings. LAWSUITS???!!!
- A Comparison of Our Greek Bond Restructuring Analysis to that of Argentina Greece's bond restructuring would have had to have been extreme (as in damn near no recovery) to have had a chance of being effective. Did the agencies tell us this? LAWSUITS???!!!!
- This Time Is Different As Icarus Blows Up & Burns Greece's redefault was clearly visible before they even competed their first default. This was not reflected in agencies' opinions, analysis or reporting. LAWSUITS anyone???!!!
Greece's primary balance went long term negative in 2004, save the bubble levitated year of 2006...
The primary balance looks at the structural issues a country may have.
Government expenditures have outstripped revenues ever since 2007 and have gotten worse nearly every year since, despite 3 bailouts a restructuring, austerity and a default! Simple addition and subtraction shows that there's no way in hell Greece can service its debt, defautled debt, or even its redefaulted debt or the round of debt after that.
We don't have to dwell in the past to prove this point either. Why hasn't Italy been dramatically downgraded? It's a wonder they finally got around to downgrading France (The Beginning Of The Great French Unwind…), after all of the evidence that I put forth - reference Italy Woes Lead To French Lows. Believe It… Let's stay on topic, about Italy? The 10 page BoomBustBlog report (subscribers, download the full report here Italy public finances projection, click here to subscribe) excerpted below is approaching 3 years old and it clearly outlined the tumult that is today's Italy and did so well in advance. My analytical staff is small in than Moody's stamp licking staff, yet somehow they fail to warn what I unequivocally cautioned on years ago. What was it did that EU official proclaim? Oh yeah...
"The EU's executive said that the new rules ensured that a rating agency could be held liable in cases of negligence or intent that damaged an investor."
Subscribers (click here to subscribe) can dig in the archives for this still highly relevant and profitable Italy research:
Italy Exposure Producing Bank Risk
Italian Banking Macro-Fundamental Discussion Note
Sovereign Contagion Model - Retail (961.43 kB 2010-05-04 12:32:46)
Sovereign Contagion Model - Pro & Institutional
Tell me, why do you have to hear this from me versus the rating agencies? Here's the reason...
What Is More Valuable, The Opinion Of A Major Rating Agency Or The Opinion Of A Blog? Go Ahead, I DARE You To Answer!
There are many areas where ratings agenceis still are not putting enough pressure, a few of which have been pointed out at the blog:
- Where Are The Ratings Agencies For UK & German Banks Before They Go Boom? How About Those Euro REITs? Agencies Anybody?
- Rating Agencies vs Reggie Middleton, Part 3
- The Rating Agency Endorsed BoomBustBlog Big Bank Bash Off ...
- So, Now The Rating Agencies Want To Acknowledge The Existence Of The FrankenFinance Monster???
For those who haven't seen this documentary on the rating agencies by VPRO, it is more than worth your time...
Continuing my rant on the effectiveness (not) of the ratings agencies, I bring to you an interesting documentary on the rating agencies' effect on the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, produced by VPRO Tegenlicht out of Amsterdam. You can see the full video here, but only about half of it is in English. I appear in the following spots: 4:00, 22:30, 40:00...
Reggie Middleton Discussing the Rating Agencies effect on Sovereign Europe


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3,500 words on an OTP fixed wheel. slightly overwritten maybe?
Pace have been fettling a range of bikes, bits and clothing from inside their shed on the Yorkshire Moors for near on 25 years although you may never have heard of them as up till now it's all been about mountain bikes. Most notably aluminium mountain bike frames, including one that they won't be allowed to let lie, famously and iconically made from square tubing that mountain bikers of a rose-tinted persuasion get all damp around the chamois over. So for Pace to come out with a bike made of *gasp* steel, with *faint* round tubing brazed into a *fetch the smelling salts* road bike, is certainly an unexpected departure to some.
Born out of a personal desire, like all the best bikes, possibly, Adrian Carter - the head boy at Pace Cycles, designed the 42:16 after fixiefying his mountainbike to ride to work over the bleak northern winter and after realising that it was a bit of a slug on tarmac fancied a bike more suited to the task, and so this fixed machine was born. As the market seemed flooded with pile-em-high-sell-em-cheap before the bubble bursts fixies Adrian decided to create something that's a pleasure to own, easy on the eye and more stable and comfortable to ride, not yet another old track frame dusted off and bodged for hipster street use. He did reet enough.
The 42:16 frame is finished off in a pleasing "Ultra Pale Green" that looks more of a "Spitfire Underside Blue" colour really, and that's no bad thing. Everyone who saw it, without exception, remarked on how pretty it was, and then spent five minutes making appreciative gurgling noises as they discovered all the little details that decorate the bike, and leaving it in it's natural environment outside coffee-shops to conduct passer-by testing it got an ample amount of admiring glances and double-takes.
Rather than look like the result of an unholy drunken union behind the bike sheds with a box of Lego, as many fixies seem to be these days the Pace all co-ordinates rather beautifully. The colour-matched straight blade steel fork and very nearly unique steel one-piece stem and handlebar blend with a custom Charge Spoon saddle. The rest of the finishing kit is a go-with-anything black. The frame and fork are peppered with sweet little niceties; the stem bolt is hidden round the wrong side of the bike, an aesthetic feature that's also kind on knees, a "42" and a "16" are embossed into the tops of the fork legs, the chainstay is chromed with pin-stripe paint detailing and the bike has enigmatically minimal graphics.
Thoughtful attention to the small stuff is displayed in the components too, the 42:16 comes with a custom Pace etched 16t CNC machined track rear sprocket, the FSA headset, layback seatpost and Vero crankset are collar-and-cuffs and the latter's hidden chainring bolts are a smart touch. And as this one is part of the initial run of 100 Limited Editions the 42:16 comes with an individually numbered brass ID plate mounted on the bottom-bracket, ultimately useless but worth a secret smile nonetheless. Under harsh Fashion Police scrutiny the angular and gumpy FSA seatpost is the slightly ugly fly in the beauty cream, a more elegant seatpost would certainly set the bike off to a tee.
The track-ends are quality items rather than the pressed steel cut-outs on some fixed-wheel bikes, and they come with integral adjusters to help with wheel positioning and chain tension too, which is a Good Thing, just don't forget to pack the teeny allen key along with the 15mm spanner should you want to get the rear wheel out by the side of the road.
And beauty is not just skin deep, Pace are keen for this bike to last and make the bold claim that the 42:16 is one of the best corrosion protected steel frames in the business. Underneath the twin-pack epoxy paintwork a coat of chrome plate covers the hard-living chain and seat stays and the main frame triangle is phosphate treated during the manufacturing process to add internal and external corrosion resistance. All graphics are applied over the paint surface before the whole frame is sprayed with a tough high gloss laquer clearcoat. Certainly on the surface it's a hard-wearing frame, after being treated badly and clanked and rattled while locked against various street furniture and rubbed against other bikes the 42:16 remained resolutely scratch and scuff free. While on street-smart practicalities the frame is designed with room to fit mudguards, with eyelets decorating the track-ends and the forks, and there's a suitable hole in the seatstay bridge, so a rear brake is a possibility too if you want to flip the rear wheel round and use a freewheel.
Obviously looks aren't everything, apart from those times when, you know, they really mean quite a lot, but thankfully the 42:16 rides pretty nice too. While the fillet brazed custom double butted 4130 CrMo steel is neither super-light exotic nor bargain gas-pipe heavy the top-tube passes the fingernail flick test with ease, and the whole bike track-stands on the scales at 19lbs for the Large without pedals, making it sturdy enough for the harsh reality of the gutter but light enough for jaunts outside the town boundaries.
On the road it doesn't quite have that instant steel bike clichd spring, it's there all right but deep down and slightly muted, that's not to say it pedals like a dog, far from it, there's a pinch of ferrous feedback when punching the pedals and attacking the fixed gear making it certainly no slouch, and it's comfortable over distance where it smoothes the miles along, well, at least the back half does as unfortunately the steel love affair unravels up front. The combination of a steel handlebar welded to a steel stem, bolted onto a straight-blade steel fork with a deep-section wheel stuck in it makes for a resolutely solid front end so that palms, wrists and forearms soon become acutely aware of the minutiae of road surfaces. Familiar potholes become reacquainted as unwanted enemies, and new friends will be made of minor irregularities previously unfelt as the 42:16 literally pounds it's way across the tarmac. The grips don't help much either, although they're bulbous and maybe too fat for smaller hands they're pretty firm deep down and don't do too much to dampen the ride.
Ignoring the jack-hammering ride the position offered by the stylish one-piece flat bar and short stem makes the 42:16 a real giggle to weave around town on, the position is nice and upright for traffic visibility, not so much fun into a headwind though, and steering is lightning quick for speederbike traffic threading, while the geometry that's been designed for the road rather than the track ensures nothing gets too nervously out of hand. While great for short blasts the combination of short stem, flat bars and harsh front end gets a little weary over several miles with the Tyrannosaurus Rex riding position getting tediously uncomfortable and inefficient, which seems to be at odds to the bikes long distance promise suggested by the pair of bottle-cage mounts on the down and seat tubes.
As an experiment the bar and stem combo was swapped for a 'normal' cockpit with an alloy stem and set of dropped bars stolen from the shed and it transformed the bike. With a more stretched out position, a variety of places to rest the hands and the less solid components soaking up some of the road vibration the bike morphed into both a more aero street hack and an enjoyable mile muncher. A little of the snappy steering was lost but it was still snickety enough to split traffic and long distance rides were suddenly a pleasant proposition, for me that was a fair trade for losing the bike-about-town good looks of that fashionable bar and stem.
Wheels are burly Halo Aerotracks with on-trend deep section rims, the front is radially spoked and the rear is flipable for singlespeed freewheel fitting should you not have the knees or cojones for fixed. The wheels survived a few months of town bashing and country lanes without a flinch and stayed true and smooth running. A single Tektro brake lever that looks more style than substance pulls on a Tektro dual-pivot calliper brake to do the slowing down thing on the front wheel, your leg muscles are the brakes for the rear wheel, obviously. Despite it's diminutive size the dinky lever does an impressive job of stopping, leading to almost an over-the-bars incident when first used in anger. The anodising on the braking surface of the rim wasn't an issue in the dry but as soon as there was a little damp in the air then a few revolutions of preplanning were needed to stop, and as the rim coating started to wear off wet weather stopping began to improve.
The gearing is, as you may have guessed, a 42 chainring up front linked to a 16 tooth cog, which if you live somewhere with significant gradients could find a little top-heavy and might consider changing, it is uncertain if Pace will supply different frame graphics to suit whatever ratio you may choose to use. The Schwalbe Blizzard 700x25 tyres are designed for riding, not for fixie-skids, and they're a comfy all-rounder. They softly take off a little of the harshness of the front end yet roll well, grip unflinchingly in all weathers and survived the test puncture free. The chain did it's thing with minimal stretch and despite the best efforts of some hefty leg braking the split-link didn't come undone.
The Charge Spoon saddle has found friends in many a bottom, and there were no issues here, it wasn't the most comfortable saddle with the majority of the rider's weight forced upon it with the Pace's original short and sweet cockpit but with the trial dropped bars and stem on it felt considerably more at home twixt the cheeks as rider weight was more balanced over the bike.
All the bearings and moving parts ran smooth throughout some miserably invasive weather, which is more than you can say of some off-the-shelf fixies, although the square taper bottom-bracket did work loose.
The 42:16 is available in four sizes, each with a dedicated stem length and bar width, supplied with a front brake only and without pedals for £795.
When there's a tinge of sadness as a test bike has to go back then it's usually a sign that it's a goodun. The Pace 42:16 was put back in the box with a pat on the top-tube and a heartfelt goodbye.
Yes, it's a bit on the rich side for a fixed-wheel bike, but it's not a cookie-cutter cheap old frame with a different paint job, it's a decent steel frame with a bouquet of well thought out little details, and all the components are of a pedigree, not no-name specials to keep the cost down to a shop-window price-point, all of these things go a long way to justify the extra spend. And it is very very very pretty, one of those bikes that will get wheeled out the door with a smile long after the cost has been forgotten and it's stylish enough to be a smart looking fixed-wheel bicycle long after the fixie thing has moved on. Ride wise it's a whole bunch of fun, with a short and upright riding position town riding is a fast and skittish experience and it's hard not to ride the 42:16 at full gas everywhere because it simply induces giggling. But that which makes it such fun over short distances makes it a pain as the miles increase, the cramped stance combined with the punishing firm all-steel front end gets weary after a while. Experimenting with a longer and more compliant cockpit stretched the rider out comfortably and also stretched the bikes legs too. With room for mudguards the 42:16 has the ability to be not just a trendy fixie but a useful year round bike and with the fixings to bodge a rear brake on there as well an even more versatile beast if you want to run a singlespeed freewheel or don't want to rely on your legs for braking all the time. I didn't want to give it back because bar and stem issues aside and after a layoff of a decade it made me want to ride fixed again. That's fixed, not fixie.
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Pace 42:16
Size tested: M
About the bike
State the frame and fork material and method of construction. List the components used to build up the bike.
Frame - Handmade fillet brazed custom double butted 4130 CrMo. Adjustable track dropout, mudguard eyelets. Chrome plated right-hand chainstay and dropouts. Coachwork line detailing. Painted finish in Ltd Ed Ultra Pale Green.
Fork - Pace Straightblade handmade custom fillet brazed 4130 CrMo. 1 1/8" Ahead, stainless dropout, mudguard eyelets.
Handlebar/Stem - Pace 42:16 Street handmade custom one-piece fillet brazed 4130 CrMo, side clamp slot.
Wheels - Halo Aerotrack 27mm black deep section Aero rims, radial laced front. Large flange hubs with sealed bearings, rear fixed/freewheel hub.
Tyres - Schwalbe Blizzard 700x25c.
Sprocket - Custom Pace Rear 16t sprocket.
Sprocket Lockring - 7075 CNC alloy.
Chain - Zero stretch fixed specific KMC.
Crankset - FSA Vero, 170mm arm. 42T chainring.
Bottom Bracket - FSA Powerdrive, square taper, sealed cartridge bearings.
Seatpost - FSA SL-280, 27.2.
Saddle - Charge Spoon. Charge logo and base colour coded Ltd Ed Ultra Pale Green.
Headset - FSA Orbit Equipe 1-1/8".
Front brake - Tektro R538, dual pivot with QR.
Front brake lever - Tektro FL750, singlespeed specific.
Grips - Passport Navigator.
Tell us what the bike is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about the bike?
According to Pace the 42:16 is a bike stripped to its bare, beautiful essentials, combining soul with performance. Form with function. Exhilarating to ride and own 42:16 bikes are a very new take on classic bicycle design and materials. Finished in subtle colours and chrome the 42:16 Street is the first complete bike Pace has manufactured for many years. The 42:16S is not just another track frame dressed up for an urban role but has dedicated geometry and spec' to provide just the right balance of stability, speed and comfort when out on the town.
Can't argue with any of that, hyperbole aside. There's something nice about riding a fixed-wheel bike, especially one that is as nippy yet well mannered as the 42:16. Although halfway up the steep hill to the bike shop the function suddenly seemed to be at the expense of form and knees.
Frame and fork
Tell us about the build quality and finish of the frame and fork?
Overall its excellent, the track-ends with integral adjusters are a quality touch, but the welding around the ahead clamp on the bar/stem unit is a bit globby though.
Tell us about the materials used in the frame and fork?
Handmade fillet brazed custom double butted 4130 CrMo.
Tell us about the geometry of the frame and fork?
The Small and the Medium have a head angle of 71, the Large 72 and the XL is 73, all sizes have a seat-tube angle of 73, all have a bottom-bracket height of 267mm.
How was the bike in terms of height and reach? How did it compare to other bikes of the same stated size?
It feels a little odd riding a bike with a horizontal top-tube in these overly compact days, like the bike is too big, which it wasn't. With the short stem and flat bars it was perfect for nipping around town on short errands but too cramped for longer journeys.
Riding the bike
Was the bike comfortable to ride? Tell us how you felt about the ride quality.
On the whole the 42:16 was a pleasure to ride, especially over nice surfaces where the all-steel front end didn't come into play.
Did the bike feel stiff in the right places? Did any part of the bike feel too stiff or too flexible?
The entire front end was uncomfortably stiff, which was a shame as the rear half was all-day comfortable.
How did the bike transfer power? Did it feel efficient?
The direct drive of fixed certainly helped with the efficient feeling of power making it to the rear wheel, and the frame had a subtle hint of steely spring to skip things along.
Was there any toe-clip overlap with the front wheel? If so, was it a problem?
None at all.
How would you describe the steering? Was it lively, neutral or unresponsive? The fun side of lively.
Tell us some more about the handling. How did the bike feel overall? Did it do particular things well or badly?
The 42:16 was a blast to ride, great at weaving through traffic yet not too nervous for longer trips.
Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's comfort? would you recommend any changes?
The one-piece steel bar and stem on a steel straight-blade fork ensured that the ride was pretty solid on the arms, changing the bar/stem to common-all-garden alloy made things a lot more bearable.
Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's stiffness? would you recommend any changes?
That front end ensured that the steering was pretty stiff, but the rest of the bike was pleasingly compliant.
Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's efficiency? would you recommend any changes?
As a fixed wheel there wasn't much to get in the way of efficiency. As with any one-speed bike a gear change might make things more efficient for your specific terrain.
It's a fixed wheel, it ALL goes to the back wheel, mostly.
It's very good at getting the holeshot from the lights.
Stability at high speed is directly related to how well you can cope with that fixed-wheel legs rotating at washing-machine revs thing.
Cruising is something this bike does very well, hands off, sipping a macchiato.
It's great for track-stands.
Spin, spin, spin, make Spitfire noises.
Watch that permanently spinning pedal on the inside corner.
Being fixed there are times when legs enjoy the direct power as they pound up the hill, and there are times when it's a struggle. That stiff handlebar set-up is great for hauling on though.
The drivetrain
Tell us some more about the drivetrain. Anything you particularly did or didn't like? Any components which didn't work well together?
Apart from the bottom-bracket coming loose, which will have to be put down to awesome leg power there's nothing to complain about.
Wheels and tyres
Tell us some more about the wheels and tyres.Did they work well in the conditions you encountered? Would you change the wheels or tyres? If so, what for?
The tyres were fine, wide and tough enough to cope with most anything, the wheels were up to the job and had that urban-chic look too.
Tell us some more about the controls. Any particularly good or bad components? How would the controls work for larger or smaller riders?
What there was in the way of controls was well up to the job in hand, the fat grips might be a bit much for slender hands, an easy swap though.
Anything else you want to say about the componentry? Comment on any other components (good or bad)
Nothing to say here, it all worked well and was of a good enough calibre to keep working for some time to come.
Your summary
Did you enjoy riding the bike? Yes.
Would you consider buying the bike? Yes.
Would you recommend the bike to a friend? Any friend that looked at it fondled it and wanted it, so no recommendation needed.
Anything further to say about the bike in conclusion?
Can I have it back please?
About the tester
Age: 42 Height: 180cm Weight: 73kg
I usually ride: It varies as to the season. My best bike is: The one I\'m on at the time
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, cyclo cross, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Fun
Jo Burt has spent the majority of his life riding bikes, drawing bikes and writing about bikes. When he's not scribbling pictures for the whole gamut of cycling media he writes words about them for road.cc and when he's not doing either of those he's pedaling. Then in whatever spare minutes there are in between he's agonizing over getting his socks, cycling cap and bar-tape to coordinate just so. And is quietly disappointed that yours don't He rides and races road bikes a bit, cyclo-cross bikes a lot and mountainbikes a fair bit too. Would rather be up a mountain.
18 comments
3,500 words on an OTP fixed wheel. slightly overwritten maybe?
i dunno, i thought it was a good read myself..dont think i'll ever get round to owning one mind.
would prefer one of these
Looks alright that, with drops obviously. And some nice chrome clips on the top tube to reach a back brake, for those times you're just too tired to legbrake.
I like a 70" as much as the next man, but would just like to check... nothing bad happens if you change the sprocket does it?
@andybwhite you shouldn't be seeing any ads when you look at the slide show. If you're logged in and you click on the main image or any of the thumbnails it should open 'em in lightbox that you can click through in a Facebook-stylee. If you're not logged in you can click on the main image and it opens the gallery in another tab and you can either look at enlarged images individually or (I think) click on the main image to open up the slide show. You shouldn't be seeing any ads interfering with the pics though.
What browser are you using, or are you viewing on a mobile?
A lot of these boutique fixed wheelers seem to have way too short stems on them. I have a 130 on my geared flatbar bike (54cm) which feels about right for position and steering feel. Is it just part of the aesthetic?
Re: the slideshow and adverts, I get that when viewing in the Android browser but not in chrome
About the ads covering up the slideshow..
I've got a brand new laptop running IE on Widows7 and I'm logged in - I really shouldn't be getting a problem, but I am.
I've dowloaded Firefox and I can view the slideshow perfectly on that - but I shouldnt need to do that.
Definitely nice bike though. I agree, drops are best, can't get on with flats for anything other than short trips up town.
It looks absolutely gorgeous and it's from Yorkshire like me except I look like sh**t so there'd be a mismatch so I'd better not have one.
My gripe, though, is: why oh why do they use some no-name chromoly tubing when they could have used proper job Reynolds? 631 or 725 would be so nice. All that fine work on unknown tubing. The cost is the equivalent of a similar bike built with Reynolds tubing too.


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For Immediate Release, December 11, 2013
Contact: Brett Hartl, (202) 817-8121
House Republicans Hold Sixth Hearing Attacking Species Protection Agreement
Hearings Designed to Subvert Historic Agreement's Unprecedented Success in Reducing Backlog of
Species Awaiting Endangered Species Act Protection
WASHINGTON— Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) will chair a House Natural Resources Committee hearing Thursday to orchestrate yet another spurious and highly partisan attack on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for doing its job — protecting rapidly declining species under the Endangered Species Act. The hearing will be the sixth one held to criticize an agreement between the Center and the Fish and Wildlife Service that merely requires the agency to meet its legal requirement to make prompt decisions on whether to protect hundreds of highly imperiled species, many that have been waiting decades for protection under the Act.
"Given the serious threats to our nation's wildlife and lands from climate change and habitat destruction, it's truly amazing that Representative Hastings has nothing better to do than to waste taxpayer money holding circus-like hearings over an agreement that simply requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to do its job in a timely manner and make decisions about protecting species," said Brett Hartl, endangered species policy director at the Center. "This agreement is working to get America's most imperiled plants and animals protected so we can all move forward and start taking actions to address the threats these species face."
To date the Center's 2011 agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service has resulted in endangered species protection for 105 species and reduced the backlog of "candidate" species awaiting protection to 146 species, the lowest level in decades. The Endangered Species Act, which became law 40 years ago this month, requires the Service to designate a species as a candidate for listing when there is sufficient scientific information that listing is warranted, but funding is not available to complete listing process. Over the past 40 years, 24 candidate species have gone extinct while waiting for protection under the Act.
Contrary to false assertions from the right, the agreement does not cut states or industry out of the listing process for these candidate species. It simply requires Fish and Wildlife to follow procedures required by the Endangered Species Act on a reasonable timetable over the next six years — a process that includes multiple opportunities for public comment and consultation with state governments.
"Species like the lesser prairie chicken, sage grouse and freshwater fish and mussels of the Southeast are finally on the road to recovery," said Hartl. "And we know we can save them by protecting them under the Endangered Species Act, which has prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the plants and animals it protects.
"The biggest obstacle for these species continues to be Republican efforts to cut funding for endangered species and to interfere in decisions by the Fish and Wildlife Service that should be based on science and not politics."
In 2011 the Republican House tried, but failed, to limit all funding for the Fish and Wildlife Service to list any species as endangered. Most recently, in July 2013, the Republican House attempted to include a policy rider that would have prevented any species from receiving protection if it was part of the Center's legal settlement with the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Below are just a few examples of species that may have been easier and less costly to recover had they been listed when the science first indicated that protections under the Endangered Species Act were warranted.
The Fish and Wildlife Service designated the lesser prairie chicken as a candidate species in 1998, when roughly 90 percent of the bird's former habitat had been compromised by development. In 2013 the population fell to only 18,000 birds, less than 1 percent of its historic abundance.
Mountain yellow-legged frogs were first identified as a declining species by the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1991. The Southern California Distinct Population Segment was listed in endangered in 2002, and the Service concluded that the Sierra Nevada Distinct Population Segment warranted listing in 2003. By 2003 the Sierra Nevada population had been extirpated from approximately 83 percent of its range. In the ensuing decade the Sierra Nevada population has declined even further and has been extirpated from more than 92 percent of its range.
The Gunnison sage grouse was first identified by the Service as a candidate species in 2000 due to a 75 percent reduction in population size and geographic reach from historic levels. A decade later the species range has declined even further and the grouse is now present on only 7 percent of its historic range and has seen a 93 percent reduction from its historic abundance.
The Neosho mucket is a freshwater mussel that was formerly found in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas. The Service first identified it as a declining species in 1984 and listed it as a candidate species in 2001. The mussel has been extirpated from 832 river miles, representing 62 percent of its historic range. Since first being identified as a declining species, the mussel has been extirpated from two additional rivers systems.
Photo credits: Lesser prairie chicken courtesy USFWS; mountain yellow-legged frog by Adam Backlin, USGS; Gunnison sage grouse courtesy BLM; Neosho mucket by Edwin J. Miller, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Photos are available for media use.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 625,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
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In this week's compilation of pop culture crap, "poop transplant" is a real medical procedure involving human feces, Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher gets a new face, and Bam Margera opens up for the first time since his friend Ryan Dunn's death.
1.) Poop transplants.
This week, The Doctors explained a new potential solution to diarrhea: A poop transplant. Fecal matter from a donor is placed up someone's butt in order to restore "good bacteria." They didn't explain how people actually get into the shit donation game.
2.) Amy Fisher's new face.
The former attempted murderer/porn-star-turned-reality-star recently had a lot of work done before her new gig on Celebrity Rehab, but even she doesn't look happy with it.
3.) Bam's tears.
This is actually a really sad clip from a local Philly news network, featuring Bam Margera breaking down at the scene of Ryan Dunn's fatal car crash and the reporter's tidbit about how "fans" are stealing wreckage from the site and putting it up for sale on eBay.
4.) Gene Simmons gets his ass handed to him by Sharon Osbourne.
Apparently, Gene Simmons had been running his mouth off for years, talking shit and making personal jabs about the Osbourne family whenever his family's reality show is compared to them. While doing his press tour for the new season of his show, he stopped by The Talk, of which Sharon Osbourne is one of the co-hosts. She called him out on all of his smack-talking and managed to get an apology out of him.
5.) Where's Waldo?: Hoarders edition.
6.) Curry's fail.
This week on Today, a clip was shown of some kind of motorcyclist being victim to another motorcyclist's temper tantrum (or something?). Anyway, Ann Curry tried to make a joke by referencing that it was similar to Matt Lauer's situation with Lindsay Lohan earlier this week (when LiLo refused to be interviewed at the last minute), except nobody laughed and things got really awkward.
7.) More awkward jokes.
Why did this Fox News guy have to get weird?
8.) Jon Stewart sets Chris Wallace straight.
The Daily Show host agreed to be interviewed on Fox News, where Wallace attempted to take him down a peg by insulting his network, Comedy Central. Stewart responded with the logical answer that he's perfectly placed on Comedy Central because he's a comedian, and pointed out that the embarrassment is that he's actually taken seriously as a news broadcaster because viewers are let down by networks like Fox.
9.) Drunk woman screeches like a cat, gropes her breasts, and urinates on the curb.
Police Women of Broward County is so similar to Reno 911.
10.) Walk of fame.
Why is it that The Little Couple are so fascinated with celebrities having bigger feet than they do? Pretty much everyone has bigger feet than they do.


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The Stratus line of SIRIUS Satellite Receivers has a long and proud history of being the affordable SIRIUS Radio. This Radio has taken the challenge of being a low-cost radio and still have the basic features everyone loves.
We start our journey on the Stratus SV3 or SV3TK1
The SV3 Stratus, in its day, was the best way to go for a cheap, basic SIRIUS Radio that was perfect for a starter radio, gift, or a budget-wise SIRIUS Fan. The Radio included a car kit with a car dock, antenna, power cable, and a few other items like screws and vent mount. This radio did what it did very well. A very low returned item and the fact that it had less flashy features made it appealing to many people. This model was Discontinued in favor of the model below.
On down the road we find the Stratus 4 SV4 or SV4TK1
This radio was no more than a Stratus with a new look. With features and display not much different than it predecessor, it boasted it sleek new frame with a darker color that looked to appeal to a new generation of SIRIUS Fans. The button sequence and interface staying the same the button shapes changed slightly. Rounded egdes added to the contemporary color and design. This model was Discontinued in favor of the model below.
The Current Model Stratus 5 SV5 or SV5TK1
Taking it back to the older style frame, but keeping the dark color the Stratus 5 added a Cool Blue screen to the mix. The Interface and buttons coming from the SV3 many people were reminded of the value that the Stratus line has and has been a great seller with little to no returns.
The Stratus Line has been a mainstay of the SIRIUS Receiver lineup for many years and will be ever enshrined in hearts of its owners.


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Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB Graphics Card - Intel Kabylake i5/i7 CPUs - 16GB/32GB DDR4 RAM - B250 Motherboards - SSD - Corsair Titanium and Blackout Cases - VR Ready
Great for high quality gaming and professional use. Eye catching elegant design! Experience buttery smooth graphics for modern games at 1440p and 1080p resolutions at very high frame rates. This gaming system meets the requirements for Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) and similar headsets
Order now and get delivered fast to your doorsteps through reliable express delivery service anywhere in Australia at no extra cost!
Case: Corsair Carbide series 330R Titanium Silent or 330R Blackout Ultra-Silent case [Please select from the options above]
Features brushed aluminum front panel, 3-speed fan controller, noise damping doors/panels, easy access low-restriction dust filters, 1x140mm direct components airflow front fan, 1x120mm rear fan, tool-less drive bays and 2xUSB3.0. Designed for media rooms, bedrooms, dorm rooms, or any place where both silence and performance are essential
CPU: Intel Kabylake Quad Core i5-7400 3.0GHz to 3.5GHz processor with 6MB SmartCache
[Optionally upgradeable to higher performance CPUs. For best VR performance, select any of the i7 processors]
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B250M-HD3 MicroATX board with following features [Optionally, upgradable to MSI B250M Bazooka MicroATX or MSI B250 Gaming M3 ATX motherboard]
- 2 DIMM slots supporting up to 32GB of RAM
- 6 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)
- 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)
- High Quality Audio Capacitors and Audio Noise Guard with LED Trace Path Lighting
- GbE LAN with cFosSpeed Internet Accelerator Software
- Smart Fan 5 features Multiple Temperature Sensors and Hybrid Fan Headers
- GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS™
- APP Center Including Cloud Station™ Utility
Graphics Card (GPU): Overclocked edition of Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card with 8GB of VRAM. Overclocked cards operate at faster clock speeds for higher perfomance than the standard ones
RAM: Gaming edition 16GB DDR4 memory installed in dual channel configuration for faster performance. Features heat-spreader for quicker heat dissipation, nicer looks, protection from overheating and reduced operating temperature that increases overall reliability and longevity. DDR4 memories offer higher frequencies, greater bandwidth and lower power consumption than DDR3 modules
[Optional: 8GB and 32GB capacities can be selected from the options above]
Storage: High speed 240GB Solid State Drive & 1TB Seagate/WD Hard Disk Drive with 7200RPM speed and 64MB cache. Solid State Drives allow incredibly fast Windows OS boot up and applications loading
[Other capacities SSD and HDD can be selected from the options above. Operating system, if selected, is installed on SSD unless otherwise requested]
Power Supply: Premium quality 600 Watts 80+ Bronze high efficiency PSU. Highly efficient power supply means quieter operation, less waste heat, reduced power bills and better durability [Optionally upgradeable to higher wattage power supplies]
Optical Drive: Optional [Please add from the options above]
Wireless Connectivity: Optional [Please add from the options above]
Operating System: Genuine Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Peripherals: Not included by default. Browse range of keyboard, mouse and other accessories on our webstore and add your favourite items to the cart with this PC before placing the order
Note: Depending on the stock availability, peripheral items could be shipped from a different warehouse from where the PC is built, so they may not arrive at the same time
Warranty: One-year return-to-base
Shipping: FREE Shipping! Dispatched within 2-4 business days after rigorous stress testing with state of the art tools after which it takes 1~2 days for delivery to most of the locations in Australia i.e., Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and surrounding areas. For Adelaide, Perth and Tasmania, it may take up to 3~4 days
Insurance is included with the shipping for extra peace of mind
Note: More than 95% of the orders are completed and dispatched within the stipulated timeframe however in rare cases, it may take slightly extra
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Stock Availability: In case any component goes out of stock at the time of order placement, we'll install a similar or better quality alternative after customer's approval
Note: Monitor and peripherals not included. Actual product may look different from the image/s displayed above
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On Nov. 22, 1981, the Rolling Stones paid tribute to black history at the Checkerboard Lounge on East 43rd Street. In town for concerts at the then-Rosemont Horizon, the famed rock group made a pilgrimage to the South Side, where their musical style and name were born. They shared the blues joint's tiny stage with Muddy Waters, whose song "Mannish Boy" had the refrain: "I'm a rollin' stone."
One of the many African-Americans seeking refuge from Jim Crow, the legendary bluesman settled in Chicago in 1943, the year Mick Jagger was born.
When Jagger sang a line from a Waters song, "I was born with good luck," Waters replied: "I can see that!"
Racism had greeted blacks in Chicago, shunting them into a long, narrow neighborhood south of the Loop. "There was Bronzeville ... and there was the rest of Chicago for whites," a Tribune reporter, himself African-American, once noted.
Still, confined quarters make for a rich cultural stew. The blues were born in a small area of the South, the Mississippi Delta. In a similarly restricted strip of his adopted city, Muddy Waters helped shape Chicago's musical gift to the world: Mississippi blues played on amplified guitars and harmonicas held tight against a microphone.
In the U.S., blues were marketed as "race records," on the assumption only blacks would buy them. But in Europe, they were discovered by young whites looking for an alternative to the hit parade songs of the day. Among those youths were Jagger and Keith Richards, who met at an English grade school and rode Chicago blues to fame and fortune.
"It didn't bother me at all when bands like the Rolling Stones make it big," Waters told the Tribune in 1981. "The boys were real nice. (The Stones) didn't leave me standing in the rain. They passed a quarter to me — gave me credit, you know."
A foot-stomping lyric could be made of phrases like "standing in the rain" and "passed a quarter to me," and it would have the logic of history. Blues were the musical accompaniment to the Great Migration, mimicking its lofty dream and heartbreaking reality. The blues are not just a musical form but an experience, as those who played them — Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, Junior Wells — have noted. "It's like getting up in the morning and finding your car has been stolen," guitarist Lefty Dizz explained to the Tribune. "That's the blues."
An estimated 500,000 African-Americans came to Chicago between 1916 and 1970, hoping for better jobs than they could have in the plantation South. "Used to make up blues while I was drivin' my tractor," Waters told a Tribune reporter of his Mississippi youth.
Whole train loads of migrants came, some with signs chalked on the sides of the cars proclaiming, "Bound for the Promised Land." Some newcomers brought homegrown institutions with them, like the Hattiesburg Barber Shop, whose owner and clients pooled their money to buy discounted tickets on the Illinois Central. Reopened at 35th and Rhodes, the barber shop served as an informal settlement house for others who followed the same path.
Yet in Chicago, opportunity could be as limited as in the South. As a Bronzeville minister said in 1905, at the start of the Great Migration, "The more desirable places are closed against negroes, either because the employers will not hire them or the men will not work with them."
Even with the deck stacked against them, African-Americans created on the South Side a vibrant community. There were tenements and mansions, leftovers from the neighborhood's previous inhabitants. Poverty-stricken families lived side-by-side with successful entrepreneurs. When Jesse Binga, who founded Chicago's first black bank, moved to a white neighborhood, his home was bombed. He stuck it out, but other businessmen and women chose to remain in the neighborhood where their fortunes were made.
Bronzeville was home to bitter disappointments, but notable accomplishments as well. In Provident Hospital, Daniel Hale Williams, a black doctor, performed perhaps the first successful open-heart surgery. Its streets inspired novelist Richard Wright's transfixing word-portrait, "Native Son." And there was its bright-lights district — clubs, restaurants and the famed Savoy Ballroom.
It was in that spirit, 31 years ago, that Mick Jagger and his band mates recognized their debt to Chicago blues, at what proved to be one of their hero's last public performances; he died two years later. But on that magic night, as so many times before, Waters hit a twangy guitar note, threw back his head and sang:
I'm a man
I'm a natural born lovers man
I'm a man
I'm a rollin' stone
On Nov. 22, 1981, the Rolling Stones paid tribute to black history at the Checkerboard Lounge on East 43rd Street. In town for concerts at the then-Rosemont Horizon, the famed rock group made a pilgrimage to the South Side, where their musical style and name were born. They shared the blues joint's tiny stage with Muddy Waters, whose song "Mannish Boy" had the refrain: "I'm a rollin' stone."


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Hi everyone, I'm working on a roulette game and am a pretty confused. I have a sheet with instructions on what to do with 2 classes and the main program which were provided in 3 files. I'm stuck on step 7 and 8.
Step 7 says to create a method called spin in the Wheel class that determines and sets the ballPosition variable. Insert a call to the spin method in the main loop after the player makes their bet.
So in the Wheel class below you can see that I created the Spin method and implemented it into the main program called Roulette. But when I run the program the output I'm getting is "You spun a: Wheel@10b61fd1". Am I doing something wrong when I use the Math class to generate the number for the wheel spin?
Step 8 says, In the spin method, use the remainder operator % to determine the color of the current ball position, and set the color variable of the Wheel class. Make it correspond to the RED, BLACK or GREEN constants already defined in the Wheel class.
So I'm totally confused on step 8. How am I supposed to use the modulus operator to do this? I know that the modulus operator divides and only returns the remainder. Am I supposed to divide one of these values and use the remainder to determine the color whether it be 0(GREEN), 1(RED) or 2(BLACK)?
Help would be very much appreciated, thanks in advance!
The main program, Roulette
import java.util.*; //************************************************************************ // Class Roulette contains the main driver for a roulette betting game. //************************************************************************ public class Roulette { //===================================================================== // Contains the main processing loop for the roulette game. //===================================================================== public static void main (String[] args) { Wheel wheel1 = new Wheel(); Player player1 = new Player (100); // $100 to start Player player2 = new Player (50); // $50 to start boolean done = false; while (!done) { player1.makeBet(wheel1); wheel1.Spin(); //System.out.println("You spun a: " + wheel1); System.out.println ("Money available: " + player1.getMoney()); done = !player1.playAgain(); System.out.println(); } } }
The class, Wheel
import java.util.*; //************************************************************************ // Class Wheel represents a roulette wheel and its operations. //************************************************************************ public class Wheel { public final int GREEN = 0; public final int RED = 1; public final int BLACK = 2; public final int NUMBER = 3; private final int POSITIONS = 38; private int ballPosition; private int color; //===================================================================== // Presents betting options and reads player choice. //===================================================================== public int betOptions (Scanner scan) { System.out.println ("1. Bet on red"); System.out.println ("2. Bet on black"); System.out.println ("3. Bet on a particular number"); System.out.print ("Your choice? "); return scan.nextInt(); } public int Spin() { ballPosition=(int)(Math.random()*38+1); return ballPosition; } }
The class, Player
public int getMoney() { return money; } // method getMoney //===================================================================== // Prompts the user and reads betting information. //===================================================================== public void makeBet(Wheel wheel) { System.out.print ("How much to bet: "); bet = scan.nextInt(); if(bet > money) { bet=money; System.out.println("All in!"); } money = money - bet; betType=wheel.betOptions(scan); if(betType == 3) { System.out.println("Enter the number you wish to bet on"); betType=scan.nextInt(); } } //===================================================================== // Determines if the player wants to play again. //===================================================================== public boolean playAgain() { String answer; System.out.print ("Play again [y/n]? "); answer = scan.next(); return (answer.equals("y") || answer.equals("Y")); } // method playAgain }


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Digital Cameras Guide
Samsung WB850F
The WB850F Wi-Fi-enabled travel long-zoom camera allows images to be transferred to the hard drive without the use of cables via the Auto Backup function. The 16.2-megapixel camera is also equipped with a 23mm wide-angle lens with a 21x optical zoom.
Tags: samsung, digital camera, long-zoom


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Blue Origin lifts the veil on its plans to fly suborbital, orbital human missions
Blue Origin, the commercial space company bankrolled by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, plans to begin unmanned orbital flight tests of its biconic-shape human capsule in 2018. Ultimately, the company will use an orbital launch vehicle powered at least in part by a clean-sheet cryogenic engine it now has demonstrated can support suborbital human spaceflight.
Initial flights of the seven-seat orbital human vehicle—so far known only as "Space Vehicle"—are scheduled to go on the Atlas V, which has also been the choice of other companies vying for a NASA contract to transport crews to the International Space Station. By then, Blue Origin also plans to have "astronaut passengers" flying suborbital missions in its New Shepard capsule as it builds toward a commercial operation that will provide suborbital and orbital human spaceflight to a variety of private and government customers, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other military organizations.
Longer term, though, Blue Origin expects to use a launcher of its own design for orbital human missions, with at least the upper stage powered by a variant of its BE-3 liquid-oxygen/liquid-hydrogen rocket engine. The characteristically secretive Kent, Wash.-based startup unveiled new details about the BE-3 Dec. 3 in a rare and unusually informative question-and-answer session with Rob Meyerson, president and program manager. The 110,000-lb.-thrust rocket engine completed a mission-duty cycle test at Blue Origin's isolated West Texas facility, simulating operations during a manned suborbital flight of its New Shepard composite capsule.
In the test, the engine ran for 145 sec. at full throttle, then shut down for 4.5 min. to simulate the coasting phase that will take New Shepard out of the atmosphere. This was followed by a restart and throttle-down to the 25,000-lb.-thrust level it will need to bring the reusable booster back to Earth for a tail-down landing while the capsule parachutes home.
"We have been focused on the suborbital mission as the starting point to serve as practice for later development of our orbital launch system. That way, we intend to prove out underlying technologies while building out a very small and innovative company capable of repeated successes," Meyerson says.
Work building up to the full-cycle BE-3 test in November was conducted over nine months and included 160 starts and 9,100 sec. of engine operation. "That equates to a test every two days, and sometimes actually three or four tests per day," says Meyerson.
The work forms part of an unfunded extension of Blue Origin's Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev-2) contract with NASA, and builds on tests of the BE-3 thrust chamber conducted under an earlier funded phase of CCDev-2 at the space agency's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in 2012. Those tests "allowed us to accelerate the program by about one year," he adds.
Since then, the company has worked with NASA under an unfunded Space Act agreement that allows it to draw on the agency's expertise and test facilities. The next major milestones include a review of the subscale propulsion tank assembly later this month, and a full space vehicle subsystem interim design review in March 2014. Blue Origin is scheduled to present its final CCDev-2 briefing to NASA in May 2014.
The BE-3 was assembled at the Kent facility, largely from parts manufactured there. The design is based on the combustion "tap-off" engine cycle, sometimes known as the "topping cycle" or chamber-bleed cycle, in which the combustion gases from around the walls of the main chamber are bled-off, partially cooled and used to power the engine's turbopumps.
Blue Origin says the cycle, which produces a relatively high specific impulse, is simpler than options such as pre-burning staged-combustion, and is well suited to human spaceflight because of its single combustion chamber and "graceful" shutdown mode. Despite the challenges of the cycle—including potentially complex start-up systems and high-temperature turbine-drive gases—Meyerson explains, "It is different because it only uses the one combustor, so it has a tendency to shut down rather than feed the combustion process." Although Rocketyne developed the experimental J-2S tap-off variant of the Saturn V upper-stage J-2 engine in the 1960s, Meyerson says the BE-3 is the first engine of its type developed to fly.
The company also is focusing on development of modifications to adapt the baseline engine to the expendable upper-stage BE-3U version. "We demonstrated very high efficiencies on the core injector and that allows us to put on different nozzles, including a short design for deep throttling for landing, and a large-expansion-ratio nozzle design for the upper stage, which will give the higher performance and efficiency you need for that. But we are also looking at other things we can do in terms of expendables and lower-cost manufacturing," he adds.
Still to be determined is the powerplant for the reusable first stage of the orbital vehicle. Meyerson says it could be a cluster of BE-3s, or something entirely different. Performance drove the decision to use hydrogen fuel in the BE-3, he says, but the company's engineers have not ruled out a different approach on the orbital first stage.
"We selected the BE-3 as our first orbital launch vehicle engine because it provides us with options to go with an all-hydrogen architecture if we choose to," he says. "We have ideas. Some things are in development for other engines that we're developing, but we're not ready to discuss those today. Those would provide other options and other architectures."
Overall, Blue Origin has received $25.7 million from NASA for CCDev-1 and -2 work, of which only a small portion went into the BE-3 engine, according to Meyerson. The company also developed a peroxide/kerosene BE-2 engine for early flight tests over Texas. A vehicle powered by that engine reached 45,000 ft. and Mach 1.2 before it was destroyed by range safety officers when signs of flight instability were noted (AW&ST Sept. 12, 2011, p. 39).
So far, the company has tested the Space Vehicle's biconic shape at Lockheed Martin's high-speed wind tunnel facility in Dallas to validate computational fluid dynamics models of its performance. Meyerson notes that while there is nothing particularly unusual about the manufacturing techniques that go into the BE-3, computer modeling also played an important role in the engine's development.
"One of the key things is the design process we went through using computational methods and our in-house analytical techniques to come to a turbopump design that worked, essentially, out of the box," he says. "I think that is unique."
Since its founding in 2000 with a staff of 10, Meyerson says, Blue Origin has grown to about 300 engineers and other specialists, and ultimately may hire another 100. Its website lists openings in guidance, navigation and control, structural engineering, mechanical systems design, fluid systems design, and avionics, among many other positions.
Meyerson declined to discuss pricing or specific schedules during his teleconference with reporters, but made clear Blue Origin has ambitious commercial plans and is in it for the long haul. The company is awaiting a Government Accountability Office decision in a dispute with competitor SpaceX over use of Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center and has a number of irons in the fire with potential government customers.
"Over the next several years you are going to see us flying our New Shepard suborbital system in a development phase, and then starting to fly astronaut passengers over the next several years," says Meyerson.
"In parallel we'll be developing our orbital space vehicle, with first flights targeted for the 2018 timeframe. That will be developmental flights of our orbital launch vehicle. [Now] we're developing this engine for our New Shepard system and our orbital system, but we think it has applicability to both government and other commercial launch systems as well," Meyerson concludes.


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- This event has passed.
6:45pm – Bronze 1 & 2 Group Class
November 21 @ 6:45 pm - 7:25 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 6:45 pm on Thursday, repeating until January 30, 2020
Class working on Associate Bronze level material. Some of these Thursday classes will do 2 weeks on the same dance. Focus will be on Associate Bronze material with added technique.


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Disney Live! is a series of Broadway-quality, interactive touring theatre productions featuring Disney-themed stories for families with young children. Disney Live! inspires children and their parents to jump up out of their seats to sing, dance and play along with their favorite Disney characters from films and television, such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, the Disney Princesses, and the Toy Story gang.
Visit us at DisneyLive.com
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I am quite frankly a little sick of union jack bunting and if I never see another crown as long as I live it will possibly be too soon. I know, I know, I am being a complete scrooge but if challenged I will simply throw an epic straight-legged toddler tantrum.
OK, so I admit, I may just be letting recent real life events get in the way of my usual excitement for all things royal, but at this point in time I really don't care.
On top of the recent anniversary, we had to put our beloved cat to sleep on Monday. She had been poorly for a while and at the grand old age of 16 it didn't look too hopeful. I have never in my life experienced something so horrible as watching the vet do the deed, and my house feels empty and weird without her little jingly bell and persistent mewing.
So, I can only apologize for my complete lack of jubilee excitement, so when it came to choosing a Nigella recipe for this months Forever Nigella (which I am hosting) I was at a complete loss, and put it off till the very last minute.
I decided to just bake a classic, carrot cake, I mean who doesn't love carrot cake? I bet the Queen LOVES carrot cake (possibly).
Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
I stuck exactly to Nigella's recipe in "How to be a domestic goddess". The cupcakes were light and comforting, with a subtle hint of cinnamon. The cream cheese frosting was amazing, I do love a good cream cheese frosting. Highly recommend everyone to make these cupcakes if you ever need to cheer someone up, worked a treat for me.
Stay tuned for the round up of everyone who entered Forever Nigella this month which will be posted over the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Happy Baking


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How about some of the fixxture family throwing up a photo of themselves?
Im sure the boys will get a kick out of it and probably recognize lots of us!
-Are you too scared to lose face???
What do ya think? ill go first ...
this was from halloween at school, plus i wore my rollerblades from 8-4pm
my principal( slash my BOSS too) just laughed and shook his head- LOL! But i must admit, it was a lot easier rollerblading around the classroom assisting all my students in record time!!!!
Remember to shrink down those photos, not too big of a file now....
thanx for the assistance Mr. jeff!!!!


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Aboriginal Populations and Their Neglected Tropical Diseases
In a new editorial published in PLOS NTDs, Sabin Vaccine Institute president Dr. Peter Hotez urges the global community to recognize how neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) greatly impact Aboriginal groups worldwide and include these populations in NTD control and elimination efforts. Unfortunately, Aboriginal groups across Asia and Oceana, the Americas and Africa have largely been ignored.
As Dr. Hotez observes, "Unless we act now, they could represent the groups last to benefit from potential NTD elimination endgames."
NTDs are diseases of poverty, associated with bleak living conditions because they thrive in areas with inadequate housing and sanitation, environmental degradation, improper nutrition and lack of access to health care.
Aboriginal groups typically face these circumstances. Approximately 370 million people are classified as belonging to Indigenous or Aboriginal groups. Although Aboriginal groups account for just five percent of the global population, they account for 15 percent of global poverty. As a result, Dr. Hotez writes, Aboriginal groups are at greater risk of adverse health consequences, such as non-communicable diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertention, and infectious diseases, of which trachoma, soil-transmitted helminths (STH), skin infections, and dengue, among others, are the most common.
In Malaysia, for instance, the Orang Asli face "high prevalence and intensity rates of hookworm infection and other [STH], which have been identified as key determinants of malnutrition and poor school performance and attendance among Malaysian school-children." Meanwhile, "the rainforest area between Brazil and Venezuela represents one of the six remaining foci for endemic onchocerciasis elimination because of its size and the fact that the Yanomami are widely dispersed."
Thankfully, steps can be taken to reduce the burden of NTDs among Aboriginal groups. Dr. Hotez recommends:
- Including Ivermectin in mass drug administration (MDA) for some Aboriginal groups, particularly in Australia. However, as he cautions, using Ivermectin "may require additional safety data in pregnancy and small children."
- Recognizing the "potential benefits of MDA with azithromycin, particularly for reducing trachoma rates among Australia's Aboriginal populations and the Yanamami. There is also recent evidence for the benefits of azithromycin MDA on reducing the prevalence of yaws."
- Considering the world's 300-400 million Aboriginal peoples in efforts to achieve the 2012 London Declaration for NTDs, the largest coordinated effort on NTDs to date.
- Following through on a broader strategy to control and eliminate NTDs so as to ensure sustainability; this entails improving water and sanitation, integrating vector control and management, ensuring childhood immunizations, and improving personal and family hygiene.
- Giving "equal or even greater attention … to the key underlying social determinants of illness among the world's Aboriginal populations, including improvements in housing and advances in overall economic development."
With greater attention and a more concerted response effort, we can help ensure improved health among Aboriginal groups and make greater advances in the global fight against NTDs.
We encourage you to read the full editorial at this link.
Photo by Flickr user NTLam