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Tigers pounce on White Sox early with big sticks
CHICAGO -- If you'd only look at the results, you'd hardly be able to tell the Tigers have played the last two nights without what their manager calls the best hitter on the planet.
Indeed, Detroit has been without Miguel Cabrera since he aggravated a nagging left hip flexor midway through Monday night's game against the White Sox.View Full Game Coverage
CHICAGO -- If you'd only look at the results, you'd hardly be able to tell the Tigers have played the last two nights without what their manager calls the best hitter on the planet.
Indeed, Detroit has been without Miguel Cabrera since he aggravated a nagging left hip flexor midway through Monday night's game against the White Sox.View Full Game Coverage
No offense to the reigning Triple Crown winner and American League MVP, but the club hasn't missed him much.
For the third night in a row, the Tigers hammered the lowly White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field, this time by a comfortable 6-2 margin. Prince Fielder, Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter each homered off Chicago's John Danks to provide Anibal Sanchez all the run support he needed.
"We have to give it all," Sanchez said. "With Miggy out, I know the situation that he's got and we need to play. We need him in the end, and he's a big piece of the lineup, but we need to play hard without him."
Detroit has had no trouble this week against its division rival, which has committed eight errors in three Tigers wins. The Tigers have won 13 of their last 19, and 10 of their last 13 on the road. Against the White Sox, they've won 13 of 17.
"All the guys are chipping in a little bit," manager Jim Leyland said. "We had a pretty good game."
Chicago's best chance against Sanchez came in the fifth, when catcher Josh Phegley singled with one out and Alejandro De Aza followed with a double to the right-field corner. But Alexei Ramirez grounded out to second and Alex Rios flied out to center to end the threat.
Sanchez otherwise had very little trouble, striking out five and walking just one. In his first career start at U.S. Cellular Field, he lowered his career ERA against the AL Central (16 starts) to 2.08 and his ERA this year to 2.68.
As a group, the Tigers' three starters this series (Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Sanchez) have surrendered two earned runs in 21 innings, good for a 0.86 ERA. Former MVP Justin Verlander will start Thursday's finale.
"We've got a pretty good rotation," Sanchez said. "Tomorrow, we've got the ace on the mound, we've got Verlander. All we want is to do the best job we can every day."
Danks, meanwhile, was in trouble from the get-go. In the first inning, he gave up a leadoff single to Jackson before Hunter reached on a fielder's choice and Matt Tuiasosopo -- batting in the third spot, normally reserved for Cabrera -- walked. Fielder drove the second pitch he saw from Danks 409 feet into the right-field seats for a 3-0 lead.
"The way they score without him in there, you don't like to think you'd like to have him back in there, but they'd obviously be more potent with him in there," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.
Jackson -- now 12-for-29 with three homers in his career against Danks -- hit a solo shot in the second before Hunter hit a solo homer in the fifth. Alex Avila made it 6-0 with an RBI single in the sixth. It was just Avila's second hit in 40 at-bats against lefties this year.
Bruce Rondon allowed his second run in three games when he surrendered two singles and a walk in the seventh. Drew Smyly pitched a scoreless eighth, his first appearance of the series. Luke Putkonen gave up a homer to Dayan Viciedo in the ninth, before Joaquin Benoit recorded the final two outs.
"We've got to start getting through that inning without having to use [Benoit] all the time," Leyland said. "We just have to do that. Because if we don't, we're not going to have a closer before it's over with. We've got to get some more guys to get some outs. With five-, six-run leads in the ninth, we've got to have guys get some outs without using Benoit. That's just as simple as it is."
Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak.


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XFiles Friday: Time for the Cosmological Argument?December 21, 2007 — Deacon Duncan
(Book: I Don't Have Enough FAITH to Be an ATHEIST, by Geisler and Turek, chapter 3)
We've made it to Chapter 3, and it only took 19 weeks. My, how time flies! Having addressed the philosophical question of whether truth exists and is knowable (it does and it is), Geisler and Turek are ready to dig into some serious apologetics. They start off with the Cosmological Argument.
…[T]he Cosmological Argument is the argument from the beginning of the universe. If the universe had a beginning, then the universe had a cause. In logical form, the argument goes like this:
1. Everything that had a beginning had a cause.
2. The universe had a beginning.
3. Therefore the universe had a cause.
The remainder of the chapter consists of citing the evidence that suggests the universe had a beginning, and using that as a basis from which to argue that the cause of the universe must be something very much like God. Along the way, we're treated to a series of quotes-out-of-context that make it sound like atheists are running around wringing their hands because they know the evidence "contradicts" their beliefs, plus a few anecdotes about theists feeling like they got the best of the exchange in their debates with atheists. But they overlook a very fundamental and important flaw in their reasoning.
Geisler and Turek cite five lines of evidence that support the idea that the universe had a beginning. They even have a handy acronym to make it easier to remember what those lines of evidence are: SURGE.
- S — Second Law of Thermodynamics (if the universe existed forever, it would have run down by now)
- U — Universe is expanding (i.e. it's not steady-state, but is changing in ways that require a definite starting point)
- R — Radiation from the Big Bang (Big Bang asserts that the universe had a beginning)
- G — Great Galaxy Seeds (another consequence of the Big Bang, aka Beginning of the Universe)
- E — Einstein's Theory of General Relativity (shows that time, space, matter, and energy are all "co-relative")
Most of the chapter elaborates on these five ideas, interspersed with comments about how the Big Bang poses serious problems for atheists. What Geisler and Turek fail to do, however, is make any distinction between a "problem," in the sense of a scientific problem (i.e. "Wow, there's still a lot we don't yet know about the universe") and a problem in the sense of something that's undeniably true even though it's a contradiction of one's beliefs. They also fail to think through what they themselves are saying. For example:
Why couldn't natural forces have produced the universe? Because these scientists know as well as anyone that natural forces–indeed all of nature–were created at the Big Bang. In other words, the Big Bang was the beginning point for the entire physical universe. Time, space and matter came into existence at that point. There was no natural world or natural law prior to the Big Bang. Since a cause cannot come after its effect, natural forces cannot account for the Big Bang.
Geisler and Turek think this is proof of the supernatural, but what they don't realize is that this completely demolishes the Cosmological Argument. To see how, let's look at how they address the question of God's existence.
As we have seen, the Law of Causality is the very foundation of science. Science is a search for causes, and that search is based on our consistent observation that everything that has a beginning has a cause. In fact, the question, "Who made God?" points out how seriously we take the Law of Causality. It's taken for granted that virtually everything needs a cause.
So why then doesn't God need a cause? Because the atheist's contention misunderstands the Law of Causality. The Law of Causality does not say that everything needs a cause. It says that everything that comes to be needs a cause. God did not come to be. No one made God. He is unmade. As an eternal being, God did not have a beginning, so he didn't need a cause.
Ironclad, right? Nope. What Geisler and Turek manage to overlook–even though it's right there in their own words–is the fact that the Law of Causality is one of those natural laws that proceeds as a consequence of the Big Bang. Causality is a time-based process, a law that is only meaningful under conditions where time already exists. As Geisler and Turek themselves point out, "a cause cannot come after its effect," because there is a temporal relationship between the cause (which must occur earlier in time) and the effect (which must come later in time).
It's easy to see why Geisler and Turek fall into this trap, and even some scientists do as well. Time is such an all-pervasive and fundamental part of our experience that we can't really conceive of its absence. Naively, we speak of "before time," even though the word "before" expresses a chronological relationship that requires time to already exist. That is, time has to exist first, and then we can speak in meaningful terms about one thing being before another. Thus, there's no such thing as "before the Big Bang."
What this means is that "eternity"–a word describing a certain quantity of time–does not refer to an infinite past, because time itself does not stretch infinitely far back. At most, "eternal" can only refer to something which has existed ever since the Big Bang, because there's no such thing as "before the Big Bang." The physical universe, therefore, is indeed eternal. It's counter-intuitive. We can't help thinking of eternity as being an expanse of time stretching back to before the Big Bang. But our naive perceptions are like arguing that the world must be flat because if it were round people would fall off the sides and bottom.
Because of the temporal nature of causality, the universe not only does not need a cause, it cannot have one. Because it is meaningless to speak of any time before the Big Bang, there was no time in which any event could have happened which would have caused the universe to come into existence as a consequence. (Even the word "consequence" is based on an implicit assumption that time exists–the "sequence" is a chronological sequence, cause first, followed chronologically by consequence.)
Consider Intelligent Design: before you can create a design, you need a design goal. Having a goal means that you're thinking of how you want things to be different at some point in the future compared to what they are at the current point in time. Chronology again. At some point in time after you've decided on your goal, you must then decide how you're going to achieve that goal. Thus, the creation of your design is going to require that some amount of time pass after you've chosen your goal. And then you need to implement your design, which requires still more time. Even if you're a magical superbeing and can do all of the above instantaneously, that instant is still a point in time. Time must first exist, in order for some pre-existing cause to produce the effect of the creation of time. But the term "pre-existing" requires that time already exist. Nothing can pre-exist the beginning of time, by definition.
The cause cannot occur after the effect. Time must exist before God can create time. And even if God somehow, miraculously, could create time before time existed, His own chronological existence would coincide with that of the universe. God would indeed have a beginning, in exactly the same sense as the universe did, because that's when time itself started. The earliest moment at which God could have existed is the earliest moment the universe could have existed, which is the earliest moment–period. If the universe had a beginning (i.e. an earliest point in time where its existence was true), then God did too; if God did not have a beginning, then neither did the universe.
There has never been a time when the physical universe did not exist. In that sense, the universe indeed does not have a beginning and cannot have been caused. Time has a finite minimum value, and does not extend infinitely into the past, which seems to contradict our naive perception of time as being limitless, but that's our own perceptual frailty at work. It does not change the fact that the physical universe has existed for all of time and is, in the only meaningful sense of the word, eternal. There has never been any time for any deity to create the world–the time literally did not exist. The cosmological argument, therefore, is worthless.

subset: commoncrawl


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We found 1 results for Roche Microarray
For more results try searching for Roche Microarray across all experimental services.
Science Exchange is the fastest and safest way to order scientific services. All providers have passed a qualification process and agreed to pre-negotiated legal terms that protect your confidentiality and IP.


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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — NHL All-Star weekend is coming to Columbus, two years later than planned.
Commissioner Gary Bettman made it official on Saturday when he and Blue Jackets director of hockey operations John Davidson announced that the festivities will take place at Nationwide Arena on Jan. 24-25, 2015.
Columbus was originally awarded the 2013 All-Star weekend but that event was canceled due to the lockout.
"The Commissioner made a promise, and that promise has been kept," Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said. "As a politician, that's always something good to hear."
Bettman said there was never any serious consideration of taking the next available All-Star game anywhere but Ohio's capital city.
"The only issues we had to deal with were logistical," Bettman said. "We had to make sure that the convention center and hotel space were available. We wanted to come back as quickly as possible, but we had to make sure we were able to do it."
The announcement was met with a loud ovation from a capacity crowd when it made midway through the first period of Columbus' game against Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
There won't be an All-Star game this season because of the Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Columbus will become the third straight first-time host of the NHL's big weekend, following Raleigh, N.C., in 2011, and Ottawa in 2012.
Davidson said he was particularly pleased for the McConnell family, which brought the NHL to Columbus and still own the Blue Jackets.
"This is going to be a fun time," Davidson said.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The page with my likely ancestors entries is a puzzle. It does look like Andrew Forgey's birth info was added after his death info? So everything in that column was more than likely added after the death date of 3 Aug 1809. We can probably surmise this because someone accidentally wrote his death info on the birth side then crossed it out and recopied it in the correct column.
How, when and by whom all of this was written is a mystery. Was Nancy and Sally's info added before Andrew's? Or were all three added the same day? It is possible that Andrew's death was recorded around 1809. Margaret's death entry is phrased differently and the handwriting is different. The other death entries have the latin phrase anidomini and "departed this life". The 1828 death entry is more straight forward and says died. The 1833 entry for her grand daughter appears to have been added later. It would appear that the last two entries on the page were entered around their times of death. So the impression is that the entries on this page were made between 1809 or a few years before, for Nancy and Sally, and the last entry was recorded in 1833.
The 1833 entry marked the end of the page and the death entries were continued on another page. The second page of deaths appear to be recorded in chronological order as they happened. Entries were recorded in several hand writings, apparently by several people. The phrasings for death ranged from died, departed this life, and deceased.
Apparently someone wanted to clarify the jumbled and partially illegible info from the page with Andrew & Margaret and son James info and recorded this:
Could be the same person who recorded the previous entry? They seem to phrase the entries the same. Also they both misspelled February as Fabruary.
More thoughts on the bible. It appears that the style of writing most often used in the bible is called copperplate mixed with round hand style.. It was very popular in the 18th century. I was also thinking that maybe a minister recorded the marriage entry for Margaret Forgey in the bible? I don't know whether this may have been customary?
Also noted an entry for Margaret Forgey mother of James included the abbreviation for senior? Not often used for women.
There is a lot of handwriting to compare in this bible, and a lot to think about as far as word usage and phrasing. Maybe someone with more experience analyzing this sort of thing would be able to nail down the entry dates better.


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Niku Drill's [Jingai Shunman Ko no Sho]Posted in beast, breasts, cunnilingus, domination, fellatio, group sex, happy sex, hentai, incest, pregnant, scanlation on February 11th, 2012 by bawdy_bunny
"So from their base when vying chariots pour,
Each driver presses on the car before,
Wastes not a thought on rivals overpast,
But leaves them to lag on among the last.
Hence comes it that the man is rarely seen
Who owns that his a happy life has been,
And, thankful for past blessings, with good will
Retires, like one who has enjoyed his fill.
Enough: you'll think I've rifled the scrutore
Of blind Crispinus, if I prose on more."


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Abstract: This article examines how the legacy of early modern French cultural mores, colonialism, and Orientalism have shaped and reshaped popular culture like comic books and film and thus impacted public perceptions of Islamic populations, particularly those in France in the early years of the twenty first century. Using the example of Batman, Inc.'s "Nightrunner," this article traces how Orientalist tropes and traditions continue to pervade our discussion of Middle Eastern and Islamic peoples and the discussion of knowledge and knowledge production. What is more, the article examines how anti-hijab and anti-burkha legislation is rooted in charivari traditions and is an interesting addition to the mask : superhero :: veil : Other mentality.
Keywords: French veil controversy, Islam, Batman, Nightrunner, Orientalism, immigration, American conservatism, 2005 riots, burkha, hijab, migration, charivari
Short Title: Mask or Veil
The Mask or the Veil: Unraveling the Cultural Discourse in France and Popular Culture
In dealing with the legacy of colonialism and Orientalism, Western countries find their increasingly cosmopolitan populations in conflict with ethnic prejudices and xenophobia. The disconnect created by assumptions about peoples and cultures and the realities of an increasingly globalized society have created tensions on the streets of major cities, on the silver screen, and throughout the pages of academic and non-academic literature. The global nature of this conflict situates specific examples, like those of modern France, throughout the fluid levels of historical discussion. This article examines how popular culture, like comic books and film, struggles with the complicated nature of twentieth and twenty-first century cultural discord, as situated squarely in the aftermath of colonial and Orientalist heritage and alongside cultural mores older still.
Edited by Dhara Anjaria
(c) 2013 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 7, Fall, 2013. See Submission Guidelines page for the journal's not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Published by the Midwest World History Association (MWWHA), housed at The College of St. Scholastica. See also, The Middle Ground's curated Facebook Page.


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Beneath its seemingly placid small-town facade, the fictional town of Llanview, Pa., frequently simmers with tension, usually caused by the town's three main families: the upper-crust Lord family, the powerful Buchanan clan and the feisty Cramer family. While the long-running television serial was canceled by ABC in 2011, production company Prospect Park picked up the Agnes Nixon drama and turned it into an online program in the United States. Many fan favorites have returned to the show in its online incarnation, and their characters continue to keep the streets, boardrooms and bedrooms of Llanview hopping.
Starring :
Genre : Soaps


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Smith Earns Academic Honor
June 27, 2002
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The University of Arizona placed five student-athletes on Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic Teams for men's and women's golf and tennis.
Golfers Cathy Williamson and Brandon Smith, and tennis player Carl Hagman earned first-team honors, while golfer Cristina Baena and tennis player Debby Larocque were named to the league's second-team scholastic squad.
Student-athletes must be in the second year at their institution, carry a minimum overall grade-point average of 3.0 and be a front-line player or significant contributor.
Williamson is a junior with a 3.56 GPA in chemistry, Smith is a senior with a 3.83 GPA in finance and Hagman is a sophomore carrying a 3.72 average in journalism. Baena is a senior with a 3.26 in marketing and Larocque finished her sophomore year with a 3.37 grade average in chemistry.
Sophomore tennis player Perrine Pernin earned honorable mention honors with a 3.074 in chemistry.
Five University of Arizona student-athletes were named today to the Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic Teams in golf and tennis. A sixth student earned honorable mention honors for the distinction, which requires a minimum overall grade-point average of 3.0
TODAY | 7:00pm PTLive
Airing on:
- Pac-12 Network
- Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 PlaylistTODAY | 10:00pm PTLive
TOMORROW | 4:00pm PTLive
Airing on:
- Pac-12 Network
- Pac-12 Bay Area
- Pac-12 Los Angeles


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NEW YORK — Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced improvements to their Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program Friday, including an increase in the number of games violators will be suspended.
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced improvements to their Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program Friday, including an increase in the number of games violators will be suspended.
A first-time performance-enhancing substance violation will now result in an unpaid 80-game suspension, increased from 50 games, while a second violation will carry an unpaid 162-game suspension, increased from 100 games. A third violation will still result in a permanent ban from MLB.
Players who are suspended for PEDs will also be barred from participating in the postseason, regardless of when the player's suspension ends, and will not be eligible for an automatic share of the player's pool provided to players on clubs who make the playoffs.
"Major League Baseball is proud to announce some of the most significant improvements that we have made to our Program in recent years," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Although we had the strongest Program in professional sports before these changes, I am committed to constantly finding ways to improve the Program in order to eradicate performance-enhancing drugs from the game and for MLB to serve as a model for other drug programs."
The improvements also included the advent of further testing for players suspended for PEDs, who will now be subject to six additional urine tests and three additional blood tests, all unannounced, during every subsequent year of their entire careers.
The number of in-season random urine collections for all players will more than double from 1,400 to 3,200 beginning in the 2014 season, while blood collections for human growth hormone detection — which remains the most significant HGH blood testing program of its kind in American professional sports — will increase to 400 random collections per year.
"Experience proves that increased penalties alone are not sufficient; that's why the Players pushed for a dramatic increase in the frequency and sophistication of our tests, as well as comprehensive changes in a number of other areas of the program that will serve as a deterrent," MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. "Make no mistake, this agreement underscores the undisputed reality that the Players put forward many of the most significant changes reached in these negotiations because they want a fair and clean game."
Other significant elements of the revisions included:
- Carbon Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) will be randomly performed on at least one specimen from every player in addition to any IRMS test that the laboratory conducts as a result of the parties' longitudinal profiling program (which was implemented prior to the 2013 season) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) guidelines for conducting IRMS.
- The parties provided the Arbitration Panel with the ability to reduce a player's discipline (subject to certain limitations) for the use of certain types of performance-enhancing substances if the player proves at a hearing that the use was not intended to enhance performance.
- The parties added DHEA to the list of banned substances and enhanced the confidentiality provisions of the Program.
The modifications announced Friday by the MLB and MLBPA to the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program were the most extensive since 2006.


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PS3 - Modding & Hacking
This forum is meant for Playstation 3 -related modding / hacking discussion only.
If your question doesn't relate to modding or hacking, but to some other PS3 related area, like the console itself, its games, PSN, etc please post your questions to our PS3 - Everything else forum instead.
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Finance & Compliance
Great Hearts Academies does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Here is a link to Great Hearts Arizona's Section 504/Title II Handbook. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:
504 Coordinator:
Thomas Doebler, Exceptional Student Service Director
Great Hearts
4801 E. Washington St., Suite 250
Phoenix, AZ 85034
602.438.7045 ext. 345
Title II/ Title IX Coordinator:
Great Hearts, HR Director
4801 E. Washington St., Suite 250
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Phone: 602.438.7045 ext.7
Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, all notices of the governing board meetings will be posted at the school site and are available here.
- August 22, 2019 Board Minutes
- August 22, 2019 Notice of Meeting of Board of Directors
- July 30, 2019 Meeting Minutes
- Notice and agenda for July 30, 2019 Board Meeting
- July 9, 2019 Board Minutes
- Notice of Board Meeting – For review, proposed FY 20 budget, and June 25, 2019 Board Meeting Minutes
- Notice of Board Meeting, June 25, 2019
- December Board Minutes
- Notice of Board Meeting, December 4, 2018.
- Budget 2019 – Worksheet 2019
- Budget Adoption Hearing Notification 2019
- June 19, 2018 Board Meeting Notice & Agenda
- July 10, 2018 Board Meeting Notice & Agenda
- July 10, 2018 Board Minutes
- February 2018 Board Minutes
- November 2017 Board Meeting Notice
Archway Arete form 990 – 2017-2018
Contact the School Board President for Archway Arete.
Resource: Arizona Department of Education – Annual Financial Reports
***PDF files can be read with a pdf reader, such as from Adobe Acrobat Reader
***Word, Excel, and other Microsoft Office type documents can be read with an Office file reader, such as with Microsoft Office Suites, or the free and open source Open Office


text:
Slow but Sure
Fund: G51 Capital
Posted by dhgoodman on 2008-07-04
We've met Rudy and Lauranne several times, both pitching and in the context of entrepreneurship meetings in Austin. We've made incremental progress, and they have been instrumental bringing other VCs to talk. They are small but well connected. Syndication is not a dirty word in larger financial circles. Syndication is what G51 is about. It takes longer but I think they are going to get there with us.PRIVATE: Members Only (280 Characters)


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Skip Hire Radlett from YourLocalSkipHire.co.uk
When you need to hire a skip in Radlett, YourLocalSkipHire.co.uk is here to help. As one of the UK's leading skip hire companies, we've provided a professional, reliable skip hire service throughout the country.
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Opinion: Hagel Meets World
Editorial page editor Paul Gigot on Chuck Hagel's Afghan welcome. Photo: Getty Images
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... a Defense Secretary Chuck cable guy to roughly auction so that country over the weekend suicide bombings and accusations from President Karzai ... that the US is cooperating with the Taliban ... I can editorial page editor Paul GBO is going to stay with this call ... I've seen her hit all I'm sorry secretary able sector he really looked like a deer in headlights his first press conference and did he bring any of the new approach to come ... no I don't think you brought a new approach of the key was in a listening mode principally he uses first foreign trip ... first trip to Afghanistan ... I as we know Crimmins hearings he doesn't know a lot about defects ... so he is and he really is on a very very steep learning curve and he's so I gotta get a deal quickly for ... the politics of this inside Afghanistan inside the US because he's needs to negotiate the status of forces agreement ... between United States and Afghan governments for how many troops are going to stay ... in and what role after twenty fourteen when the current Coalition's mandate expires so what did you learn from President Karzai's comments and tell ... Karzai treated ... Karzai is ... is ... is playing the nationalist card ... a handy it is ... really looking beyond the American ball ... to his survival past twenty fourteen ... a nice trying to suggest I think that he is a nationalist ... no Lackey of the Americans ... he's going to try to draw a very rough time trying to drive very hard bargain with the status of forces agreement one that he can claim is a victory for ... Afghan nationalism even as ... he's running the risk I think he knows ... that he could end up ... playing into President Obama some of the doves and his administration who want us out altogether is Karzai is just shocking that his political survival he's working is to ensure his ... mystical survival ... Americans Lee shore and it was of very destructive commenting in demand but that what you seen largely I thought we're in a larger ... sense here Mary is how difficult it's gonna be negotiating in retreat that's what we're talking about here ... the president put on a premature withdrawal ... timetable ... that the military didn't want ... precisely because it knew that the ... the faster we withdrew the political risks in the military risk when now ... so I think that's one of the problems at the Paykel's gonna have negotiating back to rain ... because so we're doing a lot fewer military operations now in Afghanistan even though we still have sixty thousand or so troops there ... we have a much smaller pace of us much slower pace of ... of economic activity ... opportunities for countries like say Iran or Pakistan to take a bigger role in Afghanistan is not something that ... we need to worry about ... are often you ... know I think you're seeing them assert themselves and in right now everybody is for you ... everybody is preparing for the post coalition ... Afghanistan ... and that means Iran and Pakistan or Sri asserting themselves they're using proxies ... they're not controlling the Khani network at all to far as we can tell the TPP ... which is of particular and the Pakistan Talabani is so ... is on the upsurge in in in now ... in Pakistan ... IMM Omar are member of the Taleb on pre ... two thousand won he still believed to be in the quad area somewhere and ... and what has much less incentive to negotiate a peace agreement with Karzai ... as long as the Americans are leaving and and they know they Härter were to be leaving without the Taliban having been defeated in meanwhile back home were also sending a signal that if you're terraced you get caught ... you might get the protection ... of U S courts ... while you'll be in the event they clearly don't want to even more anime body else in Guantanamo ... so I ... and they will be tried in civilian courts that's been the pattern now for the last to re ... captured ... terrorists so ... I guess it's three groups one was a group of Somalis ... but the Palm ... restaurant ... ok well ... not a pretty picture editorial page editor


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Amazing Race's Leo and Jamal: Travis and Nicole Were Hypocrites
Dec 12, 2013 10:25 AM EST
After scoring an earlier flight to Tokyo on The Amazing Race 23, Leo and Jamal overcame a Speed Bump, but were undone by an alliance... and buttons on a robot. "Those damn buttons! I did not see them at all," Leo tells T… Read more


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Process Automation: Collaboration at Ergon Refining
Software Technology Makes It Easy to Share Information, Documents and Files During a Project
Ergon Refining is a crude oil refiner in Jackson, Miss. According to Steve Elwart, director of systems engineering at Ergon, the company uses many collaboration tools when developing automation projects with Emerson Process Management. These include email, SharePoint, teleconferencing, Skype, Doodle and WebEx/LiveMeeting.
"Email is an effective tool for typical communications throughout the project," says Elwart. "Since many people are busy, email becomes essential in keeping in contact and sharing information, and it provides individuals the opportunity to respond at any point during the day."
Elwart also likes SharePoint. "SharePoint is a highly effective tool and promotes collaboration in sharing information, documents and files during the project," he explains. "The tool can be configured to provide a user-driven environment which allows users to set up folders and capabilities needed throughout the project."
SharePoint's versioning capability is key to the development of documents and helps ensure people are working on the most current version. "Overall, SharePoint provides a more efficient project execution environment through a faster turnaround time of information and documentation, reduces the need to travel, and saves time in organizing shared information," notes Elwart.
With resources located in different locations, teleconferencing is essential during the execution of a project. "Skype provides an efficient means to not only hear another person's voice, but also to also see video of the person," opines Elwart. "When using only conference calling, many aspects of talking with the person can be missed, such as an expression of concern or confusion."
Ergon also uses Doodle, a web-based Internet scheduling tool that allows groups of people to share their calendars, including Outlook, iCal, Google, Lotus and many other tools. "The biggest benefit of this collaboration tool is the ability to more easily schedule meetings with people who are located in different corporate offices or with vendors outside the company, many of whom don't use the same email application," says Elwart.
Ergon uses WebEx/LiveMeeting tools for conference calls or video conferences with a group of people in different locations. The key benefit is the savings in travel time and cost, and allowing groups to meet when everyone is not in the same location.
Another use of WebEx is the ability to do remote factory acceptance testing for a project. By being able to remotely access the test system, project engineers are allowed the freedom to participate in these tests without the need to travel and live in remote locations for long periods of time.


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Apparently, there really was a decade called the '80s. And in this decade, a professional BMX rider named Woody Itson advertised not a Porsche 911 convertible, but a Hutch Trick Star bicycle.
If you're just as unwell-read about BMX professionals as I am, you can catch up on Mr. Itson right here. Growing a head of hair and a mustache to match his will take significantly more time but is well worth the effort.


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The new pink – the circle of awareness to prevention
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time dedicated to increasing coast-to-coast awareness of a disease that has become the most common cancer in women worldwide.
For a disease that will affect an estimated 207,000 women this year alone, early detection with prompt treatment and prevention is vital, notes Deborah K. Arnold, M.S.N., RN, assistant professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Nursing and a doctoral candidate.
Early treatment begins in the form of screening. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend mammography screening annually for women beginning at age 40.
"The most effective way to detect breast cancer early on is to get high-quality screening mammograms and clinical breast exams regularly," Arnold says.
Women can also routinely check their own breast for lumps or unusual changes. However, this type of exam should not replace regular mammograms or clinical breast exams.
While early detection and prompt, appropriate treatment can be lifesaving, there is a better, earlier cure: prevention.
For some women, a genetically inherited trait puts them at very high risk for developing breast cancer.
"A woman's lifetime risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer is greatly increased if she inherits a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene," Arnold says. "Such a woman has an increased risk of developing breast cancer at an early age (before menopause) and often has multiple, close family members who have been diagnosed with this disease."
Armed with this information, women with a family history of breast cancer can make important decisions to actively prevent the disease early on.
Another form of prevention is the prevention of recurrence.
"Women diagnosed with breast cancer, who have completed treatment, face a 6-13 percent risk of getting the disease again," Arnold says. "Given this information, it is not surprising many breast cancer survivors worry about the possibility of their cancer recurring."
While recurrence is primarily treated the same way the initial disease is, there is evidence suggesting recurrence risk may be linked to behavioral factors.
"Alcohol use, obesity, exercise and diet are significantly associated with a second round of this potentially deadly disease," Arnold says. "Maintaining a healthy weight, consuming no more than three alcoholic drinks per day, reducing dietary fat consumption, eating the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, and getting regular physical activity are not only great ways to possibly prevent breast cancer reappearance, but they are things women can do to feel better, too."
Perhaps the form of prevention Arnold is most interested in is primary prevention, or not getting the disease in the first place.
"We have come full circle in awareness, and one day this disease will be the exception and not the rule," Arnold says. "Through strategic awareness, we arm those diagnosed with breast cancer with the necessary tools needed to fight the disease while also providing practical and proactive ways to avoid the life-threatening diagnosis in the first place."
Arnold's latest research looks at how stress affects a person's ability to fight disease, specifically in women diagnosed with breast cancer, and how they emotionally navigate survivorship.
"While pink remains prevalent in the panorama of cancer dialog, we need changes in the direction the research is going," Arnold says. "We need to know what is causing the disease, and we need a cure."
Interested in this topic? Contact us for more information.


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Money Management
Use Direct Deposit and Automatic Transfers to Simplify Finances/ June 1st, 2006
Sometimes managing your money seems as complicated as rocket science. It doesn't have to be. Find out why direct deposit and automatic transfers can help.
If you have any difficulty viewing this video, please ensure you have the latest version of Flash Player. You can get a copy here.


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Study questions whether screening really cuts breast cancer deaths
A study from Denmark published in the British Medical Journal today finds no effect of the Danish screening programme on breast cancer deaths.
Similar results have been seen in other countries, including the UK, leading the authors to question whether screening has delivered the promised effect on breast cancer mortality.
A 2005 study suggested that screening had reduced breast cancer deaths by 25% in Copenhagen. But Karsten Jørgensen and Peter Gøtzsche from the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen, together with Per-Henrik Zahl from Folkehelseinstituttet in Oslo, identified important problems in this study and decided to undertake a more comprehensive analysis of the data.
They compared annual changes in breast cancer deaths in two Danish regions offering publicly organised screening programmes (Copenhagen and Funen county) with non-screened regions across the rest of Denmark.
Their analysis covered 10 years after screening could have had an effect on breast cancer mortality. For comparison, they also looked at the 10-year period before screening was introduced.
Data for each area were divided into three age bands. Women aged 55-74 years, who could benefit from screening, and women aged 35-55 years and 75-84 years, who were largely unaffected by screening.
They found that in women who could benefit from screening (55-74 years) breast cancer mortality declined by 1% per year in the screened areas and by 2% per year in the non-screened areas. In women too young to benefit from screening (35-54 years), breast cancer mortality declined by 5% per year in the screened areas and by 6% per year in the non-screened areas during the same period.
For the older age groups (75-84 years), there was little change over time both in screened and non-screened areas.
"We were unable to find an effect of the Danish screening programme on breast cancer mortality," conclude the authors. "The reductions in breast cancer mortality we observed in screening regions were similar or less than those in non-screened areas and in younger age groups, and are more likely explained by changes in risk factors and improved treatment than by screening mammography."
"Our results are similar to what has been observed in other countries with nationally organised programmes. We believe it is time to question whether screening has delivered the promised effect on breast cancer mortality," they add.


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iPrefs-seeking shareholder Einhorn drops Apple lawsuit
'Silly sideshow' folds its tent, moves on
David Einhorn and his hedge fund Greenlight Capital have dropped their lawsuit against Apple.
Einhorn had sued to block a vote at Apple's investor meeting, held this Wednesday, that would have forced a shareholder vote on the issuance of higher-dividend preferred shares. Einhorn is promoting the idea of that class of shares, which he dubbed "iPrefs".
"Apple removed the bundled proposal from the shareholder meeting therefore resolving the issue," a Greenlight Capital spokesman told AllThingsD.
Not that Apple had a choice. Last Friday, a New York District Court judge issued an injunction preventing Apple from holding that vote, known as Proposition 2, agreeing with Einhorn that Security and Exchange Commission rules prevented its "bundling" of multiple measures.
Einhorn's iPrefs idea – which lives on, unaffected by Friday's withdrawal of legal action – is intended to pry loose some of Apple's ginormous cash holdings, which were reported to stand at $137.1bn in the company's most recent financial report.
Einhorn's activist-shareholder stance has inspired both plaudits and brickbats. Place Apple CEO Tim Cook firmly in the latter camp, having called the Einhorn suit a "silly sideshow" both at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference on February 12 and at his company's investors meeting this Wednesday.
Einhorn may now be folding that particular sideshow's tent, but don't expect him to retire his activist act entirely. ®
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It's time to cut the crap on weight loss
I am so sick of diets. Diets that promise five kilo weight loss in the first week; that guarantee fat-free arms, rock-hard abs, and a tiny bum. Diets with weird fruit remedies, hailing from Africa, South America or Nepal.
The diet section at the bookstore is like a candy shop – just choose your flavour. No carbs; no sugar; no wheat; no fats. Eat paleo, or eat like the French, Mediterraneans or South Beach-ians. Go veggie, go vegan, go cleanse or go lemon detox.
Some are good and some are bad. But I am so sick of the fad diets that I decided to write a diet book this week to officially jump on the bandwagon and become a dietary hypocrite.
Why? I have a client - let's call him Rodney. Rodney is out on the town three to four nights per week. He wears a suit and a flashy watch, flashes new iGadgets each week, and drives an imported car. He chases girls. He drinks, and he eats whatever suits his tastebuds at the time. But it's beginning to catch up with him and, in his 30s, it's time for him to trim down.
Rodney trains hard (but not often enough) and has the frame and strength to lose serious weight – which won't happen until he changes his intake. Rodney's food and exercise diary? After a quick look at the Chinese food, booze, protein supplement drinks and energy drinks he consumes and the breakfast he habitually doesn't - counterbalanced by just a single weekly workout - my reply was: "Rodney, it's time to cut the crap."
Two weeks ago, he finally said: "Just tell me what to eat, and I'll follow it."
My reply: "But mate, I'm not a nutritionist … well, screw it. I'll write you a diet. Consider it done."
So here I am, writing the 'Cut the Crap' diet. It's time for Rodney - like many Australian men and women - to cut out the processed food and unhealthy takeaways, the video games, the boozey benders, the sugary drinks, and the time on the couch in front of the idiot box. It's time to cut the crap and get back to the basics of healthy food and healthy exercise. It's time for lifestyle change.
Last week in Fairfax, it was reported that in Britain, one-third of men aged 35 to 60 cannot look down and see their own genitals. That's so horrifyingly sad it's almost funny. Even sadder, the obesity rate for Australian men is nearly at a deadlock with those in England. Recent stats show British women are the fattest in Europe and according to the World Health Organisation, Australian women are even fatter.
So for the men and women who need a search-and-rescue crew just to find their own bits, for Rodney - shoot, for all of Australia - I created a diet that will work.
It has Seven Rules and includes Seven Healthy Days of Eating - a healthy eating plan approved by exercise physiologist and nutrtionist Kathleen Alleamue, author of What's Eating You?. Most importantly, it's a diet that encourages lifestyle behavioural change. It's a diet message that's anti-diet.
Ultimately, it's not a diet, for the simple reason that diets don't work. UCLA researchers believe people on diets are consistent predictors for future weight gain. Kathleen says: "Many fad diets don't work because they are not sustainable - it's a short-term visit to Dietland, and when you come back home, the weight piles on."
I'm calling out every Australian to get real on a commitment to physical health and wellbeing.
So what works? "There are no shortcuts – weight loss comes from a healthy diet, mixed with lifestyle change, and exercise," she says.
Ah yes. This formula worked in 1950, in 1980, in 2000 … and it still works today. And that's what the Cut the Crap diet is all about. The Seven Rules are simple, harsh, and direct. The Seven Healthy Days of Eating contain a shopping list and daily plan to follow in weeks one, two, and beyond; and this diet includes exercise. My first draft is unedited and unvarnished, and contains some motivational, even harsh language – just what Rodney and many other Australians need to hear.
Most Australians commit to their wife or husband, their children, their jobs, and to maintaining their household. Yet how many commit to their health and wellbeing? Rule No.4 of the Cut The Crap diet is "Commit to Your Body". I'm calling out every Australian to get real on a commitment to physical health and wellbeing. Without that, all other commitments can fall by the wayside when cancer, diabetes, and/or heart disease take hold.
Call it a book, call it an ePaper, call it whatever … I doubt this will fly off the shelves like 50 Shades, because losing weight isn't as easy as three payments of $49.95 and sitting in a swivel chair toning your abs as you watch TV. Losing weight and keeping it off long-term is challenging, but the rewards are a new, happier, and healthier life.
I've written cards and cheesy poetry to girlfriends. I've written the embarrassing love letter and occasional sweet words with notes attached to flowers to get me out of the doghouse. But I've never written a book for any one woman - let alone a man.
So Rodney, this book is for you. I hope you read it, cut out the crap, and change to a healthier lifestyle. With the overweight/obesity rate growing by the day, I hope other Australian men and women will also read and respond.
Have you dieted? What works, and what doesn't?
Follow @michaeljarosky


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Agathis montana de laub.
Endemic to the Mt. Panié range in northern New Caledonia where recent research has found that the decline and loss of old-growth trees is probably due to a combination of factors including root damage by feral pigs, pathogen attack and climate change.
Associated Names:
Dayu Biik
Endemic to New Caledonia in Province Nord where it is restricted to the Mt. Panié range. Its known locations are from the higher (above 1,000 m above sea level) altitudes of Mt. Panié, Mt. Colnett and Mt. Ignambi (Jaffré et al. ,1987). Agathis montana has also been recorded (MacKee 34469 (P), 22/12/1977) from the summit of the Roches de la Ouaième, a separate range facing Mt. Panié. This specimen was originally collected by J.-F. Cherrier but deposited under H.S. MacKee's collecting numbers. It was collected from a small tree at 950 m. Despite recent field botanical surveys (Munzinger, 2013) that included canopy surveys, no further observations or collections have been recorded from this locality, suggesting that this tree may be single and isolated. Local indigenous people have mentioned that this individual tree is well known to them and "has a story", suggesting it may have been planted by their ancestors. There is thus some doubt about whether this tree should be considered as a natural occurrence. While the most recent guidance from IUCN on introduced subpopulations indicate that those that are geographically close to the known native range of the taxon being assessed should be included in any assessment, the guidelines also clearly state that such introductions must have produced viable offspring (IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee 2014 p.7). As there is no indication of this, the Roches de la Ouaième locality is excluded from calculations of the extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO).
The overall EOO, (using herbarium records but excluding the single tree on the Roches de la Ouaième), is estimated to be 90 km2 with an estimated AOO of 32 km2. The estimate for the extent of occurrence uses coordinates taken from gazetteers to georeference older herbarium specimens. There is some uncertainty about how accurate the estimations are. The AOO is estimated using the standard IUCN recommended 2 km x 2 km grid – this is very likely to be an overestimate.
Agathis montana grows in mono-specific stands in the canopy above 1200 m on the north-eastern slope and above 1300 m on the south-western slope; all known trees seem to grow on slopes less than 35°. Using these data to model its range produces an estimated potential AOO of ca 1200 ha for the main population. When the few isolated trees growing down to 1000 m are included the estimate rises to ca 5,000 ha. Agathis montana forms a single subpopulation spread over a narrow altitudinal band on three peaks located within 20 km of each other along a single ridgeline.
Data on population size are based on 14 plots randomly established in October 2012 within 200 m of the Mt. Panié trail. Each plot is 50 m x 50 m, which represents 3.9% of the study area and 0.3% of the main A. montana range. Median density of trees >10 cm DBH (some of them may not yet be mature) is 83 trees/hectare (average = 104, min = 40, max = 356, standard deviation = 77) (Texier 2013). The total population may therefore be ca 100,000 mature trees. Based on 70 subplots of 10 m x 10 m designed to assess regeneration (saplings and young trees <10 cm DBH), median regeneration density is ca 3,000 individuals/hectare (average = 4,400, min = 0, max = 18,300) (Texier 2013).
A recent and apparently rapid decline in the population has been directly observed since at least 2009. It may have commenced somewhat earlier but the exact timing is uncertain. Photos taken by the New Caledonian botanist J.-M. Veillon in 1969 show few if any dead trees; those taken in 1996 by the herpetologist T. Whitaker do show some dead trees especially near the summit of Mt. Panié. Aerial photos taken in 1991, and studied by the main author of this assessment, appear to show some dead trees but the photos are of insufficient quality to allow a reliable quantitative analysis of the mortality at this date. Henri Blaffart, head of Mt. Panié conservation programme (2002-2008), and who visited the summit area many times during that period, did not report any kauri decline. Foreign botanists from various research organizations such as Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Missouri Botanic Garden, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh who also visited the area between 2002 and 2007 did not report any decline either. The previous IUCN assessment, published in 2010 but based on information collated up until 2007, stated that "Currently, no specific threats have been identified. Climate change impacts such as changes in precipitation patterns could be a problem in the future" (Thomas 2010).
A decline was first formally reported to the main author of this assessment in September 2009 by an indigenous local guide during a helicopter survey of the area (E. Vaiadimoin pers. comm.). Mt. Panié has always been a privileged but difficult destination for tourists and scientists, usually accompanied by local indigenous guides (four guides used to accompany ca 50 ascents per year in the late 2000s, (Anonyme 2011); these guides have thus an historical understanding over changes happening in this area. While this was the first formal record of the decline, they estimated in 2010 'it may have started some years ago'. Other members of the main local tribe have also reported that they had noticed a recent decline in the tree. In September-October 2012, 14 random plots were established along Mt. Panié trail (Texier 2013), containing 363 large trees (DBH >10 cm). Sixty seven of them (18.5%) were dead (health score = 6); of the live trees, 57 (19.2%) were showing significant die-back symptoms (health score = 4 or 5). In February 2014, 10 of those plots theoretically containing 257 trees were re-surveyed (Sabran and Tron 2014). Two hundred and thirty five were actually found and monitored; most of the 22 trees not found in 2014 are likely to have been overlooked because they might have fallen on the ground, considering their poor health in 2012 (10 were actually already dead). Out of the 235 monitored trees, 202 trees were alive in Oct 2012; amongst them, 10 were dead in February 2014, suggesting an annual mortality rate of 3.7% per year. Overall, 20.5% of monitored trees are now dead. While 42.6% of monitored live trees were assessed as healthy (health scores = 1 or 2) in October 2012, this percentage had declined to 15.6% in Feb 2014. Seven of the 10 trees that died between October 2012 and February 2014 had a health score of 3 or 4 in October 2012. Forty four (27.2%) of the live trees now have a health score that represents a relative decline of two or more points over the monitoring period. These data suggest a significant and rapid decline.
Using the available data (of the 192 live trees remaining in our monitoring programme, 10 are projected to die every 16 months), an 80% population reduction of trees >10 cm DBH would happen within 21 years. Using population structure data from 2012 survey, we estimate nine new trees from the regeneration cohort would reach 10 cm DBH within the next 21 years: this is insufficient to replace the losses. Within 100 years (which is way below three generation lengths) there would be no mature trees left. Considering the significant reduction of many tree's health between October 2012 and February 2014 and sampling/monitoring biases (see below) resulting in an underestimation of mortality rate, the decline might be faster. These projections are based on limited data recorded over a relatively short period of time.
Notes on sampling and data reliability:
Helicopter flights in 2009 and 2011, as well as preliminary 2012 aerial images analysis, suggest that mortality is significant over the entire southwestern slope and all along the main ridgeline. The same approach suggests that lower altitude stands (i.e. between 1200 and 1300 m) on the northeastern slope are less affected. The four non monitored plots had – in October 2012 - a higher mortality rate, suggesting the proportion of dead trees may be higher over the entire 2012 study area: most of the 12 live trees from October 2012 that were not found in February 2014 are likely to be dead considering their poor health in October 2012, suggesting the mortality rate quoted here may actually be higher than 3.7% per year. Based on the information presented here the species could qualify for a threatened listing based on criterion A4bce, however, due to the small sample size of plants in the monitoring area and the limited time period for which the situation has been monitored, it was decided that there was too much uncertainty about the long-term trend to use this information in the assessment of this species.
Habitat and Ecology
Most trees grow in mono-specific stands in the canopy above 1300 m on the SW slope and above 1200 m on the NE slope. Below that, only a few isolated individual trees are seen down to 1000 m (de Laubenfels, 1972). This elevation range seems to correspond to a cloud layer that envelopes this part of the mountain most of the time.
Agathis montana forms near-monospecific stands that dominate the canopy between 10 and 25 meters above ground. It probably plays a significant role (=keystone species) in filtering sunlight and maintaining humidity and thus creating a unique habitat. Most other plant species grow up to 3-5 meters, creating a very thick understorey (Tron and Texier 2013). Several micro-endemic plant species (Wulff 2013) and insects (Grandcolas et al. 2008) are known from this habitat, one of the most important for micro-endemism in New Caledonia (Wulff 2013) and now internationally recognized as a "Key Biodiversity Area" (Conservation International 2011).
One recently dead tree of 80 cm diameter was estimated to be aged 1,100-1,300 years based on Carbon 14 dating methods (GNS Science 2012). Life-span is therefore suspected to be well over 1,000 years (Tron and Texier 2013). Based on this information and assuming linear growth, annual diameter growth is expected to be 0.7 mm/year. Fruiting is irregular and few observation have been made; however, maturity may be reached when trees are 20-30 cm DBH. Generation length may be ca 500 years. Regeneration is very dense in the understorey, but very few of them reach maturity (Texier 2013). From casual observations, regeneration looks sparse or may even be absent when mature A. montana are dead: most dead trees are in eroded areas.
Agathis montana produces a dense, fine and highly ectomycorhized feeder-roots matt within the first 5 cm of the soil (Tron and Texier 2013).The soil is silty and shallow (<50 cm) and seems to be the product of the bedrock (schist) and litter degradation. It is therefore particularly sensitive to erosion. It does not grow on purely rocky substrate outcrops.
The population dynamics of the family Araucariaceae are thought to involve, or even be dependent on severe landscape scale perturbations like cyclones or bushfires (Enright et al. 1999). This may explain some of the results of the original population structure surveys from 2012 (Texier 2013).
Human Uses
Agathis montana is called "Dayu Biik" in Némi and Fwaî, two local dialects. The translates as "strong and flexible Kauri" in reference to its ability to withstand strong winds. Its is also considered by some indigenous people with land rights on Mt. Panié as the guardian of the place and trees have a cultural importance in relation to the spirits of the local people's ancestors. Dayu Biik is also the name of a secondary, but very sacred peak within the Mt. Panié range. Several legends refer to the place where A. montana grows.
The indigenous organization in charge of the management of Mt. Panié wilderness reserve, is named after A. montana. They hence have a key cultural responsibility in caring for that species in particular. Agathis montana is an iconic species, often displayed on pictures promoting New Caledonian biodiversity and landscape.
Along with other Agathis spp. its gum is used by local guides as fuel for campfires. Trees may be grown as ornamentals, but mostly in specialist collections.
Conservation Status
Global status
Critically Endangered B1ab(iii,v)
Global rationale
Agathis montana is a long lived conifer (generation length may be ca 500 years) restricted to a single subpopulation in one location in the higher elevations of the Mt. Panié range in Province Nord, New Caledonia. The extent of occurrence is estimated to be 90 km2 and a population decline and habitat degradation have been observed over the last five years and is projected to continue. Agathis montana is therefore considered Critically Endangered under the B1 criterion.
Twenty percent of the trees within the area of a monitoring programme are already dead: 5% of mature monitored trees died between October 2012 and February 2014, suggesting a projected population reduction of 80% within the next 21 years and a likelihood of there being no mature trees left in 100 years. An assessment under Criterion A4 was considered but has not been used due to the small sample size and the limited time period for which the situation has been monitored.
Several factors may be contributing to the decline and habitat degradation. Foraging invasive pigs disturb soil leading to increased erosion of the thin and vulnerable soil as well as the death of the fine feeder roots of the kauri trees causing stress. Feral pigs are also known to be vectors of pathogens which may be attacking the weakened trees. A Phytophthora species with affinities to the one linked to extensive die back of New Zealand Agathis australis has been recorded on A. montana trees that are showing evidence of decline. Recorded increases in temperature and potentially altered cloud regime may lead to an increase in water stress. Recent regional droughts, concurrent with the recorded increase in temperatures and combined with the impact of feral pigs and Phytophthora may be jointly causing the decline.
Conservation management includes pig control and is due to start in 2015. Further research into other causes of the decline is needed.
Global threats
Four threats and factors are suspected to be involved in the decline of this species (Tron and Texier 2013):
1) Feral pigs: in searching for food in the soil, feral pigs disturb moss, litter and the surface horizon that contains the fine feeder roots of kauris, creating a first stress to kauris. In 2012, within the 14 random plots 95.6% trees had pig uprootings, with an average of 8.5 uprootings per tree. Dead feeder-roots can be recognized as dead when they appear grey rather than the normal red when they are alive and healthy. Many dead feeder roots have been recorded in areas damaged by pigs. This disturbance also causes significant erosion, sometimes down to the bedrock, which permanently damages roots, especially the fine feeder-roots; many anchoring roots now emerge out of the ground. In eroded areas where many kauris have died, other vegetation looks less dense, vital and varied. Trees may then suffer water and mineral stresses, likely becoming more vulnerable to pests and pathogens and overall leading to dieback of the trees and eventually death. Feral pigs are also known to spread soil-borne diseases, including Phytophthora cinnamomi in New Zealand (Krull et al. 2012). The first introduction of pigs to New Caledonia dates back to the arrival of James Cook's fleet in 1774 and several releases have occurred since then throughout New Caledonia. Local indigenous people report a recent (ca over the last 10-20 years) population increase in feral pigs, possibly in relation to limitations on the ownership of guns and ammunition and changes in hunting practices that have led to a reduction in hunting effort and range. Similar changes have been reported in many other parts of New Caledonia.
2) Disease: an unidentified Phytophthora species was found in July 2012 (PlantWise 2014). While its exact taxonomic position is not yet known, it is known that it is not P. cinnamomi and has been identified as a member of the same clade that includes the Phytophthora linked to extensive dieback in New Zealand Agathis australis forests (Phytophthora Taxon Agathis). It is currently uncertain whether it is a native or introduced, and whether it is a primary or secondary pathogen. Biosecurity measures have never been requested at the entrance of Mt. Panié reserve.
3) Insects: two bark beetles species (most likely Hylurgus sp. and Hypocryphalus sp. Hulcr pers. comm.) were found in July-October 2012 on trees showing signs of dieback. Their exact taxonomic position is not yet known and it is uncertain if they are native or introduced, or are acting as primary or secondary pests.
4) Climate change: an analysis of local weather records (from a weather station based 10 km away, at sea level) shows a temperature increase of 1°C over the last 40 years and a significant drought in the period 2003-2007 (Casola and Tron 2013). Similar increases have been reported across New Caledonia (Maitrepierre et al. 2008). Temperature increase may alter the cloud regime possibly leading to a lowering of the cloud upper limit (areas above 1,300 m regularly emerge from the clouds) and thereby exposing the Agathis forests to a different microclimate with less humidity. Higher temperatures and less humidity may cause a significant water stress on A. montana; the genus is considered particularly vulnerable to it (Delzon and Brodribb in review). In French Polynesia, feral pigs move and forage more intensively at higher altitude during droughts, where they also have a significant impact on soil and vegetation (J.F. Buteau pers. comm.). Water stressed trees would be more vulnerable to pests and pathogens, possibly leading to die-back and eventually to death.
Local indigenous guides and local senior botanists report that a thick moss layer (20-50 cm thick) used to cover large parts of the ground: it is now restricted to small and isolated patches. During the 1970s, the French army felled a significant number of trees on the summit of Mt. Panié and built a wooden hut in order to facilitate helicopter and troop exercises: many old dead trees are clustered around this clearing. Some local indigenous people consider that taboos involving Mt. Panié have been breached and are one of the causes of the decline.
There is no doubt that the threats and factors mentioned above have led to a decline at least in the quality of habitat. The non quantitative and preliminary observation of geographical heterogeneity of the mortality (see comments in Population section) suggests that some environmental factors not yet fully understood explain part of the decline.
Conservation Actions
Conservation of A. montana is a specific objective of the first Mt. Panié wilderness reserve management plan. Some resources have been allocated for pig control & yearly monitoring (Anonyme 2011) but these now seem insufficient.
In 2012, implementation of Year 1 of the management plan involved the following activities; a field visit from Dr. Nick Waipara (Waipara 2012), sampling of tissues and pathogen identification (PlantWise 2014), tree architecture study (Texier 2013),establishment of monitoring plots and protocols (Texier 2013) and assessment of management options (Tron and Texier 2013). To date, pig control has been identified as the most realistic management option. Feral pig control should start in 2015 while other conservation strategies, including research are being considered.
Mt Panié reserve contains ca 30% of A. montana's main range (ca 350 of 1,200 hectares). A wider community consultation was started in 2013 to mobilize all concerned stakeholders in agreeing an extension to the reserve so that appropriate conservation management can be undertaken at that scale.


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"After I returned to Aotearoa from attending and exhibiting in the Moon Mothers: Keepers of Knowledge exhibition at the Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, I completed this group of pendants. The series was inspired by the paintings by June Northcroft Grant and the sculptures by Tim Paul that were in the exhibition. I decided that I wanted to have fun and make a collection of moon pendants with pounamu rims and bone inlays. Each face is unique and different."
Lewis Gardiner
Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa, Whanau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu
(1972- )
Lewis Gardiner is regarded as one of the most innovative and respected Māori jade artists of his generation. In 1994, he graduated in Māori Craft and Design at the Waiariki Institute of Technology in Rotorua. During his final year he was introduced to the valuable medium of pounamu (jade) and was immediately attracted to its artistic possibilities. Māori had always valued pounamu for both its hardness and for its translucent beauty. Lewis was no different — as he says, "Our tupuna (ancestors) have given us, the Māori people, the resource and knowledge base to provide a reference for us and our children for years to come."
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
101-1669 West 3rd Ave.
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6J 1K1
Toll Free: 1-888-669-8813
Phone: 604-669-8813
one block West of the Granville Island gates
Between Pine St. and Fir St.
Tuesday to Saturday, open 10-5
Sunday and Holidays, open 12-5
© 2019 Spirit Wrestler Gallery. All Rights Reserved.


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Why Weeds Are Especially Bad This Year
This is the worst moment for weeds experts can remember. The good news: There are strategies that can help kill your weeds now and set you up for a weed-free yard next spring. Anne Marie Chaker has details on The News Hub. Photo: AP.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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ARDMORE, Pa. — Ben Hogan used a 1-iron for a historic shot that helped him win the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club. Under far different circumstances, PGA Tour rookie Shawn Stefani had a memorable moment with his 4-iron Sunday.
It had not been a weekend to celebrate for Stefani. He shot an 85 (+15) on Saturday. But he lifted his arms in the air and jumped for joy Sunday after making a hole in one on the tough par-3 17th.
LEADERBOARD: 113th U.S. Open
When he teed up at the 229-yard 17th in the final round, the 31-year-old from Houston was 20 over par. But he said he'd still enjoyed playing before the big crowds this week.
"It was kind of funny. I got up on the tee after 16 and walked to the tee, and I usually don't look at crowds," he said. "I'm not paying attention to it. But I kind of looked up there to see just how many people were in the stands. And the stands were full.''
His tee shot took a helpful bounce off the rough on a slope to the left of the green. Then the ball rolled the width of the undulating green and curved right into the cup.
Stefani's caddie, Chris Callas, jumped up and down, too.
"I wasn't really thinking about doing anything spectacular. It just happened," Stefani said. "But to do that on that hole in this tournament is something that I'll never forget as long as live. And we'll have to wait and see what happens on (ESPN) SportsCenter (Sunday night).''
The 6-2, 205-pounder celebrated like a linebacker who'd just made a big sack.
"I can't remember anything on the tee. It happened. I jumped up and down, slapped some hands, and I really don't know what happened after that," he said.
Stefani's best finish this year has been a seventh place at the Tampa Bay Championship. Tough he bogeyed his last hole Sunday, Stefani still shot a one under 69 for the round. He finished the tournament 19 over par.
Stefani's best finishes this year have been a tie for seventh at the Tampa Bay Championship in March and tie for seventh this month at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
His hole-in-one was the first during an Open at Merion, which has hosted five of them and the 43rd in U.S. Open history. The previous one was last year by John Peterson on the 199-yard 13th hole at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
PHOTOS: Sunday at U.S. Open


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"Kirk Bianchi brings together the three disciplines – landscape, pool and exterior architecture- for the ultimate fusion of total outdoor lifestyle design." – Candy Lesher, Editor-in-chief, Food & Life Magazine, Executive Producer Food & Life TV
The simplest of projects can be extraordinary when you partner with a Phoenix pool builder and landscape designer that takes a "big picture" approach. This strategy recognizes that the pool is but one piece of the puzzle, and it should relate to everything else around it. When you design the overall environment first, the pool "belongs" as an integral part of an overall theme.
So whether your project requires a grand vision or modest renovation, Bianchi's specialty is helping you integrate your entire outdoor living space in ways that you have not yet imagined.
"Your style, at your price point- a clever blend of stunning esthetics, functional utility and financial sensibility. That is my commitment to you. So wherever you live, contact me. Let's discover your possibilities." – Kirk Bianchi
"Master of the Southwest" – Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine
"Coolest Pool Designer" – Phoenix Magazine
"Trend Setter" – AZ Magazine


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Ensemble Series
These mallets are designed for the indoor ensemble. Various combinations of latex, yarn and large rubber cores produce an extremely warm tone. This quality, combined with dynamic versatility and durability, makes these mallets essential for the extensive repertoire of today's demanding percussion ensemble.
- Hard rubber cores to create a full, rich tone and warm fundamental
- Polished birch handles or extra-durable rattan handles
Length - 20"
Width - 4.5"
Height - 1.43"


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by James C. Capretta
The financial crisis hit at a very inopportune moment for western economies. Of course, there's never a good time for a 5.1 percent of GDP contraction, which is what occurred in the U.S. over an eighteen-month period starting in late 2007 and continuing into mid-2009. But this was particularly bad timing because the U.S. and other advanced economies were already in for a rough ride over the coming two decades due to the unprecedented demographic transformation that is now well underway globally. The deep recession erased trillions of dollars of wealth just as these countries should have been setting aside massive amounts of resources to prepare for coming economic storms.
It is fairly well understood at this point that global aging is, and will be, creating tremendous fiscal pressure in the advanced economies. In the U.S., the population aged sixty-five and older is set to increase from 41 million in 2010 to 73 million in 2030, according to the Social Security Administration. This is a big reason that federal spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is set to jump from about ten percent of GDP in 2010 to fifteen percent in 2030, using plausible assumptions from the Congressional Budget Office. Similar population trends and budgetary pressures are underway throughout the developed world. Indeed, the expectation that Greece, Italy, and Spain are wholly unprepared for the massive health and pension spending commitments coming their way is partly to blame for the debt and euro crises still hanging over the continent.
But what is less discussed, and thus less well understood, is the effect of demographic transformation on economic growth itself. The problem is not strictly that the governments of these countries will be shouldering large obligations associated with a growing elderly population. It is also the fact that these countries will experience very low growth by historical standards because their workforces will be either stagnant or shrinking.
Total economic output can be expressed mathematically rather simply. Total GDP is the product of the number of workers in the formal economy and the amount produced per worker. It follows that yearly growth in GDP is a function of change in the size of the workforce and in productivity (i.e., the amount produced per worker).
For decades, Europe, the U.S., and other advanced economies have enjoyed strong growth because their workforces have been growing and capital investment and technology have allowed workers to produce more and more each year. That is now changing, however. Productivity is still improving, but workforces around the world are now barely growing and, in some countries, are about to shrink steadily for the foreseeable future.
For instance, according to 2006 projections from the European Commission (EC), the size of the EU-wide population in their prime working years—those aged fifteen to sixty-four—was about 307 million in 2004. By 2025, the EC expects that number to have fallen to about 296 million people, and by 2050 to about 255 million people.
This shrinking workforce will dramatically slow economic growth. From 2004 to 2010, the EC projected that potential GDP growth was about 2.4 percent annually, assuming near-full employment. That's because the full-employment workforce was still growing at about 0.9 percent per year during those years, and productivity was expected to rise about 1.5 percent annually.
But with a shrinking workforce, potential growth is expected to be far, far below historical levels. The 2006 EC report projected that the EU-wide workforce contraction would average about 0.1 percent per year through 2025. Even if productivity improvement grows to 2.0 percent annually, overall growth—1.9 percent each year—would still be well below what it has been historically. And it will only get worse over the longer term. From 2025 to 2050, a dramatically contracting workforce will drag average growth down to 1.2 percent annually—making it impossible for Europe to generate the resources necessary to finance the burdens of improved longevity.
The situation in the U.S. is not as dire as Europe's in large part because the fertility rate in the U.S. has been above Europe's for the past few decades. The Social Security Administration's projections show the population age twenty to sixty-four growing modestly from about 190 million today to just over 200 million in two decades. That's far below the growth rate in the prior two decades, when the number of working-age Americans rose by about 40 million people.
Most commentary on demographics focuses on population aging, which is of course a major concern. But the demographic shift that is now underway is the result of two trends: longer lifespans and falling birth rates. And low birth rates always lead, eventually, to shrinking workforces. Over the longer term, it is the gradual decline in the size of the labor force across the developed world that is likely to cause the most strain.
Economic studies have linked reduced birthrates to growth in old age pension and health benefits and the rising taxes associated with financing them. Western governments should therefore consider reducing the tax burden on young workers who are forming families. In the end, it may be difficult to overcome the powerful cultural forces that are pushing down birth rates in the developed world, but there is nothing to lose and much to gain from trying.
About the Author
James C. Capretta is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.


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Deborah Madison's recipe for what's hot in vegetables
It's a sure bet that every year around this time, I'll be pulling Deborah Madison's Vegetable Soups from my cookbook shelves. There's just something so right about vegetable-based soups – even substantial concoctions – after the surfeit of the holidays. Madison's treatments of vegetables are masterful, whether she's showcasing a single ingredient or combining contrasting flavors, textures and even colors.
I don't just reach for Vegetable Soups after the holidays. There are chapters on soups for spring, summer and autumn, as well as winter. There's a chapter on light broths and restorative soups, and others with soup recipes based on bread and grains and legumes. There's even an appendix on "Doctoring Up Canned Soups."
And I use Madison's other cookbooks – 11 in all – throughout the year; many of her well-written and always reliable recipes have become standards in my kitchen, from a fantastic black bean chili (not Springfield chilli, to be sure, but equally good in its own way) in Madison's first cookbook, The Greens Cookbook, to a delicate squash blossom omelet in The Savory Way, which is my first must-make dish whenever squash blossoms are available. There are others, from Seasonal Fruit Desserts and This Can't Be Tofu to Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America's Farmers Markets, that's also a compendium of beautiful farmers market photographs from coast to coast. There's even a humorous tome, What We Eat When We Eat Alone, that she co-authored with her husband, artist Patrick McFarlin (and also includes recipes).
Madison's professional cooking and teaching career, books and recipes have been primarily about vegetarian cookery. That's how she earned her reputation, as well as just about every food-writing award in America – some several times. So it comes as a surprise to many that she's not a total vegetarian, though she eats meat sparingly, and only from environmentally sustainable and local farms. Some of her cookbooks, such as Local Flavors, do have recipes that include meat.
"Connecting people to the food they eat, its source and its history has long been my work," she writes. "… writing is one way to reveal the deeper culture of food, whether through recipes or through profiles of farmers and ranchers, producers and cooks. My interests lay with issues of biodiversity, seasonal and local eating, farmers markets, and small and mid-scale farming. I am on the board of the Seed Savers Exchange, have been involved with Slow Food for over a decade, and am presently co-director of the Monte del Sol Edible Kitchen Garden in Santa Fe, New Mexico [where she lives]."
As I had been in Champaign/Urbana years before, I was struck with Madison's beauty. It wasn't just – or even primarily – physical. She had a glow that clearly came from inner peace and serenity.
I shouldn't have been surprised. Madison's food career began at the San Francisco Zen Center where she studied for 18 years. "While there I held a host of kitchen positions, from head cook, to guest cook, to private cook for the abbot and his guests," she writes. "What began as a mild interest in cooking grew to a passion."
That passion led to a stint at the renowned (some might even say revered) Berkley restaurant Chez Panisse and eventually to Madison becoming the founding head chef at San Francisco's Greens Restaurant. Greens was America's first "fine dining" vegetarian restaurant, and as one reviewer noted, "The Greens Cookbook is a rarity; it is a book that created a revolution in cooking when it first appeared in 1987."
Madison's newest book, Vegetable Literacy is due out on March 19. "It's about the 12 plant families in our kitchen," Madison told me. "It was a lot of fun to delve more into the botany in our kitchen."
I'm sure it was, just as I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun reading it and using some of the recipes. But for now, I'll be content to savor some of Madison's wintertime soups – and maybe next month, a pot of that chili.
Green cabbage soup
with potatoes and sour cream or yoghurt
This "shimmering green" soup somehow manages to be both delicate and hearty – not an easy feat. "I love this soup!" Madison told me, and I absolutely agree, especially when it's served with one of the blue cheese/toast variations below.
The recipe is simplicity defined, using just a small cabbage, a leek and a potato in the soup base. And, as Madison says, "It's a soup you can count on having ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, and it's subject to a few excellent variations."
Having tried more traditional similar recipes in which the cabbage is long-cooked and mashed into a purée, Madison achieves that delicacy and gorgeous color cooking the ingredients just until tender, creating a "fresher, brighter version."
Savoy is a crinkly-leafed variety of cabbage that's especially flavorful. It's usually available at Meijer, but regular green cabbage is also excellent. I prefer using tangy thick Greek-style yoghurt instead of sour cream.
• 1 small green cabbage, preferably savoy, (about 1 pound)
• 2-3 T. butter
• 1 large leek, white part only, quartered lengthwise, chopped and rinsed
• 1 hefty Yukon Gold or russet potato, peeled and roughly cubed
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• Sour cream or plain yoghurt
• Minced fresh parsley and/or dill
Quarter the cabbage, remove the cores, and thinly slice the wedges crosswise. You should have 5-6 cups. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil, add the cabbage, cook for 1 minute, then drain.
Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the leek and potato, give them a stir, and cook for a minute or 2 then add the cabbage and 1 tsp. salt. Pour over 5 cups water, bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes or until the potato is tender. Taste for salt and season with pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls, then add to each a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt, a sprinkling of the fresh herb(s) and a final grinding of pepper. Makes 7-8 cups.
Four variations:
• Add 5 juniper berries and 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary to the leek and potato. Serve with an extra pinch of rosemary (and the parsley, if desired, but not the dill).
• Reduce the water by 1/2 cup and at the end replace the sour cream with crème fraîche or cream.
• Serve with toasted whole wheat bread (preferably rustic) topped with slices of any good blue cheese such as Maytag, Gorgonzola or Roquefort or with …
• Blue cheese and walnut toasts
• 8 slices baguette or country bread, thinly sliced
• 1/4 pound blue cheese (as above)
• 3 T. butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 c. finely chopped walnuts
• freshly ground pepper
Toast the bread under the broiler until nicely browned on one side, then turn and brown a little less on the second side. Mash the cheese and butter together, then add 3/4 of the walnuts. Spread on the paler side of the toasts, then broil until the cheese is bubbling. Remove, dust with the remaining nuts and a sprinkling of pepper.
Note: In both toast/blue cheese variations, the toasts can be served on the side, or put in soup plates and the soup poured over them.
Contact Julianne Glatz at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Windjammer Cruising (Part 2)by Paul Motter, CruiseMates Editor | July 10, 2009
Since the demise of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises a gap for sailing adventure is slowly being filled by other companies.
Sail Oasis Charters Next we have yet another former Barefoot Cruises captain who has a chartered sailboat ready for guests. His name is Captain Julian Legg and he has teamed up with reportedly one of the best Barefoot Cruises' chefs ever, Mister Strokey, to offer Caribbean adventures on a small yacht, the Oasis.
Also sailing in the Grenadines, the Oasis only carries up to eight guests serviced by three crewmembers. She has a ton of "toys" onboard including snorkel equipment, skiffs, water skis, fishing gear, movies, games and disco dancing nightly on deck.
The ship appears especially commodious with large staterooms that all together can sleep up to eight in these configurations:
For more information on Sail Oasis Charters, go to www.sailoasis.com.
Cabin 1: One double bunk and one single bunk Cabin 2: One double bunk Cabin 3: One double bunk and one single bunk
One can always sleep under the stars. You can charter this entire yacht, fully, and bring eight people for $1250 per day and the entire vessel is yours to do as you please. There is a full navigation system as well as modern fire fighting equipment on board. There are showers and electricity, of course.
Your charter fee will give you three meals per day plus snacks at 'happy hour,' complimentary Rum Punch at 'happy hour' and complimentary house wine with dinner. If you require additional soft drinks/alcohol/liquors/beers/mixers, etc. then you can either purchase it on arrival, or send along a list of requirements in advance, and it will be purchased for you and billed to you at their cost price.
Continue Article >> Maine Windjammer Adventures (Part 3)


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