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I've recently become obsessed with curry. For some reason, I always thought it was uber spicy and never wanted to try it. WRONG. Not all curries are spicy, the way I use my curry powder is sweet and savory all rolled into one.
Curry pairs well with proteins and lots of vegetables. On today's menu we have chicken, onion and one of my favorites…red bell pepper!
Speaking of bell peppers, today kicks off a week long event called the Pepper Party! A group of us bloggers have partnered with Divemex to bring you some amazing bell pepper recipes as well as some incredible prizes! Today's prize is a Le Creuset 3 ½ quart Signature Braiser – $240 Value! Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to enter!
Also, while we're talking about prizes, today we'll be having a twitter party/tweet chat from 8-9pm Eastern with prizes: 10 Divemex Pepper Corers and 2 Veggie Grill Racks. Use the hashtag #PepperParty to enter to win!
Alrighty, let me briefly tell you a little bit about Divemex:
"The growers of Divemex specialize in greenhouse grown peppers in state of the art facilities that facilitate the production of the highest quality peppers in some of the safest facilities anywhere. But most importantly, as a Fair Trade Certified company, they have an unwavering commitment to social responsibility that puts workers first."
Talk about awesome! If you'd like to learn more about Divemex's bell peppers, check them out on Facebook.
Now that we've got that business taken care of, let's talk about this amazing soup!
First of all, the textures and flavors are out of this world. I love that everything is so tender and also that all of the flavors complement one another so well. The sweet curry melted with the peppers and chicken, along side the nutty cashews and flavorful broth makes for a superb meal.
For an extra bonus, this meal makes a lot of food so you may be able to have leftovers if you don't eat multiple bowls in one sitting. I wouldn't blame you if you did have an extra helping, though. It's that good.
Before you see this amazing recipe, check out these other bell pepper recipes:
- How To Make Roasted Red Peppers In A Slow Cooker by Cook the Story
- Pepper Rings with Chipotle Maple Ketchup by Jane's Adventures in Dinner
- Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers by It's Yummi!
- Cheesy Pumpkin Quinoa Stuffed Peppers (Vegan and Gluten Free!) by What Jew Wanna Eat
- Sweet Bell Pepper Cocktail by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Bell Pepper Beef Stew by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
- Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus by Juanita's Cocina
- Italian Stuffed Peppers by poet in the pantry
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas by Mother Thyme
- Red and Yellow Bell Pepper Soup by The Redhead Baker
- Roasted Red Pepper and Italian Sausage Pasta by Cravings of a Lunatic
- Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Hummus by {i love} my disorganized life
- Quiona Taco Stuffed Peppers by Quarter Life (Crisis) Cuisine
- Tri-Pepper Quesadillas with Creamy Chipotle Sauce by Mom's Test Kitchen
- Grilled Pepper and Peach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette by Take A Bite Out of Boca
- Pan Fried Meatloaf In Tri Color Peppers by Cooking In Stilettos
- Poached Egg in a Bell Pepper by Food Snob 2.0
- Quiche Provencale by Healthy. Delicious.
- Roasted Red Pepper & Sun Dried Tomato Dip by White Lights on Wednesday
- Garlic and Roasted Bell Pepper Farfalle by Daily Dish Recipes
Curried Coconut Chicken Soup with Brown Rice
adapted from Baked By Nicole
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste
- 2 cups brown rice
- 4 cups water
- cilantro, cashews and limes, for topping
- (optional) siracha
- In a pot of boiling water, cook the chicken breasts until done. Using either two forks or your stand mixer on low to shred the chicken.
- Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onion and bell pepper in the olive oil until tender.
- Add in the chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, shredded chicken, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir until combined. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the brown rice by bringing 2 cups of water and brown rice to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the moisture is absorbed. Stir occasionally.
- To put it all together, top the rice with the sauce and sprinkle cilantro and cashews on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over dish.
Servings: 6


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The Equality Network are holding a number of special discussion events in more rural and island communities of Scotland. The Further Out event in Orkney will be held in Kirkwall on Thursday the 13th of April at 7pm in the St Magnus Centre.
There are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in every part of Scotland from our biggest cities to our smallest settlements and islands. While LGBTI equality has progressed considerably in recent years the lived experience of LGBTI communities in urban settings is vastly different to that of LGBTI communities in more rural and island settings.
Our Scottish LGBT Equality Report highlighted that the experiences of LGBT people vary considerably across the country. Those living in rural parts of Scotland report a significantly worse experience than those living in urban areas, including more prejudice, greater isolation, and less access to local services that meet their needs.
Almost a quarter of LGBT respondents living in rural areas (24%) described their local area as a 'bad' or 'very bad' place for LGBT people to live, compared to 12% of those living in urban areas.
Almost half of LGBT respondents living in rural areas (47%) said they feel isolated where they live because they are LGBT, compared to almost a quarter (23%) of those living in urban areas.
A majority of LGBT respondents living in rural areas (55%) said that services in their local area do not meet the specific needs of LGBT people, compared to a third (30%) of those living in urban areas.
Six out of ten LGBT respondents living in rural areas (59%) regularly travel outside of their local area to access LGBT services, compared to just over a third (35%) of those living in urban areas.
Four out of ten LGBT respondents (43%) have either moved, or considered moving, to live in a different area because of being LGBT.
That's why we're holding our biggest conversation yet, and we want you to take part. Why not join us and share your experiences of LGBTI life outside our biggest cities?
The events are also a good opportunity to meet LGBTI people at events in your area and discuss other LGBTI issues you'd like to raise.
Each event will last around two hours and refreshments will be available. You do not need to register but doing so will help us to better plan the event.
For further information:
Email: email@example.com
Tel: 0131 467 6039
Or visit the event Facebook page for Further Out
All events are open to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, their friends, family and supporters.
Categories: Uncategorized

subset: commoncrawl


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I've eaten enough roasted beet salad with chevre to last me a lifetime. I've grown weary of the baconization of everything and the move toward upscale comfort food.
Happily, these are not part of the experience at Accent, an ultramodern restaurant in University Circle where chef and owner Scott Kim has been serving up something genuinely new and different since October.
Kim avoids the latest fads in favor of his cross-cultural, rule-breaking approach to cooking. While miso soup, soba and sashimi are on the menu, it's a mistake to think of this as an Asian restaurant. The kitchen draws on Korean, Japanese and Chinese elements but freely adds ingredients and ideas from other cuisines.
Kimchee and beef bulgogi flatbread ($9), for example, expresses the unlikely and ingenious combinations you're likely to encounter. Kim starts with a base of Indian naan covered with a spread of goat cheese, roasted tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms sprinkled with mozzarella. The fermented cabbage, a spicy and pungent version made in house to suit local palates, goes on next and is topped with brisket cooked sous vide, shredded and seasoned with Korean barbecue sauce. It comes to the table hot, melty and speckled with chopped scallions.
"It shouldn't work," says Kim, with obvious delight. "It doesn't sound like it will taste good. But it does."
It's creamy, zesty, tart, sweet, crunchy and chewy. The flavors and textures come together in a wonderful and surprising way.
Kim's culinary career has had a much more logical progression. He began with Matsu, a more traditional Japanese-themed restaurant, but found that concept limiting and closed it to open Sasa, a bistro that continues to thrive on Shaker Square. There, he began integrating a few Western ideas into Asian cuisine.
With a style that defies pigeonholing, Accent allows Kim to fully spread his wings.
He is free to create dishes such as Chinese corn dogs with soy mustard ($5 happy hour special), roasted Cornish hen with ginseng gravy ($22) and seasonal desserts such as a pumpkin bread pudding with five-spice ice cream ($9) or a personal-sized yuzu pie ($7), similar to lemon-meringue pie, but flavored with the Asian citrus that diners are unlikely to encounter anywhere else.
Kim got help developing the menu and opening the restaurant from chef Mike Lyons. Though he subsequently left due to family obligations, Lyons' heritage — Peruvian, Chinese and Irish — and his classical training in French technique continue to be an influence. Kim credits him as the inspiration for hanger steak with chimichurri glaze ($25).
For months before Accent was a reality, the pair explored the potential of two high-tech pieces of cooking equipment, the Josper oven and a Robata grill, which are the centerpieces of the kitchen. Both burn a nearly smokeless charcoal and reach exceptionally high heat so food cooks remarkably fast while remaining moist. They are rarely found in American restaurants and almost never together.
"They let us bring out the best in every ingredient," Kim says.
Roasted vegetables have an intense, concentrated flavor. Meats and fish are char-kissed without dryness or burn.
The method also addresses Kim's desire to serve healthy food, cutting back on the need for oils, butter and cream without sacrificing flavor.
The seared scallops ($26) provide ample evidence that it works: They're delicate, cold and smoky, accompanied by katsu, a condiment made with applesauce and soy sauce, and a smooth yellow puree of Japanese sweet potatoes.
There are always vegetarian and vegan options, including skewers of king oyster mushrooms ($4) that come off the grill with an appealing shine and a meaty taste, and house-made ravioli ($19) filled with tofu, oven-roasted tomatoes and shiitakes dressed in carrot glaze.
Entrees arrive with ban chan, an ever-changing array of mini sides — such as pickled vegetables, kimchee, a tiny omelet — chosen to complement the main course. Kim, who is Korean, says it's a gift to his customers and a way to share his heritage.
The excellent udon noodles and black bean sauce with vegetables and skewers of Robata-cooked pork belly and shrimp ($18) offers another connection to his past. "It was a childhood favorite," Kim explains, "our mac 'n'cheese."
But he doesn't reproduce the dish he ate growing up. "We use our own demi-glace for the sauce and lots of red wine. My mother didn't do that."
The same breakaway originality characterizes the restaurant's design. Architect Stanley Saitowitz, inspired by traditional lacquered and compartmentalized Japanese bento boxes, captures Kim's unconventional, adventuresome spirit in a futuristic, geometric look that features a black, scarlet and chrome color scheme. Three defined dining areas surround an open kitchen. The entire front wall consists of large windows that face the Uptown plaza.
Letters spelling out the name of the restaurant are cut into panels and illuminated from behind in bright glowing red light. It's not like anything you'll see elsewhere and effectively captures the promise and multicultural excitement of Accent.


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Book Excerpt: Mind-Blowing Sex: A Woman's Guide by Diana Cage
As part of our effort to profile more authors within the LGBT community, we present Diana Cage. Author, editor, blogger, and media personality Cage is the former host of The Diana Cage Show, a wildly popular, no-holds-barred nightly talk show on Sirius XM. Her books include Girl Meets Girl: A Dating Survival Guide, Box Lunch: The Layperson's Guide to Cunnilingus, Bottoms Up: Writing About Sex, and the groundbreaking On Our Backs Guide to Lesbian Sex.
As part of our effort to profile more authors within the LGBT community, we present Diana Cage.
Author, editor, blogger, and media personality Cage is the former host of The Diana Cage Show, a wildly popular, no-holds-barred nightly talk show on Sirius XM. Her books include Girl Meets Girl: A Dating Survival Guide, Box Lunch: The Layperson's Guide to Cunnilingus, Bottoms Up: Writing About Sex, and the groundbreaking On Our Backs Guide to Lesbian Sex.
Cage served as editor of On Our Backsmagazine, the only sex magazine made by and for women, for five years. She has been featured in dozens of publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Xtra magazine, Time Out New York, The Bay Area Guardian, Maxim, Bitch, Curve, and Girlfriends, and was named one of GO Magazine's "100 Women We Love" in 2008. She is featured in seasons one and two of the Here! Television series Lesbian Sex and Sexuality, and has appeared on HBO's Real Sex and Showtime's Family Business, as well as on Channel Jimmy in Italy and on Sex TV in Canada.
Cage lives in Philadelphia and holds an MFA from San Francisco State University. She currently speaks about sex and sexuality at top colleges and universities around the country.
The following is excerpted from Mind-Blowing Sex: A Woman's Guide by Diana Cage. Available from Seal Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright 2012.
I feel like I'm always learning about sex. I read about it, write about it, talk about it at conferences, and, of course, have as much of it as I can, and I am constantly surprised by the amount of new information I encounter. Funny how much there is we don't know, when sex has been around as long as we have, and that's what? Four million years? Part of my job, as I've come to discover, is separating useful information from information that further obfuscates what we need to know to have fantastic sex lives. I enjoy thinking, talking, and writing about sex almost as much as I love having it. And not just the mechanics of sex—I also enjoy thinking, talking, and writing about sexuality, gender, culture, and society. I've spent my life combining those things. I know that my desire to understand who I am in this world as a woman and a sexual person, combined with my eagerness to master sexual techniques, is what makes me a good lover.
I believe that good sex requires an open mind, a willingness to listen and learn, and practical skills. This book is neither a thorough discussion of feminism nor an exhaustive list of bedroom skills. Instead, it's an introduction to the idea that the two things complement each other. Sex-positive feminism is something we're already familiar with. What I hope to provide you with is feminism-positive sex.
What we think we understand about sex and sexuality has changed over time, and is still changing rapidly. Our sexuality is a cultural phenomenon, meaning that while our drive to have sex may be innate, the way we express ourselves sexually—for instance, the type of sex we desire, and what we consider erotic or taboo—changes based on the culture we live in. A lot of current thinking on sexuality still tells us that women are less sexual than men and are by nature heterosexual and monogamous. This thinking about female sexuality is rooted in a very sexist notion that females don't desire sex as much as men, and instead, being naturally powerless, use it as a form of currency.
For instance, many popular theories about female sexuality and infidelity purport that females, being less able to fend for themselves, have evolved to offer sex to multiple partners on the sly in exchange for things their partner can bring them, like food and protection. These are ideas we've constructed as a society because they reinforce the power of the dominant culture and have been upheld so strongly over time that they now seem as if they are part of our biological makeup.
We're in a period where it is very popular for science to link gender differences with biological differences in the brains of males and females. This is why contemporary sex and relationship advice centers on helping individuals understand "the opposite sex." Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, etc. We can't know for sure, though, that the development of our brains isn't somehow affected by our socialization as male or female. If the female brain is better designed for communication and empathy, as theories claim, and the male brain is designed more for linear thinking and spatial tasks, is it purely genetic, or is our brain development affected by our environment?
Contemporary theories about the biological differences between men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, are so easy to believe because they seem true, and backed up by science. Scientific discoveries, however, are limited by the way science is practiced, i.e., positivism, or the belief that knowledge isn't authentic unless it can be positively verified. This form of scientific inquiry favors the idea that all gender differences are biologically driven and innate, and that if we don't fit neatly into the prescribed roles that match our biological sex, then we are somehow deficient or, worse, deviant.
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Science has offered misguided theories about female sexuality from the very beginning. Aristotle was sure that women were just men who had failed to grow penises in the womb. It was once thought that vaginas were penises turned inside out, that menstrual blood and breast milk were the same thing as semen, and that the uterus was simply a penis that had gotten stuck up inside the body.
The way we view sexuality and sexual practices is continually evolving, but not necessarily expanding and creating more space for sexual expression the way we need it to. Women with sexual urges are no longer diagnosed with nymphomania and hysteria, though sometimes I wonder if the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction diagnoses isn't just a repackaging of nineteenth-century disorders. Even beliefs about sex practices go in and out of fashion. The ancient Greeks practiced all varieties of homosexual sex, yet heterosexuality and homosexuality didn't exist the way we think of them now. Certainly, there was no hierarchy wherein one type of desire granted a citizen more rights than another. Today, we're so used to the idea that the world is split up into these two categories that it seems as if it must be dictated by biology. But heterosexuality and homosexuality as concepts have only been around for less than one hundred years. Before these terms existed, what you did in bed was simply an act, not the whole of your identity. Of course the shaping of sexual identities is an important part of understanding ourselves; however, it's important to note that the categorization of sexualities has also reinforced systems of inequality.
When we fail to look at the history of ideas about sex that came before us, it's easy to mistake current beliefs as part of some "natural order." But as Timothy Taylor points out in The Prehistory of Sex: Four Million Years of Human Sexual Culture, there is no such thing as a natural order. Ancient cultures hold vast evidence of human sexual variation, including homosexuality, transsexuality, transvestism, fetishism, sex as recreation, and sex as spirituality. Taylor also points out evidence that prehistoric societies practiced birth control and were fully capable of separating sex from reproduction. We created the rules, laws, and beliefs about sex under which we operate today. And since we created them, then it seems possible that we also have the power and perhaps even the responsibility to change them to make them more workable.
Feminist philosopher Marilyn Frye noted that the word "virgin" didn't always refer to a woman who had never had sexual intercourse; it meant "a free woman, one not betrothed, not bound to, not possessed by any man. It meant a female who is sexually and hence socially her own person. In any version of patriarchy, there are no Virgins in this sense."
So, can a woman have complete agency over her sexuality in this culture that is, arguably, dominated by men? Feminists have asked this question for decades. I believe we absolutely can, but it requires us to fight against gender inequality, create more sexually egalitarian relationships, and risk disapproval from the less enlightened, which, let's face it, are the majority. The trickiest part is to find sexual equality without giving up the erotic excitement of power dynamics and gender. Creating egalitarian relationships doesn't mean we need to eschew masculinity or femininity. We want sexual agency, we want a great sex life, and we want to have these things while still being able to play with taboos, sexual domination and submission, and gender roles. I believe we can have all of that. In fact, I have found that the more liberated, knowledgeable, and sexually empowered I am, the more erotic charge power, taboos, and gender roles have in my life, precisely because I am not oppressed by them.
If you ask me, the sexual revolution is still in progress. It may have started in the '60s, but we've got a few more decades to go before we really let go of the last century or so of female sexual oppression and inequality. The '60s were a start, but we failed to uncover what we really wanted out of sex then. Birth control allowed us to have casual partners more easily, but it didn't make them more interesting or better in bed. The Pill didn't teach us about our sexual response or how to figure out what got us off, let alone talk about it. It was a bit like marching out of the sexual dark ages into a dimly lit room.
Because we had just come out of the nuclear-family model of the '50s, the '60s got us excited about the prospect of greater sexual freedom. Braless and hopeful, we set out to forge a new path. We wanted to find ourselves, but we had no idea where to look. We were still struggling to liberate ourselves from the only identities that we believed were available to us—wife, mother, and daughter. Several decades later, we've gone from no bras to push-up bras. We have careers, lives, high heels, and vibrators. We're liberated, we watch porn, we make out with strippers. Our friends are taking part-time gigs as dominatrixes to pay for their PhDs. So why is the sex still ho-hum almost half the time? We need a new model for sexual freedom, one in which our partners and the society we live in value our sexuality and satisfaction as much as we do.
In contemporary popular culture, sexuality is seemingly important only to the young, slim, white, and able-bodied. Images in mainstream media reinforce this idea over and over. "Woman" as a cultural category has a tremendous amount of things attached to it, especially when it comes to sex. Think about it: Women, as we define them presently, are passive and sexually receptive, unless they are manipulative and sexually voracious. Or they are hysterical, nymphomaniacs, or frigid, unless they are porn stars, sex kittens, virgins, and Lolitas. That's an awful lot of labels to navigate. And if you are a woman of color, sexuality is often convoluted by stereotypes about race. For instance, Asian American women are stereotyped as being sexually submissive and accommodating, while Latina women are often portrayed as spicy and hot-blooded. To be a sexual woman of color, you have to figure out how to get around the ramifications of being labeled "exotic" and "passionate."
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For those of us who are not skinny, white, young, or exotic, there is no model of sexuality at all. We are assumed to be, or at least are portrayed as, sexless. This sort of cultural reinforcement makes it difficult to experience our sexuality in an autonomous way. What would female sexuality look like if we grew up away from media, away from messages about gender norms, racial stereotypes, and religious moralizing? I don't know the answer—do you? We have difficulty imagining what we actually desire because there are few visible options, other than those that exist to serve and reinforce the dominant culture. We have nothing to objectify but ourselves and other women. We've learned to love strip bars and girls gone wild because they all feed into our desire to be desired. But how do we experience and express desire for another?
Desire, sexual satisfaction, and orgasm truly are fraught more often for us than for men. It isn't because we are less sexual, dysfunctional, deviant, or frigid; it's because the ways we have been taught to fuck don't always serve our own sexual needs and desires. It's not that our sex lives are terrible—far from it! Most of us have great sex pretty often, and are willing to accept the not-so-great times as a normal part of having a sexual relationship. I believe, though, that we can make our sex lives even better and more satisfying by taking the time to learn and to teach our partners about our bodies and sexual responses.
Since ancient times, sexuality has been defined through an androcentric model, meaning that male sexuality is seen as the reality of sexuality, while female sexuality is deviant if it doesn't follow or complement a male pattern. With male sexuality at the center, expressions of female sexuality get labeled as pathological. For instance, the accepted model of sex—which includes desire, arousal, and orgasm, in that order—doesn't necessarily reflect women's experience. Sometimes we have desire but no arousal, or arousal but no desire, and we don't always end up with an orgasm. This gets us labeled as sexually dysfunctional.
In a widely publicized 1999 study of female sexuality, 43 percent of women ages eighteen to fifty-nine were described as having female sexual dysfunction, with "low desire" being the most common reason for the diagnosis. Forgive me for not being willing to believe that nearly half the female population is dysfunctional.
Men and women don't necessarily experience desire the same way. Social conditioning reinforces a model of male sexuality that assumes men are expected to have "innate sexual needs" and the desire to conquer a woman in order to get them met. The more sexual conquests he has, the more manly, dominant, and appropriately masculine a man is seen as being. Women, on the other hand, are taught to please while simultaneously being inundated with negative messages about sex. It's very convoluted. Women end up with a model of sexuality wherein they are allowed to be sexual only by male permission.
The androcentric sexual model has left female sexuality in a complicated place, and we haven't really had the time to figure out what we need and how to get it. But once we understand that there is no such thing as a "natural sexuality," then it becomes pretty clear that there is no reason why women wouldn't have their own sexual needs that look different from men's. I believe that once we change our thinking, we'll naturally change the way we have sex and re-create our sex lives in ways that better satisfy us.
As with arousal and orgasm, the common way we understand desire is modeled on male desire, and male desire is more often of the spontaneous variety: A man sees something he wants, gets a hard-on, and feels desire for sex. Additionally, a man's sensation of desire is reinforced by the visibility of his erection. Women's physical cues are easier to overlook, and studies show that even when we do experience physical signs of arousal, we still may not experience desire for sex.
Research sex therapist Rosemary Basson has proposed a new model for female desire, what she terms "responsive desire." While men may commonly experience desire in the form of spontaneous genital tension that they need to relieve, some women are more apt to experience desire related only to specific erotic stimuli. Many women who consider themselves sexually satisfied don't experience spontaneous desire in the form of genital tension, and without any erotic stimuli, they may not crave sex or masturbation very often. This doesn't necessarily mean that women crave sex less often, only that those of us who experience this responsive model of desire need to seek out erotic stimuli in order to get turned on.
Usually for us, sex is a conscious choice, and we seek arousal because we want to have sex, instead of seeking sex because we are suddenly aroused. We may decide to have sex because even if we aren't aroused in the moment, we know that once we get started, it's going to be great. Because the desire part doesn't come first, we create it by purposefully seeking out what we need in order to feel turned on. For some of us, that means looking at porn or reading erotica; for others, it means fantasizing. It could also mean getting ready for sex by masturbating, knowing that once we get started we'll become more aroused. Women who aren't experiencing desire as often as they'd like can learn to enhance their experience of desire by training themselves to trigger it by involving themselves in things that turn them on.
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The most important thing is for us to take the reins of our own desire experience. It does us no good to wait passively for a partner to put us in the mood. The idea that we're all sleeping beauties waiting for someone to come awaken our desire with a kiss is a terrible trap. There is no way another person can know what we need to get turned on in any given moment. We can have better sex more often if we take control of getting turned on.
Keep your sex drive alive by engaging with erotic stimuli on your own terms, and then use the turned-on state you create on your own to have great sex with your lover. Keep some dirty books and a vibrator in your nightstand. Read some smut to get your juices flowing. Treat yourself to regular orgasms, whether you currently have a lover or not. Sex is a reward system—the more orgasms you have, the more you want.
Try this. List some past experiences where you found yourself really turned on seemingly out of the blue. What did it for you? A scene in a movie? A kiss? A fantasy? If you are in a low-sex-drive period and want to change it, it can help to think about times when you've really wanted it. Recalling moments when you've felt a rush of desire can help remind you that you do indeed enjoy sex, even if you are currently in a funk.
Write down five hot-for-it moments in the space below. Don't think too hard; just write down whatever comes to mind. You'll be jotting down notes quite a bit throughout this book. The process of writing helps you connect to your feelings. It also helps you remember things once you've brought them to mind.
1. ____________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________
Forget it. It's a myth. Buying into the idea that there even is such a thing is screwing up the sex life right in front of you. We're all convinced that somewhere out there people are having sex with easy-breezy, multiple, simultaneous orgasms every single time. That men have raging hard-ons that last all night; that women come from nothing more than vaginal penetration; that everyone has a perfect body, a perfect sexual response, nice, sweet, innocent turn-ons that don't make them feel ashamed, the perfect amount of intimacy, and uncomplicated feelings about love. The reality is, the couples who report the highest amount of sexual satisfaction are also the ones that have the most down-to-earth expectations and accept the limits of their bodies.
A 2006 study at the University of Arizona asked couples to record how they felt about each other every day for two months. Guess what? Even the happiest couples didn't always feel desire for each other. And some couples reported being hot for their partner one day and cold for them the next. The researchers also noted that couples who had the most positive feelings about their significant other overall were the ones who had the most passion for each other. The big passion-killers were negative emotions like anger, anxiety, neglect, and sadness. Buried anger and resentment toward a partner are sure sex-life killers. If you suffer from unresolved feelings, take steps to resolve them. They hurt you, they hurt your partner, and they hurt your sex life.
New-relationship energy, also called limerence, rarely lasts longer than three years. This is common and natural, and doesn't mean you've fallen out of love and your relationship is over. Rather, studies show that we get bored first. Once the new relationship energy drops off, we don't have the experience of spontaneous desire to fall back on, so we think we've lost interest in our partners and/or sex. The truth is, women who understand their sex drive and the sexual ebb and flow of relationship dynamics can re-create the early excitement phase. Sometimes it will be high and sometimes it will be low, but it won't disappear completely unless you let it.
Break your bad habits. Do you find yourself always saying no to sex because you think you are too tired? You might be tired, but that doesn't mean you can't get in the mood. Sometimes an orgasm is exactly the kind of relief a stressed-out woman needs. If getting turned on seems daunting, employ your vibrator to speed things along. Saying yes to sex can pay off by keeping us connected to our libido. Letting it go too long can make getting started seem even more difficult. So say yes to pleasure, even if it takes some work.
Explore new types of sex, and don't ever judge your desires. Female sexuality has been pathologized and stigmatized for too long. There is no such thing as "normal." It isn't any more normal to be straight, vanilla, and monogamous than it is to be into SM and anal sex. Get rid of rules and self-imposed restrictions. Do something new and maybe even kinky from time to time. Engage in sensual, sense-stimulating activities that make you feel sexy. Try limiting the major desire-killers—anxiety, worry, stress, fear—through self-care activities like yoga, massage, and talk therapy. Remember that you don't need a lover to be sexual. You can explore sexual stimuli like erotica and pornography regardless of whether or not you have a partner. Treat yourself to solo sex more often. Allowing yourself to be sexual and embracing your own desire outside of responding to a partner's needs is a major step in creating a more satisfying sex-life.


text: Three Steps to Hubble Constant (Artist's Illustration) (IMAGE) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Caption This illustration shows the three steps astronomers used to measure the universe's expansion rate to an unprecedented accuracy, reducing the total uncertainty to 2.4 percent. Astronomers made the measurements by streamlining and strengthening the construction of the cosmic distance ladder, which is used to measure accurate distances to galaxies near and far from Earth. Beginning at left, astronomers use Hubble to measure the distances to a class of pulsating stars called Cepheid Variables, employing a basic tool of geometry called parallax. This is the same technique that surveyors use to measure distances on Earth. Once astronomers calibrate the Cepheids' true brightness, they can use them as cosmic yardsticks to measure distances to galaxies much farther away than they can with the parallax technique. The rate at which Cepheids pulsate provides an additional fine-tuning to the true brightness, with slower pulses for brighter Cepheids. The astronomers compare the calibrated true brightness values with the stars' apparent brightness, as seen from Earth, to determine accurate distances. Once the Cepheids are calibrated, astronomers move beyond our Milky Way to nearby galaxies [shown at center]. They look for galaxies that contain Cepheid stars and another reliable yardstick, Type Ia supernovae, exploding stars that flare with the same amount of brightness. The astronomers use the Cepheids to measure the true brightness of the supernovae in each host galaxy. From these measurements, the astronomers determine the galaxies' distances. They then look for supernovae in galaxies located even farther away from Earth. Unlike Cepheids, Type Ia supernovae are brilliant enough to be seen from relatively longer distances. The astronomers compare the true and apparent brightness of distant supernovae to measure out to the distance where the expansion of the universe can be seen [shown at right]. They compare those distance measurements with how the light from the supernovae is stretched to longer wavelengths by the expansion of space. They use these two values to calculate how fast the universe expands with time, called the Hubble constant. Credit Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Feild (STScI), and A. Riess (STScI/JHU) Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.


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Doubles partners Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa are vying for their first title in 2009 as the eighth seeds at the Australian Open. They're off to a good start, taking out the local team of Brydan Klein and Matthew Ebden 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the first round.
Behind their backs are three titles from their successful 2008: Costa do Sauipe, Portschach, and New Haven immediately before the U.S. Open (where they reached the third round). The duo also made the semis in Memphis and Metz; and the quarters of Vegas, Stockholm, and the Paris Masters.
Kit: Sa joins Melo in wearing Centauro. One less person wearing Diadora?
(photo by Getty Images)


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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Wednesday, S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee celebrated the completion of Phase One of the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27, which will be used as the headquarters for the 34th America's Cup Races in 2013.
"The new Cruise Terminal is a legacy project that will not only boost tourism and create jobs this summer during the America's Cup races, but it will welcome visitors and residents to our waterfront for generations to come," said Mayor Lee. "This major infrastructure project that is being delivered on time and on budget is the centerpiece of the America's Cup Park and when it begins serving the cruise industry next year, it will provide a significant economic impact to our City."
After the America's Cup event in 2013, the Port will complete the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal by 2014 (Phase 2) to make it operational for cruise ships, and create a new 2.5 acre public park known as the Northeast Wharf Plaza.
"With its expansive vistas and centralized waterfront location, the new James R Herman Cruise Terminal is the perfect picture frame for all that is both iconic and exciting about San Francisco: from the spires of the Bay Bridge and Ferry Building, to the Transamerica Building and Coit Tower and the wonderful homes nestled into Telegraph Hill," said Port Director Monique Moyer. "From the moment of arrival, visitors will be beckoned out to the experience that is San Francisco."
The new Cruise Terminal will be sized to handle vessels up to 1,200 feet long and carrying 2,600 passengers and has the capacity at key areas to allow it to service vessels carrying as many as 5,000 passengers. On non-cruise days, the terminal will be used as a special event facility.
The Pier 27 Cruise Terminal is to be named in honor of James R. Herman, former Port Commissioner and President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. The James R. Herman cruise terminal has been designed to meet modern ship and operational requirements of the cruise industry.
The Cruise Terminal project provides an ongoing stimulus to San Francisco's economy by attracting visitors and contributing tax revenue to the City's General Fund. It is estimated that the cruise industry in San Francisco supports $31.2 million annually in economic activity and generates 300 jobs within San Francisco.
The Department of Public Works, along with the Port is responsible for construction management of the Cruise Terminal project. The number of direct labor jobs created for the construction is expected to be over 1,000 jobs.
"The new terminal will be a more beautiful and functional experience for passengers, and keep San Francisco as a world-class destination for the important cruise-ship industry," said DPW Director Mohammed Nuru. "The Department of Public Works is a proud partner in enhancing our vibrant waterfront not just for the upcoming America's Cup event but for the generations beyond."
DPW is providing construction management and landscape architectural services for the Pier 27 project. The contractor is Turner Construction with designers and architect team of KMD Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz, Pfau Long Architecture, JV, Bermello Ajamil & Partners, cruise terminal design consultants. The local hiring goal is 20 percent, and currently is at 26 percent. The Local Business Enterprise (LBE) participation goal is 17 percent, currently at 17.5 percent and anticipated at 19 percent.
The Port of San Francisco, an enterprise agency of the City and County of San Francisco, oversees a broad range of commercial, maritime and public access facilities along the City's waterfront that are held in public trust for the people of California.
About America's Cup:
The America's Cup, at 161 years old, is the oldest trophy in international sport. The 34th America's Cup, hosted by the City and San Francisco, brings the competition back to the US for the first time in 18 years. Set on the natural amphitheater of San Francisco Bay, the 2103 races are designed to be viewed from land for the first time in their history and promise an exciting "Summer of Sailing" for Bay Area visitors and residents alike.
About ONESF:
ONESF is a civic engagement effort to mobilize the City's businesses, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and other organizations around the legacy and community benefits of events like the 34th America's Cup races. Hosting national and international events can be a catalyst for infrastructure, open space and environmental enhancements to the City and the Bay.


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Making the right plays on the field takes talent, perseverance, focus and a whole lot of hard work. At FedEx, we know the same skills that make the FedEx Air & Ground nominees and winners successful on the football field are what delivers success in every field. That's why we're proud to recognize three small businesses each week that have what it takes and play to win. Just like the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week, each of these businesses delivers when the pressure is on. Take a minute to deliver your vote for the players and the business you think had the best plays this week.
Eli Manning, New York Giants
Giants QB Eli Manning completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 321 yards and two scores in a 31-27 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers completed 29 of 38 passes for 408 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in a 49-23 win over the Denver Broncos.
Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers
49ers QB Alex Smith threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-23 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Matt Forte, Chicago Bears
Bears RB Matt Forte carried 25 times for 205 yards and a touchdown in a 34-29 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Arian Foster, Houston Texans
Texans RB Arian Foster tallied 155 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries in a 17-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ryan Torain, Washington Redskins
Redskins RB Ryan Torain had 135 yards and a score on 19 carries in a 17-10 win over the St. Louis Rams.


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Movie Reviews
Effects-Heavy 'Oblivion' Pines For An Analog Past
- Director: Joseph Kosinski
- Genre: Action-adventure
- Running Time: 126 minutes
Rated PG-13; sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity
With: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo
Watch Clips
'They're Human'
'What The Hell?'
'None Of Your Crew Survived'
The score for Oblivion was composed by M83, a superb French electronic outfit that derives its name from one of the spectral pinwheels known as spiral galaxies. I point this out because it's the best element of the movie — a cascade of dreamy synthesizers that registers as appropriately futuristic (at least the future as suggested by '80s pop) while allowing an undercurrent of romantic yearning.
More than that, though, it underlines director Joseph Kosinski's pursuit of digital beauty — some combination of "ones and zeros" that can approach those pinwheels' heavenly perfection.
It's not the first time: Kosinski's last film converted the arcade-game kicks of Disney's 1982 relic Tron into the $200 million screensaver Tron: Legacy. With Oblivion, the content comes a lot closer to matching the pristine form. Though it's derivative in the extreme, the film keeps the dialogue to a minimum — and what dialogue it has is often deliberately formalized and robotic — while creating a future of insidious elegance, one in which the remnants of humanity and nature represent a threat to the artificial order of things. And so Kosinski's personal commitment to gorgeous artifice above all other considerations only harms the film so much.
Based on the director's own unpublished graphic novel, Oblivion gets all its exposition out of the way in one graceless chunk of opening narration. It's 2077, exactly 60 years after alien invaders called Scavengers (or "Scavs") appeared from another dimension and wiped out the moon before setting their sights on the Earth's resources.
Though mankind "won" the war against the Scavs, the nuclear weapons required to do so — combined with the devastating natural disasters brought on by the moon's destruction — killed off much of the population and rendered the planet uninhabitable. Those humans who did survive were whisked onto a space station until they can colonize elsewhere.
Enter Jack (Tom Cruise) and his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough, whose Disconnect is also out this week), a couple living in a home in the clouds, above both the lingering radiation and the remaining Scavs stalking the territory below. Their official duty is to protect the machines drawing precious water from the seas, mainly by ensuring that the unmanned drones intended to suppress the Scavs remain online. Though his memory of the war has been wiped, Jack dreams of a woman (Olga Kurylenko) from a distant past who reappears when a NASA capsule crashes and forces him to rethink his mission.
Oblivion occupies an awkward no-man's-land between escapist space adventure and heady science fiction, but it's neither thrilling enough nor intellectually stimulating enough to satisfy devotees of either. The strongest scenes tend to be the least eventful: long, moody stretches in which Jack and Victoria go about their rounds, then retire to a domestic life with too practiced a rhythm. Jack registers his lost-world longings by slipping off to a secret hideaway of lush greenery and the analog pleasures of books and LPs, but it's Riseborough's Victoria who's the most affecting, because her humanity registers in cracks that never fully disrupt her commitment to the mission.
Kosinski handles the obligatory action beats capably, with Jack zipping through the skies on a helicopter-spaceship hybrid that resembles a cross between tech from the Star Wars prequels and Cruise's own Top Gun. (Kosinski throws in a stylish pair of aviator glasses as an homage to the latter.) The eventual gunplay distracts from the cool ambience of those early quiet scenes, but as the film goes on and Kosinski's meditations on individual will grow gloppy and predictable, such distractions become more welcome.
There's a faintly political message here about drone warfare, but for all its hard sci-fi portentousness, Oblivion advocates mainly for an earthy lifestyle of organic vegetables, classic vinyl and more time in the great outdoors. In a film created entirely in front of green screens and behind computer terminals, selling a message like that takes a certain nerve.


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Ivan Garcia, 11 April 2017 — Right now the most closely guarded secret in Cuba is the protocols for succession of the nation's president, army general Raul Castro, after his retirement in February 2018.
I will tell you what is rumored among some officials close to the tight-lipped team of advisers and influential relatives in the Council of State.
A well-informed source claims, "The man is desperate to retire. He wants to spend more time with his children and grandchildren and travel around the world. He's really going to retire. And it seems to me that he will probably pass his job on to the first party secretary. He has always preferred to be in the background."
A technocrat with connections to powerful elites states, "The succession is not happening at the best time but Raul is serious when he says he is leaving. I have it on good authority that Miguel Diaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta, around whom the media has been creating a presidential image in recent months, are studying English in depth and preparing to lead the country."
A former personal security officials says, "Resources have been put at Diaz-Canel's disposal, the kind of communication technology and logistical support that a president would have."
Meanwhile, as the official media has been inundating us with reports of economic successes and the alleged loyalty of the population to Raul Castro and his deceased brother, the countdown to the succession continues.
There is only a little more than ten months until D-Day. At midnight on February 24 the republic will presumably be governed by a civilian president without the last name Castro.
One of the sources consulted for this article believes that "after his own retirement, Raul will force the retirement of several longtime revolutionary officials such as Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and Ramiro Valdes.* His son Alejandro, who is a colonel in the Ministry of the Interior, will retain a certain degree of power while his daughter Mariela will continue promoting an image of tolerance towards homosexuality but will no longer hold any really significant positions.
"The power behind the throne will be the military. Everything has been arranged. There will be major economic changes. If the purchasing power of the population does not increase, consumer spending will be encouraged while the monetary and intellectual capital of the exile community will be tapped.
"If not, Cuba will never get out of the swamp. Political exhaustion and systemic failures have created conditions conducive to the emergence of an acute social crisis whose outcome no one can predict. That is why there will be changes."
In Cuba, where the state press's greatest strengths are saying nothing and masking daily reality, rumors within the halls of power carry more credibility than the official news.
Raul Castro is a perpetual schemer. Let the analyst or journalist who foresaw the secret negotiations with the United States and the reestablishment of diplomatic relations on December 17, 2014 raise his hand.
Prognosticating in such a secretive country can be disastrous but there have been some signals. During the the monotone National Assembly's 2015 legislative session a gradual rollback of Raul's reforms began. And Marino Murillo, the czar of these reforms, disappeared from official photos.
In response to the Venezuelan crisis, which led to cuts of 40% in fuel imports, the economic initiatives promoted by Raul Castro came to an abrupt halt.
Barack Obama's visit to Cuba in March 2016 was the final straw. The regime's most conservative factions began changing the rules of the game.
While lacking the charisma or stature of his brother, Castro II has proved to be more effective at putting together negotiating teams and has had greater successes in foreign policy. They include reestablishing diplomatic relations with the United States without having to make many concessions in return, acting as mediator in the meeting in Havana between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, facilitating the peace agreement in Colombia and securing the cancellation of a considerable portion of the nation's financial debt.
His agricultural reforms have failed. People are still waiting for that glass of milk he promised them in a speech given in Camaguey on July 26, 2007. On that day Raul Castro said, "We have to erase from our minds this limit of seven years (the age at which Cuban children are no longer entitled to receive a certain ration of milk). We are taking it from seven to fifty. We have to produce enough so that everyone who wants it can have a glass of milk."
The Foreign Investment Law has not been able to attract the roughly 2.5 billion dollars expected annually. The sugar harvest and food production have not gotten off the ground, requiring the regime to import more than two billion dollars worth of food every year.
Except for tourism, the profitable foreign medical assistance program and other international missions, and remittances from overseas, all other exports and economic initiatives have decreased or not shown sufficient growth.
Vital industrial sectors are not profitable and its equipment is obsolete. Problems in housing, transportation and public service shortages are overwhelming. The price of home internet service is outrageous. Official silence has surrounded recent restrictions on the sale of gasoline** while public speculation about a return to the "Special Period" has not been discussed by the executive branch.
Raul Castro barely appears in the public anymore. Aside from attending Fidel's funeral in November 2016, presiding over parliament last December and sporadic appearances at the Summits of the Caribbean and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, his presence is almost imperceptible.
He is governing in hibernation mode, on automatic pilot. There is no word on currency reform. The vaunted Economic Guidelines, only 21% of which have been carried out, seem to be dead in the water.
According to a former journalist who now lives in Miami and who dealt closely with Raul in the late 1980s, his seemingly erratic behavior could be interpreted in several ways.
"Raul is not doctrinaire like his brother. Nor does he leave tasks half done like Fidel used to do. I supposed he has his hands full preparing Diaz-Canal so he can finish the job and implement good, effective reforms. I think Diaz-Canal will play an important role in Cub's future. Reporters should start lining up their canons now," says the former journalist.
The sense on the street is that the island is going to hell. The outlook does not look good. The future is a question mark. The pathways to emigration are closing. And the average person's salary remains a bad joke.
The optimists, who are in the minority, are praying the general has an emergency plan in his desk drawer. The pessimists, who are in the majority, believe that life in Cuba will go on as it has, whether under Raul, Diaz-Canal or any other members of the Communist praetorian guard.
*Translator's note: Vice-president of the Council of State and governmental vice-president respectively.
** Though no public announcement has been made, as of April 1 sales of so-called "special gasoline" have been restricted to tourists with rental cars.


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Ways to Give
Giving with Purpose
Charitable gifts reward donors in many ways. You can experience satisfaction in supporting a worthy cause and the excitement of seeing your gift make a positive change. The following are some of the vehicles a donor can use to make a gift to Saint Xavier University. For assistance with these or any other means of making a gift to Saint Xavier University, please call the Office of University Advancement at 773-298-3322.
Gifts of Cash
Gifts of cash are the easiest and most direct way to give to Saint Xavier. There are a number of ways to make your gift:
- Make a credit card gift online.
- Call 773-298-3322 and charge your gift to Visa, MasterCard or Discover.
- Send a check or money order, payable to Saint Xavier University to:
Saint Xavier University
University Advancement
3700 West 103rd Street
Chicago, IL 60655
- Recurring Gifts--donors can set up monthly or quarterly charges to a credit or debit card. Make a recurring gift to belong to Impact X.
Gifts of Securities
Giving stock through electronic transfer is the easiest method when a donor maintains holdings in a brokered account. Depository Trust Company, or DTC, is the clearinghouse for electronic security transfers. Each brokerage firm has a specific DTC number. When you wish to make a gift of stock, provide the following information to the transferring broker:
|Account Name
|Saint Xavier University
|Account Number
|DTC Number
|Clearing Broker
|Bank of America
|[Donor's Name]
Please alert the Office of University Advancement before the transfer so that the University can make arrangements with its broker to receive the stock. At the same time, please indicate the purpose of the contribution, such as an annual gift, a pledge payment or funds for a planned gift.
For stock certificates to be delivered to Saint Xavier University:
Please send to:
Saint Xavier University
University Advancement
3700 West 103rd Street
Chicago, IL 60655
Gifts by Electronic Transfer of Funds
Charitable contributions may be wired electronically from a benefactor's personal or professional bank account to a Saint Xavier account. Call the Office of University Advancement at 773-298-3322 for more information.
A Tribute Gift
To honor or memorialize a loved one
A Tribute Gift is a meaningful expression to honor or memorialize friends, relatives or colleagues, while at the same time supporting Saint Xavier University. When you make a Tribute Gift to SXU, the person or family you designate is immediately sent a letter acknowledging your gift made in their name. The amount of your gift is shown only on the receipt mailed back to you.
Corporate Matching Gifts
Matching gifts can double or even triple your personal gift to SXU. Under a corporate matching gift program, your contribution to Saint Xavier University is matched with your company's or corporate foundation's funds. Many companies also match gifts made by spouses of employees and those retired from the company. Ask your employer about its specific requirements and ways to utilize its program. Matching gifts count toward the University's giving societies.


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Rose Fever Nail Wraps
Get a salon-worthy manicure without a salon trip. Our nail wraps are safe, non-toxic, long-wearing and easy to apply. They're made with 100% real nail polish so they wear and wear like real nail polish.
Each set includes 16 stickers, 1 nail file.
Lasts up to 10 days.
Easy and quick application.
Gentle, non-damaging removal.
How to Use:
Start by quickly cleaning your nails with alcohol/acetone wipe, then place and smooth the stickers right above your cuticle line. Gently file away any excess material until it fits your nail shape.
Pro tip:
For best results, apply a thin layer of top coat to over the entire nail and the stickers to seal and protect stickers.
Hold off on applying any lotions or oils until your stickers are set.
To remove, just use nail polish remover.
Shipping & Returns
🚛 Standard Shipping : Free
Shipping time: 7 to 12 business days
Please note: made-to-order items sometime take longer to arrive than our general shipping time rule. Please allow additional days for production time as mentioned on the "Product Details" page of the particular item.
↩ Returns: No Returns/Exchanges
Please choose carefully as there are no refunds or exchanges for change of mind or for faults identified prior to purchase.
We only accept return or refund if the item you purchased is defective/faulty, damaged during transit, or if you receive wrong item. To be eligible for return/refund, the issue must be reported to Veldess within 3 days of your receipt of the item.
Please visit our Return + Refund Policy for more information.


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This will fascinating to read.
I just had access to a pair of Pro-Ac Tabletts & a pair of old Magnapan MG2s. I discovered both are still superb and exciting.
How much driver improvement is a darn good question for some brave soul to tackle, I give you full marks for suggesting it. I'll buy a second year's print subscription if you can answer it using your typically engineering based methods. Who else "could" handle this conundrum?
By the way, I was stunned by you calling-out the 21bit DAC design as being obsolete. Once again, I applaud you!
Tony in Michigan
ps. I'm about to go European and embrace all music delivery systems by buying a Linn DS server. I might even invest in a LP12 ( for old time's sake ) which I'll probably display in a sealed, nitrogen filled glass case. I'm hunting for an Ittok and Rosewood Red Koetsu ( not, but maybe a cute red nosed Asak that doesn't have to work ).


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July 24, 2012 (San Diego's East County) -- Dear EarthTalk: Has an alternative to air conditioning to keep rooms cool been invented that is significantly cheaper and/or that uses significantly less energy than traditional air conditioning?
Unfortunately the modern day air conditioner, with its constantly cycling, energy-hogging compressor and environmentally unfriendly chemical coolant, still reigns supreme throughout the world—and increasingly so in rapidly developing countries like India and China where possession of air conditioning connotes middle class status. And while the chlorofluorocarbon coolant widely used in air conditioners through the 1980s was phased out because its emissions were causing damage to the globe's protective ozone layer, the chemicals that replaced it worldwide, and which are now in use in hundreds of millions of air conditioners, are some 2,100 times stronger as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. We may have saved the ozone layer, but—whoops!—there goes the climate.
Just because people aren't using them much doesn't mean there aren't some good alternatives. The best known is an evaporative cooler (AKA swamp cooler). Better for hot, dry climates, these electrified units cool outdoor air through evaporation and then blow it inside. They make for a nice alternative to traditional air conditioners, using about a quarter of the energy overall. They are also quicker and cheaper to install, and can be moved around to different rooms as needed. But swamp coolers can require a lot of maintenance and may not keep the interior space as cool as some AC-hungry inhabitants might like.
Apartment/condo and commercial/industrial buildings might consider augmenting their existing roof-top air conditioning systems with the cooling power of ice. California-based Ice Energy makes and sells the Ice Bear system, essentiallya large thermal storage tank that makes ice at night—when the cost and demand for energy is lower—and then doles out ice water into the air conditioning system during the day to efficiently deliver cooling whenit's needed. Since the air conditioner's energy-intensive compressor can remain off during peak daytime hours, the electricity required for cooling can be minimal, with some customers achieving 95 percent electricity savings using the system. And utilities across the country are starting to encourage its use by large customers.
Of course, let's not forget that a small investment in a fan or two to create a breeze or wind tunnel through inhabited interior spaces can go a long way to offset summer heat. Even better, get a professional to install a "whole-house fan," which draws in cooler air through lower level open windows and exhales hotter air through specially designed attic vents synced to open when the system is operating.
The race has been on in the air conditioning business for some time to find a coolant that doesn't destroy the ozone or add to global warming, but progress has been slow. Meanwhile, global warming itself will beget the need for more air conditioning, which will only exacerbate an already dire situation, especially as the rest of the world starts to demand artificial cooling just like we've enjoyed in the West for decades.
CONTACT: Ice Energy, www.ice-energy.com.


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Si aún no formas parte de nuestra comunidad, crea tu cuenta y disfruta de todas estas ventajas:
Entra ahora, ponte cómodo y disfruta de la experiencia.
A collection designed for children who start reading. The short passages alongside the illustrations, as well as the type used -capitals and handwriting- help them to take the first steps in acquiring this important habit. The words selected and taken out of the sentences and the drawings that accompany them allow the reader to focus his attention on them, and add them to its vocabulary.
Titles in the Series:
- Today is my birthday!
- I'm going to have a brother!
- My first day at school
- What a fuss with so many animals!
- A stroll with dad
- The squirrels and the wood
- A day at the beach
- I'm dressing up!
- I play with my friends
- A chick on the farm


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Joint programmes that used the European Approach
The following list includes examples where the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes was used in practice to evaluate or accredit a joint programme.
The list is based on information that registered quality assurance agencies uploaded to the Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR). This page aims to be a useful reference for other higher education institutions and quality assurance agencies that plan to employ the European Approach. If you consider that any case is missing or incorrect, please contact us or the EQAR-registered agency that carried out the evaluation/accreditation procedure.
- 10 reports
- «
- ‹
Report date - valid to / Uploaded / ChangedAgency / TypeInstitution / ProgrammeCountry
14/05/2018 - 30/09/2024 uploaded 19/11/2019 changed 19/11/2019AQAS European Approach for QA of Joint ProgrammesKU Leuven, Tallinn University of Technology, University of Münster - Public Sector Innovation ande-Governance (PIONEER) (second cycle)Estonia, Belgium (Flemish Community), Germany
15/05/2018 - 30/09/2024 uploaded 14/04/2021 changed 14/04/2021AQAS European Approach for QA of Joint ProgrammesUniversity of Cologne, University of Florence - Deutsch-Italienischer Masterstudiengang Rechtswissenschaft (second cycle)Germany, Italy
03/12/2018 - 30/09/2025 uploaded 19/11/2019AQAS European Approach for QA of Joint ProgrammesHamburg University of Applied Sciences, Lille 2 University of Health and Law, Polytechnic of Porto - European Master of Medical Technology and Healthcare Business (EMMaH) (second cycle)Portugal, Germany, France
31/01/2019 - 30/01/2025 uploaded 02/12/2019NVAO European Approach for QA of Joint ProgrammesLeuphana University of Lüneburg, Maastricht University, University of Valencia - Work and Organizational Psychology (second cycle)Spain, Netherlands, Germany
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Anne Schwartz
Environmental Writer
Turning the High Line Elevated Railroad into an Unconventional Park
In one of his last acts in office, Mayor Rudy Giuliani approved the demolition of the High Line, an abandoned elevated freight railroad running through Chelsea and the West Village. The owners of property shadowed by the hulking structure wanted it torn down. The idea of reinventing the tracks as a public open space, proposed by a grassroots group called Friends of the High Line, was a fantasy that few people gave any chance of success.
Fast forward three years. This October, the city announced the selection of a design team to make the track a public promenade, as well as the dedication of $43 million to the project, which has an estimated total cost of between $60 and $100 million. The State of New York and CSX Transportation, the railroad that owns the line, joined the city in petitioning the federal Surface Transportation Board to rail-bankthe line, which would transfer the easement to the city and allow its use as public space. If all goes as planned, construction will begin next fall. Against all odds, a crazy and impractical-seeming idea is rapidly becoming a reality.
The High Line was built in the 1930s to serve the refrigerated meat and dairy warehouses of the West Side, taking dangerous freight traffic off Tenth Avenue. Part of the line was torn down in the 1960s, and the remaining segment, from Gansevoort to 34th Street, was taken out of service in 1980. It was mostly forgotten, except by architects, preservationists and adjacent property owners.
The few people who discovered the rusting track, overtaken by weeds and wildflowers, were captivated by its solitude and mystery. Some likened it to a magic carpet ride -- a tapestry that changed with the seasons, floating two stories high through industrial precincts, just above the streets but open to the sky and river and cityscape.
In 1999, West Side residents Joshua David and Robert Hammond founded Friends of the High Lineto save the line and take advantage of a rare opportunity to create open space in an area that desperately needed it. To their surprise, they quickly gained the support of local residents, civic organizations, and businesspeople, including the owners of art galleries in West Chelsea. "The power behind the project was that it was a dream, a dream-like vision, we were making a reality," recalled David. "It seemed like something wonderful and impossible. And as soon as people got the sense that this wonderful, seemingly impossible thing was possible, it created incredible excitement."
Elected officials started coming on board, including City Councilmember Christine Quinn, who represents the area, and Council Speaker Gifford Miller. A turning point came with the election of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who quickly reversed the city's course and began the rail-banking process early in his term.
Mayor Bloomberg and Department of City Planning Director Amanda Burden envision the line tying together three areas that are the focus of city revitalization efforts: the Gansevoort Historic District, West Chelsea, and the far West Side between the 30s and 42nd Street, including the site of the controversial proposed stadium complex. Mayor Bloomberg called the High Line "a beautiful new amenity that will serve as the spine of vibrant new neighborhoods on Manhattan's Far West Side and create new economic benefits in the years to come."
A Completely Different Kind of Park
In making their case to preserve the tracks, Friends of the High Line frequently cited the example of the Promenade Plantée, a landscaped walkway on a rail viaduct crossing the 12th Arrondissement in Paris. Reflecting the classic beauty of the city it overlooks, the promenade is a linear formal garden, a path bordered and interrupted by neatly edged beds of flowers, shrubs, and trees. The first park ever built on an elevated line, it has been a huge success, attracting many more visitors than expected and spurring the construction of apartment and commercial buildings in the surrounding area.
Although the concept of the High Line as a landscaped pedestrian walkway was inspired by its French predecessor, the design is shaping up to be something different altogether — unlike any other park and unique to New York.
"People are looking for a design that refers to the special qualities that are up there now," said David. The goal is to capture the disused track's wildness, its grittiness, its evocation of the city's industrial past, and especially its sense of serenity. Yet the park will need to accommodate large numbers of people, a variety of public uses, and the commercial activities that will inevitably arise in the adjacent spaces.
After narrowing down 70 proposals to four finalists, a selection committee representing five city agencies and Friends of the High named a design team led by the landscape architecture firm Field Operations and architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro to create the master plan.
The team's provocative preliminary concept looks more like a work of modern sculpture than a traditional park. It is based on parallel concrete planks that fade in and out of a landscape ranging from gravel and grasses to a more cultivated type of garden. In some sections, the volunteer vegetation and rusting metal of the existing line would remain intact. The architects envision the line as a slow, meandering path that at times dips below or curves above the tracks, with places for both quiet reflection and public activities and events.
In October, more than a hundred people came to a community input forum to view a presentation of the preliminary concept and offer their ideas, concerns, and hopes.
Most of those attending agreed that the park should be a "slow lane," a place to meander, meditate, and enjoy the views. They noted that there is already a well-used route for bicyclists and skaters just a few blocks away at the Hudson River Park. Other community concerns were safety, enough seating, connections to the river, and guarding against the encroachment of commercial activities. The design team will return to the community with an update on December 2, at the Chelsea Recreation Center.
Open Space as a Catalyst for Change
Unlike the typical development approach that throws in a park or two as a sweetener to make large new construction projects more palatable to the public, the effort to reuse the High Line starts with the premise that open space can be at the heart of neighborhood revitalization.
And in contrast to the city's top-down plan to build a stadium and redevelop the area just to the north, which has generated tremendous neighborhood opposition, the High Line project is a model of local planning. It began at the grassroots and included the input of local residents and businesses as it evolved. According to Joshua David, there has been a remarkable and productive collaboration among Friends of the High Line and numerous city agencies, including parks, city planning, transportation, and economic development.
The Department of City Planning has put together a proposalthat weaves the High Line into a larger plan for rezoning West Chelsea. The plan aims to encourage the construction of more housing in the area, yet retain the area's manufacturing and protect the thriving art gallery district that has emerged between 10th and 11th Avenues.
To keep light and air around the High Line, the plan would restrict the heights of adjacent buildings, while allowing their owners to sell development rights that could be used in other parts of the district. It also offers incentives for providing access to the line. The public review process for the zoning change is expected to begin in December.
Developers are starting to take interest in the area, as planners had hoped. But along with new development comes the risk of increased commercialization. The challenge going ahead is to make the High Line a true public space – not just a mall in the sky – that captures the excitement of the original vision.


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Welcome to the Japanese ceramic teapot and tea set selection at Holy Mountain Trading Company. We look forward to providing you with quality Japanese ceramic tea ware at the best price. Each teapot or teaset comes boxed with an informative sheet giving the Japanese ceramic tea ware history.
The earliest Japanese ceramics were unglazed sueki and ash-glazed earthenwares. The latter developed into Seto ware,
the only glazed ware in the Middle Ages (13th-16th Centuries). Early Seto ware shows the strong influence of Chinese
pottery. The understated sueki works became especially popular with the rise of the Tea Ceremony in the Edo Period
(16th-19th Centuries). Porcelain manufacture began on a full-scale at the end of the 16th Century with the rise of
Hizen, Early-Imari, Kakiemon, Ko-Imari, Nabeshima, and Ko-Kutani wares.