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Game Data
Loyola University Maryland men's basketball returns to New England for the second time in a week, this time to the Ocean State for a Friday, November 23, date with the University of Rhode Island.
Tip-off is slated for 7 o'clock at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I. The game is a part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, an event in which the Greyhounds won the Springfield Division last weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Series History
Loyola and Rhode Island will be meeting for the third time in series history when they take the court on Friday night.
The Rams hold a 2-0 lead in the series with the last game coming on New Year's Eve 1989, a 91-71 Rhode Island win in Kingston. The first meeting between the programs came on December 6, 1946 when Loyola's Lefty Reitz-coached team fell 84-55 at Rhode Island. The team, however, would go on to a 20-12 record that season and win the Mason-Dixon Conference title.
Last Time Out
Loyola forced 10 Albany turnovers in the first half and pushed out to a 28-10 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the stanza before fending off a Great Danes' rally late to defeat the America East Conference foe, 67-64. The Greyhounds earned the Springfield Division Championship, and brought home the championship trophy named for the late college basketball icon Dave Gavitt, with the win.
Albany's Jacob Iati tied the game with a 30-foot 3-pointer, leaving 3.1 seconds on the clock for the Greyhounds to call a timeout and set the final play. Dylon Cormier scored with 1.5 ticks left and converted a free throw after he was fouled, and the Great Danes turned the ball over on their inbound play, securing the win.
Erik Etherly, who was named the Springfield Bracket Most Valuable Player, led all players with 23 points, and Cormier, who joined Etherly on the All-Tournament Team, added 16. Winbush tallied 12 points, a game-best five assists and matched Etherly for team-high honors with seven rebounds.
Winning Combo
After Albany tied the game with 3.1 ticks on the clock, Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos set up an inbound play in a timeout. Graduate student Anthony Winbush threw a baseball pass 80 feet to Dylon Cormier who was inside the opposite foul line. Cormier caught the pass, laid it in with his right hand and was fouled in the process by Albany's D.J. Evans with 1.5 seconds left.
Cormier made the free throw to provide the final margin, and Albany's inbound pass went off the hands of Evans and out-of-bounds to secure the win.
Cormier finished 5-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from the foul line for 13 points to go with three assists and two steals.
Winbush's assist was his game-high fifth of the contest.
Steady Performance
Erik Etherly turned in another 20-point game, his second of the season, on Sunday in the title game against Albany, scoring 23 points on 7-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the line. He also tied Anthony Winbush for team-high honors with seven rebounds.
Etherly had his second 20-plus point game of the week and the young season after recording 22 in Loyola's Wednesday-night win over UMBC on November 14.
He has now scored 20 or more six times during his tenure at Loyola – hitting or eclipsing the plateau four times last year – and the Greyhounds are 6-0 in those games.
In Loyola's three wins last week, including a Saturday victory over Norfolk State in which he scored 12 and had nine rebounds, Etherly averaged 19.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. He made 22-of-28 (.786) free throws, as well, during the stretch.
Cormier Continues Efficiency
Dylon Cormier made the most of his shots during the first game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament. He converted on 7-of-11 shots, while making 5-of-7 at the free-throw line to score a game-high 19 points.
The junior guard followed that with a 5-of-9 shooting performance against Albany to score 16. In the two games at Mohegan Sun Arena, Cormier shot 60-percent from the field, raising his season average to 50.8-percent (32-of-63).
Steady improvement in shooting percentage has been Cormier's trait since coming to Loyola. He shot 37.9-percent to average 8.1 points as a freshman in 2010-2011 and improved to 46.1-percent and 13.4 points per game last year. This season, his 50.8-percent mark has translated to an 18.4 points average.
Slowing Scorers
Albany guards Mike Black and Jacob Iati entered last Saturday's game averaging a combined 34.75 points per game, but Loyola held the duo to just 18, including three on Iati's desperate heave to tie the game with 3.1 seconds left.
Black, who was averaging 18.25 points in four games was 3-of-8 from the field and scored seven points, while Iati went 3-of-7 after averaging 16.5 prior. They also committed eight turnovers in the game.
In the game following Albany's contest against Loyola – Tuesday at South Carolina State – Black went off for 23 points, making 9-of-11 shots. As a team, the Great Danes set a NCAA Division I record in that game by making 15 3-pointers, although they hit just five versus Loyola.
Welcome Back, Winbush
Anthony Winbush made his season debut on Saturday against Norfolk State and played 25 minutes off the bench. The graduate student scored two points, had three steals, three rebounds and two assists.
Winbush made an even bigger impact against Albany, scoring 12 points, matching Erik Etherly for team-high honors with seven rebounds and dishing out a team-high five assists in 31 minutes of action.
Hubbard Honored
Redshirt freshman guard Tyler Hubbard was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday after averaging 10.3 points in three Loyola wins last week.
Hubbard scored a career-high 17 on Wednesday night against UMBC and followed with 11 versus Norfolk State. While he scored just three in the Albany game, he was involved in several key defensive possessions for the Greyhounds at the end of the game.
This season, Hubbard is fourth on the team with a 9.0 points per game average. He is shooting .500 from both 3-point range (12-of-24) and the field at large (15-of-30).
Defensive Stance
Loyola used a strong defensive presence in its win over Norfolk State. The Greyhounds forced 19 turnovers, 11 coming via Greyhounds' steals, a season-high. Loyola also held Norfolk State to 35.8-percent from the field, 33.3-percent in the second half.
Anthony Winbush and Robert Olson each had three steals, and Dylon Cormier came up with a pair.
The Greyhounds also matched their season-high with eight blocked shots. Jordan Latham and Erik Etherly each swatted three, while Jarred Jones had the other two.
Guards Early, Posts Late
A pair of Loyola guards, Dylon Cormier and Tyler Hubbard, each scored first half against UMBC, and Robert Olson chipped in six, leading the Greyhounds to a 45-30 advantage at halftime over the Retrievers.
The Greyhounds then turned to the post in the second half where Erik Etherly scored 17 after the break en route to a team-high 22. He made 5-of-8 from the field, including stepping out for his first three of the season, and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the second half.
Jarred Jones added seven second-half points, knocking down both his shots form inside and going to the line for 3-of-4.
Freshmen Produce
A trio of Loyola freshmen combined for 34 points and 15 rebounds against UMBC, as Tyler Hubbard (a redshirt freshman) scored 17, while Jarred Jones and Franz Rassman had eight and nine.
The group also had five assists, six blocked shots and four steals in the win.
Combined the three played 70 minutes against the Retrievers.
Jones Making Early Impact
Freshman Jarred Jones has started the first five games of his collegiate career and made a difference on the court for the Greyhounds. A two-time All-Metro honoree by The Baltimore Sun at John Carroll High School, Jones scored nine points and had six rebounds on Sunday evening at Washington. He followed that with a box-score filling nine points, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals and two assists versus UMBC.
In his first game, he debuted with just one point, but he filled several box-score categories in his effort. Jones tallied three rebounds and two each of blocked shots, steals and assists.
Hubbard From Behind The Line
Tyler Hubbard knocked down all but one of his 3-point attempts against UMBC and has made 8-of-17 this season from long distance. He scored a career-best 17 points against the Retrievers and also had two assists and a steal.
His 12 3-pointers made lead the team, and he is fourth on the squad in scoring with a 9.0 points per game average.
In his collegiate debut against Binghamton, he made 4-of-9 shots, 3-of-7 from 3-point range, and finished the night with 11 points in his collegiate debut. In the process, he became the first player to reach double figures in his first collegiate game since Jawaan Wright came off the bench to score 10 on November 19, 2005, against Towson University.
Brooks' Big Game
Julius Brooks provided 20 solid minutes in the post off the bench for the Greyhounds, recording eight points and a game-high seven rebounds versus Binghamton. Those numbers were not career-highs for the senior, but they were the best he's put up in some time.
Brooks saw limited action in 29 games last season, averaging just 4.7 minutes per game, but matched his career-high with 28 minutes. His eight points were his most since scoring a career-best 10 on January 31, 2010, as a freshman, and his seven boards were his high since February 25, 2011, when he had eight. Both of those games came against Niagara University.
At Washington, he scored five, had a pair of rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot against the Huskies.
He made his first start since February 2010, his freshman season, on Wednesday night against UMBC.
MAAC Preseason Poll & Player of the Year
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveiled its preseason coaches' poll and the league's Preseason Player of the Year on Friday night in a live Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3. Loyola was named the team to beat in 2012-2013, and Erik Etherly was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. (Complete poll and All-MAAC teams at left).
This is the first time Loyola has been selected No. 1 in the MAAC preseason poll in 24 years in the league, nor had a Greyhound player been named Preseason Player of the Year prior to Etherly.
Three Loyola players were named to the various Preseason All-MAAC teams as voted on by the coaches of the league.
Erik Etherly earned an All-MAAC First Team nod, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson were named to the Second Team.
Classy Senior
Senior guard Robert Olson was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award last week. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Olson was the Greyhounds' third-leading scorer last season with 11.1 points per game and enters this season Loyola ranked fourth at Loyola in 3-point percentage (138-of-336, .4107) sixth in career 3-pointers made (138) and eighth in 3-pointers attempted (336). Last season, Olson was one of four Loyola players to earn All-MAAC honors, picking up Third Team mention and later All-Tournament honors.
High Marks
The Loyola men's basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state's nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.
Saint Peter's Game At The Meadowlands
The Loyola-Saint Peter's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game slated for Saturday, December 8, has been moved from the Peacocks' Jersey City campus to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., at the Meadowlands complex.
The Greyhounds and Peacocks will tip-off at 12 noon prior to the second game of the doubleheader between Duke and Temple.
Second NCAA Trip
Last year, Loyola made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 18 seasons, a span of 17 years, 11 months and 23 days. In all, it was 6,569 days between NCAA Tournament Games for the Greyhounds.
Last year's true freshmen – Tyler Hubbard and R.J. Williams – were less than one year old the last time Loyola played in an NCAA match.
MAAC Title
Loyola won its second MAAC Championship in 23 years in the conference on Monday, March 5, 2012, defeating Fairfield University, 48-44, in the lowest scoring championship game in league history.
The Greyhounds held Fairfield to just six second-half field goals and 28.8-percent shooting in the game.
Loyola, which finished second in the conference during the regular season and earned the No. 2 seed in the league tournament, defeated Niagara University and Siena College in the MAAC Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively.
Loyola completed the turnaround from finishing the 2003-2004 season with the lowest RPI in NCAA Division I basketball. The Greyhounds finished that season with a 1-27 record the season before Jimmy Patsos took over as head coach.
Since then, Loyola has gone 122-123 and culminated the turnaround by winning a school Division I record 24 games in 2011-2012.
Patsos is one of only three coaches at the Division I level in the last 20 years to take over a program that had won zero or one game the year prior to then win 100 games at the school. He joins Steve Cleveland (BYU) and Pat Douglass (UC-Irvine) as the others.
Patsos Named Coach & Man Of The Year
Jimmy Patsos became the first Loyola coach to earn The Rock/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors by a vote of his peers in the league.
Patsos guided the Greyhounds to a school Division I high 24 wins and a program MAAC record 13 victories. He earned his 100th career coaching victory in November 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships.
Later in March, Patsos was named the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award for his work on and off the court, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com.
2012 All-MAAC Honors
For the first time since the league expanded to three All-MAAC teams in 1998, four Greyhounds received all-league honors, topping all teams in the conference. Erik Etherly was named to the All-MAAC First Team, Dylon Cormier to the Second, and Justin Drummond and Robert Olson to the Third.
Loyola led all teams in the MAAC with its four selections, just in front of Iona's three.
The Greyhounds' previous high was at the end of the 1997-1998 season when Mike Powell (1st), Jason Rowe (2nd) and Roderick Platt (3rd) earned All-MAAC honors.
Etherly led Loyola in scoring (13.7), rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots (50), while finishing second on the team with 63 assists. He shot .530 from the field, good for third in the conference
Cormier was second on the team in scoring, just back of Etherly, with a 13.4 points per game average while improving his field-goal percentage nearly 10 points from his freshman season to .461 as a sophomore.
Drummond has come off the bench in 29 of the Greyhounds' 33 games last year and is fourth on the team with 11.1 points per game. The guard as also third in rebounding (3.9), and he has scored in double figures 17 times this year.
Olson was one of the top 3-point shooters in the conference last year. He shot .431 from behind the arc, third-best in the MAAC, and averaged 11.1 points per game. The guard entered the month of January averaging less than nine points per game, but from that point forward, he was the team's second-leading scorer at nearly 13 a contest.
Century Mark
Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.
Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).
|Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List
|Lefty Reitz
|1937-1944, 1945-1961
|Nap Doherty
|Jimmy Patsos
|Mark Amatucci
|Gary Dicovitsky
Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby
Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year's roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.
Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.
What's Next
Loyola plays a pair of Baltimore-area teams in the five days following its contest at Rhode Island. The Greyhounds host Towson University at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, November 26, before traveling to Coppin State University for a 7:30 p.m. tip on Wednesday, November 28.


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Atom Editor Invites
I have two invites for the beta of the Atom editor under development by GitHub. I haven't played with it enough yet to know whether it is spiffy, or if so how spiffy it indeed is.
Two things to know if you are interested in trying it out:
- It currently is only available for MacOS. Appears to be compatible with Mountain Lion and Mavericks only, as well.
- You will have to register via your GitHub account, assuming you have one. Then again, if you are considering test-driving an editor like this then you probably have a GH account…
If you are interested, email me at my primary address (
rjray <at> blackperl.com). I will send invites to the first two respondents, using the email address you email from. Do not comment on this post for an invite, as the email notification goes to a different account that I do not check as often.

subset: commoncrawl


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Is California becoming (gasp!) governable again?
With a new annual budget signed June 30 – on schedule for the first time in recent memory – California appears to have taken a step out of dysfunction and toward a profound remodeling of its politics.
Whatever kudos are due probably go to Golden State voters themselves. Last year they approved a suite of reforms intended essentially to reboot the state's political structure – after a decade marked by the recall of a governor, legislative gridlock, huge budget deficits papered over with dubious fixes, state-issued IOUs in lieu of payment, and a trashed credit rating.
Some critics say the reforms do not go far enough, suggesting that the ballot-initiative process that voters here wield with such enormous – and sometimes contradictory – effect must be brought under control. To others, though, this is the most fertile period of state reform in nearly a half century.
"California is in an era of reform, and I think 10 years from now, we will look back at these past two to three years as just the start of a broad movement to shake up the system and do things fundamentally different from the previous 50 years," says Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
Changes voters made
The reforms have altered some of the most important levers of government.
•Voters made clear in November that they were fed up with the partisan stalemates that have prevented a state budget from being delivered on time each year since 1986. They approved Proposition 25, which eliminated the provision that a budget must get two-thirds of the votes in the legislature to pass. Budgets now need only a majority vote. This change meant that majority Democrats were able to push through a budget in the closing days of June, before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
•Also in November, voters approved Proposition 20, which took redistricting for congressional seats out of legislators' hands. It followed the passage of Proposition 11 in 2008, which did the same for state legislative seats, creating a bipartisan commission to do the job instead. The hope is that this will lead to the election of a greater number of centrists and moderates.
•Last June, California voters passed Proposition 14, which eliminates partisan primaries for all statewide offices, state legislative seats, and congressional seats. Under Prop. 14, the top two vote-getters in a primary – regardless of political party – will advance to the general election. It takes effect this year.
Now, momentum is growing to amend California's term-limits law, one of the most restrictive in the nation, amid rising concern that state legislators are forced out just as they are starting to understand the big issues and how to do their jobs.
Along with electing budget fix-it man Jerry Brown (D) governor in November, California voters acknowledged in the flurry of ballot initiatives that the political process was broken and needed radical overhaul.
"Voters of this state have recognized that the state has serious fiscal, economic, and other structural problems and are working down a long list of ways to solve them," says Mr. Baldassare.
Exhibit A for shaking up the old political order is the just-ended annual battle over the budget – and both political parties felt the effect.
Though Republican lawmakers managed to block additional tax revenues, Prop. 25 allowed majority Democrats to enact a budget without GOP input on where to whittle billions of dollars to erase a deficit, which they did on June 28.
As for Democrats, Governor Brown vetoed their first budget blueprint on June 15, saying it was full of accounting gimmicks. That meant another provision of Prop. 25 kicked in, and lawmakers had to forfeit their pay until they approved a balanced budget. In the end, that amounted to about $5,000 each.
Redistricting revised
Another event may offer even stronger evidence of the political changes afoot here. On June 10, the redistricting commission created in 2008 released its new maps.
Redistricting maps drawn by legislators in previous years had resulted in gerrymandered districts crafted primarily to keep incumbents safe. The result was that blue districts became bluer and red districts got redder – and legislators became more partisan in their attempts to appeal to their polarized political bases. The room for compromise and political middle ground became paper thin.
Now, the citizen commission has drawn tentative lines, and the state has two months to comment and tweak the new maps. In general, political analysts applaud the commission for making the districts more moderate.
"They made both parties mad, which means they did a good job," says Barbara O'Connor, director emeritus of the Institute for Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento.
In one instance, one district of low-income Latino neighborhoods east of downtown Los Angeles has been combined with portions of wealthy Beverly Hills, upsetting some leading African-American and Latino organizations.
"We just don't think the issues and concerns of these two different communities can be adequately addressed by the same leaders," says Rosalind Gold of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.
But some critics are being won over by the commission's work. A skeptical crowd at one gathering in San Francisco between the commission and local citizen groups was turned around by closer examination of the facts, says Zabrae Valentine, deputy director of California Forward, a nonpartisan public interest reform group.
"When the conversation started, the citizen attendees were very cynical and negative, but by the end they were all smiles, totally confident that the process was going to make a difference," says Ms. Valentine.
The 'Top 2' primary
California's new "Top 2" primary is seen almost as a companion to redistricting, moderating candidates in a different way. Instead of candidates appealing to the poles of their parties to win a partisan nomination, they will have to consider moving to the center, where the bulk of the electorate is.
"The idea of the Top 2 primary is that it will encourage candidates to look beyond their parties' base voters and seek to build a broad coalition right from the start," says Jack Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. "And to do so, the theory goes, candidates must be more flexible and pragmatic."
Voters' reform binge might not be finished. An initiative to amend California's term-limits rule will appear on the next state ballot.
"Now that people have had a chance to really examine what term limits have done to this state, they see two problems," says Valentine of California Forward. "One is that legislators are not there long enough to understand the complexity of such issues as the budget, or water, or education, or health care.
"The other thing," she adds, "is that they create a revolving door of people coming in, and before they have a chance to establish expertise or seniority they are already looking to their next election or trying to appeal to their next constituency."
The new initiative would apply a blanket 12-year limit on anyone in the Assembly, Senate, or both.
Current rules adopted by voters in 1990 limit members of the Assembly to six years and members of the state Senate to eight years.
The proposed reform had 68 percent approval among likely voters, according to a March PPIC poll. Yet, to some, that voter authority itself is the root of California's problem. Unless the state tackles reform of the citizen-initiative process, big problems will linger, says Jessica Levinson, political reform director for the Center for Governmental Studies.
"A lot of these are just incremental changes in the right direction, but not the fundamental, complete overhaul many wanted," she says, noting that the idea for a constitutional convention to overhaul the state constitution failed last year. "We have the most generous ballot initiative [process] in the country, and it has gotten us into trouble because a lot of stuff passes without due deliberation."


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The best vegan mascaras are revealed!
Special guest post by Keri of I Eat Trees
When I first made the switch to vegan cosmetics, mascara was my biggest challenge. Even the "natural" products seemed to all contain beeswax, at the very least. After a little research, and some good ol' trial and error, I found three mascaras I felt good about. Since vegan cosmetic brands can be a bit more difficult to find, having a few products in my repertoire lets me be more open to availability and saves me the panic when my favorite beauty stop is out of my usual. No, mascara probably isn't vital to my survival, but what can I say? It makes me happy and it's right up there with pants as far as things I'd prefer not to leave the house without. And we all know the search for the perfect mascara doesn't end when you go vegan.
The first vegan mascara I purchased was Zuzu Luxe The Mascara, which had the aforementioned issue of being dried out and old. It took me receiving another tube as a gift to appreciate the product. Zuzu Luxe's mascara is a thicker formulation than most I have tried, but goes on evenly creating natural looking matte black lashes. The product doesn't have a strong scent, but smells clean and slightly herbal. The brush is stiff and dense with uniform length bristles for smooth application that dries quickly. This mascara is a good go-to for those who want a more natural and less dramatic lash. The product doesn't build to dramatic so well, and can flake if too much is applied. I found Zuzu Luxe The Mascara for $18 at Whole Foods, but have also seen it available many places online.
Next, I came across Lavera Volume Mascara at Target. I was excited to find such a widely available retailer to have a vegan beauty brand and grabbed up the mascara in black. This product contains organic jojoba and rose and the formula is very smooth to the point of seeming "soft". Lavera's Volume Mascara creates long glossy lashes that to the touch, almost feel naked. The brush is small and plush, making it easy to get into corners and completely coat the lash. This mascara is great for anyone who wants natural beauty with a little extra length. Despite the name, the smoothness makes the product a little difficult to build, therefore creating a more subtle drama. This mascara might not be for you if you have oily lids or are on your way to the gym because it tends to smear if provoked. I picked up Lavera Volume Mascara at Target for $16 and I've seen it on sale quite often.
My most recent favorite has to be Beauty Without Cruelty Full Volume in black. This mascara actually provides on the volume and hasn't flaked or smeared on me yet. It is very buildable and works well with layering over or under another product for a big night out. The finish isn't as glossy as Lavera or as matte as Zuzu Luxe, but somewhere happily in between. While the scent of this one is slightly more synthetic, it's not at all noticeable unless you make a habit of sniffing your mascara for reviews, as I do. BWC's Full Volume has a big, plush applicator brush to thicken, lengthen, and coat evenly. The larger brush can be more difficult to get each little lash in the corners, but if you're having an especially important lash day, going in with a smaller tool is always an option. I purchased Beauty Without Cruelty Full Volume Mascara at a local natural market for $13, but this is another one fairly easy to find online.
One tip with vegan mascaras, at least in my largely nonvegan community, check dates and if need be, ask questions. It isn't worth wasting $15-$20 on a product that has been sitting on the shelf for nearly a year getting dried out and stinky! I haven't had a clumping problem with any of my favorites, and since I currently have a tube of all three, switch between them depending on my mood. If for some strange reason I was forced to pick only one, I would hold on to my Beauty Without Cruelty Full Volume for it's length, volume, and buildability. I'm grateful to have come across a few great vegan cosmetics because after all, there's nothing beautiful about cruelty.
What are some of your favorite vegan mascaras?
Please check out my blog and twitter page. 🙂
About Sunny (Sunny's Profile)Longtime vegan, hardcore compassionate beauty junkie, serious cake aficionado, and lover of all things floofy and sparkly! If there's something in particular you'd like me to review, drop me a line at firstname.lastname@example.com. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Google +.
Filed in: vegan makeup
Comments (22)
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I've been OBSESSED with Too Faced Better than Sex mascara for a while now and have found it to be the best mascara I've ever used in life, let alone vegan one. But recently I've been using the Lily Lolo tube that came in my Petit Vour box and I LOVE it.
BWC mascara has talc. They all seem to have sketchy ingredients. Might be cruelty free for non-homosapien animals, but are carcinogenic and harsh on hominids. 🙁
Still looking for a vegan mascara with sound ingredients. 🙁
I love Zuzu but I've come down with styes after using it. Wish someone would develop a preservative that is safe and that keeps the bacteria out of natural products!
There are just some days where a waterproof mascara is necessary.
Any recommendations?
Thank you this is so helpful! What about lash primer though? I have a lot of trouble getting thick eyelashes, I've only used Zuzu…but I'm hoping to find a lash primer to help pile on the mascara for yummier lashes…tips?
Zuzu mascara contains the following ingredient: 'Tocopheryl Acetate'. This product causes allergies and skin sensitivity.
Not really vegan to me…
The Beauty Without Cruelty Mascara has a new exciting packaging design and the formula has also been improved. Please check out our Beauty Blogger Community
I've tried posting the link here to the Beauty Without Cruelty Beauty Blogger community but it hasn't work using the html tags so just posting the link: https://plus.google.com/b/109188140938851476797/communities/114501790911330126436?rel=author
Love this page! Want to share a gem that was shared with me:
Angela's page, OhSheGlows.com ~ amazing resource for vegan recipes, writing, pictures, and love! She'll even convert recipes for you! Helped me convert 😉
Hi there,
Thank you so much for your fun and super helpful reviews! Love it! Will continue to follow you!
Blinc mascara is AMAZING!
Blinc (f/k/a Kiss Me) – I can't be the only vegan out there who loves this stuff (lol). This stuff doesn't come off until you wash it off and all you need is warm water, totally love it!
I'm a Zuzu Luxe user and I love it! If there's a ton of product on the brush, I scrape it on the top of the tube, so it goes back inside. Also, a lash curler is essential!
I've used all the ones you mentioned and liked them, currently using Zuzu Luxe.
I also really liked Barry M's 3 in 1 mascara but it's only available in the UK: http://www.barrym.com/3-in-1-mascara
You can mailorder it but postage is a bit pricey. I hope I can get my hands on some more again in the future!
this is my favorite mascara so far.
I really like Larenim's mascara. It is vegan, very natural looking, and never clumps!
This was a super helpful review! I had never even heard of the Lavera brand, and how neat that it's available at a regular store, haha. I've only tried the Zuzu luxe brand myself, and really like it. I personally like the fact that it is better for length than for volume (not big on chunky lashes), and have found that the results WITH an eyelash curler are incomparable to results without an eyelash curler. Maybe people more into makeup than me consider a curler essential already, but just in case – a curler really helped me work with what I think is likely a less stiff product than conventional mascara. 🙂 -Eve


text:
Gentl & Hyers
- Yield
- Makes 12 servings
- 4 red bell peppers
- 4 yellow bell peppers
- 9 large ears of corn, each broken in half
- Olive oil (for brushing)
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
- Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill peppers until charred on all sides. Transfer to paper bag; roll top to close tightly. Let steam 10 minutes. Peel and seed peppers. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
- Brush corn with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until charred in spots, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large bowl; cover to keep warm.
- Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper strips. Sauté until heated through, stirring often, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon into center of large shallow platter. Arrange corn around peppers. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons basil over and serve.
Test-kitchen tip:
If you make the peppers a day ahead, you can skip the grilling and char them over a gas flame or in the broiler.


text:
"C'est la vie"
hosted by
on Woonsocket, RI radio starion WOON 1240
"C'est la vie" is a 5 minute ENGLISH radio program during which Connie LEMONDE reads the biography of a local resident of Rhode Island. She interviews the person and then writes-up the bio for radio transmission. The French title of the program is due to the fact that many interviewees are of French-Canadian descent, as is Connie. Some of the subjects are identified at the end of the program while others have asked to remain anonymous since all are living in the area and their stories are quite personal.
By sharing these biographies, Connie wishes to show that adversities as well as good times are part of everyone's life, and that we can benefit from them eventually, at least with hind-sight.
"C'est la vie" may be heard twice a week, every week:
Friday at 9:05 a.m. (09h05)
Saturday at 8:00 a.m. (08h00)
To be brought to the radio station
via the Internet,
just CLICK on the title above.
The programs are archived; therefore, you may listen to them at your convenience. This is a great opportunity to get to know New Englanders who have lived through life-changing experiences, and who are willing to share them.


text:
Tagged: Eli Grba
Angels Home Opener: A Disappointing Night in the Baseball Zone
Submitted for your approval: one normally mild mannered couple travelling companionably together down the 57 freeway as they do several times a month without incident. But this time something is different. Their voices grow louder and more excited and their gestures more enthusiastic. Their hearts beat faster, their anticipation increases to a child-like pitch and gooseflesh rises on their arms. Little do they know that they're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of lights out pitching and the sounds wooden bats striking balls, but of mental toughness; a dimension of wins and of losses, sadly this time the latter; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are a couple of chalk lines, a wall and a series of time honored rules startlingly complex in their seeming simplicity. That's the signpost up ahead – it says exit Katella for Angels Stadium. Their next stop? The Baseball Zone. *Cue theme music. No! Not Buttercup. Never Buttercup!*
Friday night, as planned, we took ourselves out to the ballgame, to watch the Angels Home Opener against the Blue Jays. The weather was seriously touch and go for a while there, including a complete downpour as I was leaving my house. But it stayed dry in Anaheim through the game and the Friday Night Fireworks that followed, only starting to pelt us with a few fat rain drops as we headed out to our car. Would that my Angels had held the lead anywhere near as well as the clouds held back the rain.
The game itself? It started off well enough. Ervin Santana pitched like the good Ervin, the one with control who can throw strikes. Peter Bourjos is amazing to watch in center, flying across the grass, making difficult catches look effortless. We had a few good hits, scoring one in the 1st inning and another in the 3rd for an early two run lead. The Jays were slipping and sliding all over the outfield. Everything was off to a great start, and then we started to strand runners. Vernon Wells failed to cash in on runners in scoring position. Additional batters started to strand more runners. A two run lead is not a very safe thing deep into the game and it didn't last. Santana gave up three runs aided by a few sloppy plays in the outfield.
By the time they brought in Fernando Rodney in the 9th – I know, not a save situation, but I was surprised! – I felt absolutely deflated. Rodney performed acceptably, allowing one runner on, but no walks and no additional runs. However, bringing him out just cemented the frustrating sense of one step forward, three giant steps back I was having after the stranded runners. Oh well, you never know what wonders or horrors you might witness when you visit: the Baseball Zone! I prefer wonders myself but I suppose that, in the end, a bad Friday night at the ballpark is probably better than a good Friday night almost anywhere else…and it's only April 9th…But Conger needs to stop swinging for the fences, Wells needs to find his bat and work on running forward to make catches, and everyone else needs to work on hitting with runners in scoring position. I'm not panicking. All of this will come in the next few weeks. But…seriously!
The Opening Day experience outside of the game? It was fantastic, from the first goosebump raising view of the field coming up through the stadium to our seats, to that first bite of wonderfully nasty ballpark hotdog that I have been jonesing for, for months. Eli Grba, the first Angel selected in the team's first draft and the Angels' first opening day pitcher threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Grba is the first of a planned string of Angels alumni to perform this duty throughout the season. He was so cute in the interview before the game, talking about how nervous he was to throw out the pitch after so many years and how his friends would make fun of him if he bounced it on the ground. He did just fine, but it's amusing to note that friends are the same everywhere no matter what the generation, and your best friends are the ones who'll affectionately give you the most grief when necessary…or when not so necessary.
The front office has switched up some of the music and the pre-game slide show for the 50th anniversary and, while I need to see it a few more times to remember all of the details, I'm enjoying it so far. The flashback 1980s uniforms were a trip and a half. I remember these uniforms well from any number of Freeway Series I watched as a kid, though I was rooting for the other guys back then. I am amused that the concept of flashback uniforms extends to colors, logos and jersey designs, but the cut of the pants remains identical to the modern uniforms – no skinny pants fashion faux paus for the sake of historical accuracy here. Actually I laugh mostly because I can picture the players emphatically vetoing the silly looking and, no doubt, less comfortable 1980's pants.
Fortunately, win or lose, here's the thing about the Baseball Zone. It's absolutely addicting. The first question I asked my husband this morning? So, do want to go to the ballgame tonight? He reigned me in a little – someone needs to sometimes! – but only just a little. We're going back on Tuesday night and trying it out in the view level this time because my no more than $15 per ticket and try to keep it under $10 except for very special games rules are in full effect. Sometimes I reign myself in too. 🙂
Hopefully this evening's game, which is about to begin, will be better. Kaz is conveniently injured and on the DL. Maybe he really did hurt his back, maybe he didn't but he always seems to go on the DL right before his first start back after being obliterated by the opposing team. Either way, I'm excited to see how Matt Palmer does. Hey Angels, how about a little run support please? And by a little, I actually mean a lot.


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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 12, 2013) – Fourteen U.S. Men's National Team players are training at the Japanese Institute of Sports Science in Tokyo this week in preparation for the 2013 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup on Nov. 19-24 in Japan.
|The U.S. Men celebrate their NORCECA Championship victory.
The U.S. Men qualified for the Grand Champions Cup by winning the 2013 NORCECA Continental Championship in September. Eleven members of the team in Japan are from that NORCECA squad. The 14-player roster will most likely be cut to 12 prior to the start of the competition.
"Grand Champions Cup is wonderful validation for a summer of very hard work," U.S. Men's Head Coach John Speraw (Los Angeles) said. "It's a culmination of a lot of effort. The guys that earned the right to go had the right to be on the roster and compete for a spot."
- Like USAV on Facebook
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- Contact: B.J. Hoeptner Evans
The 11 players returning from the NORCECA Championship roster are outside hitters Matt Anderson, Jeff Menzel, Reid Priddy and Sean Rooney; middle blockers Futi Tavana, David Lee and Max Holt; opposites Carson Clark and Murphy Troy; setter Micah Christenson and libero Erik Shoji.
The three players who did not compete at NORCECA, but did compete extensively in the 2013 FIVB World League are outside hitter Paul Lotman, middle blocker David Smith and setter Kawika Shoji.
While Anderson served as U.S. team captain for World League and Rooney handled the duties at the NORCECA Championship, Speraw said he hadn't even considered who would be captain in Japan.
"If I had the option, I wouldn't have (a captain) at all," Speraw said. "I don't believe one person has sole responsibility for leadership on the team. A bar underneath the number doesn't determine who leads the team."
There are six Olympians on the 14-player roster led by Priddy (Richmond, Va.), who is a three-time Olympian and won a gold medal in 2008. Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) and Lee (Alpine, Calif.) are two-time Olympians who also both won gold medals in 2008. Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.), Lotman (Lakewood, Calif.) and Smith (Saugus, Calif.) all made their Olympic debuts in 2012.
Christenson, a junior at the University of Southern California, will make his debut in an FIVB event with the senior national team in Japan.
The U.S. Men's Team will scrimmage Japan's men's national team while training in Tokyo. It will travel to Kyoto on Nov. 17 for the competition, which begins Nov. 19.
Fourteen-Player Roster for FIVB World Grand Champions Cup
No. Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1. Matt Anderson (OH, 6-9, West Seneca, N.Y., Penn State)
2. Sean Rooney (OH, 6-10, Wheaton, Ill., Pepperdine)
4. David Lee (MB, 6-8, Alpine, Calif., Long Beach State)
6. Paul Lotman (OH, 6-7, Lakewood, Calif., Long Beach State)
7. Kawika Shoji (S, 6-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
8. Reid Priddy (OH, 6-4, Richmond, Va., Loyola Marymount)
9. Murphy Troy (Opp, 6-8, St. Louis, Mo., Southern California)
11. Micah Christenson (S, 6-6, Honolulu, Southern California)
13. Futi Tavana (MB, 6-7, Kalaheo, Hawaii, BYU)
14. Jeff Menzel (OH, 6-6, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Santa Barbara)
15. Carson Clark (Opp, 6-8, Santa Barbara, Calif., UC Irvine)
17. Max Holt (MB, 6-9, Cincinnati, Ohio, Penn State)
19. Erik Shoji (L, 6-0, Honolulu, Hawaii, Stanford)
20. David Smith (MB, 6-7, Saugus, Calif., UC Irvine)
Head Coach: John Speraw (Los Angeles)
Team Manager: Andrea Becker (Martinez, Calif.)
Technical Coordinator: Anton Willert (Berlin, Germany)
Assistant Coach: Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Mike Wall (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Consultant Coach: Gary Moy (San Francisco, Calif.)
Consultant Coach: Tim Pelot (Florida)
Athletic Trainer: Aaron Brock (Storm Lake, Iowa)
Doctor: Andrew Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.)
FIVB Men's World Grand Champions Cup Schedule
(all times Pacific Standard)
Nov. 18-19
7:10 p.m.: Italy vs. Russia
11:10 p.m.: Iran vs. Brazil
2:10 a.m.: USA vs. Japan
Nov. 19-20
7:10 p.m.: Italy vs. Iran
11:10 p.m.: Brazil vs. USA
2:10 a.m.: Russia vs. Japan
Nov. 21-22
7:10 p.m.: USA vs. Italy
11:10 p.m.: Iran vs. Russia
2:10 a.m.: Japan vs. Brazil
Nov. 22-23
7:10 p.m.: Iran vs. USA
11:10 p.m.: Russia vs. Brazil
2:10 a.m.: Italy vs. Japan
Nov. 23-24
7:10 p.m.: Brazil vs. Italy
10:10 p.m.: USA vs. Russia
1:10 a.m.: Japan vs. Iran


text:
One of the threshold levels of awareness of a newly minted genealogical researcher is to begin to understand that geographically defined jurisdictions change over time. Once the researcher begins to dig into the history of the area where each ancestor lived and commences to verify how the various levels of source creating entitles lined up, real progress is possible in discovering valuable information about ancestors. The problem of establishing county boundaries in the United States is trivial when compared to the challenge of sorting out the political boundaries in Europe at any given time in the past. This is where maps and history become the constant companion of the genealogical researcher.
When I write about the "place" I am excluding all the vague references to "Germany" or "Russia" contained in the U.S. Federal Census records. Those references are not a ticket to search in Europe. The place name must be much more specific than any name of any country. If you want to get into a detailed discussion of the process of searching for origins, go to the FamilySearch Research Wiki on United States Emigration and Immigration.
Ultimately, you have to go to the maps of the place you determine is where your ancestors lived in the "Old Country." The above map came from OldMapsOnline.org, a very useful site for finding specific historical maps of any part of the world. There are also extensive lists of links to map sites on various library websites:
- Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection Maps on Other Web Sites
- University of Chicago Library, Map Links
- Map History / History of Cartography: THE Gateway to the Subject
- British Library, Maps: Scanned collections online
- Index of German-Polish and Polish-German names of the localities in Poland & Russia, by Anna Sluszkiewicz
- PolandGenWeb, Town Locators
- Kartenmeister


text:
With the IRS scandal dominating the news this week, "Saturday Night Live" closed out their 38th season with a political bang.
The show began with a PoliticsNation segment where host Al Sharpton (Kenan Thompson) discussed the IRS scandal. Regardless of what the political analyst or Tea Party activist guests said, Sharpton wondered what the GOP was so angry about. Sharpton even mistook Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for actor Matthew McConaughey. Sharpton then shared stories of his own dealings with the IRS and displayed bar graphs that made the IRS scandal a race issue rather than a governmental one. According to Sharpton, African-Americans were subject to more IRS scrutiny than whites.
But regardless of his tendency to mish-mash words and not give his guests the time of day, Sharpton seemed to be a fan of "Sen. Matthew McConnell."
U.S. & World
"Sen. McConnell seems like a real laid-back fella," Sharpton said. "Why are the rest of these Republicans so outraged?"
On Weekend Update, Seth Meyers wasted no time in addressing President Barack Obama's denying of any prior knowledge of the IRS scandal which allege the governmental department targeted conservative and tea party-affiliated political groups for extra scrutiny.
"It's alright America," Meyers said. "There's just a bunch of stuff the president doesn't know about."
Meyers was later joined by former SNL cast member and "Parks and Recreation" star Amy Poehler in a "Really?" segment.
"Really Obama? You said you heard about the (IRS) scandal when you saw it on TV," Meyers said. "I don't want to live in a world where you have the same sources as my aunt. You're the president. I didn't think you had to watch TV for anything. I assumed you already knew how 'Breaking Bad' ends."
Poehler said the government only keeps the IRS around to "make the DMV look good. In the 'Entourage' of government agencies, you're the Turtle."
But she wasn't much easier on the Tea Party either.
"Really Tea Party? You're surprised that you were targeted by the IRS?" Poehler said. "You named yourselves after a group of people who proudly, who historically violated the tax laws."
Another politically charged skit involved Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's film "Bengo F#ck Yourself," which was supposed to be a look at the creation of Ben Affleck's "Argo." Instead it was an Iranian propaganda film that mocked American culture.
In Affleck's opening monologue, Afleck's wife and actress Jennifer Garner appeared and "discussed" their marriage in relation to Affleck's Oscar speech where he said their marriage was "work." The musical guest was Kanye West.
The final sketch of the night featured a musical goodbye by outgoing cast members Bill Hader, Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen, who led the group in character as punk rocker "Ian Rubbish."
Armisen's "Portlandia" co-star Carrie Brownstein, the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Aimee Mann were among those who also performed "It's a Lovely Day."


text:
I'm building a web application that is based on Microsoft Search Server 2010 and uses its web services.
I need to be able to search as an anonymous user. So I have enabled anonymous access for my SP search center and am able to search there.
But when I call
QueryService.Query method I get the error message:
Server was unable to process request. ---> Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation
To call the service I use this code:
QueryService service = new QueryService
Credentials = CredentialsCache.DefaultCredentials
DataSet dataSet = service.QueryEx(query);
Where I can enable anonymous access for the web service?


text:
Mars500 video diary 14: Welcome to the blue light zone!
The Mars500 crew is only two months from their 'arrival' back on Earth and they can't wait to see the sunlight.
To prepare for that and to understand more about how the human brain reacts to variations of day and night and adjusts the sleep-wake cycle, the marsonauts are wearing red glasses and illuminating their modules with blue light. Diego explains about the photopigments in our eyes and and shows how the experiment is done. After all, life inside the Mars500 'spacecraft' is all about the science!


text:
Official Rescue Teams from the U.S. and other countries who have searched for trapped people in collapsed structures around the world, as well as emergency managers, researchers, and school safety advocates, all agree that "Drop, Cover, and Hold On" is the appropriate action to reduce injury and death during earthquakes. Methods like standing in a doorway, running outside, and "triangle of life" method are considered dangerous and are not recommended (see below).
Your past experience in earthquakes may give you a false sense of safety; you didn't do anything, or you ran outside, yet you survived with no injuries. Or perhaps you got under your desk and others thought you overreacted. However, you likely have never experienced the kind of strong earthquake shaking that is possible in much large earthquakes: sudden and intense back and forth motions of several feet per second will cause the floor or the ground to jerk sideways out from under you, and every unsecured object around you could topple, fall, or become airborne, potentially causing serious injury. This is why you must learn to immediately protect yourself after the first jolt... don't wait to see if the earthquake shaking will be strong!
In MOST situations, you will reduce your chance of injury if you:
Wherever you are, protect yourself! You may be in situation where you cannot find shelter beneath furniture (or low against a wall, with your arms covering your head and neck). It is important to think about what you will do to protect yourself wherever you are.
For those who cannot "drop" due to mobility limitations, or for those who have other special situations, Advice for people with disabilities or access and functional needs (432 KB PDF), a document from CalEMA, explains what to do when you physically cannot "Drop, Cover, and Hold On."
Get an Emergency Supply Kit, which includes items like non-perishable food, water, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, extra flashlights and batteries. You may want to prepare a portable kit and keep it in your car. This kit should include:
For further information on how to plan and prepare for earthquakes as well as what to do during and after an earthquake, visit: Federal Emergency Management Agency, NOAA Watch or American Red Cross.


text:
SUBJECT: The Floating Coil
DESCRIPTION: This animation shows the magnetic field of a current-carrying coil suspended by a spring above a permanent magnet. Depending on the direction of current flow in the wire (ie. the direction in which the batteries are connected), the coil will either be repelled upwards away from the magnet, or attracted downwards towards it. In the first case, the effective dipole moment of the coil opposes the dipole moment of the magnet, resulting in a pressure in the magnetic field between them, which pushes against the coil. When the batteries are reversed, the effective dipole moment of the coil points upwards, in the same direction as the dipole moment of the magnet. The result is a tension in the field that pulls the coil downwards.


text:
Log HTTP Calls from Tyk
With Moesif, leverage user-centric API observability to monitor customer API usage without the high cost of building and maintaining complex analytics infrastructure.
Start monitoring your API traffic in minutes with a drop-in SDKs or API gateway plugin. With optional user and company tracking, you can deeply understand customer behaviors and complex issues.
Apollo GraphQL
Node.js Lambda
Python Lambda
Go Lambda
Symfony 1.4
Ruby Rack
Spring Boot
Spring MVC
Jersey Servlet
Spark Servlet
Generic Servlet
.NET Framework
.NET Core
Express Gateway
Azure API Management
Azure WebApp
Symfony 1.4
.NET Core
.NET Framework
Automatic API Instrumentation
Automatic API instrumentation with a drop-in SDK or API gateway plugin.
Track both API calls and web activity to get full visibility into customer experience.
Does this work for public APIs and developer platforms?
Definitely. Many of Moesif's customers are API-first and have a growing developer community. Having the right product analytics is critical to understand developer adoption and API usage.
Will this work for internal APIs and behind firewalls?
Yes, our integrations support internal APIs even if on-premises and behind firewalls. They don't open any ports and support a local proxy if your app can't access the internet.
How do I reduce cost?
Self-service plans can leverage the skip function if you don't want to log all API calls. All enterprise plans also have the flexibility of capturing all API calls or can leverage dynamic sampling for specific customers or user behaviors to reduce your costs. Read more.
Will Moesif impact my app performance or reliability?
No, data capture is asynchronous to your API traffic and leverages queueing/batching to ensure your performance. Review our scalable architecture for more info.
Are your SDKs open-source?
Yes, our SDKs are open-source and supports both public and internal APIs. They are available on GitHub. We also have an open REST API if the SDKs don't fit your needs. More info is in our Developer Docs.
What about sensitive data?
Moesif designed with enterprise security and privacy in mind. For super sensitive data, contact sales for more info on our enterprise offerings for zero-knowledge security.
Moesif is leveraged by teams around the company, from engineering to product to sales to customer success, to give every part of the business visibility into customer API usage, helping us ship new API products with speed and confidence.
Nick PatrickCEO - RadarSee Case Studies
To see if an issue exhibits certain patterns, I'll turn to Moesif. There were really no other services we found that offer this kind of feature set.
Dan KokotovVP of Engineering - rev.comSee Case Studies
I learned more about users abusing our APIs in ten minutes with Moesif than I had in a couple days of messing with logs in kibana.
Taylor RobisonEngineer - Ware2Go, A UPS CompanySee Case Studies
Moesif is a part of my daily flow giving me important insight into our API as well as the consumers of our API.
Jonathan PickettLead Engineer - Praetorian DigitalSee Case Studies
The real goal for us is to get an overall picture of user activity from many different platforms. Tools like Mixpanel didn't really solve the problem around user events for us. We now have a traceable log and audit trail of all usage of our API, from any channel.
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Ready to get started?
Join thousands of customer-driven teams using Moesif to log API calls and track customer usage


text:
Fat Joe Says He Worked With Gay Rappers & It's Gays In The NFL & NBA! "If Your Gay, Rep Your Set" (Comments On Mister Cee & Gay Hip-Hop)
Fat Joe on gays in Hip Hop
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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text:
Welcome to the first NEXT podcast of 2012. Please share your thoughts. The good, the bad and the ugly. Artist and song title: Pickwick – Blackout, The Shins – Simple Song, My Pet Dragon – Moonshine, Alabama Shakes – I Found You, Cage The Elephant – Psycho Killer (Talking Heads Cover), Gotye – Someone That I Used To Know, Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again, Nada Surf – When I Was Young, Wilco – Art of Almost, Mazzy Star – Lay Myself Down, Black Box Revelation – High On A Wire, Flying Car Company – Perfect World, Neon Trees – Everybody Talks, The Kickdrums – Love Can Drive Your Mind Wild, Iggy & the German Kids – So Hard, Ben Sollee – Electrified, Charlie Simpson – Thorns, Snow Patrol – This Isn't Everything You Are, The Attic Ends – Home, Van Halen – Tattoo, My Pet Dragon – Release (Pearl Jam Cover)
Remember if you love someone hug them right now.


text:
See more from the Dolce Babi Roma collection.
Dolce Babi Roma Crib by Bivona & Company
The Dolce Babi Roma Collection is a traditional styled collection making it easy to fit in to any home. Its design is plain is done to allow for accessories and features to stand out most. The Roma Collection comes with Convertible Crib, Double Dresser, 5 Drawer Dresser, Hutch, Nightstand, Guard Rail, and Full Size Bedrails. The collection comes with a choice of two finishes, Espresso and Snow White.
- Converts to toddler bed (optional guard rail sold separately), day bed & full size bed with low profile footboard (bed rail sold separately)
- 80-60 mm slats on the headboard & footboard. 45mm slats on the sides
- Dolce Babi logo plate provided for optional personalization
View More Dolce Babi Nursery Sets
View More Dolce Babi Cribs
View More Dolce Babi Conversion Kits
Additional Info
|Dolce Babi
|Product Dimensions
|54" x 1" x 20"
|Type of Wood
|Poplar with Veneers
|Manufactured In


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Beat the Streak Report: Wednesday, Aug. 19
Today's recommended picks
Placido Polanco, 2B, Tigers
.500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Ian Snell
Lyle Overbay, 1B, Blue Jays
.714 AVG (5-for-7) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz
A.J. Pierzynski, C, White Sox
.432 AVG (16-for-37) lifetime vs. Royals starter Zack Greinke
BTS all-time leader: Michael Karatzia, 49
MLB all-time leader: Joe DiMaggio, 56
Yesterday's results
The march to 56 continued for hammanm, who pushed his streak to 43 games when Ichiro Suzuki collected the first of his four hits yesterday. The BTS leader is just two games shy of the season record set by Tanner Nielsen.
Further underscoring hammanm's amazing staying power, the two contestants directly behind him in the standings both found themselves starting from scratch at the conclusion of the day's action. For Sun_Tenshi, who put together an impressive 39-game streak, the end came when Felipe Lopez finished 0-for-4 vs. the Pirates. jprin30571, who was up to 35 games, bid farewell to the streak following a 0-for-4 effort from Mark Teixiera.
As a result, Topiary took over second place at 34 games thanks to three more hits from Joe Mauer. nicklarsen84, who also went with Minnesota's amazing backstop, moved up to third place at 32 games.
Yesterday's Top 5 most selected players
1. Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 12.8%, 4-for-5
2. Alex Rios (CWS): 5.5%, 1-for-4
3. Chipper Jones (ATL): 3.7%, 0-for-3
4. Joe Mauer (MIN): 3.6%, 3-for-5
5. Hanley Ramirez (FLA): 3.6%, 3-for-5
18 Comments
Postion A: PUT THE 43 GAME STREAK ON CRUSIE CONTROL How much luck/skill is left in the leaders gas tank? Can "The Little Magician" hit in the next 14 games to take him to 57 if he puts his streak on auto-pilot? 90% CHANCE OF BEATING THE STREAK(?)
The road to a 57 game hit streak is littered with bodies of players who felt they could beat the game with selection skill. Is lady luck on the side of th leader or will he crash and burn off an event beyond his control? – e.g. Mauer doesn't start but pinch hits and makes on out, illness forces Hanley Ramirez to leave a game(again).
Classic match up tonight:
Justin Verlander v. Ichirio "The Little Magician"
Verlander – takes the mound at home coming off a good performance v. Red Sox. His ERA for August is +4.00 though. Ichirio hasn't hit him well this year.
"The Little Magician" – He is hotter than Phoenix AZ on the fourth of July. Four hits last night. He is a gamer: Plays every inning of every game. He had an off day on Monday he is rested and his batteries are super charged.
I think that there is a hit in Ichrio's bat tonight. I've locked the "The Little Magician" as my pick of the day.
Ichiro has now hit in 99 of 110 games. That is exactly 90%.
If you take 90% and raise it to the 14th power, there is a 22% chance of Ichiro getting 14 in a row, assuming the validity of the 90%. That's still way less than even money, but it is a 'fighting chance'. Keep in mind that Ichiro has a 27 game hitting streak this year – aside from that 27 game streak, he does not have any streak of longer than 14. It is more likely than not that Ichiro is not successful for the next 14 days.
A more 'standard' number is 75%, which is close to the conversion rate of the top 15 hitters chosen. Significant players like Mauer and Hanley Ramirez are in the 75-80% range. Using 75% as the daily likelihood of success, there's a 1.8% percent chance of picking the next 14 correct.
As for me, I haven't picked 14 consecutive hitters correctly all season. I've picked 13 twice and had my streak snapped. It is by no means assured, or even likely, that our current leader will pass Joe D. But even a 1.8% chance at the grand prize is interesting, much less a 22% chance using the 90% achieved by focusing on Ichiro.
It really is lady luck.. of course Ichiro is the best pick on most nights.. but even he isnt superman… Ive had 9 streaks of 10 or more this season when picking ahead… after looking and analyzing my picks.. im betting im lucky if i hit 75%… thats with Ichiro zone.. he can't get a hit forever.. although it seems like he will.. good luck hamman.. because if your guy doesnt get a hit in bat # 1… your very nervous the rest of the night.
The leaders went with Mauer. I think TX will pitch around Mauer today. They are in the chase for the wild card spot and these games actually mean something to them. Last 2 nights, Mauer burned them so badly and it cost them the game last night.
I know its not easy pitching around Mauer with Morneau batting next spot. Wouldn't you do the same? It seems anything down the middle Mauer will crush it.
Texas wont do that, cuz if that were the case, they would have done it last nite as well. morneau was out last night due to an inner ear infection that took him out of Monday;s gfame because of dizziness.
dragbunt. ichiro is 1-for4 against verlander in their only game against each other this year
196 people with streaks of 20 or more…..574 people are at 19 or more…. Only one person over 20 forgot to pick….
now for the fun numbers…………Jeter 44…. Mauer 35…. HRamirez 15…. Ichiro 14…. Polanco 12…..MCabrera 10… Pujols 9…. Overbey 7…..A.J. Pierzynski7…. Braun 6….. Crawford 6…. Figgins 4…. Helton 3….. THunter 2… 13 players picked once
Have fun watching the games tonight. now can anyone tell me why the KC-CWS game today is a day game, even though its a get away day, both teams are OFF tomorrow.
makes no sense!!!!!!
Backrubs – Good point about the KC-WSox game in Chicago.
IS there a MLB dictate on game times on "get away days" even if teams are off the next day?
White Sox always play night games during the week.
There are some huge thunder storms coming into the Chicago area as I type. Had they played a night game the rains coming would have probably washed the game out.
The Kings at the Plate pick Pierczynski went 0 – 4.
Ohwow – Thanks for the math analysis. Breaking it down for those of us who are number challenged:
Going with Ichirio – I put 100 ping-pong balls in a hat and 22 are black and 78 are white. I must pick a black ball out for 14 days in a row to win the Grand Prize.
Going with your own pick of the day from the best guys:
100 ping pong balls in the hat, 2 balls are black and 98 are white and I must pick out a black ball each day for 14 days.
Sounds like going with "The Little Magician" makes sense.
Leader went with Mauer – I wonder if he reads this comments section of the web site?
well you have to admit, its tough not to pick mauer right now especially since he has hit OVER .500 the past week. This is one reason i picked Mauer tonight.
they like the get away games to be day games if a team is playing the next day. but since neither team isnt playing. why play in the day time,
Unless they are good at seeing rain coming into play a year in advance cuz they work on making that schedule year round. Boy would i like to sit in on that for a week or so and watch or help.
dragbunt – not every day for 14 days.
What I am saying is that if you pick Ichiro every day for the next 14 days, you have a 22% chance of having a 14 game hitting streak.
If you pick a player that is 75% successful every day, you have a 1.8% chance of having a 14 game hitting streak two weeks from now.
Think of it this way. 14 game hitting streaks are common. There are thousands of entrants in the game right now who have them. Most entrants in this contest will have had a 14 game streak at some time during the season (there is a 1.8% chance, and 150 or so chances to start such a streak).
The way you are wording it – that you have a 22% chance every day – is not quite right. What I am saying is that, if Ichiro's 90% is real, there is a 22% chance that our leader can get to 57 simply by picking Ichiro. This would make his or her entry have an expected value of 22% of $1.5 million – making it worth six figures as it stands right now.
I wonder if the contest would offer a 'Deal or No Deal' option. I think that would be pretty interesting to see.
ohwow – Got it on the odds!
"The Little Magician" goes yard off Verlander! – YES
Joe Mauer KOed. I think the account associate at the insurance company just sighed a huge gasp of relief.
Warning signs were there as I posted yesterday. Millwood pitches well against right handed bats. JM has been way too hot. This was not unforseeable. All those HR swings can mess up your timing.
And lastly, why pitch to JM. He is worst than Pujols ever was this yr.
The leader better hope for a tie in the bottom of the 9th by TX.
well, what a fun run it has been. 43 is no more and the leader is back in the 30s somewhere.
Hanley Ramirez got his hit on a 2-2 count in the ninth inning with two outs, no less. 56 people have lost streaks today with Mauer going 0-for-3 with two walks.
YES! Should have ended earlier this week anyway.
So is Ichiro good for tomorrow or what? DAY game but I am very suspicious. Washburn has been uncharacteristically tough against the lefties this season. He was owned by lefties last year but its all part of new Washburn.
You know everyone, including their dog, will be hitting the Ichie tomorrow. I am gonna try to find someone else first. It would be a total destruction of the BTS board if he doesn't come through. I would dare to guess it will end the season with no grand prize winners this year.
With Mauer beating me tonight. I root for no winner; and I doubt there will be any. I want that million dollar prize to be up there next year too.
I had Ichiro, but second guessed the pick and i lost a 16 game streak,. the longest for me this year.
I notice in the late games Pujols also went hitless
so counting the 56 who lost in the early games and the 9 from Pujols, that makes 65 out of 196 people losing streaks tonight. thats a hit of 30 percent of people with streaks over 20…….. GONE in one night. Course it didnt help that the Rangers WALKED Mauer Intentionally twice in the game either.
I've picked Joe Mauer a total of 1 time this year. Picking a player that gets intentionally walked.. and has a hell of an eye.. isnt worth taking… you might as well take Jack Cust.. who walks more than he hits.
Ichiro on the other hand.. never walks.. never gets intentionally walked.. you do the math.. averages 4.5 at bats a game… math is easy. iVE GOT Ichiro today.. remember Ichiro has seen Washburn pitch… for the last 5 years.. and Ichiro isnt stupid.. going to see The Mariners this weekend… will probably take him each and every game haha Jays lose again. what a surprise.
HEY – Wake UP!
The guy who updates this each must have over slept!
Games start at 12:35am Eastern and it's 12:20am and I typing on the Page for Wed 8/19.
I going with Ichirio today! Day Game vs. a tough lefty in Washburn but Ichirio is on a tear!
backrubs – Stop second guessing yourself. Make your pick and post it like I do and forget about it.


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OH What Now: White Dude Throws A Temper Tantrum When He Aint Get His Chicken! "I Want My Chicken. WTF Do You Want Bitch"
Breaking the stereotypes
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Reinhart's Potato Rosemary Bread
This is from a recipe in Peter Reinhart's Bread Bakers Apprentice and I didn't make any changes to the recipe, being the first try at it.
Well, ok, one or two very minor changes: he asks for fresh rosemary, I only had dried which I soaked for an hour while the dough was warming up. He says to mix in roasted garlic - didn't have any. I guess next time I'll have to make that ahead of time along with the extra mash.
Anyway… here's the final product, first try (slashed a bit too deep) and the loaves are still cooling so I haven't cut or tasted yet but boy-oh-boy, does the house ever smell wonnnnnnderful!!
Full post on the blog: Potato Rosemary Boules


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Oregon is a truly exceptional range of Oak furniture with up to date styling and an incredibly comprehensive selection of items. Manufactured from top quality timber carefully selected from American and Russian White Oak and hand finished with pure Tung Oil to enhance the natural beauty and texture of the timber, whilst providing a most durable and environmentally friendly finish.
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Serviços Personalizados
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South African Journal of Child Health
versão On-line ISSN 1999-7671
versão impressa ISSN 1994-3032
S. Afr. j. child health vol.7 no.2 Cape Town Mai. 2013
Langerhans cell histiocytosis: A case presentation and literature review
K RautenbachI; D K StonesII
IMB ChB, MMed (Paed), Cert Med Oncol (Paed). Paediatric Haematology Oncology Unit, Universitas Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa
IIMB ChB, DCH (SA), FCPaed (SA), MMed (Paed). Paediatric Haematology Oncology Unit, Universitas Hospital, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a disease of unknown aetiology. It is characterised by extreme clinical heterogeneity that can bring it to the attention of a variety of healthcare workers. A high index of suspicion is key to early diagnosis. Once the diagnosis has been confirmed, all cases should be referred to a paediatric oncologist for risk stratification and further management. We present a case of a toddler with LCH with skeletal involvement, who primarily presented to an orthopaedic surgeon. Relevant knowledge about this condition is reviewed.
Case report
An 18-month-old boy was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon with a 2-week history of a limping gait, and a left mid-shaft tibial bone tumour as seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Tumour resection and a bone transplant were done. Histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). The resection was deemed to be complete, and a follow-up skeletal isotope scan was scheduled for 3 months later.
At this follow-up visit the patient was clinically well, but the skeletal isotope scan revealed areas of abnormally increased uptake in the anterior aspects of the 7th and 8th ribs on the right side. A computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the presence of a bone-destroying tumour affecting these ribs. A rib resection was performed and once again histological examination confirmed LCH. The boy was referred to a paediatric oncologist for further management.
At the paediatric oncology unit a work-up was done to determine the extent of disease. Staging investigations included a complete blood count with differential counts, renal and liver function tests, measurement of ferritin and C-reactive protein, an endocrine profile, bone marrow examination, abdominal ultrasound, a chest radiograph and a skeletal survey. The staging investigations excluded any organ dysfunction. The skeletal survey showed lytic lesions in the left parasagittal area of the skull and the right femoral neck (refer to Fig. 1). A final diagnosis of LCH with multifocal skeletal involvement only was made.
Chemotherapy was commenced as per the protocol for multifocal bone disease. The initial intensive phase of chemotherapy consisted of daily prednisone and weekly vinblastine for a total of 6 weeks. Reevaluation imaging (skeletal survey, skeletal isotopes and CT of the facial bones) after the initial intensive phase showed that the patient still had active disease in some of the initially affected areas. A second initiation phase was therefore commenced. Imaging 6 weeks later confirmed that the patient now had non-active disease (i.e. regression of signs and symptoms and no new lesions). He therefore proceeded to the continuation phase of treatment, consisting of oral prednisone pulses and vinblastine every 3 weeks for a total of 52 weeks.
Imaging repeated just before the end of the continuation phase showed that all of the initial lesions had disappeared, but a new lesion was present on the medial aspect of the left ilium. The state of the disease was now defined as progressive or refractory. Since the new bony lesion was inaccessible, excluding curettage with intra-lesional steroids as an acceptable treatment option, second-line chemotherapy was commenced. The second-line treatment consisted of fortnightly methotrexate infusions, weekly vinblastine and daily oral prednisone, for a total of 6 weeks. At this stage the disease was in a regressive state and the patient proceeded to the second-line continuation chemotherapy consisting of 4 drugs (oral prednisone pulses, vinblastine every 3 weeks, weekly oral methotrexate and daily mercaptopurine). He successfully completed the 52 weeks of the continuation phase, and recent imaging confirmed that he still has non-active disease. The only remaining signs are a slight coxa vara deformity secondary to the right femoral neck scar (Fig. 2) and a localised depression in the lower ribcage at the site of the rib resection.
LCH is a disease of unknown aetiology that is characterised by extreme clinical heterogeneity. Its clinical heterogeneity is illustrated by the fact that it was historically described as three different disease entities, based on disease extent and severity.[1-3] Letterer-Siwe disease is an acute disseminated and rapidly progressive form of LCH that is mostly seen in infants.[4] Besides potentially fatal visceral involvement, cutaneous lesions, often the presenting sign, are found in 80% of cases.[4] Between 1893 and 1920, Hand, Schüller and Christian elaborated the LCH triad of skull defects, exophthalmos and diabetes insipidus.[5] HandSchüller-Christian disease develops during early childhood and is a chronic, multi-focal form of LCH with an intermediate prognosis.[4] The least severe variant of LCH is mostly seen in older children and is called the eosinophilic granuloma. Lesions are either solitary or few, and mostly involve the bones.[4] Lesions are usually chronic with a tendency towards spontaneous healing. In 1953, the common pathology of these three conditions was recognised and the term histiocytosis X was introduced to name them collectively.[6] The letter X denoted the uncertainty about the pathogenesis of the disease.[6] About 2 decades later the cause was identified as being an abnormal proliferation of Langerhans cells, and the name Langerhans cell histiocytosis was adopted.[2] Today LCH is still the recommended term.[3,7]
Langerhans cells are histiocytes of dendritic cell lineage and constitute 2 - 4% of the normal resident epidermal cells.[4,5] Normal Langerhans cells express characteristic cell surface proteins called the CD1a protein and langerin. These cells can best be identified by their immunoreactivity for the antibodies to the CD1a antigen (anti-CD1a) and to langerin (anti-CD207).[3,4] Langerhans cells can be identified on electron microscopy by the presence of Birbeck granules.[3,4]
LCH is characterised histologically by an uncontrolled monoclonal proliferation of abnormal Langerhans cells: in contrast to their normal epidermal counterparts, LCH cells spread to almost any organ and accumulate there in a background of inflammatory cells, forming characteristic granulomas.[6] This clonal proliferation and infiltration may be localised or systemic, explaining the variable extent of involvement typical of LCH. Today most investigators consider LCH to result from an aberrant immune response, but the stimulus for clonal Langerhans cell proliferation remains unknown.[1,3] The definitive diagnosis of LCH is based on immunophenotypic and histological examination of lesional tissue.[2,5,8,9]
LCH is primarily a paediatric disease: it may affect any age group, but the peak incidence is at 1 - 4 years of age. It is a rare disease with an incidence of 3 - 5 per million children aged 1 - 14 years.[3-5,7,8] Cases are essentially sporadic.
The spectrum of presentation is broad and protean, ranging from a benign course to a fulminant progressive disease.[4,5,7] Almost any organ can be affected. According to the number of organs involved, it is possible to distinguish between single-system and multi-system disease.[3,7] The majority of patients have single-system disease, most cases involving skin or bone.[6] Multi-system disease consists of various combinations of multiple organ involvement, and there may also be organ dysfunction and pronounced generalised symptoms.[9]
Bones are affected in 80% of cases - in fact, the clinical hallmark of LCH is lytic bone lesions. Any bone can be affected, but most commonly the skull (Fig. 3), pelvis, spine, mandible and ribs are involved.[2,6] The lesions may be occult, but usually present with pain or swelling. Skeletal X-rays are superior to skeletal isotopes in identifying the lesions. The radiographic appearance depends on the phase of the disease.[6] The early stage is characterised by an aggressive pattern of osteolysis and a periosteal reaction.[6,7] The late stage is characterised by a well-defined sclerotic margin.[6] Mandibular involvement gives the typical X-ray appearance of so-called floating teeth within the lytic lesion and is often associated with a soft-tissue swelling.[6] CT and MRI are the investigations of choice for evaluation of vertebral and craniofacial lesions.[7] Involvement of the orbital wall is a common manifestation and often results in proptosis.[6] Lesions of the facial bones or bones of the anterior or middle cranial fossae substantially increase the likelihood of underlying central nervous system involvement.[2,7]
Cutaneous involvement is encountered in 40% of cases.[4,7] It is often the first manifestation of LCH and is therefore of considerable diagnostic importance. It may be the only manifestation, especially in babies, but further investigation is mandatory to exclude more extensive disease.[6] LCH may cause different types of skin lesions, most often infiltrating nodules and plaques undergoing ulceration, but also scaly brown papules.[3,7] Infants may have a seborrhoeic scalp rash, which is often mistaken for true seborrhoea.[5,8] Seborrhoea-like involvement of the scalp may also resemble a severe case of dandruff. Skin involvement may be either localised or generalised and the scalp, abdomen and trunk are often affected.[4] When an infant or a young child presents with extensive, atypical or unremitting skin lesions (e.g. persistent diaper dermatitis) it should raise suspicion and LCH should be excluded histologically from a representative tissue sample.[4,10]
Multi-system LCH is characterised by many different possibilities of organ involvement, resulting in a great variety of clinical and radiological findings, none being pathognomonic in isolation. Histological diagnosis is mandatory. Haemopoietic involvement occurs most frequently in young children with diffuse disease and is defined as cytopenias, splenomegaly or bone marrow involvement.[7] Hepatic involvement is defined as hepatic enlargement, liver function test abnormalities and/or histological confirmation. Liver involvement may lead to hypo-albuminaemia with ascites, hyperbilirubinaemia and clotting factor deficiencies.[3] Lymph nodes are involved in less than 10% of patients. Gastro-intestinal involvement is found in less than 5%, and may lead to malabsorption syndromes.[6] A variety of CNS lesions have been described, ranging from hypothalamus-pituitary infiltration with secondary diabetes insipidus, which is another clinical hallmark of LCH, to eosinophilic granulomas and neurodegenerative disease (ataxia, cognitive dysfunction).[2,3,6-8]
Features of LCH that indicate a poor prognosis include age of less than 2 years at diagnosis, any risk organ involvement (bone marrow, blood, liver and spleen), organ dysfunction, multi-system disease and unsatisfactory response to initial treatment.[2,10] Children with poor prognostic features constitute less than 15% of patients with LCH. Patients without involvement of risk organs (low-risk group) are not at risk of death, but still need systemic therapy in order to control the disease activity and avoid reactivations and permanent consequences.
Irreversible long-term deficits that develop in areas of active LCH include small stature, growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, hearing loss, cerebellar ataxia, orthopaedic deficits, biliary cirrhosis and portal hypertension.[3] Diabetes insipidus is the most frequent CNS-related permanent consequence in LCH, usually requiring lifelong replacement therapy. There is also an increased incidence of malignancy in long-term survivors.[4] Even though most LCH lesions eventually resolve spontaneously, the goal of therapy must be to rapidly achieve and maintain a non-active disease state in order to avoid the acute morbidity as well as the destructive sequelae that result from disease activity.
Since the pathogenesis of LCH is still unknown, the approach to treatment is empirical and not rational. With a malignant disease, the goal would be to eradicate the malignant clone. In contrast to malignant disease, the therapy of LCH aims to interrupt the cytokine expression that fuels the abnormal proliferation of LCH cells.[1,6] In view of its clinical heterogeneity, patients are risk-stratified at the time of diagnosis, based upon the extent of disease and whether or not risk organs are involved.[5,9] Because of its rarity, there are limited data with regard to the optimal treatment for patients with multisystem LCH, and participation in a well-designed clinical trial is strongly recommended.[1,3] There is general agreement that intensive systemic therapy (for a total of12 months) is indicated for all patients with multi-system LCH.[1,8] A concept exists that osseous LCH, even if multifocal, is a benign, self-limiting disease.[2] However, this may not necessarily apply to patients with other poor prognostic features, such as an age of less than 2 years. In patients with multiple bone lesions or multisystem non-risk organ involvement, even a short treatment with only a single agent (e.g. prednisone) is insufficient, since reactivations commonly occur in this group of patients. According to the Histiocyte Society LCH-III study, they should receive treatment with vinblastine and prednisone for at least 6 - 12 months.[3,9]
Because of its extreme clinical heterogeneity, LCH can present to a variety of specialists (e.g. general paediatricians, dentists, dermatologists and orthopaedic surgeons), and a high index of suspicion is necessary to make a timely diagnosis. The clinical hallmark of LCH is lytic bone lesions. LCH should also be considered in the case of idiopathic diabetes insipidus, or atypical or extensive skin lesions in infants or young children. An accurate histological diagnosis is needed. Any child with a suspected solitary LCH lesion must have a full diagnostic work-up to exclude multiple lesions. All patients with LCH must be referred to a paediatric oncologist for proper risk stratification, an appropriate treatment plan and long-term follow-up. Systemic therapy is indicated to prevent irreversible damage to normal tissue and long-term consequences.
1. Minkov M. Multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis in children: Current treatment and future directions. Pediatric Drugs 2011;13(2):75-86. [http://dx.doi.org/10.2165/11538540-000000000-00000] [ Links ]
2. Tokuç G, Boran P, Öktem S. Langerhans cell histiocytosis in Turkish children. Turk J Pediatr 2009;51(4):344-349. [ Links ]
3. McClain KL, Allen CE, Hicks J. Histiocytic diseases. In: Pizzo AP, Poplack DG, eds. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Oncology. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2011:703-716. [ Links ]
4. Hussein MRA. Skin-limited Langerhans cell histiocytosis in children. Cancer Invest 2009;27(5):504-511. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07357900802216452] [ Links ]
5. Filipovich A, McClain K, Grom A. Histiocytic disorders: Recent insights into pathophysiology and practical guidelines. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2010;16(1):S82-S89. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbmt.2009.11.014] [ Links ]
6. Kilborn TN, The J, Goodman TR. Paediatric manifestations of Langerhans cell histiocytosis: A review of the clinical and radiological findings. Clin Radiol 2003;58(4):269-278. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0009-9260(02)00537-8] [ Links ]
7. McClain KL. Clinical manifestations, pathological features and diagnosis of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. http://www.uptodate.com (accessed August 2012). [ Links ]
8. Schmidt S, Eich G, Hanquinet S, et al. Extra-osseous involvement of Langerhans cell histiocytosis in children. Pediatr Radiol 2004;34(4):313-321. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00247-003-1118-z] [ Links ]
9. McClain KL. Treatment of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. http://www.uptodate.com (accessed August 2012). [ Links ]
10. Lau L, Krafchik B, Trebo MM, et al. Cutaneous Langerhans cell histiocytosis in children under one year. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2006;46(1):66-71. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pbc.20479] [ Links ]
Corresponding author: K Rautenbach (firstname.lastname@example.com)


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JCPenney heads for 9th quarter of plunging sales
JCPenney Co. countered criticism from investor Bill Ackman last week by saying it's focused on stabilizing the business and winning back customers. Results next week will show what little progress has been made.
Analysts predict a wider second-quarter loss and the ninth straight sales drop when Penney reports on Tuesday, though improvements are projected for the second half of the fiscal year. The quarter was the first entirely under CEO Mike Ullman, who returned in April to undo the failed strategy put in place by former CEO Ron Johnson.
Ullman has ramped up discounts and run ads apologizing to the department store's customers, even while he's forced to work with Johnson's store remodels that so far have driven away shoppers and led to almost $1 billion in losses. Ackman, who pushed for the retailer to hire Johnson initially, resigned from Penney's board this week and relented in his latest fight to replace Ullman faster than his fellow directors wanted.
"They do have a lot of work ahead of them," said Rick Snyder, an analyst for Maxim Group LLC in New York, who recommends buying Penney shares. "Eliminating the distraction is positive, so they can focus on the business."
Penney said today it entered into an agreement with Ackman under which its largest investor may make as many as four requests to the company to register for the sale of some of his stake. The rights granted under the Aug. 13 agreement end when Ackman and his funds own less than 5 percent of the retailer's stock, according to a regulatory filing today.
Ackman holds an almost 18 percent stake in the company.
Analysts project Penney's second-quarter net loss will widen to about $1.20 a share from 67 cents a share a year earlier and sales will fall 8 percent to $2.78 billion, according to the average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. In the past four weeks, analysts have become only more bearish, with the average estimates for both profit and revenue declining.
Macy's Inc.'s performance during the second quarter doesn't bode well, either. The second-largest department-store chain's sales fell for the first quarter since 2010, and earnings per share trailed analysts' estimates for the first time since 2007. CEO Terry Lundgren blamed cool weather for slowing sales of summer apparel and consumers reducing purchases because of economic uncertainty.
Ullman, who led the company for about seven years in his first stint as CEO, returned to stabilize the century-old chain after Johnson's costly overhaul failed to attract younger and wealthier customers while alienating longtime shoppers. That combination led to a 25 percent sales decline last year that, coupled with heavy spending on remodeling stores, caused a net loss of $985 million.
The company consumed so much cash during Johnson's time that within three weeks of returning, Ullman drew down $850 million of the company's revolving credit line and negotiated a $2.25 billion loan.
The company continues to use cash, including an estimated $1.2 billion during the second quarter, and that could prompt it to seek more outside funds by the end of the year, according to Matthew Boss, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. Penney this month estimated it had about $1.5 billion in cash at the end of last quarter. The retailer also denied a report that CIT Group Inc. had stopped funding some of its vendors.
After improving the company's balance sheet, Ullman made a slew of changes to revive sales. He reinstated brands and tried to improve customer service by bringing back cash registers and revamping the store employee uniform to make it easier to identify workers. Advertising shifted to a value message to promote the return of doorbusters and sales events.
Some of the merchandise Johnson swapped in hasn't been a hit with the chain's core customers, and it can't be changed as quickly. That has dragged on results, especially in the remodeled home section, according to analysts and three former store managers who left the retailer as recently as June.
The home overhaul was the most expensive and last part of Johnson's plan to turn Penney stores into collections of branded boutiques. After months of construction, the renovated departments opened in about half of the chain's 1,110 stores in the second quarter after Johnson was gone. Ullman had little choice but to finish the construction and get the stores fully operational as quickly as possible because home goods account for about 15 percent of floor space at those stores.
While there are low-priced private-label items, much of the sections are occupied by designer goods such as $60 toasters from architect Michael Graves and big-ticket goods including a $1,695 chair from Happy Chic by Jonathan Adler.
"The new home department has failed to drive traffic, and high price points on the new product have not resonated with J.C. Penney's customer," Deborah Weinswig, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in New York, wrote in a note to clients. The merchandising missteps "could lead to markdowns," said Weinswig, who recommends selling Penney shares.
The managers, who all left during the second quarter and didn't want to speak publicly about a former employer, reiterated the pricing concerns and added that the redesign of these areas into so-called shops separated by partial walls only accentuated the issue. With their track lighting and ornate fixtures, they stand out from the rest of the store and look more like a pricey showroom than a place to browse, they said.
One of the most disappointing parts of the home departments has been the Martha Stewart Celebrations section, the managers said. The area sells party supplies such as gift bags, napkins and wrapping paper. One manager said the area generated about $350 of revenue in its first month while taking up more than 1,000 square feet of prime floor space. That would equate to sales per square foot of about $4, compared to $116 a foot last year for the entire chain.
Claudia Shaum, a spokeswoman for Martha Stewart Living, and Daphne Avila, a spokeswoman for Penney, declined to comment.
The party items aren't part of the legal battle involving Macy's, Penney and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. The dispute, now awaiting a judge's decision, involves Martha Stewart-designed products for the bed, bath and kitchen that Macy's says it had exclusive rights to sell. Penney took Martha Stewart items it already made in those categories and rebranded them "JCP Everyday."
There are still ways to boost sales in the home department, according to Maxim's Snyder. He expects the company to swap out the underperforming brands by the holiday shopping season. Liz Dunn, an analyst at Macquarie Group in New York, predicts the chain will clutter up the wide aisles that Johnson installed with lower-priced, fast-moving goods such as towels.
"It's definitely going to be hard to reverse," said Dunn, who rates Penney shares neutral, the equivalent of a hold. "And expensive to reverse for a company that is trying to conserve cash."