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D-Lib Magazine
Elizabeth Gadd
Inspired by the Open Archives Initiative, the United Kingdom (UK) Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) established the FAIR (Focus on Access to Institutional Repositories) programme in 2002. One of the programme's objectives was to "explore the challenges associated with disclosure and sharing [of content], including IPR and the role of institutional repositories". To this end, the JISC funded a one-year project called RoMEO (Rights Metadata for Open archiving). RoMEO, which took place between 20022003, specifically looked at the self-archiving of academic research papers, and the subsequent disclosure and harvesting of metadata about those papers using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) by OAI Data and Service Providers [Open Archives Initiative, 2002a].
The RoMEO project aimed to develop simple rights metadata by which academics could protect their research papers in an open-access environment and also to develop a means by which OAI Data and Service Providers could protect their open-access metadata. RoMEO proposed to show how such rights solutions might be disclosed and harvested under OAI-PMH.
The RoMEO project was divided into two phases: a data-gathering phase and a development phase. The project team produced a series of six studies based on their work [Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets, 2003a; 2003b, 2003c, 2003d, 2003e, 2003f]. (In the remainder of this article, these studies will be referred to as RoMEO Studies 16). This article aims to provide an overview of all the activities of the RoMEO project and to report on its key findings and recommendations.
Understanding stakeholder requirements
The goal of the first phase of the RoMEO project was to understand the intellectual property rights (IPR) issues facing the key stakeholders in the self-archiving process. Online questionnaire surveys were performed of academic authors, scholarly journal publishers, and OAI Data Providers (DPs) and Service Providers (SPs). As the response from journal publishers was poor, it was fortuitous that the project had also planned to perform an analysis of journal publishers' author copyright agreements. Such agreements provide a good overview of the contractual relationship between author and publisher, and the analysis proved very enlightening.
Academic authors
The full results of the academic author survey are reported in RoMEO Studies 1, 2 and 3 [Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets, 2003a; 2003b, 2003c]. In total, 542 academics responded to the survey. They were based in 57 countries and represented a wide variety of subject disciplines. The main aims of the survey were to find out how academics wanted to protect their actual or potential open-access research papers and also how they expected to use such papers. This data would inform the development of appropriate rights metadata for this purpose. Authors were also asked for their views on the copyright ownership of research papers.
In total, 61% of respondents thought that academics owned the copyright in such papers, although 32% admitted that they did not know who owned the copyright. When it came to assigning copyright, however, 90% of respondents reported having done so, which must include many of those that were not sure whether in fact they owned such rights. Fifty per cent of respondents indicated that 71-100% of their papers were multi-authored. This could leave room for disagreement amongst co-authors as to if, when, and where self-archiving took place. An unexpected finding was that 25% of respondents had previously had to clear third-party materials before publishing a paper. Again, this would affect an author's ability to self-archive as the third-party or parties would have to agree not only to publication in a peer-reviewed journal, but also to have their work made freely available on the web.
The questionnaire provided academics with a list of possible permissions (e.g., print, save, excerpt, etc.), restrictions and conditions using terms from the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL) [ODRL, 2003]. A restriction is a limit on the extent of a permission (e.g., you may print, but only four times), and a condition is a prerequisite that must be met before the permission is granted (e.g., you may only print if you have first paid a fee). The questionnaire asked respondents to specify which they should like to apply to their own open-access works. It then asked which of the same list respondents expected to apply to their use of others' open-access works.
The majority of respondents (60% or more) were happy for others to display, print, save, excerpt from, and give away their research papers as long as the respondents were attributed as the authors, and that all copies were exact (verbatim) copies of the original work. Most respondents wanted to prohibit sales of their works and 55% wanted to limit usage of their works to certain purposes, e.g., educational or non-commercial. A comparison between these usage limits and those provided by UK copyright law and many electronic journal licences showed that the academics' conditions were far more liberal.
Interestingly, the subsequent comparison between how academics-as-authors wished to protect their open-access research papers, and how academics-as-users expected to use such research papers, showed that academics did not expect to make use of all the permissions they were prepared to grant others.
Journal publishers
The academic author survey showed that many academics feared either breaking existing publisher agreements, or not being published, if they self-archived their research papers. Obviously, there would be little benefit in developing a means of protecting open-access works through rights metadata if academics were too anxious to self-archive those papers in the first place. The analysis of 80 scholarly journal publisher copyright agreements (CAs) aimed to see if such fears were founded.
The full results of this analysis have been written up in RoMEO Studies 4 [Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets, 2003d]. The analysis showed that 90% of publishers did ask for copyright transfer, with 6% asking for exclusive licences, and 4% asking for non-exclusive licences. However, we found that exclusive licences could be equally as restrictive (in terms of the rights retained by the author) as copyright transfer agreements. The move towards exclusive licences may be an increasing trend as publishers respond to authors' desires to retain copyright [ALPSP, 1999]. Indeed, the UK Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) has developed a model exclusive licence that it has made available to its members.
Despite the fact that most publishers asked for copyright, authors could still self-archive their works before assigning copyright if they did not fear publishers asking them to warrant that the work had not been previously published: the so-called Ingelfinger rule [Relman, 1981; Angell, 1991]. Our analysis showed that 68.7% of agreements asked for copyright prior to the refereeing process, meaning that only the preprint could be self-archived in this way if the Ingelfinger rule was in place. That would not stop authors employing the Harnad-Oppenheim proposal and self-archiving a corrigenda of changes along with the original preprint, whilst not breaking the terms of the agreement [Harnad, 2001]. In 75% of agreements authors were asked to warrant that their work had not been previously published. Interestingly, in only two agreements was it specifically stated that self-archiving constitutes prior publication. However, one could assume that publishers using other CAs that prohibit it viewed self-archiving as prior publication even when it was not explicitly stated so in the CA.
Of course, the matter of copyright transfer would be of less concern to the open-access movement if publishers would grant back to authors the right to self-archive. We found that although 28.5% of CAs did not give authors any rights to use their own works, just under 50% allowed authors to self-archive. However, there were no standard terms and conditions under which authors could do so. Some publishers allowed self-archiving of the preprint only, some the postprint only, some asked for preprints to be removed on formal publication, and others specified the type of site on which the self-archiving must take place.
RoMEO recommends that author copyright agreements be revisited by a committee representing the interests of all parties, perhaps with a view to developing a model agreement that all stakeholders could support. In the meantime, however, open access proponents are pleased that at least 50% of journals allow author self-archiving of some kind. RoMEO has compiled a directory of publishers' self-archiving policies. The directory is available at the RoMEO web site [Project RoMEO, 2003].
OAI Data and Service Providers
The aims of the Data and Service Provider (DP and SP) surveys were to ascertain their views on the necessity of metadata protection and the form it might take. In addition, DPs were asked a number of questions about their relationship with depositing authorsin particular, whether the relationship was governed by a licence agreement. The full methodology and results have been written up in RoMEO Studies 5 [Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets, 2003e]. Thirteen SPs and 22 DPs responded.
Only one-quarter of responding DPs had licence agreements with their depositing authors. Half of all respondents either trusted their depositors only to mount documents to which they had rights, or the DPs just provided a general warning statement to depositors on this issue. In some cases, this may have been because the DP had only recently been established and had yet to finalise its policies and procedures. However, it is important that DPs protect their own interests, even in an open-access environment. A DP making available a copyright-infringing work will be responsible (under UK law at least) for secondary infringement.
With regard to the subject of metadata protection, an interesting picture emerged from the DP and SP responses. Initially, 50% of responding DPs thought that metadata records were facts and, as such, there was no copyright in them. In addition, 68% of responding DPs believed that whilst there was database right in their collection of metadata records [Council Directive, 1996], this right was "implicitly waived" within the OAI community. One-third of SPs also thought that metadata was implicitly free under the OAI, and another third had never thought about it. Only a third of SPs checked a DP's policy prior to harvesting the DP's metadata. However, when asked about how they expected their metadata to be used, 90% of DPs selected conditions they should like to apply to their metadata, indicating that there were rights that the DPs wanted to have protected. Similarly, no SP stated that it was happy to have its enhanced metadata harvested unconditionally.
The majority of DPs (68.4%) wanted their metadata to be attributed to their organisation. Fifty-eight per cent wanted the metadata both to continue to be made freely available, and for non-commercial purposes. A surprising 52.6% wanted to specify that their metadata remain unaltered. Of course, were this to be implemented, it would inhibit the function of Service Providers, many of whom need to enhance the metadata (e.g., provide subject indexing or authority control) in order to provide services. Just three main conditions of use were listed by SPs. One condition was 'by prior agreement'not a condition that could be easily automated. Another was attribution of the Provider, and the third condition was that subsequent harvesters disclose the metadata under the same conditions as it was harvested.
Promisingly, 77% of DPs and 77% of SPs thought a standard means of expressing the rights status of metadata would be beneficial.
Rights metadata and metadata rights solution
Having ascertained the needs of academic authors and OAI Data and Service Providers with regard to the protection of their open-access research papers and metadata, the second phase of the project set about considering the best way to express and disclose those rights. Much of this work has been documented in RoMEO Studies 6 [Gadd, Oppenheim, and Probets, 2003f].
Developing rights expressions
To develop a set of rights expressions that met the requirements of academic research papers and metadata, the RoMEO project team had three main options. Firstly, they could have developed their own expression language for the purpose. Secondly, they could have utilised an existing Digital Rights Expression Language (DREL). As Renato Iannella has pointed out [Iannella, 2001], such languages are concerned with the "'digital management of rights' and not the 'management of digital rights'". There are currently two main DREL players: XrML (eXtensible Rights Mark-up Language) [XrML, 2001], and ODRL (Open Digital Rights Language) [ODRL, 2003]. A third option was to turn to the Creative Commons Initiative that was developing a complete rights solution for open-access works [Creative Commons, 2002]. The Creative Commons Initiative provides creators with a series of 11 licences under which creators may make their open-access work available. The licences have three incarnations: a simple "human-readable" version, a "lawyer-readable" licence document, and machine-readable rights metadata.
In the interests of standardisation, the option of developing a RoMEO expression language was quickly dismissed. XrML was also dismissed on the grounds that it was a commercial, patented product with unclear licensing terms, and at the time of RoMEO project development, XrML did not have a Data Dictionary component. Thus, although the grammar of the language was available (how rights expressions would fit together) XrML had no generally agreed upon words or terms to give those expressions meaning. By contrast, ODRL was an open source language with a form of Data Dictionary. That is, the ODRL Dictionary provides a list of terms, but no generally agreed upon meanings for those terms. ODRL was the language used in the academic author survey.
The Creative Commons (CC) solution went beyond the communication of rights through metadata, to their expression through simple human-readable "Commons Deeds" with associated symbols, and detailed "Licence Codes". However, as a result of this three-pronged approach to rights expression, the actual rights metadata records were not very descriptive of the permissions and restrictions granted by the licences. For example, each licence allows the 'licensee' to aggregate the work into a collection of works. However, the rights metadata instances do not specify that "aggregation" is permitted.
A comparison of the ODRL and CC solutions showed that either would meet the basic requirements of academics and Data and Service Providers as found by the RoMEO surveys, although a RoMEO application profile of ODRL would provide a higher level of granularity of expression than the simple CC metadata. As the RoMEO Project progressed, the CC initiative increased in momentum, as did the level of support from open access proponents. The Open Archives Initiative developed a keen interest in adopting the CC solution, as did the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative [Powell et al., 2003]. DSpace , the open-source institutional repository software developed at MIT [Bass, 2002], also expressed its intention to adopt the CC licences [Smith, 2003].
The one key technical problem with adopting the CC solution was that their metadata was expressed in RDF/XML and did not have an associated XML schemaa prerequisite for any metadata disclosed under the OAI-PMH. The RoMEO project therefore proposed a two-fold solution. It would work with the CC licences for expressing rights over research papers, as they looked set to becoming an emerging standard. However, in addition to approaching the CC to encourage them to develop an XML schema for their RDF, the project would also develop ODRL versions (XML instances) of the CC licences that would conform to the ODRL XML schema. The ODRL versions should provide a more accurate description of the content of the eleven CC licences than the CC's own RDF.
Disclosing rights expressions under the OAI-PMH
The next step was to consider how best to disclose the rights expressions under the OAI-PMH. After discussions with the OAI, the RoMEO team proposed that rights expressions for both individual and collections of metadata records, and individual and collections of resources, be disclosed. However, this work is to continue through the formation of an OAI/RoMEO Technical Committee, OAI-RIGHTS, which hopes to report in Spring 2004. What follows are the proposals that were reached by Project RoMEO by the end of the project timeframe (Summer 2003).
The expression of rights and permissions relating to an individual resource (such as a research paper) would be expressed by the use of a separate rights metadata record. This record would consist of the XML instance (either ODRL or CC/RDF) relating to the chosen CC licence and would be accessible through an OAI-PMH GetRecord request with a specific metadataPrefix parameter, e.g., oai_cc (see Figure 1). This instance could also be referenced by the mandatory Dublin Core metadata record relating to that document. Thus within the <dc:rights> element, an OAI GetRecord verb URL could be included, that, if followed, would retrieve the rights metadata record.
Figure 1: CC/RDF metadata record.
Rights expressions for individual metadata records would be contained within a record's optional <about> container. Again, either CC's RDF or an ODRL version of the CC licences could be used. Figure 2 shows an ODRL/XML version of the CC's Attribution Licence within the <about> container of a record. Obviously, the RoMEO team would recommend consistency in the choice of either the CC's RDF/XML or ODRL/XML, and the use of one or the other to express rights over both resources and metadata.
Figure 2: ODRL version of CC Attribution Licence
Whole collections of metadata and resources would be protected by the optional <description> response to the Identify verb. The OAI's XML schema to describe content and policies of repositories in the e-print community [Open Archives Initiative, 2002b] recommends that e-print repository descriptions use a <metadataPolicy> and a <dataPolicy> element, each containing optional <text> and <uri> elements. Thus, <metadataPolicy> could provide a default statement describing the permissions status of metadata, and <dataPolicy> could provide a default statement describing the permissions status of resources (see Figure 3). The default data policy would, in most cases, have to be a simple copyright statement, unless the repository only accepts resources meeting a minimum set of CC licence terms.
Figure 3: Repository-wide rights expressions
Conclusions and future developments
The RoMEO Project has been a most interesting exercise. The findings, particularly the Directory of journal publishers' self-archiving policies, should encourage academics that self-archiving is a realistic approach. Nevertheless, the project has also highlighted a number of concerns about publishers' copyright agreements, whichif dealt withcould greatly improve an author's rights under the current journal publishing system. The RoMEO project has shown that academics do not require the level of copy protection currently provided by (UK) copyright law and/or publishers' e-journal licences. Therefore, the provision of an alternative means of protecting academics' works through rights metadata, such as that proposed by the project's development phase, should be a welcome one. RoMEO has also demonstrated that whilst most Data and Service Providers are happy to share metadata in the spirit of open-access, they too are interested in protecting some of their interests as rights-holders. It is hoped that the metadata protection solution proposed by the RoMEO project team will protect those rights. In this vein, the RoMEO team is delighted to be working with the OAI in establishing a dedicated Technical Committee, OAI-RIGHTS, to further develop their technical proposals into generic guidelines for disclosing rights expressions under the OAI-PMH. It is hoped that the work of the committee will be available for general comment in the spring of 2004.
The RoMEO project team gratefully acknowledge the Joint Information Systems Committee for funding this project. They are also indebted to Herbert Van de Sompel of the OAI, Renato Iannella of the ODRL, and Aaron Swartz of the CC, for the invaluable advice they have freely given during the developmental phase of the project.
[ALPSP] ALPSP (1999). What authors want: the ALPSP research study on the motivations and concerns of contributors to learn. West Sussex, Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.
[Angell] Angell, M., J.P. Kassirer (1991). "The Ingelfinger rule revisited." New England Journal of Medicine 325(Nov.7, 1991): 1371-1373.
[Bass]Bass, M., et al (2002). DSpace: a sustainable solution for institution digital asset services: spanning the information asset value chain: ingest, manage, preserve, disseminate: internal reference specification: functionality. Cambridge MA, Hewlett Packard Company: 10 <http://dspace.org/technology/functionality.pdf>.
[Council Directive] Council of the European Union Directive No. 96/9/EC of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases. (1996) URL: <http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/infosoc/legreg/docs/969ec.html>.
[Creative Commons] Creative Commons. (2002) URL: <http://www.creativecommons.org>.
[Gadd et al., 2003a] Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim and S. Probets (2003a). "RoMEO Studies 1: The impact of copyright ownership on academic author self-archiving." Journal of Documentation 59(3): 243-277.
[Gadd et al., 2003b] Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim and S. Probets (2003b). "RoMEO Studies 2: How academics want to protect their open-access research papers." Journal of Information Science 29(5): [In Press].
[Gadd et al., 2003c] Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim and S. Probets (2003c). "RoMEO Studies 3: How academics expect to use open-access research papers." Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 35(3): In Press.
[Gadd et al., 2003d] Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim and S. Probets (2003d). "RoMEO Studies 4: The author-publisher bargain: an analysis of journal publisher copyright transfer agreements." Learned Publishing 16(4): [In Press].
[Gadd et al., 2003e] Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim and S. Probets (2003e). "RoMEO Studies 5: The IPR issues facing OAI Data and Service Providers." Submitted to Journal of Information Law and Technology.
[Gadd et al., 2003f] Gadd, E., C. Oppenheim and S. Probets (2003f). "RoMEO Studies 6: Rights metadata for Open Archiving - the RoMEO Solutions." Submitted to Program.
[Harnad] Harnad, S. (2001). "For Whom the Gate Tolls? How and Why to Free the Refereed Research Literature Online Through Author/Institution Self-Archiving, Now." <http://cogprints.soton.ac.uk/documents/disk0/00/00/16/39/index.html>.
[Iannella] Iannella, R. (2001). "Digital rights management (DRM) architectures." D-Lib Magazine 7(6): URL: <doi:10.1045/june2001-iannella>.
[Open Archives Initiative (2002a)] Open Archives Initiative (2002). The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting <http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/openarchivesprotocol.html>.
[Open Archives Initiative (2002b)] Open Archives Initiative 2002. XML Schema to describe content and policies of repositories in the e-print community, OAI Executive. <http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/guidelines-eprints.htm> .
[ODRL] Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL) (2003), URL: <http://odrl.net/>.
[Powell] Powell, A., M. Day and P. Cliff (2003). Using simple Dublin Core to describe eprints. Bath, UKOLN. URL: <http://www.rdn.ac.uk/projects/eprints-uk/docs/simpledc-guidelines/>.
[Project RoMEO] Project RoMEO (2003). URL: <http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ls/disresearch/romeo/index.html>.
[Relman] Relman, A. S. (1981). "The Ingelfinger Rule." New England Journal of Medicine 305(Oct 1, 1981): 824-826.
[Smith] Smith, Mackenzie, [DSpace Project Director] (2003) to Elizabeth Gadd. Personal correspondence. 27 May 2003.
[XrML] XrML (2002). URL: <http://www.xrml.org/>.
Copyright © Elizabeth Gadd, Charles Oppenheim, and Steve Probets
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DOI: 10.1045/september2003-gadd


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Financial services for rural poor vital, say Queen Máxima and top UN officials
Tanzania trip ends with calls for more joint efforts on financial inclusion and food security
13 December 2013, Dar es Salaam/Dodoma/Rome - Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands finished a three-day visit to Tanzania along with top officials of the three United Nations Rome-based food agencies to support accelerating the access of farmers to financial services.
Queen Máxima, in her capacity as the UN Secretary General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), led the delegation in exploring ways to link the UN's food security and development activities in Tanzania with efforts by government, the UN and the private sector to boost access to savings, insurance, credit, payments and other financial services, especially for smallholder farmers and poor families in rural areas.
Queen Máxima traveled with Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Maria-Helena Semedo, FAO's Deputy-Director-General for Natural Resources of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Adolfo Brizzi, the Director of the Policy and Technical Advisory Division at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who represented the IFAD president.
The UN officials noted how FAO, IFAD and WFP programmes, investments, technical knowledge and expertise, along with the advice and outreach of the UNSGSA, can connect agriculture, food security and rural development issues with emerging national financial inclusion strategies and programmes. The UN works to enhance food security and agricultural production, while at the same time helping expand affordable access to financial services.
The delegation arrived in Tanzania on Wednesday from Ethiopia. In Dar-es-Salaam on Thursday, they joined the launch of the National Financial Inclusion Framework developed by the Bank of Tanzania, which aims in part to ensure that at least half of the adult population will have access to formal financial services by 2016. In a speech at the launch ceremony, the Queen said that the UN is committed to supporting the framework and commended Tanzania's remarkable progress in expanding financial inclusion.
The delegation met the President of Tanzania as well as senior officials from government and financial organizations to discuss how to accelerate access to the financial services that help farmers manage irregular cash flows and respond to external shocks such as droughts and floods, invest in capital to improve their productivity, reach markets, and access insurance to mitigate risks of crop loss.
Exchanging ideas
On Friday, they visited projects supported by FAO, IFAD and WFP in the Dodoma area, meeting with rural community members and smallholder farmers to discuss both progress and obstacles in accessing financial services. Greater financial inclusion is critical for small producers to engage in agro-processing and value chain development, as commercial banks often perceive them as 'too risky' for loans. Globally, 70 percent of poverty is rural; smallholder farmers are the largest group of working poor, and they are mostly excluded from formal financial systems. This is especially true for women and youth, who often face additional legal and policy barriers to accessing financial services, as well as disproportionate obstacles to training and information.
The UNSGSA and the heads of FAO, IFAD and WFP chose Ethiopia and Tanzania as two of the pilot countries for joint, country-level initiatives on food security, rural development and financial inclusion, due to the strength of those countries' existing programmes, their agricultural and rural needs, government commitments to financial inclusion, and opportunities for joint work.
Visiting Tanzania, the UN delegation emphasized that access to financial services will help the benefits of the country's economic growth reach poor people, create employment and encourage personal and social development. They praised the country's commitment to improving financial inclusion, and said that with committed leadership and political support, there is much potential for scaling up access to diverse financial services for rural poor households, especially small-scale farmers.

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The three Great Danes and one blue pit bull were ordered to appear this week in the animal neglect trial of their owners, Wayne Martin and Layne Woods. The Portland residents are accused of failing to give two of the dogs adequate veterinary care.
Defense attorney Chris O'Connor subpoenaed Merlin, Patches, Coco and Raven to demonstrate that they were in good shape. The group waited quietly - and without accidents - Monday and Tuesday to be called for the witness stand in Judge John Wittmayer's courtroom.
They slept on small rugs and sprawled in the hall. Occasionally, they slurped water from a metal bowl or scarfed down treats. Mostly they waited with their handlers - no barking, no yelping, and no accidents on the marble floor.
Finally, after hours of waiting on Tuesday, they were led into the courtroom. The jurors looked at each, and then the dogs were led out. Only Raven did anything untoward as she stood before the witness stand, but the multi-colored rug hid the slobber spot.
Authorities seized the four on May 12 - three days after an ailing Shar-Pei had been voluntarily handed over to authorities and was later euthanized. Witnesses from the Oregon Humane Society said all were infested with fleas, one Great Dane had leg wounds so deep they were oozing pus and the Shar-Pei had a pus-filled mass on her head.
Defense attorneys contend that the prosecution's accusations are overblown, and the dogs had food, water and shelter in a loving home.
Wittmayer told The Oregonian that he had once been told about such a procedure from three decades ago, but nobody else recalled anything similar.
The trial was resuming Wednesday with human witnesses.


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By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times –
WASHINGTON — Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week as the economy showed continued signs of modest job growth.
There were 367,000 new jobless claims for the week ending Saturday, up from a revised 363,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The less-volatile four-week average remained at 375,000, a level that economists say is consistent with a moderate increase in new jobs. Analysts had expected about 370,000 jobless claims last week.
The new figures come after initial unemployment claims dropped sharply the previous week to a two-month low. That figure — 359,000 — was revised up by the Labor Department.
Economic readings in recent days indicated job growth in September would be similar to August's disappointing 96,000 figure. The unemployment rate for August was 8.1 percent.
The Labor Department will release the September jobs report Friday morning.
"I expect the report to show that the labor market remained sluggish in September, with an increase in nonfarm payrolls of only about 100,000 and an uptick in the unemployment rate to 8.2 percent," said Stephen Oliner, an economist with the American Enterprise Institute think tank.
His forecast is consistent with other economists. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg is for job growth of 115,000 and an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported Wednesday that employers added 162,000 private sector jobs last month, down from a revised 189,000 in August.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management reported this week that the manufacturing and service sectors grew at a faster rate in September than in the previous month.


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I feel like I'm constantly talking about the STDs I have/had, to the point that I'm pretty sure my friends are sick of hearing about it and I'm paranoid that people I first meet (who might know about it, thanks to the internet) give me weird looks when I sit on their furniture. And even though I'm burdened with forever being identified with this onetime blemish outbreak on my vagina (that's really all herpes is, BTW) that happened three years ago, I think it's important to talk about, so I'll continue to do so. However, it would be way easier on me if you all would share your STD stories. (You're all anonymous anyway!) Anyway, I'll get the party started, by going in depth - literally and figuratively!
Assuming that UTIs don't count as STDs (even though it's very similar to Chlamydia, since it's just bacteria, right?), my first STD was the herp. God only knows who I caught it from, but I'm pretty sure it was from one of three bartenders from the same bar I was sleeping with at the time. But it also could've been this dude from this band. Or this 22-year-old unemployed skater dude. Or this other unemployed dude who was a friend of a friend. (I know how to pick 'em!) Anyway, I felt a burning when I peed, which wasn't particularly out of the ordinary, especially for back then, when I was seemingly always recovering from chronic UTIs. I ignored it. Then I noticed this like pimple-y blister thing on my right lip. I was like, FUCK, but, heavily in denial, insisting that it might just be an ingrown hair. But when I was reduced to putting homemade ice packs on my vadge to soothe it and unable to sleep through the night because of the pain, I decided to face my fears and looked at my vadge with a hand mirror. The whole thing was inflamed. I made an emergency appointment to see my gyno, who gave me some Zovorax cream, Valtrex (just a week's worth, never do that one-a-day shit 'cause it'll kill your immune system), and some Ambien.
My second STD was Chlamydia. Boring, and easily treatable. Happened about three months after the herp. Then two weeks after that, I got a call from the dude that gave me Chlamydia, to tell me that he had gonorrhea, aka "the clap", aka "the drip." I'd decided that I must've dodged that bullet, but about eight hours after receiving that call, I was squatting over a public toilet and felt something fall out of me and heard a loud thud. I looked down and saw this big, clumpy brownish/yellowish creamy thing on the toilet seat. I called my doctor the next morning and she gave me 500 mg of Cipro and that shit went away right quick. (Seriously, if you're going to get an STD, pray that it's gonorrhea.) Anyway, I took it in stride. I'd already popped my STD cherry with herpes, so everything after that was no biggie. I even made up songs about gonorrhea to the tune of "Make It Clap" by Busta Rhymes featuring Sean John, changing the words to "I got the clap!" And then also, I changed the words of "Da' Dip" by Freak Nasty to "I put my hand up on your hip, when I drip, you drip, we drip."


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The seventh season of ESPN2's NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will get the green flag on Friday, Feb. 8, at 3 p.m. ET with a program originating from the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
The fourth class of five NASCAR legends will be inducted into the Hall that night, including ESPN analyst and 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace. Also being inducted are famed mechanic Leonard Wood, the late team owner/mechanic Cotton Owens and the late Buck Baker and Herb Thomas, both former driving champions.
Allen Bestwick will host the NASCAR Now Hall of Fame program, joined by analysts Dale Jarrett and Ray Evernham. Wallace and Wood are expected to appear.
NASCAR Now will resume its daily schedule on Monday, Feb. 11, with at least five programs per week originating from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Ct.
In a move that allows NASCAR Now to join the strong company of many of ESPN's other sport-specific studio shows such as Baseball Tonight, NBA Tonight and College Basketball Live, the program will air in West Coast prime time in 2013. Viewers should check their local listings for the NASCAR Now airtime each day.
When the NASCAR season gets underway later this month, a one-hour weekend edition will also air on the morning of each NASCAR Sprint Cup race and NASCAR Now will air a weekend primetime wrap-up edition starting with the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in September.
New this year for NASCAR Now will be segments throughout the season with NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Joey Logano and NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Travis Pastrana. The Montoya and Logano segments, which will usually air in the race-morning editions of the program, will show fans where the drivers' passions lie outside of racing, what they do to relax and what motivates them in life. The Pastrana segments will usually air on the weekday show focusing in on his on-track performance.
Mike Massaro, Nicole Briscoe, Marty Reid, Shannon Spake and Bestwick will be ongoing hosts of NASCAR Now again this season, with ESPN SportsCenter anchors Lindsay Czarniak and Jonathan Coachman also occasionally hosting. Marty Smith will again be the lead reporter with Briscoe, Massaro, Spake, Jim Noble and ESPN the Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee also reporting from the field.
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup race winner Ricky Craven will continue as an analyst for NASCAR Now with regular contributions from Jarrett, Wallace, Evernham and analysts Andy Petree and Brad Daugherty. ESPN.com motorsports writers Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton also will make appearances on the program throughout the season.
A special three-hour edition of NASCAR Now will air on Thursday, Feb. 14, at noon on ESPNEWS with coverage from Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway. Briscoe will host from the studio, joined for analysis by Craven, with Massaro conducting interviews on-site at the speedway.
NASCAR Now will originate from Daytona for four shows surrounding the Daytona 500. In past years, NASCAR Now also has originated from remote locations including the White House, Chicago's Navy Pier, race team headquarters and other racetracks.
NASCAR Now and all of ESPN's NASCAR programming also is available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the free WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.
About NASCAR on ESPN:
ESPN produces comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Additionally, ESPN is the television home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. ESPN's NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, WatchESPN, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN on Xbox LIVE, ESPN Radio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network's award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 19 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide.


text: The Nickel Slots Help Kick Off Free Friday Night Concerts Steve Milne Thursday, May 1, 2014 Listen / download audio Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin. The Nickel Slots: (from left to right) Tony Brusca, Steve Amaral, Paul Zinn and Christopher Amaral.Courtesy of Kiny McCarrick The Nickel Slots have been described as a cross between Johnny Cash and The Clash. And they're taking their country-rock sound and kicking off Concerts in the Park tomorrow night. The Nickel Slots are four guys who live in the Sacramento area and play a mix of rock and country they call "Americana with Attitude." Here's a little taste of their sound and style.   We sat down with some of the guys from Nickel Slots to talk about their musical journey and the phrase Americana. Paul Zinn is the bassist and Chris Amaral is the drummer. Chris Amaral: "Americana can be such a buzz word. I mean it goes from anywhere to folk music to alt country and I think with the 'attitude' part of it, it gives us a little more of a 'in your face' maybe." Paul Zinn: "It emphasizes the rock 'n' roll side which I think we probably fall a little bit more on the rock 'n' roll side than on the country side of that Americana spectrum." The Nickel Slots also include Chris' brother Steve on guitar and singer Tony Brusca, who writes the band's songs. All the guys have day jobs – Paul works for a software company, Steve is a graphic designer and Tony is a teacher. Chris, the dummer, is a pharmacist, although he looks like a rocker with his greased back dark hair, ribbed white tank-top and tattoo covered arms…his right upper arm wrapped in clear plastic. Chris Amaral: "I actually just came from Forever Tattoo and got some work done so it's kind of raw." Paul Zinn: "Chris is freshly inked" Chris Amaral: "I work for the State of California, I do the formulary for the Medi-Cal program, Medi-Cal is the Medicaid program for the State of California. But I still work on call for CVS or Kaiser and see patients and tell them about their drugs. I mean I don't really look like one, at least a professional pharmacist." Paul Zinn: "He wears the long-sleeve shirts on the other job." Chris Amaral: "That's right." Growing up in Northern California in the '70s and '80s, most members of The Nickel Slots were raised in homes where both country and rock music were played. Although Paul the bassist says his exposure to country came…at church. Paul Zinn: "The priest was our lead singer – Father Cowboy and The Buckeroos. He'd play all kinds…you know, 'Drop Kick Me Jesus through the Gold Posts of Life' and that kind of stuff. So I've always had a love for country ever since then." The Nickel Slots have been together for six years. They've won two local "Sammie" awards for Best Country/Americana Band. And their third album "Let It Ride" will be released tomorrow. Chris explains that their songs are sort of like hopeful hard-luck stories, which is also what their name – The Nickel Slots – is all about. Chris Amaral: "When you hit a jackpot in a nickel slot it's not that much money but you get excited. So we've kind of always gone with this theme – desperate but hopeful. And it seems that in a lot of our songs there are individuals that are pretty desperate but there's some kind of hope in that, that whether or not they survive or just get along with whatever their situation is." Paul Zinn: "Once you get into your 40s you're not likely going to break it big anytime soon so we're enjoying what we have here, and building our following, and taking little tours here and there. But it's still more of a paid hobby at this point." Chris Amaral: "I don't think any of us are expecting to pay the rent with this band, if it happens if happens but if it doesn't, as long as we're writing good songs and having an impact on people's lives…there have been some humbling experiences that we've had when we've gotten emails about people going through a tough time and they're like 'we heard your song and it helped me through,' that makes you feel special that you're having an impact on someone's life. So that's a pretty good feeling." The Concerts in the Park series kicks off tomorrow at 5 PM at Cesar Chavez Park in Downtown Sacramento. Here's the full summer line-up: May 2: Zuhg | The Nickel Slots | IdeaTeam | Rock & Rhyme May 9: The Nibblers | Autumn Sky | Eli & The Sound Cult | EGG | DJ Epik May 16: Burn Halo | Some Fear None | Alex Vincent Band | FUDI | Sleep Rockers May 23: The Snobs | Phil & The Blanx | Massive Delicious | Simple Creation | J- Ras May 30: James Cavern and the Council | Joy & Madness | Survival Guide | Once an Empire | Billy Lane June 6: Dance Gavin Dance | Life in 24 Frames | City of Vain | Cemetery Sun | Pag June 13: 7 Seconds | The Secretions | Lonely Kings | Colonel Jimmy & The Blackfish | DJ Roger Carpio June 20: Andy Allo | Contra | The Harbor | Delta City Ramblers | Sam I Jam June 27: Chris Gardner Band | Island of Black & White | Keri Carr Band | The Three Way | Elliot Estes July 11: Arden Park Roots | Young Aundee | The Denver J Band | Blaquelisted | Zephyr July 18: !!! | Saint Solitaire | Sea Legs | Shaun Slaughter July 25: The Brodys | Jeremy Briggs | The Kimberly Trip | Pointdexter | Oasis + Ink'd Up   Email newsletters for bands at ReverbNation.com


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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 2, 2013) - Novadaq(R) Technologies Inc. ("Novadaq" or the "Company") NDQNVDQ, a developer of clinically-relevant fluorescence imaging solutions for use in surgical procedures, today announced that Dr. Arun Menawat, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer, will present Novadaq's corporate overview at the 15th Annual Needham Growth Conference. Novadaq is scheduled to present on January 16th at 9:20 am Eastern Time at the New York Palace Hotel.
A webcast of the conference presentation can be accessed live on the company's website at http://www.novadaq.com under the "Events" tab in the "Investors" section, and will be archived for 90 days.
About Novadaq Technologies Inc.
Enabling surgeons with clinically-relevant, innovative fluorescence imaging solutions to enhance the lives of patients and their surgeons, while reducing health care costs, is Novadaq's global mission. SPY fluorescence imaging technology provides surgeons with real-time visualization, leading to improved outcomes and reduced costs without exposing the patient to radiation. More than 50 peer-reviewed publications demonstrate that the use of SPY during complex surgery, leads to fewer post-operative complications and lower hospital costs.
SPY Imaging Systems are United States Food and Drug Administration 510(k) cleared for use in seven surgical specialties. The endoscopic version of SPY called PINPOINT(R), combines the capabilities of SPY Imaging with high definition ("HD") visible light visualization offered by conventional endoscopes. Our unique business model of partnering with market-leading companies to drive adoption of our fluorescence imaging technology, while building our own commercial infrastructure is the cornerstone of our corporate strategy for growth.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this press release may be considered forward-looking. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on Novadaq's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Novadaq and relate to, among other things, the Company's strategy, strategic goals, research and development activities, research and clinical testing outcomes, taxes, capital expenditures, future operations, future financial position, future revenues/results, projected costs, prospects and plans and objectives of management.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by Novadaq in its public securities filings available at www.sedar.com, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. Novadaq disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Investor and Media Relations
Novadaq Technologies Inc.
David C. Martin
Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations
905-629-3822 ext: 218
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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He's brought out some of the greatest music we all love listening to, there is no question about it, Alec Joseph is one of the most talented and gifted musicians we know. Alec Joseph has released several hit songs that we all listen to on constant repeat. He also made history in the entertainment world by bringing out his outstanding music video for his song, "Tongue," that wasn't like any other music video we have ever seen before as it was in virtual reality. Needless to say, all of Alec Joseph's projects show his brilliant creativity, his hard work and his passion for everything and anything that he works on. While working on his exceptional music, Alec Joseph also loves to keep fans updated and he allows them to take a step into his world even more through his magnificent show titled, "AJ On The Way." Alec Joseph always leaves us in awe – from his songs to his music videos and his excellent, live performances. Alec recently revealed some more exciting news that he will be joining singing sensation, Jacob Whitesides on his tour. We know that Alec Joseph will blow everyone away with his performances and we continue to be so proud of him and all of his well-deserved successes.
I, Alexisjoyvipaccess had a fantastic time covering the 2nd Annual Say No Bullying Festival and had a wonderful time catching up with and interviewing the multi-talented Alec Joseph again at the event. Alec Joseph dished exclusively to Alexisjoyvipaccess all about going on tour with Jacob Whitesides, what are some of his tour must-haves, what are some of his pre-show rituals before a performance, and so much more only in our VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE updated interview. Alec Joseph even took on a fun speed round and revealed what his favorite song at the moment is, what his favorite food is and more – hear what he had to say in our VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE updated interview below. Thanks for another fun interview, Alec – always a blast chatting with you!
Check out my VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE updated interview with the remarkable Alec Joseph at the 2nd Annual Say No Bullying Festival below!
Follow Alec Joseph on Twitter and Instagram: @AlecJoseph21
Follow the Say No Bullying Festival on Twitter: @SayNoBullying_1 and on Instagram: @SayNoBullying


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This category contains a broad range of sensors that measure or detect any kind of light, whether visible or not. These include things like light-dependent resistors, color sensors, passive infrared motion detectors, UV sensors, X-band microwave sensors and laser range finders.
For image sensors complete with lenses for the purpose of taking photos or video, see our Cameras category.
If youre planning on building a device with sensors, check out the Waspmote open-source wireless sensor networking platform.


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Semalam I call you, you tak answer
You kata you keluar pergi dinner
You kata you keluar dengan kawan you
But when I called Tommy he said it wasn't true
So I drove my car pergi Damansara
Tommy kata maybe you tengok bola
Tapi bila I sampai, you tak ada
Lagilah I jadi gila!
So I called and called sampai you answer
You kata, 'Sorry, sayang. Tadi tak dengar.
My phone was on silent, I was at the gym."
Tapi latar belakang suara perempuan lain.
Sudahlah, sayang, I don't believe you
I've always known that your words were never true
Why am I with you? I pun tak tahu
No wonderlah my friends pun tak suka you
So I guess that's the end of our story
Akhir kata she accepted his apology
Tapi last-last kita dapat tahu she was cheating too
With her ex-boyfriend's best friend...


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House Republicans will allow a vote Tuesday on a measure to increase the government's borrowing limit with no strings attached, a clear concession to Democrats that comes after weeks of GOP wrangling.
GOP leaders broke the news to lawmakers Tuesday morning, according to someone who was in the room. Party leadership had floated repealing a cut to military veterans' pensions as a demand that could be paired with an unpopular debt-ceiling increase, but that proposal failed to gain traction with conservatives, just as other ones before it had in recent weeks. While initially House Speaker John Boehner had planned the vote for Wednesday, two Republican leadership aides confirmed that the vote will take place Tuesday instead because of a looming snow storm.
Speaking to reporters near the Capitol, Boehner blamed President Barack Obama for not negotiating over a plan that would stop the country from piling up red ink.
"This is a lost opportunity for America," Boehner said. "We could have sat down and worked together in a bipartisan manner to find cuts and reforms that are greater than the increase in the debt limit. It would have helped us begin to solve the spending problem we have, begin the process of paying down our debt. So I am disappointed."
The measure will need significant support from Democrats to pass, as many conservatives adamantly oppose a "clean" debt-ceiling increase.
"You've all known that our members are not crazy about voting to increase the debt ceiling," said Boehner, who will support the proposal along with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Some conservatives quickly voiced their disapproval. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who chairs a coalition of House conservatives, opposes the measure since it doesn't include spending reforms, according to his spokesman, Stephen Bell.
The conservative group Club for Growth urged Republicans to vote no, and announced it would include the vote on its congressional scorecard. "When we heard that House leadership was scheduling a clean debt ceiling increase, we thought it was a joke," spokesman Andy Roth said. "Something is very wrong with House leadership, or with the Republican Party. This is not a bill that advocates of limited government should schedule or support."
While Democrats allowed significant concessions in exchange for raising the debt ceiling in the past, more recently they have held firm in their view that any negotiations over the debt limit was poor politics and policy. "To even entertain the idea of this happening, of the United States of America not paying its bills, is irresponsible," Obama said last month. "It's absurd."
Boehner's move on Tuesday effectively throws in the towel on the debt-ceiling issue after years of brinksmanship. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, declared victory in a statement.
"When this measure passes, Congress will state unequivocally that the full faith and credit of the United States is not in doubt," Pelosi said. "I thank my Democratic colleagues for never wavering from this position and for standing firm on behalf of all Americans."
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Items where Author / Artist / Editor is "Copp, Gina"
|See full list of headings
Lopez, Violeta, Copp, Gina and Molassiotis, Alexander (2012) Male caregivers of patients with breast and gynecologic cancer: experiences from caring for their spouses and partners. Cancer Nursing, 35 (6) . pp. 402-410. ISSN 0162-220X [Article] (doi:10.1097/NCC.0b013e318231daf0)
Lopez, Violetta, Copp, Gina, Brunton, Lisa and Molassiotis, Alexander (2011) Symptom experience in patients with gynaecological cancers: the development of symptom clusters through patient narratives. Journal of Supportive Oncology, 9 (2) . pp. 64-71. ISSN 1544-6794 [Article] (doi:10.1016/j.suponc.2011.01.005)
Caldwell, Kay, Coleman, Kate, Copp, Gina, Bell, Linda and Ghazi, Fery (2007) Preparing for professional practice: how well does professional training equip health and social care practitioners to engage in evidence-based practice? Nurse Education Today, 27 (6) . pp. 518-528. ISSN 0260-6917 [Article] (doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2006.08.014)
Copp, Gina, Caldwell, Kay, Atwal, Anita, Brett-Richards, Madeline and Coleman, Kate (2007) Preparation for cancer care: perceptions of newly qualified health care professionals. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 11 (2) . pp. 159-167. ISSN 1462-3889 [Article] (doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2006.09.004)
Cunningham, Sheila ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6371-6696, Copp, Gina, Collins, Bernadette and Bater, Mike (2006) Pre-registration nursing students' experience of caring for cancer patients. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 10 (1) . pp. 59-67. ISSN 1462-3889 [Article] (doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2005.05.004)
Caldwell, Kay, Atwal, Anita, Copp, Gina, Brett-Richards, Madeline and Coleman, Kate (2006) Preparing for practice: how well are practitioners prepared for teamwork. British Journal of Nursing, 15 (22) . pp. 1250-1254. ISSN 0966-0461 [Article]
Papadopoulos, Irena ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6291-4332 and Copp, Gina (2005) Nurse Lecturers' perception and teaching of spirituality. Implicit Religion, 8 (1) . pp. 22-39. ISSN 1463-9955 [Article]
Fincham, Lorraine, Copp, Gina, Caldwell, Kay, Jones, Louise and Tookman, Adrian (2005) Supportive care: experiences of cancer patients. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 9 (3) . pp. 258-268. ISSN 1462-3889 [Article] (doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2004.08.004)
Copp, Gina and Field, David (2002) Open awareness and dying: the use of denial and acceptance as coping strategies by hospice patients. Journal of Research in Nursing, 7 (2) . pp. 118-127. ISSN 1744-9871 [Article] (doi:10.1177/136140960200700206)
Field, David and Copp, Gina (1999) Communication and awareness about dying in the 1990s. Palliative Medicine, 13 (6) . pp. 459-468. ISSN 0269-2163 [Article] (doi:10.1191/026921699668763479)
Copp, Gina (1998) A review of current theories of death and dying. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28 (2) . pp. 382-390. ISSN 0309-2402 [Article]
Copp, Gina, Richardson, Alison, McDaid, P. and Marshall-Searson, D. A. (1998) A telephone survey of the provision of palliative day care services. Palliative Medicine, 12 (3) . pp. 161-170. ISSN 0269-2163 [Article] (doi:10.1191/026921698676428725)
Copp, Gina (1997) Patients' and nurses' constructions of death and dying in a hospice setting. Journal of cancer nursing, 1 (1) . pp. 2-13. ISSN 1364-9825 [Article] (doi:10.1016/S1364-9825(97)80345-8)
Copp, Gina (1994) Palliative care nursing education: a review of research findings. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 19 (3) . pp. 552-557. ISSN 0309-2402 [Article]
Copp, Gina and Dunn, Virginia (1993) Frequent and difficult problems perceived by nurses caring for the dying in community, hospice and acute care settings. Palliative Medicine, 7 (1) . pp. 19-25. ISSN 0269-2163 [Article] (doi:10.1177/026921639300700104)
Copp, Gina (1999) Facing impending death: experiences of patients and their nurses. Nursing Times, London. ISBN 1902499158. [Book]


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COPS Monitoring's Tennessee central earns Five Diamonds
By SSN Staff
Updated Tue February 12, 2013
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—COPS Monitoring, a wholesale alarm monitoring service, announced Feb. 11 that its Tennessee central station has earned Five Diamond certification from the Central Station Alarm Association.
The facility is one of five central stations COPS Monitoring operates in New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, Texas and Tennessee.
"This respected certification demonstrates our dedication to provide quality services to our 3,500 alarm dealers and their 800,000 customers," Jim McMullen, president and COO of COPS Monitoring, said in a prepared statement.
McMullen added that the company would be pursuing the same certification for its newest central station, an 8,000-square-foot facility in Lewisville, Texas, in the coming months.


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Salty Crossing
Rock My World | Coconut Milk Artisan Soap | Fancy Bath Bar | Floral Herb Musk Scent | Planet Design | Handmade in Tennessee
Rock My World | Coconut Milk Artisan Soap | Fancy Bath Bar | Floral Herb Musk Scent | Planet Design | Handmade in Tennessee
This vegan friendly soap bar is made with activated charcoal and creamy coconut milk, and shines with a sparkly out of this world planet design. Scented in a blend of night-blooming flowers, Spanish moss, garden herbs, and musk.
Ingredients: Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, Coconut Milk (water, coconut), Mango Butter, Lye, Olive Oil, Water, Castor Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Fragrance, Activated Charcoal, Colorants
Net Wt 4.7oz / 133 grams
Use and care:
Salty Crossing soaps are meant for external use only. Some of them smell incredibly yummy, but please don't ingest them or use them for anything but their intended purpose. Rinse well after use.
Real soap will last a long time if it is kept dry between uses. Keep your soap happy by using a soap saver or dish with plenty of drainage, and keep it out of the stream of water.
The Salty Crossing Soapery Mission: To create quality soaps with big smiles and happy skin in mind.
All Salty Crossing soaps start with a plant based recipe that is palm free. Soaps may be scented with essential oils or skin safe phthalate free fragrance oils. Colors may come from natural clays, plant based powders, micas or pigments. Every effort has been made to source ingredients from reputable suppliers of responsibly sourced, cruelty free ingredients. Some bars are vegan friendly, while others may contain goat milk or beeswax. Every item has a complete ingredient list within the description. Please do not hesitate to send a message if you have questions about ingredients or need help finding a bar with or without certain ingredients!
Saponification is the "magic" that happens when oils and fats react with lye. This exothermic chemical reaction creates glycerin and soap- and leaves behind no lye. All of the soaps at Salty Crossing are made in this way, using the cold process method. Even the embellishments found on top or inside decorative bars are made with cold process soap.
Poured in small batches in the foothills of east Tennessee, each bar of Salty Crossing soap is unique- a marriage of saponification and artistic design.
Meet the Salty Crossing Soap Maker:
In her third year as owner and soap maker of this small company, Elizabeth performs every aspect of the soap making process- from design, to pouring, cutting, stamping, beveling, and labeling.
If you'd like to see Elizabeth at work or learn more about the cold process soap making method, give Salty Crossing a follow on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube!


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Today many people are living in the bondage of fear. In a recent study a psychiatrist said that the greatest problem facing his patients was fear. Fear of going insane, committing suicide, being alone, or fear of heart disease, cancer, disaster, or death.
We are becoming a nation of fearful people. Down through the centuries in times of trouble, temptation, trial, bereavement, and crisis, God has brought courage to the hearts of those who love Him.
The Bible is crowded with assurances of God's help and comfort in every kind of trouble which might cause fears to arise in the human heart. Today the Christian can come to the Scriptures with full assurance that God is going to deliver the person who puts his trust and confidence in God.
Christians can look into the future with promise, hope, and joy, and without fear, discouragement, or despondency.
Prayer for the day
Your assurances of love still the fears of my heart, Lord.
Credit for today's short daily devotional by Evangelist Billy Graham : billygraham.org


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Farrowing partner in Uppsala
If you're in need of a new partner in farrowing pens, we at Vereijken Group can happily help you with all your farrowing needs in Uppsala. Vereijken Group supplies farmers worldwide with our farrowing pens, whether you are looking for the newest innovation in farrowing or a more classic and proven farrowing solution, we can help you out in Uppsala.
The future of farrowing in Uppsala
Together with the University of Wageningen and farmers, we have designed a wide range of innovative farrowing pens which suit different needs for different farmers in Uppsala. These new innovative farrowing pens benefit the health of both your sows, piglets and your business. You can decide for yourself when you're ready to take the next step and when you are you can use our modular products to prepare for the future.
Creating the best controlled environment in Uppsala
To nurture happy and healthy pigs, we anticipate the natural behavior of sows and piglets. When a sow feels calm, she has a better feed intake which is crucial to produce colostrum and milk. With Vereijken Group's farrowing pens you no longer have to compromise between a cool climate, which is better for sows, and a warm climate, which is better for piglets. With our pens, a separate micro and macroclimate can be created, leading to lower pig mortality and an improvement of the litterperformance. We strive to constantly improve on our farrowing pens in Uppsala in order to ensure the highest possible litterperfomance.
Farrow-to-Wean pens in Uppsala
Legislation demands more and more space for sows and piglets, which makes farrowing pens that remove the sow at weaning an increasingly attractive solution. Farrow-to-Wean pens save labor costs substantially since it decreases weaning and sanitizing work. Additionally, less weaning stress results in improved piglet growth. If you have any questions about our farrow-to-wean pens in Uppsala, feel free to reach out to us and we will help you!


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Turkey's invasion will make the suffering worse
explains the tangled backdrop to the latest development in the Syrian civil war: Turkey's invasion of a Kurdish region in the northwest of the country.
TURKEY'S TWO-week-old military intervention into northwestern Syria to attack a Kurdish stronghold has ratcheted up tensions between allies and enemies alike.
It will lead to more misery and death among the victims on all sides--whether of Syria's dictatorial regime, of Turkey and other regional powers, or of the major imperialist powers looming behind the conflict, including the U.S.
On January 20, Turkey began its assault on Afrin, one of three Kurdish-majority cantons that make up a semi-autonomous region where Kurds predominate, commonly known as Rojava. The Democratic Union Party (PYD), an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey (PKK), controls Rojava, defended by its military wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG).
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan justified the invasion by claiming that the PYD and YPG represent a terrorist threat to the Turkish state. The Kurds are an oppressed nationality in Turkey, as well as Syria, Iraq and Iran--they have been subjected to violence and oppression for decades in all these countries, but especially Turkey.
But during its war on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the U.S. came to rely on Kurdish fighters in Syria as the main ground force that could attack ISIS strongholds. When ISIS's capital in Syria, Raqqa, fell last fall, the flag of the Kurdish YPG went up over the city.
Last month, the U.S. announced it was working to transform the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)--the military alliance led by the YPG that carried out ground operations in coordination with U.S. air power--into a 30,000-strong "border force."
Turkey, though a longtime ally of Washington, has been warning the U.S. against its support for the YPG. Erdoğan used the announcement about the "border force" as a pretext for the assault.
The Turkish government appears to be getting its way with the U.S. At the end of January, a spokesperson for Erdoğan reported that Donald Trump's National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster confirmed in a telephone call that the Pentagon would no longer supply the YPG with weapons.
As for Russia, it is the prime international backer of the Syrian dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, Turkey's historic rival--but Russia green-lighted Turkey's invasion. Russia has been building a closer relationship with the Erdoğan government by playing on discontent with the U.S. connection to the Kurds in Syria.
Meanwhile, in other parts of Syria, the Assad dictatorship is continuing its murderous attack on the Syrian people.
But at the same time, some units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA)--the broad umbrella group of armed opponents of the Assad regime that have fought in the civil war since the 2011 pro-democracy uprising in Syria--are participating in the assault on the Kurds, even though it is obvious that their enemies in Damascus and Moscow are collaborating with Turkey.
Turkey's invasion is a new front in the seven-year-old civil war in Syria--and a further complication in a twisted situation in which different forces of counterrevolution are both collaborating with each other and competing to project their interests, with ordinary people on all sides in Syria paying the deadly price.
The response of the people of Afrin this past weekend is a sign of hope amid the horror: a large demonstration against the invasion. "Protesters went out on the squares of the city with music, dancing and singing to denounce the military intervention against the province," reported Joseph Daher, a Swiss-Syrian socialist activist, writing on his Syria Freedom Forever blog.
AFRIN WAS one of the first predominantly Kurdish cities to support the Syrian uprising against the Assad dictatorship that began during the 2011 Arab Spring.
Soon after the initial protests in March 2011, over 10,000 people in Afrin called for the fall of the regime, the unity of the Syrian people and national rights for Kurds.
Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, before him have a long history of oppressing Kurds in Syria--their record includes stripping 120,000 Kurds of their citizenship, denying many the right to own property, and banning use of the Kurdish language in schools. These and other measures were inflicted on the Kurds in Turkey, too.
The Syrian regime has a long history of pitting different populations, including the Kurds, against each other, with some success historically. But at many early demonstrations, the Kurdish flag flew next to the flag of the Syrian revolution. Kurdish and Arab activists alike were detained, tortured and killed by the dictatorship's military and security forces.
In 2012, having lost control of large parts of the country, the Assad government abandoned Kurdish-majority areas in the north to focus on crushing uprisings elsewhere. The PYD and YPG assumed control and, two years later, declared the autonomy of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, known as Rojava.
This coincided with a growing division between Kurdish forces and the rebel forces fighting the Syrian regime.
On the one hand, the Turkish government offered support to the rebels of the Free Syrian Army, but on the condition that they oppose the establishment of a Kurdish state in Rojava.
Meanwhile, though some Kurdish brigades continued to fight as part of the FSA, the PYD opposed uniting with the other parts of the rebellion. As the dominant political force among Kurds, the PYD sought to exploit the Assad regime's de facto cease-fire in relationship to Rojava in order to build up its control over what it hoped would be a self-governing federal region within Syria.
THIS IS in keeping with the politics of the PYD and its longer-standing sister organization in Turkey, the PKK.
From the early years after its formation in 1978, the PKK resisted the Turkish state's repression of the Kurds, waging a separatist guerrilla war that the Turkish regime has been repressing with utmost brutality since long before Erdoğan came to power.
Faced with a military stalemate, the PKK shifted toward a new political project described by leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, as "democratic confederalism," referring to the writings of libertarian theorist Murray Bookchin. Instead of an independent Kurdistan, the goal became the building of alternative societies within the existing state, based on participatory democracy and local autonomy.
This is a strategy that the PYD has referenced with respect to Rojava. Though the extensive council system governs the region with an impressive 40 percent quota of seats held for women, it is not a model of grassroots democracy, according to socialist activist Alex de Jong:
The councils in Rojava...are the initiative of a political force, not of autonomous bottom-up initiatives. The PYD is the dominant force in Tev-Dem [Rojava's governing coalition]. The armed forces in Rojava (YPG, YPJ, and the security forces, the Asayiş) are trained in the ideology of the PYD and swear an oath to Öcalan
The reality is that the PYD has a history of repressing rival political parties and dissenting Kurdish activists.
Meanwhile, the PYD's wariness to stand in solidarity with the aims of the Syrian revolution has distanced the party from forces opposed to Assad. Rather than recognizing the shared destiny of Syrians struggling for democracy generally and the Kurdish struggle for autonomy, the PYD has sided more and more openly with Assad.
However, Assad's refusal to recognize Rojava suggests that he--and his imperial backers in Russia--are planning to eventually reassert control over the region, which makes Turkey's invasion all the more threatening.
ON THE other side of the conflict, a section of the Free Syrian Army is supporting Turkey's invasion, which further erodes the possibility of solidarity between Arabs and Kurds.
Some elements of the Syrian opposition fell victim to the same divide-and-conquer tactics that left the PYD in a de facto alliance with the regime. In particular, the Syrian National Council--established in exile as the civil war began and criticized by the left in Syria and beyond for its connections to U.S. imperialism--failed to uphold the Kurdish right to self-determination.
Meanwhile, for the past two years, the YPG has been engaged in military operations not only against ISIS, but against rebel forces. It began to expand into Arab-majority areas, such as the Tal Rifaat-Menagh region, in order to connect the three geographically non-contiguous cantons that form Rojava.
In July 2016, the YPG assisted the Assad regime's barbaric siege of Aleppo by capturing a key road leading out of the city. Last month, YPG forces shelled a mental hospital in rebel-controlled Azaz.
Since the liberation of Raqqa from ISIS by forces dominated by the YPG, many residents of the city celebrate the expulsion of ISIS--but describe rule under the PYD as another occupation.
Thus, as left-wing analyst Michael Karadjis describes, FSA's support for the Afrin offensive stems from a mix of many factors: revenge; unpaid debts to Turkey, which backs parts of the FSA; and longstanding sectarian sentiments against the Kurds; among others.
Regardless of the reasons for it, however, the FSA's support for Turkey's invasion should be condemned. Turkey is attempting to subjugate Kurdish democratic and national aspirations in both Syria and at home.
Notably, not all FSA brigades have supported the invasion. Last August, a Kurdish commander from the largest Kurdish FSA faction, Ahfad Salah al-Din, publicly refused to support a Turkish assault on Afrin, stating: "The people of Afrin are my people. They are close to my heart. It is the PYD party that I am absolutely opposed to." He was reportedly tortured at the hands of a Turkish-backed FSA faction.
FOR ITS part, Turkey's motives for the invasion are transparent. Whether ruled by the military, a center-left party aligned with the military or Erdoğan's Islamist Justice and Development Party, the Turkish government has systematically quelled all expressions of Kurdish self-determination.
Currently, the government is using domestic opposition to the invasion into Syria as a further excuse for its heavy-handed crackdown on dissent. According to a Reuters report, nearly 600 people have been detained within Turkey for social media posts and protests against the invasion.
The Turkish regime has been deeply hostile to the Kurds' assertion of autonomy and military power in northern Syria all along.
When ISIS forces, still at the height of their power in 2014, besieged the Kurdish city of Kobanê, just over the border in Syria, Turkey's military--supposedly an ally of the U.S. in the war on ISIS--did nothing to aid the Kurdish fighters defending Kobanê, and instead turned their repression against Kurds attempting to reach the city to help with its defense.
Kobanê survived, and the YPG's militia eventually became the strongest force on the ground in northern Syria, collaborating with the U.S. in the war on ISIS.
The U.S. aim was to sponsor ground forces that would explicitly commit to not fighting the Assad regime. Thus, YPG fighters became predominant within the Syrian Democratic Forces, the umbrella military alliance that represented Washington's attempt to quell Turkish outrage at the U.S. arming an affiliate of the PKK.
With air support from the U.S. and other powers, the SDF successfully pushed ISIS out of northern Syria. But when Turkey began its attack against the Kurds in Afrin last month, the U.S. failed to condemn the invaders. Once again, it appears that the U.S. will betray the Kurds--whose partnership offers far less in the long term than Turkey's support as a regional power and NATO ally.
The other main imperialist power intervening in Syria is Russia, the prime international backer of the Assad regime. With control over Afrin's air space, Russia would have had to green-light Turkey's attack.
Prior to the Afrin offensive, Russian officials met with Kurdish representatives to offer a deal on behalf of the Assad regime, which was reportedly willing to protect Afrin if the PYD relinquished control of the border.
The PYD initially refused, but five days into the Turkish assault, PYD leaders called on the Syrian regime to defend the border, stating that "the Afrin region is an integral part of Syria."
Thus, the growing international consensus in support of Assad's continued rule, added to Turkey's latest aggression, has pressured the PYD to solidify relations with the Assad regime. Facing few alternatives, the PYD may begin to seek accommodations within the framework of a Syria ruled by Assad.
WHILE TURKEY invades Afrin to the north, the Assad dictatorship is continuing its four-year-long brutal siege of Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held enclave east of Damascus.
Since mid-November 2017, the 400,000 people in the area have endured nearly daily bombing. According to the local Civil Defense, on January 20, regime forces used chlorine gas in Douma city.
An ongoing regime offensive to retake Idlib from rebels continues to kill scores of civilians and displace hundreds of thousands. Since the day Turkey's Afrin offensive began, over 110 civilians in the Idlib region have been killed by regime air strikes. Over the weekend, a suspected chlorine gas attack took place in the town of Saraqeb.
The Assad regime's war on the Syrian people--supported by the Russian air force and Iranian-backed sectarian militias--continues to add to the horrific death toll in Syria, counted at about 321,000 people killed since 2011 and more than 145,000 missing, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
As for Turkey's invasion, military forces have failed to make significant progress in Afrin, due in part to bad weather and unfamiliar terrain, according to news reports.
But Erdoğan has hinted at ethnic cleansing to come in Afrin, stating, "The whole point is to give Afrin back to its real owners." A video has surfaced showing the horrific capture and mutilation of a woman Kurdish fighter, committed by Syrian opposition forces working with Turkey.
Erdoğan has declared his government's intention to clear Kurdish forces from all of northern Syria, and he called on the U.S. to remove its military personnel from Manbij, an Arab-majority town 60 miles east of Afrin. But late in January, Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, told CNN that American troops won't withdraw from Manbij.
THUS, THE potential for a military confrontation between these NATO allies threatens to ignite further violence--with ordinary people on all sides of the conflict paying a greater toll in misery and death.
A recent statement by the Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists reiterated the importance of the left opposing all imperialist and regional intervention in Syria and solidarity with struggles for democracy and freedom:
There has been a consensus between all the international and regional powers on the necessity to liquidate the revolutionary popular movements initiated in Syria in March of 2011 and to stabilize the murderous and authoritarian regime in Damascus with Bashar al-Assad as its head in the name of the "war on terror." It is this consensus that has given the latest "carte blanche" for these crimes.
In the face of this counter-evolutionary consensus, what is desperately needed is solidarity between all (Arabs, Kurds, and all other ethnic minorities) revolutionaries who are against the Assad regime and all the regional and international imperialist powers, and who support the struggles for social justice, women's rights and the rights of oppressed minorities.


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Grandma, Uncle Tracy, Aunt Alyson and Dad
There are 32ish days until Christmas. And two things are certain; the days will pass faster than you expect and no matter how much you plan, this season isn't going to be perfect.
Every year instead of focusing on what I'm gonna do, I first focus on what I'm not going to do. Somehow it helps me feel a little more focused. This year, I won't put up lights outside {but my boys might} I won't make teacher gifts, I won't send Christmas Cards, I won't enter a mall in a frantic search for the perfect gift, I won't say yes to things because I feel guilty for saying no. My "no" got a good tune up and is running just fine thank you.
I will do less and be more.
Every Christmas for the past few years DaySpring has sponsored a post here at Nesting Place about that very thing–doing less and being more. Kind of odd for a company that sells cards--don't they know that sending Christmas cards is the first thing to go? I always try to make sure they know what they are getting themselves into–so you are ok with me encouraging people to do less–even if that means they might rethink their buying habits?–yes they say in their gentle, confident way. They remind me of that Santa at Macy's on Miracle on 34th Street. I mean, they sponsor a post and then I ramble on and on about how I wanted to move an armoire 2 inches to the right and then before you know it, I'm rearranging the entire downstairs.
So, back to me, since clearly I'm making this post all about my big self, there are also things I do DO every single Christmas season. We get a live tree, we watch Elf and of course, we give gifts. We give gifts to celebrate the gift we have been given. That photo up there of my Grandmother? She made our childhood magical with the living room full of gifts each year. She loved giving. I'm not even sure she understood the real meaning of Christmas until the end of her life but, she understood the love involved with gifting. Her home looked like it could be featured on a Christmas episode of Hoarders if there were such a thing of a hoard of beautifully wrapped Christmas presents precariously stacked on top of each other in layer after glorious layer of shiny wrapped thoughtfulness. Christmas at Grandma's was the highlight of my childhood.
Prints by Jones Designs my post all about my love for them is here for your reading pleasure
I love gift giving and I want to be intentional with the gifts we give. I'd love it if every gift we gave was Meaningful, Beautiful, Handmade, Personal and Useful. But realistically, if I can hit one or two of those with every gift I give, I feel pretty good.
One thing DaySpring is really good at is providing us with Meaningful Beauty to keep and to gift. They told me I could just link to the sale page to keep this post simple and to honor my love of doing less but, I wanted to show you a few of the super sale items because there are some things that we've talked about here before, things I've used in my own home, things my mom and friends like, things I think could make good gifts for people you love. And, you can avoid a crowded mall. It's truly a win win.
Here are some of the mind boggling sales on a few things I've used in my house–I'll link to the posts but, the giveaways are closed for these old posts, if you are new here:
Lightweight Indestructible Grace Wooden Bamboo Tray
Wooden Caddy {a post about setting up a buffet shows how I use my caddy
Silhouette Nativity that you can remove the silhouettes and use year around
And because DaySpring is fun and generous, they are giving a whole slew of meaningful beauty.
One winner per 100 comments will win a few of my current favorite gifts to give: Sarah Young's Jesus Calling and the flip calendar and my sister's book Grace for the Good Girl along with a By Grace Alone necklace created by Lisa Leonard. Great gifts to keep for yourself or to give away. DaySpring even let me pick what I wanted to give away {I mean, they are giving it away but I got to pick because they are nice like that}. These are the two gifts my husband and I gave away the most this past year.
And one super lucky person will pretty much get their Christmas shopping done. One Grand Prize winner will get one of every item featured in the Super Sale–that's over $530 worth of prizes–all that stuff in that photo collage above and more–click here to see everything and find out more about the sale. And did you notice, that caddy is only $9!?
PS: is there something from DaySpring you've had your eye on but it's not included in the Super Sale? No worries, use code SUPER30 for 30% off your entire order {not including the Super Sale items}
Leave a comment telling us what you ARE NOT doing this Christmas season to enter to win one of these meaningful, beautiful prizes. This contest will stay open until midnight Monday, November 28th, winners will hopefully be announced on Wednesday, the 30th.
{Winners announced HERE!}


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Thursday, September 15, 2011
Haunted House made out of poster board
6 comments:
Love it! Had to pin it as well. Martha needs to hire you for her Halloween mag. Seriously.
What a great project! :) I've featured this post on Craft Gossip here:ReplyDelete
If you would like a "featured by" button, you can grab one here:
Wow! This is great! I adore the Craft Gossip blog, and that's where I found you. Love it!ReplyDelete
This is a darling project for the holiday! I too found your instructions through Craft Gossip--I'm bookmarking your blog too!ReplyDelete
This is such a great idea...I love it! Your blog is great too. I found you from the CSI Project. I'm your newest follower, I hope you'll stop by my new blog & follow along too.ReplyDelete
This is such a cute idea! (when poster board really comes in handy)!ReplyDelete


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Step into a Sunrise Assisted Living community and you can't help but feel at home. We stop at nothing to make your experience warm and inviting, from our homelike exterior architecture, to our comfortable community areas and choice of suites to our exceptional outdoor gardens and landscaping. Look around and you'll notice fresh flowers throughout the residence, and you may even spot our dog or our cat. And of course, there are always the friendly smiling faces of our staff to ensure that each day spent here is a welcome one.


text:
I really got choked up watching these videos. They are a result of a project from director Rick Mereki, director/producer Tim White, and actor Andrew Lees as they traveled through 11 countries in a little more than a month. 38,000 miles later they have produced three videos telling of their experiences.
I was fortunate to travel to South East Asia for a few months after college. It was certainly a trip of a lifetime for me. Even though I wished I could have kept going, I felt an obligation to come home. I don't know why. I was young, able and had no real commitments. Now that I'm older and have many real obligations and commitments, I fear I will never see and experience parts of the world I dreamed of going to.
So for now, these will have to do. What an amazing trip this must have been. I'm so thankful I stumbled on these beautiful and inspiring videos. Hopefully, the world will some day welcome my boys when they are ready to venture out and experience what I have missed.
MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.
LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.
EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.