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Lee Huffman
Dear AccessWorld readers,
As the long days of summer pass by, there are three words that strike fear, or at least some apprehension, in the hearts of students of all ages: "back to school." New classes, new instructors, class projects, oral presentations, tests, meeting new people, and even the possibility of changing schools or moving away to college bring about uncertainty, new challenges, and situations never before encountered. This is especially true if you are a student with vision loss.
In this issue, the AccessWorld team has geared its work toward providing valuable information and resources for students, parents, teachers, and professionals in the field to help make educational pursuits a less stressful and more enjoyable experience for those who are blind or visually impaired.
There are two points I want to make clear to all who read the articles in this issue:
Pursuing a quality education can be difficult under the best of circumstances. Pursuing that education as a person with vision loss can be even more challenging. That is why having and maintaining a positive attitude is crucial to educational success.
The AccessWorld team is very excited to bring you this information, and the team and I sincerely hope you or a student you know will find it useful. I encourage you to read every article as the ideas and resources discussed in this "back to school" issue will certainly help to improve, enrich, and broaden your educational experience. A full spectrum of topics, ranging from knowing your legal rights to obtaining funding to purchase assistive technology, is covered. Please use these articles and resources to your best advantage. We on the AccessWorld team wish you luck and good planning as you head back to school!
Remember, this is the first issue in our new monthly publication schedule. Please look for us again in August!
Lee Huffman AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief
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Mövenpick Tala Bay names new GMMövenpick Resort & Spa Tala Bay has appointed Beat Peter as its new general manager. With around 20 years of experience in the hotel industry, Peter assumed his duties on April 23, this being his sixth senior management p More… |
Mövenpick opens Tala Bay resort in JordanThe Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has opened a 5-star resort in Tala Bay-Aqaba, making it the fifth hotel in Jordan operated by the group. Owned by Zara South Coast Development Company (a subsidiary of Zara Investment Holding), Mövenpick More… |

subset: commoncrawl


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June 4, 1919 - November 1, 2011 Washington, District Of Columbia | Age 92
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"Hillary, so sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you. Your a reflection of your mother, so I know she was a wonderful person."
"So sorry for the Clintons on their loss. Hillary is such a great inspiration to all women and Im sure one reason is because of her mother. I was born and raised and still live in Arkansas so to me Hillary and Bill are like family."
"May God bless you and your family in the time of breavement, you are in my pray"
"I am truly sorry for the loss of your mother my mother passed away in May and my heart aches for her, I will always miss her, and I know you feel the same way."
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"Dear Secretary Clinton, How blessed you were to have your mother as long as you did, she will always be with you in your heart and in spirt. Charles Sizemore and Daniel Thompson"


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Green Tea May Lower Risk of Lung Cancer in Smokers Steven Popec (0) When it comes to the amount of speculation, experimentation, research, clinical studies, and proven benefits of green tea, --it's almost intimidating getting to know all the facts. The main conclusion here is that green tea is good for you; it has anti-aging qualities, and prevents various illnesses. One example, and possibly the most serious of these kinds of health problems, is cancer. Cancer is one of the leading causes of early death currently. According to statistics, around three hundred people die of cancer every day, --and those numbers just cover the United States. But there's good news, because the antioxidants in green tea help prevent various kinds cancer, among other health problems. Green Tea & Lung CancerMost forms of cancer are preventable, --not curable, but preventable, through clean living, not smoking, and basically, just keeping your body in good condition. And we all admit, that's easier said than done. Not everyone wants to wear sunscreen, even though it can prevent melanoma, and not everyone wants to quit smoking, --even though smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. As it turns out, green tea might even be able to help smokers protect themselves from lung cancer.Research on Green Teas Preventative QualitiesThe scientists at the Toxicology Research Center in Korea have studied the effect of green tea on the lungs; they've found that it may protect the delicate tissues of the lungs, even under the heavy damage done by smoking. The four groups tested in the study were smokers consuming green tea, smokers who consume coffee, non-smokers, and smokers who consumed neither green tea nor coffee; all the smoking participants had been smoking for around 13 years. Rest assured, they weren't working with people who had just bought their first pack of smokes.The ResultsAfter six months of drinking 2 or 3 cups of green tea every day, the smokers returned, along with the other groups, for evaluation. This group, showed about as much SCE, (sister chromatid exchange) as non-smokers, making a significant reduction. This was the stand-out result; the other three groups weren't as impressive. SCE, by the way, is a cell process that is linked to the growth of tumors. Obviously, if green tea reduces the growth of tumors in the lungs, it's going to start becoming a lot more popular with smokers. How You Can Stay Healthy with Green TeaThe scientists conducting the study concluded the same thing; smart guys, aren't they, --that green tea was preventative of lung cancer, even among smokers. And drinking coffee has no real effect on SCE levels, --so if you were worried that coffee causes cancer, feel free to keep drinking it. On the other hand, you may want to switch to some high quality green tea instead. It has just become extremely important that smokers drink green tea, --but not just people who smoke. Everyone is at risk for various kinds of cancers, so if green tea can actually help us prevent cancer and keep our bodies in good shape, we need to be drinking more. facebook twitter google+ email
White Tea Benefits Elena Popec (1) Many people around the world, including chefs and even scientists believe that white tea has numerous benefits towards everyone's health. But do you really know what exactly white tea is and how you could benefit from white tea leaves? The immature tea leaves are alternatively called white tea. These loose leaves are picked from the tea plant just before the plant has fully bloomed. The name 'white tea' came from the fine silvery fuzz covering the tea leaf and making it white in color. The four distinct varieties of white tea include the White Peony, Silver Needle, Long Life Eyebrow and Tribute Eyebrow. The difference between them is the proportion in which the tea leaves are blended with the tea buds. Harvesting White TeaUsually buds turn into tea in two days after they are picked. When two tea leaves are mixed with one tea bud, it forms the White Peony and if the mixture is made completely of buds, it is termed as the Silver Needle tea. The low quality tea variety called Long Life Eyebrow is made by mixing up the left over leaves after the White Peony and Silver Needle harvest. Tribute Eyebrow is processed using a special tea bush and is also a lesser quality tea. All four white teas can be purchased in loose leaf forms. On the other hand, teas available in bags have comparatively less quality and flavor than white tea. Tea bags are generally tea leaf dusts that remains at the bottom of tea bins after harvesting, reducing the desired quality and flavor. White Tea ResearchScientific research has also shown that white tea provides additional protection against skin cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer and even prostate cancer. Studies on the effect of white tea extract on skin exposed to direct sunlight has shown improved protection and reduced cell damage. A partially repaired immune system was also observed in some test subjects that consumed white tea leaves. Scientists found a wealth of antioxidants present in white tea and they suggested it may have anti-aging effect. Some compelling evidence has also been found in the direction of disease prevention using white tea leaves. It is shown that the white tea leaf extract may have the ability to stop pneumonia and the bacteria that causes Staph infection. It is also used to prevent tooth decay, gum disease, plaque and even bad breath. What Else Can White Tea Do for You?It is also believed that white tea leaf has anti-fungal effects. Recent studies have shown that some fungal types became inactive when the fungal drugs are consumed along with white tea leaves. Results of this study also show that white tea leaves might be used to prevent the fungus growth in certain similar conditions. Cholesterol is a health requirement and there are two kinds of cholesterol: good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. It is the bad cholesterol that causes the hardening of the arteries that could lead to heart attack. A type of antioxidants called catechins has been found to reduce bad cholesterol; white tea also helps raise the good cholesterol in the human body. It has been suggested that white tea leaves could lower the blood sugar levels, and thus reduce the occurrence of diabetic symptoms. More scientific research and results can be expected in the near future as the research on white tea continues. facebook twitter google+ email
Green Tea May Fight Off Eye Ailments Steven Popec (0) Westerners have recently rediscovered the green tea. It has its origin in China; the Chinese believe that green tea has the ability to prevent many hazardous diseases, and even treat symptoms of others. This belief has now passed on to the western world, through word of mouth, and of course, the most well-known promotional tool in the world: the Internet. The west is now slowly adapting to the taste of green tea instead of black tea; not everyone likes the idea of 'green' tea, but the color is paler, not green, and the flavor is crisper. Green tea is made from a leaf called Camellia Sinensis, most commonly. These leaves do not require a high amount of oxidation and which makes green tea a good source of the antioxidants known as "Catechins". Antioxidants & CatechinsAntioxidants are agents that fight free radicals in the body. Free radicals can cause cell damage and a number of other diseases, --free radicals, are abnormal foreign agents, in some cases, and they are linked to the development of various kinds of cancer. Catechin in green tea is what gives it the strong taste and smell. Catechin also has the capability to move up to infiltrate our body's natural digestive system. It once absorbed by our digestive system, it's filtered through the blood, where it eventually, reaches our retina, and eyes. The catechins then protect the eyes and reduce the occurrence of eye diseases. Research has been done on whether or not green tea can prevent glaucoma; the findings are pretty amazing. Glaucoma is a disease that can cause loss of eyesight, visual impairment, and even permanent blindness. How it WorksAn experiment was conducted on mice to prove that green tea can fight eye ailments. The tiny animals were fed green tea orally on a regular basis, and then their eye tissues were analyzed. The analysis revealed that the retina absorbed the highest number of catechins. The antioxidant lowered the harmful oxidative pressure in the eye and the effect lasted for about twenty hours. Many people are also aware of green tea's effect on weight loss; everyone seems to be jumping on some kind of green tea fad diet. Well, these diets aren't just trendy, 'here today, gone tomorrow', weight loss schemes. When used in your regular diet program and health regime it is extremely beneficial. People who replaced coffee for green tea rarely come back to coffee. Add Green Tea for a Healthier Future!Because of its medicinal values in the last few years Green tea has become an important subject of scientific research and analysis. These studies have proven that green tea also has other medicinal effects and benefits that help in reducing or preventing some hazardous diseases like cancer. Even more studies have proven that green tea may be effective in the treatment of joint diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, or impaired immune disease and other serious illnesses associated with the liver. A cup of green tea is a good refresher and pumps in a high amount of energy in to the system, --and don't forget, it tastes great too! facebook twitter google+ email
Green Tea & Black Tea can reduce the risk of a stroke Steven Popec (3) Stroke - acute impairment of cerebral circulation, noticeably "rejuvenated" for the last decade. This medical emergency can be averted by having a few glasses of black or green tea a day. This statement was made by a group of American scientists from the University of California, studied nine researches on the subject. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223091806.htm In recent years, every twelve months, around the world more than six million people are diagnosed with a stroke. In peacetime, stroke causes the death of every third adult person, which means that is more frequent cause of death than a car accidents. Thus, every two out of ten cases of stroke happen to people under the age of fifty. There are very few ways to reduce the risk of stroke. According to lead author of study Lenore Arab, a professor of medicine, by the time a stroke victim receives medical care, it's nearly too late to impede the damage. Another research found that 25 percent of people who had a stroke died within one year. American scientists have collected and conducted nine large-scale studies on the relationship between regular consumption of green and black tea, and the risk of stroke. It appears that tea may be the prevention from this disease. The survey covered nearly 195,000 individuals of different sex, age, social status, and so on. This group of people in a certain period of time had 4,378 cases of stroke. As the researchers found, people that regularly drink green or black tea two to three cups which is about three hundred milliliters of tea per day, the risk of stroke for them is reduced by 21%, compared to people who do not drink tea at all, or drink one cup a day or less. The scientists suggest that the whole matter in the substances contained in tea, and plan soon to conduct a series of clinical trials to confirm the findings. facebook twitter google+ email


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NIU would go on to beat Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium Sept. 20, and top Iowa State the following week. NIU started 7-0 before losing at Bowling Green, with ESPN's College Gameday in attendance, on Oct. 25.
DUFFY: You beat Maryland, you beat Alabama and then you beat Iowa State and then people are like, well shoot, Northern Illinois is serious, right? That's the year where people say, this isn't just another win on our schedule. This is a team that's going to compete.
SHELDON: It was really uplifting, we just upset a big team at home. Sellout crowd, the buzz about Northern Illinois football was really exciting for us because a lot of us came to Northern when they were overcoming the many years of losing. My freshman year at Northern, I remember games, it's not very packed, there wasn't a lot of interest in Northern Illinois football. And that game, after the season we had the year before, it was sold out. It was kind of incredible to show up for a game and see it sold out.
NOVAK: Our kids were starting to gain confidence, but they hadn't had a big win yet. And certainly that game with their ranking, gave our kids all kinds of confidence. They felt they could play with anybody and beat anybody on any given day.
GROTH: We just knew that it was going to be a special season. Joe wasn't extremely happy that we added Alabama late in the schedule, but it paid off. Exposure was great and well-deserved.
KORCEK: I told Joe and the kids, if [media attention] ever gets too much, we'll stop. We'll put a stop to it, or we'll govern it. But we were hungry for the exposure. Joe [said] 'Mike we're hot, let's go for it.' Joe's not stupid. The more interviews he does, the more newspapers, the more TV, more radio, it's free advertising. It's great recruiting.
NIU finished the 2003 season at 10-2, suffering its second loss to Toledo on Nov. 15. The Huskies fought through injuries at the end of the season, and Sheldon and Duffy were two players who missed significant time. There were only 28 bowl games in 2003, and the MAC had just two tie-ins. NIU, despite its best season in years, was left without a bowl game.
DREW: We had lost like four or five starters by the time we lost. We lost the captain of our defense, which is Nick. I personally, I've known Nick since 2000, we came in together. He was the soul and the heart of our defense.
SHELDON: I wanted nothing more than to go to a MAC Championship and a bowl game, because that would've meant that I could have came back late enough [to play]. I was really hoping that we had [extra games] at the end of the year because I didn't want to see my season end.
GROTH: We couldn't buy our way into (bowl) games. We offered money to play into those games, to buy extra tickets to play into those games. That is an indicator of what's wrong with the college football and the BCS system right there.
The Huskies received a bowl bid in 2004 and NIU has been to a bowl in six of the past seven seasons. The facilities at Huskie Stadium have also been upgraded the past few years. In 2007, the Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Center opened, with the Kenneth and Ellen Chessick Practice Center scheduled to open this October.
NOVAK: Jeff was with us at Alabama, and he sat next to us on the bus going to the stadium, he was on the sideline next to me at times. It really got Jeff Yordon involved. Kenny Chessick was around, but he hadn't really gotten that far committed yet. But I think it really swayed Yordon over the hump and he really got on board.
DUFFY: I know that we kind of, as a team, as a group, as a university, that 2003 really set the tone for, I think, a lot of what's happened now.
CANADA: What coach Novak did and building the program the way he did, the program has stood the test of time.The program's built on hard work, the program's built on tough guys that do love football. I've said it multiple times, the greatest part about coming back to Northern when I came back two years ago, the new facility was awesome.
GROTH: Now, whether Joe Novak and Cary Groth would have survived if that was now, with all the social media pressure and everything that's going on, [having the 23-game losing streak] at one point in his career? Probably we wouldn't have. But we were able to do it back then because we believed in it. In my opinion it was one of the best hires ever, that I've been involved with."
DREW: [2003] means a lot to me. I won't ever, ever let go. We can always have that to reference to the younger guys, and all the stuff that's going on at NIU now, I haven't been back since 2004 or 2005. I can't wait to get back down there and see the facilities, because I know some of that piggyback's off what we've done, and they've just taken it and ran with it. I'm very proud to watch those guys play on Saturday.


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Amazon clinches deal to buy Middle East online retailer Souq.com
DUBAI Amazon.com has agreed to buy Middle East online retailer Souq.com, thwarting a last-minute bid by Dubai billionaire Mohamed Alabbar's Emaar Malls .
SAN FRANCISCO For Twitter Inc's early venture capital backers, some of whom stand to make over 500 times their investment when the company goes public, now is a time not just to celebrate but increase their stakes in mobile and social media.
Take Bijan Sabet, the partner at Spark Capital who led his firm's investment in Twitter in 2008. At the time, according to a person familiar with the matter, Twitter was valued at $100 million. This week, the company is seeking a valuation of up to $13.6 billion in its initial public offering.
"Most of what I've been doing," Sabet said in a phone interview, "is being hyperfocused on consumer Web and mobile products."
That includes investing in some of the same people who brought him Twitter. One of them was Lift, a mobile phone app that promotes positive habits, which grew out of the Obvious Corp, the incubator created last year by Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams.
In May, Sabet invested in Stone's latest venture, Jelly, which has not announced details of its business except that it plays into consumer- and mobile-oriented themes - and takes its inspiration from the brain of jellyfish.
"For the past 700 million years, this decentralized structure has been wildly successful," Stone wrote in a blog post about his new venture.
Mike Maples, the managing partner of Floodgate Fund who invested $25,000 in Twitter in 2007, when the company was valued at $25 million, said he is developing a strong interest in what he calls programmable services.
By that, he means efforts to use the Internet to organize everything from a ride to running errands. He has invested in the ride-sharing firm Lyft and the odd-job platform Taskrabbit.
Perhaps the archetype of this type of investment is a Floodgate portfolio company called IFTTT, which stands for "If This, Then That." The start-up allows people to set up ongoing pattern-based services. If someone is tagged in a Facebook photo, for example, the service could automatically send him or her a text message.
An important element of Maples' strategy is the medium. Over time, the devices tied into programmable services will broaden to include almost any surface - not just phones, but anything from glass to a road sign to a countertop.
"Glass is the new paper," Maples said.
In a similar consumer vein, George Zachary of Charles River Ventures has invested in Pebble, the smartwatch company, and Udacity, the online education company. His original investment in Twitter was $250,000 in the 2007 funding round.
He does not plan to stick to consumer companies, or any particular theme at all.
"We don't have microtheses about what we should invest in," Zachary said. "If you have very fine-grained theses, it's easy to miss big opportunities."
Zachary's portfolio includes helpdesk service Zendesk, which analysts expect to hold an IPO next year. Business-network software company Yammer, another of his investments, was bought by Microsoft Corp last year in a $1.2 billion deal that earned Charles River a $200 million return, he said.
At Union Square Ventures, which backed Twitter starting from 2007, investments are very network-focused, befitting the theme partner and lead Twitter investor Fred Wilson articulated in a blog post about networks replacing hierarchies. Think Edmodo, a social learning network, or LendingClub, which allows individual borrowers and lenders to connect directly.
None of the earliest investors in Twitter are selling shares in the IPO, although Union Square and Spark had sold some shares previously. Despite their continued faith in social media, none claim to have anticipated the level of Twitter's breakout success.
"I always felt like it was going to be a very important company," Sabet said. "The level of where it is today, it would be inaccurate to say I saw all that coming."
Pricing of Twitter's shares ends Wednesday, with public trading of the stock expected for Thursday.
(Reporting by Sarah McBride; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Andrew Hay)


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June 11, 2010
The Colorado Workforce Center, Colorado Northwestern Community College and Moffat County joined forces to use recent stimulus money to help residents finish their high school education and get back to work. From left are Colleen Wilkinson, of the Colorado Workforce Center, Tinneal Gerber, Moffat County budget analyst, and George Avgares, director of Colorado Student Care, which will help coordinate tutoring and support for the students.
Stories this photo appears in:
Stimulus grants to help Moffat County residents get back to work
Since he dropped out of Moffat County High School 12 years ago, Patrick Perkins has worked as a security guard, maintenance technician, at a lumberyard, as a pizza delivery guy and at Twentymile Coal Co. But, in 2008, Perkins found himself the victim of cutbacks at the mine. He was out of work in a country spiraling into an economic recession. He had no high school diploma and a wife and two kids at home.
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Ascot Wednesday
82 comments :
I always check for people watching too when I take pictures! Especially if it's just me and my tripod - then that looks EXTRA vain. But I'm much more comfortable if a person is shooting the pictures : )
I'm impressed with the row of Oeros! It takes a real woman to be able to down that much chocolate and creme : ) By the way, do you like the mint ones? Those are my favorite! Although double stuffed is always a good choice too.haha I had an audience yesterday taking the photos I just put up. My neighbor across the street was out and I feel like I could feel him looking at what I was doing. p.s. we're not that friendly with them which made me feel even more awkward, but whatevss!
cute outfit btw! love your shoes!I'm digging the whole androgynous feel of this look with the fabulous wedges!
sundry.elementsknow what? i was just taking photos of myself outside our house this morning and felt self-conscious, afraid that our neighbors would see me...LOL.
great simple chic outfit!
♥ vanilla ice cream ♥- AnonymousApril 14, 2010 at 9:16 PM
elaine, i love your blog! but did you change something in the last two days that makes your posts not show up (in full) on google reader? could you change it back?
ps you are gorgeous! Beautiful outfit, love how "clean" each clothing is. Your style isn't minimalistic-minimalistic, but to me it tends to that side - I noticed that you don't like too many accesories, just basics: bag, shoes, maybe a belt , scarf or hat - but never all together; almost no jewelerry. And you keep them very simple and down-to earth. I'm not comfortable with a lot of accesories on me too (Althought i would love to force myself into bigger experiments there..) Probably that's why I can easily imagine every your outfit on me and love your blog =)
ReplyDeleteNice shoes! It's impossible for me to so much as look at a package of Oreos without eating at least 6. Bad, bad, bad.
Unravelled ThreadsLOL! Yeah, it is accwurd taking photos in public! :) Cute outfit! White is so awesome!
I wish I could wear a sping-y outfit! There is still snow here! BOOHOO!!!!
Anyone interested in modest fashion? Looking for more outfit inspiration? Look no more!
www.natashaatkerson.blogspot.comJust a casual look but you styled it sooo well! And I just started taking pics of myself so I totally know what you mean about posing and feeling embarrassed. Sometimes I feel like my friends think I am so vain by having a fashion blog but then I get one that thanks me because she never thought to belt this or wear that together and it makes my day:)


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(This article was originally published at Xi'an's Og » R, and syndicated at StatsBlogs.)
The dataset used in Bayesian Core for the chapter on image processing is a Landsat picture of Lake of Menteith in Scotland (close to Loch Lomond). (Yes, Lake of Menteith, not Loch Menteith!) Here is the image produced in the book. I just got an email from Matt Moores at QUT that the image is both rotated and flipped:
The image of Lake Mentieth in figure 8.6 of Bayesian Core is upside-down and back-to-front, so to speak. Also, I recently read a paper by Lionel Cucala & J-M Marin that has the same error.
This is due to the difference between matrix indices and image coordinates: matrices in R are indexed by [row,column] but image coordinates are [x,y]. Also, y=1 is the first row of the matrix, but the bottom row of pixels in an image.
Only a one line change to the R code is required to display the image in the correct orientation:
As can be checked on Googlemap, the picture is indeed rotated by a -90⁰ angle and the transpose correction does the job!
Filed under: Books, R, Statistics Tagged: Bayesian Core, image processing, Lake of Menteith, Loch Lomond, typos
Please comment on the article here: Xi'an's Og » R


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The security of Chiefland schools is being questioned by some after two unidentified men waltzed onto the campus of Chiefland Middle School Monday and entered the school through an unlocked door to a cafeteria full of children.
Jeremy Brandon Rossi, 20, and Thomas Patrick Kain, 21, both from South Florida, didn't harm anyone but began distributing flyers for a tent revival later that night in Bronson, according to Levy County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Scott Tummond Tuesday.
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09 March 2012
Research All the Grandchildren
If you are "stuck" on a specific ancestor, have you completely researched all the way through their grandchildren? There may be direct clues in records on those individuals to help you on the grandparents, or there may be indirect clues (associates, etc.) that may help you on the actual ancestor you are working on.
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Posted April 13, 2010 by
A new commentary published today in MinnPost (by IATP President Jim Harkness and Population Action International board member Thomas Lovejoy) asks Congress and the Obama administration to increase funding to improve global health and food security while keeping the issues of women in focus. Malnutrition, and lack of access to health services—especially in regards to maternity and family planning—disproportionately place the weight of neglect on the shoulders of women and families around the world..
"The fates of women and poor communities are inextricably tied to the environment," the authors write. "For example, after decades of neglecting agricultural development in poor countries, over one billion worldwide go to bed hungry each day." The commentary goes on to illustrate why, indeed, women truly need to be at the center of real, sustainable solutions. "Women produce up to 80 percent of the food in sub-Saharan Africa, but have access to less than five percent of land, credit and extension services."
While recognizing and praising the efforts of Minnesota's Betty McCollum (D-4th) and Keith Ellison (D-5th), the commentary asks the Obama administration to work with Congress in advocating for increased funding and better policy solutions that, for the time being, are not enough.
Read the entire commentary here.
Posted April 12, 2010 by
This past weekend Dr. David Wallinga, director of IATP's Food and Health program, was featured on Huffington Post. His blog entry, "Challenging the Obesity System," looks at the obesity epidemic as a symptom of the larger issue of an unhealthy food system.
"As a cheap calorie policy, U.S. farm policy has been a success. Foods high in fats, sugars and calories, such as cooking oils, snacks, fast foods and sugared sodas, are some of the cheapest foods in the American diet," he writes. "But for public health, U.S. farm policy's focus on a few commodities is outdated."
What about solutions? Dr. Wallinga offers three suggestions:
Read the full post here and join the conversation. How can public health and food policy come together?
Posted April 8, 2010 by
In the latest Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food initiative, Publix—a large supermarket chain based in Lakeland, Florida—has come under fire.
While other food industry giants—including McDonald's, Subway and, most
recently, Aramark—have signed agreements, Publix has failed to work
with CIW to improve the wages and working conditions of farmworkers in
In response, the CIW has initiated an Email Action Alert
asking supporters to email Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw and ask that the
supermarket chain work with CIW to establish an agreement to provide
improved wages and working conditions to those that harvest the
tomatoes Publix sells in its produce department. There is also a planned march (April 16–18) that will incorporate pickets and prayer vigils at both a Publix supermarket and the Publix headquarters.
CIW represents tomato workers that have been exploited for decades.
The low wages and poor working conditions, combined with instances of
abuse, have often raised comparisons to modern day slavery—a comparison
that is more than apt. In fact, CIW has aided the Department of Justice
in prosecuting multiple slavery operations which took advantage of
hundreds of farmworkers. IATP Food and Society Fellow Sean Sellers has worked closely with CIW since 2003 and recently went on tour around Florida showcasing these injustices as part of a Modern-Day Slavery Museum.
As an official endorser of the Alliance for Fair Food, IATP encourages you to join the Email Action Alert and learn more about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' fight for farmworker justice.
Posted April 7, 2010 by
For those who think that headlines and newspapers still matter, this front page news appeared in the March 30 issue of the Financial Times: "Steel prices set to soar." The end of 40 years of forward contracting iron ore annually will be replaced by three-month contracts in the cash markets from which multi-billion dollar financial derivatives contracts in steel will emerge. Steel prices are predicted to rise a third and be passed along to consumers. Price volatility in iron ore and steel will increase. The highly concentrated iron ore mining industry will prosper, as will traders in steel derivatives.
What does this headline event have to do with the ongoing U.S. congressional fight over how to regulate over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives contracts currently traded in unregulated "dark markets?" Furthermore, what does the OTC legislation have to do with agriculture and agribusiness?
Next week the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee will begin to negotiate its version of the OTC derivatives provisions that will form part of the overall financial reform legislation. The Agriculture Committee oversees the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) which regulates the trade in commodity derivatives, such as iron ore futures. The banking committee oversees the regulation of financial derivatives, such as stock and interest rate futures. The Senate will take elements from both committees to incorporate in the final financial reform bill that Senate leadership hopes to move to a vote by June.
On March 25, IATP wrote to the agriculture committee as a member of the Commodity Markets Oversight Coalition and to the entire Senate in a sign-on letter led by faith-based and nongovernmental organizations. Both letters asked Senators to authorize the CFTC to set and enforce limits on the number of futures contracts that any one entity can own in all trading venues during a specific trading period. The lack of these contract trading limits, called "aggregate position limits" in the draft legislation, enabled excessive speculation by financial institutions in commodity markets. In 2008, we reported on how more than $300 billion in speculative money drove extreme price volatility in both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities in 2007–2008.
Most of the excessive speculation took place in unregulated OTC trades, which led to a near meltdown of the global financial system in the last half of 2008, avoided only by a multi-trillion dollar taxpaper bailout. In dark markets, nobody knows which traders have enough reserves to pay up when their "bets" go bad. Wall Street lobbyists have written exemptions in the House of Representatives "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009," passed on December 11, 2009. These exemptions to restrictions on OTC trading would leave up 60 percent of the $300 trillion U.S. OTC market still unregulated, according to a March 24 speech by CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler.
Many of the corporations represented by the Wall Street lobbyists are agribusiness firms, such as Cargill, Bunge and John Deere, that belong to the Coalition for Derivatives End Users. Like their industrial brethren, they use dark market instruments to hide debt, manage currency and interest rate fluctuations, and, yes, to manage price risks in physical commodities such as steel, which Cargill trades and John Deere uses. Traders on regulated public exchanges give price information to the whole market. Dark market traders give no information to discover prices, as is required by the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act: they only use public information to create unfair competitive advantage.
On March 4, IATP submitted a comment to the CFTC that rebuts the Wall Street arguments to the Senate banking committee as to why trade in dark markets should continue. The comment is in response to a proposed CFTC rule on aggregate position limits for energy futures trades. The proposed rule, to close what is colloquially known as the Enron Loophole, is open for comment until April 26.
The CMOC and faith-based organization sign-on letters to the Senate argue for very strict limits to any exemptions from trading on public markets. Only bona fide users of commodities would be allowed to hedge risks off-exchange, and then only for commodity derivatives trades and for no other financial purpose. Those specifically exempted trades would require higher capital reserve requirements to prevent failure to pay and would be subject to strict daily reporting requirements, unlike the current six month lag of government reports of disaggregated OTC trade data to the Bank of International Settlements. (Six months is an eternity in the world of derivatives trading and cannot aid regulators to monitor trade flows and types.)
If the Senate allows transnational corporations to continue to trade in dark markets, all consumers of commodities and financial products will be exposed to the systemic risk of the "too politically connected banks" through whom the Coalition of Derivatives End Users members trade. Higher prices for consumer products using steel will seem like the good old days compared to the havoc that another global dark market failure could unleash. According to Simone Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, in the absence of tough regulation of the financial and commodity markets, another global financial crisis could hit within a year.
Posted April 5, 2010 by
It's not even mid-April but the weather in Minneapolis is warming up fast. In a matter of months IATP's mini farmers markets will be back in operation. Our friends at Catalyst have created a video explaining what our Mini Farmers Market project is and how you can get one started in your neighborhood. For more information on the dates and times of the mini markets visit our local foods page!
Posted April 2, 2010 by
If music is the international language, food—and where it comes from—is the international conversation piece. In the newest Radio Sustain, the conversation takes us through four distinct perspectives on the international issues of farming, food, sustainability and land management.
First, IATP's Alexandra Spieldoch discusses her experience attending the first USDA/Department of Justice workshop on concentration in corporate agriculture. What are the workshops' goals? What, if any, changes to policy may result and how will the debate domestically impact the international one over competition, monopoly and overall agribusiness domination?
Then, we sit down with IATP President Jim Harkness to talk sustainability in China. In March, IATP hosted the first International Workshop on Sustainable Food and Agriculture at China's Renmin University. What happened there and how will China feed itself?
Dr. William Moseley, a Geography professor from St. Paul's Macalester College, visited IATP in March and joined us to discuss his recent research on the effects of neoliberal trade policies on livelihoods and food production in the three African countries of Gambia, Cote d'Ivoire and Mali.
Finally, IATP Senior Fellow Dr. Dennis Keeney revisits the 2008 Iowa flooding and discusses how commodity crop production has altered the Midwest landscape. How are crops like soybeans and corn impacting the land's ability to absorb floods and what changes could be made?
Listen to the latest episode here!
Posted April 2, 2010 by
It turns out that foods that are better for you may also be better for farmers and local job creation. A new study by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University found that expanding fruit and vegetable production in the upper Midwest could bring significantly more economic benefits than conventional corn and soybean production on the same acreage.
The study, by Iowa State Research Scientist Dave Swenson, looked at the potential for fruit and vegetable production in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It identified 28 kinds of fruits and vegetables that farmers are able to grow in the region. Currently, much of the fruits and vegetables in the region come from other parts of the country or even outside the country.
Some key findings on the economic impacts on the region as a whole:
Previous research found that smaller sized farms (50 acres and smaller) are more likely to produce fruits and vegetables than standard-sized farms so it is likely that more, smaller farms would be needed. Researchers assumed that 50 percent of fruit and vegetable production would be directly marketed in-state by farmer-owned stores. Local and regional ownership of the food chain will be essential for maximum job creation.
The study breaks down the numbers by state and metropolitan region so it's easy to get a sense of what your neck of the woods could be doing to create new local food jobs.
The barriers to transitioning toward more fruit and vegetable production in the Midwest are enormous. Farmland is hard to come by as values are seen as a better investment than the stock market. U.S. farm policy greatly incentivizes corn and soybean production in a number of ways, including helping farmers to manage risks and supporting research for those crops. And then there's the lack of infrastructure needed to help local food systems serve a booming market. Despite these barriers, this study gives us a guidepost for the potential economic benefits of a new model for agriculture that produces healthier and more locally grown food.
Posted March 31, 2010 by
As global food trade expands, food companies want uniform food safety standards. For the multinational food company, an ideal world would have a set of global standards. If a food production export facility met those standards, the company could freely export anywhere around the world. But what if the global standards weren't strong enough to ensure safety? What if the cost of food-borne illnesses continued to rise? And what if governments didn't invest enough in regulatory agencies to ensure the standards were actually met?
These issues and more are covered in the latest issue of the Global Food Safety Monitor, edited by IATP's Steve Suppan. The issue looks into the underfunding of U.S. food safety agencies, failures in implementing the USDA's food safety programs and attempts to certify the safety of poultry imported from China.
"If Cargill is investing an average of $100 million a year and cannot control E.coli in its U.S. plants, what is the likelihood that the Obama administration's proposed budget for federal food safety programs [...] will reduce the incidence of E.coli and other pathogens?" writes Suppan. Find out more in the latest Global Food Safety Monitor.
Posted March 25, 2010 by
Despite growing concerns about the potential adverse effects of most currently approved food dyes, the Food and Drug Administration continues to sit on the sidelines. Meanwhile, many food companies have stopped using these food dyes of concern in European markets but continue to use them for the same foods sold in the U.S. market. (See this article from the Examiner about Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese.)
This week, IATP and seven other non-governmental organizations wrote to the FDA, calling on the agency to act on a formal petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest in 2008 to ban currently approved dyes, including Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6.
Last year, IATP put out two consumer tools to help inform parents about food dyes. IATP's Brain Food Selector is a database that helps parents easily find which foods contain synthetic dyes. Parents can search by brand, product type or whichever dye they're concerned with. IATP's Smart Guide to Food Dyes describes why synthetic food dyes are used, associated children's health concerns and what parents can do.
Increasingly, these dyes have been found to increase hyperactivity and other disturbed behavior in children. Synthetic food dyes are unnecessary and provide no health benefits. The European Union will require companies to use warning labels on most food dyed foods beginning in July 2010.
"The latest science indicates that even modest amounts of synthetic food dyes can affect learning in children," says IATP's David Wallinga, M.D. "We need the food industry and U.S. government agencies to catch up with the latest science and start protecting our children. Until then, parents need to be armed with information when they go shopping."
Posted March 22, 2010 by Ben Lilliston
IATP President Jim Harkness reflects on World Water Day and his recent visit to Beijing.
On this World Water Day, I can't help but think of my departure from China a couple of days ago. I flew out of Beijing in the middle of a massive dust storm. Howling winds in parched Inner Mongolia picked up countless tons of fine red soil and deposited them over a large swath of Northeast Asia, Japan and Korea. As our plane bucked and lurched up into the dirty-orange gale, I tried to distract myself by reading the complimentary China Daily the flight attendant had handed me before takeoff, and found that the perennially water-short North China plain is not the only area of the country that is suffering. Southwest China is in the throes of its worst drought in over a half century, affecting over 20 million people in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces. Harvests will likely be only 50 percent of their 2009 levels. The poorest farmers, who live in mountainous areas and depend on rains for their crops of maize or potatoes, will be hit hardest. This year reservoirs and rivers are also drying up. That means irrigated rice, the staple of urban populations, will also suffer.
The general thrust of China's approach to water shortages has been to increase supply. Whether the underlying ideology was socialism or capitalism, more inputs (water, pesticides and fertilizer) and greater productivity have long been seen as the solutions to China's food security challenge. As surface water disappeared from the North China plain, subsidized tube wells sucked groundwater from deeper and deeper, draining aquifers much faster than they could possibly re-charge. And in the past decade, with the wells running dry, work began on a massive project to transfer water from the South to the North via a network of reservoirs, pipes and canals that would divert trillions of gallons of the Yangtze's flow northward. A recent decision to halt the most disastrous part of this project was a major victory for China's scientifically and politically savvy water activists, but a more fundamental shift toward reducing waste and increasing efficiency of water use is still a long way off.
One of the more interesting sessions at the International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Food we co-hosted in Beijing last week was about efforts to drastically reduce water use in paddy rice farming through adoption of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). More a set of principles than a specific farming technique, SRI includes a focus on reduced use of inputs, wider spacing of seedlings and careful treatment of roots during transplanting. Instead of keeping the paddy flooded, SRI calls for the soil to be kept moist but aerated, in order to promote beneficial soil microorganisms. SRI has a growing host of proponents among grassroots development workers and farmers' groups, but critics in major rice research institutions have questioned its scientific basis, and major field trials are currently underway.
One aspect of SRI that has made it difficult to assess is that it is intentionally flexible, so it can be adapted to local conditions, and the variation in local adaptations was evident in the contrasting approaches to SRI presented at our conference. Mr. Uwe Hoering, a German agronomist, described the widespread adoption of SRI in Cambodia, where it is essentially a very low-input, labor-intensive, organic farming system. Mr. Lu Shihua of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, one of the principal proponents of SRI in China, described a rather different system, using chemical fertilizer and substituting plastic sheeting for mulch as a weed control and moisture retention measure. This seemed much less environmentally friendly than the Cambodian version, but they shared the key element of water savings. In Sichuan, where over 100,000 hectares are now planted using SRI, two-thirds less water is used. The yields from SRI are marginally higher on average, but much higher in drought years, which are becoming increasingly common.
We will be posting Mr. Lu's presentation, along with all of the others as well as video of the plenary sessions, in the next week or so. Stay tuned.


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McAfee Application Data Monitor
Detect hidden threats with application-layer inspection
McAfee Application Data Monitor detects fraud, data loss, and advanced threats by monitoring all the way to the application layer.
Decode the entire application session, all the way to Layer 7, for over 500 hundred supported applications and protocols.
Detect when sensitive information is being transmitted inside email attachments, instant messages, file transfers, HTTP posts, or any other application, and get immediate notification so you can mitigate the loss.
See the entire content of an application and underlying protocols—such as an executable embedded inside a PDF document—to detect hidden payloads, malware, and even covert communication channels.
Discover more than 500 document types as they are exchanged over the network. Even documents embedded inside other documents, archived, compressed, and encoded are discovered with actionable metrics.
McAfee Enterprise Security Manager and McAfee Application Data Monitor work with your security infrastructure to simplify security operations, improve efficiencies, and lower costs.
McAfee rated in Gartner Critical Capabilities for SIEM
Read ReportLeading independent analysts have evaluated the features and performance of McAfee SIEM solutions.
Learn the different motivations of an attacker so you can successfully defend from threats and implement controls tailored to each type of attack for greatest efficiency.
Download Infographic Read White PaperMcAfee Application Data Monitor deployment options include physical and virtual appliances. Specific McAfee Application Data Monitor models require McAfee Enterprise Security Manager (ESM). McAfee SIEM appliance specifications and descriptions are provided for information only, subject to change without notice, and provided without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied.
Model Number | Maximum EPS1 | Appliance Size | Local Storage2 | Network Interfaces (10/100/1000) | System Requirements |
ADM-VM-8 | 250 Mbps | VM | Recommended 250GB | VM (AWS, ESX, KVM) | 8 processor cores, 4GB memory |
ADM-VM-12 | 500 Mbps | VM | Recommended 500GB+240GB SSD3 | VM (AWS, ESX, KVM) | 12 processor cores, 64GB memory |
ADM-1260 | 500 Mbps | 1U | 1TB | 2 + 4 monitoring ports4 | Requires ESM |
ADM-3460 | 1 Gbps | 2U | 1.8TB+240GB SSD3 | 2 + 4 monitoring ports4 | Requires ESM |
1Based on typical network environments using average event and flow aggregation. Depending on aggregation settings, collection type mix, overall SIEM activity, and related activities, the EPS levels for any given appliance, within an environment, may be lower.
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3Minimum 50K IOPS for SSD; additional storage should be a minimum of 100 IOPS.
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Howard has his way as Lakers roll, 104-88
Los Angeles - Dwight Howard bulled his way against the Milwaukee Bucks interior defense Tuesday night at the Staples Center.
And it proved far too much for the Bucks as they dropped a 104-88 decision to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Howard finished with 31 points and 16 rebounds as the Lakers (17-21) won their second in a row after losing six straight. Kobe Bryant added 31 points and took the defensive assignment against Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings.
The Bucks (19-18) fell to 1-1 on their four-game trip.
Monta Ellis led the Bucks with 17 points, Beno Udrih had 14 and Jennings added 12.
Los Angeles went on a 21-7 run to open the fourth quarter to take control, extending its lead to 100-80.
Howard scored four baskets in the run and Bryant drilled a pair of three-pointers and added eight points.
"They came out and really pressured us," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "Kobe changed the complexion of the game with his pressure in the backcourt."
The Lakers had 21 assists on 23 made baskets in the first half en route to a 57-50 lead. Los Angeles led at the end of three quarters, 79-73.
"They were on their game tonight," Boylan said. "Any time a team can have that many assists in a half, you are playing really good basketball."
Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni won the 400th game in his NBA coaching career, becoming the 42nd coach in league history to hit that milestone. Of the coaches with 400 victories, seven have coached the Lakers.
Samuel Dalembert took a turn defending Howard as Boylan sought a more physical defender against the Lakers center.
But Howard hit 14 of 18 shots, getting two dunks in the first minute off Bryant assists.
"It was a rough game, very physical from the beginning, and the game wasn't going our way," Dalembert said. "We didn't make adjustments quick enough.
"When you have a guy like Steve Nash running the point, controlling the ball putting pressure on the defense and stretching the defense, it's tough. I think the second rotation wasn't there and the timing wasn't there defensively. For most of the game we weren't there to stop the ball."
Nash finished with eight points, 11 assists and two steals in 33 minutes. The Lakers starters combined to score 88 of the team's total of 104.
- Bucks, Plumlee agree to four-year, $50 million deal
- Maker named to Vegas summer league second team
- Dekker, Rockets knock off Bucks in Vegas finale
- Giannis, Thanasis get call to service in Greek military
- Bucks face Mavericks in tournament play Wednesday
- Kidd recalls nearly joining Spurs, salutes Duncan
- Maker impresses with his poise off court, play on it
- Bucks Podcast: Gardner & Velazquez discuss summer league and free agency
- Brogdon says NBA pace takes an adjustment
- Giannis' Olympic dream ends in Greece's 66-61 loss to Croatia


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For most Welsh rugby fans, Saturday's Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium is the biggest game since last year's Grand Slam finale against France.
But centre Jonathan Davies, who has started all of Wales' matches in this year's campaign, says Rob Howley's side will be treating it like any other game.
"Italy did us a favour - we didn't want a game where we had to beat England by 20 odd points," said the Scarlets man.
"It makes it interesting but it's just a normal week for us. We're going about our business, we've been in these big games before and we've got the experience of that. It's important for us to keep our heads down.
"This group of players are used to that big game environment. We know what to expect and everyone is looking forward to coming back to Cardiff for a very important game."
With Saturday's clash throwing up a number of intriguing direct match ups in terms of this summer's Lions tour, there is much more at stake than just the Six Nations Championship.
Davies though, continues to downplay the importance of a game where Wales need to win by eight points to retain their Six Nations title.
"At the end of the day it's just another rugby game and we need to make sure we get the result that's needed," added the 24-year-old.
"Eight points - we can build on that. We need to make sure our defence is on top and it's important we get momentum to start with, play in the right areas and not put pressure on ourselves."
One thing that may help the Welsh cause is their water-tight defence. Needing to keep England's points to a minimum, Davies knows his side's defence, led by centre partner Jamie Roberts, needs to carry on its fine recent form.
He added: "We need to make sure we trust our defensive patterns and keep doing what we do. It's been hugely effective - not to concede a try in the last three games is a huge plus for us and we want to keep that up.
"The players are concentrating on one thing and that's the result.
"Last year we were all excited and wanted the game to come. This time we can call on those experiences and know what's to be expected.
"These games are massive and you want to be a part of them. You just don't want to come out on the wrong side of the result."
You can follow every minute of the action between Wales and England at www.wru.co.uk/live just prior to kick-off.


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Air conditioning systems are a common home appliance for the majority of people anymore. Similar to a lot of objects in life, it is very easy to consider granted conveniences that we have as home owners. Likewise, because air conditioning systems hardly ever break down (though regular upkeep ought to be done to them) most house owners do not have an understanding of just how they work. This absence of understanding could produce misunderstandings then. It is 3 of these misconceptions regarding AC units we are going to review here.
Air conditioners make cool air
It is really a lot more similar to the opposite of this. It moves the warm air out of the residence. Likewise, unlike a heater, which does create warmer air and blows it throughout the residence. Electrical power is used to run components that remove heat from in the home, cooling down the air down, and after that the heat is exhausted outdoors. Heating systems add heat, but air conditioners do not add cold.
An air conditioner will certainly cool down much faster when set to a lower temperature level
Let us picture the thermostat of the house as a switch, and not like an accelerator pedal of a car. There is no quicker, like driving a vehicle quicker. The AC will continue to function till it reaches the temperature set on the thermostat. Really more harm than good may happen if the AC unit has a large temperature difference to make up and should operate for really a long period of time. Setting it at a truly low temperature level is not like putting the vehicle in a higher gear.
Ice will normally appear on an air conditioning at times
Once more, an air conditioner does not make cold air, so therefore if ice is forming on the air conditioner coil outdoors, it is not a great indicator. It is not an indicator that the system is truly working as it should. The opposite is true. It suggests a major malfunction, potentially a refrigerant leak. A frozen evaporator coil indicates that there is a problem with heat absorption. A professional AC repair will certainly be needed now, not at some point in the future.


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IMMEDIATE Kelly Hannon 540-374-3344 firstname.lastname@example.com LaTina W. Bundy 540-899-4560 firstname.lastname@example.com |
FRED-58247 June 11, 2012 |
Temporary signals will be activated on Wednesday, June 13 on Route 3 at Twigg Bridge
FREDERICKSBURG –Temporary traffic signals will be activated on Route 3 at the John Andrew Twigg Bridge between Mathews and Middlesex counties on Wednesday, June 13.
Weather permitting, the signals are scheduled to be activated at approximately 9 a.m.
A traffic signal will be activated on each side of the bridge over the Piankatank River to control traffic. The signals will be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, during a two-year bridge rehabilitation project.
One travel lane will be closed on the bridge throughout the project. Northbound and southbound traffic will alternate crossing the bridge in a single travel lane.
A concrete barrier will be installed to separate traffic from the work zone on the bridge.
VDOT has coordinated with emergency services providers to allow changes to the traffic signal timing for the passage of emergency vehicles.
Real-time listings of travel times, work zones, and traffic incidents in Virginia are available on VDOT's 24-hour traffic information website, www.511Virginia.org. Motorists can also access 511Virginia by calling 511 from any telephone in Virginia.
Information in VDOT news releases was accurate at the time the release was published. For the most current information about projects or programs, please visit the project or program Web pages. You may find those by searching by keyword in the search Virginia DOT box above.


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Cherokee Heritage Center / Museum, Village, Theater, and Legal Archive of Cherokee Nation
Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc.
Cherokee Family Research Center
Admission to the Cherokee Heritage Center includes access to the CFRC and genealogy library. The admission fee also gives the visitor access to the museum exhibits, the Trail of tears exhibit, a guided tour of the Ancient Cherokee Village and a self-guided tour of Adams Corner Rural Village and Nofire Farms. You are welcome to visit the Cherokee Family Research Center to utilize our library for your research. The library hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm.
Digital State Archives - Oklahoma
Oklahoma is indeed OK when it comes to online family history records. Their state archives, while not huge, have some intriguing online records of great use to genealogy research. These include Oklahoma Territory military records, Dawes Rolls of Indian census records, and marriage and obituary vital records.
Documenting the American South
Sponsored by the University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, this is a a digital publishing initiative that provides Internet access to texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture. Currently DocSouth includes sixteen thematic collections of books, diaries, posters, artifacts, letters, oral history interviews, and songs.
FamilySearch - Family History Center Locator: Oklahoma
From the FamilySearch web site. Includes address, telephone number and hours of operation.
From the FamilySearch web site, an online catalog to the holdings of Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Microfilm loans can be ordered and then sent to your local Family History Center.
LibDex - The Library Index - Oklahoma
A worldwide directory of links to library homepages and web-based OPACs (Online Public Access Catalogs).
National Archives at Fort Worth
Records for Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The Oklahoma Digital Prairie is a service of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and other Oklahoma state agencies with which it partners. Included in Digital Prairie services are repositories of state government information, research databases and special online topical exhibits. The Collections component of Oklahoma Digital Prairie consists of online exhibits and information repositories. Collections encompass an array of documents, publications, forms, photographs, newspapers, reports, pamphlets, posters, maps, and an Oklahoma author database.
Public Libraries in the United States - Oklahoma
A directory with detailed information for public libraries in each state.
Colcord, Oklahoma. Research library specializing in Northeast Oklahoma, Northwest Arkansas, and Cherokee Territory genealogy research & history.
United Methodist Church - Annual Conference Commissions on Archives and History
List of annual conference archive contacts for the state. For local Methodist church records, your best resource is the annual conference archives. The boundaries of the annual conference do not necessarily coincide with state boundaries, and some states may have several conferences within their borders.
The Department of Special Collections and University Archives at McFarlin Library host world-class collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, artwork and other objects, including one of the five largest collections in the world on the celebrated Irish writer James Joyce and the life archive of Nobel Laureate Sir V.S. Naipaul. Other significant collections include a wide variety of British, Irish and American modernist literature, a large and varied collection of materials on World War I, Native American history and culture and Tulsa Race Relations. The Department of Special Collections and University Archives also offer an important array of research materials for scholars worldwide as well as TU faculty and students.
WorldCat.org: The World's Largest Library Catalog
WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat.org lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world. You can search for books, music CDs, videos, and many new kinds of digital content such as downloadable audiobooks. You may also find article citations with links to their full text; authoritative research materials, such as documents and photos of local or historic significance; and digital versions of rare items that aren't available to the public. Special features include the ability for you to create lists of library items and build biblilographies.
United States » Oklahoma » Libraries, Archives & Museums
35 Links


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I was thinking about another vampire (not from the twilight series).
A chimera...
I want a minotaur!!!!!!!
I think a play off of Freddy Kruger (the killer of Nightmare on Elm Street) would be interesting, cause it would go real well with the name of clan. Perhapes a Polterghiest, or a goblin would work really well, maybe the Grim Reaper or just like a Skeleton would be interesting
Dracula dont see why hes not in there yet think he be the first one lol.
thos old fashion undead guys
Unicorns or Mudkipz.
Either of those and I'll buy over 9000 of them.
I think giant spiders there so fury
Justin Bieber
Just Bieber lmao uhh Gargoyle would be nice and a Orc would be cool


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Tutorial: How to make children's clothes out of take-out bags
63 Comments
Brian G.
June 30, 2011 at 5:03 pmGood thinking, Dad. I recently fashioned a "dress" out of a garbage bag when our 3 year old threw up all over herself on the airplane. Desperate times call for creative solutions. 🙂
June 30, 2011 at 5:10 pmHey, desperate times call for desperate measures! My nephew once had to pee in a Mountain Dew can and my sister's words were, "Jake, just stick it in there." Yes, I am totally serious.

www.skippitydodahquilts.blogspot.com
Merry Made Quilts
June 30, 2011 at 5:38 pmThis is sooo going to be my go-to tutorial for the next accident!! I've got to add that it's extra fabulous that you didn't sneak out in shame but finished up at the restaurant first!
June 30, 2011 at 5:40 pmPersonally, I like the kid's suggestion to use the black tape. Creativity abounds in your family!
–Becky C.
Denise :)
June 30, 2011 at 5:49 pmBaahahaha!!! That was GREAT! I'm forwarding a link to my daughter-in-law and my son. Just in case he's presented with a similar challenge some day soon. 🙂
The Cottage Mama
June 30, 2011 at 6:02 pmHahaha!! Oh my gosh, I had to click over on this because I thought – "wow, Amy's doing kiddo clothes, how awesome!!" This seriously made me laugh – too funny!!

Lindsay
June 30, 2011 at 6:23 pmhaha,, maybe Dad could start a weekly guest spot.ya have to do what ya have to do:)
June 30, 2011 at 6:30 pmha! i love it. am forwarding this to burke so we can laugh together. he'll be glad to know he's not the only one still watching america's funniest home videos.
Esther L.
June 30, 2011 at 7:32 pmI haven't laughed that hard in a while! Also, I'm sharing this with my hubby since we have a little boy we're currently potty training.
June 30, 2011 at 7:55 pmThis made my day. I never laughed so hard and your hubby is not only creative in clothing design, but gifted in his writing. Such a good read. I plan on sharing this with my son who has four boys. Clever.
Sandy
June 30, 2011 at 7:59 pmHehe 🙂 Scott enjoyed this as much as I did! Lovin' the black tape request.
June 30, 2011 at 9:50 pmOh goodness, note to self, don't drink a beer & blog surf. Hilarious, thank you!
Laurie, the girls and Scott
June 30, 2011 at 10:24 pmThis this be the first of many more Michael columns? Por favor?
July 1, 2011 at 1:29 amThis was HILARIOUS!!! What a great read. Well written. I could totally picture this whole scenario.
Quilter in the Gap
July 1, 2011 at 6:04 amI so needed a good belly laugh this morning…thanks for sharing!
July 1, 2011 at 6:30 amHysterical! An absolute classic! I had to share this link on FB — a tutorial every parent should read. LOL!
July 1, 2011 at 7:52 amI am crying I am laughing so hard (and getting funny looks too!)Have a great weekend.
July 1, 2011 at 8:00 amAbsoluetly fabulous! I haven't laughed out loud at a post in a while. Thanks for the fun. Dad-parenting is the best, great job!
July 1, 2011 at 8:04 amOh my gosh this was so funny! And this something I could picture my husband doing exactly. Thank you for sharing for hubs point of view!
July 1, 2011 at 8:30 amOkay, I love this.
You guys are hysterical.
And we need to finish up some things, lady. When do you have time?
Live a Colorful Life
July 1, 2011 at 9:06 amThanks for the good laugh. and awesome tutorial. I have a 3-year-old grandson. This could come in handy at some point…
July 1, 2011 at 12:35 pmThis is HILARIOUS!! I cannot wait to show my Dad and my brother-in-law!
July 1, 2011 at 1:54 pmSo funny! Thank you for the laughs. I immediately sent the link on to my daughter who is the proud mom of 3 preschoolers.
July 1, 2011 at 3:07 pmI have tears I am laughing so hard! I think steps 8 and 11 are my favorite. This is by far the most helpful post I've ever read. Nice work.
Brooke @ My Beautiful Brooke
July 1, 2011 at 4:41 pmBEST thing today!!! I love this!! I am laughing so hard!! You should definitely have your husband do more guest spots on your blog. Way too funny!!
Layne Bushell
July 1, 2011 at 5:13 pmI've read through all the comments so far and I'm still laughing and I still have tears in my eyes. That was so funny hearing it from him. I can see the chain of events. Thanks for sharing him with us Amy!
July 1, 2011 at 5:44 pmCan picture it all — so funny — they are right when they say kids change your life.
July 1, 2011 at 6:52 pmOh, I will have to keep this in mind!!! ;0)
Thanks so much for the laugh.
Everyday Quilter
July 1, 2011 at 10:54 pmBest guest blogger ever! you better keep that creative man!
July 3, 2011 at 9:42 amMy husband was two thumbs up for the creative and gumption for the DAD, and loved the humor. Gave us a morning laugh. He doesn't usually so any interest in my blog reading :>)
April 23, 2012 at 7:49 amHaha, this is HILARIOUS!!! :D

But you forgot point 13: Never show picture of former 3-yr-old wearing a plastic bag "overall" on his 21st birthday party.

;)
June 22, 2012 at 10:01 pmOMG! I've read this several times and each time it makes me laugh out loud and share with others! Kudos to ur husband! What a creative family. Hilarious!
Jamie Gupton
July 27, 2012 at 11:37 pmThis had me in stitches! Thank you for the "guest" post. 🙂 I think your husband is also very creative.
Sarah Elliott
June 16, 2013 at 8:40 amThere are no words…except for HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to a very quick thinking cool Dad!
david zeck
March 13, 2015 at 5:50 amI've learnt much outstanding stuff here. It is definitely should be bookmarked to revisit. I am surprised that how much effort you have done to make this amazing informative site. when to pay car deductible


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It is said that costs are skyrocketing for a number of Norwegian field development projects, as the tight supply market ravages budgets. Talisman Energy's (NYSE:TLM) stalled Yme project faces a cost overrun of 188 percent, while BP (NYSE:BP) deals with major cost challenges to its Skarv and Greater Valhall projects. Meanwhile, Eni's (NYSE:E) Goliat field shows a 20 percent cost rise.
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Dahlman Rose points to Exxon Mobil Corporation's (NYSE:XOM) disciplined investment strategy during up and down cycles, superior track record among majors, its balanced world portfolio, along with its consistent distribution of cash to shareholders, as earning it a Buy and a target price of $100. At the same time, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) only deserves a Hold, says the analyst, which cited two major LNG projects as crucial areas of near-term risk.
Don't Miss: Chevron Loses Massive Appeal.


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With "American Idol" now 10 years old, it was apparent in the show's heavily hyped premiere episode that there's a whole generation who've grown up idolizing "Idol," so much so that the opening rituals took on the timeless quality of baseball, with its own version of spring training or out-of-town previews prior to a Broadway premiere. In case you're pressed for time, here's what you need to know: Simon Cowell was missed, but they didn't mess with what's proven a winning formula. The judges were OK, but Jennifer Lopez is not as unintentionally funny as Paula Abdul, and they could use an agitator. Maybe it will be Steven Tyler, but I don't know quite yet.
In an attempt to spruce up the formula, as well as counteract the potentially devastating loss of Cowell, the producers have turned to rock star Tyler and pop diva Lopez, who join the Dawg Randy Jackson as judges, along with in-house mentor, record executive Jimmy Iovine. I've already expressed my opinions on the judges' opening. Still, suffice to say, while the individual parts in "AI" may change, the Fox cash cow is still a well-oiled machine. Hey, 24 million people watched last year, and even if it is down from previous peaks of more than 30 million, that ain't no chump change, especially considering the show costs far less to put on than a weekly 60-minute dramatic series. And I bet this premiere episode does well in the ratings.
Are Randy and J.Lo Already Feuding?
Of course, the first audition shows are about looking for the trainwrecks, and finding jewels in the rough, and this opening installment from New Jersey's Meadowlands was no different. It took but a single contestant, New Yorker Rachel Zevi, a rejected Season Six hopeful when she was 16 (J.Lo insisted she remembered her and even mentioned how good she was to husband Marc) to hear our first version of "Hallelujah," which was good enough for a Gold Ticket. Manly hirsute blues singer Caleb Hawley was next, singing a version of another "Hallelujah," this one Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love Her So," which got Tyler jumping in and singing along, and how irritating will that get by April? Still, it was enough to earn him a Gold Ticket, too. With the age limit down to 15, we got our first entry that young in Kenzi Palmer, who sounded just like what she said she was…a performing arts school student, all vocal trills, leaps and bounds, and predictably little heart. But she got to go to Hollywood, too.
And then there were the misguided, the deluded… OK, the freaks. Ivory Coast-born Achille Lovlee has the name of a star, but her African patois and wavering beat turned out to be her Achilles' heal, turning Madonna's "Dress You Up" into an indistinguishable jumble. Snooki doppelganger Tiffany Rios wore her heart on her sleeve and stars on her breasts, which appealed to Jennifer Lopez' Puerto Rican heritage as did the fact she was inspired to sing by seeing "Selena" at a young age. That was enough to earn her a ticket to Hollywood after a "Jersey Shore"-like profile. She sang an original song that ended, "'American Idol' needs me…for higher ratings." "You can sing your tushele off," marveled Tyler.
And then there were the tear-jerkers: Nice, 16-year-old Lawn Guyland Jewish boy Robbie Rosen, confined to a wheelchair as a kid, sings "Yesterday" like he's the second coming of Josh Groban. Ashley Sullivan, a near-psychotic bundle of tearful nerves who wants "pop to meet Liza Minnelli," is told she's more suited for Broadway than Hollywood, before her tears sway the judges to let her move on. Another 16-year-old, bubbly North Carolina native Victoria Huggins wins over the judges with her treacly sweet personality and a soulful take on "Midnight Train to Georgia." Melinda Ademi, whose parents won a green card lottery to become U.S. citizens, emigrating from war-torn Kosovo, toys with our emotions as Tyler adds, "You won two lotteries." Devyn Rush is an unassuming, thin, jeans-clad singing waitress in Times Square with frizzy hair and a big nose who gets image tips from Lopez, while Tyler cracks: "Someone's gotta take her clothes shopping," but they give her a Gold Ticket anyway. Staten Island native Brielle Von Hugel has the most uplifting tale of a doo-wop singing father, her own artistic inspiration, conquering throat cancer, though the relationship gets a little creepy when they walk off hand-in-hand after hearing she's passed the audition she just dedicated to dear old dad. Then there's 16-year-old Travis Orlando, one-half of twin brothers from a recession-plagued Bronx family forced to live in a shelter, wearing a T-shirt that reads, "It's Gonna Be Fantastic." His versions of "Eleanor Rigby" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" brought to mind a young John Legend, as his relatives rejoice in his selection.
The tradition of so-bad-they're-good acts at "Idol" encompass the likes of the butt of all jokes William Hung to shaggy puppy-dog Sanjaya Malakar, and the audition shows have become infamous for exposing them on an "America's Favorite Home Video" or blooper level. This year's batch included Chris Cordeiro, a straight-laced Boy Scout who decimates Frank Sinatra's "My Way" so completely he deserves his own demerit badge. Burping, plaid-covered Michael Perotto seems dumbfounded when his completely soulless version of "Ike and Tina Turner's 'Proud Mary,'" leaves the judges nonplussed. "Did you eat a lot of paint chips as a child?" asks Tyler, one of his best lines of the night. Then there's Rob Palmay in Bermuda shorts singing, very badly, "Ramblin' Man" and the Japanese kid from Brooklyn, Yoji "Pop" Agano, who claims he's been impersonating Michael Jackson "since I was in the womb," then proceeds to moonwalk his way through a phonetic reading of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA," leading into one of those patented AI montages of contestants all singing the same song.
The Jersey auditions resulted in a total of 51 people moving on to Hollywood, and now tomorrow night, the show lands in New Orleans for the next installment. For the first episode of the season, all the usual tropes were in place. We'll have to give the judges a little time to develop some kind of rapport.
What did everybody else think? Anyone stand out as a possible finalist, or even in the mix? I didn't really see any "oh wow" talents, but it's still early. Any early favorites? Anybody's story hit home? Were the judges too easy? Let us know, and we'll continue the "American Idol" dialogue as the season progresses inevitably to its conclusion.