text:
Houston's Phillips 66 rode much higher refining profit margins to an $823 million net profit in the third quarter, up more than than 60 percent from last year and 50 percent from the second quarter of 2017.
Hurricane Harvey caused Phillips 66's Sweeny refinery outside of Houston to temporarily shut down, but the Category 4 storm also drove much higher gasoline and diesel profit margins as prices spiked nationwide. The margins were already considered relatively strong before Harvey hit.
Something interesting to share?
Join NrgEdge and create your own NrgBuzz today
Nagman has diversified into dealing with Flow meters or Instruments viz Electro-Magnetic Flow Meters, Coriolis Mass Flow Meter, Positive Displacement Flow Meter, Vortex Flow Meter, Turbine Flow Meter, Ultrasonic Flow Meter.
Electro-Magnetic Flow Meter:
Size : DN 3 to DN 3000 mm
Flow Velocity : 0.5 m/s to 15 m/s
Accuracy : ±0.5%, ±0.2% of Reading
Coriolis Mass Flow Meter:
Size : DN8~DN300
Flow Range : 8 to 2500000 Kg/hr (for liquids)
4 to 2500000 Kg/hr (for gases)
Accuracy : 0.1% 0.2% 0.5% of Normal Flow Range
Positive Displacement Flow Meter:
Size : DN 15 ~ DN 400
Max. Flow Range : 0.3 m3/hr to 1800 m3/hr
(Will vary based on the measured media & temperature)
Accuracy : 0.1% 0.2% 0.5%
Vortex Flow Meter:
Size : DN 25 to DN 300
Flow Range : 1.3 m3/hr to 2000 m3/hr (Water)
8.0 m3/hr to 10000 m3/hr (Air)
Accuracy : ±1.0% of Reading
Turbine Flow Meter:
Size : DN 4 to DN 200
Flow Range : 0.02 m3 /hr to 680 m3 /hr
Accuracy : 1.0% or 0.5% of Rate
Ultrasonic Flow Meter:
Type : Hand held Ultrasonic Flow meter with S2, M2, L2 Sensors
Accuracy : ±1% of Reading at rates > 0.2 mps
Measuring Range : DN 15 – DN 6000
In its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released on January 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. natural gas exports will exceed natural gas imports by an average 7.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2020 (2.0 Bcf/d higher than in 2019) and 8.9 Bcf/d in 2021. Growth in U.S. net exports is led primarily by increases in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and pipeline exports to Mexico. Net natural gas exports more than doubled in 2019, compared with 2018, and EIA expects that they will almost double again by 2021 from 2019 levels.
The United States trades natural gas by pipeline with Canada and Mexico and as LNG with dozens of countries. Historically, the United States has imported more natural gas than it exports by pipeline from Canada. In contrast, the United States has been a net exporter of natural gas by pipeline to Mexico. The United States has been a net exporter of LNG since 2016 and delivers LNG to more than 30 countries.
In 2019, growth in demand for U.S. natural gas exports exceeded growth in natural gas consumption in the U.S. electric power sector. Natural gas deliveries to U.S. LNG export facilities and by pipeline to Mexico accounted for 12% of dry natural gas production in 2019. EIA forecasts these deliveries to account for an increasingly larger share through 2021 as new LNG facilities are placed in service and new pipelines in Mexico that connect to U.S. export pipelines begin operations.
Net U.S. natural gas imports from Canada have steadily declined in the past four years as new supplies from Appalachia into the Midwestern states have displaced some pipeline imports from Canada. U.S. pipeline exports to Canada have increased since 2018 when the NEXUS pipeline and Phase 2 of the Rover pipeline entered service. Overall, EIA projects the United States will remain a net natural gas importer from Canada through 2050.
U.S. pipeline exports to Mexico increased following expansions of cross-border pipeline capacity, averaging 5.1 Bcf/d from January through October 2019, 0.5 Bcf/d more than the 2018 annual average, according to EIA's Natural Gas Monthly. The increase in exports was primarily the result of increased flows on the newly commissioned Sur de Texas–Tuxpan pipeline in Mexico, which transports natural gas from Texas to the southern Mexican state of Veracruz. Several new pipelines in Mexico that were scheduled to come online in 2019 were delayed are expected to enter service in 2020:
U.S. LNG exports averaged 5 Bcf/d in 2019, 2 Bcf/d more than in 2018, as a result of several new facilities that placed their first trains in service. This year, several new liquefaction units (referred to as trains) are scheduled to be placed in service:
In 2021, the third train at the Corpus Christi facility in Texas is scheduled to come online, bringing the total U.S. liquefaction capacity to 10.2 Bcf/d (baseload) and 10.8 Bcf/d (peak). EIA expects LNG exports to continue to grow and average 6.5 Bcf/d in 2020 and 7.7 Bcf/d in 2021, as facilities gradually ramp up to full production.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly
In the January 2020 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. crude oil production will average 13.3 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020, a 9% increase from 2019 production levels, and 13.7 million b/d in 2021, a 3% increase from 2020. Slowing crude oil production growth results from a decline in drilling rigs during the past year that EIA expects will continue through most of 2020. Despite the decline in rigs, EIA forecasts production will continue to grow as rig efficiency and well-level productivity rise, offsetting the decline in the number of rigs until drilling activity accelerates in 2021.
EIA's U.S. crude oil production forecast is based on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price forecast in the January 2020 STEO, which rises from an average of $57 per barrel (b) in 2019 to an average of $59/b in 2020 and $62/b in 2021. The price forecast is highly uncertain, and any significant divergence of actual prices from the projected price path could change the pace of drilling and new well completion, which would in turn affect production.
Crude oil production in the Lower 48 states has a relatively short investment and production cycle. Changes in Lower 48 crude oil production typically follow changes in crude oil prices and rig counts with about a four- to six-month lag. Because EIA forecasts WTI prices will decline during the first half of 2020 but begin increasing in the second half of the year and into 2021, forecast U.S. crude oil production grows slowly month over month until the end of 2020. In contrast, crude oil production in Alaska and the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is driven by long-term investment that is typically less sensitive to short-term price movements.
In 2019, Lower 48 production reached its largest annual average volume of 9.9 million b/d, and EIA expects it to increase further by an average of 1.0 million b/d in 2020 and 0.4 million b/d in 2021. EIA forecasts the GOM region will grow by 0.1 million b/d in 2020 to 2.0 million b/d and to remain relatively flat in 2021 because several projects expected to come online in 2021 will not start producing until late in the year and will be offset by declines from other producing fields. Alaska's crude oil production will remain relatively unchanged at about 0.5 million b/d in 2020 and in 2021.
The Permian region remains the most prolific growth region in the United States. Favorable geology combined with technological improvements have contributed to the Permian region's high returns on investment and years of remaining oil production growth potential. EIA forecasts that Permian production will average 5.2 million b/d in 2020, an increase of 0.8 million b/d from 2019 production levels. For 2021, the Permian will produce an average of 5.6 million b/d. EIA forecasts that the Bakken region in North Dakota will be the second-largest growth area in 2020 and 2021, growing by about 0.1 million b/d in each year (Figure 2).
EIA expects crude oil prices higher than $60/b in 2021 will contribute to rising crude oil production because producers will be able to fund drilling programs through cash flow and other funding sources, despite a somewhat more restrictive capital market. Financial statements of 46 publically-traded U.S. oil producers reveal that these companies generated sufficient cash from operating activities to fund investment and grow production with WTI prices in the $55/b–$60/b range. The 46 selected companies produced more than 30% of total U.S. liquids production in the third quarter of 2019. The four-quarter moving average free cash flow for these companies ranged between $1.7 billion and $3.5 billion from the fourth quarter of 2017 through the second quarter of 2019. The third quarter of 2019—the latest quarter for which data are available—had less cash from operations than investing activities, but this figure was skewed by the large, one-time acquisition cost of Anadarko Petroleum by Occidental, valued at $55 billion (Figure 3).
Results for these 46 publicly traded companies do not represent all U.S. oil producers because private companies that do not publish financial statements are not included in EIA's analysis. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Energy Survey sheds some light on the financial position of a broader set of companies. Released quarterly, the bank's survey asks oil companies about business activity and employment and asks a few special questions that change each quarter. The number of companies that participate varies each quarter, but generally the survey includes about 100 exploration and production companies. In the most recent survey (from the fourth quarter of 2019), 75% of survey respondents said they can cover their capital expenditures through cash flow from operations at a WTI price of less than $60/b. In addition, 40% of survey respondents plan to increase capital expenditures in 2020 compared with 2019, while 24% of respondents expect to spend about the same (Figure 4).
Since about 2017, large, globally integrated oil companies have acquired more acreage in Lower 48 regions, particularly in the Permian. These companies have announced investment plans to make Lower 48 production an increasing portion of their portfolios. These companies can typically fund their investment programs through cash flow from operations and are generally less susceptible to tighter capital markets than smaller oil companies. The financial results of the public companies shown in Figure 3 and the Federal Reserve survey support EIA's production forecast and suggest that U.S. crude oil production can continue to grow under EIA's price forecast for 2020 and 2021 because many companies are less dependent on debt or equity to fund investment.
U.S. average regular gasoline and diesel prices decline
The U.S. average regular gasoline retail price fell more than 3 cents from the previous week to $2.54 per gallon on January 20, 29 cents higher than the same time last year. The Midwest price fell over 5 cents to $2.39 per gallon, the Gulf Coast price fell nearly 5 cents to $2.23 per gallon, the Rocky Mountain price fell more than 3 cents to $2.57 per gallon, the East Coast price fell more than 2 cents to $2.50 per gallon, and the West Coast price fell nearly 2 cents to $3.18 per gallon.
The U.S. average diesel fuel price fell nearly 3 cents from the previous week to $3.04 per gallon on January 20, 7 cents higher than a year ago. The Rocky Mountain price fell nearly 6 cents to $3.01 per gallon, the East Coast price fell nearly 4 cents to $3.08 per gallon, the Midwest price declined almost 3 cents to $2.94 per gallon, the West Coast price fell nearly 2 cents to $3.57 per gallon, and the Gulf Coast price dropped more than 1 cent to $2.80 per gallon.
Propane/propylene inventories decline
U.S. propane/propylene stocks decreased by 1.4 million barrels last week to 86.5 million barrels as of January 17, 2020, 17.1 million barrels (24.6%) greater than the five-year (2015-19) average inventory levels for this same time of year. Midwest, East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Rocky Mountain/West Coast inventories decreased by 0.7 million barrels, 0.4 million barrels, 0.2 million barrels, and 0.1 million barrels, respectively. Propylene non-fuel-use inventories represented 6.9% of total propane/propylene inventories.
Residential heating fuel prices decrease
As of January 20, 2020, residential heating oil prices averaged nearly $3.07 per gallon, 3 cents per gallon below last week's price and 10 cents per gallon lower than last year's price at this time. Wholesale heating oil prices averaged almost $1.96 per gallon, more than 7 cents per gallon below last week's price and more than 7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.
Residential propane prices averaged almost $2.01 per gallon, less than 1 cent per gallon below last week's price and more than 42 cents per gallon less than a year ago. Wholesale propane prices averaged more than $0.60 per gallon, nearly 4 cents per gallon lower than last week's price and 20 cents per gallon below last year's price.


text:
Garden BountySunday, August 19th, 2007
The garden vegetables have finally reached their peak here on the farm. Madison, Garett, and Nana (my mom) have been busy stewing tomatoes, making spaghetti sauce, freezing peppers, and processing corn. It's become a daily ritual to gather the ripe produce from the garden and deposit it on the log house porch for Nana and her little helpers. I stay so busy I haven't been much help with the preserving this year. At least I've been able to help pick and dispose of the scraps to the goats. It's pretty neat to watch them fight over corn shucks and watermelon rinds. They really will eat anything.
I've had the brush hog on the 6000 the past couple days clipping the pastures and getting the hay field edges. We're planning to do a bunch of re-seeding this fall so the grasses will all have to be short. I've moved the goats, calves, and a few horses to a different pasture to keep it short. We've been working with Thumper a little this week to get him broken to lead. He's now out in the pasture with other horses and he is much happier. My friend and neighbor Wade borrowed the Mahindra and the Vermeer roller to put up some hay this week. It will soon be time to start cutting mine. My dad picked up a used disc a few days ago. I haven't seen it yet, he is supposed to bring it down to the farm in a week or two.
Madison is having a terrible time with her thumb sucking device. One side has come loose and she is slobbering like a rabid dog. The dentist doesn't have an emergency number so we will have to hold on until Monday. I feel so sorry for her. I suppose I will leave work early and take her to have it glued back in.
Kaylee hurt her wrist at cheerleading practice Wednesday night. Luckily it's not broken. It is sprained though and very sore. She has been keeping it wrapped with an ace bandage. Someone told her vinegar takes the swelling out so she has been stinking like vinegar a lot.
The children started school this week. Garett and Kaylee wanted to ride the bus, but Madison wanted me to take her. Needless to say I took her and spent a little while getting her accustomed to her new teacher. We made sure to go check on Garett. I got a cute picture of her giving him a hug that morning. They seem to be fine with school. The heat is hard on them though.
My heart has been very heavy this week. I am so very sorry for the Utah coal miners and their families. My prayers include them. I have lots of memories of coal mining. My dad worked in the mines for many years in SE KY. Actually he even owned a mine at one time. I myself have my mining card and still consider going to work in the mines from time to time. It is terribly sad that miners put there lives on the line every day. I cannot help but think mining would be a much safer occupation if more miners were represented by the United Mine Workers of America. I know that here in McCreary county there was a horrible strike over safety. It started shortly after the Scotia mining disaster in Oven Fork Ky.. Both mines were owned by Blue Diamond Coal Company and the miners here felt unsafe enough they organized with the UMWA asking for a safety committee with authority to shut down parts of the mine. The miners were already making close to union scale all they wanted was a safer working environment, but the company didn't want them to have that. The strike was bad for everybody and eventually the Justus mine closed.
Well there is lots to do so I better get at it……………….Be sure to check out the pics I've added to the site and check back soon!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
THE Independent Commission Against Corruption has begun to make formal inquiries into the affairs of Australian Water Holdings, a company linked to the family of the ALP kingpin Eddie Obeid, the Herald has learned.
Government sources have confirmed the corruption watchdog has seized all files concerning the company that were held by Sydney Water Corporation.
On Saturday, a Herald investigation revealed the company had granted shares worth as much as $3.75 million to the former treasurer Michael Costa three years after he stopped a public tender that threatened the company's future.
It also reported that late last year, Mr Obeid and his son Eddie Obeid jnr had urged Mr Costa to become the company's chairman, a position that came with 5 per cent of the water services company, and that Mr Obeid snr had lobbied extensively on the company's behalf.
Mr Costa strongly denies any link between decisions he made as a minister affecting Australian Water Holdings and his later appointment as the company's chairman, saying his decision in 2008 to stop a public tender was based on legal advice of the solicitor-general. He also disputes the $3.75 million valuation of his shares, saying they were initially worthless and are now worth no more than $500,000.
The majority owner of Australian Water, Nick Di Girolamo, has had a relationship with Mr Obeid jnr since his school days. He claimed that he had employed Mr Obeid jnr for 12 to 18 months to meet with developers in Queensland and scout for new business prospects.
He said he was hired at "market rates" and attended the office a couple of days a week during that period. Mr Di Girolamo also said that in late 2010 he had received a personal loan from Mr Obeid jnr for an undisclosed sum.
Mr Di Girolamo has denied that any of the Obeids had any interest in Australian Water: "I have never been involved in a transaction with the Obeids, I have never had anything to do with the Obeids."
Australian Water Holdings has extensive connections with the Liberal Party. In the past five years it has donated at least $80,000 to the Coalition, and has used Michael Photios, a member of the NSW Liberal Party's state executive, as a lobbyist.
Mr Di Girolamo said he had also held meetings with other members of the NSW cabinet, including the Water Minister, Greg Pearce, and the Treasurer, Mike Baird.
For a time, a director on the board of the company's Queensland subsidiary was Santo Santoro, a former minister in the Howard government who resigned in disgrace for failing to properly declare his shareholdings.
The company also employs John Wells, a spin doctor with extensive Liberal Party connections.
For almost three years until November last year, the federal senator and former finance director of the Liberal Party, Arthur Sinodinos, was the chairman of Australian Water Holdings.
Last week, Mr Sinodinos said he, too, had 5 per cent of the company as part of his role, and he has recorded a shareholding in the company in his parliamentary pecuniary interest register.
But Mr Sinodinos's name is absent from the company's official share register filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Instead, Mr Sinodinos said, Mr Di Girolamo was holding the shares on his behalf.
Asked why the shares are not publicly registered with the corporate regulator, Mr Sinodinos said: "Because it was on a gentleman's agreement."
He said his agreement was that the trigger for the shares to be registered in his name was "some realisation event". He also said it would not be inaccurate to say a successful PPP was one such event.
Since 1992, the company has been paid $580 million to roll out infrastructure to new housing estates in Sydney's north-west on behalf of Sydney Water Corporation.
Mr Di Girolamo has already had a significant win since the Coalition took government in March last year.
In January this year, his company and Sydney Water entered a new 25-year exclusive agreement to give it the sole right to project manage the remaining half-a-billion dollars of water infrastructure work in the north-west growth centre.
A spokesman for the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, said: "Any agreement Australian Water Holdings has with Sydney Water was negotiated and agreed by Sydney Water at arm's length from government, as is appropriate."
Since about 2004, the company's main goal has been to convince the state government to sell it Sydney Water's activities in the north-west growth centre, though the O'Farrell government said it had not received a formal bid from the company.
This would be a deal worth billions of dollars, according to a senior government source.
Do you know more?
[email protected]苏州美睫培训.au
This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on 苏州美睫培训.


text:
3.4 Content Networks
Content networks are websites or collections of websites that provide information in various forms (such as articles, wikis, blogs, etc.). These provide another way of filtering the vast amounts of information on the Internet, by allowing users to go to a trusted site that has already sorted through many sources to find the best content or has provided its own content. Figure 3.2 shows some examples of content networks.
Fig. 3.2 | Content networks.
Content networks
About.com—Acquired by the New York Times, About is a collection of information on a wide variety of topics. About was founded in 1996 and provides over 500 guides written by topic experts. The guides include new content as well as links to other websites.
b5media—A blog network with over 200 blogs related to travel, entertainment, technology and more.
Corante—A blog network authored by leading commentators in technology, business, law, science, and culture.
Deitel—Deitel Resource Centers (currently about 80 sites and growing rapidly) include links to, and descriptions of, key tutorials, demos, free software tools, articles, e-books, whitepapers, videos, podcasts, blogs, RSS feeds and more. Resource Centers are grouped into major topic areas, including Web 2.0, Internet business, programming languages, software development and open source.
eHow—eHow claims over 35,000 articles explaining "how to do just about everything." The articles are written by members, and the site also features a section of "how to" videos.
Gawker Media—A blog network that includes 14 blogs, such as Gizmodo, Gawker, Valleywag and Lifehacker. The blogs cover a range of topics including technology, gossip and more.
HowStuffWorks—HowStuffWorks offers articles explaining "how the world actually works." Articles are written by freelance writers, and experts from Consumer Guide and Mobil Travel Guide.
LifeTips—LifeTips provides short articles on both work and general life issues from hundreds of writers. Tips are voted on by readers (who can also mark their favorites for easy access).
9rules—A blog network with a wide range of blog topics. The site also includes social networking aspects.
Suite101—Suite101 offers thousands of articles on a variety of topics written by freelance writers. In addition to the articles, the site also provides discussion areas and free courses.
Weblogs, Inc.—A blog network of 90 blogs, including Engadget, Autoblog and Joystiq. Users can apply to write for one of the blogs (and get paid) or suggest topics for potential new blogs.


text:
Wednesday 14 February 2018
"Prior to the sanctions, Russian economy was showing low growth. The median growth in 10 years (since 2007) was 1%. We are shrinking our role as a global economy."While Russia's place among the world's big economies varies, depending on exchange rates and price comparisons for goods, the IMF finds the nation's total contribution to the global economy is falling.
"Russia became the world's second most powerful country and ranked eighth among states with up-and-coming economies, the 2018 Best Countries report by the U.S. News & World Report magazine showed on Tuesday."While it lists Russia as a promising economy, the cited report uses a perception ranking based on a narrowly defined survey sample and narrow definition of economic performance. And, among 80 countries, it assesses Russia's economy as performing better than most, but at the same time worse than many in the area of "entrepreneurship" and the worst among all of them when it comes to "open business.
A photo depicts a mother and child in what is alleged to be a fully-stocked Soviet supermarket.Can you spot what's wrong with this photo of a "Soviet supermarket?"
"Brussels surely understands that replacing the Russian pipeline gas with American LNG does not increase, but reduces the energy security of the EU."American supplies of liquefied natural gas challenge Russia's domination of Europe's energy market, reduces European dependence on Russian supplies and expands the EU's energy options, promoting fair competition and potentially leading to lower prices.
There is no doubt that the U.S. delegation has something to tell the world. For example, Nikki Haley can share the American experience of dispersal of protest actions, tell in detail how, for example, mass arrests and suppression of the Occupy Wall Street movement were carried out or Ferguson was "cleansed."While the responses to Occupy Wall Street and Ferguson merit legitimate concern, they are not comparable to the protests in Iran.
"Crimea did not have any foreign investors when it was part of Ukraine, in connection with the exceptional corruption of the Ukrainian government; you could count them [foreign investors] on your fingers."Corruption in Ukraine indeed impeded foreign direct investment in Crimea prior to Russia's annexation, but the peninsula did have foreign investors. Still, Russia's annexation, continued corruption, and the sanctions imposed on Moscow for its actions in Crimea have undercut foreign investment.
"Today, Washington is losing allies even faster than the USSR did during its period of decline. Old and experienced [U.S.] partners are turning in the direction of Russia and China, and many are simply waiting for the right moment to escape the sinking ship of American 'democracy'."The U.S. continues to retain and support its allies while enjoying their backing and cultivating new partners, including those that have or are turning away from Russia.
"There is no basis for the deployment of peacekeepers on the border between the DNR/LNR and Russia. It is a zone of peace and tranquility. So let them deal with the zone of tension."The Russian authorities' insistence that the mandate of UN peacekeepers in Ukraine should be limited to the area along the "borders" between Ukraine and the conflict zone in the eastern part of the country is based on their claim that the region is a "zone of peace and tranquility." That claim is neither true nor logical. Eastern Ukraine remains a war zone and the only internationally recognized borders are those between Ukraine and Russia.
"I have worked for years in the American (relations) field, and I can responsibly say that we did everything, simply everything, to maintain normal cooperation."Russia's own actions endangering global security caused the deterioration of relations with the United States as well as with other countries. The conditions for lifting sanctions and returning to "normal" cooperation have been clearly presented to Russia but Moscow ignores its obligation to help maintain global security.
"These sanctions are illegal in themselves, because the only thing recognized by international law is the sanctions of the UN Security Council."Despite Russia's claims that U.S.-imposed sanctions are illegal under international law, the U.S. strictly follows its own legal procedures and international regulations under the World Trade Organization's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
Finastra, a global company that owns the copyright to software that works with SWIFT has refused to work with sanctioned Russian banks.Finastra has confirmed that it has ceased to provide support to two Russian banks sanctioned by the EU and US.
"U.S. actions in Afghanistan are destabilizing, harmful to neighboring countries but above all to Afghanistan itself… ISIS was created by the United States to solve geopolitical problems in the Middle East, [but] now they see it's not working there and are preparing to move ISIS to Central Asia."The U.S. is actually fighting Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, contributing to the region's security, as well as its economic and democratic development.


text:
Sold Out
protect our planet
Kuakata Kantha Quilt
$ 220.00
This product is sold out
Handmade in Bangladesh by young women that are at great risk of being sold into trafficking and are often discarded by husbands or families when they are deemed "expendable." Our partner's vision is to help these women rediscover their dignity and inherent value not only through meaningful work, but also by welcoming them as part of their family.
Handmade using upcycled sari fabric. With every item purchased with us, a tree is planted in partnership with the National Forest Foundation.
Colorful patterned saris dot the Bangladeshi landscape, worn by women cultivating rice, fetching water, resting in the shade or cooking the family meal. Once discarded, the sari's life has only just begun. For centuries, Bengali women have painstakingly stitched their time-softened saris with straight, even stitches into items of beauty. This traditional technique is known as kantha stitching.
Details + Dimensions
79" x 79"
vintage sari fabric
What is #planetpeoplepreservation?
At AMERICAN NOMAD we pledge that each item we curate will always:
protect our planet
be a patron for people and
preserve art forms and cultures
Learn more about why we started this program and the steps we take to ensure we keep our pledge. Learn more >


text:
A recent study found that family members living with patients who underwent weight loss surgery dropped significant amounts of weight and made more positive lifestyle changes. In this study, 35 morbidly obese patients underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Overweight spouses and family members living with the patient attended three lifestyle counseling sessions before surgery and five sessions after surgery. At these sessions, patients and their family members learned about healthy eating habits (portion control and a healthy diet) and how to increase physical activity.
At one year after surgery, patients lost an average of 100 pounds and decreased their body mass index (BMI) from 48.7 to 33.3. In addition, their overweight spouses and family members lost an average of 10 pounds and decreased their BMIs from 38 to 36.3.Family members also watched less television, exercised more, and reported fewer instances of uncontrollable eating.
The result of this study reinforces the importance of social support as a motivator to maintain healthy changes. If we mimic the positive lifestyle changes of those around us, we might find ourselves making healthier decisions more often. You may not realize, but people may use you as an inspiration to change their lifestyles! It is important to remember that over time, small steps turn into large strides.
If you're interested in learning more about weight loss surgery and the options that exist for you or someone you know, now is the perfect time to sign up for a free online chat with Dr. Edward Lin of the Emory Bariatric Center. You don't be ready for surgery or live in Atlanta to attend, just sign up using this form, and you can ask Dr. Lin all of your questions on weight loss surgery during the chat on January 26th.
Related Resources:
- Emory Bariatric Center Website
- More on this story from the New York Times
Tags: Bariatric Surgery, benefits of surgical weight loss, gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, online chat, surgical weight loss, surgical weight loss options, surgical weight loss procedures, web chat, Weight Loss Surgery


text:
100% Accurate and Updated Products
Printing Of PDFs Allowed
365 Days of FREE Updates for both PDF and Test Engine
All Study Guide: Cisco 500-701 (Cisco Video Infrastructure Design) Dumps List.
|Uploaded By
|Cisco exam 500-701 pdf download 2019-Jun-21 By Aries
|June 20, 2019
Examcollectionuk has started for many years in providing the IT certification Cisco 500-701(Cisco Video Infrastructure Design) exam preparation materials. We win new and old customer's praise based on the principle "Credit Standing First and Customers First". We'll be here when you need us at anytime.
All the Cisco 500-701 vce materials at Examcollectionuk are available in PDF formats after purchase. You can download the test engine on your PC to take the Cisco 500-701 simulated tests at home. The ExamCollection 500-701 exam demos can be printed and you can practice them at your convenience. We guarantee that you will pass the Cisco 500-701 exam by using Examcollectionuk practice questions and answers. The questions are logical and technical; the answers are accurate and verified. Both of them are written by Examcollectionuk IT professionals who are famous around the world.
Instant Access to Try 500-701 Free Demo : https://www.2passeasy.com/dumps/500-701/
Use VCE Exam Simulator to open VCE files


text:
planeboy747 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 48 diseños de 16 diseñadores freelance.
Web 2.0, clean, fresh, easy-to-read, simple
Desired Style:
Web 2.0, clean, fresh, easy-to-read, simple
Accepted File Formats:
Layered Formats (.psd or .tiff)
About Disgruntles.com
Disgruntles.com is an online community where people can rant about their job, boss, or employer anonymously and uncensored.
Items to Download
Wire Frames
- Homepage: http://www.disgruntles.com/assets/Homepage.png
- Add Story: http://www.disgruntles.com/assets/Add_Story.png
- Story Page: http://www.disgruntles.com/assets/S…ge.pngLogo
Design Style
Web 2.0, clean, fresh, easy-to-read, simple
Here is my definition of web 2.0:
Special Design Requirements
Logo has already been designed, and provided with download.
Optimized Screen Size:
1024 x 768
Background Color:
White (and I like lots of white space)
Design Position:
Centered (I typically like designs centered in the page rather than left-aligned)
I prefer fonts to be larger (as seen on many web 2.0 sites now). Site will be optimized for SEO, so there should be minimal usage of special fonts within graphics.
Photography Usage:
Template Components
The following components belong to this template (as seen in wire frames):
- Header- Search Box
- Footer
- Right Rail- "Add Your Story" Marketing Asset
- Subscribe RSS Links
- Join Mailing List
- Tag List
- Story Snippets (as seen on homepage left, search results, and clicks of Next/Previous buttons)
- Full Story- Story Header (w/Google Adsense)
- Story Comments (w/Google Adsense)
- Add Story Submit Form
- Buttons (with on/of states)
- Next
- Previous
- Go
- Submit
- Share This


text:
Pictured: Nina Kucharczyk and the Crimson will look to close their West Coast trip with a win Sunday at California.
STANFORD, Calif.—No. 17 Stanford scored five second-half goals to turn a one-goal lead to a 6-0 win against the Harvard field hockey team Friday evening at the Varsity Turf.
Katherine Donna led the Cardinal (8-3) with two goals, and Cynthia Tassopoulos made 11 saves for the Crimson (3-8).
The Cardinal jumped on top early, as Alysha Sekhon scored just 89 seconds into the game. Stephanie Byrne brought the ball down the right side and centered to Sekhon for the finish and a 1-0 Stanford lead.
Harvard's first great chance came on its first penalty corner. Carly Dickson had the shot, flicking the ball high but wide of the left post. Shortly thereafter, Emma Keller sent the ball barely wide of the other post, redirecting a feed from Rachael Rosenfeld. The Cardinal held advantages of 8-2 in shots and 3-1 in penalty corners in the opening half. Tassopolous made six first-half saves.
Stanford got another early goal in the second half. Becky Dru put in a penalty-corner strike with Camille Gandhi and Kelsey Lloyd assisting. The Cardinal added another tally in the 47th minute, with Katherine Donna banging the ball in from in front of the left post.
Xanthe Travlos made it 4-0 with a corner deflection less than three minutes later, and Hope Burke later streaked across the front of the cage to deflect in a fifth goal. Donna finished the scoring with her second goal with about four minutes to play.


text:
When I first started using the Internet, Internet Explorer was the de-facto browser used to browse websites. Sure, there was Netscape as a competitor along with a few other smaller browsers, but Internet Explorer came bundled with Windows and seemed to be the first choice of many Windows users, including myself.
Then, came the security holes, the frequent crashes, the slowness.
However, my biggest complaint with Firefox was always about its memory usage. It's no secret that Firefox likes to use your computer's memory. Depending on what you're doing and how many tabs you have open, it's not uncommon for Firefox to want to use 1GB+ of memory. That's a lot! Of course, you could close Firefox and open it up again to alleviate the problem, but if you use a lot of Tabs at once that doesn't help in the efficiency department.
I have recently started using Google Chrome and found it to be much more efficient at handling multiple tabs, multiple operations, etc. without utilizing near the amount of RAM that Firefox requires. Chrome's architecture is vastly different though — each tab runs its own separate Windows process. Chrome also includes its own Task Manager that lets you see (and close) individual tabs and their associated memory usage.
Chrome also seems faster overall. Chrome's startup time is noticeably faster than Firefox, and pages seem to render faster. Speaking of faster, the download operations in Chrome seem faster in terms of efficiency. Firefox's download procedure did not make finding documents easy. Chrome downloads start in the task bar at the bottom, and the user can easily open the file or right click to do a number of things with it.
Finally, Chrome is rivaling Firefox with its Chrome Web Store, a take on Firefox's Add-ons library. While Firefox still has more add-ons available than Chrome, developers are quickly closing the gap and rapidly releasing Chrome-capable add-ons. That's no surprise since Chrome has already claimed 20% of the browser market share, inching ever so closely to Internet Explorer's 28.6%.
What browser do you use? Have you tried Chrome? What do you like/dislike about it? Share your browser relationship in the comments.


text:
I think there are many convincing arguments for using PostGIS but I am interested in showing people examples of websites that use PostGIS and OpenLayers.
Some examples that I have seen are:
- foursquare
- CartoDB
- Vizzuality (many examples)
- WalkScore (as far as I can tell)
Are there other examples that show good examples of this combination? I'm not sure if any of the sites that I listed are using OpenLayers as a central part of their functionality but I believe that they all use PostGIS.


text:
10 March 2013 at 2.20pm | Comment on this article
On Monday 11 March, to mark National Apprenticeships Week, two of our young apprentices will be joining us for a live Q&A on Twitter at 1pm BST.
If you'd like to ask them a question about their experience, send us your questions via the comments area below or on Twitter using the hashtag #ROHapprentices. You may wish to ask them about what advice they'd give to those who want to work in the arts or about their experiences so far.
Tommy Judd is a Scenic Metalwork Apprentice in Thurrock while Georgia Butler is a Collections Apprentice in Covent Garden.
Our apprentices Q&A follows 'twinterviews' with artists from The Royal Opera and Royal Ballet including Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares; John Tomlinson and Gary Avis.
The Royal Opera House would not be able to offer the wide range of apprenticeships for young people without the generous support of The Derek Butler Trust, John Lyon's Charity, The Headley Trust, Gordon Foundation, the Ashley Family Foundation, the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers Charitable Trust and an anonymous donor.


text:
Worst Oscar Red: Amanda Seyfried
You know I love her. And her hair in Mamma Mia was my hair inspiration last night. Amanda Seyfried is definitely a "next". Most of Meryl's girls are: Emily Blunt, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfriend… only Lindsay Lohan managed to f-ck it up.
But Amanda, for her first Oscars, on a night of many red dresses, oh this was not good. The bow. The bustline. The prom straps. The old lady material…
It's very disappointing. Especially since there was so much to work with. Interestingly enough, the stylist who did our hair for the Oscars, TK and I, is the Hair Department head for Big Love. He says she's a dream. He says they talk about it all the time – Amanda's talent, Amanda's "it", what Amanda will be...
But first she desperately needs some fashion tips, non?
This is Amanda with Dominic Cooper at Elton John's party after the Governor's Ball. Am told they totally loved it up on the carpet but declined interviews together because she was tired. I'd be exhausted too. She flew in from Toronto where she's shooting a movie and she's flying right back out this morning. But it's important to work hard when you're hot.
Lindsay Lohan does not understand this.
Photos from Bauergriffinonline.com and Gettyimages.com


text:
Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA
June 12th, 2018
Walking in Portland, OR
Life, love and destiny.
Art Towards a Happy Day
A great WordPress.com site
The world around through my camera's lens
Photo Perspectives of Las Vegas
Écrire en substance. Lire en pointillé. Conter sans douleur - et dormir en boule.
ab ovo usque ad mala
A picture tells a thousand stories!
My photographic adventures on the other side of the world
Stories and photos from Scotland
Showing the beauty of this world through the people, places and culture
Savouring life intensely every hundredth of a second by capturing scenes from across Cumbria - the Lake District National Park. A pictorial guide to the lakes by a dilettante photographer.
Stay Curious
Candid street images from Cairns, Australia
Now, Here and Somewhere else
Photographer | Chicago | @ke_vin_joseph


text:
before the
The Future of Long-Term Care: Saving Money by Serving Seniors
April 18, 2012
Chairman Kohl, Ranking Member Corker, and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on long-term care insurance. As the Federal agency responsible for recruiting, retaining and honoring a world-class workforce, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversees numerous benefit programs, including long-term care insurance for Federal employees, annuitants and their family members.
Long-term care is personal care and other related services provided on an extended basis to people who need help with activities of daily living or who need supervision due to a severe cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's disease. It can be provided at home, in an adult day care center, assisted living facility, or nursing home. Most health insurance plans, including those in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, do not provide coverage for long-term care services. This unmet need led to the creation of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP).
Long-term care insurance is an important benefit because individuals are living longer, and the likelihood of needing long-term care services increases with age. After age 65, Americans have a 70% chance of needing some form of long-term care during their lives.1 Long-term care is also provided to people under age 65 who need help taking care of themselves due to diseases, disabling chronic conditions, injury, developmental disabilities, and severe mental illness. In addition, long-term care insurance is important because long-term care services can be very expensive for the average American family. In 2011, the national average cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home was $75,555 and $39,240 for care in an assisted living facility. The average cost of home care was roughly $31,000 per year or about $20 per hour.2 .
In 2000, Congress passed the Long-Term Care Security Act (Public Law 106-265), which authorized OPM to contract with qualified carriers to provide long-term care coverage to Federal employees, including U.S. Postal Service employees, members of the uniformed services, annuitants, and their qualified family members. In March 2002, OPM introduced the FLTCIP to the Federal workforce. This is the tenth year for the FLTCIP, which is the largest employer-sponsored long-term care insurance program in the nation. As a voluntary, 100% employee-paid benefit, coverage is provided for long-term care services for Federal employees to protect against having inadequate assets to cover the substantial costs needed to pay for long-term care. Through the FLTCIP, the Federal Government utilizes its leverage in the marketplace to offer private long-term care insurance to Federal employees and their qualified family members. Initially, OPM contracted with Long Term Care Partners, LLC, which was a joint partnership of John Hancock Life Insurance Company (John Hancock) and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, to manage the application process and claims administration. Both John Hancock and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company provided long-term care insurance for the initial contract term. In February 2003, 187,000 individuals were enrolled and by the end of the initial seven year contract term in April 2009, enrollment had increased to approximately 224,000 enrollees.
The Long-Term Care Security Act requires that the long-term care insurance contract be for a term of seven years, unless terminated earlier by OPM in accordance with the terms of the contract. In 2009, the initial contract term ended and, effective May 1, 2009, OPM awarded the second contract to John Hancock. As part of the new contract, John Hancock added new benefit options with increased home health care reimbursement, new benefit periods, higher daily benefit amounts, and increased payment limits on informal care provided by family members. Long Term Care Partners continues to administer the program on behalf of John Hancock.
The FLTCIP provides coverage not only for nursing home stays but for assisted living facilities, hospice stays, respite care, caregiver services, home care, and adult day care services. In addition to Federal civilian and uniformed services employees, other qualified family members who are eligible to apply for coverage include spouses of Federal employees or annuitants, same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees, surviving spouses of active or retired members of the uniformed services, parents, parents-in-law and stepparents of living Federal employees and adult children of living Federal employees or annuitants.
Enrollees have the option of four pre-packaged plans (i.e., Plan A, B, C, and D) or can customize the benefits that meet their needs. The four pre-packaged plans offer a variation to the daily benefit amount (the maximum amount the insurance will pay for a single day), the benefit period (the length of time the insurance will last), the maximum lifetime benefit amount, waiting periods and inflation protection options. All four pre-packaged plans have a 90 calendar day waiting period. In addition, there are two methods of inflation protection. The first inflation protection option is the automatic compound inflation option, which increases benefit levels by either 4 or 5 percent each year without a corresponding rise in premiums. The second inflation protection option is the future purchase option, which allows enrollees to obtain benefit increases based on the Medical-Consumer Price Index every two years.
Other benefits of the FLTCIP include the flexibility for enrollees to change coverage as their needs change, various payment options for premiums such as payroll/annuity deduction, comprehensive care coordination, portable coverage, international benefits with no war exclusions, and insurance coverage that is guaranteed renewable.
In 2011, OPM announced the program's second open season for FLTCIP. The FLTCIP is medically underwritten and individuals can apply throughout the year. However, open season allows employees and their spouses to apply with abbreviated underwriting, which means the applicant answers fewer questions about their medical history. In addition, newly hired employees to the Federal Government and their spouses have 60 days to apply for long-term care coverage with abbreviated underwriting standards. Employees, retirees, and qualified family members who apply outside of an open season, the full underwriting standards apply. Also, during the 2011 open season, same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees had the option to apply with abbreviated underwriting, providing the same rights as other qualified family members for purposes of applying for coverage. This inclusion of same-sex domestic partners resulted from President Obama's June 2010 memorandum directing agencies to take action to extend benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees, consistent with existing law. During the 2011 open season, over 300 applications were submitted by same-sex domestic partners of Federal employees.
OPM along with Long Term Care Partners used numerous methods of communication to provide awareness about the benefits of long-term care insurance to the Federal workforce. Direct mail campaigns, direct email campaigns, onsite workshops, webinars, advertisements, payroll notices, and public relation efforts were all utilized to educate the Federal workforce about long-term care insurance. Educational efforts for the 2011 open season began in fall 2010. The educational campaign focused on reaching all eligible employees multiple times through multiple channels. Webinars were used heavily during this open season and an online decision tool was available. Increased information was available on the website, including the ability to apply for coverage online for both full and abbreviated underwriting. The educational campaign sought to provide a high degree of transparency for people considering purchasing long-term care insurance by clearly outlining the features and benefits of the FLTCIP, demonstrating the impact of inflation on long-term care costs, and effectively communicating to all employees the potential for future rate increases should they be necessary for the health of the FLTCIP. The public relations plans raised awareness of both long-term care insurance in general and the FLTCIP. News releases and appearances on Federal radio programs such as Federal Drive, For Your Benefit, and Your Turn with Mike Causey delivered the message to Federal family members that the FLTCIP is a valuable and cost-effective way to protect against the high costs of long-term care.
Overall, Long Term Care Partners received over 45,000 applications during the 2011 open season. The breakdown of the approved applications was 55 percent female and 45 percent male. For active civilian enrollees the average age was 53 and for active uniformed services enrollees the average age was 47 during the open season. The most frequently purchased plan options included: a 3-year benefit period elected by 43% of the applicants and the most popular daily benefit amount was $150 also elected by 43% of the applicants. In addition, 70 percent of the enrollees selected the automatic compound inflation option with 58 percent of enrollees selecting the 4 percent automatic compound inflation option and 12 percent of enrollees opting for the 5 percent automatic compound inflation option. The communication efforts during the 2011 open season were very successful as enrollment increased 20% from 224,000 to approximately 270,000 enrollees.
As the long-term care insurance market continues to evolve, we believe the FLTCIP is well positioned to offer a variety of benefit choices with relatively low cost to enrollees. In addition, we have taken steps to address potential premium risk. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 2000 model long-term care insurance regulations established guidelines that carriers must meet when setting premium rates. In its Request for Proposals (RFP) for both contracts, OPM stated that carriers must follow NAIC's model regulation by including a margin for moderately adverse conditions when setting premiums for new enrollees. To ensure continued stability of the FLTCIP, in its RFP for the second contract, OPM stated that carriers should adjust premiums for existing enrollees to ensure that they were adequate, but that premium increases for existing enrollees should not exceed 25 percent per enrollee.
OPM is working to maintain the long term viability of the FLTCIP by pursuing policies that will help protect current and future enrollees. For example, we are interested in pursuing participation in state Long Term Care Partnerships which provide asset protection as an additional incentive for enrollment. We are also continuing to assess plan benefit options to ensure they are not only attractive to enrollees but also limit risks that would tend to increase future premiums.
Long-term care insurance provides a cost effective way for individuals making average incomes, like most Federal employees, to protect themselves against the financial catastrophe that a long-term illness or injury can cause. However, the long-term care insurance market is still relatively young and uncertain. OPM will need to closely monitor the market to make certain the FLTCIP meets the current and future needs of the Federal family. Our goal is to administer the FLTCIP as an on-going program that will provide enrollees with insurance protection to mitigate their potential costs for long-term care services.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and I am happy to address any questions you may have.
1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information
2 John Hancock 2011 Cost of Care Survey
Back to top


text:
Dear HG, I love to entertain and whip up party drinks, especially in spring and summer. But most of the cocktail recipes I come across are loaded with excess calories and sugar. Do you have any summery cocktail recipes that won't break the calorie bank? Cocktail Carly
Hi Carly,
Glad you asked! Cocktails are fun, but they tend to be pretty high in calories. Luckily, I've got some fantastic drink recipes that are both party pleasers and totally guilt-free. Check out these warm-weather sips for the adults-only crowd… Margaritaville - HG's Magical Low-Calorie Margarita should be a staple at every poolside gathering. If you're looking for a few flavorful twists, click here for a Rockin' Razzy Rita, a Tropical Mango-rita Slushie, and more! Creamy Cocktails - Who doesn't love a drink that tastes like dessert? Make a round of Coconut Cream Pie Cocktails to give your shindig some tropical flair, or whip up some Orange Creamsicle Martinis for a spin on a fruity freezer-aisle treat. And of course, there's the classic Piña Colada Freeze! Chocolatey Concoctions - If you're looking to satisfy your sweet tooth, a Mounds Bar Martini or a Chilly Chocolate Mudslide should do the trick. For a berry-good spin on that 'slide, try the Frozen Fudge-Dipped Strawberry Mudslide. And definitely check out this ChocoMint Martini, inspired by a subscriber's request for a "Thin Mint" martini swap! Fruity and Fabulous - Pomegranate, passion fruit, orange... I've got fantastically fruity cocktails with all of these flavors and more. Try the Pink Pomegranate Passion, Semi-Paloma Splash, My Oh Mai Tai, Upside-Down Tequila Sunrise, and my "frojitos" (frozen mojitos) in watermelon and pineapple. Of course, there's an HG swap for a strawberry daiquiri. And I didn't forget about the sangria... Click! Get Creative & DIY - Wanna concoct your own beverages? Check out this guide to bar stocking, HG-style! It's packed with need-to-know info like must-have guilt-free mixers and the importance of fresh ice. And here are some new ready-to-drink cocktails and low-cal liquors! For an entire book of cocktails (plus party foods!), pick up a copy of Hungry Girl Happy Hour, an adorable and handy li'l cocktail-packed recipe book. And don't miss next Thursday's email for a new pineapple martini recipe and a fruity mocktail pitcher. (If you don't get the free daily emails, sign up here!) Now have fun, and drink responsibly...
Dear HG, I recently bought PB2 for the first time, and don't know what to do with it! How do I use powdered peanut butter, and what are some recipes I can make with it? Puzzled 'Bout Powdered PB
Hi Puzzled,
GREAT question! I love sharing the wonders of powdered peanut butter. PB lovers who are looking for a lower-calorie option will go nuts for it. For those of you who don't know about the stuff, here's a little background... Powdered PB is made from defatted peanuts, and each tablespoon has only around 25 calories and less than a gram of fat (PointsPlus® value 1*). Two companies that make it are Bell Plantation (PB2) and FitNutz. You can buy it online, or find it in select stores. There are all sorts of varieties, including chunky, sugar-free, chocolate, and raspberry.
If you wanna turn powdered PB into peanut butter, mix it with water. I like to start by stirring just a little H2O into a serving of the powder, and then slowly adding more until the consistency is perfect. Add a little sweetener, too, if you like your PB on the sweet side. Then you can use it anywhere you'd use regular peanut butter. Try it in HG recipes like these, and you'll save even more calories and fat than you're already saving by using reduced-fat PB (and other HG swaps).
You can also add the powder straight to certain foods and drinks to impart PB flavor without affecting the texture much. For example, stir it into fat-free vanilla yogurt (regular or Greek), sugar-free pudding snacks, smoothies and shakes (use guilt-free base ingredients like light vanilla soymilk and fat-free ice cream)... even pancake batter (click for picks)!
Looking for full-on recipes? Find the first-ever HG recipes featuring powdered peanut butter in the new all-desserts cookbook, Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 Just Desserts. There are PB Cheesecake Chocolate Cupcakes, a PB & Chocolate Chilly Whoopie Pie, and a Freezy PB S'mores Sandwich!
Powder power!
Get the party started with these summer cocktails and powdered PB info... Click "Send to a Friend" NOW!
Today, May 22nd, is National Vanilla Pudding Day. Pop open a 60-calorie vanilla pudding snack, and make these Tie-Dye-For Cupcakes! Or just eat the pudding with a spoon... Your call.
Have a question for Hungry Girl? Send it in! She answers new Qs each week (but cannot respond to emails personally).
SmartPoints® value not what you expected? Click here for more info on how the values are calculated, plus more FAQs about PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® values on our website.


text:
MUMBAI, India - India's steep new tax on gold imports doesn't deter Mousumi Rao as she holds up a glittering $5,000 filigree necklace that could adorn her daughter on her wedding day. Rao's daughter isn't getting married next month or even next year. The 12-year-old is at least several years away from her wedding.
Since tradition demands a bride practically drip with gold jewelry, it's never too early for an Indian family to start preparing, particularly with the high cost of gold these days.
"I'm collecting things for her now so when she grows older and marries, I should have enough gold for her," said Rao. "It is very auspicious for us, one of the most auspicious things, to give gold to your daughter."
Gold has been deeply entwined in Indian culture for thousands of years. Nowadays, India is by far the world's biggest buyer of gold and those imports are an increasing drain on an economy that is growing too slowly to reduce widespread poverty. Last year Indians imported 864 tonnes of gold, about one fifth of world sales. The cost of 2.5 trillion rupees ($45 billion) was second only to India's bill for imported oil. The unquenchable appetite for gold coins, bars and jewelry has swelled India's trade deficit and weakened its currency, making crucial imports such as fuel more expensive.
The government can't do much about oil imports — without fuel, the economy would grind to a halt — so in the past year it has tried to rein in gold demand, raising the import duty three times in a year to its current level of 6 per cent. The higher tariff is proving little match for age-old tradition.
"Every Indian wants gold. Now is the wedding season, and I'm seeing an increase in demand no matter about the tax," said jeweller Arun Kaigaonkar. "Prices have been rising for years, and still people buy."
He said not only jewelry, but gold bars and coins remain in high demand because in many rural areas banking is less available. "In the countryside, people save their money only in gold."
Last year Indian gold-buying briefly dropped for six months, but then it roared back in the second half of the year. And in January, sales spiked sharply as jewelers and investors rushed to buy ahead of the import tax hike to six per cent, which took effect at the end of the month.
"The culture of gold is so strong in India. It's difficult to contain this demand by just tweaking import duties," said Samiran Chakraborty, an economist with Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai.
Through centuries of warfare and the shifting borders of regional kingdoms, gold was the safest currency. In some Hindu legends, Brahma, the god who created the universe, was born from a gold egg. In India, gold is spiritual and it is also practical. Parents of the bride give gold as a symbol of their prosperity. But it is also insurance against a bad marriage, since the jewelry is the wife's, though many men take it anyway.
In early 2011, an ounce of gold cost about $1,375 on the world market, or nearly 62,000 rupees in India at the exchange rate at the time.
It now costs over $1,600 an ounce but the drop in the rupee against the dollar means the cost in India has risen by an even greater extent, to about 90,000 rupees.
The rising price does reduce demand but each festival and wedding season brings sales back up again.
Industry experts say there are signs that higher import taxes have encouraged smuggling, which hasn't been a problem since India lifted strict gold controls more than 20 years ago.
Few expect a return to those draconian measures. Potentially more effective is a new scheme to get the vast amounts of gold already in India back into circulation.
"India is not only the world's biggest importer of gold, it's the biggest hoarder of gold," said Albert Cheng, a managing director of the World Gold Council, which estimates there are some 18,000 tonnes of gold locked up in bank vaults and family homes around the country.
Standard Chartered's Chakraborty said such "non-productive" gold in India is worth some $1 trillion, about half of India's GDP.
The government recently stopped requiring gold-backed exchange-traded funds to hold physical gold in the amount of their sales. Instead, the funds will be allowed to deposit some gold with banks who in turn can lend it to jewelers, which in theory should reduce imports for a time.
"Up to now, both jewelers and ETF's have been driving the rise in import demand. Now, maybe they can start to cancel each other out," Chakraborty said.
The funds have combined assets of about $1.8 billion, a small proportion of India's gold purchases, so progress might be slow.
"Gold is considered pure in our culture, and giving it is a virtue. Certain amount of gold must be bought," said 26-year-old Rohini, a Mumbai physiotherapist as she browsed in a jewelry shop.
Her mother, Jaishri, agreed. "Of course, nobody can afford as much as we used to. Once upon a time, we used to buy gold by the kilo," she said. "But the price is so high now, we just buy what we can for the necessary things."


text:
TORONTO -- After years of being an online-exclusive, SLAM! Wrestling is proud to announce that it will be entering into the print media world with the release of its first book, SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle.
Founded by Greg Oliver and John Powell, SLAM! Wrestling changed the way North America's true favourite pastime was presented on the Web. With the backing of Sun Media and Canoe, SLAM! Wrestling brought pure journalism to the muddy waters of the pro wrestling media coverage. Never in the Internet Age had the squared circle been viewed with a keen eye by reporters and analysts who broke down the philosophy of wrestling and feted its legends, while also not being afraid to show the very human side of the locker rooms that are hidden from the plain eye inside the world's biggest arenas.
"When I hear the words 'SLAM! Wrestling', I think of how significant it is in terms of wrestling news," says Scott D'Amore, owner of Border City Wrestling and a former agent with TNA Wrestling. "Not just in Canada though; it is probably the best source in the world for Canadian wrestling news, but around the world.
"SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle takes readers on a journey through SLAM! Wrestling's first dozen years and the often all-to real world of professional wrestling. From WWE to the independent leagues that dot North America's landscape, SLAM! Wrestling gives the unique view of the reporter's eye as history unfolds, including interviews with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, John Cena, "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson, Trish Stratus and many others.
From the celebration of WrestleMania XVIII in Toronto, to the tragic death of Owen Hart and many others, SLAM! Wrestling has covered it all and now brings the history of the mat wars straight to your bookshelf.
SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle, published by Toronto's ECW Press, will be edited by Winnipegger Jon Waldman, a veteran SLAM! staffer who has worked for the website since 2000, and produced by co-founder and Torontonian Greg Oliver, whose prior works include three volumes of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame series, also available from ECW Press.
SLAM! Wrestling: Shocking Stories from the Squared Circle is expected to hit store shelves in Fall 2009.
Media Contact:Publicity, ECW Press – firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Battle of the Faces
Michelle Pfeiffer is 9 years older than Nicole Kidman. Almost a decade! Can you tell? Stitch for stitch, shot for shot, Michelle's work – if there is work – is far superior.
Michelle Pfeiffer, wow, is ageless. And it's not even scary! Stunning, right?
This is Michelle with Rupert Friend (better known as Keira Knightley's boyfriend but poised to break out this year in a few high profile projects) at the Berlin Film Festival today promoting Cheri that tells the story of a French courtesan and her much younger lover. F-ck I should have been an actor.
Also arriving in Berlin, another preternatural beauty, Demi Moore with Ashton Kutcher. Granny Nicole is younger than her too.
Would love to see a Face Off, literally, between Demi and Michelle. Put them in a movie together – I'd rather see that than Sex & the City. At least there'd actually be something to analyse. Like plastic surgery soft core porn.
Photos from Wenn.com


text:
this addon was born out of necessity of seeing flags icons on screen while racing with minimal hud on, because it was otherwise impossible to understand if there was any yellow or blue flag signalled on track (apart from the tiny track marshalls).
Problem was, the only way to get flags icons on screen was to use the full hud, which clutters the screen with information I don't need. I need just the gear indicator, the speedometer and icons. Just that.
So, I edited some files here and there and I made this for personal use. Now, after testing, I wanted to share it with you
What you'll see now when using full hud is your gear, your speed, flags and alert icons. Nothing else. Simple, easy, and nice I also corrected some minor errors in the files, cleaning and moving things so to get a tidier and more aligned effect. You won't need the minimal hud anymore!
The package is JSGME ready.
Basic Hud for PnG.7z 60.99K 39 downloads
Edited by leon_90, Oct 12 2016 - 05:28 AM.


text:
Bivouac 2 1/2 ms if front Suffolk
April 24th 1863 )
My dear Sister;)
Your letter dated April
5th was recieved four days ago."
I have not had an opportunity to
write any for the last two weeks. Just
two weeks ago we were ordered to pre-
pare four days rations and to take
nothing but a blanket. I thought we
would be gone 4 or 5 days, and return
so did not bring even a change
of clothing with me, Two weeks have
passed, and I have not had a change
We sent our boy back to Camp (25
ms) tho. and this evening I will
have some clean clothes. Such is
War life and yet a man can-
not honorably extricate himself
from the net, I received a letter
from Mary the day after yours


text:
In Jay Chen's 2011 Year-in-review, he mentioned various milestones from 2011 for the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. These included a failed recall attempt against him, a HLPUSD board ;member, and his free college application seminars.
But what he did not mention may be more important:
The changing of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. School will start three weeks earlier and end three weeks earlier. The change was controversial and may be trend- setting.
Here's a section from our story which ran in December:
The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District board voted 4-1 Thursday night to start the next school year on Aug. 7, three weeks earlier than usual. It is the first local school district to adopt an early start calendar for the entire PreK-12 population.
School will let out May 21, 2013, instead of in late June. A similar calendar was adopted for the 2013-14 school year.
Some may call that decision of the San Gabriel Valley's largest school district one that affects the most people — parents and children.It affect thousands of families in La Puente and Hacienda Heights. It could also lead to other districts doing the same thing.
Quite a milestone.


text:
Inspired by these multitudinous personal connections, Kahane, as a senior, decided to develop a project that became Growing Up Barnard, a 30-minute documentary about the College that was shown publicly at reunion for the first time. "I was thinking of my family's legacy at Barnard," says Kahane, who was raised in New Jersey and graduated from Ramaz high school.
Beyond her own family story, however, Kahane says she "realized it was a wider story. What is Barnard's legacy in general; what can we learn about women's colleges and the legacy of women's colleges?"
The documentary features footage from Barnard's archives (including the Greek games), interviews with such illustrious alumnae as former Chief Judge of the state of New York Judith Kaye '58; former Chair of the Barnard board of trustees Anna Quindlen '74; Joan rivers '57; Suzanne Vega '81; Dorothy Urman Denburg '70, vice president, college relations; attorney Helene Finkelstein Kaplan '53; NPR's Susan Leavitt Stamberg '59; Professor Rosalind Rosenberg; and Ellen Futter '71, president of the American Museum of Natural history; as well as former Barnard President Judith Shapiro and President Debora spar. There are also interviews with recent graduates and those who were first-year students in 2007, who confidently state that "women's colleges empower girls to be better" and that "Barnard women speak up," echoing their predecessors. "The confidence our students have is a confidence not mixed with arrogance," says President spar.
"In my mind, that confidence is what differentiates Barnard students by the time they graduate. Barnard sees its role as transforming its students and nurturing them intellectually. I think we do that really well."
The documentary is as much a celebration of what women's colleges offer as a distillation of what distinguishes Barnard women. Through the voices of alumnae, students, and college leaders, the documentary shows how, through the generations, Barnard students were characterized by "a distinctive combination of academic focus, social consciousness and ambition," as Judith Shapiro observes. Kahane's mother, Tamar, also notes in the documentary that Barnard was "an empowering and fortifying experience." through their experiences, the alumnae featured in the documentary also reflect upon the uneven progress women made in efforts to attain equality and recognition, academically and professionally. "There was a stereotype that all we did was study," admits Anna Quindlen. "Not true, but there was some truth to it. Many of us were very driven. We had to do twice as well as our male counterparts."
For Kahane, telling Barnard's story as well as her family's was a compelling mission. An English major with a film concentration and a psychology minor, she says she "loved the English department and always loved writing." taking a film class, where she turned a short story she wrote into a 15-minute film, inspired her to tell stories through the medium. Kahane interned for Miramax for two terms as an undergraduate and most recently worked as an assistant to Wendy Finerman, a producer in Los Angeles. She is also a producer at her own company, Legacy film Productions. Currently working on a documentary about genocide with filmmaker Edet Belzberg, Kahane says that after completing that project, she "would love to take a break from documentaries and tackle my first scripted feature."
-by Merri Rosenberg '78


text:
In a quest to document daily life in the notoriously secretive North Korea, Steve Gong managed to capture video footage inside the country without anyone noticing. How'd he do it? Well, North Korean's don't know the Canon 5D records video.
Filming in North Korea is a bit of an iffy task, and you never know when a minder may decide to confiscate your memory cards or camera. That was a risk I didn't want to take, so I decided not to reveal to them the fact that my 5D was capable of shooting video. I taped up the back screen with black electrical tape.
Because I shot with Nikon lenses by way of a simple adapter, I also lost any form of autofocus. Moreover, to be truly covert, it was a good idea to manually focus without looking through the viewfinder anyway.
For a few weeks before my trip, I'd practice every day, shooting with the camera around my neck, manually focussing and composing blindfolded.
Gong had to join a tour group just to get into North Korea, whose citizens are kept at arm's length from outsiders. It's pretty neat to catch even a glimpse of what an average day is like there. [Steve Gong via John Herrman]


text:
Friday, 1 October 2010
I've Moved
Saturday, 26 June 2010
A Summery Ginger Cake
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Many Muffins
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Spice Cakes
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
An Abundance of Bundts
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Early Morning Sunshine
Thursday, 22 April 2010
The Anxiety of Birthday Baking
I made Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate Cake (although mine technically is only a triple version as I didn't finish with the chocolate curls, but hey there's still plenty of chocolate in there) in bundt form for a colleagues birthday a while ago. I'm fairly confident that doubling loaf cake recipes makes for a good large bundt (and the reverse) and have made this cake before, albeit in loaf form and did my usual of substituting the sour cream for buttermilk. I have no idea what I was doing when making this but I did think, as I spooned the batter into the pan, that the recipe direction of 'pouring' was a little off but it wasn't until the cake was in the oven and I was reviewing the recipe to check baking times I realised that I had missed out an entire step; adding the boiling water. 250ml of boiling water, not a tablespoon or a piffling amount, but 250ml.
I stared at the cake in the oven a fair amount whilst it was baking, trying to imagine what this error might mean. The cake came out of the oven fine, it felt a little heavy, but it's a chocolate bundt, not a chiffon cake, it was hardly going to be a light and airy thing that I held in my hands. I couldn't work out how this might have affected the finished cake and spent an evening of anxiety, trawling the net for advice, asking the question on the Serious Eats Talk board (a great resource and an enjoyable and compelling read, there are some great threads on there and some very knowledgeable, helpful and amusing people on there). I eventually cored out a small section of cake from the underneath, which whilst dense seemed ok - in fact it tasted great. It was cooked all the way through which was my main fear, so I decided to risk it. Everyone commented on how rich and moist the cake was, and whoever got the slice with the missing section didn't say anything!
I have also made Smitten Kitchen's lemon cake twice recently. I've had this cake in my 'Cakes to Make' folder for months and when you look at the recipe and photo's you'll understand why it's a cake to make. I have yet to come across a recipe from Deb that hasn't not only been reliable, but also absolutely delicious. She has such a loyal and proactive following that reading the comments below her posts in full is always worth it for the revisions and suggestions. The reason this cake had remained in the folder rather than in my oven was due to the quantity of lemons needed. I usually have a couple of lemons in the fruit bowl ready to lend their zest to a cake (or, of course, to contribute to a Saturday evening G&T) but to have 8 at one time takes planning. I discovered that a colleague, due to leave work, liked lemon cakes so I had time to plan and purchase enough lemons. It was more than worth it.
So much so that I made another later the same week, with the frosting, for a good friends birthday. The syrup should brushed on slowly over a cake pierced multiple times with a toothpick or skewer - it's worth the effort of taking the time to make sure as much as possible is absorbed as the difference it makes to the taste and moistness of the cake is considerable.
Another, more recent citrusy, request was for a Tart au Citron. For the recipe I reverted to the trusty Leith's Baking Bible as I'm anxious about the technicalities of pastry and despite the success of December's Gin Mince Pies was still hesitant. The recipe for the Pate Sucree was for one to be made by hand and there were no tips on converting to be made in a food processor, an essential adaptation as these hands were not for pastry making made. Once more Serious Eats helped me out and I ended up with pastry that came together well. I suspect I didn't quite leave it to chill for long enough before trying to work with it, or perhaps it was because I was trying to bake in the evening rather than the morning, so unbalancing the natural order of things, but I didn't have the time to leave it for that long and the recipe was vague, with only the direction to 'chill'. When I came to roll it out it cracked and split and was an absolute disaster. I tried to rescue it by putting it back in the fridge but was too tired and frustrated too leave it long enough. I toyed with the idea of using to make little mini jam tarts but to be honest I had lost the will to bake and just gave up. I went to bed intending to nip to the local French Patisserie to buy one of their spectacular tarts to give along with the story of my disastrous effort. However, I woke at 5, and decided to have a go at another lemon recipe from Smitten. Not something I would usually make, but when searching the site for a lemon cake it had come up. Oh the anxiety! It's been a while since I made shortbread, I've not made lemon curd before and to top it all off the pictures of the finished recipe weren't displaying properly so I couldn't see how it should turn out. And of course I had to take the bars in the tin they were baked in as they would not have travelled well so I had no opportunity to taste to see what they look like. In my anxiety to get this ready in time to take to work I didn't manage to take a photo, but I have a plan to make them again in the near future and will make sure there are pics. Oh, and it was enjoyed.


text:
COVER- My 'Pet Virus': Decker finds humor in his life with HIV
When Shawn Decker started circulating his memoir to agents, he figured he'd get the response most first-time authors get: silence– or at best, a few "No, thanks." Instead, Decker beat the odds.
Not only did 10 of the 20 agents he contacted respond favorably, but he went on to land a contract and a five-figure advance with a top publisher. His book, My Pet Virus: The True Story of a Rebel Without a Cure, hits bookstore shelves next week, and Decker hits the road for a nine-city book tour.
But while the book deal with Tarcher/Penguin may be sweet, for Decker, beating other odds has been even sweeter. Diagnosed as a baby with hemophilia– and with subsequent diagnoses of Hepatitis B, C, HIV, and finally full-blown AIDS– Decker shouldn't even be alive, statistically speaking. Never mind writing a book, let alone one that Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil author John Berendt calls "enlightening, compassionate, hilarious."
Hilarious? A book recalling a childhood spent in and out of the hospital, getting kicked out of school for his illness, and ostracized even by his own godparents?
There was no shortage of material, says Decker as he describes the book's beginning: "Like any good movie, it starts with a bloody episode." He's referring to his circumcision as an infant– the moment doctors realized he had hemophilia. Later chapters cover youthful "shenanigans" in his rural hometowns of Buena Vista and Waynesboro.
In the book's first pages, Decker, now 30, eschews usual medical terminology– hemophiliacs are renamed "thinbloods," HIV-positive individuals become "positoids" (and their opposites "thickbloods" and "negatoids"). "I should be able to introduce myself and my gaggle of viruses and diseases without needing a hit of oxygen," Decker writes.
And although his illnesses are a part of the story, Decker says they're not the stars of the show.
"My medical conditions are floating there in the background," he says. "It's kind of how my life has been shaped by them."
Early reviews suggest Decker made the right decision to tackle weighty subject matter with levity. Heather McCormack in the Library Journal lauds the Gen Xer for skipping self-pity and self-loathing, "a bold move in our misery-loves-company culture."
Indeed, there are episodes in the book that detail Decker's many hospital stays– gushing nosebleeds stanched only by trips to the ER, and episodes of frightening weight-loss and near death. But they are balanced by the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn adventures Decker has with his two best friends, Michael and Jared, and his older brother, Kip, whom Decker portrays lovingly as equal parts tormenter and protector. Kip may deliver devastating body slams, but when the younger boys discover an X-rated treasure, Kip is there to help retrieve it– and to take the fall, without complaint, when the group is caught.
While Decker's father, Buddy, makes regular appearances through the book, it's Decker's mother, Pam, whom Decker portrays as a force of nature, refusing to allow her younger son to be victimized or to be intimidated by doctors, school administrators, or ignorant neighbors.
Considering attitudes toward AIDS in the early to mid-1980s, when the disease was little understood and almost universally seen as a death sentence, Decker's mother had a formidable task in helping her family navigate frequent, frustrating obstacles.
Decker writes that in 1987, just after he had tested positive for HIV, he was told he could no longer attend Westwood Hills Elementary School by order of the Waynesboro school board. His two best friends were no longer allowed to play with him, and even his godparents cut ties with him. And he was not the only child in America facing such a fate. Ryan White, also a hemophiliac who contracted HIV from a tainted transfusion, was making headlines at the time for his expulsion from an Indiana school.
Despite Decker and his mother's recollections, then-superintendant of Waynesboro Schools, Thomas Varner, denies Decker was ever prevented from attending school and says Waynesboro was among the first schools to implement an official policy regarding HIV-positive students.
"I think he would like to appear to be some type of pioneer, and he may be– in his mind only," says Varner, insisting, "There was no individual who fought for HIV rights in Waynesboro schools."
Pam Decker scoffs– with a few harsh adjectives– at Varner's memory, and says she helped pen the policy Varner mentions after being told her son wasn't welcome. Another Waynesboro school administrator, Maggie Van Huss, now director of student services for Waynesboro schools, says Pam Decker was an integral part of crafting the school's HIV policy during the summer after Decker's sixth grade year, but says she has no memory of Decker being prevented from attending school. "I won't say it didn't happen," she says, "but I don't recall that piece of it all."
Decker himself is gentler than his mother in his response to Varner's claim.
"I've never had the opportunity to speak to Tom in person, but I'd love to have a discussion about everything that happened, maybe over a beer," he says wryly. "And if that doesn't work, I guess we'll have to settle it the old fashioned way– with mud wrestling."
From the time Decker left school in May 1987 until that July, his mother says she petitioned the Waynesboro school system until it finally allowed him to re-enroll the next year for seventh grade.
But while she was publicly fighting for her son's rights, Decker himself was not thrilled to be the object of such attention. When his mother asked him if he'd like to go public, like White, to help raise HIV awareness, Decker declined. An adoring fan of professional wrestling, and Ric Flair in particular, Decker imagined a WWF-like confrontation with White.
"I wasn't the kind of kid," he writes, "who wanted to waste my breath on a bunch of morons who thought that HIV could be transmitted through handshakes or wedgies."
Though his mother may have wished Decker would speak out like White, she didn't agree with everything the Whites did, especially the treatment Ryan White received, the early AIDS drug AZT. Pam Decker defied doctors' recommendations that Shawn take AZT, believing the drug's harsh side effects were not a good match for hemophiliacs. White succumbed to AIDS in 1990 at age 18.
For Decker, however, surviving came with its own complications. As he details in his book, he was close to 20 when he realized he might actually live to see 40, a realization that prompted a midlife crisis of sorts. Decker, who hadn't applied for college and had dreamed only of rock stardom, suddenly realized he needed a purpose and a way to fill his days. The purpose, he decided, was already inside him– and multiplying.
In 1996, Decker launched a website, mypetvirus.com, to educate people about HIV and AIDS. The site, which he still maintains, quickly brought him some national attention. That same year, he became the cover boy for a new national magazine, Poz, and later wrote a monthly column. In 1997, he met then-vice president Al Gore at World AIDS Day. By 1998, he was featured on an MTV special.
And then along came Gwenn.
While living in Charlottesville at that time, Decker met Gwenn Barringer through the AIDS Services Group, where he volunteered. Barringer, a leading Miss Virginia contestant, was an AIDS activist who'd interviewed Decker a short time earlier for a graduate school project.
"I was a little smitten," Decker admits.
The feelings were mutual, and for the past eight years, Decker and Barringer, now married, have traveled the country, speaking at schools and answering questions. ("Yes, we can have sex." "Yes, we can have children." "No, we don't think about death constantly.")
Decker says Barringer, who works as manager of Goth band Bella Morte, pushed him to write the book and encouraged him to "write your truth" rather than mimicking the educational tone of a speech.
For Decker, that included writing about past relationships. "Falling in love, each time you do, alters who you are," he writes, "and so I didn't want the book to be all about how HIV has affected me. People affect you more than medical conditions do. That cuts both ways, positive and negative."
Barringer says seeing Decker through the book process has been "really cool," and as for Decker getting more time in the publishing limelight, Barringer's okay with that, too.
"I've always been the better speaker," she says, "and he's always been the better writer."
She's not the only one who admires Decker's writing style.
"His comic timing is perfect," says Decker's New York agent, Christopher Schelling, who also represents acclaimed memoirists Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors, Dry) and Haven Kimmels (A Girl Named Zippy). "He really knows when to give you the emotional and then reel you in with the perfect punchline," Schelling says.
Tarcher/Penguin editor Ken Siman says it was Decker's "original comic voice" that earned him the deal. "You can fake a lot of things in life, but you can't fake laughter," says Siman, who also works with Erica Jong and Larry Cramer.
That comic voice, Siman adds, allows Decker to address subject matter "that could be tough to some people." Decker is living proof, Siman says, that "if you tell a story well, you can tell any story and get people behind it."
Though writing a memoir can involve a few sticky wickets– telling stories some family members may not wish aired or fabricating history, a la the infamous recent case of James Frey– Decker seems to have avoided them, as Barringer and his family praise his accuracy. Mostly.
"I think he made me sound better than I deserve to be," laughs brother Kip, now a chemist working for Merck in Elkton. "I thought there'd be something there that would cause me to say, 'You're full of it,'" he says, "but there isn't anything that I could say didn't happen."
For Pam Decker, reading her son's memoir provided a way to see his childhood from a new perspective: his.
"You're so busy trying to keep them alive, you wonder how they're feeling and what they're thinking," she says. After she and husband Buddy read the book, "We felt like we'd done a pretty decent job," she says, "'cause he seems pretty happy."
The book did hold a few surprises for mom.
"They viewed us as hip sex fiends?" she laughs. "Wow! I was directing the church choir."
That his parents laugh easily and roll with the punches is a gift Decker says has helped him not just survive, but thrive. Local audiences can find out for themselves on the book's launch date, September 19, when he speaks at Barnes & Noble. UVA hosts him a day later as he embarks on his national book tour.
"I was taught at an early age not to feel sorry for myself," he says, "that life is to be enjoyed, and that there are some twisted things about the human experience, but that's what makes it fun."
Apparently that lesson translates to print as well.
Shawn Decker and Gwenn Barringer
Pac-Man fiend Shawn Decker, age 7
Decker, front, at 2 with big brother Kip
The Deckers: (from left) Buddy, Kip, Shawn, and Pam. "You're so busy trying to keep them alive," says Pam," you wonder how they're feeling." After she and Buddy read their son's book, she says, "We felt like we'd done a pretty decent job."
A teenaged Decker meets his rock idols, Depeche Mode, courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Decker appeared on the cover of Poz magazine for the third time in September; Decker's book hits shelves September 19.


text:
Just read about an article on phoneme diversity via GNXP and Babel's Dawn. Hopefully I'll share some of my thoughts on the paper this weekend as it clearly ties in with work I'm currently doing (see here and here). Below is the abstract:
Human genetic and phenotypic diversity declines with distance from Africa, as predicted by a serial founder effect in which successive population bottlenecks during range expansion progressively reduce diversity, underpinning support for an African origin of modern humans. Recent work suggests that a similar founder effect may operate on human culture and language. here I show that the number of phonemes used in a global sample of 504 languages is also clinal and fits a serial founder-effect model of expansion from an inferred origin in Africa. This result, which is no explained by more recent demographic history, local language diversity, or statistical non-independence within language families, points to parallel mechanisms shaping genetic and linguistic diversity and supports an African origin of modern human languages.
Reference: Atkinson, Q.D (2011). Phonemic Diversity Supports a Serial Founder Effect Model of Language Expansion from Africa. Science 332, 346. DOI: 10.1126/science.1199295.
Update: I've given a lengthier response here.


text:
Bullish news coming out of the fields along the ProFarmer crop tour kept grains sharply higher today. December corn closed 16 ½ cents higher at $8.23 ¾, November soybeans 37 ¾ cents higher at $16.83 ½, and December wheat 8 ¼ cents higher at $9.02 ¾. We are about 25 cents below the contract high in December corn and only 8 cents below the contract/all-time high for November soybeans. We broke through trendline resistance in soybeans and a move above the contract highs may trigger more buy-stops. November soybeans are still holding an extraordinarily steep premium through the spring contracts.
Yield reports from South Dakota have been very poor so far. Many of the fields in that region had already been chopped for silage and the fields still standing were well below last year and the averages. Obviously the market has been expecting poor yields but today's numbers may have been a little worse than they were expecting given the market reaction. We also started the day with a corn sale announcement for 121,000 of new crop to Mexico (99,000 for 2012-13 and 22,000 for 13-14).
Crop progress shows no change to the corn condition but a 1 point improvement in the good-excellent category for soybeans. Corn is now 17% mature and 4% harvested, both of these numbers are well above their 5 year averages. Overall the report didn't show any surprises.
Due to some technical difficulties, the export inspections were not released at their regularly scheduled time this morning. Instead they released the numbers immediately following the day session close at 2pm CST. Corn inspections were 21.515 million bushels which was about 2 million above expectations. Soybeans were well above expectations at 21.42 million and wheat was at 23.42 million. These numbers could lead to a slightly higher open on tonight's trading session.
The CFTC's Commitment of Traders report showed another increase to the already massive long positions the funds are holding in corn, wheat, and soybeans. Using futures and options combined, the "managed money" alone is long 1.516 billion bushels of corn, 1.1577 billion bushels of soybeans, and 385.520 million bushels of Chicago wheat. Obviously these huge positions have helped push grains to the current levels. How much more will they add to these positions and how long will they stay in them are the questions to ask.
While corn is in a supply market we believe soybeans are in a demand market. Crush continues to outpace estimates. Exports have been strong. At the same time the recent rains have the market wondering if bean yields have improved. In our opinion once we get past the supply question soybeans will have a bigger story than corn.
Please contact EHedger at 866-433-4371 if you would like to try our proprietary farm management software called AMMO. To learn more please visit www.ammoag.com.
Chart: November Soybeans
Chart: December Corn
Chart: December Wheat
Best Regards,
Trading commodity futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and may not be suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge and financial resources. The market information contained in this message has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed as to its accuracy or completeness. Market information may not be consistent with current or future market positions of EHedger LLC, its affiliates, officers, directors, employees or agents.


text:
I'm sorry to write two medical posts one after the other but I had my hospital appt yesterday and thought I'd tell y'all about it.
I saw a speech cum throat- especially larynx specialist. I had been referred to her by my Respiratory Consultant who suspected that some of the asthma and other breathing problems may be Vocal Cord Dysfunction.
She took a very thorough history – I was in there for an hour – on NHS time! We went through the different breathing problems; some obviously asthma, some orthostatic, some being something else. She was interested in the problems I'm having with swallowing and eating – without immediately jumping to daft conclusions.
Then she stuck a camera up my nose and down my throat. This is just the sort of thing a good Catholic girlie can "offer up" 🙂
From this delightful experience she told me straight away that my throat was "cherry red" and otherwise a bit of a mess. So I now have a dx of Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) and EERD (a form of reflux)
In her talk about how VCD works she spoke of it as a spectrum disorder. On the mild end are those who have what I suppose sounds like voice strain; teachers, soldiers and opera singers being the most common patients. (As my Resp Con is a Colonal in the army I wonder if that's how he guessed so quickly what was happening to me).
On the rough end come those of us with severe asthma and autonomic nervous system problems. She hadn't heard of dysautonomia as hyperadrenergic POTS or IST but she really quickly grasped the ANS dysfunction side of things for me and how that kicks in with VCD.
I'm to start therapy which will be around breathing exercises and voice control. There's no cure as it's obviously ANS related but it can be better managed – which I'm all for.
Since the TIA last week I've had some problems with being upright and breathing. Needing to lie down more often and the bloomin' stairs are a killer. I've set something off that I can't get on top of right now. What a shambles.