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Commercial, Products, Public Service
By By Andrew Parker, Editor | February 1, 2012
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Despite the challenges of the global marketplace, cutbacks by public-use helicopter operators and new guidance in the form of FAA Order N8900.152 that took effect in April 2011, companies that provide night vision goggle (NVG) cockpit modifications are doing well, posting higher year-end returns and expanding at a time when many businesses are pulling back on the reins.
Rotor & Wing spoke with three of the major commercial NVG cockpit modifiers—Aero Dynamix Inc. (ADI), Aviation Specialties Unlimited (ASU) and REBTECH—to gauge the state of the specialized market and find out the impacts of N8900.152, Special Emphasis Inspection of Night Vision Imaging System Lighting Installations, on both operators and modifiers.
"Across the board, NVG demand lately is high," says Dennis Trout, general manager of Euless, Texas-based Aero Dynamix. "Back in the old days, and I'm just throwing figures out there, probably 10 percent of rotary wing aircraft required NVGs. Now, even though the market for aircraft is down overall, roughly 30 percent of new aircraft require NVG. All market sectors are up—EMS, police, law enforcement, offshore, military—it's across the board, they're all turning to NVG."
The percentage of NVG users "has continued to grow, even in the economic situation that we have," he adds. "Once the economy returns in earnest, we expect to see the demand for NVG to go even higher than it is today."
The worldwide economy "has had only a slight impact on REBTECH over the past few years," notes Richard Borkowski, president of the Bedford, Texas-based company. "The market is pretty strong right now. We do foresee that it's probably already hitting its peak—maybe. Our sales have continued to rise at a pretty healthy rate over the past four and a half years."
While the numbers are steadily going up overall, Borkowski observes that some taxpayer-funded operations are "being forced to go with the lowest modification bid over a source which is sometimes preferred by the pilots and maintenance personnel. Many in the law enforcement field have seen their operational budgets cut drastically to the point of not being able to acquire NVG equipment at the moment, or in piece parts over a period of time."
But in the next few years, he sees "more and more air applications needing and benefiting from the use of NVGs," including those units who had previously held back because of budget concerns.
Shawn Woodworth, director of maintenance for ASU out of Boise, Idaho, says his colleagues have been expecting this business to start dropping off soon. "But for the past three years, every year we've been [modifying] more and more aircraft—2011 was a booming year for us despite all the challenges we've had, and 2012 is starting out to be a boom year too."
Hannah Gordon, director of sales and marketing for ASU, explains that EMS is the company's biggest sector. "It used to be police, but under the 'new economy,' public uses have taken the biggest hit on extra spending." She adds that ASU sees the global marketplace as a major growth area—although that brings its own challenges, due to U.S. government export regulations and varying rules among different countries.
The increased awareness of the importance of NVGs as a safety tool has helped isolate some of the losses experienced in the public use arena.
"NVG is an operational requirement in many cases these days. Before it was a luxury, but today a lot of operators won't do without it," Trout observes.
"We've seen a trend to go toward NVG," says Borkowski, "whether you're a law enforcement, EMS, offshore operator, etc. We do a lot with operators like the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, for example—those that fly power lines at night, those that check on control towers or cell phone towers. They are flying all the time and they're realizing that they're a lot safer if they are trained properly, have an STC-approved cockpit, and using a good quality set of goggles. They're seeing that there's not as many nighttime crashes" for operators with NVGs.
Unfortunately, says Jeff Stubbs, senior vice president of operations and systems technology for REBTECH, public service aircraft units, with a few exceptions, have historically "been treated as an unwanted evil, and NVGs as toys. Once we can convince a decision maker that this could save lives and avert a possible 'incident,' then we can move forward."
"There are obviously times when we know that an operator's going to get a couple of aircraft completed and due to their budget situation, will drop NVG—but it's a pretty rare occasion comparative to what it was four or five years ago," notes Tonka Hufford, operations manager for Aero Dynamix. "Back then NVGs might be the first thing off the list, today it's one of the biggest things that people fight to keep on the list."
One of the recent issues impacting operators in the NVG modification industry is FAA's N8900.152, which took effect in April 2011.
Stubbs says that the biggest challenge for NVG operators and modifiers in dealing with the FAA "is that unlike any other STC, civil NVG approval can be subjective."
Regardless of experience, education or training, he continues, "ultimately an individual is making a decision that is based on perception or opinion."
Kim Harris, director of operations for ASU, agrees. Much of the NVG program within the FAA is kind of a round peg in a square hole, he says.
Both Woodworth and Harris elaborate that NVG evaluations can be very subjective—while one inspector might decide that daylight readability in a particular aircraft is adequate, another might have a different opinion.
Describing it as an ongoing "learning experience for both the industry and the FAA," the process of developing and enforcing the regulations has created additional time and costs for NVG modifiers, according to Harris. The company worked with FAA in 2007/2008 in a process that involved "paperwork cleanup and a lot of special emphasis inspections," Gordon explains.
The initial aircraft reviews were "a huge expense for us, but a definite learning experience for everyone—us, the FAA and the operators," Harris says, adding that when the special emphasis inspection guidelines came out in 2011, "the lessons learned from our experience helped the entire industry."
According to Stubbs, "when we were first made aware of N8900.152 a couple months before it came out, I was probably the 'chicken little' of REBTECH, running around concerned about what was going to come out of it."
But in reality, he continues, "out of our 300 aircraft, we really did have less than three percent of our fleet affected by 152, and that three percent was solely operators who had modifications a few years ago and they lost documentation. It really did not impact us much at all. For other companies, it nearly ruined them."
For operators, "one of the biggest challenges is the budget," Trout says of N8900.152. "These new demands have a big impact on their budget—some instruments either have to be updated, or the user wants to make changes to improve safety or effectiveness. From our side, the regulations have given the operators and maintenance providers more awareness of what the FAA guidelines have evolved to."
That increased awareness, Hufford explains, "has driven the operators to realize that, while they may have added a couple small units over the years and thought everything was just fine, often times the maintenance providers may have overlooked the impact the change may have had on the NVG certification."
Aero Dynamix has experienced "a huge increase in demand [to answer] questions. That's driven a very large, new requirement for STC updates and re-certifications. That is, aircraft that were field approved before 2003/2004, or even as far back as the late 90s, that are now coming back and requiring a full FAA STC," Hufford continues.
The increased demand has been a factor in helping drive a recent expansion of the Aero Dynamix headquarters in Euless to 23,000 square feet, with a workforce now approaching 100 people.
Stubbs says that the FAA Special Emphasis Inspection "was not only needed but long overdue. N8900.152 has provided the FSDOs with initial NVG training and a regulatory format in which to insure the NVG STC is maintained and documentation is current. Many of our operators have taken N8900.152 and are implementing it into their quality system as well."
From an operator's perspective, "it's an entire shift in how they perceive modifying their aircraft," says Gordon. "So in that regard, there's a lot of discrepancies a lot of modifiers are dealing with. A good 30-40 percent of those problems have to do with an operator upgrading their GPS but not realizing that they have to get an ECO [engineering change order] to do that. They can't do it with a [Form] 337 anymore."
Economics is based on filling a demand, and the demand for NVG modifications remains high and it should continue to be a productive segment for many years to come. While the sector involves a very complicated product—with issues like daylight readability still a case-by-case challenge—it clearly isn't on the decline.
"Filtering infrared light today is not the hardest part of modifying equipment, it's the balance and the daylight readability," Trout explains.
"It's easy to make a cockpit NVIS compatible, but can you read it during the day? That really is the challenge," adds Woodworth.


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Minnesota Genealogical Society
1185 Concord Street North Suite 218
South Saint Paul, MN 55075
Membership includes the quarterly Minnesota Genealogist and the MGS Newsletter. Meetings are held quarterly, with state and national speakers. The Minnesota Genealogical Society Library at 1185 Concord Street North, South Saint Paul, MN, contains over 3,000 reference books, research materials on Indian and Metis groups, and the books and research materials of several of the branches of the society. The society also has an extensive number of special interest groups focusing on a wide variety of ethnic research concentrations.
The Minnesota Genealogical Society office and library are staffed by volunteers, and hours are limited. Classes are provided for beginning and advanced genealogists.

subset: commoncrawl


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For those of you that are fans of the Disney pixie movies like Tinkerbell, you should recognize the face you see before you now. This tutorial is going to be on "how to draw Periwinkle", step by step. In the new Tinkerbell movie 'Secret of the Wings' we have the pleasure of knowing Peri, (as she is called). She is a spunky, energetic, happy pixie that also happens to be Tinkerbell's twin sister. They are twins because they both came from the same laugh when they where born. I don't want to spoil the story for those of you that didn't see the film, but there is just a few more things I want to mention. Tinkerbell and Peri have the same exact wing pattern which never, ever happens in Pixie Hollow or in the Winter Woods. This will be a fun lesson to tackle because not only will you be drawing Peri, you will also be drawing a fairy. I mean everybody knows how fun drawing fairies is. Anyways, that's all I have to say, I will be back later on today with some more artistic fun. Peace out folks!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Health topics
66顺彩票appAn unhealthy diet is one of the major risk factors for a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and other conditions linked to obesity. Specific recommendations for a healthy diet include: eating more fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains; cutting down on salt, sugar and fats. It is also advisable to choose unsaturated fats, instead of saturated fats and towards the elimination of trans-fatty acids.
66顺彩票appImproving dietary habits is a societal, not just an individual problem. Therefore it demands a population-based, multisectoral, multi-disciplinary, and culturally relevant approach.
General information
Fact sheet on healthy diet
September 2014
Fact sheet on salt reduction
September 2014
- Fact sheet on obesity and overweight
- Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption
WHO programmes and activities
Diet in WHO regions
Technical information
- Reducing salt intake in populations
The marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children
Set of recommendations


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Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank:
The president of the World Bank on Saturday warned the finance chiefs of the world's leading economic powers that global warming is a real risk to the planet and already affecting the world economy in unprecedented ways.
Addressing the G20 finance ministers at their meeting in Moscow, Jim Yong Kim called on the world powers to ''tackle the serious challenges presented by climate change.''
''These are not just risks. They represent real consequences,'' said Kim, calling the lack of attention to the issue by finance ministers and central bank chiefs ''a mistake''.
He said failing to tackle the challenges of climate change risked having ''serious consequences for the economic outlook''.
''Damages and losses from natural disasters have more than tripled over the past 30 years,'' said Kim, giving as examples the $45 billion of losses from the 2011 floods in Thailand, whose effects ''spread across borders disrupting international supply chains.''
''Years of development efforts are often wiped out in days or even minutes,'' Kim said, asking the G20 to ''face climate change, which is a very real and present danger.''
Read the entire article hereBan Ki-moon, UN Secretary General:
Scientists have long sounded the alarm. Top-ranking military commanders and security experts have now joined the chorus. Yet the political class seems far behind.
You all know the potential consequences. A downward global spiral of extreme weather and disaster. Reversals in development gains. Increases in displacement. Aggravated tensions over water and land. Fragile states tipping into chaos.
Read the entire article here
US president Barack Obama nominated Kim to replace Robert Zoellick at the World Bank, and the Bush administration supported Ban's election as Secretary General.
When the head of another major international organization is to be chosen, please not a Korean again, Mr. Obama!


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LOS ALTOS — Signaling a possible end to years of acrimony and multimillion-dollar court battles, Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District tentatively have agreed to abandon lawsuits and peaceably locate the charter school on two shared campuses.
The draft agreement was nurtured by both sides' desire to pass a bond measure in November to fund more schoolrooms. The Los Altos district faces relentless growth — enrollment has increased 25 percent in 10 years, with no place to put new students. And short of building its own facility, Bullis must rely on voter goodwill to realize its goal of having its own stand-alone campus.
Votes on the tentative agreement, drawn up in mediation, is set for July 28 by both the Los Altos school board and the Bullis board. Approval would mean Bullis would drop four lawsuits, most filed over what facilities the district has offered Bullis in previous years, and the district would drop one suit. An agreement also would provide Bullis with specifics — down to numbers of portable classrooms and days its students may use the playground, gym, tennis courts and fields — for five years.
Bullis is public school chartered by the Santa Clara County Board of Education, but California law requires the Los Altos district to provide facilities, charging only for a fair share of the cost of maintenance.
"I think it's wonderful," said Randy Kenyon, a Los Altos assistant superintendent. The five-year agreement would put an end to the time-consuming, and often rancorous, annual negotiation over space.
In the past school year alone, the district spent $1.7 million on Bullis-related legal fees, Kenyon said, and had budgeted a like amount annually for next year.
"This," Kenyon said, "is a huge potential savings for the district."
John Phelps, Bullis's new board chairman, said, "I'm excited for the kids." He lamented that in previous years, "that the adults got in the way of kids having the best possible education."
While the two sides previously tried negotiating, talks broke down.
"It was a very, very difficult negotiation," Los Altos board President Doug Smith said. "An agreement like this never encompasses everything you'd like to include, but I'm hopeful we can get community support and provide a way to move forward."
Since he joined the board five years ago, Smith said, every board meeting has included Bullis on the agenda.
The tentative agreement also calls for the charter and district to work together to place a bond measure on the November ballot that would finance additional facilities for students. The amount could approach $150 million.
The district is in talks with the city of Los Altos to potentially buy or lease land for another elementary school. Rosita Park is one possibility.
The draft deal also calls for phasing out over five years the preference that Bullis gives in enrollment to Los Altos Hills residents.
Dave Cortright, who ran for county school board to challenge Bullis, said he wished the preferences would be eliminated immediately, But, like others, he applauded the agreement. "I don't think anyone could have asked for anything better than this," he said.
Dropping the suits is significant. "That's something the community at large has been clamoring for for some time," said Joe Seither, a board member with the Huttlinger Alliance, a community group formed out of concern over Bullis, including its apparent exclusion of special-education and underprivileged students.
Phelps acknowledged community pressure to resolve the conflict. "The length of time and diversion of resources had gotten to the point where it was increasingly critical to solve this," he said. "I'm hopeful that this will give all public students access to appropriate facilities."
Contact Sharon Noguchi at 408-271-3775. Follow her at Twitter.com/noguchionk12. Email Jason Green at firstname.lastname@example.com; follow him at Twitter.com/jgreendailynews.


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Ohio Labor Market Information
[Go to main Local Area Unemployment Statistics page]
Civilian Labor Force Estimates include employment, unemployment figures and unemployment rates. Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), estimates are by place of residence. Most area data are NOT seasonally adjusted. However, seasonally adjusted data are available for the United States, Ohio and the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
Notes: 1) Workforce Area definitions change periodically. Maps based on former definitions can be viewed at http://jfs.ohio.gov/owd/wia/wiamap.stm under "Past Workforce Maps". 2) Current Civilian Labor Force Estimates offers additional information for the most recent month available. 3) Concepts & Methodology offer brief, non-technical explanations of terms and procedures used to develop local area employment and unemployment statistics.
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Our journey along the River Rhine explores five countries and features a seven-night cruise from Switzerland to the Netherlands aboard ms Grace or ms Inspire plus three nights in the historic Italian fashion capital of Milan plus a visit to glamorous Lake Como. Highlights include: Milan – three nights at Hotel Principe di Savoia, a historic landmark in the heart of the city; Lake Como – a private boat ride on Lake Como, a visit to Isola Comacina for lunch at a famed trattoria, and a visit to Bellagio. Basel or Zurich – your choice of Swiss city walking tours in either Old Town Basel, a cultural mecca, or fashionable lakeside Zurich. Riquewihr – a walking tour of this tiny Alsatian wine village where French and German cultures blend; featured on the list of "The Most Beautiful Villages in France." Heidelberg – including a guided visit to legendary Heidelberg Castle. Rüdesheim – experience Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett, a museum of mechanical musical instruments in a centuries-old castle. Linz am Rhein – picturesque town lined with colorful half-timbered houses. Dusseldorf – spend an afternoon exploring this riverside center of art and fashion. Amsterdam – lunch aboard a private canal boat cruise. Tauck Exclusive experiences include a special evening at Schloss Johannisberg, a vineyard estate in the Rheingau wine region.
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June 28, 2010, 10:09 pm
A Paul McCartney tie to Denver Health
Former Beatle Paul McCartney plays the Pepsi Center on July 15, and Denver Health will be making some money from the 7:30 p.m. concert.
McCartney donated a block of premium seats to the hospital, and they are now on sale for $500 each. The price includes valet parking and admission to a pre-concert reception. Purchases can be made online — visit www.denverhealthfoundation.org — or by e-mailing event coordinator Candice Jones. Her address is email@example.com
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or firstname.lastname@example.com; also, GetItWrite on Twitter
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Nitro Concepts
E200 Race Series Gaming Chair - Black/Blue
- Stylish Nitro Concepts gaming chair in black-blue
- masterful design with futuristic armrests
- perforated PU imitation leather covering
- comfortable cold foam upholstery
- practical tilt mechanism.
Stock Code: GC-019-NR
Manufacturer: Nitro Concepts
+44 (0)1782 44 44 55
E200 Race Series Gaming Chair - Black/Blue
The handsome gaming chairs of the Nitro Concepts E200 series unite the fashionable design of their stylish racing look and a pair of remarkable armrests with a particularly comfortable upholstery and an innovative choice of materials. The E200 Race series comes in seven different colour versions and easily attracts gamers who yearn for a pretty office chair that offers superb ergonomics too. Next to their striking visuals, these veritable gamer chairs feature the Nitro Concepts brand's famous high-quality manufacturing and yet they are not going to break their owner's bank.
Perfected design for utmost comfort
All Nitro Concepts swivel chair series from the Excellence Class feature an impressive shaping inspired by race car seats and come with fixed design armrests that blend in perfectly with the overall sporty design. In addition, this version comes with a black polyurethane (PU) imitation leather cover, whose surface has been finely perforated for ideal breathability during all seasons. The whole package is being completed by subtle blue seams and a Nitro Concepts logo that adorns the headrest. As an added bonus, a little metal plate with logo lettering is included with every unit to allow you to proudly proclaim your ownership of a Nitro Concepts gaming chair.
Comfortable upholstery for perfect ergonomics
The high-class upholstery of the Nitro Concepts gaming chairs relies exclusively on freshly moulded cold foam straight from the factory instead of recycled waste scraps used in many competing products, which renders the Nitro Concepts chairs not only more robust, but also delivers far greater comfort. Despite offering such delicate materials, the Nitro Concepts chairs are still available at a very attractive price point.
A sturdy base is the foundation of any fantastic gaming chair
A durable steel frame along with an equally sturdy five-star base made of nylon serve as the basis of each Nitro Concepts gamer seat. The latter is equipped with five 50 millimetre casters with PU coating that are suited for both soft and hard floors. Above that, the chairs boast 360-degree swivel rotation, flexibly adjustable seat height via a safety class 4 gas lift along with a comfortable rocking mechanism, that allows for rocking the chairs up to 15 degrees.
All Nitro Concepts gaming chairs sold in the UK are compliant with the UK Fire Safety Regulations for Furniture and Furnishings (BS 5852) and therefore possess a fire-retardant layer that has been applied to the surface material to minimise fire hazards.
- 100% vegan PU faux leather cover
- Comfortable cold foam upholstery
- Distinctive design armrests in black-blue
- Safety class 4 gas lift
- Top-notch tilt mechanism up to 15°
- 50 mm casters with coloured accent
Materials used:
- Frame: Steel
- Five-star base: Nylon
- Upholstery: Cold foam (new)
- Cover: PU faux leather
- Casters: Nylon with PU coating
- Main colour: Black
- Accent colour: Blue
- Measurements:
Total height (with base): ca. 122 - 132 cm
Height adjustability: ca. 47 - 57 cm
Width backrest (shoulder level): ca. 53 cm
Width backrest (pelvis level): ca. 50.5 cm
Width backrest (point of contact): ca. 29 cm
Length backrest: ca. 79 cm
Width seat (total): ca. 51 cm
Width seat (point of contact): ca. 39 cm
Depth seat (total): ca. 49 cm
Depth seat (point of contact): ca. 47 cm
Width armrests: ca. 5.7 cm
Depth armrests: ca. 39 cm
Rocking mechanism: max. 15°
- Maximum weight (user): 120 kg
- Net weight (chair): ca. 17 kg
- Gross weight (chair): ca. 19.5 kg
- UK Fire safety compliance: BS 5852
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Awards & Media Coverage
Custom PC - Approved
"The perforated faux leather will also mean hot days remain comfortable, allowing some breathing – sealed faux leather can get very uncomfortable in warm weather."
eTeknix - Bang For Buck
"Stylish, affordable and comfortable, the E200 is a great option for those looking to take their first steps into the world of gaming chairs. While not offering a lot of features, it's still a nice place to sit, and it's sure to look fantastic in front of your desk at home or in the office."Award
OC3D - Gamers Choice
"The Nitro Concepts E200 cannot be given anything but a Gamers Choice Award, as while higher-end, more customisable offerings are available, this chair offers everything that users truly need, which is a comfortable seat with a solid design and an attractive aesthetic."Award
Micro Mart - Editors Choice
"The Nitro Concepts E200 Gaming Chair combines comfort with a great ergonomic seating position."
Play3r - Silver
"...the padding within the chair itself is good and the overall frame of the chair is solid. If you're looking for a new office chair or something to add style to your gaming area, then the E200 is surely going to tickle your fancy."Award
KitGuru - Worth Buying
"While it does not have the feature set to compete with pricier racing-style chairs, the E200 Race from Nitro Concepts offers good looks, great comfort and an easy build process, all for a decent price."Award


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We Can't Move Forward By Whitewashing Torture
Does this mean former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who said the Geneva Convention was "obsolete", may skip charges altogether? Obama's detractors claim this wouldn't be good for national morale; I call it a royal flush.
When President Barack Obama first publically stated he wasn't going to prosecute senior Bush Administration officials for detainee torture back in early January, I pretended to have forgotten how obstinate, grudging and ungrateful these people can be.
Surely they'll just let out a sigh of relief and keep their pinched-lips shut, I thought at the time. Yet in light of such graphic disclosures (and much still-to-be-shown), it seemed Obama was content to continue his inauguration-period Kumbaya; let George and Laura Bush move on.
I overlooked how weak any silence or graciousness may look towards millions of Bush's supporters who watched their hero flip-the-bird at the flat earth for eight years.
We should have known to what extent the Bush regime could go to torture just by studying the manner in which Jose Padilla was treated.
Says Glenn Greenwald, author of How Would a Patriot Act?: "The case of Jose Padilla is one of the most despicable and outright un-American travesties the US Government has perpetrated in a long time... But there has been no retreat from this behavior. Quite the contrary. The atrocity known as the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is a huge leap forward in elevating the Padilla treatment from the lawless shadows into full-fledged officially-sanctioned and legally-authorized policy of the US Government. The case of Jose Padilla is no longer a sick aberration, but is instead a symbol of the kind of government we have chosen to have."
While I acknowledge Greenwald's great research on Padilla, America didn't choose the Bush Administration. Most of us chose Al Gore; the US Supreme Court chose the Bush government. Which only made the situation even worse.
Greenwald's findings came after almost four years of sensory deprivation while inside a 9x7 cell. For two and a half of those years this American citizen was denied access to a lawyer and contact with his family.
Once again understand that no charges were filed against him. It's not as if there weren't any obvious enemy combatants out there; what about Luis Posada Carilles? Not a "dirty bomber," but worse, a real bomber. This is a guy Bush could have unequivocally pinned an airplane bombing to; could've tortured him without outcry 'till the cows came home. Yet this terrorist roamed free for quite some time, with America leaving it only up to foreign courts to hunt down, simply because he was anti-Fidel Castro.
The purpose as described by attorney David Markus in his blog was "in an effort to gain Mr. Padilla's dependency and trust, he was tortured for nearly the entire three years and eight months of his unlawful detention... it is worth noting that throughout his captivity, none of the restrictive and inhumane conditions visited upon Mr. Padilla were brought on by his behavior or any actions on his part. There were no incidents of Mr. Padilla violating any regulations of the naval brig or taking any aggressive action towards any of his captors."
Then we got news of the CIA destroying some interrogation tapes; twelve out of 92 in all. Much of this had to do with the secret simulated drowning.
President Obama signed an order prohibiting the agency from using these procedures or as they called it "enhanced interrogation techniques" during his first week in office. In late April, less than two weeks after President Obama released Bush Administration torture memos that approved the harsh tactics, the Senate Armed Services Committee released a 232-page report denouncing the abuse that began rolling in full swing two weeks after 9/11 and the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and Afghanistan.
A month later came news that interrogations undergone by prisoners such as Padilla weren't the brainchild of the military. Author Alfred McCoy who was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer points to the world's most infamous intelligence agency: "The CIA became involved in torture through a massive mind-control effort with psychological warfare and secret research into human consciousness that reached the cost of a billion dollars annually-veritable Manhattan Project of the Mind."
McCoy's book "A question of Torture: From 1950 to 1962" reveals a budget set aside by the US Government; a "black budget" that was never shut down and gained new life after the events of 9/11/01.
Reportedly these torture methods weren't physical. Of course abuse doesn't have to be physical at all and those of the mental, psychological and emotional can have more damaging effects than actual body contact.
McCoy goes on to state that these are "all designed with a perverse stagecraft to evoke an aura of fear... the psychological component of torture becomes a kind of a total theater. A constructed unreality of lies and inversion, in a plot that ends inexorably with the victim's self-betrayal and destruction."
This overview came before Padilla's trial, as in the case of most interrogations the US outwardly hopes to gain more leads and names for more arrests. Evidently no such names came forth from Mr. Padilla after year of enduring torture; unlike Zubaydah who was said to have talked after his interrogation. Needless to say, he had more to reveal than Padilla.
In other words he either has an extraordinarily strong will, or he simply knew no one or nothing to reveal.
Why Bush had the military push on for so long seems to be a betrayal of something deeper. I'm convinced Bush knew very well Padilla was essentially not a terrorist, but at worst only a former member of a street gang.
This makes for an interesting statement about the young former-Chicago resident's character; It's well known you can get most street thugs to sing any song you want ghetto-snitch-rule not withstanding. Especially through the sophisticated torture tactics Padilla experienced.
Most gang-bangers are only tough within the combined safety of their numbers. The underlining suspicion was the Bush Administration wanted us to believe the same thing regarding Padilla that he wanted the world to believe about his reasons for invading Iraq; to manufacture concrete evidence to present to the world that Iraq was directly connected to 9/11.
Any disclosure by Padilla, whether true or not would have, at least in his mind, given him much credibility in his scorched-earth campaign.
The same day the SASC report was released, the AP reported that Obama was contemplating an interrogation of his own against the Bush Administration, adding the US lost "our moral bearing." The President also said he could support a Congressional probe as long as it was bipartisan.
If President Obama does prosecute, it would likely be in-no-small-part due to the recent antics of his distant cousin and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Talk about family drama, Cheney has been making appearances on mostly conservative-friendly talk shows spitting out some revisionist history about his former Administration's need to torture.
It's not as if Obama wasn't always wary of Cheney; he said of his former number two, in January: "Vice President Cheney, I think, continues to defend what he calls extraordinary measures or procedures when it comes to interrogations and from my view water boarding is torture."
Obama may also be clearing the way to backtrack on his promise of over 120 days earlier not to have the Bush bunch face legal consequences. Recently he vowed not to prosecute CIA employees; his Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel said he wouldn't seek indictment of Bush Administration lawyers. Who then does that leave Obama to mess with? The same people trying to vilify him after he told the world he would cut Bush and his gang-bangers; Cheney, Rove, Condi, and Rumsfeld a break.
Does this mean former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who said the Geneva Convention was "obsolete", may skip charges altogether? Obama's detractors claim this wouldn't be good for national morale; I call it a royal flush.
It probably doesn't help the former Bush Administration's case that we now know that the alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammad was reportedly water-boarded a whopping 183 times back in March of '03 alone and that the alleged al-Qaeda Chief of Logistics Abu Zubaydah 83 times back in 8/02.
What many don't seem to get is, it's not just the torture alone that's the issue, it's the Bush policy that precedes and led up to it that make it necessary to shut down and seek indictment. That the Military Commissions Act may have swept up some actual planners of 9/11 doesn't justify the methods. Two towers in New York don't make a right; the right to randomly choose anyone as an enemy. We learned this much from... and Jose Padilla.
Stevenson is a syndicated columnist. His articles also appear on his blog the Buffalo Bullet. www.buffalobullet.blogspot.com contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Nate Berg
Nate Berg is a freelance reporter and a former staff writer for CityLab. He lives in Los Angeles.
America has grown even more urban. According to new numbers just released from the U.S. Census Bureau, 80.7 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas as of the 2010 Census, a boost from the 79 percent counted in 2000. That brings the country's total urban population to 249,253,271, a number attained via a growth rate of 12.1 percent between 2000 and 2010, outpacing the nation as a whole, which grew at 9.7 percent.
Overall, these results aren't very surprising.
The New York-Newark metro area is still the nation's most populous, with 18,351,295 residents. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is still the second, with 12,150,996, and the Chicago area is still third, with 8,608,208. Despite all the booms and busts in other cities over the years, these three have been the most populous since the 1950 Census, when urban areas were first delineated by the Census Bureau. Their dominance likely extends even farther back in history.
But we're not just talking about cities here. The new figures represent the population in "urban areas," which the Census Bureau defines as "densely developed residential, commercial and other nonresidential areas."
There are officially two types of urban areas: "urbanized areas" of 50,000 or more people and "urban clusters" of between 2,500 and 50,000 people. For the 2010 count, the Census Bureau has defined 486 urbanized areas, accounting for 71.2 percent of the U.S. population. The 3,087 urban clusters account for 9.5 percent of the U.S. population.
Though these smaller urban clusters account for a relatively small portion of the total population, they make up the vast majority of the roughly 3,500 "urban" areas in the U.S. But is a town of 2,500 people really what we think of as "urban"?
According to the Census Bureau, a place is "urban" if it's a big, modest or even very small collection of people living near each other. That includes Houston, with its 4.9 million people, and Bellevue, Iowa, with its 2,543.
With such a wide range in populations, there's also a wide range in average densities among these urbanized areas and urban clusters. The L.A.-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area has the highest population density, with 6,999.3 people per square mile. Hickory, North Carolina, has the lowest, with 811.1 people per square mile. Among urban clusters, Richgrove, California, has the highest density (and highest in the nation), with 10,016 people per square mile. Center, Alabama, has the lowest, with 363 people per square mile.
But 2,500 people is hardly what we'd think of as a city, or even 5,000 for that matter. Let's say we decided to call places with 20,000 residents or less small towns. Of the 3,573 urban areas in the U.S. (both urbanized areas and urban clusters), 2,706 of them are small towns, by this definition. That's 75.7 percent. If roughly 80 percent of our population is urban, roughly 80 percent of our urban areas are actually small towns.
By contrast, the top 48 urbanized areas account for more than half of the entire urban population.
The country is undeniably urban, and the urban majority is counted by population, not by the amount of urban areas. But with such a wide spectrum making up the definition of the word "urban," maybe it makes more sense to think of the U.S. as majority non-rural.
Image courtesy U.S. Census Bureau
The first class of hand-picked remote workers moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in exchange for $10,000 and a built-in community. The city might just be luring them to stay.
As tenant protections get stronger, corporate landlords use software to manage delinquent renters. But housing advocates see a tool for quicker evictions.
To rein in traffic-snarling new mobility modes, L.A. needed digital savvy. Then came a privacy uproar, a murky cast of consultants, and a legal crusade by Uber.
A new Urban Institute study measures the spatial mismatch between where job seekers live and employment opportunities.
A store owner is objecting to San Francisco's plan to install a protected bike lane, because of parking worries. Should it matter that it's a bike shop?


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LESLIE: Well, Tom and I both love our older homes but we know they come with their own set of maintenance issues, which really are brought on by all those years of service. And one of which we see a lot is cracks, especially those that form in plaster walls.
TOM: Well, that's right. But when it comes to repairing cracks in plaster walls, you can't just trowel on some spackle and call it a day. These walls need a bit more care to make sure that they can stand up for generations to come. Here to tell us exactly how to accomplish that is our friend, Tom Silva, the general contractor for TV's This Old House.
Welcome, Tommy.
TOM SILVA: Thanks, guys. It's nice to be here.
TOM: So, we get this question so often. What really causes those plaster walls to crack? It seems pretty normal.
TOM SILVA: Well, years ago, they put up what they call a "lath" over the wall. And it's basically a ¼- or 3/8-inch thick strip of wood, maybe a 1-inch to 1¼ inches wide. It's spaced ¼- to 3/8-inch apart.
TOM SILVA: When they make the base coat of the plaster up, it's soft. They trowel it and push it onto the walls. It goes in between those openings of the lath, forming a key or a lock to that. That's how it's held onto the wall.
TOM: So it circles behind the wood and then kind of grabs it and that's the attachment.
TOM SILVA: Right. Right. So it basically forms a key or a T or an I, basically: the wall, the slot and then a big clump in the back. And when that breaks free, the plaster will fall off the wall in chunks; it becomes loose. You have to reattach it to the wall by using a metal ring or a washer and a drywall screw. And you just want to gently put the washer onto the wall, holding it in place with a drywall screw, screwing it into the lath. If you screw it too tight, you'll crack the piece and it'll fall out.
TOM: Yeah, good point. Now, so what we're essentially doing is with the metal drywall screw on the washer, we are creating an alternative structural assembly, essentially, because the key is gone now, no longer attaching. We've got this loose plaster, which is pretty heavy, too. And this was in a ceiling, it could actually fall down and hurt somebody.
TOM SILVA: Oh, absolutely. The ceiling, that's what happens. Big chunks will fall out of a ceiling if you don't address the problem and fix it.
LESLIE: Now, you're saying that we want to go with these rings and these drywall screws right into the lath itself. Finding the wood, I feel like any time you've tried to hang anything on a plaster wall, you take a stud finder and then everything is beeping.
TOM SILVA: Right.
LESLIE: So it's like how do you know, essentially, you're getting into that strip of lath?
TOM SILVA: You will know. As soon as you turn that screw and it goes through the plaster, whether you're in between the crack or you're into the lath. Because you will feel the tension.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm. Tightening up.
TOM SILVA: Yeah.
TOM: And the nice thing about lath is if you do miss it, if you go an inch in either direction, you're most likely to hit it, correct?
TOM SILVA: Exactly, exactly. The key is is you don't want to overtighten it, because you're going to damage or crumble the plaster. So you don't want to do that.
LESLIE: That's such a delicate system.
TOM SILVA: Right. Another way to do it is I like to put the plaster rings on if I – and then put them randomly on the wall. Then I'll take an old piece of screening wire out of a storm door and then take that screen, put joint compound on the wall, cover it well, take the screening wire and lay it right into the wet plaster and then compress it against the wall, oozing out all of the joint compound behind it. And now I created a screen mesh over the wall and it will never crack.
TOM: Ah, that's a great tip. So if you've got a crack that really is persistent, maybe in an area where the wall tends to move a lot, like around a door opening or an archway or something like that, you could essentially reinforce that entire crack. First, secure it with drywall screws and the metal washers, then put the screening on top of that whole thing.
TOM SILVA: Right. Right.
TOM: And you are so reinforcing that area that the crack just can't reappear.
TOM SILVA: Exactly. Yeah, two coats of joint compound on top of it, sometimes three depending on how much the hole or the dent is that you're trying to figure out. Not really a hole but a dent in the plaster. And I've had great luck with it over the years.
TOM: Great tricks of the trade. We're talking to Tom Silva, the general contractor on TV's This Old House, about how to repair a cracked plaster wall.
LESLIE: Now, what about drywall? I mean when you're thinking about comparing drywall to plaster, making any sort of repairs to cracks in drywall has got to be a breeze.
TOM SILVA: Well, drywall, you don't have to worry about that plaster, that hard surface, cracking. Drywall can crack but usually if it cracks or opens, it's going to be a structural issue, because the house is really settling too much, or it was just basically installed incorrectly.
LESLIE: And I think, generally, a lot of the calls we get at The Money Pit, when you're seeing a crack in the drywall, it's essentially a crack in the joinery.
TOM SILVA: In the joint. Exactly, exactly. And usually, what happens there in lots of times is the tape wasn't installed correctly. If they use a paper tape, the paper tape went onto dry joint compound and so it breaks away eventually.
LESLIE: Right.
TOM SILVA: So, you've got to retape it.
TOM: And speaking of retaping, one final point. I like that perforated tape: the one that sort of looks like a fiberglass mesh? Because, as you know, for the average do-it-yourselfer that doesn't work with paper tape all the time, it's kind of hard to get it right. You've got to make …
LESLIE: You have to finesse it.
TOM SILVA: Yeah.
TOM: You've got to have a solid coat of joint compound behind it. You get air bubbles. That fiberglass tape seems to be a lot more forgiving.
TOM SILVA: The fiberglass tape I like is the – because I use it, because I plaster and I joint compound and I use it for both. Lots of times, I may double up on it. But if – the paper tape is tricky. If you put a layer of joint compound on the wall on a joint or over a crack, if you wait too long and that joint compound hasn't dried but skinned over, now when you put the tape on it, it's not going to stick.
TOM: Yeah, yeah. And it gets kind of chunky and it doesn't give you a smooth …
TOM SILVA: Right, right. The trick around that is if you're waiting too long, wet the tape and put it on the wet joint compound and you don't have to worry about it. It will really stick well then.
TOM: Hey, it worked for the plasterers, right, with the wet lath?
TOM SILVA: Absolutely.
TOM: Alright. And it still works today. Tom Silva, the general contractor on TV's This Old House, great advice. Thanks so much for stopping by The Money Pit.
TOM SILVA: Nice to be here.
LESLIE: You can catch the current season of This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. For local listings and step-by-step videos of many common home improvement projects, visit ThisOldHouse.com.
TOM: And This Old House and Ask This Old House are brought to you by GMC. GMC, we are professional grade.


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* Ambitious EU-U.S. talks to be complicated by agriculture
* U.S. wants to export GM crops
* EU wants to keep exclusivity to names like Feta, champagne
By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Genetically modified crops, chlorine-washed chicken, beef quotas and a fight over who can call Greek-style cheese 'feta' all block the way towards the world's largest free-trade deal.
U.S. and European Union negotiators will determine a list of sticking points this week in Washington during their third round of talks, and food issues are expected to be chief among them.
At a time of low economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, EU-U.S. free-trade negotiations seek to integrate two markets representing almost half the world's economy in a sophisticated agreement going far beyond lowering tariffs.
But food is different and the old issues that have bedevilled many trade talks around the world are likely to complicate the ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between Brussels and Washington.
The recently agreed EU-Canada free-trade talks, known as CETA, dragged on for months before Brussels agreed to let in some 45,000 more tonnes a year of Canadian beef and 75,000 tonnes of pork free of tariffs.
Even if just a fraction of the EU's output of 7.7 million tonnes of beef and 20 million tonnes of pork, the imports will be high-value hams and hind cuts of beef, a lot for Irish and French farmers to swallow. A U.S. deal would let in more.
"You will destroy the market. The U.S. won't agree on an equivalent quota lower than that of Canada. For beef, their exports are double the size," said Jean-Luc Meriaux, secretary general of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union.
"Two products paid for CETA. Beef and pork. We fear they will also pay for the U.S. deal," he continued.
Europe takes a precautionary approach to food safety, making it far more difficult and time-consuming to clear new practices and to see products reach the mouths of consumers.
The U.S. farm lobby is not amused. A group of 47 U.S. food and agricultural associations wrote to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to express their concerns.
"Our optimism for the TTIP negotiations may have been premature or misplaced," they said, arguing that restrictions are often based on perception and politics, not science.
The European Union has ruled out importing meat from animals injected with hormones and said that it will not simply open the door to GM crops. So far, the European Union has allowed just two crops to be grown in Europe. A potential third has been awaiting approval for 12 years.
Of some 450 commercial GM strains, the bloc has cleared about 50 for import as food or feed. The EU takes in about 30 million tonnes a year for its cattle, pigs and poultry, but EU supermarkets do not dare stock GM food for consumers.
An exasperated U.S. industry says Europe has no need to change its rules, but must consider whether it is necessary to label GM product as such, and speed up the process of approvals.
Some 74 GM products were awaiting EU clearance at the end of 2012, with authorisation taking almost four years, compared with two in the United States.
Resistance is not uniform. The EU livestock industry says that if more GM feeds were cleared it would reduce the cost of verifying that imports contain no traces of non-approved crops.
"Today, a ship is transporting an EU-approved product, but we need to know what was it transporting before." said Meriaux. "Who is paying for all that? The EU sector."
Elsewhere, progress has been made.
The United States said last month it would comply with international standards for the prevention of mad cow disease, potentially reopening a market closed to EU beef since 1998.
The EU has lifted bans on imports of U.S. beef washed with lactic acid and of live swine. The U.S. poultry industry wants the EU to accept chickens washed with chlorine.
EU consumers are suspicious of U.S. poultry treated with chlorine dioxide and beef treated with lactic acid to kill pathogens, concerned that using such chemicals make the food unsafe. The United States says there is ample evidence that they are safe and the issue infuriates U.S. farmers, who see them as nothing other than veiled protectionism for European farmers.
The European Union meanwhile is determined to write into any deal its system of geographical indications, which protects countries' or regions' exclusive right to product names, such as France's champagne, Greek Feta cheese or Italian Parma ham.
U.S. groups say this demand "defies credibility" because in the cause of free trade, U.S. producers would, for example, no longer be able to market cheeses as "feta".
The United States also has its own product bans, such as raw-milk cheese that is not aged for at least 60 days, barring some French cheeses, such as blue-veined Roquefort.
Some EU sausages cannot access the U.S. market because of a zero tolerance to listeria in fermented meat products.
"The United States has told us that they will very likely not change their minds on this," said Dirk Dobbelaere, secretary general of EU meat processing association Clitravi. (Editing by Robin Emmott and Keiron Henderson)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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More and more, yoga is becoming a part of my life. I'm realizing that yoga is much more than exercise, it flows into many other areas of my daily existence, and overall, it just makes me feel so good! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend Shane and River's class last fall when they were at The Ranch, so I jumped at the opportunity when I saw them on the schedule this time.
I had met River the last time she was at The Ranch during another class and she has beautiful energy and is so sweet and inspirational. Together with her mother, Shayne, they create a class that is warm and inviting. The title says it all. Their class really is yoga for every body type, and people from beginners to experts can benefit from the exercises in this class. I especially appreciated the shoulder stretch we did with the strap. It provided such release and is really good for those of us who tend to get hunched over using a computer.
I loved that the class focused on gentle yoga stretches that are not difficult to do, but you can still feel the result immensely. That's my favorite kind of yoga! I'm so looking forward to seeing Shayne and River back at The Ranch!
Yoga For Every B.O.D.Y. will be at the Ranch again November 29, 2014. Don't miss them!


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Your Nokia 6
Charging/data cable
Quick guide
SIM door key
Nokia 6 continues in the footsteps of our design heritage: it has a striking clean look, a smooth metal exterior and precise details – and four colors to choose from.
The body of Nokia 6 is crafted with integrity from seamless precision-milled aluminium, taking 55 minutes to machine from a solid block of metal. Together with the sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass, it's made with materials that can take on life as you know it.
For decades, Nokia phones have stood for beautiful, crafted design and excellent quality. This phone is no different: it's built to take on life as you know it – with durable and beautiful materials, great feel, and an ideal balance of performance and battery life. What's best, your Nokia phone will stay secure and up to date with regular software updates.
The 5.5" full-HD display and wide color reproduction make it easy to enjoy your entertainment, even while out and about in bright daylight. And the wide viewing angle makes it easy to watch videos with friends.
With Nokia 6's dual speakers and dedicated amplifier, you get loud sound, deep bass and great clarity. Comes with certified Dolby Atmos® sound.
Snapping photos of your favorite moments is easy with the camera app on Nokia 6. There's a 16 MP phase detection autofocus camera on the back and an 8 MP camera on the front. Plus the dual-tone flash on the main camera helps you take natural-looking photos, even in low light.
Nokia 6 comes with the full spread of Google Services and no unnecessary extras and is ready for Android 9 Pie4. You get an experience that's focused and clutter-free, and we'll make sure you keep getting regular updates so you'll always stay on top of features and security.
Sign up for product news and other relevant information about Nokia phones.
1 Pre-installed system software and apps use a significant part of memory space.
2 Nokia 6 Dual SIM has a hybrid card slot for either second SIM card or MicroSD card.
3 Battery has limited recharge cycles and battery capacity reduces over time. Eventually the battery may need to be replaced.
4If delivered with Android Nougat, upgradeable to Android 9 Pie. Please note this might consume mobile data and operator fees may be charged.
HMD Global Oy is the exclusive licensee of the Nokia brand for phones & tablets. Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Android, Google, and other marks are trademarks of Google Inc. Qualcomm is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Variations on offering may apply, check local availability. All specifications, features and other product information provided are subject to change without notice. All images used are for illustrative purposes only.


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Yes, another toy for us to play with! We love to saw things around here. We saw plywood, particle board, tiles — sometimes we even saw lovely assistants in half and then put them back together. We don't actually do that last one, but if we did we might consider using the the KS-444. It's a hand held panel saw with enough versatility to tackle pretty much any cutting we need to do. Whether you're a craftsman with a home workshop, a professional carpenter or just a weekend builder this is a great asset to your tool shed or garage.
The KS-444 saw allows for freedom of movement, much more than a stationary vertical or horizontal panel saw. You can go directly to your work instead of having to bring the work to the saw. It's a pretty tough customer too. This saw will find it's way through aluminum up to about 1/8th of an inch thick. That's enough to cut storm gutters. The 444 will also cut through hard plastics like Lucite, Formica, Micarta, Panelyte and Plexiglas. That makes it ideal for your home remodeling needs and because it travels well it can save you time and effort climbing stairs. Fiberglass is a cinch to slice as well. Plywood and pressed board are no problem either.
If you need to saw pipe there's a lot you can do with the 444. It can slice through brass, copper, lead, hard and soft aluminum and even mild steel (up to 24 gauge). An eighth of an inch is about as far as you can go with the blades that are provided, however. If you find that you need to cut through material a little heavier and a little tougher you do have options. The Kett company does have other blades available, such as the 2-1/2 inch. These are additional purchases and do not come standard with the KS-444 kit.
The saw is pretty light weight coming in at just seven pounds. It has a good look and feel. At about a foot and a half long it has great maneuverability. The pistol grip makes it even easier to handle. Another great thing about this saw is that you can make a plunge cut right in the middle of your material and you're good up to 1-1/16" deep. The circular blade makes a clean cut that won't burn the material. It will leave it ready for you to apply your desired finish. The most you might have to do is a little low grade sanding.
The KS-444 is run by a 5.0 AMP, 2500 RPM motor, more than enough power. The standard 3-1/2 inch circular blade is protected by a spring action blade guard which doesn't protect the blade from you, it protects you from the blade. Treat your tools right and they'll treat you right.
The saw kit also comes in a sturdy metal carrying case with a set of four circular saw blades and adjusting wrenches.
All said, this is a handy sawing tool that gives you great movement and will allow you to easily tackle most of your carpentry or pipe fitting needs. It's versatility will save you time and money and not only that, it's under five hundred dollars so you can save a few sawbucks in the bargain.


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It's all well and good you can rattle off that most of the worlds population is in Southeast Asia. However, conceptualizing that is sometimes really challenging. It's almost too abstract. That's why this graphic is so amazing – more than half the world's population lives inside this 'circle'. That's AMAZING! That tiny little circle encompasses the majority of the human population. The visual is just staggering.
Who says Geography isn't cool?
Via i09.com


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For the last nine years, Javier Solana has been the EU's foreign policy chief. The 66-year old Spanish politician has crafted and represented EU common foreign policy on behalf of an ever rising number of EU member states, which often have their own strong views on foreign policy issues. As NATO Secretary General between 1995 and 1999, he steered the Alliance through its deployments in the Balkans and its bombing campaign in Kosovo and Serbia.
One of the EU's most notable achievements in foreign policy is its diplomatic intervention during the Macedonian conflict in 2001, which led to the Ohrid Agreement and helped prevent the outbreak of civil war. Solana likes to share the recognition with EU member states that supported him and Francois Leotard, the EU special representative appointed at the end of June 2001 to facilitate the negotiations:
"The rapidity, the speed at which the European Union was present, immediately after the beginning of the potential conflict, was fundamental. And the second thing: we were there with tremendous tenacity, day and night, talking with everybody, hours and hours, and we really prevented a breakdown of the negotiations, and we started a process that is still alive and in good health."
Solana became involved in the search for a resolution of the conflict early on, engaging in shuttle diplomacy throughout the spring 2001 negotiations. Led by late Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, the talks arrived at a stalemate in July. By that time, however, they had managed to reveal the issues important to the two sides. The Albanians demanded decentralisation, representation at all levels of government and public administration, including the police force, as well as the use of the Albanian language; the Macedonians meanwhile wanted to preserve a unitary, centrally organised state.
At the end of July, a visit by Solana, NATO General-Secretary George Robertson and OSCE Chairman Mircea Geoana gave new impetus to the talks. A decision was made to move from Skopje to a more secluded place – a tourist resort at Lake Ohrid in south-west Macedonia. The negotiations between 28 July and 9 August were intense and rocky, but ended successfully with the initialling of the Ohrid Agreement.
During his one-day visit, Solana managed to convince the Albanians to accept a compromise: the chiefs of local police forces would be chosen by the municipal council from a shortlist provided by the Minister of Interior; the composition of the police force, meanwhile, would reflect the ethnic balance of the country's population – and not the population at the local level.
After this breakthrough, it was relatively easy to negotiate the remaining issues. The Ohrid Agreement was signed on 13 August in Skopje by President Trajkovski, Albanian and Macedonian party leaders, and the US and EU special representatives, James Pardew and Francois Leotard. Javier Solana, George Robertson and Mircea Geoana witnessed the signing.
Solana continued to be involved in the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, intervening in moments when problems arose. He sees Macedonia as a major success story:
"If you consider 2001 at the brink of catastrophe, and 2008 at the brink of the EU, this is a great success."
May 2008


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I remember a long time ago that an asteroid named "KEHOTEK" (?) came close to earth. pink floyd did a concert and everyone thought it was going to be a major earth wide catastophy.
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I remember Comet Kahoutek. There was a big build-up in the media over its close approach and then it passed by on it's merry way around the Sun and the newspapers that tried to excite everyone about it ended up wrapping fish or lining the bottom of bird cages.
Didn't Apophis set an asteroid on a collision course with Earth in Stargate SG-1? He was a fake Egyptian god...
does anyone happen to have a bootleg copy of that pink floyd "concert for Kahoutek".?
does anyone remember anything from that far back? ;)
Apophis: The Asteroid That Could Smash Into the Earth on April 13th, 2036
Apophis is an asteroid with a slightly offset orbit to that of Earth's. Discovered in June 2004, astronomers have determined that it will make a very close flyby on Friday, April 13th, 2029, where it will pass to within 5 Earth diameters of us. The exact path the asteroid follows on flyby in 2029 will determine whether it smashes into the Earth seven years later.
Wow - 5 earth diameters is close.
Does anybody remember Velikovsky's book Worlds in Collision? If I remember rightly, his hypothesis was that Venus was originally an asteroid that came swinging around earth before getting caught in the sun's gravitational pull. It supposedly caused massive tidal waves, which he said were the basis of the biblical story of the Flood and of similar myths from other parts of the world.
Those old stories are cool, even if they are myth. I love the old "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and Shangri-La stories in the same way.
I've got the book sitting about 3 feet away from me right now, actually. I made several attempts to get through it, but its just too painful. He had such a grossly over-inflated writing style. I felt like I was reading Saturday morning cartoons from the 80's.
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Despite causing a minor political scandal in Germany last year, the government-created "state trojan" program appears to be going strong.
A UK-based tech news site pointed out on Monday that the Zollkriminalamt (Customs Investigation Bureau) is looking (Google Translate) for two new developers to work on the latest version of the state-sponsored spyware. The trojan reportedly could make VoIP calls, record keystrokes, capture screenshots, and more—all as part of government investigations.
The two-year job requires at least three years of experience in IT and telecom, with "technical knowledge in IT security architectures." German media reported last year that the malware has been used "over 50 times" as part of criminal investigations.
However, the German government said just last month (Google Translate) that the older version, which was purchased from a German software company, was no longer in use by federal authorities. The job ad appears to be part of the government's efforts to develop new spyware in-house.
Still, many including Germany's justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, have pointed out—covert software stored on government computers can be a target for hacking itself.
"There is a very real possibility of a significant disaster," she told Der Spiegel last year. "A third party logs on to a computer via a Trojan horse that investigators have installed and proceeds to misuse the data or even change it. Such an eventuality has to make investigators uneasy as well. The interior minister has to take such a possibility seriously too."


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ESWT For Plantar Fasciitis: What Do The Long-Term Results Reveal?
Offering a closer look at the role of extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in the armamentarium for chronic plantar fasciitis, this author reviews long-term research from randomized controlled trials, offers a compelling case study and assesses the cost-effectiveness of ESWT in comparison to surgical alternatives.
Heel pain is the number one reason why patients seek medical attention from a foot and ankle specialist. Conservative care alternatives and successes are well known if not well validated in the literature. It is commonly accepted that between 70 and 90 percent of patients will undergo successful treatment via those conservative measures.
However, no study has looked at the timeframe necessary for those conservative alternatives to be successful or the cost involved with those measures. Additionally, 20 to 30 percent of those patients will progress to a chronic condition for which response to conservative treatment becomes less predictable, more costly and has a higher rate of recurrence.
Tong and Furia looked at the total cost for treating heel pain/plantar fasciitis in their 2010 study.1 They found that at any given time, 5 million Americans were undergoing treatment for heel pain/plantar fasciitis. The 2007 national economic burden of plantar fasciitis was an estimated $284 million annually (a range of $192 million to $376 million) with 80 percent of those costs associated with medications and 14 percent to office visits (physician or physical therapist).
This economic calculation did not incorporate lost work, lost wages, societal burden and personal psychological burden.1 In fact, no study has looked at those indirect effects of plantar fasciitis as they pertain to patient outcomes and economics. It stands to reason that any therapy that returns patients back to a normal daily lifestyle quickly and in a cost-effective manner should be attractive.
In 2000, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) entered the United States medical landscape as an alternative for treating chronic plantar fasciitis, trailing Europe by at least a decade. There was a great deal of controversy and posturing between manufacturers of ESWT technologies. Each company was determined to create an exclusive market at the expense of their competition. One of the most common targets for criticism was the level of energy of shockwave technology. In my own experience, high-energy ESWT is the most effective modality for the musculoskeletal system and one should consider those devices that fail to reach high energy to be inferior.
Interestingly, there was no standard by which energy levels were measured so comparisons were not valid. When physicists who were experts in ESWT were questioned as to which modalities were high energy and which modalities were low energy, they usually were unable to answer the question because of the lack of standardization.
A Closer Look At The Research
Many different studies in peer-reviewed journals were published on the success or failure of ESWT. Nearly every study that involved a retrospective analysis of ESWT on plantar fasciitis found success in the 80 to 88 percent range in substantially reducing heel pain.2,3 These statistics were nearly identical to those of retrospective studies on surgical procedures for plantar fasciitis.
My colleagues and I published a study comparing surgical success with that of ESWT and found the success rates of both treatments to be equivalent.4 The study consisted of 40 feet treated with ESWT. We used electrohydraulic shockwave with a mean of 20.6 kV in combination with a mean of 2,506 pulses.
We reviewed outcomes after a mean follow-up time of 8.4 months and compared the results to those of patients who had a percutaneous plantar fasciotomy. Eighty-two percent of the patients treated with ESWT were successfully treated in comparison to 83 percent with a percutaneous plantar fasciotomy. On the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of 0 to 10, the mean score for satisfied patients in the ESWT group was 7.9 preoperatively and 2.95 within seven days postoperatively. After three months, the mean VAS in the ESWT group was 4.2 or 50 percent of the preoperative value after a mean of 8.4 months following treatment. The VAS improvement of the surgical group we had previously studied was identical. However, our study noted that the ESWT group returned to work and activities of daily life nearly immediately following the procedures without complications. This was much different than the surgical group.
There have been other prospective randomized placebo controlled trials (RCTs) on ESWT. Some showed good results and others did not show a difference between the treatment and the placebo groups. Some studies showed no difference between treated and non-treated groups. These studies received more attention from the media, insurance companies and public (physicians included).
Rarely does anyone point out that no surgical procedure is under the same scientific scrutiny as ESWT as placebo controlled studies would be unethical in a surgical setting. Therefore, ESWT has always been held to a higher scientific burden than surgical procedures that have equivalent retrospective success. There are far more studies published on the successes of shockwave than on its lack of success and now it is commonly accepted as an appropriate and evidenced-based alternative for the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis.
In an attempt to quantify the long-term success of ESWT, we recently performed a study looking at the patients who underwent ESWT at the Weil Foot and Ankle Institute from 2000 to 2002.5 We presented our results at the 2010 International Society for Medical Shockwave Treatment Annual Congress and at the 2010 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress. My colleagues and I have also submitted the study results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
The study included 75 patients and 87.5 percent of the patients were either satisfied or very satisfied with their ESWT experience at an average of nine years after treatment with a mean pain score of 1.2 on the VAS scale of 0 to 10. Twenty-four percent of patients were able to discontinue all aspects of maintenance treatment including orthotics, medications, supportive devices or shoes and physical therapy type activities. In addition, 24 percent of patients maintained 95.8 percent improvement with a pain rating of 0.67. The remaining 76 percent of patients continued their heel pain maintenance treatment(s)and had a 79.9 percent improvement with an average pain score of 2.07.
Case Study: Achieving Results For A Patient Who Had Three Years Of Unilateral Heel Pain
As a good example of the early and long-term success of ESWT, consider a 48-year-old woman who presented to my clinic in October of 2000. At the time, she had suffered with unilateral heel pain for nearly three years. She was a primary school teacher who was finding it difficult to complete her normal day of work due to the pain she was suffering. Very typically, she had pain when getting out of bed in the morning. Her drive to work took approximately 45 minutes and getting out of the car was very painful. Additionally, every time she rose from her seat in the classroom, the pain stopped her and she felt the pain was affecting her classroom behavior. Furthermore, because of her heel pain, she had been unable to exercise to her desires and had gained 40 pounds during that three-year span.
The patient previously had seen three different podiatrists for treatment. She received three different pairs of orthotics, shoe gear changes, a reduction in physical activities, five cortisone injections, a variety of over the counter and prescription anti-inflammatory medications, several rounds of physical therapy, immobilization with a walking boot and cast, and a night splint. Her VAS pain at the time of initial presentation was 8 out of 10 at its worst on a daily basis.
Two weeks after her initial consultation, she was treated with high-energy ESWT under sedation. At her first follow-up visit two weeks after her procedure, she noted a 50 percent reduction in pain. At her visit three months after the ESWT procedure, she felt that 90 percent of her symptoms were resolved and was anxious to return to all activities including the use of a treadmill.
When we called patients back for our long-term study, she was insistent about having a long conversation with me. She wanted to help the study in any way she could because she felt that ESWT had "given her life back." She related that her current condition was terrific. She has had no heel pain since six months following the original ESWT procedure. She had returned to all aspects of life including exercise and stated that not only had she lost the 40 pounds that she had gained during the plantar fascia problem but lost an additional 10 pounds. She told me she was running regularly and had completed two marathons in the previous five years. Her story, more detailed than most, was very common during our long-term study evaluations.
How Does ESWT Compare With Other Treatments In Cost And Efficacy?
The alternative to ESWT for chronic plantar fasciitis (plantar fasciosis) is often surgical intervention and more recently platelet rich plasma (PRP). Platelet-rich plasma is the use of autologous blood products to stimulate healing of bone, tendons, ligaments and cartilage. At this moment, there are no published prospective RCTs on PRP for plantar fasciitis or any other pathology that PRP treats in an ambulatory, injectable, soft tissue healing situation. There are several anecdotal reports on success but they are only that.
Furthermore, PRP is constantly evolving, much in the same way the way that ESWT did in the early 2000s with different companies jockeying for positioning and stating their system is superior to others. The cost of PRP may be higher than ESWT and ranges from $500 to $1,500 per treatment with some advocating two or three treatments for a given condition.6
Comparing the costs of surgical intervention (open, percutaneous or endoscopic) to ESWT will significantly favor ESWT. According to Tong and Furia, the median cost of surgical procedures for plantar fasciitis in 2008 was $1,347 for surgeon reimbursement and ranged from $4,352 to $9,500 for hospital or surgery center reimbursement.1
The indirect costs associated with surgical intervention include the chance of significant complications requiring some intervention (2 to 5 percent) and the resultant expense of care needed for those complications. Other indirect costs associated with open surgery include lost time from work and changes in activities of daily living. It is not uncommon for postoperative plantar fasciitis patients to miss work for two to six weeks due to immobilization and partial weightbearing. It is difficult to accurately determine the overall cost of someone being away from work as this is different from person to person based on the job. It is even more difficult to put a number on the cost of interference in activities of daily life. Without doubt, there are tangible dollars and social costs that are significant with both.
With low-energy ESWT, the typical costs range from $900 to $1,500 total for three treatments, based on my experience and talking to people around the country, and recognizing what insurance covers when ESWT is covered. There is no facility fee or anesthesia fee. There are no complications associated with low-energy ESWT that would create any additional expenses. There is virtually no loss of work with the exception of the time spent to have the procedure performed. Social costs are also reduced as patients can return to almost all activities of daily life without restrictions.
High-energy shockwave does have higher costs associated with it in comparison to low-energy ESWT and can range from $1,000 to $3,000 total. However, treatment with high-energy ESWT does have the advantage of one-time treatment.
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy, high energy or low energy, exhibits strong cost benefits in both absolute dollars and less tangible but equally important work and social costs. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery states that long-term studies must be those that have been performed at least five years following the original study. We initially reported our early results in 2002 in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery and now have reported our long-term results, which, as far as we know, is the only long-term study on ESWT and plantar fasciitis.4,5
Final Notes
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy has gone through the trials and tribulations of being a new and expensive technology. These include inconsistent information to consumers, conflicting results of research on the efficacy of the technology and the relative inaccessibility to physicians and patients. However, years of clinical success and proper research have proved the validity of ESWT.
Plantar fasciitis continues to be a burden on our healthcare system, economy and society. It is incumbent on all medical providers to find the most proven and cost-effective treatments for their patients to return to life and work. While there are many treatments employed for plantar fasciitis, most have not been proven and we have pointed out their costs. Others have been studied but their costs are quite substantial and their complications are notable.
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy has proven to be a cost effective treatment for plantar fasciitis while showing long-term success that other treatments cannot boast. Not only should one consider ESWT a mainstay of treatment for more chronic cases of plantar fasciitis, it should now be an option earlier in the treatment regimen and possibly supplant other treatments that have not been validated. The future may show that combining treatments such as ESWT and PRP will provide the fastest and safest recovery but until PRP is better studied, it will still take a back seat to ESWT.
Dr. Weil is the Research and Fellowship Director for the Weil Foot and Ankle Institute, which has various office locations in Illinois. He is the Editor of Foot and Ankle Specialist, and is a Past President of the International Society for Medical Shockwave Treatment.
1. Tong KB, Furia J. Economic burden of plantar fasciitis treatment in the United States. Am J Orthop. 2010; 39(5):227-31.
2. Hammer DS, Rupp S, Kreutz A, Pape D, Kohn D, Seil R. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) in patients with chronic proximal plantar fasciitis. Foot Ankle Int. 2002; 23(4):309-13.
3. Ogden JA, Alvarez RG, Marlow M. Shockwave therapy for chronic proximal plantar fasciitis: a meta-analysis. Foot Ankle Int. 2002; 23(4):301-8.
4. Weil LS Jr., Roukis TS, Weil LS Sr., Borrelli AH. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy for the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis: indications, protocol, intermediate results, and a comparison of results to fasciotomy, J Foot Ankle Surg. 2002 May-Jun;41(3):166-72.
5. Weil L Jr., et al. Long-term results of extracorporeal shockwave treatment for chronic plantar fasciitis. Presented at the International Society for Medical Shockwave Treatment Annual Meeting, Chicago, June 2010.
6. Taylor DW, Petrera M, Hendry M, Theodoropoulos JS. A systematic review of the use of platelet-rich plasma in sports medicine as a new treatment for tendon and ligament injuries. Clin J Sport Med. 2011; 21(4):344-52.


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If you were thinking that "Dancing With The Stars" hoofer Evander Holyfield was actually retiring, like, seriously this time, well, you're wrong again. Holyfield, who is 43 years old, has said as soon as he gets out of his contract with Don King, he will continue his quixotic attempt to regain his championship crown. His contention with King is that he can't guarantee a purse of $500,000, a relatively piddly number that we think Tonya Harding might have gotten for her last fight.
Holyfield, who has had extreme difficulty trying to get a state boxing commission to license him to fight again, says he might leave King and try to fight in another country if King can't get him one at the appropriate price.
This is what has happened to Holyfield; he is making people side with Don King in the name of decency. It's one thing when Jerry Rice or Dennis Rodman hang on too long to their past athlete glories. But at least their jobs don't involve getting hit in the face.
Holyfield's Quest Remains On Ropes [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]


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Our Story
Jamie's Italian was founded by Jamie Oliver and his Italian mentor, chef Gennaro Contaldo, in Oxford, 2008. Since then it has grown to more than 60 restaurants worldwide, with plans for even more in towns, cities and countries around the world – but that's not even half the story…
Jamie's Italian is inspired by Italy and many of its traditions and values. In Jamie's own words:
Since I was a teenager I've been totally besotted by the love, passion and verve for food, family and life itself that just about all Italian people have, no matter where they're from or how rich or poor they might be. And that's what I'm passionate about – good food for everyone, no matter what... But the thing I love most about the Italians is that somehow, although they have some of the best fashion designers and cars in the world, they've managed to retain a unique sense of tradition and village spirit.
Jamie's Italian started with what Italian's are most proud of – fantastic, rustic dishes, using recipes that have been tried tested and loved. Our menu is rooted in authenticity, driven by what you'd find people eating all over Italy.
Taking inspiration from the "Italian table" – where people relax, share and enjoy each other's company – our menu is packed full of antipasti and nibbles, perfect for sharing, as well as comforting bowls of pasta, beautiful fresh salads and grills.
Many of the dishes on our menu are inspired by Jamie's visits to Italy and the stories of Gennaro's upbringing on the Amalfi coast. Gennaro's stories have added substance to what is now the essence of Jamie's Italian – tradition combined with current, innovative ideas and a Jamie twist!
We work hard to find the very best ingredients for all of our dishes. Everything is meticulously sourced from producers – both in Italy and around the world – who share our ethos and take enormous pride in what they do. We train our staff to have a thorough knowledge of all the dishes we serve, too. We teach them the origin of each dish, how the dishes have been created and cooked, and the personalities and stories behind them all.
Jamie's Italian was designed to be accessible and affordable, a neighbourhood restaurant where everyone is welcome and feels comfortable, no matter the time of day. We aim to create an informal and contemporary environment, which also reflects Jamie's energy and personality, wherever we are in the world. Every restaurant is uniquely designed to incorporate the history of the building and personality of the town or city in which it stands.
Ultimately, everything is inspired by real enthusiasm. Jamie and our team are constantly working on developing the menu and concept with creativity, simplicity and quality at the heart of everything we do – and of course, the desire to give all our customers an experience that reflects our love and passion for the Italian way of life.


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For those of you who have been following, the Solar Decathlon is going on right now. The Decathlon features innovative homes that are solar powered built by universities around the US. Its a pretty big production as a dozen houses are constructed on site to compete and showcase to thousands of visitors.
Well my home city of Charlotte NC has a team going to the Decathlon from UNCC. Here is their house called Urban Eden. Some of the neat features of this house is the rolling solar panel array that allows you to control the solar exposure in the summer months. They also have an interesting polymer cement that reduces the buildings impact. Check out the video below to see it all!


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A new set of selection criteria for the Division II Women's Rowing Championships is slated to take effect Aug. 1, 2015, after receiving approval from the Division II Championships Committee during its May 29-30 meeting in Indianapolis.
During the Championship Committee's last meeting in February, it approved sport-specific selection criteria requested by each sport's governing committee for 14 sports. But it delayed a vote on the women's rowing criteria to allow for further review.
This criteria approval was part of the implementation of a new championships selection process, which the Division II membership approved at January's NCAA Convention. The new process creates consistent standards for selecting participants in championship events by establishing criteria by which every sport's postseason participants will be measured, such as overall Division II in-region winning percentage, strength of schedule, Division II head-to-head competition and results against common Division II opponents. But it also allows each sport to identify additional criteria – specific to that sport – that it wants used in its selections.
The committee plans to develop and distribute educational materials regarding the new selections process for membership beginning in September 2014. The training efforts will continue through the August 2015 implementation date.
Basketball Split Regional Approved
The committee also passed a proposal for men's and women's basketball that would provide the option to split the regional in the event the top-ranked teams for both genders are from the same school. The option is designed to relieve a single school from being required to host two eight-team regionals. With a split regional, the No. 1 seed would host a sub-regional along with the Nos. 4, 5 and 8 seeds, and the No. 2 seed would host the other sub-regional with the Nos. 3, 6 and 7 seeds. The highest seed after those rounds would then host the regional final. The change would go into effect Sept. 1, 2014.
Community Engagement at Championships Endorsed
After hearing a report on the first year of community engagement events at 24 Division II championships, the committee voted to endorse the initiative for the 2014-2015 academic year. More than 2,100 student-athletes participated in the various events, which were held at least a day before competition and fostered interaction with elementary school students, veterans and other members of the championship hosting community.