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Two years after setting up her online shop, Terri Johnson had the kind of holiday season most business owners dream about. By Thanksgiving 2009, orders for her custom-embroidered goods started streaming in at a breakneck pace. And the volume only increased heading into December. Johnson was hardly feeling festive, though. To get the merchandise out the door, she worked nonstop, hunched over the embroidery machine in her basement, stitching robes, aprons, and shirts until just a few days before Christmas. "I was barely seeing my family," she recalls. The problem was that Johnson's main venue, shopmemento, is a storefront on Etsy.com. And she feared that if she hired help, invested in new equipment, or rented a commercial workspace, she might run afoul of Etsy policies and get kicked off the site.
After all, Etsy was designed as a marketplace for "the handmade." The whole point is that the site offers a way for individual makers to connect with individual buyers. But trying to keep up with orders on her own was threatening to turn Johnson's business into a one-woman sweatshop. Etsy rules allow "collectives," but that's a vague and unbusinesslike term. "No one knows what it means," she says. After the holiday crush, Johnson was so spent that she shuttered her store for the entire month of January to recover. She knew that if she wanted to build a real business, she'd eventually have to scale up production. She wondered if she had outgrown Etsy.
This was a big problem for Johnson, but it was also troubling for Etsy. Today the site attracts 42 million unique visitors a month, who browse almost 15 million products. More than 800,000 sellers use the service. Most are producing handmade goods as a sideline. But losing motivated sellers like Johnson, who are making a full-time living on Etsy, means saying good-bye to a hugely profitable part of its community.
From its start in 2005, Etsy was a rhetoric-heavy enterprise that promised to do more than simply turn a profit. It promoted itself as an economy-shifter, making possible a parallel retail universe that countered the alienation of mass production with personal connections and unique, handcrafted items. There was no reason to outsource manufacturing, the thinking went, if a sea of individual sellers took the act of making into their own hands—literally.
The approach worked well enough to establish the startup. Etsy makes money from every listing (20 cents apiece) as well as every sale (a 3.5 percent cut). It has been profitable since 2009, and in July 2012 year-over-year sales were up more than 75 percent. Not bad for a retailer selling mostly nonessential products during one of the most sluggish chapters in the history of American consumer spending.
But now Etsy finds itself at a crossroads. Sellers like Johnson, reaching the limits of what the service allows (as well as what it can do for them), are being forced to consider moving on. Meanwhile, the hobbyists and artisans who make up the rest of the marketplace still value Etsy's founding ethos—that handmade items have an intrinsic value that should be celebrated and given a forum outside of traditional retail.
Etsy doesn't want its successful sellers to arrive at the inevitable point: "And then I started a real business."
How to reconcile these competing visions of what it means to be an Etsy seller isn't clear. While the site wants to remain an accessible entry point for newbies, it doesn't want the narrative arc for successful sellers to arrive at the inevitable plot point: "And then I started a real business."
To try to deal with this, Etsy has begun implementing a host of changes. Some are simple, like a proprietary payment system designed to work better on mobile devices. Other ideas on the table involve revising seller policies—embracing such previously verboten options as remote employees—to hang on to booming "independent creative businesses" (Etsy's new buzz phrase). Boldest of all, the company now plans to offer its community the option of integrating into the mainstream retail economy, including a pilot program that will soon bring Etsy goods to the shelves of nationwide home-design chain West Elm (owned by Williams Sonoma).
While many of these changes have not been formally implemented or even announced to the Etsy community, there's already hand-wringing in some quarters about Etsy losing its core values. The question becomes: Can Etsy loosen its ideological vise to accommodate the Terri Johnsons of the world without alienating the handcrafters who made it popular in the first place? Or, to put it another way: Can a marketplace that made its name as a righteous alternative to business as usual go pro without losing its soul?
Etsy was launched by a small group of twentysomething techies who had drifted into the orbit of GetCrafty.com, a forum-driven site that had become a hub of the DIY community. Foremost among the founders was Rob Kalin, then 25. As the company's CEO, Kalin was disconcertingly charismatic, harboring no doubts about his ability to bend the world to his vision. Invaluable as such conviction can be to a startup, Kalin often came across as less interested in business than in ideology. "I see Etsy as an art project," he told me in a 2007 interview for The New York Times Magazine. "I speak to people in the business world and the technology world, but I don't admire them," he later told Inc. magazine (allegedly while pointing an 8-inch combat knife at the reporter). Kalin saw Etsy as a cultural movement that could revive the power and voice of the individual against the depersonalized landscape of big-box retail.
Kalin's idiosyncrasies didn't thwart the growth of his business, though. By 2011 Etsy had swelled to more than 160 employees, moved to spacious new digs in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood, and had more than 400,000 sellers using the site. Kalin appeared on Martha Stewart's television show (as did, in time, many Etsy sellers). "He was very principled," says Matthew Stinchcomb, the company's first nonfounding employee and now its VP of branding and social responsibility. But at times that meant "he would not focus on what was best for the sellers if it meant compromising his personal ideology." Kalin positioned himself as the living, breathing incarnation of the Etsy brand. "I am actually trying to curate my entire life pretty much with handmade stuff," he told TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington in an interview at Davos in 2009.
Last year the board decided to replace Kalin; Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures (an early investor in Etsy) characterized the move as a case of a founder's vision clashing with the realities of a growing business. (Kalin declined to comment for this story.) Their choice for the new CEO: then-CTO Chad Dickerson, who had come from Yahoo in 2008. Dickerson, 40, quickly concluded that some major changes were in order.
First, Etsy couldn't keep losing ambitious sellers and forgoing future revenue. Dickerson saw a solution in improving the basic UI—making it easier for sellers to sell. In his three-year tenure, he'd already more than quadrupled the size of the tech team with that in mind.
the two sides of etsy
The company is now trying to accommodate both the purist handcrafter and the entrepreneurial designer.
- Allan Young of Charlottesville, Virginia, upcycles found parts to assemble clocks by hand (left); Maiko Kuzunishi of Kansas City has her bamboo clockfaces laser-cut by the New Zealand-based company Ponoko—a practice Etsy now openly encourages.
- The crocheted purse (left) is made by Jessica van den Heuvel of Amsterdam, a solo Etsy crafter; the canvas-and-leather satchel is sewn by Roy Katz and Tanya Fleisher (who operate their Chicago workshop, Winter Session, with two employees). For large orders, the pair work with local manufacturers.
- Jeff Grant of Kalispell, Montana, hand-hews his Adirondack chairs (left) out of fir, larch, pine, and spruce; architect Ben Mickus of Alameda, California, sends his felt and bent-metal frame designsto third-party fabricators, calling himself a "designer" rather than a "maker" on his profile page.
Photos: Zachary Zavislak
Other shifts may sound like semantics but could have a profound impact on the community. For example, Etsy has decided to allow sellers to self-identify as "designers"—meaning they can outsource some of their production work. Rules that once limited working with outside vendors or employees are being systematically reconsidered. "We've missed out on a whole piece of creativity," says Lauren Engelhardt, who oversees policy matters for the company, "which is people who design something but maybe don't have the means to produce it themselves—things that need specialized equipment or a lot of people with specialized skills."
The changes are a work in progress—"We're still figuring out how to express it in policy language," Dickerson says—but the immediate upshot is an effort to resolve borderline cases in ways that keep successful sellers on the site. The front line of enforcement is the community itself, users who flag a given shop for insufficiently handmade behavior. But if the shop's practices are deemed to be "in the spirit of Etsy," as Dickerson puts it, the sellers can work with the "Marketplace Integrity and Trust & Safety" department (which recently doubled in size) that helps shopkeepers preserve the spirit of Etsy as they grow. For instance, a seller who shapes wooden kitchen implements can have custom patterns laser-cut by a vendor, but should divulge the process on their shop's About page.
Couldn't the laser cutter be an anonymous factory in China, though? No, Dickerson says, because that would violate "community standards." That seems vague to the point of evasive. The bottom line is that Etsy is devoting more time to what amounts to judgment calls and resolving them in seller-friendly ways. It's an incremental process but a sweeping one—even hard-and-fast Etsy no-no's like drop-shipping could be revisited.
That's a startling departure from the company's original stance, which was described by Kalin in a 2007 Etsy forum post as expressly prohibiting a third party from manufacturing and shipping the seller's original artwork: "The current policy," he wrote, "allows for every kind of digital print except for this one scenario: a third party service provider prints and drop-ships your print directly to your buyer." He went on: "We have taken an issue with this because we feel it distances the producer & the consumer … this is an important goal of ours."
Dickerson's version of Etsy seeks to close the gap between producer and consumer too. It's just that in his schema, the producer doesn't have to make everything. Oh, and the consumer could buy the seller's goods at West Elm, in the mall.
In May, Dickerson announced a $40 million round of funding. Part of that sum is earmarked for international expansion, but a good chunk will bankroll efforts to make Etsy more business-friendly.
"We've come to understand that many Etsy sellers are businesspeople," he says, "and want to grow their businesses." One example of the improved UI is the direct-checkout payment option, released in June and designed to work more seamlessly on mobile devices than the old PayPal system. (Mobile users already account for 25 percent of Etsy's traffic.)
But in a much more substantive move, Etsy is also building a wholesale marketplace from a platform called Trunkt (which it bought from indie developer Dev Tandon) that will give sellers tools to get their products "into the world in brick-and-mortar stores, catalogs, and other online stores," Tandon says. Does that mean flash-sale sites like Gilt.com? Tandon says that would be great. Mainstream retailers like J.Crew? It could happen, he says.
West Elm is one place you will definitely find Etsy products. "The customers want this," says West Elm president Jim Brett. And though the full rollout has yet to happen, Etsy's community seems to have cottoned to the idea too. Those whose work has already appeared in West Elm catalogs as set decoration proudly state so on their pages: "Featured in West Elm, large abstract painting," crows Etsy shop laurenadamsart. By the 2012 holiday shopping season, the chain—with 42 locations in such un-DIY places as Orlando's Mall at Millenia—will start featuring select seller wares. The new Etsy era has begun.
To the handcrafters whose work made the site popular in the first place, framing these developments as what the community wants seems a bit disingenuous. "It sounds like it benefits Etsy," seller Ryan McAbery allows, but emphasizing business-building will "change the vibe." McAbery is an interesting case: She joined Etsy in 2006 and became an early superstar seller, making Scrabble-tile pendants. She was featured in the "Quit Your Day Job" series Etsy runs on its blog. She was also working 80 to 100 hours a week. Eventually she downsized herself, selling off her hit product line and returning to a more art-oriented practice. She expresses no ill will toward the company but seems ambivalent at best about the idea of catering more to entrepreneurs than makers: "Do they really think Etsy being bigger will help small artists?"
Stinchcomb, Etsy's brand VP, insists the answer is yes. "As we get bigger and have more awareness, that helps every seller," he says. "If we want to try to do something like change the economy, that takes scale." He means scale for Etsy, of course, but for sellers too: People who stick around and use a more entrepreneur-friendly Etsy to build their businesses will ultimately have more impact on the marketplace. Ryan McAbery may not be interested in that, but Etsy is betting that a lot of other community members are.
Maybe so. But scanning Etsy's forums reveals that plenty of shopkeepers are troubled by the new big-business bedfellows, whether they be onsite vendors or chains like West Elm. To take one example, seller BeaG recently posted in the Old Time Etsy forum that instead of being a safe haven for makers, the site has become a part of the problem. "I miss the spirit of the HANDMADE MOVEMENT," she wrote. "You know, Etsy as opposed to those big multimillion-dollar companies that exploit their staff, pollute the environment, and disrespect their own customers, all for the sake of making even more money. Guess what: Etsy became one of those. Talk about a radical change for the worse!"
She may have been referring to a recent flap over Ecologica Malibu, a seller who made furniture from reclaimed wood and was featured on an Etsy blog earlier this year. Critics accused the seller of being little more than a distributor of products manufactured in Indonesia. This kicked up quite a fuss, and Etsy conducted an investigation. It concluded that the real problem was a failure to clarify that Ecologica Malibu was not a one-woman operation but a collective with a "local staff" of seven. "[The] operation meets our standard for the marketplace," Dickerson wrote on the Etsy News blog, and works within "policies that have been in place since 2009."
Etsy's community can be extremely vocal—pretty much any criticism of the site that you can imagine, large or small, can be found animating a thread or 10 in its chat forums—and critics in this case were not mollified. Ultimately, Ecologica Malibu's Etsy shop simply disappeared.
But the real point seems to have been lost in the kerfuffle: A seller designing objects that others build is not an Etsy aberration—it's a crucial part of Etsy's envisioned future.
Will the site lose core enthusiasts over such pivots in strategy? Probably. But that seems to be less important to the new Etsy than losing "graduated sellers" like Megan Auman, a 30-year-old metalsmith in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, who started selling jewelry on Etsy in 2007. The platform helped Auman build a following, get publicity, and exhibit at the New York International Gift Fair. "I'm running a business," she says. But the amateurish practices of Etsy's early adopters, coupled with the limited options for customizing a storefront, made it difficult to stand out or project a high-end brand image. That's important stuff for entrepreneurial-minded creators, Auman points out. She went on to sell her goods wholesale to a network of 50 stores and moved her online shop to the ecommerce platform Big Cartel. She has nice things to say about Etsy, but she sees it as more of a springboard.
Auman was one of several sellers who offered suggestions for keeping shops like hers from jumping ship: Etsy should have a "premium" option for more professional shops; the ecommerce tools should be better; the seller policies should be clearer about what is and is not allowed; and shoppers should be offered a more curated experience, like that offered by the popular flash-sale retailer Fab.com. "I would like Etsy to be less democratic," Auman says.
For Dickerson, Auman's story is a cautionary tale. Etsy, he agrees, needs to figure out ways to give sellers more tools, more options, and more control over their businesses. Letting them sell from their own domains—using Etsy's storefront technology—instead of forcing customers to click over to Etsy .com, is one obvious step, he says. "In my mind there's not any debate about whether we should do that; it's when."
Nothing, it turned out, prevented Terry Johnson from scaling up her Etsy business. She hired seven employees and edited her About page so it listed her as owner; she also displayed pictures and bios of the workers who embroider, ship, and handle the shop's customer service. The head of Etsy's "seller education" department even reached out to see how they might help. "They don't want this kind of business to leave," Johnson says. She did $60,000 in sales in July alone and is ready for this holiday season's salvo of orders.
To insiders like Stinchcomb, Johnson is a foot soldier in the battle to revolutionize manufacturing: "The real opportunity for change: collaborative production," he says. "You get a wholesale order and you have to make 100 sweaters. Could Etsy bring together 100 knitters in the community to produce those?"
Sure, but couldn't that be loosely interpreted to mean "hire 100 workers in a factory somewhere to sew garments for you at a wholesale-friendly price"? It's a question that the community is still wrestling with. In a forum on the Ecologica Malibu topic, the proprietor of the kachinadesigns shop wrote in April 2012: "Soooo. A designer can design a shirt. And send the plans to a SWEATSHOP in thailand and then SELL those products here and call them handmade? I bet Walmart will be happy to hear this news."
At Etsy headquarters, Dickerson offers a different take on the company's goals. Some purists may not like it, he explains, but the site can't just be a parallel universe where crafters quibble over what is truly handmade. Sellers have to think bigger if they are going to "change the way retail works from the inside," he says.
For her part, Johnson couldn't be happier with the site's new direction. She's not out to wage a revolution—she just wants to increase sales and use Etsy's tools to grow. Some Etsians, she concedes, think sellers like her should move on. She doesn't see it that way: "If you grew it on Etsy, why go someplace else?" That's precisely the attitude Dickerson hopes will persevere, since it's the community, in the end, that will drive the future of Etsy's business—and its soul.
Rob Walker (email@example.com) writes for The New York Times Magazine and coedited Significant Objects: 100 Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things.
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TIME LightBox talks to Steve McCurry as part of our series "The Photo That Made Me", in which photographers tell us about the one photograph they made that they believe jump-started their career, garnered them international attention, or simply reflected their early interest in photography.
This is Mexico City in 1972, two years before I started working for a newspaper in Philadelphia. I took a semester off from Penn State to travel through Central America and Mexico and photograph. I was taking an independent study class, but it wasn't about the class, it was about going down there and wandering around, exploring.
I came across this homeless man lying on the street below this very comfortable, fancy sofa in a store window. I thought it was ironic that here he is curled up on the street and there's a whole other world that he can't participate in juxtaposed right above him.
At this point, I was really struggling to find the right image. This was one of my earliest situations that I personally felt was successful. And it really encouraged me. The photographers that I'd admired and respected when I first started discovering the world of photography were Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, André Kertész, and much of their work was about wandering and exploring and observing. It was capturing life as it unfolds.
This picture of mine embodies simply walking out in the street and being curious and observant and seeing things which one wouldn't see if you weren't photographing or paying attention. When you start looking and slowing down, there are all sorts of wonderful things that you see which you would miss otherwise.
This isn't some grand epiphany, but I think that this picture symbolizes my sensing that this kind of work was what I wanted to pursue. It's hard to pick one picture that makes you who you are as a photographer. Certainly the Afghan Girl was an obvious choice, but I was already a number of years into my career when I took that picture. To me, it's more about something that you think is successful and you get a certain amount of joy from.
Just weeks after this trip to Mexico, I came to New York City and showed this body of work to [photographer] Lisette Model (at that point she was in her 80s) and she was very encouraging and complimentary. Within a year, I decided to embark on a lifelong quest to do this. I always knew I wanted to travel and then suddenly I found a purpose and it was a perfect match.
Steve McCurry is a multi-award winning photojournalist whose work frequently appears in National Geographic and has been featured in major magazines worldwide.
As told to Marisa Schwartz, Associate Photo Editor at TIME.com, with extra reporting from Tanner Curtis
Read previous entries in TIME LightBox's Photo That Made Me series.

subset: commoncrawl


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Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Belle and Sebastian released their first two albums in 1996 at the peak of the chamber pop movement. At first, some critics in Britain's music weeklies tied the band into the subgenre, yet the group was too pretty, too delicate, to bear that label. Through their first two years of public existence, the bandmembers shielded their personalities, submitting publicity photos featuring a girl that wasn't in the band and reluctantly posing for photo shoots. Furthermore, they performed in odd venues, playing not only the standard coffeehouses and cafés, but also homes, church halls, and libraries.
The idiosyncratic approach to building their career isn't surprising given Murdoch's approach toward starting a band. A longtime fan of Felt, Murdoch left Glasgow for London in the early '90s in hopes of finding the group's leader, Lawrence Hayward, but he never found his idol. Upon his return to Glasgow, he enrolled in university and began writing songs and short stories. While at school, he took a music business course where he decided to form a band and release a record for his final project (he had tried to form a band before with no success). For the project, he assembled the seven-piece Belle and Sebastian, featuring himself on guitar and vocals, and choosing and recruiting members by instinct in a local all-night café in late 1995. He eventually found Sarah Martin (violin), Stevie Jackson (guitar), Chris Geddes (keyboards), Stuart David (bass), Richard Colburn (drums), and Isobel Campbell (cello). All seven members were college students, and all agreed that the idea behind the band was to stay on a small scale, to keep it as a project and not let the band run their lives; they even assumed they would release two albums and break up.
In May of 1996, Belle and Sebastian self-released their debut album, Tigermilk, on Electric Honey Records. Only 1,000 copies of the album, which was only pressed on vinyl, were released, but it unexpectedly became a sensation, earning terrific word of mouth throughout England. As a result, the band became slightly more than a school project -- it became an actual band. If You're Feeling Sinister, released on the independent Jeepster label, followed in November of 1996. By the time the album was released in America on the EMI subsidiary the Enclave, it had earned considerable critical acclaim in the U.K. -- not only from music weeklies, but from newspapers like The Sunday Times and magazines like The Face -- and a large cult following; by some accounts, Tigermilk was being sold for as much as 75 pounds. Over the course of 1997, word of mouth continued to grow in America, even as the band pulled out of an American tour because the Enclave went bankrupt and closed.
As the band's cult continued to build in 1997, Belle and Sebastian released three EPs -- Dog on Wheels (May), Lazy Line Painter Jane (July), and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (October). Each subsequent EP placed higher on the indie charts and received much critical acclaim. By the end of the year, the group finalized an American deal with Matador Records, issuing The Boy with the Arab Strap in September 1998. The following year saw the eagerly anticipated, wide re-release of Tigermilk, the album that started it all. Following completion of 2000's Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, Stuart David left Belle and Sebastian to focus full-time on his solo project, Looper. In 2001, the group released two EPs -- Jonathan David and I'm Waking Up to Us -- and recorded the soundtrack for Todd Solondz's film Storytelling. Just before the soundtrack's release in spring 2002, Belle and Sebastian embarked on a comprehensive tour of the United States and Canada before returning to Europe for the summer festival season. Midway through the tour, Isobel Campbell left the band, citing the usual differences.
Another major change soon took place when Belle and Sebastian left Jeepster and Matador to sign with Rough Trade, with their next record, late-2003's Dear Catastrophe Waitress, produced by the inimitable Trevor Horn (who also produced Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Yes, and scores of others). The record spawned the brilliant "Step into My Office" and "I'm a Cuckoo" singles, the latter of which was the group's biggest U.K. hit, reaching number 14 in early 2004. After a long worldwide tour that found Belle and Sebastian reaching new levels of success, they retired to Scotland and began preparing for the recording of their fifth album. The Life Pursuit was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Tony Hoffer and was released in 2006 by Rough Trade in the U.K. The band was back with Matador in the U.S.
After a tour that included a sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl, the band took a well-deserved break. Apart from the release of The BBC Sessions (by Matador and Jeepster) in 2008, no Belle and Sebastian records were released until 2010. During the hiatus, Murdoch spent time on his God Help the Girl project (which included much of the band as well), and Jackson and Kildea toured and recorded with the legendary Scottish indie pop band the Vaselines, who had re-formed in 2009. After spending the early part of 2010 recording with Tony Hoffer, the group released Write About Love on October 12 of 2010.
Write About Love performed well -- it peaked at eight on the U.K. charts and at 15 on Billboard in the U.S. -- and after its release, the band entered a quiet period. They re-emerged in 2013, touring the U.S. prior to the August release of The Third Eye Centre, a collection of B-sides and non-LP tracks released between 2006 and 2010. A few more shows followed in 2014, along with the release of Murdoch's film adaptation of God Help the Girl -- he turned the side project into a musical -- and the group announced it was beginning work on its ninth studio album. Preceded by the single "The Party Line," the Ben H. Allen-produced Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance appeared in January 2015.
Belle and Sebastian returned in December of 2017 with How to Solve Our Human Problems, the first in a series of three EPs released in succession. All three How to Solve Our Human Problems EPs were released as a collected set in February 2018. In 2019, Belle and Sebastian revisited a handful of old songs as part of their soundtrack for the coming of age comedy Days of the Bagnold Summer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi


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An extremely sort after Omega Constellation pie pan which features a date aperture. It is fitted to a black leather strap. The highly reliable 565 calibre movement has been recently serviced and has a lug width of 18mm. The silver dial has some marks on please refer to photos.
Comes with an aftermarket wooden box. We are one of the only retailers that offer a full 12 months Warranty!
BRAND: Omega
SERIES: Constellation Jumbo Pie Pan
MOVEMENT: Automatic
GENDER: Male
CASE: Stainless Steel
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DIAL: Silver
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Small Plant News: Volume 6, Number 6
|Small Plant News Archive Page. This is an archive page. No new content is being added. While these newsletters remain available for reference purposes, the documents do not reflect changes to Agency policy that may have been instituted since the newsletters were published. Also note that resources and websites mentioned in older issues may have moved or may no longer be available. Points of contact for various initiatives may have changed.
In This Issue:
- Chemical Residue Violations: Are You Doing Enough To Prevent Them?
- FSIS Launches the New Label Submission and Approval System
- Commonly Asked Questions & Answers
Chemical Residue Violations: Are You Doing Enough To Prevent Them?
By Jane Johnson, DVM
On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of a compliance guide for the prevention of chemical residue violations in animals at slaughter plants. The guidance document, Compliance Guide For Residue Prevention 2012, is available for review on FSIS' Web site at www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Residue_Prevention_Compliance_Guide_042512.pdf..
As a small or very small plant owner or operator, you may already know that FSIS oversees the U.S. National Residue Program. The purpose of this program is to protect the consumer from domestic and imported meat, poultry, and processed egg products that are adulterated because of illegal chemical residues. The Agency collects samples of meat, poultry, and processed egg products at federally inspected plants and analyzes them at FSIS laboratories for chemical residues of veterinary drugs, pesticides, and environmental contaminants such as toxins from fungi and heavy metals like lead and arsenic.
Another important component of the National Residue Program is to have plants provide verification of residue control in Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems. As part of the HACCP regulation under Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 417 (9 CFR Part 417), you're required to conduct a hazard analysis and to consider the food safety hazards that can be expected to arise from drug and other chemical residues. You're also required to maintain documentation that supports the
decisions made in your hazard analysis as a part of your records.
FSIS expects, as it has since HACCP was implemented, that you will verify the ongoing effectiveness of your residue programs under HACCP. If you determine in your hazard analysis that the food safety hazard "drug residues" is not a hazard reasonably likely to occur, then you are required to reassess your HACCP plan each time a drug residue violation is found by FSIS. Of course, it will be difficult for you to support the decision that drug residues are not reasonably likely to occur if FSIS finds repeated violations.
FSIS' guidance document emphasizes five steps you can take to help prevent the occurrence of residue violations in
livestock or poultry at your plant:
- Confirm producer history
You should have effective residue control programs that include measures that take into account the historical residue violation information associated with producers. A livestock producer is the individual, farm, dairy, ranch, feed yard, or other firm from which the animal originates. You can access the Residue Repeat Violator List for Use by Livestock Markets and Establishments at www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Residue_EST.pdf to obtain the list of repeat violator producers prior to purchasing
the animals. The list includes only producers who have supplied more than one animal with an illegal residue level in the past year.
The Residue Repeat Violator List for Use by Livestock Markets and Establishments is updated weekly. Since the list identifies livestock from known producers of repeat violator animals, it can be a valuable tool for assisting you in avoiding illegal residues in animals you slaughter. One way to protect yourself is to require a letter or certification from the seller, livestock market, or auction on a lot-by-lot basis demonstrating that the person issuing the letter or certification has reviewed
the most recently posted Residue Repeat Violator List for Use by Livestock Markets and Establishments and determined that none of the animals in the lot came from suppliers with more than one violation in the last 12 months.
In addition, if you regularly purchase livestock from a market, instead of getting a certification for each lot, you may decide to obtain a general certification that the market will check the list for each lot, although you should regularly ensure that the market is adhering to this certification. This documentation may also identify those animals from a producer known to be on the Residue Repeat Violator List.
If you don't use the information in the Residue Repeat Violator List, either directly or through a letter or certification, you're not taking advantage of a tool to identify livestock from known repeat violators. Thus, you would not be taking advantage of a means of controlling a hazard that's foreseeable.
- Buy residue-free animals
Buy animals from producers that have a history of providing residue-free animals, that employ an effective residue prevention program, and that use drugs judiciously by avoiding unnecessary or inappropriate use. In addition, require documentation from the producer that the animals are "Drug Residue Free." The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends in its guidance on the judicious use of medically important drugs that producers limit use in food-producing animals of medically important antimicrobial drugs to cases when such use is necessary to ensure animal health, and then only with veterinary oversight or consultation.
- Ensure animals are adequately identified
FSIS encourages you to purchase animals with sufficient identification, such as ear tags or back tags, to trace back to the producer and not to purchase any livestock that do not have identification that would allow them to be traced back to the farm of their origin. Livestock should be consistently identified with ear tags or back tags, and that identification has to be maintained with the livestock through the slaughter process until post-mortem inspection is complete. Maintaining proper
identification of livestock enables accurate trace back to the producer that can be upheld in a court of law if necessary.
Without adequate identification, neither you nor FSIS can utilize herd history to assess how likely livestock are to have violative levels of chemicals. Livestock that do not have animal identification may have had the identification intentionally removed in an effort to obscure their origin, leading to an FSIS concern about a higher risk that these animals contain violative residues.
Given this risk and the facts supporting it, FSIS inspection personnel will be less likely to test livestock presented for ante-mortem inspection that are properly identified with respect to the producer, or for which the plant has an appropriate certification from the seller, livestock market, or auction. When livestock are not identified at ante-mortem inspection, given the
Agency's experience with such livestock, FSIS is likely to test such animals at a more frequent basis (up to 100 percent).
- Supply the producer information to FSIS at antemortem inspection
When producer information or other assurances are not available at ante-mortem, or when the livestock are purchased from a producer listed on the Residue Repeat Violator List for Use by Livestock Markets and Establishments, FSIS is likely to screen test the livestock at a higher rate and may test up to 100 percent.
FSIS is likely to screen test the livestock at a lower rate if it is presented with producer information or a letter or certification from the seller, livestock market, or auction, on a lot-by-lot or other appropriate basis, demonstrating that the person issuing the letter or certification reviewed the most recently posted Residue Repeat Violator List for Use by Livestock Markets and
Establishments and determined that none of the animals in the lot came from suppliers with more than one violation inn the last 12 months.
- Notify Producers of Violative Animals
Slaughter plants are notified through FSIS' Public Health Information System (PHIS) of both violative residues and of residues that are detectable but that do not exceed the tolerance levels established by FDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. You should notify animal producers in writing if their animals are found with either violative or non-violative levels of a drug residue. Persistent non-violative residues may indicate a pattern of usage that could result in violations
at some point. Such notification should include a discussion of the issues involved, the company's future expectations, and an indication that repeat violators will not be future suppliers.
FSIS accepted comments on the Compliance Guide for Residue Prevention 2012 through June 25, 2012. The guide
will be updated as needed in response to those comments. However, FSIS encourages you to start following the recommendations it contains now, especially if you slaughter dairy cows and bob veal calves.
For more information or questions on chemical residues and chemical residue prevention, you may wish to contact the Small Plant Help Desk at 1-877-FSISHELP (1-877-374-7435) or firstname.lastname@example.com.
FSIS Launches the New Label Submission and Approval System
By Jane Johnson, DVM
FSIS' Labeling and Program Delivery Division (LPDD) has launched the Label Submission and Approval System (LSAS). The LSAS is a secure Web-based system that can be used for submitting label applications to LPDD, giving you, the small or very small plant owner/operator, an alternative to the current method of submitting paper applications by mail, express mail, courier, or fax. Paper label application submissions will still be accepted.
This system's launch will have a significant impact on the speed and accuracy of label review, as well as the ability to develop data-specific reports based on labeling information.
While the system will not check labels automatically for errors, it will scan for some common errors in the label submission process, including illegible labels, missing information on the transmittal form, and missing supporting documentation. This will help to improve the label submission process. The system will also include a feature that will help submitters determine whether a label can be
generically approved or if it must be submitted to FSIS for approval.
To use the system, users will need to have USDA "Level 2" e-Authentication (eAuth). Below are the steps to create an account:
- Log onto www.eauth.egov.usda.gov, and complete the online application for approval. USDA will notify you when your account is approved.
- After you receive your notification of approval, you're required to have a Licensed Registration Agent (LRA) verify your identity in person. You must do this before you can receive a password for your eAuth account. Find an agent in your area using the map provided by eAuth at www.eauth.egov.usda.gov and click on the "Find an LRA" button at the top right corner of the page.
More detailed information on the LSAS will be provided in upcoming issues of Small Plant News. You may submit questions regarding label applications and compliance through askFSIS at http://askfsis.custhelp.com, or, if you prefer, visit FSIS' Web site at www.fsis.usda.gov/About_FSIS/labeling_&_consumer_protection/index.asp.
Commonly Asked Questions & Answers
Q. If an official establishment purchases meat and poultry products from another federally inspected establishment and then repackages such products (e.g., product that is received in bulk and repackaged into consumer-size packages), can the labels applied to the re-packaged product be generically approved from the purchased product label?
A. No. The fact that the product is purchased from another establishment has no bearing on whether the label applied by the second establishment can be generically approved. However, if the product is a single ingredient and bears no special claims, guarantees or foreign language, it is a generically approved label under 9 CFR 317.5(b)(2) or 381.133(b)(2). Additionally, if the product is a
multi-ingredient standardized product, that is, it has a standard of identity or composition in 9 CFR 319 or 381 Subpart P or the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, and the labeling bears no special claims, guarantees, or foreign language, it qualifies as a generically approved label under the regulation citation provided above.
Small Plant NEWS
Office of Outreach, Employee Education and Training: Stephanie Wilkins, Acting Assistant Administrator
Editor: Daniel P. Puzo
Managing Editor: Jane Johnson, DVM
Production: Sally Fernandez
Design: Gordon Wilson, Duane Robinson
Contact: Small Plant News, USDA/FSIS, Patriots Plaza III, Rm. 9-267A, Mailstop 3778
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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LOS ANGELES, July 2 (UPI) -- Carmen Electra proves she's still got it in the summer issue of Galore.
The 42-year-old former Baywatch star looks as fit as ever in a sexy swimsuit spread for the glamour magazine. Electra posed in a number of skimpy monokinis, and revealed that her iconic red swimsuit is framed and on display in her home.
Carmen Electra is wowpic.twitter.com/URQ7tfpnhw— I.G.G.Y ∞ † (@LordeDallas) July 1, 2014
We refuse to believe that Carmen Electra is 42. Nope, nope, nope http://t.co/rPgNhRvgDA pic.twitter.com/H39sRAuLHm— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) June 30, 2014
Carmen Electra betta WORK pic.twitter.com/c4Q70bG5uJ— Ashaeray (@rashaeHudson) July 1, 2014
"Try to stay stress free and wash up your makeup at night," the model and actress advised fans.
Electra has pursued music in recent years, and recently released a new single, "WERQ." She plans to release more songs, and will also appear in the upcoming films Lap Dance and Party Pieces.


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Hilary Duff's Husband -- Alleged Mercedes Deadbeat
Hilary Duff's Husband Alleged Mercedes Deadbeat
Before NHL star Mike Comrie tied the knot with Hilary Duff, he got into a committed relationship with a $165k Mercedes-Benz -- but according to a new lawsuit, he refuses to pay the bills or give it back.
According to documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court, the Pittsburgh Penguins star bought a 2009 Mercedes-Benz CL550 back in 2008 -- but eventually defaulted on the payments.
The finance company claims they tried to repossess the car from Comrie -- but he has "refused to allow Plaintiff possession."
Now, the finance company claims they want Mike to pay off the rest of his contract -- $103,398.57 ... plus other costs.
Calls to Comrie's reps have not been returned.
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Automation has arguably done more to improve the development lifecycle in recent years than virtually anything else. As applications have become increasingly complex, iterative, and distributed, we seek to automate the software development process even further, beyond such mainstream development practices as automated source control and nightly build systems, towards automating integration and testing.
Continuous integration is one such "next step," one that can be extended to also automate certain kinds of testing. In this article, I extend continuous integration systems to perform integration, performance, and load testing. While this discussion uses Java EE and associated tools, the concepts are equally applicable to other platforms.
Continuous Integration Basics
Continuous integration is a software engineering process where an application under development is completely rebuilt and tested frequently and automatically. While not an entirely new concept, the term was coined by Martin Fowler in a paper (martinfowler.com/articles/continuousIntegration.html) and grew in popularity as part of extreme programming (XP) practices and methodologies.
Many of us have horror stories of working on large development teams, where we each worked independently on our portions of an application, then spent as long (or longer) integrating all the pieces together into a working application. Part of the appeal of XP is the notion of integrating the application continually when new code is checked in, or at least several times a day.
A continuous integration process requires (paraphrased from Fowler's paper):
- A single code repository. (I use Subversion, but you could use others like CVS, Perforce, and so on.)
- Automated build process with self-testing. (I use Apache Ant, you could use Maven.)
- Daily code commits.
- Continuous integration server that can build, integrate, and test the entire application quickly.
- Ability to test in a clone of production environment.
- Ability to broadcast overall build status.
- Ability to automatically deploy and broadcast availability of builds.
Continuous integration processes go beyond simply ensuring that the automating build compiles cleanly. To declare a build to be successful, it must pass basic functional tests. So we do need a somewhat mature development process, where teams all work from the same code repository, write a test case for the functionality they develop, build and test their functionality locally, refactor, and verifyonly then committing their changes (frequently, at least daily) to the source code repository.
The continuous integration server includes functionality that detects that code has changed, checks out the code, and then builds and tests the entire application in a clean environment, eliminating the vagaries of individual developer's environments. If the build or tests fail, developers are notified immediately, when they are most able to easily and quickly fix the problem they introduced.
That's the process, simplified. For large applications, we often need to set up a staged build process, which lets us reduce the time needed to build and test (testing is usually what takes the most time).


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You are here
Science 8
Curriculum Science Grade 8 PDF Grade-Set: k-9
- Download Curriculum▼
- Télécharger le programme d'études▼
Core Competencies
Filter Curriculum:
Big Ideas
Grandes idées
Life processes are performed at the cellular level
Life processes are performed at the cellular level
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- How can you tell if something is living?
- How do humans and micro-organisms interact?
The behaviour of matter can be explained by the kinetic molecular theory and atomic theory
The behaviour of matter can be explained by the kinetic molecular theory and atomic theory
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- What are some practical applications of the kinetic molecular theory?
- What is the relationship between the atomic theory and kinetic molecular theory?
Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave
Energy can be transferred as both a particle and a wave
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- How does electromagnetic energy behave like both a particle and a wave?
- What are the properties and behaviours of light?
- How do you sense light?
The theory of plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains Earth's geological processes
The theory of plate tectonics is the unifying theory that explains Earth's geological processes
- Sample questions to support inquiry with students:
- How does the movement of Earth's tectonic plates cause observable changes and effects?
- How does tectonic plate movement affect you locally?
- What evidence of plate tectonic movement is shared by First Peoples?
Learning Standards
Show All Elaborations
Curricular Competencies
Students are expected to be able to do the following:
Questioning and predicting
Questioning and predicting
Questioning and predictingMatter is anything that has mass and takes up space. Energy is the ability to cause change or do work. The universe is made up of matter and energy.
- Key questions about matter and energy:
- What is the relationship between matter and energy and the cell theory?
- How do matter and energy connect to the kinetic molecular theory?
Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest
Make observations aimed at identifying their own questions about the natural world
Identify a question to answer or a problem to solve through scientific inquiry
Formulate alternative "If…then…" hypotheses based on their questions
Make predictions about the findings of their inquiry
Planning and conducting
Collaboratively plan a range of investigation types, including field work and experiments, to answer their questions or solve problems they have identified
Measure and control variables (dependent and independent) through fair tests
Observe, measure, and record data (qualitative
and quantitative
qualitativeevidence expressed through words, descriptions, interviews, narratives
), using equipment, including digital technologies, with accuracy
quantitativeevidence expressed through numbers and measurement
and precision
accuracyhow close a measured value is to the actual value
precisionhow close measurements of the same type are to each other
Use appropriate SI units and perform simple unit conversions
Ensure that safety and ethical guidelines are followed in their investigations
Processing and analyzing data and information
Experience and interpret the local environment
Apply First Peoples perspectives and knowledge, other ways of knowing
, and local knowledge as sources of information
ways of knowingWays of knowing refers to the various beliefs about the nature of knowledge that people have; they can include, but are not limited to, Aboriginal, gender-related, subject/discipline specific, cultural, embodied and intuitive beliefs about knowledge.
Construct and use a range of methods to represent patterns or relationships in data, including tables, graphs, keys, models, and digital technologies as appropriate
Seek patterns and connections in data from their own investigations and secondary sources
Use scientific understandings to identify relationships and draw conclusions
Reflect on their investigation methods, including the adequacy of controls on variables (dependent and independent) and the quality of the data collected
Identify possible sources of error and suggest improvements to their investigation methods
Demonstrate an awareness of assumptions and bias in their own work and secondary sources
Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence (qualitative and quantitative)
Exercise a healthy, informed skepticism and use scientific knowledge and findings from their own investigations to evaluate claims in secondary sources
Consider social, ethical, and environmental implications of the findings from their own and others' investigations
Applying and innovating
Contribute to care for self, others, community, and world through personal or collaborative approaches
Co-operatively design projects
Transfer and apply learning to new situations
Generate and introduce new or refined ideas when problem solving
Communicate ideas, findings, and solutions to problems, using scientific language, representations, and digital technologies as appropriate
Express and reflect on a variety of experiences and perspectives of place
placePlace is any environment, locality, or context with which people interact to learn, create memory, reflect on history, connect with culture, and establish identity. The connection between people and place is foundational to First Peoples perspectives of the world.
- Key questions about place:
- How does place inform your questions and inquiries?
- How does place influence your ability to plan and conduct an inquiry and make predictions about outcomes?
- How does your understanding of place affect the ways in which you collect evidence and evaluate it?
- As you consider the significance, worth, or value of an outcome or finding, how can you show different ways of knowing?
- How can your understanding of place influence project designs?
- How do the place-based experiences and stories of others affect the ways in which you communicate and collaborate?
Students are expected to know the following:
characteristics of life
characteristics of lifeliving things respire, grow, take in nutrients, produce waste, respond to stimuli, and reproduce; there is debate as to whether or not to classify viruses as living things
cell theory
and types of cells
cell theory
- living things are made of one or more cells
- all cells come from pre-existing cells
- the cell is a basic unit of life
types of cells
- prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
- plant and animal cells
- cells contain structures that carry out essential functions
photosynthesis and cellular respiration
the relationship of micro-organisms
with living things:
- micro-organisms are key to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers
- viruses and bacteria can cause disease and can also be used in industry (e.g., production of cheese and salami) and agriculture (e.g., production of striped tulips)
- basic functions of the immune systemimmune system
- the immune system provides a barrier to infections and a number of non-specific and specific responses to fight infection (e.g., fever, antibodies, phagocytes, inflammation)
- different populations have greater immunity to certain infections than other populations (e.g., impact of smallpox epidemic on First Peoples)
- vaccinationand antibioticsvaccinationvaccination can prevent the spread of infectious diseaseantibioticsantibiotics are effective only against living organisms, such as bacteria, and not against viruses; overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria ("superbugs")
- impacts of epidemicsand pandemicsepidemicsregional outbreaks (e.g., smallpox, measles)on human populationspandemicsglobal outbreaks (e.g., Spanish flu, SARS)
kinetic molecular theory
kinetic molecular theoryexplains how particles move in different states
atomic theory
and models
atomic theoryprovides evidence for the existence of atoms and molecules
modelsmodels can be used to represent:
- the arrangement and motion of particles in different phases
- the arrangement of and forces that bind protons, neutrons, and electrons in an atom
- the quarks and leptons in protons, neutrons, and electrons
protons, neutrons, and quarks
protons, neutrons, and quarksprotons and neutrons (made of quarks) are held together in the nucleus by a strong nuclear force
electrons and leptons
electrons and leptonselectrons (a type of lepton) are held at a distance from the nucleus through electromagnetism
and effects
typestypes of electromagnetic radiation: the electromagnetic spectrum consists of radio, microwave, infrared, light, UV, X-ray, and gamma rays
of electromagnetic radiation
effectseffects of electromagnetic radiation: positive effects include cancer treatments; negative effects include sunburns
- propertiespropertiesproperties of light:
- acts like both a wave and a particle
- wavelength, amplitude, frequency
- behavioursbehavioursbehaviours of light:
- reflection, refraction, absorption, transmission, scattering
- images formed by lenses and mirrors
- effects of translucent, transparent, and opaque objects
- ways of sensingways of sensingways of sensing light: human vision, optical instruments, cameras
plate tectonic movement
plate tectonic movement
- types of plate movements
- plate boundaries
- earthquakes and volcanoes
major geological events of local significance
First Peoples knowledge of:
- local geological formations
- significant local geological events
layers of Earth
Note: Some of the learning standards in the PHE curriculum address topics that some students and their parents or guardians may feel more comfortable addressing at home. Refer to ministry policy regarding opting for alternative delivery.


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A good story draws attention. Parents can use storytelling to increase interest in reading and books. Storytelling goes hand in hand with reading and literacy development because oral communication provides the basis for beginning reading. Children that tell stories increase their understanding of word development and grow their vocabularies.
Bedtime is the perfect time for parents and children to engage in storytelling. Kimberly-Clark is sharing its commitment to literacy and wants to help parents and children bond at night with the magic of storytelling. Their GoodNites website offers several storytelling bedtime activity suggestions:
Play with Finger Puppets [pdf] - Put on a puppet show with the finger puppets and have your child act out their own made up story.
Use Template Word Games [pdf] - Create wacky stories by filling in the blanks of a short story with words and phrases. Read the story aloud together.
Make Hand Shadows [pdf] - Tell a story and illustrate it with your hand shadows on the wall.
The GoodNites brand of sleep pants also recently launched Bedtime Theater,™ a series audio bedtime stories available for free download online (CD versions are available in packages of GoodNites Sleep Pants). The story is about a boy Iggy and his exciting adventures with his magical bed. Along with listening to the story, families and storytellers can participate in the Iggy's Next Adventure Contest by creating a new adventure for Iggy and entering it in the contest. Only a story summary is required (approximately 275 words), so the contest isn't overly difficult to enter. Take a moment and enter your story idea for a chance to win the $2500 grand prize or one of the smaller weekly prizes. The contest ends on 4/15/2010. See the official rules for contest information.
The Bedtime Theater helps parents establish a nightly bedtime story routine with their children and reduce anxiety around bedtime. According to Dr. Jennifer Trachtenberg, one of the GoodNites NiteLite experts, "having a regular evening ritual, such as a bedtime story, can quell nighttime issues like bedwetting and become an important step in building your child's self-confidence." Even though the website is geared toward those needing help with bedwetting, all parents and children can enjoy the Bedtime Theater.
As a way to spread the word about the GoodNites Bedtime Theater, activities and storytelling contest, GoodNites has kindly offered to give away a Bedtime Theater kit to a Brimful Curiosities reader. The kit is worth approximately $175 and includes an iPod shuffle, $25 iTunes Gift Card, Brookstone cuddle blanket, Patagonia bag and Logitech speakers.
To enter, leave a comment with a storytelling activity idea or a description of how you have used storytelling with children.
• For contact purposes, if you are a non-blogger or your email is not accessible in your blog profile, please leave a valid email address within the comment section.Ways to gain extra entries (Please leave a separate comment for each entry):
• Contest is open to US only
• Contest ends on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST.
• Winner will be chosen at random and sent an email notification.
1st extra entry: Enter Iggy's Next Adventure Contest and comment with the date you entered. (Remember, you can enter the storytelling contest once per day.)
2nd extra entry: Blog about this contest then post your link in the comment section.
3rd extra entry: Follow me on twitter (iambrimful) and tweet about the contest.
4th extra entry: Follow Me! or subscribe by email or RSS reader
GoodNites® provided me with Bedtime Theater Kits for my family and to conduct a reader giveaway. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive sentiments towards GoodNites® products. (View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.)


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Belle Escape specializes in high-quality French country, farmhouse and shabby chic dining tables, many of which can be made in the painted finish or stain of your choice. Finding the right dining table is a labor of love because you and your family and friends will spend countless hours there, sharing meals, stories and laughter. Start by selecting your favorite style, then the shape and size. If your dining room is rectangular or open, then choose a rectangular or oval dining table. Square spaces nooks are perfect for round or square dining tables.


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November 19, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese finance ministry on Monday quietly issued a decision hiking the price of sugar as part of its ongoing effort to cut subsidies on basic commodities to stop the bleeding in the country's budget.
- FILE - A man selling eggs waits for customers at the market in Khartoum, Sudan May 12, 2011 (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)
Decree number (83) signed by the finance ministry undersecretary Abdel-Rahman Dirar itemized several increases in fees and taxes associated with 50 kilogram (110 pounds) sugar bags bought by wholesale merchants.
This would be the second time this year that the government increased the price of sugar through partially removing the subsidies. This has led the price of a 50 kg sugar bag to rise from 156.5 Sudanese pounds (SDG) to 225 SDG last summer. Following today's decision it is estimated that this figure would go higher by at least 30 SDG.
The country is one of the biggest African sugar producers but needs to import at least 400,000 tonnes annually.
Last July the government inaugurated a $1 billion sugar plant plans which aims to reach an annual output of 450,000 tonnes of white sugar within the next three years.
Sudan has gradually started eliminating commodity subsidies which the government asserts that it costs billions of dollars to maintain. This has posed an enormous drain on the budget which is suffering from the impact of South Sudan breaking away last year and taking with it around three quarters of the oil reserves.
A recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that oil now accounts for 3%-5% of Sudan's gross domestic product, down from around 15%, while providing a much-reduced 20%-25% of revenue.
The first round of austerity measures, rolled out by the government last summer, impacted sugar as well as petroleum products which sparked rare small anti-government protests across the country including the capital.
But Sudanese officials as well as the IMF argue that more cuts are needed to rein in the deficit, despite staunch resistance by the parliament and labour union.
Today, the Sudanese labour union warned the government against any attempt to increase prices of basic commodities such as bread, sugar and electricity in the 2013 budget.
The union also slammed the finance minister labeling him "non-cooperative" on issues related to workers' dues and reiterated its demand for bumping the minimum monthly wage to 425 SDG.
Earlier this year Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir urged the labour union to agree on lifting subsidies in return for raising wages. He also warned that raising wages without careful review of its implications could further fuel inflation and that the economic situation may not allow for immediate increase in pay.
Ordinary Sudanese are seeing large increases in prices eating into their incomes making it increasingly difficult for them to maintain their current living standards without cutting spending.
Analysts say that the fast deterioration in the value of SDG relative to the dollar, decline in national income, shortage in foreign currency and inability to borrow is restricting Khartoum's ability to buy food on the international market.
Last month Sudan's inflation was estimated to be at 45.3% compared to 41.6% in September driven mainly by food prices.


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Lo, the CFO put out the message to cut costs. Behold, the CIO took up the call to trim expenses. Forsooth, IT was left to clean up after a poorly planned and executed cloud migration.
In the CIO's defense (we'll call him "Jack"), some of his ideas weren't bad. The bigger problem was that he covered his inexperience with the temper of a Tasmanian Devil and the tact of a drill sergeant. It was a rare moment when he'd listen to what anyone else had to say -- well, he listened a little when something broke.
[ Take a walk on tech's lighter side with America's funniest IT stories. | Get your weekly dose of workplace shenanigans by following Off the Record on Twitter and subscribing to the Off the Record newsletter. ]
The organization provided products, services, and resources for a niche market and had built up a vast amount of critical data. Security was, of course, a high priority, and the current system had worked well. IT had been hosting all of the company's apps on internal servers and had maintained a remarkable record of uptime for the mission-critical apps by having at least two servers onsite with load-balancing capabilities and a third server at a hot offsite backup facility 500 miles away.
The IT department was operating under budget and had been for some years. In fact, the whole company was in the black. But a new CFO came onboard. After twiddling his thumbs for some weeks, he decided to take on an important CFO task: Talk incessantly about cutting costs.
Fun fact: Both Jack and the CFO owed their positions to family ties with the company bigwigs. Coincidence? In any case, the CFO's directive buzzed in Jack's ears, and it was only a matter of time until he came up with an idea to save the company loads of money and make him look good to the bigwigs. Jack's command came down on a snowy winter day.
Jack called us into his office and said, "I want you to explain something to me. I've been reading up about this whole cloud thing, and it looks like it would be way cheaper than what we are paying right now. I mean, you all are killing me with the cost of keeping up the data center, and the folks in finance are really putting some pressure on me to get costs down. If we could put all of this on the cloud, we could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."
Then he asked, "Can you give me any reason why we shouldn't put the whole kit and caboodle on the cloud immediately?"
My boss spoke up first, explaining the company's current system and why it worked, as well as the reasons why a move to the cloud didn't make sense at the time for the apps we were running.
Jack ignored all this, pressing for more details about how to move to the cloud -- immediately. We explained the different types of cloud offerings, the upgrades needed for the Internet bandwidth (among other items), and the costs and changes to be considered carefully. Again, we stated it was best to stay with the current system for the time being.
Obviously upset that his great idea had met with resistance, Jack waved away our advice. With a cynical chuckle, he said, "You are just afraid that if we put everything on the cloud, we won't need you anymore to run our servers and whatever else it is you do in there." With that, we were abruptly dismissed -- end of discussion.


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Drink a glass of water upside down. Hold your breath until just before you pass out. Have someone scare the crap out of you. Everyone swears by a hiccup remedy. What's yours?
Obviously there's no wrong answer here. And it's not like there's any medication you can take when you get the hiccups. But what do you do to get rid of them?


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Tesla Shares Break $100, Punishing Short-Selling Skeptics
May 27, 2013 – Shares of Tesla (TSLA), that automaker-slash-tech-darling, crossed 100 today for the first time, after already tripling this year. The headline reason is the electric vehicle upstart's planned announcement of an expansion to its Jetson-esque charger network this week. But the real reason continues to be: Short sellers got this story very wrong, and they continue to bolt as boffo headlines hit the tape.
At approximately 20 percent of Tesla's float, short interest has been halved in a little over a month amid unflinchingly positive news. A better-than-expected quarterly report and a surging share price have enabled Tesla to raise money by selling stock—a development that sent its share price yet higher. Chief Executive Elon Musk upped the ante by purchasing $100 million of the offering, which is being used to prepay the loan Tesla got from the U.S. Department of Energy. And all this after an effusive review from Consumer Reports.
The infusion from the stock sale will also fund development of new models—Tesla currently sells only its $70,000 Model S roadster, but it wants to roll out an SUV and a third vehicle that would sell for half the Model S's price—and set a price floor of sorts for new investors who buy the offering, says Andrea James of Dougherty & Co. in Minneapolis.
James likes how much skin Musk has in the game: almost a quarter of Tesla's shares outstanding. She crunched numbers to compute how a Tesla that profitably executes on all fronts can produce a stock ranging in price from 120 to 180, especially if the company continues to roll out vehicles and headlines that keep investors stoked to pay first and ask questions later. And keep shorts asking—and bolting.


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How does Exercise prevent heart disease?
Exercise don't prevent from heart attach, but it reduces the chance of getting heart attach. Best Exercise practices are
1. cycling
2. swimming
3. walking rapidly
Exercise promotes general good health and reduces obesity. Think about it. The heart is a muscle that actually exercises itself all the time. It's always working out! But if your other muscles are not adequately exercised, you won't stay strong. Many persons who don't exercise get out of breath when they have to do anything strenuous, like walk up a flight of stairs, or run from a mean dog, or whatever. Being short of breath is hard on your heart, because the heart pumps oxygen rich blood from the lungs not only to the rest of the body but to itself as well.
Persons who don't exercise might become obese. (although obesity can be caused by other factors apart from exercise) In obese persons the heart has to pump harder or faster to send blood into far more tissue than it was designed for.
Many different kinds of illness can affect the health of the heart. Persons who exercise are likely to also be more health conscious in other ways. Exercise plus good diet, adequate rest, avoidance of unhealthy practices like drugs, alcohol, too many unneeded medications, and taking care when viruses and infections do come along helps keep a person in general good health, and the person will be more likely not to succumb as easily to serious illnesses that hurt the heart.
Mines was so simple, i just make it sure that i take a walk every morning and at least 3x per month on the gym.
Exercise is important for overall health and particularly for the cardiovascular system.According to recent research,swimming works your whole body, improving cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strength,endurance, posture and flexibility,all at the same time.Swimming is a low-impact type of exercise that most people can do safely, provided basic precautions are taken.


text: That's because vlc is relocking every 10 secs. Regards, Vladimir On Jun 5, 2008, at 1:37 PM, Gregor Fuis wrote: > Hello > > I am using the latest multiproto from Manu's repository with KNC1 > DVB-S2 > card. I patched drivers with multiproto-support-old-api.dif patch > which > enables drivers for older DVB api. When I watch programs with vlc i > get > a lot of discontinuity error. I was measuring how frequently they are > appearing and came to an interesting finding. It looks like they are > appearing in every 10 seconds (+- 1 second). > > But if I use szap to select channel and then open dvr0, the stream is > working great and without any errors. > > szap and vlc are both compiled for old api. VLC is version 0.8.6h on > Ubuntu 8.04 compiled by me. If I use latest hg drivers with KNC1 DVB-S > card vlc is working without problems. > > Can somebody help me find where the problem could be in vlc or > multiproto drivers when vlc is accessing dvb card directly. Is there > any > event in drivers or VLC which is occurring every 10 seconds, that it > could have some effect on card. Probably it should be something in the > drivers, because VLC is working great with hg drivers and dvb-s card. > > Thanks! > > Best Regards, > Gregor > > > _______________________________________________ > linux-dvb mailing list > linux-dvb at linuxtv.org > http://www.linuxtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linux-dvb


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SANDY, Utah -- Robbie Findley's success with the US National Team—making the World Cup roster and then cracking the starting lineup—is a double-edged sword for Real Salt Lake.
On one hand, RSL are very supportive of their players achieving that kind of success and, realistically, this process has been a great learning experience for Findley. He's bound to come back as a more confident, poised player than when he left for South Africa.
However, on the other hand, there is nothing more high-profile for a soccer player than playing in the World Cup, and teams around the world are starting to take notice.
According to General Manager Garth Lagerwey, RSL "have gotten formal written offers for him now, but they are not for a lot of money."
Whether or not offers that require more serious consideration will come in is an unknown at this point, but Lagerwey is hopeful that Findley, whose contract expires at the end of the season, decides that his future is in Salt Lake.
"I've talked to his agent and I think Robbie's going to come back to play for us," said Lagerwey.
That's probably optimistic thinking, but re-signing the star striker is clearly a priority for the club. In fact, RSL aren't expecting a lot of change in their roster for the remainder of the year.
"If we use the money that we have to [re-sign Findley]," said Lagerwey, "I'd tell you that's a heck of a summer transfer window."
Another player that the team is looking to secure is 21 year-old Argentine midfielder Nelson Gonzalez. The youngster on loan from Quilmes has only seen action in six matches and has suffered through a recent hamstring injury, but the team likes what they see.
"He's been here for a year and I think Nelson's done what he has to do to prove himself, and we'd like to keep him," explains Lagerwey. "But there's a number at which it makes sense, and a number [at which] it doesn't."
It appears that the two sides are getting close on either renewing the loan arrangement or negotiating a buyout to the current loan. Nelson's current agreement expires at the end of this month.
Join the Debate! MLSsoccer.com's "ExtraTime Radio" is LIVE every day during the World Cup, 5-7 pm ET. Call in at 888-MLS-GOAL.


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Broaden your professional profile with a globally recognized LL.M. or S.J.D. from UCLA Law.
With our worldwide reputation for excellence, those who join us can look forward to a promising future for themselves – and for those whom they will represent, teach, and inform.
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Our Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) programs are highly selective, ensuring that you'll study with the best and brightest legal minds from around the world.
A one-year program designed for outstanding graduates of foreign and American law schools.
A degree program for those who seek a distinguished academic career in law.


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roof doors
BIG doors that are specially built "Schweiss Tough"
Schweiss Doors of Fairfax, Minnesota has been setting records for years with its super-large series of quality manufactured Red Power Hydraulic door orders. A majority of these doors are being installed in both liftstrap bifold and hydraulic door uses at airports, military base locations agricultural, commercial and industrial buildings worldwide. We not only can build […](more...)


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Hillwood Communities, in a partnership with McGuyer Homebuilders Inc., announced Monday its first master-planned community in the Houston area — a 1,000-acre development along Texas 288 in the city of Manvel.
The company said the project will be called Pomona. It will break ground this spring with 300 homes to be built by Highland Homes, David Weekley Homes, Coventry Homes, Plantation Homes and Trendmaker Homes.
The $700 million development is expected to have 2,100 single-family homes when it is completed, according to a statement from Dallas-based Hillwood, which is part of H. Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood Development Co.
The company described its vision for the project as bridging "today's modern lifestyle conveniences to a simpler, laid-back character found in the charming Gulf Coast communities of the South."
The site includes Mustang Bayou along which the developers will plant native grasses and trees.
"We've fully embraced the bayou and the city of Manvel has been terrific to work with on creating genuine coastal features in the architecture and throughout the community," Hillwood president Fred Balda said in the statement.
Pomona is one of two new projects Hillwood announced this month. The other is Union Park, a 787-acre master-planned community located along the U.S. Highway 380 corridor in North Dallas, which will also break ground this spring.


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Co-Enzyme Q10 / EGCG / Progesterone / Zinc Oxide Cream Compounded
Our Minoxidil Topical can be compounded with other ingredients
This medication requires a prescription.
To process your order we will require a prescription from you or your Prescriber. We will only compound and dispense upon receipt of a valid patient specific prescription.
Your Prescriber can fax us a prescription to:
You can download, complete section A and take the Prescription Authorization Fax form to your prescriber. Please use the Human Prescription Authorization Form or the Vet Prescription Authorization Form.
Mail your prescription to:
CareFirst Specialty Pharmacy
2200 Garry Road
Suite 1
Cinnaminson, New Jersey 08077
Our Toll Free Phone Number:
Please call toll free (844) 822-7379 to provide your prescriber's information.
Please call toll free (844) 822-7379 to provide your Pharmacy's information.
Are you a licensed Prescriber?
Register with us. Please click here to complete the on-line webform or you may click here (veterinarians) or click here (prescribers) to download and complete the registration.
Looking for a Different Strength?
Contact us for a Quote.
Please call toll free (844) 822-7379 to place your order.
We are a nationally accredited PCAB compounding pharmacy and a .Pharmacy verified website. A verified .Pharmacy website designation ensures our patients and prescribing partners that our website is verified and safe.
Actual product image may vary.
Our Minoxidil Topical can be compounded with other ingredients to help patient suffering from hair loss. The topical formulation can be compounded with finasteride, latanoprost, tretinoin, progesterone, spironolactone and other actives as prescribed by your doctor. Please call us or submit a request for more information.
Co-Enzyme Q10
Zinc Oxide
Consult your prescriber
To Apply Topical Solution/Foam:
- Always, follow your doctor's instructions on how to apply the solution.
- Before applying this medicine, make sure your hair and scalp are completely dry.
- Part the hair to expose the area on the scalp.
- Beginning in the center of the area, apply the amount prescribed to the area of the scalp being treated.
- For foam preparation, place foam on fingertip. Spread and massage into area.
- Do not shampoo your hair for 4 hours after applying.
- Immediately wash your hands after using this medicine.
- Let the solution air dry. DO NOT use a hairdryer to dry the scalp after you apply.
- Allow 2 to 4 hours to completely dry. If not completely dry, the preparation may stain clothing or linens.
- Avoid touching wet areas, this may transfer the preparations to other areas.
Use the medication as prescribed by your doctor. The information provided is not intended to cover all possible uses. This information is generalized and not intended as specific medical advice. If you have questions about the use of your prescription, please contact your prescriber.
Note: We currently ship prescriptions to all 50 states.
Troches and suppositories require refrigeration (ice packs) and will incur an extra charge of $19.95 per order.


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US women beat Canada to reach Olympic basketball semis
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LONDON (AP) -- With their offense on a hiatus early, the U.S. women turned up the defensive pressure and cruised into the semifinals of the Olympic basketball tournament.
Diana Taurasi scored 15 points and Candace Parker added 12 to lead the Americans to a 91-48 rout of Canada on Tuesday and advanced to the semifinals for the eighth straight time.
While the four-time defending gold medalists had their way on offense in their last game -- a 114-66 rout of China -- they were sloppy early on against Canada.
It was the defense that got the U.S. going -- the Americans forced 26 turnovers.
"We get steals. We get deflections. We get rebounds, kick the ball out and here we go. We're rolling." said U.S. forward Tamika Catchings.
The U.S. held Canada to the fewest points it has given up in an Olympic quarterfinals since beating Slovakia 58-43 in 2000.
Next up for the U.S. in the semifinals on Thursday is a meeting with the winner of the Australia-China game.
The Americans haven't lost to Canada since playing in the world championship in 1975. The victory was their 39th straight in Olympic play and came 20 years to the day after the win that started the streak -- a 88-74 victory over Cuba for the bronze medal in the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Canada, which was the final team to qualify for the London Games, made its first appearance in the Olympic quarterfinals. The Canadians looked timid against the Americans' pressure defense at the start. The U.S. forced Canada into three 24-second shotclock violations in the first 7 minutes.
"That's probably a better feeling than making a 3, when as a unit you found a way to stop them as a unit," Taurasi said. "That's really hard to do because to get a shot off isn't the hardest thing, it might not be a quality one, but you can get a shot off."
There could have been a few more as Canada tried to work the clock down on every offensive possession and the U.S. forced them into off-balanced shots that barely hit the rim.
Taurasi said locking teams up defensively "has to be our focus."
Despite its stellar defense, the U.S. was sloppy on offense.
The Americans missed seven of their first nine shots and only led 8-4 before scoring the next 11 points to take control. Parker had four points during the spurt.
Canada was able to close within 11 points in the second quarter, but the U.S. put the game away, outscoring its northern neighbors by eight the rest of the half to lead 42-21 at the break.
Shona Thorburn's running left-handed fling from 15-feet that banked in at the halftime buzzer was the lone highlight for Canada in the first half -- when the Canadians had more turnovers (12) than field goals (six).
By the time Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant showed up in the third quarter after they had finished practice, the U.S. women had doubled Canada's score -- 57-28.
It only got worse from there.
Sylvia Fowles played in her second straight game after missing three in a row to rest a sore left foot. She only played nine minutes in the win over China. She looked stronger against Canada scoring 12 points in 9 minutes.
Kim Smith scored 13 points to lead Canada.
In other quarterfinal games later Tuesday, Turkey played Russia and France took on the Czech Republic.


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(NewsUSA) – "They said I'd never build it. That if I built it, it wouldn't fly. That if it flew, I couldn't sell it. Well, I did, and it did, and I could."
Thus spoke the late Bill Lear.
That's Lear — as in the Learjet, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. But amid all the excitement surrounding the upcoming release of the latest model — the revolutionary Learjet 85 aircraft, about which we'll have more in a minute — it's worth remembering the man who in 1963 gave the world the first pure corporate jet.
Born in Hannibal, Mo., in 1902, Lear grew up in Chicago and had at least three noteworthy habits. First, he kept getting "dismissed" from high schools for "showing up teachers" and eventually dropped out. Second, he had what's been described as "an odd sense of humor." (One of the milder examples: He named one of his daughters Shanda — as in, Shanda Lear/sounds like "chandelier.")
And third, even before designing the original, moderately priced Learjet 23 — his greatest obsession and one that would define a new category of business aviation — Lear had already shown a shoot-for-the-extraordinary flair by inventing such things as:
* the car radio
* the autopilot for jet aircraft
* the radio direction-finder for general aviation aircraft
"He was a perfect example of an entrepreneur," a former business associate once told the Wichita Eagle.
But back to the new Learjet 85 aircraft.
CNBC calls it "the new 'It' private plane" that's "generating iPhone-like excitement" among aviation enthusiasts, and those seeking fractional ownership should know that Flexjet (www.flexjet.com) has exclusive first-dibs rights on the aircraft. "We relish the opportunity to brightly shine the spotlight on the Learjet 85 aircraft, which more than lives up to its legendary lineage," said Deanna White, Flexjet's president.
More specifically, the Learjet 85 is the first business jet built mainly from the most cutting-edge carbon composite materials, which means (among other things) it's the fastest in its class at a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.82. It's also the largest and plushest Learjet ever — with top-notch avionics and a state-of-the-art entertainment system sure to come in especially handy during transcontinental flights.
You've got to believe Bill Lear definitely would have approved.


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East meets ice in Breckenridge
summit daily news
By now, the figures have started to emerge from the giant blocks of ice at Breckenridge's Riverwalk Center parking lot. Beneath the red Chinese flag, a family strides forth from the snow. They are surrounded by animals, including an ox, a dog and two ducks. Around them, a family works on the sculpture, tapping and scraping as the figures come to life beneath their tools.
Team captain is Hongchun Liang, who has been an ice sculpture artist for 15 years. His wife, Yang Jiang, is the team representative, and their daughter Lu Liang also helps with the sculpting. Lu Liang said she has done this for only two years, not as long as her father or the other two team members, Zhigang Sheng and Shuo Yuan. Lu Liang is the only one of the group who speaks English.
The team hails from Harbin, a city in northeastern China that is famous worldwide for its ice and snow sculpture festival. Cold winds from nearby Siberia spill into the area, which often records temperatures as low as -36 degrees Fahrenheit. This is ideal for the snow festival, however, which lasts for an entire month.
The ice sculpture exhibits in Harbin are impressive in size, both height and length. Full-size buildings are made from blocks of ice and every night the place is illuminated by lights. These large sculptures are found on Sun Island, across the river from the city, and an area called "Ice and Snow World."
According to Lu Liang, in order to be a sculptor in Harbin, a person must have first officially studied as an artist. Often, this training starts young, around the age of middle school students.
The Chinese team has entitled their sculpture "Happy Winter." It shows a family of mother, father and child surrounded by animals and next to a small silo. Hanging on the sides of the silo are chili peppers, traditional in China, and sheaves of corn, as a nod to the sculpture's American setting.
Lu Liang said that the team has been doing well, especially since it hasn't been nearly so cold in Breckenridge as it is in Harbin, where they usually work.
The team was unable to bring many of the tools that they usually use in Harbin, due to restrictions of such items on airplanes. Now in Breckenridge, they are using their creativity to make do. Hongchun Liang even made his own tool to his personal specifications.
Each team's block of ice weighs approximately 40,000 pounds. The block started at 10 feet wide, 10 feet long and 12 feet high, requiring the teams to use scaffolding in order to carve at the top of the block.
The students in Jocelyn Subberwal's Chinese class at the Peak School took a field trip Friday to the Riverwalk Center to meet the Chinese sculpting team. Subberwal was excited to jump on the opportunity for the students to talk to native Chinese speakers.
"I really hope that they are really able to connect with them and use their Chinese to ask them something that resonates with them a little," Subberwal said.
The students prepared questions that they wanted to ask and Subberwal provided them with relevant vocabulary, including "snow," "ice" and "sculpture." They have only been studying for a short time, but all of them seemed to be excited to study the snow sculpture up close and interact with the team.
The first thing they pointed out were the Chinese figures carved into the sculpture. They correctly identified the "good luck/happiness" symbol and (through Subberwal's translating help) asked questions about the sculpture itself and life in Harbin.
"I think it's really cool," said Kait Schultz. The language aspect of learning more about it was difficult, she said.
"I've only been studying it for a semester. I have a pretty decent vocabulary so far," she continued, but added that she wasn't quite sur what order the words should go in to make sense.
Her classmate Cassidy Citron said she's interested in learning more about the city of Harbin, though she also wasn't quite sure exactly how to phrase it.
A group of students gathered around Lu Liang, shifting their feet, excited yet nervous to try out their Chinese conversation skills.
They started with the easy ones, asking, "Ni hao ma?" (How are you?) Lu Liang smiled and replied she was fine. They grew bolder, asking about where she was from and what her name was.
"You all speak very well," Lu Liang told them in Chinese.
At the end of the visit, the students gathered with the sculptors for a group photo, standing smiling in front of the "Happy Winter" sculpture, looking like one large, happy, cross-cultural family.
"I think it's really nice," Subberwal said of the opportunity to speak with the Chinese team. "For us it really is meaningful, particularly because there are ice sculpture contests in Harbin, we have ours, the climates are similar. I think it's really good."
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