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From executive producer/writer Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and executive producer Howard Gordon (Homeland, 24), and with a pilot directed by David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse, 30 Days of Night), the NBC series Awake follows the life of Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs), who wakes up from a car accident with his wife (Laura Allen) and teenage son (Dylan Minnette), to learn the devastating news that his wife died in the crash. And then, he wakes up a few days later to realize that his wife is very much alive and his son died in the accident. When Michael goes back to work solving crimes, alternating between realities provides some challenges when he realizes that these realities overlap in fascinating and inexplicable ways.
At a press day held on the show's set during a break from filming, actor Jason Isaacs talked about this complex and intriguing new drama, how the universal themes are what made him want to do the show, that no episode will be the same because the character's world changes all the time, why they decided to shut down production for a month, and that, as a producer and part of the storytelling process, he knows which of the worlds is real and which one isn't. Check out what he had to say after the jump.
As a character, you're living two lives, which has to be exhausting. As an actor, you're in just about every scene of this show. Are you equally as exhausted?
JASON ISAACS: I am. I fell asleep during Cherry Jones' close-up yesterday. I felt very guilty since she's one of the greatest actresses on the planet. She called me on it, and I tried to bullshit her and pretend that my character was closing his eyes. She went, "No, I saw you fluttering." I'm physically exhausted, but that's fine. It's fun. I go to work at five in the morning and I go home at nine or 10 at night, most days. It's mentally exhausting because I don't have an awful lot in my life that parallels this.
Most acting is, "What if?," acting. It's pretty easy to find something in your own life that vaguely approximates what your character is going through. You go, "Oh, this is like when my cat died," or "This is like when I lost my child in the supermarket." But, I don't have anything to draw on for, "What if I didn't know what was a dream and what was real?" So, it's that much harder to place myself in his shoes, which is all acting is. It's, "What if I was this guy, in this situation, with these things happening?"
And Britten could be the only person in the world that has this affliction.
ISAACS: Yeah, that's true. The only reason that I wanted to do this show, and that I hope people find it and like it, is that it's completely universal. Although he has a unique situation, through that prism, we can explore what it's like to be a father, what it's like to be a husband, what it's like to reboot a marriage, if you didn't get it right the first time, and what it's like to explore your subconscious. We've all got a subconscious. We've all got dreams. We all have fears, anxieties and hopes. In one of those worlds, those are made manifest. He just doesn't know which one. Hopefully, there's something very universal, as well as unique, about it.
Audiences will want to know which world is real, but is that something that Britten wants?
ISAACS: Not initially. One of the challenging and fun things about this – and you can ask the writers how much fun they have, but I think the answer would be, "None" – is that nothing is the same. No episode is the same, as things progress. Although these are completely weekly, close-ended, procedural stories, it's also true that his world changes, all the time. When we first find him, in the pilot, he absolutely wants things to stay the same. With these two worlds, he doesn't know which one's real and he's fine with that. He's not stupid. He knows one of them must be a dream, and he must have either lost his son or his wife, and he doesn't want to engage with that loss. But, that will take its toll on him, and there will be consequences. There's a price to pay, for that kind of denial, partly in his relationships with his wife and his son. So, he will change his attitude to it. Of course, he will.
As an actor, do you not want to know which world is real?
ISAACS: Oh, I know. I know where we think we will go with it, should we ever get there. I know, Kyle [Killen] knows and Howard [Gordon] knows, but nobody else. I don't think we've told our wives. I certainly haven't told my wife. She can't keep a secret at all.
Why did you want to know?
ISAACS: I'm part of the story. I'm a producer on it, and I'm part of the storytelling. Actors are all storytellers. We're all part of the whole thing. I get to be part of the writing process as well. There's no formula for what we're writing. There's a lot of veterans on this show, who have worked on many, many other television shows, many of which essentially write themselves, once you get the formula for it. Most television, including all of the television I like watching, is exactly the same, week after week. You just change the colors of the suits, or make a slight change in the plot. They are essentially re-inventing the wheel here, every week. They're writing little movies, every week, around the same premise. All these pieces of this jigsaw are meant to go together, to make a bigger jigsaw, and it's a real challenge for them. I didn't want to be surprised by that. I enjoy being a part of creating that.
What's it like to be so involved in a project like this?
ISAACS: It's a fucking nightmare! No, it's great. It's completely satisfying. That's what it is. There is some sacrifice to be made, domestically. We just shut down for a month to let them catch up with themselves and write more episodes. These episodes are so rich and so detailed, and they want to make sure that everything cross-references in the right way, so they needed a bit more time. That was great for me because, suddenly, I had a break that I wasn't expecting. It's like sticking your head up and realizing that it's daylight again, after a month in a pit. I go to work when it's dark and I come back late at night, and we shoot late, certainly at least on Friday nights, and so I wake up on Saturday afternoon. It's non-stop. But, I've done the opposite. I've sat at home and got under everybody's feet, for months at a time, and I know which one I'd rather do. I'm young enough and have enough energy that I can do this. I'm very lucky that I like my job. I'm sure that if I was going down in a tin mine somewhere, I'd want a break, but this is what I would do for free, if I got paid to do something else.
Given that you do know which reality is real, do you find yourself ever playing scenes and having to remind yourself to ground it in reality because the character thinks it's real?
ISAACS: No, I'm playing Britten. I'm not playing Jason. As Jason, I know all kinds of things. But, as Britten, he doesn't know which is real and that's the central dilemma. That's the hook of it. It's not the only drama that keeps you watching, week to week, 'cause if it was, it would get boring, quickly. There's many other things that happen. There's human drama, and then there's procedural drama. Britten is struggling often and, as Jason, I'm struggling to be Britten, struggling often. Nothing good ever comes easy. Certainly, when we finish a scene, it feels like there's all kinds of layers to enjoy.
Were you part of the decision to make sure it was one world or the other, and not that neither were real?
ISAACS: Friends of mine, who I thought were smart, say to me, "I know. Actually, what it is, is that he's in a coma and they're both dead." I don't know why anybody thinks that they know, but I'm glad and thrilled. Hopefully, that's the game that people will be playing at home, trying to guess, and we will play with their expectations, hopefully in an enjoyable and not a torturing way.
For the last couple development seasons, you've been one of the in-demand actors. What was that like?
ISAACS: I got offered some jobs. It was a bit like tulip fever. There was a moment where I got offered some jobs and somebody else went, "Oh, my god, if you get him in your show, it will get greenlit by the networks," and then somebody else offered me a job. Suddenly, there's a rush on you, like you're stock in some company. But, in the end, you can only do one job, and then people either watch it or not. It felt very heady, for about a week, when these offers came in, but most of those things didn't ever end up on television, and the ones that did got canceled. I was just trying to pick something I thought was interesting and would last a long time.
Were you looking for something where you could have that producer credit?
ISAACS: No, I wasn't looking for anything to do. I had been in Harry Potter for so long that I wasn't available for network television. I didn't know there would be any interest in me. It started with Mark Gordon, who's a prolific television producer and a good friend of mine. He offered me something, and I suspect that he started pushing a very small pebble down the hill, gathering stones. Other people went, "Well, Mark offered him a job." I have him to thank because, all of a sudden, there was a flurry of offers, both years.
I did a pilot last year that I thought was lovely, and then, this year, I wasn't looking to do one. I was looking to do this thing that I had sold myself and was developing, and I just got side-swiped by this script. It didn't read like anything else I'd ever read. I didn't actually think beyond that month of shooting with David Slade, directing the pilot. I didn't even think about it being aired or picked up to series. In a slightly blinkered way, I just looked at the thing right in front of me, like a child, and went, "I'll have that please," and grabbed it. So, being in or out of fashion, I try not to take too seriously because I've been out too and I'm sure the swing will turn around again.
Is there a plan for Britten's wife and son to join him in therapy?
ISAACS: There are all these kinds of plans, but the last thing I'm going to do is tell anybody what the episodes are going to be or what's going to happen in them. One of the great joys of storytelling is that people don't know what's coming next. So, we have all kinds of plans, and that's a very good idea. He's going to have to try to sort his relationships out. Nothing can every get truly and properly and brilliantly resolved 'cause then the show is over. Nobody should ever solve all of their problems on television because there would be nothing left to enjoy. We enjoy watching other people's problems. It's cathartic for us, I think.
If you go a few seasons and your character is still going to a therapist, but not making any progress, how do you explain that?
ISAACS: You don't explain anything. What you do is take a great original premise and you try to make a great episode, and then you try to make another great episode. You have some idea for how to make 12, this year. If it works and it's interesting and people watch them and we like making them, and the network goes, "Well, let's do it again," then you sit down with a bunch of smart people in a room and you go, "Now, what do we do next year?" That's all that's happened with all of the most successful television series. Howard Gordon, who writes this and is the showrunner of this, did 24, and no one thought 24 would go for a second season. It's not about thinking seven years ahead. It's about thinking about next week's episode. If people want to continue to live in the family and the drama of our show, then we will find ways to continue to make it entertaining.
You've had a multi-year run on a cable show and you've done a number of British shows, as well. How are you feeling about the pace of this and being the top man on the callsheet?
ISAACS: One of the things I like about going to work, all day, every day, is that finally the crew are not regarding me as one of those dainty flowers. I think they look at me as another working stiff, alongside them. Actors are laughingly called the talent, and actually regarded as the flakes. Also, I like being on set because I try to have a really good time and make sure that everybody else has a really good time. The sound department has this big box that I link my iPod up to, and everybody is forced to dance in an undignified fashion to bad '70s disco, and nobody is ever allowed to behave like a dick. That's the rule. And, it makes for a happy, constructive and creative workplace.
Other than you, who dances the most enthusiastically?
ISAACS: Oh, you'd be surprised, and I wouldn't give it away. That's the whole point of it. We break down barriers and we all are prepared to make fools of ourselves, in front of each other, and have a great time because we could be doing real jobs.
Can you tease anything about what you're filming today?
ISAACS: I never look at the lines or the sides, until I get onto the set. I read the script once through, initially. I literally have no idea what we're shooting. I never prepare. I try to be in the moment. I haven't a clue what we're shooting today. I literally have no idea what's happening. Whatever it is, it won't be easy. We'll change it and we'll have a hard time, and then I'll put some music on and we'll laugh and, by the time we go home, we'll think we cracked it.
Why penguins?
ISAACS: Well, why not? Don't you have bizarre things happen in your dreams? Sometimes you go, "What the hell was that all about?" You wake up and go, "Where did I get that from?" And then, at some point, that day or a week later or a year later, you go, "Oh, now I know where it came from." And, that's our plan. The thing is not one giant, long acid trip. But, on the other hand, it is true that the writer's imaginations are free to roam, vividly.
There is a reason for the penguins. We shot a scene which is an actual explanation for the penguins, but whether it stays in the cut or not, I don't know. One of the things I worry about, after having done Harry Potter for years, is that you talk about your favorite scenes, and then you see the cut and it's not there. But, there is an explanation for the penguins, and we shot one, so we'll see.
I was crushed that we didn't have real penguins. We had CGI penguins. That was absolutely heartbreaking to me because of my kids. I went home and told my kids, "There's going to be penguins!" And then, I said, "It's going to be the penguins from Mr. Popper's Penguins," 'cause that's what I was told. It turns out it is. It's the penguins from Mr. Popper's Penguins' motherboard, but they look real.
Awake airs Thursday nights on NBC, starting on March 1st.

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Eberhard Möbius
Space scientists, including researchers from UNH, have described the first detailed analyses of samples of captured interstellar neutral atoms – raw material for the formation of new stars, planets, and human beings.
Investigators on NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, including UNH space physicist Eberhard Möbius, David McComas of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and Priscilla Frisch of the University of Chicago, as well as astronomer Seth Redfield of Wesleyan University, presented the mission findings at a press conference from NASA headquarters in Washington,D.C. Jan. 30. and broadcast via NASA TV at www.nasa.gov/sunearth.
The NASA press conference occurred in conjunction with the publication of six papers in the February issue of The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) Supplement Series by IBEX team members, including Möbius and other UNH authors.
In addition to sampling the raw "star stuff" out of which stars, planets, and humans are formed, the findings are important because the interstellar gas surrounding us can affect the strength of the sun's heliosphere – the protective bubble that shields our solar system from dangerous cosmic radiation.
IBEX discovered that the interstellar wind is approximately 7,000 miles per hour slower than previously thought. This indicates that our solar system is still in what's referred to as the "local interstellar cloud." However, astronomers note, we will transition into a different region at any time within a few thousand years (very short on astronomical time scales) where conditions will change and affect the heliosphere's protective capability for better or worse.
As our solar system travels around the Milky Way through the vast sweep of cosmic time, the ever-changing nature of the heliosphere has likely had implications on the evolution of life on Earth as varying levels of radiation spurred genetic mutations and, perhaps, wholesale extinctions.
A deeper understanding of our heliosphere will also aid scientists in exploring analogous structures, "astrospheres," surrounding other stars throughout the galaxy, many of which also harbor planets according to recent findings.
IBEX's second major finding announced in the press conference and papers, that is, the first direct measurements of oxygen and neon from outside the solar system, shows that the composition of the local interstellar cloud appears to differ noticeably from the makeup of the sun and even the average Milky Way galaxy.
There is less oxygen relative to neon in the local cloud than in the sun and the Milky Way as a whole, which presents a puzzle to astronomers. Perhaps, it means that a substantial portion of an essential ingredient of life (oxygen) is locked up in dust, or it could tell us how different the conditions in our immediate neighborhood are than at the birthplace of the sun.
The neon-to-oxygen ratio in the neutral gas of the local cloud, as obtained with IBEX, in comparison with that ratio for the sun and the Milky Way galaxy. There appears to be much less oxygen in the gas of the local cloud, meaning either a substantial portion of the essential ingredient for life (oxygen) is locked up in interstellar dust or there were different conditions at the birthplace of the sun compared to our immediate neighborhood.
Notes Möbius, an astrophysicist at the UNH Institute for the Study or Earth, Oceans, and Space and department of physics, "Together with the modeling of how stars sprinkle material into the interstellar medium, these measurements can really help us figure out the temporal evolution of the cosmic matter."
IBEX, one of NASA's Small Explorer missions, was launched October 19, 2008. McComas of SwRI is the mission's principal investigator. The space probe uses a pair of ultra-high sensitivity cameras – one led by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the other by the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (LMATC) – that contain important components designed and built at UNH. Möbius, currently on sabbatical as visiting professor at LANL, is the principal UNH scientist for IBEX, and the mission's Science Operations Center, directed by associate professor of physics Nathan Schwadron, is headquartered at UNH.
In addition to Möbius and Schwadron, the other UNH authors on the ApJ papers include, David Heirtzler, Harald Kucharek, Martin Lee, visiting professor Peter Bochsler, graduate students Trevor Leonard and Xian Wu, as well as former physics undergraduates George Clark, Morgan O'Neill, and Lee Petersen. The scientific effort that led to the six papers was carried out by a large collaboration that includes scientists from six US research institutions as well as the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
ApJ publishes significant papers that contain extensive data and/or calculations and are of particular interest to the scientific community. The Supplement contains many of the most frequently cited papers in the astronomical literature.
Among the six U.S. institutions on the IBEX mission are UNH, the LMATC, SwRI, the University of Texas, San Antonio, MIT, and the University of Chicago
Originally published by:
UNH Today
Written by David Sims, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space. Photo of Eberhard Möbius by Perry Smith, UNH Photographic Services. Additional photo Courtesy NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Watch a video explaining space plasma physics in under two minutes.


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Amur tigers get boost from new WWF initiative
Posted on 12 October 2011
Russia's Khabarovskii Province at the northern end of the Amur tiger range is set to benefit from a new WWF-backed project aimed at securing sustainable development in the region while also protecting the big cat and its habitat.Moscow - Russia's Khabarovskii Province at the northern end of the Amur tiger range is set to benefit from a new project aimed at securing sustainable development in the region while also protecting the big cat and its habitat.
The three-year project is being developed by the WWF-Russia Amur branch in collaboration with the Nordens Ark Zoo (Sweden). It envisions increasing tiger prey populations, creating and supporting anti-poaching groups and raising awareness in the local population.
To launch the project, WWF and the zoo conducted feasibility studies and participated in anti-poaching raids, working with partners in Anyuisky National Park and the Khabarovskii Province Service for Fauna and Protected Areas, which will be the initiative's main executors.
Three new anti-poaching groups will be formed and equipped with off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, boats and boat engines for the project. Planned tiger monitoring and field work will be done in close cooperation with local indigenous people. Members of the Udege and Nanai tribes will also get new jobs working as staff for eco-tourism projects and as members of the anti-poaching groups.
"Getting support from local people is an important part of this project," said Viktor Nikiforov, WWF-Russia Pilot Projects Coordinator. "Local communities, including indigenous tribes, should have opportunities for nature use, traditional hunting and fishing, as well as benefit from ecotourism development."
Additional plans for the project include opening a new visitor center and development of a special curriculum on ecology and biodiversity conservation for local schools.
The tiger population in Khabarovskii Province currently stands at about 20, with a total of less than 500 wild Amur tigers scattered across the Russian Far East and Northeastern China.
The total global population is estimated at 3,200 individuals, a 97 percent decrease from the estimated 100,000 that roamed widely across Asia at the turn of the last century in 1900.
The Amur tiger is the largest of all the tiger sub species and big cats.


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- Original Title : Captain America: The First Avenger
- Movie title in your country : Captain America: The First Avenger
- Year of movie : 2011
- Genres of movie : Science Fiction, Action, Adventure,
- Status of movie : Released
- Release date of movie : 2011-07-22
- Companies of movie : Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios,
- Countries of movie : United States of America,
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- Actors of movie :Chris Evans (Steve Rogers / Captain America), Hugo Weaving (Johann Schmidt / Red Skull), Tommy Lee Jones (Col. Chester Phillips), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Sebastian Stan (James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes), Dominic Cooper (Howard Stark), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Stanley Tucci (Abraham Erskine), Toby Jones (Dr. Arnim Zola), Natalie Dormer (Private Lorraine), Amanda Righetti (SHIELD Agent), Richard Armitage (Heinz Kruger), Bruno Ricci (Jacques Dernier), Neal McDonough (Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan), Derek Luke (Gabe Jones), Kenneth Choi (Jim Morita), J. J. Feild (James Montgomery Falsworth), Stan Lee (General), Michael Brandon (Senator Brandt), Martin Sherman (Brandt's Aide), William Hope (SHIELD Lieutenant)
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Production Design : Rick Heinrichs, Art Direction : Dean Clegg, Supervising Art Director : John Dexter, Art Direction : Phil Harvey, Art Direction : Jason Knox-Johnston, Supervising Art Director : Chris Lowe, Supervising Art Director : Andy Nicholson, Art Direction : Phil Sims, Set Decoration : John Bush, Construction Coordinator : Randy L. Childs, Property Master : Barry Gibbs, Sculptor : Martin Gaskell, Costume Supervisor : Ken Crouch, Director : Joe Johnston, Original Music Composer : Alan Silvestri, Screenplay : Stephen McFeely, Producer : Kevin Feige, Producer : Victoria Alonso, Producer : Mitchell Bell, Producer : Stephen Broussard, Producer : Richard Whelan, Executive Producer : Louis D'Esposito, Executive Producer : Alan Fine, Executive Producer : Nigel Gostelow, Executive Producer : Joe Johnston, Executive Producer : Stan Lee, Executive Producer : David Maisel, Director of Photography : Shelly Johnson, Editor : Robert Dalva, Editor : Jeffrey Ford, Screenplay : Christopher Markus, Casting : Sarah Finn, Casting : Randi Hiller, Casting : Priscilla John, Costume Design : Anna B. Sheppard, Hairstylist : Cheryl Eckert, Hairstylist : Linda D. Flowers, Production Manager : Sam Breckman, Production Manager : Suzie F. Wiesmann, Art Department Coordinator : Katie Gabriel, Art Department Coordinator : Shari Ratliff, Assistant Art Director : Helen Xenopoulos, Assistant Art Director : Richard Selway, Sculptor : Darren Fitzsimons, Sculptor : Monika Schellenberge, Set Designer : Mike Stassi, Set Designer : Patricia Klawonn, Set Designer : Jean Harter, Greensman : Blake Maslin, Greensman : Craig Whiteford, Greensman : Ian Whiteford, Supervising Sound Editor : Howell Gibbens, Sound Designer : Daniel Pagan, Sound Designer : Jason W. Jennings, Sound Designer : Stephen Hunter Flick, Sound Designer : Shannon Mills, Sound Effects Editor : Albert Gasser, Sound Effects Editor : Jon Johnson, Sound Effects Editor : Suhail Kafity, Sound Re-Recording Mixer : Scott Millan, Sound Re-Recording Mixer : David Parker, Dialogue Editor : David A. Arnold, Dialogue Editor : Larry Kemp, ADR & Dubbing : Anthony J. Ciccolini III, ADR & Dubbing : Susan Dudeck, ADR & Dubbing : Lisa J. Levine, Foley : Vincent Guisetti, Foley : Pamela Kahn, Special Effects Coordinator : Beverly Austin, Visual Effects Supervisor : Craig Barron, Visual Effects Editor : John Berri, Visual Effects Supervisor : Vincent Cirelli, Visual Effects Supervisor : Jonathan Fawkner, Visual Effects Editor : Gian Ganziano, Visual Effects Supervisor : Florian Gellinger, Visual Effects Supervisor : Jonathan Harb, Visual Effects Supervisor : Richard Higham, Visual Effects Editor : Aaron Rhodes, Visual Effects Supervisor : Daniel P. Rosen, Visual Effects Editor : Kosta Saric, Visual Effects Editor : Cameron Sharp, Visual Effects Supervisor : Kathy Siegel, Visual Effects Supervisor : Paul Stemmer, Visual Effects Editor : Rob Woiwod, Visual Effects Supervisor : Christopher Townsend, Visual Effects Producer : Melinka Thompson-Godoy, Visual Effects Producer : Robert Pinnow, Visual Effects Producer : Thomas Nittmann, CG Supervisor : Votch Levi, Visual Effects Producer : Steve Griffith, Visual Effects Producer : Alexandra Daunt Watney, Visual Effects Producer : Felix Crawshaw, VFX Supervisor : Alessandro Cioffi, CG Supervisor : Douglas Bloom, CG Supervisor : Pete Bebb, CG Supervisor : Thomas Baber, VFX Supervisor : Casey Allen, CG Supervisor : Pouyan Navid, CG Supervisor : Pavel Pranevsky, Stunt Coordinator : Steve Dent, Stunt Coordinator : Matthew Sampson, Camera Operator : Pete Cavaciuti, Camera Operator : George Peters, Camera Operator : David Richert, Camera Operator : Henry Tirl, Camera Operator : Des Whelan, Steadicam Operator : Henry Tirl, Steadicam Operator : Jeff Muhlstock, Steadicam Operator : Pete Cavaciuti, Still Photographer : Susie Allnutt, Still Photographer : Jay Maidment, Additional Camera : David Knox, Helicopter Camera : John Marzano, Gaffer : Dan Riffel, Lighting Technician : John Higgins, Best Boy Electric : Kevin Edland, Rigging Gaffer : Wayne Leach, Set Costumer : Reese Spensley, First Assistant Editor : Emma McCleave, First Assistant Editor : Kiran Pallegadda, First Assistant Editor : Thomas Calderon, Music Editor : Barbara McDermott, Transportation Coordinator : Brian Baverstock, Script Supervisor : Brenda K. Wachel, Script Supervisor : Lisa Vick, Dialect Coach : Francine Segal, Publicist : Ruben Malaret, Location Manager : Ali James, Unit Publicist : Kathryn Donovan, Location Manager : Tom Crooke, Location Manager : Tyson Bidner, Location Manager : Emma Pill, Storyboard : Jane Wu, Compositors : Brian N. Bentley, Visual Effects Editor : Chris O'Connell, Visual Effects : Scott F. Johnston
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Eyes wide shut: Tripping in the dark
DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK
Q. Press lightly with fingertips on closed eyelids, and you may see brilliant flashes of light and color, called phosphenes. Why the free show? –T. Leary
A. Pressure stimulation of the optic nerves accounts for these "inner" sight sensations. In other cases, lack of stimulation will trigger them: People confined to dark cells report seeing phosphenes ("prisoners' cinema"), as do truck drivers after staring for long periods at snow-covered roads, says Cleveland State University's Jearl Walker in Flying Circus of Physics.
Back in Ben Franklin's day, it was fashionable to hold phosphene parties (Franklin himself attended one) at which guests would join hands in a large circle, then receive a high-voltage shock from an electrostatic charge generator. Switching currents on and off somehow unleashed colorful phosphenes in the participants (don't try this!).
In experiments by Paul Tobias and J. P. Meehan, reported in Scientific American, blindfolded volunteers who were spun in a centrifuge saw phosphene arrays of blue spots and stars. At 3.6 G's (3.6 times gravity), these inner visions became "golden worms," then at 4.5 G's the worms transformed into brilliant orange geometric patterns that began to pulsate. Following the centrifuge ride, subjects described phosphene afterimages lasting a minute or more, weird donut-like shapes or appearances of a solar eclipse against a dark background.
Given the acceleration-phosphene connection, pilots and astronauts are also apt to experience these images, as are rapidly spinning amusement park riders– providing, adds Walker, they're not too white-knuckled to notice the show.
Q. Can gustatory science tell us... What makes your favorite food or drink taste so darn good? –E. Lagasse
A. Something like 800 odorants exist, with a few or a few dozen combining into hundreds of unique experiences, says Cornell food scientist Terry Acree. Certain flavorants turn up again and again, such as cis-roseoxide, a component of flowers used in perfumes and that gives Lychee fruit a recognizable smell and Gewurztraminer wine a unique "Lychee note."
Chemoreceptors on the tongue produce perceptions of salt, sour, sweet and savory, responding to many fewer chemicals than the nose. Perceptions of hot, cool, astringent, pain and texture also are part of flavor, called "chemesthesis."
"Taken together, about 1000 chemicals go into flavor, that then combine with those for smell to create the singular food and drink experience," Acree says.
And more: Flavor perceptions are modified by memory and emotion–"Hum, this smells like salmon. But it doesn't taste like fresh salmon. It tastes spoiled. Yak! Spit!"
Oddly, it is entirely possible to have something smell great and taste terrible, as was often the case with wild fruits and vegetables before people bred them for better taste, says Acree.
"Other foods, such as the tropical fruit Durian– banned from hotels and airlines– may smell horrible but taste good," adds Cornell biochemist Karl Siebert. And according to Washington State University's Charles G. Edwards, "there are even molecules that you can't smell (tannins) that are so astringent you would really pucker up even though the food smelled good."
Q. Teratogens are environmental agents that can cause harm to a human embryo or fetus– alcohol, tobacco, aspirin, etc. As the list of these continues to grow, Moms-and-Dads- to-be grow increasingly concerned. In fact, what fraction of babies are born healthy, without abnormalities? a) 76 percent b) 86 percent c) 96 percent. –B. Spock
A. Thanks to the marvels of human biology, only 4 percent (c) of babies are born with abnormalities, and most of these are so slight as to have minimal impact on daily function, say V. Gregory Payne and Larry D. Isaacs in Human Motor Development: A Lifespan Approach. In the battle against these problems is a growing array of diagnostic prenatal tools– ultrasound, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, the alpha-fetoprotein test, and the triple-marker screening blood test– not cures, of course, but welcome aids in alerting expectant parents and health-care professionals.
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Stevens Alumnus, Now College Professor, Visits K-12 Students to Instill a Love of Math
Dr. Mike Ferrara '00 has a big presence in a room and an even bigger voice.
His voice, booming and attention-getting now, was just beginning to show its strength during his performing days with the Stevens Glee Club as a tenor. Even now, 13 years after receiving his B.S. in mathematics, the voice remains deep but warm. And Ferrara still wears a full beard and mustache, something he first started wearing while an undergraduate, although now some facial hair is gray.
But it's his voice that makes you take notice, especially in a classroom. Ferrara captures your attention with his resounding voice and active arms as he walks around a room, trying to inspire anyone with one of his passions in life: math. This current assistant professor of mathematical and statistical sciences at the University of Colorado Denver draws comparison between his current job and with his acting performances in the Stevens Dramatic Society.
"I'm really a teacher flexing his acting muscles. This is really a vehicle for my performance,'' he says. "I'm big, loud and energetic by nature.''
This one-time Stevens actor fondly recalls his days in the SDS, noting that an actor and a teacher showcase a similar skill set, such as voice projecting, remembering your lines, holding an audience, and maybe most importantly, knowing when to ham it up for the audience.
Ferrara, who earned his Ph.D. from Emory University in 2005, comes from a family of teachers. His mother teaches middle school in Dumont, N.J., and his sister teaches high school in Fair Lawn, N.J. So it was no surprise when Ferrara entered the "family business'' in 2000, when he taught MA 112 Matrix Algebra with Computers at Stevens the summer after his graduation. Later, he taught at the University of Akron (Ohio) before accepting his current position at UC Denver in 2009.
But these days, Ferrara is taking his teaching career one step further. Since 2009, Ferrara and a team of dedicated volunteers have been going into K-12 classrooms in the Denver area to present "Math on My Mind,'' a program designed to foster a love of math for all students. The sessions have really one goal: to make math impactful and enjoyable. Ferrara feels strongly about the importance of getting kids of all ages interested in math.
"I wanted to excite the students. We try to make it fun, not frivolous,'' he says.
The program has no funding. Ferrara pays for supplies and materials himself and organizes the schedule on his own time. It is also 100 percent volunteer-based, as he works with other faculty members and doctoral students.
"Right now, we're centered on the Denver area and we've traveled as far as one hour away. At first we started with the middle school kids, but just last week, we were in a third-grade classroom,'' he said during an interview last fall.
He admits he was apprehensive at first with such a young audience. "But they are an excitable bunch and we can certainly bring all lessons to their level,'' he says.
Ferrara and his team show examples of real-world experience with math when conducting his mini-lessons, which are tailored to work with the classroom lesson already being taught. Some of his most popular lessons involve fractals, unusual probability games and network science. "All age groups ask, 'What can I do with a math degree? I don't want to teach math,' they tell me,'' he says, mimicking a grade-school voice. "But I point out that math is involved with statistics, and computers use math, and that gets their attention because all of the ages know about a computer.''
Besides the SDS and Glee Club, Ferrara belonged to the Student Government Association and Theta Alpha Phi theater honor society while a student at Stevens. But he quickly credits three Stevens math professors with helping shape his future: Dr. Charlie Suffel, Dr. Roger Pinkham and Dr. Doug Bauer '72, Ph.D. '78. He says that while a student, Bauer had a big effect on his future with one simple act. One day, after class, Bauer loaned Ferrara a book on graph theory and told him to return a week later to discuss it. It was Ferrara's first real book on the subject. These weekly, private discussions continued all semester.
"He didn't have to do that. I wasn't a standout student in his class, but I guess he saw something in me and allowed me to have this experience out of the goodness of his heart. I never forgot that,'' Ferrara says, adding that he has modeled his own mentorship of UC Denver students after the one he had with Bauer. And Ferrara admits he catches himself saying things to his students that Pinkham said to him at Stevens, further proof of how Stevens professors influenced him.
Since its inception, MOMM has grown each year and in 2011, Ferrara says MOMM conducted 98 classroom sessions, teaching to 2,300 students across the grade levels.
So what's next for MOMM? In 10 years, Ferrara hopes to do more, with perhaps a graduate teaching assistant visiting the schools and planning the lessons. "I think that by getting out into the community, you get a real feel of where your students are coming from and that can only help a teacher,'' he says.


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I intended to post this last night but the site was down.
Once again "Fedspeak" sent the bulls into an orgasmic frenzy.
And why not? The suppression of the money markets by the Fed has everyone chasing yield; after all - "where else are you going to put your money?"
Two charts with commentary are attached.


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ATLANTA, June 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Southeast has the high rates of end-stage renal disease and the lowest rate for kidney transplants.
Lead author Rachel Patzer, an assistant professor of surgery at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, analyzed data on kidney transplants as reported by dialysis facilities to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from 2007 to 2010.
Four-year average standardized transplant ratios ranged from .69 in the Southeast to 1.61 in New England. Standardized transplant ratios represent the number of observed transplants to the number of transplants expected based on the number of end stage renal disease patients in a dialysis facility.
"A variety of factors contributed to this disparity," Patzer said in a statement.
"Understanding the modifiable factors should help us develop better interventions to improve access to transplantation."
The study, published in the American Journal of Transplantation, found lower standardized transplant ratios were associated with for-profit status of dialysis facilities, facilities with a higher percentage of African-American patients, patients with no health insurance and patients with diabetes.
Higher ratios were associated with more facility staff, more transplant centers, a higher percentage of employed patients and more patients who used peritoneal dialysis -- uses the patient's peritoneum in the abdomen as a membrane across which fluids and dissolved substances are exchanged from the blood rather than hemodialysis -- which involves fluid removal via the circulatory system.


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For upper-level undergraduate engineering courses in Mechanical Behavior of Materials.This respected text introduces the spectrum of mechanical behavior of materials, emphasizing practical engineering methods for testing structural materials to obtain their properties, and predicting their strength and life when used for machines, vehicles, and structures. With its logical treatment and ready-to-use format, it is ideal for upper-level undergraduate students who have completed elementary mechanics of materials courses.Dowling, Norman E. is the author of 'Mechanical Behavior of Materials Engineering Methods for Deformation, Fracture, and Fatigue', published 2006 under ISBN 9780131863125 and ISBN 0131863126.[read more]
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Ace Hood - Crazy World
Jordan reports "Video for Ace Hood - Crazy World. "Gutta" Album in stores November 18th!. Jordan Tower Films. JTF TO THE DEATH!"
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What is the city but the people?–- Shakespeare
My neighbor Roy (pictured here) recalls driving his aunt Emma Amiss' dairy cow from her house on Woolen Mills Road to the pasture on the south side of the railroad tracks via this lane. Back then, Roy remembers the cow-herding as challenging, as this was a dog-trot, a rustic footpath with stones in the way.
Today, this isn't an easy or safe path because of traffic short-cutting through the neighborhood. The street here, Franklin, is a neighborhood street, carrying around 1,600 vehicles per day. Of those vehicles, 74 percent are not local traffic, traffic arising from the neighborhoods on either side of the railroad tracks; they are from elsewhere. They are piloted by Outlanders cutting through, using neighborhood streets to avoid the pesky street lights on the arterial streets and collector roads.
There are over fifty mentions of sidewalks in Charlottesville's Comprehensive Plan, but which pedestrians are blessed? If Franklin passed through nice neighborhoods, it is likely that these issues (pedestrian safety and cut-throughs) would have been addressed long ago. What do I mean by nice neighborhoods? Neighborhoods with some money.
Bill Emory puts up a new photo every day at billemory.com/blog.Read more on: franklin streetpedestrian


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Small notes creating positive atmosphere at Acton school
Project turned into school-wide initiative
What started as a small project between a handful of students has blossomed into a schoolwide effort of positive, friendly reinforcement at the Acton School.
Students from kindergarten through eighth grade attend the school.
Click here for photos from the school.
Thanks to the efforts of three eighth-grade girls, the students at the school are saying a lot of good things about each other.
"At the beginning I didn't expect it to get this big," said eighth-grader Hannah Miller.
Three months ago Miller and her classmates were assigned to read the book "Skinny," the story of a young girl battling self-esteem issues.
Miller and classmates Chelsea Smith and Baileigh McGoon bought a batch of sticky notes and began writing simple anonymous words of encouragement, leaving them stuck to the bathroom mirror.
"We would write things like, 'You're beautiful' and 'You're worth it,' and 'Your hair looks pretty,'" said McGoon.
"It makes me feel really good to see someone smiling because of something you did," said Smith.
With such a positive response, the girls admitted their role and began encouraging all students to write notes to each other.
Students have since written dozens of notes, all of them now on display to share with the entire school, and the entire school has taken them to heart.
"Oh I think so, because there's a random act of kindness that happens all the time now," said school ed-tech Michelle Rainaud.
Their mission is to help build a little self confidence among their fellow students, one caring word at a time.
"It's nice to see little kids walk up, even eighth-graders and look for theirs, and they find it, they read it, they smile and they're making us smile when they do it too," said Miller.
Next year, all three girls move on to high school, but they hope their current school carries on the project.


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Walk In Step With the Spirit
Tony Vigar
Tony Vigar became the lead pastor for Grandview Chapel in August of 2010.
This young convert was deeply impressed and determined to make these the rules of his life. From that day onward throughout his life he made it a rule to spend the first moments of his day alone with God and God's Word. Before he read a letter, looked at a paper or even read a telegram, he went first to the Bible, that the first impression of the day might be what he got directly from God.


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First jail public meeting held
Nolan County hosted its first of five public hearings Monday night in Roscoe to inform citizens about the needs of the county jail and some issues regarding repair to the outside of the courthouse.Sheriff David Warren was on hand to make a presentation about the current conditions of the Nolan County jail and why he said he believes the county needs to build a new jail. His presentation included a slide show of pictures of the inside of the jail.Warren said that although Nolan County's population has decreased over the years, the inmate population has continued to increase, causing an issue of overcrowding inside a 54-bed jail that was built in 1977 as part of the Nolan County Courthouse.Nolan County currently contracts with Taylor, Runnels and Garza Counties to house prisoners when the jail is overcrowded. Warren said this will cost the county about $800,000 to $900,000 a year, which does not include cost for transportation and additional personnel for transporting.Warren commented on several inefficiencies of the jail, including a lack of female cells, lack of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance all over the jail, no holding cell and only one separation cell. Due to these inefficiencies, the jail cannot fill its 54 beds, Warren pointed out, and must house inmates elsewhere. They usually have over 60 inmates at any given time but due to "unique housing issues," have to transport many of them elsewhere.The Texas Jail Commission has consistently suggested the county build a new jail since January 2000, Warren stated, in order to deal with two main variances – single cells that are too small and manually operated cell doors and locks.Warren showed with photographs how the proximity of the cells to one another and the open bars could be a security threat and could put jailers at risk for attack.Warren also presented what the possible cost to taxpayers would be if a new jail was constructed. Since the current jail is a split-level facility in the courthouse with booking on the first floor and the cells on the second floor, there is no way they can add onto the current facility. A new 96-bed facility would cost $10 to $11 million, which would require a 4 to 5-cent tax increase. Warren said this would cost the average taxpayer $2.07 extra per month in county taxes or an additional $24.75 a year. Warren stressed this figure was a liberal estimate.After Warren's presentation, he fielded questions from members of the community who attended the meeting. About 40 to 50 people attended.No one in attendance questioned whether or not there was a need for a new jail. Questions revolved around the options for a new jail and what it would require. One question that was asked repeatedly was in regards to the possibility of a joint law enforcement center that would include the City of Sweetwater. Warren said this issue has been considered by the county and City of Sweetwater. Sweetwater city officials were present for the meeting and City Commissioner Jerod Peek responded that although they thought it was a good idea, the citizens of Sweetwater would end up being taxed twice as much for a new jail in this case. He explained that if the county built the jail and the city bought back a portion of it, citizens of Sweetwater would pay the county tax increase and would mostly likely have to pay an additional 5 cents to cover the city's cost as well. "With the largest bloc of voters coming from Sweetwater, we thought it would be difficult to pass a bond election this way," he said. However, he and Warren said the city's involvement and other options involving the city were still under consideration and having 96 beds would allow for extra inmates if the city shared the jail.They also explained that although the city and county could share some staff, there would still be a need for separate city and county dispatchers since the city dispatcher fields 9-1-1 calls and the county dispatcher fields calls for other law enforcement agencies.Another citizen asked if the county would have to hire more jailers for a 96-bed facility. Warren said that they currently have enough jailers for a 96-bed facility since more jailers are required to staff a split-level jail. However, more dispatchers would be hired for a new jail.Another citizen asked if the county could do like Ludlum Measurements has done repeatedly and purchase an abandoned building and fix it up. Warren said that was a possibility, but in talking to law enforcement officials from other counties who had done this, he learned that most were disappointed with the outcome and that the savings were minimal due to what is required of turning a building into a maximum security jail.County Attorney Lisa Peterson answered a question in regards to a possible bond election. She said that there could not be a special election on this issue. If a bond election was held, it would be held in conjunction with a regular election, the next one being in November 2012.County Clerk Pat McGowan, who also attended the meeting, also answered questions in regards to a possible bond election. She stated that a certificate of obligation would cost less than a general obligation bond, which would require a bond election. A certificate of obligation is used for funding permanent capital improvements, and that debt service would come from property taxes but would not require an election.It was also asked if Nolan County could take in prisoners from other counties once a new jail is built. Warren stated that although that would most likely be considered, the state jail commission frowns upon constructing a jail in order to make a profit and would not be a priority.Warren also commented on locations that have been considered for the jail, including property off of F.M. 419, property near Bradford Lane and Highway 70, and property off of Avenger Field Road.Peterson stressed that all information provided at the meeting is currently speculation and estimates until county officials decide to move forward with constructing a new jail.Roscoe citizen Bruce McGlothlin stated that he foresaw a tax increase even without a new jail due to the possible increasing cost of housing and transporting inmates outside of Nolan County. He seemed to agree with Warren and said the county would be paying for this somehow in the future no matter what, so they may as well pay to build their own jail.Nolan County Commissioner Terry Willman also reported during Monday night's meeting that the county will be considering how best to repair damage to the outside of the courthouse. On Sept. 10, a granite panel fell onto the north entrance of the courthouse, causing damage to the sidewalk below and a granite planter. The panel and what was used to attach it had deteriorated and gave way. Upon closer examination to the courthouse's exterior, it was discovered that other panels had similar damage.Willman said this led the commissioners to the decision that all the granite panels had to be removed and weatherproofed since the concrete wall of the building was not waterproofed when constructed in 1977. He said the cost of removal and weatherproofing will be about $900,000. He added that the courthouse was completed in 1977 at a rough cost of $3.4 million and was paid off in 1988. They have had engineers inspect the exterior following the damage, and it was determined the building was still structurally sound.Willman said the commission will now have to decide how best to repair the exterior and whether to put the granite back on or replace it with something else.Remaining public meetings:• Thursday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m. at Maryneal Community Center. • Monday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. at Nolan Community Center.• Tuesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m. at Blackwell School . • Thursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m. at Nolan County Coliseum Annex, Sweetwater.


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The tranquil town of Mansfeld in the southern foothills of the Harz shaped Luther's childhood. Back then, Mansfeld was a centre of copper mining. Today, this small town is a popular place from which to explore local industrial monuments from the early days of mining.
One of the main attractions in the town is the house of Martin Luther's parents. Across from the house stands a new, modern museum exhibiting archaeological finds which provide a glimpse into the life of Luther's family.
Even the foundations of the school where the young Martin Luther learnt to read and write are still intact and can be seen today. Nowadays, on the first Saturday after Easter, the town celebrates young Martin's first day at school.
Also well worth seeing is the unique full-length portrait of the great Reformer in the late-Gothic Church of St. George, Luther's local parish church.
A stone's throw from the house of Luther's parents is the Zur guten Quelle inn, one of the oldest in Germany, which has been running since 1430. The Luther family may well have eaten there from time to time. If you fancy stretching your legs after a good meal, the ruins of the old fortress in Mansfeld provide a delightful backdrop for walks, and your climb is rewarded with panoramic views of the town and the surrounding foothills of the Harz.
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Musical. An updated version of the national treasure Chess in Swedish by director Mira Bartov.
Chess the success - extra ticket release!
The musical Chess in Swedish has played for full houses at The Göteborg Opera during the fall - nearly 60,000 have already seen it. Therefore we give five extra shows during the spring!
On Wednesday Dec 12 at noon, we release the tickets to the extra performances: the 27th of February and the 19th, 24th, 26th and 27th of March.
Watch a movie clip from Chess in Swedish
"A fantastic production. It makes you shiver with delight." Ny Tid
"An exuberant theatrical profusion of imaginative riches." Dagens Nyheter
"Fantastic soloists." SVT Kulturnyheterna
"A fabulous, spectacular première production." Teatermagasinet.se
"Get down there and listen for yourselves!" Dagens Nyheter
"I intend going to see it again, it is just so good." Teatermagasinet.se
Using the graphic style of the comic world, the production team creates an updated version of this national gem. With today's surveillance society as a dramatic metaphor for the cold war, we zoom in on a televised chess championship. The two chess players Freddie and Anatoly represent polar opposites: one voluntarily revels in attention, and the other is subject to enforced surveillance. Anatoly's wife Svetlana is the woman who looks after everything, but loses her husband, while Freddie's girlfriend Florence represents the free woman who has everything, but has lost her own self. Over the course of a few turbulent days, these four lives are turned upside down. Once the championship is over, none of the characters is the same as before the first move was made. Director Mira Bartov made her international debut as a director in 2010 at the Geneva Opera. Conductor Anders Eljas arranged the music for Chess and directed the London Symphony Orchestra both for the album recording and during the European tour of 1984.
Watch photos from the performance
Watch a movie clip from the cast's appearance at Liseberg
Pay a visit to the OperaShop in our foyer.
Here you will find a selection of Chess related products, such as T-shirts, CD's and DVD's.


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A424LM 34mm MSR Quick Detach 2 piece Matte
The MSR Flat Top Rings are precision CNC machined from aircraft grade aluminum for reduced weight. These rings are designed after our X-SKEL Mount and feature a steel cross bolt for superior absorption and positive lock for guaranteed return to zero. The MSR Flat Top Rings are available in a quick detachable wingnut version for fast removal and installation or a ?" tactical nut for a more permanent solution. Both of these features allow the use of multiple optics without the loss of zero. These rings are designed to locate the reticle of the optic to be precisely the same height as factory iron sights, the Ideal Height; giving the operator the same positioning behind the weapon regardless of which sight system is being deployed. The MSR Rings are an optimal choice for operators who may require different types of sighting systems depending on the situation.
- Horizontally split rings modeled after the X-SKEL and R.A.M.P. Mount design.
- Skeletonized ring body and caps for weight reduction.
- Places your optic at the IDEAL HEIGHT for Modern Sporting Rifle platforms.
- Quickly detach and reattach the QD wingnut style with no loss of zero.
- #8 Torx style fasteners with steel threaded inserts.
- Square crossbolt for positive engagement of ring to base and superior recoil absorption.


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General Contact Information
Phone: 646-660-6500
Fax: 646-660-6501
Mailing Address:
Office of the Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Baruch College/CUNY
One Bernard Baruch Way
Box D-701
New York, NY 10010-5585
Walk-In Address:
Administrative Center
135 East 22nd Street, 7th Floor
Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Message Archive
Please ignore if you did not teach in Summer II or III.
From: Edward D. Adams, Senior Registrar
Dear Summer II and III 2013 Faculty,
WebGrade will be available for Summer II and III 2013 grade submission from 12:01am August 15, 2013 through 11:59pm August 25, 2013.
WebGrade is Baruch's on-line grading system that allows you to submit final grades on-line from on or off-campus. Once the grades have been submitted, students are notified of their grades via e-mail and grades are loaded to the Student Information system (SIMS/BOSS).
After WebGrade is closed, all students with ungraded courses will be awarded a "Z" grade, directing student inquiries to the faculty member.
Late grade submissions will be accepted only on the print screen of
eRoster (printed out, signed, and dated) to ensure accuracy of names and prior grades awarded.
Failure to enter your grades on time will cause great inconvenience to the students as well as to you (you will need to manually submit your grades to the Registrar's Office).
- We need to have these grades in order to confer Summer 2013 degrees.
- Graduate students and undergraduate students on probation may not register for the Fall 2013 semester until their Summer grades have been entered and reviewed.
- Some of your courses are pre-requisites for fall courses.
- Students depend on their company tuition re-imbursement plan to meet their tuition payment obligation to the college.
Use of Grading Policy
Please enter grades according to the grading policy for your course. The Grading Index Policy is available with a click of the mouse on your web roster. Please do not assign "P" grades for students who tell you that they are taking a class pass/fail: assign the letter grade they deserve and the system will automatically apply the P if the grade is A-D.
WebGrade Changes for Summer 2013 – Instructor SSN is No Longer Used for Authentication
For the Summer 2013 grading period, a couple of changes have been made to the WebGrade service to improve its security. None of these changes should have significant impact on your use of the service, but it may be helpful to you to be aware of them before you begin your grading. The most visible change is setting your course section password.
- Instructor's Authentication to Set Course Section Password - To set a course section password the system will now require you to use your Baruch's Network username and password credentials (the same credentials used for network login, email and wireless), in place of the previous requirement (instructor's last name and last 6-digits of SSN).
- Course Section Password Format Requirement - Another change is that course section passwords have a new format requiring 8-15 characters, at least one uppercase letter, at least one numeric character, and at least one special character ~ ` ! @ # $ ^ - _ | : < , >.
- Pre-Population of Instructor's Email Address and Notification – When an instructor sets their course section password their Baruch email address will be registered and they will receive an email notification that the password has been set. The registered email will also be used for sending of the grade roster receipt upon submission.
The WebGrade service, as well as updated instructions, can be accessed at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/registrar/webgrade/
Should you encounter technical problems while using the WebGrade system, please contact the Computing and Technology Help Desk at 646-312-1010.
Questions regarding grading policies should be directed to Beverley King at the Registrar's office: 646-312-1195 or to me at the number below.
Thank you.
Edward D. Adams
Senior Registrar


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Publications main content.
We are preparing to reopen! See updates to ticketing and health and safety measures.
Datasets for published studies by department staff, along with the associated publications are available here for download. Descriptions of datasets and formats for each study are provided in the associated readme files. The links below are to directories where files may be downloaded individually, or the entire set from a publication can be downloaded as a compressed archive file in zip format.
Faivovich, Haddad, Garcia, Frost, Campbell, and Wheeler. 2005. Systematic review of the frog family Hylidae, with special reference to Hylinae: phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 294: 1-240.
Frost, Grant, Faivovich, Bain, Haas, Haddad, De Saacute;, Channing, Wilkinson, Donnellan, Raxworthy, Campbell, Blotto, Moler, Drewes, Nussbaum, Lynch, Green, and Wheeler. 2006. The Amphibian Tree of Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297:1-370.
Grant, Frost, Caldwell, Gagliardo, Haddad, Kok, Means, Noonan, Schargel, and Wheeler. 2006. Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Anura: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae).Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 299: 1-262.
Electronic (PDF) versions of the museum series (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History and American Museum Novitates) are now available for free download from the AMNH Digital Library.
The Department of Herpetology sends papers written by its curatorial staff (and other staff when possible) to individual professional biologists and departmental libraries on an exchange basis; this includes papers published in outside journals as well as in the Museum series. Graduate students and professionals with whom the Department does not maintain an exchange may request individual papers as reprints.
Herpetological papers published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History and the American Museum Novitates are available for purchase.
For publications for at least the last five years: The AMNH Research Library handles interlibrary exchanges and sales of back issues.


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We have a web application and our online help is provided through an xml help file. When we post our web application on our test server, all PC's are able to access and display the help correctly. When users try to access the help xml file from the live production website, the help file displays correctly on some PC's and other PC's get a file not found error.
We know the file is existing in the correct location because even on a PC that is getting the file not found error, we are able to direclty type in the address in the address bar in IE and it is displaying the XML file.
The problem is occurring only when users try to access it from the live application site. Only some users get the file correctly, others get the file not found error.
We tried verifying the XML parser versions, security settings on the PC's that are getting this error but nothing really works. For all users, the test server works well.
Please help me if you have any ideas. Why would I get a file not found error on a live site and not on a test site.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.


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"Dixon confronts the hurdles [of fatherhood] humorously and honestly…Foodie dads and moms will love Dixon's voice, and wish he were cooking at their house."
–Publishers Weekly
"Keith Dixon tells the unvarnished truth about cooking after a new baby arrives. There will be tears, kitchen disasters, and ruined naptimes, leavened with fleeting moments of joy. Luckily, Keith brings three secret weapons to the table: patience, humor, and mouthwatering recipes. Gracie is adorable, sure, but I'd be lying if I told you I didn't fantasize about shoving her aside to get some of her dad's homemade kung pao chicken."
–Matthew Amster-Burton, author of Hungry Monkey


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This concert has already taken place!
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg Kleiner Saal
Julian Prégardien / Lieder Recital
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
€ 59.40 | 53.90 | 48.40 | 37.40
»Once upon a time« are the opening words in a great many German fairy tales, and the Romantics in particular loved these fantastical stories about strange and mysterious events. There are numerous works in Robert Schumann's oeuvre that feature the word »Märchen« or fairy tale in the title. German tenor Julian Prégardien and his accompanist Michael Gees now narrate a very special kind of Schumann fairy tale. In Schumann's time, a soirée or chamber concert would have been far more open and improvised than is the case today, with a mixture of individual songs, piano works, and talking between pieces. Prégardien and Gees are keen to revive this tradition by breaking up the rigid lieder recital format, commenting on the songs by means of piano preludes and intermezzi, and establishing a sense of context by reciting selected poems.
Julian Prégardien tenor
Michael Gees piano
Robert Schumann
Auswahl aus Liederkreis op. 24 nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine
Estimated end time
Promoter: Stiftung Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
During Your Visit
Ihr Besuch in
Bitte achten Sie bei Ihrem Veranstaltungsbesuch stets darauf, dass der Mindestabstand von 1,50 m eingehalten wird, zusätzlich gilt auf allen Laufwegen im Konzertbereich die Pflicht, einen Mund-Nasen-Schutz zu tragen. Auf den Plätzen im Saal – die dank der angepassten Sitzpläne den Mindestabstand zu anderen Gästen sicherstellen – und beim Aufenthalt in den Foyers besteht keine Maskenpflicht. Alle Hinweise sowie spezielle Infos zu Einlass, Gastronomie und Garderobe lesen Sie hier.Veranstaltungsbesuch in Corona-Zeiten
Enjoy the View
Between the old Kaispeicher and the new glass structure is the Plaza, a public viewing platform on the 8th floor of the Elbphilharmonie. Tickets for concerts in the Grand and Recital Halls include a visit to the Plaza one hour before the start of the concert or event; all other visitors require a Plaza ticket.More about the Plaza
A Diverse Cuisine
Food & Drink
A total of six bars in the Grand Hall and Recital Hall foyers offer concertgoers a varied cuisine before the start of events and in the intervals. Restaurants, cafés, delis and further bars await visitors in the »Störtebeker Elbphilharmonie« and in »The Westin Hamburg« Hotel.More about Food & Drink
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Kleiner Saal
The Recital Hall, designed in contrast to the Grand Hall in the classic »shoebox« style, offers seating for up to 550 people.
Finding Your Seat
All visitors enter the building via the main entrance. Admission takes place in the entrance foyer and is by concert ticket only. The »Tube«, an 82-metre-long, curved escalator, leads visitors up to the Plaza following admission
The Recital Hall is situated on the 10th floor and can be accessed via a stairway or lift. A cloakroom is located in the Recital Hall foyer.
Seat Preview
Are you curious to find out what kind of view of the stage different seats have? To help select your favourite seat, use your mouse to activate the representative seat views.
A cloakroom for guests of the Recital Halll can be located in the foyer of the Recital Hall on floor 10.
Baby carriages, wheeled walkers, walking-stick umbrellas, handbags larger than DIN A3 (42 cm x 30 cm) as well as sport bags, backpacks and suitcases must be checked in at the cloakroom. If required, wheeled walkers can be parked in the immediate vicinity of the hall entrances. Our front of house staff is happy to assist you in this regard.
Cloakroom fee: €1.50
Getting Here
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Platz der Deutschen Einheit
20457 Hamburg
The Elbphilharmonie can be easily reached by bus, underground, bicycle and ferry.
Underground line U3: Baumwall (approx. 450 m from the Elbphilharmonie)
Underground line U4: Überseequartier (approx. 950 m from the Elbphilharmonie)
Bus 111: Am Kaiserkai (Elbphilharmonie) (approx. 150 m from the Elbphilharmonie)
City bicycle (Stadtrad) stations: Am Baumwall and Am Kaiserkai / Großer Grasbrook
There are sufficient bicycle stands available in front of the Elbphilharmonie.
Ferry 72 (from Landungsbrücken pier): »Elbphilharmonie« pier
There is limited parking available in the Elbphilharmonie and the HafenCity.
Multistorey car park in the Elbphilharmonie (open 24/7, 435 parking spaces):
Please note that visitors to the Elbphilharmonie should use the entrance marked »Elbphilharmonie«. The entrance »Elbphilharmonie Hotel« is reserved for »The Westin Hamburg« hotel guests.
The car park operator APCOA offers a flat rate of €10.00 for four hours of parking. Every further hour or part thereof costs €5.00 as per the regular parking charge. The flat rate is only valid online and must be booked at least two hours in advance. Book the flat rate online at www.apcoa.de.
APCOA answers frequently asked questions about advance booking here.
Multistorey car park »Speicherstadt«: Am Sandtorkai 6, 20457 Hamburg (722 parking spaces, approx. 750 m from the Elbphilharmonie)
Überseequartier underground car park: Überseeallee 3, 20457 Hamburg (420 parking spaces, approx. 850 m from the Elbphilharmonie)
All halls and spaces are accessible for visitors with disabilities. More information at www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/accessibility.
Arrival Time
The Elbphilharmonie is a special building situated in a special place. Allow for plenty of time for getting to the Elbphilharmonie and the way to the concert area. We suggest first-time Elbphilharmonie visitors arrive at the main entrance 30 minutes before the start of the concert or event. Late seating is not guaranteed and latecomers may not be admitted to the concert hall.
Concert tickets for the Grand and Recital Halls authorise a visit to the Plaza from one hour before the start of the concert or event. Visitors to the Kaistudios require a separate Plaza ticket to visit the Plaza.
New admission times:
In a change from past custom, doors will now open 60 minutes before the start of the event. The foyer and concert hall will be opened at the same time.
Smoking Ban
Smoking is prohibited throughout the entire premises of the Elbphilharmonie.
Photography and Video Recordings
Photography is permitted at the Elbphilharmonie for private purposes only. Please respect the privacy of other visitors and help ensure an undisturbed concert experience for all guests and artists. Employees and artists may not be photographed.
Photography, audio or video recordings of concerts and events are strictly prohibited.
Event-related video recordings or photographs for editorial or commercial purposes must be authorised by the Press Office of the Elbphilharmonie.


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Sporty and elegant, spacious and adaptable – the compact Kia SUV features an attractive appearance inside and out. Building on the Sportage's already successful foundation, the Kia Sportage continues to offer an impressive feature set, robust performance and modern styling. For 2015, the Sportage carries over from a year of updates, including notable exterior revisions and a variety of comfort and convenience enhancements.
Available in base, LX, EX and SX models, as well as front or all-wheel drive, base power for the Kia SUV is provided by a fuel-sipping 2.4L four-cylinder engine. SX models are equipped with a 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder GDI engine. Both engines are joined to a six-speed automatic transmission with H-Matic.
The Sportage SUV uses the state-of-the-art Dynamax four-wheel drive system that routes upto 99 percent of the available power to the front wheels. As road conditions or torque demand changes, the system automatically diverts upto 50 percent of the available power to the rear wheels. The system monitors throttle position, front wheel angle and slippage. A dashboard-mounted 4WD lock button allows the driver to manually "lock" the driveline into 4WD for a 50/50 torque split.
Rear dynamic suspension dampers, increased floor insulation and standard high-performance dampers on EX models reduce cabin noise, vibration and harshness while improving driving dynamics.
Inside the passenger cabin, the Sportage features Kia's UVO powered by a Microsoft® voice-activated infotainment system based on the Windows Embedded Automotive platform. UVO improves connectivity, convenience and safety by enabling drivers and passengers to answer and place phone calls, access music from a variety of media sources and create custom music experiences all with voice-activation. UVO is standard on Sportage EX and SX models.
Sportage boasts a wide variety of cargo with its innovative easy-to-use "Drop & Fold" rear seat. Utilizing a 60/40-split cushion and backrest that allows the bottom cushion to move forward and down into the rear footwell area, it also allows the seat backrest to be folded completely flat and onto the same level as the trunk floor. This easy-to-perform operation even can be executed without removing the rear head restraints.
Sportage also offers a wide range of storage compartments, including a large center console, large lockable glove box, overhead sunglasses holder, map and cup holders in all four doors and rear seat central armrest with cup-holders.
Dimensions & specifications
Wheelbase: 103.9; overall length: 174.8; width: 73.0; height: 64.4
All vehicle measurements are in inches
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder – 182 hp at 6,000 rpm and 1778 lbs-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm; 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder – 260 hp at 6,000 rpm and 269 lbs-ft of torque at 1,850 – 3,000 rpm.
Transmission: six-speed automatic
EPA Fuel Economy: 2.4L four cylinder – 21 city/28hwy. (FWD), 19 city/26 hwy. (AWD); 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder – 20 city/26 hwy. (FWD), 19 city/25 hwy. (AWD).
Cargo capacity: 54.6 cu. ft.
Towing capacity: 2,000 lbs
Safety features
Dual front airbags, front seat mounted side-impact airbags, full length head curtain side-impact airbags with rollover sensor, four-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock, electronic brake-force distribution, brake assist, traction control, electronic stability control, downhill brake control, hill-start assist control, tire pressure monitoring system, side-impact door beams, remote keyless entry, and Bluetooth hands free phone system.
EX adds fog lights, UVO eServices with rearview camera and automatic headlamp control. SX adds LED daytime running lights, Xenon high intensity discharge headlamps, Smart Key push-button start, and rear park assist system.
Basic: 5-year/60,000 mile
Powertrain: 10-year/100,000 mile
Corrosion: 5-year/100,000 mile
Roadside Assistance: 5-year/60,000 mile 24-hour
The base Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the 2015 Kia Sportage SUV starts from $21,900 for the LX FWD upto $29,600 for the SX AWD. Destination charges add $895.
Sheffield, AL 35660
Anyone who's been paying attention to cars long enough probably remembers when Kia first started to take a foothold in North America. It was around the mid-1990s and the commercials all painted the company as a plucky, scrappy alternative to the Big 3 or any of the most popular Japanese manufacturers.
To drive a Kia, these ads implied, was to be a motorist who embraced practicality. You saved money, you used less gas, you didn't need to go in for constant maintenance. You may be driving around in a car that looks like it was designed by a 10 year old, but hey at least you weren't breaking the bank on your monthly note and expenses.
But then something changed.
Over the last five or six years Kia and its designers and engineers have evolved, finding ways to retain that history of efficient and affordable cars while also styling them in a way that exudes confidence and maturity. This evolution is seen particularly well in the Kia Sportage.
Here is a sport utility vehicle that was once the equivalent of a pregnant bubble on wheels. It was cartoonish, at best, in its design. But now look at it. Like the pimple-faced, bean-pole high school kid that joined a gym and came back from college transformed, so too is the Kia Sportage as it has evolved from its awkward beginnings to something that can traverse the roads and highways of America with pride in its appearance.
That refinement and evolution is evident beyond its aesthetics as well. This is by far the most advanced and powerful version of the Kia Sportage to ever hit the market, evidenced by the implementation of its state-of-the-art Dynamax four-wheel drive system, which is able to route 99 percent of all available power to the front wheels for a level of control and driving that has never before been experienced in a Kia.
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With more than 300 miles of road to care for, the Kane County Division of Transportation's maintenance staff has several responsibilities, such as mowing in spring and summer and maintaining highway surfaces, storm sewers and shoulders.
But from spring to fall, they also get help from dozens of groups through the county's Adopt-A-Highway program. Nearly 90 groups with
1,095 members were registered as of late May, but program coordinator Glenda Starcevich said the numbers frequently change as new groups sign on and others leave.
The volunteers – who participate as families, businesses, Scout troops, veterans organizations and civic groups – pick up trash at least twice a year on such county roads as Fabyan Parkway, Keslinger Road, Kirk Road and Randall Road.
Starcevich said more than 130 miles of road are currently adopted.
"That saves our maintenance crew hours and hours of work," she said. "They have plenty to do."
The Kane County Adopt-A-Highway program was established in 1995, the same year the Illinois Adopt-A-Highway program began.
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, nearly 1,700 groups have adopted about 3,400 miles of state highway and annually collect about 32,000 bags of trash.
"Even with this tremendous effort," IDOT reports, "Illinois still spends more than $12.5 million each year on litter pickup."
IDOT recently announced its inaugural spring cleanup – held April 18 to 27 to coincide with Earth Day celebrations – resulted in 422 volunteers collecting nearly 800 bags of trash from state highway roadsides.
IDOT Secretary Ann L. Schneider thanked those who participated in a written statement.
"This past winter was one of the most severe ever and made trash pickup especially challenging," she said. "The positive response we received to the spring cleanup was overwhelming."
In Kane County, longtime Adopt-A-Highway participant Engineering Enterprises Inc. of Sugar Grove cleaned its stretch of road – Bliss Road from Denny Road to Route 47 – in early May.
"It's part of our way of giving back to the communities we serve," said Angie Smith of EEI.
EEI incorporates its cleanup days within a workday, usually a Friday afternoon, and employees divide into about three or four groups, Smith said.
In addition to bagging trash, she said, they search for unusual items they can bring to their coworker who stays at the office to grill lunch for them.
"We try not to bring the gross stuff back," Smith said.
In their nine years in Adopt-A-Highway, EEI employees have found "a lot of everything," Smith said, listing wrappers, newspapers and bottles as common findings.
"We found a wallet one year," she said. "We found a broken iPhone this time."
Because of budget limitations, the county provides groups only orange trash bags and safety vests that each volunteer must wear, Starcevich said.
But, she added, those who renew their membership get reflective Adopt-A-Highway hats.
"They just get so excited with these ball caps," she said, recalling how a mother gave hers to her son, who would point out garbage from the car.
Know more
The minimum commitment to adopt a highway in Kane County is two years. Participants, who must be at least 10 years old, can adopt distances of a half-mile to two miles. Visit www.co.kane.il.us/dot or contact Glenda Starcevich, Adopt-A-Highway county coordinator, at 630-584-1171 or firstname.lastname@example.com for information.


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Risk ManagementA Global View
EWI Re develops effective risk management strategies to protect the people, property, cash flow, customers, and reputation of organizations.
Traditionally, risk management has been viewed as a structured approach to purchasing and managing insurance. However, insurance is only one of the many components in an integrated risk management program that focuses on reducing the frequency and severity of loss while reinforcing positive behaviors. Business is dynamic: Exposures and operating environments are constantly changing. Accordingly, risk management programs must continuously be refined in order to optimize efficiency.
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Industry Links
- American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)
- Association for Iron and Steel Technology (ASIT)
- National Association of Safety Professionals (NASP)
- National Fire Protection Association
- Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
- Society of Fire Protection Engineers
- Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS)
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
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- Afterburner
- American Associations of Managing General Agents (AAMGA)
- Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA)
- Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM)
- CPCU Society
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- Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS)
- Reinsurance Association of America (RAA)
- Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS)
- The National Weather Service
- Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA)
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About Us
We understand insurance risk
EWI Re knows no two clients are alike, just as no two brokerages are alike. What sets EWI Re apart from other brokerages, is its dedication to its client and its uncompromising commitment to trust and transparency. Each client's business is dynamic with exposures and operating environments constantly changing. Accordingly, at EWI Re, Strategic Discovery, Financial Analysis, and Market Evaluation never end. We are committed to always seeing your business through fresh lenses, and coupled with our deep experience, providing the best advice and service to your ever-evolving business.
EWI Re recognizes the trust clients put into our capabilities, and we reciprocate by being your most trusted advisor. We hold in confidence the confidential and propriety aspects of your business while providing you with objective advice, free from conflicts of interest.
EWI Re is a boutique reinsurance broker providing superior reinsurance and risk management to regional providers. Based in Dallas, our firm was founded nearly 50 years ago, and today has offices in Dallas and London, providing our clients with direct access to the global reinsurance marketplace. Though our service offerings have grown over the years, we have remained focused on one goal: providing exceptional service to small- to medium-sized businesses.
Our international reinsurance services include treaty and facultative reinsurance, assistance with the formation of captives and risk retention groups, catastrophe modeling, dynamic financial analysis, and commutations and runoff services.
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For small- to medium-sized businesses, EWI Re offers superior reinsurance and risk management from a single trusted source. Contact us today to put our experienced team to work for your business.
Our Team
Learn more about our team
We'd love to hear from you
Thanks for visiting EWI Re. We're glad you have found our website, and hope the information here has been helpful — and we also hope to have the opportunity to visit with you in person. If you have any questions, would like more information, or are interested in discussing our products or services, please give us a call or send us an e-mail.
EWI Re, Inc.
5430 LBJ Freeway
Three Lincoln Centre, Suite 1600
Dallas, TX 75240
Tel: 972.866.6815
Fax: 972.866.6801


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Researchers using publicly available data found that the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association-Europe (ILGA) received more than two-thirds of its funding directly from taxpayers through the European Commission. When tax money provided by the Dutch government was added in, over 70 percent of the group's funds last year came from taxpayers. The rest came from billionaire leftist George Soros and two other major donors.
"It appears to be a puppet organization in the hand of a very small group of donors, of which the Commission is the most important one," noted European human rights lawyer J.C. von Krempach, who shined the spotlight on the issue late last year in a series of articles. "Is this really a 'non-governmental' organization, or part of 'civil society?' Or is it an inofficial EU Agency?"
Despite the close ties to governments, the lobbying group has a highly controversial past, according to critics. In the 1990s, for example, after international pressure and a global scandal erupted, the ILGA was forced to purge several groups from its membership ranks because their primary mission was promoting pedophilia. Among the more controversial members was the infamous North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a group which seeks to legalize and normalize pedophilia.
ILGA also fought a long battle to become an officially recognized "non-governmental organization" with the United Nations. Of course, it was repeatedly rejected for its myriad ties to supporters of pedophilia as member governments balked. Eventually pressure from European governments forced the UN to grant accreditation.
But questions about the lobbying group's eligibility for official NGO status are now making headlines again, and some analysts expect the organization's status to come up for review in the not-too-distant future. Indeed, ILGA fails to meet the UN's own established criteria, one part of which states that a "major portion" of an NGO's funding cannot come from governments.
When the EU taxpayer funding scandal first made headlines in December, concerned MEPs and organizations such as the U.S.-based Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) sounded the alarm. In essence, according to critics of the arrangement, the EU is just using taxpayer money to lobby itself while litigating in European courts and bullying member governments.
"We might call it political ventriloquism," noted von Krempach, saying ILGA promotes an "extremist agenda" that includes silencing Christians and Muslims while demanding worldwide recognition of "same-sex marriage" and adoption rights for homosexuals. "Through this 'advocacy group,' the Commission speaks to itself."
In the European Parliament — not exactly a legislature in the traditional sense of the word, but a powerful EU body nonetheless — surprised parliamentarians asked some questions about the funding. From Poland to the UK, MEPs were concerned that taxpayers were being coerced into financing a questionable lobbying group.
"In reality, the EU has no competences as regards the recognition of marriages or family law," noted Polish MEP Konrad Szymanski with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) in a statement to the Commission. "On what legal basis is the Commission giving out operational grants to associations whose main activities are outside the scope of the EU's competences?"
In his written request for answers, submitted late last year, Szymanski also asked why the EU was funding groups working to change the laws of member states — "this being especially questionable in the case of countries such as Poland, which is under this kind of lobbying pressure regarding its family law and which has declared its legislative independence in that sphere."
Szymanski also sought to find out whether the Commission recognized that it was actually breaching EU principles enshrined in European treaties by funding the group. The Commission responded earlier this month by claiming that it does indeed possess the authority to fund homosexual lobbying because it has the power "to take measures combating discrimination on ground of sexual orientation."
More recently, MEP Godfrey Bloom of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) also asked the European Commission to explain itself. He pointed to information on ILGA-Europe's own website noting that more than 70 percent of the lobbying group's budget was extracted from taxpayers.
"Given the proportion of its own contribution to financing ILGA-Europe, does the Commission believe that ILGA-Europe can be described as a 'non-governmental organization' or as part of 'civil society'?" Bloom asked European Commissioners, wondering whether the EU had similar NGO-accreditation rules that, like at the UN, would bar government-funded front groups. "Are there many other lobby groups that receive a similar proportion of their budget from the Commission? Or is ILGA a unique case?"
Bloom raised concerns about the potential influence of wealthy donors such as billionaire George Soros over the groups they are subsidizing, too. "Is there a risk that persons such as George Soros could 'buy' themselves one or more NGOs that are economically dependent on their donations?" he asked. "How does the Commission view the impact of this particular type of 'philanthropy' on democracy?"
Almost as soon as the concerns were raised, the homosexual lobby and its allies were on the war path. MEPs asking questions were slandered as "intolerant," "homophobic," and "bullies," while organizations such as C-Fam were derided as "ultra-conservative," "incendiary," and more. Parliamentarians who support using taxpayer money to fund the lobbying group also launched an all-out offensive.
"Mr Bloom's attempt to undermine European funding is unworthy of exposure. He should focus on the substantial question, which is equality and non-discrimination," said MEP Michael Cashman, the co-president of the European Parliament's "Intergroup on LGBT Rights." MEP Ulrike Lunacek, also co-president of the Intergroup, blasted Bloom as "a true role model for bullies around Europe."
Meanwhile, the so-called "European Court of Human Rights" recently ruled that member governments are allowed to bully and persecute anyone who expresses intolerance of pro-homosexual government propaganda. Free speech, apparently, is not to be considered a "human right" if the state disapproves.
The controversial case involved four young men in Sweden who were convicted of "agitation" against a "group" for distributing leaflets at a secondary school — a crime which can carry a penalty of up to two years in Swedish prison. The convicts said they were merely trying to spark a debate about the lack of objectivity on the issue in government schools, but Swedish courts and the European court rejected that defense.
The pamphlets about "homosexual propaganda" noted that in just a few decades, homosexuality "and other sexual deviances" had gone from being rejected by society to being embraced. "Your anti-Swedish teachers know very well that homosexuality has a morally destructive effect on the substance of society and will willingly try to put it forward as something normal and good," stated the leaflets in question, saying that homosexual lobbying groups were trying to downplay their support for pedophilia and that students should challenge the official "propaganda" by pointing out the link between homosexuality and AIDS.
The European court upheld the criminal convictions. In its ruling, it said the Swedish government undertook "legitimate and proportional interference" against free speech to protect the "reputation and rights of others," LifeSiteNews reported.
Co-Chair Martin Christensen of the EU-funded ILGA-Europe promptly celebrated the verdict, applauding the fact that individuals and organizations would no longer be allowed to criticize homosexuality by invoking the right to free speech. He also warned that the ruling sent a "serious signal" to Europeans who thought they could make "offensive statements" about homosexuality without fear of being punished.
"This is a truly important and landmark judgment," Christensen said in a press release, claiming that homosexuals have been subjected to "offensive" and "defamatory rhetoric" for decades. "For far too long those making such statement[s] were claiming their right to freedom of expression and opinion."
Related articles:
EU Spends Millions a Year to Teach Americans the Virtues of Socialism
Greece Recognizes Pedophilia as "Disability"
Members of European Parliament Preach Austerity, Practice Luxury
Lisbon Treaty Builds EU Super-state
EU Creates "Dictatorship" Under Guise of Financial Stability
UN Seeking Global "Mental Health" Plan
UNESCO Report: Sex Guidelines for Kids From Birth
Clinton Pushes UN on Special Protections for Homosexuals
HHS Website Advocates Early Sexualization of Children
Are Mental Health Professionals Working to Normalize Pedophilia?
Homeschool Leader Flees Swedish Persecution
Photo: Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, signs the pro-homosexual "Be Bothered" pledge.