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Thanks to an anonymous hacker self-identified as Guccifer, we now know that former President George W. Bush likes to paint self-portraits in the bath.
That's one of the tidbits revealed when at least six email accounts belonging to Bush family members and friends close to the family were hacked and their contents shared online. The high profile hack underscores, once again, the importance of a strong password when it comes to your email account—whether you are the former President of the United States or an average Jane or Joe Gmail user.
The email messages from the family of George H.W. Bush and close friends span 2009 to 2012, and include private family discussions along with family photos, according to The Smoking Gun.
Other than the shower paintings, the photos posted online are pretty generic. One shows former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton posing with a younger member of the Bush clan, possibly Pierce Bush (no stranger to online over exposure himself). Others include photos of Jeb Bush, George W. Bush, and Laura and Barbara Bush.
The Bush family intrusion is the focus of a criminal investigation, a Bush family spokesperson told The Houston Chronicle. Hacking public figures has become a routine occurrence in recent years, with email, personal photos, cell phones, and social networking accounts all under fire. The Bush family joins a roster of hacked politicians that includes former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Sen. Chuck Grassley. Beyond politicians, the volume of celebrity hacks inspire countless online slideshows, including leaked photos of Miley Cyrus, Olivia Munn, and Scarlett Johansson.
But not only public officials and celebrities get hacked. Sometimes people become a target just because of their Twitter handle, political activities, or for no apparent reason at all. Over the last few days, for example, I've been seeing a warning at the top of my Gmail window to let me know state-sponsored attackers might be trying to compromise my account.
So what can you do to prevent attackers from breaking in and flooding the Internet with your personal snapshots, documents, and email? Here's a refresher on security practices.
Try to choose a password that is lengthy (a minimum of ten characters should do the trick) and includes numbers, letters, and special symbols (if allowed). Many password managers such as 1Password, KeePass, and LastPass can generate and remember passwords for you. This makes it much easier to manage multiple online accounts, each with unique and hard-to-remember passwords. For more about passwords, check out these PCWorld tips.
You should never use the same password across multiple accounts, and that piece of advice goes double for sensitive accounts. That would cover anything that involves your money or your online identity, including banks or PayPal; sites that save your credit card information such as Amazon, e-mail accounts, Facebook, and Twitter; or any other social networks where you use your real name.
Two-factor authentication
If you have any online accounts that can be secured with two-factor authentication, use it. This adds an extra layer of protection, making it harder for hackers to break in. The basic premise of two-factor authentication is that accessing a protected account requires two things: Something you know (your password) and something you have (an authentication token).
Many authentication tokens can be generated by smartphone applications, such as Google Authenticator. These apps provide time sensitive codes that you have to enter after your enter your password. Examples of services that support two-factor authentication include Battle.net, Dropbox, Google, and LastPass.
Account recovery
One popular point of attack is to use a Webmail service's account recovery option. Hackers try to break into a primary email account by taking over a secondary account. If you were using email@example.com, for example, hackers might click the "forgot password" link and figure out that your back-up address is firstname.lastname@example.com. Many people forget to keep their recovery account up to date, allowing hackers to restart a forgotten email address, and have an account recovery email sent to it. Then, before you know it, you're locked out of your Gmail account. Google and other Webmail providers periodically show you reminders to make sure your account recovery options are up to date–don't ignore these warnings.
Don't daisy chain
When it comes to sensitive accounts, ones that manage your money or your online identity, don't use the same recovery email account for all of them. If your single recovery email address falls, that can snowball into a hack that reaches across your entire online life. For more information on how this can quickly turn into a nightmare see Honan, Mat.
Now for the bad news
Those are some of the best practices you can handle to make sure your data stays safe. But some weaknesses are beyond your control. For example, the bad guys could trick customer tech support into resetting your passwords, or use some other social engineering hacks involving third parties.
Ultimately, there's only so much you can do to deter hackers. But the harder you make it to hack your online life through proper password management, two-factor authentication, and account recovery practices, the less likely you are to become a victim of malicious actors online.


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January 2018
Music from Musicals, The Complete Ravel
We start the year with music from musicals — from Broadway to the West End, from Cole Porter to Stephen Sondheim, from Ivor Novello to Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The American Musical, with its origins in operetta and Vaudeville, assured its worth in the 1920s with Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's monumental Showboat. The genre made a shift again with Rodgers & Hammerstein's landmark Oklahoma!, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Along the way, tunes from these great shows became the foundation for much of the American Songbook and inspiration for jazz artists upon which to base their improvisations.
Spirio explores a wide range of music from the musicals, including the British heritage, with the tunes of Noël Coward and Ivor Novello up through the era of the Andrew Lloyd Webber mega-musicals Cats and Phantom of the Opera. But the American influence is especially present with the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein, and the latest musical sensation (for film) of La La Land.
With the debut of French pianist Bertrand Chamayou, Spirio now offers the complete piano works of one of the most important and influential French composers of the early 20th century, Maurice Ravel. Bertrand's performances of some of the less-known works are included along with a new performance by Sean Chen of one of his popular, Le tombeau de Couperin. In addition to the ever-popular Pavane pour une infante défunte, we have the four-hand Mother Goose Suite, and also piano arrangements of the blockbuster orchestral works La Valse and Boléro.
For our Spirio Sync video this month, we present Steinway Immortal Vladimir Horowitz performing an encore at a memorable Carnegie Hall appearance in 1968, the Scarlatti G Major Sonata, K. 55.
More classical repertoire this month comes from Matthias Kirschnereit, who performs Alberto Ginastera's Piano Sonata and from Tania Tachkova, who plays the Cuentos de la juventud (Scenes from Childhood) by Granados. And we have works by two of today's important American composers: Gabriela Lena Frank's Nocturno Nazqueño, played by Daniel Kim, and John Musto's Improvisation and Fugue, Performed by Leann Osterkamp.

subset: commoncrawl


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Plenty of people surely will disagree, but I firmly believe that underdressed hot dogs simply aren't worth the calories.
If all you're going to do to a hot dog is drizzle some ketchup, splurt some mustard and spoon some relish on it, it's not worth the effort to eat. I favor a well-dressed dog, a hot dog accompanied by robust and inspired toppings that transform this classic summer food into so much more.
As such, my preferred hot dogs tend to be on the overflowing and messy side. But that's why they are summer food, so you can eat them outside.
But just because they are overflowing and messy doesn't mean they shouldn't have a plan. I like to draw inspiration from other dishes when planning the toppings for a hot dog. An Indian curry, for example, is a fine starting point when selecting toppings. Same for Greek spanakopita (spinach and feta cheese pie), pizza and tacos.
One part Indian curry, one part all-American dog, this frankfurter isn't afraid of big, bold flavors. There's not a whole lot of work involved in this hot dog, but the potato roll is key. It not only has a crazy good taste and texture, it's also a subtle nod to the potatoes added to so many more authentic curry dishes. Paneer, a heat-resistant Indian cheese that can be grilled, usually is found in the grocer's international or specialty cheese aisles.
— Drizzle a bit of canola oil over 4 hot dogs, rolling them to coat evenly. Sprinkle the hot dogs evenly with curry powder (mild or spicy, to taste). Grill the hot dogs, as well as 4 small slabs of paneer, over medium heat. Grill the cheese for 3 minutes, flipping once, or until nicely browned on both sides. Toast 4 potato hot dog buns on both sides. Finely chop the grilled paneer and fill each toasted bun with some. Place a hot dog over the cheese, then spoon mango chutney over the top. Garninsh with chopped fresh cilantro. Serves 4.
Inspired by the gobs of feta cheese and spinach that are layered into classic spanakopita, this hot dog has the big, robust flavors of Greek food.
— Thaw 1 cup of loose-packed frozen shredded spinach, then squeeze it over the sink to remove as much water as possible. In a large skillet over medium-high, heat a splash of olive oil. Saute the spinach, a diced medium yellow onion and 2 minced cloves of garlic. When the onion is tender, season with salt, pepper and dill seed. Grill 4 hot dogs and toast 4 hot dog buns over medium heat. Spoon some of the spinach mixture into each bun, then place a hot dog over it. Top with crumbled feta cheese and, if desired, a bit of purchased tzatziki (Greek yogurt dip — sold alongside the hummus). Serves 4.
Because the only way to make meat-wrapped meat better is to add melted mozzarella cheese.
— Using 2 slices of prosciutto per hot dog, wrap 4 hot dogs tightly in prosciutto. Grill the hot dogs over low heat, turning regularly, until the prosciutto is crisp and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, fill 4 hot dog buns with bocconcini (small balls of fresh mozzarella). Toast the buns on the grill (bun opening facing up) until the cheese is warm and starting to melt. Place a hot dog in each bun, then top with oil-packed chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chopped fresh basil. Serves 4.
Soft and crunchy and spicy and creamy — exactly the way a taco should be.
— Spoon refried beans into 4 hot dog buns. Lightly crumble about 12 tortilla chips, then sprinkle some over the refried beans in each bun. Grill 4 hot dogs over low heat. Toast the prepared buns (bun openings facing up) until the beans are heated. Place a hot dog in each bun, then top with sliced jalapeno peppers, tomato salsa, sliced black olives and shredded cheddar cheese. Serves 4.


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BRISTOL, Conn. -- Maryland and Virginia will renew their basketball rivalry -- now as non-conference foes.
The Terrapins will play host to the Cavaliers in the 16th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge in December. It's the first time Maryland will be representing the Big Ten in the event after leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terps beat Virginia in overtime in their final regular-season ACC game in March.
Fellow Big Ten newcomer Rutgers will play at Clemson, while ACC addition Louisville will play host to Ohio State.
The marquee matchups announced by ESPN on Thursday include Duke at Wisconsin, Syracuse at Michigan, Iowa at North Carolina and Michigan State at Notre Dame.
The Wolverines and Orange met in the 2013 NCAA semifinals, a Michigan win. The Spartans and Fighting Irish haven't played since the 1979 regional finals, when Magic Johnson led Michigan State to a national title.
With the expansion of the two conferences, the event is increasing from 12 to 14 games.
The Rutgers-Clemson game is Dec. 1, when Nebraska also faces Florida State. Along with Syracuse-Michigan and Ohio State-Louisville, Pittsburgh is at Indiana, NC State at Purdue, Illinois at Miami and Minnesota at Wake Forest on Dec. 2. The Dec. 3 matchups are Duke-Wisconsin, Michigan State-Notre Dame, Iowa-North Carolina, Virginia-Maryland, Georgia Tech-Northwestern and Virginia Tech-Penn State.
Boston College is the only ACC school that won't participate, as the conference has one more member than the Big Ten.


text: The nickname Mormon was created by people who were not members of the Church to refer to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The name comes from the sacred book of scripture compiled by the ancient prophet Mormon and entitled the Book of Mormon. The name given by the Lord by which members of the Church are to be known is "Saints." The correct name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


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Capture And Share Your Sounds
The web today makes it really easy for us to share our experiences with the people we care about. Status messages on Twitter and Facebook, videos on YouTube or photos on Flickr, capturing a moment and sharing it with our friends, fans or family gives that moment a special meaning.
Imagine you're in the subway and all of a sudden a group of strangers starts singing – what's known as a flashmob is happening right in front of your eyes (and ears). Or imagine you're on tour with your band and have a super-funny story or acoustic demo of a brand-new song to share with your followers and fans. How awesome would it be if you could capture this moment on the move and instantly share your recording with your people? We think that would be pretty awesome…
Today, we're excited about the release of the recording feature. The Record button will make it easy for you to capture all kinds of sounds right on SoundCloud & with the iPhone app and share them from anywhere to everywhere on the web: your website, social network profiles or simply between friends & family.
The updated iPhone app:
Did you just come up with a brilliant melody or a brand new poem and want to share it with your friends? Capturing this moment is now possible in our updated iPhone app that includes the Record feature.
Hit the REC button to get started and when you're done, you can take a new photo or select one from your iPhone library. You can also choose your recording to be private or public and the app will recognize which of your social networking accounts are already connected with your SoundCloud account so you can seamlessly share your recording with your friends and followers on SoundCloud.
We've also added a few other updates to the iPhone app. It's free and you can jump right into the iTunes App Store to get it. Read more details about the iPhone app in this blog post.
Record on SoundCloud:
You'll find the same big REC button on the 'Upload & Share' from where you're able to quickly record any sound bites like an acoustic version of your new song or perhaps a conversation between friends. Also, the same REC button is included on other people's DropBoxes, a cool way to share a personal voice message with others.
After you've finished recording, you can preview your sound and either upload it to your account or start over.
In a final step – just like you're used to – upload some artwork, add a description and more metadata around your sound and decide if you want to publicly or privately share it with your SoundCloud followers and friends across the web.
We're excited and proud about this new feature and can't wait to see and hear the many different sounds you'll create. As always, we're eager to hear what you think about this update so this time, why not record your feedback as an audio message and post the link to the comments.
Read more on TechCrunch, San Francisco Chronicle.


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Experience learning like no other
in which you are allowed to eat your lunch and
take bites at instructional technology!
For JJC Faculty, Staff and Students
Admission to these presentations is on a first-come-first-serve basis.
A reservation is not required.
A John Jay College ID card with a current semester sticker is required to attend.
Due to the current system's content restriction, the dynamic schedule can no longer be published. As an alternative, we have statically published our events as downloadable PDFs (click here). All CLSS training events are also published in the college calendar.
For further information, please contact CLSS at extension 8047.
Please revisit this page for an up-to-date list of "Tech Bites" sessions.
For additional listing of interesting topics, please try our newest ALL-IN-ONE schedule that consolidates all CLSS categories of training events.
Please visit the CLSS General FAQ for common questions and answers.


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Director: Barry Jenkins Run Time: 111 min. Format: DCP Rating: R Release Year: 2016
Starring: Naomie Harris, André Holland, Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders
A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. At once a vital portrait of contemporary African American life and an intensely personal and poetic meditation on identity, family, friendship, and love, Moonlight is a groundbreaking piece of cinema that reverberates with deep compassion and universal truths. Anchored by extraordinary performances from a tremendous ensemble cast, Jenkins's staggering, singular vision is profoundly moving in its portrayal of the moments, people, and unknowable forces that shape our lives and make us who we are.


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We provide great deals on furniture restorers shop insurance in Gibraltar offering fast access to highly competitive and comprehensive business insurance.
What is furniture restorers shop insurance?
The furniture restorers shop insurance package is designed to provide the retailer with a comprehensive range of business insurance covers that meet the needs of most furniture restorers shop owners for a suitable insurance policy at a competitive premium.
Who needs furniture restorers shop insurance?
Anyone engaged in the retail business who operates from premises should consider a shop insurance product to protect the business against claims that can potentially have financially disastrous consequences for the business.
What does furniture restorers shop insurance cover?
The policy provides you with;
- Property damage and loss, protecting the physical assets of your business such as stock, business contents and buildings
- Business Interruption, protecting the income of your business if trading is affected as a result of a property claim
- Business Cash, protecting the cash and negotiables
- Combined Liabilities offering public liability, product liability and employers liability to protect you against claims made against you in respect of your legal liability
- Goods in Transit cover for your property whilst in the course of transit from suppliers or to customers
How much does furniture restorers shop insurance in Gibraltar cost?
The price you pay for your shop insurance is dependent upon a few key factors such as the sums insured you require in respect of property damage insurance, the exact nature of the shop that you operate and whether you have had any previous claims and your trading history.
How can I buy furniture restorers shop insurance in Gibraltar?
You can apply on-line or call us directly to discuss your requirements with a specialist broker who can work with you to provide you with our best terms for your furniture restorers shop insurance requirements.


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Blue Angel Lebanon Cedar
Cedrus libani 'Blue Angel'
Blue Angel Lebanon Cedar
Cedrus libani 'Blue Angel'
How are the heights measured?
All tree, and nothin' but the tree! We measure from the top of the soil to the top of the tree; the height of the container or the root system is never included in our measurements.
What is a gallon container?
Nursery containers come in a variety of different sizes, and old-school nursery slang has stuck. While the industry-standard terminology is to call the sizes "Gallon Containers", that doesn't exactly translate to the traditional liquid "gallon" size we think of. You'll find we carry young 1-gallons, up to more mature 7-gallons ranging anywhere from 6 inches to 6ft.
How does the delivery process work?
All of our orders ship via FedEx Ground! Once your order is placed online, our magic elves get right to work picking, staging, boxing and shipping your trees. Orders typically ship out within 2 business days. You will receive email notifications along the way on the progress of your order, as well as tracking information to track your plants all the way to their new home!
Why are some states excluded from shipping?
The short & sweet answer is: "United States Department of Agriculture Restrictions." Every state has their own unique USDA restrictions on which plants they allow to come into their state. While we wish we could serve everyone, it's for the safety of native species and helps prevent the spread of invasive disease & pests. We've gotta protect good ole' Mother Nature, after all.


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About VacciCheck
VacciCheck® Antibody Test Kit is a simple and affordable in-clinic titer test designed for determining protective immunity in the puppy, for informing revaccination intervals in adult dogs and in management of infectious disease outbreaks in shelters1. VacciCheck provides reliable and accurate results in just 21 minutes!
- WSAVA GUIDELINES FOR VACCINATION OF DOGS AND CATS, Journal of Small Animal Practice – Vol 57, January 2016
[tab:About VacciCheck]
Measures canine antibody titer to:
- Infectious Hepatitis (ICH)
- Parvovirus (CPV)
- Distemper (CDV)
ImmunoComb VacciCheck is:
- The only semi-quantitative kit on the market
- Solid phase "dot" ELISA
- Affordable and simple to run
- A guide for revaccination decisions
- Three diseases in just one test
- Self contained
- Shelf life of 1-year
- Results in just 21 minutes
Serology testing is useful after a dog vaccination to indicate antibody levels for the core canine vaccines. In this way the veterinarian can modify vaccine programs for individual puppies. The cut-off values of the VacciCheck kits correlate with the vaccination recommendations of the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine.
Two main components:
The comb has 12 teeth. Each tooth tests one blood or serum sample and can provide up to three tests: ICH, CPV and CDV
The developing plate has multiple compartments, which contain the necessary reagents for comb developments.
Obtaining Results
Titer Testing: Making Vaccinations More Scientific
Featured in Dogs Naturally Magazine, Catherine O'Driscoll, founder of Pet Welfare Alliance, an organization that brings together animal advocates and pet owners from around the world, discusses VacciCheck and the benefits of titer testing rather than immediate vacciantion.
Sensitivity Specificity
Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and difference between positive and negative mean results of the ImmunoComb® Canine VacciCheck Antibody Test Kit for Canine Distemper, Parvo and AdenoVirus. (2009) Mazar S.1, Larson L.2 and Lavi Y.31
Antibody Testing vs. Vaccination – Applications in Clinical Practice
By Richard B. Ford, DVM, MS: In companion animal practice, serological testing continues to gain acceptance as a reliable means of assessing either: the results of vaccination…or the need for vaccination. Two key factors are likely behind the decision by clinicians to recommend or perform antibody testing on individual patients for the core vaccine-preventable diseases…
Find Out Why Once Every Three Years is the Trend in Vaccinations
Veterinary Practice News article: When did the shift away from the annual vax start? By Don Jergler
Age and Long-term Protective Immunity in Dogs and Cats
A study done by R. D. Schultz, B. Thiel, E. Mukhtar, P. Sharp and L. J. Larson – "Vaccination can provide an immune response that is similar in duration to that following a natural infection. In general, adaptive immunity to viruses develops earliest…"
Considerations for the Titer Testing
A report by Ronald D. Schultz, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, Professor and Chair, Department of Pathobiological Sciences School of Veterinary Medicine – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Canine Vaccination Guidelines (WSAVA)
By Professor Michael J. Day – "Two new in-practice titre-testing kits are now available which will allow your vet to do a titre test very quickly, without sending the blood sample to a laboratory. Ask your vet to look into this less expensive option. One kit is called VacciCheck…"
Read Full Article | Download Full Article [PDF]
The Outdated Vet Vaccination Advice That Can Harm Your Pet
Dr. Karen Becker looks into why 60% of vets are still doing annual re-vaccination despite the now 2-year old guidelines that contradict this practice.
Incorporating Titer Testing in Your Practice
A report by Shawn Messonnier, DVM on how he has successfully implement titer testing in his practice with the use of VacciCheck.
Vital Vaccination Series: Antibody Titers Versus Vaccination
A peer reviewed report by Richard B. Ford, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM & ACVPM (Hon) on the benefits of titer testing with the availability of in clinic tests like VacciCheck.
What We Need to Know About Vaccinations and Titer Testing
A report by Professor Michael J. Day, BSc BVMS(Hons) PhD DSc DiplECVP FASM FRCPath FRCVS, School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol
Co-Parenting Your Pet
A featured article in Dogs Today May 2012 edition by Richard Allport who runs a large referral center in Hertfordshire, offering a range of natural therapies for pets, including homeopathy, herbal medicine, acupuncture and healing.
New guidelines address over-vaccination issue
The Chicago Tribune's My Pet World by Steve Dale looks at the potential dangers, and risks associated with over-vaccination in animals. Several controversial issues are discussed in the 2011 American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) Vaccination Guidelines.
[tab:Video & Radio]
Video & Radio Library
Video Library:
How to Use VacciCheck!
A brief 3 minute animated video explaining how and when it appropriate to utilize VacciCheck in your practice.
Running Canine VacciCheck Test
Dr. Ron Schultz, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and his assistant Bliss Thiel demonstrate how to run the Canine VacciCheck antibody test. Brought to you by Maddie's Fund.
Reviewing Vital Vaccinations
Dr. Richard Ford, DVM, MS, DACVIM, DACVPM speaks at the 2015 NAVC to a large audience about the vital vaccination series and importance of titer testing.
Running Canine VacciCheck Test
Dr. Ron Schultz, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and his assistant Bliss Thiel demonstrate how to run the Canine VacciCheck antibody test. Brought to you by Maddie's Fund.
Antibody Titer Tests
Dr. Annette Litster, Director of Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at Purdue University, talks about the use of antibody titer tests in animal shelters. Brought to you by Maddie's Fund.
Interpreting Canine VacciCheck Test
Dr. Ron Schultz, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and his assistant Bliss Thiel demonstrate how to interpret the Canine VacciCheck antibody results. Brought to you by Maddie's Fund.
Everything You Need to Know about Using VacciCheck
VacciCheck manufacturer Biogal Galed goes over everything you need to know about using their ImmunoComb product to obtain quick and easy titer results in just 21 minutes!
Vaccinosis Webinar 3/18/14 – Dr. Patrick Mahaney MVD
Interactive webinar from March 18, 2014 with Dr. Patrick Mahaney MVD. We discuss the various ways in which he has been able to successfully implement titer testing into his practice to avoid Vaccinosis and other dangerous side effects of over and under vaccination. Learn when titer testing is appropriate, why it is necessary, and how you can make it standard practice in your clinic.
Radio Appearances:
Pet Parents' Action Group (04-05-2012) Catherine O'Driscoll on the BBC Radio London 'Barking at the moon' show interviews Lenny Small of Biogal, the company behind VacciCheck. Listen here:
PAWS Radio Vet Pet (09-01-2013) Our very own Lyndee Kelver joins Dr. Randy for PAWS Radio Vet Pet to talk about VacciCheck and callers share their own personal experiences with vaccinations. Listen below or click here to visit PAWS Radio Vet Pet online.
Cat Chat® & Dog Talk® (05-28-2013) The Vaccicheck show! Dr. Ron Schulz calls to explain about the deadly CORE diseases, why puppy shots are so vital and why the blood titer test Vaccicheck is so valuable for puppies and geriatric dogs — like Rebecca's, who calls from SO. California about whether to vaccinate her aging pooch with a foot tumor. Listen below or click here for more from the Radio Pet Lady Network.


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Democratic Republic Of Congo
As the world has watched with fear and fascination the fires burning in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, satellite images show a far greater number of blazes on the African continent.
NASA has called Africa the "fire continent" that's home to at least 70% of the 10,000 fires burning worldwide on an average August day, though the agency says the number of fires is consistent from year to year.
While French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is considering launching an international campaign to help sub-Saharan African countries fight fires, experts say the situation there is different and not yet a growing problem — though it could become a threat in future.
There are fire management questions in these (African) ecosystems, but fire is part of their ecology.
Angola had almost three times more fires than Brazil over a period last week, according to NASA satellite imagery, which indicated around 6,000 fires in Angola, more than 3,000 in Congo and just over 2,000 in Brazil.
Though Angola and Congo dominate in numbers of fires, they often occur in sparsely wooded savannas and on fields cultivated by small farmers, making them less of a concern for deforestation than those in the Amazon, said Sally Archibald, a professor at Wits University in Johannesburg.
"There are fire management questions in these (African) ecosystems, but fire is part of their ecology," said Archibald, who studies fire management and savanna dynamics.
"In South America, the equivalent non-forest woodlands have been largely converted to soybean agriculture already, but in Africa they are largely untransformed."
Savanna fires release carbon dioxide, but within a year the grass regrows, sucking much of the carbon out of the atmosphere again. The fires may push toward the forests, but are mostly snuffed out at that border, Archibald said, unless trees are cut down making tropical forests more vulnerable. When a tropical forest is burned, the trees die and the carbon dioxide goes up and doesn't return to the system quickly.
"The main message is: yes we have a lot of fire, but it's not bad and can be very good for the ecology," she said. "We don't know how many deforestation fires we have but the best evidence is that our forests are not decreasing, they are in fact increasing."
Most deforestation occurred in West Africa in the 19th century, Archibald said, adding that Cameroon and Gabon show increased forestation.
However, ecosystems such as the Miombo Woodlands, which covers 10% of the continent over nine countries, do need to be managed. These woodlands push up against forests and because of an increase in population, more people are planting crops along the edges.
The Miombo Network, an advisory and sustainability group that Archibald is a member of, is working with the World Bank and policymakers to make sure there is proper fire management in these areas, she said.
NASA research scientist Niels Andela also said that savanna fires have shaped Africa's landscape for thousands of years.
"Fires are therefore often a critical component of these ecosystems and are not perceived as harmful by local communities," he said. "Indeed, fires are often used for agricultural purposes, for example to keep the landscape open to support livestock, as well as sometimes as part of shifting cultivation."
Andela said deforestation isn't occurring on the same scale as in South America.
"In part that may be simply due to limitations of existing infrastructure and lack of access to global markets, processes that drive large scale agricultural expansion elsewhere," he said. "It is therefore certainly a possibility that this may change in future."
Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, former chief negotiator for the Africa Zone at the 2015 United Nations climate change conference, said agricultural practices known as "slash and burn" need to be better managed, citing the over 3,000 fires in Congo.
"It is a great threat to our forests," he said of the technique used by farmers in Congo and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.
"You need a global ambitious program or you train people to use other practices for people to go into intensive agriculture. You have to organize these small farmers by giving them fertilizer, seeds."
The European Space Agency estimates 25-35% of climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions come from so-called biomass burning, which includes fires that are intentionally set to clear land for agriculture.
The majority of those fires occur in tropical regions of Africa.
Using satellite data from the agency's Copernicus program, researchers said in a December study that the total area burned in 2016 was 4.9 million square kilometers (1.89 million sq. miles).
Most of the fires are 100 hectares (247.1 acres) or smaller in size. Other areas with extensive biomass burning are Australia, South America and southeast Asia.
Globally, the amount of area burned declined by about 25% over the past two decades, largely because of savannas and grasslands being converted to agriculture, said James Randerson, an earth systems scientist at the University at California, Irvine.
Randerson said the tropical forests of Africa have yet to see widespread deforestation driven by industrial-scale agriculture that is transforming parts of the Amazon. But, he said, global economic forces could potentially change this as countries in east Asia, particularly China, seek to expand trade relations with African nations.
"That could put more pressure on the African forests," Randerson said.


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You must be pretty accustomed to hearing and reading about facial cleansing brushes in the market, yeah? 🙂
By now, we all know that cleansing your face with just your hands, cleanser and a few splashes of water is not enough to remove the impurities and dirt accumulated on your skin throughout the day. Even a washcloth doesn't quite make the cut.
It is with great excitement that I share with you the newest dermatologist-developed Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush! Woohoo!! Clinique collaborated with a Swiss (when I think of Swiss, I think of top quality) toothbrush manufacturer to incorporate Swiss Engineered Sonic technology in this facial cleansing brush.
In line with Clinique's belief in simple, clean designs with form following function, Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush seeks to TRANSFORM SKIN via a gentle, custom cleansing experience.
Sleek, Travel-Friendly, Light
I'm quite a clumsy person. If I'm not dropping something on the floor, I'm creating an avalanche of falling items on myself, or knocking something over with my elbows. When Mr Mode and I go out, he will feel very stressed when we're in a shop with delicate products. He said it's like bringing out a bull. LOL.
What I love about the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush, despite its loooonnngg name, is how simple it is in design and form, yet resilient and consistent in function. And you know what they always say, the simpler something is, the harder it is to achieve.
I've dropped it quite a few times and it has remained solid and functional! Clumsiness-resistent! YAY!
The ergonomic design of the handle makes it easy to hold, and because it has a flat base, I can leave it on the edge of a table to air-dry. This is to prevent mildew from forming on the bristles if it sits in the humid conditions of a bathroom for too long.
On the sleek-looking, pure-white body, there's just one button to press. No fancy double, triple speed functions, just 2 different types of bristles on the brush head for you to manipulate according to what's best for your skin's needs.
Best part is, IT IS SO SMALL & LIGHT! Most brush cleansing devices are pretty heavy to accommodate all the engine work going on inside, so how Clinique managed to squeeze all that technology in a tiny body while keeping it light is remarkable.
And just for reference, it weighs lighter than my Samsung Note 3 - I think half of it!
Here's a big picture of my holding the device close to my face to show you just how compact it is. 😀
Perfect size for small hands!
How To Use Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush
The best demonstration picture would be one with my skin stripped of all makeup, covered in facial foam, and the Clinique Cleansing Brush working its magic.
In this case, the best happens to be the not so visually appealing. HAHAHA.
I tried that method and what a huge mess it was! Water and foam dripping all over my face and hands, my camera dangling precariously on my arm while I tried to create more foam, and another hand holding the Clinique Cleansing Brush.
Therefore, to spare you the agony of looking at a Bellatrix Lestrange + Spongebob Squarepants in a foam party mishmash, here's a mock demonstration on how to use the brush, with makeup on. Heh.
- Remove all eye and face makeup
- Moisten face
- Put your favorite cleanser on the brush
- Press button
The pale green portion consists of firmer, shorter bristles targeted for hard-to-reach corners like the nose, temple, chin. I also like to use it to exfoliate my lips.
The white bristles which take up about 2/3 of the total bristle count are great for targeting the larger, more delicate areas like the cheeks, as they're softer and less firm.
I actually prefer to do thorough cleansing (30 seconds x 2 rounds) when I shower at night, and speedy cleansing (30 seconds) at the sink in the morning. Wherever you bring your routine, the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush is safe for use as it is waterproof.
Look at how the brush is curved for targeted cleansing in contoured areas of the face!
The self timer automatically turns the brush off after 30 seconds, which makes it a good gauge for skin that has never come in contact with cleansing devices before, just to test how the skin reacts. Thereafter, you can build it up to 1 minute, and even twice a day.
I let the 30 seconds run 2 full cycles, count to 15 seconds on each cheek, 15 seconds on the nose, 30 seconds on the forehead and temples.
Clean Skin => Better Absorption Of Skincare Products
To me, CLEAN SKIN means:
- Lower likelihood of having clogged pores = lower frequency of acne outbreaks
- Skin can better repair and regenerate itself without presence of dirt and oil residue
- Skin is better prepared and primed for subsequent products
- Having a good canvas to apply makeup on
What does having CLEAN SKIN mean to you? 🙂
When you move the Clinique Cleansing Brush all over your skin, you're also massaging it. This increases circulation, and therefore aids in achieving brighter skin!
The Clinique Cleansing Brush was designed to be used with one of Clinique's 3-Step Facial Soaps, but you definitely CAN use your own facial cleanser.
What you CANNOT do is sleep without removing your makeup properly. Sleeping in your makeup is the universal ultimate skincare sin.
You put in effort to put on makeup, surely your skin deserves a good detox at the end of the day? No excuses even if you don't apply any makeup! Unless you live in a bacteria-free incubator, your skin has been polluted by everything you've come in contact with, so remember to cleanse it well.
Even though the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush is anti-microbial technology-enabled to keep the bristles clean, I wouldn't bank on using this as a makeup removal. I always do a first round of proper makeup removal, then use the Cleansing Brush to completely remove all traces of makeup residue.
Clinique Sonic Cleansing Brush Launch Event
Thank you Clinique for having us at the launch event of the Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush!
With pretty ladies Pegs, Rachell, Evonne!
This is called teamwork. Lol! Pegs' hand as test object, me squirting water on test object, Evonne taking picture of experiment.
It was to show how gentle the Sonic Cleansing Brush is - the wet tissue did not tear even with a moving and vibrating Cleansing Brush!
HAHAHAHA!!! Just my interpretation of this picture.
Alright! I hope I got you interested in the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush! It really is a must-have and there's no excuse not to have it with you even when you travel coz it's so light, sturdy, clean and each charge can last you SIX MONTHS!
Ever since I started to use technology-enabled cleansing devices, I could never go back to normal, traditional cleansing with bare hands.
The Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush can be found at all Clinique counters. International readers can find the Clinique Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush HERE.
What does having clean skin mean to you? What do you do to ensure you go to bed with clean skin every night?


text: IR-2017-14, January 31, 2017 WASHINGTON — The IRS announced today the release of an updated Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, that will help tax-exempt organizations avoid common mistakes when filing their annual return. The updated Form 990-EZ includes 29 "help" icons describing key information needed to complete many of the fields within the form. The icons also provide links to additional helpful information available on IRS.gov. These "pop-up" boxes share information to help small and mid-size exempt organizations avoid common mistakes when filling out the form and filing their return. "We've been reviewing the areas of the form where exempt organizations encounter the most trouble," said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "One out of three paper filers has an error on their form. After reviewing these trouble spots, we developed this new option to help groups navigate the form. This common-sense approach is designed to make it easier for exempt organizations to avoid problems up front – and avoid getting a follow-up contact from the IRS." On the new form, the help icons are marked in boxes with a blue question mark. The icons and underlying links work on any device with Adobe Acrobat Reader and Internet access. Once completed, filers can print Form 990-EZ and mail it to the IRS. Although many large exempt organizations are required to file Form 990-series information returns electronically, the IRS encourages all exempt organizations to consider filing electronically. In 2016, the error rate for electronically-filed 990-EZ returns was only 1 percent, compared to the 33 percent error rate in paper-filed returns. In 2016, the IRS processed over 263,000 Forms 990-EZ, with the majority of the filings – 139,000 -- on paper. A list of providers assisting with electronic filing is available on IRS.gov. Exempt organizations should keep in mind that the new help icons do not replace the Form 990-EZ instructions. Filers should review the Form's instructions when completing a return and use the help icons as an additional tool. The IRS also reminds exempt organizations that Form 990-series returns are due on the 15th day of the fifth month after an organization's tax year ends. Many organizations use the calendar year as their tax year, making May 15, 2017, the deadline to file for tax year 2016.


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Once again this year to celebrate the season, Christmas and of course because I like the effect a lot, it has started snowing on The Cat's Blog and my www.wickedlywonderfulwebsite www.thecatsdiary.com, or to be more accurate because as I explain in both my books Cat's have a dreadful curse, we can't tell a lie, it's snowing all over The Cat's Blog but only over the picture at the top of the page on my my www.wickedlywonderfulwebsite www.thecatsdiary.com.
I don't know if you can see the snow in the picture below but I can truthfully say that it's there (not being able to tell a lie is such a curse, I can tell you) maybe you should go to The Cat's Blog and check out all the lovely snow for yourself.
There is also something new about the snow for this year on The Cat's Blog and that is that you can make the snow go mad, change direction and even rather godlike make the snow stop! Just by using your mouse, track pad or if you are reading my The Cat's Blog using an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch – your finger!
I wonder if that's how god does the things he does? If that is there is a god 'up there' you have to imagine a Cat pointing his paw in a confused way 'up' as you read this bit!
Very soon this Christmasy kind Cat who writes blogs is going to bring you the ever popular Christmas lights to both The Cat's Blog and my www.wickedlywonderfulwebsite www.thecatsdiary.com and yes don't worry just like last year you will be able to pop, smash and generally destroy the pretty little twinkling lights when the 'pleasure' of all that Christmas fixed smile giving and general 'joy' gets the better of you and you feel an overriding urge to smash something.
Now for a little Christmas Quiz
Question: Where can you buy copies of my wonderful books?
Answer: Here!
Getting Out Excerpts from a Cat's Diary
Paperback edition of Getting Out at Amazon.com
Kindle edition of Getting Out at Amazon.com
The Cat's Travelogue
The Cat's Travelogue
Kindle edition of The Cat's Travelogue
Mmh I don't think I've quite got the idea or format of quizzes right, don't worry I will keep trying while you go off and jingle you own bells – don't you just love Christmastide?
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Book, Books, Cat Blog, Cat Diary, Christmas, Christmas Lights, Getting Out Excerpts From A Cat's Diary, God, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mouse, My Blog, My Book, Snow, The Cat, The Cat who writes blogs, The Cat's Diary, The Cat's Travelogue, www – wickedly wonderful website, www.amazon.com, www.thecatsdiary.com, Trackpad, Godlike, Quiz, Christmastide, Christmasy Cat


text:
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court seemed reluctant Monday to allow criminals to ask for a previously offered plea bargain after they've been sentenced, despite the inmates' claim of misconduct by their lawyers including neglecting to tell their clients that a deal had been offered.
Asking judges to go back and figure out on appeal whether a suspect would have taken a plea deal before a trial, whether a judge would have accepted it, whether a prosecutor would have withdrawn it or whether the negotiations would have fallen apart "is simply unworkable," said Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often a tiebreaker votes on divisive issues.
The high court heard appeals from two different sets of prosecutors who had their cases overturned by appeals courts that said criminals were denied their Sixth Amendment effective "assistance of counsel" because of mistakes during plea negotiations. The Supreme Court has amplified that by saying that "counsel's representation must not fall below an objective standard of reasonableness" and that there must not be "a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different."
In the first case, Anthony Cooper's conviction for shooting a woman in the thigh and buttocks after missing a shot to her head was overturned by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati because his lawyer gave him bad advice. His lawyer told him not to take a plea offer that could have had him out of prison in four years, thinking that there could not be a finding that Cooper intended to murder his victim.
But Cooper was convicted of assault with intent to murder and other charges, and he was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison in Michigan.
In the second case, Missouri prosecutors offered Galin Edward Frye two deals, including one that would have had him out in three months, while seeking his conviction for driving while his license was revoked. Frye's lawyer never told him about the offers. Frye pleaded guilty to a felony charge and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Frye appealed, saying his lawyer should have told him about the offers. A Missouri appeals court agreed.
In both cases, the criminals' lawyers are not arguing for new trials, a position the court seemed to agree with. "The remedy of giving a new trial when the person has already had a fair trial makes zero sense," Justice Samuel Alito said.
But Cooper's lawyer, Valerie Newman, said they should have a chance to go back and consider the plea offer. "I'm saying it's unfair to go to trial when your attorney tells you, 'You can't be convicted.'"
"You are saying it's unfair to have a fair trial; isn't that correct?" Kennedy said.
Several justices seemed concerned about how changing the plea system would affect prosecutors and judges. For example, it's easy for a criminal facing a decade in prison to say he would have taken a plea deal for one year after a judge has sentenced him to 10 years in prison, justices noted.
But the negotiations are going on before trial, and by "not accepting it he has a chance of going scot-free" if a jury finds him not guilty, Chief Justice John Roberts said.
After conviction and sentencing, Roberts said, "presumably the defendant will always say, 'I would have taken that deal, because it's better.' So how is a judge supposed to go back and decide whether that's true or not" on appeal?
Justices will rule next year.
The Missouri case is Missouri v. Frye, 10-444 and the Michigan case is Lafler v. Cooper, 10-209.


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BALTIMORE -- Despite predictions in some mainstream press accounts that the U.S. bishops were preparing for war with the Obama administration on the issue of religious liberty, President Barack Obama's meeting with bishops' conference president Archbishop Timothy Dolan at the White House a few days before the bishops assembled for their annual November plenary session in Baltimore seems to have defused the crisis.
At a press conference Nov. 14 after the opening session of the four-day meeting, Dolan, archbishop of New York, said of his meeting with Obama, "I found the president of the United States to be very open to the sensitivities of the Catholic community. I left there feeling a bit more at peace about this issue than when I entered."
In his first presidential address since taking over as conference president, Dolan did not even mention the words "religious liberty." Instead, he focused on the need for the Catholic church to re-establish its credibility with its own members and in the broader society "because, as the chilling statistics we cannot ignore tell us, fewer and fewer of our beloved people -- to say nothing about those outside the household of the faith -- are convinced that Jesus and his church are one."
He said that too many Catholics "drift from her, get mad at the church, grow lax, join another, or just give it all up. If this does not cause us pastors to shudder, I do not know what will."
Dolan said the bishops must "resist the temptation to approach the church as merely a system of organizational energy and support that requires maintenance." Instead, "the church is Jesus -- teaching, healing, saving, serving, inviting, Jesus often 'bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,' " he said.
Dolan also acknowledged that some of the bruises the church displays are self-inflicted. He quoted Dorothy Day -- "The church is the radiant bride of Christ; but her members at times act more like the scarlet woman of Babylon" -- but urged the bishops not to be discouraged. "We who believe in Jesus Christ and his one, holy, catholic and apostolic church interpret the sinfulness of her members not as a reason to dismiss the church or her eternal truths, but to embrace her all the more."
Dolan also dismissed the idea of some nostalgic, better past for the church: "As Msgr. John Tracy Ellis used to introduce his courses on church history, 'Ladies and gentlemen, be prepared to discover that the mystical body of Christ has a lot of warts.' "
It fell to Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of the new Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, to detail what many bishops see as strong cultural and political forces seeking to circumscribe the church's role in society.
"While recognizing religious freedom as an individual right, we see that religious freedom belongs also to churches and religious institutions comprised of citizens who are believers, and who seek, not to create a theocracy, but rather to be leaven and light within their culture," Lori said in a speech at the opening plenary session.
"We look for a robust understanding of religious liberty extended to all faiths, an understanding that envisions not only the importance of being able to worship freely but also to bring into the public square truths and values that flow from faith and reason, expressed in works of education, health care, social services and charity," he added.
Lori noted that threats to religious liberty come from all sides of the political spectrum. He cited not only the Obama administration's mandates that contraception, sterilization and some drugs that function as abortifacients be provided in all health insurance plans, but also a recent law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature of Alabama that would require Catholic school and hospital workers to verify the immigration status of those they serve.
He called attention to a range of social services that are "not only beneficial but indeed crucial," but warned that "it is becoming more and more difficult for us to deliver services in a manner that truly respects the very faith that impels us to provide them."
"I do think religious liberty is one of the most important issues facing the church today," Bishop David O'Connell of Trenton, N.J., told NCR. "It cuts across so many other policy concerns, from our defense of traditional marriage to our providing social services to our work with immigrants."
O'Connell, former president of The Catholic University of America in Washington, said the verdict was still out on whether or not the bishops' conference can reach agreement with the Obama administration. "I am very happy to see that the president of the United States and the president of the conference had occasion to meet," he said. "I'd like to be hopeful about the consequences of that meeting but I've yet to be convinced."
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington reported to the bishops that a recent Vatican initiative to receive Anglican communities and priests into full communion with the Catholic church has reached a new level in the United States, with Jan. 1, 2012, as the target date when some 2,000 U.S. Anglicans (Episcopalians) and at least three-dozen priests leading them plan to become Catholic under a special program inaugurated by the Holy See in 2009.
On that date a U.S. ordinariate, a distinct Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction for those former Anglican communities, will be formed in the United States, he said.
Among other actions during their Nov. 14-17 meeting the bishops:
- Approved a 3 percent increase in diocesan assessments for the budget of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2013;
- Authorized publication of detailed diocesan guidelines for administering national collections, prepared by their Committee on National Collections;
- Elected Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle (over Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse, N.Y.) to become bishops' conference secretary for a three-year term beginning in November 2012;
- Approved liturgical texts for an optional memorial Mass in the United States for Blessed Marianne Cope, a nun from Syracuse who for many years served as a missionary in the leper colony in Molokai, Hawaii.
During the first day's session, the bishops also met Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the new apostolic nuncio to the United States.
In a presentation on the work of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., said public service announcements with the theme of "a good marriage goes a long way" were released in September to 1,600 television stations and 7,000 radio stations.
He also announced the launch of a new website -- www.marriageuniqueforareason.org -- aimed at educating Catholics on the meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The website corresponds with a new DVD, guide and booklet.
[Jerry Filteau is NCR Washington correspondent. Michael Sean Winters is an NCR columnist. Catholic News Service contributed to this report.]


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Pilot census of transgender women in Peru.
This is an intervention project in the community of transgender women to find out the number of transgender women in districts of the city of Lima, to determine place of residence, access to health, stigma, discrimination and mental health problems. The main collaborators are researchers from Socios En Salud - Peru. Funding is provided through a Socios En Salud - Peru development award through 2021.
Active Dates
07/01/2020 to 07/31/2021
Faculty Involved
Health Topics


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The Ice
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
A journey to the bottom of the world in search of the purest thing
Gates makes his way down the Ice Runway on the Antarctic Plateau. Photo by Haley Buffman.
A dozen or so of us were packed into the beluga-shaped DC-3, snorting oxygen through plastic medical tubes to make up for the thin, 20,000-foot air in the unpressurized cabin. The Antarctic plateau slid beneath us 10,000 feet below, though without the visual reference of trees, mountains, buildings or roads, it appeared to be close enough for a sharp tip of the wing to scratch the surface of the snow. Far off in the distance the horizon hinted at the curvature of the earth.
Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan was sitting on my lap. It was opened to a dog-eared page that had caught my attention days earlier when I had just arrived on the continent. "We can offer you an opportunity to think about your native planet," Vonnegut wrote, "from a fresh and beautifully detached view point." The offer was for a low-ranking position in the Martian Army rather than a low-ranking position on Earth's last continent, and no less applicable.
I had an ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend to thank for getting me into that airplane seat. Our mutual ex-girlfriend's lack of creativity in choosing her mates ensured that we were more similar than different and all the more likely to get along. He talked in sentences made up of soft, shapeless mumbles and punctuated them with an abrupt laugh. Like me, he was svelte and quiet with a socially awkward tendency that was either masked or nourished by entire months of solo wanderings. He was an eight-time finisher of the Boston Marathon, and I accepted his assurance that running at the South Pole was, at the very least, possible. Curtis Moore had introduced me to Chef Brown and led me through the mountain of paperwork and bureaucratic hoop jumping one might expect with a four-month contract at a government station at the furthest of man's terrestrial reach.
And it was Curtis who had told me about Race Around the World.
I had been stalled out on Ross Island, 2500 miles south of New Zealand, the week prior. Locked into the Antarctic mainland with a permanent shelf of sea ice, the island was home to seals, penguins, a 12,000-foot active volcano, Mount Erebus, and McMurdo—a station five times larger than any other station on the continent. As a stop-over gateway for Antarctica, McMurdo maintained that shifty and volatile feel I would have expected from an old-west town or a Lucas-inspired deep-space station. It was best described to me as a sheriff-less coal-mining town run by a frat house.
Tractors, snowcats and countless other rumbling machines drove about the dusty roads that separated the sterile buildings from one another. Thieving and violent seagull-like skua birds patrolled the skies while the ever-present wind whistled. I idled my time away with Vonnegut, and when I tired of him, I found reprieve running the many trails surrounding the station.
From the Ross Island trails, I watched ash and smoke rise from Mount Erebus above me. In the opposite direction, across the frozen Ross Sea, the Royal Society Mountain Range stood proud and out of reach. The volcanic cinder that crunched beneath my feet would be the last dirt I'd see, hear, smell or touch for several months.
Passengers and snowcat enroute to Antarctica. Photo by Haley Buffman
I sucked at the tube for more oxygen. Beyond the frosted window, the scene was a two-toned blue-and-white painting—the blue stealing wisps of white from the ground and the white reflecting the cerulean sky back into the atmosphere. Rothko, I remember thinking. This is a Rothko painting on the magnitude of a Midwestern state. Beneath us the shadow of the plane floated about the masterpiece like a speck of dust.
Following a smooth ski landing and brief taxi the door opened from the outside. After descending a short ladder I stepped onto the styrofoam snow and watched my breath hit the ground before me, bursting outwardly like an inverted mushroom cloud.
At 67 degrees below zero, breath becomes a sharp thing, with both mass and volume. The first inhale is taken in quickly, haphazardly. Your nose hairs freeze. Then your tongue lurches and your lungs reject the needle-y air. You cough it out like poison and take in the next one measuredly. They're all measured after that. Once you learn to breathe again, you note the smell of the Antarctic Plateau: the virgin fragrance of nothing at all.
Before me stood the Elevated Station. It was propped up on I-beams 15 feet high to prevent the slow buildup of dense snow that had buried the two previous stations. At that moment it looked to me like one of those tall, walking war machines from Star Wars, but elongated, frozen and static. Within the football field of a building rested my raison d'être—dirty dishes waiting to be cleaned. With over 15 years of restaurant service behind me, "Dining Room Attendant" stood alone as the one job I qualified for at a research station that was synonymous with specificity.
As the weeks went by the sun climbed to a height in the sky that would be considered "late-afternoon" to most civilized latitudes. It circled around like the hand of a 24-hour clock. Exactly like a 24-hour clock, actually. The ebb and flow buzz of tractors, airplanes and snowmobiles, however, ensured that the station was a human creation and 4 a.m. felt like 4 a.m., lunchtime felt like lunchtime and Christmas felt like Christmas. The zombie-like winter-overs had vacated the station and taken with them their excess of malaise. They were replaced with fresh firefighters, carpenters, electricians and plumbers. Reaganites and anarchists; loose women, prudish men, jocks and queers; Nobel smarts and perfect idiots. Job titles had been politically replaced with the disambiguating titles of "specialist" and "technician." Still, the modern rolls of society were represented just the same.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse blasted at a deafening volume from the speaker behind me while I traded out the green plastic scrubby for a metal spatula and commenced scraping away the charred remains of what I believed to be pork loin from the bottom of the roasting pan. I was convinced that the pan and the blackened meat had coalesced on a molecular level but I continued scraping since I was enjoying my music and needed to fill the last 40 minutes of my shift.
Chef Brown governed over his kitchen with a modus operandi of accountability, which meant that if one of his cooks burned a dish they were expected to clean it themselves. I could have asked Quenton to clean the roasting pan, as he was surely the culprit but it was mid-December, I had been washing dishes 10 hours a day, six days a week for two months, and was admittedly a little bored. I had learned to seize upon these occasions to break up the monotony of my simple but tedious job. I embraced the burn victims with fervor and invited the challenge of making them new again.
Just past the sinks, a large open window connected the dish pit to a hallway that led to the galley and the rest of the station. A pair of standard-issue heavy leather mittens appeared on the stainless steel ledge of the window before me. Coded letters and numbers were written in marker on the back of the gloves. The hands inside belonged to Jeremy Collins, an Air-Force-trained meteorologist with a pale face that was mostly hidden behind a sunset-red beard. His job at the South Pole included interpreting numbers that predict the weather. Several times a day, from the rooftop, Jeremy would measure line-of-sight visibility to flags around the station that corresponded to distances written on his mittens.
"What did that use to be?"
"It was pork," I replied, "and will be dinner."
Jeremy moved as fast as his job required, which provided him with no less than 10 excursions to the galley throughout the course of the day. He took great interest in my job and my music and pretty much anything that would stall him for a few more minutes before going back to work.
"You been running?" he asked.
"I've been gettin' out."
Scuffed grey steel was beginning to appear beneath the black char. I rinsed the crud from the pan and continued scrapping furiously.
"Why'd you come here, anyway?" he asked with an abruptness that could have only been learned in the armed forces.
I stopped scrubbing for a moment. I pulled my hands out of the heavy rubber gloves. They wafted a gangrene stench and I quickly sheathed them again. In a land where the relative humidity doesn't even reach a single percent, hand maintenance is a constant struggle. When they weren't shriveled and rotting, as they were then, they were like dry-cracked mud.
"I guess I've always wanted to wash dishes."
He laughed.
"What about you?" I asked.
"Well," he said without hesitation, "I wanted to see what was beneath the brass plate."
"The brass plate?"
"In school, you remember? The globe in geography class spun around and around." He dialed his glove about, first toward the ground and then toward the ceiling. "And hiding the axle and converging lines on the bottom was always that brass plate." He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to know what was under it." He folded his wrist, glanced at his watch and walked away.
It seemed to be the single common thread among the eclectic gathering at the South Pole—a magnetic draw to slip beneath the brass plate on the bottom of the globe.
A sun halo caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere. Photo by Haley Buffman.
I walked a quarter mile from the station to an insulated, canvas Quonset hut, called a Jamesway, which contained my 35-square-foot address—J13, Room 3.
Over a dozen Jamesways subdivided into rooms not much bigger than utility closets made up Summer Camp, where half the station's population of 250 lived during the crowded summer months. Think M*A*S*H on ice. The two plywood walls and two canvas walls that separated me from my nine hut-mates served as a barrier for little more than the hallway light. Snores, farts and squeaking beds permeated past the canvas barrier on a nightly basis.
I settled into my room, shedding layers of clothes that had gotten me to my Jamesway without frostbite and prepared for some miles out on the plateau.
Getting dressed to run in that temperature was, at minimum, a 15-minute process. There were tights on top of tights, three layers of shirts, followed by a thick Gore-Tex shell. There was the neck gaiter, balaclava, hat, goggles and earmuffs. Ski gloves stuffed with hand warmers, wool socks and running shoes with screws inserted into the bottom for traction. And, finally, a mouthful of Jameson slugged straight from the bottle, which warmed me from the inside in a way that no layer of clothing could. The method kept me warm for an hour of running.
I stepped out of J13 and set off at an easy clip through Summer Camp while several "red parkas" hurried about their tasks. The standard-issue jackets that had initially provided a level of anonymity faded as the season carried on, and the subtleties of one's posture, form and gait became their identifying features. The head-down, slow shuffle was Rachel. The Manhattan business march was Jason. The pep-step, swagger was Ron. Like a marshlands birdwatcher, by my second month at the South Pole, I could properly identify the forward motion of nearly 80 Big Reds.
I ran out past the half-mile-long berms that stored everything from 10-year-old lobster (as frozen as the day it arrived) to spare tractor parts and after 10 minutes of running I arrived at the Edge of the World, where several decades of plowed and packed snow stepped down to the ever-changing surface of the Antarctic Plateau. Two giant golf balls containing within them the satellites that were our four-hour-a-day thread to the real world stood there like sentries, as though to protect us from the vast expanse of nothingness just beyond.
I paused there with the station at my back. A wave of anxiety—claustrophobia's opposite—passed through me. I let it pass and stepped out into the Rothko painting where things didn't get bigger or smaller, where one step didn't seem to bring me any closer to the horizon than did a thousand.
When English explorer Robert F. Scott arrived at the South Pole 99 years earlier, after having already traversed several hundred miles upon the same scene, he paused and scribbled only a single sentence in his meticulously kept journal, "Great God, this in an awful place!" Within a month Scott and his four companions would be dead from a combination of starvation, hypothermia and scurvy.
I ran until I could no longer hear the hum of the station. I ran until the individual Big Reds recessed back into anonymity. I ran past tracks of the two others on station that also sought solace in the vastness that surrounded me. I ran to the point where three dimensions dissolved into two and the pure and brutal immensity of the Antarctic Plateau consumed me. Then I stopped.
Traditional Christmas Day attire for RATW spectators. Photo by Haley Buffman.
On Christmas morning the thermometer had climbed to minus 12, allowing me to shed my balaclava and wear three layers on my torso rather than four.
Forty of us gathered at the South Pole marker in front of the Elevated Station waiting for 10 o'clock to arrive. Rudimentary race numbers were printed on office paper and pinned to our jackets. Behind us, several generations of diesel engines of snowmobiles, PistonBullys and tractors rumbled in anticipation.
I chatted with Curtis who, thanks to the various jobs that had brought him down there, was toeing the starting line for a fifth time in as many years. Behind the wind shield that came down over his nose and chin, a thick, brown beard covered the left side of his face, while the right side was cleanly shaven. Beneath his hat a gathering of curly hair started from his forehead as a mohawk and finished in the back with a mullet. Nobody thought twice about Curtis' outlandish appearance or quiet mumblings as though the oddity of living and working at the South Pole trumped all others. Back home, when asked the question of why somebody would return to such a harsh continent year after year the catchphrase response fit him most appropriately: "I came down the first year for the experience, the next year for the money and a third year because I didn't fit in anywhere else." Curtis was at home at the South Pole.
With a ready, set, go, the fire captain turned race marshall set us in motion. I wasted little time and moved quickly to the front of the pack.
I was perhaps the only competitor on that squeaky starting line whose pre-Antarctica occupation had been "semi-professional mountain runner." For several years prior I had piecemealed together a humble income with prize money, sponsorship earnings, restaurant work and the occasional yard sale of running gear given to me from one source or another. With my airfare usually paid for and without the burden of health insurance and cell-phone bills on my budget, I was able to embrace the simple, nomadic lifestyle of a Herman Hesse character, calling my home in the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Sierra Nevadas, the Julian Alps, the Bavarian Alps, the Dolomites and beyond.
Out of the same boredom that propels a child to put dissimilar insects in a jar together, Chef Brown had tried to pit Curtis and me against each other over the weeks leading up to the race. The effort was in vain as there was little doubt in my mind that I was going to win the race and Curtis simply didn't care. But the Race Around the World, I learned, wasn't so much about competition as it was a celebration of a truly unique community and place.
In December of 1979, a baker, a cosmic-ray scientist and a few others set out from the South Pole marker covering a distance of just over two miles. The race quickly became a Christmas Day celebration and 31 years later, the tradition continued. Given its remote location and the fact that it is open strictly to people working at the South Pole, the Race Around the World is arguably one of the most selective races on the planet.
Circling an area no larger than Vatican City the course embraced most of the station. The clockwise loop took us past the towers of large empty spools stacked in a long row with a child-like hand 20 feet high called Spoolhenge.
After passing through a collection of excess-tin arches left over from the station's construction, we made our way along the runway where a couple airplanes sat idle. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Curtis in a distant second place. A snowmobile zoomed up next to me for the final quarter mile pulling behind it a couch on a sled with several excited spectators. The energy, exertion, rumble of the machines and costumes all lent themselves a Mad Max quality to the event and I half expected a spectator to run over and tackle me.
After having passed through the time zones of Botswana, the Persian Gulf and India, past the storage berms of food, plywood, toilet paper, past Papua New Guinea, Siberia and Polynesia I crossed the finish line and won the race in 13 minutes 32 seconds. After Curtis had crossed the finish line and the coughing brought on by the sharp, cold air had stopped he and I looked out into the distance.
"There's a little more to it once you're here for a little while. Huh."
Gates at the Geographic South Pole after winning the Race Around the World. Photo by Haley Buffman.
Looking out the galley window onto the vast and barren expanse of snow before me I wondered, as one must wonder on the deck of a ship far out at sea, just how far I was peering into the distance.
Nowhere on earth, I thought, do three dimensions so closely resemble two. I sipped my coffee and paused to dislodge a sinewy piece of bacon from my teeth. Or maybe, I thought, if dimensions had intentions this landscape was two dimensions trying to be three …
In recent weeks my mind had started taking on the characteristics of an amorphous cloud. Thoughts would come and go like a dream. I'd stop mid-sentence, forgetting what I was saying. Mid-thought, forgetting what I had been thinking. This one, I held onto.
Or three dimensions trying to be two.
I had been warned of the slow deterioration of the mind and body. I had been warned that my joints would begin to ache, which they did, and that I would be consumed by a fatigue that couldn't singularly be explained by the frigid temperatures, high altitude or long working hours. In a place where even the needle of a compass gets confused I had to consider that thing called "energy" by some, "juju" by others.
"You came here to run that race."
Jeremy startled me. Everything startled me. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen the sun set in 121 days. Maybe my compass was off.
He tried again: "You did, didn't you?"
"I hadn't considered that," I said.
Why I didn't want to admit that the race was the reason I came down here was perhaps because it was an admission that I was no different than the landscape outside the window. My life, up until that point had been a quest for simplicity. I found that I loved washing dishes. The work was as basic and simple as running, which was as basic and simple as the landscape before me. I had happened upon a Mecca where the year is a day and I was only there for six hours and it scared me to admit that I didn't want to leave.
Rickey Gates is a contributing editor for Trail Runner. This article originally appeared in our December 2012 issue.


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Microsoft's sysinternals team has released a useful software utility for Windows called Desktops that allows you to have four virtual desktops at the same time. You can use the virtual desktops feature to run multiple applications at the same time with out cluttering your desktop.
Microsoft had this virtual desktop manager from long for Windows XP as a power toy (see useful power toys for windows XP). The new app is functional in Vista and is light weight.
You can run up to four desktops using this application. it comes as a slef executable file, meaning there is no installation, you could even carry it with your USB drive. This is quite useful for users who run lot of programs at the same time, you can do all your browsing in desktop 1 and listen to music in desktop 2, etc.
Virtual desktop manager sits in your systel tray, you can switch desktops using hotkeys or with your mouse.
Download Desktops, Via Digital Inspiration


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The Simpsons Season 6 Episode 4 (Itchy Scratchy Land)
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