text:
The AGM-88 HARM (high-speed antiradiation missile) is a supersonic air-to-surface tactical missile designed to seek and destroy enemy radar-equipped air defense systems. The AGM-88 can detect, attack and destroy a target with minimum aircrew input. Guidance is provided through reception of signals emitted from a ground-based threat radar. It has the capability of discriminating a single target from a number of emitters in the environment. The proportional guidance system that homes in on enemy radar emissions has a fixed antenna and seeker head in the missile nose. A smokeless, solid-propellant, dual-thrust rocket motor propels the missile. The Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 and EA-6B have the capability to employ the AGM-88. With the retirement of the F-4, the F-16C is the only aircraft in the current Air Force inventory to use the AGM-88. The B version has an improved guidance section which incorporates an improved tactical software and electronically reprogrammable memory.
The AGM-88 missile was approved for full production by the Defense Systems Acquisition Review Council in March 1983. The Air Force equipped the F-4G Wild Weasel with the AGM-88 to increase the F-4G's lethality in electronic combat. The missile worked with the APR-47 radar attack and warning system on the aircraft. The missile is operationally deployed throughout the Air Force and in full production as a joint US Air Force-US Navy project. HARM continues to prove its value against continuously emitting threat radar. Over 80 missiles were fired from USN/USMC aircraft both during and post Desert Fox.
The AGM-88A/B HARM is an evolution of anti-radiation missile weapon systems, SHRIKE and STANDARD ARM. HARM incorporates the more desirable features of each while providing additional capabilities that enhance operational effectiveness. Although generally similar in appearance and mission to the AGM-45 Shrike, produced more than 25 years prior to the AGM-88, the AGM-88 HARM is several feet longer than an AGM-45, has a slightly-enlarged diameter a foot back from the nose, and has a slightly greater diameter overall. The AGM-45 also has an RF window/slot on the side, not present on the AGM-88.
The system consists of the guided missile, LAU-118(V)1/A launcher, launch aircraft, and HARM peculiar avionics. The weapon system has the capability of detecting, acquiring, displaying, and selecting a radiating threat and launching a missile or missiles. The HARM Missile receives target parameters from the launch aircraft prior to launch. The HARM Missile uses these parameters and relevant attitude data to process incoming RF energy to acquire and guide the HARM Missile to the desired target. The HARM missile has a terminal homing capability that provides a launch and leave capability for the launch aircraft. Additional unique features include the high speed, low smoke, rocket motor and seeker sensitivity that enable the missile to easily attack sidelobes and backlobes of an emitter.
The following provides functional descriptions for each section of the HARM Missile and significant enhancements.
Guidance Section. Several modifications have been made to the HARM Guidance section through hardware modifications and software upgrades.
Hardware Configurations. The AGM-88A was the first version of the missile to be produced. It incorporated a fuzable-link memory that required the guidance section to be returned to the manufacturer to change the Tactical software. The AGM-88B missile was developed in the mid 1980s and incorporated an electronically reprogrammable memory that allowed changing the missile software in the field. The AGM-88C missile is the latest version and incorporates several new design features and is also reprogrammable in the field.
Software Versions. Block I software was the original Tactical software used with the AGM-88A missile. Block II software provided guidance and fuzing improvements and was used in both AGM-88A missiles and AGM-88B missiles. In 1990 Block III software was installed in AGM-88B missiles to counter the capabilities of the advanced threats. All AGM-88C missiles contained Block IV software which is currently the latest version.
Warhead Section. The warhead section is designed to inflict sufficient damage on the target antenna and waveguide system to force an inoperative condition. It also ensures complete destruction of the HARM Missile guidance section.. The AGM-88A, and AGM-88B warhead section contains 25,000 pre-formed steel fragments, an explosive charge, a fuze, and a fuze booster. The AGM-88C utilizes an improved warhead section containing 12,845 tungsten fragments and an improved explosive charge which provides greater overall lethality.
Control Section. The control section of the HARM Missile is located aft of the warhead section. The control section contains wing actuators to steer the missile on a desired trajectory, missile captive and free flight electrical power supply equipment, attitude reference equipment, and the missile target detection device. An umbilical connector mounted on top of the control section provides electrical interface between the launch aircraft and the missile.
Rocket Motor Section. Thrust for the HARM Missile is developed by a dual thrust rocket motor utilizing a low smoke propellant. The section contains a manually operated safety-arming device, igniter, propellant grain, and a fixed nozzle. External components on the rocket motor section consist of fittings for the fins, launch lugs, and a detent rib.
Wings. The wings direct the course of the HARM Missile in flight by internally controlled actuators within the control section. Four wings are required per missile.
Fins. The BSU-60/B and BSU-60A/B fins are identical type fins except for a redesigned locking mechanism. They are interchangeable as sets. The fins provide aerodynamic stability of the HARM Missile during flight.
Antiradiation missiles have an unparalleled ability to home in on enemy emitters and disrupt or destroy the elements of an integrated air defense system (IADS). However, they are not classic precision-guided weapons, such as laser-guided munitions. On the contrary, ARMs cannot be steered and under certain conditions may not guide on the target that they were originally fired. Also, they do not have the ability to discern friend from foe. Therefore, the precision detection capability of the launching platform and its human operator in the loop are key elements ensuring weapon effectiveness and the prevention of fratricide. The translation of what the launching aircraft sees to what the ARM sees is paramount.
Several unique factors effect ARM employment. Most significant are the ambiguities in the radar frequency spectrum which cause friendly, enemy, and neutral radar emissions to appear similar. Ambiguities make accurate platform targeting and missile guidance difficult. These ambiguities will continue to worsen as the frequency spectrum becomes more dense and overcrowded. A limited amount of frequencies is suitable for radar operations, and as newer systems evolve, more emitters will overlap. In some instances, high target area activity in a dense emitter environment may cause cockpit task saturation and decrease targeting efficiency. Now previously defined enemy emitters from the Soviet era cannot be exclusively classified as such. Potential partners in multinational combined operations may employ such systems, causing use of the same weapon system on both sides of a conflict. For example, in Desert Storm, coalition forces and Iraq both used the SA-6 and Hawk weapon systems. As systems intermingle during changing world political conditions, it will become increasingly difficult to detect friendly, enemy, and neutral radar emitters.
Rules of engagement (ROE) compensate for some of the above problems. Restricting weapons firing until specific conditions are met reduces potential fratricide as well as avoids inefficient weapons employment. However, ROE must be optimized for all platforms in theater and take into account each system's capabilities and limitations. Each service employs ARMs with different objectives and philosophies. Individual service platforms can employ ARMs with varying degrees of accuracy. To improve integration during a joint campaign, each service must understand how the other executes ARM employment. Likewise, inaccurate targeting and fratricide is prevented by knowing how friendly ground and naval emitters operate. Joint planners must extensively coordinate all aspects of ARM employment during a SEAD campaign. Critical to planning is the transmission of friendly emitter order of battle information to the aircrews. Timely, accurate data, combined with appropriate ROE and knowledge of ambiguous theater systems, will overcome the obstacles presented by a dense frequency spectrum.The CP-1001B/C HARM Command Launch Computer (CLC) is an electronics subsystem installed on the airframe to interface with the AGM-88 A/B/C HARM Missile. The CLC and associated software package are compatible with all AGM-88 A/B/C missiles. The CLC receives target data from the missile and onboard avionics, processes the data for display to the aircrew to the appropriate display, determines target priority, and collects aircraft data for pre-launch hand-off to the AGM-88 HARM missile. The CLC determines time coincidence between the AGM-88 HARM missile and the RWR directional data and pulse repetition intervals and formats. The identification data is processed by the CLC to perform target identification, prioritization, and display information. The CLC generates targeting commands to the AGM-88 HARM missile for appropriate target and provides Targeting and guidance information for the AGM-88 to Target Of Interest (TOI) on offensive attack missions.
The primary lethal Supression of Enemy Air Defense [SEAD] platform, the F-16 employing AGM-88 High Speed Anti-radiation Missiles (HARM) has several shortfalls. It is becoming increasingly difficult to logistically support the F-16 and the HARM. SEAD forces have limited automated mission planning capability. It is very difficult to stimulate, decoy, and saturate enemy threat radars without putting friendly forces in harm's way, and the ability to reactively target surface-to-air threats is limited. The ability to employ off-board targeting sources is limited in the timeliness and accuracy required for the preemptive destruction mission. Though offboard sources may find mobile targets, there is a limited capability to pass required information in real time so fighters can reactively or preemptively target mobile surface-to-air threats. There is no on-board capability to preemptively target mobile surface-to-air threat systems. Current SEAD weapons all depend on RF homing for guidance and are vulnerable to emission control (EMCON) countertactics. There is also limited capability to perform real-time battle damage assessment (BDA). On the non-lethal side, there is limited capability to suppress RF threats and C2 systems.
For the future, CINCS are demanding reliable, one-shot hard kills against threat radar, even if the radar shuts down prior to missile impact. The Navy has a three-step program to develop this capability for HARM.
|Primary Function:
|Air-to-surface anti-radiation missile
|Defense suppression
|Fixed soft
|Navy and Air Force
|Raytheon [Texas Instruments]
|Program status
|Date Deployed:
|Power Plant:
|Thiokol dual-thrust rocket motor
|Dual thrust
|13 feet, 8 inches (4.14 meters)
|Launch Weight:
|800 pounds (360 kilograms)
|10 inches (25.40 centimeters)
|3 feet, 8 inches (101.60 centimeters)
|30 plus miles (48 plus kilometers)
|Max. speed: 2280 km/h
|Guidance System:
|Guidance method
|Homes on electronic emissions
|WAU-7/B, 143.51bs. Direct Fragmentation
|Explosive (NEW)
|PBXC-116 (45.2 lbs.)
|Pulsed Laser Proximity/Contact
|Boost Sustain 64,000 lbs./sec. Low Smoke
|Development cost
|$644.5 million
|Production cost
|$5,568.1 million
|Total acquisition cost
|$6,212.6 million
|Acquisition unit cost
|Production unit cost
|19,607 (Navy and Air Force)


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We can think of quite a few reasons, actually. Our company is:
GFI is an international company, with several offices around the globe. We also have thousands of partners, which further enhances our worldwide footprint.
That's the GFI culture. It's vital to our long-term success. We spend our days in each other's company, and strive to make the time together an enjoyable experience.
Identifying emerging IT trends is one of our missions. We can never have too many employees who stay current – and keep at least one eye on what's ahead.
Our employees come from a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds. It gives us an unmatched ability to relate and communicate with people the world over.
From our executives on down, GFI's philosophy is nobody has sole ownership of a project. When it comes to making our business better, we encourage everyone to offer their input.
Versatility is extremely valuable. The more you know, the more you help the company grow. You'll have specific responsibilities at GFI, but we want people who can wear many hats.
Stockpiling skilled professionals is a priority. If your strength is coding, sales, marketing, engineering, project management or any number of other areas, we want to hear from you.
Bringing aboard new hires provides our company with great satisfaction – and a boost in energy. New employees of GFI quickly see we're very much like family, complete with an array of personalities. We all want our peers to succeed, and we'll do our best to help.
We don't rest on our laurels – and we don't want our employees to rest on their achievements, either. We celebrate success, but also recognize there is always room for improvement.
We are extremely proud of our reputation. We are known as a company where careers flourish.
As a group, we have the chance to build something truly great. We believe it. That's why it's critical for us to find people who share our passion.
Now that you know a little about us, we would like to learn about you. If you are creative, enthusiastic, responsible and respectful, consider a career with GFI.
Please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com including the job title and reference code in the subject line of the email, an application letter and CV addressed to the Human Resources Manager.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
To help its partners generate more cloud business, IBM has introduced new training, tools and a financial incentive package at its PartnerWorld conference, being held this week in New Orleans.
"Most of our customers want to get out of managing IT, so there will be a big discussion around the cloud marketplace" at this year's conference, said Ed Abrams, IBM vice president of marketing for midmarket.
PartnerWorld is IBM's annual conference for its business partners, those IT system vendors and integrators that use IBM technologies and services to deliver systems to small and mid-size businesses (SMBs).
IBM's SMB strategy has been to support the many regional and specialized vendors that routinely sell to SMBs, rather than compete against these vendors for such customers.
SMBs "don't necessarily want to put their business on an enterprise level cloud, be it an IBM cloud or a competitor's cloud. They would prefer to deal with local managed service providers," Abrams said. The company has about 121,000 approved business partners.
"We continue to commit very heavily to making our partners successful. By doing so, we can be more successful," Abrams said.
For the conference, IBM has unveiled a number of new programs to help business partners better exploit IBM's cloud resources. The offerings will help IBM's partners "stay ahead of their competition," Abrams said.
One program, IBM SmartCloud Services, provides a directory of partners that specialize in specific IBM SmartCloud services, such as business applications, application development and security services. This will allow system builders to find partners with expertise in some area needed to complete a system.
IBM will also offer a series of virtual lectures on cloud services, called the IBM Tech Talk for Cloud Computing, on its IBM DeveloperWorks site. The series will cover topics such as how to use social networking services. A lot of small businesses haven't figured out yet how best to use social media, Abrams said. These classes will give partners tips on how to get their customers to productively use social media.
The company will also introduce a number of financial incentives that "will allow partners to integrate different hardware and software components," Abrams said. By combining multiple IBM hardware and software products into a single customer system, a partner can save up to 30 percent of the cost of the IBM products being procured. This bundling will allow partners "to get out of the IT shop and really get into their lines of business," Abrams said.
Finally, IBM has released a set of APIs (application programming interfaces) that can be used by partners to link their customer systems into SmartCloud for Social Business services, which may ease the sharing of profiles, contacts, meetings, files and communities data.
In addition to these enticements, IBM will also unveil a number of case studies this week at the conference, each showing how a business worked with a partner to use IBM services and software to improve some aspect of its operations.
For instance, IBM will show how Swiss market research firm Link Institute, along with IBM partner nViso, created a system to capture and analyze emotional responses of people watching television advertisements. Participants' reactions are caught on video, and IBM software scans the video for telltale signs of basic human emotions.
Another case study comes from online ticket sales vendor Tele Ticket Service. Tele Ticket, along with IBM partner Numius, developed a system that can watch ticket sales and tweak the prices and availability to improve sales, based on factors such as how quickly the tickets are selling.
IBM will also disclose more details on work it is doing, with Flagship Solutions Group, to equip the Miami Dolphins' Sun Life Stadium with a system to carry out such tasks as monitoring event traffic and analyzing sales of concessions and merchandise.
This year's PartnerWorld conference has attracted over 1,700 attendees, Abrams said. It will also host one of the first public presentations by IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, who assumed the role CEO in January.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is email@example.com


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My op-ed piece published in The Calgary Herald, Saturday, August 16, 2008, responding to radio host and commentator Rob Breakenridge, with links to sources:
In rebuttal – Theory needs a paramedic, not more cheerleaders
Denyse O'Leary
Re "What is it about evolution theory that Albertans don't get?" (August 12, 2008), Rob Breakenridge has cobbled together key talking points of the American Darwin lobby. The resulting column is an excellent illustration of why one should not write about big topics without basic research.
The 2005 Judge Jones decision in Pennsylvania, to which Breakenridge devotes much of his column, has not crimped the worldwide growth of interest in intelligent design. That is no surprise. A judge is not a scientist, and Jones cannot plug gaping holes in Darwin's theory of evolution. Evolution is—contrary to its (largely) publicly funded zealots— in deep trouble, for a number of reasons.
The history of life has not been the long, slow "survival of the fittest" transition that classical evolution theory requires. Life got started on Earth soon after the planet cooled. All the basic divisions of animal life took shape rather suddenly in the Cambrian seas, about 550 million years ago. Later, there was, for example, the "Big Bang" of flowers and the Big Bang of birds, where many life forms appear quite suddenly.
Modern human consciousness is one of these leaps, judging from the superb cave paintings from recent millenniums. The creationists whom Breakenridge derides may be wrong on their dates, but not on much else.
Breakenridge hopes that we can enlighten backward Albertans by teaching more "evolution" in Alberta schools. But that won't help. Textbook examples of evolution often evaporate when researchers actually study them (instead of just assuming they are true).
For example, the peacock's tail did not evolve to please hen birds; hens don't notice them much. The allegedly yummy Viceroy butterfly did not evolve to look like the bad-tasting Monarch (both insects taste bad). The eye spots on butterflies' wings did not evolve to scare birds by resembling the eyes of their predators. Birds avoid brightly patterned insects, period. They don't care whether the patterns resemble eyes. Similarly, the famous "peppered moth" of textbook fame has devolved into a peppered myth, featuring book-length charges and countercharges.
And remember that row of vertebrate embryos in your textbook years ago? It was dubbed in the journal Science one of the "most famous fakes" in biology—because the embryos don't really look very similar. And Darwin's majestic Tree of Life? It's now a tangleweed, or maybe several of them.
We seldom see evolution happening. Michael Behe's Edge of Evolution (2007) notes that for decades scientists have observed many thousands of generations of bacteria in the lab. And how did they evolve?
Well, they didn't. Worse, when evolution is occasionally observed (and widely trumpeted), it often heads the wrong way. For example, bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance by junking intricate machinery, not by creating it. Cave fish lose their eyes. But we don't need a theory for how intricate machinery gets wrecked. We need a theory for how it originates and how it develops quite suddenly. Evolution, as we understand it today, apparently isn't that theory.
We aren't going to improve science education by teaching Darwinian fairy tales.
Breakenridge informs us that in a recent Angus Reid poll, "A shockingly low 37 per cent of Albertans supported the position that humans beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years." Well, good, let's drive the numbers lower still. That position is an article of atheist dogma. Evidence for it is hailed as a truth we must all embrace; evidence against it is shrugged off as a temporary setback. Try doubting the dogma, and you could end up starring in Ben Stein's Expelled, Part II.
Breakenridge also frets, "An even greater number of Albertans—40 percent—agreed that humans were created by God within the last 10,000 years." That's easy to explain. It was the only other option (barring "don't know"). The ever-popular "God uses evolution" choice wasn't offered.
Forced to choose between excluding God and including him, I'd pick option two, even though I accept NASA's estimate of our Earth's age (4.5 billion years) and consider common ancestry a reasonable idea.
My guess is, Albertans diverged from the national norm because they considered the question more carefully than some folk. History, anyone?
This summer a meeting of key evolutionists took place at Altenberg, Austria, to revise the theory. So, Albertans, if you haven't started believing it yet, don't bother. Right now, the theory needs a paramedic, not more cheerleaders.
Denyse O'Leary is a journalist and blogger who is the author of By Design or by Chance? (Augsburg Fortress 2004), an overview of the intelligent design controversy and co-author, with Montreal neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, of The Spiritual Brain: A neuroscientist's case for the existence of the soul (Harper 2007).
(Note: I put this opinion piece up because I was beginning to receive correspondence about it, but could not find a link to the Herald, and in any event wanted to link readers to my sources. Thanks to Jane Harris-Zsovan for the scan.)


text:
When Google acquired smart thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion, the startup quickly stated that it would never share its user data with other Google services and outside companies. But according to a recent report by Forbes, the company is taking advantage of its data to create a lucrative revenue stream from electric utilities.
"Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest's products and services. We've always taken privacy seriously and this will not change," Nest wrote in the Q&A post following the acquisition.
Similarly, Nest co-founder Matt Rogers declared to Forbes that it doesn't share actual data with the utility. But it doesn't mean that the company shouldn't take advantage of its customer information without sharing hard numbers.
The company has negotiated deals with multiple energy partners in the U.S. Some utility partners are willing to spend $30 to $50 per year and per thermostat to be able to turn the air conditioner up when it's a hot day. This way, the utility can levels load on the grid. Partners don't have direct access to the thermostats, they just sign a deal with Nest, and then Nest has access to the thermostats.
More importantly, in other cases, Nest splits cost savings with the utility. As a reminder, Nest's main product is a smarter thermostat that should allow you to cut your energy bill. It seems counterintuitive as utilities have foster energy wasting.
But these providers have to spend a lot of money to fight congestion when they bring more expensive power plants online. Nest reduces these infrastructure costs. It's unclear whether the startup is the one who shares an estimate of how much the utility saved or if the utility figures this number out by itself.
According to Forbes, revenue from utilities will outweigh direct revenue from thermostat sales — we're talking about tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The company's execution is very smart as electric utilities seem to have very limited, or even no access to actual data. Nest refuses to work with utilities who don't agree with that.
Moreover, it's a recurring revenue stream. Even though you don't buy a thermostat every year, Nest will generate revenue from utilities — or, at least, that's how it's supposed to happen if Google lets Nest follow this strategy.
Update: Here's a relevant abstract of Nest's privacy policy.
We may share your aggregated and anonymous information in a variety of ways, including to publish trends about energy use and conservation, to help utilities provide demand-response services and to generally improve our system. We've taken steps to ensure that the information cannot be linked back to you and we require our partners to keep all information in its anonymous form.


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A flesh-eating drug that became popular in Russia has made its way across the ocean and to a Chicago suburb.
Dr. Abhin Singla of Presence St. Joseph Medical Center said the Joliet facility this week treated three patients who said they used the drug known as "krokodil."
The substance is similar to morphine, Singla said, and possesses some of the same properties as methamphetamine. However, it's cheaper to obtain, and like meth, users can make it with codeine and everyday products such as gasoline and paint thinner.
Krokodil, which is the Russian word for crocodile, causes gangrene and abscesses on the user's body, Singla said, noting it has maimed his patients' arms and legs.
"It is a horrific way to get sick," he said. "The smell of rotten flesh permeates the room. Intensive treatment and skin grafts are required, but they often are not enough to save limbs or lives."
Singla said some cases are so serious that muscles and bones become visible. The dead skin can also lead to infections that result in amputation or even death.
The drug can be injected or taken orally and has become a cheap alternative to heroin. Because of this, Singla said, these incidents might not mark the end of its use in Joliet.
"Will County's already burgeoning heroin epidemic may have created a tolerance level to the point where users are now looking for cheaper and better highs," he said.
U.S. & World
Krokodil originated in Russia, but made its first U.S. appearance in Arizona at the end of September.
Get more from NBC CHICAGO:
- Camera Records Cop's Alleged Excessive Force
- NYC Cockroaches Have Their Own Neighborhoods
- Want Leftovers? There's An App For That
- Pantless Man Found at Drive-Thru: Deputies
Sunday, Oct. 13: NBC Chicago broadcasts the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. NBCChicago.com will offer a livestream beginning at 7 a.m. CT.
Watch Online | Track Runners | Full Coverage


text:
Greetings… Part 3a of 3b.
Dr. Halligan, surgeon, Doctor's Clinic Silverdale, saved my life/legs when he checked to see if the deep lesions on my left leg could be treated without surgery….and wanted a daily cleaning –debriding – and rewrapping of the leg. The doctor ultimately did it himself – everyday in the hospital.
Back home my husband, trained by Doctor's Clinic Silverdale took over the leg lymphedema wrap.
Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) – now called
Willis-Ekbom Disease (WED) Foundation www.willis-ekbom.org – was my biggest hindrance to healing.
"Lymphedema Tied to Obesity
By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage TodayPublished: May 30, 2012
"Obesity may contribute to the development of lymphedema, a small study showed.
Among 15 obese patients with enlargement of the legs, the average body mass index was significantly greater for those with confirmed lymphedema (70.1 versus 42.0 kg/m2, P<0.001), according to Arin Greene, MD, of Children's Hospital Boston, and colleagues.
"Our findings suggest that obesity … may be a cause of lower-extremity lymphedema," they wrote in a letter to the editor in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"As the amount of adipose tissue increases in the lower extremity, lymphatic vessels may become dysfunctional (possibly because of compression or inflammation), thereby reducing proximal lymphatic flow," they explained.
"Alternatively, elevated production of lymph from an enlarging limb may overwhelm the capacity of a normal lymphatic system to remove the fluid from the extremity," they continued. "Although lymphedema is typically progressive, we speculate that
Steven Gardner, political reporter at the Kitsap Sun, will have Bariatric surgery at Swedish Hospital in Seattle probably in the April time frame. Steven tells his story here: http://fieldofsteve.com/
"Obesity is known to be a major lymphedema risk factor" Part 3a of 3b
Fitness and Exercise:
It is very important for individuals with lymphedema to be physically fit and maintain a healthy weight. A safe form of exercise is an essential part of a fitness program for people with lymphedema. Fitness and exercise are not the same. Exercise includes many different types of physical movement. The three main types of exercise are: aerobic, strength, and flexibility.
These three types of exercise, along with Lymphedema Remedial Exercises, are addressed
in this paper. There are many other types of exercise that have health benefits such as Pilates, yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, aquatic exercise,1trampoline rebounding, breathing exercises, and relaxation exercise that have not been adequately studied in people with lymphedema. However, the person with lymphedema can use the benefits of any system of exercise if he/she follows the general safety principles of exercise with lymphedema, seeks medical guidance, and uses caution in starting any new exercise program.
Exercise and types of lymphedema:
Lymphedema has many causes. The type of exercise that is best for an individual depends upon the severity and cause of lymphedema and other co-existing medical conditions (e.g. heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, etc).
Exercise for breast cancer-related lymphedema is the most studied lymphedema condition. Many conclusions about exercise and lymphedema are based on studies of breast cancer survivors that may or may not apply to other forms of lymphedema.
Lymphedema Remedial Exercise:
Lymphedema Remedial Exercise is a part of treatment for lymphedema when reduction of size of a limb is necessary. Lymphedema Remedial Exercise involves active, repetitive, non-resistive motion of the involved body part.
Exercise in Phase I and Phase II Complete Decongestive Therapy (CDT) (see Position Paper "Diagnosis and Treatment of Lymphedema" http://www.lymphnet.org/pdfDocs/nlntreatment.pdf) is performed with compression as an essential part of the total (complete) reductive phase of lymphedema therapy.
Lymphedema exercises, used with compression, help the body's natural muscle pump to increase venous and lymphatic fluid return to the circulatory system and out of the swollen areas. Remedial Exercises for lymphedema are similar to some movements of low impact Tai Chi and Qigong, but are different in that lymphedema Remedial Exercise is used with Phase
I treatment of lymphedema to reduce size of the body part.
Lymphedema Remedial Exercise has been studied and shown to reduce limb swelling.3-5
It is unknown whether Lymphedema Remedial Exercise alone can prevent
lymphedema in at-risk individuals, or whether they can maintain reduction of swelling without compression.
Flexibility or Stretching Exercises:
Flexibility exercises include a wide range of activities that stretch muscle and connective tissues to increase and/or preserve range of motion. Flexibility exercises can minimize skin scarring and joint contractures that may lessen lymph flow. Flexibility exercises should be performed slowly and progressed gradually. Flexibility exercises are not a treatment for lymphedema, but are a part of optimal lifestyle management for reducing the complications of lymphedema. Lymphedema has a tendency to restrict motion of muscles and joints.
Optimal lymphatic function requires full mobility of muscles and joints. Lymphedema from cancer treatment can be associated with tight muscles and connective tissues due to fibrous adhesions from surgery or radiation. Tight muscles and scars from surgery or radiation may require Physical or Occupational Therapy to treat before attempting to do self-stretching.
Specific stretching exercises for cancer treatment-related scars and joint restrictions in an area at risk of lymphedema should be prescribed by a provider familiar with the management of lymphedema. A specialized form of stretching exercise may be required for Axillary Web Syndrome (AWS) or axillary cording, a condition that can occur in cancer survivors who have had axillary (armpit) lymph nodes removed.6
AWS may benefit from treatment by a certified lymphedema therapist and specific home stretches taught by a therapist.7
Resistance or Weight-Lifting Exercise:
Resistance exercises are usually thought of as weight-lifting. Resistance exercises may involve lifting body weight (such as push-ups) or lifting objects (such as dumbbells, weight machines, etc).
Resistance exercises can be performed without moving a joint (isometric) or by moving the joint through a range of motion (isotonic). All of these types of resistance exercise may be utilized by individuals with lymphedema, but should be done cautiously, starting with low weights, low repetitions, and gradual progression. Resistance exercises are performed against an opposing load to enhance muscle power, stamina, and tone. Resistance exercise may reduce limb volume when used as an adjunct to compression therapy8
One study showed that guided participation in resistance exercise, as a part of a total fitness program, did not increase the risk of developing lymphedema in breast cancer patients at risk over the group who did not exercise.9
Lymphedema did occur in both groups. No increase in lymphedema development was noted between the exercise and the non-exercise group. There have been many studies on resistance exercise in breast cancer-related lymphedema that show no harmful effect on lymphedema and beneficial effects for overall health.10-20
Aerobic Conditioning or Cardiopulmonary Exercise:
Aerobic conditioning exercise is often referred to as "cardio" exercise. Aerobic exercise involves activity that uses large muscle groups to increase the heart rate to 60-70% of an individual's maximum heart rate. This type of exercise, when progressed gradually, increases the heart and lung capacity while also improving muscle conditioning.
Aerobic conditioning enhances cardiovascular fitness, effective weight management, and overall health and well-being, all of which are very beneficial to people with lymphedema from all causes.10-21
Walking, jogging, cycling, and swimming are examples of aerobic conditioning exercise. Aerobic conditioning has not been studied formally as a treatment for lymphedema. One study showed no adverse effect on lymphedema from aerobic exercise.17
Resistance Exercise plus Aerobic Exercise:
Studies of combined resistance and aerobic exercise have shown no adverse effects on lymphedema.21
No studies have specifically evaluated resistance plus aerobic exercise as a stand-alone treatment for lymphedema. One study in breast cancer-related lymphedema showed that the individuals who performed aerobic conditioning and weight lifting had better control of their lymphedema and had fewer flares of lymphedema than those who did not exercise. However, individuals with lymphedema still had to utilize standard lymphedema therapy techniques for flares.
Another study about women at risk for breast cancer-related lymphedema showed that aerobic conditioning and weight-lifting reduced the risk of developing lymphedema.
Considerations for Designing an Exercise Program:
A number of studies have shown that aerobic and resistance exercises are safe and beneficial for people with lymphedema or at risk of lymphedema if they follow the guidelines for progressing slowly, use recommended compression, and report any adverse effects to a professional who can help them adapt their exercise regimen.9,16-21
Most studies on lymphedema and exercise have been done on breast cancer survivors, but the principles may guide exercise in other forms of lymphedema. Individuals with or at risk of lymphedema must report other health conditions that need to be considered in developing a personal exercise regimen (diabetes, heart disease, neuropathy, arthritis, etc).
Modifications of aerobic and resistance exercise that are commonly recommended for individuals with lymphedema are:
1) Allowing adequate rest intervals between sets; 2) Avoiding weights that wrap tightly around an extremity or clothing that cause constriction; 3) Wearing compression sleeves or bandages during exercise; 4) Maintaining hydration; 5) Avoiding extreme heat or overheating; 6) Exercising in a circuit that alters the type of exercise and body part within the exercise session.
Exercise and Compression Garments:
Lymphedema Remedial Exercise as a part of CDT requires compression garments or bandages.3-5 There are no studies on the use of compression garments when performing stretching or flexibility exercise alone.
Thanks for reading… Sharon O'Hara
Continued…in Part 3b


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Family Medicine Doctor in Holiday, FL
Family medicine refers to a specialty of medical practice focused on providing general care for all members of a family. Choosing a family medicine doctor is very important, as most medical visits from issues large to small are done through a family medicine practice.
Do you need a new family medicine doctor in your area? Call (727) 240-3424 or contact Dr. Lisa Maharajh online.
What is Family Medicine?
Family medicine doctors receive training in almost every area of medicine. This is done so that they can accurately diagnose and treat a variety of acute illnesses and injuries. Family medicine doctors are also specially trained to help their patients deal with chronic disease. Some of the issues commonly treated by a family medicine doctor include:
- Common colds
- Influenza
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- Infections
- Dehydration
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The average family medicine physician treats these conditions and many more. By working with their patient, a family medicine doctor either addresses these issues or refers the patient to a specialist. Common services offered by family medicine doctors include:
- Vaccinations
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- School / sports physicals
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- Specialist referrals
As with the conditions, the types of treatments offered by a family medicine doctor will vary.
Do I need a Family Medicine Doctor?
A family medicine doctor provides a stable source for medical information and an office that can be visited for problems both large and small. As the name implies, an important part of family medicine is treating the entire family.
A great family medicine doctor is more than just a medical professional; they are a voice you can rely on for all general medical matters. Finding the right family medicine doctor is crucial to the lasting health of you and your family.
Schedule a Consultation Today
Are you trying to find a new family medicine doctor in your area? Go with a trusted, local medical professional. Call (727) 240-3424 or contact Dr. Lisa Maharajh online to schedule a consultation.
Maharajh Acupuncture & Herb Shoppe
Address5805 Main St
New Port Richey, FL 34652
(727) 240-3424
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Tue: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Wed: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Thu: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Fri: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Areas We Service:Spring Hill, FL, Lutz, FL, Odessa, FL, Aripeka, FL, Elfers, FL, Holiday, FL, Land O Lakes, FL, Port Richey, FL, Clearwater, FL, Crystal Beach, FL, Dunedin, FL, Oldsmar, FL, Ozona, FL, Palm Harbor, FL, Safety Harbor, FL, Tarpon Springs, FL, Trinity, FL
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Friday, 30 July 2021 09:34 AM EDT
The U.S. Navy charged a sailor Thursday with starting a fire last year that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard docked off San Diego, marking the maritime branch's worst warship blaze outside of combat in recent memory.
The amphibious assault ship burned for more than four days. Left with extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage, the ship was later scrapped. Estimates to replace it ran up to $4 billion.
The sailor was a member of the crew at the time, Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesperson, said in a statement. The sailor was charged with aggravated arson and the willful hazarding of a vessel, Robertson said. No name was released.
No other details were provided, and it was unclear what evidence was found or what the motive was.
The amphibious assault ships are among the few in the U.S. fleet that can act as a mini aircraft carrier.
The Bonhomme Richard had been nearing the end of a two-year upgrade estimated to cost $250 million when the fire broke out on July 12, 2020.
About 160 sailors and officers were on board when the flames sent up a huge plume of dark smoke from the 840-foot (256-meter) vessel, which had been docked at Naval Base San Diego while undergoing the upgrade.
The fire started in the ship's lower storage area, where cardboard boxes, rags and other maintenance supplies were stored. But winds coming off the San Diego Bay whipped up the flames and the flames spread up the elevator shafts and exhaust stacks.
Then two explosions — one heard as far as 13 miles (21 kilometers) away — caused it to grow even bigger.
The fire sent acrid smoke billowing over San Diego, and officials had recommended people avoid exercising outdoors.
Firefighters attacked the flames inside the ship, while firefighting vessels with water cannons directed streams of seawater into the ship and helicopters made water drops.
More than 60 sailors and civilians were treated for minor injuries, heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
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Countess LuAnn's Dreadful Single Actually Good for Producer's Career
Chris Young, the man who made New York Housewife LuAnn de Lesseps' musical abomination "Money Can't Buy You Class," says he gets 1,400 emails a day from people who want to work with him. Have they heard the song?
It's no "Tardy for the Party," that's all that I'm saying. Young was featured on an episode of the Bravo show recording the track with Countess Crackerjacks, who he says he met at a Manhattan club. According to Young, he just wanted to make a single for his friend and didn't expect all the attention the song is getting. It's even gotten him some job offers. He told the Wall Street Journal, "The Ramones are calling. Salt n' Pepa." Because apparently the synthesized vocals on the track ripped open the space-time continuum and transported Mr. Young back to the '80s, where those bands still exist.


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Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Announces Investigation Of Metals USA Holdings Corp. Buyout
Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Announces Investigation Of Metals USA Holdings Corp. Buyout
WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rigrodsky & Long, P.A.:
Do you own shares of Metals USA Holdings Corp. (NYSE:MUSA)?
Did you purchase any of your shares prior to February 6, 2013?
Do you think the proposed buyout price is too low?
Do you want to discuss your rights?
Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announces that it is investigating potential legal claims against the board of directors of Metals USA Holdings Corp. ("Metals USA" or the "Company") (NYSE: MUSA) regarding possible breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of law related to the Company's entry into an agreement to be acquired by Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. ("Reliance") (NYSE: RS) in a transaction with an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion.
Click here to learn more: http://www.rigrodskylong.com/investigations/metals-usa-holdings-corp-musa.
Under the terms of the proposal, public shareholders of Metals USA will receive $20.65 per share in cash for each share of Metals USA they own.
The investigation concerns whether Metals USA's board of directors failed to adequately shop the Company and obtain the best possible value for Metals USA's shareholders before entering into an agreement with Reliance. According to Yahoo! Finance, at least one analyst has set a price target for Metals USA stock at $21.00.
If you own the common stock of Metals USA and purchased your shares before February 6, 2013, if you have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or if you wish to discuss these matters or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Peter Allocco at Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., 825 East Gate Boulevard, Suite 300, Garden City, New York 11530 toll free at (888) 969-4242, by e-mail to email@example.com, or at: http://www.rigrodskylong.com/investigations/metals-usa-holdings-corp-musa.
Rigrodsky & Long, P.A., with offices in Wilmington, Delaware and Garden City, New York, regularly prosecutes securities class, derivative and direct actions, shareholder rights litigation and corporate governance litigation, on behalf of shareholders in states and federal courts throughout the United States.
Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Rigrodsky & Long, P.A.
Peter Allocco
Fax: 302-654-7530
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The article Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. Announces Investigation Of Metals USA Holdings Corp. Buyout originally appeared on Fool.com.
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16 October 2012
Happy World Food Day!
Happy World Food day from Molly, a little girl from the Mathare slum in Kenya who showed the world what's it like to grow up in one of the poorest places in the world using a camera she was given by WFP. Like more than 20 million children around the globe, Molly is growing up and getting an education with the help of WFP's school meals programme. This World Food Day, WFP supporters were given the chance to provide a meal to a child like Molly by watching her video and taking a short quiz. To everyone who took part and shared the video with their friends, here's a special thank you message from Molly herself. Watch Molly's video


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Friday, 27 July 2012
Sanguinololu fan hack
I needed to add a fan drive to my Sanguinololu in a hurry so I did this: -
It is just a 6 pin female connector with three of the pins bent out of the way and a protected logic drive MOSFET soldered across two pins. The fan wires are soldered to the tab of the MOSFET and the 12 V pin.
The connection details can be found here: http://www.thingiverse.com/image:131081. The gate of the MOSFET is pin 1 and it connects to the pin labelled PWM B12. It is actually digital pin 4. The source of the MOSFET, pin 3 connects to ground.
I used a BTS134D but pretty much any protected logic drive MOSFET will work.
A plain MOSFET needs a series gate resistor to not exceed the maximum output current of the logic pin (and to prevent possible HF oscillation due source pin inductance), a pull down resistor to prevent it floating before the pin is defined as an output (during the bootstrap) and a diode for back EMF protection. That requires a small circuit board as in this Thingiverse thing.
I found that adding the FAN_PIN definition to Marlin corrupted the bed temperature reading unless I commented out #define FAST_PWM_FAN.
4 comments:
Thanx, this is on my to make list.ReplyDelete
Any bad side effects on disabling #define FAST_PWM_FAN
The fan whines unless it is 100% on or off. As I use to cool the bed as fast as possible I don't use the PWM. If it was used to cool the object being built (as is needed for PLA or steep overhangs I think) then PWM might be needed so it could be a bit irritating.ReplyDelete
I reported it as a bug on the Marlin github but it doesn't seem to have much interest.Replies
Is this the reason that the cooling fan on my june 2013 Mendel90 wines while it's running at <100%?Delete
If so, could I remedy that by re-enabling the FAST_PWM_FAN?
Yes slow PWM is why it whines. As described above FAST_PWM does not work on the version of Marlin I ship. I think it is fixed in a later version.Delete
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No announcement yet.
Why Won't These Weld Together?
new posts
try using utp 65, it's not cheap stuff but that might work.
Leave a comment:
Thank you for the replies.
HMW - I tried exactly as you suggested and it worked well enough, 7018 at 120 Amps - thank you for your help.
Dan - I also appreciate your suggestions - I would have tried the pre-heat had the 7018 not worked at ambient temperature. As an afterthought, and seeing the results of welding with the 7018, I think it would have made it easier had I done the pre-heat. But the 7018 worked well enough and I did not have to drag out the torch set!
Thank you both again!
Leave a comment:
I too would try a 7018 but I do remember about 20+ years ago I was trying to weld a cast steel diff housing off a tractor and had a similar problem, I was using a 6013 and switched over to a 7024 and got it to weld decent ? I wouldnt say to try a 7024 in this case but it was a thought, things do not always work like the text book says they should. Being so rusty on my stick skills, if it were me I would probably try a 6013 first and see. The few times I pull out a stick welder it is usually always a 6013 rod I use unless I am doing some super nasty rusty stuff, the its a 6011 all the way.
You know I always talk to my local Prax air people when I get stumped or need to get an update, when I first started to tig 4130 chrome molly I talked to them and they had a bunch of info (a flyer) that talked about it and the best way to work with it, maybe there is a better rod or way to do it ? I doubt this is of any help, but what about preheat on your part ? maybe bring both pieces up a few hundred degrees and see if there is any improvement ?
Just my thoughts, I am sure there are people on this forum that could offer better advice on stick welding it.
Last thought- maybe try to lay a bead with the tig and some 70S- filler and see what that does ?
Leave a comment:
I've welded on tons of these things and one thing i have noticed is the quality of the castings. We use ER70s in the migs and 7018 in the field. some seem to be very bad castings and are difficult to weld. Most I weld are from ditch witch, john deere or CAT. They seem to do good. for 7018 the machine is set at DCEP. we usually use 1/8" rods. I think around 120-140 amps Small for the thickness but these shanks will probably have to be cut off again anyway someday and dont need a huge bead. I never have used 7014 so have no experience. All we stock is 6011/6013/7018. Mostly use 7018. 6011 on real nasty stuff [rusty]..good luck
Leave a comment:
Why Won't These Weld Together?Hello,
First of all, I am a novice welder, so please bear with me.
I'm having a problem welding two items together. I'm trying to make a tooth bar for my tractor's bucket. I bought 7 bucket "shanks" off of eBay to weld to two steel bars which will then be bolted on and off of the lip of the bucket as needed. I decided to try stick welding because the fit up between the shanks and the bar is not the greatest. I figured trying to TIG weld it would be too time consuming (and I'm not so good yet), and my MIG welder is a small light duty unit and I didn't think it was up to the task. The shanks are to be welded to two cold rolled steel bars 1½"wide x ¼" thick x 36" long, tacked together long edge to long edge, to make it 3" wide x ¼" thick x 36" long. All areas to be welded were prepped/cleaned and then wiped down with acetone.
At first I thought the shanks were cast iron, but looking closely at one I noticed it had the words "Forged Steel" on it. Being unsure what the shanks were really made of, I tried several welding options as listed below. Everything I tried just blew away the metal on the shanks. None of the metal from the electrodes stuck to the shanks either.
I have gone back and looked closer at the shanks, it does appear as if they were cast because there is a definite raised seam 3/8" wide around the entire middle of each shank. You can see in the pictures (listed below) that the shanks are fairly large. From the point of the shank to the rear of the top portion it is about 81/2" long, to the bottom portion about 5" long, and the shank is 11/2" wide. The differences between the pictured shanks and mine are that mine are not painted, and mine have the seam on them.
Below are the various electrodes and the DCEP amp settings which I tried to use:
Assuming the shank was forged steel I tried:
5/32" 7014 at 190, 150, and 50 amps = the electrode immediately melted away the metal of the shank, no metal from the electrode would accumulate and stick to the shank
Assuming the shank was cast iron I tried:
3/32" ENiFeCl at 70, 50, and 35 amps = once again the electrode melted away the metal of the shank, and no metal from the electrode would stick to the shank
I also have 5/32" 6011 electrodes that I didn't even bother trying.
So: what am I doing wrong, and/or what electrode should I try and at what approximate Amp level?
I apologize for the extremely long post; I'm just trying to be very thorough with the descriptions and what I did so you understand better. I thank you all in advance for your assistance.
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How to Find a Licensed Water Operator
How to use our database to find out whether an operator's certification is up to date, including current continuing education credits.
TCEQ's Occupational Licensing and Registration Division maintains a Web search that helps you find licensed water operators. To find a list of all licensed individuals:
- Click "Group Search Criteria."
- Ignore the drop-down box labeled "Program."
- For "License or Registration Type and Level," choose the water operator level that you need—that is, "Water Operator Class A," "Water Distribution Operator Class B," "Water Distribution Operator Class C," or "Water Operator Class D."
- If you want to find an operator who lives close to your system, use the "City," "County," or "TCEQ Region" drop-down box to focus on that geographic area. (ZIP code searches are not particularly helpful. These searches work only if you enter all five digits, and they give you a list of operators whose home address is in that ZIP code.)
- Leave the other drop-down boxes in the search form alone.
- At the bottom of the form, click "Find."


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293 members1723 Comments 11 Likes
Started this discussion. Last reply by Marzana B. Quayoum Nov 22, 2010. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Did your mom ever say that to you? Do you say it to your children? If so, I wrote about it today...http://kimberlymoore.wordpress.com/
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 4:51am 0 Comments 0 Likes
You might think that as a former teacher, mother, and orphanage volunteer, I would fully embrace the concept of "it takes a village".
I don't. I like helping others – that's easy.
My problem lies in receiving. This does not apply to receiving support from my generous family, at that, I'm embarrassingly good. But from anyone else, I have some rules… If you make…Continue
Posted on January 14, 2011 at 3:57pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
I am a middle child. They say the worst placement is in between girls. I had the experience of being a little sister and a big sister. I had the experience of being in between two very different people. I have the gift being able to see many points of view.
I am still in the middle. It is a theme that dominates my life.
I am in the middle of keeping teenage girls quiet at 1 am…
Posted on December 7, 2010 at 4:38pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
When I was a child, I used to lay awake in my bed and pray that I would not be called to be a nun. Really. Most of my nights were full of this prayer. "Please, please don't call me" I would beg to God.". I asked the nuns at school- "How do you know that you are called?". They answered that there was never a question. It was…Continue
Posted on November 17, 2010 at 5:35pm 0 Comments 0 Likes


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This Sharknado post is for people who have seen at least the first three posts about this film in their Facebook/Twitter feeds. It is written from the point-of-view of someone who has seen the film and for the benefit of fans of the film. All discussion points are valid, up to and including the events of those last 15 minutes (you know the ones). If you would still like to read the review but haven't seen the film, thus, you can, but you should proceed with caution because shit is about to get real.
Every so often, something comes along that puts a skip in your step, makes your heart flutter, and sets your imagination ablaze with possibility. It might be a song, or a place, or even just a smile. If you're really lucky, though, it'll be a swirling mass of bloodthirsty sharks.
Sharknado is the latest schlockfest from Asylum Films, the production company responsible for such gems as Hillside Cannibals, Nazis At The Center of the Earth, and Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus (but surprisingly, not Sharktopus). Asylum knows and relishes its B movie material—the campier, the gorier, the downright hackier, the better. And so, armed with a dream and a budget of just $1 million, Asylum brought us the gloriously basic Sharknado.
The thing about Sharknado is that all it needed to be successful was to include a tornado of sharks. That's it! It could've done nothing but show us a sharknado for two hours straight, and millions of SyFy fans would have walked away satisfied. But since that probably would have cost 10 times its already miniscule CGI budget, Sharknado throws a little story in the mix, too. Does it blame the sharknado on global warming and reference a real instance of fish falling from the sky to justify the premise? Of course. Does any of it matter? Of course not. Anyone watching Sharknado for the realism probably does the same with Big Brother.
Before we get to the sharknado event itself, though, we meet the perfectly typical cast of characters. Our hero is "Raw Surfing Champion Finley 'The Fin' Shepherd," or as he will henceforth be referred to, "Ian Ziering." Ian Ziering is a carefree playboy whose interests include surfing, bartending, and having complicated-ish feelings about morality or whatever. His daughter hates him, his son's pilot skills will be super handy come 'nado time, and his ex-wife is played by Tara Reid, because Sharknado is nothing if not self-aware.
Ian Ziering's best friend and jet ski partner probably has a name, but more importantly, he has a vaguely Australian accent that means he's The Fun One. If you like your shark attacks with a side of period blood jokes, The Fun One's your guy (spoiler: he is not my guy). Meanwhile, there's Ian Ziering's loyal waitress Nova (Make It or Break It's Cassie Scerbo). She's fiercely independent, as evidenced by the fact that she named herself "Nova." Still, she would rather not talk about the mysterious scars on her leg, at least not until she can get a quiet moment to tearfully confess her shark-riddled past to the hot dude she'll end up with. Then there's pervy barfly George, played by veteran actor John Heard, because Sharknado is nothing if not accommodating.
Much like the writhing masses plaguing Los Angeles, Sharknado moves at an unbelievably fast pace. Ian Ziering gets about three seconds of surf and flirt time in before a shark drags the cute girl in the wetsuit under the surface. Next thing you know, Nova's stabbing a shark in the bar, and they're running from a loose Ferris wheel, and everything's crumbling under the weight of the impending sharkpocalypse, and oh man, it is on.
There are flirts and fights and reconciliations, but more importantly, there are sharks. Sharks leap through windows, cling to car roofs, and tear through Tara Reid's snotty boyfriend the second he's scoffing, "Sharks in the swimming pool? Impossible!" Sharks get flung into a tangle of telephone wires and fry like a mosquito on a porch light. Sharks circle a school bus full of children and The Brady Bunch's Cousin Oliver, patiently waiting for Ian Ziering to be the last man standing before they strike. Granted, there is plenty of creative editing around the sharks, since the budget keeps prolonged shark time to a minimum. The most egregious example is when Ian Ziering drives everyone around a series of waves and seems super psyched about how cool that particular maneuver was, but we just watch him drive instead of seeing the stunt at all.
But all is forgiven once the sharknado itself comes roaring through the skyline. It's not a stunning graphical achievement by any stretch of the imagination—hell, it's not even a decent one—but it's a tornado full of sharks and that's all that matters. Hilariously, Ian Ziering's son Matt makes his debut over halfway through, but he's the one to come up with the Master Plan to destroy the sharknado. He even gets Nova's inevitable admission that she was a shark attack victim (Matt's response: "Now I hate sharks, too." Now?!). So he's understandably devastated when Nova tumbles out of the helicopter halfway through the Plan and into the waiting jaws of a Great White, but still not as devastated as I was. What the hell were they doing, killing off the spunky love interest with 10 minutes to go? Didn't they know movie protocol?!
But then, in a stunning sequence of unadulterated camp, Sharknado proves it knows what it was doing. A successful B movie not only embraces its more ludicrous tendencies, but finds a new, even campier angle to exploit. It acknowledges that it's ridiculous even while the characters, facing a shark or a sharktopus or a sharknado, don't. In the case of Sharknado, it sends Ian Ziering into the belly of a Great White with a chainsaw so he can cut himself out of the Great White with a chainsaw, and then drag the presumed dead Nova out with him since it turns out they both got swallowed whole by the same Great White because sometimes life hands you awesome, and it's called Sharknado.
Stray observations:
- The writer responsible for Sharknado is Thunder Levin. His only IMDB trivia: "Thunder is his real name."
- Time for a Jaws reference count! Ian Ziering feeds a shark a scuba tank and shoots it in the face; "six people went in the water that day, and one little girl came out"; "we're gonna need a bigger 'copter." (That last one made as little sense as it sounds.) Please refer any others I missed to the comments slash my father, who will be least pleased.
- Hey, it's Los Angeles!: "Take the 10 to the 405, it's elevated and you're almost in Beverly Hills." "I hate the 405."
- Hey, it's Los Angeles! Part Two: The scenelette devoted to ducking flying letters from the Hollywood sign made me laugh to the point of tears. Cousin Oliver's "my mom always said Hollywood would kill me" came very close to ruining it.
- Shark movies are great because they can all be boiled down to, "Sharks? What sharks?" [enter sharks] [death]
- Favorite Shark That Wasn't the One to Swallow Ian Ziering Whole: The one that fell out of nowhere onto the kid who just had his arm eaten. Tough luck, bro.
- MVP goes to George's barstool, even though it killed him in the end.
- My Sharknado viewing partner watches movies almost exclusively to hear people yell, "What the hell is that?!" and "Go go go!!" He was very satisfied.
- "That's a tiger shark." "How do you know that?" "Shark Week."
- "We'll stand and fight. We can't just wait for sharks to rain down on us."
- "Get home safe, everybody. Don't forget Taco Tuesdays!"


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What happened after the oil price crash?
Two years ago, between November 2014 and January 2015, oil prices on international markets fell by nearly 80 percent, leading to fears of a new stage of economic crisis. Within the energy sector, the crash wiped out many smaller fracking operations and forcing major producers to put some larger development projects on hold.
In an article written for revolutionary socialism in the 21st century, surveys the state of the oil industry--with special emphasis on activist success in the U.S. in halting the Keystone XL pipeline and now the Dakota Access Pipeline, along with a renewed surge of labor activism in the British oil industry.
House of Fools
Prior to the oil price collapse of late 2014, the sustained high price of oil, largely predicated on expectations of sustained high Chinese economic growth, as well as heroic predictions of world economic growth post-2008 credit crash, had given rise to a speculative boom in "unconventional" oil and gas exploration and production ventures. This meant that hitherto high cost and "marginal" production techniques in smaller and relatively low-yield fields, in combination with record low interest rates, suddenly and overnight looked like safe bets.
Another key factor at work was the shared political and strategic consensus in the U.S., that after the Gulf (of Arabia) military cleanup of a "new American century," the U.S. would seek to become energy self-sufficient by the mid-2030s, by which time it would have also largely completed its imperialist "pivot on Asia" strategy for the economic and military containment of China.[1]
Apart from the marginalization of OPEC[2] and the securing of wider MENA[3] regional oilfields dedicated to the supply of the U.S.'s strategic allies in Europe and East Asia, the decisive factor would be in the development of "tight" oil (and gas) from hydrocarbon-bearing shale "plays" that make up much of the North American East, Midwest and Southern states geological formations. Additionally, high production cost ventures in the Gulf of Mexico and Outer Continental Shelf deep waters as well as within the Arctic Circle augmented further by the Canadian tar sands would complete the future hydrocarbon supply mix.
The Best-Laid Plans
Between 2008 and 2013, OPEC producers--particularly Saudi Arabia--found themselves displaced from the north American markets as U.S. shale derived hydrocarbons rapidly came on stream. Also with oil at over $100 per barrel, Arctic and deepwater activities expanded unhindered despite BP's Deepwater Horizon setbacks and swinging compensation suits. And that myopia drives the speculative instincts of petro-capital was amply demonstrated by the fact that in the wake of the 2003 Iraq invasion OPEC overproduction had resulted in a $20 per barrel price, the prevailing view until November 2014 was that high oil prices were here to stay.
The rapid oil price recovery from 2004 onwards combined with the maturing of a number of "unconventional" production methods--strata fracturing (fracking), slant and horizontal drilling and "enhanced" production methods such as water or gas injection--saw U.S. domestic oil and gas production increase by over 20 percent, much of it based on short-term debt financed operations within a liberal licensing regime with scant regard for environmental responsibility.
The OPEC oil price retaliation from 2013 onwards took the form of a 10 percent increase in production that was intended to expose the largely high-cost Western and in particular U.S. operations to the full pressure of aggressive market forces. But as OPEC itself contained some high-cost producers, most notably Algeria, Angola, Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela, the risks were very high. But what the gamble did reveal in the first instance was the hopelessly high production costs of both unconventional and the "extreme" established fields of the North American Arctic Circle, Siberian and the UK and Norwegian North Sea operations.
And fast-forwarding to early 2016, the U.S. petro-hegemony dream had soured with a halving of the U.S. onshore rig count, the effective abandonment of further Arctic and deep water exploration and a resurgence of OPEC, which in collusion with Russia is now commanding over 50 percent of global oil production.[4]
Collateral Damage
The cost in just written-off capital since 2014 has been enormous. In the U.S. alone some $800 billion of capital investment has been lost with even big domestic producers running to Chapter 11 for bankruptcy protection. For nearly two years the world oil business has had to live with a reality of a $60 oil price being the boundary between life and death.[5] For countries like Nigeria and Venezuela it has meant the end of subsidized domestic energy, internal energy insecurity, and rationing and political crisis.
Even for Saudi Arabia, the richest and biggest reserves economy within OPEC, the economy is now in massive deficit to the extent that all consumer energy subsidies have been scrapped and the cost of electricity has trebled.[6] An exception to the austerity price that most OPEC members have had to pay in the attempt to destroy the U.S. shale industry has been Iran, which since the lifting of UN sanctions a year ago following the nuclear power peace deal, has doubled production by 1 million barrels per day, most of it into the U.S. dollar-earning export market. And much to the chagrin of Saudi Arabia, Iran has also been able to strike a massive $100 billion "oil revenues for capital investment" deal with five Western oil majors.
In the U.S., where OPEC intended the maximum damage to occur there has been a crash in the total U.S. rig count from 1,910 in Jan 2015 to just 400 in May 2016, although a slight rebound of up to 620 by November has occurred.[7] Also the maximum output target of 10 million barrels per day (mbpd) that had been set in 2004 was never quite reached--9.6 mbpd in April 2015 had fallen to 8.6 mbpd by September 2016.[8]
What the figures for the U.S. tell us is that despite a massive fall in rig numbers, the U.S. shale sector is robust with only a slight fall of 10 percent in oil production. This is largely due to improved drilling efficiencies--often into the more productive Permian plays of west Texas--where production "pads" now typically contain up to 10 wellheads.
Yet the loss in U.S. onshore and coastal waters oil and gas jobs has been high with as many as 350,000 skilled rig and pipeline workers reported to have gone, leaving the industry with a significant know-how deficit.[9] But the fall in U.S. domestic production has not reflected falls in U.S. petroleum consumption, which continues to show a small but steady increase of around 1.2 percent per annum.[10] And what the overall picture reveals is that despite the cost of two major Gulf wars combined with considerable domestic subsidies, tax breaks and liberalized land purchase and environmental control "easings," the U.S. still finds the goal of total energy self-sufficiency elusive; the production shortfall is now being made good by the return of imports, largely from the Middle East and other OPEC producers.
Petrolhead Trump
Without attaching much strategic sense to the pre-election boasts of Donald Trump, in the president-elect's rants on the stump, he reiterated his objective to make the U.S. petroleum (and natural gas) self-sufficient. Central to this objective is his aim "to unleash $50 trillions worth of U.S. shale and deep water offshore oil and gas reserves" with the requisite Congressional consents within the term of his presidency.[11]
Yet this objective has been cast into doubt by a recent industry report: "Energy independence is technically possible but makes absolutely no commercial sense...There is no point in U.S. consumers paying for higher price fuels developments in the U.S. when they can get crude supplies at much lower cost from sources such as Canada, Mexico and the Middle East."[12]
In anticipation of a Trump administration dumping the U.S. with a high-cost and unsustainable domestic petroleum dependency, Barack Obama on December 21 used his presidential executive powers to invoke a 1953 law that permits the Interior Department to ban all sales of mining rights in U.S. territorial waters which include the Atlantic from New England to the Chesapeake Bay as well as waters off Alaska that include the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. And although these waters currently account for only 0.1 percent of U.S. oil production, the Department of the Interior has commented, "That at current oil prices, significant production in the Arctic (in particular) will just not occur," adding Obama's own comment, "These actions, and Canada's parallel actions, protect sensitive and unique ecosystems that are unlike any other region on Earth."[13]
These measures come on top of the eventual Congressional ban in June 2016 on future developments of the massive XL Keystone pipeline project which would have provided transit for bitumens released from the Canadian Alberta tar sands as well as "tight" oil extracted from the Bakken shales of Wyoming and North Dakota--in addition to which, of course, is the tremendous victory of direct action to stop additional pipeline developments at Standing Rock in North Dakota in December.
UK Implications: North Sea
The oil price crash of November 2014 had an immediate and negative impact on what is probably the highest cost offshore operation in the world--the UK North Sea and West of Shetland sectors. By March 2015 more than 40,000 jobs in offshore and supply chain activities had been lost--70 percent of which were in Scotland. The continual oil price fall--even though followed by a modest and slow recovery--spelt doom for the industry. In May 2016 the CEO of UK Oil and Gas said, "We are an industry at the edge of a chasm...30 years ago, the province (UK N Sea sectors) was producing more than double the current rate from around a quarter of the fields and, on average, discoveries were five times their current size...If current prices prevail ($40 per barrel), nearly half of UK CS (Continental Shelf) fields will not cover their operating costs in 2016."[14]
UK Offshore and Related Employment Pre-2014 Price Crash[15]:
Direct supply chain
Indirect services
In May 2016, Unite (the union) estimated that the total North Sea-related job loss by January 2017 would be at least 120,000 with over 70 percent of those jobs in Scotland[16]. This situation was used as a long-expected pretext for the North Sea operators to go onto the offensive regarding terms and conditions in the industry, which they did in the autumn of 2015 with the imposition of zero-hour contracts for many workers and the 'introduction' of the "3n3" (three weeks onshore/three weeks offshore) take it or leave it shift regime[17]. The "reform" package amounted to a 30 percent cut in offshore earnings.
The Unite and RMT unions balloted for and held a series of strikes aboard eight Shell production platforms operated by the Aberdeen-based Wood Group throughout August before settling for what turned out to be a wholly unsatisfactory offer, recommended by the unions as being in the interests of "an industry going through a difficult period." This decision at the time of writing is being challenged by the "Furies" rank-and-file offshore workers' organization.
In the (nearly) 50 years since North Sea production began, the few big "elephant" and "super giant" oil and gas fields have been all but exhausted, and today production is based on around 305 small and geologically discontinuous fields increasingly far from land and in much deeper and stormier waters. In the experience of a sustained low oil price and high operating costs, UK Gas and Oil now project that by 2020 North Sea production will be down to just 150 fields, with exploration to the west of Shetland (where much larger reserves are "known" to exist) highly unlikely at oil prices below $80 per barrel[18].
But in the meantime and with offshore decommissioning costs escalating towards $42.8 billion[19] by 2030 and with revenues from oil and gas to the Scottish treasury down from $15.3 billion in 2008 to just $82,000 for 2015-16, there is every danger of the industry being politically written off as a liability. That is, unless, as some have argued[20], the industry is placed under public ownership and its hydrocarbon resources dedicated to new green and diversified carbon-based industrial products.[21]
UK Implications: Fracking
In early 2014, Chancellor George Osborne declared an open season for companies applying for shale fracturing (fracking) licenses by offering the incentives of relaxed planning procedures and generous tax breaks. This was met with howls of outrage and the launch of militant local campaigns in west Sussex and mid-Lancashire. And in many areas where it was known that prospective fracking companies had expressed an interest, local planning authorities were often keen to uphold local objections.
Since then the government has revised local planning powers to allow final determination to rest with the Secretary of State and thus overrule local objections as upheld by the local planning and minerals planning guidance authorities. And then on December 20, 2016, the high court ruled on the behalf of the government that fracking consents should be awarded for Third Energy to proceed at a site at Kirby Misperton, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, and that the objectors as represented by Friends of the Earth, be made to pay $12,200 in costs.
Yet this episode in eco-bullying will remain a pyrrhic victory--at least in commercial terms--as long as the world-traded price of natural gas remains so low. Although all traded fossil fuels are at least nominally linked to the price of oil (in terms of thermal energy equivalent content), the price of oil as long as traded at less than $60 per barrel will dictate a gas unit (Million British Thermal Units) price of less than $3.4.
In the U.S. where a vast land mass often offers thick and continuous shale strata with a fairly high gas or oil content (in the U.S., Eagle Ford and Bakken shales hold up to 5 percent total organic content (TOC); the shales in the UK--mainly in the Bowland-Hodder measures--have much lower TOCs, averaging between 1 and 2.5 percent.[22]) This means that for most UK shales to be economically competitive, the world traded price of natural gas would have to be around $9.5 per unit. And given the small, faulted and discontinuous nature of UK shales, it is by no means how much of the estimated TOC can be extracted.
In Scotland, where the Scottish government has imposed a moratorium on all shale oil and gas exploration, Ineos, the owner and operator of the Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical plant, is working hard at lobbying for a lifting of the present ban. This of course is not unconnected to Ineos obtaining over 1,400 square kilometers of land across the Central Belt of Scotland plus further licensed blocks in Galloway and Dumfries. In addition to which the company has a $428.4 million UK government credit loan for a new liquid gas import facility on the Forth estuary at which it lands 27,500 cubic meters gas per load which has come from the broadleaf forests of the U.S. West Pennsylvania Appalachian mountains.
However, the Scottish shales--which are the same as the England Bowland-Hodder measures--have only low to modest TOC levels and are unlikely to be of economic significance in the immediate future. But given the dominance of market fetishism and the lack of strategy or intellectual rigor that informs UK energy policy, it cannot be ruled out that like nuclear power shale gas is allowed to escape public scrutiny or environmental responsibilities whilst remaining the recipient of government subsidy and market fixes.
The Big COP-out and Conclusions
In the midst of the oil price crisis, the governments of the world paid lip service to the issue of climate change with a neoliberal charade at the Paris COP21 environment summit in December 2015. Using the same combination of "see no evil" with the discredited jargon of pre-crash financekapital, carbon "credits" and "swaps" were transferred into "futures" as like in some grim pre-1914 Edwardian garden party, the croquet ball was knocked into the long grass of 2025--after which, hard decisions would be made. This was while the oil price was falling, actual petroleum consumption continuing to rise and the IEA[23] forecasting a rise in oil production of 14 million barrels per day each year until 2040.
Although racked with uncertainties, the world business of hydrocarbons and the flounderings of international agencies in attempting to address the prospects of catastrophic climate change, the one certainty at present is a world of environmental chaos and petroleum fuelled imperialist conflict (that is pending, a decisive and historical revolutionary intervention).
Yet, within just the past year we have seen the world of hydrocarbon capital shaken by the mass resistance at Standing Rock, the cancellation under popular pressure of the XL Keystone pipeline as well as strikes by North Sea offshore workers and migrant solidarity strikes at the giant Exxon/Mobil Fawley refinery in Hampshire, UK. Only small blows in the war against hydrocarbon big business but within the seemingly impregnable shell of state-sponsored legal immunity and corporate hubris it must hurt like hell.
1. The historical context of this period has been set out in Petrocide: Hydrocarbons, Conflict and climate Crisis. Unpublished manuscript for international Socialist Review by Jonny Jones and Brian Parkin, November 2016.
2. OPEC; Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. A 13 state cartel comprising Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
3. MENA; Middle East and North Africa region.
4. OPEC 1st quarterly report 2016, Vienna.
5. Bloomberg, NY, Dec 2015.
6. IMF May 2016. Saudi Arabia had run up a fiscal deficit of 15.9 percent of GDP for the 2015-16 financial year.
7. U.S. Energy Intelligence Authority (EIA), December 2016.
8. Ibid, November 2016. .
9. Irina Slav, OilPrice.com, December 8, 2016.
10. International Energy Agency (IEA) Paris, May 2016.
11. Peter Tabener, OilPrice report, December 8, 2016.
12. Vince Scott, Ernst and Young, July 2016. Scott is the U.S. Oil and Gas Transaction Advisory Service leader for the energy consultancy.
13. Guardian, Thursday, December 22, 2016.
14. Dierdre Michie, CEO UK Oil and gas Activity report, May 2016.
15. UK Oil and Gas and UK Government, December 2015.
16. Unite, Scotland region North Sea bulletin/press release, July 2016.
17. Brian Parkin, North Sea oil and gas strikes against background of offshore industry crisis, August 7, 2016, rs21 website.
18. UK Oil and Gas, Activity Survey; interim statement, April 2016.
19. Brian Parkin, North Sea offshore crisis: capacity closures, resources abandoned and decommissioning defaults. August 2016.
20. Brian Parkin, North Sea Offshore Crisis threatens as low oil prices wipe out revenues. Briefing paper, August 25, 2016.
21. Also see R. Morell and B. Parkin, Unite against Trident. rs21 pamphlet, July 2016. See the chapter on a diversified Scottish industrial economy.
22. British Geological Survey. BGS Shale Gas report, 2014.
23. International Energy Agency. World Energy Outlook report, 2015.
First published at rs21.


text:
Advisory Director, Berkshire Partners LLC and Chief Executive Officer, Implus Corporation.
Michael Polk has been a non-executive member of Logitech's board of directors since September 2019. He is the chair of Logitech's Compensation Committee, and serves on Logitech's Nominating and Governance Committee.
Mr. Polk is an Advisory Director of Berkshire Partners LLC, a private equity firm, and the chief executive officer of a Berkshire portfolio company, Implus Corporation, a global leader in fitness accessories and devices. He has served in his current positions since February 2020. Prior to Berkshire Partners, he was the president and chief executive officer of Newell Brands Inc., a multinational consumer goods company, a position he held from 2011 to 2019. From 2003 to 2011, Mr. Polk held a series of executive positions at Unilever. In his last two roles at Unilever, Mr. Polk reported to the group chief executive officer and was a member of the Unilever global executive board. Prior to joining Unilever, Mr. Polk spent sixteen years at Kraft Foods Inc. where he served in executive and management positions and was a member of the Kraft Foods management committee. Mr. Polk started his career at Procter & Gamble Company.
Mr. Polk serves on the board of directors of Colgate-Palmolive Company.
Mr. Polk holds a BS degree in operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard University.


text:
Chapter 21
Dolly came out of her room to the tea of the grown-up people. Stepan Arkadyevitch did not come out. He must have left his wife's room by the other door.
"I am afraid you'll be cold upstairs," observed Dolly, addressing Anna; "I want to move you downstairs, and we shall be nearer."
"Oh, please, don't trouble about me," answered Anna, looking intently into Dolly's face, trying to make out whether there had been a reconciliation or not.
"It will be lighter for you here," answered her sister-in-law.
"I assure you that I sleep everywhere, and always like a marmot."
"What's the question?" inquired Stepan Arkadyevitch, coming out of his room and addressing his wife.
From his tone both Kitty and Anna knew that a reconciliation had taken place.
"I want to move Anna downstairs, but we must hang up blinds. No one knows how to do it; I must see to it myself," answered Dolly addressing him.
"God knows whether they are fully reconciled," thought Anna, hearing her tone, cold and composed.
"Oh, nonsense, Dolly, always making difficulties," answered her husband. "Come, I'll do it all, if you like..."
"Yes, They must be reconciled," thought Anna.
"I know how you do everything," answered Dolly. "You tell Matvey to do what can't be done, and go away yourself, leaving him to make a muddle of everything," and her habitual, mocking smile curved the corners of Dolly's lips as she spoke.
"Full, full reconciliation, full," thought Anna; "thank God!" and rejoicing that she was the cause of it, she went up to Dolly and kissed her.
"Not at all. Why do you always look down on me and Matvey?" said Stepan Arkadyevitch, smiling hardly perceptibly, and addressing his wife.
The whole evening Dolly was, as always, a little mocking in her tone to her husband, while Stepan Arkadyevitch was happy and cheerful, but not so as to seem as though, having been forgiven, he had forgotten his offense.
At half-past nine o'clock a particularly joyful and pleasant family conversation over the tea-table at the Oblonskys' was broken up by an apparently simple incident. But this simple incident for some reason struck everyone as strange. Talking about common acquaintances in Petersburg, Anna got up quickly.
"She is in my album," she said; "and, by the way, I'll show you by Seryozha," she added, with a mother's smile of pride.
Towards ten o'clock, when she usually said good-night to her son, and often before going to a ball put him to bed herself, she felt depressed at being so far from him; and whatever she was talking about, she kept coming back in thought to her curly-headed Seryozha. She longed to look at his photograph and talk of him. Seizing the first pretext, she got up, and with her light, resolute step went for her album. The stairs up to her room came out on the landing of the great warm main staircase.
Just as she was leaving the drawing room, a ring was heard in the hall.
"Who can that be?" said Dolly
"It's early for me to be fetched, and for anyone else it's late," observed Kitty.
"Sure to be someone with papers for me," put in Stepan Arkadyevitch. When Anna was passing the top of the staircase, a servant was running up to announce the visitor, while the visitor himself was standing under a lamp. Anna glancing down at once recognized Vronsky, and a strange feeling of pleasure and at the same time of dread of something stirred in her heart. He was standing still, not taking off his coat, pulling something out of his pocket. At the instant when she was just facing the stairs, he raised his eyes, caught sight of her, and into the expression of his face there passed a shade of embarrassment and dismay. With a slight inclination of her head she passed, hearing behind her Stepan Arkadyevitch's loud voice calling him to come up, and the quiet, soft, and composed voice of Vronsky refusing.
When Anna returned with the album, he was already gone, and Stepan Arkadyevitch was telling them that he had called to inquire about the dinner they were giving next day to a celebrity who had just arrived. "And nothing would induce him to come up. What a queer fellow he is!" added Stepan Arkadyevitch.
Kitty blushed. She thought that she was the only person who knew why he had come, and why he would not come up. "He has been at home," she thought, "and didn't find me, and thought I should be here, but he did not come up because he thought it late, and Anna's here."
All of them looked at each other, saying nothing, and began to look at Anna's album.
There was nothing either exceptional or strange in a man's calling at half-past nine on a friend to inquire details of a proposed dinner party and not coming in, but it seemed strange to all of them. Above all, it seemed strange and not right to Anna.
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Found Flatcoated Retreiver Dog Register West Midlands
Flatcoated Retreiver Found Dog Register West Midlands
Report a Found Flatcoated Retreiver Dog West Midlands
This is the list of found dog's we have in our database. This is not the complete list of found dogs, to further narrow down your search, please perform an advanced pet search. If any of the dog listings are in your area, please share on your Facebook and Twitter pages.
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LOS ANGELES – Only in Hollywood could a tiny, low-budget tale of a little girl named Hushpuppy who lives in the bayou take on a historical epic by master filmmaker Steven Spielberg about the 16th president's struggle to end slavery and the Civil War.
But both "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Lincoln" will be vying for best picture and best director at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, after Thursday's Oscar nominations saw some shocking omissions, surprising delights — and Oscar history being made.
Rounding out the nine best picture nominees are: "Zero Dark Thirty," "Argo," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Amour" and "Django Unchained." The other nominees for best director are Ang Lee for "Life of Pi," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook," Michael Haneke for "Amour" and Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
The nods put Spielberg on track to win his third Academy Award for best director and solidify his position as one of the industry's most enduring filmmakers. Thursday's nomination is his seventh nod for best director, an honor he has won twice before — for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Noticeably missing from the best director nominees were Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty," Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables" and Ben Affleck for "Argo." Just this week, all three were nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award — considered a leading Oscar indicator.
"Lincoln" earned the most nominations of the day — 12 — including nods for performers Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field.
Lee's "Life of Pi," a story about a shipwrecked young man who shares a lifeboat with a tiger, followed with 11 nominations. That was followed by the epic musical "Les Miserables" and the quirky romantic comedy "Silver Linings Playbook," which earned eight nominations apiece. "Argo" earned seven nods.
In addition to Day-Lewis, the best actor nominees are Bradley Cooper for "Silver Linings Playbook," Hugh Jackman for "Les Miserables," Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master" and Denzel Washington for "Flight." Best actress nominees include Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty," Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook," Emmanuelle Riva for "Amour," Naomi Watts for "The Impossible" and Quevenzhane Wallis for "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
Top nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards:
Best Picture: "Amour," "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty."
Actor: Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"; Denzel Washington, "Flight."
Actress: Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"; Quvenzhane Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Naomi Watts, "The Impossible."
Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, "Argo"; Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"; Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"; Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."
Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "The Master"; Sally Field, "Lincoln"; Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"; Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"; Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook."
Directing: Michael Haneke, "Amour"; Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"; Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"; David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook."
Foreign Language Film: "Amour," Austria; "Kon-Tiki," Norway; "No," Chile; "A Royal Affair," Denmark; "War Witch," Canada.
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