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January 18, 2011
Contact: Lawrence Ragonese (609) 292-2994
Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795
(11/P7) TRENTON - The Department of Environmental Protection's Homeowners Firewood Program, which provides low-cost wood to the public and improves forest health, will expand this winter to Brendan T. Byrne State Forest in Woodland Township and Parvin State Park in Pittsgrove, Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.
The program, run by the DEP's Division of Parks and Forestry, will now be available in seven State parks and forests throughout New Jersey.
Initiated in 1973, the program was created to offer inexpensive firewood to residents and provide them with an outdoor recreation opportunity while helping the Division of Parks and Forestry meet forestry management objectives by eliminating dead and unhealthy trees.
"This is a good, common sense program that helps maintain the health of our forests while providing affordable firewood to our residents," said Commissioner Martin. "It's a smart program that's a win for everyone involved.''
"Wood is one of the most abundant and useful natural resources on earth. But to sustain this renewable natural resource, it must be managed with proven regeneration methods,'' added State Forester Lynn Fleming. "These methods include harvesting mature, diseased and hazard trees in our State parks and forests, which this program helps accomplish."
The Division of Parks and Forestry received federal stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which has been used this winter to hire a logging service to cut down dead, dying and hazardous trees at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Parvin State Park. Many of those trees had been ravaged by gypsy moths, said Fleming.
Those logging efforts have removed hazard trees in forested areas in portions of those two sites that are regularly accessed by the public, including along roadways and at recreational sites, such as picnic areas, cabin and camping sites and interpretive centers.
State residents can seek permits to cut up and cart away as much as six cords of the felled trees at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest and Parvin State Park, for $20 a cord, said Fleming.
It will take a lot more work to come away with targeted wood at five other State parks and forests that have long been part of this program, including High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest in northern New Jersey, and Bass River State Park, Belleplain State Forest and Wharton State Forest in southern New Jersey. At those sites, residents must bring chainsaws to cut down specifically marked trees in designated areas of the forests.
(The Belleplain State Forest wood allotments, however, already are sold out.)
At those five parks and forests, residents are responsible for cutting and removing their own firewood. There is a limit of two cords per person at those five sites, for $20 per cord, while supplies last.
Those interested in participating at Brendan T. Byrne State Forest must call (609) 296-1114 on weekdays to register for a two-day permit. To participate at Parvin State Park, call (856) 358-8616. Permits also may be obtained in person at Bass River State Forest (for Brendan T. Byrne State Forest) and Parvin State Park administrative offices.
For more information on this program and all seven participating sites, visit: www.njparksandforests.org
For a Homeowners Firewood Application Form: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/docs/homeowners_firewood_application_form_2010-2011_fillable1.pdf
For a Homeowners Firewood Information Sheet:
For Tips on Safely Burning Firewood in an Environmentally Proper Manner, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/newsrel/2010/10_0146.htm
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Category: foraging
Foraging for watercress
Wisconsin Public Radio recently aired a lovely feature in their ongoing "Wisconsin Life" series focused on watercress. As their Tumblr describes, "Carpets of watercress cover many Wisconsin streams and springs in the spring. The tender green leaves are a bright and nutritious taste of the season if you know how and where to find it. Dani Lind and Erika Janik take us watercress hunting in the Driftless area." Check out the audio story as well as some lovely pictures at Wisconsin Life's site.
For more on harvesting wild watercress, see this nice article (from 2008, but still fully relevant) by Karen Herzog for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It features the foraging of UW-Madison paleontology instructor Joe Skulan. As Herzog writes,
Wild watercress any time of year is more flavorful than supermarket watercress, Skulan adds. "It's like supermarket tomatoes versus 'real' tomatoes. There's no comparison."
Winter watercress also is curiously fragrant.
"Everything's more intense in the winter," explains L'Etoile sous chef Pete Kelly. "Like spinach and cold-weather vegetables, winter watercress tends to be sweeter. It doesn't look as good as it does in the spring, when it stretches to the light. But it tastes great."
The food at our feet
The title of this post comes from this recent piece in The New Yorker by Jane Kramer. (As of this writing, the article is not yet hidden behind their pay wall, so non-subscribers should read it while you can!) Kramer recounts several months of her adventures searching for food with some experienced foragers. Her many interesting finds include fennel, wild asparagus, and crespina in Italy; stinging nettles, yarrow leaves, and pea plants in England; and rose-hip berries, beach grass, and sea lettuce in Denmark.
The latter were found and sampled with renowned chef René Redzepi. Despite his restaurant Noma having been named Best Restaurant in the World for the second year in a row (in a flattering but not-unproblematic ranking), Redzepi comes across here and elsewhere as a thoughtful, passionate, engaging, and eminently likeable guy. For more on Redzepi and Noma, head to NPR for an interview that followed the publication of his cookbook, or check out the wonderful video below from Phaidon Press, publisher of Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine.
Locavorism as necessity
Eating healthful, local produce can seem like something privileged folks do, and for good reason. Compared to products made with heavily subsidized corn and soy, or cheap-labor produce picked at the behest of far-off corporations, local veggies, fruits, and animal products can come with a higher price tag that can be hard to manage for folks who are struggling economically. Felisa Rogers had that opinion, until her finances got so tight that foraging the countryside around Seattle became a way to feed herself and her husband. Check out her story at Salon.
Foraging for berries in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio has been running a wonderful series of pieces called "Wisconsin Life." Today they aired an interesting story about wild berries, noting that the berries we know and love in the U.S. are the ones that the Europeans who came here centuries ago knew and loved. Most berries native to North America are seriously overlooked these days.
More information about ground cherries can be found in this helpful PDF prepared by a great Madison-area CSA, Harmony Valley Farm. I wonder if there'll be any ground cherries at the farmers' market this fall?

subset: commoncrawl


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If you had a lot of medical bills in 2018, you might be able to write off some of those expenses on your taxes. But your costs have to meet a threshold before they can be deducted.
The IRS lets you deduct qualified medical costs on your tax return as long as they are more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. Only costs that exceed that amount can be deducted.
For example, if your AGI is $45,000, you would multiply $45,000 by 0.075 and see that only medical expenses exceeding $3,375 can be deducted. If your medical bills for the year totaled $6,000, that leaves you with a medical expense deduction of $2,625.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, the medical expense threshold will rise to 10 percent of your AGI.
The threshold may seem unattainable, but you might meet it if you know what you can deduct.
Whose medical deductions can you count?
Medical and dental bills for you, your spouse and your dependents — everyone listed on your tax return — count toward the allowable deduction limit.
And don't forget about medical bills you paid for a deceased dependent, whether before or after the person died.
Once you're confident you know just whose costs are covered, be sure you don't miss any.
Often-overlooked medical deductions:
- Travel expenses to and from medical treatments. For 2018 taxes, the medical travel rate is 18 cents per mile, up from 17 cents per mile in 2017.
- Insurance payments from already-taxed income. This includes the cost of long-term care insurance, up to certain limits based on your age.
- Uninsured medical expenses, such as an extra pair of eyeglasses or set of contact lenses, false teeth, hearing aids and artificial limbs.
- Costs of alcohol- or drug-abuse treatments.
- Eye surgery, such as Lasik, when it is not for cosmetic purposes only.
- Medically necessary costs prescribed by a physician. For example, if your doctor told you to add a humidifier to your home to relieve breathing problems, the humidifier and additional electricity costs to operate it could be at least partially deductible.
- Some medical conference costs. You can count admission and transportation expenses to the conference if it concerns a chronic illness suffered by you, your spouse or a dependent. Meals and lodging costs while at the seminar, however, are not deductible.
- Weight-loss programs, in some instances, might count as a deductible medical expense, similar to stop-smoking programs. But the diet program must be medically necessary — for example, if a doctor recommends it to reduce the risks of obesity or hypertension.
Another way to get a tax break is with a medical flexible spending account, or FSA. An FSA lets you set aside before-tax money, up to a certain amount, with which to pay out-of-pocket medical expenses. The 2018 contribution limit for FSAs is $2,650.
"Many employers offer plans that allow you to pay a portion of your medical expenses with pre-tax dollars," says Valrie Chambers, associate professor of taxation and accounting at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.
"This is a very good deal – almost a guaranteed 15 to 25 percent discount for most services. It helps to absorb the economic shock of an illness – and it is a shock," says Chambers, who strongly encourages workers with access to an FSA to sign up.
Special medical needs
If you have special needs, there are other costs you can write off, such as the cost of a wheelchair, crutches, equipment that enables a deaf person to use a telephone or devices that provide television closed-captioning. Don't forget guide dogs for the blind or hearing-impaired, or the costs to retrofit your car with special hand controls, or space to hold a wheelchair.
Aging-in-place home remodels you can write off
- Installing ramps.
- Widening doors and hallways and lowering counters and cabinets.
- Adjusting electrical outlets and fixtures.
- Grading exterior landscape to ease access to the house.
- Adding a chairlift to get up and down stairs.
If you make changes to your home for medical reasons, you can deduct the cost as a medical expense. Expenses related to making your home more accessible for a handicapped resident also are deductible, but you likely won't be able to write off the full costs on your tax return.
If the improvement increases the value of your property, that amount is subtracted from the project's cost, and the difference counts as a medical expense.
For example, let's say you spend $60,000 to install an elevator in your home because you have a heart problem and can't walk flights of stairs anymore. Your home was worth $200,000; the elevator raised the value to $240,000. The cost of the elevator minus the increase in your home value is what you can deduct – in this case, $20,000.
Medical costs that are not tax-deductible
Strictly cosmetic surgery, health-club dues or costs of a weight-loss program that is not medically necessary aren't deductible.
Neither are hair transplant operations or, at the other extreme, electrolysis treatments.
Since there are no tax breaks, you might consider financing cosmetic or non-medical surgeries with a cash-back credit card.
For a complete list of what the IRS will and won't allow you to count toward your medical deductions, check out Publication 502. You might find a few things there that apply to you — maybe just enough to get you over that 10 percent deduction hurdle.
Source: https://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/maximizing-your-medical-deductions-1.aspx


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Easter is about rebirth and renewal, yet that spirit doesn't extend to all parts of the holiday. Countless Easter eggs, for example, are produced, used and then discarded every year, whether they were laid by a hen, a rabbit or a plastic mold.
Conveniently, a new research project aims to make such ovoid overkill less wasteful, and not only on Easter. Led by scientists at the U.K.'s University of Leicester, the project is developing a way to convert eggshells into bioplastics, to be used in anything from pharmaceuticals to egg cartons — and maybe even plastic Easter eggs.
This could be a boon for food producers, which often must pay to dispose of eggshells in landfills. That's why the Food and Drink iNet, a U.K. food-industry group tasked with "increasing profitability through the successful exploitation of new ideas," is funding the project. But the possibilities go well beyond that — recycled eggshells could also find a second life in biomedicine, for instance, or as filler to "bulk up" conventional plastics, potentially reducing demand for such oil-based, nonrenewable materials.
"Eggshell is classified as a waste material by the food industry, but is in fact a highly sophisticated composite," says Richard Worrall, director of the Food and Drink iNet, in a University of Leicester press release. "This could have potential benefit on many levels, both for food manufacturers and a much wider industry."
Bioplastics have been around for years, most notably the corn-based kind found in water bottles and plastic cutlery. But conventional plastic — which isn't biodegradable, and typically includes toxic petrochemicals — remains far more common around the world. The U.K. alone still uses more than 5 million tons of oil-based plastics every year, according to the British Plastics Federation. The U.S. is even more prolific, generating 31 million tons of plastic waste in 2010, according to federal data.
Scientists who specialize in "green chemistry" and sustainable materials are leading the project, which has so far received nearly £20,000 (about $31,600) from the Food and Drink iNet. Once they finalize a pre-treatment process to sterilize the eggshells, their next step will be to figure out how to extract glycosaminoglycans, or GAGs, a class of proteins in eggshells that are also used in various biomedical applications.
At the same time, they'll be developing a post-treatment process to convert the shells into a starchy plastic, and then testing that new material's strength and other mechanical properties. Ultimately, they hope to use eggshell-based plastic to produce egg cartons for retail sale, offering a high-profile example of closed-loop recycling. If successful, this could later be expanded to other plastic products, using an icon of Easter's material excess to spread the holiday's original spirit of renewal.
Of course, none of this would be happening if it didn't make financial sense — a fact highlighted by Pankaj Pancholi of the U.K. food company Just Egg, which every week uses 1.3 million eggs that leave behind roughly 11 tons of eggshells. The chance to recycle those shells would not only save money, Pancholi points out, but could also spur more breakthroughs down the road.
"If I wasn't spending the £30,000 a year on landfill costs," he says in a statement released by the university, "I could employ another worker or two part-time workers, or invest that money in R&D and innovation."


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The Berenstain Bears' Easter SurpriseThe Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise (1981)
This page has been viewed 122 times this month, and 1943 times total.
- Traditional Animation
- Joseph Cates Productions, Perpetual Motion Pictures, Inc.
- Cartoon Characters: Papa Q. Bear, Mama Bear, Brother Bear, Sister Bear, Boss Bunny.
- Voice Actors: Ron McLarty, Pat Lysinger, Knowl Johnson, Gabriela Glatzer, Bob McFadden.
- Directed By Mordicai Gerstein, Al Kouzel.
- Produced By Buzz Potamkin, Hal Hoffer.
- Animated By Vinnie Bell, Vincent Cafarelli, Jack Dazzo, Candy Kugel, Jan Svochak, Marty Taras, Sparky Calabrese.
- Written By Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain.
- Music: Elliot Lawrence, Lanny Meyers.
- Editor: Neil Lawrence.
- Originally Released on April 14, 1981.
- Running Time: 30 minutes.
- Color
Cartoon Summary:
Papa bear goes in search of the Easter Rabbit to find out why Easter is running late.
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Yesterday raptors played the score was 118-119 overtime 3 in a row!!!!!!! that was amazing it was so intense and amazing that was one heck of a game to watch that was so intense but at the end they were tied with 2 seconds left of third overtime and they got a 3 pointer ahhhh so mad but at the end of the game it doesn't matter who wins actually it does LOL.
z 2017-2018 !!! > z 2015-16 Blogs > 20 Suleman-NBA!!!!!! >


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Because we recognize that your privacy is important, the Montour Trail Council established a privacy policy to address use of our website, as well as information that you may provide to us via other means, for example by becoming a member, participating in MTC events, or other interactions with the MTC.
What information do we collect?
Our website does not use cookies, nor do we not collect any incidental user information unless you take a specific action in filling out an on-line form, such as signing up for an event, making a donation, volunteering or becoming a member. In these cases, the only information we collect is what you enter into the form on our website.
In some cases, our website may redirect you to another website for a specific purpose, such as PayPal (for submitting payments) or Race360 (for event registration). In these cases, information collected is subject to that website's privacy policy. Credit card information provided to PayPal or other payment handlers is not relayed to the MTC.
Collected information also includes information you may provide to us by filling out forms for event registration, membership, or volunteer activities. Such information will also be protected in accordance with this policy.
How is the information protected?
Information is held in confidence and will never be provided to third parties. We will not sell or otherwise provide mailing lists to outside individuals. The data are stored in our membership database, which is password-protected and can be accessed only by MTC administrative personnel.
How is the information used?
Contact information may be used to communicate with you periodically concerning trail news and events. Such contact may be via postal mail, email, or (rarely) telephone. Other information is used only in the course of planning the related activities, to assure safety, adequate supplies, etc.
You may opt-out of such communications by sending an email to email@example.com, or clicking the opt-out link in a bulk email from us.


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When the winter sets in and it's cold outside, nothing beats a cosy nook and comfort food. Orto Trading Co. on the Waterloo strip of Surry Hills may not be tiny but it sure is warm and friendly– both indoors and out. The fit out alone is worth a visit: the main dining room is light and airy with tall glasshouse walls and bare Scandinavian tables that are paired with two-tone wooden chairs. An exposed brick wall features at the back of the bar and an innovative installation of recycled glass bottles and flowers dangle over the wooden counter.
Glass jars filled with tea-light candles adorn the outdoor marquee which is well-heated however blankets are readily available for those who can still feel the winter chill. But, we can assure you, as soon as the restaurant fills up, which is very quickly, body warmth is all you'll require.
The menu follows the rhythm of the seasons and dishes often change to accommodate the new bounty. However there are a few regular fixtures that steel the limelight. We start with one of the house specialties – a scotch duck egg is encased in a crusty shell of house-made pork sausage and served on a wooden plank. The British home-style undertones extend through to main course with a hearty slow-braised beef and ale stew with corn meal dumplings and winter vegetables. The market fish, a crispy skin snapper, arrives atop a mound of creamy cauliflower puree that is silky and smooth. The plate is scattered with watercress, crunchy macadamia nuts and crispy pancetta strips that lend textural complexity to a well-balanced dish.
The food is made for sharing and accordingly portions are incredibly generous. If you have a ravenous appetite, be sure to order the house bread, which comes toasted with a smattering of oregano and fresh roasted garlic (my absolute favourite) for you to smear across the surface.
Sami- Jo Adelman
Read more about Orto Trading Co. here


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[This post about three paycheck months may include affiliate links at no cost to you.]
I love three paycheck months. The monthly income goes up but expenses stay the same!
My company usually has two three paycheck months in a year and June was the first one. That can only mean good things for my savings rate this month.
I can spend more in a month like this and still have a great savings rate. One of the trends that continued this month was additional car payments. As mentioned in last month's update, I've been on a 0 debt kick recently. Now, that I'm very close to having my car loan paid off, I'm eager to kick that into high gear and free up some extra cash flow.
That led to higher expenses in May and a lower savings rate but I think it's worth it in the long run. The extra paycheck in June allowed me to continue paying down that debt. Hopefully, without impacting my savings rate too much.
So far this year, I've done a solid job with my savings rate in comparison to last year. I'll do a mid year goal review soon that takes a look at where I'm sitting and I'm eager to see those results!
Last year's June had some wedding related expenses. That include an engagement ring for my beautiful future wife and a down payment on a wedding venue. That led to a low savings rate of 18.93% despite being a three paycheck month.
Those expenses didn't exist this month so I'm hoping for much better results. Let's take a look at what I saved in June.
Gross Income Savings Rate
I saved 40.8% of my gross income this month. That number goes up to 45.73% if I include employer contributions.
That's a pretty awesome month. The long term goal is to save 1/3rd of my gross income and I'm beating that here.
Now, let's look at the savings rate.
Savings Rate
My savings rate for the month was 54.39%. That number jumps to 61.04% with employer contributions.
Three paycheck months are generally easier to do well in and June is no different. As I said before, that's because my monthly expenses generally stay the same but I get more income!
There are outliers like last year's June which had three paychecks but a low savings rate of 18.93% due to much higher expenses. Luckily, those were one time expenses and this June puts me back on the path of solid savings.
After Q1, my savings rate was 53.2%. April was above 50% as well but May came in below with a 31% savings rate.
It's good to get back above 50% and I hope that puts me in that range as of the end of Q2. I haven't crunched those numbers yet but will soon for my mid-year goal review.
It was important for me to get a good start this year as I have a wedding and honeymoon coming up and that will mean low savings months in my future. I knew that if I stood any chance of hitting my goals, I'd have to buckle down and save a ton in these early months.
Related : My 2018 Annual Goals – the financial goal Olympics
That doesn't mean I've spent no money. In fact, I've been more aggressive in paying down my car loan ASAP so my savings rate could have been higher if I didn't do that.
Let's take a look at where my money went this month.
My book income continues to carry the day! This month it covers my travel budget(parking) and either household or entertainment. I think household was some tissues and clorox wipes and entertainment was our Netflix, Hulu and iTunes subscription. Those are some big bucks guys!
In reality, it's a tiny slice of the income pie with my job taking care of most of my needs. Still, it's nice to have a little extra cash here and there. Maybe one day, I'll write a bit more but it's cool to see that stuff I wrote in 2015 is still selling and bringing in a few bucks!
Most of my money went to savings and that's what I like to see every month but let's take a deeper dive into the expenses after that.
Car expenses were #1 again due to the additional payments I've made. The balance on the loan is now close to $1700 and should be below $1000 before the end of the month.
The goal is to pay the whole thing off before my wedding at the end of September! It'd be nice to get it done in August since September will be an expense extravaganza due to wedding costs.
Car expenses will still show up in these expenses reports due to taxes, insurance and maintenance but they'll be much less prevalent after that! It'll be nice to have that extra cash flow to invest in a few months.
Rent is next and that'll be around for quite some time. We are looking for a home but haven't had luck with anything. Our lease is up for renewal soon and the home listing season is seemingly dying down so it's likely we'll be in our apartment at least another year.
Groceries are my third expense and that has been increasing lately as I stay in more often rather than going to restaurants. I've started cooking a bit more again and picked up a large tenderloin that the butcher cut up for me. My steak cooking skills have gotten much better and I've been working on mastering the reverse sear and making sure I get a perfect medium rare each time. It's been going pretty well so far.
Clothes are next and included a shopping spree at J. Crew Factory. They had a 50% off sale at the outlets and I picked up about 8 t-shirts, 4 casual shirts and 4 dress shirts. I needed some new dress shirts for job interviews and the price was right. I find that J. Crew Factory has the best quality for the price you can find. The shirts look good, fit my skinny tall frame well and last for a long time. They also wash very well. I still have casual long sleeve shirts from there that I bought four years ago that look brand new. I also wanted to replace my t-shirts which are mostly made up of nerdy graphic tees that I don't really like anymore. The blank J. Crew shirts fit well and are a good replacement plus at $9, they were a great deal.
Health was an expense for two tests I had done. Luckily, my insurance covered one of them as preventive so I only had to pay for the cheaper one! Results were all good too so double bonus!
Restaurants are next and included some brunches here and there. My fiancee and I usually go out when we take day trips since it's hard to eat at home when you're not there! We have started to eat at home more often though as I found myself enjoying eating out less and less lately. Maybe it has something to do with my cooking getting better!
I spent a little bit on my blog this month too. I talked about Pinterest before and sprung on a Tailwind yearly membership. There's a free month to try it and I really liked it so I paid for the full year to give it a full test run. Right now the results have been good with my Pinterest account doubling in views and followers. On top of that, Pinterest has become my second best source of traffic(first best on some days) and it seems to be growing so that's great.
If you want to give Tailwind a try you can use this link for a free month.
The goal with Tailwind is to improve visibility on the site. It's a good way to try out one of the various social media platforms on the internet and see how they drive traffic. Tailwind also integrates with Instagram now but I haven't tried that feature yet. Pinterest is an interesting platform and Tailwind certainly helps usability since it automates posting schedules for you. It's much, much easier than doing it all manually. I was definitely too lazy to make it work manually but the automatic posting feature of Tailwind makes it a breeze.
I like it and see it as a fair value for the yearly subscription. I'll keep testing out to see if I see good results throughout the year. The early results are pretty promising.
The final few expenses are common visitors on my expense report. Gotta have that internet to surf reddit! As I say each month, parking for work is too expensive, damn cities!
My pet expenses were dog food and treats for my teddy! Gifts pertain to presents or charity and were a small portion of the puzzle. Home bills are just gas and electric. It's interesting to see how these two switch up during the seasons. Now that the A/C is pumping all day, my electric bill is soaring but gas is low since the heat isn't on all day. That will reverse once winter hits!
Overall, this was another solid month. I'm happy with the start of this year and see it as a good foundation for the second part of 2018. I have a wedding and a honeymoon coming up and those things are costly so I know a few months on the back end will suck. That means it's important to get a good start if I want to meet my goals and that's what I've done so far!
Thanks for reading and let me know how your June went!


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GirlTrek — the largest public health nonprofit organization for African American women and girls — is on a mission to help people across the country take literal steps towards adopting a healthier lifestyle. According to its website, GirlTrek "encourages women to use walking as a practical first step to inspire healthy living, families, and communities. As women organize walking teams, they mobilize community members to support monthly advocacy efforts and lead a civil rights-inspired health movement."
Focusing on Black women and girls is especially important given that the obesity crisis in the United States disproportionately affects the community. They are consequently more likely to have conditions related to obesity, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertensive disease, and diabetes.
Walking is the first step toward combatting these conditions, and over 160,000 people have taken the GirlTrek pledge, vowing to participate in walks and work towards improving their overall wellness. Over 96,000 children have also been positively influenced by the program.
To find out more about the sense of community GirlTrek provides, we caught up with a few of the walkers.
Lisa Ruth Canley
Lisa Ruth Canley, who has been walking with GirlTrek for a little over a year, credits the program for helping her lose about 15 pounds over the course of six months, as well as inspiring her to create a walking group called the Harlem Sole Divas that meets at least once a month. The women in this group not only hold each other accountable, but they also provide the bonds of friendship and community needed to feel connected and happy.
"GirlTrek has helped me actually to be freer," Canley, told A Plus. "I was always shy. A lot of people don't believe that because I'm leading this GirlTrek team. But the passion that I have about our health forces me to get up and move and to invite other people. I'm really serious about it. That we need to gain control of our health, whether it's eating right and doing the walk, thirty minutes for our heart health or some other method of exercise. But walking is free and everybody can do it."
"This has impacted me in a way that I really can't describe in words. It's the actions that speak to me. All of these different types of walks, the commitment and challenge itself is amazing. Not realizing that I could do it. [...] Everybody needs to join this movement who is a black woman. Whether you have a health issue or not, so that you can maintain your health."
Dayna Janelle Coffren
Dayna Janelle Coffren also started walking with GirlTrek about a year ago, and it couldn't have come at a better time. As a new empty-nester, Coffren was feeling alone and looking for a community when she decided to take the pledge and start walking.
"I had just gone on this detox retreat in February, and I walked my first two miles ever in my life," she told A Plus. "I came back and I found GirlTrek and it was about walking. And I just said, 'This is perfect, I want to keep walking.' And so I did. [...] Now I'm walking six miles, I'm out here almost every day. Five days a week. I'm out here. I'm rallying other women. I love it."
Since starting in April 2017, she has lost about 20 pounds and says she has become a pescatarian. All of these changes has helped her to go off of the cholesterol medications she had been taking for years.
"I pray when I walk. I talk to God. Walking has really changed my life. It really, really has. I'm getting emotional, I want to cry right now, because GirlTrek really made me care about myself."
"I found [my first] walk in Queens," Coffren continued. "I live in Long Island, it was the nearest one. And the group is Rare & Radiant. Lisa Handley is the organizer there, and we've since become besties [...] We're constantly holding each other accountable, encouraging one another. "
Siobhan Ollivierre
Siobhan Ollivierre started walking with GirlTrek about one and a half years ago. She didn't hesitate to say that her "life has dramatically changed with GirlTrek." She told A Plus, "It has encouraged me to be more active and to do so many more things to make sure that my health is in the best place. [...] I look at my pictures from last year, and I look different."
"And another big part of GirlTrek for me is the spiritual aspect. My attitude has changed. I have this great sisterhood with a lot of people from all over. I've gotten to meet so many people."
Ollivierre was so inspired after her first walk that she immediately started a group of her own called the Harlem Sole Divas. Since then she's made a conscious effort to take care of herself. Ollivierre typically walks five to six days a week, and she has even hired a personal trainer.
She explained to A Plus that before GirlTrek "I did not plan exercise or physical activity into my day at all. But with the realization of GirlTrek for me, I've been able to do that. I've been able to say, 'Siobhan, you're important. You need to take this self-care time.' And so I carve that time out, and no one can take that time. I have it there to use it, and it's been wonderful, just being able to take that power back for myself and for my health. It's made a tremendous difference in my life."


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What's "Happening Now?"
As we wrote about a few posts back, Facebook is currently test-marketing a new feature called "Happening Now" that functions much like a Twitter feed. Embedded on the right side of your profile page, Happening Now provides a real-time feed of your friends' activities—things they are "liking," web pages or videos they are sharing, comments they are making, etc.
Nothing Good
The problem is, those in the small test market group seem to hate it! Major complaints include that it is redundant with your existing main page news feed, that it has done away with reminders of upcoming events (some people have even missed events because they didn't get the reminder they normally would have), and that it provides way too much information, cluttering up the profile page and generally making it busier than it needs to be.
Nothing Good at All
Our earlier post received a couple comments from test subjects who both hate the new feature. And a discussion page on Facebook itself is full of exclusively negative comments, such as this one: "I just got it on my account today and it's HORRIBLE. I've emailed them to complain. There doesn't appear to be any way to remove it. It's annoying, and on top of it, you no longer see birthdays and events. Crappy move on Facebook's part."
What's Happening Next?
While it's not clear that the negativity has reached any sort of critical mass, the absence of anything positive has to be a concern for Facebook. While initial articles about the feature did note its redundancy with the main news feed, and suggested final rollout would focus more on likes and shares, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Facebook respond to users' feedback and provide a way to opt out? Will they bring back event reminders on profile pages? Will they scrap Happening Now altogether?
We Want to Hear from You
If you're part of the test group, we want to know what you think about Happening Now. Good? Bad? Horrible? Indifferent? And whether you've experience it or not, how responsive should companies like Facebook be to user criticism? Amid reports of a steady drain of users in recent months and an already shaky reputation on privacy, could a major misstep push even more people out the door and open the way for another platform to take over as the new social media giant? Might Facebook go the way of MySpace or Friendster?


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My Cats are Pretty Much Useless.
I'm trying to train my cats to rub my feet but since cats are
selfish assholes animals, it hasn't been going too well. For instance, they don't appreciate when I take their little paws and show them how to do a kneading motion even though I KNOW they know how to do that because they do it all the time as kittens. Apparently they don't like being made to do anything against their will. So then I tried to get them to rub my feet passive-aggressively by pushing them down on the floor and rubbing them on their backs and tummies with my feet. I figured hey, win-win, we both get massages, but alas, again, they don't like being made to do anything they don't put their own minds to. Next came bribery, because as all human and animal trainers know, living things will do pretty much anything for a reward, especially when it's a delicious food reward. But my asshole cats simply ate the treats and ran away. It's like they don't love me or care about my feelings at all. I don't want to have to do it, but I will seriously consider withholding all love, affection, treats, and water until they start to cooperate. If that's what it's gonna take to get a damn foot rub in this house, then I will do it.
|No I will NOT rub your feet, person. Now bring me a treat and the remote.*not one of my cats, by the way. They don't sit still for photos. Assholes.


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Innovative technology which could vastly increase manufacturing processes and production in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries has been licensed from Heriot-Watt University.
High tech continuous reactor company, NiTech Solutions Ltd. has signed a new deal with Heriot-Watt allowing it to commercialise revolutionary crystallisation technology. In the global fine chemicals and pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, the control of particle shape and size is a critical manufacturing step. This patent-pending innovation has been developed within Professor Xiong-Wei Ni's research group at Heriot-Watt, and is complementary with NiTech's existing IP portfolio and its current range of laboratory and pilot scale products – NiTech® Reactor, NiTech® Crystalliser and NiTech® Evaluator.
This latest agreement, Heriot-Watt's 14th with Scottish SME companies in 2012, is the first with NiTech Solutions since spinning-out from Heriot-Watt's Chemical Engineering labs in 2003 to commercialise the "Oscillating Baffled Reactor (OBR)" technology, and is testament to Heriot-Watt's relations with the Scottish SME community and the on-going success of technology transfer activity within the University.


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Warmer air is currently moving towards New England, meaning highs on Sunday in Southern New England will be near 40. As that happens though, snow showers will break out in the mountains. A general 1-3" of snow is expected across the terrain of far Northern and Western New England Sunday. Higher amounts are likely at the tallest peaks; great news for ski country once again.
We get a break on Monday as chilly sunshine returns, but it doesn't last long. A more organized storm arrives on Tuesday.
The first wave of precipitation on Tuesday will fall as snow. Then, as warmer air again makes a run at New England, we'll transition to a mix and rain from south to north. Areas south of Boston will likely be over to rain by lunch on Tuesday, with a slower switch to a mix and rain north of the city. That's where the odds of accumulation on highest.
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
Highs will likely reach the 40s and 50s in some parts of New England on Wednesday as the warmth peaks. That means most of the precipitation falling on Wednesday will be in the form of rain, with a mix for only the coldest parts of New England.
The storm will mostly wrap up late Wednesday or early Thursday, perhaps ending as a bit of wintry precipitation as cold air once again returns.
We'll have much more on the exact timing and precipitation types as we get closer.


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Well, I'd like to thank my blurkers for coming out of hiding! Those of you that did. That would NOT include my brother, his wife or my parents. My therapist will be hearing about this. I feel a deep sense of loss at not being validated in public by those who are nearest and dearest to me. Please send money. I will now keep posting embarassing pictures of all of you.
Moving on...I finally got to put some names to the elusive stats that I see on line. For example, my Belgium blurker, Karena, came out of hiding and I was quite pleased! I'll excerpt her comment:
Guilty as charged. I am your Belgian "blurker." I'm actually an American living over here, so maybe that takes away a few of the cool points. My husband is from Ashland, WI. But I could throw in a few French phrases here and there to make myself more interesting.
Ashland WI!! Did you hear that? Why we are almost neighbors since I grew up in Darlington. I'll bet we were both cheering for The Pack this year. She goes on....
I stay because..... the seemingly paradoxical combination of classical ed and unschooling.
I know, I know, that is a paradox. But believe it or not, I am finding quite a few share that bizarre combination!(see below) And I'll bet you stay for the great recipes, too. Oh. Wait that isn't my blog.
I do actually have a blog of my own, but it's kind of "generic family blog" right now. I have difficulty getting the grandparents to comment.
Well, isn't that interesting, Karena, do you think it is a generational thing? Do you think they are afraid of technology? That can't be, in my case, because they write me emails. Do you think that maybe they are trying to tell you something? Are you, too, seeking therapy for this issue?
Suzanne from Chickens in the Road left a comment, too. I was very pleased she did so, as I have long been an admirer of her blog. Not to mention she is very busy painting, very likely as I type this. She isn't just a humorous blogger talking about her life in West Virginia but a bona fide author (authoress) also. She consoles me by saying that only 1 percent of her traffic actually leaves comments and that I shouldn't loose sleep over it, because the others never will. Oh, Suzanne, do you mean like MY FAMILY?
Angela from Lux Et Veritas Epistula (no, I don't have marbles in my mouth, duh!! That's Latin) came by to thank me for helping decorating her bedroom. Did you know I was a designer in my free time? Angela was being kind, because I doubt she's ever really going to go with that "Elvis/Jungle Room" theme I suggested.
I have to say that Ruth from NC cracked me up.
Uhh, I'm a homeschooling mom of mostly teens and what else am I supposed to do between 7am when DH goes to work and 11am when the troops awaken? Clean house? I think not. Watch TV? Who do you think I am? And I really don't like bonbons. But now I have a new name for myself-blurker.
First of all. Her kids are up at 11 a.m!! Now that's what I'm talking about, sleeping in!! (Although, Ruth, you are up at 7 a.m. and that somehow seems, well, for lack of better word: WRONG!) Ruth clearly has an aversion to housework, so right there I'm liking her. She and her family do the travel trailer thing along with some letterboxing. Excellent.
Paige from Elemental Science stopped by, thank you very much. She has some free science downloads a lulu store with her own Grammar Stage Biology curriculum. Check it out!
Thislittlepiggy is from the The Funny Farm. Her blog totally has THEME. And a great banner. And one doggone (in keeping with the theme) awesome quote: " I homeschool because I've seen the village, and I don't want it raising my child(ren)." ~~Anon.
And here is a word from Kristiana. (bold wording my own)
I know what you mean about stats though, I get comments from a few friends, rarely from family members, and I wonder just what everyone else is doing at my site!
Well, Kristiana, you seem to be pretty "okay" with that whole family issue? Do you come from a large family where you were ignored more and don't need constant reassurance? Do you live near them and see them alot? That must be the case, otherwise I would think they would COMMENT ONCE IN AWHILE!!
David of Oz (I think he means OZ like, Auz-tralia)gave me a new perspective.
We get lots of visitors from around the world and are always pleased to see comments from visitors. But we always see the comments as a bonus - like a little surprise letter from someone you haven't met.
David seems confidant, doesn't he? He seems to have less time on his hands to DIE of burning curiosity!! That having been said their blog is a neat peek at, okay I have to say it, "down under". I especially like their explanation of Structured Classical Unschooling.
Freakmom claims she's from "boring old Illinois" but I know better. That place was always more "happening" than Wisconsin. I liked her blog because there was something eerily familiar about the fact that she homeschools only one child, and her "favorite book list" looks a lot like mine. If you homeschool an only, she's started a yahoo group. Go to her blog to check for the link.
Myfivewolfcubs thanked me for some advice I had given her via one of the forums I frequent. In part, she had this to say:
Your blog makes me laugh...even if I don't always know what your exactly trying to say!
What a relief! I don't know what I'm trying to say, either, so we are in the same wonderful boat!
Some of my regular commenter's came by to tell me how much they loved me. Mommylion,( who has yet to tell me more about that very cool banner/tiles thing) Tara, (fellow Mainer who has some pretty cool pictures on her blog)and Urban Mom (from the great Mid West who keeps me in touch with Chicago).
I'm so not upset as you would imagine that Rechelle and bossy didn't comment. After all, they don't do the homeschool thing and I get that. I mean, I know that they pretty much stalk my site to see when I'm posting next...I can track these things you know, but I am so not upset at them.
This list also does not include a certain chick I went to highschool with, whom I know reads this blog avidly, (I mean, how could you not, it's all rather addicting isn't it? Especially if you are at work and terribly bored. And I know where you work. And how boring that can be...) If you don't come out of hiding I will be forced to find em brassing pictures of you from the 80's. Don't make me do that.
And, the other 99.9% of you who don't comment...well, I guess you have left me very unhappy and discontent. (That's you, family.) And if you want that kind of guilt on your shoulders, then hey, who am I to try to get in the way of that?


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1. Re: Highlighting issuesPaul Mathewson Oct 30, 2015 11:46 AM (in response to Alvin Tarrell)2 of 2 people found this helpful
Hi Alvin,
Try adding the field you wish to highlight to your target sheets. If you don't wish to show that field you can hide it on the sheet or bring it to detail depending on the view you are building.
Filter and Highlight Actions do function differently. Filter actions create a set on the target sheet. That effectively adds the field to the target sheet and allows it to be filtered. Highlight actions do not add the field to the target sheet and require the field to be present on both sheets.
Hope this helps!
2. Re: Highlighting issuesAlvin Tarrell Oct 30, 2015 12:15 PM (in response to Paul Mathewson)
Thanks Paul I will give that a shot. You mention hiding a field on a sheet - not sure I understand how to do that. Can you expand?
3. Re: Highlighting issuesPaul Mathewson Oct 30, 2015 12:43 PM (in response to Alvin Tarrell)
No Problem, Alvin. You can right click the field when it's on rows or columns and uncheck show header. That will keep the field data in the view but will not display it.
4. Re: Highlighting issuesAlvin Tarrell Oct 30, 2015 1:52 PM (in response to Paul Mathewson)
Thanks again Paul. I did bring the linking field onto all the worksheets, but I had to set in to MIN to keep from messing up the displays. Not sure if that affected it or not, but I still am unable to make it highlight properly.
I will ponder over the weekend and see if it comes to me!
5. Re: Highlighting issuesAlvin Tarrell Nov 2, 2015 10:50 AM (in response to Alvin Tarrell)
OK - still having problems. My real data is highly sensitive and on an internal-only network (so I can't share it), but I did make up some similar data to play with.
I basically start with a list of tasks provided by one of three groups within the organization (Groups A, B, and C). Each task has a unique identifier, and the Group provides information on each task to include: (1) the number of contractors, military, and/or civilian workers necessary to complete the task, (2) whether the task support Priority 1, 2, or 3 within the organization (only one allowed), and the mission(s) supported by the task.
My job is to provide a tool to rank all these tasks against each other as a means to support staff reductions. The analysis group devised a means of giving each task a "score" based on a combination of factors - that score (along with the cumulative count of people required to support those tasks) is shown in the line graph portion of the dashboard.
My goal is to allow the user to highlight a desired section on the "score" graph, then have those highlights carry over to the right-hand bar graphs to show the impact of the "cuts" on Group, Priority, and Mission area.
I can make it work with filtering, but not with highlighting, so I must be doing something wrong!
Thanks again in advance for any help!
Sample Data.xlsx 20.6 KB
Example Workbook.twbx 54.4 KB
6. Re: Highlighting issuesPaul Mathewson Nov 2, 2015 12:29 PM (in response to Alvin Tarrell)
Hey Alvin,
I took a look at your workbook. It seems you're trying to highlight areas that are present in the score graph but not present in the three bar graphs. For example, the score graph is broken out by Task ID on the x axis. You could use that to highlight as long as task id was present in the three bar graphs. You would also want to use the "targeted highlighting" portion of the highlight configuration to point to this field (Pictured Below). Another note on highlighting, you cannot highlight on measures,only dimensions like task id or work group in your example.
You may want to rethink how you are displaying this data. I built a really quick demo workbook to show how you could use filtering and highlight actions together with your data. You would want to think about what measures should be shown and how they should be broken down by dimension.
Hope this provides some fresh ideas for you.
Example Workbook w actions.twbx 114.8 KB
7. Re: Highlighting issuesAlvin Tarrell Nov 2, 2015 7:27 PM (in response to Paul Mathewson)
Thanks Paul - all great ideas!
I really thought the highlighting should work. The score graph does have TaskID along the x-axis, but all the bar graphs have CNTD(TaskID) as each row, so I was hoping it would carry over.
I'll play around with it a little more . . .
Thanks again!


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Share Nebraska with Someone Special
Meet some great dating singles in Nebraska who are looking for someone just like you. Have fun (the whole site is completely free), and you never know what special person you might meet.
Matchopolis is a 100% free dating site (no credit cards, no paid "upgrades").
Good day ladies!||I'm an understanding sort of gentleman, who likes nothing more than takng walks while holding hands with the right woman. ||The first thing people usually not
55 M in Chadron, Nebraska, USA
am a person that treats everyone as I want to be treated. I give 100% to a relation. On some things I am old fashion such as opening the door for a woman. ladys always order first
56 M in Chalco, Nebraska, USA
Hello!! - Kind. Loyal. Funny. Smart. Adventurous. I have a good head on my shoulders. I'm easy going and laid back. I can be serious when the time calls for it.
46 M in Kearney, Nebraska, USA
New to Nebraska . I love to laugh and joke I am originally from California (A Valleygirl totally fer sure). I am honest and real. Want someone who is the same. I don't hook up and
51 F in Holdrege, Nebraska, USA
I am 5`9`` dark brown hair and brown eyes. |My weight about 177 lbs. |Average build average appearance. |Non-smoker non drinker. |Not a drug user/abuser. |Not a user/abuser of
62 M in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Im compassionate and easy to get along with. Im easy to talk to. I have a witty sense of humor. I love to laugh. I love laughter. I love to make people happy. |Im a surviver. And
59 F in Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Must love dog, s, must like me - Just, trying to find someone special, that will make me happy, and i can make her happy. 43 years old, have a little acreage, i play around on.
46 M in Bayard, Nebraska, USA
Greetings! - How does one talk or describe themselves? me have a sense of humor, too old for the games that some people play, me work then home me go (pretty boring for some peo...
62 M in Omaha, Nebraska, USA
I am a retired pro boxer that trains others now in downtown Lincoln, Ne. with 1 on 1 time twice a week which could cause me problems but I am very professional! I don't do drama &
47 M in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
I am weird lol but reliable i am not a mans man but i am a man, u wont catch me watching football or drinking beer but i know how to treat my partner i am pansexual be okay with th
30 M in Valentine, Nebraska, USA
A single father of two looking for passionate woman to be with. Person with great attitude, Outgoing such going out to watch movie, going to the lake, have some drink at a leisure
42 M in Omaha, Nebraska, USA
World Traveller - Happy fun loving adventurer. Up front honest say what you mean and mean what you say cowboy type with a fun side. I love the ocean, beaches, sailing and Italy,...
56 M in Hastings, Nebraska, USA


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Design and illustration of the new Starbucks® Single Origin Series.
Like the traditional coffee ceremony held daily in many Sidamo homes,The Mountain Nyala –a symbol of strength and nobility– is a treasured part of Ethiopia's history and culture.
In addition to the coffee bag, I designed a screen-printed poster with foil details that will be given away at selected stores.


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Hello my lovelies!!
It seems here lately, that I've been apologizing over and over again for my absence .. so here we go again.. SORRY! Things have been pretty overwhelming on my end, and finding balance hasn't been easy to say the least.
So with that said, I'll stop my whining and just give you what your really here for.. VINTAGE FREEBIES! Just look at all these gorgeous vintage freebies by Eclectic Anthology! My heart literally stopped when I found these. If you don't want to miss any of their Freebies, be sure to follow them on Facebook.
Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!
Till next time!
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ..
Philippians 1:6


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"Hybrids and Chimeras: A report on the findings of the consultation" by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in October, 2007
In 2007, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in London, UK, published Hybrids and Chimeras: A Report on the Findings of the Consultation, which summarized a public debate about research on, and suggested policy for, human animal chimeras. The HFEA formulated the report after conducting a series of surveys and debates from earlier in 2007. The HFEA issued a statement in September 2007, followed by an official report published on 1 October 2007. Their report on human-animal chimeras set a worldwide precedent for discussions of the ethical use of those embryos in labs.
Format: Articles
Subject: Publications, Legal, Outreach
William Stewart Halsted (1852-1922)
William Stewart Halsted was a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1894 Halsted described his procedure for treating breast cancer by removing the breast tissue, chest muscles, and lymph nodes in the armpit, a procedure he named radical mastectomy, and that became the standard of care for treating breast cancer until 1970.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Gunther von Hagens' Plastination Technique
Plastination is a technique for preserving tissues, organs, and whole bodies for medical purposes and public display. Gunther von Hagens invented a form of the method in 1977 at Heidelberg University in Heidelberg, Germany after observing medical students struggle working with cadavers that quickly decomposed. Von Hagens' body models, referred to as plastinates, have since become widely used educational tools not only for those studying anatomy and medicine, but also for the general public.
Format: Articles
Subject: Technologies
Leon Richard Kass (1939- )
A PhD and medical doctor turned ethicist, Leon Kass calls himself an unlicensed humanist. Throughout his unique career he has sought to impact others and engage important cultural issues. This he has accomplished over the course of many years by studying biochemistry, teaching humanities, writing articles and books on ethics, and serving as chair of the President's Council on Bioethics.
Format: Articles
Subject: People, Ethics, Reproduction
Jesse Bennett (1769–1842)
Jesse Bennett, sometimes spelled Bennet, practiced medicine in the US during the late eighteenth century and performed one of the first successful cesarean operations, later called cesarean sections, in 1794. Following complications during his wife's childbirth, Bennett made an incision through her lower abdomen and uterus to deliver their infant. Bennett's biographers report that his operation was the first cesarean section where both the pregnant woman and the infant survived.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Test-Tube Baby
A test-tube baby is the product of a successful human reproduction that results from methods beyond sexual intercourse between a man and a woman and instead utilizes medical intervention that manipulates both the egg and sperm cells for successful fertilization. The term was originally used to refer to the babies born from the earliest applications of artificial insemination and has now been expanded to refer to children born through the use of in vitro fertilization, the practice of fertilizing an embryo outside of a woman's body.
Format: Articles
Subject: Processes, Ethics, Reproduction
Marie Stopes International
Marie Stopes International (MSI) is a not-for-profit organization based in the United Kingdom that promotes reproductive and sexual health. It grew from one small clinic, founded in North London in 1921, into an international provider of reproductive health care and information that operates in almost forty countries. The Mothers' Clinic, from which it grew, was created in the hopes of expanding couples' reproductive rights, and the modern organization continues to work toward the same goal today.
Format: Articles
Subject: Organizations, Reproduction
Pope Pius IX (1792-1878)
Pope Pius IX, born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, marked his contribution to the abortion debate by removing the distinction between an "animated" and "unanimated" fetus from Catholic doctrine, and established the edict that a human should be protected starting from the moment of conception onward. This proclamation made abortion at any time of gestation punishable by excommunication. Pope Pius IX's decision became Canon Law of the Catholic Church.
Format: Articles
Subject: People, Religion, Reproduction
"Misericordia et Misera" Section 12 (2016) by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church
Misericordia et Misera (Mercy with Misery) was a letter written by Pope Francis and published in Rome, Italy, on 20 November 2016. Through the letter, Pope Francis gives priests the ability to grant forgiveness for abortion. Before Pope Francis's letter, priests had some ability to grant forgiveness for the Catholic sin of abortion, but bishops had to grant that ability to the priests individually. Prior to the letter, the official rules of the Catholic Church did not state that priests could forgive abortion-related sins.
Format: Articles
Subject: Publications, Religion
John Hunter (1728–1793)
John Hunter studied human reproductive anatomy, and in eighteenth century England, performed one of the earliest described cases of artificial insemination. Hunter dissected thousands of animals and human cadavers to study the structures and functions of organ systems. Much of his anatomical studies focused on the circulatory, digestive, and reproductive systems. He helped to describe the exchange of blood between pregnant women and their fetuses. Hunter also housed various natural collections, as well as thousands of preserved specimens from greater than thirty years of anatomy work.
Format: Articles
Subject: People, Reproduction
Matthew Howard Kaufman (1942–2013)
Matthew Kaufman was a professor of anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, in Edinburgh, UK, who specialized in mouse anatomy, development, and embryology during the late twentieth century. According to the The Herald, he was the first, alongside his colleague Martin Evans, to isolate and culture embryonic stem cells. Researchers initially called those cells Evans-Kaufman cells. In 1992, Kaufman published The Atlas of Mouse Development, a book that included photographs of mice development and mice organs over time.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Florence Rena Sabin (1871-1953)
Florence Rena Sabin had successful careers as both a researcher and public health reformer. When Johns Hopkins University Medical School opened, accepting women and men on the same basis, Sabin was one of the first to enter. After the successful completion of her MD degree, Sabin went on to become the first female faculty member and later full-time professor at Johns Hopkins.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
August Antonius Rauber (1841-1917)
August Antonius Rauber was an embryologist and anatomist who examined gastrulation in avian embryos. He examined the formation of the blastopore, epiblast, and primitive streak during chick development. Subsequent researchers have further studied Rauber's findings, which has led to new discoveries in embryology and developmental biology.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Father Frank Pavone (1959- )
Father Frank Pavone, a key proponent of the Roman Catholic Church's pro-life movement, has devoted his life's work to ending abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, and other techniques and procedures that he believes threaten human life from conception to death. His contributions to the pro-life movement include founding a new religious order called the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life and participating in high-profile protests and television interviews for the pro-life cause.
Format: Articles
Subject: People, Religion, Reproduction
Fortunio Liceti (1577–1657)
Fortunio Liceti studied natural philosophy and medicine in Italy during the first half of the seventeenth century. Liceti wrote greater than seventy works on a wide range of topics, including the human soul, reproduction, and birth defects observed in animals and human infants. In the seventeenth century, people commonly addressed birth defects using superstition and considered them as signs of evil, possibly caused by spiritual or supernatural entities. Liceti described infants with birth defects as prodigies and monsters to be admired and studied rather than feared.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Evangelium Vitae (1995), by Pope John Paul II
The encyclical entitled "Evangelium Vitae," meaning "The Gospel of Life," was promulgated on 25 March 1995 by Pope John Paul II in Rome, Italy. The document was written to reiterate the view of the Roman Catholic Church on the value of life and to warn against violating the sanctity of life. The document focuses on right to life issues including abortion, birth control, and euthanasia, but also touches on other concepts relevant to embryology, such as contraception, in vitro fertilization, sterilization, embryonic stem cell research, and fetal experimentation.
Format: Articles
Subject: Religion, Reproduction
Biological Lectures Delivered at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole
The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, began in 1888 with one building housing researchers upstairs and students in a shared lab and lecture space downstairs. For the first two years, instruction took the form of general lectures covering a range of topics in zoology. In addition, the trustees offered some public lectures in Boston to raise funds for the lab.
Format: Articles
Subject: Organizations, Outreach
Alexis Carrel's Immortal Chick Heart Tissue Cultures (1912-1946)
In an effort to develop tissue culture techniques for long-term tissue cultivation, French surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel, and his associates, produced and maintained a series of chick heart tissue cultures at the Rockefeller Institute in New York City. From 1912 to 1946, this series of chick heart tissue cultures remained alive and dividing. Since the duration of this culture greatly exceeded the normal chick life span, the cells were deemed immortal.
Format: Articles
Subject: Experiments
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (1834-1919)
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel was a prominent comparative anatomist and active lecturer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He is most well known for his descriptions of phylogenetic trees, studies of radiolarians, and illustrations of vertebrate embryos to support his biogenetic law and Darwin's work with evolution. Haeckel aggressively argued that the development of an embryo repeats or recapitulates the progressive stages of lower life forms and that by studying embryonic development one could thus study the evolutionary history of life on earth.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (1974- )
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia is a nonprofit organization that began in 1974 as a joint endeavor by Reginald and Catherine Hamlin and the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia promotes reproductive health in Ethiopia by raising awareness and implementing treatment and preventive services for women affected by obstetric fistulas. It also aims to restore the lives of women afflicted with obstetric fistulas in Ethiopia and eventually to eradicate the condition.
Format: Articles
Subject: Organizations, Reproduction, Outreach
Anthony Comstock (1844–1915)
Anthony Comstock was a US postal inspector and politician who advocated for the suppression of obscenity and vice throughout the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Comstock considered any sexually explicit material like pornography and literature related to birth control and abortion as obscene. In 1873, Comstock lobbied US Congress to pass an anti-obscenity law titled An Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, Obscene Literature and Articles of Immoral Use, also called the Comstock Act.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Eclipse of Reason (1987)
Eclipse of Reason is a 1987 anti-abortion documentary film directed, filmed, and narrated by Bernard Nathanson, an obstetrician in the US. American Portrait Films released the film in 1987 featuring Nathanson's commentary and footage of an abortion of a four-month-old fetus. The film also featured the testimony of women who had suffered following similar procedures. In Eclipse of Reason, Nathanson equates the fetus to a person, likening abortion procedures to murder and arguing for the illegalization of abortion.
Format: Articles
James David Ebert (1921-2001)
James David Ebert studied the developmental processes of chicks and of viruses in the US during the twentieth century. He also helped build and grow many research institutions, such as the Department of Embryology in the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore, Maryland and the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. When few biologists studied the biochemistry of embryos, Ebert built programs and courses around the foci of biochemistry and genetics, especially with regards to embryology.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
Caspar Friedrich Wolff (1734-1794)
Caspar Friedrich Wolff is most famous for his 1759 doctoral dissertation, Theoria Generationis, in which he described embryonic development in both plants and animals as a process involving layers of cells, thereby refuting the accepted theory of preformation: the idea that organisms develop as a result of the unfolding of form that is somehow present from the outset, as in a homunculus. This work generated a great deal of controversy and discussion at the time of its publication but was an integral move in the reemergence and acceptance of the theory of epigenesis.
Format: Articles
Subject: People
"Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism" (1991), by Delbert A. Fisher
In his 1991 article Screening for Congenital Hypothyroidism, Delbert A. Fisher in the US reported on the implementation and impact of mass neonatal screening programs for congenital hypothyroidism (CH) from the early 1970s through 1991. CH is a condition that causes stunted mental and physical development in newborns unless treatment begins within the first three months of the newborn's life. In the early 1970s, regions in Canada and the US had implemented screening programs to diagnose and treat CH as quickly as possible after the infant's birth.
Format: Articles
Subject: Publications, Technologies


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Posted by Frank Andorka, PV Magazine
GRID Alternatives, Solar Energy Industries Association, Sunrun, United Methodist Women, Vote Solar joined the NAACP to kick off a solar equity campaign focused on low-income communities and creating jobs . . . Called the "Keeping it Green While Living the Dream", the coalition has made a year-long commitment to train 100 people, install solar on 20 households and 10 community centers and strengthen laws in at least five states that strengthen equity in solar-access policies. Read more here.
Photo: Grid Alternatives
NAACP's JUST ENERGY TOOLKIT
Just Energy Policies and Practices Action Toolkit
The toolkit contains modules to help guide individuals and communities move towards an energy economy that is sustainable, equitable, and just for all its members. It includes a section on how to pass net metering, distributed generation and community shared renewable energy policies, a fact sheet on advancing equity, inclusion, and leadership in the solar industry, and a fact sheet on solar consumer protection. The toolkit is designed to operate in conjunction with the NAACP's Just Energy Policies: Model Energy Policies Guide, which contains specific information for people wanting to change policy.


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This season the Dame de Paris collection is made from sand and gold lurex that flatters all skin tones. Both bras and briefs highlight your curves with the Notre Dame inspired straps.
balcony bradescriptionComplement your skin tone with this gorgeous sandy sparkling balcony bra. The sensual straps on top of the cups make your breasts stand out. The gold-colored propeller-shaped ornament in the middle of the bra is the cherry on the cake, wear it like your personal medal of pride. This balcony bra works for every type of breast as the padding provides you with some extra support. The wires enclose your entire breast for a comfortable fit and create a modest cleavage. Wear this beige bra with sparkly golden lurex and shine like a star.
push up bradescriptionThis dreamy brown push up bra is made from a smooth sandy lurex that flatters every skin tone. It is finished with a refined propeller-shaped talisman that decorates the center of your décolleté. Who said a sexy lift had to mean sacrificing comfort? The lift of this beige push up bra meets the coverage you want, creating a dazzling deep décolleté. Leave a little sparkle wherever you go when you wear this sparkling beige push up bra.


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Immigration law can be surprisingly complex. It takes a tremendous amount of time and paperwork to get permission to stay in the United States, and mistakes that lead to delays and denials are easy to make. If you or your family are struggling to immigrate to the United States, are facing deportation or have another concern relating to visas, immigration and deportation, you need to consult with a knowledgeable and experienced legal team to help. For those looking for a immigration help, contact the Law Office of Mary L. Carstarphen.
Social Security
The Law Office of Mary L Carstarphen helps clients who need legal support or representation for Social Security benefit claims in Alabama, Georgia and nationwide. When you can't work because of a physical or mental disability, you probably have mounting medical expenses on top of your regular obligations. The good news is that you may be eligible for Social Security Disability payments - The Carstarphen Kelley Law Office can help.


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PART 7 - Mirror, Indicate, Gesticulate
Ten minutes had existed between the Blues and the end of the FA Cup trail for another year. A collective sigh of relief could be heard in the East Midlands as East Manchester prepared for the replay. Could City keep the run moving past the dark days of winter? We would very soon see.
If "the February sunshine steeps boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within" it sometimes has a funny way of showing it. In the Midlands, budding trees were conspicuous by their absence as City clawed away a point from a game they should really have won. After a half season of hitting the moon, Aleksander Kolarov's enthusiastic and frequent shooting produced a second goal in four games and, as one would expect waiting this long into the season, it was a thing of quite troubling beauty, as it slid its way around the wall and the outstretched fingers of Ben Foster and inside the far post with the width of a small Serbian cigar to spare. The 2-1 lead that this offered City until 15 minutes from time would have shrunk the gap with Arsenal in 2nd place to two points but Gardner's penalty evened things up and Kolarov's late blockbuster went the way of previous attempts only troubling a freezing cold man in the crowd.
With this point, City gained a foothold on their West Midlands bogey that had already seen defeats at Molineux, The Hawthorns and Villa Park. Unfortunately, the way it was delivered made it feel unnecessarily bleak. City's luck had been missing, gloriously summed up when Micah Richards, attempting one of his unorthodox energetic clearances, collided head to head with Nigel de Jong, poleaxing both players and leading to Richards being subbed by Kolo Touré. As the two men shook hands, an interesting scenario took shape. Whilst the player exiting knew next to nothing of what had just happened to him, the one replacing him knew little more of what was about to befall him in the coming weeks. Sister Fate still had a trick or two up her flowing white sleeves.
The next challenge presented by the West Midlands was altogether different as a lethargic looking West Brom succumbed to Carlos Tevez's neat hat-trick. With the skipper regaining top form in time for the Old Trafford derby, City prepared to travel across the city boundary in good spirit and growing confidence. The match against United had a familiar finish, even if it took a strange route to get there. With City playing impish, one touch football from the start, David Silva missed an early chance to flatten out the nerves, when he toe poked across the face of Van Der Sar's goal. It had looked simpler to score. The same City player would eventually find the net, but by then it was an equaliser in the 2nd half, after Nani's strike had made it 1-0. Silva actually knew nothing of it as Dzeko's surging run and clipped shot went in off the Spaniard's back.
A touch of luck had brought City right back into it and now they forced the pace again, only for a deflected cross to loop up past Kompany's jump and onto the flailing shins of Wayne Rooney. The story had already been written by our friend Sister Fate and a connection, which nine times out of ten would have sent the ball whistling past Mike Phelan's offspring in the red brick enclosure in the Main Stand, rocketed the ball past Joe Hart's right ear and into the top corner. As befitted a player who had been on the brink of leaving the club at Christmas, Rooney threw a Croxteth Crucifix pose and the media went into meltdown. If you were lucky enough to possess a Sky subscription, you saw nothing else for a week. Commentators jockeyed for superlatives and high pitched eulogies. An avalanche of adulation washed down off the Old Trafford precincts as the so-called noisy neighbours finally piped down a little. Only the moaning of the deeply afflicted could be heard from those in blue.
What we didn't know at this point was that there would be one more unexpected meeting between the sides, one more chance for City to redress the balance. We would see what hand Sister Fate would play then and what volume the end of season songs would be played at.
Sandwiched between Europa League duty against Aris Salonika (0-0 and 3-0) came the cup replay with Notts County, or Plucky Notts County, as the press would have it. With 27 Million Pounds Edin Dzeko again on the scoresheet, the 5-0 stroll looked just the job. It covered up a series of indiscretions, however, and three of the goals came in a slightly surreal last 5 minutes. As Chris Bailey put it. "Despite three goals in the final six minutes they will have to perform much better if they are to lift the venerable trophy for the first time since 1969."
|Season end approaches