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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kullaberg (Swedish pronunciation: [kɵlaˈbærj])[1] is a peninsula and nature reserve of land protruding into the Kattegat in Höganäs Municipality near the town of Mölle in southwest Sweden. The site in the province of Skåne is an area of considerable biodiversity supporting a number of rare species and has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in Sweden as well as a Special Protection Area (SPA). The terrain is dominated by steep cliffs rising from the sea and rocky outcrops on the ridge above, the highest elevation[2] being Håkull at 188 metres. Ridgetop vegetation includes a mixed hardwood broadleaf forest consisting of birch, beech, oak and pine trees with an understory of hawthorn, juniper, wild honeysuckle and blackthorn. Among the notable rare plants are spring vetchling, Lathyrus sphaericus.[3]
Inhabited as early as the Stone Age, there are extant stone circles, grave mounds, ancient village remains and other archeological features. Kullaberg is administered by the Höganäs Forestry Board and the Gyllenstierna Krapperup Foundation. Kullen lighthouse, designed by architect Magnus Dahlander in 1898, is considered the brightest in Sweden, situated at the westernmost point of the reserve, guiding ships through this busy part of the Kattegat. Within this 75 square kilometre (18,500 acre) reserve are extensive hiking paths that criss-cross the ridge and provide access to dozens of beach coves nestled at the bottom of the cliff formations.


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Mack Sennett (January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy". His short "Wrestling Swordfish" was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1932 and he earned an Academy Honorary Award in 1937.
Born as Mikall (or Michael) Sinnott in Danville, Quebec, Canada, the son of Irish Catholic immigrant farmers. His father was a blacksmith in the small Eastern Townships village. When he was 17 years old his family moved to Connecticut.
The family lived for a time in Northampton, Massachusetts, where, according to his autobiography, Sennett first got the idea to go on stage after seeing a vaudeville show. He claimed that the most respected lawyer in town, Northampton mayor (and future President of the United States) Calvin Coolidge, as well as Sennett's own mother, tried to talk him out of his theatrical ambitions.

subset: commoncrawl


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Watching History Unfold
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy left such an indelible imprint on the American psyche, the question of "where were you when Kennedy was shot?" has become its own cultural phenomenon. There was even a critically-acclaimed "Mad Men" episode about it.
Gilbert Klein, assistant professor at American University's School of Professional & Extended Studies, experienced the tragic event like millions of other schoolchildren. "I was in the eighth grade, in study hall, when the math teacher came in and announced it," said Klein, co-director of the journalism program at the AU Washington Semester Program, in an interview.
As the 50th anniversary of the assassination nears, Klein moderated a panel at the National Press Club with people who were much closer to the tragic events. Four seasoned journalists—Bob Schieffer, Jim Lehrer, Sid Davis, and Marianne Means—were all eyewitnesses to history in Dallas that day. And in front of a packed audience on November 4th, they had some remarkable stories to tell.
That Day in Dallas
Though Kennedy's visit was a huge story in Texas, Lehrer said there were no indications of imminent danger. Lehrer, later the host of PBS "NewsHour," was then a federal reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. He wrote about the security buildup before Kennedy's visit. "I had access to the Secret Service and to the FBI," he said, "but there was no special threat towards the Kennedys."
Means, a longtime columnist for Hearst Newspapers, was the only woman reporter in the motorcade. And Means described an eerie feeling in the air. "It seemed that there was something different about this day. The convertible—everybody in it was very cranky," she said.
Davis, formerly of NBC News and Westinghouse Broadcasting, was also in the motorcade. "We were about right under the sixth floor window of the school book depository when the shots were fired. And there was no doubt in my mind that we heard three explosions," he said.
After the shooting, the city was swirling with terror and uncertainty. "We were absolutely stunned. We didn't know what this meant. They closed off the borders with Mexico. We didn't know if this was the beginning of World War III," said Schieffer, then a night police reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and now host of Sunday CBS show "Face the Nation."
The Aftermath
Amid the chaos, Schieffer got a random phone call while working at the Star-Telegram city desk. "A woman called in and said 'is there anybody there who can give me a ride to Dallas?'" Schieffer almost hung up the phone. "I said 'lady, we don't run a taxi service here.'"
But it turned out that the call was worth taking. It was Lee Harvey Oswald's mother.
Schieffer brought her to the police station. "I interviewed her on the way. And it was a very strange interview," Schieffer recalled. He tried to interview her assassin-son but was unsuccessful. "It was, to this day, one of the greatest adventures that I think any young reporter could ever have," he said.
At one point, Lehrer was at the police station while Oswald was being moved to another office. "I asked him, 'did you kill the president?' And he said 'I didn't kill anybody!'…And trust me, I wrote that down," he remembered.
Aboard Air Force One, Davis was one of only three reporters who witnessed Lyndon Johnson being sworn-in as president. Through his secretary, Johnson invited Jacqueline Kennedy to stand next to him while he took the oath of office.
At that time, Davis said he could still see blood on her stockings, skirt, and hand. "I think that she knew that she had to be in that room for the swearing-in. And I found that to be very patriotic and courageous at the same time. That she would leave the casket and come into the room in that condition," Davis explained.
The Legacy
"What started as covering a routine presidential trip became the defining story of their careers," Klein said at the event. And the panelists discussed the Kennedy assassination's impact on both their careers and their lives.
"I learned at that early stage—and it's part of my DNA as a reporter—just how fragile everything is," Lehrer said. This led to his belief that if the phone rings in a newsroom, it's got to get answered. "In a moment, everything's changed again. There could be another event."
"To see this young and vigorous man cut down in a matter of seconds by the bullets fired by a madman, I think it just helped me to understand the preciousness of life," Schieffer said. "It caused me, from that day forward, to try to cram as much as I could into every single day of my life."
Towards the end of the evening, Klein asked why the JFK assassination remains such a powerful story. "I think it was John Kennedy," Davis answered.
Indeed, his vision and legacy are still celebrated 50 years after his death. Kennedy gave a seminal commencement speech at AU in June 1963. Titled "A Strategy of Peace," Kennedy called for a nuclear test ban treaty, and he encouraged respect and understanding of the Soviet Union.
Aspiring journalists from AU's Washington Semester Program turned out for the National Press Club event. Two AU students from Germany, Sophia Lindsey and Lilly Maier, had Schieffer autograph copies of his book for them afterwards.
"There's a thrill, I think, of getting a story, and being there when it happens as it unfolds—even if it's a terrible story like that," Lindsey said.


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UNESCO TTISSA's Methodological Guide for the Analysis of Teacher Issues describes a number of good practices in terms of teacher participation in policy and decision making: "the Namibian National Teachers' Union (NANTU) engages in regular negotiations for teachers' service conditions. These negotiations lead to regular three-year agreements, the implementation of which is then discussed. Additionally, NANTU and the Ministry of Education have established a Technical Committee which meets monthly for information sharing and discussion. NANTU also participates in other bodies that cover issues of standard-setting, qualifications and conditions of service.
Similarly, in Mauritius, regular tripartite meetings (involving the government, private sector employers and teachers' unions) are held to discuss increases of cost of living allowances.
In South Africa, teachers' organizations have agreed with the Ministry of Education on a labour relations framework which includes the standard areas of negotiation as well as pedagogical issues. The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) has been established as a permanent body for discussion of education sector labour issues, including within a framework of overall public sector consultation and negotiations".
The Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel has noted this kind of framework as a good practice in the key area of policy dialogue. (UNESCO, January 2010)


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OREM — Renowned author and scholar David McCullough said the genius passed down by the Founding Fathers should not be disregarded. But neither should the current government become frozen by the Constitution, the nation's measure of good governance.
"Washington called it a guide and we should remember that," McCullough said, speaking at Utah Valley University on Monday.
McCullough's comments were part of a Constitution Day program at the UCCO Center, which coincided with the ribbon-cutting of the university's new Center for Constitutional Studies. Thousands of students and community members attended the keynote address, in which McCullough said there was a need for improvement in the teaching of history, particularly in regard to the founding of the United States.
"History is human" he said, emphasizing that the Founding Fathers were not gods, as they are sometimes portrayed, but instead were human beings of flesh and blood.
"The fact that they did what they did, despite their own personal failures, despite adversity, despite little or no seeming chance of success is one of the greatest stories in all of history," he said, "and it is true."
McCullough the author of "1776" and "John Adams," and recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, offered an indictment of the current state of student knowledge in history, even as he praised UVU's new center and the need for more at other institutions of higher learning.
He described the current generation of students as "historically illiterate," saying that overall, Americans possess a sketchy, thin level of understanding of the nation's founding and the constitutional framework of society.
"I think we're swindling students with the illusion that they're educated and they're not," he said. "I know students. I know what they know and I know what they don't know."
Later on, speaking before the audience in the UCCO Center, McCullough said that compared to our ancestors, who studied literature, law, politics, art and agriculture while living shorter lives without modern comfort, we are "softies."
"We have been coddled," he said. "We have been comforted and made to feel secure in ways they never knew."
McCullough also pointed out the responsibility and accountability the founders took upon themselves by signing the Declaration of Independence – an act of treason against the British crown. He said there is a similar need for accountability and engagement among society today for what goes on in government. He called the pursuit of happiness the pursuit of greater knowledge.
"We are accountable for what happens in the government and the direction of our country and we are accountable for the education of our children and grandchildren," he said. "They didn't mean vacations. They didn't mean more stuff. They meant the life of the mind, the love of learning."
While introducing McCullough, Rick Griffin, the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Studies, described him as a historical "tour guide." He said McCullough, through his writing, places a reader among Washington's army or in Independence Hall during the constitutional debates.
Near the end of his remarks, McCullough acknowledged the personal nature of his research and writing. He said parents should take their children to historical sites such as Independence Hall or the Capitol. He said teachers – who he said do the most important and influential work in the country – need to encourage the "adventure of learning" by having students write and read more than they are currently required to.
"I've had the great privilege of getting to know these people well," McCullough said of the Founding Fathers. "In many ways, I know them better than people in my own real life."
During the center's ribbon cutting, UVU President Matthew Holland emphasized that in addition to the honor of having McCullough participate in the university program, the true purpose of the event and the new center was an academic focus on the U.S. Constitution.
"It's what we will study," he said. "It's what we will reflect on. It's what we will try to defend."
In conjunction with his participation at the center's ribbon-cutting, McCullough was given the center's Inaugural Honorary Fellow Award.
The Center for Constitutional Studies is hosting a number of events in celebration of Constitution Day. On Thursday, George Washington University professor and writer Jon Turley will give a free address to the public at 11 a.m.
E-mail: email@example.com


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Herbalife, a company that's currently the epicenter of a battle between two hedge fund managers, gave an early glimpse of its fourth quarter earnings. Investors didn't like what they saw.
Shares of Herbalife (HLF) dropped nearly 4% Thursday, although the nutritional supplement company posted preliminary results that topped the company's previous estimates.
The company said that fourth quarter profits are expected to come between $1.02 and $1.05 per share. The consensus estimate of analysts is $1.02 per share.
So why the negative reaction? Investors had expected Herbalife to announce plans to accelerate its buy back of shares or increase the number of shares it plans to repurchase. That didn't happen. Instead, Herbalife told investors that it would begin repurchasing shares as part of its regular buyback program on February 19 when it officially reports its earnings.
Still, a 4% drop for Herbalife isn't that much of a swing for a company that has been one of the most volatile stocks of the past month.
Related: Why Bill Ackman is targeting Herbalife
Two of the most closely-watched and outspoken hedge fund investors -- Third Point's Dan Loeb and Pershing Square's Bill Ackman -- each have an investment in Herbalife. But Loeb thinks the stock will head higher, while Ackman is betting it will plunge.
In mid December, Ackman gave a presentation to investors explaining why his research revealed Herbalife to be a "pyramid scheme." The company's shares sank more than 30% as investors weighed Ackman's claims.
In its release Thursday, Herbalife admitted that it could see a "temporary increase in expenses, associated with recent events." The company's President Des Walsh had previously told CNNMoney that expenses related to Ackman's claims would not be material to earnings.
Last week, the company hosted an investor day explaining why it is a veritable company and how its network of more than 3 million salespeople actually make money selling Herbalife products.
Adding to the drama, Loeb announced an 8% stake in the company a few days before the company's presentation. Loeb also lauded Herbalife's management in a letter to investors.
That helped boost confidence in the stock. Even after Thursday's sell-off, Herbalife is up 2% from when Ackman made his allegations.


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Xcel wants your beer fridge. And if you're a residential customer in Minnesota, Xcel will actually pay YOU $70 to come pick it up and recycle it.
Usually, Xcel pays $35 (I did this back in January; shame I didn't wait), but the retirement reward is double now through the end of November 2011.
To qualify, it must be a functional, second refrigerator, capable of making ice.
Now, just imagine the happiness you can buy me with that $70.
Don't be greedy, that's my commission. You'll agree once you hear how much a beer fridge costs to run.
Not an Xcel customer? Minnesota Power offers up to $85 to pick up old, working refrigerators. Here's a list of energy providers with similar programs.


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Vladimir Putin may or may not have lost his grip on reality, but his desire to tighten his grip on Crimea is surprisingly logical if you consider the history and strategic importance of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. A closer look at Russia's forces along the southern Ukrainian coast reveals a lot of Putin's thinking.
The Black Sea is not a small place. It is roughly the size of California, or about 60% larger than the Persian Gulf, and is bordered by Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Turkey. That being said, when it comes to large naval armadas like an American Carrier Strike Group, it is not exactly the Pacific Ocean. This is especially true considering that a Peninsula at the center of this body of water is bristling with anti-ship missiles… and they don't even belong to the country that they're based in.
Russia's sudden seizure of the land mass known as the Crimea, a peninsula jutting out from Ukraine, just a stone's throw from Russian's south western border, was startling to the west, but in all reality Russian forces invaded what militarily seemed like their own stronghold.
A Short History Lesson
Historically speaking, the Black Sea Fleet and its Sevastopol base date back 1783, and was founded by Prince Potemkin. The Crimea Peninsula actually belonged to the Russians as far back as 1954, at which time Khrushchev symbolically "gave" the landmass to Ukraine.
This gift of sorts had little consequence as Ukraine remained a Soviet state until the dissolution of USSR back in 1991. When this occurred, a severely weakened Russia was left having to share its naval fleet and bases in Crimea with Ukraine, although command and control was still heavily lopsided in Russia's favor. In 1997, the fleet was split 70-30% with Ukraine as a settlement over ownership of once soviet military assets. As part of this deal, Russia would have to lease its Black Sea Fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol and its associated air bases, from Ukraine. The lease would run through 2017.
Russia's lease of multiple military installations in the Crimea was not much of a problem until Vladimir Putin became more interested in wielding power over the former Soviet Block state, all the while a major portion of the Ukrainian population wanted much closer ties with Europe.
By the mid 2000's it was clear that Russia's strategic lease that allowed the Black Sea fleet to remain in Crimea would most likely not be renewed in 2017. Many in government at the time saw the arrangement as more of a "soft occupation" than a strategically beneficial agreement. The non-renewal of the Black Sea Fleet lease agreement would not only require Russia to move the majority of its naval troops and flotilla over to the eastern coastline of the Black Sea, but it would also mean that Russia would no longer have a powerful, if not intimidating force, sitting garrison on Ukrainian soil. Additionally, there have been some key discoveries when it comes to energy deposits on the west side of the Black Sea, an area that is readily accessible, if not potentially claimable, from the territorial waters off the Crimea Peninsula.
In 2010, the pro-Russian government of Viktor Yanukovych would see to it that Russia's strategic fortunes in the region change for the better. Under a highly controversial deal, the lease of the Russian naval master base at Sevastopol, and its associated air bases, would be extended 25 years, with another five year option after that.
This long-term lease would be partially in exchange for a 30% reduction in Russian natural gas prices for Ukraine. The execution of this agreement would mean that Russia would continue having heavy naval firepower, attack aircraft, and a large maritime landing force garrisoned in Ukraine potentially until 2047. This was a massive strategic win for a reinvigorated Russia who's influence was rapidly expanding once again in the region, whether it be by the carrot or the stick.
Then in a massive turn of events, just last month Yanukovych was ran out of the country as uprisings gripped the Ukrainian capitol of Kiev, and began to spread to other areas of the country. With Yanukovych's ouster from government, and his subsequent helicopter escape to Russia, the Black Sea Fleet's long established home, one of higher strategic importance than ever, was now almost totally at risk once again. Just days later we saw the "invasion" of the Crimea Peninsula by Russian forces, operating in an unidentified fashion throughout key strategic areas in the semi-autonomous Ukrainian state.
Putin's Navy
Russia's foreign naval bases are seen by Putin as absolutely key fixtures needed to revive the country's image as a world superpower. A largely overlooked fact about the ongoing Syrian crisis was that Russia has their only Mediterranean naval port in Tartus, Syria. Should Assad fall so would Russian access to their port.
This would mean that the Russian Navy would be hard pressed to operate at any sort of sustained tempo in the Mediterranean as they would have to sail all the way to the northern reaches of the Black Sea just to receive repairs, resupply, refuel and rearm. Hence, among other reasons, Putin's incredibly strong support for the Assad regime.
The mainstream news often does not report these simple rational motivators because they tend to overlook military strategy or capabilities, and long-retired golfing generals are hardly a place to get the latest analysis on such matters. Yet, the facts are clear, without Tartus the Russian Navy would be all but locked out of having a sustained future presence in the Mediterranean.
When it comes to Crimea, the motivation to keep the naval base in Sevastopol is as great, if not greater, than those relating to Syria, but for very different reasons. Mainly those being the ability to have a massive military "beachhead" on Ukrainian soil should Putin decide to annex the country in full, energy claims in the north west Black Sea Region, control of oil pipelines that crisscross the country, and as leverage to control the future of Ukrainian foreign policy. Then there is a "soft" rebuilding of the old Soviet Union that is clearly underway in the form of Russia's "Eurasian Union." Clearly Putin sees Ukraine as a western anchor to this historically eerie initiative, and the Black Sea Fleet is a means in which to defend that union in the future. In the end Putin clearly sees his foreign naval ports as an integral military facet of his strategy for reintroducing Russia onto the world stage as a super power, and thus he will not let them go without a serious fight.
Inside Sevastapol
The leased Russian naval port in Sevastopol is no coastguard station. Sevastopol is the center of gravity for the Black Sea Feet, with all of its heavy surface combatants and about 70% of the rest of the fleet based there. It houses a pocket armada of naval firepower and amphibious landing capabilities that still represent a serious threat to anyone on Putin's unwanted list. Going off of the latest information and publicly available satellite imagery, Russian forces in Crimea before Putin's shadowy blitzkrieg looked something like this:
You can see a lot of the same sources I used and learn more about these ships by clicking here, here, here and here, among other sources, along with the obligatory Wikipedia crosscheck.
1X Slava "Glory" Class Guided Missile Cruiser: The flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, this ship is one of the most powerful surface combatants in the Russian Navy, only outmatched by the borderline battleship-sized Kirov Class.
Slavas are often referred to as "carrier killers" as they are packed with 16 massive and deadly SS-N-12 "Sandbox" anti-ship missiles. These are very large cruise missiles weighing some five tons each. They are capable of flying over 300 miles at speeds of up tp mach 2.4 and can deliver a massive one ton armor piercing warhead onto their target.
The Sandbox was built to be launched is salvos and is incredibly well networked considering they were designed originally in the 1970s. The missiles work as a team during an attack, varying speed, altitude and approach vector to confuse and overwhelm their target's ability to defend itself. A deadly swarm of SS-N-12s can even pass along retasking or retargeting orders if a missile in the formation is destroyed or if their target set changes.
Additionally, these "carrier killers" were built to receive mid-course guidance updates from other SS-N-12s or maritime patrol aircraft so that they can be fired far from their target's ability to detect the launch ship. Simply put, these are large, fast and deadly school-bus sized missiles, and are especially dangerous when employed in large numbers.
The Slava class also possesses a powerful ability for area air defense and is outfitted with 64 S-300F, S-300FM "Fort" or S-300PMU "Gargoyle" long range surface to air missiles.
These massive SAMs are capable of shooting down everything from low flying cruise missiles, fighter-sized aircraft and even incoming ballistic missiles, even under intense jamming conditions. The S-300 has a range of over 50 miles in its older S-300F configuration, and about 100 miles in their newer FM and PMU configuration. These missiles are launched via a rotary vertical launch system implanted into the deck of the Slava Class Cruiser. Additionally, close in air defenses are provided by a SA-N-4 "Gecko" short range missiles and a gaggle of AK-630 precision aimed close-in defense cannons.
Finally, the Slava Class also has 24 anti-submarine mortars and 10 torpedo tubes, along with a 130mm multipurpose gun and a Kamov KA-27 helicopter for over the horizon targeting, attack, and anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare duties.
1X Kara Class Large Anti-Submarine Warfare Ship: This old but proud beast was built to take the fight to American submarines with devastating effects. She is the last of her kind and armed with 8 SS-N-14 "Silex" anti-submarine missiles. The Silex is a massive high-speed delivery vehicle of death.
Weighing in at almost four and a half tons, it can fly 25 miles from its launch ship at close to the speed of sound, and assisted by external targeting, such as from a helicopter or anti-submarine patrol aircraft, it can release its torpedo that will then dive up to 1,500 feet below the ocean's surface to find its submerged target. The Silex missile can also be used against surface vessels. The torpedo it normally carries to attack submarines is switched out with a 400-lb shaped-charge warhead. Once properly configured, the missile simply plows into its target and let's its high explosive payload do the dirty work.
Then there are the Kara's twin RBU-6000 and RBU-1000 short range anti-submarine rocket launchers for dealing with submerged threats up close and personal. These weapon systems work by bombarding an enemy submarine with a massive salvo of actively guided rockets packed with shaped charge warheads. The Kara class also has a KA-27 anti-submarine warfare helicopter and she also packs 10 533mm torpedo tubes fitted onboard for good ship and submarine blasting excitement.
For air defense, the Kara Class also is equipped with the SA-N-3 "Goblet" SAM system. These are basically rocket propelled telephone poles that can take out bomber sized targets at over 30 miles from their launch point. The Kara Class carries a whopping eighty of these vintage, but still deadly SAMs. Also included in the ship's air defense are SA-N-4 "Gecko" andAK-630 point defense systems. Finally there are a pair of 76mm multi-purpose guns for targets that fall outside the abilities of the ship's already massive arsenal.
To be blunt, this ship was made to kill things under the waves in mass and with prejudice, if it sits on top of those waves or maneuvers high above them it can also kill those targets as well, but its real passion in life is to implode western submarine hulls. In an age where multi-purpose capabilities are essential for justifying the cost of any large surface combatant, the Kara is a big hulk of a dinosaur with very large, albeit blunt teeth.
1X Kashin Class Destroyer: Another oldie but goodie, the "Smetlivy" is the last of her class and is currently active with the Black Sea Fleet. She was upgraded in the 1990's with some new gear that would make her a relevant naval player into the new millennium. She is equipped with eight modern SS-N-25 "Switchblade" anti-ship cruise missiles which are roughly equivalent to the prevalent AGM-84 Harpoon missile in service with the US Navy and allied forces around the world. The missile can be launched at over 80 miles away from its target and skims the sea at high-subsonic speed. Once it is about to strike its target it can impact right above the target's waterline or it can pop up and attack from above, where a warship's armor is traditionally the thinnest. Additionally the Smetlivy is equipped with SA-N-1 "Goa" surface to air missiles, five torpedo tubes, 2 RBU-6000 ASW rocket launchers and a pair of AK-726 76mm multi-purpose guns. She also packs a KA-25 or KA-27 chopper for multi-role anti-surface/anti-submarine warfare and logistical duties.
2X Krivak Class Missile Frigate: Like much of the Soviet Navy these ships are far from new and are approaching the end of their usefulness, but they still pack four of the aforementioned deadly SS-N-14 "Silex" anti-ship and anti-submarine missiles. Beyond that they have SA-N-4 defensive anti-air missiles and four 76mm guns, along with a pair of RBU-6000 anti-sub rocket launchers and a quartet of torpedo tubes. Usually Krivaks also sail with mines onboard numbering in the dozens.
In fairly recent satellite imagery, one of the Krivak Class Frigates appears to be upgraded to Krivak III configuration, as it lacks the 76mm guns on its stern and the Silex missile "quad pack" on its bow. In these systems place there is a single 100mm gun and a helicopter operations area, hangar, and an embarked KA-27 chopper. These "Krivak III" configured ships are usually operated by the Border Guard so it is not clear if this ship has replaced a standard Krivak Class frigate or just took its place temporarily.
2X Nanuchka Class Guided Missile Corvettes: These fast vessels are meant to sneak up on the enemy and launch their SS-N-9 Siren anti-ship missiles. These missiles have a range over 75 miles and pack a whopping 1,100-lb warhead.
2X Bora class guided missile hovercraft- These ships are some of the newer vessels in the Russian Navy and move incredibly fast over the water, reaching over 60 miles per hour when in attack mode. They also pack an extremely perilous punch. Each Bora class sports eight mach three capable, ramjet powered, SS-N-22 "Sunburn" anti-ship missiles. Once the Sunburn has has its target locked up using its active radar seeker it drops down to just feet above the waves and throttles up, hurtling into its target at around mach 2.5, leaving a targeted ship with just seconds to react. Once it slices into its target's hull it lets loose a 700lb explosive warhead. Oh, and it can do all this from well over the horizon as it is capable of being launched some 80 miles from its target. Although the Nenuchka Class is built around this deadly missile, it also has a wide assortment of cannons and machine guns, as well as a close in surface to air missile system for self defense.
1X Matka Class Missile Boat: Basically, this is ship is a hydrofoil anti-ship missile launch platform that has great speed and endurance. She packs eight highly capable SS-N-25 "Switchblade" anti-ship missiles and a 76mm main gun, as well as a small assortment of smaller guns and close in defense systems.
5X Tarantul Missile Corvettes: These nasty missile boats can pack a variable cocktail of anti-ship destruction including either eight SS-N-25 "Switchblade" subsonic anti-ship cruise missiles or four extremely deadly high mach SS-N-22 "Sunburn" anti-ship missiles, along with a 76mm gun and assorted close in weapons systems..
One or Two B-871 Kilo Class diesel-electric submarines: Diesels are quiet subs when running on their batteries, but the Black Sea Fleet's "Alrosa," is especially silent due to her pump-jet propulsion system. Her job is to ruin surface ships and other submarines' day, especially when transiting shallow waters, via her 18 533mm torpedoes and two dozen mines. Seeing as she has to be near the surface in order to recharge her batteries, she is equipped with eight SA-N-10 "Gimlet" shoulder launched surface to air missiles. These man portable air defense systems (MANPADS) are not a good thing for a low flying anti-submarine warfare aircraft that is trying to identify her while surfaced.
7X Large Amphibious Landing Ships: In addition to the armada listed above, the Black Sea Fleet retains a sizeable beach landing capability seven large amphibious landing and support ships, some capable of dropping 20 tanks directly on the beach. This amphibious ship brigade is currently made up primarily of "Alligator" and "Ropucha" class landing ships.
7X Anti Submarine Corvettes: This force is made up of six "Grisha" Class large corvettes and one "Mukha" class hydrofoil. These ships carry torpedoes, anti-submarine rockets and mines, as well as a multi-purpose main gun.
12X Assorted Coast Patrol & Minesweeping Craft: The rest of the Black Sea Fleet is made up of about a dozen assorted craft, four of which are dedicated minesweepers, while the rest are various patrol and small logistics ships.
Black Sea Fleet Air & Ground Support Forces
Let's now move to the Russian assets on the Crimea Peninsula that don't float in the water. Russia has deployed the K-300P coastal defense missile system in unknown numbers to Crimea. This sucker is a road mobile advanced anti-ship missile system and is said to be extremely effective and resistant to countermeasures.
The missile can reach out over 150 miles and can be targeted via external sensors. The missile itself is based on the SS-N-26 high supersonic ramjet powered missile and approaches its target at around two and a half times the speed of sound. Additionally, this missile has many modes to tailor the attack profile best for the target type. Simply put, whether you are a marine landing force, a frigate on patrol off the coast or carrier group, this thing is scary as hell and hard to find and destroy.
The Russian Navy is also in the air over and around Sevastopol. Located north of Russia's leased Black Sea Fleet headquarters is Kacha Air Base where the majority of the Black Sea Fleet's anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft and helicopters are based. Around forty or so choppers are based there, with the majority of these being the KA-27 "Helix" type, some of which deploy with the fleet. Also, larger Mi-14 "Haze" anti-submarine helicopters are stationed here for long range patrol duties, although they may be in the process of being retired. There are also about another dozen or so Mi-8 "Hip" transport choppers on hand for logistical and troop transport duties.
Additionally, about a dozen medium transport aircraft live at this field, including AN-12 and AN-26 models. Finally, for long range sea control and search and rescue missions, the aging Beriev-12 flying boats still soldier on here, although they may have started replacing them with the more capable IL-38 "May." The Be-12s have not been able to land on the water for some time due to the lack of seals on their weapons bay doors and other apertures.
Russia's aerial capability on the Crimea Peninsula does not end with "just" some anti-submarine helicopters, dated flying boats and a couple dozen logistical support aircraft. No, Russia has yet another layer of anti-ship missile and targeting capability in the Crimea, this being a squadron of partially upgraded swing-wing SU-24/M/MRs based at Gvardeyskoye Air Base near the center of the autonomous Ukrainian state.
These "Fencers" belong to the Russian Navy and are capable of carrying a wide selection of attack munitions, including laser and TV guided bombs, and of course, more anti-ship missiles! In fact there is a wide variety of these types of missiles for the Fencer mission planner to choose from, including the mach 3 Kh-31 or subsonic KH-59M.
The Fencers can also provide limited air to defense if need be, although they would be little match for any modern fighter aircraft. The SU-22MR version is a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft that can infiltrate its target area at low level using the SU-24M's terrain following radar and includes panoramic cameras, a side-looking radar (SLAR), and an infrared line scanning system.
Finally, shock troops are also part of the Black Sea Fleet, including a full Naval Infantry Brigade. Russia's Naval shock troops are roughly analogous to US Marines, and the Brigade based in Sevastopol consists of close to 3,000 troops and are quite capable. Here is a breakdown of sub-ubits within the 810th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade:
- 880 Separate Naval Infantry Battalion
- 881 Assault Battalion
- 888 Reconnaissance Battalion
- 1613 Artillery Battery
- 1619 Air-Defense Artillery Battery
- 382 Infantry Battalion
So What If The U.S. Wanted To Confront Russia?
It is absolutely clear that Russia's surface combatant element of Black Sea Fleet is highly focused on a single goal: Surviving so that it can deny potential enemies access to the northern part of, if not the entire Black Sea. The sheer number and variety of Russian anti-ship missiles on that Peninsula is jaw dropping.
Virtually every major Russian asset in Crimea carries standoff-range anti-ship missiles, from a cruiser level all the way down to their fast attack corvettes and littoral patrol ships. Not to mention the road-mobile advanced ASM units, land-based ASW and ASuW helicopters and aircraft and the fleet's SU-24 attack jets. Layers upon layers of anti-ship and anti-submarine defenses can be deployed, with little notice, from Sevastopol and throughout the peninsula's mainland.
Beyond this incredible anti-surface and sub-surface warfare ability, the Black Sea Fleet's anti-air capability is fairly robust, with multiple surface combatants supplying various tiers of area and point air defenses. In addition, there is a capable land-based Russian air defense unit at the ready as part of the 810 Separate Naval Infantry Brigade. Simply put, almost the entire non-infantry based Russian detachment in the Crimea is focused on either detecting and rapidly engaging surface and sub-surface targets at various ranges, some of which are extreme, or defending itself against aerial bombardment.
Seeing as an American or NATO flotilla would have to sail through the narrow Bosphorus strait (and no the particulars of the Montreux Agreement is not worth diving into) and into the mouth of the Black Sea, such a mission would be perilous while a conflict or even extreme tensions were underway vis-a-vis Russia.
Yes, American Carrier Strike Groups, or even small US Destroyer or Cruiser centric flotillas, are very capable at defending themselves, but having the Black Sea fleet let loose a full on anti-ship missile barrage on a US naval strike group would certainly end in burning hulls with tattered US flags blowing in the wind. You forfeit your ability to surprise your enemy when you have to float slowly through the center of Istanbul to get to your area of operations. The the narrow Bosporus strait creates a "fatal funnel" for even the most advanced warships to survive and attack from. Since there is only one way in or out of the Black Sea for heavy ships, the mouth of Bosporus on the Black Sea Side would become a shooting gallery for the Black Sea Fleet as US or NATO ships emerged from the strait. Remote targeting would not even be necessary as visual spotters could call in the ship's position and Russia's anti-ship missile arsenal could be set on "fire and forget." In this mode the missiles will kill any surface contact they detect within a certain pre-planned geographical area.
The Black Sea Fleet may be a dated hodgepodge of vessels of various vintages, but the weapons they pack are numerous and primarily aimed at overwhelming a capable enemy's defenses. Remember, all it takes is a few "squirters" to break through a flotilla's layered defenses, ending in a multi-billion dollar, ultra-modern warship floating down to the seafloor.
Operating in an enclosed body of water like the Black Sea is nothing new to the US Navy, as they have operated in a similar manner for decades in the Persian Gulf. What is different is that we were not facing the massive blunt hammer of Russia's military in that region. Additionally, during even a limited conflict with Russia, the US Navy would be secluded from operating in the northeast area of the Black Sea, as that region could be quickly fortified with advanced coastal anti-ship missile emplacements and extremely dangerous long range air defense systems.
With all this in mind, one of the only ways I believe the US Navy could operate in mass with any margin for safety in the Black Sea would be to preemptively strike the Russian Black Sea Fleet before entering the region, a move that could also potentially start World War III. Another option would be to stay out of the Black Sea in full, and use standoff naval weaponry and an aircraft carrier's air wing to conduct operations over the Black Sea at long ranges. The reality is that a Navy's most potent weapon is simply "being there" as a prod for resolving foreign policy issues and as a reminder of what the consequences of failing to do so could entail. This is something that airpower is less effective at and the psychological effect is diminished when such a flotilla is forced to operate literally an ocean away from the hotspot in question.
Another final would be to get a carrier strike group, or at least some Destroyers and Cruisers, into the Black Sea right now, as it may catch Russia off guard. Once they are in there they are at risk of confronting the Black Sea Fleet directly, along with Russian warplanes operating out of its own territory on the Black Sea's eastern seaboard. Such a move would almost certainly end with a buildup of NATO land based aircraft on Turkey's northern boarder to support such an action if it were to be sustained. Although this move could be made without shots being fired, it would end with a ton of opposing military hardware operating within a fairly confined space. Such a situation, especially if it occurred over a long period of time, would be quite volatile to say the least.
Currently, there are two US Navy ships that may still remain in the Black Sea after the end of the Olympic Games. The first is the aged frigate USS Taylor, which is laid up in the northern Turkish Port of Samsun, and the massive command and control ship USS Mount Whitney. The USS Mount Whitney is an ideal asset to have in the region, as its situational awareness and intelligence gathering abilities are unparalleled, but it is almost totally defenseless.
In fact, both of these vessels are all but defenseless against a barrage anti-ship missile attack, relying only on electronic and physical countermeasures and the Phalanx Close In Weapon System (CIWS) to repulse such an onslaught. The rumor is that they will soon be joined by one or two Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers, potentially the USS Truxton and/or USS Donald Cook (UPDATE: USS Truxton Sails Through Bosporus Strait). Often times, two AEGIS ships are required in a single hot spot at one time, as one can provide ballistic missile defense while the other searches for air-breathing threats. The AEGIS system cannot currently do both tasks at the same time. If these US guided missile ships, some of the most deadly in the world, do indeed enter the Black Sea, it's a safe bet that Russia will see this as a direct threat and will deploy even more capable and heavy hitting TU-22s armed with the near hypersonic KH-32 anti-ship missiles to the region.
These US ships, and the ones already in the region, are in effect sailing into what could become a anti-ship super missile engagement zone, the likes of which the world has not seen for decades. Should the current Cold War like rhetoric turn into a shooting war, something that can happen in a blink of an eye, these US Destroyer's AEGIS combat systems may be tested like never before in what could be a dire fight for their own survival.
While the U.S. may be able to put pressure on Russia through economic and diplomatic measures, and it can also send some strategic signals, of which a US armada churning through the Bosporus Strait would be about the largest one possible. None-the-less a battle in the Black Sea is extremely unpalatable if not horribly catastrophic when put into a geopolitical context.
Although Putin's action have been bold to say the least, we have not seen the massive military buildup and reinforcement of strategic and tactical units that we should expect to see from someone who is planning for a wider conflict. In fact, the best conclusion we can draw from Russia's current order of battle in the region, with the Black Sea Fleet as its centerpiece, is that it mirror's the Kremlin's policy for the region: HANDS OFF AND KEEP OUT!
Now we will just have to see if Washington heeds this warning...
Photo Credits: AP, WikiCommons: Black Sea Map: Morgan Einstein, Bora Class: Cmapm, Matka Class: Vissarion, TU-22: Alex Beltyukov, Missile Launch: Russian Navy. CIWS firing and Destroyer Lineup: US Navy. And a huge thanks to Ivan Voukadinov for sharing is great shots from his base visits to the Crimea before all this went down! For more of Ivan's work please click here.


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Thoughts from the coal face
1. Smartphones are not yet there as word-processing platforms. Tantalizingly close, but no banana.
2. Writing a novel in the second person present tense is surprisingly easy. Ditto reading it, after the first ten minutes of extreme cognitive dissonance. What you do end up with is the same set of tiresome headaches you get with omniscient third-person — only more so.
3. Because it's an "intrusive" voice, you don't want to put words into your protagonist's heads that are likely to dump the reader out of their willingness to imagine themselves thinking those thoughts. So there's a tendency to leave the interiorization out altogether, or to paint it using delicate watercolour tints rather than vibrant saturated oils.
4. If your characters are looking over here there's no way to sketch in significant details over there.
5. The near future is frustratingly like the present, only different. I'm surrounded by electronics and media today that would have been bizarre and exotic back in 1986, never mind 1976 — but I'm still basically sitting in an office chair at a desk, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, typing away with some rock'n'roll on the stereo. Difference from 1996: there's a download going, the progress bar is ticking away tens of megabytes instead of tens of kilobytes, and the music's playing via streaming MP3s rather than CDs. Difference from 1996: back then, the word processor had a green screen and a 10Mb hard disk, and the music was playing on cassette tape. But the organizing parameters were the same — this is a writer in his study writing. How do you signal that the story is set ten years in the future, without succumbing to spurious futurism?
6. History inserts itself into our lives, seamlessly. When did you last get through a day without hearing some kind of off-hand reference to 9/11 or the Iraq war? Kids these days are learning about Margaret Thatcher in history lessons at school. In ten years time there'll be some other iceberg-like intrusion of History into the zeitgeist: the question is, what? (My money's on something energy or environment related, and big.)
7. Trying to get into the head of a 28-year-old British professional circa 2016 — the people this novel is about — is an interesting exercise, even though people of this generation are easy enough to track down right now: the trouble is, if I ask them questions now, I'm asking a bunch of 18 year olds. Whereas what I'm interested in is what they'll be thinking when they're 28 ...
You were one year old when the Cold War ended. You were thirteen when the war on terror broke out, and eighteen or nineteen when Tony Blair was forced to resign as Prime Minister. You graduated university owing £35,000 in student loans, at a time when the price of entry into the housing market in the UK was over £150,000 (about 4-5 times annual income; the typical age of first time buyers was 35 and rising by more than 12 months per year). Unless you picked the right career (and a high-earning one at that) you can't expect to ever own your own home unless your parents die and leave you one. On the other hand, you can reasonably expect to work until you're 70-75, because the pension system is a broken mess. The one ray of hope was that your health and life expectancy are superior to any previous generation — you can reasonably expect to live to over a hundred years, if you manage to avoid succumbing to diseases of affluence.
For comparison, when I graduated university in 1986, I had no student loans, first homes cost £30,000— or about 2-2.5 times annual income — and the retirement age was 60-65. So it should be no surprise if the generation of 1988 has very different expectations of their future life from the generation of 1964.
8. Agatha Christie once said, "when I was young I never expected to be so poor that I couldn't afford a servant, or so rich that I could afford a motor car." Yet these were the prevailing parameters from 1945 to the present. I might equally well say that when I was eighteen I never expected to be so poor I couldn't afford a four bedroom house, or so rich that I could afford a computer. What terms of reference will these people use to define their relative affluence and poverty? Motor cars and domestic robots? (Too facile.) Children and immortality treatment? (Too crudely obvious.) Privacy and ubiquity? (Too abstract.)
To be continued ...


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The Big Shift presents many challenges, including developing new practices and institutions. But from our experience, the greatest challenge will be creating a new mindset, one that stands in stark contrast to the dominant mindset of the push world. A mindset is comprised of assumptions (in this case about how to succeed) so basic that they are rarely made explicit, much less challenged and refined. Yet these assumptions drive all of the decisions and actions we take to address the growing pressures around us. Our next few postings will examine some of the key dimensions of the new mindset that is needed to harness the power of pull.
The time horizon: "Pull" does not mean thinking only about the short-term
Many of the people we have talked to about our book have the misconception that pull is driven by a short-term mindset. After all, one of the key drivers of the move from push to pull platforms is the increasing difficulty in forecasting and predicting demand and the consequent challenges this presents. If change is so constant and disruptive that it makes predicting the future impossible, what is the point of taking a long-term perspective? Pull lets you respond rapidly and effectively to near-term developments, but a short-term mindset undermines the potential power of pull. Paradoxically, successful deployment of pull techniques designed to cope with near-term uncertainty actually requires an increased focus on long-term direction.
As one moves up the levels of pull, a long-term view becomes increasingly important:
- Accessing resources when and where they are needed works in the near-term but can become totally reactive if you adopt only a short-term perspective. You respond to the latest events but risk never getting enough attention and effort focused against any one initiative to make progress. Whether you own them or not, resources must be managed and used in a way that makes progress. Achieving impact requires ensuring a critical mass of resources and attention. Easier access can lure us into spreading ourselves way too thin across too many fronts. Critical mass requires making choices about what to pursue longer-term and to avoid the momentary distractions that can drain resources and attention.
- Attracting resources that can help you succeed often seems to function in the
short-term (such as the serendipitous encounter just when you need it). Attract actually works better if you (as an individual or an institution) can define and communicate your long-term direction and quests. What domains are of greatest interest and what are your performance goals? These act as beacons to attract people who share an interest in, and can help support, longer-term efforts and allow you to make choices that improve the odds of connecting with those people, shaping
serendipity. Without this guidance, we compound the problem of wasted resources
and lost attention that occurs with short-term reactive access — we attract
people who can help with near-term events, intensifying the focus on short-term
stimuli and consuming attention without making any progress toward longer-term
- Achieving our full potential through collaboration and experimentation is where the long-term view is especially important. Learning, sustainable performance improvement, and talent development all occur over a longer timeframe. Interesting and challenging quests can engage the passions of the people in your organization and mobilize a critical mass of participants in the right direction. Long-term quests also help to focus all of the experimentation and tinkering, providing a clear context and framework for evaluating progress and enhancing performance feedback loops. Without long-term goals, it will be difficult for the organization to connect with individuals' passions or to transform activities into achievement.
Resolving the paradox: the long-term guides the near-term
The paradox we cited at the outset can be resolved: the long-term view is not a detailed forecast but a high-level direction, a trajectory and a set of challenging goals, which help to focus and guide near-term efforts.
How do we arrive at a long-term perspective that is useful and relevant in a world of pull. The following three questions frame the issue:
- What will the relevant markets and industries require for success in 10-20 years?
- What are the implications for the kind of company we will need to become, the kinds of relationships we will need to develop beyond our company, and the kind of performance we will need to achieve?
- What are the implications for the practices that we, as individuals, will need to adopt and the kind of performance we will need to achieve?
This long-term view is built on understanding the deep forces that are shaping the business landscape over decades. We have to be explicit about the assumptions we make about these forces and their impact so that we can test and monitor them. While scenario-thinking may be appropriate, you have to choose one. Usually it's the one that seems most likely or which you have the ability to shape, to orient your actions and choices. This perspective about the future helps us make sense of the changes playing out around us, focuses our efforts and provides important feedback loops.
Pull requires alternating perspectives: short and long
The key for pull is to iterate rapidly back and forth between two horizons — long-term direction and short-term (6-12 month) action. This ability to rapidly zoom in and out — to dive into the details of near-term choices and actions and then pull back to assess longer-term implications and guide the next wave of choices and decisions — is also a key element of the entrepreneurial mindset.
This type of iterative thinking can create a powerful form of productive friction. Conflicts arise as we repeatedly test our actions and findings against two time horizons; the process of resolving these conflicts can lead to new insights about our quests. In the corporate context, we call this as a FAST strategy (Focus, Accelerate, Strengthen and Tie it together), but it applies to individuals as well. We need to alternate between evaluating and adjusting our long-term goals in response to new
developments and using our long-term direction to guide near-term choices and actions. In its most powerful form, this simultaneous attention to two time horizons can become the basis of successful shaping strategies that we have discussed elsewhere.
Time is just one dimension of the new mindset that will be needed in the world of pull. In change as dramatic as the shift from push to pull, it is tempting to under-react or over-react, to cling to old mindsets or to misconstrue the new. How do you strike a balance between locking into a predictive, long-term mindset and being too reactive in the moment? What types of goals or strategies are weighty enough to guide the organization but flexible enough to respond to opportunity? Have you experienced short-term pull that wasn't governed by a long-term perspective? Has a short-term orientation gotten you into trouble? What techniques do you find promising in terms of defining a longer-term view of the future?


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Sleek lines and raised panels come together to create a unique design for the sophisticated Cade vanity. Contemporary square pulls adorn this vanity collection, adding elegance and class. Cade's design styles merge to create a perfectly transitional vanity. A hardwood dovetail rollout drawer with full-extension soft-close undermount slides is situated underneath the adjustable shelf in the cabinet. Top and rectangular porcelain bowl are included but not assembled. See our video in the Highlights section for more information. The included top has three holes cut for an 8" widespread faucet, and a 4" tall backsplash is included. The vanity top is designed to overhang ½" on each side of the vanity.
JEFFREY ALEXANDER VKITCAD36GRBOR 36" Grey Cade Vanity, left offset, Boulder Vanity Cultured Marble Vanity Top, undermount rectangle bowl
JEFFREY ALEXANDER VKITCAD36GRBOR 36" Grey Cade Vanity, left offset, Boulder Vanity Cultured Marble Vanity Top, undermount rectangle bowl
Model: VKITCAD36GRBOR
- Length:
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Absolute Upsilon Cross Sections and Gluons in the NucleonBoth protons and neutrons are composed of fundamental particles called quarks bound together by the exchange of particles known as gluons. (They "glue" the quarks together in the proton or neutron.) The proton contains two "up" (u) and one "down"(d) valence quarks, while the neutron contains one u and two d valence quarks. By interchanging the u and d quarks in a nucleon, one changes from a proton to a neutron and vice versa. This relationship is known as isospin symmetry. Since gluons interact in the same way with up and down quarks, it is believed but not experimentally verified that the distribution of gluons in the proton and neutron are identical.
The gluon content of a proton or neutron can be probed by measuring processes that occur through the interactions of gluons in a beam and a target particle. The production of the Upsilon (ϒ) mesons is such a process. (The ϒ consists of a "bottom"and an anti-"bottom" quark pair. The (anti-)bottom quark is too massive to exist within a nucleon.) A comparison of the rate of ϒ production with proton and neutron targets is then a comparison of the gluon content of those targets. Using an energetic proton beam and hydrogen (proton) and deuterium (one proton and one neutron) targets, the E866/NuSea experiment at Fermilab was able to do this. E866/NuSea isolated the ϒ by studying the invariant mass of its decay products (muons). From this, the number of produced ϒ's was extracted and the ratio of ϒ production on protons to ϒ production on neutrons determined. These data showed that the gluon content of the proton and the neutron are indeed very similar. This work was published in Physical Review Letters in 2008 (Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 062301 (2008), arXiv:0710.2344).
Figure: The invariant mass spectrum of muon pairs detected by E866/NuSea is shown on the left. The prominent peak is at 9.5 GeV is the ϒ. The ratio of ϒ production on deuterium to hydrogen is shown on the right (black circles) and is consistent with unity. Also shown is the same ratio for Drell-Yan production. The Drell-Yan mechanism is sensitive to the antiquark flavor in the nucleon, showing a large difference between the proton and neutron antiquark distributions.
Paul E. Reimer [email protected] 9 February 2009


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For this custom aluminum case, the lid is removable. The profile has waterproof strip too.
HQC founded in 2011, are a custom case manufacturer ,providing aluminum tool cases, aluminum equipment cases, aluminum instrument cases, aluminum briefcases, aluminum gun cases, flight cases, hard plastic case and presentation cases for commercial, industrial, and military applications.
HQC have a variety of advanced equipment and experienced and professional staff, we have the ability to develop and process all kinds of aluminum cases catering to customer's demands.
HQC inspect every case as customers` requirement, all cases will be checked two times at least. So, there is nearly no bad ones. Once find any bad one, they will do new ones for free for customers. So, HQC case sell very well in Japan, Europe and America.


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Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
30 Day Movie Challenge Day 28-Director
Posted by Jeff Victor at 11:37 PM 1 comment:
Thursday, February 20, 2014
The Ultimate Pop Culture ABC's
And here's the whole thing all put together. Over two solid
weeks of work on this project, whew. I hope you like it, it was a blast to make! :)
Posted by Jeff Victor at 12:53 AM 11 comments:
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
The Ultimate Pop Culture Alphabet: GHI
(and yessss, I had to paint out He-Man's sword, totally forgetting it wasn't going to fit in the allotted space. Always plan ahead, kids. :P)
Posted by Jeff Victor at 1:38 AM 1 comment:
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
The Ultimate Pop Culture Alphabet: ABC
Posted by Jeff Victor at 11:34 PM 3 comments:
Kickstarter book rewards
I'm not going to post them all, but here are some of the dozens of commissions I did for people who pledged to my Kickstarter.
Posted by Jeff Victor at 11:17 PM 1 comment:
Gallery Nucleus Signing/Book Release
Hey guys, the Gallery Nucleus signing was last weekend and it went great! I had such a good time seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I hope you'll all check out Nucleus' website. So many cool exhibits to view and art books to buy! If you missed out on the event and would like to order a book, you can through my website www.shopjeffvictor.bigcartel.com
Posted by Jeff Victor at 11:12 PM 2 comments:
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Cattle Carbon Footprint
Published on Tue, 06/15/2010 - 1:56pm
In 2006, a report by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization claimed domesticated livestock produces 18% of the world's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Animal scientists—and the FAO itself—have been trying to clean up the damage ever since.
That wasn't the only critical interpretation of the meat and poultry sectors in the 400-page report, which was entitled Livestock's Long Shadow. It also blamed runoff from pastures for "dead zones" in the sea, where aquatic life is choked out when unicellular organisms bloom from the added nutrients, die and decompose. It said drinking water is contaminated by antibiotics and hormones excreted by the livestock, and called overgrazing is "the major driver" turning a fifth of the world's pastures and ranges into deserts.
But it was the greenhouse gas estimate that garnered the most controversy; the authors said 9% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions are produced from fossil fuels burned to grow animal feed, and to process and transport meat; one third of emissions of methane—thought to be a far greater contributor per unit to the global warming phenomenon—are generated by decomposition of manure and from cattle flatulence and eructations.
But there's a major problem with the report: it's not accurate. The authors sought to cast blame on the industry for every emission indirectly associated with animal agriculture, and then drew the conclusion livestock produce more greenhouse gases than do all modes of motorized transport—without applying the same standards to its transportation calculations. It fell to Frank Mitloehner, a professor of animal science at the University of California-Davis, to conduct his own study demonstrating the inequities in the analyses, and present it at last year's annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. FAO agreed with Mitloehner, and will revisit its report; an FAO policy officer says a more detailed analysis of food production emissions is due to be available by the end of the year.
But Mitloehner says damage has already been done. "No matter where you go," he says, "people now think that consuming animal product will have a greater carbon footprint than their driving habits or their heating habits or other habits that they have, and it has really blown things out of proportion."
It's important to point out the FAO's estimate, regardless of where it eventually settles, is for all of the world's livestock; the greenhouse gas impact of herds and flocks in developed nations is far less. According to a 2009 study by EPA, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks:1990-2007, emissions from the entire agriculture sector in 2007 represented 5.77% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. The entire livestock sector's estimated contribution was 2.8%; emissions from manure management were 0.8%. Mitloehner pegs the contribution from the beef cattle sector at about 1%. "If you consider that the official number that was used by the FAO globally is 18%," he says, "then these are huge differences that certainly do not warrant discussions of 'Meatless Mondays,' and so on." (A group from Johns Hopkins University's Center for a Livable Future encourages schools to adopt meat-free Monday menus, offering among other reasons the opportunity to "reduce your carbon footprint". The largest school district to adopt the policy is that of the city of Baltimore, Md.)
Mitloehner says the U.S. industry could reduce its carbon footprint further by making better use of livestock waste, which is typically stored on the farm and then applied to crops. "One could do more things with waste," he says. "For example, generate electricity from it." But other than that, Mitloehner says livestock in industrialized nations are already managed so efficiently there's little opportunity for further savings. "Doing what we do right now is really what should be done worldwide," he says.
A recent study by Australia's University of New South Wales Water Research Center would seem to bear that out. Most of Australia's cattle are finished on grass, but lead author Matthias Schulz says grass-fed beef produces more 38% more methane per pound than beef from cattle fed out on grain. This is because grain is more digestible; cattle farmers have long taken advantage of the abundance of inexpensive grass and the capabilities of the ruminant's four stomachs, but the animal produces more enteric gas from forage. Schulz noted while cattle on a feedlot produce more emissions per day, they spend much less time on feed when finished on grain rather than grass, so the net emissions from feedlot animals are less.
Schulz' study was commissioned by Meat and Livestock Australia, an industry-funded promotional body. Mitloehner also received a $25,000 grant from the U.S. beef promotion and research checkoff, but he bristles at the suggestion his data is somehow tainted, and points out his research gets $6 million a year from all sources. "My total support from agriculture is 5% of my total funding," he says. "If somebody provides you with $25,000 to support one graduate student to do some literature research and you call that being in the pocket, it's really bordering to libel. It's actually laughable at this point."
The contribution of livestock to emissions is "a really important issue at the moment," says another researcher, Jude Capper. That's why she's spent the last four years working on it. Capper, an assistant professor of dairy sciences at Washington State University, was a post-doctorate student at Cornell when she began looking at the emissions impact of the dairy industry. But Capper's focus is not on total, quantitative emissions; she calculates how much the emissions are being reduced per unit of production due to scientific advances.
"If we improve productivity, i.e. milk yield per cow, we cut our total carbon footprint," Capper says. "So, if we compare it to the 1940s, our milk yield per cow has gone from 5,000 lbs/year to over 20,000 lbs/year. That means per gallon of milk, our carbon footprint has actually come down by 63%." She's wrapping up a similar study on beef cattle, to be published later this summer. "As with the dairy projects that we've done," she says, "if we improve productivity, which in this case means beef yield per population, we are going to see a total cut in the carbon footprint and environmental impact."
Capper says most of the emissions impacts from the beef and dairy cattle sectors are similar as well. "The main greenhouse gases would be methane, which comes from the cows themselves plus the waste, and nitrous oxide, which comes from the cows, the waste and the fertilizers," she says. The 2009 EPA study found nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soil management on croplands and grasslands in 2007 accounted for 2.9% of total greenhouse gas emissions; nitrous oxide emissions resulting from manure management accounted for only 0.2%.
30-50% of the beef cattle emissions come from the previously noted eructation and flatulence, which are typically described in somewhat cruder terms. Capper's findings are similar to what Mitloehner and Schulz said about efficiency; you can manipulate cattle's diets to reduce their emissions, but if you do that, you tend to reduce their performance, thereby raising and not lowering the emissions per pound of beef produced. Similarly, Capper says, while waste can't be captured as efficiently from a pasture as it can from a feedlot, the emissions themselves are different, balancing the effect.
The 2006 FAO report warned the environmental impact is expected to increase dramatically by the year 2050, by which time world demand for meat is expected to have more than doubled. That, said Capper, is precisely why the industry needs to continue improving its production efficiency, and reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases per pound of meat or gallon of milk produced. "By the year 2050 we're anticipated to have a global population of over 9 billion people, which is a 50% increase," she says. "To feed those people, we're going to need 100% more food, partly because they're going to be more affluent and because of that, they will want more milk and meat and eggs. So to improve the environmental impact of that increased food need, we're absolutely going to have to improve productivity. Otherwise, we're going to have a huge issue."
But Capper is confident in the industry's ability to continue to improve its productivity. "Absolutely, we can expect this to continue. The average milk yield per cow back in the 40s was about 5,000 lbs; the average yield now is over 20,000 lbs. We have whole herds with an average of 34,000 lbs, and we have individual cows with an average of 40,000 lbs. So, we can absolutely continue to make improvements over the next 20, and 30 and 40 years."
And the issue facing livestock producers is whether the headlong rush to address greenhouse gas emissions via regulation or legislation will take into account the virtues of their production techniques as well. Frank Mitloehner thinks the government is paying attention. "I've had a lot of interaction with the EPA and others," he says. "I think it probably has an impact."


text:
June 2, 2011
YouTube Reactions
YouTube already highlights tags that use Internet slag words ("#LOL", "#FAIL", "#CUTE") from the comments and places links to a list of comment search results.
Blogger has a similar feature, but blog authors can edit the list of reactions. "With Reactions, readers can easily respond with one click, increasing feedback on posts."
{ Thanks, Ron. }
49 comments:
Maybe I'm getting old, but the cranky old Mr PC inside of me raises an eyebrow to the use of the F in WTF and G in OMG.ReplyDelete
I'm a persistent user of these myself, but am I the only one that thinks these buttons give the nod to younger users that it's OK to say to Mom and Dad "What the F%ck".
I know it's inescapable, and there's much worse in the comments sections goes unmoderated.
I've turned into an old man! <- #WTF!
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 3:29 AM
Please do not do this I am begging you this is the worst idea.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 3:41 AM
Like and Dislike are one thing, but really this is the dumbest feature I have ever heard of.ReplyDelete
I don't see using WTF is acceptable to all the people.ReplyDelete
When are people going to realize that putting O, M and G together is still offensive to quite a few people? Call me names if you want, but I'm one of those people who find it offensive.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 6:57 AM
This is disgusting. I have no problem with the swearing, but please don't continue this trend of designing everything towards the lowest common denominator. We're slowly crawling into our own navels with this stuff.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 7:13 AM
This is great! Don't fix the real problems with YouTube so you can work on dumb stuff like this.ReplyDelete
I hate it when people use EPIC to describe something, specially it obviously isn't.
I love it! The comments section of the videos are essentially useless to get the overall feel of a video, except for a recent snapshot of the reactions.ReplyDelete
This system is much more scalable, and can provide a much larger array of information than the binary like/dislike measures.
I hope they keep it even if they have to censor some of the terms (I hope not) because of those who take offense from them.
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 7:40 AM
It offends me of the omg. I don't want religion to become move visible it only teaches hate and ignorance.ReplyDelete
Did you see that "youtube license"?
I hope they implement Creative Commons license. So i can place all my videos in that.
I completely agree. I'm not sure I want to be explaining to my children what "WTF" and "OMG" mean. They could have just as easily used emoticons or something akin to Slashdot's adjectives. Why promote slang when we could promote literate and descriptive responses instead?ReplyDelete
It won't last. I don't think people actively search these terms (I could be wrong), but if they want to increase engagement, just stick with the social network sharing buttons- YouTube "Like," FB "Like," Google "+1," etc. It's just as fast to use.ReplyDelete
They got rid of the 5-star ratings because no one used them (or rather, no one used 1-4 stars), I think the same will happen here.
looks like they are targeting a teenage marketReplyDelete
How about just smiley icons or something? I'm not sure that encouraging swearing is going to go over very well... I seriously thought this was a joke.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Hey people, you're complaining about wtf button, but children can see wtf in comments too... so there is no big difference...ReplyDelete
there are some missing buttons for other videos not just break/failblog/fva like stuff... needs a Win and a Best button
- AnonymousJune 2, 2011 at 11:58 AM
wow this is a blatant ripoff of what buzzfeed.com has been doing for years alreadyReplyDelete
I don't believe this is appropriate for YouTube.ReplyDelete
Not because of the swearwords, but purely conceptually, it doesn't fit into my perception of YouTube. Those reaction things are more of a break.com thing.
OMG can mean Oh My Gosh or Oh My Goodness, so I don't see the issue with. Yahoo even has the OMG! celebrity website.ReplyDelete
WTF - There really is only one meaning for it, so I am a little surprised they are using this one knowing that its an acronym with a vulgar word in it.
Maybe NSFW would be a useful one to have.
It does not seem a good idea. If I see a scientific video, what label should I choose? There isn't "cute". And even less the rest.ReplyDelete
On the other hand I'm not a native english speaker, so I do not see significant differences
between OMG, EPIC, WTF, FAIL.
- FedericoJune 4, 2011 at 8:42 AM
It's hilarious to see people taking offense from the acronym OMG talking about ignorance.ReplyDelete
Proper tags could be put to better use.ReplyDelete
Examples: Funny, Interesting, Cute, NSFW and Fake
YouTube could use them to sort videos in more appropriate categories, for example: "Funniest videos this week" and "Most interesting videos this week"
- AnonymousJune 4, 2011 at 2:39 PM
I have the same oppinion on the matter. I understand the thinking behind this move. Something similar would be more effective if you could tag the comments since that is the start of an conversation.ReplyDelete
- Sherwin FJune 6, 2011 at 12:08 AM
So, as someone else pointed out, the G in OMG doesn't have to mean God. It could me gosh, which I have heard used many times in place of God, even with children around, or even godness. There is nothing at all offensive with "Oh My Gosh", nothing at all.ReplyDelete
The F in WTF could stand for "frig/frick". Yes, less often used, but still a possibility. I have also seen it written online as "what the freak" as to be less offensive, so yet another alternative definition without the swear word, or "what's the fuss", "will to fight", "worse than failure", "wasn't that funny" and "way to fail". Maybe the problem is that you people are jumping to conclusions, or are inclined to go with the most offensive definition you can find. But in reality, I have seen numerous videos on YT where the first thing that came to mind was OMG, followed by WTF. Not just being a smart-a$$ either, I'm being serious.
Perhaps before jumping all over something as being offensive, when it's nothing but a few letters that don't actually spell anything, maybe some more research is a good idea.
- Sherwin FJune 6, 2011 at 12:14 AM
Or, a great example of where WTF has been said numerous times.ReplyDelete
Car pulls away from McD's drive-thru, guy looks in the bag ans exclaims "WTF!".
Was this guys using words he wouldn't want his mother to hear? Nope, was just wondering "Where's The Fries?"
That was a smart-a$$ example, but just shows that WTF could have more than the most offensive meaning you could think of.
- AnonymousJune 6, 2011 at 3:57 PM
American culture is obviously moving in a direction where swearing isn't as taboo as it once was. Please try not to assign too much meaning to a word, it is just a word. Oh man, oh shoot, oh sh*t, and oh f*$k all say the same thing but one is supposedly worse than the other because of meaning you attach to the word.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 9, 2011 at 3:06 PM
- AnonymousJune 13, 2011 at 9:55 PM
why the h*ll are people freaking out at kids being given WTF its not like there next actions is to sell drugs on the streets because they where given what the f*ck as an option on a website god forbid they learn a word young when there going to learn at least one day in there lifeReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 17, 2011 at 9:02 AM
- AnonymousJune 17, 2011 at 5:34 PM
"Thumbs down" buttonReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 19, 2011 at 4:59 PM
Excellent. Now ANYBODY can troll your videos, and there's nothing you can do about it. Thanks Youtube!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 19, 2011 at 10:18 PM
A fantastic future! Next to the like/dislike future, this will give the commenters a whole new array of intelligent and meaningful things to say.ReplyDelete
If it does gets implemented, use Adblock Plus to hide it. (I use it already to hide VEVO adds and comments...)
Thank you Google!
- AnonymousJune 21, 2011 at 7:21 PM
This is retardedReplyDelete
Whoever thought this up seriously deserves to lose their job
Hey guys, I got this reaction thing when I attempted to use another browser and the current reaction list is now:ReplyDelete
No OMG and WTF anymore.
Today I saw it and there is no OMG and WTF anymore.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 27, 2011 at 1:44 PM
it doesn't work for meReplyDelete
- AnonymousJuly 14, 2011 at 4:38 PM
I got these on my account: LOL WOW EPIC CUTE HUH? FAIL. I like it and Im gonna use this reactions a lot . The like/ dislike(thumb down) feature is heavily abused , there are some users that their haters are subscribed only to make them dislike attacks minutes after they release a new video . Users of anonymous image boards amused by organizing these attacks. Im sure that they will use the FAIL reaction for the lulz.ReplyDelete
I believe that the best improvement is to imitate the niconicodouga style of comments, or introduce text colors size etc and forum style emoticons
- AnonymousAugust 3, 2011 at 9:11 PM
Opinions on this thing aside, I think we will suffer the same problem with ratings and likes/dislikes - the vast majority of the people will select only the most positive response and spawn endless tired memes of the "X people are Y flaw related to Z portion of video content".ReplyDelete
But try if you must, it won't cut down on the inane chatter. It will only slightly change the content of such.
- AnonymousAugust 12, 2011 at 1:20 PM
My reaction to reactions: FAILReplyDelete
I don't like the choice of reactions. How about inspiring or beautiful?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 15, 2011 at 10:33 AM
Youtube, this is a dumb idea. Honestly, it's not even necessary, and the silly acronym reactions make me feel like I have no choice but to be an idiot with no language skills.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 19, 2011 at 2:23 AM
The "reactions" bar thing is not appearing for me on any vids, is it gone now?ReplyDelete
Reactions I see now:ReplyDelete
This is still immature at best, completely idiotic at worst. Six adjectives can't begin to cover the spectrum of material that's on YouTube. Like Michael said, where's "inspiring" or "beautiful"? If there's a serious video highlighting violence or abuse, it might be "disturbing" but "WTF" or "what" are inappropriate. I see a lot of news sites (Huffington Post, some local news) using a limited number of adjectives as a poll of reactions, and it is USELESS. At least like/dislike is an improvement over Facebook's and Google Plus's single option.
Perhaps Google could have a Reactions link that, when clicked, expands to show a box of 10-15 adjectives, and if you select one, then you see the top 5. I don't know.
You Tube ought to move to a 5-star system like Amazon and so many other websites use. Getting a few thousands or million hits with the ability to rate on a 5-point scale would produce meaningful metrics both for content-providers, advertisers, and users.
WTF and OMG or Cute and Funny might be entertaining for 12-year-olds and those who think like 12-year-olds.
- AnonymousSeptember 4, 2011 at 8:35 AM
Most people OVERREACT to this.ReplyDelete
The reactions are a bit childish (or playful, or idiotic, you choose), but probably that's what YouTube considers its website is all about. I mean, really, have you read the comments that make up 90% of the posts?
If ever should you feel some silly reactions could not possibly express the elusive complexity of your wondrous persona, feel free to post novel-like comments describing your awe-inspiring life, 'cause nobody said reactions will replace this option.
Also, more than half of the reaction-hating comments on this page are passive-aggressive.
Stop judging and fighting - enjoy life, even the silly, senseless, insignificant parts like YouTube reactions.
- AnonymousOctober 26, 2011 at 4:43 PM
"Youtube, this is a dumb idea. Honestly, it's not even necessary, and the silly acronym reactions make me feel like I have no choice but to be an idiot with no language skills."ReplyDelete
dude you need to get a phone or at least text more often
"dude you need to get a phone or at least text more often"ReplyDelete
funny man..
for me, it is quite simple, anything that can enhance reader engagement like this feature is a great thing.. sometime, people just don't want to write out their feeling or just being lazy... for me, i prefer this like and dislike feature...
it just make an extra engagement for youtube viewer :-)
They should have it more like DeviantART's reactions box thing where clicking on one generalized adjective leads to more specific adjectives in that category and so on.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 2, 2011 at 5:56 PM
This is a great addition to all the cool stuff You Tube already have. One thing I can oppose to is reactions are missing "Fail" reaction, in some cases it is needed... I just don't understand this "Ouch" it's not suits here. In all other everything's great! Keep on a good work! You tube is the best!ReplyDelete
Awesome Information Keep it up www.nulledbycherry.comReplyDelete


text:
659 people are playing standard multiplayer and 68 people are playing Zombies mode on Wii U. More than last week.
For comparison, there are 511,529 people playing standard multiplayer and 124,321 people playing Zombies mode in Black Ops II on Xbox 360.
Of course, it's not fair to directly compare a console that launched last week with a console that's been around for six years. So let's do some math.
Microsoft has sold 70 million Xbox 360s worldwide to date. If you take that 635,850 number (total multiplayer + zombies) and divide it by 70 million, you get a ratio of 0.009, which means that 9 out of every 1,000 people with Xbox 360s are playing Black Ops II as I write this.
Nintendo has sold 400,000 Wii U consoles in North America to date. (It hasn't been released anywhere else.) If you take 727 and divide it by 400,000, you get a ratio of 0.0018, which means that a little under 2 out of every 1,000 (or 9 out of every 5,000) people with Wii U consoles are playing Black Ops II as I write this.
As for Madden, well... Madden doesn't even have enough online players to complete a football team.
We'll continue to check this out regularly at different days and times just to get an idea of how many people are playing at any given moment.
And by the way, if you've seen exponentially more people playing at one specific time, let us know below.


text:
INVESTOR ACTION NOTICE: The Schall Law Firm Encourages Investors in Stem, Inc. with Losses of $100,000 to Contact the Firm
News provided byACCESSWIRE
May 26, 2023, 2:30 AM ET
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 26, 2023 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces the filing of a class action lawsuit against Stem, Inc. ("Stem" or "the Company") (NYSE:STEM) for violations of the federal securities laws.
Investors who purchased the Company's securities pursuant and/or traceable to the merger ("Merger") consummated on April 28, 2021 by and among the Company, STPK Merger Sub Corp. ("Merger Sub"), and Stem, Inc., a private Delaware corporation ("Legacy Stem") and/or between March 4, 2021 and February 16, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), are encouraged to contact the firm before July 11, 2023.
If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.
We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.
According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Legacy Stem failed to maintain appropriate controls over financial reporting. The Company overstated Legacy Stem's performance as well as the business prospects of the post-merger company. The Company overstated the benefits that would be produced by its AP partnership. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements throughout the Merger period and the class period were false and materially misleading. When the market learned the truth about Stem, investors suffered damages.
Join the case to recover your losses.
The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.
This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.
The Schall Law Firm
Brian Schall, Esq.,
Office: 310-301-3335
SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm
NOTE: This content is not written by or endorsed by "KTVI", its advertisers, or Nexstar Media Inc.


text:
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text:
|Pehrsson, Pamela
|Haytowitz, David
|Nickle, Melissa
|Cutrufelli, Rena
|Holden, Joanne
Submitted to: Experimental Biology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/21/2006
Publication Date: 4/25/2007
Citation: Pehrsson, P.R., Haytowitz, D.B., Perry, C., Cutrufelli, R.L., Holden, J.M. 2007. Evaluation of nutrient variability in highly consumed "fast foods" under the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program. Experimental Biology, April 25, 2007, Washington, D.C.
Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: USDA's National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program generates means and standard errors (S.E.) of nutrients in foods from nationally representative sample sets used in dietary assessment and consumer education. However, genetic makeup, growing/shipping/storage conditions, preparation techniques, and differences among brands, locations, analytical methods, and laboratories affect nutrient variability. Hamburgers, French fries, and chicken tenders, highly consumed fast foods, were double-sampled from 12 nationally representative locations and three top chains. AOAC methods were used for analysis of 27 nutrients. ANOVA comparisons of nutrient variability for select nutrients were made between regional/random composites and individually analyzed samples. For some nutrients, most of the difference in variability between individual and composites analyses was explained by the grouping effect (e.g., sodium in hamburgers, 77%, p<.006); 11 nutrients showed a significant grouping effect (p<.10). Using regression modeling, composite variability was a reasonable predictor of serving-to-serving variability for some nutrients (3.5 x composite S.E.). Understanding the variability in nutrient databases is important when estimating intakes for use with reference values, nutrient intolerances, sample size determination, and cost-effective modeling. Funded by: USDA & NIH Y1CN5010.


text:
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Thank God for Computing! Now I have more free time to program ready-to-mix tools (for elevators!) using my networked software interface (and plugins!)
5 comments:
Say something constructive, bitte. Or if you're gonna take a swipe, at least sharpen your nails.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
By Annika McGinnis
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - First lady Michelle Obama embraced her family's African roots in a speech on Wednesday, telling a group of young Africans that the "blood of Africa" runs through her veins as she urged changing traditional beliefs on the worth of educating women.
Her husband had shied away from discussing his African heritage in his own remarks to the 500 Africans finishing a six-week Washington leadership fellowship on Monday, referencing his Kenyan father only once and in the question-and-answer session. But Michelle Obama said as an African American woman, her discussion with the African youth was "deeply personal."
"The roots of my family tree are in Africa," the first lady told the cheering crowd. "My husband's father was born and raised in Kenya. Members of our extended family still live there. I have had the pleasure of traveling to Africa many times over the years, including four trips as first lady, and I have brought my mother and my daughters along whenever I can."
"The blood of Africa runs through my veins, and I care deeply," Obama said, addressing her listeners as her "brothers" and "sisters."
Three months before congressional elections that could determine the fate of much of President Obama's platform, Michelle Obama's popularity remains high while her husband's has sunk.
The White House is making women's empowerment a theme in a Washington African leaders summit next week. Michelle Obama said problems with girls' education often stemmed from traditional "attitudes and beliefs" that exist even in the United States and lead to issues such as the gender pay gap and an underrepresentation of women in leadership.
She said men worldwide needed to "look into their hearts and souls and ask if they truly view women as their equals."
"I am who I am today because of the people in my family, particularly the men in my family, who valued me and invested in me from the day I was born," Obama said.
"And as I grew up, the men who raised me set a high bar for the type of men I'd allow into my life - which is why I went on to marry a man who had the good sense to fall in love with a woman who was his equal, to treat me as such - a man who supports and reveres me, and who supports and reveres our daughters as well," Obama said. (Reporting by Annika McGinnis; editing by Andrew Hay)


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