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Last May, Kathy Giusti was in midtown Manhattan pitching her current venture to an audience of potential investors. Giusti, a forty-eight-year-old Harvard Business School graduate and former pharmaceutical executive, believes that medical breakthroughs shouldn't be left to chance. In 1998, she created the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to the lethal blood cancer, which afflicts more than fifty thousand Americans and has no known cure. Most medical charities focus on increasing public awareness and on raising money to distribute to researchers, in the hope that some of the work will lead to a new drug or a cure; Giusti runs hers as if it were a for-profit business, expecting high returns on the money she raises from "investors"—her term for philanthropists. Her staff includes four scientists, who track myeloma research at academic institutions around the world, advising her on which projects are most likely to lead to new therapies for patients, and are thus the best candidates for funding. (Drug companies have typically not been interested in developing drugs for myeloma, preferring to focus on diseases that affect large numbers of people, for which treatments are most profitable.) Researchers who receive money from Giusti's foundation are required to meet strict deadlines for demonstrating progress. "We try to get academics to work like businesspeople," she told her audience in Manhattan. "Money gives you power to drive people's behavior."
Giusti's organization maintains a tissue bank of more than fourteen hundred bone-marrow samples and nearly twelve hundred blood samples from patients with myeloma, which researchers use to test novel compounds, and it helps finance clinical trials of experimental myeloma drugs. Since 2001, twenty-one drugs derived in part from research funded by the foundation have entered clinical trials, and eight are currently in Phase II—a track record that pharmaceutical companies would envy.
Since Giusti established her foundation, medical philanthropies that apply business principles to their work have become increasingly common. In 2002, Scott Johnson, a former C.E.O. of several Silicon Valley startups who suffers from multiple sclerosis, created the Myelin Repair Foundation, with the goal of facilitating academic research into treatments for the damaged nerves characteristic of patients with the disease. Johnson identified five leading M.S. researchers and persuaded them to collaborate on a research program funded by his foundation. "The academic system is broken," Johnson told me. "Researchers focus on publishing to get tenure. It's all about credit for discoveries." (Johnson hopes to have a drug ready for lab testing in 2009.) Two years ago, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the oldest and largest philanthropic organization dedicated to breast cancer, hired a new C.E.O., Hala Moddelmog, the former president of Church's Chicken, the fast-food franchise. (The organization's departing C.E.O. was a former health-care executive.) "We have followed a traditional paradigm," Moddelmog told me. "But we believe there is a smarter way to do things." This year, Komen is considering allocating thirty-five million dollars of its hundred-million-dollar research budget to support a new initiative called Promise Grants, which would require recipients to share data with one another and to observe strict guidelines. "We need flexibility and speed to discover new treatments and deliver them to patients," Moddelmog said.
Giusti told me that she has been contacted by several other new medical charities, including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which is devoted to cancer; the Kirsch Foundation, which supports research into Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer; and ABC2, which was created in 2001 by Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL, and his brother Dan Case to combat brain cancer. (Dan Case died of the disease in 2002.) But Giusti's aggressive approach to myeloma research has been controversial among some academic scientists, who argue that it's unrealistic—even counterproductive—for patients and their advocates to think that with enough money and the right business model they can buy a cure.
Giusti's move from the pharmaceutical industry to the nonprofit world began in December, 1995, when she was thirty-seven years old and living in Lake Forest, Illinois. "I was on the fast track at Searle"—the pharmaceutical company—"for a leadership position," Giusti, who has short blond hair, intense blue eyes, and an energetic voice, told me. For four years, she had overseen the marketing of Searle's popular arthritis drugs, including Daypro, and she was in charge of developing the strategy for selling a new one, Celebrex. She travelled frequently, and as Christmas approached she was exhausted and losing weight. She had an eighteen-month-old daughter, and she and her husband, a real-estate developer, had been trying to conceive again. In late December, Giusti visited her doctor, who ordered some blood tests and referred her to a fertility specialist. "Two days after Christmas, the doctor called and said he wanted me to come back and get the tests done again," she recalled. She repeated the blood tests, and in early January she received a phone message from the physician, asking to meet with her and her husband.
"I was driving back to Lake Forest from a regional sales meeting and finally reached him," Giusti said. "I was on my car phone, and I was driving, and I said, 'Look, I know something is horribly wrong. My father was a doctor, and you wouldn't ask me to come in with my husband unless something was really bad.' And he said, 'Well, just come in and I will talk you then.' And I said, 'No. You need to tell me now.' I'm driving down the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago, and this guy was telling me that I likely have myeloma. I got home that night, and I just looked at my husband and said, 'I think that I have cancer, and we've got to go in tomorrow morning.' " The next day, on their way to the doctor's office, Giusti and her husband stopped at a bookstore, where Giusti consulted a copy of "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," a textbook widely used in medical schools. "My husband and I were sprawled out in Borders reading this medical book, and, the more I read, I just had this huge knot in my stomach," Giusti recalled.
Myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells, which are normally found in bone marrow and produce antibodies that help the body fight infections. Under a microscope, plasma cells are easy to identify: they are robin's-egg blue and have a pale area behind the nucleus. When such cells become cancerous, they produce excessive amounts of a single kind of antibody, called a monoclonal protein, and release it into the blood. The malignant plasma cells can cause bone lesions, dangerously high levels of calcium in the blood, kidney failure, and nerve damage. Since 2003, several new drugs have been approved by the F.D.A. for treating the disease, including thalidomide, which was linked to severe birth defects after it was prescribed as a sedative to pregnant mothers in the nineteen-fifties and sixties, and Velcade, the first approved drug from a class of compounds that disable a structure in plasma cells called a proteasome, and by doing so kill the cell. Many myeloma patients are also given bone-marrow transplants, which are thought to extend the length of remissions. Even so, the cancer cells invariably return, evolving in such a way that they no longer respond to treatment.


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At the end of August, domain provider Network Solutions shut down Stormfront, the oldest white supremacist site on the internet, after the deadly events in Charlottesville shoved hate groups into the national spotlight.
The move was a blow to the hate movement, but it also had an unintended effect: Stormfront was one of the primary sources used by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the civil rights nonprofit that also maintains a widely-cited directory of hate groups.
"It was very important to us to be able to monitor Stormfront for information about the white supremacist movement," said Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, which tracks hate groups. "We've just lost a very important intelligence tool, and we're going to have to change our practices a little bit to mine other areas of the web as we go forward."
The SPLC, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in Alabama in 1971, started tracking hate groups after suing the United Klans of America in 1987. In the course of that case, the SPLC realized that there were Klan chapters all over the United States but no way for a police officer, member of the public, or legislator to know what or where they were. The hate group list was originally named "Klan Watch," but that name was changed in the 1990s as it expanded to other organizations.
Every day, members of the SPLC staff go through publications, forums, emails, tips, fundraising materials, and interviews with [law enforcement and other organizations] in the field. The SPLC staffers also comb through news articles looking for mentions of new groups or chapters. They also get tips from law enforcement and the general public.
Today, the SPLC has a staff of more than 20 people who investigate hate groups, Beirich said, and the team is growing. Its Hate Map, which lists 917 groups, is used by journalists, police, advocacy groups, and lawmakers.
The groups on the list range from white supremacists to anti-LGBTQ groups to black power organizations. But it is the white supremacist side that has seen the largest boost since 2015, according to the SPLC.
I spoke to Beirich about how the SPLC tracks hate groups, the recent surge in white supremacist organizations, and how the SPLC responds to criticism that it is inherently biased against conservatives.
The Outline: How do you find these hate groups?
Beirich: We look at somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000 organizations overall each year, and we actually have two lists: one list of hate groups and another list of extreme anti-government groups.
We have a basic definition we use, and that definition is loosely related to how a hate crime is described in the federal hate crimes act, the Shepard-Byrd Act. And so what we're looking for is, does the organization we're evaluating consider an entire other group of people to be lesser, and what I mean is, is it discriminatory on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and so on?
If an organization is a neo-Nazi organization, they believe all Jews should be killed because they're Jews, that's the ultimate in terms of discrimination against a group for their inherent characteristics. Because that's extermination.
But in other cases, for example anti-LGBT groups we list, this has more to do with the fact that organizations on that list consider all LGBT folks to, for example, be more likely to be pedophiles or molest children. We also list black hate groups like the New Black Panther Party, which are rabidly anti-white and anti-Semitic.
How did the shutdown of Stormfront affect you?
Stormfront was the largest hate site on the web, and the oldest as well — it went up in 1995 — and it had more than 300,000 registered users. And the information these folks would post from events to descriptions of their meetings, what they're thinking, what their propaganda is, was fodder for our hate listings. It was very important to us to be able to monitor Stormfront for information about the white supremacist movement. We've just lost a very important intelligence tool, and we're going to have to change our practices a little bit to mine other areas of the web as we go forward.
Just to be clear: Despite this, you are still happy that the site was shut down?
We had lobbied many [tech companies] for years to do this to know avail. I think it's a good thing for society. Unfortunately this white supremacist thinking has led to a lot of violence. Stormfront itself was connected to Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in Norway, he was a poster on there. Dylan Roof was a poster on Stormfront. We wrote a report called White Homicide Worldwide that looked at a series of killers who had been on the site.
What effect do you think you are having on these groups?
Our hope is, first of all, law enforcement know where these folks are — particularly the violent ones. And not all the groups on the list are violent, I should say that straight up.
And we also want the public in general to understand what groups are pushing what we view as defamatory propaganda and dangerous propaganda.
"There's no question Trump has energized the white supremacist movement."
At times we're criticized for some of the groups we have on our anti-LGBT list, and my response to those criticisms is, when you look at hate crime statistics for the LGBT community, they're the most targeted and have been through all the years of hate crimes statistics for violent acts. And there's a price to be paid when you demonize a population, and that's what we're looking at.
Have you ever taken groups off of your list?
We have. I had a situation with a group called the Illinois Family Institute where they reached out to us after we listed them as an anti-LGBT group, and I explained to them the kinds of propaganda that was on their website that helped put them in that category, and they did remove that and we removed them from the list. Ironically, not too long after that, they put a lot of that back up, so we put them back on.
What was the propaganda that was on their site?
What I remember is, the Illinois Family Institute had material published by Paul Cameron, who is an extremely discredited anti-gay researcher. One of the things he did that was most heinous — and I don't remember if that particular research was featured on the Illinois Family Institute's website — was to go to the obituary page of gay newspapers to prove gay people didn't live very long. This happened at the height of the AIDS crisis.
I've also had conversations with organizations that were writing about the Muslim community and talked to them about what the tripwire is for us when you become an anti-Muslim hate group, and those are organizations that have never gotten on the list, so I'm more than happy to talk to organizations about how we do these listings.
Would you describe the SPLC as bipartisan?
We exist to uphold the 14th Amendment, and this work of course involves dealing with people who have historically been oppressed in the United States. Some of our earliest lawsuits were about just making the Civil Rights Act a fact in the south, stopping the YWCA from filling in their pools with concrete rather than let black kids swim in them.
I would argue that it is work that stands up for civil rights, and I would hope people across the political spectrum would agree with that. Now when it comes from organizations in the Christian right and right wing who are particularly angered that we listed groups like the Family Research Council as hate groups, I think they frankly mischaracterize in most cases that we put these groups on our list because they're against gay marriage or believe homosexuality is a biblical sin. That is absolutely false. We put them on the list for demonization, and I think they deserve to be there.
How do you define "demonization"?
Telling lies intended to harm a particular population, so saying gays are more likely to molest, you want to make the gay population look like their molesters. Or black people are more criminal, therefore they're alien and need to stay away.
It goes back to the standard ways that any population goes about causing people to fear a particular population, and there are certain ways that they do that: more diseased, more criminal, more sexually deviant.
Have you seen a change in the level of activity or the number of groups coinciding with the political rise of Donald Trump?
There's no question Trump has energized the white supremacist movement. We have seen, since he started his campaign in 2015, a sea change among white supremacists. Before that time these groups had no interest whatsoever in politics. They didn't like the Democrats because they think that is the party of ethnic interests basically, and they didn't like Republicans, they called them the stupid party, because they felt the Republican Party didn't appeal directly to white interests. But when Trump came out that first day in Trump Tower and talked about Mexicans as rapists, the white supremacist movement in this country felt like had found their guy, and he continued to cater to them by tweeting material that comes from these folks, like from a white genocide account, something about black crime, anti-Semitic images, etcetera etcetera. All of that made the white supremacist world feel like they were very lucky, they actually began to call Trump "glorious leader" in many circles, and what we saw was a jump in the number of hate groups between 2015 and 2016. And the groups that grew in that time period were ones that tied themselves to the Trump candidacy.
This interview has been condensed and edited.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Space Settlement Art Gallery
Space Settlement is the concept for colonization beyond the Earth. While most thinking regarding the expansion of the human race outward into space has focused on the colonization of the surfaces of other planets, the space settlement concept suggests that planetary surfaces may not be the best location for extraterrestrial colonies. Artificial, closed-ecology habitats in free orbit would seem to have many advantages over any planetary home.
The Space Colony Art Gallery
Mike Combs' Space Settlement Page


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What an awe inspiring transformation – and what a clever way to do it!
Guest posting at kristendukephotography.com, Beth from sawdust and embryos, shows us how she transformed a simple dresser with a coordinated pattern for using as a change table in a friend's nursery.
The technique is innovative and the final effect spectacular.
Go get the complete details at the kristendukephotography.com website: Furniture Transformation using a Projector.


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Maria Lane, Marine Credit Union
The Ambassador Executive Committee is pleased to announce Maria Lane, Marine Credit Union, was selected Ambassador of the month in November 2015 for her participation in Chamber and Ambassador activities. Thank you, Maria, for all your time and hard work.
Top Membership Sales
Mary Glassbrenner, Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire
Top Membership Sales for November 2015 goes to Mary Glassbrenner, Group Health Cooperative of Eau Claire. In addition to her ongoing membership recruitment efforts, Mary is an active supporter of the Chamber. Congratulations, Mary!


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Sinn Fein has run into a blizzard of criticism for selling a "seditious" t-shirt on its new online store.
The Sniper at Work t-shirt celebrates "the famous South Armagh road sign" installed by the IRA as a photo opportunity for the newspapers during the Troubles. At €15 it's a snip.
The Ulster Unionist Party has slammed the t-shirt, calling for Sinn Fein's site to be "removed from the Web". The party has lodged a formal complaint with Northern Ireland's Chief Constable on "grounds of sedition".
In a statement, senior Ulster Unionist David McNarry said: "We need an urgent explanation from the Sinn Fein leadership. Who sanctioned the selling of these t-shirts in their on-line shop and furthermore does this imagery mean that Sinn Fein are proud and endorse the actions of these IRA snipers?"
Sons of Ulster join ecommerce revolution
The UUP also has an online shop, but aside from a tie, the merchandise consists of printed matter about matters political, and a video history of the party (What, no Lambeg drums? - Ed). Perhaps it could take some lessons from Sinn Fein over presentation and product selection, Sniper t-shirts, Rebel drone CDs and all the books excepted.
Or maybe the UUP could take a leaf from the book of ProdShopping. This Web site, alas "disappeared" following - if memory serves us correctly - threats to its author, was both a pastiche of the decidedly devout CatholicShopper.com and a satire of Northern Irish Protestant attitudes.
One product that took our fancy when we reviewed the site last year was Protestant holy water, collected from the Boyne and blessed by the Protestant Pope Rev. Ian Paisley. This is claimed to have amazing healing powers. Indeed, "if you have been out all night throwing bricks at the Fenians, and the PSNI, over the peace line in North Belfast this Holy Water is ideal to help heal those cuts and bruises." ®
Related stories
Sons of Ulster join e-commerce revolution
Real IRA gets into computer piracy
Amazon drops link to Real IRA fund raiser
And the Patron Saint of the Internet is...


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5 Steps For Successfully Utilizing Transportation DataWritten by Neal Willis
You should start following your transportation data and measuring performance metrics, if you're not already doing so. Keeping track of transportation metrics allows you to screen provider performance over specific periods of time, and whether it's cost reduction, improved efficiency, and/or enhanced service performance, successfully leveraging your transportation data for continuous improvement involves five steps: 1) Understand The Metrics, 2) Identify Weaknesses, 3) Set Improvement Goals, 4) Institute Corrective Action, and 5) Monitor & Adjust.
Understand The Metrics
Keep in mind that simply measuring and monitoring metrics doesn't solve problems. Keeping record of the metrics simply allows you to identify glitches. In order to truly benefit from the information, it's important to understand the meaning of what you're measuring and what the measurements say as to the condition of your supply chain. You may find others are better suited to match your particular industry or business needs, but common metrics such as transit time and on-time performance percentages are routinely monitored by shippers, carriers and supply chain analysts alike.
Transit time - measures the amount of time it takes for a shipment to arrive at its intended destination from the time it leaves the shipper's dock. It's normally measured against a standard amount of time for each lane (by carrier). Keep in mind that carrier transit times are estimated and not guaranteed.
On-time pickup % - measures the amount of shipments (by carrier) that are picked up on time.
On-time delivery % - measures the amount of shipments (by carrier) that are delivered on time.
Identify Weaknesses
Once you grasp the concepts and understand what you're measuring, find a good benchmark for which to measure your information against and identify the weak spots in your supply chain. For example, you may choose to benchmark against other similar companies or industries. Nonetheless, try to benchmark against something comparable and relevant.
Set Improvement Goals
Be realistic in your goal setting. You don't have to hit a home run right out of the gate. For example, you might elect to set a target percentage amount of improvement over a certain period of time.
Institute Corrective Action
Before any plan is enacted, it's important to convey the changes you're sanctioning to all areas of the business that could potentially be affected. Once that's done, you can then put the plan into action. Try not to implement a plan with negative consequences in other areas. Fixing one problem while creating others doesn't necessarily prove to be beneficial.
Monitor & Adjust
Once you have your plan in place, closely monitor the results of the new process to determine if the changes are producing the desired outcome. If not, adjust accordingly and repeat the process.
Need more information? Contact ReTrans Freight, fill out the form and someone will contact you shortly. For immediate assistance please call us directly at 1-800-426-8896 Ext. 329 or send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Welcome! I'm exploring wellness in 2012 and I'm glad you can join me.
When I heard about the Whole 30 at Fit Bodies CrossFit, I decided to give it a go. I'm using this blog to share my journey. So please visit daily for good stuff (I'll keep it short and sweet don't worry).
Here's what I will post:
- Daily updates: Each day I will post a report about my thoughts, food and drink, workouts, etc.
- Recipes: Often I will post recipes, photos, and links
- And, I will celebrate people, places, and things that support me
Share this with your friends. Like me on Facebook. Email me and say hello. Be well.
Happy (and Healthy) 2012!
PS-for those of you who don't know me:
I live in central Illinois and I'm a midwesterner at heart. I have a wonderful family across the country and live here with my husband, son (7) and daughter (5 1/2). I teach communication and support other faculty at Illinois State University. I serve on my local city council. I'm right-handed.


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The following quotation by a Gastroenterologist, Dr. Ransohoff, amply defines the impact of the discovery of H.pylori on our thinking about peptic ulcer disease:
The long-held hypothesis that duodenal ulcer disease is caused primarily by acid has, after a decade of siege by the H.pylori hypothesis, finally collapsed. That the acid hypothesis could even be challenged, much less toppled, appeared as unthinkable 10 years ago as the fall of Communism in the former USSR. Within the last few years, strong evidence has accumulated, however, about H.pylori's importance, persuading even this previously skeptical writer."(1)
What is H. pylori?
H. pylori is a gram-negative, microoerophilic, spiral bacillus (see Figure) originally cultured in 1982 from gastric biopsy specimens in patients with documented gastritis.
What conditions are associcded with H. pylori infestation?
Strong evidence demonstrates that H. pylori is a causal factor in gastritis and duodenal ulcer(2) and to a lesser extent gastric ulcer. Moderate epidemiologic evidence supports a relation between H. pylori and gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma.
What upper GI conditions are not associated with H. pylori infestation?
Most evidence indicates that NSAID induced ulcers and reflux esophagitis are not associated with H. pylori infestation. There is insufficient evidence to link non-ulcer dyspepsia symptoms with H. pylori.(2),(3) Proper randomized controlled trials are needed to investigate this relationship.
What treatments have been satisfactorily tested at this time?
A meta analysis of the results of treatment in adults is shown in Table 1 . The ulcer recurrence rate at 1 year is less than 10% if H. pylori is eradicated and greater than 50% if H. pylori is not eradicated.
Table 1: Results of Treatment of Helicobacter pylori (5),(7)
|H. pylori eradication rate * (n)
|H2 blockers alone
|No effect
|Omeprazole alone
|No effect
|Bismuth and amoxicillin
|44% (197)
|Bismuth and metronidazole
|55% (118)
|Omeprazole and amoxicillin
|58% (433) #
|Bismuth, metronidazole and amoxicillin
|73% (130)
|Bismuth, metronidazole and tetracycline
|94% (434)
* measured one month after stopping antibolics || (n) number of patients in meta-analysis || # meta-analysis done by the Therapeutics Initiative
What are the advantages to my patient if H. pylori is successfully eradicated?
Most patients with recurrent peptic ulcer disease will be "cured". This means they will no longer need any maintenance therapy for suppression of ulcer symptoms. In a recent study of 35 patents in whom H. pylori was effectively eradicated, 32 (92%) remained H. pylori and ulcer negafive after an average follow-up period of 7 years.(4)
What is the best treatment and how long do you treat?
The dose and duration of the two most effecfive regimens are shown in Table 2. The addition of an agent to decrease acid production (e.g. cimetidine) improves symptom resolution in the first week, but has no effect on ulcer resolution or H. pylori eradication.(7)
Table 2: Triple therapy regimens
|Trade Names
|Daily ingredient cost*
|Bismuth subsalicylate
|30 ml QID
|1 week(7)
|Peptol Bismol
|Tetracycline #
|500 mg QID
|1 week(7)
|Achromycin, Tetracyn, Medicycline
Novotetra, Nu Tetra
|250 mg QID
|1 week(7)
|Flagyl, NeoTric, Novonidazol, Trikacide
|Or Replacement of Tetracycline # with:
|500 mg QID
|2 weeks for
each of the
3 ingredients (5)
|Amoxil, ApoAmoxi, Axicillin
Novamoxin, Nu Amoxi, Pro Amix
# tetracycline is contraindicated in children and during pregnancy || ^ over the counter || * lowest cost alternative formulation (BC, 1993)
What about safety and compliance?
The incidence of side effects with the one week triple therapy (tetracycline) regimen was 14 out of 210 (7%) including dizziness, nausea, metallic taste and diarrhea. Side effects due to local gastric irritation can be minimized by taking the medication together with a glass of water. It is important to emphasize the importance of compliance to the patient; with triple therapy H. pylori was eradicated in 96% of patents who took more than 60% of the medication. Shorter, simpler and equally effective regimens may become available, but the data are insufficient at this time.
When should you treat H. pylori infection?
- All patients with proven gastric or duodenal ulcers who are infected with H. pylori.
- Patients with previously proven recurrent duodenal ulcers who are currently requiring maintenance antiulcer therapy.
- For management of the small number of peptic ulcers in children a definifive endoscopic and microbiological diagnosis is advisable.(6)
- Ransohoff DF. Commentary. Ann lnt Med (ACP Joumal Club suppl.) 1994, May/June; 62-63.
- Sander JO, Veldhuyzen van Zanten SJ, Sherman PM: Helicobacter pylori infection as a cause of gastritis, duodenal ulcer, gastric cancer and nonulcer dyspepsia: a systematic overview. Can Med Assoc J 1994; 150(2):177-185.
- Sander JO, Veldhuyzen van Zanten SJ, Sherman PM: Indications for treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection: a systematic overview. Can Med Assoc J 199A; 15OJ2):189-198.
- Forbes GM, Glaser ME, Cullen DJE, Warren JR, Christiansen KJ, Marshall BJ, Collins BJ: Duodenal ulcer treated with Helicobacter pylori eradication: year follow-up. Lancet 1994; 343:258-260.
- Chiba N, Rao BV, Rademaker JW, et al: Meta-analysis of the efficacy of antibiotic therapy in eradicating Helicobacter pylori. Am J Gastroenterol 1992; 87:1716-1727.
- Hassall E: Clinical practice guidelines for suspected peptic ulcer disease in children. BC Med J, 1994; 36(8): 538-539.
- Hoskins SW, Ling TKW, Chung SCS, Yung YM, Cheng A, Sung JY, Li AKC: Duodenal ulcer healing by eradication of Helicobacter pylori without antacid treatment: randomized controlled trial. Lancet 1994; 343:508-510.


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We are open and available to discuss your wedding plans both in person and online. Popular dates in 2021 are now being booked out regularly. Before Forever couples shoots will be available soon. Go on our waiting list.
Doltone House Jones Bay Wharf Sydney
"Our biggest concern and fear was whether our photographers would capture every moment on the day, however with you both our fears were overcome and our expectations exceeded. With all the stress and anxiety we felt on the day you both made us feel so at ease, we felt like we could be ourselves and had a lot of fun doing it! Our guests gave us the same positive feedback saying that our photographers were fun and gave good guidance. When we saw our photos they brought tears to our eyes and took us back to the day, we could feel the raw emotions that you captured. We had the same reaction from our relatives who were so happy but emotional at the same time. We are exceedingly happy and would definitely recommend you to anyone who wants quality pictures and memories."
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Official Government Gazette, Issue: 298/4.5.07 τ.Γ
Academic field: Social Anthropology and Ethnography of Greece
Οffice: Karantoni Building
+30 22510 email@example.com
Professor Evthymios Papataxiarchis has studied Social Anthropology in the London School of Economics. He received a BSc (Econ.) in Social Anthropology with First Class Honours in 1978 and a PhD on the basis of extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Aegean Greece in 1988. He is also a graduate of the School of Law of the University of Athens. Since 1987 he is teaching Social Anthropology in the University of the Aegean where he has been advisor to the Governing Body of the University for the establishment of the first Department of Social Anthropology in Greece. He has been President of this Department and member of the Senate from 2002 to 2005 and served in various committees including the Research Council University of Aegean. Evthymios Papataxiarchis is currently directing the Postgraduate Program 'Social and Historical Anthropology', the International Postgraduate Summer School 'Cultures, Migrations, Borders' and the Laboratory of Ethnography. He has taught as visiting professor in the Universities of Athens and Crete, in the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris) and Bogadici University (Istanbul). He has directed EU funded research projects and since 2007 he is Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London. He has been a founding member of the European Association of Social Anthropologists, a member of the Royal Anthropological Institute and the American Anthropological Association and is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of Greek Review of Political Science and the Greek Review of Social Research and a member of the Editorial Board of Synchrona Themata. He is also directing the series 'Anthropology' and 'Ethnographies' in Alexandria Publications.
Evthymios Papataxiarchis has published extensively in Greek, English and French on gender, kinship and power, on extra-domestic sociality, on the anthropology of emotions and the politics of locality. He has combined historical anthropology and microhistory in the study of mid 19th c. traformations in Ottoman Western Anatolia during the Tanzimat and is engaged in a long term project on the history of anthropological ideas in 20th c. Greece.
His recent work, inspired by long term fieldwork in a border village community on the island of Lesbos, is on migration and the management of cultural difference. His is currently on sabbatical, attached as a Senior Research Fellow to the Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL, and working on the structures of 'humanitarian governace' and the socio-spatial restructuring effected at the local and regional level by the current refugee crisis.
KA 112: Greek ethnography (undergraduate)
KIA-2: Theory and history of contemporary social anthropology (postgraduate)
WG-1: Anthropological approaches to gender (postgraduate)
Pr/S-043: Hospitality and cultural differentiation (undergraduate)
2015 Adventures of Alterity: The Production of Cultural Difference in ContemporaryGreece, (ed., Alexandria Publications, in Greek), second edition with a new introduction.
2014 The Politics of Everyday Life: Border, Body and Citizenship in Greece (ed, Alexandria Publications)
2010 Gender and the Social Sciences in Modern Greece, (ed. with V. Kantsa and V. Moutafi, Alexandria Publications, in Greek).
2008 Worlds of Domestic Labour: Gender, Migration and Cultural Transformations in Early 21th Century Athens, (with P. Topali and A. Athanassopoulou, Alexandria Publications, in Greek).
2006 Adventures of Alterity: The Production of Cultural Difference in Contemporary Greece, (ed., Alexandria Publications, in Greek).
1999Lilies of the Field: Marginal People Who Live for the Moment, (ed. with S. Day and M. Stewart,Westview Press).
1994 Anthropology and the Past: Contributions to the Social History of Modern Greece, (ed. with T. Paradelles, Alexandria Publications, in Greek).
1992 Identities and Gender in Modern Greece, (ed. with T. Paradelles, Kastaniotes Publications, in Greek).
1991 Contested Identities: Gender and Kinship in Modern Greece, (ed. with P. Loizos, PrincetonUniversity Press).
1990 Community, Society and Ideology : C. Caravidas and the Problematique of the Social Sciences, (ed. with M. Comnenou, Papazeses Publications, in Greek).
2019 The Sharing Economy under Contestation. Special issue of Synchrona Themata v. 143-144.[In Greek].
2009 The Challenge of Migration. Special issue of Synchrona Themata, v.107. (In Greek).
2007 Social Anthropology and Greece. Special issue of Synchrona Themata, v. 98. (In Greek).
2005 Grèce Figures de l'Alterité. Special issue of Ethnologie Française,v.35, no 2.
2019 "In search of a pragmatic future", in Kelly Alexander (ed), Europe in the Balance. Cultural Anthropology, Hot Spot Series, Oct. 2019, https://culanth.org/fieldsights/in-search-of-a-pragmatic-future
2019 "Creative confusions, productive illusions: Inequality and reciprocity in Athen's documenta 14". Synchrona Themata]145-146: 54-71. [In Greek].
2019 "The "sharing" of accommodation in Athens of the actual existing neoliberalism: The ethnographic journey of a displaced tenant". Synchrona Themata 143-144: 19-28. [in Greek). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333199210
2017 "The refugee issue: A cognitive challenge". Synchrona Themata 138-139: 17-21. [In Greek]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327393692
2017 "Living together in the 'humanitarian town': Informal educational practices and refugee governance after 2016". Synchrona Themata 137: 74-89. [In Greek]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320288485
2016 "A big reversal? The 'European refugee crisis' and the new patriotism of 'solidarity". Synchrona Themata 132-133: 7-28. [In Greek}. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315897541
2016 «Solidarity unwrapped?: Society reborn in austerity», Social Anthropology 24/2
2016 «Being 'there': At the frontline of the 'European Refugee Crisis' - Part 2» Anthropology Today 32(3): 3-7.
2016 «Being 'there': At the frontline of the 'European Refugee Crisis' - Part 1» Anthropology Today 32(2): 5-9.
2015 «For a European Union of anthropological localities», in S. Green and P. Laviolette (eds), Rethinking Euro-anthropology. Social Anthropology 23: 332-334.
2015 «Trouble on the top: The ritual deconstruction of 'consensual' democracy". Synchrona Themata 130-1: 122-134, 2015. (In Greek).
2014 «The inconceivable racism: The politicization of 'hospitality' in the era of crisis». Synchrona Themata 127: 67-74. (In Greek)
2010 «Ethnographic praxis and its limits: John Campbell and his relation with his contemporaries and his ancestors ». Synchrona Themata 110: 44-56. (In Greek).
2010 «Reconfiguring Greek ethnography in a changing world». Journal of Mediterranean Studies 18(2): 419-430.
2009 «At the edge of sight: The crisis of 'hospitality' in the era of porous borders». Synchrona Themata 107: 67-74. (In Greek).
2005 «La Grèce face à l'altérité», Ethnologie Française 35 (2): 203-212.
2005 «Un moment pluriel: L'ethnographie grecque au tournant du siècle», Ethnologie Française 35 (2):213-227. [Greek version in Syncrona Themata 98: 29-42, 2007].
2018 'Pragmatism against austerity: Greek society, politics and ethnography in times of trouble'. In D. Dalakoglou and G. Agelopoulos (eds)., Critical Times in Greece: Anthropological Engagements with the Crisis, London: Routledge. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323258757
2017 'The multiple faces of anthropological racialism: Organic metaphors and anthropological discourse in interwar Greece'. In E. Avdela et al. (eds), Racial Theories in Greece, Athens: University Press of Crete. [In Greek]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320290114
2015 "From the crisis of 'hospitality to its politicizatiοn '". Introduction to the second edition of E. Papataxiarchis (ed.) Adventures of alterity: The production of cultural difference in contemporary Greece, Athens: Alexandria Publications. [In Greek}.
2014 «Unsettled differences: Border, body and ethno-cultural subjectivity in everyday political praxis», in E. Papataxiarchis (ed.), The Politics of Everyday Life: Border, Body and Citizenship in Greece, 17-77. Athens: Alexandria Publications.
2014 «From the crisis to the politicization of 'hospitality'», Introduction to the second edition of Adventures of Alterity: The Production of Cultural Difference in Contemporary Greece, xiii-lxii. Athens: Alexandria Publications.
2013 «Revisiting the political: Convergences and divergences in anthropology and political science» (with C. Lyrintzis), in K. Rozakou and E. Gara (eds), Greek Paradoxes: Patronage, Civil Society and Violence, 73-119. Athens: Alexandria Publications. (In Greek)
2013 «Crises and revisions», in K. Rozakou and E. Gara (eds), Greek Paradoxes: Patronage, Civil Society and Violence, 11-24. Athens: Alexandria Publications. (In Greek)
2013 «From 'national' to 'social science': Politics, ideology, and disciplinary formation in Greek anthropology from the 1940s till the 1980s» In A. Boskovic and C. Hann (eds), The anthropological field on the margins of Europe, 1945-1991, 31-63. Halle Studies in the Anthropology of Eurasia, Vol. 29. Berlin: LIT Verlag Münster.
2012 "Reconfiguring the Ottoman political imagination: Petitioning and print culture in the early Tanzimat", in A. Anastasopoulos (ed.), Political Initiatives ʽFrom the Bottom Up' in the Ottoman Empire, Crete University Press.
2012 "Shaping modern times in the Greek family: A comparative view of gender and kinship transformations after 1974", in A. Dialla and N.Maroniti (eds), State, Society and Economy. Athens: Metaichmio Publications.
2010 «Gender and social thought in post dictatorial Greece». In V. Kantsa, E. Papataxiarchis and V. Moutafi (eds.), Gender and the Social Sciences in Modern Greece.Athens: Alexandria Publications. (In Greek)
2006 «Burdens of alterity: Aspects of cultural differentiation in early 21th century Greece». In E. Papataxiarchis (ed.), Adventures of Alterity: The Production of Cultural Difference in Contemporary Greece, 1-87. Athens: Alexandria Publications. (In Greek)
2006 "The regime of difference in greek society: Some research hypotheses". In E. Papataxiarchis (ed.), Adventures of Alterity: The Production of Cultural Difference in Contemporary Greece, 407-469. Athens: Alexandria Publications. (In Greek)
2004 «Anthropological lessons: Notes on the work of Marshall Sahlins». Introduction to the Greek translation of M. Sahlins, Culture and Practical Reason, 9-37. Athens: Publications of the Twenty First Century. (In Greek)
2003 «Social anthropology in postwar Greece: The first steps». In I. Lambiri-Dimaki (ed.), Social sciences and avant garde in Greece, 1950-1967, 115-154. Athens: Gutenberg Publications and ΕΚΚΕ. (In Greek)
2001 "Dealing with disadvantage: Culture and the gendered self in the politics of locality". In C.Bromberger and D.Albera (eds.), L'anthropologie et la Méditerranné: Unité, diversité et perspectives, 179-211. Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l' Homme.
2000 "In the pursuit of similarity: The work of male friendship in Aegean Greece". In G.Ravis-Giordani (ed.), Le pain, le pouvoir et la grâce: Anthropologie et histoire de l' amitié. Aix : Presses de l' Universite de Provence.
1999 "Introduction", with S. Day and M. Stewart. In Lilies of the Field. Marginal People Who Live for the Moment,1-24. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press.
1999 "Contest with money: Gambling and the politics of disinterested sociality in Aegean Greece". In S. Day, E. Papataxiarchis and M. Stewart (eds.), Lilies of the Field. Marginal People Who Live for the Moment, 158-175. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press.
2006 « Economic Anthropology', 'Greek Ethnography' and the cultural construction of domestic labour». Posted in www.aegean.gr/gender-postgraduate/documents/fylo-chrima-antallagi/praktika. (In Greek)
2003 «Greekanthropologybetweenhistoryandfolklore» «Το παρελθόν ενώνει όσο και χωρίζει: Η ανθρωπολογία ανάμεσα στην ιστορία και τη λαογραφία». In The Present of the Past, 65-75. Athens: Etaireia Spoudon. (In Greek)
2002 "Dealing with cultural difference. 'Asia Minor Refugee' and 'Muslim Minority' Folklore Studies in Greece", with Evagelia Balta. In VI. Millatlerurasi Türk Halk Kültürü Kongres, Son elli yild Türkiye dişindaki Türk halk Kültürü çalişmalari, 38-53. Ankara: Kültür Bakanliği.
1999 «On the institutional establishment of social anthropology in the Greek university» In D. Alexandropoulos (ed.), The Future of Social Sciences in Greece, 227-246.Rethymno: University of Crete. (In Greek)


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Learning enhancement tutor for Mathematics and statistics Learning enhancement tutor for Mathematics and statistics
Luciana is a Learning Enhancement Tutor for Mathematics and Statistics alongside Gordon Collins and Athina Thoma. Her specialization is in Calculus and Algebra. Luciana has always been interested in Mathematics, its application in Physics and Science in general and ways of making Mathematics accessible to all. Luciana has enjoyed teaching Mathematics in different settings such as private tuition to GCSE students, A-level international students and in higher education.
Luciana has a Licentiate degree in Physics from the University of Buenos Aires and a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from UEA. Luciana has also researched over 10 year on different studies involving the interaction of Light and Matter using different models based in Quantum Theory.
She works with the Learning Enhancement Team on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.


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Episode 36
"Positivity Mindset Hour" with Ash Brown | Entertainer, Entrepreneur, Podcaster, and Very Timely
January 7th, 2018
54 mins 8 secs
Season 3
About this Episode
Listen to just the sketch here on YouTube!:
Beyond the beautiful exterior lies the incredibly talented and immensely interesting Ash Brown. Ash lives in Atlanta and does so many things I couldn't possibly list all of them here. Okay, I could, but I think it sounds so much better when it doesn't seem possible to list all of the things. She hosts her own podcast, "Ash Said It Daily", does public speaking, party and event planning, blogs, and officiates weddings and does so in a timely manner! Recording this episode was a joy and I think you will agree after this delightful conversation that you will want her to officiate your next wedding!
About this week's sketch:
Mindset. It can change on a whim, it can dictate our mood, and it is the determining factor one whether or not our days are filled with milk and honey or a crap sandwich. It is so important to set your mind early in the morning and put it into a positive space; doing so will lead to prosperous and effective days and a smile as you roll into the evening. Mindset shows everyone around you… "Hey dad?"… What?!? Can't you see I'm recording? What is wrong with you? You've ruined everything and now I have to start over! My life sucks so bad!!!!
Hey! I want to hear from you! Call and leave a message at (207) 200-5993. Why? Why not? If you leave a fun message, I'll use it on the show!
Next week will feature prominent Portland entertainer Tony Starlight, who has been delighting locals for many years. The best part… we record in a rowboat! Check back next episode to hear us nearly get arrested on the water!
Sketch Comedy Podcast show is an independent and completely improvised sketch podcast that is based on conversations with interesting people like YOU! We welcome all suggestions, and we are always looking for new and interesting people to have on the podcast. Thank you so much for watching and listening, and please check out our other links for more information, interaction and overall fun!
For more episodes, information, and a chance to be on the show, visit: http://sketchcomedypodcastshow.com
Tell us what you are hungry for at Facebook: http://facebook.com/sketchcomedypodcastshow
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Sketch Comedy Podcast Show is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
© Copyright 2018 Marathon Productions, LLC.Support Sketch Comedy Podcast Show
Episode Links
- "Ash Said It" Website — Ash Said It is a lifestyle brand dedicated to spreading positive insight through social media posts, podcasts, blog features, speaking engagements and television programming.


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For the first time in Earth's history, our planet is experiencing a confluence of rapidly accelerating changes prompted by one species: humans. Climate change is only the most visible of the modifications we've made—up until this point, inadvertently—to the planet. Yet, without minimizing the challenges of the next century, David Grinspoon suggests that our present moment is not only one of peril, but also great potential, especially when viewed from a 10,000-year perspective. Although our current behavior threatens not only our own future but that of countless other creatures, our species has surmounted the threat of extinction before, thanks to our innate ingenuity and ability to adapt. Our challenge now is to awaken to our role as a force of planetary change, and to grow into this task. We must become graceful planetary engineers, conscious shapers of our environment and caretakers of Earth's biosphere. This is a perspective that begs us to ask not just what future do we want to avoid, but what do we seek to build? What kind of world do we want? Are humans the worst thing or the best thing to ever happen to our planet? Today we stand at a pivotal juncture, and the answer will depend on the choices we make.
In his wonderful writing style, Dr. Grinspoon spells it out: A single species is inducing more profound changes to our planet than any other organism in geologic history. It's us. If you have family and friends here on Earth, read this book. The Earth is in our hands.
—Bill Nye, New York Times Bestselling Author of Unstoppable: Harnessing Science To Change The World
Grinspoon's writing is clear, informal and funny. He is clearly a book-lover as well as a fan of the cosmos, and he has mined vintage popular-science books as well as science fiction for exciting ideas and key quotes. The result can feel like a pub conversation with a well-read, quick mind. …the vision of taking responsibility for Earth in a joyous and optimistic way is striking.
Earth in Human Hands is a page-turning masterpiece of speculative nonfiction that will keep new and veteran science aficionados spellbound for hours at a time. It is quite simply the kind of book that can change a young reader's life, or inspire parents and teachers to do the same. …a delightful, flowing feast of science and commentary.If Carl Sagan were alive today, and had available to him all the science done since he left us, this is the book he would write. It does not preach, but it does not spare. It will instill respect for our past, concern for humanity's present and presence, and leave behind both critical and optimistic views of our many possible futures.
—Daily Kos
David Grinspoon's books are always high-spirited, insightful, elegantly-written, and full of fascinations, but EARTH IN HUMAN HANDS is especially so, because he focuses on our home planet . . . I'm sure readers will love voyaging through the cosmos with him again, as I do.
—Diane Ackerman, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Human Age: The World Shaped By Us
Entertaining and insightful . . . takes us through a delightful intellectual romp across the universe, through our solar system, witnessing Earth's evolution over geologic time . . . I strongly recommend this book to folks who are scientifically curious, and to those who want to hear a different take on our current environmental challenges. You won't be disappointed.
—Jonathan Foley, Director, California Academy of Sciences
In a moving, personal journey, Grinspoon takes the reader from molten, planetary origins, past current crises like climate change, toward a destiny that our children may yet forge, standing on our shoulders.
—David Brin, New York Times Bestselling Author of Earth and Existence
Grinspoon is a gifted storyteller and his narrative is the rare confluence of authoritative and thought-provoking science and rollicking fun. EARTH IN HUMAN HANDS is a must read for anyone interested in evolution, planetary science, the crisis of the environment, and human survival.
—Peter Heller, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Dog Stars and The Whale Warriors
In our hyper-technical world, we need science communicators like Grinspoon who can translate their expertise into accessible explanations and interesting stories. …this book is timely not just for the planet's environment but for the current political one. …This is one of the great strengths of "Earth in Human Hands": Grinspoon's ability to describe and explain momentous Earth and space events and discoveries, and then connect to their cultural and social influence; science as part of everyday life and our cultural history, not separate from it. …makes a vital contribution to one of the most important concerns of our time.
A beautiful and detailed overview of the ways we must change our thinking if we want to truly understand the transformation in our midst.
—Adam Frank, NPR.com
Profoundly informative, highly entertaining, and surprisingly filled with interesting tidbits as a memoir… This is a book that any thinking person will have been glad to read. One could hardly ask for more from a well executed book on science.
—Astronomy Magazine
Named a "Best Science Book of 2016" by NPR's Science Friday.


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Friday, January 30, 2015
Weekend Links
You guys! It's been so long since I've done a Weekend Links post and I'm really excited to share one today. I hope you enjoy what I've put together.
Just 20% of Republican women want to see a female president.
Are you planning on seeing the Fifty Shades movie?
Yes: Stop complaining about the 'January People' at the gym...
How to avoid gossip in a small town.
Problems Carrie Bradshaw would never, ever have today.
15 places that should be on your travel bucket list.
I always enjoy reading Megan's Currently posts.
Growing Up Meant Learning How to Wear Red Lipstick.
"But Swift, who loves to do things like surprise fans with Christmas gifts and give them cash for dinner, seems less interested in actual female collaboration and partnership than the appearance thereof."
I can't wait to see this movie. And this new Netflix series!
I love this so much. It makes me sad that I don't see people reading "real" books as much anymore. I use my Kindle about 85% of the time myself, so perhaps I should work on picking up a paper book more often.
And finally, to fall in love with anyone, read this. And to fall out of love, do this...
Have a great weekend! xoxo
9 comments:
Love the "January people" piece - this is my current pet peeve on Twitter!ReplyDelete
Absolutely no plans to watch Fifty Shades of Gray. I leafed through the book and have no plans to read it, either. And I'm a book lover.ReplyDelete
I don't have a Kindle, but I do have a huge collection of real books. :)
I thought the gossip link would be about how to stop people from gossiping about you, but it's how to keep FROM gossiping. Definitely more possible. I don't think the former would be likely. We live in a community of about 1200. Couldn't stop people from gossiping any more than you could stop them from breathing.
Oh! That's an adorable quote, and so sweetly put together. I am sharing it on FB (linked to you of course, immediately).ReplyDelete
I need to get on that travel list. I have only hit 2 but there are several on my bucket list already.ReplyDelete
I was genuinely thinking earlier about how I hadn't seen one of these posts for a while :) Great links as usual.ReplyDelete
I just wanted to say that I love your blog. I've been reading it for years. You've inspired me to start my own :)ReplyDelete
Jamie Dornan is beautiful, but I know that I can't watch 50 Shades. The excerpts that I have read from the book have really disturbed me. It's not the kink aspect at all, but the relationship itself. It seems so unbalanced and frankly, screwed up. It scares me to think that people read the story and think that it's an accurate portrayal of a bdsm relationship or that it's a healthy way to "play." This link set me off recently and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.ReplyDeleteReplies
I have so many friends in the romance writing community who do write BDSM and they're all appalled by Fifty Shades of Grey! So you're not the only one who thinks that.Delete
I sincerely hope that the 20% from the WAPO link is the result of the Republican party simply not having enough strong, viable candidates from the partyReplyDelete


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Do you know when your tires need to be replaced? This chart should help.
Don't take chances in our wet Oregon weather. We're more than happy to provide a tire quote so you can get back to driving with confidence. Stop by Tigard SUV and auto repair for all of your Tigard tire repair needs!


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This event has passed.
Hurray Let's Play (Ages 0-6)
November 14, 2019 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
| Free
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 1:00 pm on Thursday, repeating until December 19, 2019
A drop-in program for families with children ages 0-6. This program focuses on connecting families together in an informal setting, encouraging socializing, relationship building, and fostering skill development with various crafts and activities through child-lead free play.
Cost: Free


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David Daehnke, The Gardening Guru
Mahwah, NJ 07430
The 2003 All American Daylily Winners
'Frankly Scarlet,'
a stunning bloom, represents a breakthrough in red daylily breeding. While most
red daylily blooms lose their luster as the sun beats down on them,
'Frankly Scarlet' shines in the heat. Starting out somewhat muted in the
morning, these velvety, scarlet, four-inch blooms actually build color intensity
throughout the afternoon and are still vibrant past 6:00 in the evening.
'Plum Perfect' the other 2003 winner, also in the landscape category, shows off pure plum blooms borne on well-branched scapes. Its 3 1/2-inch flower features an indigo purple eyezone that is set off by a glowing gold throat, purple veining, white mid-ribs and lightly ruffled edges.
Clear, vibrant color coupled with a striking
symmetry of foliage sets this beauty apart. Frequent reblooming is another
reward for growing this rapid multiplier. 'Plum Perfect' thrives
and blooms in full sun and light shade
The soaring popularity of
daylilies, combined with the bewildering profusion of varieties and growing
characteristics, demanded the development of a standard for daylily
excellence. The All-American Daylily Selection Council, organized to address
this demand, now coordinates a testing program which evaluates daylilies on
over 50 performance characteristics across a nationwide network of test sites.
This rigorous testing has produced comprehensive and surprising results. Who
would have thought, for example, that a daylily bred in Texas would have been
a top bloomer in Wisconsin, or that one from Missouri would perform so well in
the heat of Southern California?
For more information, please e-mail The Gardening Guru at firstname.lastname@example.com


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The good news is that civil conflict on the continent has cooled and several African nations have launched reforms to accelerate growth and moves towards democracy. But forces beyond governments' control, such as world food prices, the global slowdown in economic growth and climate change are undermining efforts to attain the MDGs by the 2015 target date. Nearly half the countries on the continent are considered below average in their bid to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Goal 1).
Child mortality rates are still unacceptably high in the majority of African countries (Goal 4). And the scenario looks no brighter in the short term. Following half a decade of above 5% economic growth, the continent can anticipate only 2.8% growth in 2009, less than half of the 5.7% expected before the economic crisis. That slower rate translates into people sliding back into poverty.
But that slide can be slowed, even averted, if developed countries honour their aid commitments. In 2008, total net official development assistance from members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) rose by 10.2% in real terms to US$119.8 billion-the highest dollar figure ever recorded and one which crisis-squeezed governments should do all they can to beat in 2009.
For more on the MDGs, visit www.oecd.org/dac/mdg
African Economic Outlook 2009 is available at www.oecd.org/bookshop
Source: www.africaneconomicoutlook.org
©OECD Observer No 273 June 2009


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Alaffia: Clean Yourself Consciously!
I love a multi-purpose soap. It makes life just a wee bit easier. Alaffia makes a most delicious all-in-one soap that serves as a shampoo, body wash, face wash, hand wash, whatever you want to wash! I've been using it on my 4-year-old in the bath, and lawd knows he always needs a good wash.
Alaffia's African Black Soap, is made by extensively "cooking" the soap to the point of charcoal, a known detoxifier. I remember in my vet tech days, we would give activated charcoal to animals who had ingested something toxic (the charcoal interferes with the body's ability to absorb certain molecules). I'm positive it saved a few counter-surfing pooches. 🙂 Anyway, I love the idea of something blocking the crud from getting in! I've been using Tangerine Citrus soap and it is wonderful. It smells great, is very affordable and the company is doing awesome work with women.
Check them out and support this great company!
Product was sent for review.
About Tiffany (Tiffany's Profile)Tiffany of CrueltyFreeMoms.com, is all about her boy Zeke, her pooch The Gronz, veganism, punk, metal, and Prince. Not necessarily in that order.
Filed in: vegan skin care
Comments (5)
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One of my faves! I love what it says on the outside of the bottle too! And it's made right in my town. I hope to tour the warehouse one of these days!
They also have a line called "Everyday Coconut", available at Whole Foods & Target. They have huge bottles for super cheap prices & most are multi-tasking! Excited to try them out!
Yes! And it smells so good 🙂 I'm thrilled that it's so affordable. I'm definitely a fan.
I use Alaffia African black soap as well as there Shea &Virgin Coconut enriching hair lotion. Alaffia was created to help West African communities become sustainable through the fair trade of indigenous resources.They encourage empowerment through community projects, women's cooperatives, education and involvement in their customer communities.
Yes! I use this, too! I use it for body and face wash, shampoo, and shaving cream! It really helped to de-clutter my shower!


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Mobile Broadband
Get a cheap mobile broadband deal for data on the move
If you want internet on the go and Wi-Fi browsing on your phone just won't cut it, a dedicated mobile broadband subscription for your laptop or tablet may be the solution. This guide explains what to consider if you're thinking of making that move – and where to find the best deals.
Get Our Free Money Tips Email!
Do you really need mobile broadband?
There are three ways to get internet access when you're out and about: via mobile broadband, Wi-Fi hotspots – which you can often find for free – or tethering through your mobile.
Mobile broadband
This uses your network provider's 3G or 4G mobile signal to get you online. It requires a Sim card which commonly plugs directly into a tablet, or alternatively either a wireless hotspot device or a USB dongle – see more info below.
Much like a phone plan, you'll usually pay a monthly fee for a set allowance of data. Pay-as-you-go deals are also available, but they tend to be pricey.
Wi-Fi hotspots
You'll find Wi-Fi hotspots for accessing the internet dotted around most towns and cities, at cafes and restaurants, bars, shopping centres and even some supermarkets. These tend to be public hotspots that anyone can join (under certain conditions) and are often free.
These hotspots might be free but they have their drawbacks:
You can't find them everywhere. Some places inevitably won't have a hotspot. Many trains don't, for example (or if they do, it's likely to be in first class or can be very expensive). Also, if you're moving from place to place, you'll have to keep connecting to a new hotspot, which can be time consuming and disruptive.
Most require you to register. While access may be free, you'll still have to sign up to access most hotspots.
There are restrictions. Often hotspots will have restrictions on how long you can use them and what you can use them for. Certain websites may be blocked, for example, and downloading via one may prove difficult.
There's also a third way to get online from your tablet or laptop – by sharing your phone's data to your laptop or tablet, a process known as 'tethering' Consider this before stumping up extra for mobile broadband.
Even if you do have mobile broadband or plan to tether, try to use free hotspots where they're available to save your allowance for when you really need it.
Get Our Free Money Tips Email!
10 mobile broadband need-to-knows
Here's what to consider when you're looking at taking out a mobile broadband subscription.
Depending on the type of device you want data on, you'll need different hardware. There are three ways to get mobile broadband:
- A data Sim – if you've already got a 3G or 4G-enabled device. If your tablet or laptop has a Sim card slot (ie, it's 3G or 4G-capable), you can buy what's known as a data Sim to pop in. "Cellular" iPads and Google Chromebooks, for example, have Sim card slots.
Read more
A data Sim is all you'll need if you've got a particular device you want internet on (though for sharing your connection with other devices, you'll also need a wireless hotspot device to put the Sim into).
Many networks offer these Sims – just select the plan that's most appropriate for you, much like you would with a mobile phone tariff. For the best deals, see our Data Sim top picks.
Read more
Networks often bundle these devices with mobile broadband plans (see Wi-Fi device best buys), whereby you'll be provided with a Sim to slot in. These plans can make them more affordable – although on shorter-term rolling contracts you'll usually have to pay extra for one.
Alternatively, sometimes it can be cheaper to buy one standalone from a retailer and combine it with your own Sim – just make sure it's 4G-enabled if you get 4G on your plan, as some are only 3G-ready.
- A USB dongle – if you just want internet on your laptop. It's also possible to get a USB dongle into which to put a Sim. While perhaps not as convenient as a wireless hotspot device, they tend to be a little cheaper and are perfect if you just want to surf on your laptop.
Read more
Dongles also run off your laptop's battery. While this might drain your laptop's battery a little more, as you won't need Wi-Fi switched on to use it, it should save a little juice compared with connecting via a hotspot.
As with Mi-Fi devices, you can get dongles either bundled as part of a plan (provided with a Sim to insert), or separately for combining with your own Sim.
Quick question
Smartphone Sims have a mobile number attached to them – they aren't technically intended for other devices, but sometimes they will still work in them. Equally, sometimes a data Sim won't work in a smartphone.
O2 and Three have told us their Sims aren't cross-compatible, so you won't be able to switch them between tablet/dongles and smartphones. Vodafone, EE, Smarty and Giffgaff, on the other hand, say their Sims will work across multiple devices, but you may need to change the Access Point Name (APN) settings – check with your network how to do this.
If you want to share the data on your mobile plan with another device and you can't switch the Sim over, you can tether them to each other (which is often easier anyway).
Most tablets will come unlocked, meaning a Sim from any network will work in them. However, wireless hotspot devices and USB dongles are often locked to a specific network. As with smartphones, some of the networks may unlock the device for you at a cost, but this isn't a dead cert and it can be expensive.
With some devices, and wireless hotspot devices in particular, you can buy a code that will allow you to unlock it. Search for your device's name on eBay alongside the term "unlock code" – for many you can buy a code for £1 or £2. When ordering, you'll usually be asked for the 15-digit 'IMEI' number, which can be found relatively easily.
Depending on your hardware, you'll either be able to directly input the code, or you may have to do it via computer using specialist software. Follow the device-specific instructions that will be sent with your code.
Again, this isn't possible with all devices, but it can be an inexpensive way to give you the freedom to choose your plan.
To make sure you'll get decent coverage, before you take out a plan, consider where you're most likely to be using the service. It might even be worth getting a cheap pay-as-you-go Sim from the network so you can test the signal before committing.
There are four core mobile networks in the UK: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. All other operators that offer 3G or 4G services 'piggyback' on one of these, essentially meaning they run off their network (ie, they don't provide their own signal). We've a full list of which firms piggyback on which providers – check the relevant network's coverage map before signing up.
Network coverage checkers
The networks can sometimes be generous with estimations of their coverage though, so it's worth checking Ofcom's coverage map too. Ofcom's more recent report into each network's mobile broadband speed in five major cities may also help.
Like most smartphone (and some home broadband) tariffs, mobile broadband providers may limit the amount you're allowed to download each month. Go over this limit and you could be liable for extra charges (see table at point 8). Most networks will let you check your remaining allowance either online or through a smartphone/tablet app.
In practical terms, 1GB should be enough if all you do is browse the web and check emails, but if you plan to download and/or stream music and video, it's likely you'll need more. Mobile broadband deals tend to offer up to around 5GB. You can get more but you'll pay for it – for example, EE's 30-day rolling 25GB Sim* is £30/mth.
As with smartphone Sim-only plans, if you take a rolling contract with only a 30-day commitment, your monthly payments may end up higher for the same allowance. Consider whether you're willing to sign up for longer for the saving – or try it out on a short-term basis at first before committing.
If you go for a plan that comes with a wireless hotspot device or USB dongle, you'll very likely need to pay something upfront for the device if you take out a rolling contract. Often the device will be free, or at least much cheaper, on a 12-month contract.
If you use your tablet or laptop dongle abroad, you need to be careful. As with most smartphone plans, most mobile broadband packages can cost a fortune, even for a small amount of use abroad (see Cheap Mobile Roaming for full info).
The EU's cap on roaming has gone a long way to reducing the cost of using data abroad in Europe, but it still costs up to 4.4p/MB on the major UK networks – that's just four emails without attachments! If you're outside the EU, the cost skyrockets, to as much as £8/MB in some cases.
If you need to access data abroad, it's generally better to pick up a prepaid data Sim before you go.
Existing mobile phone or home broadband customers can sometimes get special deals on mobile broadband packages, by tacking them on to their existing plans.
These types of discounts aren't an absolute certainty by any means, and where they do exist they tend to vary depending on your provider and what services you currently take.
First find what deals are available for new customers online, and then call up your existing provider and see if it can beat the best (existing customer deals can't usually be found online). You may be able to blag yourself more data or shave a few pounds off the monthly cost – just give it a go and haggle your heart out.
Many mobile tariffs will let you share your data to use on other devices. This practice is known as tethering, and in effect it turns your smartphone into a mobile hotspot device or a USB dongle.
On the iPhone, it's termed Personal Hotspot – there's a useful guide to using it on Apple's website. The process varies from model to model on Android, but for a basic step-by-step, see this WikiHow guide.
For light data users, tethering can replace the need for a dedicated mobile broadband plan – but remember the data you use when tethering will count against your monthly allowance on your phone contract. What's more, if you're tethering to a larger-screened device or a laptop, you'll be viewing larger web pages with more data-heavy content, meaning you're likely to burn through your data allowance faster.
Most major networks allow you to tether and use your data in the same way you can on your mobile, but some put restrictions or qualifications on its use.
Quick question
Going over your monthly data limit has the same impact whether you're tethering or just using your phone – in order to use more data you'll either have to pay a per-MB rate or purchase an add-on or bundle of additional data.
To curb any unexpected spending, you can ask your provider to set a bill cap over your usual monthly amount, essentially a limit you're prepared to pay for an extras – these usually range from £0 to £30.
NETWORK ADDITIONAL DATA CHARGES EE* Internet access disabled until you buy an add-on* (from £1.50 for 100MB) Giffgaff* 5p/MB (or you can purchase a new Goodybag) O2* Maximum charge of £1/day + 50Mb. Internet access is then disabled until you buy a Bolt-on* (from £3.50 for 100MB) Tesco Mobile* You can buy a data bundle from £2.50 for 500MB Three* Internet access is disabled until you buy an add-on (from £2.50 for 250MB) Virgin Mobile* £3/day per GB Vodafone* You can buy a data extra £6/mth for 1GB. Table last updated January 2019.
Virtually all mobile broadband plans come with a limited data allowance, so it's important to conserve it where possible. Try to match your plan as closely as possible to your estimated usage.
If you're on the go, your first port of call should be to use free Wi-Fi hotspots where possible. If you know you'll want to download a larger file in advance, do it through your home broadband connection instead before going out. When you don't have access to Wi-Fi or it's just not convenient to use, though, you can still reduce your data usage in other ways.
Tips to minimise data usage
Turn off automatic updates. Many programs, as well as operating systems themselves, routinely check for available updates and download them, sometimes gobbling up hundreds of megabytes.
Turn them back on when you have the bandwidth, though, or you might leave security holes open on your machine.
Turn off images when you use the web. If you're content to do without pictures when browsing (even just temporarily) then it's usually easy to disable them. In Internet Explorer, click 'tools', then the 'advanced' tab, and scroll down the list to 'multimedia'.
In that section, uncheck the 'show pictures' box, and while you're there, the 'play animations in webpages' box. The procedure's similar in all browsers.
Change your email settings. If you manage your emails with a program such as Outlook or Thunderbird, you may save data by signing up to a web-based service such as Yahoo Mail or Gmail.
Redirect some emails to the web-based account, and if a friend decides to send you party pictures when you're away, you can choose not to download them till you get back.
You could also change your settings to download headers only, or else set up filters which cut out less important or larger emails. How to do so will depend on the software you use, but most offer detailed guides.
Get rid of ad/spyware. Adware and spyware programs, which usually manage to sneak onto your machine without you noticing, can use up your valuable allowance by talking to their leaders out in cyberspace.
They can also leave your computer prone to attack by all manner of other nasties, so it's worth downloading a free tool to get rid of them (on another connection, if possible). Find one in the Free Antivirus guide.
Use an app to compress data. If you're using an iOS or Android tablet (or smartphone, incidentally – sadly there's no equivalent for PC or Mac), the free app Onavo Extend compresses data when web browsing and using certain apps.
Onavo says it can reduce data usage by 80%. Apps it works with include Facebook, Twitter and Maps, as well as when downloading emails and attachments. This means the same amount of use will only consume a fraction of your data allowance, avoiding any hefty fees.
Although top 4G speeds in theory can reach 300Mb/sec, in the majority of locations speeds are likely to be much lower. This means that for many people, mobile broadband won't be as fast as home broadband. (5G is an alternative but is expensive and currently limited in the UK).
For standard speed broadband – with average speeds of about 10Mb – expect to pay an equivalent £15/mth or less, while faster fibre deals are often around £20/mth when factoring in all costs and subtracting the value of rewards.
Our Broadband Unbundled tool makes it easy as it compares all the major providers' deals, plus deals we've handpicked, often including our own blagged deals and exclusive deals via other sites.
It's personal to you as it searches your postcode, and even checks if using two or even three providers is cheaper. We've full switching info in Cheap Broadband too.
Best buys: Data Sims
Data Sims are ideal if you've already got a device with a Sim card slot (such as 3G/4G-capable tablets). They're the mobile broadband equivalent of a smartphone Sim-only plan – no upfront cost, just pop it in and go.
Contracts tend to give more bang for your buck than pay-as-you-go deals. It's worth knowing that you'll be credit-checked, though, as with any rolling contract.
If you take out a contract, you'll have to keep it for the minimum term, too. Currently, it's better value to go for a 12-month plan but you won't have the flexibility of cancelling with 30-days' notice as you do with a 30-day contract.
These deals are not updated frequently, so CompareMyMobile* and Ctrlio are also useful for when you're ready to locate the best deal.
This 10GB/mth plan from Three* is one of the cheapest for the allowance we've spotted on the market at the time of writing. It's £14/mth, and on a 12-month contract.
If that sounds like more than you'll need, see the below deal from Three-owned Smarty.
Monthly cost: £14
Data allowance: 10GB, enough to download over 2,600 songs and browse for 1,100 hours
Additional usage costs: 1p/MB
Contract length: 12 months
Sim compatibility: Works in smartphones, tablets, hotspot devices and dongles
There aren't as many pay-as-you-go options out there, and can be pricier. However, if you don't want to commit to a long contract, it can offer some of the best deals – and you won't be credit-checked.
Plus, once you run out of data, you won't be charged any more if you've no credit left, making it ideal for those who want to keep to a budget.
This pay-upfront deal from Smarty* lets you add more data if you need it – each extra 1GB costs £1.25/mth. You're also credited for any data you don't use, paid at the same rate and used to discount your next month.
It also offers 2GB, 4GB and 8GB plans if you need a different allowance as standard.
Monthly Cost: £6.25
Data allowance: 1GB. Each plan lasts 30 days
Additional usage costs: £1.25/GB
Network: Smarty (owned by and uses the Three network)
Sim compatibility: Works in smartphones, tablets and Wi-Fi routers
Anything else? You pay upfront each month. You're credited for any data you haven't used at the end of the month, so you'll never pay for more than you use
Best buys: Mobile Wi-Fi device plans
Mobile Wi-Fi devices are useful for connecting several devices to the internet at once. They take a data Sim and create a wireless hotspot out of it, sharing the allowance on the Sim's plan with anything connected to it.
Contracts that bundle devices with a Sim tend to be longer-term – 12 months or 24 months, usually. There are rolling contracts out there, but you expect to pay more for the device upfront then, and more overall.
This 10GB/mth plan from Three* comes with a decent allowance and no upfront cost.
It costs £15/mth and comes bundled with the Huawei E5573 4G Mobile Wi-Fi unit. It's 4G-capable so will emit Wi-Fi at top speeds – perfect for fast surfing – and will allow you to connect up to 10 devices at any one time.
- Monthly cost: £15
- Upfront cost: None
- Bundled device: Huawei E5573 4G Mobile Wi-Fi unit (locked to Three)
- Data allowance: 10GB, enough to download over 2,600 songs and browse for 1,100 hours
- Additional usage costs: 1p/MB
- Contract length: 24 months
- Sim compatibility: Works only in tablets, hotspot devices and dongles
This 4G EE Wi-Fi mini unit from EE* comes with 15GB/mth with £40 upfront fees.
It costs £25/mth on a one-month rolling contract.
- Monthly cost: £25
- Upfront cost: £40
- Bundled device: EE Wi-Fi Mini (locked to EE)
- Data allowance: 15GB, enough to download 3,900 songs and browse for 1,650 hours
- Additional usage costs: 1p/MB
- Contract length: One month
- Sim compatibility: Works in smartphones, tablets, hotspot devices and dongles
Best buys: USB dongle plans
USB dongles are designed to be plugged directly into your laptop. The plans below come bundled with a USB dongle and a Sim, but once they run their course, you can always get your own Sim to put into the dongle (so long as it's unlocked).
This 24-month USB dongle plan from O2* has no upfront cost, and gives you 2GB/mth.
It comes with an O2-branded device – the Huawei 4G dongle. The plan is £10/mth for the data and £1/mth for the hardware.
- Monthly cost: £11
- Upfront cost: None
- Bundled device: Huawei (locked to O2)
- Data allowance: 2GB, enough to download 400 songs and browse the internet for 180 hours
- Additional usage costs: N/A
- Contract length: 24 months
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Resort-Style living located in Davis, California.
This 4,000 sq ft., 5 bedroom, 4 bath estate is situated on soon-to-be 80 acres of land, featuring 2 of your very own private water-ski lakes with boathouse. Surround yourself with palm trees, gorgeous lake views, bordering almond orchards, and not to mention stunning sunsets! Only 48 miles from downtown Napa, 75 miles from downtown San Francisco, and 18 miles from downtown Sacramento. This is the perfect family getaway!


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Hi, this is Andy. You remember, The Beer Dude of Life Cafe 983. For years, I've been researching, choosing, ordering, serving, drinking, writing about and, last but not least, talking about the beers I love to serve here. I talked so much about beer that John Sunderland (our artist-in-residence and infamous creator of our Menu Picture Riddles) sketched me as I really am – a pint of beer with a nice frothy head. From that moment on, I became The Beer Dude.
Just over a year ago, Mark, my co-manager and "partner in crime" at Life 983, went over to the East Village Life Cafe to help out. My hands became full of managing other things far away from the bar. Well, Mark is happily back and I'm back where, I have to admit, I am most happy to be – running your ears off with ramblings about different varieties of hops, which kinds of yeasts leave the most desirable residual sugars, the way adding rye to an IPA recipe can … yeah, well, I can go on running. I'll get into more of that in the next postings. I can't help it – it's the stuff I love.
I look forward to telling you about the exciting developments with the beer line-up we're looking to introduce as well as some fun enhancements we're planning with the rest of the boozies. Like, we've got a Scotch event coming up Saturday night, October 22nd. Before then, I'll be writing about the character of each of the four new Scotches we'll have in house so you'll be better prepared to savor their differences.
Come on by to meet me and try the samples. I look forward to seeing you here on October 22nd. And before you get here, tune in to my blog for talk about Scotch.


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Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand
You may use this work for commercial purposes.
You must attribute the creator in your own works.
This dataset was first added to WDC Data Service on 05 Jul 2017.
The foreshore, seabed, and coastal water, and air space above the water at Port Waikato. This is defined in the RMA and identified by Waikato Regional Council. as the seaward boundary is the outer limits of the territorial sea; the landward boundary is the line of mean high water springs, except that where that line crosses a river, the landward boundary at that point shall be whichever is the lesser of-
i) 1 kilometre upstream from the mouth of the river; or
ii) The point upstream that is calculated by multiplying the width of the river mouth by 5.
The Waikato District Council District Plan is has been produced under the Resource Management Act 1991, and has been distributed to allow better public access to the data underlying the Plan. While you are free to crop, export and repurpose the data, we ask that you attribute the Waikato District Council, link to this page, and clearly state that your work is a derivative and not the authoritative data source. Please include this statement when distributing any work derived from this data:
This work is a derivative of Policy Series, part of the Waikato District Council District Plan. You can find the full District Plan at Waikato District E-Plan (www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/your-council/plans-pol...)
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Some of you may have noticed that I have a new button in my sidebar on the right. It is for Charity: Water, an organization that provides clean and safe drinking water to those in need by building wells in their villages. After looking at their website, I learned that usually it's the kids or mothers that have to go in search of water for their family. Some have to walk many miles to find it. And unfortunately, when they do find some, it is dirty and full of bacteria and other harmful things. This also keeps the children from attending school and the mothers from taking care of their family. They said that "90% of the 42,000 deaths a week that are from unsafe drinking water are children under 5 years old". Their little bodies aren't equipped to handle all the bacteria from the dirty water. Can you imagine sending your child on a walk for water, alone? Think of all the dangerous situations these children come into- it's very scary! Can you also imagine your child asking for something to drink and all you have to give them is a glass full of brown water or, worse, nothing at all! It breaks my heart! But, there is a way we can help! This is where you come in! And it's absolutely FREE! You just click on that Charity Water button on my sidebar. It will direct you to complete an activity. Sometimes, you just watch a short commercial or vote on something. Very simple. Then, if you share it on Facebook you can earn extra points. All these points add up to equal gallons of water going to Charity Water. It feels good knowing there's a way to help people even if you're not able to give monetarily right now. Also, in my Etsy shop, half of my sales of my handmade items are going to this charity. You can find these bracelets there now and I will be listing more later this week. They are $8.00 with $4.00 going to Charity: Water. (Just a side note, I am not getting paid to talk about this charity and I will not receive any type of kickback for having the charity:water button on my blog. This is simply a personal choice to support them.) Thanks so much for reading this, I hope you can help out and help change people's lives forever! -amy
with a little help from my friendsPublished June 15, 2011 etsy , living , projects Leave a Comment
Tags: amy boliba, charity water, etsy, goodwill hunting
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Updated: 10/30/2018 | October 30th, 2018
We all have our own version of The Beach — that spot in the world where all is perfect and all is paradise. I found my version back in 2007. It's a small town in Western Australia called Coral Bay. It's a one-road town with one bar, one supermarket, three restaurants, and three hotels. This is a small town. There's not much to do. And that's why I love it.
Coral Bay is my paradise. From the first time, I visited, I fell in love with this idyllic little beach town in the middle of nowhere. On one side of Coral Bay, it's barren, arid cattle country, where sheep roam and truckers dodge kangaroos. On the other side, it's blue water, sandy beaches, and the Ningaloo Reef and its abundance of marine life.
And, in between that, is a little town that's home to one hotel, an RV site, a bunch of backpackers, and some beach bums enjoy the tropical beauty at the end of the world.
Everything in this town revolves around one giant white sand beach with turquoise blue water that stretches until infinity and a reef system so close to the land, you can swim to it. There are so many turtles, fish, and stingrays, it's too much to handle. When I was there in 2007, I woke up every day, swam with turtles, relaxed on the beach, and worked on my tan. At night, the setting sun would light up the sky in fiery tones of red and orange while I cooled off with a cold beer and good friends.
Life in Coral Bay is perfection, and my time there went way too fast. I could have stayed for weeks, and I longed to go back and visit because a quiet beach town is all I want in life. When Tourism Australia invited me to Australia last month, I declined the offer at first. After all, I just went to Australia at the beginning of the year. But when they told me I could go back to Coral Bay, I jumped at the chance.
I wondered what the town would look like after three years. Tourism in Western Australia has grown in recent years, and I wondered if this sleepy town had been spoiled. Would I return to my one-road paradise just to find multiple roads, more hotels, and more restaurants? After three years away, I was glad to see the town was still quiet and peaceful.
Whatever Coral Bay looked like now, I planned on doing more this visit than just sitting on the beach. To begin with, it was off to explore the outback that surrounds Coral Bay. While I was in the countryside, kangaroos jumped all around, eagles and other birds flew above, and there was wildlife everywhere.
Then we went down to the beach and spotted parrotfish jumping in the shallows and reef sharks circling for food. Snorkeling and swimming around the reef for a second time, I realized this is the best reef in Australia. The Great Barrier Reef gets all the attention, but the Ningaloo Reef is much better. There's brighter coral and more wildlife, including whale sharks, turtles, and dolphins. It hasn't been spoiled by overdevelopment or overfishing. While the Great Barrier Reef looks amazing from the air, it's what we see underwater that matters, and I see far more underwater action here than I do on the Great Barrier Reef.
During March and April, whale sharks migrate up the coast, and large manta rays can be found around the reef. It being off-season, I had to settle for the manta rays. I took a half-day snorkeling trip around the reef; about an hour outside of Coral Bay, we spotted some large manta rays.
These creatures were huge! It was amazing to swim with them and watch them glide effortlessly through the water. I never realized how big these creatures were. In my mind, they were as big as a person. In real life, they're as big as three!
This isn't your standard Aussie tourist destination. It's that very isolation that keeps most tourists away, leaving the place so peaceful and detached from the rest of the world. This is a spot for mostly Australian and people driving around in campervans. There are no hordes of people ruining the beaches or the wildlife. It's a world away from the busy East Coast.
If you ask me, there's nothing in eastern Australia that equals the beauty of Coral Bay. Forget Cairns, Noosa, Magnetic Island, or Bondi Beach. If you want to experience the beaches you see in ads for Australia, come to Coral Bay.
While part of me wants you to go there, part of me wants it all to myself. Paradises are all eventually lost, but I want to hold onto mine just a bit longer. If you make it there, you'll see what I mean. You'll want to tell others, but you won't really want to tell others. Then again, maybe you'll find the sign pointing to Coral Bay has suddenly disappeared, and I can keep my version of heaven just a bit longer.
How to Visit Coral Bay
Coral Bay isn't an easy place to get to. By car, it's almost 5,000km from Sydney — literally across the entire continent. It's located in the middle of the western coast, making it far off the beaten trail. The closest airport is located a couple of hours away in Learmonth. Shuttle buses are available from Coral Bay Airport Transfers for 95 AUD per person (one way). They run round-trip service with a flexible schedule based around the arrival and departure of flights.
Integrity Coach Lines also have service from Learmonth to Coral Bay, though they only operate a few days a week in the area. One-way tickets are 47 AUD per person.
If you plan to drive from Perth, expect the journey to take at least 12 hours each way. If you're coming from the other direction, the trip is a solid 14-hour drive from Broome.
As for accommodation, there are a couple of hotels in the area as well as a hostel to stay at. If you're driving, you'll find some RV parks too.
Book Your Trip to Australia: Logistical Tips and Tricks
Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.
Book Your Accommodation
You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. Some suggested places to stay are:
- Ningaloo Club – The only hostel in the area, but it comes fully equipped with a bar, kitchen, and even a pool!
- Ningaloo Reef Resort – A proper hotel near the beach with all the standard hotel amenities (TV, pool, restaurant) and really friendly staff!
- Ningaloo Coral Bay – This has both powered and unpowered campsites as well as small apartments for rent.
Don't Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It's comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I've had to use it many times in the past. I've been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:
- World Nomads (for everyone below 70)
- Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
Looking for the best companies to save money with?
Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and I think will help you too!


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The winter issue will feature this year's Anne Szumigalski Memorial Lecture by Lillian Allen; fiction by Nadia Bozak, K'ari Fisher, Janice Greenwood, Paula Lemke & Jason Markowsky; non-fiction by Charles Foster-Simard & Rilla Friesen; and poetry by Jessica Bebenek, George Elliott Clarke, Rocco de Giacomo, Kim Goldberg, Beth Goobie, Lisa Jodoin, Michael Lockett, rob mclennan & Jennifer Zilm.
Prairie Fire – the winter issue!
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Vermont police ID body found at trailhead; victim shot
HINESBURG, Vt. (AP) — Vermont police say the man whose body was found at a trailhead in the town of Hinesburg was shot multiple times.
Police say the body of 45-year-old David Auclair of Williston was found at the LaPlatte Headwaters Town Forest trailhead parking lot on Gilman Road late Thursday.
Auclair's body was found near his vehicle. The body was taken to the office of the Vermont Medical Examiner in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.
Detectives are conducting interviews, reviewing available video and carrying out searches of the scene and locations connected to the victim.
Investigators do not believe there is a threat to public safety.


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Bell High School is a member of the FHSAA (Florida High School Athletic Association) and competes in the following sports: Football, Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Track, and Weightlifting.
BHS fields teams in both boys and girls sports. We support teams at the Middle School (6-8), Junior Varsity (9-10) and Varsity levels.
Please click HERE for information on NCAA updated policies and procedures regarding high school athletics.