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'Red Flags' to Look for When Evaluating Personalized Learning Products
Personalized learning: Is it an educational imperative, a marketing strategy for an ed-tech product, or both?
Too often, teachers and administrators say, they find that personalized learning is used by companies as mere buzzwords to promote a run-of-the-mill digital tool.
"In the marketing literature, this term is overused," said Devin Vodicka, the superintendent of the Vista, Calif., school district. "Many products that someone claims are personalized are actually just a series of digital worksheets."
But educators are finding ways to sort the real personalized potential from the empty promises of some ed-tech products.
For instance, Vista uses its own Personal Learning Pathway framework to evaluate products, said Vodicka.
Some of the key questions educators in his district ask:
• Is this product based on a student profile?
• Is there an integrated technology component that includes two-way communication?
• Does the product include student choice and pathways?
• How does it fit with the learning environment, and more broadly, is it connected with real-world opportunities?
• Does it use a competency-based model, in which students move at their own pace as they master academic content?
Last month, Vista hosted 42 superintendents from across the country, who discussed that and other approaches as part of an ongoing cohort studying personalized learning through AASA, The Superintendent's Association.
The most important starting point to vet a product, for Barton Dassinger, the principal of Chavez Elementary in Chicago, is this query: Does this product improve student learning better than the alternative to using it? And does the company generate reports in such a way to allow for an analysis that will answer that question?
The starting points of "what is our need?" and "what is our goal?" are important for Théa Williams, who is both a technology teacher for pre-K-5 and the technology coordinator for Brooklyn Arbor Elementary School in New York City. As an iZone pilot-team leader through the city's department of education, she said she has learned to move beyond the catchphrases for products to identify the data needed.
Red flags about the "personalized learning" label abound, according to Amy Nowell, the director of research for LEAP Innovations, a Chicago-based nonprofit that works to build educational innovations by connecting schools and businesses. From her experience testing ed-tech products with evidence-based research methods, Nowell, and other experts have identified several red flags educators should watch for:
Questionable Student Agency
This is a fundamental element of personalization. Can the students take ownership of their own learning by setting their own goals? Can they track their own progress?
Nowell recommends that teachers "test drive" products as though they are students and make sure they understand what the data mean.
For instance, if students aim to learn a particular unit within a specified period of time, and the product provides feedback that "you have only completed one activity" in that time frame, what, she asked, does that mean to a student trying to complete and comprehend the full unit?
Inadequate Content
By definition, personalized learning allows students to move at their own pace through material.
"There's never a classroom where every student is average," said Nowell. "We've had a number of teachers who were really disappointed when they dug in, and two months into the year, their brighter kids are looking for material that wasn't there."
While ed-tech products can often be retrofitted to accommodate material for advanced or struggling students, that's often a "clunky" solution, she said. A digital resource with "only 130 lessons" is unlikely to have enough content to go up or down two grade levels.
Useless Data
Products for personalized learning generally produce a lot of data. Williams recommends educators first ask: "How do I make sense of this data?"
In theory, experts say a data dashboard should help students and teachers understand what the metrics are, how a certain metric was arrived at, and what it means for student learning. But that is not always the case.
For example, one product reported to teachers the percent of total lessons each student completed in the 4th grade curriculum. "Johnny has completed 4 percent of the lessons has no actual meaning to anybody," Nowell said. "It's not tied to what students are learning. It's not tied to learning standards or mastery of content. Johnny could have clicked through, 'completed' them, and gotten them all wrong."
Lacking Recommendations
"I need the data to help make instructional decisions," said Williams.
The problem is that automating the process of using data to inform educators' decisionmaking is still largely an unmet need. "I don't feel personalized ed-tech products have mastered that yet," she said. "I'd like to see more automation, providing data to teachers to make instructional interventions in the learning path."
Poorly Aligned Assessments
Generally, the embedded assessment questions in personalized-learning products have had no external validation, Nowell said.
When piloting their products, companies want to know what assessments students will take, whether it's from one of the common-core-aligned testing consortia or another well-known test. But because educational technology generally doesn't have the resources for rigorous assessment design and validation, the assessment data that are generated from the trials might not align with the tests that eventually will be given to students, she said.
Classroom-Integration Problems
A company should be able to inform teachers how to best integrate their products into the classroom structure. Does the product work best in classrooms where groups of students rotate from one station to another, while the teacher instructs another small group? Can students work on it together, or solo?
"We've had teachers who started with the station-rotation model but had to revert to the typical classroom model," said Nowell, "and it was really about the way the technology was set up, not about the kids not being mature enough to work that way."
Another question is, "Who assigns the next piece of content? The teacher or the software?" Teachers want both options, she said.
Little Evidence It Works
Nowell cautions teachers not to put too much stock in testimonials from other users of a product, five-star ratings on websites, or anecdotes about how a product is used. "Press companies for hard data about documented outcomes," she advised.
"Ask them for any studies done on how well their products impact student outcomes," she said. For instance, companies should be able to provide empirical data on product effectiveness as it relates to student achievement. "Even case studies, if done well and based on a similar context to your classroom, can provide a powerful indication of how a product could potentially work for you."
Measures of student learning can include nationally standardized test scores, as well as more timely measures of student engagement and motivation for learning, she added.
Lacking the Personal Perspective
Personalized learning means taking each child's uniqueness into account.
"There are all these factors you have to consider: culture, family background, interests, learning strengths, social-emotional development. We could go on and on," said Williams, of Brooklyn Arbor in New York. "We're talking about a human being."
Teachers would like to see products that provide them with more in-depth insights into their students.
Williams said she sees educators' excitement about the prospect of personalization. But personalized-learning experts generally agree that most ed-tech products are not geared toward students' individual backgrounds and interests.
"When they do find products that really work for them, and respond to how students answer questions then make adjustments accordingly, teachers can be so much more effective," she said. "Then they can do the things that the personalized learning tool can't do and focus their time and energy on that."
Vol. 36, Issue 09, Pages 29-30Published in Print: October 19, 2016, as 8 'Red Flags' to Look for in Products
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text: Tory Burch didn't go far yesterday for her Fashion Week show at the Pierre, where she owns an apartment. "I showed downstairs," the designer told a guest as Anna Wintour, Linda Fargo and Leonard Lauder looked on. We also hear Burch is taking her role this week as guest editor of StyleList seriously, as the first in a series of fashion stars to put their stamp on the AOL site. She reveals of her Valentine's Day plans: "I have a standing date with my three boys. Dinner at home, watching a movie."

subset: commoncrawl


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Hulk and Thor have battled many times – dating back to the formation of the Avengers – but Thor has bested the jade beast hardly ever. Hulk is just too strong! This does not mean Thor is a slouch in any way – it just means that the Hulk is better! Of course, when the Hulk has to remain in control and can't let loose on the golden-haired hero… well things don't go as smoothly for the beast.
At a time when the Hulk's raging anger turned him back to the 90-pound brilliant weakling the Hulk knew he couldn't rely on his full anger to bail him out this time. This is one of the rare times the Hulk is actually totally in the right. With Thor stuck in "Death City" with Hela and Thor's friends unable to help it is up to Hulk to make his way to Hel and save goldilocks.
The two tangle for most of the issue with the Hulk restrained from letting loose but Thor unleashing his full affront. While the Hulk doesn't quit and Thor being immortal Hela is inclined to take a trade: Thor for Malekith and Kurse (apparently there was a two for one special going on) releasing Thor from the promise he hade to be Hela's slave. Of course, the Hulk and Thor decided to team up and take a second before leaving Hel to beat the heck out of one of Balder's pup. Nothing like abusing a Hel puppy for real male bonding.
|Thunder Clap
|Mind Control
|Funny Nickname
|Hero vs. Hero
|"Hulk Smash!"


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Yesterday was PISA Day, an opportunity for concerned educators and citizens to think about the latest round of results from this important international comparative assessment.
Not surprisingly, at least to those of us who follow the rhetoric and reality of comparative data, U.S. performance was basically unchanged from three years ago; some other countries (e.g., Poland, Germany) improved; some of the traditional "stars" (e.g., Finland) experienced a decline; and policy makers and commentators were quick to pronounce on the meaning of the results.
PISA is a remarkable program, in terms of the breadth of its coverage (65 education systems, including selected states in the US and Shanghai as separate from China) and the care taken to provide reliable estimates of the math, reading, and scientific literacy of samples of 15-year olds. We have come a long way since the early days of international comparative assessment, in terms of sampling methods, psychometric quality, and reporting of results.
Interpretation, though, remains a challenge. For descriptive purposes, PISA provides a trove of interesting information, which, along with TIMSS, NAEP, and PIAAC (another OECD project), should be studied by anyone who cares about the ongoing pursuit of improved educational opportunity locally, nationally, and globally. The more complicated task, though, is deriving sound policy inferences from these descriptive data. There is no clear enough pattern of relationships to infer anything definitive about the relative success of various reforms in the U.S. and elsewhere; about the relationship of test performance to national economic outcomes; or about what exactly we should do next as we struggle to expand access and high quality educational opportunities for our students.
For example, it seems that Massachusetts again did better than the overall U.S. average and on par with some of the biggest international "winners." Florida fared more poorly. So people who like what Massachusetts has been doing must be pleased, and would be inclined therefore to like what PISA measures. People who like Florida's hard-charging accountability reforms are surely disappointed, and some of them must now be skeptical about whether PISA is the right tool to gauge the effects of reform. It is no small irony that some of the harshest critics of PISA (and testing generally) are willing to use the latest results to vindicate their claims about the success or failure of various reform initiatives.
Similarly, there is the implicit (and in some cases explicit) attempt to tie PISA scores to our current or future economic stature. Here, too, the hazards of inferring cause and making predictions from purely correlational and descriptive data are profound. As I've written elsewhere, the U.S. performed near or at the bottom on the First International Mathematics assessment in 1964, and indeed our economic productivity growth declined in the subsequent decade (when many of those high school kids who had taken the test were in the labor market). But countries that significantly outperformed us on the math test, e.g., Britain and Japan, experienced an even more dramatic productivity growth slowdown, suggesting that those test results could not, alone, explain much about the economy or predict much about the future. Average annual labor productivity increased by about 4.2% in the U.S., between 1979 and 2011, compared to 2.5% in Germany, which outperforms us on PISA. Again, it's not easy to infer simple relations from these data. Does academic achievement matter to economic outcomes? Yes, without a doubt. But so much else matters, and probably more, that to draw quick inferences – and again sound loud alarm bells about our impending economic doom and, worse yet, blame everything on schools and teachers – from results on one assessment of one age group is a recipe for the ultimate erosion of respect for what is otherwise a useful tool for comparative study. I've tried to make this argument elsewhere.
Finally, there is the question about what to do next. On this, I was inspired by the wise comment of John Jackson, of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, whom I met at a dinner with a number of education policy makers and researchers. John asked whether it was possible that we in the U.S. had essentially "maxed out" on the impact of reform in terms of its effects on PISA scores, and if so what should guide us as we continue to work on educational improvement. That's the right question, and though I believe there is useful information in PISA I also believe that answering it will require considerably more nuance in our understanding of the results. (To get a sense of the complexity of these issues, see the recent work of Martin Carnoy and Richard Rothstein).
For me, the most important issue to focus on is not where we stand on average, but rather how to cope with the ravaging effects of growing economic inequality on educational opportunity and the life chances of our youth. In other words, we need to work on the variance more than the mean, to acknowledge the effects of poverty, and to concentrate on policies and programs that can restore opportunity (my colleagues Richard Murnane and Greg Duncan are co-authors of a book with that title, due out early next year). A good place to start would be with a sustained program of research and policy that builds on the foundations of work such as Whither Opportunity?. If we care about the American dream – and really want to reaffirm the nation's commitment to upward mobility and improved quality of life for all our people – we should not distract ourselves with foolish attempts to use a single assessment as the guide to policy and practice. PISA poses important questions; the answers aren't as obvious.
December 4, 2013


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Company Recognized as a Prominent Healthcare Organization
NEWTON, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 24, 2015 — For the second consecutive year, Becker's Hospital Review named Curaspan, the country's leading provider of care transition solutions, to the industry's annual list of the 150 best places to work in healthcare in the United States. Curaspan's office redesign, first-ever Hackathon and Friday lunches were highlighted in this year's award.
Companies featured on the list are selected by the Becker's Hospital Review editorial team who reviewed each company's employee benefits, wellness initiatives, efforts to improve professional development, diversity and inclusion, work-life balance and a sense of community and unity among employees. For the second year in a row, the list features both healthcare providers as well as other types of healthcare-specific companies, such as consulting firms, health IT vendors, medical societies and more.
"We are honored to be included for a second year as one of the 150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare," said Amy Kruglak, Vice President of Human Resources at Curaspan. "Our company is made up of exceptional people who are committed to producing excellent work; being recognized for this by such an important industry outlet is a great accomplishment."
Curaspan has been paving the way for care transition solutions since 1999, offering effective and efficient software to automate and standardize the care transition process. The company is the industry leader in care transition solutions and is responsible for handling nearly 18 percent of all acute care discharges across the United States. This year, for the first time, the company will exhibit (booth #8339) during the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference ( HIMSS) April 12-16 in Chicago.
About Becker's Hospital Review
Becker's Hospital Review is a monthly publication offering up-to-date business and legal news and analysis relating to hospitals and health systems. Content is geared toward high-level hospital leaders, and we work to provide valuable content, including hospital and health system news, best practices and legal guidance specifically for these decision-makers. Each issue of Becker's Hospital Review reaches more than 18,000 people, primarily acute-care hospital CEOs, CFOs and CIOs.
About Curaspan
Curaspan's best-in-breed point solutions automate transitions of care workflows to create efficiencies, reduce process variation and optimize collaboration during the patient-transition process. With a secure platform for coordination between providers and the analytics necessary to optimize performance, Curaspan's solutions are the foundation for initiatives like ACOs, HIEs, value-based purchasing and other evolving models of care and reimbursement. Curaspan headquarters are in Newton, Mass. For more information, please visit Curaspan.com.
Media Contact:
For Curaspan
Megan Ostrower, 617-624-3221
Email Contact


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MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – The voter turnout in Muskegon County is being projected at about 16 percent by the County Clerk's Office for the primary election Tuesday.
County Clerk Nancy A. Waters based her estimate on the statewide percentages for 2008 (18 percent) and 2010 (22 percent), along with the projection for the state this year (18 percent). The 2010 primary election featured a competitive Republican race for governor.
Despite the relatively light projection, Waters, whose name is on the ballot against challenger Manda Mitteer in the Democratic primary for clerk, said she is encouraging registered voters to participate in the election. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Waters estimated that voter turnout could be higher in Norton Shores, Muskegon Township and Egelston Township due to "spirited" local races. In addition, more than 2,000 absentee ballots have been returned in Norton Shores.
For the primary election, the county features 127,713 registered voters and 69 precincts.
Voters can vote in only one party for the partisan portions of the ballot.
Muskegon County election officials are reminding voters to flip over their ballot when voting as some races are on the back and to only vote for one judge candidate even though the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election.
Those who want to see a preview of their ballot or find their polling location should go to Michigan.gov/vote, an official Secretary of State website.
Eric Gaertner covers politics, government and the outdoors. He can be reached via email at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricGaertner1.


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Before & After School Care
From Reception, when the boys join the Junior Department, there is provision for both before school and after school care.
In the Junior Department, parents can take advantage of an early drop-off option which allows boys to be dropped at 8am, with the main doors opening at 8.20am. In the Senior Department, the gates open at 8am and boys can play supervised in the playground until Registration.
At the end of the day, we operate a system which allows for brothers to remain in after-school care for no charge until their older brothers normal finish time. After-school care also operates (at a charge) for others who wish to use it until 5pm in the Junior Department and 5.15pm in the Senior Department.


text:
The Rhododendron
As early as 1952 the newly formed Washington State Ferries knew they were in need of additional boats. Preparation was underway for what would become
the Evergreen State Class, but in the mean time the State needed ferries as soon as possible.
As luck would have it, two ferries from Chesapeake Bay had just been put out of work. The
Governor Herbert R. O'Cono
r and the
Governor Harry Nice
were available, and while not huge they were of good size by 1950's standards and would certainly be welcome additions to the fleet.
Towed through the Panama Canal and up the coast, the ferries were given an overhaul and cleaning. The
was renamed
Painted in the
green and white of the new ferry system, her only outward change was to her car deck windows, which had been square but were turned into portholes to
match her near sister. She was placed in service at between Lofall and Southpoint on Hood Canal.
A short time later the O'Conor was finished. Renamed
, she was sent to replace the
on Hood Canal. For the next eight years
she worked the Lofall-Southpoint route, often with the
acting as back up boats in the summer months.
Again put out of work by a bridge—this time the Hood Canal Floating bridge—the Rhody was reassigned to work alongside her near sister
on the
Mukilteo-Clinton run. The pair along with the
worked Mukilteo-Clinton for many years.
1974 saw a change in the lineup. Olympic Ferries Inc had gone out of business and the ferry system was ordered to take over the route between Port
Townsend and Keystone. The
went first, and later the
followed. The two ferries worked the route off and on until the early 80's
when the
became the permanent ferry on the route.
By 1983 both of the Chesapeake Bay ferries were scheduled to be retired. Problems with the Issaquah Class and the rebuilding of the Steel Electrics kept
them in service. While never officially retired, the
spent nearly a decade moth balls at Eagle Harbor while Washington State Ferries. The
continued to work, but the Rhody remained moored at Eagle Harbor.
In the early 1990's, with the Issaquah Class's bugs long worked out and the Steel Electrics all out of the yard and back in service, it was decided that
the idled
would go in for rebuilding.
As the project got underway, the state soon was regretting their decision. The
was in far worse condition than anyone had anticipated. The entire
passenger cabin was full of rotten steel. In the end a completely new cabin had to be made from fresh steel. The unexpected deterioration caused the
project to run millions over budget, and canceled plans to similarly refurbish the
After some teething problems with her new engines, the
went to work on the Point Defiance-Tahlequah route.
The newly refurbished Rhododendron, about to be sent to her first assignment on Hood Canal in 1954. . Author's collection.
At work at Clinton, the
works alongside her near sister
Olympic. At right, the Rhododendron during her long lay up at Eagle Harbor.
Courtesy of Brandon Moser.
At right, the drawing by Johan Iversen shows the
in mid-1980's livery.
Above, the
laid up at Eagle Harbor before going in for rebuilding.
Courtesy of Brandon Moser.
The Rhododendron Today


text:
Do you want to benefit from high-quality content to educate your patients on your own website?
All you need to do is embed the content's code into your website.
This graphic shows the different treatment steps involved in all three types of laser eye surgery procedures.
Copy and paste this code to embed on your website.
How To?
You are almost there.
Click on the button "Copy to clipboard" and then paste the code into the content management system of your website.If you need help for this last step, please ask your webmaster for assistance.


text:
When I try to check out from my shop by clicking the Paypal button, I get the following message:
"Either your shopping cart is empty or the PHP Session on your server is not working correctly. Please check this article"
I tried browsing to another page with an item in my cart, and it stayed there, so I know my PHP is working. I also tried implementing a fix recommended in another thread: change "define('WP_ESTORE_SAVE_SESSION_TO_COOKIE', false);" to "define('WP_ESTORE_SAVE_SESSION_TO_COOKIE', true);" but it's still not working!
Any idea what could be going wrong?
FYI, when I go into the Wordpress editor for "wp-cart-for-digital-products/wp_eStore1.php" WP tells me it is (inactive). Could this be the problem? If so, how do I fix it?
Here's my Shop page:
Thanks a million for any help!


text:
The Best "Pet" Food Money Can Buy… And the Absolute Worst
Story at-a-glance
- The pet food industry in the U.S. is relatively young, which is surprising when you consider the vast and confusing array of pet food offerings available on the market. Prepared pet food has only been around for about 60 years, and has experienced most of its growth spurt in just the last 30 years.
- World War II introduced Americans to two things that have shown great staying power – dry pet food and processed human food, which would also ultimately have a tremendous impact on the pet food industry.
- After WWII, the U.S. enjoyed a period of tremendous growth and expansion in every direction. During those boom years, in response to the tremendous increase in consumer appetites, the human food industry created vast quantities of waste from slaughterhouses, grain mills, and processing plants. Pet food manufacturers – still in their infancy — immediately understood the unlimited opportunity of human food waste to their industry. By 1960, pet food companies had figured out how to mass-produce dry pet food to meet growing consumer demand for pet "convenience" foods.
- There's a problem, however. Carnivorous dogs and cats have not evolved to digest and assimilate the primary ingredients in the vast majority of commercially prepared pet foods. As a result, for over a half-century we've created dozens of generations of animals that suffer from degenerative diseases linked to nutritional deficiencies.
- To be optimally healthy, dogs and cats need unadulterated, fresh, moisture-rich whole foods. They don't need grains, fillers, artificial preservatives, colors, additives, chemicals, or byproducts. Although animals can eat some processed foods, they aren't designed to consume a lifetime of dry or canned diets.
By Dr. Becker
Commercially prepared pet food in the U.S. has a relatively short (less than 100 years), but interesting history. Believe it or not, the only food made exclusively for pets prior to the early 1920s were dog biscuits!
During the 1920s and '30s, the pet food market began to expand a bit. Americans with enough money to purchase their pet's food could find dehydrated, pelleted and canned formulas made from meat and grain mill scraps. But most pets were still fed primarily raw meat and table scraps, plus whatever food they hunted for themselves.
The Great Depression of the 1930s and early '40s had a significant impact on the growth of the commercial pet food market, however, lack of industry regulation invited anyone who wanted to make a buck to produce a can or bag of pet food. During that period, canned pet food accounted for over 90 percent of the market.
During World War II (1939 to 1945), not only was metal rationed, but pet food was categorized as "non-essential" by the U.S. government. The combination spelled death for the canned pet food industry. In addition, food rationing led to fewer table scraps. Pet owners who could afford to bought dry pet food or dog biscuits – the only commercially available products at the time.
Byproducts of WWII: Dry Pet Food and Processed Human Food
Unfortunately, the American pet owner's love of dry pet food has endured well past the end of World War II. The war also sparked the processed food revolution in the U.S. Spam and similar products were developed in the 1930s to feed the troops abroad and to help with food rationing restrictions at home. All the factors that made processed food attractive to humans ultimately had a significant impact on the pet food industry as well.
The period after the end of WWII was a time of enormous economic growth and expansion in the U.S. Jobs were plentiful and more Americans were able to buy their own homes. As more families moved out of cities to suburbia, giant supermarkets replaced small grocery stores. Consumer demand for processed foods, for fast food – for food in general – kept pace with increases in educational and employment opportunities, individual wealth, and ever-expanding lifestyle options.
In responding to the tremendous increase in U.S. consumer appetites, the human food industry created vast quantities of agricultural scraps from slaughterhouses, grain mills, and processing plants. Pet food manufacturers immediately understood the unlimited opportunity of human food waste to their industry.
By 1960, Pet Food Companies Were Able to Mass-Market Kibble
It's absolutely true — our pet population provides a place for recycling waste from the human food industry. Grains that fail inspection, uninspected pieces and parts of waste from the seafood industry, leftover restaurant grease, deceased livestock, and even roadkill is collected and disposed of through rendering — a process that converts all sorts of human food industry waste into raw materials for the pet food industry.
In the late 1950s, a U.S. pet food company developed a way to create kibble from boiling cauldrons of meat, fat and grain scraps – it's called extrusion. The raw materials are purchased by pet food manufacturers who then blend the rendered fat and meat with starch fillers. They add bulk vitamin and mineral supplements, and then they extrude the mix at high temperatures, creating all sorts of toxic reactions including advanced glycation end products and heterocyclic amines. This is what passes for pet food and it's sold to consumers at a tremendous profit.
This "advancement" in manufacturing allowed pet food companies to capitalize on the popularity of kibble. Now, they were able to mass-market the type of pet food most popular with U.S. pet owners due to its convenience and low cost.
Today, there are hundreds of kibbles, canned and semi-most dog and cat foods to choose from. This is remarkable, given that not quite 60 years ago, commercial pet food was almost unheard of.
Have We Chosen Convenience Over the Health of Our Pets?
No one really argues with the fact that in order for optimal health to occur, animals – including humans — must consume the foods they were designed to eat, and preferably whole, fresh and unadulterated. This is known as species-appropriate nutrition. For example, vegetarian animals must eat vegetation for optimal health. Carnivores must eat fresh whole prey for optimal health.
Carnivorous pets have not evolved to digest and assimilate foods like corn, wheat, rice or potatoes – yet these are the very foods the vast majority of pet food manufacturers use as primary ingredients in their formulas. Fortunately, dogs and cats are extremely resilient creatures. Not only do they not die immediately upon eating biologically inappropriate foods, but it often takes years before the significant physical degeneration that occurs from a lifetime of eating the wrong foods becomes noticeable.
One of the reasons we're able to deceive ourselves into believing convenience pet foods are good for dogs and cats is because the changes to a pet's health and vitality brought on by a dead, processed diet are usually not immediate or acute.
For over a half-century, our pets have been fed inappropriate diets that have kept them alive, but not thriving. In fact, we've created dozens of generations of animals that suffer from degenerative diseases linked to nutritional deficiencies.
Optimal Nutrition for Your Dog or Cat
Dogs and cats need quality protein, fats, and a small amount of vegetables and fruits, which provide antioxidants and fiber to animals that no longer hunt whole prey.
Natural sources of trace minerals, vitamins, and fatty acids must be added, since the soils in which foods are grown are depleted of many of the nutrients pets need. Also, food storage, whether it's in a freezer or a pantry, decreases critical essential fatty acid levels in foods.
Pets need unadulterated, fresh, whole foods that are moisture dense. They don't need grains, fillers, artificial preservatives, colors, additives, chemicals, byproducts, or processed foods. Although animals can eat some processed foods, they aren't designed to consume a lifetime of dry or canned diets.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of fresh, whole, unprocessed diets for dogs and cats, I recommend you watch or read my three-part series on raw food diets for pets:
Part 1 — The Feeding Mistake Linked to the Cause of Most Disease-Are You Making It?
Part 2 — The Biggest Myths About Raw Food (And Why They're Mostly Nonsense)
Part 3 – Common Feeding Mistakes That Can Harm Your Pet
You can also find a vast amount of additional information here at Mercola Healthy Pets on how to choose the best foods for your pet, and what foods to avoid.
Ditch This Pet Food Now – Can Be Deadly to Your Pets
Dr. Becker's Real Food for Healthy Dogs and Cats: Simple Homemade Food – Cookbook
Surprise, Surprise… the Best Food for Dogs Is Homemade Food
Real meat is the best food for your dog….nothing else even comes close.
The best food for your dog is . . .
Real food. Fresh food. Real chicken, turkey, beef, bison, venison, fish. Fresh vegetables. Yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese.
No, this is not "people food." Calling real food "people food" makes it sound as though people are the only living creatures entitled to eat real food. That's not true.
ALL living creatures deserve real, fresh food.
"You can boost your pet's health profoundly by making one simple decision. All you have to do is change his diet from commercial-brand fare to something you may never have imagined giving him – real food. The fresh food you buy at the market for yourself is the food you should give your pet, too."
Generations of dogs lived to ripe old ages on fresh foods…before the pet food corporations came along and changed (ruined) everything.
Dog food corporations. "Just say no."
Dogs have been domesticated for about 15,000 years (that's amazing, isn't it?) and up until the 1930s, they were NEVER fed "kibble" or "canned" brands from a store. Dogs were fed real meat and vegetables, and a little homemade bread. On this diet they thrived, frequently living into their late teens.
Dogs didn't eat kibble until the 1930s when the grain and meat industries needed a market for their rejects.
That all changed in the 1930s, when cereal and grain manufacturers were looking for something profitable to do with their rejected cereals and grain – their wheat and corn that failed USDA inspection because of mold, rancidity, and other contaminants.
These companies discovered that hey, the meat industry faced the same dilemma – meat that failed USDA inspection because it had spoiled or because the livestock was diseased.
The ingenious idea of mixing the rejects together and calling it "dog food" was born.
Marketing firms spent an enormous amount of money planting this lamentable idea in the public's mind, and today commercial diets are promoted by multi-billion dollar pet food corporations and the veterinary industry, both of whom have a huge financial stake in getting you to feed these products.
But processed kibble and canned products were not then – nor are they now – "dog food."
Real dog food was, is, and always will be real food. That's what your dog should be eating.
"The whole concept of Insta-Meal for humans is repulsive. Most people would soon be climbing the walls in frustration, desperate for a salad or some fruit – anything whole and fresh, or just different. Perhaps the thought of eating kibbles for the rest of your own life helps make the point that pets forced to do so are being shortchanged. All of us – humans and animals – should have fresh, wholesome, unprocessed food in our daily diet.
The awful ingredients in commercial "dog food"
Virtually all dog food brands are heavily based on fibrous grains and cereals. But dogs do not have the long, winding digestive tract required to digest fibrous grains and cereals. Dogs have a short straight digestive tract designed to digest meat.
Many dogs who eat corn, soybeans, or wheat develop health problems.Excessive shedding or dandruff. Loose stools. Gassiness and flatulence. Itchy skin, where your dog licks his feet or rubs his face against the carpet, trying to ease the itch. You might never think to associate these problems with the grain in your dog's diet, but that is often the case.
To make matters worse, GOOD grain is reserved for the human market. What goes into the pet food bin is deemed unfit for human consumption because of mold, rancidity, or contaminants – yuck!
Unless a dog food brand says its meat passed USDA inspection…it didn't.
Contrary to what the dog food companies show you on TV commercials, your dog doesn't get sirloin from a healthy cow who spent its life cropping grass, nor does he get white chicken breast from a hen who spent its life pecking happily around the barnyard.
No, your dog gets the meat that didn't make the cut for the human market – 4D meat from livestock that was Diseased,Disabled, Dying, or already Dead when it arrived at the slaughterhouse. It won't pass USDA inspection, so into the pet food bin it goes….
….along with the growth hormones that were fed to the livestock to make them grow faster…and with the antibiotics fed to the livestock to prevent massive outbreaks of disease in their crowded living conditions. These hormones and antibiotics trickle through to your dog.
You know that pungent smell that wafts up from a freshly opened bag of kibble? That's greasy fat sprayed onto the hard little pebbles to tempt your dog to eat it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be recognizable to him as food. So dogs gobble up their kibble for the same reason kids gobble up french fries. But we don't let our kids eat only french fries just because they love the smell or taste, do we?
Bags of kibble can sit on a shelf for so long because of the chemical preservatives.
Preservatives make the bags and cans last longer That's convenient for the dog food company, which can leave it sitting in their warehouse for a long time. Convenient for the retailer who can leave it sitting on his shelf for a long time. Convenient for the owner who can leave it in the pantry for a long time, then pour it into his dog's bowl and leave it sitting there all day if necessary.
But what is this stuff that keeps ingredients from spoiling?
The most common dog food preservatives are BHA and BHT (both of which are associated with liver and kidney dysfunction, and bladder and stomach cancer) and ethoxyquin, which is manufactured by that giant chemical corporation Monsanto as a rubber preservative. The Department of Agriculture lists it as a pesticide. OSHA lists it as a hazardous chemical. The containers are marked POISON.
All 3 chemicals are banned in Europe, but because their manufacturers have so much legislative clout here in the U.S., they're still tolerated here. Sad, but true.
"Good news!" you say. "None of those preservatives are in MY dog food brand." Well, not so fast. Even when it's not listed, it can be in there, anyway. A legal loophole, you see, allows dog food companies to only list what they themselves put into the bag. If they buy some of their ingredients from a supplier who has already added the chemical, the dog food company doesn't have to disclose that on the bag.
Isn't that nice?
Brewer's rice? Wheat bran? Beet pulp? Corn gluten? Do you know what any of that stuff is? Can you see yourself picking up a bag of corn gluten or a carton of beet pulp for your dog's supper?
What about animal digest? This ingredient is officially described as "material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue." Doesn't that sound tasty? It's actually a boiled concoction from the rendering plant, and the "animal tissue" can include anything from cattle to rats to roadkill to dogs and cats euthanized at the animal shelter. Yes, the FDA has found sodium pentobarbital – the chemical used to euthanize animals – in some brands of dog food.
Australian veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst says:
"If you look at the ingredient list on a can or a bag of pet food – with understanding – you will realise that what is being listed is a heap of rubbish. Definitely not the wholesome nutritious food you would want to feed to a valued member of your family!"
Artificial diets are causing health problems in dogs.
How commercial dog food affects your dog's health
Every day, unhappy dogs parade through veterinary offices. They suffer from:
- itching
- hot spots
- dandruff
- excessive shedding
- foot-licking
- face-rubbing
- loose stools
- gassiness
What are these dogs eating? Virtually every one of them is eating an artificial diet.
"Since I graduated from veterinary school in 1965, I've noticed a general deterioration in pet health. We now see very young animals with diseases that we used to see only in older animals. Without the perspective of several decades, vets just coming out of veterinary school think these degenerative conditions in younger animals are "normal." They do not realize what has happened over the passage of time.
I believe, along with poor quality nutrients, the chemical additives in pet food play a major part in that decline. Pet foods contain slaughterhouse wastes, toxic products from spoiled foodstuffs, non-nutritive fillers, heavy-metal contaminants, pesticides, herbicides, drug residues, sugar, and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives."
Dr. Martin Goldstein D.V.M. sums it up:
"When I tell an owner that a change of diet can affect her pet's health in a matter of days, the first reaction is usually delight, sometimes even exhilaration."
Dr. Richard Pitcairn D.V.M. Packaged and canned dog food like packaged and jarred baby food and insta-meals or artificial diets for people are not only not better but are generally bad for those who eat them. Insta-meals, commercial baby food and commercial pet food are industries dreamed up for profits by entrepreneurs that only get worse as the companies and their focus on profits gets bigger.
Without a doubt pets who eat real healthy food live longer and healthier lives… and it saves on the vet bills!
And cooking for your pets does not have to be a chore. They can eat many of the same things you eat and there are some great recipes for meats, stews, etc that you can fix for both you and your pet!
h/t to my great friend and vet Dr. Susan for sending this article~
The Natural Pet Food Cookbook: Healthful Recipes for Dogs and Cats
Everything Cooking for Dogs Book: 150 Quick and Easy Healthy Recipes Your Dog Will Bark For (Everything: Cooking)
Keep Your Dog Healthy the Natural Way
Your Purebred Puppy, Second Edition: A Buyer's Guide, Completely Revised and Updated
Bone Appetit!: Gourmet Cooking for Your Dog
…And after dinner how about a nice massage?
November 14, 2013 Posted by justonemorepet | Animal Related Education, Dogs, Just One More Pet, Man's Best Friend, Pet Friendship and Love, Pet Health, Pet Nutrition, pet products, Pets, responsible pet ownership | commercial dog food, dogs and cats, Dr. Becker, home-cooking, kibble, Pet Food, Pets | 3 Comments
Save a Life…Adopt Just One More…Pet!
Everyday we read or hear another story about pets and other animals being abandoned in record numbers while at the same time we regularly hear about crazy new rules and laws being passed limiting the amount of pets that people may have, even down to one or two… or worse yet, none.
Nobody is promoting hoarding pets or animals, but at a time when there are more pets and animals of all types being abandoned or being taken to shelters already bursting at the seams, there is nothing crazier than legislating away the ability of willing adoptive families to take in just one more pet!!
Our goal is to raise awareness and help find homes for all pets and animals that need one by helping to match them with loving families and positive situations. Our goal is also to help fight the trend of unfavorable legislation and rules in an attempt to stop unnecessary Euthenization!!
"All over the world, major universities are researching the therapeutic value of pets in our society and the number of hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and mental institutions which are employing full-time pet therapists and animals is increasing daily." ~ Betty White, American Actress, Animal Activist, and Author of Pet Love
'Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Soul Remains Unawakened'
So if you have the room in your home and the love in your heart… Adopt Just One More Pet or consider becoming a Foster parent for pets… Also check out: Little Critter: Just One More Pet
Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know(Kindle)
Photos By: Marion Algier – The UCLA Shutterbug
There is always room for Just One More Pet. So if you have room in your home and room in your heart… Adopt Just One More! If you live in an area that promotes unreasonable limitations on pets… fight the good fight and help change the rules and legislation…
Save the Life of Just One More…Animal!
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As I have been fighting Cancer… A battle I am gratefully winning, my furkids have not left my side. They have been a large part of my recovery!! Ask Marion
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- In Memory of Rocky – Until We Meet Again on Rainbow Bridge August 30, 2015By JoAnn, Marion, and Tim Algier This past week, we lost our dear family member Rocky who had just outlived his "huep – na-napbdad", Tom, by just a few months. His perspective would have been interesting!! Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been […]justonemorepet
- In Memory of Rocky – Until We Meet Again on Rainbow Bridge August 29, 2015By JoAnn, Marion, and Tim Algier This past week, we lost a dear family member, Rocky, who had just outlived his "human pet-dad", Tom, by just a few months. It certainly would have been interesting to know what they thought and what experiences they had had in common!! Just this side of heaven is a […]justonemorepet
- Panda Accused of Faking Pregnancy To Get Better Food, Air Conditioning August 1, 2015Expectant pandas are moved to air-conditioned rooms and showered with more buns, fruit and bamboo. By Dominique Mosbergen – News Editor, The Huffington Post – Posted: 07/30/2015 12:57 AM EDT | Edited: 07/31/2015 02:07 PM EDT Pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, names together mean "reunion", eat bamboo at a panda base in Ya'an, southwest […]justonemorepet
- Dachshund Family Photo | Picture Furrfect July 20, 2015Video: Dachshund Family Photo | Picture Furrfectjustonemorepet
- They Were Dead Puppy Parts Instead of Dead Baby July 16, 2015Bristol Palin: Fellow SixSeeds blogger Zeke Pipher has a great question: If they were dead puppy parts, or parts from homosexual babies, or babies that self-identified as adults, it'd be a different story. Meaning, it would be a story. But as it is, the fact that these fetuses don't look like puppies, and their sexual […]justonemorepet
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- Keep Your Pets Safe on the 4th of July June 30, 2015Family and friends of G.R. Gordon-Ross watch his private fireworks show at the Youth Sports Complex in Lawrence, Kan., Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner) Mercury News – Originally posted on July 02, 2013: The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Hot dogs, potato salad and, of course, fireworks. But Independence […]justonemorepet
- JOMP Salutes Doggie Dads Both Two and Four Legged June 21, 2015Very few dogs have the experience of being parents these days and especially seeing their litters through the process of weaning and then actually being able to remain part of a pack with at least part of their family. Apachi is our Doggie Dad. He is a Chiweenie and here he is is watching his […]justonemorepet
- Smartest Dog In the World, Chaser – 60 Minutes With Anderson Cooper June 15, 2015By Marion Algier – Just One More Pet (JOMP) – Cross-Posted at AskMarion Anderson Cooper met Chaser, a dog who can identify over a thousand toys, and because of whom, scientists are now studying the brain of man's best friend. Chaser is also the subject of a book: Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog […]justonemorepet
- Quebec bill changes animals from "property" to sentient beings and includes jail time for cruelty June 14, 2015By Tamara – Dog Heirs – Cross-Posted at JOMP Quebec, Canada – Animals will be considered "sentient beings" instead of property in a bill tabled in the Canadian province of Quebec. The legislation states that "animals are not things. They are sentient beings and have biological needs." Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis proposed the bill and […] […]justonemorepet
- In Memory of Rocky – Until We Meet Again on Rainbow Bridge August 30, 2015
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Great Book for Children and Pet Lovers… And a Perfect Holiday GiftOne More Pet Emily loves animals so much that she can't resist bringing them home. When a local farmer feels under the weather, she is only too eager to "feed the lambs, milk the cows and brush the rams." The farmer is so grateful for Emily's help that he gives her a giant egg... Can you guess what happens after that? The rhythmic verse begs to be read aloud, and the lively pictures will delight children as they watch Emily's collection of pets get bigger and bigger.
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An assessment of material support for Syrian Rebels
This article appeared on Southfront, https://southfront.org/terror-accounting/
Mikhail Nicolaevsky estimates the amount and structure of material support given to Syrian rebel groups in different categories. I am summarizing the article, words enclosed in [ ... ] are when I inject my personal comments into the subject matter, otherwise I am posting the author's opinion. I don't have a means of verifying this data, so I am posting it as is.
1. He describes the cost of maintaining refugee camps and their role as recruitment pools. There is a payment in kind where a recruit will have his family transported to an EU country.
2. Recruitment cost of foreign fighters, $430M (including family relocation) + $163M (transportation mgt) + $324M (instructors) per year
3. Salaries by role and specialty, total $473M. The estimated number of rebels in Syria has dropped from 105k to 74k. [this seems really high to me, if true Syria's still in for a long fight, I wish I had a dime every time I've heard Al Nusra has 15,000 fighters, it's like a cosmic constant.]
4. Medical costs since Oct. 2015 including family death benefits, $674M.
5. He gives a description of the supply and type of weapons and their attrition.
Final tally, since 2015 the rebels have had $4.5B dollars worth of material support.
I was surprised by the assertion that Turkey is still bearing most of the cost to overthrow Assad. His recommendation is, no truces. Attrition is grinding down the rebel groups, don't let them recover.
The story has mistakes that shouldn't have made it through an editorial evaluation. The question is what is the reason for this editorial lassitude? Maybe staff cutbacks, lack of morale, and possibly bad feelings from the Trump victory.
Anybody see Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk? I recommend it.
It's a movie based on the novel by Ben Fountain, which portrays an infantry squad's welcome home on leave from Iraq during an NFL game on Thanksgiving 2004.
The first five minutes I thought it was going to be a mocking caricature of soldiers, but the joke is on the civilians. The squad leaders played by Vin Diesel and Garrett Hedlund are complex characters, the latter (SSG Dime) fully of self-aware irony as is the soldier Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) himself.
A side plot with Kristen Stewart playing Billy Lynn's sister is kind of weak but a necessary foil. Steve Martin was a better foil, but no spoilers.
There is also a riff on the Bhagavad-Gita and the warrior Arjuna. The ending was kind of moving.
I plan to read the book soon, as well as Roy Scranton's War Porn.
Fortune magazine, which has never struck me as particularly friendly toward Russia, finallyl reached its gag limit. It has an article that drills down into the muck of the accusations:
The Intercept (Glenn Greenwald, who's livid about the situation) also drilled down:
I think these two fiskings are just the beginning of the backlash against the yellow journalism pieces in WaPo and "War on the Rocks." If you haven't read the latter, brace yourself:
As to whether there's any bite along with all this barking -- The Intercept article mentions:
PropOrNot is by no means a neutral observer. It actively calls on Congress and the White House to work "with our European allies to disconnect Russia from the SWIFT financial transaction system, effective immediately and lasting for at least one year, as an appropriate response to Russian manipulation of the [US] election."
So that's what all this has been working up to.
As to my own opinion, I suspect the entire disinformation operation was cooked up by MI6 with approval from NATO command. But then you would have to know something personal about me to put this in context.
My enemies say I'm so obsessed with the idea that the British are still trying to recapture their lost American colonies that I patrol the banks of the Potomac all night, looking for British mini-subs to surface.
That's ridiculous; a woman of my age prowling around lower Georgetown all night. I use a college fraternity for the patrol; I pay them in beer kegs.
I saw this SouthFront report around 8:30am EST -- was up all night waiting for something like this to happen after I read your comment. See the SouthFront website for maps accompanying the report, including the one showing the SAA coalition's expected plan of action.
November 27, 2016
Jaish al-Fatah militant coalition, led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) terrorist group, has failed to [halt] the Syrian government forces advance in the eastern part of Aleppo city.
Since yesterday the Syrian army, Liwa al-Quds, Hezbollah and other pro-government groups have captured the Jabal Badro Neighborhood and launched an advance in the Al-Sakhour area, aiming to reach Bostal al-Pasha and split the militant controlled areas in eastern Aleppo into two separate parts. Government forces also captured the area of Ard Hamra.
If Jaish al-Fatah redeploys manpower from southern Aleppo [province] to its northeastern part, the army and its allies will be able to relaunch attacks in Sheikh Saeed.
An expected plan of government forces operation in eastern Aleppo:
Hope this is a help. From FARS today (Nov 27):
TEHRAN (FNA)- Sources close to the Syrian dissidents disclosed that the Turkish army has deployed anti-aircraft 'Stinger' missile system to the regions near al-Bab city Northeast of Aleppo province.
Ahmad al-Khatib, a journalist with close links to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorist group, disclosed on his twitter page that Turkey is equipping its affiliated forces stationed near the strategic city of al-Bab with Stinger missile system.
The Turkish media had also reported on Saturday that a number of trucks carrying air defense systems were moving from Oguzeli region in Gaziantep towards the Syrian borders.
Tensions between Damascus and Ankara have gone so high that Syrian sources report army's preemptive strike in the Northern parts of Syria to block the Turkish army's attempts to establish a buffer zone in the region.
Lots more in the report.
Yes. Where did we go wrong? pl
Yes. PB is working on one for Syria and Iraq as an overall basis for SITREPs on subsets like Rojava, etc. pl
Well hopefully it will be be Fillon who wins today and will eventually face Le Pen for the Presidency. Of course from my perspective his wife is Welsh and he is a big anglophile, so this is good for Britain. He is also supportive of Assad, critical of Hollande's relationship with Qatar and the KSA, as well as favouring a rapprochement with Russia. Apparently he is another 'Putin' puppet, according to the usual suspects. From a personal perspective he is sceptical of the EU, immigration and socialist economics.
How quickly the post 1968 world is crumbling, 2016 is the year the counter revolution began.
An analysis by Elijah J Magnier on the Syrian airstrike killing three Turkish soldiers near AlBab
On the same day, one year apart, Russia gets its revenge and stops Turkey at the gates of al-Bab
General Ali,
Many thanks.
Ishmael Zechariah
Sweden is doing a fine liberal democratic job of destroying their own civilization without any help or hindrance from the US or NATO. I don't see us coming to their rescue.
Clearly Col Lang's view that the Eastern Aleppo resistance was on the verge of collapse was correct. Cassad's web site reports that SAA has completely cut off the Northeastern pocket after defenses collapsed..
The WAPO left out Rolling Stone, which was given a $7.5 million dollar judgement by a jury who found their fake rape story libelous. The Obama administration and others on the left were set to make national policy over that story. UVA President Sullivan did collectively punish fraternities and sororities over that story. That's the authoritarian left in action.
SWMBO and I partook this film over the holiday weekend. I concur, well worth the price of admission. Compelling. And yes, the ending heartfelt. Faithful to Fountain's novel which I read when it came out a few years back. I'm glad this movie got made and wish it well. But, as with so many other films about our (now!) 15 year war in the deserts, there's little appetite by the "civilians." Movies like Billy Lynn's,The Messenger, The Lucky Ones and so many others simply make the civilians overly guilty about how exactly they "support the troops." Someday perhaps they will appreciate the sacrifices made, the pain endured, the waste of treasure - appreciate and learn from it. Someday.
In the meantime, I offer some poetry of Brian Turner:
To Sand
To sand go tracers and ball ammunition.
To sand the green smoke goes.
Each finned mortar, spinning in light.
Each star cluster, bursting above.
To sand go the skeletons of war, year by year.
To sand go reticles of the brain,
the minarets and steeple bells, brackish
sludge from the open sewers, trashfires,
the silent cowbirds resting
on the shoulders of a yak. To sand
each head of cabbage unravels its leaves
the way dreams burn in the oilfires of night.
There is a very interesting interview by Robert Fisk of the head of Syria's Air Force Intelligence, General Jamil Hassan:
Little update.
Jihadist defennce line collapse in East Aleppo. War is all about manpower and logistic.
A new map :
I hope so and IMO it will benefit to all europeans citizen.
"L'europe des peuples du General de Gaulle" not this stupid bureaucracy.
"That's the authoritarian left in action." Yes, the left is quite happy to be as authoritarian as necessary to enforce their PC priorities. But, its those code words that the damn alt-right uses!!
It seems the moderate terrorists in Aleppo had a bit of bad luck recently. Instead of being split in half their pocket in Aleppo seems to have been shrinked:
Regarding yesterday's conquest of the Hanano district Reuters had a very strange sentence in it's report on that. Quote begin:
"Rebels say much of Hanano has been empty of residents for some months."
End quote. Source:
That's their words now: "empty of residents for some months." And that while all the quality news, NGOs and international bodies reported for months that there are so many hundreds of thousands of people suffering from the brutal siege in Eastern Aleppo. Where are they?
And some of those civilians who are in Eastern Aleppo seem to be willing to leave their moderate protectors in Eastern Aleppo to be with Assad's thugs. Al Manar has filed today this remarkable report from Jabal Badro district in Aleppo - be sure, it's "fake news" like most reports not filed by western mass media are called nowadays:
A Russian journo tweep - be careful, he might be a Putin stooge spreading fake news - just said more than 4k civs arrived today in West-Aleppo shelters prepared for East-Aleppo people:
Some single billion digit is not really that much. Even Qatar alone could foot such a bill. And the superpower of Qatar has just said they'll gonna show Trump who's boss. Reuters/Newsweek reports, quote:
"Qatar Will Arm Syrian Rebels Regardless of Trump's Policies"
Source: http://europe.newsweek.com/qatar-arm-syrian-rebels-regardless-trump-policies-525590
You got your wish. Fillon has won. I didn't know anything about him - thanks for filling me in.
Regarding Syria, does the stepwise implosion of Ahrar Al Sham that we are perhaps now witnessing before our eyes signal a farther reaching start of a Gulfie takeover/consolidation of the non IS Syrian rebels through Nusra, in preparation for a possible future Trump disengagement from the whole mess? Signals of high intensity friction between Turkish and Gulf elements, an unwillingness to see eye to eye in regards to the future courses of action in the fact of the obvious Assad military advantage on the battlefield? This seems to have been a process started with the absorption of jund al aqsa a couple months ago by nusra.
Thank you. You've probably already seen this but a FARS report 9 PM their time has a few more morsels about the retreat
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When titling this blog, it took a few tries until I got the spelling of this word correct. Normally I am decent when it comes to spelling – I have sometimes wondered if my inability to spell a words spells the fact that I haven't grasped that word, both in the memory of copying the word itself as well as the definitions/concepts it embodies.
In recent blog posts I have written about prioritizing that which is important, about living my life to it's full potential, living without regret, in a way where I don't end my days feeling unfulfilled and wanting for more. Within this, I have more clearly identified for myself that which I would like to do, what are some things I would like to get done and accomplish, some ways I would like to live. I have also identified what is problematic in my life, in terms of old habits that have no real value, and only serve to keep me from full transitioning into a new being, a new way of living life – I could really do so much more if I did not allow such pointless things to hold me back.
As it has always been for me in this process, stopping any old habit is the same as stopping an addiction – it does not come naturally at all, or without resistance and withdrawal. I have screwed myself in the past by not being realistic about how to go about stopping long-standing habits/addictions, where I ended up getting false expectations and creating ideals about how well I was going to do, and then only ended up in disappointment and discouragement. Stopping a habit/addiction had become a form of abstinence that was really just a suppression, where I would try really really hard to just stop and keep stopping and the whole thing was very energetically driven and tiring – and eventually I would fail – yet I set myself up for failure.
I have began to learn how to walk practically, within the understanding that change is a process that requires more than just stopping, that I require support through writing and doing the necessary study and investigation to ensure that I am stopping with understanding. When I have stopped other habits/addictions in the past, because it came so unnaturally, with so much resistance, I had to actually first do a 24 hour abstaining period, just to break the habit and physically come to terms with stopping – in a way, I had to make decisions that were a form of tough love on myself, not giving myself any other options. Usually, after breaking the habit initially, things would get easier over time, and at the very least, I was giving myself a window to support myself, with clarity, without any backdoors or ulterior motives, or being under the influence of still being dead-smack in the middle of a habit/pattern, just in between doses.
24 hours really isn't much to ask, either. It is the least I can do, and I owe it to myself, to life, to give myself the chance – no matter how much I resist, or feel as though I am 'missing out on something' – I mean that is just withdrawal talking. Thus I am dedicating myself to a minimum of 24 hours of stopping old habits/patterns that really contribute nothing to life. I won't discuss here the specifics of what some of these habits are – one could gather from reading past blogs, or just use your imagination – I am a fairly 'normal guy' when it comes to time-wasting habits – but it doesn't so much matter what we are wasting our time with as it does the fact that we are wasting away the bit of time we are gifted with while here on this earth.
I forgive myself that I've not accepted and allowed myself to give myself a chance to break free from old habits/patterns that serve to keep me lost and from completely making the transition into a new life, using the experience of feeling overwhelmed, like I cannot do it, as a justification, due to past experiences where I set myself for disappointment and failure by not being practical about how to go about stopping habits/addictions – within this, I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to test the point of stopping through giving myself the time and space to stop with simple commitments that are manageable and reasonable to ask of myself and do, to give myself the breathing room/time/space to support myself with more clarity than I otherwise would have while stuck in the middle of a habit/pattern, not realizing and understanding that stopping must be accompanied with self study and understanding, and not enforced on the physical like some unreasonable ultimatum, imposed with force as a for of suppression
I commit myself to live 24 hours without giving into an old habit/pattern of wasting time with various distractions/entertainments/preoccupations and to, within this experience, support myself with breathing and writing – when and as I see the desire to participate in an old pattern arise in my thoughts : I stop, I breathe, I remember my 24 hour commitment to myself as life, I see and understand that the desire to participate in old habits/patterns is simply the mind having withdrawal and using the illusion/belief that I am 'missing out on something' – and thus I do not allow myself to participate in these thoughts/this energy as desire, and continue to move myself throughout my day, here as breath.


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Monthly check-in blog post format courtesy of Jessica Lawlor. Be sure to check out her website!
In May, I …
1. Received over 1000+ unique visitors to my blog! When I first began my blog, I had no idea what I was doing or what I would write about. I figured no one would read it, except my mom of course. It was just a sounding board for my stories, thoughts, and feelings but along the way it's turned into something that's actually connecting with people! My hope is that my posts give something back to viewers whether it's motivation, inspiration, a new trail to try, or even just a few chuckles.
2. Started a newsletter! What better way is there to celebrate my expanding reach than by starting a newsletter? I sent out my very first one this morning and have got a great response already. If you are interested in receiving update on me and my blog, please subscribe!
3. Celebrated a my 2-year runniversary, hit a milestone of 3000 total km, and participated in my first trail race! It was a big month for running milestones although a relatively smaller month for total distance. I ran *only* 120 km, a third of which was my marathon on May 3. I'm looking forward to ramping the mileage up over the summer!
In June, I will …
1. Run 16 km up a mountain! I'm actually deeply regretting signing up for Seek the Peak. I feel totally unprepared. But if nothing else, it will be the kick in the pants I need to get into badass train running and hill training mode for Squamish 50 in August!
2. Send out wedding invitations! Oh right, I have a wedding to plan. It's proving difficult to do with all this running stuff! With only three months until the big day it's time to design and send out the official invitations!
3. Spend more time with my trail family! They've convinced me to sign up for some crazy things … now they have to make sure I'm ready to tackle these huge challenges! I can't wait to spend more time on the trails taking selfies, sharing M&Ms, and climbing mountains with friends.
A couple bloggers liked the idea of a monthly roundup so they made their own! Find out what they did last month and their plans going forward:
May Posts You May Have Missed
General posts:
- What I Think About When I Think About Racing
- Race Recap: BMO Vancouver Marathon 2015
- Canadian Online Outdoor Equipment Retailers
- Brie & Jesse's California AdVentura!
- Swan Falls Loop Trail Run
- Tomorrow morning! 6:29am! Olympic Cauldron!
- Engagement Photos by Two Peas Photography
- Milestone: 3000 Total km & My 2-Year Runniversary!
Weekly training summaries:
- Weekly Training Summary: April 27 to May 3, 2015
- Weekly Training Summary: May 4 to 10, 2015
- Weekly Training Summary: May 11 to 17, 2015
- Weekly Training Summary: May 18 to 24, 2015
Sponsored posts:
- The Puppy Run + Promo Code!
- Puritan's Pride Summer Series: Hair Care + Giveaway!
- Tiux Compression Socks
- Winner: Puritan's Pride Hair Care Package!


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How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck?
September 9, 2008 at 8:16 pm (Authors, Books, Dogs, Jasper, Recipes, Rosina Lippi, Sara Donati, Uncategorized) (bonfire, bug spray, chigger, chiggers, copperheads, cornbread, cornbread recipe, dream, dreams, firewood, flower seeds, Frog Hollow, Jasper, land steward, outdoor attire, poison ivy, Rosina Lippi, Sara Donati, seed pods, September, September Butterfly, Verbena, Wilderness Series, wood splitting, wood stove, woodcutting)
By Eydie Wight
Sammy and I had come home from our long weekend of night shifts and slept the sleep of the deep and dreamless. Well, not dreamless. September is always a strange month for me. It is the month when I feel the change of the seasons pull me most strongly. When I was younger and first out on my own I used to change apartments every September. In these later years I roam far afield, collecting flower seeds and odd pods, watching leaves turn and grasses brown. I write more, create more, and dream more in September. So, the dream I had was typical for the month. I always dream in color, and usually in great detail. In the dream I was on top of a ridge admiring the long grasses that moved with the breeze and sloped down to the woods line. An old woman was standing with me, her white hair down to her waist. I asked her, "What must I do?" She told me that I must build a fence of green branches and she swept her arm across what seemed an impossible expanse of space. I started the work, taking only a branch or two from each tree, knowing I could strip the tree and take all its branches as some would do to shorten and ease the task, but choosing instead to roam further and further to find my branches. As I went, I would collect plants and seeds to plant along the fence as it took shape. When I stripped the branches I would fashion bird houses, and baskets that I filled with earth and seeds until the fence became a living thing. Sometimes as I returned I would see the old woman. She became younger as the time passed. And so did I. All the middle age weight came off as I walked and worked and my arms and legs grew muscular again and my own hair grew out long and beautiful. I woke up when I realized in the dream that I really had to pee. I kept looking for a place to pee but kept thinking, "Not here, I can't pee here." It's good I didn't find a place or Sammy might have had a rude awakening!
A few days ago I had called one of neighbor Dot's sons who has a hundred acre farm about a mile from us. For the past umpteen years he has allowed us to cut firewood from this, his mom's, or other properties he owns. He explained a long time ago that a good land steward will judiciously cut standing dead trees, fallen trees, and encroaching trees from field borders. This encourages straight growing timber and lets in more sunlight to field edges. What is culled is firewood. We heat primarily with a wood stove in the winter, using our heat pump only when we are going to be away for more than 24 hours. Our wood stove is a handmade affair my dad had made. The body will accommodate a sixteen inch chunk of wood. Let me just say that I've had all kinds of heating systems in my life (gas, oil, coal, electric, hot water baseboard) and wood beats them all in my opinion. With the wood stove going in the basement the floors are warm to the feet and the heat finds every nook of the house. I can stay barefoot inside in the winter and be comfortable.
Well, this was the day we had designated as our first day of woodcutting. It was late afternoon by the time we got up and we wanted to get one truck load cut and brought home before dark. We have an old Nissan truck that we use as a farm truck. It has a crunched in front end, more rust than paint, an acrylic driver's side window and back window that are caulked in place (Sammy is so proud of THAT fix) and a tailgate that will fall off on your foot if you aren't careful opening it. The gas gauge hasn't worked in years so we pour a few gallons from the gas can in it each time we use it.
Sammy and I "dressed for the occasion". Long sleeves, pants, and sturdy shoes. Cutting wood this early in the season has a few considerations. Primarily, until the first hard frost, the poison ivy is still full of juice and vengeful. Until I wised up I used to miss a day or two of work every fall due to oozing, blistered, itchy, raw poison ivy on my forearms from carrying wood chunks to throw in the truck. Secondly, there are still copperheads around while the days are warm and the rocks offer heat and shelter. I've never (knock on the woodpile) come across one but it is very much a possibility. A copperhead bite is rarely fatal or even all that serious for an adult but it is frightening, unpleasant, and something I don't want to have to tell a story about! As the day's temperature was in the 80's, humid, and breezeless (not the ideal day to run a chainsaw and heft chunks of wood) we also donned headbands so the sweat wouldn't drip into our eyes. I know what you're thinking and yes, of course, we ARE old hippies and we sure do look the part. Sammy has long hair past his shoulders and his headband was a rolled handkerchief. It was also pink and had dancing unicorns and rainbows on it. Mine was a rugged red bandanna. What can I say, real men wear whatever the hell they want and my man likes dancing unicorns and pretty rainbows. Have a problem with that and I'll beat you up… 🙂
We loaded up the truck with the chainsaw, 2 cycle oil, gas can, chainsaw tool, bottles of water, bug spray, toilet paper, our dog Jasper, and we headed out. Our friend had called us to say he had trimmed and cut down trees that had grown along the fields on his property and we were welcome to the wood. We headed out. The property isn't too far from home and the short drive led us on a dirt road through Frog Hollow. This is a still wild area where I've seen deer, fox, a huge blacksnake hanging from a tree, skunk, raccoon, groundhog, red-tailed hawks, mink, and sometimes fairies and other enchanted folk. One of my favorite poems, "Verbena" (written by my alter ego September Butterfly) came from my wanderings in this area.
We drove up the dirt drive and across the fields up to the top of the ridge to park the truck. Despite the high humidity the view here was still breathtaking. We could just see the tip of Buffalo Mountain, seven miles away! And, if we had remembered the binoculars, we could have just made out the clearing that is our own modest homestead two ridges over. Before we got started we sprayed each other down with enough bug spray to have the pesticide environmentalists paying us a visit. This is a fairly recent anointing following our experience when we harvested elderberries for our elderberry wine. We had, on that occasion, neglected to wear suitable clothing or any bug spray and suffered the ravages of chiggers. Chiggers, for those who have never experienced them, are microscopic insects that burrow under your skin and emit an enzyme to liquefy the surrounding tissue which they then feed on. The area becomes red and unbearably itchy. The little bastards are self limiting in about three days but it is a miserable three days. Along with my elderberries I got about a dozen or so bites but Sammy became a metropolis of chiggers. They had condos and apartments and went jogging in the park. He must have had 40 or 50 bites. We now have a borderline irrational fear and hatred of them.
Anyway, Sammy fired up the chainsaw and I began loading up the truck. The small brush that remained I stacked into piles that our friend will later use his backhoe to push into a huge mound in the field. Come this winter and a good snowfall he will have a magnificent bonfire. The pieces we cut this first load were all small enough that they would not have to be split. Pieces that have too big a circumference have to have the axe taken to them. Our sons are good at splitting wood. One mighty well aimed blow and a chunk is split. Me, I have to use a wedge. And use a wimpy little thunk for fear of missing and chopping into my leg. It isn't pretty and I generate more heat getting a piece split than I do burning it! We got a truck load of wood cut and we were done in for the day. Cutting wood when the fall air is crisp and clod and the leaves are falling in little dances as you work and the sweat cools as it forms is delightful. Cutting wood when there is no air moving and the sweat soaks into every crevice of your body and the wood chips as they fly stick and itch and make you look like you have a fired chicken coating is a CHORE. And all the poison ivy sits there with a smirk on its leaves and waits to ambush any exposed skin.
We filled up the back of the truck and packed all our gear and started for home. Jasper had to sit half on my feet and half on my lap but with his head hanging out the window he was content. As we drove home with the last of the day's light we agreed that we would NOT unload the truck that night. I was ready for a shower. We striped off our poison ivy contaminated clothes and hung them outside until wash time. As I padded upstairs to the shower in the clothes God gave me I was glad I live in an area where I have no visible neighbors. And the neighbors would be glad I wasn't visible just then either!
After we got cleaned up I was "whupped". Hungry. Cranky. I knew before Sammy even opened his mouth that he would suggest we snap the huge bag of green beans we had picked a few days ago and cook them with some potatoes and ham. And make some of Granny's homemade cornbread. I was whining, opting for some cheese and pretzels and a beer. But, and chant along with us, Brother John, NO PRODUCE MUST BE WASTED! So, for the next 45 minutes, Sammy sat in the big brown chair and I sat on the floor and we companionably snapped beans and watched politics on TV. Sammy watched politics. I kibitzed until Sammy told me to be quiet so he could hear. I cooked up the ham, green beans, and potatoes in a little chicken broth and made up a pan of cornbread in the big black iron skillet. (Granny's Cornbread Recipe is in our Food and Wine Recipes section). We put on some corn to boil and Sammy cut up a few ripe tomatoes. I felt much better after we ate. I felt so much better that since I was already in my pajamas I climbed into bed and read an hour or so of Into the Wilderness.


text:
The head pose is an important cue for computer vision. Traditionally considered in human computer interaction applications,
it becomes very hard to model in surveillance scenarios, due to the tiny head size. Additionally, no public dataset contains continuous head pose annotations in open scenery, making the challenge even harder to face. Here we present a
framework based on Faster RCNN, which introduces a branch in the network architecture related to the head pose estimation.
The key idea is to leverage the presence of the people body to better infer the head pose, through a joint optimization
process. Additionally, we enrich the Town Center dataset with head pose labels, promoting further study on this topic.
Results on this novel benchmark and ablation studies on other task-specific datasets promote our idea and confirm the importance of the body cues to contextualize the head pose estimation.
Paper Details
- Authors:
- Submitted On:
- 14 September 2017 - 5:40am
- Short Link:
- Type:
- Poster
- Event:
- Presenter's Name:
- Irtiza Hasan
- Paper Code:
- 3533
- Document Year:
- 2017
- Cite
url = {http://sigport.org/1968},
author = {Irtiza Hasan; Theodore Tsesmelis; Fabio Galasso; Alessio Del Bue; Marco Cristani },
publisher = {IEEE SigPort},
title = {Tiny Head Pose Classification by Bodily Cues},
year = {2017} }
T1 - Tiny Head Pose Classification by Bodily Cues
AU - Irtiza Hasan; Theodore Tsesmelis; Fabio Galasso; Alessio Del Bue; Marco Cristani
PB - IEEE SigPort
UR - http://sigport.org/1968


text: Hilla Medalia(Co-Director/Co-Producer) A George Foster Peabody Award winning director and producer. Received 3 Emmy Award nominations and won the Paris Human Rights Film Festival Jury Award, Fipa Biarritz Jury Award, Golden Warsaw Phoenix Award, Faito Doc Grand Jury Award, and more. Hilla directed and produced the documentary After the Storm (2009), a film about a group of New York Broadway actors travel to New Orleans to offer the remedy of art and expression to thirteen affected kids in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Together, they transform a storm-wrecked community center into a theatre, erecting a beacon of hope and purpose in the midst of devastation and despair. The film will air on MTV this coming fall, broadcasted on ch8 Israel and participated in film festivals around the world (Won the Audience and Crystal Heart Award). Hilla also directed and produced To Die in Jerusalem (2007- HBO Films), a story about a Palestinian suicide bomber and her unlikely Israeli doppelganger, who died at only 17 years of age in a Jerusalem market. The film unveils a microcosm for the Palestinian- Israeli conflict and explores the complexity of reconciliation. The film was broadcast in the United States as an HBO feature and has aired on television globally, including YES in Israel; RAI is Italy, M6 in France, NHK in Japan, and numerous others. Hilla was a Senior Producer on 39 Pounds of Love (2005-HBO and Cinemax film). The story follows Ami who has been diagnosed with an extremely rare and often fatal form of SMA/2, and finds himself at 39 pounds at the age of 34-- outliving a doctor's prediction of life expectancy by 28 years, and counting. Living life, he follow his lifelong dream of riding a Harley Davidson (Winner of Ofir Award and shortlisted for an Academy Award). Hilla has a Master Degree in Film and Television from Southern Illinois University.


text:
AIADMK symbol dispute : Election Commission to hear on Oct 5 - Tv9
Fri, Sep 22, 2017, 08:33 PM
Central Election Commission has issued notices once again to both the fractions of AIADMK and orders Madhusudhan, Panneer Selvam and Dinakaran to attend before EC on 5 October over AIADMK symbol dispute. It is known that the party splits after Jayalalitha's demise and all the groups claimed the same 2 leaves symbol over which EC put a stay. HC reviewed the petition over the issue and ordered EC to take decision in this regard before Oct 31. Karnataka EC is going to issue notices even to Sasikala. EC directed them to present their objections over party symbol before 29 October.


text:
It's Art Basel Miami Beach's de facto VIP room. And in its ten-year history, Le Baron has served as the clubhouse for creative types.
But even though celebrities like Demi Moore, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Pharrell Williams have made cameos at the hot spot, star sightings are not why throngs of people clamor at the door, hoping to get in.
"You know, most of the places are meant for people who have money or cars, or who are famous on TV or whatever," says André Saraiva, co-founder of Le Baron. "I make a place for the artists I like and people who create. They are the people who get in and make Baron their home. Then the rest can come, of course. I'm not looking for the normal VIP. That's not what I'm interested in."
See also: Recap & Photos: Le Baron Pop-Up at the Delano's FDR Lounge Was the Dance Party of Basel 2014
As egalitarian as Saraiva makes his pop-up club seem, it is notoriously difficult to get into Le Baron's Miami incarnation if you aren't invited or look the part -- which can be anything from European fashionista to scuzzy punk.
However, "it's not so much about the look, but what you have to tell and the attitude," he insists.
In addition to Le Baron enjoying a very high profile during Art Basel Miami Beach, the lounge has become a global brand with four permanent outposts in Paris, Tokyo, New York, and more recently, Shanghai. There's also a version at Cannes that pops up during the film festival.
"I'm still enjoying it because I have the same enthusiasm as I had in the beginning," says Saraiva. "I never thought it would become something like that. But we've still kept it close and run by the original people."
Le Baron started in 2004 as a nightclub in Paris, where Saraiva and his friends could hang out.
"It was me and my friend Lionel [Bensemoun] that founded the club, and then our friends joined. Some became the DJs, some worked the doors. We were all not really from the nightlife or the nightlife industry -- some were musicians, some were painters, some were fine artists. We put all this energy and people together. That's how it happened."
See also: Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 Bar Guide
By 2005, at the urging of then-Art Basel director Sam Keller and gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin, Saraiva and Bensemoun decided to do a pop-up club to coincide with Miami Beach's more exuberant take on the Swiss art fair. Its first location was Rain nightclub (the space in which Treehouse currently resides), before eventually moving on to the now-defunct Rokbar in 2006.
"When we first came to Miami, it was because we had some of our friends who were coming and doing residencies and we had our friend Emmanuel Perrotin who was opening his gallery," says Saraiva.
Le Baron, at least the Miami incarnation, prides itself on being almost indescribable. That's because no two editions or nights are alike, thanks to the patrons who play an integral role in the nightclub's vibe.
"I've always thought of it as social art," the co-founder explains. "We've always had the artists participate, doing music or a performance, or working on the décor. We've always had artists do work inside the club as a medium, as a canvas, where they could express themselves."
This roving Basel party spot has also been able to experiment with venue choices, even shifting to a different location every night for its "Where is Le Baron?" editions in 2012 and 2013, which Saraiva admits was a headache to organize. But though the club has popped up in over a dozen places throughout its ten-year history, its best incarnation has been at the Florida Room, known today as FDR Lounge at the Delano.
"Of all the spaces I've been in Miami, it's almost the perfect size for us -- the piano room on one side, the bar," Saraiva says. "You have a lot of megaclubs, which are great, but I couldn't really work with those. FDR is the perfect size, it's very central. If I had to think and design it myself, I wouldn't have done better."
And for Le Baron's tenth anniversary at Basel, Saraiva says he couldn't conceive doing it in another space. "For the anniversary, it was nice to go home and make it something special. I think it's going to be an epic year."
So is there a plan to ever make Miami a permanent home like New York or Paris?
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"We've talked about it. But always, no matter the place, I always try to be there and not just sell a brand. We have not found the right team to do it. But maybe one day, when I get older, move to Miami, and get my apartment on the sea -- then I'll make a club in Miami."
Crossfade's Top Blogs
-The Six People You Meet on South Beach
Le Baron's Art Basel Miami Beach Pop-Up. Tuesday to Sunday, December 2 to 8. FDR at the Delano, 1685 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. Doors at 11 p.m. Call 305-924-4071 or visit delano-hotel.com.
Follow Crossfade on Facebook and Twitter @Crossfade_SFL.


text:
The Great Piece Meadows are a large tract of land the Passaic winds back and forth around from the West and then deep within to the north. The river is wider now and the current a bit slower. It is evening and the sunset lights warms patches of riverside grass and trees. These bright patches contrast with sections that are now in full shade. Each bend in the river is made more dynamic by the play of warm light and darkening forest. It is a wonderful culmination of the day's adventure.
The riverside stretches of grass look very inviting to camp. On close inspection, however, they covered with PI, poison ivy. I'm not sure how this will play out. An interesting development as I approach the Meadows is a reduction in my ability to steer. The bow is a bit high and as I check the stern I find it 2" underwater at the tip. There is no danger of sinking, but I'm not level and the current batts me around. Pulling over I realize my rental kayak has a 7" crack along the back of the keel. The rear compartment is full of water. I drain it and continue on, but the water rushes in and I'm back to where I was. Perhaps I should be concerned, but I've dealt with worse and this seems manageable, if less than ideal.
te, I consider a muddy bank and more sections of tall grass, but none fits well. Finally I find a section of mowed grass, 30' wide and 12' deep up an embankment on the backside of someone's property. It's a very deep lot and there is a good section of forest between the river and the house for privacy, so I decide to pitch for the night.
The last few years I've often favored a bivy sack over a tent. Mosquitos don't bother me too much and a bivy is certainly lighter. So I'm set up for the night in no time and eating a MRE. I'm thankful to be able to pass on cooking. I'm still elated, though my shoulders have let me know that I've gone way beyond what I'm in shape for. Of great relief, my back is rock solid.
It's been about 35 miles for the first day. Wow. I didn't expect to be able to do that – I had one 10 mile practice run before the trip.
Throughout my life I've been able to go way beyond the limits of my physical ability. I've never been quite sure exactly why. I know I have a high threshold for pain. It might be my will, or it might be that I don't experience pain in the same way as others. I do know that when excitement and euphoria are flowing, I can suspend limitations and embrace the moment; whether it's a short college crew race or a long day of paddling. Limitations are ultimately our constructs, and when they get separated from reality, opportunities are lost. There are consequences to this, of course, including major back surgery in my 20s. The invincibility of my youth caught up to me earlier than most. But with more balanced training (a lot tai chi and tango dancing) I've been able to extend a very vigorous lifestyle past 50. My arms will hurt the next day, but for now the joy is overwhelming and with a little advil, I'll sleep well.
Surprisingly, I stay awake sitting cross legged by the river well past sunset. It's a full moon and I watch its rise through the trees. I'm enjoying being outside along the river so much that I think I would sleep outside even if I had brought a tent. As I drift off, I'm thankful my gear in the rear compartment stayed dry.