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My most memorable punch in the face was a beaut. Back during my first year of studying karate, some classmates and I had met up for a little unsupervised sparring practice—never a good idea for novices. After an hour or so of this, my friend Eric and I were easing out of it with what was supposed to be an easy cool-down round when he, with a surge of enthusiasm, threw a left jab that popped me front and center across the chin, teeth, and tip of the nose. (So nicely placed.)
My eyes rolled up into my skull and a warm red blanket of numbness closed in from every side of my field of vision. My knees slowly folded, all resolve to support my worthless body gone. Fight over! My concerned friends looked on while I, on the floor, gingerly felt out whether there was any actual damage (there wasn't… that time). The punch hadn't been so much painful as deeply stunning, and it was probably a good ten minutes before I stopped feeling its disorienting effects.
Experiences like that one, not to mention the far more powerful punches in prize fights or even board-breaking demonstrations by martial artists, can inspire considerable respect for the prowess of the human hand as a weapon. They also inspired a widely publicized recent study by evolutionary biologists Michael H. Morgan and David R. Carrier at the University of Utah, who have suggested that while evolution was reshaping our hands to improve our ability to use tools, it was also shaping them to throw more effective punches.
It's a clever speculation, and its authors don't really offer it as much more than that. Perhaps it contains a kernel of truth worth further investigation. Personally, though, I find it unpersuasive on evolutionary grounds—and what the heck, on fighting grounds, too.
Ancient hands, questionable fists
The great apes and the tree-dwelling ancestors we shared with them had hands that excelled at prehensile power grips, which were essential for holding tightly to branches. Only humans, however, have hands with the dexterity for precision grips that can manipulate small objects between the tips of the thumb and opposing fingers. Grab a hammer: power grip; grab a pencil: precision grip.
Comparison of the external (A) and skeletal (B) proportions of the hands of chimpanzees (at left) and humans. From Morgan and Carrier, J.Exp.Bio. (2013).
What makes our precision gripping possible is that our hands have much boxier proportions than do those of the chimps and apes. Our thumbs are longer, more flexible, and proportionally stronger, while our fingers are shorter. Those dimensions started to emerge more than three million years ago, roughly around the time that our australopith ancestors started to walk on two legs. Given the huge survival advantages that came with tool use, biologists have long surmised that dexterity was the primary factor that drove evolutionary changes in our hands.
But in their paper in the January 15 issue of The Journal of Experimental Biology, Morgan and Carrier point out that our hand's shape also allows us to do something else that the apes can't: make a true fist. Only humans can curl their fingertips tightly into the center of the palm without leaving a space, and only humans can then buttress (fold and lock) the thumb across the first two fingers—an arrangement that turns our fists into hard, unyielding clubs.
Diagram of a fist.
This is no coincidence, according to Morgan and Carrier. In all the known species of great apes, males fight with one another for the opportunity to mate. Among gorillas and chimps this conflict can be brutal, and even the relatively peaceful bonobo males mix it up over females. That conflict should exert evolutionary pressure to make males better fighters. In the case of humans, the researchers posit, it could have meant that natural selection found a hand design that makes us simultaneously great tool users and punchers.
The fight is on
Carrier's interest in the role of fighting on human evolution isn't new. In 2011 he published a paper in PLoS ONE that argued male-male aggression in our ancestors might have created sexual selection pressure favoring taller men (and not necessarily taller women), because their height would have enabled them to strike downward more powerfully during fights. This new set of experiments, however, seems to have been inspired by a heated discussion with their biomechanics colleague Frank Fish, as noted in what is now one of my all-time favorite acknowledgments in a research paper:
We thank Professor Frank Fish for suggesting the null hypothesis with a wave of his fist and the exclamation 'I can hit you in the face with this, but it did not evolve for that!'
Morgan and Carrier seem to have taken that as a challenge.
To test how much advantage the shape of the human fist gives fighters, Morgan and Carrier recruited 12 experienced fighters. They measured how much power the fighters could deliver with closed fist strikes versus open hand slaps from various angles, and how the force of a blow was distributed throughout the hand and wrist during impact. They also looked at what happened when the fighters struck with hands shaped into approximations of what primates' fists look like. (If a chimp tries to make a fist, for example, its thumb juts out somewhat as shown in image C just below.)
The three hand postures studied by Morgan and Carrier: (A) a tight, fully buttressed fist, (B) a fist with tightly curled fingers but no support from a locked thumb, and (C) a fist without reinforcement from the fingers or thumb. From Morgan and Carrier, J.Exp.Bio. (2013).
How a fist changes shape during a punching impact (before: gray; after: black). A sturdy fist, as shown here, shows much greater stability than a more poorly shaped one does. From Morgan and Carrier, J.Exp.Bio (2013).
In brief, Morgan and Carrier documented that true fists do indeed make hand blows more formidable. Perhaps most notably, they showed that tucking the tips of the fingers directly into the palm doubled the stiffness of the middle finger's knuckle during an impact—and reinforcing the fingers with the thumb doubled the stiffness again. That fourfold increase in stiffness not only makes the fist more clublike but could also reduce the tendency for the blow to hurt the puncher, because the reciprocal impact gets distributed throughout structures in the hand and wrist.
That general conclusion won't come as a surprise to martial artists, who know from experience that a properly shaped fist can concentrate all the power of a punch into the small area across the top of the big knuckles of the index and middle fingers. (Japanese karateka refer to this hitting surface as seiken.) They also know that punching with an improperly shaped fist is an open invitation to injury. Nevertheless, it's great that Morgan and Carrier have quantified some of these details, and I suspect that the findings about the effect of fist-shape on the stability of the joints will be one of the biggest lasting contributions of this paper.
Scoring the round
What, though, about their larger argument that natural selection was adapting our hands for pugilism at the same time it was making us dexterous? It's not a preposterous idea, and I'd be interested in how further experiments by Morgan and Carrier (and more importantly, others) would explore it further. But the case seems weak and dubious to me for a variety of reasons.
A crucial test for Morgan and Carrier's theory is precisely the argument that their colleague Frank Fish raised before their experiments began: can it distinguish fists specifically adapted for fighting from fists that we simply use when fighting because they are, well, handy. The late Stephen Jay Gould borrowed the term "spandrels" from architecture to account for features that look designed but are really happy accidents. Are our fists evolved weapons or just spandrels?
Without better knowledge about the constraints that might have influenced the shape of our hands, it is almost impossible to know. Evolutionary biologists often try to solve such problems by looking to the fossil record for signs that a feature's function emerged over time. Morgan and Carrier haven't done much of that kind of study yet, however: they discuss the shapes of apes' hands and those of Australopithecus, but their work doesn't report on the dimensions and fighting effectiveness of any ancestral species between them and us.
We also don't yet know whether the modifications of fists would actually have provided enough of an advantage in practice to influence natural selection. Morgan and Carrier make the point that by striking with their seiken rather than their palm (shotei in karate), fighters can increase the stress on their opponent's tissues by 1.7 to 3.0 times, thereby increasing the potential for injury at the point of contact. But the paper also acknowledges that open palm slaps exert about as much jerk (change in acceleration) on the target as punches do, and the level of jerk is what is most associated with traumatic brain and musculoskeletal injuries. So their argument depends on some assumptions about what kinds of inflicted injuries were most important in winning those fights for mating rights.
Remember, too, that even with their miserable fists, male gorillas and chimps can inflict devastating, even lethal injuries on their rivals. Yes, they are landing their blows with the immense strength of apes, but what they are hitting are other gorillas and chimps, which have a proportionate strength for taking a blow.
Nor is there much discussion in the paper about how apes, ancestral humans, and modern people actually fought. The paper mentions that punches are the most frequent blows thrown in mixed martial arts fights, and that babies innately raise their fists in anger, but those observations don't really do anything to disprove Fish's null hypothesis: that we use fists for aggression because it's reasonably effective and easy for us to do.
Fists aren't clubs
To me, there's also another unacknowledged problem with their hypothesis. Contrary to what one might be led to believe from Morgan and Carrier's measurements and the terrifying blows thrown in boxing matches and other sporting events, human hands simply aren't great as bludgeons.
Example of a boxer's fracture, shown by the broken metatarsal of the ring finger (at arrow). [Photo: Yayay, via Wikimedia Commons]
There's a reason that fighters wrap their hands before a fight and put on cushioned gloves, and it isn't all intended to reduce the brutality unleashed on their opponents. If you throw a full-power punch with an unprotected fist into someone's face or head, there's a very good chance you will break a finger or metacarpal (one of bones in the palm of the hand). Bones of the hand are fragile compared to the more solid bones of the skull.
Yes, you can break someone's nose or knock out teeth easily enough, but if your opponent ducks his chin and your fist slams into the hard dome of his temple instead, you may be hurt worse than he is. Fierce punches to the body are relatively safer for your hands, but even then there's a chance of slamming into an elbow and suffering what's known as a boxer's fracture—a break that can shove your knuckle halfway to the center of your hand. Left untreated, a boxer's fracture can permanently impair someone's ability to fight and grip a tool, so it's not an injury to dismiss casually among our prehistoric ancestors.
John L. Sullivan, aka the Boston Strong Boy, last of the heavyweight champions of bare-knuckle fighting. (via Wikipedia)
In the heyday of John L. Sullivan and bare-knuckle boxing matches in the 19th century, fighters mostly threw snapping punches to the face and hard punches to the body until an opponent was an easy target for a knockout, which is why they adopted a fighting stance that can look a bit comical to spectators of modern boxing. My understanding is that the use of boxing gloves was introduced precisely to enable fighters to punch one another with full abandon: promoters liked that it made the fights more exciting… and never mind the harm done to the fighters along the way. This is part of why the incidence of serious brain trauma among boxers may have increased after the introduction of gloves.
(Bare-knuckle boxing hasn't disappeared as a sport, by the way, though many of the surviving competitions may be of questionable legality, to say the least. I won't link to any specifically because these fights can still be bloody and nasty, but search YouTube and you'll find plenty of clips from fights. Consider yourself warned, though!)
The limitations of fists are why martial arts fighters often use techniques that involve the palm heel (shotei), the open hand's knife edge (shuto), and the hammer fist (tettsui) for power strikes—all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages. It's also why combatants in hard-fighting styles like muay thai often favor using elbow and knee strikes, because those parts of the body are even more devastatingly clublike than the hand can be.
I can't help but wonder whether the new study's selection of experienced fighters as participants might not be a methodological weakness. Experienced fighters know how to make good fists. Every martial arts teacher knows that instructing beginners on how to make a sturdy fist is one of the first challenges: new students often routinely put their thumbs inside their fingers, they stick out thumbs, they bend their wrists—all mistakes that undermine the fist strength that Morgan and Carrier measured. Martial artists benefit from centuries if not thousands of years of tradition on how to make good fists.
Would our ancestors stretching back to Australopithecus naturally make fists more like boxers or like children? If their punches weren't strong, why wouldn't they simply rely more on other blows and kicks? If evolution adapted our hands for punching, I wonder why it didn't do more to increase the density or stability of our punching knuckles and finger bones? Or maybe evolution really did all that it could without impairing the even more important dexterity of our hands.
The problem is that we don't know enough about the relative importance of different hand features to understand the constraints on their evolution—which is why this study, for me, loses by TKO.
• • •
Morgan, M. H. and Carrier, D. R. (2013). Protective buttressing of the human fist and the evolution of hominin hands. J. Exp. Biol. 216:236-244. doi:10.1242/jeb.075713
Carrier DR (2011) The Advantage of Standing Up to Fight and the Evolution of Habitual Bipedalism in Hominins. PLoS ONE 6(5):e19630. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019630
Source: PLOS The Gleaming Retort, story by John Rennie


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Call for Ullr Fest floats
Parade float entries are now being accepted for the 50th anniversary Ullr Fest parade to take place Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Entry is free and winners receive cash – $1,000 for first, $300 for second and $200 for third – Bud Light prizes and more. Community members are encouraged to show their creativity, as a new Travel Channel show, "Edge of America" will shoot the parade and other Ullr Fest activities. Float submissions are due by Tuesday. Email firstname.lastname@example.com with questions or to submit.
Each winter, snow-worshipers don Viking horns and line the streets of Breckenridge to pay homage to Ullr, the Norse god of snow. The 50th annual celebration, today through Saturday, gives thanks for snow with a notorious Main Street parade, wacky Ullympic competitions, a new family night, town bonfire and more.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.

subset: commoncrawl


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A.L.S. [after 1870]. �Aff. R.E.G� [Roxana Chapin Gerdine] to �Dear Sister [Emily McKinstry Chapin]. 4pp. Note: Part of the last page continues onto the front of the first page.)
Weather is over? I sent Wm 50 P.O. order hope it went all right, will send the remainder soon. With love to you and yours to Edward & Abbie [Micah] & Minerva Aff R.E.G.)
Sunday morn 9 o�clock"
Dear Sister"
Lyman rec�d your portal last night and enjoyed it very much. you say �we got home from [illegible word] who is included in the �We� were you speaking editorially and are you as one of the firm or did Wm go also? please be a little more explicit remembering you are writing to a genuine Yankee who has her amount of curiosity. Tom is dressed and waiting for church he is reading the Independent & I after doing my hair up in corners am also waiting for the church bell. It is a good thing for me that Sunday comes as often as one day in seven or I should )


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January 1-4, 2009. I'm not making any specific predictions for the new year, just a couple general themes. First, no safety net. To see what this means, consider a literal safety net: you're a trapeze artist, and you've always practiced with a net, and now it's gone. Now, if you make one little mistake, you fall to your death. On the one hand, this will lead you to learn great mental focus. But on the other hand, it will slow or stop other kinds of learning. You're not going try any new moves or take any risks. Moving back to metaphorical nets and real situations, we're already seeing investors and lenders becoming ultra-cautious.
But also, in reality, most of us are not yet in danger of dying. And people who lose their jobs or their money, but not their lives, will have less to lose and be more willing to take risks. Also, the safety net that's disappearing is the one provided by institutions and strangers. If you still have friends and family to catch you, this could be a good year.
The other theme is get your ass in gear, and this is not just something I'm advising but something I'm observing. Half the people I've stayed with are already in the middle of big changes, aggressively paying debts off, standing up for themselves at work, increasing the number of bodies under one roof to save housing costs, choosing a long-term landbase, planting fruit trees, making local connections, improving their diets, and so on. As William Gibson said, "The future is already here -- it's just not widely distributed yet." Ray reports from the near future:
Our little group seems to be acting more and more "tribal" lately. We tend to share meals on a regular basis. We contribute what we can when we can. Last night we took soup to some friends. We left there with a few pumpkins they grew in their garden. Last week my truck hauled a second hand transmission so a friend could fix his truck. Yesterday, the same guy helped me move a woodstove. This is not barter. If he could not have helped, that would have been fine. Someone else would have helped. Favors enrich the whole group.
Our group doesn't look too different than the people around us. We have our own households. However, all of us tend to have extended households. Extra people live under our roofs -- friends or grown children and grandchildren. I've noticed that fewer and fewer of us have regular full time jobs. One guy was relieved when he got laid off from his last job. Now at last he can finish the cabin.
January 7. Fascinating page, Selected Sounds of Space, and also a six minute video, The Sounds Of Space. We've all heard "spacy" sound effects in sci-fi movies, "spacy" keyboards in space rock, and so on. Of course all that stuff was recorded before we knew what space sounds like. Now it turns out... that's exactly what space sounds like! More precisely, that's what electromagnetic waves from planets and moons sound like when shifted into the audible sound spectrum. I like to think there are beings out there that can just hear them. [Update: the expensive CD set is no longer being sold, but Amazon is offering a download of all five hours for only six bucks: Nasa Voyager Space Sounds.]
January 9. David sends this very impressive 26 page pdf essay by Kevin Carson, Industrial Policy: New Wine in Old Bottles.
Here's a post summarizing it, The Economic Benefits of Localization. If I were to make the same argument, I would start with the Luddites. The word has come to mean knee-jerk opposition to technology, but the original Luddites had a position so sophisticated that modern industrialized people would have trouble understanding it. They opposed a specific technology that replaced skilled artisans, working autonomously at home and making good money, with unskilled workers making poverty wages in oppressive factories. This is the kind of change that the industrial revolution brought everywhere: the people who did the work lost skill, money, participation in power, and quality of life, while the owners of the machines gained wealth and power in obscene and corrupting quantities.
Now, the evil capitalist will say: all that repression and suffering was necessary for progress, because factories were more efficient than autonomous home industry, and they always will be. Here's where Carson comes in, arguing that factories and giant centralized industry were only more efficient for a few decades. With the spread of electricity, small electric motors, and small engines, it became more efficient to manufacture stuff in a decentralized network of home industries. Monolithic corporate production has kept itself going for more than a century through deceit and violence, and now it's finally breaking down.
It's breaking down on the demand end because it's running out of humans to forcibly convert to consumerism, and it's breaking down on the supply end because it's running out of resources. Energy decline will force a switch to more efficient local, networked, and peer-to-peer structures. The end of economic growth will force a switch to businesses that don't need to grow, that can stay the same size for many years on small incomes. In hard economic times, businesses that have to pass most of their profits to wealthy speculators will be out-competed by businesses whose few owners have modest needs. With decreased supplies of everything, producers that must create demand for ever-growing supply will fail, and producers that can scale down to match real needs will survive.
There's much more in Carson's essay. I'm not going to excerpt any of it because every paragraph is worth reading. (But it ends so abruptly that I wonder if some of it is missing.)
February 1. The globalisation of addiction, a book review about Bruce Alexander's work showing that drug addiction is caused by environmental stresses:
A colony of rats were allowed to roam together in a large vivarium enriched with wheels, balls and other playthings, on a deep bed of aromatic cedar shavings and with plenty of space for breeding and private interactions. In this situation, the rats no longer showed interest in pressing levers for rewards of morphine: even if forcibly addicted, they would suffer withdrawals rather than maintaining their dependence. It seemed that the standard experiments were measuring not the addictiveness of opiates but the cruelty of the stresses inflicted on lab rats...
February 8. Ohio representative Marcy Kaptur advises foreclosure victims to squat their own houses, and makes a smart investment in an issue that's going to become huge. As the depression deepens, Americans who can't afford rent or mortgage will become a political tsunami, and the owning interests will have to make unthinkable compromises or be swept away.
February 9. Today I want to write about metaphysics. When I was staying with Rosemoon near Asheville, she mentioned how well homeopathy works on her chickens, which would seem to disprove the objection that homeopathy is all placebo effect. My position is different from the standard pro-homeopathy position, that it works independently of the beliefs of observers, through a kind of objective mechanistic science that we don't quite understand yet. And my position is different from the standard anti-homeopathy position, that it works purely through the ability of the mind to heal the body, which we can't explain but never mind, it's not important.
I think that "mind" or "awareness" is the fundamental stuff that reality is made of, that the whole universe works like a dream. I'm not sure if there's one dreamer or many dreamers, or if there's anything outside the dream; but in any case, if mind, not matter, is fundamental, then everything is the placebo effect. Even splinting a broken bone is faith healing -- it works through the faith artifact of physical matter, which is extremely powerful because everyone believes in it.
Imagine if medical tests embraced the placebo effect instead of trying to filter it out. Tell everyone exactly what they're getting, and just see how well it works. If you want to heal people, why should you care if some of the healing is through their own belief and not just your medicine? You only care if you have an ego investment, or an economic interest, in having a monopoly on healing power. Also, it might turn out that some treatments have a stronger placebo effect than others, that some physical tools, for some reason, are better at channeling mental healing.
It's important to remember that reality creation is not solipsistic, but collective. I don't know how much of the negotiation is by consensus and how much is by domination of will, but in either case, it's useful to talk about "belief fields" or a transferable placebo effect. Getting back to chickens, they could easily be carried along by a much stronger human belief field. This could also explain why some of the most successful alternative healers, like Wilhelm Reich, had very strong personalities.
Of course, suggestibility works both ways. If you're easy to heal, you're easy to harm, or to exploit. I've found that I'm highly resistant to suggestion, so both TV propaganda and alternative medicine don't work well on me. Lena comments:
One of the interesting things I have found with working with animals is that in the more independent ones you need to ask permission to "will them to heal". In cats especially, who are super independent, if you try to heal them they get insulted that you are trying to do something to them and will not heal. If you explain your intention and ask their permission they heal much better. They need to be in charge of what you are doing to accept it into their bodies. Some dogs are like this also but many dogs are ok with us healing them because they are used to being told what to do.
February 10. Yesterday I wrote that "mind, not matter, is fundamental". Later it occurred to me that I was still stuck in the western industrial-age separation between mind and matter. Suppose that reality is both mind and matter, the same way that light is both a particle and a wave. Depending on the context, sometimes reality behaves like objective physical matter and sometimes it behaves like a dream, but those are both just models we use to make sense of a single unified thing.
February 12. Last night I saw a free screening of "The International", the new film by Tom Tykwer, best known for "Run Lola Run". Clive Owen plays an Interpol officer trying to nail a giant evil bank, which has connections at the highest levels of government, law enforcement, and crime. The film is compelling, very smart, and has some great action sequences, but it's going to flop because the subject makes it impossible to have a good happy ending. What this kind of film needs is an overwhelming tragic ending, like "Brazil", or a sad ambiguous ending, like "The Conversation" (both of which I would put among the top ten films of all time). Instead it goes for the same unsatisfying compromise as last year's dumb film "Shooter": the good people can't beat the bad systems, but hey, at least they can beat the bad individuals.
Also there's a great bit of dialogue. Q: "What do you do when there's no way out?" A: "Go deeper in." It occurred to me that that's exactly what the banks and governments are doing right now with the financial crisis!
February 14. Valentine's Day is the worst of all holidays, because if you're single you feel left out, and if you're with someone you feel stressed out by the expectations. I hesitate to even bring up the word "love" because it's a semantic minefield, with countless meanings, some of them opposite of each other, and yet we tend to think everyone else is using the word the same way we are. Even "romantic love" points to several completely different things, ranging from pathological obsession to healthy but short-sighted lust to the deep attachment that develops between long-term couples.
Of course, the best foundation for a couple relationship is not any kind of romantic love, but compatibility. But even "compatibility" is complex and hard to define. If you look at personal ads, people seem to think it doesn't go any deeper than liking the same popular culture. I would say part of compatibility is comfort. Barbara Sher once wrote that a good partner (or maybe it was a good activity) should not feel exciting, but should feel like a comfortable old shoe. Another huge part is synergy. The test is to look at all the other parts of your life, your relationships with friends and family, your source of money, your creative work, or attempts to improve the world or get enlightened, or whatever good paths you're on. Your partner should help you on those paths, or at the very least should not hold you back.
I was open to the possibility of meeting a new girlfriend on this trip, but that wasn't how the plot developed. My first Boston host asked me if I'm happy being single. After some thought, I'd say that I'm happy but not satisfied. Most of the couple relationships in this world are not as good as being single -- but the best ones are much better.
February 20. Yesterday I mentioned meeting young anarchists, and a reader asks:
Do you actually support anarchy? Like, you think it will be good? I'm not saying I know one way or the other, but do you think anarchy would make the trains run on time?
This is a challenging question. First it contains a hidden level, which I call the utopian dictator fallacy. An extreme example of the utopian dictator fallacy would be if you say, "the biosphere cannot continue to feed the present human population," and someone says, "so which do you want to do, kill billions of people or impose forced birth control?" Or you say, "civilization has always gone hand in hand with centralized repression and ecological destruction," and someone says, "so do you want us all to go back to living in caves?"
You can't even answer these questions without first countering the framing, by saying something like, "Hold on. I don't have the ability or the desire to tell other people what to do. I'm just contributing, as an equal, to our understanding of the issue, and with whatever understanding we can gather, we'll face it together and work our way through."
Now, to answer the questions on the surface level: I don't advertise it, but I do identify as an anarchist. Anarchy is popularly believed to be about lack of order, when really it's about lack of domination. My test for the presence of domination is whether anyone is punished, or led to believe they will be punished, for saying no. Our whole society is packed with domination, and I seek to move steadily away from it by replacing more and more coerced actions with actions that are freely chosen.
This raises the philosophical and tactical questions at the heart of anarchism: How much order and complexity can we hold onto while giving up domination, and how do we do it? Can we even have trains without people being forced by threat of homelessness and starvation to do jobs they hate? Can we have cities? Computers? Ice cream? Bicycles? Libraries? If not, why not, and if so, how?
These are book-length issues. I'll just say that if it is possible to have trains without domination, there's no reason the trains couldn't run on time. I think they would even be more likely to run on time, because the train workers would all be doing their work because they enjoyed it and cared about it, so they would be motivated to do work of higher quality.
February 21. Abandon hope: Live sustainably just because it's the right thing to do. This is the flip side of Sharon Astyk's Theory of Anyway: there "anyway" meant we should do the right thing even if energy decline and climate change are not serious threats, and here "anyway" means we should do the right thing even if the world as we know it is already doomed.
Also, here's my post on the different meanings of "hope".
February 23. I've been thinking more about New Age health advice. I've been sick all winter, and nobody went so far as to say that I must have chosen it, but in the right context, that wouldn't bother me -- I'm open to the possibility that on some level we all choose everything that happens to us. What bothers me is the unspoken implication that only a fool would choose pain when you could just choose pleasure all the time.
It occurs to me that one of the core "New" Age ideas was present more than 400 years ago in Calvinism: that healthier, happier, richer, more conventionally successful people are showing evidence of their more exalted souls. More likely it's the other way around: the more courageous and skilled players choose a higher difficulty level.
February 24. Yesterday I had a conversation with my Minneapolis host's father-in-law, who was puzzled trying to figure out what I "do". Why do people let me stay with them for free? How do I make money? Is my website a business? People actually donate money unconditionally?
It occurred to me that our difference in perspective fits the monetization/growth topic that Charles Eisenstein covers in Money and the Crisis of Civilization. In America from 1940 to 1970 we had a brief age of extreme "economic growth", where the meaning of life and the definition of success was to pull more and more stuff into the money economy. If you own land, you should sell biomass off it to make money; any kind of work you do, you should turn it into a business where you sell your time for money. And the more money you make, the more you can spend on materials and services pulled by other people into the money economy.
I'm moving in the other direction. I suppose I started after college, when I had bad experiences selling my time for money, and figured out that minimizing expenses was much more enjoyable and less stressful than maximizing income. At first I removed stuff from the money economy without knowing that was what I was doing, and only when it benefited me personally. Now I'm doing it consciously and to help others too. My land is not just a place where I can get free food and housing, but a place to restore nature, and if I get surplus apples, I'll try first to channel them into the gift and barter economies. When I stay with people, I try to make my stay an overall benefit to them. And I'm resisting the temptation to require payment for my writing.
The ongoing collapse will force more and more of us to follow the same path, to shift from monetization to de-monetization, living with friends and family (or squatting) instead of paying rent/mortgage, contributing useful activity directly to a household instead of bringing home money, watching each other's kids instead of paying day care, learning from books and each other instead of paying tuition, and growing/scavenging/foraging/hunting food instead of buying it.
February 25-26. I'm back in Seattle, and my tour is officially over. I was aiming for three months and almost made it despite getting sick. Thanks Bil, Chuck, Carolyn, David, Pam, Sarah, A.J., Dwight and Jessica, Dan, Jack, Aja and Sky, Simba and Deb, Joel and Charity, Allen and James, Andrew and Miranda, Carey and Don, Rob and Jenny, Rosemoon and family, Talia and Wildroots, Aaron, Keith, Stephen and Rebekah, Jill, Emily, Rob, Lindsay, Andy, Ben, Brian and Lindsay, Tiffany, Todd and Christine, and Crystal. Thanks also to the household members I didn't name, the people who came to dinners, and everyone who invited me and who I was not able to visit.
I highly recommend a "blog tour" to other bloggers. It was not easy, and not exactly fun, but it was an immensely valuable experience, and relatively cheap. Transportation costs, including bus and train fare, sharing gas for rides, and local public transit, came to $823. I think I spent more than usual on food, even though so many hosts fed me for free, because I was also eating out a lot and leaving behind food too difficult to travel with. So I'm going to estimate my total tour costs at $900-1000.
February 27. I read this bit from the Huck Finn on Estradiol blog on my tour, and now I think of it every time I encounter an escalator:
You can't take a wheelchair on an escalator, or even a walker. You have to be somewhat agile to get on and off, too, which makes depending on a cane, or even a recent prosthesis somewhat dicey. You can't carry any more luggage on an escalator than you can on the stairs. Basically, escalators are for people who can walk but choose not to.
February 28. Human evolution is accelerating, and even in the age of race-mixing and global travel, we seem to be diverging. Scientists have offered several explanations, and I like this one: "If you're a human, what is your environment but culture? The faster our ingenuity alters our habitat, the quicker we have to adapt in response."
Adaptations mentioned in the article include pale skin to get more vitamin D at high latitudes, the ability of adults to digest milk, resistance to diseases that are spread by dense populations, a "migratory gene" linked to ADHD, and apparently an increase in quantitative thinking skills among Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews, who had cultures that rewarded that kind of intelligence.
The big question is: which of these changes in human culture will remain stable, which ones will spark new changes we have to adapt to, and which ones are dead ends, from which we will have to adapt back to our old biology? Any ideology that denies any of these categories is not helpful.
I also want to point out an error in the article: "As agriculture became established and started creating a reliable food supply, Hawks says, more men and women would have begun living into their forties and beyond." This is completely backwards. Grain agriculture reduced human health (link) (link), and according to this article, increased longevity came before agriculture and civilization, and might have caused them by increasing cultural complexity.


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This week, governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, UN conventions, bodies and agencies are gathered in Panama to shape an emerging global platform linking science and policy on biodiversity and is benefits (IPBES).
During the opening of the event, IUCN, on behalf of stakeholders, reported on the Stakeholders' Day held prior to the event and underlined a number of recommendations pertaining to the interest of non-government actors to be involved in IPBES.
This Stakeholders' Statement includes a call for a mechanism that ensures full and effective participation of all stakeholders and an establishment of regional structures to carry out the work of IPBES. These structures should integrate the four functions of the platform and comprise regional experts with gender, within-region geographic and disciplinary balance, taking into account all knowledge systems.
"Scientific and civil society organizations need to play an integral role in developing ways for expert contributions to IPBES," says Dr Cyrie Sendashonga, Head of the IUCN Delegation in Panama, IUCN Global Director of Programme and Policy Group. "These organizations are both essential knowledge providers on biodiversity and its benefits and final users of products IPBES will produce."
Dr Sendashonga added that "there is a clear acknowledgement of the existing wealth of knowledge already available. What is becoming even more apparent is that there is a real need for an increased capacity to interpret such knowledge to support the development of policy, especially at national level. Interestingly, this need relates to both scientific and traditional knowledge."
About IPBES
IPBES stands for Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. IPBES will be an interface between the scientific community and policy makers that aims to build capacity for and strengthen the use of science in policy making. IPBES will respond to requests for scientific information related to biodiversity and ecosystem services from governments, relevant UN Conventions, bodies and other relevant stakeholders. Governments have agreed that the four main functions of IPBES will be knowledge generation, options for assessment, policy relevant tools and capacity building.
For more information, please contact ipbes[at]iucn.org


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Applying for an airport transit visa in South Korea
If you live in South Korea and want to apply for an airport transit visa for the Netherlands, find out about the rules and how to apply.
What do I need to do?
- You must submit a passport or other travel document issued within the last 10 years. This must have at least 2 blank pages and be valid for at least another 3 months after the date of your transit through the airport in the Netherlands.
- You must submit a completed and signed Schengen visa application form. In the online form indicate 'airport transit' as the main purpose of your journey. Each person travelling with you on your travel document must submit their own visa form. Forms for children under the age of 18 need to be signed by a parent or guardian.
- Bring a photo that meets the Dutch requirements for passport photos.
- When you submit your application your fingerprints will be taken. These will be held for 5 years. Some applicants, such as children under the age of 12, do not need to have their fingerprints taken.
- You will be charged a fee for your application. If you apply through an external service provider you will also have to pay an extra fee to the provider.
You must also provide a number of documents to ensure that your application is assessed correctly.
See the airport transit checklist (PDF, 187 KB).
How much does a visa cost?
When you apply for a visa at a Dutch embassy or consulate, you must pay a fee. You can find the fee on the fees page. If you apply through an external service provider, such as a visa agency, you will have to pay an extra fee to the provider.
How long does it take?
The earliest you can apply is 3 months before you intend to travel. You should apply no later than 15 working days in advance.
In most cases, you will be informed within 15 calendar days whether your application has been successful. Sometimes it can take up to 30 days if more time is needed, and up to 60 days in exceptional cases, for example if extra documents are required.
Your application will be checked in the Schengen Information System (SIS II). In addition, your application details will be checked and saved in the Visa Information System (VIS).
Applying for a visa in this country or region
To apply for your visa, make an appointment via our online appointment system.
If you have already applied for a visa, you can check the status of your application.


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LinuxWorld preview: Samba4 makes Active Directory Linux-friendlier
In this preview of Gerald Carter's LinuxWorld session, the Samba Team member dishes on progress with Samba 4.0, Active Directory domains and his work with Centeris.
Next week, Samba Team member Carter will give a workshop on Samba4 and AD at LinuxWorld Open Solutions Summit 2007 in New York City. In this exclusive interview with SearchOpenSource.com, Carter previews that session, talking about the new features in Samba4 and why using Active Directory with Linux will remove integration, migration and interoperability barriers.
SearchOpenSource.com: What is the key point you'll make in your session at the LinuxWorld Open Solutions Summit next week?
Gerald Carter: Essentially there are two camps dealing with accounts. There's the normal Unix way of using local fields or LDAP directory servers, and then under Windows domains you have control of local accounts on machine and domain accounts. With Samba and its Windows NT 4 equivalency group, we mixed and matched the features of each.
When you talk about mixing and matching Unix, Linux and Windows accounts, what does that mean for IT administrators?
Carter: I'll use an example. Suppose I set up secure shell (SSH). The administrator will have domain administration, root accounts, maybe a couple of other miscellaneous local accounts. If all of a sudden a new person comes into the company and needs to be able to log into SSH, the administrator will create a Windows domain account, and all they'll have to do is add them into the Linux box. Same thing if they have local accounts on a box; all they'll have to do is add that local box to that group. The mixing and matching of Linux and Active Directory gives us a single point to choke for authorizing who does what. This approach reduces the number of things administrators have to change to gain access to resources.
Why is Samba an important topic for IT pros to understand?
Carter: Everybody struggles with integrating Windows and Linux. There is a sort of fear, at least on the Unix side, that they won't be able to do the things they're used to doing. They don't want to give up some of the server control that they were hired to do in the first place. Samba allows administrators to get into a domain, to leverage it and still retain enough local control to be able to add users in administrative groups without having to put in a support ticket. Normally, IT staff for Linux and Unix and Windows are separated. There's this idea of not wanting to give up complete control.
A Samba technology preview was released last Wednesday. What are the most important features in this release?
Carter: I think it would help to clarify the significance of the TP. Samba developers today work on two parallel branches. Samba4 is a resource-sorted branch. Even though the preview drops, they are just snapshots of the research. The main focus of research going on in 4.0 is clusters and Active Directory domain control, and those features with continue to mature and improve. As they do, we will continue to pull them back and into the prod releases. Whether it is TP4 or 40, essentially we're talking about getting technology out there in the hands of people interested in looking at it.
A lot of things aren't there yet in 4.0, which really prevents someone from running this code. Because of the way other projects have done things in the past, people say this code base [in 4.0] is what is definitely going to evolve into the final release. But, my guess is it will be a hybrid of what we have in production today, plus [4.0's AD domain services]. Once domain control is mature, we'll carve it out of the code base.
The other exciting feature is the clustering stuff. Once we have easy-to-set-up file clusters and the ability to set up four-way clusters and scale performance, it will have the ability to change the system file server landscape that we see today. We've tried in past, but [Samba Team member Andrew Tridgell] is now making a lot of progress at IBM on cluster TDB work that will help.
Will there be a Samba walkthrough for new users at LinuxWorld?
Carter: The talk itself will discuss the concept and include several demos. It's about practical usage -- showing users the kind of work we do with it. People will get an idea of how to extrapolate and apply that knowledge to their own environments.
Could you explain the relationship between companies like Centeris Corp. and projects like Samba?
Carter: I joined Centeris in December 2005 because of the Samba work they were doing. The commercial work that we do with Samba [at Centeris] and with other open source projects, wherever feasible, we try and push those products upstream to the community. Centeris can get things faster to market. They have access to a lot of quality assurance, which is an area where many open source projects can struggle. A lot of the times, a commercial team can throw money at testing resources. Centeris gets the open source software model, even though it is a commercial vendor.


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NEWARK, N.J., Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Comedian and actor Kevin Hart has presented Newark Mayor Cory Booker with a $50,000 check for the Fireman's Charity Fund.
The Philadelphia native donated the money after seeing the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey last month, the New York Post reported Thursday.
He also left $50,000 worth of gift cards and donated supplies for disaster victims before performing his standup show at NJPAC, the newspaper said.


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Disable recursive DNS queries (Windows)
For information on recursive DNS, see What risks are associated with recursive DNS queries?.
Note: DNS is not installed by default and will only be running if it has been installed manually. If this is the case, recursive DNS is enabled by default. To perform this procedure, you must be a member of your local computer's Administrators group or have the proper authority delegated to you.
- Log in to your dedicated or Virtual Private Server (VPS) through a Remote Desktop Connection.
- From the Start menu, click Control Panel, Administrative Tools, then DNS.
- In the console tree, right-click the appropriate DNS server, and then click Properties.
- Click the Advanced tab.
- Under Server options, check Disable recursion, and then click OK.
- In the console tree, right-click the appropriate DNS server, and then click Clear Cache.


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About us
Central Scientific Services provide expertise and access to world-class resources in flow cytometry, analytical and biological mass spectrometry, electron microscopy and x-ray services.
These facilities are divided into two units:
- The Analytical and Biomolecular Research Facility (ABRF) comprising flow cytometry and mass spectrometry and
- The Electron Microscope and X-Ray Unit (EMX).
The staff within these units provide a high level of service and specialist technical support to researchers and students of the University of Newcastle, within the constraints of the equipment located within each facility.
Availability of Equipment
Please subscribe to the 'Research - ABRF' mailing list to receive information regarding changes to ABRF equipment and staffing.
Please check the UoN EMX Unit booking system - for information regarding changes to EMX equipment and staffing.
Publication Acknowledgement
All users should give Central Scientific Services and any of its staff, appropriate acknowledgements in publications, posters and theses.
It would be greatly appreciated if a copy of any publications acknowledging the CSS's assistance, materially or otherwise, be sent to the unit as this helps to support applications for new equipment.
Advice for ARC/NHMRC Grants
Grant writers should incorporate any ABRF and/or EMX fees or other charges into any grant applications submitted to the ARC/NHMRC, where use of the unit's equipment is anticipated.


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Med101Store Medical Supplies
Medical supplies purchased online at Med 101 Store.com are sold in bulk at wholesale prices. We distribute medical office supplies across the lower 48 states and save our customers time and money. Med 101 Store.com is a website that provides wholesale medical supplies online to surgery centers, hospitals, medical offices, orthopedics, emergency rooms, and much more. Purchasing our medical products will lower operating expenses by reducing the cost of surgical supplies. When purchasing medical supplies online, it is best to buy from us because we sell in bulk at wholesale prices.
We service a wide range of customers including those seeking home medical supplies. From podiatry and orthopedic supplies, to general wound care and medical office supplies. Med 101 healthcare products can be found inside hospitals, physician offices, athletic trainer clinics and more. Our product categories include medical gauze, elastic bandages, surgical masks, surgical tape, elastic tape, shoe covers, and general wound care supplies.
Med 101 Store.com specializes in wholesale disposable medical supplies which are used on a daily basis and purchased regularly over time. We have the lowest prices on everything in our medical catalog which could save you thousands of dollars. We ensure you receive only the best quality bulk medical supplies at the lowest prices. You will be amazed at the ease of purchasing, quality, and speed of delivery. You will clearly see a reduction in medical supply costs by making us one of your suppliers. You are guaranteed to be satisfied with our medical supplies. If not, please contact us immediately for a full refund. Also, please note there is NO MINIMUM ORDER and FREE SHIPPING!!!*
Track your packages, maintain your invoices, and ship to multiple locations from your Med 101 Store.com account. Purchasing good quality wholesale medical supplies is simple, easy, and safe which is why every day so many healthcare professionals make us their supplier. We look forward to serving you.
Thank you for shopping with us!
*Residential Surcharge Applies


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PyroGenesis Canada Inc., a high-tech company, is the world leader in the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced plasma processes. We provide engineering and manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, additive manufacturing (including 3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2 manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage by remaining at the forefront of technology development and commercialization. Our core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes, high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to the global marketplace. Our operations are ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D certified, having been ISO certified since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded Canadian company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR), and on the OTCQB Marketplace (Ticker Symbol: PYRNF).
What is plasma?
Plasma is the fourth state of matter, the others being solid, liquid, and gas. Plasma typically consists of a mixture of ionized species, electrons and neutral particles. The sun is made up of plasma with inside temperature reaching 10,000,000 degrees Celcius. In nature, we can observe plasma in lightning strikes and with the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). Examples of man-made plasma include the light produced by a neon tube, as well as plasma cutting systems used to slice through metal. Thermal plasma can readily reach temperatures in excess of 10,000 degrees Celcius. At PyroGenesis, we harness the unique properties of thermal plasma to melt and transform metal, to carry out high temperature chemical reactions and to convert waste into energy.


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Description:HP 9.1GB Wide Ultra3 SCSI 15000RPM1 inch Pluggable Hard DrivePart Number(s)
Option Part# 188014-001
Overview:Today' s distributed enterprise is seeing larger more complex applications an increase of mission-critical data moving to the server increasing demand for transaction processing and critical server consolidation.
In this environment storage has become a critical component of the information system significantly defining both the systems reliability and performance. This is why Compaq drives undergo an intense qualification process that eliminates data integrity problems firmware and O/S incompatibilities and other causes of data corruption or premature failure. All drives are proven to perform in the Compaq systems for which they were designed


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Facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in professional software development
Back to login
Developer, Advocate! is a set of interviews with prominent technologists, covering what drives their interest and enthusiasm in the industry. The brevity of each interview provides direct information and insight that can be read separately at any time, in any order, enabling those with busy schedules to read, put down, repeat.
Today, on The InfoQ Podcast, Wes Reisz talks with Gunnar Morling, a software engineer at Red Hat and leads the Debezium project. Debezium is an open-source distributed platform for change data capture (CDC).
Grishma Jena gives an overview of Machine Learning and delves deep into the pipeline used - right from fetching the data, the tools and frameworks used to creating models, gaining insights and telling a story.
Decisions during the initial development or integration phase for new solutions impact future operations and maintenance costs heavily, no matter whether your organisation follows an DevOps, #noprojects, or project vs. operations philosophy. Explore cost pitfalls related to wrong funding expectations or tensions between stakeholders - and why you waste money without a simplistic cost model.
Olga Kundzich, Richard Francois cover JPMorgan Chase's journey to transition to Spinnaker, demoing a configurable Spinnaker pipeline template that manages all the deployment processes.
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This Casanova Was An Imposter
Raul Siqueiros knows his way around Facebook. He frequently updates his own personal page, and as a Realtor, he also runs his company page to attract new clients.
He's a social guy. But he had no idea how social he was—how in-demand—until a woman reached out to him. Then another, then another. Eventually more than 50 women contacted him, all asking the same question: Is this the man I've been dating online?
A scammer somewhere had hatched an ingenious plan: Using a "social bot"—software that appears to be a person on social networks—the scammer had created a profile on several dating sites all over the country. The profile not only had Raul's name, but photos of him and of his children, as well as personal details of his life. Some of the women who'd responded to the fake profile were so captivated by him that they obliged requests to send him money, via Western Union. One was about to meet him in person.
This was no dating game.
"I was shocked," Siqueiros said. "I couldn't believe it was happening—that someone was using my name and pictures of me and my family to hurt these women."
Thousands of men and women fall victim to romance scams every year. Lured by promises of love and stories of tragedy, they often send money to their scammers. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reports that victims of romance scammers lost more than $56 million in 2012, and those numbers are likely higher since many victims are too embarrassed to file complaints.
But now with the development of social bots, it's becoming easier for bad guys to commit these crimes of the heart.
"They have a larger platform to make these types of scams happen—and they can code a program to automate it and lower their costs to execute the attacks," said Filippo Menczer, a principal investigator at Truthy, an Indiana University research program that tracks bots and Twitter trends. "This particular group, with a social bot, could contact, say 100,000 people a day, instead of a 1,000."
The victims
Siqueiros noticed that many of the women who contacted him about the dating scam were older, and they had minimal experience with social media and the Internet. That jibes with national statistics from IC3, which show that women age 50 and older are the biggest victims of online romance scams. Plus, the women were using lesser-known dating sites that were regional in scope.
And, of course, Siqueiros was a victim, too. Though he didn't fall for a scammer's false declaration of love, his identity was stolen and misused online. He contacted all the dating sites and requested they take down profiles that used his name and images of his family to target victims. Now when anyone searches his name on the Internet, images appear with watermarks that read, "Fake."
"It's annoying because I have to explain I'm not a scam artist when I'm meeting people for work for the first time," Siqueiros said.
How it started
A little digging revealed that Siqueiros' problems began with Facebook. All the images used in the fake dating profiles were pulled from his social network during a specific time period—after Siqueiros friended someone for work.
"I do all the things you're not supposed to do on social media: I post where I'm at, every move I make, all that good stuff," he said. "If anyone was associated with real estate or showed an interest in real estate, I'd accept their friend request."
Siqueiros ended up with hundreds of friends he had never met in person, including the scammer who stole his identity. Siqueiros discovered that he friended him because he and the man shared a mutual friend on Facebook. "But when I contacted the mutual friend, he realized he had never met the person."
Once Siqueiros scrubbed his friend list and deleted the suspected scammer, the calls from concerned women began to taper off.
How to protect yourself
If you're interested in dating online, experts recommend sticking to nationally known dating sites only. The FBI says you can spot an online dating scammer if they:
1. Ask you to leave the dating website where you met and to communicate via personal e-mail or instant messaging;
2. Profess instant feelings of love;
3. Send you a photograph of himself or herself that looks like something from a glamour magazine;
4. Claim to be from the U.S. and is traveling or working overseas;
5. Make plans to visit you but is then unable to do so because of a tragic event; or
6. Ask for money for a variety of reasons (travel, medical emergencies, hotel bills, hospitals bills for child or other relative, visas or other official documents, losses from a financial setback or crime victimization).
To protect yourself from getting into a situation like the one Siqueiros found himself in, practice safe social media habits. Limit the information you share. Stay updated on privacy policies. Be very wary when interacting with people you don't know.
"This experience was a big wake-up call," Siqueiros said. "My advice to people out there is that this can happen to you, too, so be careful, especially on Facebook."


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14 to 17 Inch Necklaces
Sterling Silver Radiance Braided Leather Cord Necklace
• Necklace of braided leather cord and brass with lobster claw clasp
• End caps and 4" extender chain of brass keep the look of the necklace tone-on-tone
• Necklace measures 7.5mm wide and 17" long extendable to 21" long
• Designed and crafted in America
Metallics make great neutrals, at the same time adding a rich gleam to any look. This bronze metallic braided leather necklace provides a lovely accent to almost any neckline. The lightweight design is comfortable to wear and provides plenty of visual impact. This is a great piece to bring along on your next vacation.
Out of stock


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If you've ever read my bio you'll know that if there is one place in the world that I love above and beyond all others, that place is Hong Kong. I grew up on this spectacular little island and spent much of my childhood skipping between school and the pool, spending my pocket money in street markets and occasionally celeb-spotting – my most memorable being a city-wide search for Madonna while she was in town filming of Shanghai Surprise.
Well, it seems twenty-odd years on I'm still doing the same, only this time I'm flitting between spas and rooftop pools, splashing my hard-earned cash (still mainly at the street markets) while searching the city's haute spots for the latest celebrity sightings. And try as they might to hide behind oversized sunnies and burly bodyguards, celebrities are often spotted leaving their lavish hotels. Along with the legendary Mandarin Oriental (which I've featured previously) and the iconic Peninsula (which I will no doubt feature at some point) here's a handful of other great Hong Kong hotel's for star-spotting:
It's been A-list all since the Upper House hit the Hong Kong hotel scene in late 2009. In fact, Gwyneth Paltrow stayed here while filming her scenes for Contagion and loved the Upper House so much she recommended it on her everything's-lovely lifestyle blog Goop. I have to agree with her choice, this chic city-centre hotel is swoon-worthy at it every turn. The design is both subtle and sensational with chic minimalist interiors made up of great swathes of Italian limestone, bamboo panelling and stunning sculptures. The rooms are HUGE by Hong Kong standards and all come with show-stopping spa-bathrooms overlooking the city or harbour, ultra-luxe modernist furnishings and a truly incredible range of amenities – think an entire range of REN goodies including eye-cream and night cream, as well as yoga mats, iPod Touches….the list goes on. Along with a spectacular Michelin award winning restaurant (be warned, you'll need to book well in advance) it's clear to see that the Upper House will be providing all-star service to the rich and famous for a long time to come.
The Ritz-Carlton is another new kid on the celebrity-hotel block and has become something of a superstar itself, having achieved the lofty title of the World's Highest Hotel. So it comes as no surprise then that a hotel of this stature would have equally amazing guests to match. Lady Gaga chose the Ritz as her hangout of choice when she was recently in Hong Kong – in fact I seem to be inadvertently stalking her at the moment, having followed in her footsteps via the The Dorchester, the Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver and The Setai. Anyway, the lady has clearly got great taste in hotels and the Ritz-Carlton is no exception. There is so much more to it than its record-breaking status suggests: cutting-edge contemporary décor meets unadulterated luxury, sublimely good service and some of the most incredible views you'll ever see. I had read a previous review of the hotel which suggested the hotel's stratospheric positioning made Hong Kong feel distant and dislocated. But for me it had entirely the opposite effect; Hong Kong had never looked more beautiful, more jewel-like and lovely. The cityscape meandered across the South China Sea, as the Kowloon West harbour bustled below while the mountains lazed in the haze. I just wanted to put my arms around it and tell it how much I loved it. Sigh.
This is where Victoria Beckham chose to stay on her recent trip to Hong Kong. And how do I know this? Because when I popped along for a visit, I noticed an uncanny resemblance between the view I was seeing and the one that VB recently tweeted! See for yourself in the pics below.
The Four Seasons is of course renowned as one of the best hotels in the city. Located front and centre of Hong Kong harbour it too offers spectacular views of the harbour and city. The design is much more contemporary than you might expect from the suave Four Seasons brand with a MOMA-like lobby, high-ceilinged super-chic restaurants and large, luminous, ultra-luxurious spa. I didn't get the chance to stay over (this time) but I did stop by for a splendid Thai massage in a suite overlooking the Star Ferry terminal – heaven – and very special dinner at the extraordinary Caprice – think posh frocks, a ballet-like service and food that tastes even more divine than it looks. Highly regarded by Hong Kong hotshots there's no doubt that the Four Seasons will be staying on the celebrity circuit for the foreseeable future.
Even though VB chose the Four Seasons on this occasion, the sleek and tres chic Landmark Mandarin Oriental is the usual crash-pad for the fashion pack. Stella McCartney and Georgia Armani are both known bedded down between its 400-thread-count sheets – although not together of course – while models, muses, buyers and bigwigs fill the tables at O Bar and Amber. Sitting pretty, slap-bang in the middle of the city the Landmark's main draw is its high-design concept and easy access to all the essential A-list shopping Hong Kong has to offer – Harvey Nichol's is next door and every big name luxury brand from Bulgari to Vuitton are just a (precious) stones throw away. Inside, the hotel is intimate and self-assured. Rooms are spacious and stylish with the likes of shamelessly-decadent soaking tubs and three (!) plasma TVs. With no time to spare, all I could manage was a quick tour and an exquisite lunch at Amber – the only HK hotel to make it onto the S.Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants in the world list – but that little taste was enough to have me longing for more.
Have you spotted any celebrities in Hong Kong? Stayed at any of these A-list hotels? I'd love to hear your comments!
Finnair flies daily from Manchester and London Heathrow to Hong Kong.
The below fares are 'starting from' return fares and include taxes and service fees:
Manchester-Hong Kong: Business class: £2326.00 Business class Campaign for Mid Week travel: £2076.00 Economy class: £667.00
London LHR-Hong Kong: Business class: £2321.00 Business class Campaign for Mid Week travel: £2067.00 Economy class: £658.00
For more information call 0870 2414411 or visit www.finnair.com . For up to date offers and news please follow us on twitter @finnairuk. Finnair also have daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai in China. Finnair began flights to new destination Chongqing, China in May 2012.
Finnair also fly to 7 other Asian cities too in Singapore, Japan, Korea, India and Thailand.
Tags: Celebrity Travel, Four Seasons, Hong Kong, Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Luxury Holidays, Luxury Hotels, Luxury Travel, Ritz-Carlton, Upper House


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Trailer Hitches
Install a trailer hitch on your car, truck or SUV
to enable your vehicle's towing capabilities.
Please consider the condition of your Tow Vehicle.
The vehicle information you have entered has triggered this alert. If you are planning to tow a trailer, for use over any distance, you should consider the condition of your tow vehicle. Towing a trailer can be demanding on some older vehicles, depending upon their condition. You should consider the mechanical condition (Engine, transmission, suspension, brakes and tires) into your rental/purchasing decision and if applicable consider the following alternative options:
- Truck and Auto Transport rental
- Truck and Tow Dolly rental
- Truck rental and additional driver (auto separate)
- Different Tow Vehicle
You have a factory installed hitch
Your vehicle comes factory equipped with a Class 3 hitch with a 2" receiver already installed.
The following items will complete your towing package.
Towing Starter Kits w/Drop
Class III 7,500 lb rated ballmount with pre-torqued ball using U-Haul's clampforce technology. Available with a 2-1/4" or 3-1/2" drop.
Have questions or need help? Chat live with a moving expert


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Collection: Bumper Stickers
Sorry, there are no products in this collection
Heygidday keeps a large stock of thousands of bumper stickers, covering funny, political, Christian and various other areas. Our stickers are printed on at least 3.5mm vinyl, using only professional grade material. The vinyl is UV and moisture protected for 2-3 years. Made also with eco solvent ink that will also last 2-3 years outdoors continual outdoor exposure. Applying our stickers:Some of you may be used to the thick 'crack and peel' stickers'.
In the vehicle graphic business the thinner the vinyl the better quality. Ours are thinner and better quality than 'crack and peel' . But because of that a little more care is needed to apply them. IMPORTANT: Do not apply in very hot weather. Do not apply to a hot surface. Wait till it cools or apply indoors. The reason is that the vinyl stretches when its really hot. First clean the surface with water, making sure to remove any dirt. Peel off the paper backing. Align the sticker where you want it and place it on the vehicle.
Work it from the center out with your thumbs or even use a credit card in a squeegee style. If you get any bubbles don't be too concerned. it's just trapped air and will go down naturally over the next day or so (as the vinyl breathes). If it really bugs you and you don't want to wait, simply prick any bubbles with a sharp pin. Extra tip:A handy tip that you can use is to get a spray bottle of water and soak the area the sticker is going onto first.
Then place the sticker on and squeegee the water out from behind the sticker with your thumbs (or a credit card used as a squeegee). That way you get no bubbles or creases. The water will dry soon enough and the sticker remains in place. Removing our stickers:Vinyl stickers can be removed quite easily under most conditions. Typically they will peel up in one or two pieces. In lower temperatures, when the surface is cold the vinyl may become a little more brittle. In which case it may come off in several pieces. But don't worry, it's not like those horrible paper stickers that tear into shreads.
If a sticker has been on for many months it may leave a slight residue of gum when you peel it off. This is easily removable with any number of household label adhesive removers such as 'Goo Gone', 'Goof Off' or rubbing alcohol (available at any Hardware Store.) It's always best to test a small section of paint first to make sure your paint job doesn't react to the remover. (it shouldn't but it never hurts to check.)
Extra tip:A hair dryer can help with removal of stickers in cold weather. The heat softens the vinyl and makes it less brittle Important:If it is NOT the vehicles original paintwork then we do not recommend using ours (or anyone's) stickers. If the re spray is of an inferior quality the paint may pull up when removing the sticker. Disclaimer:No responsibility for any damage to a persons vehicle or property due to the use of an adhesive sticker or car magnet. Also no responsibility for ANY event arising from displaying one of our stickers. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to use best judgement regarding the display and usage of a sticker or car magnet.
Contact us for information if you would like any custom made products CLICK HERE


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PCBC-001 Signal Integrity Office Hours with Eric BogatinPosted in:
Welcome to the premiere of PCB Chat!
Our first moderated chat was held Jan. 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern time, and features Dr. Eric Bogatin.
Dr. Bogatin is perhaps the leading expert on printed circuit board signal integrity and transmission lines. He has a bachelor's in physics from MIT, and master's and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Arizona. He has held senior engineering and management positions at Bell Labs, Raychem, Sun Microsystems, Ansoft and Interconnect Devices. A prolific author, Dr. Bogatin has written six books on signal integrity and interconnect design and over 200 papers, including a regular column in PCD&F. He also has taught over 6,000 engineers over the past 20 years.
Web: www.beTheSignal.com / Blog: www.beTheSignal.com/blog
Twitter: @beTheSignal / firstname.lastname@example.com
PCB Chat is a moderated question/answer session featuring a new platform created by UP Media Group. Attendees can submit questions privately via this site up to two hours in advance of the chat, or while the chat is live. The chat moderator reviews the questions and chooses which will be answered. As questions are answered, they appear online in sequential fashion. After each chat session is over, the transcript is made available for on-demand viewing. Transcripts are also searchable.
To participate, you must be a registered member of Printed Circuit University. Click here to sign up for your free membership.


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Each piece of the dock is washable, and care instructions are below for each piece (for more detailed instructions please refer to the label on the bottom of your dock cover). We do not recommend using bleach on any part of your dock - stain remover is preferred.
Outer Cover: Machine wash in cold water inside a garment bag and hang to air dry (to help avoid color bleeding for covers with prints, be sure to immediately hang to dry after machine cycle is finished and ensure there are no folds or overlapping when drying). Do not tumble dry. Do not bleach. Do not dry clean.
Pad: Hand wash in cold water and lay flat to dry. Do not tumble dry. Do not iron. Do not bleach. Do not dry clean.
Inner Sleeve: Machine wash in cold water and hang to air dry. Do not tumble dry. Do not bleach. Do not dry clean.
Inner Tube: The tube rarely needs washing, shaking and ventilating are usually enough. If washing the tube, machine wash in cold water inside a garment bag and then tumble dry on low heat only. You can shake or fluff to redistribute the filling as necessary. If still damp, lay flat to dry. Do not iron. Do not bleach. Do not dry clean.
Mom Stories
Danielle Behrens
Brittany Dekker
Sarah Gibson
Julia Kroesen
As a stay at home mother of 4 children, I can honestly say that the DockATot has been by far the best baby product I have ever bought. I am currently using the Deluxe DockATot for my 8 week old, baby Mikey. We have been using it since we arrived home from the hospital. When I put baby Mikey in his DockATot, I can visibly see him relax and begin to sooth himself to get ready to sleep.
The DockATot Grand is for tots 9-36 months and is the ultimate multifunctional station for your growing little one. Multitasking, the DockATot Grand is perfect for cuddling, playing, lounging, resting and everything in between. It's also ideal for transitioning into a bed when your little one is ready, thanks to the rounded sides that help children settle more easily and reduces the risk of falling out of bed. We do not recommend the Grand dock until your little one is at least 9 months.
Fairytale Collection
Welcome to a Fairytale world, where babies and nature live harmoniously as one. Destined to be on the wish list of stylish parents everywhere, the new Fairytale Collection features an array of new floral, tropical and marble designs to compliment and enhance the décor of any home.


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I declared: int num[25] and int bis[10][10] in RadiateView.h.
With these declared variables, the program runs fine.
BUT, when I right click on the dialog, I get a 'parsing error' regarding the variables.
What is the correct declaration for such variables ?
Any suggestion will be very much appeciated.
Kind regards to all.


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EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assay Service
For profiling methylation status of individual genes using MethylScreen technology
QIAGEN's EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assay Service offers DNA methylation profiling services using the EpiTect Methyl II PCR system. This innovative technology enables fast and accurate CpG island DNA methylation profiling of individual genes. EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assays use MethylScreen technology provided under license from Orion Genomics, LLC.
Buy Products
EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assay Service are intended for molecular biology applications. These products are not intended for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a disease.
Product Details
EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assays rely on the differential cleavage of target sequences by 2 different restriction endonucleases whose activities require either the presence or absence of methylated cytosines in their respective recognition sequences. As the relative amount of DNA remaining after each enzyme digestion is measured by real-time PCR, the methylation status of individual genes and the methylation profile across a gene panel are reliably and easily calculated. The high yield of DNA from the restriction digests and PCR amplification allow the analysis of smaller, more heterogeneous samples.
Each EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assay corresponds to one distinct CpG island in a promoter region, defined as from 5 kb upstream to 3 kb downstream of the transcription start site (TSS). Assays are available for about 13,000 promoter CpG islands, annotated according to the UCSC genome bioinformatics predictions in addition to published evidence. All EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assays are first designed by a rigorously optimized algorithm that accounts for the GC-rich sequences in genomic DNA and in CpG islands. The design algorithm also ensures that every amplicon contains sufficient cutting sites for both methyl-sensitive and methyl-dependent restriction enzymes to maximize methylation detection sensitivity. Verified and optimized processes yield the highest data quality and rapid turnaround time.
Four different restriction digests are carried out on a DNA sample: methylation-sensitive enzyme, methylation-dependent enzyme, double digest with both enzymes, and a mock digest with no enzyme. Next, quantitative real-time PCR of genes of interest detect the amount of DNA remaining in each reaction. The methylation status — methylated, hypermethylated, or unmethylated — is calculated from these amounts.
For instructions regarding sample submission and shipping, please contact QIAGEN Technical Services. Samples accepted are cells or tissue or total DNA. For cells and tissue, Service Core offers a DNA isolation service.
For all samples
All sample collection should be carried out in a timely manner in a DNase-free environment. Please note the minimum amount of starting materials required (see below for requirements for each sample type). If you have less than the minimum amount or your previously isolated samples have been stored differently than we recommend, please contact QIAGEN Technical Services before submitting your samples.
Provide at least 0.5 million cells for each sample (specify number of cells on the submission form). Snap freeze the cell pellets in liquid nitrogen, store samples frozen at –80°C, and ship on dry ice.
Provide at least 50 mg of tissue for each sample (specify the weight of the tissue on the submission form). Snap freeze tissues in liquid nitrogen. Store samples frozen at –80°C, and ship on dry ice.
Purified genomic DNA
Purified genomic DNA is required for methylation analysis. A genomic DNA isolation service is also available, please inquire.
Genomic DNA isolated using a standard genomic DNA isolation kit, such as the DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit, which is compatible with methylation profiling. We recommend 2 µg of DNA per sample (in DNase-free water or TE buffer) at a concentration ≥30 ng/µl. A260/A280 ratio of ≥1.7 and A260/A230 ratio of ≥1.7 is required. Customers should check sample integrity by agarose gel electrophoresis before sending samples to QIAGEN. sample gel pictures, if available, should accompany the submitted samples.
Samples should also be accompanied by a sample submission sheet. Excel format is preferred for sample submission, and the spreadsheet should contain the following information: sample ID, concentration, A260/A280, A260/A230, total volume, total DNA amount.
QIAGEN will measure DNA concentration and assess the quality of the submitted DNA using an Agilent Bioanalyzer.
Other sample types
Please contact QIAGEN Technical Services.
Sample processing
DNA samples are processed by QIAGEN for EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assays using the following steps:
Data analysis
Data in an electronic form can be downloaded from a secure FTP website or delivered via email. A complete data and experiment report includes:
EpiTect Methyl II PCR Assays can reliably and sensitively profile DNA methylation status for the discovery and development of biomarkers important to stem cell growth and differentiation, cancer, and other human diseases.
Product Resources
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Guest Speaker - Matt Spaniol
Matthew graduated from SJU in 2001. He has Master's degrees in Public Administration from Venezuela and International Development from Denmark. Matthew has worked in finance, international relations and more recently as a futurist at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.
The presentation will consist of two parts, Contradictions from Living Abroad and Global Megatrends. The first part, Contradictions, follows Matthew's footsteps and lessons from dedicating his 20's to travelling and living abroad inspired during his 3rd semester exchange program to Central America. Megatrends will take the point of departure in the forces that will continue to shape the world we live in and affect our decisions long into the future.


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1936 Powerhouse
"Many stories have been written about the great 1936 team which was undefeated. It was coached by Dean Bailey, present athletic director at Lincoln Memorial University and seven of its members are now in the Lenoir City High School Sports Hall of Fame."
1936 Lenoir City High Linemen and Backs
The linemen are, from the left, Ed Osborne, Ed Littleton, George Fritts, who later was named to Grantland Rice's All-Southern team while at Clemson, and also named on some All-American teams, Gene Armstrong, Jr., Paul Davis, George Nichols, and Bud Waller. Backs are, from the left, Conrad Strader, Neville "Goober" Price, Babe Conner, Bill Yearout, and Ray Shubert.
(There was a picture used in newspaper article October 12, 1972 loaned to them by Scott Collins, Jr.)
Unbeaten and Untied Football Eleven
"Presenting above, Lenoir City High School's
undefeated and untied football eleven!
undefeated and untied football eleven!
Coach Dean Bailey's team swept through a hard 11 game schedule, piling up a total of 208 points, against 12 for their opponents as they won all their games. Jefferson City and Vonore were the only teams to score touchdowns on Lenoir City.
Members of the crack Lenoir squad above, are:
Front row, left to right, Ed Littleton, James Dawn, John Kerley, Ollie Arden, J. T. Smith, Ralph Babb, Bob Travis, George Sivils and Burt Peterson.
Middle row, left to right, Ed Osborne, Conrad Strader, Gene Armstrong, George Fritts, Jack Nichols, Bill Yearout, captain, Babe Conner, Neville Price, Ray Shubert and Bud Waller.
Back row, left to right, Coach Carl Stevens, Paul Davis, Bud Reno, Martin Wilkerson, Quinten Love, Varnell Williams, Frank Evans, M. V. Walker, Dan James and Head Coach Dean Bailey.
This is the second time in the past three years that Lenoir has been undefeated. Their record follows:SOURCES:
L. C. 13, Tellico Plains 0;
L. C. 14, Vonore 6;
L. C. 39, Maryville 0;
L. C. 21, Jefferson City 6;
L. C. 27, Powell 0;
L. C. 7, Everett 0;
L. C. 14, Dayton 0;
L. C. 27, Kingston 0;
L. C. 7, Polk County 0;
L. C. 32, Loudon 0.
1936 Lenoir City High School Linemen and Backs, Original belonging to son of Ray Allen Shubert and kept at his residence, Digital format used, Accessed 9-14-2013.
Newspaper Clippings
Newspaper Clippings found in Scrapbook made by Beebe Ann Mills Flynn, graduate of Lenoir City High School. Scrapbook given to Ray Shubert in 2002 by Beebe Flynn; Digital format; original now belonging to son of Ray Allen Shubert; Accessed 9-14-2013.


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Home > Erie County Bar Foundation > Video: Depression in the Legal Profession
"A Terrible Melancholy: Depression in the Legal Profession," an original documentary film produced by Buffalo attorney Daniel T. Lukasik and the first of its kind in the nation, was recently completed and is now being widely distributed, beginning in Erie County. The film is currently being sent to area law firms and attorneys can receive .5 CLE credits in "Ethics & Professionalism" for viewing it.
Depression has long been a serious concern for the legal profession. The documentary's title is based on a book about the life of President Lincoln. A renowned trial lawyer before becoming president, Lincoln suffered from depression his entire life. The film features four lawyers and a former judge discussing their personal experiences with the illness, along with several national experts on the subject. It is intended to provide hope and resources to those who may be suffering in silence.
The 30-minute documentary was made possilbe by generous grants from the Erie County Bar Foundation, the New York Lawyer Assistance Trust and the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation. Lukasik served as executive producer and the BAEC Committee to Assist Lawyers with Depression that he chairs assisted in the planning and production. Martin McGee was the filmmaker and Michael Bean was the editor. The film's original score was composed by David Kane.
To view the film now, click on the the icon below. If you wish to receive CLE credit for viewing it, please contact the Bar Association's CLE Department at 852-8687, as you will need to schedule a viewing to take place at Bar Association headquarters.


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Universal fits on all vehicles
Brand New 30inch Heavy Duty Aluminum Truck Trailer Storage Tool Box. When you are on the job site and need a quick and organized place to store your tools, you need a truck trailer storage tool box. K2 Motor's heavy duty tool box provides a safe and secure place for your tools. The box comes with anti-theft lock with 2 keys.
***Shipping Disclaimer***
*UPS does not deliver to Puerto Rico (PR), Hawaii (HI), Alaska (AK), Virgin Islands (VI), APO and FPO addresses. Due to this reason, shipments to such locations can only be made via USPS. The maximum package size limit set by USPS is 108 inches or less in combination of both length and width. Therefore, K2 Motor is unable to ship these following products to those locations:
No Videos Available.
RETURNS & EXCHANGES - Our Policies and Promises to Our Customers.
30-Days Money Back Guaranteed:
How do I return an item(s) that I purchased?
*Due to the nature of our products use, we usually do not accept returns but exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis. We advise that all customers consider the following before an RMA form is submitted.
What do I do if I received an incorrect product(s)? What can I do if my purchased item(s) are defective?
What can I do if my purchased item(s) are defective?


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For farmers, EPA's proposed changes to the Clean Water Act and the definitions of Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) are a double-edge sword. On one hand, the proposed rule should clarify issues of when permits are needed. Yet, it's also seen as an overreach of EPA's authority.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has heard plenty from both sides. That's why she's in the Midwest this week, to visit with farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses on the issue. On July 9, she visited Bill Heffernan's corn and soybean farm in Rocheport, Mo.
Heffernan farms a chunk of hilly central Missouri land that is dotted with ponds, and his fields have been shaped with terraces to help drain his fields. He uses no-till farming methods, cover crops and other conservation practices and also raises hogs and cattle. "This is a historic farm and we are trying to keep the legacy of it growing today," he says.
EPA Hopes to Debunk Myths
McCarthy says incorrect and ludicrous information has been surrounding this proposed rule. "The things that bother me the most are the ones that talk about us canceling 4th of July fireworks because of this rule and having to get a permit if your cows wander across a wetland area," she says. "This rule is serious business. I know this rule is important for the farming and ranching community."
Listen to McCarthy discuss the proposed rule with AgriTalk's Mike Adams:
The rule, if passed, will redefine "waters of the United States" to include intermittent and ephemeral streams, along with other non-navigable water bodies. Currently, the Clean Water Act authorizes the federal government to regulate only "navigable" waters.
The ag community has expressed much concern on how the proposed rule will affect ditches. McCarthy says the rule doesn't cover standing water, and the vast majority of ditches are not jurisdictional, as they are just directing runoff.
But, she says, there are some ditches that look, feel and act like streams, because many of them actually were streams. "Those may be important for water quality protection purposes," she says. "They were important under the current rule and they will be important under this one."
If farmers have these specific types of ditches, McCarthy says, they need to be careful that it stays healthy. "It doesn't mean you need to change anything you are doing," she says. "We're not making you get a permit. We are making sure you realize that unique ditch is a vital part of a drinking water supply and needs to be protected."
What this proposed rule doesn't do is just as important as what it does, McCarthy says. She says the proposed rule:
- Does not change the definition of "navigable water."
- Retains all of the farming exemptions and exclusions from the Clean Water Act permitting requirements that are currently in the rule.
- Does not expanded the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act.
On Heffernan's farm, the water standing in the terrace channel and the ponds without tributaries going in our out are not jurisdictional, McCarthy says. There was one pond that McCarthy says is jurisdictional, but it doesn't mean Heffernan will need a permit. "He wasn't doing anything to damage that pond," she says.
Many in the ag community are worried about how the proposed rule will broaden jurisdiction in a way that may negatively affect agricultural practices. "By expanding jurisdiction to intermittent streams and similar bodies of water that are not considered navigable, some are concerned that application of manure on lands near these water bodies could be considered a discharge and require a Clean Water Act permit," says Amy Millmier Schmidt, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Livestock Bioenvironmental Engineer.
American Farm Bureau recently launched a campaign called "Ditch the Rule." The goal is to prevent EPA from implementing what the group fears is too much overreach with proposed changes to the Clean Water Act.
McCarthy's response: "We're not trying to regulate more. We are trying to do our own business, which is to protect public health clearly.
"EPA and the agricultural community do not have the most trusting relationship," she says. "We can't allow this rule to tear us apart as opposed of bringing us together. We really need everyone's input."
The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2014. The public comment period will close on October 20, 2014.