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By John Hernandez
The legend of the Apache Kid is well known among western history buffs. He had once been a trusted army scout and then a convicted killer.
His daring escape on his way to prison left two law men dead and became one of the largest manhunts in Arizona history. The escape became known as the Kelvin Grade Massacre.
The failure of the manhunt to capture the Kid led to his growing legend as killings and raids on ranchers were blamed on the Apache Kid from Globe, down the San Pedro Valley, to New Mexico and south to the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico. Rewards were posted for his killing or capture all over the Arizona Territory.
Many men claimed to have killed him, although no one could produce his body. No one ever collected the reward.
Some of the men who claimed to have killed him included the famous Apache scout Mickey Free and lawman Texas John Slaughter. Even the President of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith announced that a party of men would be attempting to claim the reward.
An article in the New York Times dated November 23, 1900 reported the following:
"President Joseph F. Smith of the Mormon Church, who has arrived here accompanied by O.A. Woodruff and Dr. Seymour, after a tour among the colonies in Mexico, reports the killing of the notorious Apache Kid in the recent Indian raid in Colonia Pacheco."
"Mr. Woodruff was one of the party that pursued the retreating Indians, and assisted at the burial of the Kid. Among these was one, apparently the leader, who is now positively identified as the notorious Apache Kid. Mr. Woodruff said they will put in an application for the reward offered for him in the United States."
There are a number of men who claim to have had encounters with the Apache Kid in the Copper Corridor area and lived to tell about it. One man claims to have killed the Kid, another shot the Kid and may have killed him and one met the Kid face to face with rifles pointed towards each other.
The first story is taken from the book "I've Killed Men" by Jack Ganzhorn which was published in 1940. His tale of his encounter must be taken with a grain of salt. In fact, probably with the whole salt shaker.
Ganzhorn was a gambler, soldier, and a gunslinger who claims he killed 40 or 42 men. Of these killings, Ganzhorn said, "of course that's only counting six shooter fights." His book said he was known as the "world's fastest man on the draw." This would probably make him the greatest unknown gunfighter in the history of the west.
He claimed that almost all his killings were in Mexico so many of them were not documented. Trouble is, he waited until the late 1930s to make the claim of killing the Apache Kid and to tell his own life story which is pretty amazing if any of it is true. Ganzhorn was also an actor in silent western movies and a writer of pulp fiction.
Ganzhorn's claim went something like this:
He says that he learned to shoot a hand gun and the art of the quick draw while working on the 7B ranch near Mammoth around 1897. The ranch was being run by Tom Wills, a well-known rancher, roper and cowboy. Wills would later become the Pinal County Sheriff.
Jack said that a vaquero that worked on the ranch known as Hueco made a leather holster for him. He then got a Colt .44 pistol and would practice shooting and quick drawing for hours.
He said he got so good he could "fan" six quick shots and hit a five gallon oil can with three of the shots from 30 feet. After leaving the ranch Ganzhorn went to Tucson where his father lived.
Around 1901, Jimmy Maish a friend of Ganzhorn's father had four saddle horses on Jim Neal's ranch in Oracle. Jimmy had made a deal to trade the horses to a man in Dudleyville. Jack was going to help Jimmy lead the horses to Dudleyville but after arriving in Oracle they found out that two of the horses were being used by Neal's cowboys and would not be back until the following day.
Maish decided to take two horses himself to Dudleyville. Ganzhorn stayed in Oracle and would bring the other two horses to Dudleyville the next day.
Jack said that Jim Neal told him that instead of taking the road to Mammoth and then going north to Dudleyville, he should head through the Black Hills. He said the trail would bring him out on the San Pedro River near the mouth of the Aravaipa. Ganzhorn decided to take Neal's advice.
Jack found it to be rough riding through the unfamiliar country. He was still riding as the sun was going down.
He headed into a canyon about 30 feet wide with walls 20 feet high. He had a Marlin .38-55 rifle across his legs when he felt something fly by his head. He then heard two shots.
He glanced up towards the direction of the sound and saw four Indians. Two of them had rifles. Jack spurred his horse to the nearest canyon wall and dismounted. He edged out into the canyon and looked up to see two "squaws" and one man with a rifle on foot. There was another Indian on horseback with a rifle raising it to his shoulder.
Jack aimed and fired. He saw the Indian fall backwards off his pony. The other armed Indian started shooting rapidly at him but Jack had taken cover.
Darkness fell and Jack stayed in his guarded position in the rocks waiting for the sound of the Indians trying to climb down the sides of the canyon wall to get him. He stayed up all night.
When morning came there was no sign of the Apaches. He mounted his horse and rode for a few miles when he came upon the river road. He then ran into a vaquero whose name was Francisco Bojorques.
Jack and Francisco rode back into the canyon to the area where the Indians had shot at Ganzhorn. They found several empty rifle shells and blood on the ground. One blood spot was so large that Ganzhorn's hat could not cover it all.
Bojorques told Jack that he thought the Indian had been badly wounded and his companions had loaded him back on his horse and taken him away. He also said that it was a good bet that Ganzhorn had tangled with the Apache Kid, his partner Masai and their two "squaws".
In 1891, an ex-army scout named Dupont had an encounter with the Apache Kid along a trail in the Catalina Mountains. Dupont was carrying a single shot rifle as was the Kid. They faced each other for what seemed an hour or more. Each of them was afraid to fire a shot at each other, knowing that if they missed, they would be at the mercy of the other.
They slowly backed away from each other. The Apache Kid finally saying, "I go now," as he disappeared down the trail. Dupont headed the other direction toward home.
Ed "Wallapai" Clark was born in Wisconsin. He got his nickname from being the leader of the Hualapai Indian scouts during the Apache Wars. He scouted for General Crook and was well respected among the military and frontiersmen of the time.
Wallapai Clark and the Apache Kid would have a few encounters with each other. Clark had a personal vendetta with the Apache Kid. In 1887, Kid and his band broke away from the reservation after wounding army scout Al Sieber at San Carlos.
While on the run, the band was accused of killing two men. One of these was William Diehl, Clark's mining partner and friend. Clark swore revenge.
An account of the killing of William Diehl was found in the June 11, 1887 issue of the Arizona Weekly Citizen. The account was from E.A. Clark (Wallapai) as told to a reporter from the Tombstone Prospector newspaper.
On June 3, 1887 around 3p.m., William Diehl and his friend and partner John Scanlon were sitting in their cabin in the Bunker Hill Mining District eating dinner. After finishing supper, Diehl told Scanlon that he was going out about 125 yards from the cabin to cut down a tree.
After a few minutes, Scanlon left the cabin and walked to the shed. He sat down and pulled off his boots so he could trim his toenails. All of a sudden he heard a volley of shots coming from a deep ravine about 15 yards from where Diehl was working.
He looked up to see Diehl fall to the ground. Scanlon rushed into the house and grabbed his rifle. He came out immediately and saw four Indians walking towards Diehl.
Scanlon commenced firing on the Indian closest to Diehl. The Indian ducked and ran behind some trees. The other Indians then began firing at Scanlon who ran back into the cabin. Scanlon returned fire from the doorway.
He fought the Apaches for nearly two hours, only firing when they tried to advance on the cabin as he was running low on ammunition. Another party of Apaches appeared on a knoll about 200 yards from the cabin and called to the Indians engaged in firing at Scanlon. The Indians quit firing and joined the party on the knoll. They then left.
After awhile, Scanlon went to the area where he saw Diehl fall. Diehl was dead, being shot twice in the stomach and once through the heart. Scanlon covered Diehl's body with a piece of canvas.
He then mounted his horse and rode 20 miles to James Crowley's ranch on the San Pedro River arriving at two in the morning. At day light, a party of ten men rode from Crowley's ranch to the scene of the attack. At the time of his death Diehl had been building a corral for James Crowley at a location about 12 miles southeast of the Mammoth Mine.
In 1893, a $5,000 reward was placed by the Arizona Territory for the capture or killing of the Apache Kid. Gold was discovered in the Canada del Oro and the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson.
Wallapai Clark and his partner John Scanlon staked out a claim at Camp Condon 14 miles from Oracle. In February of 1894, Clark and Scanlon left their camp to travel to Tucson for supplies. They left a young Englishman, Jimmy Mercer in charge of the camp.
Clark had heard that the Apache Kid was roaming in the area and warned Mercer to be alert. While Clark and Scanlon were gone, Mercer decided to bathe in a nearby creek. He was naked in the water when the camp dog began barking loudly.
A few seconds later, shots rang out and narrowly missed Mercer who was scrambling out of the creek. Mercer ran swiftly to the cabin and locked himself in while arming himself with a rifle.
Later Mercer found moccasin tracks around the camp and saw that an old pack mare belonging to Wallapai was missing. When Clark and Scanlon returned Mercer told them what happened and showed them the tracks. Clark suspected that it was the Apache Kid who had stolen his horse.
Later in the year, Clark was staying at his cabin in the Galiuro Mountains near Sombrero Butte. He had spotted moccasin tracks around his camp during the day and believed his corrals were being scouted by Apaches. He decided to stand guard during the night near his corrals.
That night, he saw two figures in the darkness approaching his horses. Clark fired at both with his rifle. The first one dropped to the ground after being hit. The second one ran and mounted his horse and fled into the night. Clark was sure he had shot the second one too.
He stood guard during the night and when daylight approached, he saw the body of an Apache woman on the ground. She had been the one Clark had shot first. Wallapai also saw large puddles of blood on the ground where the second Apache had been. He saw more blood on the ground in the direction where the second Indian had fled. Clark believed he had badly wounded the Apache.
Clark rode into Mammoth and alerted authorities. A posse was formed and rode to Clark's camp and attempted to follow the trail left by the wounded Apache but lost it later that evening.
The military had been notified and sent some soldiers from San Carlos down to the San Pedro. They identified the Apache woman as one that had been riding with the Apache Kid. Many of the local people in the area believed that the Kid had wandered off and found a cave to die in. Others said he had gone to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico.
Capitan Chiquito, an Apache chief of the Aravaipa Apaches, lived and farmed in the San Pedro Valley at the site where the Camp Grant Massacre took place. The Kid was part of Chiquito's band and was the son in law of Chief Eskiminzin of the Aravaipa Apaches.
Chiquito said that he believed that the Apache Kid had been seriously wounded by Wallapai Clark but did not die in the San Pedro Valley. He said the Apache Kid made it to the mountains in Sonora where he died from his wounds.
Capitan Chiquito may have been hoping to end the hunt for the Apache Kid in Arizona as Chiquito, Eskiminzin and other Aravaipa Apaches had been forcibly moved by the military to a reservation in Alabama in 1891 where they lived for three years for allegedly helping the Apache Kid. Chiquito was trying to live in peace on his ranch on the Aravaipa.
Then again, he may have been telling the truth, as the Apache Kid was never seen in the San Pedro Valley again.
Alleged sightings of the Apache Kid continued in New Mexico and south of the border in the Sierra Madre Mountains. The Kid was alleged to have been killed in New Mexico by ranchers in the San Mateo Mountains. There is a monument there in what was later named the Apache Kid Wilderness. The monument is allegedly the spot where the Apache Kid was killed. No one produced a body or any evidence that it was the Kid. It was said the corpse was left to rot where it lay and the bones were scattered in the wind.
Wallapai Clark may have summed up the legend of the Apache Kid's demise when speaking to the press one day about his shooting of the Kid. In October of 1894, Clark was in Tucson and was asked by a reporter from the Weekly Citizen about the Apache Kid.
The newspaper reported: "When asked whether he believed the story that the Kid had gone to the happy hunting grounds, he shrugged his great broad shoulders and said, 'I'd have to see the cutthroat dead before I would believe that yarn.'"


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Vitamin C for Kids: Is Your Child Getting Enough?
This blog does not intend to provide diagnosis...
In this article:
- How Do I Know if My Child Is Getting Enough Vitamins?
- Can My Child Overdose on Vitamins?
- What Are the Recommendations for Vitamin C?
- Why Is Vitamin C Important?
- Can Vitamin C Really Help Fight Colds?
- Are There Natural Sources of Vitamin C?
- What Happens if My Child Isn't Getting Enough Vitamin C?
- What Are the Symptoms of Vitamin C Deficiency?
- Is My Child at Increased Risk of Vitamin C Deficiency?
- What Should I Look for When Choosing a Vitamin C Supplement?
- Key Takeaways
When practicing as a board-certified pediatrician, I often see patients and parents for well-child checkups. During these visits, we discuss diet and nutritional needs. Vitamin requirements and the need for supplementation is a topic that I'm often asked about at these appointments.
Parents typically ask if their children should receive additional supplementation outside of their regular diet. It is definitely an important topic and a key conversation to have with your pediatrician at every visit. So, let's dive in on the details.
How Do I Know if My Child Is Getting Enough Vitamins?
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children eating a well-balanced diet do not supplement above the recommended dietary allowances. Dietary allowances differ for each vitamin and nutrient and the recommended dietary allowances also vary by age. Keep these points in mind when discussing supplementation with your pediatrician.
Can My Child Overdose on Vitamins?
This is a less common question, but an important one! Large doses of vitamins like A or D can lead to harmful symptoms, so it is important to discuss vitamins with your pediatrician before providing them to your child.
If for some reason your child did take a megadose of vitamin C, he or she would likely experience mild symptoms, such as gastrointestinal upset. Because vitamin C is water-soluble, the excess would be excreted without causing toxicities seen with accidental megadoses of other vitamins.
What Are the Recommendations for Vitamin C?
The recommended daily allowance of vitamin C ranges from 15-45 mg for ages 1-13 and from 65-75 mg for ages 14-18. The recommended amounts differ slightly within those age ranges, so definitely discuss the details and the correct dosage for your child's particular age with your pediatrician. In general, vitamin C requirements are higher during infections or inflammatory states, or during pregnancy and lactation in adult women.
Tolerable upper intake levels differ from the recommended daily allowances and are typically higher per day for different age groups. Higher doses may be used to treat vitamin C deficiency.
Why Is Vitamin C Important?
Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid and it plays an important role in immune system health. It strengthens muscles and skin and it promotes wound and bone healing. Vitamin C also aids in the absorption of iron, another important mineral in the body. Iron carries oxygen throughout the body so that cells can produce energy. When iron levels are low, children may feel tired and/or weak.
Vitamin C is also important for the production of collagen, a protein that helps children form healthy ligaments and tendons and bones and teeth. Collagen is important for skin health, too.
Can Vitamin C Really Help Fight Colds?
Many researchers mention that there may be an association between vitamin C intake and increased immune system function, which can help the body fight infections or cold symptoms. The evidence isn't definite, though, and there are no clear guidelines that have been created by physicians or by the American Academy of Pediatrics when it comes to increasing vitamin C intake during times of illness.
For the prevention of colds and flu, some recommend at least 200 mg daily of vitamin C; studies have shown a 14% reduction in colds in kids taking this amount. Many children will take in 200 mg with diet alone, so supplementation may not be necessary. However, if kids aren't feeling well, they tend to eat and drink less, so supplementation should be considered in these situations.
Are There Natural Sources of Vitamin C?
Yes! Since your body does not produce or store vitamin C, it is important to incorporate foods into your diet that contain it. Many foods contain vitamin C, particularly fruits and vegetables. For instance, vitamin C is found in citrus fruits, such as oranges and pineapples as well as melon, strawberries, and tomatoes. You can also find vitamin C in vegetables, including sweet potatoes, spinach, green tomatoes, yellow peppers, and broccoli. Since light and heat can decrease levels, fresh and uncooked fruits and veggies contain higher total levels of vitamin C.
Again, eating a well-balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables is important. Nonetheless, it is understandable and expected that some children will be very picky eaters and not always eat the amount of fruit and veggies that we'd like them to consume! Making fruit and veggie smoothies or freezing fresh fruit into ice pops are two ways that you might be able to sneak these food groups into your child's diet.
What Happens if My Child Isn't Getting Enough Vitamin C?
Chronic vitamin C deficiency leads to a condition known as scurvy. It is relatively rare since most children achieve normal levels of vitamin C through their diets. Some medical conditions can reduce the amount of vitamin C that is absorbed by the body or lead to an increased need for vitamin C.
What Are the Symptoms of Vitamin C Deficiency?
Initial symptoms of vitamin C deficiency may include irritability, loss of appetite and bruising. Gum bleeding is another manifestation of vitamin C deficiency. Children may develop swelling of their joints or aches and pains. Additionally, since vitamin C aids in iron absorption, iron deficiency is commonly seen in combination with inadequate levels of vitamin C.
Treatment for a vitamin C deficiency is increasing intake and your pediatrician can work with you to ensure that your child's levels of vitamin C rise appropriately.
Is My Child at Increased Risk of Vitamin C Deficiency?
Children with intestinal disorders or some forms of cancer may be at increased risk of vitamin C deficiency. Chronic hemodialysis for patients with renal disease or strict ketogenic diets for patients with refractory seizures may also lead to low vitamin C concentrations. Tobacco smoking and exposure to nicotine increases the vitamin C requirement up to 40%, which is important to keep in mind, especially if your children are exposed to secondhand smoke.
What Should I Look for When Choosing a Vitamin C Supplement?
When considering supplementation, it is important to consider additional ingredients that may be included and unwanted. For example, dyes and artificial coloring or sweeteners are unnecessary and can be avoided when selecting a vitamin C supplement. Look for products that are free of artificial ingredients or fillers. Several vitamin C products are available that are gluten-free, non-genetically modified organisms and gelatin-free.
Flavor is another important consideration when choosing a vitamin supplement for kids. Most children are amenable to fruit or citrus flavors, both of which many vitamin C supplements are available in.
When purchasing a supplement, consider if your child prefers a chewable tablet or a gummy. Vitamin C is also available in liquid formulations if your child cannot yet chew or swallow a gummy or tablet. Vegetarian vitamin C supplements are also available in case an older child has opted for a vegetarian diet.
Look for supplements that are produced in a setting that complies with good manufacturing practices. This system ensures that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards. For children with peanut or nut allergies, be sure to look for vitamin C that is free of both of these ingredients and produced in a nut-free facility.
Key Takeaways
Vitamin C plays an important role in overall health and wellness. The majority of children will achieve recommended daily amounts by eating a varied diet. Some children are at increased risk of vitamin C deficiency and supplementation is key for these kids.
Be sure to give the proper dosage of vitamin C to your child based on his or her age. Look for supplements that are free of artificial ingredients and produced in high-quality facilities.
Always remember to discuss diet and nutrition with your pediatrician!

subset: commoncrawl


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In what could be described as tongue-chewingly awful affront to both women and science, the EU Commission — the European Union's executive body — has created a campaign called "Science: It's a Girl Thing" as part of a broader push to address the gender imbalance in science and technology. Girls will love science, the EU has suggested, because bunsen burners look like lipstick and fiber-optic cables are sort of like powder brushes. Also, because a tube of lipstick stands in for the "i" in "science."
To ram home this point, they released a video yesterday that cleverly juxtaposes Things From Science (bunsen burners, petri dishes, pipettes) with Things Obviously Taken From Women's Lifestyle Magazines (shoes, nail polish, lipstick) and set it all to some grindy euro-techno. The video caption reads: "Science: it's a girl thing! From cosmetics to chemistry, from fashion to biology, from rhythm to electronics, girls have what it takes to succeed in science."
Sigh. This is kind of like putting a croissant next to a circuit board in an attempt to get more French people into electrical engineering. But it's also sort of worse than that because the stereotypes sting. Needless to say this will a) affront women in science who want to be taken on their intellectual merits; and b) throughly mislead anyone gullible enough to get into science because they think bunsen burners are like lipstick.
What is perhaps most painful is that this comes from the European Commission, which is commonly held to be dull, right-on and preoccupied by things like the amount of butter produced in Italy — but never yet sexist. I thought you were on our side, Boring EU Institution. And it's especially ironic since the most powerful person in the EU right now, German chancellor Angela Merkel, is a woman who comes from science academia; she wrote her doctorate thesis on quantum chemistry. I reckon she abandoned that career path after someone put lipstick on her petri dish.
Anna Leach is a writer and human. You can follow her on Twitter at @annajleach.


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Aims of organic farming
Organic farming is an agricultural method that aims to produce food using natural substances and processes. This means that organic farming tends to have a limited environmental impact as it encourages:
- responsible use of energy and natural resources;
- maintenance of biodiversity;
- preservation of regional ecological balances;
- enhancement of soil fertility;
- maintenance of water quality.
Additionally, organic farming rules encourage a high standard of animal welfare and require farmers to meet the specific behavioural needs of animals.
European Union regulations on organic farming are designed to provide a clear structure for the production of organic goods across the whole of the EU. This is to satisfy consumer demand for trustworthy organic products whilst providing a fair marketplace for producers, distributors and marketers.
Building trust in organic farming
In order for farmers to derive benefits from organic farming methods, consumers need to trust that the rules on organic production are being followed. Therefore, the EU maintains the following strict system of control and enforcement to guarantee that organics rules and regulations are being followed properly. As organic farming is part of a larger supply chain which encompasses food processing, distribution and retail sectors, these are also subject to checks.
- Each EU country appoints 'control bodies or authorities' to inspect operators in the organics food chain. Producers, distributors and marketers of organic products must register with their local control body before they are allowed to market their food as organic.
- After they have been inspected and checked, they will be awarded a certificate to confirm that their products meet organic standards.
- All operators are checked at least once a year to make sure that they are continuing to follow the rules.
- Imported organic food is also subject to control procedures to guarantee that they have also been produced and shipped in accordance with organic principles.
The organic logo
The organic logo gives a coherent visual identity to EU produced organic products sold in the EU. This makes it easier for EU based consumers to identify organic products and helps farmers to market them across all EU countries.
The organic logo can only be used on products that have been certified as organic by an authorised control agency or body. This means that they have fulfilled strict conditions on how they are produced, transported and stored.
Organic farming after 2022
Organic farming is a fast growing area in EU agriculture, which is a direct result of increased consumer interest in organic products. In response to the challenges posed by this rapid expansion, and in order to provide an effective legal framework for the industry, the EU passed new legislation relating to the organic sector which applies from 1 January 2022.
Examples of the changes that made under the new organic legislation include:
- a strengthening of the control system, helping to build further consumer confidence in the EU organics system;
- new rules for producers which will make it easier for smaller farmers to convert to organic production;
- new rules on imported organics to ensure that all organic products sold in the EU are of the same standard;
- a greater range of products that can be marketed as organic.
The new organic legislation is supported by the action plan for organic production in the EU, which was launched by the European Commission in March 2021.
Related information
The EU sets out a number of rules and regulations governing the production, distribution and marketing of organic products in the EU. There are specific regulations related to particular products.
The EU consults with stakeholders and the general public to improve the quality of its legislation and this cooperation also extends to the organics sector.
Related information
Legislation for the organics sector
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They held hands backstage while greeting Seth Rogen. Then, after G changed, they went out to their seats and watched the rest of the show together. What? But who else is good enough to offer support and bff-ness to Gwyneth Paltrow but Beyonce? You don't get more royal, musically, than Beyonce. You know, my G doesn't roll with just anyone.
Sometimes I feel like she's freakishly tall.
And what of her performance? Look, I thought it was good. I thought she didn't embarrass herself. More importantly though, I thought it was really, really fun. Those puppets, and the energy, it was super cute, really adorable, really lifted the show. Have I changed my mind about her saying yes? Of course not. But does that automatically mean she sucked? She did not suck.
The way she looked in that catsuit was sick. That's the advantage of small breasts, right? I really want some. And the pink feather earrings too. As for the shoes you all keep asking about – they're Christian Louboutin Colourblock Booties. Gorgeous, but positively inhumane.
By the way, on Gwyneth, those whispers are starting up again. They say she and Chris don't see much of each other. That she's loaded up her schedule, deliberately, because she's so unhappy. It's not slamdunk, they're just whispers for now, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
Photos from Wenn.com and Kevin Winter/Michael Caulfield/Rick Diamond/Arnold Turner/Kevin Mazur/Larry Busacca/Gettyimages.com


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Eye Clinic Markham Tips from our eye clinic on how to keep your eyes healthy with contact lenses
Contact lenses can be a fantastic way to see crisp and clear without bothersome eyeglasses. They give a wider field of view and healthy, comfortable vision – as long as you don't overuse them!
Nowadays, with so many quality contact lenses on the market that provide exceptional visual clarity and convenience, it's easy to abuse their use. However, this practice poses serious risks to your eyes. To avoid damaging your vision, our eye clinic shares the following information about avoiding the overuse of contact lenses.
Many eye diseases can be quickly and easily diagnosed during a Comprehensive eye exam, Pediatric eye exam and Contact lens eye exam. If you were diagnosed with an eye disease, such as Cataracts, Glaucoma, Macular degeneration, Diabetic retinopathy, or Dry eye, you may be overwhelmed by the diagnosis and confused about what happens next. Will you need medications or surgery – now or in the future? Is LASIK eye and vision surgery an option for you ? Our Markham eye doctor is always ready to answer your questions about eye disease and Contact lenses.
How much use is overuse?
You should be removing your contact lenses for a minimum of 18 awake hours per week, giving your eyes time to rest and get sufficient oxygen. Your eyes need to absorb oxygen from the air (not from your lungs, like other organs), so allowing your eyes time to breathe without contact lenses in the way is essential.
Don't leave home without eyeglasses
If you insert your contacts in the morning and will be out into the wee hours of the night, pack along a pair of glasses to switch to later in the day. This will help prevent eye strain and, ocular irritation.
Don't sleep in contact lenses
Keeping your contacts in while dozing will damage your eyes, depriving them of oxygen and hydration. Without enough moisture, your contact lenses can dry out and lead to problems, such as corneal scratches.
Replace your contact lenses on time
Because modern contact lenses are made from advanced materials, they offer supreme comfort. That's why so many people end up wearing them longer than prescribed – until they become uncomfortable. However, this is a risky practice that can lead to vision damage. When used for too long, contacts can develop tiny tears and accumulate calcium or protein deposits that can seriously irritate or injure your eyes. When you buy contacts from our eye clinic, we'll provide you with instructions on how long each pair lasts and when to replace them.
What happens from the overuse of contacts?
There are three main problems that can result:
- Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC): wearing your contact lenses for too long without changing them can lead to deposits in the lenses that cause Papillae (large granules that rub against the cornea) to form under the eyelids. As a result, you can experience itching, red eyes, light sensitivity, and the constant feeling that something is stuck in your eye.
- Corneal ulcer: this is a serious infection that occurs on the outer layer of the eye and can damage vision. Wearing contact lenses while swimming can allow dangerous microbes to enter your eye. When these microbes stick to contacts, it increases your risk of corneal ulcers. Symptoms include redness, blurred vision, eye pain, and watering. Corneal ulcers require prompt medical treatment to prevent irreversible vision loss.
- CLARE – Contact Lens Associated Red Eye: this sudden redness in your eye is typically caused by wearing contact lenses during bedtime. Insufficient oxygen to your cornea (because of tight-fitting contacts) is the culprit. It is a relatively mild problem, but you'll need an eye exam at our eye clinic to determine whether you're suffering from CLARE or an infection.
When you visit our eye clinic for a contact lens eye exam or fitting, we'll be happy to provide you with instructions on the proper way to use your contacts – and not overuse them!
Eye Clinic Markham, your Markham eye doctor for eye exams and eye care
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text: A Twitter outage on Thursday that lasted as long as two hours for some users was caused by separate data centers failing at nearly the same time, the company said in an apologetic blog post. Twitter went down between about 8:20 a.m. and 9 a.m. Pacific Time on Thursday and was back in action by about 10:25 a.m., wrote Mazen Rawashdeh, vice president of engineering. Though some users suspected an overload of Tweets related to the Olympic Games, which opens on Friday in London, that was not the cause of the outage.Instead, two data centers that operate in parallel for redundancy both failed, in what Rawashdeh called an "infrastructural double whammy.""What was noteworthy about today's outage was the coincidental failure of two parallel systems at nearly the same time," Rawashdeh wrote. "We are investing aggressively in our systems to avoid this situation in the future."It was Twitter's second outage in about six weeks. On June 21, the microblogging service went down about 9 a.m. Pacific and started to come back just after 10 a.m., only to fail again before full recovery began after 11 a.m. The company blamed that outage on a cascading bug, a type of problem that spreads from one software element to others.Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com


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Return Policy: Generally speaking, all sales are final. You MUST contact us immediately upon receiving your package to notify us of any problem regarding the condition of the piece, such as damage or extreme wear. All sales are final after 10 days. If you have not contacted us within this short period of time, we will assume that any damage upon return was caused by you. We take the utmost care to package our shipments. Estate and period jewelry will have some wear not as described and is sold AS IS. Shipping charges are non-refundable.
Instructions on Return: You have 10 days upon receiving your package to return your item if damage is an issue. All jewelry items must be returned in the same condition as was sent to you. No piece of jewelry will be accepted for return if it is altered or worn. Please contact us at 574-594-9800 to arrange for your return. You must ship the package back to us through USPS, registered and fully insured for the retail value. Pack the items safely and securely. Once the item is received by us, we will check the condition of the item and issue a refund, less any shipping charges within 5 days of receipt. If you have any questions regarding these procedures please contact us at the number provided.
Shipping Policy: The value of the jewelry item or items will dictate the method of shipping. Please call us at 574-594-9800 to discuss which method of shipping is recommended, as well as the additional charge for shipping and handling.
Payment Policy: We accept most major credit cards, VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, with the exception of DISCOVER. All credit card payments are processed manually, so you may call us at 574-594-9800 during business hours to process payments.
Disclaimer: Because mounting prohibits full and accurate observations of gem quality and weight, all data pertaining to mounted items can be considered as approximate unless accompanied by an independent laboratory certificate (GIA, EGL, AGS). Unless otherwise stated, all colored stones and pearls are assumed to be subject to a relatively stable and possibly undetected color or clarity enhancement.
Contact Information:
Building Address:
Blue Pearl Fine Estate Jewelry & Antiques
112 N. First Street
Pierceton, IN 46562
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 701
Pierceton, IN 46562
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The Secret Beyond Matter
If you had 450-500 eggs and if you had to preserve them outside, what would you do? The wisest course for you would be to take precautions to prevent them from being scattered around, say, by the wind, or other environmental factors. Being one of the animals that lay the most eggs at one time (450-500), the silkworms use a very intelligent way to protect their eggs: they unite the eggs with a viscous substance (thread) they secrete to prevent them from being scattered around.
The caterpillars that pop out of their eggs firstly find a safe branch for themselves and then get tied to this branch with the same thread. Later, to promote their own development, they start to spin a cocoon for themselves with the thread they secrete. It takes 3-4 days for a caterpillar that has opened its eyes very recently to life to complete this process. During this period, the caterpillar makes thousands of turns and produces a thread an average of 900-1,500 meters long. At the end of this process, it starts a new task through which it undergoes a metamorphosis to become an elegant butterfly.Neither the action taken by the mother silkworm to protect its eggs, nor the behavior of a tiny caterpillar devoid of any awareness, education or knowledge can be explained by evolution. First of all, the ability of the mother to produce the thread it uses to secure its eggs is miraculous. The newly-born caterpillar's knowing the most suitable environment for itself, its spinning a cocoon in accordance with it, its undergoing a metamorphosis, and its coming through this metamorphosis without any problem are beyond human comprehension. Hence, we can simply say that each caterpillar is born into the world with a foreknowledge of what to do, which means that it was 'taught' all of these things before it was born.
Let us explain this with an example. What would you think if you saw a new-born baby standing up a few hours after his birth, getting together the things he needs to make his bed (like quilt, pillow, mattress), and later putting all these together neatly, making his bed and lying down on it? After you recover from the shock of the event, you would probably think that the baby must have been taught in an extraordinary way in his mother's womb to perform such a process. The case of the caterpillars is no different from the baby in this example.
This again leads us to the same conclusions: these living creatures come into life, behave and live in the way determined by God Who has created them. The Qur'anic verse stating that God has inspired the honeybee and commanded it to make honey (Qur'an, 16:68-69) provides an example of the great secret of the world of living beings. This secret is that all living beings have bowed to God's will and follow the fate determined by Him. This is why the honeybee makes honey and the silkworm produces silk.


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Dressed-Up Pastas for a Meatless Monday Dinner
A guaranteed family favorite, pasta is an easy, economical meal that feeds a crowd. Tonight, instead of resorting to traditional spaghetti with simple tomato sauce, try experimenting with oddly shaped noodles, such as orecchiette, and new, creative sauce ingredients, like panko and broccoli rabe, that will add exciting, flavorful flair to your pasta bowl. Find a few of our favorite dressed-up pasta recipes below, each meatless and ready to eat in less than 40 minutes.
Celebrate in-season cauliflower by cooking up Food Network Magazine's veggie-packed Cauliflower-Onion Linguine (pictured above), made with sweet fried onions, creamy Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes for a touch of heat. Crunchy pine nuts and crispy panko breadcrumbs add texture to this hearty bowl.
Though there's no denying that classic basil pesto is wonderfully light and perfectly fragrant, it can be difficult — in fact, almost impossible — to find quality fresh basil in the middle of winter. Anne Burrell solves the pesto problem by preparing Orecchiette With Broccoli Rabe Pesto from Food Network Magazine. This dish is every bit as nutty, cheesy and green as the original but is made with broccoli rabe, a classic Italian green, instead. Before tossing these turtle shell-shaped noodles with the broccoli rabe-pistachio mixture, Anne mixes smooth ricotta cheese in the sauce, adding a delicate but rich taste and consistency.
Ellie Krieger's bright and colorful Fettuccine With Creamy Red Pepper-Feta Sauce combines garlic and onions, store-bought roasted red peppers and tangy feta cheese to create a silky sauce that perfectly coats each whole-wheat noodle. Be sure to cook with vegetable stock instead of chicken to maintain a meat-free meal.
Meatless Monday, an international movement, encourages people everywhere to cut meat one day a week for personal and planetary health. Browse more meat-free recipes.
Related Links:


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Yeah, I know, Mormon and "style" go together like Tom Cruise and Academy Award performance. Or Tom Cruise and sanity. Or Tom Cruise and naked hot chicks.
We'll talk about naked oil baths and special underwear another time. All you need to know now is that it's gonna cost extra.


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Grabber Blue 2014 Shelby GT500 Super Snake First Off Assembly Line
Sent to Shelby Automotive Museum in SoCal
Related Video
Shelby American, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Carroll Shelby International, is holding down a new location in the heart of Las Vegas. Starting off with a bang, the first very first car to roll off of the assembly line was a 2014 Grabber Blue Shelby GT500 Super Snake belonging to Carroll Hall Shelby Trust. With a stout 850hp, the attention-grabbing beauty (chassis #14SS0010) was delivered on December 26, 2013 to the new Shelby Automotive Museum in SoCal.
"The 2014 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake represents one of the greatest collaborations between Carroll Shelby, Shelby American and Ford Motor Company," said Neil Cummings, co-Trustee of the Carroll Hall Shelby Trust. "Placing this particular car in the new Carroll Shelby Automotive Museum by Carroll's trust will symbolize that strong relationship, as well as remind the public that the organizations he founded are still influencing the world." Established by the late and great man himself, the Carroll Shelby Automotive Museum is a 501© non-profit organization built with the purpose of educating the public about the auto industry and, of course, the high-performance Shelby American-built cars dating all the way back to 1962. Starting with the very first Cobra (CSX2000) to the current Shelby powerhouses, the museum pays tribute to the man and the legacy that he created.
"Many consider the 2014 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake to be the pinnacle of the outgoing solid axle Mustang line," said Joe Conway, CEO of Shelby American. "Carroll was very proud of its breathtaking performance, which was developed after Ford upped the GT500's capabilities in 2012. Since he was personally involved with both the pre-title GT500 and post-title Super Snake package, it's fitting that the first car off our new factory line would be for Carroll's Trust."
For most Mustang and Shelby enthusiasts, a Super Snake is a gem in the world of high-performance American cars with the post-title package starting at $28,995 for 662hp and $39,995 for the optional supercharger package bumping the power up to a staggering 850 horses. These prices do not reflect the price of the base car, but it does include transforming the base car into a beast with enhanced performance, brakes, engine, and cosmetic upgrades.
Back in 2013, the '13 Shelby GT500 Super Snake was put to the test on the quarter-mile through a third-party and laid down a 10.66-second run on optional Nitto NT555R street tires. With 850hp under the hood, the car kept in the mid ten-second range consistently through multiple runs. Not too shabby for a 50-state street legal pony, compliant with all emission laws.
Just a limited number of 500 will be built with all of them born at the Shelby American headquarters in Vegas. Each car will come with official documentation as well as a unique number logged into the Shelby Registry. If interested in building your own, visit http://shelbyamerican.com/buildhome.asp. Feel free to contact Shelby American sales department at 702/942-7325 or hit up www.shelbyamerican.com.
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Services on Demand
Related links
- Cited by Google
- Similars in Google
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology
On-line version ISSN 2071-0763
Print version ISSN 0258-5200
POTGIETER, Sónia C.B. and BARNARD, Antoni. The construction of work-life balance: the experience of black employees in a call-centre environment. SA j. ind. Psychol. [online]. 2010, vol.36, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 2071-0763.
ORIENTATION: Work-life balance, as a crucial aspect of employee and organisational wellness, remains an interesting field of research, especially due to the changing demographic employee profile. RESEARCH PURPOSE: The objective of the study was to explore Black employees' construction of work-life balance in a customer care environment. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: The conceptual debate regarding the construct of work-life balance in general as well as limited qualitative research with regard to Black employees' experience of work-life balance in a South African context motivated the study. RESEARCH DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD: This qualitative study was designed from an interpretivist perspective. Ten employees, selected through purposeful sampling, participated in the study. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews and grounded theory was applied during data analysis. MAIN FINDINGS: The grounded theory analysis of the data yielded six themes central to participants' construction of work-life balance. The findings suggest that work-life balance is conceptualised as a continuous, subjective and holistic valuation of satisfaction derived from multiple roles in relation to the importance to the individual at a given point in time. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Findings provide valuable managerial information to guide suitable strategies enhancing the work-life balance experience and by implication employees' general wellbeing, job satisfaction and commitment. CONTRIBUTIONS/VALUE-ADD: This study contributes to the evolving body of knowledge with regard to work-life balance and provides a unique context-specific perspective to the conceptual understanding of the construct.
Keywords : employee wellness; grounded theory; in-depth interview; qualitative research; quality of life; work-home interaction.


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Precision Sheet Metal, CNC Machining & Welding Fabrication
Welcome to America's finest Sheet Metal, Machining, and Welding Fabricator: Vista Industrial Products, Inc. We provide High Quality Products while meeting your demands of prototype, production, or mass production runs. We fabricate a wide range of high quality products for the Commercial, Defense, Medical, High Technology, Kiosk, and retail industries. We work with a wide range of materials ranging from aluminum, steel, and stainless steel! Our large range of metal fabrication equipment, machines, and talented staff under one roof ensures that you have come to the right place for your Metal Fabrication needs!
Metal Fabrication Services
- Sheet Metal Fabrication Services: We provide a wide range of sheet metal fabrication services to meet your needs. From chassis to sheet metal enclosures to brackets to kiosks and drawers, we do it all! Here at VIP, quality sheet metal fabrication is what we are known for. Our sheet metal fabrication services include punching, laser cutting, forming / bending, and much more! Learn more…
- CNC Machining Services: Vista Industrial Products, Inc. is committed to producing the highest quality machined part at a competitive price. VIP's production capabilities include a variety of horizontal, vertical, and turning machining centers, as well as a complete quality assurance department with a CMM. Whether you are looking for low or high quantity production, our in-house machine shop has the equipment and staff to cater to your machining needs. Learn more…
- Welding Services: VIP's welding department can handle the most complex TIG and MIG weldments. Anything from close tolerance weldments to large complex welded assemblies to spot welding, our team of certified welding technicians can certify to any standards you may require. Learn more…
- Engineering Services: Vista Industrial Products, Inc. provides product development and reverse engineering services! Whether you are looking for drawing creation or full design assistance, our in-house engineers have the knowledge, resources, and experience to design and engineer parts that will be cost effective and economical to manufacture. Learn more…
Industries We Work With
Being in business since 1956 has allowed us to work with all sorts of different industries for different types of products. Our specialty is working with industries that require high quality metal parts, components, and assemblies. We regularly work with the following industries on a regular basis and have full knowledge of the various quality requirements and expectations within each industry:
- High Technology / Electronics: We are RoHS and REACH Compliant. We have experience in fabricating complex machined parts, heat sinks, chassis, enclosures, panels including airflow panels, server racks, and much more!
- Clean Tech: From battery enclosures to charging stations for electric vehicles, we have experience in this growing sector. We understand the infrastructure for this technology is growing in many ways and we can help provide cost effective suggestions.
- Industrial: VIP has had the opportunity of fabricating some of the most complex industrial assemblies including trucks, trailers, hoppers, and various other large equipment assemblies that often require a lot of welded tubing assemblies, and frames.
- Commercial: The commercial industry, although very broad, is an industry that we fabricate various brackets, components, panels, enclosures, yokes, arms, shelves, cabinets, housings, and all kinds of metal parts.
- Defense: We are ITAR Registered, Veteran-Owned, and ISO 9001 compliant. We regularly work with prime contractors that require strict military specifications, quality requirements and documentation. Some of the types of products we fabricate for the defense industry include complex welded assemblies, precision brackets and components, chassis, enclosures, lockers, and railings just to name a few.
- Medical: We are RoHS and REACH Compliant. Many of the medical products we fabricate include medical cabinets and drawers, complex machined parts, brackets, components, panels, chassis, sheet metal enclosures, and much more!
- Kiosk: Whether you are looking for a simple display kiosk or a complex interactive kiosk with moving parts, we have experience fabricating high quality kiosks at low and high quantities.
Introduction Video
Metal Fabrication in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles County
If you are looking for a quality metal fabricator, you have come to the right place. VIP is the premiere San Diego precision sheet metal fabrication, machining, and welding shop in the US. We cater to many companies within Southern California, but also cater to other states and countries that demand high quality fabrication.
If you are seeking a high quality metal fabricator that has experience in the industries above, please contact us today to Request a Quote or to find out more about our Engineering Services. We are always looking to partner with companies to grow your product and provide sustainable manufacturing domestically. Or stop in for a facility tour to get an inside look at our capabilities! Not local? No problem! Take a look at our virtual tour video.
Thank you for taking the time to view our website and we look forward to building a partnering relationship!
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Vista Industrial Products, Inc. is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer located in Vista (North County San Diego), California. M/F/V/D


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Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Recipe inspired by The Milkman's Wife, with adaptations from Karo Syrup recipe
1 9" pie shell (I used Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts)
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
8 T unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup bourbon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour deep dish pie plate and transfer pie crust to prepared dish. In a small saucepan, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Stir constantly until butter is melted and sugar dissolves. Mixture will be a thick syrup. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, beat eggs and add vanilla extract, salt and bourbon. Add 1/4 cup of syrup to egg mixture to temper slightly. Add remaining syrup, mixing well until incorporated. Add chocolate chips and pecans. Pour batter into pie shell and bake for about 1 hour until center of pie is set, it should spring back slightly when tapped. Place a cookie sheet under the pie to prevent any spills from burning on the bottom of your oven.


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In and out of Hamburg and Lübeck
Trans-Trading Hamburg, a member of the XLP network, recently shipped some locomotives from Bavaria to Finland via Lübeck. In January it had already handled three oversized turbines in Hamburg. The devil is often in the detail. more
A drilling rig straight to the Caspian Sea
Every project transport operation has its star player. This time it was an oil drilling rig, whose sections weighed in at 270 t. It was transferred to an inland barge by a 'double-banking' manoeuvre in just 24 hours. more
3 hours – not 18
Good ideas are of the essence when knocking down an oil platform into its individual components and loading them onto a barge. The Mexican company Eseasa deployed a caterpillar crane for the first time, thus cutting down the estimated project time. more
Fresh winds for windmills
Many conditions have to be just right, and others might require improvement, in order for windmills to remain efficient and environmentfriendly. Flying wind turbines, designed to generate energy above the surface of the sea, are now being tested by makani, for instance. The... more
Out of the ground
The Algerian state-owned oil corporation Sonatrach is seeking to increase its production volumes by investing in the modernisation of one of its key facilities. Sarens deployed its heavylift cranes to lift a 188 t column there. more
A 10 km record
Germany's Kahl group of companies set a new heavylift weight record recently, and received an award from the European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes (Esta). more
Technology harnesses wind
The Arkona offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea is being built about 35 km from the German island of Rügen. It will be ready much faster than was envisaged, thanks to 3D technology, according to E·On and Statoil, the two energy corporations building it. more
Turbines over the Andes
Since 2015 Bolivia has been planning to increase its power-generation capacities, with the support of Siemens. It would like to generate more than enough electricity for domestic consumption, and to also export power. The equipment for the power station expansion project in... more
Focusing on alternative energy
The Salammbô Group, which is domiciled in Tunis, recently transported a total of 40 wind power plants of the Vestas V90 type with 120 MW from China and Spain to Tangier (Morocco). more
Huge maritime power station
Parts for 87 wind power plants are being held in interim storage in Belfast by the heavylift logistician Schmidbauer, before the firm loads them onto a ship. They are destined for a wind farm west of Blackpool in the Irish Sea that is due to go on stream in 2018. more


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Car accidents are no longer the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. According to a recent report published by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, this dubious distinction now belongs to drug poisoning. What's at the root of this trend? A river of prescription painkillers.
Top image via WBUR.
Indeed, the report suggests that the United States is in the midst of a painkiller epidemic. Every year, more people now die from analgesic pain relievers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, than cocaine and heroin combined. Abuse is so bad these days that doctors are having difficulty keeping up with the demand.
Celebrity watchers don't have to be reminded that there's a problem going on. Recent deaths in which painkillers were implicated (in whole or in part) include Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Jay Bennett (ex-Wilco), Dana Plato, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and Anna Nicole Smith.
And if the latest statistics are to be believed, it's a problem that's likely to get worse before it's fully acknowledged as a widespread problem.
Sea change
The change atop the accidental death leaderboard officially happened back in 2008 when over 41,000 Americans died as a result of poisoning, compared to 38,000 vehicle traffic deaths. Of those, 90% were caused by drugs. It marked the first time since 1980 that car accidents were not at the top of the list.
There's little doubt that deaths by vehicle accidents are on the decline, but it does not compare to the sharp rise of poisonings. During the past three decades, the poisoning rate has tripled from where it was in 1980, while motor vehicle deaths decreased by almost one-half over the same time. And from 1999 to 2008, the poisoning death rate increased 90%, while the motor vehicle traffic death rate decreased 15%.
Looking at the period 1980 to 2008, the percentage of poisoning deaths caused by drugs increased from 56% to 89%. Of the poisoning deaths that happened in 2008, about 77% were unintentional, 13% were suicides, and 9% were of undetermined intent.
Hard to quit
Because of the epidemic, a number of pharmacies are refusing to stock painkillers on account of a dramatic rise in armed robberies. Addicts, who suffer from awful withdrawal symptoms, are desperate to get their hands on these drugs, causing them to take rash action. Since 2006, there has been an 82% rise in pharmacy robberies – from 385 in 2006 to 701 in 2011 – and over 3,500 pharmacies have been hit.
Withdrawal symptoms from painkillers are not fun; users typically experience them even after relatively short use. Specific symptoms include depression, anxiety, shakiness, and lack of energy. And worse, people in withdrawal have exaggerated feelings of pain (like muscle aches) and flu-like symptoms.
The trouble with being addicted to painkillers is that once a user goes cold-turkey, all minor aches and pains are accentuated way out of proportion. Every little bit of tightness or soreness feels far more intense than usual, causing the person great misery – hence the often maniacal desire to get back on pain relief.
Dealing with it
Compounding the issue is a lack of consensus on what's to account for the epidemic and what to do about it. According to Daniel Bennett, a Denver pain physician and CMO of the American News Report:
Healthcare providers have inadequate education or misconceptions regarding when and how to use these medications effectively, as well as how to manage people effectively once on the medication. Legislators are torn between public safety and the outcry from people who have been harmed from misuse of these valuable medications, often confusing addiction with pain as a disease. Compounding this is the pharmaceutical industry, including some who have introduced questionable practices in the marketing of these medications.
This story, says Bennett, should certainly give people pause in the debate about the use of narcotic medications and the treatment of unrelenting pain.
To address the problem, some insurers are demanding that doctors justify prescriptions for pain pills that exceed a 30-day supply. And more than 40 states have implemented systems to monitor prescription drugs. That said, the programs are voluntary, and many clinicians remain completely unaware of them.
Another reason why Americans are top of the heap in terms of painkiller use is on account of the high use of prescription drugs in the United States. Statistics show that one third of all Americans take two or more prescription drugs, which seems astoundingly high. Moreover, the most frequently prescribed drugs are narcotics. This would seem to be a crucial place to start in addressing the problem.
In fact, many countries in Eastern Europe have adopted policies in which opioid drugs are restricted, mostly to prevent black market involvement. The side-effect of these strict policies is that addiction to such drugs has dropped appreciably. Their rules, restrictions, and formulary shortages have created an environment where drug abuse is less inclined to happen. By contrast, the black market for opioids thrives in the United States due to its unrestricted environment.
Given the widespread and pervasive use of painkillers in the United States, it's generally believed that a simplistic approach would likely be met with failure. Instead, a more effective effort would probably have to involve all stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, and concerned citizens – and there's nothing accidental about that.
Sources: CDC | NPR | ANR | LA Times | Psychology Today


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We got our first official look inside Google+ this week thanks to Google's Q2 earnings announcement, where we learned the nascent social network has amassed 10 million users. Other sources say that those users are primarily male and more engaged in discussions than users of other social networks.
CEO Larry Page confirmed what Ancestry.com Founder Paul Allen had been saying: that the beta site has gathered more than 10 million users in its two weeks of operation. Analysts said it was an impressive start for G+ and that the site could become a major player in the social networking scene.
And people are using it. For instance, after conducting "an experiment," CNET's Rafe Needleman determined that interactions on Google+ make him happier than those on Twitter and Facebook. He appreciates that a G+ user can monitor other users' streams even if they aren't in one of their circles, unlike Facebook where users have to be friends to monitor each other's streams. He also noticed that the discussion is sustained for a longer amount of time than on Twitter.
Here's what Needleman said about the quality of his interactions:
"… the feedback is, for the most part, some healthy combination of intelligent, useful, supportive, or funny. Twitter feedback is often emotionally shallow (not much room left after a retweet), and Facebook feedback is often personally gratifying but not that professionally useful. Perhaps because Google+ conversations are more public, people take more time to say something that's not just positive to me, but that reflects well on them. They're marketing themselves, maybe unconsciously, and this leads to higher-quality feedback. This happens sometimes on major industry blogs."
Tech Men
Those interactions might be similar to industry blogs because Google+ (at the moment) is somewhat of an industry social network. Some statistic sites say that many G+ users are men from the tech industry.
Mashable's Jolie O'Dell first reported the trend that G+ users are mostly male. She noticed that tracking sites SocialStatistics and FindPeopleOnPlus estimated the male count to be at about 87% and 74%, respectively. She contrasted those numbers to Facebook's which were split right down the middle last July (48.5% female and 48.3% male).
Not only are most users men, but those users are also from a very specific sliver of the job market: The tech industry. FindPeopleOnPlus estimates that around 50% of the users are engineers, developers, designers and software engineers. The two most popular cities for users to live in are San Francisco and New York.
It will be interesting to see how G+ continues to grow as the product matures. Although it appears to favor men and people in the tech industry, it would be great to see a wider spectrum represented in people's circles. We hope quality of discussion stays the same.
How does your G+ experience rate compared to other forms of online communication? Have any ideas how Google can attract a wider audience? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Follow Paul Suarez @paulsuarez on Twitter or throw him in one of your circles on Google+.


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Some epigenetic changes may promote vulnerability to drug relapse.
Addiction is tenacious: People who are in recovery remain vulnerable to relapse even after years of abstinence. Often, it is memory that reawakens the craving. The dormant desire can return with a vengeance when cued by people, places, or situations once associated with drug use. For this reason, memory has become an important area of study for addiction researchers.
Neuroscientists over the last two decades have made important advances in tracing the molecular events that occur in the brain as memories are formed and preserved. In recent experiments, NIDA-supported researchers Drs. Courtney A. Miller, J. David Sweatt, and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and The Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, delineated what appears to be a key pathway in this process: Reversible changes in DNA regulate the production of proteins that give memories their staying power. The new findings may spur breakthroughs in the study of drug relapse, as well as in a broad range of neurological problems, including age-related memory loss and neurodevelopmental disorders.
The Neural Basis of Memory Formation
Someone enters a restaurant and recalls the taste of its veal scallopini; a man arrives at a shore and thinks of his father, with whom he fished there as a child; a person in recovery passes a certain corner and recalls the high from the drugs he purchased there. This is remembering: Something in our present experience brings to mind something that was linked with a similar experience in our past. What brain activity makes this happen?
The emerging neuroscientific understanding of memory posits that the world's various features—for example, the interior of a restaurant or the taste of veal scallopini—each evokes particular patterns of neuron firing in the brain. The brain registers these patterns for future reference by strengthening the synapses between neurons that fire simultaneously. Stronger synapses make neurons more sensitive to each other, so that the subsequent firing of some readily stimulates the others to fire as well. Now, when the restaurant interior reactivates some of the same neurons that it did before, they in turn stimulate the neurons previously excited by the veal taste—even though no veal is actually present.
The brain is constantly registering, storing, and reaccessing neural patterns in this way. The resulting memory associations can powerfully drive emotions and behavior: The person passing the restaurant suddenly feels famished; the man at the shore feels an urge to call his parents; the person in recovery begins to crave the drug he used long ago.
|Methylation Suppressor Administered Before Foot Shocks
|Methyl Groups Attach to Calcineurin Gene
|Messenger RNA Produced
|Calcineurin Produced
|Fear Memory Formed
Methylation and Memory Formation
Neuroscientists have found that the process of forging the new synaptic links between neurons involves a host of proteins. Drs. Miller and Sweatt reasoned that the process might be strongly influenced by epigenetic factors, which act upon genes to control the rate of production and availability of their proteins. Applying a hypothesis first suggested by Dr. Francis Crick in the 1980s, the researchers focused on one epigenetic process, DNA methylation, which prevents the first step in protein production (see box below).
In an initial experiment, Drs. Miller and Sweatt established that DNA methylation is essential for memory formation. They first placed rats in a special cage and administered mild electric shocks to the animals' feet. Normal rats remembered the unpleasant experience, and most froze with fear when put back into the cage 24 hours later. But rats that before being shocked were treated with a compound that prevents methylation did not appear to remember the shocks when they were returned to the special cage the next day. They behaved as if nothing untoward had happened to them there.
Drs. Miller and Sweatt next demonstrated that the changes in methylation that occur during memory formation favor synaptic strengthening between neurons in the hippocampus, the brain area known to initially register certain memory associations. Once again, the investigators administered mild shocks to rats, and the animals' behavior the next day showed that they remembered being shocked. This time, the researchers compared hippocampal tissue from these rats and from control groups that were not trained to associate the cage with shocks. The rats with the fear memories showed two changes related to strengthened memory.
- Increased methylation of the gene for protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), an enzyme that inhibits memory formation by interfering with synaptic strengthening;
- Decreased methylation of the gene for reelin, a protein that promotes memory formation by assisting in synaptic strengthening.
Drs. Miller and Sweatt confirmed that these changes resulted in less abundant PP1 and more abundant reelin. They concluded that methylation plays a dual role in memory formation, both increasing the availability of a memory-promoting protein and reducing the presence of the memory-suppressing protein.
Methylation Blocks Protein Production
Protein production begins with transcription, the transfer of information contained in a gene's DNA to a messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule. The mRNA molecule provides the template for assembling amino acids into protein.
Methylation regulates protein production by blocking transcription. Methylation occurs when a methyl group—a cluster of a carbon and three hydrogen atoms—attaches to DNA. Like other epigenetic processes, methylation is reversible—methyl groups attach, detach, and reattach to DNA. By doing so, they vary the rate of protein production to suit the brain's needs in changing situations.
The methylation associated with the shock memories proved to be transient, disappearing within an additional 24 hours. The researchers noted that this fits with a well-established role of the hippocampus: As the locus of initial memory formation, it provides short-term storage only. If a memory is to last, it must move to another part of the brain. Where this might be, and how the memory might be preserved, were the questions the researchers tackled next.
From a Week Ago to Yesteryear
Previous research had indicated that within a week of memory formation, the chemical and metabolic activities that support memory storage shift from the hippocampus to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Drs. Miller and Sweatt and collaborators focused their attention on this region.
On the basis of their work on memory formation, Drs. Miller and Sweatt posited that methylation might also be key to the consolidation and preservation of long-term memory. However, they suspected that methylation of the gene for the enzyme calcineurin, rather than PP1 and reelin, might be important in establishing and sustaining memories in the dmPFC.
"There is a lot of published work showing that calcineurin suppresses memory and that memories are more easily formed and last longer if you block calcineurin," Dr. Miller says. Methylation of the calcineurin gene, by reducing the amount of calcineurin produced, might remove a barrier to the transfer into the dmPFC of memories first formed in the hippocampus.
The researchers returned to the animal lab and repeated the foot-shock procedure with a new set of rats. After they confirmed fear memory, the team assayed dmPFC brain tissue from groups of animals at different times after the procedure: 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days, and 30 days. The results bore out their hypothesis. The calcineurin gene did not exhibit increased methylation after 1 hour, but it did after 1 day and remained highly methylated 7 and 30 days later.
To solidify the link between memory and methylation of the calcineurin gene, the researchers infused the hippocampus of rats with a compound that prevents fear learning. When the animals were then given the foot-shock procedure, as expected, they did not demonstrate the fear response—and 7 days later there was no extra methylation of the calcineurin gene in the prefrontal cortex.
One crucial question remained: Is methylation necessary to maintain a memory after it has been consolidated in the prefrontal cortex? To test this, the researchers infused methylation-blocking molecules into the prefrontal cortex of rats 30 days after the foot-shock procedure. With methylation suppressed, the animals ceased to display fear when reexposed to the shock-associated cage. Without ongoing methylation, the researchers speculate, a memory effectively disappears.
Wider Application of Methylation
Although the latter study focused on the calcineurin gene, the complexities of memory formation and maintenance in the prefrontal cortex surely also entail DNA methylation in other genes, Dr. Miller says. Her team plans to identify these genes in future research.
Reducing methylation might, in theory, provide a means to weaken the memories that drive relapse to addiction, Dr. Miller says. But the difficulty of targeting specific memories without inducing a more general amnesia makes this approach a distant prospect at best.
Understanding the molecular basis for the persistence of memory, however, could have more immediate relevance to other problems, such as age-related memory loss. Dr. Miller says, "If we can boost the mechanisms involved in maintaining memory, we might help individuals suffering from cognitive decline."
What makes the recent findings particularly interesting, says Dr. John S. Satterlee of NIDA's Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, is the demonstration that methylation activity follows the path of memory from the hippocampus to the prefrontal cortex. "The molecules themselves aren't moving, of course, but something happens that shifts the process to the right place," he notes.
The duration of these processes is also intriguing, Dr. Satterlee says. "I wouldn't go so far as to conclude that DNA methylation is a way of encoding memory, but the fact that molecular changes in this brain region can last as long as 30 days is very intriguing," he comments.
While Dr. Satterlee agrees that issues of targeting and potential toxicity pose significant obstacles to methylation-based drug abuse interventions, he suggests that a deeper understanding of the process could have general implications for addiction research. "We know that epigenetic changes occur when the brain responds to drugs of abuse, but scientists haven't yet looked deeply at methylation in this regard," he says.
Dr. Satterlee notes that defects in a protein that can bind to methylated DNA have been identified in Rett syndrome. He suggests that studies like Dr. Miller's could help to advance our understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Miller, C.A., et al. Cortical DNA methylation maintains remote memory.Nature Neuroscience 13(6):664-666, 2010. (Full Text (PDF, 524KB))


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Phytocoenological analysis of grey alder (Alnus incana L.) forests in the Dinarides of Croatia and their relationship with affiliated communities
Phytozönologische Analyse von Grau-Erlenwäldern (Alnus incana L.) in den kroatischen Dinariden und ihrem Verhältnis zu verwandten Pflanzengesellschaften
Joso Vukelić1, Irena Šapić1, Antun Alegro2, Vedran Šegota2, Igor Stankić3 & Dario Baričević1, *
This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the results of phytocoenological research into Alnus incana forests from the alliance Alnion incanae in the Dinarides. Stands from the south-eastern Dinar-ides (Alnetum incanae = Oxali-Alnetum incanae) were analyzed and compared with those from the north-western Dinarides (Lamio orvalae-Alnetum incanae). The comparison reveals significant differ-ences in the floristic composition and in the degree of differentiation – and particularly in the presence of the species of the Illyrian floristic geoelement. Focus was placed on the area of western Croatia where a geographic variant of Helleborus dumetorum (VUKELIĆ et al. 2012) had previously been de-fined within the association Lamio orvalae-Alnetum incanae. Two of its subtypes, Salix alba and Alnus glutinosa, were determined in our research. The former subtype thrives on occasionally flooded, moist sites, where the floristic composition is dominated by hygrophytes. The latter subtype grows on elevat-ed and drier terraces and is richer in mesophilous species from the surrounding zonal forests. A floris-tic-sociological comparison of the Lamio orvalae-Alnetum incanae with the related syntaxa indicates the presence of about fourty diagnostic species which accentuate its independence and the need to assess it at the level of an independent, regional association within the alliance Alnion incanae.
Keywords: Alnion incanae, Alnus incana, forest communities, Lamio orvalae-Alnetum incanae, the Dinarides
The natural disturbance regime in forests of the Dinaric Mountains: A synthesis of evidence
Thomas A. Nagel a,⇑, Stjepan Mikac b, Mojca Dolinar c, Matija Klopcic a, Srdjan Keren d,e, Miroslav Svoboda f, Jurij Diaci a, Andrej Boncina a, Vinko Paulic b
a Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Vecˇna pot 83, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
b Department of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Forestry Faculty, University of Zagreb, Croatia
c Slovenian Environment Agency, Ljubljana, Slovenia
d Faculty of Forestry, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
e Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture, Krakow, Poland
f Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Czech Republic
a b s t r a c t
Quantitative descriptions of natural disturbance regimes are lacking for temperate forest regions in Europe, primarily because a long history of intensive land-use has been the overriding driver of forest structure and composition across the region. The following contribution is the first attempt to comprehensively describe the natural disturbance regime of the dominant forest communities in the Dinaric Mountain range, with an emphasis on the range of natural variability of regime components for the main disturbance agents. Compared to other forest regions in Europe, the mountain range has a history of less intensive forest exploitation and provides a suitable record of natural disturbance processes. Our synthesis is based on multiple types of evidence, including meteorological information, historical documentation, evidence from old-growth remnants, and salvage logging data from National forest inventories. Taken together, the results show that no single disturbance agent dominates the regime in the dominant forest types (i.e. beech and mixed beech-fir forests), and any given agent exhibits remarkable variation in terms of severity and spatial extent both within and among individual disturbance events. Thunderstorm winds cause the most severe damage (i.e. near stand replacement), but blowdown patches are typically limited to stand-scales (e.g. 10s of ha). Ice storms and heavy snow typically cause intermediate severity damage and affect much larger areas (e.g. 100s of km2). A notable exception was the 2014 ice storm, which was nearly an order of magnitude larger and more severe than any other event recorded in the synthesis. Severe and prolonged periods of drought have occurred several times over the past century, and along with secondary insect damage (e.g. bark beetles), have caused episodes of forest decline. Overall, our synthesis indicates that on top of the background of relatively continuous gap dynamics, stand-scale intermediate severity events are an important part of the regime; these events likely have rotation periods that are less than the lifespan of a tree cohort (e.g. several centuries) and create canopy openings large enough to alter successional trajectories.
Reconstruction of extreme floods in the Riparian forest using tree rings dataRead more ...
First results of Canopy Gaps distirbution using LiDAR data - In PressRead more ...
Resarch of the Canopy Gaps Dynamic in the OG Forests Čudinka
In the last few decades, in Europe as in rest of the world, the interest in the long-term and extensive monitoring of forest ecosystems has intensified. The reason for this is the lack of original, reference and long-term series of data necessary for the evaluation of anthropogenic impact in relation to natural variability. Old-growth forest reserves are recognized as the reference state of naturalness whose monitoring, together with monitoring of other non-economic forests, provides valuable information that helps explaining the natural dynamics and variability of ecosystems. Croatia, in comparison with most Central European countries, has a relatively natural forest ecosystems in terms of species composition, structure and function. There are number of valuable forest areas with characteristics of a natural old-growth forest.The project aims to consolidate knowledge and establish a long-term interdisciplinary research with one common goal – understanding and monitoring the dynamics of forest ecosystems. The project is designed on two levels of intensity: 1) extensive monitoring-EM (I) and 2) intensive monitoring-IM (II). EM would result in the 50-60 plots across the Croatia while five of the most representative old-growth forest sites will be the object of IM. The results of this monitoring will be the piece in the European puzzle, but very important to the global understanding of the functioning of natural forest ecosystems. Continuous monitoring and experimental research plots are certainly the best legacy for future generations of scientists, who will with ever evolving technology and methods be able to improve understanding of the complex dynamics of forest ecosystems and thereby contribute their knowledge and ultimately preservation.
Project duration: 01/09/2015 - 31/08/2018
The project is funded: Croatian science foundation (www.hrzz.hr)


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Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some great articles on affordable ways to spend family night at home, how to save on dental treatment, and ways to cut daily expenses.
4 Fun and Affordable Ways to Spend Family Night at Home — Have a fun family night at home by putting together a theme night. [Financial Highway]
How to save money on Dental Treatment — Save money on dental treatment by having regular checkups. [HowToSaveMoney.com]
4 Easy Ways To Cut Daily Expenses — Reduce your daily expenses by only using your credit card in emergency situations. [Stack The Chips]
3 Potential Problems With Automating Your Finances — When you automate your finances, you are more inclined to become disconnected from your financial reality. [Bible Money Matters]
Balancing Giving and Saving — Balance giving and saving by realizing that charity is more than just donating money. [The Simple Dollar]
8 Ways To Encourage Kids To Brush Their Teeth — Encourage your kids to brush their teeth by setting up a rewards chart. [Parenting Squad]
5 Little Tips to Help Kick-Start Your Work Week — Kick-start your workweek by tackling tough assignments during peak hours. [SavvySugar]
3 Clear Reasons to Change Careers — If you are trapped behind a mask, it may be time to change careers. [zen habits]
Understanding Stress: 8 Ways to Take It On — Handle stressful situations by believing in your ability to find solutions. [Prolific Living]
Things To Do Before Asking For A Raise — Before you ask for a raise, come up with a strategy. [Mystic Madness]
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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[17599] 120 ft/min High Speed Single Lift Line Aluminum Frame Performer Flying System (240v)
Single lift line performer flying system. Very simple operation with single joystick control. Ceiling sheaves mount to venue supplied truss or venue steel. This 3-phase, 240v system lifts 400 pounds 30 vertical feet at a speed of 120 feet per minute.
Performer flying systems feature aluminum frame enclosures, motor and redundant braking systems, shaft over speed monitoring, active line load sensing, drive fault load sensing, dual limits, and programmed acceleration / deceleration ramping.
Winch Specifications
- Lift Speed: 120 feet per minute
- Lift Height: 30 feet
- Lift WLL: 400 lbs
- Voltage: 240v, 3 phase
- Connector: Tajami Control Cable Connector, Twist Lock Power Ends
- 1 Channel, variable speed, single joystick, with E-Stop, key lock
- Two Stage Limit Switches
- Active Line Load Sensing
- Electric Fault Load Sensing
- Overspeed Sensors
- Redundant Safety Brake
Price includes following equipment:
- 1 - Single Lift Line Yoyo Performer Flying Winch [Serial Number 17599]
- Single Joystick Controller [Serial 17056]
- 100' Control Cable (Tajami Connector)
- 25' Control Cable (Tajami Connector)
- 10' Control Cable (Tajami Connector)
- 25' Power Cable (Twist Lock Ends)
- 2 - 50' Load Sensor Extension Cable
- Brake Gap Tool
- Load Sensor
Ships in Plastic Pallet Case.
Sales of this item and all items by Stage Dealer, LLC are subject to the Stage Dealer, LLC Contract of Sale Agreement. Please review this agreement here before making any purchase from Stage Dealer. Purchasing any item from Stage Dealer is deemed acceptance of the terms and conditions in the Contract of Sale Agreement, the Stage Dealer Terms and Conditions and the Stage Dealer Privacy Policy.


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Browse by theme
This resource presents carefully selected cabinet papers using thematic and chronological historical overviews.
Covering three main themes of British governance in the 20th century - The United Kingdom and the World; The Economy, Business and Resources; Society and the Welfare State - this resource allows you to browse topics within these areas and find relevant cabinet records.
Each topic suggests search ideas to help you benefit from the collection of documents. See Search Tips for help with searching.
The 'A' level studies section provides students and teachers with resources, information, interactive tools, pictures and much more to supplement their studies and help bring history to life.
Students can investigate historically significant events using the 'overview' and 'in-depth' studies provided. There is information on the Cabinet itself and access to key primary sources, meetings and papers for the period. There is also a unique map resource, revealing geo-political change across the 20th century.
The Teaching Guides are to help teachers and students access the wealth of information available on the website.
The guides are also designed to share ideas and approaches other practitioners have employed on these and other National Archives resources.
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Editor's note: LZ Granderson writes a weekly column for CNN.com. A senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, he has contributed to ESPN's "Sports Center," "Outside the Lines" and "First Take." He is a 2011 and 2010 nominee and the 2009 winner of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for online journalism and a 2010 and 2008 honoree of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for column writing.
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- Should ignorant people be allowed to vote?
A provocative question for sure; however, I'm not bringing it up for shock value, but rather to give us all pause.
If I were to ask you to ingest an unknown medicine from someone who knew nothing about the medical field, you probably wouldn't do it. And I doubt many of us would feel comfortable as a shareholder in a company that asked people who knew nothing about business to hire its next CEO?
Yet we all know people who gleefully admit they know nothing about politics, don't have time to find out what the current issues are or even know how the government works, but go out and vote. Want to know why it seems Washington is run by a bunch of idiots? Blame this hiccup in our political system for starters. What's a solution? Weed out some of the ignorant by making people who want to vote first pass a test modeled on the one given to those who want to become citizens.
Test your American civics knowledge
In an effort to win over ignorant voters, political campaigns are no longer targeting the movable middle as much as the easily misled. Instead of intelligent debates about important topics such as health care reform and cash-strapped states, we have an exchange of easy to remember catchphrases such as "Obamacare" and "War on Unions" -- all in the race to pander to people who can't explain what Congress does.
Or have a firm grasp of how tax dollars are spent.
In a recent CNN poll, more than a third of the people questioned wanted to see cuts in military spending, which is a good debate to have. The problem is the poll also revealed most Americans think the military takes up 30 percent of the budget when in reality it's 19 percent. If we don't know how much money is being spent, how can we intelligently say it's too much? And what to make of the 20 percent of folks polled who believe public broadcasting represents 10 percent of the budget, when it's more like a 10th of 1 percent?
I'm not suggesting someone needs to be a Rhodes scholar to vote.
But voters should at least be able to name the three branches of government. Voters should understand what a "trade deficit" is and how laws are made.
Before getting all bent out of shape by my assertion that you or someone you love is ignorant, please know I am not referring to the dictionary's first definition of the word, which typically means an uneducated or unsophisticated person. I am operating with the second usage, defined as a lack of knowledge in a specific area.
No one is omniscient; we're all ignorant about something.
I know close to nothing about the inner workings of my car, and so I come to my mechanic, ignorant -- but not stupid. As this relates to voting, if people don't know much about current government and politics, they too are ignorant, not necessarily stupid. The difference is that naively paying too much for repairs on a car is not nearly as damaging to foreign policy as a bunch of ignorant voters hitting the polls.
Am I advocating for some sort of elitism?
You betcha.
One of the more counterproductive byproducts of having our political system hijacked by campaigns obsessed with ignorant voters is that the word "elite" has been saddled with terrible PR. True, one boilerplate definition essentially means "rich snobs" but another -- and the one more central to my point -- means the best or most skilled in a group. We don't seem to have a problem understanding the importance of having elite athletes on our favorite sports team, but some of us have been trained to have a gag reflex at the very mention of the country's elite thinkers running the country.
The Founding Fathers were not a bunch of average Joes with gripes about England; they were elite thinkers and philosophers. James Madison attended what is now Princeton. John Hancock went to Harvard. Thomas Jefferson enrolled at the College of William and Mary when he was 16. Today it seems the more education a candidate has, the harder he or she has to work to distance him or herself from it.
So how do we weed out ignorant voters without harking back to the days of poll taxes and Jim Crow? I would start by making the U.S. Naturalization Test -- given to immigrants who want to become citizens -- part of the voter registration process.
If knowing the number of years a senator is elected to serve is required of anyone who wants to become a U.S. citizen, is it too much to expect that information to be common knowledge for those of us who already are? This has nothing to do with who a person is or how they may vote but everything to do with a person voting as an informed citizen, not a sound bite regurgitator. Having a grasp of current events would be ideal, but if we could at least raise the required investment to engage in the political system, perhaps the tone of the rhetoric surrounding it can be elevated as well.
We wouldn't issue a driver's license to someone unable to pass the written test, knowing the potential damage that person could do behind the wheel. Why do we look at voting differently?
While the Constitution lists the reasons why a citizen cannot be denied the right to vote, it does not explicitly say it is a federal right. This is why felon disenfranchisement and mental competency laws, as they pertain to voting, vary from state to state.
I'm not suggesting we kick people out of the political process, only that we require them to have an agreed upon understanding of what that process is. If people are too busy to read up on the government, the Department of Homeland Security is not going to escort them out of the country -- or take away away their citizenship. At any point in which ignorant voters are fed up with being on the outside looking in, they can go to the post office, pick up a brochure with all of the questions and answers in it, and study free of charge.
Sounds harsh?
It is.
But at this crucial juncture with at least two wars, a budding energy crisis, a growing trade deficit, etc., do we really have the luxury of hand-holding? There simply needs to be more required of us as responsible voters than being born 18 years ago. Perhaps if we weed out the ignorant voters, politicians will no longer feel the need to dumb down the conversation in hopes of getting their attention.
And then if we're really lucky, maybe the ignorant politicians will go away as well.
At least one can dream.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.


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A single case of measles has been confirmed in 100 Mile House, according to Interior Health.
The health authority said in a statement Saturday that the infection was likely caught outside of the province and is not linked to the 17 cases confirmed in the Lower Mainland.
Health officials are following up with anyone who may have been in contact with the person infected to determine if further immunization treatments are needed.
JUST IN: @Interior_Health has confirmed one case of measles in #100MileHouse. @BlackPressMedia Anyone who has been in these locations could have been exposed: pic.twitter.com/ZigMFrzEWP— Ashley Wadhwani (@ashwadhwani) March 9, 2019
Anyone who may have been exposed is being asked to call 1-855-549-6364 to speak with a nurse to review a vaccine history and if further immunizations are needed.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through the air. Symptoms include a fever, cough, runny nose, and red and inflamed eyes. These are followed by a rash, which starts first on the face and neck, spreads to the chest, arms and legs, and lasts for at least three days.
There have been 17 cases of measles confirmed in the Lower Mainland since January, connected to two outbreaks: the first at at two french-language schools in Vancouver and the second from an overseas trip.
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