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Bishop Michael Evans of East Anglia has told Catholics in his diocese that he has only weeks to live, but that he will continue as their bishop until the end.
In a letter read at Mass in churches across the diocese on Sunday the bishop, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago, said: "In the last few weeks, the cancer has rather quickly taken control. My oncology and palliative care consultants informed me openly and honestly just before Christmas that I now probably have only weeks to live, and I am as prepared for that as I can be, accepting it with faith as a gift of God's grace."
Bishop Evans, who was born in south London in 1951, was appointed as the third bishop of the diocese in 2003, succeeding Bishop Peter Smith, now Archbishop of Southwark.
In his letter he said: "Over the last five and more years, since my diagnosis with advanced prostate cancer, I have managed to cope with my developing illness, its ongoing treatment, the general decline in my health, and generally – I think – continued my ministry as best I can."
He accepted that not everyone will have been happy with his work as bishop.
"We have moved forward and outward together as a diocese, although not all of you may be have been happy with the directions we have taken. I am sorry for any ways I have failed in my ministry during those years. There remain a number of difficulties on my desk which will need to be handled by others."
There had been speculation in the Catholic press that Bishop Evans might retire because of his ill-health, but in his letter he says that he would prefer to stay on.
"Rather than resign, I would like to continue among you as your bishop and the father of our diocesan family until this stage of my life ends. I do not know how long that will be. I am most grateful for the ways you have cared for and so prayerfully supported me in recent years. You remain very much in my thoughts and care. As I am sure you understand, I am able to do very little, and will need to rely on others. Please can I ask you to limit any expressions of care to prayer for now, rather than anything else to which I cannot respond."
Bishop Michael Evans was educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury and went straight from school to study for the priesthood at St John's Seminary in Wonersh, Surrey. He was ordained priest in 1975 and after gaining a Master of Theology degree at Heythrop College lectured in Christian Doctrine at St John's for eight years, becoming vice-rector in 1985, with the then Mgr Peter Smith as rector. He spent six years as a university chaplain at the South London Universities Chaplaincy before returning to St John's as vice-rector from 1993 to 1995.
He served as parish priest at St Augustine's in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, from 1995 to 2003, describing this as "the ministry I have loved most". In his priestly ministry he worked closely with young people, especially older teenagers and young adults. For over 27 years he spent a week's retreat every year at the ecumenical community at Taizé in France, and after becoming Bishop of East Anglia he would invite young adults from the diocese to accompany him there each year.
He was appointed a Canon Theologian of the Archdiocese of Southwark in 1996. In 2003, on being appointed Bishop of East Anglia, which includes Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, he said he was "astonished", and had "a real sense of my unworthiness for this responsibility".
For 20 years Bishop Evans has been deeply involved in work for Christian unity; since 1997 he has been one of eight Catholic members of the International Joint Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the World Methodist Council. He is chairman of the Bishops' Conference Committee for Christian Unity, and is one of the four Christian co-Presidents of the Christian-Muslim Forum established by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2006.
At a service in St John's Cathedral Norwich last March, marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Romero, Bishop Evans recalled being in El Salvador five years earlier, representing the bishops of England and Wales.
"I celebrated Mass at the very spot where Romero was shot," he said, quoting the plaque on the wall behind the altar: "At this altar, Monseñor Romero offered his life to God for his people." He said that this fitted well with the diocesan theme for the year, "I offer my life to God", and that "we can all be inspired by Romero's joyful love for God and his people, and his readiness to offer his life for them".
In his letter on Sunday Bishop Evans said: "I have received wonderful care from Dr Adrian Harnett and everyone at the Colney Centre at the Norwich and Norfolk University Hospital, and the local surgery, and I would like to thank them for their dedication which continues. My thanks also to so many people in our team at the White House [diocesan HQ] and across our diocese."
Bishop Evans's letter, on the diocesan website, is entitled "Waiting in joyful hope…" It concludes: "As I live now under the shadow of death, my prayer is very much that of St Paul, that I may know something of the power of Christ's resurrection and a share in his sufferings, trusting that the Lord is with me. I pray that even now I can joyfully witness something of the good news we are all called to proclaim."
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After studying music at the University of Wales, Tony Biggin became a teacher, developing a strong commitment to music education within which the encouragement of creativity for all has been central. Developing from his numerous youth music-theatre pieces, written and produced for schools, he moved on to work as a freelance composer and musician. Concern for peace and justice led to a long-term collaboration with writer, Alec Davison and a string of tuneful and dramatic works ensued, including two secular oratorios, The Gates of GreenhamandCry of the Earth as well as a host of large scale music theatre works such as Fires of Levana, The Bull of Minos and Quest of the Golden Eye.
Performances of his work have taken place in prestigious venues with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Manchester Camerata in venues including London's Royal Festival Hall and the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.For some years Tony was Musical Director of Cantor Ltd, a commercial multi-track digital recording studio and computerised music laboratory. As well as taking on concert- based commissions he produced recordings (including Bryn Terfel's Shwanengesang), processed music for publishers and arranged and composed for T.V., radio, the theatre and concert hall.
Tony composed the Valleys Live commission Just Give Us The Flowers Now to words by Alan Osborne, which was performed by Evelyn Glennie, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and numerous community youth music groups. Other commissions funded by the Welsh Arts Council include Rhoed y Gair, which was televised by HTV and recorded on the Sain label, and The Forbidden Hymn, a "people's opera" to words by Alan Osborne. While Head of Music at Edge Hill University he collaborated with Phil Christopher to produce the human rights music-theatre workUnseen. Tony has been awarded a doctorate in Music from the University of Wales and has lived and worked in London, Sheffield, North Wales, Mid-Wales, Staffordshire, Merseyside, Reading and the London Borough of Harrow.
Between 2005 and 2013 he was Director of the East Sussex Music Service.
Tony is married to Anna Rowntree and has 3 grown-up children: Elin Alaw, Nia Delyn and Tomos Aled.

subset: commoncrawl


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Stephanie: Hi! Welcome to the SAPinsider Podcasts on interviewing customer experience. My name is Stephanie So, and I am a Marketing Manager of SAP Cloud Platform at SAP. I'm your host today, and we are joined by a panel of experts to discuss the latest trends in digital technology and transformation.
First on our panel we are joined by Sheryl Kingstone, who leads the 451 Research Coverage for customer experience and commerce, which covers many aspects of how customers experience is a catalyst for digital transformation. She oversees the company's coverage on a variety of customer experience software markets, expanding ad techs, marketing, sales, commerce and service.
Second on our panel we have Shalini Mitha, who is the Global Head of Solution Marketing at SAP. She leads the experienced team of marketing experts to help best run companies understands their customers, transform their business models, and provide the most exceptional experience, so that they can fulfil the purpose and win in the marketplace.
Finally, we have Emily Mui, who is a Senior Director of SAP Cloud Platform, part of marketing at SAP. She develops high impact awareness content and programs, to educate customers on the value of SAP Cloud Platform for innovating new business applications and launching new capabilities throughout the product life cycle.
Welcome Shalini, Sheryl, and Emily. I am pleased to have you here today, to share your insights on today's latest trends in digital transformation and technology, and what it means for all SAP customers.
My first question is for Sheryl. What are some of the new approaches, customers are using to build long lasting customer relationships by building strong brand equity?
Sheryl: Well, isn't that the holy grail of a question, you know. Seriously, it really is fully loaded. There are so many different approaches to solve that problem. There's lots of different technologies out there, and we're going to go over a lot of that in today's podcast, but you know, fundamentally, why it's really important, is there really is a dramatic shift in the balance of power between organizations and their customers, and it's across all industries. This is impacting consumer industries, B2B industries and basically, the situation is that price and products are no longer enough, and customers really value those experiences, I say this over, and over, and over again. When it comes to these technologies, organizations today, what they're really looking to do, is digitally transform their businesses and essentially to best attract, win, retain and support.
It's about that customer life cycle, and you look across that whole customer journey, so what customers are looking to do is they leverage these different applications, the analytics and the infrastructure. That is what's going to help them deliver a differentiated customer experience. That's really a luxury today, it's a necessity for survival, and that's a lot of the research that we have.
When we look at where we're really taking that customer experience digital transformation research, we look at it as a catalyst in a lot of these projects. As businesses invest in these new technologies, they really have to understand how these technologies can impact their business processes. It really isn't about a one and done scenario, it's about understanding how to effectively use the technology, to engage your customers, or even partners. Even these technologies can help employees, it's about employee effectiveness. That's why we take a look at it, but we're here today to talk about customer experience, and an interesting data point, is that when we look at our survey, improving the customer experience is finally one of those top drivers. Historically, it's been very much about improving operational efficiencies, and it's really nice to know that we move beyond lip service into truly understanding how we can leverage a lot of these technologies, to finally improve the customer experience.
That's what it's all about, it's looking at how to build long lasting relationships with customers, and how we can look at the role of digital transformation, and understand how we can provide this ideal customer experience, but that has to go beyond multiple different departments. It really isn't just about sales, marketing, service, field service, HR or finance. We have to look at it holistically across the company, but interestingly enough, only 30% of customers that we've surveyed actually have formal digital transformation strategies. The definition of that is to understand what they are doing to strategize around, engaging their customers, optimizing the processes and then digitizing that experience.
When we look at it at 451 Research, it really is about that Four Pronged Approach, looking at it across the digital experience, across digital strategy, meaning executive lead digital strategy along with the digital platform which is absolutely critical, and we're going to go over, why the digital platform is so important and how that digital platform can operationalize the entire strategy for digital transformation because it's about putting the tools to work in a transformative way, but it's also ensuring that you have the right data to support that strategy, because it's all about the inside that connect the people with the information that ultimately leads to a better customer experience.
Shalini: You know Sheryl, the whole concept of pushing products and services has really become commoditized. In every industry, customers have so many choices, and it really is about driving that experience, customers want brands to value them, and want them to understand them and not just push their products and services. I think it's so important that companies are realizing that they need to step back, and really put the customer in the center of all they do. It's interesting that you bring up the data point that only really 30% of companies have a formal strategy for digitizing their business. There's 70% of customers that are probably going to get beaten out by their competition because they're not they're not prioritizing.
Sheryl: Absolutely! We do have some data that talks about that. The other point I want to taste, not even products and services, is everyone is also potentially trying to differentiate on price and we have studies to show that price is no differentiator at all, across a variety of different strategies. What are we doing to make sure that it is about the experience?
Stephanie: Shalini recently released some consumer research. Can you tell us more about the findings?
Shalini: Yes, so we recently did a survey of 20,000 consumers worldwide, really trying to understand what customers wanted in a relationship with brands, and what creates these, meanings the long-term relationships, because as we know, in this new customer driven economy, the entire power rests with the customer and the consumer, and understanding what their needs are, their preferences and really about being transparent. We wanted to see what makes them tick from a customer perspective, and what could make or break a customer experience and cause a customer to break up with a brand. Some interesting points that came out is we found that in the US, 71% of consumers are willing to share their information but interestingly enough, that number drops significantly, almost in half, just about 44%, if that information transcends across international borders.
They're willing to share in the US but if they know that their data is going to be used outside of the US, they are not willing to share it. It's also interesting that, you know, they're willing to give us their contact information but they definitely don't want to use in a global sense. 80% of users will break up or leave a brand we use their information without consent. As we're seeing today, in this climate of all the data breaches that have happened with Facebook, Yahoo and Target, it becomes more important that we have to protect customer data, consumer data, and really be transparent in how we're using it, and gain their consent before using it in ways that they don't support.
Service becomes really important, there's an expectation that we're going to be responsive and 71% will break up with brands if they don't receive resolution to enquiries within 24 hours, you know, with GDPR going into effect May 25th which it causes brands to really understand how data is being used, how the consumer wants it being transparent, but it is a stepping stone for really evaluating your relationship with the brand, so you can build trust and consent but really better engage, and actually give you the competitive advantage because you're developing a relationship on but what the consumer wants, and you're building that trusted relationship, so that you are in sync with a customer and their needs, and you can help bridge the gap, you can help carry them on their journey because they trust you, you've gained consent, and your relationship is transparent. It's really important that companies now are stepping back, and really putting the customer at the center of everything that they're doing, to really create that trusted, simple, personal, helpful, and connected relationship with their customer today.
Emily: I couldn't agree with you more, you know, especially with what we're seeing today, and all that's happening on the social front, and how data is being sold and used without consent, it's a huge concern. A lot of customers want to make sure that they're using the right technologies to support those needs, to secure the data that companies are using because like you said, companies do not want to be losing their customers because of misuse of that data.
Shalini: Absolutely! Emily, one the things I actually just recently put a post out on this, regarding the potential step back and the impact on the consumer privacy standpoint, and it's interesting enough that we've been tracking this over time, and it's kind of sad because over the years we've really seen five points, 10 points willingness to share increases, and now with the next rev coming out, I really hope we don't fall back on that because there had been an increase in willingness to share, and now with all the news we really have to understand how to do it right, and how to do it effective, and be transparent and privacy by design.
Stephanie: Absolutely, yes! I agree, you know, thank you Sheryl and Emily. I completely understand, I think, transparency is really important especially with all the things that's happening around data surrounding, you know, all the breaches and so forth. Transparency is really important.
Going back to Sheryl, my next question is, what are some of the technologies that companies are using to improve these interactions with customers?
Sheryl: That's a really good question, and it's a very difficult one, and to be honest, it's really all the above, you know. When we take a look at things, like, AI and machine learning, and some of the bots that we're looking to get at, but then, it's also about the platform and the ability to synthesize some of that data, and understand where it's going. When we do look at a lot of these technologies, what our data is showing as I said earlier, is there are technologies that span the customer experience, and where they're going at, but what is most interesting, is when you take a look at digital leaders and where their interests are lying, and you take a look at digital laggards, that's where the differences come out.
Across three areas that we do look at, for instance, machine learning, intelligent business applications and conversational technologies, there is a wedge between leaders and laggards, and some of the data that we have, and for example, the machine learning, the difference between organizations that want to adopt persons ones that do not, when we take a look at these digital transformations whether they have formal plans or quote unquote no formal plans, there can be a 24 point gap, and that's significant because vendors that are not vendors, but companies that are looking at taking a look at these new technologies are going to leapfrog their competition, especially ones that aren't evaluating some of these new technologies.
That's what's significant about the gap because it's a signal of a fundamental shift, in the way that applications are being built and deployed, but more importantly the value that can be derived from using them. There's a lot that is really about the data. That's why, when you bring it back to the Cambridge Analytics and the Facebook issue, and everyone's trying to get at the data, that's what's so important.
When we look at the technologies to understand how we use the data properly and we take a look at the trends that have to put in place, leading businesses can understand how to embed it in a business process. It's not just about how to use it in an ad tech environment, it's about how to improve the next best action maybe for the customer service rep, or the next best action for the self-service initiative, and the interaction itself, and that's what's really important, and this cuts across both consumer oriented and B2B oriented businesses, and where machine learning comes to do it, is doing it at scale.
In the past, we used to have to hard code a lot of this but now we can use a lot of the machine learning technologies because it helps us with not just on the ability to understand the data, the ability to capture, analyze, understand and then act on the information, that's where machine learning can really help, and it includes things, like, understanding the ability to recognize a pattern, images or sentiment, so that you can make sure that you're creating the right action and you're doing it very dynamically in real time, based on the situation at hand. That's what's driving the demand for a lot of these intelligent business applications because of that data.
Eventually, this will all pan out and we will understand the rules of consent in the privacy by design because we really don't want to take a step back into the real business case for improving the overall customer experience. The last thing that we really wanted to talk about was, you know, those customer experience issues, and something that's very hot in the market, which is the rise of those invisible interfaces.
Lastly, we do see things like Alexa and Apple Siri, and how they can improve customer engagement, and why I'm bringing this up, is some of those new technologies, it's because of the stat we have, around 40% of consumers would prefer to chat with the business through Social Media Messaging or SMS because they really prefer those digital channels, and it's a prerequisite for loyalty. When they want to communicate in this mobile environment, we really have to make sure that we're doing it more effectively, we're doing it more intelligently because we have to do it in a way that the consumer wants to engage, and some of these new digital technologies is embedded into an intelligent process, that's where the differentiation can really come, by embedding it into the platform and the customer engagement experience.
Shalini: You know, Sheryl, I agree with you, and I think what I've seen is, more and more, what customers really are looking to do is to be more experiential in their interactions versus transactional. So, data is great but what the insights and the ability to use it in a prescriptive way, not just predictive anymore, it's about prescriptive, like, being able to provide next best actions, being able to be proactive, like, things like you said, like, service. We have some customers that really understand the importance, and for them to be competitive, they are leveraging technologies, like, machine learning and predictive analytics, to help deliver better customer experiences.
One example is Karma Automotive, who is based in Southern California, and they really wanted to go out, just drop the auto industry, and engineer the most highest quality luxury electric vehicle, but at the same time, their mission was to make it as simple and easy as possible for their customers, from design to manufacturing, into delivery, even to servicing and post-sale care. Being able to connect with their customers and make it a really transformative experience for them.
Once a user bought a car, being able to predict and do that proactive service, where they would know ahead of time if a car needs to be serviced, they have sensors that would know when certain parts of the car were coming up for malfunction or being able to be proactive in providing that level of care that customers required. This is definitely what keeps brands, like, Karma Automotive, you know, ahead of the competition because they're really putting the customer at the forefront, and trying to be as proactive as they can, to make sure they're delivering those exceptional experiences.
Another customer is Hoerbiger. They wanted to digitize fuel efficiencies and as you know, the demands for energy increase and natural resource are depleted, they wanted to use technology to really simplify the ability to take compressor units that are on top of gas wells, and just ability to get out more gas and leverage the natural resources. Their machines are all out in the fields in Mexico and Argentina, and for the field technicians to go out, took a couple hours to get out to those facilities to service, and so they wanted to use digital ways by using IoT Sensors and machine learning to be able to monitor these machines, and be able to cut the amount of onsite time and manual tasks for the agents, and to be able to automate and connect the processes, so that you didn't have to go out and service every time, and also to be able to make billing easier, so they could leverage different billing scenario, to make it really easy to track the billing for each of the machines that were out in the field. It really kind of changes the way that we are delivering this experience to our customers, it's flexible and it requires platforms that are flexible, ability to extend, and to really meet the demands of the industry, as well as the customer.
Emily: Shalini, you've been bringing up some really interesting stories about how our customers are using our technology, and I completely agree with you about, you know, not being transactional anymore, and the fact that many of our customers today, they have a lot of different applications in place, but in order to deliver that true customer experience, in the way that they want it, they need to have some type of platform, a cloud platform that will be able to integrate all the different data across all the different transactions that a company has had with their customers, bring it together really quickly, be able to provide the insights, as well as be prescriptive and be systematically prescriptive, and then the leverage some of those technologies that Sheryl talked about, right? Including artificial intelligence with bots, and then as you mentioned Shalini, with IoT, to bring all that together, so that customers are able to live with that customer experience because it's not just on the front end, it's not just the responsibility of the field service agent, it's not just the responsibility of the call center agent, or someone in marketing developing that initial outreach to a customer, or the sales rep that is servicing the customer as they walk through the door.
It's everyone within an organization to deliver that world class experience that requires all those different types of data points coming together, all the different processes coming together, and all that really has to take place and happen in the cloud, so that a cloud platform will help deliver those experiences by bringing it all together. These are really great stories that you're sharing, and you know, as I've been working on the cloud platform product for the last few years, what I've seen, is a lot of customers, understanding the need to adopt a cloud platform. I've seen the product grow exponentially, and we're talking, I think, like, 400% since I start working on this product in terms of the number of new customers we've acquired just because customers are really fully understanding that they need to use a platform as a service technology to bring it all together.
Shalini: Yes, and it is also taking the front office data of it, the rich CRM data that gives you information about your customers across sales, service, marketing and commerce, couple with the back office: the operational data, like, product inventory, pricing, accounts receivable. Being able to connect and build that 360 review on a flexible platform, such as the cloud platform, where you're able to extend and to integrate between your front office and your back office, to create essentially one office, and then leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, and machine learning to provide those predictive and prescriptive information. It ends up being a very powerful suite that helps you kind of run this intelligent enterprise.
Sheryl: Absolutely! Just to support that whole story, I can't push more the power of actually all three together or four together, actually, because when I look at the digital leaders and laggards data that I have, I talked about the machine learning in a 26 point gap, what I didn't mention earlier, is the fact that same gap also exists when you're talking about platform as a service for companies that want to understand and improve their business processes, and create custom apps on top of that 360 degree view, on top of those more intelligent business applications that are there, and then, I also want to point out how important it really is about prioritizing the shift to the cloud, so that's another easy 20 point gap about companies that are really prioritizing the cloud applications. If you're a digital leader, and your informal digital transformation strategies, these are key elements that are really creating your platform of the future, and as a CRM Analyst, to me and a Customer Experience Analyst, it really is about the power of the platform because it's about that next generation, 360-degree review.
Stephanie: Well, this has been an impressive discussion. Thank you, ladies! We heard from Sheryl the different types of technologies and strategies, companies need to adapt to be truly successful, you know, in delivering customer focused experience. Shalini, thank you for sharing all the great examples of how SAP customers are doing in today, and Emily, you're talking about cloud platform, I agree, we need to have the right infrastructure, and the cloud platform is a great way to optimize business processes.
As we're closing down this podcast, I would like to thank again our panel for being our guest today and sharing their insights on innovating customer experience through digital transformation and technology. In the meantime, please visit Hybris.com to learn how SAP helps best run companies understand their customers, transform their business model and provide the most exceptional experiences.


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The spy inside Terra Nova makes a mistake while Taylor and Mira are forced into an uneasy alliance…
The plotline with the two colony leaders is rather clichéd – prisoner becomes captive becomes ally – but it's an excuse for a lot more of the backstory to be revealed. There's a lovely piece of one-upmanship from Taylor that Mira easily crushes, and for once the "we could have been friends" line actually is credible – the actors work well together, and if the show gets a (now-deserved) second season, it would be interesting to see Terra Novans and Sixers working together under the combined leadership.
The hunt for the spy seems to play a card too early with its reveal of who it is who's been betraying the colony, but the suspense continues to be drawn out – helped by the fact that no-one is going to want to believe the spy's identity, even when the evidence becomes incontrovertible (in deference to UK viewers, who won't see this until next week, discussion of how realistic a choice it is will wait until after episode 11).
The C plot – Zoe's little dinosaur has grown up and has to be let into the wild – is annoyingly cutesy, and we really could have done without the final scenes.
Verdict: More mixed than the last few weeks, but still a leap beyond where the show began.
Episode 10: "Now You See Me…" 7/10
Paul Simpson


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qualifying dividends
Qualified Dividend
In the United States, a dividend eligible for capital gains tax rather than income tax. This is advantageous to the investor as capital gains are usually taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. To become a "qualified" dividend, the security from which the dividend derives must be held for at least 61 days during a certain 121-day period (for common stock) or for at least 90 days during a corresponding 181-day period. Also, the corporation paying the dividend must either be American or at least have stock readily tradable in American securities markets. See also: Ordinary dividend.
qualifying dividends
The dividends that meet Internal Revenue Service regulations for exclusion or partial exclusion from federal income taxation. For example, corporations are permitted to exclude a portion of all of the qualifying dividends received from stock owned in domestic corporations. There are no qualifying dividends for calculating individual income taxes.


text: Several years back, in the highest of times for America, I declared that when EatZi's folded here in wealthy Montgomery County, Maryland we should begin looking closely at the economy. Well not only did EatZi's shut down in 2006, the space remains unoccupied. It's just a shattered ghost of the American dream. Not to claim that "I called it," but this is where the series, Ghosts of the New America begins.


text:
Rotary Club of Brandon Gets Down to Business
Posted by Chuck Burgess
on Aug 04, 2015
The Rotary Club of Brandon got down to business with its first Club Assembly of the new Rotary Year this past week with lots of community impacting items on the agenda. First, the meeting got going with Sergeant At Arms, Fred Schwabe, welcoming some amazing guests. Nancee Sorenson from HCC visited the club and told us about some of the great things she is doing at one of the more forward thinking community colleges in Florida. We also had returning guest Michael Owen, and Dave West brought Larry Galin to visit as well.
Since there were no birthdays or anniversaries to celebrate, John Gardner decided to do a little fundraising on the spot and put up two USF mugs for auction. Dave West, probably feeling guilty because he didn't get his guest anything, went for it, paid his money and became the proud owner of two Bulls mugs! Fred had some humor and received his first honest crowd laughter of the year, and he wasn't even wearing his special red shoes!
Treasurer, Justin Northcutt, announced the birth of his second daughter and challenged President Chuck's sales skills as Justin talked his wife into letting him come to Rotary instead of being at home with the two girls. However, getting Dave Brown to be the next President of the Club still rates as the best sales job of the year. Dave Brown was quick to agree! Announcements included: No meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 11th due to the Board of County Commission meeting at 9:00AM. Rotarians are all gathering at Bob Evans on 60 at 7:30 to meet for fellowship and then to carpool afterwards. The monthly social is scheduled for Thursday at World of Beer. Pat Skidmore will have sign up lists for our first Service Project (Aug 21-22) next week and expects everyone to participate.
Club Assembly began, and the Club was presented with the budget along with a monthly support assessment to aid in the operations of the new Rotary Event Center. The Club was also presented with a motion for allocating $12,000 toward the project as well to assist getting the project off the ground.
After some great discussion, it was unanimously approved to accept all three motions. Each committee also reported with Roger Rivard (Membership) starting things off with an explanation of how he was going to lead the charge by reaching out to former Rotarians and others that he knows that will make great
Rotarians to invite them to lunch and to see our new Rotary Event Center (when approved by the BOCC).
Scott Carter (Fundraising) discussed he was leading the charge and looking for a co-chair for the October 24th Casino Night. He also let the Club know that Troy Dimsdale would be leading the golf tournament, which we are still looking at either leaving the date as the third Thursday in January or trying to move it. This is still in discussion. Scott also let everyone know that Joe Campoamor
is already putting his Wild Game committee together and hitting the ground running. Larry Fassett (Club Admin) discussed getting members to give him contacts for great guest speakers. He wants to make sure that we've got quality speakers the entire year. Pat Skidmore (Service Projects) let everyone know that we will need tools and bodies for our upcoming service project on the 21st - 22nd. Sign up sheets should be filled in soon! The meeting was adjourned as a reminder to come next week to see Joe Zuknick speak to the Club about his S4TL experience.
The Rotary Club of Brandon is celebrating several birthdays, anniversaries and club anniversaries this week. A special congrats to:
Sheila Donalson (August 5th) - Happy Birthday!
Clyde Eisenberg (August 1st) - Happy 34th Anniversary to you and Patti!
Pat Skidmore (August 3rd) - Happy 33 Year Rotary Anniversary!
John Dwyer (August 5th) - Happy 18 Year Rotary Anniversary!
Upcoming August Events
11th - BOCC Meeting (NO WEEKLY CLUB MEETING!!)
17th - Rotary Club of Brandon Board Meeting @ Bank of Tampa - Brandon
21st - 22nd - Club Service Project - Rotary Event Center
25th - Monthly Club Assembly
27th - Social - Ker's Wing House on HWY 60 in Brandon


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Pic of the Week (June 6, 2014): NW841 Marsh Marigolds
Pic of the Week features the images of Jim Brandenburg, as selected weekly by his staff. With each selection, we hope to highlight the depth, breadth, and splendor of his work. For information on purchasing this, or any Brandenburg image, please visit jimbrandenburg.com, the Brandenburg Gallery in Ely, Minnesota (877) 493-8017, or the Brandenburg Gallery in Luverne, Minnesota (888) 283-4061.


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Fluoride - Demand AARP Take Action
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Re: Fluoride - Demand AARP Take Action
Saliva F is 24 hrs a day continuous. And it is there mostly because the largest percent of F in the blood is from F'd water consumption (NRC).
F accunulates in bone of adults in F"d water areas to thousands of mg/kg long before F'd toothpaste,was widely used. Also the Dean studues,in the,30's reported,substantial dental fluorosis in 1 ppm fluoride water areas., long before,F toothpaste,was ever thought of.
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Re: Evidence & Ethics
Yes, Richard, sometimes the majority does not prevail. That is wrong, but it happens. It happened in my city when the council ignored a referendum and several opinion polls they had commissioned to follow the non-scientific claims of an ideologically motivated group - with help from the Connett crowd.
But, sometimes democracy has to be fought for. That is what happened in our community and the people, in the end, won.
But local body politics is pathetic. Driven by all sorts of egos, commercial interests, and political infighting.
I think we have discussed the issue of the fluoride concentration of saliva. You ignore completely that this is determined by things like the F content of food and beverages or water - directly. As well as by regular toothbrushing.
You are relying on a figure for freshly excreted saliva and ignoring completely the direct effects of food, beverage, and toothpaste.
As for dental fluorosis of concern. Research shows this to be due to ingested fluoride, mainly from toothpaste and not from fluoridated water.
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Re: Stop Fluoridation
Bill, you confuse the issue when you say of Broadbent's study - "Most of the subjects (if they were drinking the public water) were on fluoride supplements." From the figures, you then cite this is patently untrue.
But the basic problem in your approach is that you do not understand that this is a multivariate study - not a simplistic bivariate study of the sort reported in the poor quality Chinese studies you rely on which compared two villages - one in an area of endemic fluorosis and one not.
Put simply - there are no "controls" - there are treatments." - multiple "treatments."
Yes, the overlap of treatments influence the confidence intervals of the result of the multiple regression. This is inevitable. That I why I have said that the main flaw is that the size of the CIs influences the sensitivity of the detection. Or, in other words, the IQ effect (which you assume without evidence occurs) is so small that it is not detected by the regression analysis.
One can drive that argument to infinitely small effects, as for example with the Swedish study which had very large sample numbers.
You assume that only the residents of the nonfluoridated area (and then all the residents of that area) received supplements. The numbers show that is patently untrue and again you completely ignore the results of the statistical analysis which teases this sort of theing out in the size of the resultoing CIs.
The fact that you keep talking about "controls" shows your lack of understanding. You do not understand that this was not like the studies with what Broadbent et al refer to as "simplistic methodological design" that you put so much faith in.
Search through the paper and you will see Broadbent do not use the noun "control" in the way you do.
You go on to claim that Broadbent ignored other sources of F intake. The authors responded to this claim in the paper replying to the critique form the Connett crowd. (By the way, I wish that, in your consideration of this study, you would actually refer to both papers. The fact that you don't often means you are attempting to break through open doors - arguing a point the authors have already dealt with).
It is interesting that Connett and Hirzy seem to give up on the supplement argument to instead argue, vias motivated reasoning and poorly-based calculation, that the major F intake in fluoridated communities does not from the water but from other sources. They effectively say that scientific investigation of communities like New Zeland would not pick up a fluoridation effect on IQ.
Of course, this is wild speculation on their part (and partially explains why they could not get their paper published in a reputable journal so had to fall back on "Fluoride." And I think they do not believe it themselves - if they did they would stop campaigning against community water fluoridation but instead would campaign against all the other sources of fluoride which the had argued were more important.
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Stop Fluoridation
Broadbent 2015, "Community Water Fluoridation and Intelligence: Prospective Study in New Zealand."
Consider Table 1.
CWF = 891 cohorts.
Never lived in CWF = 99 controls.
Fluoride tablets = 139 participants.
Stick with me Ken, this is something that for years you have failed to grasp about the Broadbent study.
Seldom do doctors prescribe fluoride in fluoridated communities. Double dose is not recommended. Therefore, we can assume, most of the 139 on pills were in the "Never lived in CWF" group of 99.
Slow down, calm down, read that again. The purpose of a doctor prescribing fluoride tablets is because the patient is not on fluoridated water. Therefore, from a clinician's point of view, most of the 139 on fluoride tablets were part of the 99 non-CWF controls. Broadbent does not address this huge problem which makes the study incapable of determinging an IQ difference.
And further:
The methods state, " Residence in a CWF area, use of fluoride dentifrice and intake of 0.5-milligram fluoride tablets were assessed in early life (prior to age 5 years); we assessed IQ repeatedly between ages 7 to 13 years and at age 38 years."
Keep in mind:
"In childhood, no statistically significant difference in IQ existed between participants who had or had not resided in areas with CWF, used fluoride toothpaste, or used fluoride tablets, both before (Table 1) and after (Table 2) adjusting for potential confounding variables."
Apparently, IF fluoride affects IQ, the source of fluoride did not appear to make a difference.
Breastfeeding showed higher IQ irrespective of 0.3 or 1.0 fluoride in water or fluoride supplements.
Did the cohorts actually drink the water or bottled water? No mention.
In other studies, water district claims for fluoridation of each house were not accurate by about 10%. Did the cohorts actually drink the water and how much water? Broadbent says, "A limitation is that we did not ask how much water study members drank. Individual water-intake level was not directly measured, meaning that the CWF exposure variable is an ecological one."
What percentage of fluoride exposure comes from public water? "Other sources of fluoride are also important in assessment of total intake. Prior to age 5 years, water intake is thought to account for less than half of total fluoride intake among children."
Ken, digest the statistics. The study is comparing about half the fluoride exposure for CWF.
Broadbent states: "Dietary fluoride was not considered, although we did consider exposure to fluoride from dentifrices and fluoride tablets."
Urban/rural was not considered, although most without CWF were in satellite suburbs.
Broadbent did not report the calcium or other mineral concentrations in the water which also affects dental caries.
Broadbent had no controls and compared fluoridation exposure with fluoride tablet exposure.
Bill Osmunson DDS MPH
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Re: Evidence & Ethics
But the majority does not prevail. Citizens in San Diego voted twice in two separate elections (before I got involved) to ban fluoridation chemicals from their water supply. And yet the city council ignored that and fluoridated anyway.
The entire L.A. basin is fluoridated even though hundreds of people came to protest at the time designated for public input by the water disrrict. Only one person favored it, the man who wrote the CA fluoridation mandate against the statutes of the Safe Drinking Water Act..
When it comes to fluoridation, money talks, Democracy and truth have nothing to do with it.
For example fluoride in salive in a fluoridated city is only 0.016 ppm, completely useless in affecting calcium phosphate preciptation and the structure of teeth enamel, at 96,000 times less concentrated than in fluoridated toothpaste.. It;'s a scam that makes money for cities and in CA muich of the money comes from Delta Dental who never reimburses a member with more funds than what the member pays into it in the first place The extra money is given to cities to fluoridate. For San Diego it was First Five money from collected tobacco taxes that was supposed to be used for childrens' health programs. Again, money talks, and Democracy and truth walk.
Dental fluorosis is now endemic in the U.S. because of water fluoridation. it is not because of toothpaste fluoride in most cases, as claimed recently by the CDC who are protecting their longheld view that fluoridation is harmless. The original observations were reported by Dean in the 1930's that water fluoride at 1 ppm was causing substantial dental fluorosis in kids at the time, long before fluoridated toothpaste was ever invented.
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Stop Fluoridation
If I tell you the data on Broadbent, you will not spend the time to read the study again and evaluate the the flaws.
How many cohorts were subjects on fluoridated water?
How many were controls?
How many of the controls were on fluoride supplements?
What was the difference in the polution in the water between the two areas?
My point is,
Most of the subjects (if they were drinking the public water) were on fluoride supplements dispensed as fluoridation.
Most of the controls were on fluoride supplements dispensed as pills/liquid (if they took the pills).
The difference in dosage of fluoride between the two groups was too small to detect IQ loss.
This is probably the 4th time in the last few years I have repeated that the Broadbent study was incapable of determining IQ loss and is certainly not evidence ingesting fluoride is safe. . . Broadbent compared two sources of fluoride and found both to be about the same.
Bill Osmunson DDS MPH
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Re: Evidence & Ethics
Ross, re the Hamilton city debacle - biased activists are biased activists even if they have degrees. Yes, I know Bob Mann too - and he is an extremist on this issue.
I interacted with many councillors after their initial decision and it was clear to me that they did not understand the science at all - what they understood is that there were two different stories coming from people they thought were experts. They were incapable of discussing the science and they had no idea of criteria to use to judge if a submitter was a real or a fake expert.
It is this confusion caused by activists pressuring councils which lead to the councils requesting, and partially financing, the authoritative NZ Fluoridation Review (https://royalsociety.org.nz/assets/documents/Health-effects-of-water-fluoridation-Aug-2014-corrected... and eventually pressure for legislation to take such decisions away from councils (as councils pointed out - they do not have the skills to make scientific evaluations and they considered the whole issue a "poisoned chalice" for councils). That legislation is still waiting for its second reading in parliament.
The numbers you quote are a symptom of the problem councils saw - cynical form letters and copies of letters given as submissions simply to get numbers. It's an old activist trick.
Scientific issues should not be considered by councils, but by relevant experts. It's up to democratic bodies to consult such experts for advice - not replace them.
You list issues you claim swung the council (rather a naive understanding considering the stupid politics involved in that council at that time with competition to replace the Mayor). Let's look at these:
1: Yes, the surface reaction of phosphate, calcium and fluoride at the tooth surface is considered the main mechanism of preventing decay and recovering from acid attack. This results from the presence of these chemical species in saliva, plaque and the oral cavity in general. Fluoridated water and food help provide these and help maintain saliva F, P and Ca concentrations during the day (saliva F from toothpaste drops relatively quickly so restoration of concentrations during the day is important.
2: Your argument for "wasted" treated water is simply an argument for a double reticulation system - one for drinking and one for all other uses. That is extremely wasteful financially and that is why such an approach is only considered for very small reticulation systems.
3: Each country approaches the involvement of F in oral health according to their own situation. CWF is not suitable for many systems (it's not suitable for many systems in NZ) and alternatives like school fluoride rinses, fluoridated salts, natural fluoride levels, etc., come in to play. In the end, each country and region make its own decision according to its situation.
4: Use of fluoridated water is not considered a risk to bottle-fed infants by health professionals - but parents who do have a concern are recommended to sometimes used alternative water sources - simply a "peace of mind" issue. Anti-fluoride propagandists always misrepresent that situation.
While there has been some concern that bottle-fed infants exceed the recommended maximum intake for F the lack of prevalence of moderate or severe dental fluorosis caused experts in NZ and Australia to reconsider the calculations. They found a flaw and there are now new recommendations showing that bottle-fed infants do not exceed the recommended F intake. See:
5 & 6: You don't explain. However, I have written several articles about the way that anti-fluoride activists distort the evidence and use statistical analyses incorrectly. See for example:
I could say that I find it bizarre that you think my attitude to democratic processes is bizarre. It is simply a matter of democracy for resolution of differences based on values or ethical issues. Yes, the minority "loses" but nothing is "forced" on them. When CWF was stopped in my city I used a mouth rinse. When it was restored many anti-fluoride activists used filters and alternative sources (2 of these provided by the council). This is what sensible people do when they feel the democratic decision doesn't suit them - they use alternatives.
I think democracy is a win-win situation for this reason. It is simply dishonest to claim that either side is forced into anything. They aren't
Think about free hospitals or secular education. People who object to these have alternatives and use them - at far more cost than the $250 for a filter or similar amount for a year's supply of mouth rinse.
You say of my attitude to democracy:
"Intellectual consistency would surely force him to state that those opposing fluoridation had got it wrong.
Referendums are by far the wrong ways to resolve fluoridation disputes."
Of course, I think those opposing fluoridation have got it wrong - just as I believe those voting for certain political parties have got it wrong. But democracy means the majority decision prevails - I accept that and take alternative action if necessary.
No, referenda cannot solve scientific issues - they are not meant to. But they do resolve the values differences - providing decisions suiting most people. And as I say, usually there are alternative actions available for the minority (not for the elected government, though, and we all accept that.
You say, "Local governments face ethical issues with fluoridation." Yes, but isn't it disgusting for ideologically motivated activists to use science (and distorted science at that) as a proxy for their own ethical views. They should be honest - face up to the ethical issues and attempt to win a political decision on those grounds and not distorted scientific claims - recognising there are no black and white, facts or correct decision when it comes to values. Except that the majority should prevail.
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Re: Evidence & Ethics
KenP, in claiming that a 2013 (non-binding) referendum provided overwhelming support for his local council to reverse a decision to terminate fluoridation is grossly distorting history. He also asserts that the council decision to stop fluoridation was made under pressure from ideologically motivated activists who were distorting and misrepresenting the science, thereby confusing the issue.
A four-day tribunal style hearing had been held by KenP's city council with one-and-a-half hour primary presentations from both sides of the fluoridation debate with half an hour for questions from councillors after each presentation.
The case against fluoridation and summing up was given by medical doctors, a doctor of dental surgery and the retired biochemist who had supervised John Colquhoun's doctoral thesis and co-authored with Colquhoun 'The Hastings fluoridation experiment: science or swindle?'
The case for was given by a large number of district health board, Ministry of Health and New Zealand Dental Association representatives.
1,385 of submissions asked the council to stop fluoridation with 170 submissions supporting continuation. Of the 141 requests to speak at the hearings only 11 wanted fluoridation to continue.
I watched much of the hearings online and also read many submissions on which the council decision was made.
On the weight of evidence presented at the tribunal there were six factors that influenced the council's post-tribunal decision to stop fluoridation. They were:
1. Application by toothpaste or other means that directly affect the tooth surface are much more effective at reducing tooth decay.
2. Fluoridation is wasteful – of the 224 litres of water used by the average person each day, less than two litres is used for drinking – 99% goes down the drain (i.e. of the $48,000 per year spent on fluoridation only $480 ends up being fit for purpose).
3. Communities around the world are rejecting the practice – most of Europe does not fluoridate.
4. There is strong evidence that fluoride should not be ingested at all by babies under six months old and bottle-fed babies are therefore at greater potential risk.
5. While fluoridation may have some benefits for some, it isn't good for everyone and fluoridation of the water supply affects personal choice.
6. Statistical evidence that fluoridation potentially causes harm.
Are these not reasonable factors on which to make a rational decision?
One councillor, also a district health board member, had been excluded from council decision making on the issue because of conflict of interest but within weeks had marshalled the local dental fraternity to garner support for a referendum which was eventually held in October 2013 with only around one third of eligible voters participating. Of those voting, 70 per cent voted for fluoridation while 32 per cent voted against.
The 24,635 voting for fluoridation had determined that the 11,768 against were forced, against their best judgement, to accept addition of a neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor to the water delivered through their household taps.
The district health board spent huge taxpayer funds in advertising.
As well as brochures and posters, their campaign included four huge billboards outside their buildings, three full city-wide letter box drops, two-page newspaper advertisements for four weeks in a row and Google and YouTube advertisements.
All emails from the health board and hospital had pro-fluoride messages as part of the signature, a recorded pro-fluoride message was on health board and hospital telephones and even TV screens at the hospital showed pro-fluoridation videos.
Local newspapers were blatantly pro-fluoridation.
Anti-fluoridation groups were unable to afford counterbalancing public information.
I find it quite bizarre that for KenP to admit that if referendums in his community had opposed the return of fluoridation he would have supported the outcomes. So what happens to his 'safe and effective' fluoride science?
Intellectual consistency would surely force him to state that those opposing fluoridation had got it wrong.
Referendums are by far the wrong ways to resolve fluoridation disputes.
Local governments face ethical issues with fluoridation.
A clear majority of pro-fluoridation voters in a poll should not be able to determine that the rest are forced against their will to take a health-affecting toxin in their drinking water.
If you are sick you don't ask a stranger to vote on your medication so why should fluoridation be any different?
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Re: Evidence & Ethics
CarryAnne - I agree completely, in the current situation, with your comment that "fluoridation policy should primarily be about ethics."
This is because currently, the science is pretty definite. Community water fluoridation is effective in reducing tooth decay and there is no evidence of harm. However, like all such social interventions, the issue is political. That is why I say that where there is controversy in the community about fluoridation proposals it should be decided democratically, involving the community. Referenda are good for this.
In my own community, it took a second referendum, confirming the first referendum of overwhelming support for fluoridation, for the local council to reverse its decision to terminate fluoridation. A decision made under pressure from ideologically motivated activists who were distorting and misrepresenting the science - thereby confusing the issue.
If the referenda in my community had opposed the return of fluoridation I would have supported that decision. I support democracy.
In fact, the ethical issue is the best argument anti-fluoridationists have. They discredit themselves when they resort to misrepresenting and distorting the science to make a "sciency" argument - but when they lose at that they resort to the ethical argument. I have seen this sort of behaviour again and again - and now with you. You should start with the ethical argument, stick with it, not attempt to use "science" as a proxy for your ethical or values concerns - and accept the democratic decisions which always decide such ethical questions.
Unlike science - which on the whole deals with factual matters, ethical considerations are based on values. There is no "correct" or factual argument to decide an ethical question. These are decided by the prevailing values - usually, by referenda or simlar democratic decsion.
Anti-fluoridationists will always lose the scientific arguments because it is determined by the facts (that is why you refuse to participate in an honest, good faith scientific exchange) but they can win the ethical one - depending on the previaling ethics of their community.
Finally, you make claims that I have used words that I certainly have no recall of using - and you do not provide any evidence. I am sure I did not use most of those terms - however the charge of describing your claim that in my scientific career I was researching pesticides and developing high fluoride fertilisers I am sure I described as "dishonest" or a "lie" - because it patently was and you admitted it and apologised for making that dishonest claim..
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Re: Evidence & Ethics
Yes. An Associated Press article came out last week stating that the CDC now claims that kids are using too much toohtpaste because of the endemic of dental fluorosis. So the followers of the CDC also accept this. But yes water fluoridation began causing dental fluorosis long before fluoride toothpaste was ever invented. The original correlation that attempted to claim fluoride in water reduces caries was in the 1930's where substantial dental fluorosis was observed in communites with fluoride at 1 ppm in water. Toohtpaste with fluoride was not available until the 1950's.
The CDC has a mission to protect the Surgeon General's claim that fluoride ingestion is safe and effective, so obvsiouly it must be that toohtpaste be blamed for what is mostly done by water fluoride..But both now are involved in causing the high incidence of fluorosis enamel hypoplasia.
The bizarre thing is that there is no credible well controlled evidence in man or animals proving that fluoridation even works to lower dental caries. And yet vast effort and funds are put into fluoridating the country. Pretty disgusting and when this is called out, all you will get from fluoridationists is that you are somehow the 'scaremonger.'


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Lovely colour and super comfortable fit with the 3/4 sleeves and longer length so it stays put when you're upside down! More colours please!
Lovely dark blue colour. covers my arms which is a bonus for me. Flattering fit and doesnt feel restrictive.
I've one in each of the current colours and they fit & suit me beautifully. No riding up when inverting, tight enough to show body alignment but not too tight to show everything else! Lovely length too


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Editor's note: Tat-Tuesday is a weekly series that features students around campus and their tattoos.
Paulette McDurfee
The tattoo of the letters "PMA" on the shoulder of economics senior Paulette McDurfee comes from a dark time in her life. They serve as a reminder for her to look on the bright side of life.
"It stands for 'positive mental attitude.' I first heard it from my favorite band, Alesana," McDurfee said. "I thought, 'Oh, that's a nice message,' and then I went through depression myself and realized it really is a nice message. It encourages me as a sign of strength."
After coming to college and leaving her family in South Carolina, McDurfee struggled with depression. Though it was a stark change, she persevered through the dark feelings of loneliness and despondency.
"I felt kind of alone for a long time in this huge city. I always had a lot of support growing up, and now it's just me," she said. "I had to kind of find myself and realized I don't like who I am right now. I started wondering what it would be like if I didn't exist at all."
Self-help books full of positivity helped, but it wasn't until she met a little miracle of life her that she felt a renewed sense of hope.
"My niece was born the fall of my sophomore year," she said. "All positivity came with that, and that little light brought me back from the edge. And so the tattoo shows me, 'Hey, you made it.'"
Steph McConnell
While looking through the remaining possessions of her roommate after his sudden passing, a sketch of a heart that graduate student Steph McConnell found inspired her to honor her best friend with a tattoo.
"It's half a heart," McConnell said. "It reminded me of those friendship necklaces that have the little heart. It was my take on that."
Though the design of her tattoo is not originally her friend's, her roommate's art inspired McConnell.
Danae Notgrass
Stylistic elements of tribal designs fascinate interior design senior Danae Notgrass. She decided to combine her fascination with her lifelong love of elephants to create a visually striking tattoo.
"In a tribe, you're part of something bigger than you, as a cohesive entity," Notgrass said. "That's kinda what elephants are, all about them but also belonging to something."
The familial nature of tribal life and elephants appeal to Notgrass, who said she finds her "tribe" in her friends.
Though she loves the design, Notgrass acknowledges some could potentially see it as controversial.
"I can see how it would be misconstrued as (cultural appropriation), but that wasn't my intention at all," Notgrass said. "I just wanted to represent the elephant."
Sim Singh
The message at the heart of author Jeanette Winterson's novel "Weight," about the Greek Titan Atlas, resonated with math sophomore Sim Singh. Immediately after finishing the book, she decided to get a tattoo inspired by it.
"It's the idea of burdens and weights you carry around," she said. "I believe everyone has burdens they carry around, and this always reminds me to remember who I am."
Singh intentionally left out continents and colors, opting instead for a design resembling a tabletop globe. The tattoo is not quite finished yet, and Singh plans to add a stem to it in the coming days.
"I didn't want a continental globe; I just wanted a general idea of the world," Singh said. "As soon as we were finished, we knew we should add a stem later."
"He was studying to be a doctor, and (he) had drawings of hearts," she said. "I was looking through some of his stuff, and the tattoo came from the same kind of idea."


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I routinely publish volunteering opportunities from the Boston Chapter of Gay for Good. but recently realized it had been several months since I last gave this group a shout out. G4G, as I like to refer to them, may be the perfect option for you if you're looking to meet people or would like to volunteer but cannot commit to a particular charity. Each month, Gay For Good Boston selects a different non-profit to donate time for a community service project and they arrange all the logistics. There is no money required and anyone willing to give their time and energy are welcome, but note that most opportunities fill quickly.
Save the date for these upcoming volunteering projects by G4G:
- Monday, August 21 – Boston Living Center
- Saturday, September 9 – Emerald Necklace
- Saturday, September 16 – Boston Harbor Islands
- Saturday, October 14 – Boston Harbor Islands
If this sounds like a group you would like to learn more about, I encourage you to link here to join the organization. You will receive regular notifications about upcoming volunteering opportunities.
To learn more, e-mail them at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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A few 2012 Pinot Noirs had been bottled and were tasted, including their largest cuvee (15,700 cases), the 2012 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. This beauty is a real steal in terms of high quality at a reasonable price. Deep ruby, this exuberant, delicious Pinot offers up notes of roasted herbs, forest floor, plum sauce and black cherries followed by a deep, rich, full-bodied, round and luscious wine. Drink it over the next 3-4 years. Patz and Hall has a long and enviable track record, making Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from some of the very finest single vineyards in Northern California. They rarely miss a beat, and the wines are 'sure bets' regardless of vintage conditions. The current group of 2011s and early-released 2012s once again prove the consistency of these wines, which cut a very attractive synthesis in style between the more austere Burgundian model and the riper, more fruit-laden California style. As one can see, these are consistently well-made wines from Patz and Hall that merit significant attention from all serious wine consumers. The Pinot Noirs from Patz and Hall tend to be cold-soaked prior to fermentation for 3-4 days, and depending on the vintage, the grapes are usually uncrushed whole clusters with normally around 10-20% stems utilized.
Medium red. Expressive aromas of cranberry, plum, brown spices and forest floor, along with a meaty nuance. Supple and bright, with dark plum and earth flavors lifted by aromatic spices. A very representative, ripe Sonoma Coast blend with good breadth and immediate appeal.
It's hard to imagine any Pinot Noir being richer or riper than this one, which is made from a blend of vineyards from throughout the county's cooler areas. It's explosive with jammy raspberries, cherries, boysenberries and pomegranates, along with plenty of new French oak for buttery, toasty complexities. It will hold for a year or three.
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Benjamin Britten: Simple Symphony
Edvard Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Jean Sibelius: Symphony #1 in E minor, Op. 39
Khatia Buniatishvili, piano
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra/Paavo Järvi
Munich, Philharmonie im Gasteig, 28 April 2012
The German city of Munich boasts no less than three symphony orchestras of international stature. Next to the Bavarian State Orchestra (the former Bavarian Court Orchestra, now the opera ensemble) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, it is however the Munich Philharmonic which is considered the true city orchestra. Founded in 1893, in recent times the Munich Philharmonic became mainly associated with Sergiu Celibidache, who was its influential general Music Director from 1979 until his death in 1996, and whose memory remains to this day very much alive – the legendary Romanian maestro even has a (smallish) square named after him next to the concert hall. As of 2012/13 Lorin Maazel will act as the orchestra's Music Director.
Read the full review on Classical Net


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Whether you are looking for new authors to explore or new drinks to try out, this comparison of famous writers to delicious drinks will help you know what you are getting into.
Publishing your first book is daunting; the process can be complicated, and many publishers enforce different practices and requirements. To help you navigate the publishing process, here is one publisher's procedure and recommendations for getting your book published.
Scribendi.com is excited to sponsor the Mary Webb Cultural & Community Centre's second major poetry-reading-with-music event, which will take place on Saturday, April 13, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.