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Former FDA officials from the Bush Administration organized this industry funded front group a few years ago and made Peter Pitts, President, and Robert Goldberg, Vice President. DrugWonks is the defacto media outlet used to distribute information over the internet as a services to drug company clients of the public relations firm Manning Selvage and Lee, where Mr Pitts is Senior Vice President of Global Affairs.
In a September 1, 2006 posting, Mr Pitts bragged that DrugWonks received over 100,000 visits in August 2006. "And considering we're not a "mass" blog, we think that's pretty terrific," he noted.
"According to Technorati (the folks who measure blog audience numbers) of the 55 million blogs out there, drugwonks.com has cracked the elite top 100,000. We're Number 92,165," he reported on December 22, 2006.
A partial list of Big Pharma loyalists who have served, or currently serve, in the Bush Administration's FDA, can be found in a June 30, 2006 blog, in which Mr Pitts provides the details of what he described as the "memorable launch party" for "the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (the public policy home of drugwonks.com.)"
Memorable for many reasons, he said, but mostly because of who attended. The attendees included FDA Deputy Commissioners, Janet Woodcock and Dr Scott Gottlieb. That would be the Dr Gottlieb who was recruited for a job at the FDA from MS&L, before moving on to employment with the drug company Novartis.
Anna Barker, the deputy director of the National Cancer Institute, also attended the bash, along with Julie Goon, described by Mr Pitts as "the new White House health care policy guru."
Referred to as a "former FDA colleague," Daniel Troy, former chief counsel of the FDA, best known as the Godfather of Preemption, was at the party and serves on the CMPI advisory board. He recently landed a top job with MS&L client GlaxoSmithKline.
John Taylor, the former National Institute of Mental Health director, now a CMPI board member, also attend the grand-opening, along with Dr Fred Goodwin, who sits on a CMPI board and belongs to a gang of academic quacks paid by the makers of SSRI antidepressants like Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft, to sign their names to bogus studies misrepresenting the efficacy of the drugs and concealing the suicide risks.
The keynote speaker for the kick-off party was former FDA Commissioner, Mark McClellan, described by Mr Pitts as, "the hardest working man in health care."
Slanderland in cyberspace
Mr Pitts and Mr Goldberg operate as a two-man Guerilla hit squad on DrugWonks. Its their job to recognize any reports in the media that could be damaging to the FDA, or negatively effect Big Pharma profits, and publish a response to discredit or distort the story and lessen the impact.
They keep a running tab of all persons who represent a threat to Big Pharma with some of the most highly respected medical experts in the world at the top of their hit list. New enemies are added all time and among those regularly attacked are lawmakers on the powerful committees in Congress that oversee health care, career scientists at the FDA, reporters who write damaging articles, and public health advocates.
The mere mention of a "Black Box Warning," is a threat to drug profits and requires immediate damage control. For instance, on October 24, 2005, in response to a request by the consumer safety group, Public Citizen, for a black box warning on erectile dysfunction drugs, Mr Pitts ridiculed the leader of group by writing:
"Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizen's General Secretary of Junk Science has just filed a Citizen's Petition with the FDA calling for a Black Box warning on ED medications because of 48 events of NAION (non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy, a loss of vision that is frequently irreversible). "
"Suggesting that Sidney have his eyes examined would only be a partial diagnosis," Mr Pitts wrote in the blog.
He was particularly annoyed over Dr Wolfe saying FDA "has once again failed in this responsibility. These drugs need much stronger warnings, especially a black box warning such as the one we have proposed."
"USA Today" was attacked on November 15, 2007, under the headline: "USA Today Adds Its Own Avandia Warning," for quoting FDA career scientist, Dr David Graham, when discussing the cardiac risks of GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug, Avandia, instead of talking to the FDA official from the CMPI team. "Here's USA Today crawling through the mud -- past Janet Woodcock who officially speaks for the FDA -- to talk to David Graham about Avandia," Mr Goldberg wrote.
Road to Extinction
In a July 30, 2008 blog, Mr Pitts seemed really rattled over a story by Alicia Mundy in the Wall Street Journal with some pretty good hints that the tribe of CMPI Guerillas promoting Big Pharma's agenda, with the help of industry insiders at the FDA, might soon be on the path to extinction, when reporting that:
"Powerful members of Congress want to remake the Food and Drug Administration by giving it broad powers to levy fines, order drug recalls and restrict drug-industry advertising."
Leading the drive are Rep John Dingell (D Mich) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R Iowa), she said. "Perhaps most importantly, they want the next president to appoint a tough FDA commissioner completely independent from the industry," Ms Mundy reported.
In a DrugWonks rapid response, Mr Pitts asked, "isn't the FDA already an entirely independent government agency?"
"To lay the groundwork for their FDA overhaul," Ms Mundy reports, "Messrs. Dingell and Grassley and their allies have ordered about 20 investigations of drugs and issues involving the FDA."
"Mr. Grassley began his campaign to overhaul the FDA in 2004 during an uproar about the agency's slow reaction to potential links between popular antidepressants and teen suicides," she notes. "Now he has four staffers and a parade of FDA whistleblowers helping him investigate a plethora of FDA controversies, such as its approval of the antibiotic Ketek," she reports
Mr Pitts calls this revelation about the opening of a new website to air criticisms of top FDA officials, "some really shoddy reporting":
"Some current and former FDA safety reviewers have opened a whistleblower website to air their concerns that FDA leaders are pushing them to approve some drugs"
He points out that this site defines itself as "a website launched and operated by current and former US Food and Drug Administration staff who believe public health is being put at unnecessary risk. These concerned civil servants and ex-civil servants have either experienced or are aware of wrongful directives by US FDA upper management – directives that put public health at avoidable risk."
Apparently Mr Pitts took the time to check it out and found Jim Dickinson, who is not a former FDA employee, registered the website, and is a "long-time FDA antagonist," he says. But then Mr Pitts is a "long-time antagonist" of Senator Grassley and whistleblowers as well. He can be found taunting the Senator on DrugWonks as early as November 18, 2005, in calling him, "the new father-confessor of disgruntled FDA employees."
On February 21, 2008, he posted the headline, "Not the real FDA – a Grahamatization," in highlighting what he described as an, "Interesting omnibus piece from by Warren Ross of Medical Marketing & Media on the various slings and arrows being tossed at the worlds premier medical regulatory agency," in which Mr Pitts just happens to be quoted.
"Here's what I had to say," he writes in the blog, "about the David Grahmatization of the whistleblower culture:"
Pitts also takes a dim view of people who go outside the agency to complain. A professional, he maintains, should not "weep and whine and try to get decisions made that are based on politics rather than on science." Whistleblowers, he acknowledges, at least deserve "grudging respect" for letting it be known who they are, "but what is truly damaging are the silent leakers" who try to force political pressure on FDA decisions. "The motive may be either to get drugs approved or not approved—it cuts both ways."
The blog concludes with the comment: "As Jimmy Durante said, 'I'm surrounded by assassins.'"
Mr Pitts seemed particularly riled up over Ms Mundy's report that Senator Grassley believes the FDA Office of New Drugs has been compromised by its relations with industry lobbyists, and among them "former top FDA officials."
"And what does that mean?" He demands to know on DrugWonks. "Any evidence to back up such blowhard accusations?" He asks in his blog.
FDA officials "are too cozy with the companies they regulate," Senator Grassley told the Journal, and new leadership must "fix the culture."
"What does "too cozy" mean?" Mr Pitts asks in his blog. "Really, what does it mean?" He demands to know.
Industry insider protection by DrugWonks
Mr Goldberg identified three cozy FDA officials that lawmakers wanted gone in a blog on February 20, 2008, when responding to what he described as "Anna Mathews puff piece" on Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democratic Congressman, in the Wall Street Journal.
Under the headline "WSJ Overlooks Stupak Stupor," Mr Goldberg wrote: "Good thing she didn't include this stirring Stupak statement -- from an LA Times article -- about why Andy von Eschenbach, Sandy Kweder, Janet Woodcock and the FDA's cafeteria guy should resign..."
"The drug companies know that this administration ... will do nothing to them. There is no fear of the FDA. With this culture with laissez faire oversight and regulation, I think they should be gone. If we get rid of them, it will put the drug companies on notice."
On April 23, 2008, in the midst of the Heparin scandal, Mr Goldberg ran the headline: "Heparin Hypocrisy - Hyped Up Safety Fears on ADHD Drugs - Does Medicaid Kill Poor People," and wrote: "Yet another show trial held by another congressional committee on the FDA...There have been four or five over the last two months on heparin alone."
"Andy von Eschenbach," he said, "who is gaining momentum, along with the FDA, in shifting the agency towards a science and systems based approach to regulation -- using real time technology to promote full time compliance -- has to sit and take the following from the likes of Bart Stupak (D-Michigan):"
"Last year, this nation's regulatory failures resulted in dead dogs and cats. This year, it has tragically led to the deaths of people," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. "If we don't make some rapid progress on fixing the foreign drug inspection program, the next melamine or heparin tragedy will soon be upon us."
"That's rich," Mr Goldberg said, "coming from a guy who helped push up the suicide rates by scaring parents away from antidepressants. and who is pushing for drug importation at a time when Al Qaeda and Hezbollah are involved in drug counterfeiting."
"Andy must have to shower after sitting through such a show trial," he added.
"Meanwhile the Steve Nissen fear factory spews out another piece of tabloid medicine: EKG monitoring of all kids getting stimulants for ADHD," Mr Goldberg continued, referring to the world-renowned cardiologist from the Cleveland Clinic.
"Now there's a way to achieve Nissen (who has never studied ADHD) goal of making a physician's hand quiver before writing a scrip for the drug," he wrote.
Evidence of "cozy" relationships can also be found in the names of the guests at the "memorable launch party." On August 24, 2005, Mr Pitts pumped out syrupy defense when the Seattle Times criticized the FDA's hiring of industry insider, Scott Gottlieb, directly from the MS&L stable. Without mentioning that he also was employed by MS&L, Mr Pitts wrote:
"Scott Gottlieb is a lot of things. Public servant. Physician. Pundit. He is my former colleague at the FDA. Most importantly, he is my friend."
"And my blood boils with anger and frustration at today's scurrilous attack on him in the Seattle Times".
"Scott I know personally. I know that he takes his work at the FDA seriously. I know that he takes his government oath to protect the public health seriously. I know that he is highly ethical and honest. And I know how much this article must hurt him personally."
"And, I'm sure, that is precisely why certain lupine elements are gleefully forwarding this ugly hit piece to their friends and colleagues."
"If people don't agree with his policy positions they should dispute them, firmly, strongly, logically — and respectfully," Mr Pitts wrote.
"That they have chosen character assassination only shows the weakness of their intellectual arguments as well as their disappointing lack of character," he wrote. "For shame."
On January 15, 2006, Dr Sidney Wolf, was again ridiculed when the LA Times cited his criticisms of what Mr Pitts described as the FDA's "new and better way to establish drug safety that solves a one of the more serious problems in drug development, namely that animal studies are often a poor and inaccurate substitute for what happens in human."
The "better way" involved earlier testing on humans. Dr Wolf questioned whether the FDA had a strong enough scientific argument for speeding the early stages of drug research, the Times noted.
In his blog, Mr Pitts dismisses the legitimacy of Dr Wolf's concerns with the statement: "Sid Wolfe has opposed every effort to speed drugs to dying patients since he has been on his anti-patient jihad starting in 1970."
"Wolfe has a self-interest in trashing new medicines," he also explained, "since his organization makes money by hawking a book Worst Pills, Best Pills that argues the most drugs are dangerous."
Blowhard accusations
The majority of proof to support Senator Grassley's "blowhard accusations," will likely come directly from the CMPI website and the years of incriminating blogs by Mr Pitts and Mr Goldberg filled with nothing but lobbying campaigns for the drug companies.
Rarely does a month pass where the two top bananas are not pumping out propaganda to boost profits for MS&L clients Eli Lilly, Glaxo and Pfizer, with false claims that SSRIs are effective and do cause suicide, along with vicious attacks on anyone who says otherwise.
On February 15, 2008, Mr Goldberg was again blaming a non-existent decline in the prescribing of SSRIs, and the increased suicides, on Rep Stupak, as head of the Health subcommittee on Energy Commerce. He held "several fear-drenched hearings about antidepressants in 2003-2004," and he "is partially responsible for the decline in SSRI prescription use and the corresponding increase in adolescent suicide," Mr Goldberg wrote. "So the question is," he said:
"And this guy is head of the Health subcommittee? Why is he being taken seriously? Why isn't he being held accountable?"
In the blog, Mr Goldberg includes the following statements made by Rep Stupak a hearing, which he claims are "scientifically incorrect," "misleading" and "dangerous":
"SSRI's have not been proven effective in treating adolescent depression. To the contrary their use may actually increase the suicide rate of its young patients.
"In response to these reports of increased suicide rates with SSRI use, FDA officials suppressed their own post marketing surveillance, prohibited FDA employees from discussing the report, and launched an investigation to find the person who leaked information to the press. Today, SSRIs remain on the market without a clear medical benefit to the patient."
"There should be a black box warning around everything Stupak says regarding medicines," Mr Goldberg declares, "particularly SSRIs which have been shown to benefit patients and are associated with a decline in suicides."
Prolific smear campaigns are directed at medical experts who testify against Big Pharma in litigation or government hearings. A life-time reputation of credibility and high regard may be targeted for assassination as punishment for this capital crime. Attempts to destroy the reputation of Dr David Healy, the world-famous expert on psychopharmacology, with 20 books to his name, appear frequently on DrugWonks. For instance, on December 19, 2006, Mr Pitts wrote:
"Dr. Healy recently testified at the FDA hearing on antidepressants. He is a psychiatry professor at Cardiff University in Wales but also, according to the New York Times, has worked for plaintiff's lawyers in cases brought against pharmaceutical companies. That's transparency."
"When I served as Associate Commissioner at the FDA, Dr. Healy visited with me -- but he never mentioned that he worked for the tort bar," Mr Pitts said. "That's dishonesty."
The untold story here is that Dr Healy traveled to Washington on his own dime in 2004, for the meeting of the FDA Advisory Committee to consider the suicide risks of SSRIs. During his visit, Dr Healy and a group of people that included parents of children who committed suicide while taking SSRIs, also met with Mr Pitts and other FDA officials.
As a follow-up to the meeting, Dr Healy prepared a lengthily report with summaries of all the available suicide data on each SSRI, including his own studies, and sent copies to Mr Pitts and the other FDA officials, free of charge. Dr Healy's trip to Washington to testify at the advisory committee meeting in December 2006, was also on his own dime.
In an email, Dr Healy was asked whether he would like to respond to the above allegations by Mr Pitts on DrugWonks. In a return email, Dr Healy explained that he consults as an expert in litigation for drug companies and trial lawyers alike, and wrote:
"When I went into the FDA to meet with Peter Pitts, I made no efforts to conceal my links to trial attorneys - some of whom were at the meeting - and no efforts were made to conceal my links to the pharmaceutical industry, all of which were well known."
"I went," he said, "because in my experience Republicans such as Senator Grassley and staffers working for them such as Emilia DeSanto have appeared more concerned about and more effective on the issue than anyone else and as a Republican appointee I thought Peter Pitts' heart might be in the right place."
"What was not well-known at the time was that Peter Pitts was transiting between working for pharmaceutical companies - or perhaps not even transiting," Dr Healy wrote. "I'm not sure how many of us would have felt it worth going if we had known his background," he noted.
"Retrospectively," Dr Healy says, "it seems astonishing to me now that with people like Peter Pitts in FDA that it was ever possible to bring the suicidality issues to light."
It seems even more astonishing after reading Mr Goldberg's blog on February 15, 2008, which declares: "And again, there is no link to SSRIs and in increase in suicides, rather some unclear evidence based on an unvalidated measure called suicidality that includes just talking about self harm in general."
On March 9, 2008, Mr Goldberg called Dr Healy an expert "whose flawed study about SSRI's and suicide triggered a series of events which lead to less SSRI use and more suicide."
However, on July 24, 2008, Pharmalot's Ed Silverman reported on data just released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a unit of the US Health and Human Services Department that showed antidepressant prescriptions rose in 2005.
"The increase amounted to roughly 10 percent, and that occurred in a year in which new and controversial Black Box warnings were added to the labeling on the medications," he wrote.
In addition, government statistics for 2005, the year the warnings were added, show there was no increase in suicides. In fact, suicide deaths were down in all age groups. For children aged 5 to 14, there were 285 in 2004, and 270 in 2005. In young people aged 15 and 24, the number of suicides was 4,316 in 2004, and dropped to 4,139 in 2005.
Mountains of evidence
Much more evidence can able found in blogs beginning on December 10, 2007, which was another a memorable day at CMPI, when Mr Pitts announced that CMPI would present a new award called "The Golden Clipboard," to those "who stand in the way of medical progress."
Those "who stand in the way of medical progress," refers to persons involved in exposing the FDA's failure to protect the public from drugs such as the diabetes drug Avandia, Vioxx, and SSRI antidepressants, due to cozy relationships with the makers of the drugs.
CMPI published the names for the top award, and the runner-up winners of the Bronze Clipboard and Silver Clipboard on DrugWonks on December 21, 2007, along with comments about why they were chosen.
The highest honor went to Dr Graham: "For his persistence, zeal, and determination to damage not only the FDA but the public health, for his effectiveness in fear mongering and willingness to subordinate medical progress to his ascetic view of safety."
"David Graham ostensibly works for the FDA," Mr Pitts said, "but he seems to spend a lot of time in the Halls of Congress advising members and staff about which FDA medical reviewers should be hauled in for polite 'conversations.'"
"Setting aside Dr. Graham's contribution to the Vioxx Populi literature -- which an FDA advisory committee considered to be a rather shoddy piece of research – he also helped push through the statistical analysis and organize the public outcry over SSRIs that resulted in a decline in antidepressant use and a corresponding increase in teen suicides," he explained.
Mr Pitts also credited Dr Graham for "his assertion that Avandia should be taken off the market," and said, Dr Graham is AKA (also known as) "Dr. Precautionary Principle."
The Bronze award went to California Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, who "is best remembered in 2007 as the conduit for Steve Nissen's half-baked meta-analysis of Avandia," Mr Pitts pointed out.
His oversight hearing "helped blow out of all appropriate proportion fear about drug safety in general and Avandia in particular," the blog said.
Dr Nissen had to settle for the Silver Clipboard, but his "persistent undermining of the FDA came close to winning him Clipboard top honors for 2007," Mr Pitts pointed out.
Many of the blogs leading up to the awards seemed to indicate that Dr Graham, Dr Nissen and Rep Waxman were locked in a tight race. But a review of all the blogs on DrugWonks clearly showed that Senator Grassley was never ruled out as the top contender.
For instance, on August 20, 2005, Mr Pitts ran the headline: "Leaves of Grassley. Not a Whit of Sense," and referred to Mr Grassley as the "Senator from Blameland," and "Body Slam Chuck, the King of Destructive Criticism."
Mr Pitts was annoyed over the Senator's comments about the FDA after Merck lost the first Vioxx trial, in stating: "The Food and Drug Administration was also negligent in the Vioxx case … Those running the nation's public safety agency repeatedly dismissed the concerns of their own scientists and seemed to do everything possible to keep the public in the dark about emerging problems with Vioxx."
"And talk about bellying up to the tort bar!" Mr Pitts wrote. "I wonder how much more money the Senator will get from the trial lawyer lizards as a reward for such vituperative rants?"
Of course, he failed to mention that the contributions by the "lizards" could never match the money doled out on Capitol Hill every year by the pharmaceutical industry.
"Members of Congress and senior officials of the FDA should be ashamed of themselves for giving Graham the chance to not only rant on about Vioxx and SSRIs but to make the same claims about Ketek and drugs for schizophrenia."
But all the Clipboard winners should feel equally honored by the CMPI awards, because judging by the number of slanderous attacks they each received, their combined efforts to expose drug safety issues and fix the broken FDA are obviously what's working.
(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for OpEd News and an investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America)


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Physicists often describe the fabric of the universe we inhabit as four-dimensional spacetime, comprising three dimensions of space and one of time. But whereas we spend our days passing freely through space in any direction we wish (gravity and solid obstacles permitting), time pushes us along, willingly or not, in a single predetermined direction: toward the future.
This is the arrow of time—life carries us from the past, through the present, and into the future. Back to the Future plotlines notwithstanding, no one knows how to reverse the arrow—how to move backward in time—and the logical paradoxes that would result from such a trip into the past render it a thorny proposition at best. (Thanks to a prediction of special relativity called time dilation, travel into the distant future is relatively easy: just move really, really fast.)
In his new book, From Eternity to Here (Dutton, 2010), theoretical physicist Sean Carroll of the California Institute of Technology sets out to explain why time marches along unfailingly in one direction. Expanding on the concepts in his June 2008 feature for Scientific American, "The Cosmic Origins of Time's Arrow," Carroll argues for the necessity of marrying three seemingly disparate concepts: time, entropy and cosmology.
Entropy, which in rough terms is the measure of a system's disorder, creeps up over time, as dictated by the second law of thermodynamics. To illustrate entropy's inexorable growth, Carroll takes us to the breakfast table—you can't unscramble an egg, he points out, and you can't unstir the milk out of your coffee. These systems invariably proceed to disordered, or high-entropy, arrangements. Each of these examples shows how the continual growth of entropy fills the world with irreversible processes that divide the past from the future: The making of an omelet and the mixing of milk into a cup of coffee are events that work in only one temporal direction.
But why should entropy always increase? This is where Carroll turns to cosmology, which must explain why the universe began in a uniquely low-entropy state. We spoke to the physicist about his new book and the challenges of presenting cutting-edge physics to a wide audience.
[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]
What's so interesting about time? To a naive observer it's something that just passes by and that we can't do anything with; it's unchanging.
There are two things that inspired me to write this book. One is that time is something we all are familiar with. We all use it—we have no problem reading a watch. But then, when you act like a good scientist or philosopher and try to make sense of it, this puzzle arises: The fundamental laws of physics treat the past and the future [as being] exactly the same, whereas the world does not. There's a big difference—the past happened and the future is still up for grabs. So it would be nice to know how to reconcile that. That's the arrow of time problem as it's been thought about for at least a couple hundred years now.
I think that's an important and interesting problem, and it's just as good to write about as anything else. But there is something that I think makes this problem a little bit special, which is that the answer to why the past is different from the future, whatever it is going to end up being, is not just about what happens here as you and I are talking, as time goes by in our daily lives. It is intimately connected with the whole universe—with what happened at the big bang, with the special condition in our universe when it started.
A full understanding of what happens in our everyday lives needs to take into account what happened at the big bang. And not only is that intrinsically interesting and just kind of cool to think about, but it's also a mystery that is not given much attention by working scientists; it's a little bit underappreciated. We are so far from knowing what the final answer to this is that we sort of don't think about it that much. So I wanted to draw attention to this connection between the arrow of time and cosmology, both to everyday readers but also to my scientific friends. I think this is something that we really should keep in mind as one of the fundamental puzzles facing us in modern science.
As an everyday reader, I appreciated the introductory quotes to the chapters from Annie Hall, Vladimir Nabokov, Dumb and Dumber. How much of a challenge was it to try to keep this book accessible and enjoyable?
I tried my best, and I think I succeeded in some places more than others. A lot of the material was not exactly what I do research on, so I had to learn a lot and sort of think about things I had been vaguely aware of for awhile. I actually think that I was better at making those sections lively and interesting and accessible than the sections that I understood the best. Because I knew I had to sit down and think very, very hard about it; I couldn't just give my conventional spiel.
The good news is that, except for a few things about quantum mechanics and the multiverse, most of the basic ideas are pretty graspable. They're not dramatically abstract; we're not working in higher dimensions or anything like that. You can see the basic ideas we're talking about working themselves out in everyday life.
I'm a big believer that science is part of a larger cultural thing. Science is not all by itself. So I definitely wanted to give the feeling that as we're thinking about the universe and space and time and experience and memory and free will and all these things that I talk about in the book, this is both science and our everyday lives and the culture in which we live, so why not sort of have fun and bring them together?
Going back to the science for a moment, how does the concept of entropy intertwine with the arrow of time?
Well, I think people have probably heard the word entropy. It goes up; that's the second law of thermodynamics. There's this famous—at least famous among scientists—episode with [English novelist and physicist] C. P. Snow, where he was trying to convince people that they should not only be literate about literature but literate about science, as well. And the one example Snow chose as something everyone should know was the second law of thermodynamics, the law that says that entropy increases.
And that's true, and I believe that's a great example, but what I think is actually underappreciated is that just about everything about the arrow of time—what we would think of as "how time works," the fact that the past is set in stone while the future can still be altered—is all because of entropy. The fact that you can remember yesterday but not tomorrow is because of entropy. The fact that you're always born young and then you grow older, and not the other way around like Benjamin Button—it's all because of entropy. So I think that entropy is underappreciated as something that has a crucial role in how we go through life.
You have a sort of candid moment in the book where you talk about a veteran, unnamed physicist who had some complaints with your theories about time and the second law.
His objection was with the idea that cosmology has something to do with it.
The following statement is very true: To understand the second law of thermodynamics, or how the arrow of time works in our everyday lives, we don't need to ever talk about cosmology. If you pick up a textbook on statistical mechanics, there will be no talk about cosmology at all. So it would be incorrect to say that we need to understand the big bang in order to use the second law of thermodynamics, to know how it works. The problem is, to understand why it exists at all requires a knowledge of cosmology and what happened at the big bang.
Once you assume that the universe had a low entropy for whatever reason, everything else follows, and that's all we ever talk about in textbooks. But we're being a little bit more ambitious than that. We want to understand why it was that way—why was it that the entropy was lower yesterday than it is today?
To understand why the entropy was lower yesterday really requires cosmology. And I think that if you sit down and think about it carefully there is absolutely no question that that is true, yet a lot of people don't quite accept it yet.
If you take this approach and look at time from a cosmological standpoint, what is this low-entropy condition in the past? What does that look like?
We're not learning anything about the early universe by making this observation. We already know what the early universe was like. It was smooth, it was expanding very rapidly, it was a dense, hot state, and there was a lot of stuff in the universe. Now, that happens to be a very low–entropy configuration that the universe could be in, and that is the puzzle. So it's not that we're learning what the early universe was like, because we already knew that—it's that in trying to explain that, in trying to come up with a theory, whether it's inflation or the cyclic universe or a big bounce, you haven't succeeded in explaining the early universe unless you've explained why it has low entropy. And I just think a tremendous number of contemporary cosmological theories fail at that requirement; they sort of sidestep their way around that question rather than addressing it head-on.
Do these various theories make predictions that we could test based on our understanding of time and entropy?
Not yet. We'd like them to. All I can say is hopefully they will. I talk about that in the epilogue of the book.
On the one hand, if these ideas don't connect with observed things, then there's no use talking about them. But that's not the same as saying that because we can't connect them right now to observable predictions, there's no use talking about them. It's part of a much bigger picture—we have to understand how quantum mechanics and gravity play together long before we can ever hope to say definitively what the right answer is to these questions.
What Keeps Time Moving Forward? Blame It on the Big Bang
A timely Q&A with physicist Sean Carroll about how our one-way trip from past to future is entangled with entropy and the origin of the universe
Physicists often describe the fabric of the universe we inhabit as four-dimensional spacetime, comprising three dimensions of space and one of time. But whereas we spend our days passing freely through space in any direction we wish (gravity and solid obstacles permitting), time pushes us along, willingly or not, in a single predetermined direction: toward the future.

subset: commoncrawl


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Hereford and Angus combined the powers of the Charlotte Burger Blog and the Triangle Burger Blog to do an old-school dual On the Road review at Hops Burger Bar.
Burger Blog
Angus is in Downtown Durham and finds himself inside a mysterious brewpub filled with exotic meat, golden bulls, strange tattoos, and a Secret Burger.
In this inaugural review for the Triangle Burger Blog, Angus is on Franklin St. in Chapel Hill and finds himself in a shack owned by a guy named Al and eats a cheddarburger named Sean.
Angus is in Downtown Raleigh and finds himself at a food truck rodeo where he encounters a burger taco, blood orange beer, and the fabled Only Burger.
Hereford is in Durham North Carolina for his first minor league baseball game of the season, where he drinks beer brewed in the Triangle, orders a Chef inspired burger, and reminisces about Kevin Costner.
Angus is in Raleigh North Carolina and finds himself at the State Fair where he braces himself for the ultimate carny food: A Deep Fried Cheeseburger.


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IYA2009 Updates
Science and the Public 2010
16 December 2009
Call for Papers: Science and the Public 2010
Imperial College, London
3rd and 4th of July 2010.
Now in its fifth year, the Science and the Public conference aims to bring together the various strands of academia which consider science's relationships with groups generally called 'the public'.
Delegates come from a wide range of disciplines: science and technology studies, history of science, geography, psychology, cultural studies, media studies, sociology, development studies, English literature, science policy studies and more.
The range of topics covered may include (but are not limited to):
- Surveying public knowledge and attitudes.
- Science and the arts (including science fiction).
- Science, publics and personal identity.
- The role of industry and/ or the third sector in public engagement
- and scientific research.
- The challenges of 'upstream' engagement.
- Popular science and professionalization.
- Specific public-science issues: e.g. climate change, MMR, energy policy, GMOs.
- Studies of specific media: e.g. film, books, the internet, museums, radio.
- Science, religion and the 'New Atheism'.
- Politically engaged scientists.
- Churnalism vs. investigative science journalism.
- Edu-tainment.
- Scientific advisers, spin and secrecy.
- Patients and publics in health services.
- Science and the sceptics.
- Amateur science.
Potential contributors should email a 300 word abstract to firstname.lastname@example.com by 1st March2010. Please include full contact details (name, affiliation, email) of all authors.
Panel proposals should include a panel abstract and individual abstracts for each of the papers on the panel as well as contact information (name, affiliation, email) of the presider (moderator) and all panel members.
All submissions should be emailed to firstname.lastname@example.com 1st March 2010. All other enquires also to this address.
Index to Astronomy in Scientific American Magazine
16 December 2009
Scientific American magazine often presents readable overviews of new ideas and discoveries in astronomy. However, astronomy articles are randomly scattered among the magazine's coverage of all other fields of science and the titles of articles do not always provide a perfect guide to their contents. As a service to the astronomy education community, we have compiled a subject index of astronomy articles in the magazine from the late summer of 1999 to the late summer of 2009, with brief descriptions of their contents.
The index is published in the on-line journal, Astronomy Education Review, at:
Galilean Nights: Astrophotography Competition shortlist announced!
15 December 2009
On 22-24 October 2009, the Galilean Nights Cornerstone Project took place all over the world and was a great success, with over 1300 events in almost 90 countries. Alongside the public observing sessions where hundreds of thousands of people looked to the night sky, many also turned their cameras to the stars and took part in the Galilean Nights Astrophotography Competition.
There was a strong response to the competition and the quality of entries was extremely high. The judging panel had a tough task and after assessement of the entries, a shortlist has been selected for both categories. Those on the shortlist have been contacted requesting further information on their photographs for the final assessment to select the winners. Congratulations to everybody on the shortlist, and good luck for the next round of judging.
Beyond Earth
Isastro: M42-0-LRGB_4
richiejarvisuk: 2009-10-26-M45-L5100-RGB700-Process2-Large
Bill Snyder 51: 101809-WO80-M42-LRGB+Ha-PS1-GF-for-Gallien-Nights++
ANIC asociación de niños indagadores del cosmos: Moon Waning
AztecastroMcJ: Mare Serenitatis NE Mosaic 8.10.09
ANIC asociación de niños indagadores del cosmos: Jupiter in the sky Colombian
Bill Snyder 51: 101809 M42 Orion Nebula
Silvia Kowolik: Jupitersnapshot
SkoobyJohn: M45 - The Pleiades
nemark: IMG_8654-Antares occultation
Earth and Sky
masahiro miyasaka: Milky Way waterfall
masahiro miyasaka: Venus Saturn Mars Zodiacal light
masahiro miyasaka: Pleiades of autumn
Microlensing: Pleiades Dances
pdiezvig: CTBA 07:45
Stefano De Rosa: Moon, Venus and Saturn over the Monate Lake
Isastro: Moon_Alentejo_Portugal
The North West Of Nowhere: The shadow of the day
ANIC asociacion de niños indagadores del cosmos: Three meetings Nocturnes
Microlensing: Twilight Jupiter and Galaxy
Cosmos in the Classroom Symposium
15 December 2009
As you are planning your 2010 calendar and budget, we wanted to let you know that plans are moving along for the 122nd Annual Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), July 31 - Aug. 4 at the University of Colorado in Boulder, in one of the most beautiful settings in the U.S., and featuring two concurrent 3-day conferences Aug. 2 - 4:
* Cosmos in the Classroom 2010: A Hands-on Symposium on Teaching Introductory Astronomy
* Making Connections in Education and Public Outreach: A Meeting for Those Working in EPO.
You can now sign up to be notified as program and registration information becomes available at: http://www.astrosociety.org/events/meeting.html.
As in previous Cosmos and EPO conferences hosted by the ASP, we will devote much of the time to hands-on workshops, where we can "practice what we preach". We will also have panels, poster papers, a "share-a-thon" room for putting out materials we are proud of, and time for formal and informal networking with people who teach or work in settings similar to yours.
Cosmos attendees will include astronomy instructors from high schools, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, state universities, research universities, and informal science institutions. We especially welcome those who are teaching part time or are just starting to teach.
EPO conference attendees will include scientists, K-12 teachers, university educators, informal educators (e.g. museums, planetaria, parks), public communicators, science writers, and other EPO professionals. All are welcome who work on or support EPO projects in space science or earth science (including such fields such as physics, astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary science, and astrobiology).
Besides facilitating networking opportunities within each conference's respective audience, the 2010 ASP Annual Meeting will feature plenary sessions aimed at bringing both groups together, and enabling greater dialogue and interactions among all attendees. We will arrange sessions joining instructors and EPO professionals, focusing on what kinds of information and what kinds of materials are most useful in classrooms, and how Astro 101 and EPO professionals can collaborate to their mutual benefit. A set of weekend workshops (July 31-August 1) will precede the two conferences.
We are working to make scholarships available to educators whose budgets would not ordinarily allow them to come, but these will be limited in number. If you can apply for travel through your own institution, we hope you can pursue that.
A method of proposing sessions and papers will be available at the ASP web site in early 2010. In the meantime, we hope you will start thinking about the kinds of activities you would like to see and do at the meeting. If you have suggestions for interesting approaches for the meeting program committee to consider, please contact one of the undersigned directly.
Andrew Fraknoi (Cosmos Program Sub-committee): email@example.com
Greg Schultz (EPO Program Sub-committee): firstname.lastname@example.com
Last Cosmos Meeting Papers Available at a Discount
For a limited time, the package of handouts and papers from the last Cosmos in the Classroom symposium (held in the summer of 2007) are on sale for 1/3 off -- but only while supplies last.
Go to:
http://www.astrosociety.org/events/cosmos.html for a description and click the last line on that page to order.
Ethiopian astronomers bring IYA2009 to the masses
15 December 2009
The Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS) has been celebrating IYA2009 throughout the year. In the case of Ethiopia, it is considered a prime way of promoting astronomy by stimulating interest, especially among young people and as well using the appreciation of the inspirational aspects of astronomy.
Several high-profile activities have been run. The first was a one day open nationwide conference of celebration held at Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. More than 400 people with different backgrounds including government higher officials, higher educational institute representatives, school community, artists and many of the young community participated. The event was highlighted with an educational seminar, history of Ethiopian Astronomy and culture, and public discussions on space science and astronomy in Ethiopia.
Public sky tours have also been operating, entertaining and educating visitors. Around 250 people have celebrated astronomy through sky observation with four portable telescopes at Entoto Mountain, just on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, where ESSS is constructing an observatory.
ESSS has been helping communities in different regions by encouraging activities and providing seed funding. Other initiatives have been conducted with financial support from the International Astronomical Union. Many brochures in English and Amharic (one of the Ethiopian languages) have been distributed, outlining the aims of IYA2009.
This is just a sample of Ethiopian IYA2009 projects. The Secretariat would like to congratulate all those who have been involved in making IYA2009 such an unforgettable year in Ethiopia.
IYA2009 logo adorns German observatory
15 December 2009
IYA2009 enthusiasts from Dresden, Germany, decided to go one step further than most in celebrating this special year. They took it upon themselves to decorate their observatory by painting the IYA2009 logo, and inscribing the slogan on the side. Anyone passing by will be left in no doubt as to IYA2009's importance.
Young astronomers meet for International School
14 December 2009
The International School for Young Astronomers 2009 is currently taking place in St Augustine, West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago. It will be running until 18 December.
The objectives of the School include encouraging astronomy to grow in the region, allowing students from the Caribbean to network with professional astronomers, increasing collaborations, showing that astronomy promotes transferrable skills, enhancing research, and to expose local students to training not available locally.
For more information, please see: http://sta.uwi.edu/fsa/physics/ISYA2009.asp
Netherlands host IYA2009 concerts
14 December 2009
An IYA2009-themed concert given in September together with the Grieg Pianoduo was a huge success. The world premier of Sisask's "Sombrero Galaxy" was presented, together with other works by him and by Schubert, for a sold out hall in Groningen, in the Netherlands. The composer attended, as well as the ambassador of Estonia.
Recently a symphony orchestra played Mozart's last symphony, the Jupiter-symphony, free, for all interested. IYA2009 supporter Peter Barthel interviewed the conductor in an observatory dome, right before the concert. All was recorded and broadcasted over internet-TV, throughout Holland.
For more information, including a trailer, please visit: http://www.griegpianoduo.com/
Celebrating 5000 Years of Astronomy
14 December 2009
In a fitting finale for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009), astronomers and archaeologists will celebrate the five millennia of astronomical heritage at Stonehenge, the most sophisticated stone circle in the world and amongst Europe's most important Neolithic sites. The attractions include a free public astronomy exhibition and expert-led tours of the site and surrounding landscape.
Activity on the world famous Stonehenge site dates from earlier than 3000 BCE and the monument was constructed over several phases lasting for more than 1500 years. The purpose of the site varied over time and is still a matter for debate, but it has a strong astronomical connection, making it an appropriate place for the UK IYA2009 closing event. The stones align with the positions of the Sun and Moon as they rise and set, for example at the solstices and during years when the tilt of the Moon's orbit around the Earth makes it travel to extreme northern and southern positions in the sky (described as a 'major standstill').
The celebration begins with the opening of the 'From the Earth to the Universe' (FETTU) exhibition alongside the Stonehenge visitor centre. This free exhibition, running from 16th December to 3rd January 2010 (except on 25th and 26th December), features a series of stunning images of objects across the Universe, from stars and planets to nebulae and galaxies; all made using telescopes on the ground and in space. FETTU aims to show the public how astronomy has developed in the 400 years since Galileo turned his telescope towards the night sky, let alone in the more than 5000 years since the first stages of the construction of Stonehenge.
On 21st December is the winter solstice, when in northern hemisphere countries the Sun reaches its lowest apparent position in the sky and the number of hours of daylight reach a minimum (the so-called shortest day). The stones of the Stonehenge monument not only famously align with the rising position of the Sun around the summer solstice (described as the longest day of the year) but also with its setting position at the winter solstice.
The site also has possible connections with the Moon, in years when the tilt of the Moon's orbit around the Earth makes it travel to extreme northern and southern positions in the sky (periods described as major standstills).
In the run up to the solstice, from 16th to 19th December leading specialists will be on hand to offer public tours of the site and surrounding area. These will be available during the day to any visitors who have purchased a normal site admission ticket.
The expert guides include archaeologists, Andrew Lawson, Julian Richards, Mike Allen and Julie Gardner, archaeoastronomer Clive Ruggles and astronomers Mark Bailey, Mike Edmunds and Derek McNally and IYA2009 UK chair Ian Robson. Some of the guides are involved in the Stonehenge Riverside project conducting new excavations in the area over the last five years and others are members of the Astronomical Heritage Committee of the Royal Astronomical Society.
More information: http://www.ras.org.uk
IYA2009 News Round-up
13 December 2009
When enough news gathers in the same place, a critical mass is obtained and an IYA2009 news round-up is born.
What has been blazing forth this week? Congratulations are in order, say Physorg.com. Astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana of the University of Toronto has been awarded the 2009 Steacie Prize, one of Canada's most prestigious honours for rising stars in science and engineering. We should all be very happy for Ray, because he mentions IYA2009: "It's been tremendous fun to be part of that endeavor together with the postdoctoral fellows and students in my group, and to share our discoveries with the public, especially during this International Year of Astronomy."
MyOzarksOutdoors.com is a strange name for a website, but we'll gloss over that fact because they've been plugging IYA2009-aplenty. As they say, Discovery Center of Springfield, the Springfield Astronomical Society and stargazers around the globe are wrapping up a yearlong celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. It sounds like the astronomers in that area have run a lot of events, so pats on the back for them.
A quick mention next of Canada's Telegraph Journal who talk about the upcoming Geminid meteor shower, but not before mentioning IYA2009. And finishing with it, too.
To express buzz now (lack of capitalisation is their decision). Students from the Indian town of Thiruvananthapuram have visited nearby areas, spreading the word of astronomy and IYA2009. They even performed a science play about the Earth and Moon. Ace! LINE OF THE WEEK: "At Perakom, even the fish-vendors rose from their seats to have a look at the students' programme and to interact with them."
Here's a different one. AZCentral have interviewed a local science teacher. His students participated in the Cassini Scientist for a Day programme, and did very well. The teacher talks about science education and the importance of IYA2009. The interviewer seems more interested in sussing out where the teacher goes for lunch. Take it easy, question three establishes that he's got a wife.
Ok, one more story. Bradenton Herald have the honour of finishing this week's round-up with their article about a drama piece called "The Life of Galileo". No prizes for guessing the theme. "It's kind of an adventure story in a way," said Paul Whitworth, who stars as Galileo. "These things took place in 1610 but the issues are absolutely contemporary." If you're in Florida, check it out.
Critical mass has now been relieved, but next week another news round-up will be born. See you then.
Search IYA2009 Updates
National Nodes: 148
Organisational Nodes: 40
Organisational Associates:33
National Websites: 111
Cornerstone Projects: 12
Special Task Groups: 11
Special Projects:16
Official Products:8
Media Partners:22


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Freeware Wondershare MobileGo for Android – The Android manager
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Main article
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Statistics on this tiling:
Tiling has symmetry
Tiling has 3 polygons and 12 edges.
Edges are completely connected.
Tiling is edge-to-edge.
Tiling satisfies the two-polygon condition.
Contains 2 pointed star with vertex angle of 60°.
Contains 2 non-regular polygons of which none have reflective symmetry and one is the reflection of another.
Tiling contains 339 polygons.
Summary of images


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On Monday, April 18, Citizens for Global Solutions ran a full page advertisement in the New York Times that calls for three essential actions for the U.N. to take in Libya. We are reaching out to Americans because we now live in a new age where the international community has accepted its responsibility to protect. But you can't protect babies from 30,000 feet nor should this be the job of the U.S. and its allies alone. The United Nations must have the support and tools that it needs to get these jobs done:
- Deployment of U.N. Peacekeepers On the Ground to Protect Libyan Civilians;
- Provision of Food, Water, Medicine and Shelter for Displaced People in Libya;
- U.N. Sponsored Elections to Bring Democracy and a Legitimate Government.
Take action now – sign the petition.
These goals are in line with the Opinion Editorial written by President Obama, UK Prime Minister Cameron, and French President Sarkozy. In a joint editorial published in the Times, they declared:
The United Nations and its members should help the Libyan people as they rebuild where Qaddafi has destroyed — to repair homes and hospitals, to restore basic utilities, and to assist Libyans as they develop the institutions to underpin a prosperous and open society.
U.N. Peacekeeping
Today 64% of Americans supports a standing peacekeeping force led by the United Nations. Such a force would have the strength and legitimacy to halt the fighting in Libya without having to rely on NATO ground forces. While a standing U.N. peacekeeping force does not yet exist, this is the moment for the international community to establish it. This force could integrate within its ranks all those Libyans who desire peace, the protections of civilians and a legitimate government within their nation.
Sixteen U.N. peacekeeping operations are currently deployed worldwide, involving nearly 100,000 troops and police from about 120 countries. Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most effective tools available to the U.N. to assist countries navigating the difficult path from conflict to peace. U.N. peacekeepers provide security and the political and peace building support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace.
Historically, peacekeeping missions have done vital work in helping countries torn by conflict create conditions for lasting peace. For example, the U.N. mission to East Timor in the early 2000s helped the country recover from a bloody Civil War and transition successfully to a relatively stable democracy. In Côte D'Ivoire, the U.N. peacekeeping mission has done similar work, helping to remove the brutal dictator, Laurent Gbagbo, put an end to the 2nd Ivorian Civil War in the past decade, and facilitate the peaceful transition to democracy.
In Haiti, U.N. peacekeepers helped in the recovery following the 2010 earthquake by restoring a secure and stable environment and by facilitating a legitimate election, the results of which are soon to be officially released. Now U.N. peacekeepers are looking to continue aiding people as Haiti looks to rebuild its economy and transition to democracy.
In Sudan, U.N. peacekeepers have worked to enforce the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army. U.N. peacekeepers there have provided much needed humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people and helped oversee the election on the referendum to make Southern Sudan an independent state.
Humanitarian Assistance
The United Nations refugee agency has warned that a lack of funding could undermine its ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of people displaced by the unrest in Libya, saying it has so far received slightly over half of the funding it requested for the operation.
On April 1, U.N. High Commissioner António Guterres said it was "essential that humanitarian access is provided to all people in need throughout Libya." Speaking specifically on the coastal city of the coastal city Misrata, Guterres said, "This is a situation where life-saving humanitarian access should be guaranteed." According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since mid-February more than 320,000 Libyans have fled to neighboring countries to escape the violence in Libya.
The UNHCR, along with the World Food Programme, UNICEF and other U.N. entities, have been able to supply some aid to the Libyan people, but the work is difficult. In late March a World Food Programme convoy delivered 5,000 blankets and 5,000 sleeping mats to the people of Benghazi, the Libyan opposition's stronghold. However, the UNHCR reported "shortages of medical supplies and basic commodities" in the city.
In the cities of Tobruk and Benghazi in eastern Libya local authorities have identified at least 35,000 displaced people, mostly from Ajdabiyya and Brega. U.N. sources believe the actual number is likely to be around 100,000, since the population of Ajdabiyya is 120,000 and most people are thought to have left. While a few thousand have crossed into Egypt, the majority are displaced in Benghazi and Tobruk.
The U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a fact sheet on April 15 reporting that at least 250 people including 20 children have been killed since hostilities began in Misrata. The report also stated that "Humanitarian needs are increasing amidst the ongoing heavy fighting inside the city of Misurata [Misrata]"; "There are reports of shortages of medical supplies, food and water"; and "the water supply to Misrata City has been cut off." International medical organizations including the World Health Organization and Doctors without Borders have provided some medical assistance to the people of Misrata, as have other U.N. entities such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF. However, additional aid is desperately needed. A more concerted effort by the U.N. in coordination with individual nations and NGOs is essential to adequately address the humanitarian needs in Libya.
In their editorial, Obama, Cameron, and Sarkozy stated, "it will be the people of Libya, not the U.N., who choose their new constitution, elect their new leaders, and write the next chapter in their history." They are exactly right, but without the United Nations the people of Libya will never get the chance. The end result in Libya, as demanded by the Libyan people, must be a democracy with free and fair elections, government accountability, and rule of law. We ask the U.N. to take it upon itself to call for such elections and oversee the election process when fighting lessens and Muammar Gaddafi has been dethroned.
On April 14, the U.N. called on Somalia's transitional government to hold democratic elections before the end of its term in August. A U.N. sponsored conference of Somali officials, the European Union, and the African Union has agreed that elections must take place within the next four months. Somalia has not had a legitimate, stable government in over 20 years. Thanks to the efforts of the U.N., E.U., and A.U., upcoming elections could help with Somalia's transition to peaceful, stable democracy. And this is just one of many examples of successful U.N. sponsored elections.
Once democratic elections are held in Libya, the nation can finally move forward and look to a future where leaders are accountable to the people and human rights atrocities, like those committed by the Gaddafi regime, no longer have a place in Libyan society.
Citizens for Global Solutions believes that these three actions are necessary to ensure that we are living up to our ideals as Americans, as citizens of the world, and as human beings. The world has already shown the commitment to the responsibility to protect — the responsibility the global community has to step in when the government of a nation cannot or will not protect its people. If the three actions outlined above are taken, we believe that Libyan lives will be saved and the future of the country hopeful.
Take action now – sign the petition.
Don Kraus is the chief executive officer of Citizens for Global Solutions.


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Sir John Everett Millais. The Vale of Rest. 1858; partially repainted 1862. 40 1/2 x 68 inches. Courtesy of Tate Britain, London N01507. Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND. Presented by Sir Henry Tate 1894. Click on image to enlarge it.
In the detailed Tate catalogue entry, which contains materials from various letters about the painting, Malcolm Warner points out that Millais considered the The Vale of Rest his favorite picture. In his life of his father, John G. Millais relates several interesting stories about the painting, including that the artist had the kind of troubles with one of the figures that later plagued his friend Hunt while at work on The Shadow of Death.
An unsatisfactory pose of a figure has often driven a conscientious artist to the verge of insanity. And this was the case with the figure of the woman digging in "The Vale of Rest." I have heard my mother say she never had such a time in her life as when my father was painting that woman.
Everything was perfect in the picture except this wretched female, and nothing would induce her to go right. Every day for seven weeks he painted and repainted her, with the result that the figure was worse than ever, and he was almost distracted. My mother then proceeded to hatch a plot with my grandmother to steal the picture! This was skilfully effected one day when he had left his work for a few hours. The two arch-plotters took it between them and carried it into a wine-cellar, where it was securely locked up.
When the painter returned to work and found his treasure gone he was, of course, in a dreadful state of mind, and on discovering the trick that had been played him, he tried every means to make them give it up to him, but this they steadfastly refused to do. Here then was a predicament ! For some days he would settle to nothing, and the model, who received good payment, would insist on coming every day and sitting in the kitchen, saying that she was engaged till the picture was finished. The situation at last became comic — Millais furious, the conspirators placid, smiling, but firm, and the model immovable.
At last he was persuaded to set to work on some water-colour replicas of "The Huguenot" and "The Heretic," for Mr. Gambart, and as he became interested in them he gradually calmed down. When the picture was eventually returned to him, he saw at a glance where his mistake lay, and in a few hours put everything right.
My uncle William tells an amusing story about this, which is worth repeating in his own words:--" Millais, as everyone knows, had the greatest power in the realistic rendering of all objects that came under his brush, and the veriest tyro could not fail to recognise at a glance the thing that he painted. I remember, however, a case in which the power was not recognised; in fact; the objects painted failed to convey the faintest notion of what they were intended to represent. An old Scotchman, after looking at 'The Vale of Rest' for some time, said to my brother in my hearing, 'Well, the picture's all well enough, but there's something I don't like.' My brother, who was always ready to listen to any criticism, said, 'What don't you like? Speak out, don't be afraid!'
"'Well,' said he, 'I don't like the idea of water in a grave.' 'Water in a grave?' said my brother. 'Well, there it is plain enough ' (pointing to a mattock), 'pouring into the grave.' He had actually mistaken the sheen of a steel mattock for a jet of water, and the handle for a bridge across the grave. This was too good a story not to be passed round, and it was told on the occasion of the picture being privately exhibited at the Langham Chambers, just before being sent to the Royal Academy. There was a good assemblage of people, and amongst them, though unrecog- nised, the old gentleman himself. The story was told with great gusto by John Leech (in my presence), and a roar of laughter followed, coupled with the words, 'What an old ass he must have been! 'Whereupon the old gentleman sprang up from the sofa and said, 'I'm the verra man myself.' It was honest of him, to say the least."
Mr. M. H. Spielmann, who has carefully studied Millais' works, says of it: — "This picture I have always felt to be one of the greatest and most impressive ever painted in England; one in which the sentiment is not mawkish, nor the tragedy melodramatic — a picture to look at with hushed voice and bowed head; in which the execution is not overwhelmed by the story; in which the story is emphasised by the composition; and in which the composition is worthy of the handling."
"This is the year Mr. Millais gave forth those terrible nuns in the graveyard": thus Mr. Punch characterised the year 1859. Even Ruskin, denouncing the methods, and admitting (unjustly) the ugliness and "frightfulness" of the figures, was constrained to allow it nobility of horror, if horror it was, and the greatness of the touching sentiment. His charge of crudeness in the painting no longer holds good. Time — that grand Old Master to which Millais did homage in act and wordÑhas done the work the artist intended him to do; and I venture to think that in the New Gallery of British Art there will be no more impressive, no more powerful work than that which shocked the Art world of 1859.
In 1862 Millais saw how he could improve the face of the nun that is seated at the head of the grave, so he had the picture in his studio for a week, and repainted the head from a Miss Lane. [The Life and Letters of Millais, I, 331-333].
Related Materials
- Different Methods of Confronting Mortality
- Millais's "Vale of Rest" and the Victorian Crisis of Faith
Millais, John Guile. The Life and Letters of John Everett Millais, President of the Royal Academy. 2 vols. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1899.
The Pre-Raphaelites. London: Tate Gallery/Allen Lane, 1984.
Last modified 8 July 2018


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Are you the proud owner of a printer from either Lexmark or Epson? Are you running the latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard? Then you, friend, are the intended audience for the pair of printer drivers Apple released on Tuesday.
Lexmark Printer Drivers v 2.2 for Mac OS X v10.6 is a 121MB download that promises the latest drivers for Lexmark owners running Mac OS X 10.6 or later. Epson Printer Drivers v2.2 for Mac OS X v10.6.1 promises the same thing, but its 546MB also includes scanning software and it's aimed at users running the 10.6.1 update.
How to tell if your printer requires either update. Apple's got you covered there, too, with a list of supported printer models for both Lexmark and Epson.


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Gateway Spa Logo Design Contest
Gateway Community & Technical College is sponsoring a contest to design a logo for the Emerge Spa amp; Studio by Gateway, located on Scott Boulevard in Covington. We have had a team working on branding the Covington Abode Building to reflect its purpose at the Urban Campus, as the Gateway Spa. The team identified and discovered the Gateway Spas brand identity, especially in relation to naming, within a 60-day timeframe. We did this with the help of community members, stakeholders, consultants, students, faculty and staff. The name is Emerge Spa amp; Studio by Gateway. Our next phase is to develop a mark/logo for the spa as part of its brand identity. We are opening this opportunity to the community though a logo/mark design contest. Are you a designer? Develop a potential logo/mark for submission!
The winning designer will receive:
- $250
- A free class a Gateway ($432 value)
- A one-person show in a Gateway campus gallery space in Covington
- Gift Certificates for four free massages at Emerge Spa amp; Studio
- Recognition at the Abode Building Ribbon Cutting


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This post details Ming Thein's thoughts on aspect ratios and composition.
Round plate in a square frame. The composition is ostensibly balanced, but a little randomization is created by the uneven lighting. Leica D-Lux 5
Aspect ratio: image width/ image height, with the long dimension first.
There are six common aspect ratios for cameras today (and as many as you like if you use the crop tool, but that's another subject for another day :)
1:1 – Square format, traditionally the realm of 6x6cm Hasselblads, and now popularized by various mobile apps.
5:4 – Large format and sheet film cameras, mainly 8×10?.
4:3 – Broadcast television and video used this aspect ratio, originally in 640×480 pixel resolution; small sensor cameras and compacts (which inherited early video CCD architecture) have been using this aspect ratio ever since. Four Thirds and Micro Four thirds are the larger consumer formats to use it; in medium format there's also 645 which has the same aspect ratio for both film and digital.
3:2 – Double a movie frame; famously invented when Oscar Barnack rotated the film through 90 degrees and doubled the width of the frame to create the 24x36mm 'full frame' 35mm camera format. Almost all larger sensored DSLRs use this today.
16:9 – HDTV format; not a native aspect ratio for digital still cameras, but useful to provide a more cinematic feel to an image.
2.35/2.40:1 – Motion picture widescreen for feature films; very rarely used for still photography, and there are certainly no dedicated digital still cameras that offer exclusively this format. Not only is it extremely wide, if you're cropping down from a 4:3 sensor you're throwing away more than half of your image.
16:9 and cinematic. Note how the whole subject isn't necessary for you to identify it. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G
Most modern cameras offer different image sizes in-camera, though all they really do is crop the top and bottom or sides. There are a few digital cameras that have sensors bigger than the lens' image circle, which allow the diagonal angle of view for a given focal length to be maintained when changing crop; the main one of these is the Panasonic LX series of cameras. Put one of these on a tripod, slide the aspect ratio switch on the lens barrel and you'll notice that the horizontal field of view gets wider than the 4:3 option, even though this is the native aspect ratio of the sensor. (It also means that you don't suffer as much of a resolution decrease as you'd expect when changing aspect ratios). There is no point in shooting in another aspect ratio if all the camera does is throw away the extra pixels; you're better off capturing as much information as you can at the time of shooting and then deciding later what crop would work best (assuming, of course, that you didn't compose correctly at the time.)
Filling the frame – native 4:3 of the Olympus E-PM1 Pen Mini, uncropped. 45/1.8
Now that's out of the way, the aim of this article is to focus on understanding the compositional impact of different aspect ratios, and more importantly, how to pick the right aspect ratio for a given subject.
There are two ways to go about this – either you shoot only one aspect ratio (for instance 3:2 because you have a digital SLR) and arrange the contents of your frame around it, or you keep an open mind and match the aspect ratio to respect the subject and the dynamic of your composition. For instance, you might use a 1:1 square for a round object if you want a balanced frame, or you might use 16:9 and just focus on one curve if you want to highlight a particular detail in a cinematic manner – you never see movie shots showing the whole of Earth, for instance; it's always a hemisphere with the sun rising in just the right place. This is not a coincidence!
(Nearly) symmetric, but visually balanced. The two are not the same thing. Leica M9-P
Most people will stick to the aspect ratio that is native to the camera, and either do nothing else, or crop to fit later. This is compositionally very, very sloppy – not only do you not get the best frame for the shape of your subject, there's a very good chance that you probably won't be able to fill the frame properly, either; 3:2 is a bit of a compromise aspect ratio that lacks the organic intimacy of 5:4 or 4:3 for portraits, or the drama of 16:9 for more expansive scenes.
Symmetry. Nikon D700, AFS 60/2.8 G
If you crop to fit the subject exactly, then chances are you'll probably also land up with a very boring frame – this time, because the composition is too balanced. It seems counterintuitive, but the reality is that such compositions tend to use the space around the subject as a frame, and nothing else; there is no context, secondary subjects or points of interest added.
Balanced, but not at all symmetric.
Don't despair too much if this situation seems a bit damned if you do, damned if you don't. The good news is that the one obvious remaining strategy usually works the best if done correctly: learn to fill your frame. For the most part, this is how I operate unless I know the final output (usually client work) is going to be of an certain aspect ratio, or if the scene itself just cries out for a certain shape.
What does filling the frame entail? Well, for one, you should be able to identify your subject – that's composition 101. The remaining space should be filled with elements that either echo your subject, strengthen the story, or give the subject context. But in no way should they distract the eye from the primary subject. And each smaller element should be placed in the remaining space in a balanced manner.
The leading space of anticipation. Depth of field control and lighting make it clear what's part of the foreground/ subject, and what's part of the background and is context.
Here's a visual example, using dots to represent compositional elements. The big red circle is the subject. The lighter color/ lower saturation dots are the secondary, tertiary and other filler.
First we place the main subject; where exactly in the frame is up to you, but in general, you leave leading space in front of the subject's orientation if you want to create expectation (i.e. if a person is in profile, then put most of the space in front of their nose); trailing space if you want to create urgency or drama; or alternatively, let the supporting background elements dictate where to put the primary subject. For this example, let's just pick an arbitrary starting location – all dots look pretty much the same. I'm going to pick 3:2 as our example aspect ratio.
Now the secondaries – put them in the white space, with balanced space around them to create both an isolating/ highlighting frame, and a buffer zone between them and the main subject so they don't get confused or overlapped:
And the same for the tertiaries.
The other filler rests wherever it rests, but just make sure that distracting elements – say a huge point highlight like the sun, in this case, the blue dot – don't go in distracting places.
There – a balanced composition. There isn't any odd empty space that doesn't have an equivalent mirror along a given horizontal or vertical (or for that matter, any other orientation) axis. Let's try this again for 1:1 and the same size original subject:
And finally, 16:9:
Notice how for the 16:9 example I didn't show the whole subject; you don't always need to. Just so long as you can identify what the subject is, you'll be fine. In fact, it's quite easy to imagine this particular frame as say a sunrise over the edge of earth (using our previous example) with a fleet of spaceships in the foreground…
(Oops, I'm getting carried away. Perhaps I should take up modern art, or perhaps designing colorblindness tests.)
More seriously there's a secondary subject intersecting the main subject – does it matter? Only if the intersection causes some perceived division of either, e.g. a horizontal line running through somebody's head would tend to suggest decapitation to a view, and consequently looks rather odd for a portrait. However, there are also examples where such intersections or juxtapositions can create interesting images in their own right.
Notice how each composition is balanced, but you still instantly know what the main subject is.
Want to make this exercise more realistic? Okay, let's go back to 3:2 and do one for wide angle, with emphasized perspectives and huge relative size differences in dots:
And another one for telephoto, with the foreground and background dots blurred to replicate shallow depth of field:
Once again, notice how your eye is still drawn to the main subject in each composition. Of course, real life isn't quite this easy; subjects aren't dots, the white spaces aren't always uniformly white, and most of all, you almost never have any control over where to put anything else except your main subject; most of the time it's about waiting for the secondaries to move, or you moving (for immobile subjects) to get the vantage point that works. The only time you have full control is when you're shooting still life in a studio.
Note how the empty space serves to highlight the (highlighted) subject. Nikon D700, AFS 85/1.4 G
One interesting thing I'd like to bring up at this point is our very restricted use of verticals – almost always, verticals are in more square aspect ratios; 3:2 is about the slimmest vertical aspect ratio you see. You almost never see 16:9 or anything wider; my theory is that it's both to do with how our eyes natively see, and how content is presented. Since human eyes are horizontally tandem, we tend to see in a wider horizontal field than vertical; a tall image forces our eyes to scan up and down its length, which means that such images are difficult to compose because they must be broken into zones with complimentary transitions for the composition to work. (The same is not true for horizontals, because we can take in the image at a glance and instantly recognize the surrounding areas as context.)
The secondary subject reinforcing the primary, empty space creates anticipation. Nikon D700, AFS 28-300VR
Making things worse, almost all displays are geared towards this ergonomic trend – as makes sense – when was the last time you saw a vertical monitor? Furthermore, we get subconscious reinforcement through other means that horizontal is the way to go: most cameras only have one grip, and even those that have two make shooting landscapes much easier than portraits; even after we shoot, when we view the images on a monitor, the verticals take up about a third of the space, but the horizontals nearly the entire area – obviously, the larger ones look better, so we tend not to be as influenced by the vertical images…
We needed to have at least one vertical in here. Nikon D700, Zeiss ZF 85/1.4 Planar
However, with practice, you'll learn to see this way – and with more practice, you'll learn to see this in the instant you identify what you want to have as your main subject; along with lighting, focus, exposure etc. Fortunately, visual pattern recognition is something that human brains are very good at, even for things that have zero fixed quantitative parameters. For example, we know something is a dog even if it's in a different orientation, different size, a line drawing or a photograph, or a stylized graphic silhouette. Try programming a computer to do this, and you'll soon realize both how impossible a task quantifying the distinguishing parameters of a dog is, and what an amazing piece of hardware our brains are. (If you disagree, what marks the difference between a wolf and a dog? Or a dog and a cat? Or a dog and a cow? They're all four-legged with tails and pointy ears.)
Once again, it comes down to practice. The more you shoot and the more images your brain sees, the faster it becomes at picking out compositions in a live scene that work against ones that don't. I know that isn't a concrete answer, but shouldn't you be out shooting now? MT
About The Author
Ming Thein is a photographer based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He specializes in watches, food and architecture / interiors. He is also the author of the Photography Compendium app. You can follow his excellent blog here, his photography on Flickr and his musing on Facebook. This article was originally posted here.


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Hornet directors Yves Geleyn and Dan & Jason paired up to help launch this campaign for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Britain's leading children's charity fighting to end child abuse. The cautionary spots tell two different stories of how social media can influence and affect children, and unfortunately, how it can sometimes harm them.
Since its release, the campaign has taken home multiple awards and accolades from top industry shows such as the Campaign BIG Awards, the Kinsale Sharks, the New Yrork Art Directors Club, APA, Creative Review, Campaign Magazine and The One Show to only name a few. Most notably, the "Share Aware" campaign also took the Jury Prize in the Commissioned Film category at the 2015 Annecy Awards.
The NSPCC acts on behalf of all children through inspirational, approachable, genuine and bold messages with the aim of preventing abuse, support parents and offering resources. Every childhood is worth fighting for.


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If you find this item at a lower price elsewhere including shipping and any taxes, please email us or give us a call and we will do everything we can to beat any valid online competitor's price! Be sure to include the link to the other site. *We can not price match local stores, warehouses, price clubs, or prior sales and the item must be new and in stock. Please see our guarantee for more details.
The Gorilla Playsets Chateau Clubhouse Treehouse Swing Set with Amber Posts combines durable and sturdy construction with a fun design to make it a great fit for any home.
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Curbside delivery is included with each order to the contiguous 48 states. This means that the delivery company will lower the pallet(s) off the delivery truck at the end of your driveway. Someone must sign for the order, and the delivery driver is not responsible for unpacking or moving pallets or boxes to the build location.
When your Gorilla Playsets jungle gym arrives from the shipper, it is recommended that customers have at least two people available to help move each piece in the pallet from the curb to wherever the structure will be assembled. Though the entire pallet(s) will weigh a lot, each piece is easily manageable by one or two people.
Though it is rare, occassionally boxes get damaged in transit. If you see any visible damage when receiving your order, please let the driver know. Make sure that this is noted on the bill of lading that you will receive and also let us know. We will make sure that you receive whatever replacement parts are needed to fix any problems.
We will email you tracking information as soon as it is available. When your order arrives at the shipping terminal closest to your home, the dispatcher there will call you to set up the delivery appointment. This is usually set for the next business day as they only delivery Monday through Friday, but they will try to find a time that is convenient for you. You can also ask the dispatcher to ask the driver to call you 30-45 minutes before delivery to help narrow the delivery time frame.
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It looks like EA may have learned something from the SimCity fiasco! One of the many problems with the launch of SimCity was that players were having difficulty being able to access the game. This was, to make a long story short, due to problems that EA was slow to resolve regarding their servers. Many have said that things would have been so much better if SimCity could be played without having to be online.
Perhaps the frustrated cries of thousands of gamers have been heard by EA. They have announced that The Sims 4 will offer a "single-player offline experience". The EA blog says:
The Sims 4 celebrates the heart and soul of the Sims themselves, giving players a deeper connection with the most expressive, surprising, and charming Sims ever in this single-player offline experience. The Sims 4 encourages players to personalize their world with new and intuitive tools while offering them the ability to effortlessly share their creativity with friends and fans.
I don't have any details about exactly how the sharing ability will function. What I do understand is that The Sims 4 won't require people to share anything at all with other players in order to access and play the game itself. Perhaps The Sims 4 will be able to avoid the problems that happened with SimCity.
Another interesting thing, at least to me, is that The Sims 4 is currently in development for both PC and Mac. As a gamer who uses a Mac, this makes me happy. Of course, we will all have to wait until The Sims 4 is released, sometime in 2014, before we can play it.


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October 28, 2016
Clark Rector Jr., Executive Vice President of Government Affairs
- FCC Chairman Recommends Changes to Privacy Rulemaking
- Louisiana Commission Looks at Advertising Tax Exemption
- Food Advertising Under Fire Around the World
- Clinton Targets DTC Ads
- Advertising Day on the Hill
FCC Chairman Recommends Changes
to Privacy Rulemaking
On October 27, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved new privacy rules for broadband service providers. In early October, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler released a Fact Sheet regarding the Commission's previously released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that made dramatic and unprecedented changes to the Notice.
Most notably, by expanding the definition of "sensitive data," to include web browsing and application use data when linked to a device alone. Sensitive data requires a consumer's opt-in to use or share. This is a significant departure from accepted industry practice and customer expectation that the collection and use of web viewing and application use data for advertising purposes is subject to an opt-out choice.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency with a long history of privacy protection, has long held that "sensitive data" does not include web browsing or application use data.
AAF and many of our sister associations wrote to the FCC explaining our concerns with the change and the harm it would do to businesses, consumers and the thriving Internet economy which relies on the support of data-driven advertising. Also expressed, was the concern that the rules only apply to service providers and not other entities in the online world.
Additionally, in-person follow-up meetings with FCC Commissioners and staff took place for further discussions. AAF and our allies have submitted a Proposal Regarding Sensitive Information and Consent and a series of "ex parte" letters responding to specific concerns.
We have communicated that industry self-regulation through the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) has effectively addressed consumer privacy concerns. Self-regulation can typically adapt to changes in technology and practices more quickly than the government can. DAA CEO Lou Mastria recently published an op-ed explaining the role of self-regulation in the context of the FCC Notice. Additionally, the DAA announced in October that it intends to start enforcing the industry's privacy code for cross-device tracking in February of 2017.
Louisiana Commission Looks at Advertising Tax Exemption
On October 4, the Louisiana Sales Tax Streamlining & Modernization Commissionconducted a routine hearing to examine a long list of exclusions and exemptions to the state's sales tax code, including advertising services (relevant video begins at approximately 50 minutes in).
Jason Broha, a member of the AAF-Baton Rouge Board of Directors testified before the Commission on behalf of the club and AAF. He explained the economic impact that advertising has on jobs in Louisiana and the harm that removing the exemption would do the state's economy and local businesses. Commission members were unanimous in their position that advertising should not be a taxable service in the state. They subsequently passed a motion clarifying that any recommendations passed by the Commission explicitly state that advertising should remain an untaxed service.
Food Advertising Under Fire Around the World
At a recent international assembly, the World Medical Association recommended that "the advertising of non-nutritious products be restricted during television programming and other forms of media that appeal to children." In Israel, a Health Ministry Committee has recommended that ads for "unwholesome" foods directed at children be banned and those for adults be subject to restrictions.
Neither body has the power to enact their recommendations, but they illustrate the mindset of many activists that believe that attacking commercial speech is the way to address societal problems.
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released her extended plan to address prescription drug price hikes, which includes her previously announced proposed restrictions on pharmaceutical advertising. Specifically, the plan would "eliminate corporate write-offs for direct-to-consumer advertising" and "establish a mandatory FDA pre-clearance procedure for these ads." AAF will continue to fight harmful proposals such as these and continue to educate lawmakers of the many benefits of DTC advertising, especially their proven ability to prompt many consumers to visit a doctor to begin needed conversations about important medical conditions. We will also remind them that government approval of advertising strikes at the very heart of the First Amendment guarantees of free speech.
Mark your calendars for AAF's Advocacy & Action: Advertising Day on the Hill on the evening of March 29 and all day March 30. At this exciting free event, attendees will learn from lawmakers and experts about the issues facing the advertising industry and take their message to Capitol Hill in meetings with their Senators, Representatives and their staffs.
"Attending the American Advertising Federation Day on the Hill event is not only an opportunity to understand some of the issues facing our industry, but a chance to become a part of the solution. I found this to be the single most helpful and insightful event in the AAF organization. It is an honor to attend this event," said Lisa Delany, AAF District 15 Lt. Governor.
Registration and hotel information will be announced very soon, but for now save the date and plan to be in Washington, DC on March 29 and 30 for AAF's Advocacy & Action: Advertising Day on the Hill.
The AAF Government Report is available to all members of the AAF. If you are interested in receiving an e-mailed copy, please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.
If you are interested in receiving the AAF SmartBrief, an opt-in news service, please visitwww.smartbrief.com/aaf. The AAF SmartBrief condenses advertising industry news from dozens of media sources into a succinct, easy to read e-mail.


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Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Toronto Back Alleys 2011
I've been working on several more paintings of the back alleys and streets of Toronto, some of which I've shared via
, so I thought I'd post one here. As with many of the others in the series, this one was painted in gouache and ink, and the colour choice was meant to evoke a feeling of early fall.
And for those who are interested, yes a book is still in the works. I am furiously painting away, completing more pictures for it.
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Michael Cho
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LB850 - Two Color Large Flip Bow
LB850 - Two Color Large Flip Bow
12 or more $6.75
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Add the finishing touch and complete your look with a cheerleading hair bow! The right accessories can make your uniform sparkle even more. The image shown is a sample of this beautiful custom cheerleading hair bow. Make your own unique look and customize this hair bow with your own colors, and/or text, sport, mascot, and attachment!
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DENVER --The Broncos are now one win away from the Super Bowl.
Denver's Divisional-Round win against the San Diego Chargers means the Broncos will host the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game next Sunday.
It's the ninth time the Broncos have made it to the conference championship game and the sixth time they've hosted it.
Kickoff at Sports Authority Field at Mile High is scheduled for 1 p.m. MST.
The No. 2 seed Patriots earned their spot in the game with a 43-22 win against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.
The Broncos and Patriots played earlier this season in Week 12 -- a 34-31 overtime loss that saw Denver jump out to a 24-0 lead before New England came roaring back.
The rematch will come with a spot in Super Bowl XLVIII on the line.