text:
Case Study: Urinary Incontinence [pdf]
This document was amended in July 2016 to reflect literature that was released since the original publication of this content in May 2013. This document will continue to be periodically updated to reflect the growing body of literature related to this topic.
Learning Objectives
At the end of medical school, the medical student will be able to:
- Identify and name the major anatomic and histologic features of the bladder and urethra in the male and female
- Define incontinence
- List the symptoms and signs of the various types of incontinence; stress, urge, overflow and mixed
- Describe the epidemiological features of incontinence
- Describe the natural history and progression of incontinence
- List the risk factors for incontinence
- List the important components of the history when interviewing a patient with incontinence
- List the important components of the physical exam of a patient with incontinence
- Summarize the laboratory, radiologic, or urodynamic tests, if any, that should be ordered in a patient with incontinence
- List the indications for treatment of incontinence
- List the nonsurgical treatment options for stress and urge incontinence, describe their side effects, and outline the mechanisms by which they work
- Briefly describe the surgical treatment options for stress and urge incontinence
Urinary Incontinence
Urinary incontinence is a significant problem, affecting tens of millions of Americans. Patients may not report incontinence to their primary care providers due to embarrassment or misconceptions regarding treatment. Since incontinence is often treatable, it is imperative the health care professional be adept at identifying patients who might benefit from treatment. Since the treatment of incontinence varies depending on the etiology, the aim of evaluation is to identify the specific type of incontinence.
Urinary incontinence is generally the result of either bladder or urethral dysfunction (Table 1)
TABLE 1. Etiology Of Incontinence
Bladder Dysfunction
- Urge incontinence
- detrusor over activity
- detrusor overactivity of nonneurogenic origin
- detrusor overactivity of neurogenic origin
- poor compliance
- Overflow incontinence
Urethral Dysfunction
- Stress incontinence
- anatomic ( due to mobility of the bladder neck)
- intrinsic sphincter deficiency (due to bladder neck dysfunction)
There are other commonly used classifications of incontinence.
J. Christian Winters, MD (2011): Female Urology and Urinary Incontinence
Retrieved From: The American Urological Association Educational Review Manual in Urology: 3rd Edition Section: 2 Chapter: 12 Page: 344-344
Incontinence may also occur due to a non-urologic cause which is usually reversible when the underlying problem is treated (Table 2).
TABLE 2. Transient Causes of Incontinence
|Incontinence may be secondary to delirium and will often stop when acute delirium resolves.
|Symptomatic infection may increase urinary tract irritation and resulting incontinence
|Atrophic vaginitis
|Vaginitis may result in the same symptoms of an infection.
|Alcohol and long-acting benzodiazepines may cause confusion and secondary incontinence.
|brisk diuresis may overwhelm the bladder's capacity and cause uninhibited detrusor contractions, resulting in urge incontinence.
|Many nonprescription and prescription medications have anticholinergic properties. Side effects of anticholinergics include urinary retention with associated frequency and overflow incontinence.
|Tone in the bladder neck and proximal sphincter is increased by alpha adrenergic agonists and can manifest with urinary retention, particularly in men with prostatism.
|Tone in the smooth muscles of the bladder neck and proximal sphincter is decreased with alpha adrenergic antagonists. Women treated with these drugs for hypertension may develop or have an exacerbation of stress incontinence.
|Depression may be occasionally associated with incontinence.
|Excessive urine production
|Excessive intake, diabetes, hypercalcemia, congestive heart failure and peripheral edema can all lead to polyuria, which can exacerbate incontinence.
|Restricted mobility
|Incontinence may be precipitated or aggravated if the patient is unable to toilet in a timely fashion.
|Stool impaction
|Patients with impacted stool can have urge or overflow urinary incontinence and may also have concomitant fecal incontinence.
More uncommon causes of incontinence include antomic abnormalities such as urinary fistulae or ectopic ureteral orifices.
Bladder Dysfunction
Bladder dysfunction, either related to storage or emptying, can provoke urgency or overflow incontinence. Urgency incontinence occurs when the bladder pressure is sufficient to overcome the sphincter mechanism which is fundamentally programmed to open during periods of elevated detrusor pressure which occurs with normal voiding. However, elevation in detrusor pressure may occur from intermittent abnormal bladder contractions (detrusor overactivity) or due to an incremental rise in pressure with increased bladder volume (poor compliance). Detrusor overactivity may be idiopathic or associated with a neurologic disease (detrusor overactivity of neurogenic origin). Detrusor overactivity is exceedingly common in the elderly and may be associated with bladder outlet obstruction. Poor bladder compliance results from loss of the visicoelastic features of the bladder or because of a change in neural-regulatory activity. Patients with urgency incontinence may appreciate a sudden sensation to void which is difficult to defer. In severe cases, the patient may not be aware of the sensation of needing to void until they are actually leaking. The amount of leakage in patients with urgency incontinence is variable, depending on the patient's ability to suppress the contraction and the strength of their outlet. Patients with urgency incontinence will often manifest frequency, nocturia, and occasionallynocturnal enuresis.
Overactive bladder has become the popularized term for describing patients with frequency and urgency with or without urgency incontinence.
Overflow incontinence occurs at extreme bladder volumes or when the bladder volume reaches the limit of the urethral mechanism or the bladder's viscoelastic properties. The loss of urine is driven by an elevation in detrusor pressure which overcomes the outlet resistance. Overflow incontinence is seen with incomplete bladder emptying caused either by obstruction or poor bladder contractility. Obstruction is rare in women but can result from severe pelvic prolapse or following surgery for stress incontinence. Patients with overflow incontinence will complain of constant dribbling and often describe extreme frequency.
Urethral Related Incontinence
Urethral related incontinence, or stress incontinence, occurs because of either urethral hypermobility or intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) or a combination of both. The patient with stress incontinence will leak urine with any sudden increase in abdominal pressure. Incontinence associated with urethral hypermobility has been called anatomic incontinence, since the incontinence is due to malposition of the sphincter unit. Displacement of the proximal urethra below the level of the pelvic floor does not allow for the appropriate transmission of abdominal pressure that normally aids in closing the urethra.
ISD refers to a dysfunction of the proximal smooth muscle sphincter at the bladder neck and is often correlated with more severe stress incontinence. The clinical utility of these terms revolves around complex decisions for optimal treatment and quantification for research, however it is likely that patients who demonstrate stress leakage manifest a combination of pathologies.
Evaluation of Urinary Incontinence
The evaluation of the patient presenting with urinary incontinence includes a history and a physical, often combined with basic laboratory tests and possibly functional evaluation with urodynamic testing. The onset, frequency, severity and pattern of incontinence should be sought, as well as any associated symptoms such as frequency, dysuria, urgency or nocturia. Incontinence may be quantified by asking the patient if he or she wears a pad and how often the pad is changed. Obstructive symptoms, such as a feeling of incomplete emptying, hesitancy, straining or weak stream, may coexist with incontinence, particularly in males and in female patients with previous pelvic surgery, prolapse or poor detrusor contractility. Female patients should be asked about symptoms of pelvic prolapse, such as recurrent urinary tract infection, a sensation of vaginal fullness or pressure, or the observation of a bulge in the vagina. All incontinent patients should be asked about bowel function and neurologic symptoms. Response to previous treatments, including pharmaceutical agents, should be noted. Important features of the history include previous gynecologic or urologic procedures, neurologic problems and past medical problems. A list of the patient's current medications, including use of over-the-counter medications, should be obtained.
Although the history may define the patient's problem, it may also be misleading. Urgency incontinence may be triggered by activities such as coughing, so that according to the patient's history, he or she would suggest symptoms consistent with stress incontinence. A patient who complains only of urgency incontinence may often have comorbid stress incontinence, termed mixed incontinence. Mixed incontinence is very common, with at least 65% of patients with stress incontinence reporting associated urgency or urgency incontinence.
Complete physical examination is performed with emphasis on a neurologic assessment and the abdominal, pelvic and rectal examination. In females, the condition of the vaginal epthelium and the degree of urethral mobility is determined. Simple pelvic examination with the patient supine is sufficient to determine if the urethra moves with straining or coughing. In the patient with suspected stress incontinence urethral leakage with a cough or a stress maneuver must be demonstrated prior to invasive treatment. The presence of associated pelvic organ prolapse should be noted as it can contribute to the patient's voiding problems and may have an impact on diagnosis and treatment. A rectal exam in both males and females includes the evaluation of sphincter tone and perineal sensation.
Urinalysis is performed to determine if there is any evidence of hematuria, pyuria, glucosuria, or proteinuria. Evaluation of asymptomatic microscopic hematuria should follow AUA guidelines (http://www.auanet.org/education/guidelines/asymptomatic-microhematuria.cfm). The urine is cultured if there is pyuria or bacteriuria. Infection should be treated prior to further investigations or interventions.
A post void residual (PVR) is frequently useful to guide treatment and may be measured either with bladder ultrasound or directly with a catheter. A normal PVR is less than 50 mL and a PVR in excess of 200 mL when associated with urinary symptoms should raise concern. A significant PVR urine may reflect either bladder outlet obstruction or poor bladder contractility. The only way to distinguish outlet obstruction from poor contractility is with functional urodynamic testing.
A voiding diary may be used to quantitate the amount of fluid taken in, the amount of urine per void, the number of voids and the number of incontinent episodes.
A pad weight test may be performed in select instances to quantitate the amount of incontinence, but is most often reserved for research endeavors.
Urodynamic testing is used to accurately diagnose the etiology of patient's incontinence, however current guidelines for both stress and urgency incontinence indicate many patients can be successfully treated without such functional testing. The purpose of urodynamic testing is to examine bladder compliance, detrusor overactivity, urethral function, and to rule out obstruction as a cause of either overflow or urgency incontinence. Urodynamics are often performed prior to invasive therapies and are indicated in patients undergoing repeat procedures following failed treatments.
For expanded information, refer to the AUA guidelines on Urodynamics.
Recently, subspeciality certification has been offered specifically for Urologists interested in treating female urinary incontinence, prolapse, and general pelvic reconstructive surgeries. The American Board of Urology has developed a comprehensive program for fellowship training resulting in certification in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) which provides consistent, high-level expertise in the diagnosis and management of incontinence and bladder dysfunction.
Treatment of Urinary Incontinence
Urgency Incontinence
The patient with urgency incontinence should be counseled that urine leakage occurs because their bladder contracts with little or no warning. First line treatment will involve behavioral measures such as timed voiding. Often, reminding patients to void every one to two hours during the day, before they get an urge to void, will result in significant reductions in leakage. Other behavioral interventions such as modification of fluid intake, avoidance of bladder irritants, or bladder retraining, where the patient attempts to consciously delay voiding and to increase the interval between voids, may also have a role in the treatment of urgency incontinence. Pelvic muscle exercises can be used to abort a detrusor contraction provided that the patient gets a warning of needing to void prior to the detrusor contraction starting.
Anticholinergic-antimuscarinics are the mainstay of medical therapy for urgency incontinence. The side effects of anticholinergics include urinary retention, dry mouth, constipation, nausea, blurred vision, tachycardia, drowsiness and confusion. They are contraindicated in patients with narrow-angle glaucoma. Caution should be employed utilizing anticholinergic medications in the elderly, and agents that do not cross the blood-brain barrier, such as trospium, are often preferred to diminish adverse effect on cognition. Anticholinergic-antimuscarinics are also used to decrease bladder pressure in patients with poor compliance. Anticholinergic-antimuscarinics are combined with clean intermittent catheterization in patients who have a significant PVR prior to treatment, or in patients who develop retention while on anticholinergics.
Additional pharmaceutical options include beta 3 adrenergic receptor agonists, which promote detrusor relaxation during bladder filling and may reduce urgency incontinence without many of the adverse side effects of antimuscarinic agents.
Patients with intractable detrusor over activity may require surgical intervention, consisting of neuromodulation with a sacral nerve stimulator or various forms of bladder augmentation. Injection of the detrusor muscle with botulinum toxin (Botox) has also been successfully utilized for idiopathic, medication refractory OAB.
The primary goal in treating the patient with poor bladder compliance is to treat the high bladder pressure. Complete bladder emptying with clean intermittent catheterization combined with anticholinergics will often lower bladder pressure to a safe range. A combination of anticholinergic- antimuscarinics and alpha-agonists may be required in some patients and Botox may additionally be employed in these dysfunctional situations. Bladder augmentation is required when medical management fails.
Overflow Incontinence
Overflow incontinence is treated by emptying the bladder. If the cause of overflow is obstruction, then relieving the obstruction should lead to improved emptying. Anatomic obstruction in males is from either urethral stricture disease or prostatic obstruction. Depending on the severity of urethral stricture disease the patient may require a urethral dilation, internal urethrotomy or a urethroplasty. Prostatic obstruction may be treated in a variety of ways but transurethral resection remains the "gold standard." If a woman is obstructed from previous surgery or from pelvic prolapse, she may benefit from a urethrolysis or surgical correction of the prolapse. Clean intermittent catheterization is an option in the obstructed patient who does not want or could not tolerate further surgery.
The patient with overflow incontinence secondary to poor detrusor contractility is best treated with clean intermittent catheterization.
Indwelling catheters are not an optimum long term treatment modality in the treatment of incontinence. All patients with indwelling catheters will have infected urine which predisposes them to bladder calculi and ultimately to squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder. Any foreign object in the bladder can cause or exacerbate elevated bladder pressure which then causes hydronephrosis, ureteral obstruction, renal stones and eventually renal failure.
Stress Incontinence
The amount of incontinence and how it affects the patient will often determine the aggressiveness of treatment. The patient who is severely restricted because of severe leakage with minimal movement may not want to try medical therapy but may opt for surgical treatment, whereas the patient who leaks small amounts infrequently may choose conservative treatment. Pelvic floor exercises can improve anatomic stress urinary incontinence by augmenting closure of the external urethral sphincter and by preventing descent and rotation of the bladder neck and urethra. To benefit from the exercises, women must be taught to do them properly and they must do them. Adjuncts to learning pelvic floor exercises include weighted vaginal cones, a perineometer or electrical stimulation.
Alpha-agonists such as pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) may be used for the treatment of stress incontinence. The bladder neck and proximal urethra have abundant alpha receptors. Activation of these receptors by alpha-agonists leads to an increase in smooth muscle tone. The usual dose is twice daily, but some women who are incontinent with exercise may benefit from taking an alpha-agonist one hour before exercise. Tricyclic antidepressants, such as imipramine (Tofranil), although not approved for incontinence, have both alpha-agonist and anticholinergic properties.
Pessaries that support the bladder neck can also provide relief to the patient with stress incontinence.
Surgical therapy for stress incontinence is indicated when a patient doesn't wish to pursue non-surgical therapy or if medical treatment has failed. The type of surgical therapy depends on the diagnosis. Patients who have anatomic stress incontinence can benefit from a variety of surgical repairs that restore the bladder neck to its normal retropubic position, retropubic bladder neck suspensions, or improves urethral support, sling procedures. Patients with intrinsic sphincter deficiency usually have a well-supported bladder neck. These patients require a procedure that will close or coapt the proximal urethra. Coaptation may be achieved with a variety of bulking agents that are injected into the bladder neck or proximal urethra.
A pubovaginal sling which is placed at the bladder neck is the ideal procedure for the patient with both intrinsic sphincter deficiency and anatomic stress incontinence, as a sling will coapt the proximal urethra and restore the bladder neck to its normal location.
Synthetic mid urethral slings are ideal for the patient with anatomic stress incontinence who is looking for a surgery with minimal recovery time. In a randomized surgical trial for stress incontinence the TVT mid urethral sling has been shown to be comparable to a Burch colposuspenion which is a retropubic suspension at 6, 12 and 24 months. Due to concerns of bladder, bowel or major vessel injury slings have been developed that are placed transversely underneath the mid urethra from one obturator foramina to the other. The advantage of this sling is that the retropubic space is avoided. These slings do have more groin issues with pain and or numbness at the site of the sling at the top of the leg. Infection, although exceedingly rare, may result in necrotizing fasciitis. A randomized surgical trial by the NIH comparing a TVT mid urethral sling to two different obturator slings, Monarc and TOT, showed that no procedure is superior to the other.
The newest synthetic slings are very small, approx 4-6 cm, and therefore have none or less retropubic or obturator issues such as vessel injury or exit site pain. One year outcome data is promising but more work needs to be done to sort out which patients are best treated with these procedures.
For expanded information, refer to the AUA guidelines on Stress Urinary Incontinence.
Male patients with stress incontinence can be treated with an artificial urinary sphincter or a variety of sling procedures. An artificial urinary sphincter provides continence because a cuff compresses the bulbar urethra. It is considered the gold standard treatment. Male slings provide compression under the urethra and elevate the urethra to a more retropubic position. Slings are best suited for men with lesser degrees of incontinence as determined by a pad weight test.
Mixed Incontinence
Stress and urge incontinence often coexist. Burgio et. al. have advocated pelvic muscle exercises with biofeedback for the treatment of stress and urge incontinence. Behavioral therapy can result in a reduction in incontinence episodes and a patient perceived improvement.
Approximately half of patients with combined incontinence (stress and urge) will be relieved of urge incontinence following a procedure for stress incontinence. Patients whose urge incontinence does not respond to anticholinergics preoperatively may have a good response to anticholinergics once their stress incontinence is treated.
Indications to Refer to Urology
The main indication to refer the patient with incontinence to urology is failure to respond to medical therapy. There is no reason that an internist or family doctor can't do a basic work-up (history, physical, urinalysis, +/- PVR) and consider medical therapy. If the patient fails to respond adequately to medical therapy then referral is warranted. The presence of hematuria, recurrent infections or complicated incontinence, such as following radical prostatectomy in a male, or that thought to be neurogenic, should always prompt a referral.
Key Diagnostic Points
- Urge Incontinence
- Symptoms
- urgency
- frequency
- nocturia
- unable to reach the toilet with urge
- Symptoms
- Stress Incontinence
- Symptoms
- leakage with physical activity
- Signs
- bladder neck mobility
- positive stress test
- Symptoms
- Mixed Incontinence
- Symptoms
- urgency
- frequency
- nocturia
- unable to reach the toilet with urge
- leakage with physical activity
- Signs
- bladder neck mobility
- positive stress test
- Symptoms
- Overflow Incontinence
- Symptoms
- frequency
- nocturia
- urgency
- leakage with physical activity
- Signs
- high post void residual
- Symptoms
Key Treatment
- Urge Incontinence
- Behavioural Changes
- avoidance of bladder irritants
- timed voiding
- pelvic muscle exercises
- weight loss
- Anticholinergics – Antimuscarinics – Nonselective for M3 Receptor
- propantheline (Pro-Banthine)
- 7.5 to 30 mg orally, three to five times daily
- tolterodine (Detrol LA)
- 4 mg orally daily
- trospium (Sanctura)
- 20 mg orally two times daily
- solifenacin (Vesicare)
- 5 – 10 mg orally, daily
- propantheline (Pro-Banthine)
- Anticholinergics – Antimuscarinics – Selective for M3 Receptor
- darifenacin (Enablex)
- 7.5 – 15 mg orally, daily
- darifenacin (Enablex)
- Anticholinergics – Antimuscarinics/Smooth Muscle Relaxant
- oxybutynin
- regular (Ditropan) 2.5 to 5 mg orally, one to three times daily
- extended release (Ditropan XL) 5 – 30 mg orally, daily
- transdermal (Oxytrol) 4.9 mg patch twice per week
- hyoscyamine (Levsin)
- 0.125 to 0.375 mg orally, two to four times daily
- oxybutynin
- Behavioural Changes
- Stress Incontinence
- Behavioural Changes
- weight loss
- quitting smoking
- pelvic muscle exercises
- Surgery
- anatomic
- retropubic suspensions
- Burch
- Marshall Marchetti Krantz
- slings
- pubovaginal
- midurethral
- obturator
- mini slings
- retropubic suspensions
- Intrinsic Sphincter Deficiency
- slings
- pubovaginal
- midurethral
- obturator
- artificial sphincter
- submucosal injections with bulking agents
- collagen (Contigen)
- calcium hydroxyapatite (coapatite)
- others
- slings
- anatomic
- Behavioural Changes
Overview of Treatments
- Behavioural Changes
- avoidance of bladder irritatnts
- weight loss
- quitting smoking
- pelvic muscle exercises
- Medical Therapy
- alpha agonists
- stress incontinent patients
- mixed incontinent patients
- anticholinergics -antimuscarinics
- urge incontinent patients
- anticholinergics-alpha agonists
- mixed incontinent patients
- alpha agonists
- Surgical Therapy
- stress incontinent patients
- rare patients with urge incontinence
Nitti VW, Blaivas JG: Urinary incontinence: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, evaluation, and management overview, in Wein AJ, Kavoussi LR, Novick AC, Partin AW, Peters CA (eds): CAMPBELL'S UROLOGY, ed 9. Philadelphia, WB Saunders Co, 2007, vol 3, chap 60, p 2046.
Burgio K. L et al. Behavioural vs drug treatment for urge urinary incontinence in older women. JAMA 280, 1995, 1998.
Dmchowski, Blaivas, Gormley et al. Female Stress Urinary Incontinence Clinical Guidelines Panel summary report on surgical management of female stress urinary incontinence. The American Urological Association. J Urol 2010.
Ward KL, Hilton P: A randomized trial of colpsuspension and tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) for primary genuine stress incontinence: 2 year follow-up. Int Urogynecol J Pelvic Floor Dysfunct 12 (supple 2): S7-8, 2001.
Gormley E.A. Urinary Incontinence. In Rakel, Robert E. (ed.) Conn's Current Therapy. W. B. Saunders Co, 2012.
Caruso L.B., Silliman R.A. Geriatric Medicine. In Fauci, et. Al (eds) Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 17th Edition. 2008, pages 58-59.
Richter HE, Albo ME, Zyczynski HM, et al. Retropubic versus transobturator midurethral slings for stress incontinence. N Engl J Med 2010, 362: 2066-76.
E. Ann Gormley, MD
Lebanon, NH
Disclosures: SUFU Foundation, Leadership Position; ACGME, Leadership Position
Melissa Kaufman, MD
Nashville, TN
Disclosures: Boston Scientific, Other; Cook Myosite, Other


text:
Just The Way That It Goes
Isaiah B Brunt
Independent Release 2015
Review by David Bowling
Producer and former studio owner Isaiah B Brunt has traveled from his native Australia all the way to New Orleans to record his new album titled Just The Way That It Goes.
He is basically an electric blues story teller. He pays homage to classic American blues but his slide technique and use of a wah-wah pedal propel the sound into the present. He may not be flashy but he is a master technician who is able to convey emotion and a personal connection though his music. Bassist Richard Bird and drummer Mark Whitaker are a competent rhythm section and provide a solid foundation for his guitar expertise.
Tracks such as "Lovers Blues," "She's So Fine," "The River Runs High," and "Never Give Up" are aggressive pieces of fusion blues.
Isaiah Brunt may be a long way from home but he has embraced an American music form with Just The Way That It Goes.
Raring: ***

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Herman Cain again attempted to clarify his position on abortion Sunday, declaring on CBS' "Face the Nation" that "I am pro-life from conception, period" - and that he does not support exceptions even for victims of rape and incest.
"I am pro-life from conception, period. If people look at many speeches that I have given over the years, that has and will still be my position," Cain told CBS' Bob Schieffer.
Cain's position on abortion has been questioned in recent weeks, after the candidate suggested in an interview on CNN that decisions about abortion should be left to families, not the government.
"What I'm saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make," Cain said in that interview. "Not me as president, not some politician, not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn't have to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive issue."
Cain has since maintained his pro-life stance on abortion, but many have said his comments seem to indicate otherwise.
Cain to young people: Don't smoke
Cain: Electric fence may be "over-exaggeration"
Cain: "Irresponsible" for Bush to set Iraq date
"Face the Nation" transcript: October 30, 2011
Cain said today that the CNN interview was "taken totally out of context" and suggested that his comments were not representative of his actual beliefs.
"So in other words you don't... would not even believe in abortion if rape, incest or the health of the mother was involved?" asked Schieffer.
"Yes, that's my position," he said. "Thanks for having me clear that up."
Cain also stood by his previous comments that Planned Parenthood secretly aimed to kill black babies and commit genocide against the black community.
"I want to ask you, since we're on the subject of abortion, at one point back there when the question of Planned Parenthood came up and you said that it was not Planned Parenthood, it was really 'Planned Genocide' - because you said Planned Parenthood was trying to put all these centers into the black communities because they wanted to kill black babies before they were born," Schieffer recounted.
"I still stand by that," said Cain.
"If people go back and look at the history and look at Margaret Sanger's own words that's exactly where that came from. Look up the history. So if you go back and look up the history, look at where most of them were built," he said. "Seventy five percent of those facilities were built in the black community and Margaret Sanger's own words. She didn't use the word genocide but she did talk about preventing the increasing number of poor blacks in this country by preventing black babies from being born."
Cain's comments on Sanger and Planned Parenthood have been taken to task by media watchdog groups and the organization he is attacking for their lack of truthfulness.
The non-profit Politifact website examined Sanger's record, and reported that "the supposed evidence that Sanger supported black genocide is a loose collection of her most objectionable statements, her ties to the disgraced eugenics movement, and her work on what was called the Negro Project. That effort, started in 1939, brought birth control services (but not abortion) to black communities in the South. These facts don't come close to supporting Cain's claim. We found no evidence that Sanger advocated - privately or publicly - for anything even resembling the "genocide" of blacks, or that she thought blacks are genetically inferior."
In a statement, Planned Parenthood said:
"Planned Parenthood health centers are trusted nonprofit health care providers to which one in five women have turned at some point in her life for preventive health care and information, including birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, STD testing and annual exams. Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses provide confidential, non judgmental care to all women, and respect her to make the best decision for her own health and family circumstances. Planned Parenthood opposes discrimination in any form and each of the 800 health centers is committed to providing every woman who comes through its doors with the full range of high quality health care, regardless of where she lives, her race or ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, or income level. It is simply unacceptable for those who oppose legal abortion to use inflammatory and divisive language based on race to push an ideological agenda."
Below: A recording of Herman Cain speaking to reporters at the conservative Heritage Foundation on March 15, 2011, at which he referred to Planned Parenthood as "planned genocide."
Cain argued, too, that Planned Parenthood did not offer "sincere counseling" to young women.
"There are a lot of centers that offer sincere counseling, rather than Planned Parenthood claiming to be the centers, when in fact they would rather for the young lady to come in and say they want to get an abortion and facilitate that," he said. "Plenty of centers out there genuinely do that. What I'm saying is, Planned Parenthood isn't sincere about wanting to go try to counsel them not to have abortions."
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood also pointed to a study by The Guttmacher Institute showing that, as of 2008 (which is the most recent data available), 63 percent of abortion clinics are in non-Hispanic white neighborhoods.


text:
by Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach
Last year a group of MCC staff met with a young woman who was running for the Iraqi Parliament. When asked what had motivated her to do this, she explained her desire to give voice to people's frustrations. "People are fed up," she said.
That frustration is becoming increasingly evident. In late February Iraqis organized a "Day of Rage," along the lines of protests organized in other Middle Eastern countries, to call for reforms within their government. The protests highlighted the lack of basic needs such as adequate clean water and electricity, along with high rates of unemployment and poverty.
The Iraqi government bears responsibility for providing basic needs for their people. But the role of the U.S. must not be forgotten. The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and subsequent fighting destroyed much of Iraq's infrastructure. This was followed by poorly managed reconstruction efforts, so huge sums of money were invested by the United States with few tangible or sustainable results.
Now, as the U.S. transitions from a military to a civilian role in Iraq, the need for better development practices remains critical. If the transition happens on schedule, all 50,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq will be withdrawn by December 31, 2011. Funding for U.S. efforts in Iraq is projected to drop accordingly, from about $75 billion (in the Pentagon's budget) in the current fiscal year to less than $20 billion in the next fiscal year, to be administered by the State Department.
How well this money is used could affect, in part, whether Iraqis continue to be frustrated. Most critical will be how much say Iraqis will have in the planning and implementing of projects in their own communities.
Thus far most decisions about U.S. development projects in Iraq have been made in Washington, far from the needs and concerns of Iraqis. When projects have been led by Iraqis and involved Iraqi civil society in a significant way, they have been much more successful.
The leaders of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development committed last year to "working closely and consulting with organizations and the people most directly affected by programs and activities."
Making this commitment is a good start. But it must be more than just words on paper. The U.S. should actively engage civil society leaders in Iraq, as well as government leaders. This would demonstrate the importance of a strong and engaged civil society, something that is sorely needed.
Iraqis have suffered much and are understandably frustrated with the state of affairs in their country. It is critical that there be ways, like the path sought by the young candidate for Parliament, for the people of Iraq to express this peacefully and to know that their concerns are being heard and addressed.
To learn more about supporting MCC efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, click here.
Give online at mcc.org. Your gift helps build peace in Iraq and Afghanistan.


text:
It's appropriate that on Friday the 13th (of July that is), our Central Library at Eastgardens has some special guests to entertain and delight all our local children aged between 8 and 12. It's the Mobile Mini Beasts and there will be "live" critters and bugs – spiders, scorpions, centipedes, a giant burrowing cockroach, stick insects, grass hoppers and perhaps the most effective assassin of them all, the praying mantis.
You will need to book as seats are limited. It's on between 10.30am and 11.30am and because of the limited space in the Library's conference room we're asking parents and carers to stay outside – but there will be some "photo opportunities" during the hands-on session, which will no doubt be a delight (and a bit noisy) for all the participants. There is a cost of $5 per child and you can book by calling Candy at the Central Library on 9366 3888. This should be real fun.


text:
Andy and Clayton, any time you want to play just let me know!
Neat product, and fun booth.
Are you a data rockstar?
Our Marketing team got home last night from a long Vegas trip. We started our adventure by attending the Eloqua Customer Conference and then moved over to the DMA 08 Conference. At the DMA show we helped direct marketers find their inner data rockstar with a little Wii Rock Band. The competition to claim the top prize was fierce. Intense enough to even trigger a game scoring controversy. Below is the Leader Board.
Utah loves their data rockstars!
Utah delivered a lot of players and some big scores.
The most popular songs were the least enjoyable to listen to...
If I hear Roxanne or Should I Stay or Should I Go one more time, I'll need a lot more beer than we had in the booth.
Explore the rockstar data.
+ Download a 14-day Tableau Desktop trial -or- download free Tableau Reader.
+ Download the Rockstar packaged workbook. The file includes the views and data shown above. Open it up in either Tableau Desktop or Tableau Reader and have a jam session with Rock Band data.
Andy and Clayton, any time you want to play just let me know!
Neat product, and fun booth.
How did you get the rockband data from the console to the computer (to import into Tableau). I have Rockband 2 for the xbox360, any tips or pointers for getting access to the performance data?
Thanks in advance
We manually entered the names, scores, geography and other info into an Access file during the show. The views are based on Tableau connected to that Access file. I'm not sure if it possible to export data out of Xbox.


text:
Students raise awareness on homelessness in Fort Smith
Event benefits The Next Step
Homelessness is a reality for many people in the Fort Smith area. Students from the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith are giving up everything they have for one night to learn what it's like to be homeless.
Students said a single cardboard box is all some people might have. On Saturday, about 20 students will spend the night in cardboard boxes to raise money to help the homeless.
"We take advantage of everything we have every day and just don't even think about it," said Curtis Adams, the president of the Student Government Association, one student group sponsoring Saturday's event.
Adams said the event raises awareness about homelessness in the area. Everyone participating in Saturday's event had to pay rent in order to stay in their cardboard box.
"Really what this is supposed to show is how people live," Adams said. "Sometimes all they have is a cardboard box."
Students will donate the money to The Next Step, a group providing help and resources to the homeless and hungry in the Fort Smith area.
Students said they will stay out all night rain or shine. Some students came prepared with tarps for their boxes.
Saturday's cardboard-box city event kicks off National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.


text: Video Caption: This simulated flyover of two regions on Pluto, northwestern Sputnik Planum (Sputnik Plain) and Hillary Montes (Hillary Mountains), was created from New Horizons close-approach images. Sputnik Planum has been informally named for Earth's first artificial satellite, launched in 1957. Hillary Montes have been informally named for Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two humans to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. The images were acquired by the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers). Features as small as one-half mile (1 kilometer) across are visible. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI


text:
Easy Hoagie Rolls
I'm ready for it. Go ahead and let me have it about how darn long I took to post our easy hoagie rolls recipe. And if you're new here I'll let you in on my story. It's not a very exciting one, but it is the truth.
Years ago I posted our favorite recipe for FRENCH DIP SANDWICHES. It's a slow cooker recipe with only a few ingredients, all of which are generally on hand anyway, so it makes it easy to bust out a comfort foods dinner without a trip to the grocery store. We even make our own hoagie rolls because it goes so fast it's easier for me than to remember to run to the store. The only problem is, I didn't think everyone else would want to make them too, but boy was I wrong!
At first there was a comment saying they would like the recipe and I had stated I would post it, but I forgot and got busy aka side tracked with the gazillion recipes always floating around in my head. And then over the past few months that recipe has gotten really popular and I not only started getting more comments, but emails too! Awwww shoot. I totally had forgotten about posting the recipe. So I put it into my back pocket to do it and then forgot again.
Last week we were eating french dips for dinner when, BAM! I remembered that I was going to photograph them. I had hardly any light left and we were literally eating them so I quickly threw the hoagies on a board, snapped a few shots (you can even see which hoagies I rubbed a little butter on and which I did not. Butter is always best, but Cade and I had decided to forgo it this one time.) and now here we are. You'll have to forgive the photos and trust me on the method because as you can see they turn out perfect. Even if I hadn't shaped them beautifully for photos.
How Long Will Hoagie Rolls Keep?
Wrap the rolls well, or place in a zip lock bag.
Hoagie rolls will keep for 5-7 days at room temperature.
Can Hoagie Rolls Be Frozen?
To freeze hoagie rolls and buns, place them inside a freezer bag and seal tightly.
Hoagie rolls will keep 3 months in the freezer.
What Is a Hoagie Roll?
A hoagie roll is a type of long flat roll used to prepare hoagie sandwiches.
A Hoagie is the same thing as a Sub sandwich, hero sandwich, or grinder.
Easy Hoagie Rolls
Easy Hoagie Rolls
- 1 3/4 Cup warm water
- 1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 3 3/4 Cup Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Soft Unsalted Butter cubed
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the warm water, yeast, sugar, and honey.
- Allow to foam up for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the flour and using a dough hook mix for 4 minutes on low.
- Increase the speed to medium and add the salt, mixing for another 2 minutes.
- Finally, add the softened butter and mix for another minute.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning over to coat, cover with a towel and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours.
- Place a silpat or parchment paper on a baking sheet and shape the dough into 8 hoagies. I like to flatten each piece into a rectangle, pinch the long edge closed and tightly roll it then pinch the seam and ends closed (just like you would roll dough for a log of cinnamon roll dough).
- Place seam side down and repeat with remaining dough.
- Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rise another 1 to 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 and bake for 16 to 22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when they are lightly golden and feel hard when you tap the crust.
- Rub with a little butter if desired and allow to cool.
- The bread is hard upon removal but quickly softens so don't worry that you over baked.


text:
This week I received an e-mail. This e-mail coincides with what one of the goals that Justin's HIV Journal has been trying to accomplish since its existence.
Justin's HIV Journal is now being achieved in The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). This is very important in knowing that Justin's HIV Journal has hit an important milestone and has made an impression on those that can influence public health in some way. I'm very humbled by this honor and I really hope that when Justin's HIV Journal has been archived that it will teach the present what may happen in the future.
There are many people that do not understand that infectious disease such as HIV, is never the end. HIV is but one disease, and trust and believe there will be others, that will cost many people their own lives.
Thank you so much for all that have read and follow my blog and my YouTube Channel. All the encouraging words far outweigh any negative comments I have received or will receive in the future. I am proud of the progress that public health has made in the past decades. We must all pick our battles and it's better to look at the future positives than the past negatives. But we must not forget and learn from those past negatives to have a better future for public health. (See letter below)
Dear Justin,
The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) has selected your website for inclusion in the Library's web archive collections as part of its mission to collect, preserve, and make available to the public materials that provide information in medicine and public health, and document their histories.
The following URL has been selected: http://justinshivjournal.blogspot.com/
NLM's web archive collections are important because they contribute to the historical record, capturing information that could otherwise be lost. With the growing role of the web as an influential medium, records of historic events could be considered incomplete without materials that were "born digital" and never printed on paper.
For more information about NLM's web archive collections, please visit our website http://www.nlm.nih.gov/webcollecting/
If you have questions, comments or recommendations concerning the web archiving of your site please e-mail NLM's Web Collecting and Archiving Working Group at firstname.lastname@example.com at your earliest convenience.
Thank you!
Redacted Name, on behalf of the NLM Web Collecting and Archiving Working Group
Redacted Name, Digital Manuscripts Program, National Library of Medicine
Redacted Address | Bethesda, MD 20894
Phone: XXX-XXX-4506 | E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
When I run around inside World of Warcraft, at the moment in Desolace, that harsh and dreary desert, I start considering what kind of person I would be, if I was this total other. An orc is definitely different, but my tools for giving her a personality are limited by my experience and imagination, and aided by the hints given by the game.
Orc is an abused and driven race. They are small compared to the taurens and trolls and even the undead, and female orcs are smaller still. My idea of an orc is something which has survived magic, slavery, betrayal, harm in all ways possible, and clawed their way back out through sheer intensity and numbers. Survival of the fittest, yet strength by standing together.
When I log in, the background screen has nothing but war across it. Agirra stands against a background of fire, fallen banners and sand dunes. Nothing soft, no shelter, nothing soothing. Blood, fire, heat and sand are the aspects of the orc homeland. I read this background as angry and disturbing, but when I try to see it through the eyes of Agirra, I enjoy it. This is the familiar. Cool water, lush forest, rolling meadows: these are dangerous, treacherous places. Only in battle are the sides clear, only fire lights the day enough for an orc to see clearly.
And so, playing, I slip under her green skin, and start seeing the realm through her eyes. I enjoy the open sands and the hard rock. I fear the forest, and despise the water. I do this to the extent that I even feel the vertigo on her behalf. Walking over bridges and climbing mountains I fear her fall. This is particularly strange as I in real life do not feel such vertigo. I only experience it like this, virtually, as I watch my character run along a mountain path, or perhaps over the bridges in Mulgore or Thousand Needles.
And so there is a strange mingling of my conscious decicions (motionsickness when travelling, mistrust of water and growing green things) and the emotional response to my concern for her. The tension of the game draws me into this, not involuntairy, but perhaps unplanned, response to the game actions.
I am trying to position this in relation to what is written about role playing at the moment. Mostly I see it on the background of my own work: the role play chapters of my thesis. We will see where it leads. If you don't hear from me, look for my bones in Desolace.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
October Pre-K Literature
October – The Very Busy Spider
This month, in our kindergarten readiness time, we are reading The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. Every day during literature time, the teacher will read the book aloud while the children following along with their copy of the book. This story is about animals on a farm that try to divert a busy little spider from spinning her web, but she persists and produces a web of both beauty and usefulness. The pictures may be felt (a raised web), as well as seen.
Book Activities for Pre-reading Skills and Literature Appreciation
Introduction to book (predicting/color recognition)
The teacher will show the cover of the book to the children. She will ask the group what they think will happen in the story. She will tell the children the title and author, reminding the children it is the same author as some of the other stories they have read. The teacher will ask the group to look at the picture of the spider on the cover. The children will tell the teacher one color that they see on her. The teacher will ask questions like: Why do you think the spider is so busy? What does she do to keep herself so busy? Where do spiders live and where might they live in this story? They will then go through the book and look at the different kind of animals and guess where the spider might live.
The teacher will tell the group that the story takes place on a farm and ask the children what kind of animals they think will be in the story. Do they think the animals will be friendly?
What do you think? (classifying/feelings)
The book will be read aloud by the teacher. She will ask reflective questions, such as: Would you like to live on the farm? Would you like to be the spider? Why? What would you do if you were a spider? What animals would be your friends?
What would they eat? (classifying/habitats/charting)
The group will read the book together. The teacher will ask the children what kind of food each animal eats. The teacher will chart results.
Spinning a web (recall)
The teacher will read through the book with the children. She will ask the children to think of a farm animal. The teacher will show the children how to play by making the sound of her animal and asking the spider a question; '"Woof! Woof!" barked the dog. "Want to chase the cat?"' All of the children will respond with: "But the spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web". The teacher will then loop a piece a yarn around her finger and roll it to a child, who will take his or her turn being the animal. After every child has had a turn being an animal and looping the yarn around their finger, the web is done. At the end, the group will recite the owl's page: '" Whoo? Whoo" asked the owl. Who built this beautiful web?""
Survey says…(graphing/feelings)
The teacher will take a survey to discover which animal in the story is each child's favorite. She will place two large plastic farm animals in front of the group and ask the children to vote by using a beanbag. She will record the results and place another two animals out for the children to vote. The teacher will then ask questions such as: Which farm animal is most popular? Which one is the least liked?
If you were a spider (feelings/dictation)
The teacher will ask the group if they were a spider, where would they like to live. Who would be their friends? What would they eat? What would their name be? Do spiders have names? How long would it take them to spin a web? The teacher will write down responses and post.
Who said it? (listening)
The teacher will record each child saying "but the spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web". The group will then read through the book together, playing the recording each time it come to that part in the story. The group will try to guess who said it.
Who am I? (dramatic play/observing)
The children will take turns imitating animals from the book. The teacher will have the other children try to figure out what animals they are acting like.
Farm pictures (imagination/dictation)
The teacher will have the children draw a picture of their favorite part or favorite animal in the book. She will have them tell her about their picture and she will write down their dictation on the bottom of the page.
Tell it with props (dramatic presentation)
The teacher will read the book to the group. She will have the children pick out animals that are in the story and use them to tell their own story.
The children will use the farm animal sorters to act out the story as the teacher reads the book to the group.
My favorite part is… (recall)
The group will read through the story together. The teacher will have each child open their book to their favorite page. She will ask them to tell the group why it is their favorite.
Rubbing hands together (listening)
The teacher will ask the children to listen to the story and when they hear the word "spider" they are to rub their hands together.
Why can't I have a spider? (classifying animals/charting)
The group will read through the book together. The teacher will ask which animals would or would not be a good house pet. Why? Why not? The teacher will chart results by using a smiley face for a yes and a frowning face for a no.
Alphabet Soup (letter recognition)
The teacher will spread out A-H foam letters in the middle of the circle. She will tell the group that it's soup…alphabet soup. Next, she will write a letter on the paper, name it, and ask a child to find that letter in the soup.
Dramatic Play
The teacher will have the children act out the story while she reads the book to the group. The children can volunteer to be different animals, including the spider. When the teacher reads, "The spider didn't answer" the child acting as the spider can cover their ears with their hands, shaking their head no.
Enroll at Sunshine House Preschool/Daycare now to prepare your child for Kindergarten!
Click below for to see our monthly calendars & newsletters!


text:
Lawmakers approve a budget
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers approved a $172.3 billion, two-year budget Saturday that would close a multibillion-dollar revenue gap by cutting back spending on programs including education and human services and using accounting maneuvers.
It avoids new state taxes and leaves billions untouched in the state's rainy day fund.
The measure, which goes to Gov. Rick Perry now, would cut $15.2 billion, or 8.1 percent, from current state and federal spending combined."I'm pleased the Legislature voted tonight to pass a balanced budget that doesn't raise taxes and leaves more than $6 billion in the rainy day fund," Perry said. "Last November, the voters of Texas demanded fiscal responsibility from their elected officials, and tonight that promise was delivered."
The budget would short school districts about $4 billion in state aid compared to what they'd get under current formulas through the next two years.
It would reduce state funds to higher education by about $1.2 billion, although that would be softened a bit by funds allocated in separate legislation.
It would cut Medicaid reimbursement rates to hospitals — excluding children's and rural hospitals —and leaves unfunded $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion in projected state Medicaid costs, forcing the next Legislature to deal with the expense. It wouldn't cut reimbursement rates to nursing homes beyond what they've sustained this fiscal period, responding to concerns over potential closures.
The vote was largely along party lines. The Senate approved the measure 20-11, with Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, joining all the chamber's Republicans in voting for it.
The House approved it 97-53. Rep. Craig Eiland of Galveston was the only Democrat who voted for it. Five Republicans voted against it.
Republican backers said the proposal was the best they could do in a session in which lawmakers were greeted with a revenue shortfall that initially was estimated at $27 billion through the next two years due to the recession and past budget decisions. The shortfall estimate represented the amount needed to continue the current level of services to a growing population.
GOP leaders stood against new taxes and limited the amount that could be spent from the state's rainy day fund, which is estimated to have $6.5 billion left untouched after lawmakers use nearly $3.2 billion.
"This budget meets the essential needs of Texas state government and the citizens we serve," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, who abandoned an effort to spend more from the rainy day fund after meeting resistance. "We have made significant funding reductions... not because we wanted to, but because the economy and the voting public demanded it."
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said, "It may not be as much as some would like, but it meets the needs with the resources we have available."
Democrats said the budget fails to adequately fund key services and will leave lawmakers to face another fiscal hole in two years. They questioned resistance to eliminating tax exemptions or dipping deeper into the rainy day fund.
"This budget is a betrayal of Texas families, especially women and children," said Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio. He said it would cost jobs in the near term and make the state less able to compete for jobs in the future because its workforce will be less skilled and less educated.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, called the spending plan "the worst Texas budget in more than a generation. This budget is not about living within our means, but more a budget that's trapped by a certain ideology."
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said, "This budget reflects choices and priorities."
She said legislators asked students, teachers and people with disabilities to tighten their belts.
"We have not asked businesses to tighten their belts," she said. "And every single measure that could have helped us in revenue, either from big insurance or oil and gas, we just couldn't ask them to tighten their belts. We had choices."
Public education spending in the budget is contingent on lawmakers approving a new school finance plan to distribute the lower amount of state aid. That school finance proposal is before lawmakers Sunday.
The budget proposal also relies on revenue provisions in the legislation to be considered Sunday, including an accounting maneuver to shift one state payment to public schools into the next budget cycle.
If Sunday's legislation fails, key lawmakers have said a special session would be needed to complete the Legislature's work.
The $27 billion shortfall initially projected through the next two years is not a comparison to current spending. It's the gap between anticipated state general revenue and the estimated amount needed to provide the current level of services through the next two years to a growing population, based on state agency requests.
The initial shortfall was softened when State Comptroller Susan Combs twice revised her revenue estimates to project another $1.3 billion in funds.
Lawmakers dipped into the rainy day fund for about $3.2 billion, the amount blessed by Perry to help meet a part of the deficit shortfall. They also made about $700 million worth of cuts to close the current fiscal year's budget gap.
To help ease the rest of the shortfall through the next two years, they used what Democrats called "funny money," including leaving up to $4.8 billion in projected Medicaid costs unfunded. Lawmakers are hoping for a federal waiver that would allow another $700 million in Medicaid savings.The accounting maneuver of pushing back a state school payment would provide about $2 billion. Budget staff said other revenue raisers, such as allowing unclaimed property to revert more quickly to the state, will yield more than $1 billion more. Lawmakers also are assuming that school property values will rise, freeing another $800 million.
Houston Chronicle Staff Writer Joe Holley to this report.


text:
Hi everyone,
At Misano, I had a good start, it was a new circuit, but I was able to adapt quickly, I only had some problems in the quick curves. P20, 2.342 off pole.
With the help of the technicians we managed to improve the problem with the suspension, but still the bike still bothered me a little, however, we improved. P20, 1.834 off.
Then it was QP and I had my best so far, taking a step forward, we managed to classify P18 1.280.
On the day of the race, I had bad luck, when I was leading position 11, just 7 laps before the end, I had a fall. A shame because I was quite comfortable and I was strong enough to be able to fight, but unfortunately I couldn't finish.
This race helped me though, from every race I learn something new and I see that I am getting better and I'm closer to my goal.
Blog | Nicolás Hernández with his best race in Misano
Posted on
Hi everyone,


text:
Full of culture, amazing food, fabulous weather and friendly locals, Mexico has to be one of my favourite travel destinations.
The furthest I've been away from home on my own, and it did not disappoint; I must confess I was very nervous about travelling to Mexico on my own, having heard rumours and stories about violence and other crime that takes place in the country. However before booking I was assured by the fact that I was staying in a resort and not a major city like Cancun or Mexico City.
I stayed in the beautiful Playa del Carmen, to the east of Mexico; full of things to do and see. I stayed at the Platinum Yucatan Princess all-inclusive suits and spa resort- adults only (that was a god send, not to be woken up by the noise of screaming children), here rooms go from £600 per night. The hotel was beautiful, each room had its own individual swimming pool and free Tequila!! The food was what you might expect from a resort of this size, buffets mainly, but a few fine dining options as well, which where actually rather good. The hotel has its own private beach just a short stroll from your room, golf on site and even a lake for canoeing and paddle boarding. I would highly recommend this hotel (ask for a room away from the main pool however as loud music plays throughout the day here) The Hotel
The hotels private beach
In terms of things to do, I could be here all day, so here is a list of the things I got up to, and can recommend to you:
Things to do:
- Take a boat trip and go snorkelling with sea turtles, this was magical, the turtles got so close you could (if you where allowed) touch them, a memory I will always cherish. I used the company Viator, who work with smaller operators in the area. I couldn't find the exact one I did on the website, but here's a link to a very similar one Snorkelling trip
- Visit Tulum, with its beautiful beach and some amazing sites, a must, especially with how close it is to Playa del Carmen
- Do a Cenote tour, a cenote for those that don't know is a natural underground reservoir of water/cave. They are just beautiful and if your into Geology and Geography like me then I would highly recommend. I was able to book my trip through the hotel, which worked perfectly.
- Spend a few days at the beach/pool to really relax and enjoy the heat, but definitely use a strong sun screen! I stupidly thought I wouldn't burn with factor 15 on, I was wrong and turned into a lobster for a few days, which definitely took some of the enjoyment out of part of the trip. It was factor 50 for the rest of the time, but 30 would have probably done the job too.
- Visit the Old Town, the hotel I stayed in offered free shuttles to and from Old Town Playa del Carmen, which was very handy. Old town is full of market stalls and small cafes and restaurants, as well as an air conditioned shopping centre (hallelujah!)
- Visit the Coba ruins, unlike Chichen Itza, you can actually climb these ruins, book a half-day guided tour and learn about the history of this amazing settlement; you may even bump into and make friends with one of the cabin crew from your flight (like me). The tour is relatively cheap and shows you parts of Mexico that you wouldn't see from the comfort of a resort.
Part of the Coba ruins
I stayed in a resort during my stay in Mexico, it really is necessary for safety reasons, even the locals were telling me that it was a good idea. By staying at a resort I saw the more cushy and westernised side of Mexico, although beautiful and seemingly a paradise, if i'd stayed in an airbnb I may have seen a very different side to it, a more real one at that. Having said this, I loved Mexico, truly nice people, lovely accommodation, cheap prices, great weather and lots of fun stuff to do! I hope to return one day.
Hope this post was helpful, don't forget to like, and check out my Instagram for more photos xx


text:
Learning Commons
"A learning commons promotes the personalization of learning, inquiry and the integration of technology. The space, a blend of physical and virtual environments, transforms teaching and learning by allowing both staff and students to co-create knowledge. The physical environment is flexible and adaptable to the needs of individuals, small and large groups. It is an area where professional development, experiential learning, and action research may be incubated, explored and analyzed." –Ken Rabb, Communications & Development Officer, Education Matters
Learning Commons Survey
A Learning Commons has 3 parts: the Open Commons, the Experimental Commons, and the Virtual Commons. The purpose of the Virtual Commons is to provide access to learning resources 24 hours a day.
We are working to develop list of resources for parents, students and teachers within the Virtual Commons. This will include collections of websites, tools, and tutorials that will be within easy access for both students and teachers.
The Learning Commons will always be a work in progress as technology, teaching, and learning continue to advance.
Media Specialist Assistant – Betty Barna
We are in the process of creating our Virtual Learning Commons!!


text:
We Are Lions (WAL) showcases the talents of artists with disabilities and non-profits that provide services for this community. All of our products are designed by people with disabilities from around the world. We Are Lions' model is simple: for every product sold, the artists and non-profits receive 50% of our profits. Not only does the special needs community design these products, but they are manufactured, in part, by people of all abilities as well!
Through artwork and fashion, we share a person's story and create Extraordinary Art Made By Extraordinary People. To learn more about We Are Lions, visit wearelions.org.


text:
05 to 09 YZ125/250/250F/450F - KX250 - KX450F – 09 CRF450R
Free Piston Modification and Cartridge Bleed Procedure for use with conventional
or SMART Performance 215.VM2.K5 Anti-Vibration fluids
Modifications to the free piston within the YZ/KX/CR air-oil separate (AOS) fork design, also known as the KYB dual chamber, can help alleviate front end push, front wheel rut climb-out and harsh sensations experienced during breaking bumps and downhill sections. Further tuning can be achieved with the use of alternative lighter rate free-piston springs.
The cup design of the KYB free piston is also prone to filling with fluid if the fork is laid flat or inverted, which can further exacerbate poor performance.
To alleviate these concerns, SMART Performance recommends that the KYB free piston be vented by the addition of 2 to 4 holes. These holes allow the air pressure that builds up between the free piston and fork cap to vent to the lower chamber and also allow any fluid within the free piston to drain out and back into the lower chamber. The addition of these holes does not allow the fluid between the lower and upper chamber to exchange. We also recommend that an alternative approach be used for filling and bleeding the upper chamber or cartridge of the fork per the attached procedure.
Follow the instructions in the Yamaha/Kawasaki/Honda manual to remove the forks from the bike.
Follow the instructions in the manual to remove the inner chamber of the fork from the lower chamber. The inner chamber is the top damping unit also known as the cartridge assembly.
Mount the upper damper assembly into a vice or holding jig with the cap facing upwards. Only clamp the upper portion of the assembly and always use soft jaws or a towel to avoid damaging the unit. Always protect and never clamp the damping rod (the long 14mm rod at the other end).
Insert a 36mm hex tool into the top of the compression assembly and rotate the unit counter-clockwise until the head of the unit no longer rises. The compression assembly will not rise or easily lift so it may be necessary to listen for the light pop of the last thread. There is no harm from over rotating. Lastly, it may be necessary to hold the upper chamber assembly with a 49mm wrench while turning out the compression assembly. Do not rely on the vice or clamping device to keep the cartridge from spinning.
To release or raise the compression assembly, reach down and slide the damping rod into the cartridge. This will cause the compression assembly to lift or float upwards. If it does not, rotate the compression assembly out another turn or two. Do not push the tip of the damper rod beyond the seal head of the upper chamber.
With the damper rod all the way in, use a small prying tool to work the compression assembly up and out. The compression assembly will be working against a vacuum created by the fluid. You can pry against the wire of the free-piston spring and the edge of the outer cap. Work slowly and protect any sharp edges. Do not allow your tool to make any contact with the free-piston stem.
With the unit out, mount the compression assembly into a holding clamp with the piston (nut end) facing upwards. It's often best to mount the 36mm tool into the vice then place the compression assembly onto the tool. Avoid clamping directly to the compression assembly.
Use an open end wrench to remove the top piston assembly (stem head) from the rod. Minimal force required. Place head to the side.
Lift off the free piston and free piston spring.
Clean the free piston of any oil residue.
Using a marker (and ruler or caliber if necessary), mark the location of the two bottom holes, 180 degrees apart, so that the holes will be drilled between the lower inner ribs, and just above the top inner edge. On the late model piston, add two additional markings directly above these holes. Make sure to leave enough edge between the hole and the edge of the bushing. See photos.
On the late model piston, drill the 4 holes using a 3mm or .125 inch drill. On the early model piston drill the two holes using a .1875 inch or 4.5 to 4.7mm hole. Remove burrs. Clean drillings using a light duty solvent or warm wash. Blow clean with compressed air.
Reinstall the spring (and spring bushing if used) and the free piston. Inspection and cleaning of the free piston shaft and seal is also recommended. Do not use highly volatile solvents (carb clean) on the free piston seal. NOTE: To further alleviate sensations from braking bumps and downhill sections, we recommend the use of SMART Performance/SPI-Racing free piston spring kits.
Reinstall the valve stem to the rod. Apply
some light duty thread lock (such as Loctite blue) to threaded end of the
If you have any questions, concerns, problems or doubts with any of this, do not hesitate to contact us via phone or email or reach us in the suspension forum at ThumperTalk.com. Detailed shock rebuilding procedures are also available.


text:
For Apple Watch Series 4 OLED & Digitizer Assembly - Black - 40mm - High Quality
This item includes:
1.LCD Screen ;
2. Digitizer touch screen;
This item does NOT include Front Frame.
Screen Size: 1.57 inches
Version: 40 mm
Resolution: 448 x 368 pixels, 326 ppi pixel density
Material: LTPO AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
Protective Material: Crystal Glass
This product is only for Apple Watch Series 4 40mm.
● This Apple Watch Series 4 LCD and digitizer assembly is a brand new replacement.
● The Apple Watch Series 4 includes the parts the LCD display, digitizer touchscreen with glass lens already attached. It does not include the front housing.
● The Apple Watch Series 4 Digitizer without LCD display is also available on our website.
● This Screen replacement is used for Apple Watch Series 4 40mm version only. Please do not confuse it with the Apple Watch Series 4 44mm LCD and digitizer assembly.
How to Install / Tips:
● Please test the functional performance before installation of this Apple Watch 4 40mm LCD and Digitizer Assembly.
● Special repairing tools are required for assembling or disassembling, as the Apple Watch 4 LCD Display and Digitizer are hermetically attached.
● Handle the vulnerable and fragile flex cable ribbon carefully.
● Please try to handle the repair or replacement work in a dry and dust free environment without direct sunlight.● The installation of any new part should be done by a qualified person. We are not responsible for any damage caused during installation.


text:
I am the Strength and Resilience Crystal. I assist to balance and harmonize all of your chakras, on all levels, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Helps to strengthen your energy field, harmonizes and balances your electromagnetic field which brings in strength and resilience and the more you can sustain the healing. It is as though you are holding the creator as a crystal allowing the perfection of the creator to integrate into you. Holding divine manifestation and divine creation.
Crystal Awakening:
I was awakened by Archangel Haniel on 3-17-2017.
If you have any trouble playing the audio file above, you can listen to the awakening introduction session here.


text:
Doll House
Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to PMLA.
and The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, Ibsen
A Doll House' is no more about women's rights than Richardn is about the divine right of kings, Shakespeare's or Ghosts about syphilis. ... Its theme is the need of every individual to find out the kind of person he or she is and to strive to become that person.
(M. Meyer457)
feminism, or, as it was called in his day, "the woman question." His rescuers customarily cite a statementthe dramatistmade on 26 May 1898 at a seventieth-birthdaybanquet given in his honor by the Norwegian Women's Rights League: I thankyou forthe toast,butmustdisclaim honorof the having consciously worked for the women's rights moveTrue enough, it is desirable to solve the ment... woman problem, along with all the others; but that has not been the whole purpose. My task has been the (Ibsen, Letters 337) description of humanity.
IBSEN HAS BEEN resoundingly saved from
Ibsen's champions like to take this disavowal as a precise reference to his purpose in writing A Doll House twenty yearsearlier,his "originalintention," according to Maurice Valency (151). Ibsen's biographer Michael Meyerurges all reviewersof Doll House revivals to learn Ibsen's speech by heart (774), and James McFarlane,editor of The Oxford Ibsen, includes it in his explanatory material on A Doll House, under "Some Pronouncements of the Author," as though Ibsen had been speaking of the play (456). Whatever propaganda feminists may have made of A Doll House, Ibsen, it is argued, never meant to write a play about the highly topical subject of women's rights; Nora's conflict represents something other than, or something more than, woman's. In an article commemorating the half century of Ibsen's death, R. M. Adams explains, "A Doll House representsa woman imbued with the idea of becoming a person, but it proposes nothing categorical about women becoming people; in fact, its realtheme has nothing to do with the sexes" (416). Overtwenty yearslater,after feminism had resurfaced as an international movement, Einar Haugen, the doyen of American Scandinavian studies, insisted that "Ibsen's Nora is not just a woman arguing for female liberation; she is much 28
more. She embodies the comedy as well as the tragedy of modern life" (vii). In the Modern LanA guage Association'sApproaches to Teaching Doll House, the editor speaks disparagingly of "reductionist views of [A Doll House] as a feminist drama." Summarizinga "major theme" in the volume as "the need for a broad view of the play and a condemnation of a static approach," she warns that discussions of the play's "connectionwith feminism" have value only if they are monitored, "properly channeled and kept firmly linked to Ibsen's text" (Shafer, Introduction 32). Removing the woman question from A Doll House is presented as part of a corrective effort to free Ibsen from his erroneousreputationas a writer of thesis plays, a wrongheaded notion usually blamed on Shaw, who, it is claimed, mistakenlysaw Ibsen as the nineteenthcentury'sgreatesticonoclast and offered that misreading to the public...
Please join StudyMode to read the full document


text:
What Is 'Contemporary Direct Marketing'? DMA CEO Larry Kimmel Talks About the Industry Changes Behind the All For One Conference
On June 20-21, the DMA conference formerly known as DM Days New York will relaunch as All For One: The Integrated Marketing Summit (still presented by DM Days). Target Marketing caught up with DMA CEO Larry Kimmel to talk about the shifts in the industry that drove that change, what he sees happening in "contemporary direct marketing," and what direct marketers need to do differently to prosper in this shifting environment.
Target Marketing: For years this event was called the Direct Marketing Day. Now it's All For One: The Integrated Marketing Summit. What is the thinking behind that change?
Larry Kimmel: Contemporary marketing, I believe, is comprised of three components, and that's data, customer-centricity and accountability. And that's always been what direct marketing has been about. The people who really do this well, and bring it all together, are really direct marketers. You know, it's interesting, there are a whole lot of shows in social or mobile or search or email or online or in print or in mail, but the truth is that to succeed today in marketing, you have to bring it all together. And you have to leverage data across the full complement of channels through online and offline, to have a customer experience that is consistent regardless of which touchpoint they reach you through.
TM: You're talking about defining direct marketing as something that is data-driven, customer-centric and accountable. I would say the traditional definition of direct marketing also includes that it's actionable, in that it's driving a specific trackable conversion like mailing in a card or ordering. Would you remove that "actionable" aspect from the definition?
LK: No, there's definitely action. [But] it depends on how you're defining "action." if you're defining "action" to say that direct marketing require a sale, then I don't think that's a requirement necessarily. If you define "action" as activity that's trackable and measurable, I think that would be more appropriate.
I think the appropriate contemporary definition of direct marketing is channel-agnostic and driving to the maximum improvement in customer satisfaction and return on investment.
TM: When I'm looking at the sessions of All For One, I see the E*TRADE talking baby, the Dominoes apology campaign, etc. Those have all been smash pop culture successes—everyone is aware of these campaigns—but I think most people would think of them as TV marketing campaigns that are really driving knowledge of the brand. How are these direct marketing?


text:
ReSound LiNX offers a superior sound experience, setting new standards for hearing aid performance. This Made for iPhone hearing aid provides direct sound streaming, personalized to your every need.
Best wireless technology: ReSound LiNX
Danish hearing aid manufacturer ReSound has launched unveiled its new hearing aid, the ReSound LiNX. It is the first partnership between Apple and a hearing aid company and allows the ReSound LiNX to work seamlessly with devices such as the market-leading iPhone, iPad and iPod.
How does it work?
The ReSound LiNX uses wireless technology (2.4 GHz signals) to pair an earpiece with Apple gadgets to stream voice communications and music, as well as controlling hearing aid settings such as hearing aid volume and environmental program selection.
ReSound will be marketing the LiNX hearing aid as "technology that transform incredible hearing aids into the world's best wireless stereo headphones." The benefits of this partnership between Apple and ReSound include improved hearing aid usability and communication across a range of platforms, such as:
- Facetime with family members and friends with perfect clarity and vision straight from your iPhone or iPad
- Have music from your iPhone, iPad or iPod stream directly into you hearing aids – offering sound quality that was previously impossible… and without earphone cords getting in the way as you exercise, garden or relax
- Through the accompanying ReSound Smart App, users to can preferred volumes, as well as treble/bass, and use geo-tagging to save adjustments made in frequently visited places, like home, work, favorite restaurants, or the movie theater.
- The application also features a "Find My Hearing Aid" function to help pinpoint a misplaced speaker device
ReSound CEO released the following statement: "We saw an opportunity to create the world's best hearing aid by combining the capability of GN ReSound's life-changing technologies with the compatibility and global prevalence of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch".
ReSound said the LiNX is the world's first "Made for iPhone hearing aid," presumably a reference to Apple's Made for iPhone (MFi) licensing program.
And a world-leading hearing aid
ReSound said the LiNX is the smallest wireless device it has ever manufactured, but promised it is "powerful enough to address 90 percent of all hearing losses."
The LiNX comes in 10 hair colors and skin tones to reduce visibility when placed behind the ear. It also sports five receiver lengths for a precise physical fit and an iSolate Nanotech coating to repel water.
"We are committed to improving people's lives through use of innovative technology and look forward to more people correcting their hearing with this new technology—a triumph in accessibility for the hearing impaired,"Viksmoen said.


text: Look at what we were up to today! We are now making this special soap for either baby showers, or even just an every bar of soap for girls to use. If you are interested in placing an order in bulk, please call us for a price today! Please keep in mind that our shop will need at least two weeks to make your order. Click on the link below if interested in purchasing these wonderful bars of soap individually.


text:
OK, I've actually been blogging, like, content for the last few posts, so this is going to be one of those short bullet posts about random crap going on in my life that doesn't merit a full entry. You've been warned.
–I took the pictures at the top of the entry at the STS-128 crew visit this morning. Not the most impressive crew visit we've had — only two of the astronauts, commander CJ Sturckow and EV1 Danny Olivas, came. (I was hoping we would at least get my erstwhile waiter, José Hernández.) But I like those pictures — between the two of them, there's a shuttle crew picture, a giant NASA logo, an American flag, models of the space shuttle and the space station, and two astronauts. And I see that, and it reminds me I have a cool job.
–It turns out that just because there's a zero percent chance of rain predicted for Monday when you make plans to go sailing, that doesn't mean there won't be a 90 percent chance by the day Monday actually comes. This is a different definition of zero percent than I'm accustomed to.
–I watched Love Happens yesterday. I'll blog more about that later in the week.
–I watched the Rifftrax version of Plan 9 From Outer Space at a local theater Thursday with some friends. Which left the question, is it rude to make snarky remarks, MST3K-style, while watching Rifftrax in public? It actually was a lot of fun, and a cool experience laughing along with it with other appreciative fans.
–LCROSS impacted the moon Friday. It's a good thing I didn't write about that before today; I think I had stuff to say about it last week. I would say it's a rare space mission when people applaud for LOS, but that's kind of arcane, huh?
–I was in an improv show Saturday night. The bit about the puppies was inappropriate, and I'm sorry.
–Hiking Saturday morning, I took a different turn than I had before, and came across a new path, but unfortunately didn't have time to explore it. It's at least an hour walk each way to get back to the farthest point I reached, so I hope it's worth it when I head back.
–Since first seeing them, I've found cardboard testimonies to be rather cool, so it was a neat experience for me to get to do one this weekend. Well, technically, mine was on 5×7 index cards, but the same principle applies. Except for the fact that I totally broke the format with what I wrote. It was for another video they'll be showing at Sojourn in the future.
–My aunt, whom I've not seen in four years (and hadn't for probably a dozen before that) was in town this weekend. My mother's brother, to whom she was married, died shortly after I turned four, so I have basically no memory of him. By some accounts, he was the member of the family I'm most like, which makes it all the worse I never got to really know him. It was nice getting to see my aunt, but it was also cool experiencing echoes of him through her.
–I've bought and borrowed even more albums since my big album-buying post — Trick Pony, Trace Adkins, Liz Phair, Matt Nathanson, Sugarland. The weirdest moment was leaving the CD store with Garth Brooks' Greatest Hits. Never saw that day coming.
–I finished my discipleship class I started back in May, I think. To be honest, I didn't really think I would when I started it; I agreed to come the first time assuming that life would intervene and it would be obvious I couldn't really make the committment. And, yet, months later, I've run the good race. And it's been an interesting few months.
–I read the first few pages of And Another Thing yesterday at Barnes & Noble at Bridge Street. Not bad. May have to read it.
Filed under: Editorial, Entertainment, God, Improv, space | Tagged: blog, church, country, family, friends, humor, Improv, movies, music, outdoors, space, weather | 2 Comments »


text:
Have any questions?
+91 72990 15672
Who We Are
Our History
Our Mission
Board of Anamaya
News & Events
National News
International News
Contact Us
Board of Directors & Team Members of ANAMAYA.
Launching of ANAMAYA INDO PACIFIC Cleft Prevention Program
Preconception Folic Acid Importance for Adolescent Girls in Association with Rotary Club of MCC at the PH Center, Jamunamaruthur, Javadhi Hils.
Poster presented by ANAMAYA Founder & Director Dr. Shreekala at Omics International Conference at Dubai.
Genetic Disorder Awareness Camp Conducted by ANAMAYA in ASS. with Rotary Club and Inner Wheel.
Paper Presentation by Dr. Sahana on behalf of ANAMAYA Cleft Prevention Program at the 10th World Cleft Lip & Palate & Craniofacial Congress.
At Meenakshi Ammal Dental College & Hospital with the principal & OMFS Hod Dr.R.S.Neelakandan
At ICPF with Dr. Mirek Tolar, Dr. Marie. Tolarova, Dr. Ramesh, Ms. Vivianna & Dr. Shreekala.
AT ICPF with Dr. Veerabagu & Dr. Sai Shamini.
At the 10th World Cleft LIP Palate & Craniofacial Congress.
At Meenakshi Ammal, Dental College and Hospital - with the Director of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Dr. Manikandan
Paper Presentation on Behalf of Anamaya Cleft Prevention Program by Dr. Karthika at the ICPF
At the 10th World Cleft Lip & Palate Congress, Chennai.
10th International, Cleft Lip and Palate Foundation at Chennai.
Paper Presentation by Dr. Marie Tolarova at the ICPF.
Founder & Director of ANAMAYA Dr. Shreekala with Health Secretary Dr. Radhakrishanan.
Preconception Folic Acid Awareness - Katpadi.
Preconception Folic Acid Awareness Program at Muthialpet Girls Hr. Sec. School, Chennai.
Rotoplast Team at Sarvodaya Hospital - Faridhabad.
Cleft Prevention Program Conducted by Anamaya in Association with Rotary Club of Coimbatore & Vinayaga Mission Hospital, Salem.
Dr. Shreekala & Dr. Maria Tolarova as Genetic Research Team in Cleft Rotoplast Mission at Faridhabad.
Genetic Disorder Awareness Camp Conducted by Rotary Club 3230 & Inner Wheel 323.
Dental Camp Conducted at Olcott Memorial School, Adyar, Chennai.
Genetic Disorder Awareness Camp Preceded by Rotary Governor Mr. Naser & Inner Wheel Governor Mrs. Swarna & Actor Kalyan.
diam risus. Phasellus fringilla nec porta. Sed elit. leo


text:
This year, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) will celebrate 40 years of tireless nuclear-free, carbon-free advocacy. When I joined NIRS in 2016, my staff position as Energy Democracy Specialist was a new venture for the organization. Yet the commitment to democratic decision-making, ownership and control of decentralized energy resources has been at the heart of NIRS' advocacy from the very beginning. Opposition to nuclear energy is not just about protecting the environment or current and future populations from the harmful extractive processes, dangerous radioactivity, or disastrous and multi-generational effects of toxic exposure to nuclear waste. It is also about expressing and protecting the democratic principles at the heart of our political system.
Hazel Henderson, a prominent 'futurist' and 'economic iconoclast' of her time, described nuclear energy as "inherently totalitarian" and "incompatible with democratic forms of government." Her reasoning cites nuclear plants' tendency for centralized authority, the necessity of high levels of social and capital investment, the risks and vulnerabilities they possess, and the way nuclear power "systematically disenfranchise[s] the public from decisions," as evidenced by the widespread grassroots anti-nuclear mobilizations of 1970s and 80s – of which NIRS was a part. Matthew J. Burke concurs that "grassroots, democratic resistance" to nuclear power, combined with the technology's failure to remain financially solvent despite years of "tremendous, deliberate political and economic backing" suggests real tensions between nuclear energy and democratic politics.
Nuclear power starts with uranium mining, an extractive process that has historically relied on an exploitative industry. The World Nuclear Association admitted that in 'emerging uranium producing countries' — which are frequently countries of the 'global south' — there exist no adequate environmental health or safety legislations to protect communities or the environment from the effects of the process, or to otherwise deal with the radioactive byproducts it produces. This demonstrates that nuclear energy perpetuates an industry founded upon international exploitation and a long-established wealth and resources transfer from less-developed to industrialized nations. The Natural Resources Defense Council's 2012 report on uranium mining in the American West supported this conclusion, finding that the disproportionate effects on low-income or minority populations "represent[ed] an all too common pattern of environmental and economic injustice with respect to resource extraction."
As complex as the technologies behind nuclear fission are, nuclear energy itself is a 1970's solution that hasn't aged well. As nuclear plants struggle to remain competitive in today's energy markets, the industry's pronouncements about the benefits of the technology have been revealed as overly optimistic. The extraordinary capital commitments that nuclear power demanded were justified by 'economies of scale,' which relied on expanding demand for constant output to keep costs down. Since then, advances in efficiency have led to stagnation in the growth of demand for energy — with no effect on productivity. Nuclear's large and relatively steady generation, once praised, now makes these plants incompatible with a modern electric grid. Nuclear's inflexibility inhibits the incorporation of renewables, and by so doing, undermines the ability for distributed, customer-centric energy.
Despite declining profitability compared to renewable energy, the potential for catastrophic radioactive disaster, and the inter-generational and therefore inherently unsafe consequences of nuclear waste, the nuclear industry has achieved special compensation for certain of its plants in some states. This has to do with their designation as 'zero-emissions' energy sources, demonstrated by the fact that nuclear produces no greenhouse-gas emissions during energy production, unlike traditional fossil-fuel power plants. Yet nuclear energy is a false solution to climate change, as NIRS and our international coalition of advocates under the Don't Nuke The Climate campaign will tell you. Continued investments in nuclear power will be at the expense of renewable generation, which is urgently needed to be brought online to address climate change.
Distributed ownership of renewable energy resources is the holy grail of energy democracy. When done correctly, there's minimal environmental impact and the infrastructure is harmless. It would emit no greenhouse-gases or other pollution, and in fact could be a boon to local economies, by creating the need for various installation, maintenance, and monitoring services. And widely distributed ownership would mean more widely distributed benefits. Achieving energy democracy means transitioning from the centralized, secretive nature of the nuclear industrial complex, and instead advancing opportunities for "people far from the current centers of economic and political power to have control over the decisions which affect their lives."
As NIRS turns 40, we look forward to reviewing our past work that has amplified the voices of communities across the nation — and populations across the globe – that demand recognition of the effects that nuclear energy and waste has had on their environment and physical well-being. Transparency, accountability, and the ability of the public to meaningfully participate in decision-making on energy policy are the foundational principles of energy democracy. My work advancing clean renewables is a fitting complement to NIRS' anti-nuclear advocacy, since the nuclear industrial complex is diametrically opposed to a clean, modern, democratic energy system.


text:
June 01, 2012
This year's ArtStarts Showcase, in March, was an exciting, energy-packed couple of days. The theme of the conference was inspired by a quotation from Albert Einstein: "Creativity is contagious. Pass it on."
The spirit of that quote has certainly lived on since Showcase.
Ever since, booking requests for the 2012-2013 academic year have been flooding in from schools across the province. Sarah and Rekha are busy processing requests on a daily basis, and beginning to sort out the touring schedule for next year — a complex task that Sarah has been referring to as putting together a giant "gig-saw" puzzle of performances!
The creative, contagious energy from Showcase was also top of mind this week, as we received the finished product from a project we worked on with two students from the Art Institute of Vancouver. PK and Cole Lamothe created an amazing video that we feel really captures the excitement of the Showcase.
The video was edited by PK and the original score was created by Cole Lamothe. I think you'll agree that these talented film makers are well on their way to launching successful careers in the industry. Thanks to you both for your work on this project!
PK is a student currently enrolled in the film program at the Art Institute of Vancouver, he specializes in editing, script writing, and pretty much anything post-production!
Cole Lamothe: My name is Cole Lamothe and as long as I can remember music has always been a large part of my life, I could not imagine it any other way. Set to graduate from the Art Institute at the end of June I am very excited to start my journey towards becoming an established film composer.
Also be sure to check out these inspiring clips of some of the performances at the ArtStarts Showcase 2012.
For more information about the artists who showcased this year click here, or browse our Artists on Tour Directory for the full roster of performers available to book at your school or community venue.
AIC Projects | Arts Integration in Action | ArtStarts Artists | ArtStarts Team | Community Events and Engagement | Exhibitions | Grants | Guest Blog | Infusion Pro-D | Knowledge Philanthropist | Meet a Community Art Star | Showcase | Supporters | The Next 20


text:
Data Loss? Hard disk failure.say bye bye. I have just survived the worst data loss in my laptop. A backup partition got deleted during a windows 7 upgrade and for me , it was the end of the world. 2 years of accumulated data, songs, movies and other personal stuff. I thought , I was done with.
But, I wasn't quite ready to give up this time. For the last 48 hours, I was working immensely on recovering the data from the deleted partition. I connected the target hdd as a external usb disk and started the analysis. I don't quite remember, how many software, I have tried during these hours.
But at the end of the day, i found the right software and the right methods.And the result: The D: of my new hard disk looks exactly same with all the junk I recovered from the lost partition. I did it just right.