text:
昨天看了由导演(Sherry Horman )所拍的沙漠之花 ( Desert Flower ) 。
这电影是根据一个出生在索马里的黑人模特,华莉丝·迪里(Waris Dirie ) 的自传而完成。是关于一个国际名模所经历的"残忍割礼"的真实故事。
My family was a tribe of herdsmen in the Somalian desert. And as a child, the freedom I had to experience nature's sights, sounds and smells was pure joy. We watched lions baking in the sun. We ran with giraffes, zebras and foxes. We chased hyraxes—rabbit-size animals—through the sand. I was so happy.
Gradually, those happy times disappeared. Life became harder. By five I knew what it was to be an African woman, to live with terrible suffering in a passive, helpless manner.
Women are the backbone of Africa; they do most of the work. Yet women are powerless to make decisions. They have no say, sometimes not even in whom they will marry.
By the time I was around 13, I had had my fill of these traditions. A little girl no more, I was fast and incredibly fit. Before, I had no choice but to suffer. This time I determined that I would run away.
My nightmare journey began when my father announced he had arranged my marriage. I had to act fast, I told my mother I wanted to run. My plan was to find an aunt who lived in Mogadishu, the capital, a place I had never been.
While my father and the rest of the family were sleeping, my mother woke me and said, "Go now."
I looked around, but there was nothing to take—no water, milk or food. So, barefoot and wearing only a scarf draped around me, I ran off into the black desert night.
I didn't know which direction led to Mogadishu; I just ran. Slowly at first, because I couldn't see. But as the sky lighted, I was off like a gazelle. I ran for hours.
By midday I'd traveled deep into the red sand. The landscape stretched on to eternity. Hungry, thirsty and tired, I slowed and walked.
As I pondered what was going to happen next, I heard, "Waris … Waris…" My father's voice echoed all around me! I was frightened. If he caught me, I knew that he would make me, marry.
Even though I had gotten a head start, Papa had tracked me down by following my footprints through the sand. He was close.
I started to run. I looked back and saw him coming over the hill. He spotted me too. Terrified, I ran faster. It was as if we were surfing waves of sand; I flew up one hill, and he glided down the one behind me. On and on we continued for hours, until I realized I hadn't seen him for some time. He no longer called to me.
I kept running until the sun set, and the night was so black I couldn't see. By this time I was starving and my feet were bleeding. I sat down to rest, and fell asleep under a tree.
In the morning, I opened my eyes to the burning sun. I got up and continued to run. And so it went for days—days marked by hunger, thirst, fear and pain. When it grew too dark to see, I would stop. At midday I'd sit under a tree and take a siesta.
It was during one of these naps that a slight sound woke me. I opened my eyes and was staring into the face of a lion. I tried to stand, but I hadn't eaten in days, so my weak legs wobbled and folded beneath me. I slumped back against the tree that had sheltered me from the merciless African sun. My long journey across the desert had come to an end. I was unafraid, ready to die.
"Come and get me," I said to the lion. "I'm ready."
The big cat stared at me, and my eyes locked on his. He licked his lips and paced back and forth in front of me, elegantly, sensuously. He could crush me in an instant.
Finally he turned and walked away, no doubt deciding that I had so little flesh, I wasn't worth eating.
When I realized the lion was not going to kill me, I knew that God had something else planned, some reason to keep me alive. "What is it?" I asked as I struggled to my feet. "Direct me."
In the morning we got up with the sun. Our first chore was to head out to the pens and milk the herds. Wherever we went, we cut saplings to make pens for the animals, to keep them from straying at night.
We raised animals primarily for their milk and to trade for goods. While still a little girl, I was responsible for taking herds of about 60 to 70 sheep and goats into the desert to graze. I got my long stick and headed off alone with my herd, singing my little song to guide them.
No one owns the grazing land in Somalia, so it was up to me to discover areas with lots of plants. While the animals grazed, I watched for predators. The hyenas would sneak up and snatch a lamb or kid that had wandered off. There were also lions to worry about. They hunted in prides, but there was only one of me.
Like the rest of my family, I have no idea how old I am; I can only guess. We lived by the seasons and the sun, planning our moves around our need for rain, planning our day around the span of daylight available.
Our home was a tentlike domed hut woven from grass and built on a framework of sticks; it was about six feet in diameter. When it came time to move, we dismantled the hut and tied it to the backs of our camels. Then when we found a spot with water and foliage, we'd setup again.
The hut provided shelter from the midday sun and storage space for fresh milk. At night we children slept outside under the stars, cuddled together on a mat. My father slept off to one side, our guardian.
Papa was very handsome, about six feet tall, slim and lighter-skinned than Mama. My mother was beautiful. Her face was like a Modigliani sculpture and her skin dark and smooth, as if perfectly chiseled from black marble.
Her demeanor was very calm, very quiet. But when she started talking, she was hysterically funny, telling jokes and saying silly little things to make us laugh.
She grew up in Mogadishu, where her family had money and power. My father, on the other band, had always roamed the desert. When he asked permission to marry my mother, my grandmother said, 'Absolutely not." However, when Mama was about 16, she ran away and married Papa anyhow.
My mother affectionately called me Avdohol, her word for "small mouth." But she named me Waris, the word we used for the desert flower. In my country sometimes it doesn't rain for months. Few living things can survive. But finally the water pours down and the brilliant yellow-orange blooms of the desert flower appear, a miracle of nature.
And since the prevailing wisdom in Somalia is that there are bad things between a girl's legs, a woman is considered dirty, oversexed and unmarriageable unless those parts--the clitoris, the labia minora, and most of the labia majora-are removed. Then the wound is stitched shut, leaving only a small opening and a scar where the genitals had been-a practice called infibulation.
Paying the gypsy woman for this circumcision is one of the greatest expenses a household will undergo, but is considered a good investment. Without it the daughters will not make it onto the marriage market.
The actual details of the ritual cutting are never explained to the girls-it's a mystery. You just know that something special is going to happen when your time comes. As a result, all young girls in Somalia anxiously await the ceremony that will mark their becoming a woman. Originally the process occurred when the girls reached puberty, but through time it has been performed on younger and younger girls.
One evening when I was about five, my mother said to me, "Your father ran into the gypsy woman. She should be here any day now."
The night before my circumcision, the family made a special fuss over me and I got extra food at dinner. Mama told me not to drink too much water or milk. I lay awake with excitement, until suddenly she was standing over me, motioning. The sky was still dark. I grabbed my little blanket and sleepily stumbled along after her.
We walked out into the brush. "We'll wait here," Mama said, and we sat on the cold ground. The day was growing lighter; soon I heard the click-click of the gypsy woman's sandals. Then, without my seeing her approach, she was right beside me.
"Sit over there." She motioned toward a flat rock. There was no conversation. She was strictly business.
Mama positioned me on the rock. She sat behind me and pulled my head against her chest, her legs straddling my body. I circled my arms around her thighs. She placed a piece of root from an old tree between my teeth. "Bite on this."
Mama leaned over and whispered, "Try to be a good girl, baby. Be brave for Mama, and it'll go fast."
I peered between my legs and saw the gypsy. The old woman looked at me sternly, a dead look in her eyes, then foraged through an old carpet-bag. She reached inside with her long fingers and fished out a broken razor blade. I saw dried blood on the jagged edge. She spit on it and wiped it on her dress. While she was scrubbing, my world went dark as Mama tied a blindfold over my eyes.
The next thing I felt was my flesh being cut away. I heard the blade sawing back and forth through my skin. The feeling was indescribable. I didn't move, telling myself the more I did, the longer the torture would take. Unfortunately, my legs began to quiver and shake uncontrollably of their own accord, and I prayed, Please, God, let it be over quickly. Soon it was, because I passed out.
When I woke up, my blindfold was off and I saw the gypsy woman had piled a stack of thorns from an acacia tree next to her. She used these to puncture holes in my skin, then poked a strong white thread through the holes to sew me up. My legs were completely numb, but the pain between them was so intense that I wished I would die.
My memory ends at that instant, until I opened my eyes and the woman was gone. My legs had been tied together with strips of cloth binding me from my ankles to my hips so I couldn't move. I turned my head toward the rock; it was drenched with blood as if an animal had been slaughtered there. Pieces of my flesh lay on top, drying in the sun.
Waves of heat beat down on my face, until my mother and older sister, Aman, dragged me into the shade of a bush while they finished making a shelter for me. This was the tradition; a little hut was prepared under a tree, where I would rest and recuperate alone for the next few weeks.
After hours of waiting, I was dying to relieve myself. I called my sister, who rolled me over on my side and scooped out a little hole in the sand. "Go ahead," she said.
The first drop stung as if my skin were being eaten by acid. After the gypsy sewed me up, the only opening left for urine-and later for menstrual blood-was a minuscule hole the diameter of a matchstick.
As the days dragged on and I lay in my hut, I became infected and ran a high fever. I faded in and out of consciousness. Mama brought me food and water for the next two weeks.
Lying there alone with my legs still tied, I could do nothing but wonder, why? What was it all for? At that age I didn't understand anything about sex. All I knew was that I had been butchered with my mother's permission.
I suffered as a result of my circumcision, but I was lucky. Many girls die from bleeding to death, shock, infection or tetanus. Considering the conditions in which the procedure is performed, it's surprising that any of us survive.
He sat me on his knee. "You know," he began, "you've been really good." Now I knew something serious was up. "You've been working hard as any man, taking good care of the animals. And I want you to know I'm going to miss you very much."
When he said this, I thought he was afraid I was going to run away like my sister, Aman, had when he had tried to arrange her marriage.
I hugged him. "Oh, Papa, I'm not going anywhere."
He pulled back, stared at my face and said, "Yes, you are, my darling. I found you a husband."
"No, Papa, no!" I shook my head. "I'm not going to marry."
I had grown into a rebel, sassy and fearless. Papa had to find me a husband while I was still a valuable commodity, because no African man wanted to be challenged by his wife. I felt sick and scared.
The next day I was milking my goats when my father called, "Come here, my darling. This is Mr.-"
I didn't hear another word. My eyes fastened onto a man sitting down, holding on to a cane. He was at least 60 years old, with a long white beard.
"Waris, say hello to Mr. Galool." (name has been changed to protect privacy)
"Hello," I said in the iciest voice I could muster.
The old fool just sat there grinning at me. I stared at him in horror. I looked at my father, and when he saw my face, he realized his best tactic was to shoo me away so I didn't scare off my prospective husband. "Go finish your chores," he said.
I ran back to my goats.
Early the next morning my father called me. "You know that was your future husband."
"But Papa, he's so old!"
"That's the best kind. He's too old to run around. He's not going to leave you. He'll look after you. And besides," Papa grinned proudly- "he's giving me five camels."
As I sat watching the goats that day, I knew it would be the last time I looked after my father's herd. I pictured my life with the old man in some isolated desert place. Me doing all the work, while he limped around with his cane. Me living alone after he had a heart attack, or raising four or five babies by myself after he died.
I made up my mind--this was not the life for me.
That evening after everyone went to sleep, I went to my mother, who was still sitting and whispered, "I'm going to run away."
"Shhh, quiet! Where are you going to go?"
"Mogadishu." My sister, Aman, was there.
"Go to bed." Her stern look seemed to say the subject was closed.
While I was sleeping, Mama knelt on the ground beside me and lightly tapped my arm. "Go—go before he wakes up," she said softly into my ear. My escape across the desert was about to begin.
I felt her arms tighten around me. In the gloomy 1ight I struggled to see her face, trying to memorize its features. I had planned to be strong, but instead choked on my tears and hugged her hard.
"You're going to be all right," she said. "Just be very careful. Careful! And Waris..., please, one thing. Don't forget me."
"I won't, Mama." I spun away from her and ran into the darkness.
I arrived there several weeks after fleeing home. Along the way cousins sheltered me, told me news of Aman, and gave me money to complete the journey. Once in the city, I got directions to my sister's neighborhood and asked some women at a market if they knew Aman.
'I thought you looked familiar!" one cried. Then she told her son to take me to Aman's house. We walked1 along the quiet streets until we came to a tiny shack, I went inside, found my sister asleep and woke her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked groggily, looking at me as if I were a dream. I sat down and told her my story. At last I had someone to talk to who
would understand. She had found a husband, a good man who worked hard.
They were expecting their first child.
Hers was a cramped two-room place, but she grudgingly agreed I could stay as long as I needed. I cleaned the house, scrubbed the clothes and did the shopping in the market. And after Aman gave birth to a beautiful little girl, I helped take care of the baby.
However, it became clear that my sister and I were not alike. She was bossy and treated me like the same little sister she'd left behind five or so years before.
We had other relatives I'd met in Mogadishu, so I went and knocked on the door of Aunt Sahru, my mother sister, and asked if I could stay with her family for a while.
"You have a friend here," she said. "If you want to stay with us, you can."
Things were off to a better start than I'd imagined. Once again, I began helping around the house.
I had been worried about leaving Mama without anyone to help her with her work, and one day I decided that a partial remedy was to send her money.
So I set out to find a job. I stopped at a construction site and convinced the man in charge that I could carry sand and mix as well as the men.
The next morning my career as a construction worker began. It was horrible. I carried backbreaking loads of sand all day and developed enormous blisters on my hands. Everyone thought I would quit, but I stuck it out for a month. By then I had saved $60, which I sent to Mama through an acquaintance, but she never saw a penny of it.
I had started cleaning house for my aunt again when one day Mohammed Chama Farah, the Somalian ambassador in London, arrived. He was married to yet another aunt, my mother's sister Maruim.*
As I dusted my way around the next room, I overheard him say he needed to find a servant before beginning his four-year diplomatic appointment in London. This was my opportunity.
I called Aunt Saliru aside. "Please ask him if I can be his maid."
She walked back into the other room, sat beside her brother-in-law and said quietly, "Why don't you take her? She really is a good cleaner."
Auntie called me, and I leapt through the door. I stood with my feather duster in hand, smacking gum. The ambassador frowned.
I turned to Auntie. "Tell him I'm the best."
"Waris, shhh!" To my uncle she said, "She's young. She'll be okay.
Uncle Mohammed sat still for a moment, looking at me with disgust. "Okay. Be here tomorrow afternoon. We'll go to London."
London! I didn't know where it was, but I knew it was very far away, and far away was where I wanted to be. I was on fire with excitement.
The next day Uncle Mohammed picked me up and gave me my passport. I looked at it in wonder, the first paper with my name on it. I hugged Auntie Sahru and waved farewell.
Snow was turning the sidewalks white as we glided through a posh residential section. When we stopped in front of my uncle's home, I stared in astonishment. The ambassador's residence was a four-story mansion.
We walked to the front door and entered. Auntie Maruim greeted me in the foyer.
"Come in," she said coolly. "Close the door."
I had planned to rush to her and hug her, but something about the way she stood there in her stylish Western clothes, her hands pressed together, made me freeze in the doorway. "First I'd like to show you around and explain your duties."
"Oh," I said quietly, feeling the last spark of energy leave my body after the long night. "Auntie, I'm very tired. I want to lie down. Can I please go to sleep?"
Aunt Maruim took me into her room. The four-poster was the size of my family's entire hut. I climbed under the covers. I had never felt anything so soft and heavenly in my life, and I fell asleep as if I were falling down a long black tunnel.
The following morning I was wandering through the house when she found me. "Good. You're up. Let's go to the kitchen, and I can show you what you'll be doing."
I followed in a daze. The room gleamed with blue ceramic tiles and creamy-white cabinets. A six-burner stove dominated the center. Auntie opened and slammed drawers, calling out, "And here are the utensils, the cutlery, the linens." I had no idea what she was talking about.
"At six-thirty each morning you'll serve your uncle's breakfast: herbal tea and two poached eggs. I'd like my coffee in my room at seven. Then you'll make pancakes for the children; they eat at eight sharp. After breakfast-"
'Auntie, who's going to teach me these things? What's pancakes?"
She stared at me with a sort of panicky look. Exhaling slowly, she said, "I'll do these things for the first time, Waris. Watch closely. Listen and learn." I nodded.
I had the routine down t a science after the first week and followed it every day for the next four years. For a girl who had never been aware of time, I learned to watch the clock closely—and live by it.
After breakfast I cleaned the kitchen, my aunt's room and her bathroom. Then I worked through each room of the house, dusting, mopping, scrubbing and polishing my way up all four floors. I kept working until I fell into bed around mid-night. I never had a day off.
Throughout Africa it's common for more affluent family members to take in the children of their poor relations, and those children work in return for their upkeep. Sometimes the relatives educate the children and treat them like one of their own. Obviously, my aunt and uncle had more important issues on their minds.
During the summer of 1983, when I was about 16, Uncle Mohammed's sister died and her little daughter, Sophie,* came to live with us. My uncle enrolled her in All Souls Church of England Primary School, and my morning routine then included walking Sophie to school.
On one of the first mornings, as we strolled, I saw a strange man starting at me. He was white, around 40 and had a ponytail. He had brought his daughter to the school. He didn't hide the fact that he was staring.
After I left Sophie at the door, he walked toward me and started speaking. Since I didn't speak English, I had no idea what he was saying. Frightened, I ran home.
From then on, each time I saw him at the school, he simply smiled politely and went on about his business. Then one day he walked up and handed me a card. I tucked it in my pocket and watched as he turned to walk away.
When I got home, I showed the card to one of Auntie Maruim's daughters. "What does it say?"
"It says he's a photographer."
I saw that my cousin wanted to get back to the book she was reading, so I hid the card in my room. Some little voice told me to hang on to it.
When Uncle Mohammed's term was coming to an end, he announced the family would be going home. I wasn't excited about returning to Somalia. I wanted to go home wealthy and successful, but I had saved only a pittance from my main's wages. My dream was to make enough money to buy my mother a house, an to accomplish this, I felt I should stay in England. How I would manage this, I didn't know. But I had faith.
Uncle Mohammed advised us all of the date we were leaving, and of the need to make sure our passports were in order. I promptly sealed mine in a plastic bag, buried it in the garden and announced I couldn't find it. My plan was simple enough: if I didn't have a passport, they couldn't take me back. Uncle smelled something rotten, but I said, "Just leave me here. I'll be fine."
Until the morning of departure, I hadn't really believed that they would leave me all alone. But they did. I stood on the sidewalk, waved good-bye and watched the car until it was out of sight. I was scared and had to fight an overwhelming feeling of panic.
I picked up my little duffel, slung it over my shoulder, unearthed my passport and headed down the street, smiling.
"Where do you live, Waris? What do you do?"
"Oh, you'll think I'm crazy, but I don't have any place to live because my family went back to Somalia today. My uncle was the ambassador, but now the new man is coming. So right this minute, I have no idea where I'm headed."
She waved to silence me, as if the movement of her hand could sweep away all my problems. "I have a room at the YMCA. You can come and stay for the night."
Halwu and I became close friends. After a few days I took a room at the YWCA right across the way. Then I set out to find a job.
"Why don't you start by looking right here?" Halwu said, pointing to McDonald's.
"There's no way. I can't speak English or read. Besides, I don't have a work permit."
But she knew the ropes, and I began working there, in the kitchen. I washed dishes, wiped counters, scrubbed grills and mopped floors. I went home at night smelling of grease. But I didn't complain, because at least now I could support myself. I was grateful to have a job.
I began going to free language school, learning English and how to read and write. For the first time in years my days weren't only about work.
Sometimes Halwu took me to nightclubs, where the whole crowd seemed to know her. Overcoming my strict African upbringing, I chatted away, forcing myself to talk with everyone-black, white, male, female. I had to learn survival skills for this new world. My life was moving smoothly. It was about to change dramatically.
One afternoon when I got back home from McDonald's, I pulled out the photographer's card, which I'd stuck in my passport, and marched to Halwu's room. I showed her the card, explained the history and said, "I never really understood what he wanted."
"Well, she said, "why don't you call and ask him?"
"You talk to him. My English is still not very good."
She did, and the next day I went to inspect Mike Goss's studio. I had no idea what to expect, but when I opened the door, I stumbled into another world. Hanging everywhere in the lobby were enormous posters featuring beautiful women. "Oh!" I said, spinning. I just knew-this is it. This is my opportunity.
Mike came out and explained that as soon as he saw me, he had wanted to take my picture. I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. "That's it? A picture like this?" I waved at the posters.
"Yes," he said, nodding emphatically. "You have the most beautiful profile."
Two days later I returned to the studio. The makeup woman sat me down and started to work, coming at me with cotton, brushes, sponges, creams, paints, powders, poking me with her fingers and pulling my skin.
"Now"-the woman stepped back and looked at me with satisfaction- "look in the mirror."
I stared in the glass. My face was transformed, all golden, silky, and light with makeup. "Wow! Look at me!"
The woman led me out to Mike, who positioned me on a stool. I studied objects I'd never seen before: the camera, lights, battery packs, cords hanging like snakes.
"Okay, Waris," he said. "Put your lips together and stare straight ahead. Chin up. That's it-beautiful!"
I heard a click, followed by a loud pop, which made me jump. The flashes went off; the lights blazing for a split second. Somehow the lights made me feel like a different person.
Mike took a piece of paper from the camera and motioned for me to walk over. He pulled off the top layer of paper. As I watched, a woman gradually emerged from the sheet as if by magic. When he handed me the Polaroid; I barely recognized myself. There was a glamorous creature like the ones posing in the lobby. They had transformed me. Instead of Waris the maid, I was Waris the model.
The place was crawling with professional models strutting like lionesses circling for the kill. I said hello to one of them. "What is the job?"
"Pirelli calendar."
"Mmmmm." I nodded. "Thank you." What is that?
The photographer, Terence Donovan, brought me tea and showed me all his work. Lying on a table was a calendar. He flipped through it; on each page was a different, stunningly gorgeous woman. "This is last year's Pirelli calendar," he told me. "This year it's going to be different-just African women." He explained the whole process to me. By that point I felt comfortable, and from then on I was a complete professional. And when the job was done, my picture wound up being selected for the cover.
My career as a model got better and better. I worked in Paris, Milan and then New York, where I immediately began running faster and making more money than ever before. I appeared in a series of commercials for a jeweler, wearing white African robes. I did makeup ads for Revlon, then later represented their new perfume, Ajee. The commercial announced, "From the heart of Africa comes a fragrance to capture the heart of every woman."
I appeared in a Revlon commercial with Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer and Lauren Hutton. These projects kept snowballing, and soon I was in the big fashion magazines: Elle, Glamour, Italian Vogue, and British and American Vogue.
But for all the excitement and success of my new life, I carried wounds from the old. The tiny hole the circumciser had left me only permitted urine to escape one drop at a time. It took me about ten minutes to urinate. My periods were a nightmare always. I couldn't function for several days each month; I simply went to bed and wanted to die so the suffering would stop. The problem had reached a crisis while I was living with my uncle Mohammed.
Early one morning, carrying the tray from the kitchen to the dining-room table, I suddenly blacked out, and the dishes crashed to the floor. When I came to, Aunt Maruim said, "We have to take you to the doctor. I'll make an appointment with my doctor this afternoon."
I didn't tell the doctor that I'd been circumcised. Since he didn't examine me, he didn't find out my secret. "The only thing I can give you is birth-control pills. That will stop the pain."
I began taking the pills, but they produced drastic changes in my body that seemed weird and unnatural. Deciding I'd rather deal with the pain, I stopped taking the pills. It all came right back again, fiercer than ever. Later I visited more doctors, but they too wanted to give me birth control pills. I realized I needed to do something else. I said to Auntie, "Maybe I need to see a special kind of doctor."
She looked at me sharply. "No," she said emphatically. "And by the way-what do you tell these men?"
"Nothing. That I just want to stop the pain, that's all." I knew the unspoken message of her comment: circumcision is our African custom-and not something you discuss with these white men.
I began to understand, however, that this was exactly what I had to do-or suffer and live like an invalid for one third of each month. When I went to Dr. Michael
Macrae's* office, I said to him, "There's something I haven't told you. I'm from Somalia and I...I..."
He didn't even let me finish the sentence. "Go get changed. I want to examine you." He saw the look of terror on my face: "It's okay."
He called in his nurse to show me where to change, how to put the gown on, and asked her if there was someone in the hospital who could speak Somali. But when she came back, she brought a Somali man. I thought, Oh, here's the rotten luck, to discuss this using a Somali man to translate! How much worse could it get?
Dr. Macrae said, "Explain to her that she's closed up way too much-I don't even know how she's made it this far. We need to operate on her as soon as possible."
I could see the Somali man wasn't happy. He glared at the doctor and then said to me, "Well, if you really want it, they can open you up. But do you know this is against your culture? Does your family know you're doing this?"
"The first thing I'd do is discuss it with them."
I nodded. His was the response of a typical African man. Over a year went by before I was able to have the surgery. I had to overcome some practical problems and my own last-minute doubts, but Dr. Macrae did a fine job, and I've always been grateful. He told me, "You're not alone. Women come in with this problem all the time. A lot of women from the Sudan, Egypt, Somalia. Some of them are pregnant and terrified. So, without the permission of their husbands they come to me, and I do my best."
Within three weeks I could sit on the toilet and-whoosh! There's no way to explain what a freedom that was.
The BBC staff in Africa began searching diligently. We went over maps, and I tried to show them the regions where my family usually traveled. Next I had to go over all the tribal and clan names of my family.
Suddenly the desert was alive with women claiming to be my mother, but none were. Then Gerry came up with an idea. "We need some kind of secret that only your mother would know about you."
"Well, my mother used to have a nickname for me-Avdohol."
"Will she remember that?"
From then on, Avdohol became the secret password. When the BBC was interviewing, the women would make it through the first couple of questions; then they'd flunk out on the nickname. But finally the BBC called me: "We think we've found her." This woman didn't remember the nickname, but she said she has a daughter named Waris who worked for the ambassador in London."
Within days we flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and chartered a small twin-engine plane to take us to Galadi, a village on the Ethiopia-Somalia border where Somali refugees had gathered to escape the fighting at home.
I smelled the hot air and the sand, and suddenly I remembered my lost childhood. Every little thing came flooding back to me, and I began to run. I touched the ground and rubbed the earth between my fingers. I touched the trees. They were dusty and dry, but I knew it was time for the rains soon, when everything would blossom.
Then we found out the woman was not my mother. We combed the village, asking everybody if they had any information about my family. An older man walked up to me and said, "Do you remember me?"
"Well, I'm Ismail; I'm from the same tribe as your father. I'm a very close friend of his." And then I realized who he was and felt ashamed for not recognizing him, but I hadn't seen him since I was a little girl. "I think I know where your family is. I think I can find your mother, but I'll need money for gas.
The BBC crew agreed and gave him some cash. He hopped into his truck and took off immediately, raising a cloud of dust. Three days passed with no sign of Mama. Gerry grew more anxious by the day. "1 promise you my mother will be here tomorrow evening by six o'clock," I told him. I don't know why I had this belief-it just came to me.
The next day Gerry jogged up at about ten minutes to six. "You're not going to believe it! The man is back and he's got a woman with him; he says it's your mother."
Up ahead was Ismail's pickup, and a woman was climbing down from the seat. I couldn't see her face, but from the way she wore her scarf-I could tell immediately that it was my mother, I ran to her. "Oh, -Mama!"
At first, we just discussed little everyday things. But the gladness I felt at seeing her overcame the gap between us. Papa was off searching for water when the truck came. My mother said Papa was getting old. He would go off chasing the clouds looking for rain, but he desperately needed glasses because his eyesight was terrible.
My little brother Ali was also with her, along with one of my cousins. I kept holding Ali, and he would cry, "Get off now I'm not a baby. I'm getting married."
"Married! How old are you?"
"1 don't know. Old enough to get married."
At night Mama slept in the hut of one of the families in Galadi who had taken us in. I slept outside with Ali-just like in the old days. As we lay there at night, I felt such a state of peace and happiness.
My brother started asking me what I thought about this and that.
"Well, I don't know everything, but I've seen a lot and learned a lot I didn't know living back in the bush."
They didn't know whether to believe this bizarre idea, but there was one topic they felt confident I couldn't argue with. My mother started "why aren't you married?" "Mama, do I have to be married? Don't you want to see me a success- strong, independent?"
"Well, I want grandchildren." Gerry got several scenes of me with my mother. But she hated it, saying: "Get that thing out of my face." The cameraman asked what we were laughing about. "Just the absurdity of it all," I answered.
The next morning before the plane came to get us I asked my mother if she would like to come back and live with me in England or the United States.
"But what would I do?"
That's precisely it. I don't want you to do anything. You've done enough work. It's time to rest."
"No. Your father's getting old and he needs me. Besides, I can't just sit around. If you want to do something, get me a place in Somalia that I can go to when I'm tired. This is my home. This is all I've ever known."
I gave her a big hug. "I love you, Mama. I'm coming back for you, don't you forget that."
I had told Mama that I had not found the right man for me. But then one night in the fall of 1995 I discovered him in a tiny jazz club in New York. He was a shy drummer with a '70s Afro and a funky style. His name was Dana Murray, and I knew from that moment he was my man.
At dinner the next night I laughed and told him that someday I was going to have his baby. For the first time in my life I wanted a man. Soon we realized we were in love and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. My crazy prediction came true with the birth of our son on June 13, 1997; He was beautiful, with silky black hair and long feet and fingers.
I named him Aleeke. With his tiny mouth, chubby cheeks and halo of curls, he looks like a little black cupid.
From the day he was born, my life changed. The happiness I get from him is everything to me now. Life--the gift of life-is what matters, and that's what giving birth to my son made me remember.
After going through the cycle of womanhood that began prematurely with my circumcision at age five and came full circle with my baby's birth when I was about 30, I had even more respect for my own mother. I understood what incredible strength the women in Somalia possess.
I thought of the girl back in the bush, walking miles to water her goats while she's in such pain from her period that she can barely stand. Of the woman nine months pregnant hunting for food in the desert to feed her starving children. Of the wife who will be sewn back up with a needle and thread as soon as she gives birth so her vagina will remain tight for her husband. And of the new wife who's still sewn up tight, and it's time for her first baby to be born. What happens when she goes out into the desert alone, as my mother did?
As I grew older and more educated, I learned that because of a cruel ritual, many of the women on the continent of Africa live their lives in pain.
Somebody must speak out for the little girl with no voice. And since I began as a nomad like so many of them, I felt it was my destiny to help them.
Some time back, Laura Ziv, a writer for the fashion magazine Marie Claire, made an appointment to interview me. When we met, I liked her right away. I said, "I don't know what kind of story you wanted from me, but all of that fashion model stuff's been done a million times. If you promise to publish it, I'll give you a real story."
She said, "Oh? Well, I'll do my best," and switched on her tape recorder I began telling her the story of my circumcision when I was a child. Halfway through the interview, she started crying and turned off the tape. "I mean, it's horrible, it's disgusting. I never dreamed such things still happen today."
"That's the point," I said. "People in the West don't know."
The day after the interview, I felt stunned and embarrassed. Everybody would know my most personal secret. My closest friends didn't know what had happened to me as a little girl, and now I was telling millions of strangers.
But after much thought, I realized I needed to talk about my circumcision; First of all, it bothers me deeply. Besides the health problems that I still struggle with, I will never know the pleasures of sex. I feel incomplete, crippled, and knowing that there's nothing I can do to change that is the most hopeless feeling of all.
The second reason was my hope of making people aware that this practice still occurs today. I've got to speak not only for me but for the millions of girls living with it and those dying from it.
When the interview came out, the response was dramatic. The magazine was swamped with letters. I began giving more interviews and speaking at schools, community organizations and anywhere I could to publicize the issue.
In 1997 the United Nations Population Fund invited me to join its fight to stop female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), as it is more aptly called today. The World Health Organization has compiled some truly terrifying statistics that put the extent of the problem in perspective. After I saw those numbers, it became clear that this wasn't just my problem.
FGM is practiced predominantly in Africa-in 28 countries. Now cases have been reported among girls and women in the United States and Europe, where there are large number of African immigrants. This practice has been performed on as many as 130 million girls and women worldwide. At least two million girls are at risk each year of being the next victims-that's 6000 a day.
The operations are usually performed in primitive circumstances by village women using knives, scissors, even sharp stones. They use no anesthetic. The process ranges in severity. The most minimal damage is cutting away the hood of the clitoris. At the other end of the spectrum is infibulation, which is performed on 80 percent of the women in Somalia, and which prohibits the girl from enjoying sex for the rest of her life.
When I imagine more little girls going through what I went through, it breaks my heart and makes me angry.
With great pride, I accepted the U.N. Population Fund's offer to become a special ambassador and to join its fight. I will return to Africa to tell my story and speak out against this crime.
Friends have expressed concern that a fanatic will try to kill me, since many fundamentalists consider FGM a holy practice demanded by the Koran. However, this is not the case; neither the Koran nor the Bible makes any mention of female genital mutilation.
I just pray that one day no woman will have to experience this pain and that it becomes a thing of the past. That's what I'm working toward.
From the moment God saved me from a lion, I felt he had a plan for me, some reason to keep me alive. My faith tells me God has work for me to do and this is my mission.
I'm sure my work will be dangerous. I admit to being scared. But I might as well take a chance. It's what I've done all my life.


text:
A Walk in the Woods
By Anna Lena Phillips
Evidence builds that time spent in the natural world benefits human health
Evidence builds that time spent in the natural world benefits human health
For the month of April, I decided to visit the Haw River, which flows near where I live, every day. I wouldn't hold myself strictly to this, but I would try, and I would observe—not impartially, of course, but closely—how I felt. Some days I took leisurely walks with friends, leaning over the railing of the pedestrian bridge to watch the river, high from recent rains, and to smell the distinctive, muddy smell of the water mingled with that of the banks overrun with invasive honeysuckle. On others, coming home late at night, I drove straight down to the bridge and walked out to stare down at the dark water, a move that felt a bit like the natural-world equivalent of visiting a drive-through restaurant.
I did this because I hadn't been spending much time at the river, even though it's only a short walk from home, and even though I like doing it. The results of my informal experiment? I did, in fact, feel better—calmer, more relaxed, clearer-headed. I suspect that many people have similar feelings about the effects of spending time in the wilder places near where they live. Perhaps that's why Richard Louv's 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, which explores the relation between the natural world and children's development, became a bestseller in the United States.
But to know empirically that these experiences are beneficial—and to know exactly how they might help us—requires more than personal experience. A growing and varied body of research attempts to quantify how and why spending time in the natural world might have beneficial effects on humans' physical and psychological health. One of the first and most well-known studies, published in Science by Richard S. Ulrich in 1984, found that patients recovering from surgery in rooms with a window facing a natural setting had shorter hospital stays and took less pain medicine than did patients whose window faced a brick wall. Since then, researchers have asked whether the presence of trees influences people's sense of safety in inner-city neighborhoods; explored how gardening might improve quality of life for people with disabilities; and used physiolgical measures to test for restorative effects of natural environments. If some of these studies seem too specific to be useful in answering the broader question, their results in sum suggest that time spent in nature improves human health. The more difficult questions are how, and in what ways, these effects arise. These questions are not the kind that can be answered by a single, groundbreaking paper; rather, like so many of the subtle and complex problems science explores, the evidence is being deposited, small study by small study, like layers of sediment on a river bed.
One such body of work is accumulating in Japan, where researchers are investigating the physiological effects of shinrin-yoku—"forest bathing," or, to put it plainly, taking walks in the woods. Qing Li, a professor in the Department of Hygiene and Public Health at Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, has been involved with several such studies. He and his colleagues recently measured specific physiological markers before and after study subjects took walks in a forest and in an urban control environment. The study's sample size is small—16 male subjects—and the timescale short—effects were measured after one day trip to the forest and one to the city—but the results suggest that the forest trip had positive effects on health. Subjects' blood pressure measured in the forest was significantly lower when compared to measurements taken in the city. Levels of the stress hormone noradrenaline, measured in urine, were also significantly lower after the forest walk than after the urban walk. And blood levels of the adrenal hormone dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and of adiponectin, a hormone secreted by fat tissue, were higher after the forest walk but not the urban walk. The authors note that DHEA-S may contribute to heart health, among other benefits, and that lower levels of adiponectin are associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Li and his coauthors, whose study appeared in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in March, speculate that the forest trip's effects on blood pressure may be related to phytoncides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that plants produce and release as protection from fungi and bacteria. In a separate study for which Li was also lead author, researchers unsurprisingly found higher concentrations of several phytoncides in a forest than in an urban area of Tokyo.
Another recent study, by Juyoung Lee, a researcher at the Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences at Chiba University, Japan, and others, offers similar results. In this three-day field experiment, 12 young male subjects visited forest and urban environments. The study, published in February in Public Health, found that in the forest, subjects' parasympathetic nervous-system activity was heightened and their sympathetic nervous-system activity suppressed. Pulse rates were lower, as were salivary levels of the adrenal hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress. Participants reported that their positive feelings increased, and negative feelings decreased, in the forest. Blood-pressure measurements, however, did not differ significantly between the forest and urban locations. The authors also measured phytoncide levels in the forest study area and found 10 different compounds, ranging in concentration from 0.3 micrograms per cubic meter to 1,336 micrograms per cubic meter.
In support of the idea that phytoncides may be responsible for some of the health effects seen in Li's study, he and his coauthors cite a 2003 paper that found that inhalation of cedar-wood oil lowered blood pressure. A review article of forest-bathing studies, published in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine in 2009 by Yuko Tsunetsugu and others, notes several laboratory studies that tested human responses to inhalation of plant VOCs. The results included such positive effects as lowered blood pressure and improved task performance. But to find a correlation between the mixture of phytoncides in forest air and physiological changes in humans would require experiments of more complex design. So although the idea that the very scent of the forest might improve health is appealing, determining whether it's true and the extent of any effects will need more study.
This is just one of many avenues of inquiry that forest-bathing research opens. Can the physiological effects of studies like Li's be replicated in larger studies, and in women and children? Do effects differ across gender and age? Do forests in varied bioregions, with different microclimates and compositions of tree species, vary in their effects on health? Do people who have grown up in one region experience different health effects in forests in their home bioregion than in other forests?
Policy questions abound as well. Carol Colfer, a cultural anthropologist and senior associate with the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia, studies human use of forests in developing countries. "I suppose the logical result would be developing more or at least maintaining existing parks in cities, and expanding protected areas—but with much more serious attention to the human rights of people living in these areas," she says of Li's study. "Even better would be encouraging in situ conservation on people's own lands." Li is interested in exploring how his results could be used in medicine. "I am planning to develop forest bathing to be a preventive measure for some diseases such as depression, hypertension and cancers," he says.
What's clear is that trying to quantify a seemingly intuitive claim—humans benefit from spending time in the natural world—is turning up more complex answers, and more resulting questions, than a fir tree has needles. If policymakers take note of this work as it emerges, they might be better equipped to improve public health. For my part, I've extended my efforts to visit the river each day into the month of May. The weather's better for swimming now, and the air smells as good as ever.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The first two or three times we were shown a hands-off demo of The Evil Within—the new survival horror title from the man who practically created the genre, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami—we came away distinctly unimpressed with the game's extremely slow pacing and lack of genuine thrills. So our first opportunity to actually play an early build of the game came with low expectations. And while the experience surpassed those expectations, it included enough issues for us still to be wary of the final product.
Our demo threw us right in to missions that represent the fourth and eighth chapters of the game without much context for the spooky goings-on around us. The first demo chapter started with an effort to find a doctor's missing patient, Leslie, but quickly devolved into a standard escape from the encroaching undead with little apparent storyline. The second chapter featured a number of ghostly flashbacks detailing Leslie's own lonely descent into madness and the good doctor's attempt to rein him in. Along the way, there were plenty of cheesy horror movie one-liners that fell right on the line between endearingly campy and just plain bad writing.
Right off the bat, The Evil Within is much more reminiscent of the slow, cerebral early Resident Evil games than the shooting-heavy action-fests that followed in the wake of Resident Evil 4. Ammunition is extremely scarce, and the design favors players that are able to sneak around and avoid confrontation rather than run into it. The game's undead enemies are generally the slow, shambling kind that lurch directly toward you with ample opportunity to line up a head shot, assuming you have a bullet to spare (and, ideally, a lit match to ignite the corpse and prevent it from re-animating).
Even when facing a room full of these zombies, the difficulty is in managing to kill them all without wasting too many bullets rather than actually avoiding their slow, methodical approach. There's some strategy in luring these zombies into explosive trip wires and other hazards that help do the job for you, but for the most part we were unimpressed by the slow-paced combat and choppy, staged-looking animations of the undead threats. The one exception in the demo was a horrifying spider woman hybrid, all red flailing legs with slashing spikey ends, that sets off a thrilling chase sequence down a creepy hallway.
Aside from that, the tension comes mainly from a hooded apparition named Ruvik, who seems to randomly appear just when you're beginning to feel safe. It's not that hard to run out of Ruvik's way as he marches toward you methodically with an outstretched, killer arm, but doing so often flushes you out of a hiding space or into one of the many deadly traps placed on the walls, which would be simple to disarm in calmer circumstances. The demo levels we played were extremely unforgiving, with only one or two missteps being enough to earn a trip back to a checkpoint that was saved up to ten minutes before. This makes the slightest mistake feel especially costly, and it ratchets up the stakes in even the simplest encounters.
The Evil Within also feels very reminiscent of early Resident Evil in the arcane puzzles you often have to solve to move on. One chapter in the demo took place in a big, gothic mansion (sound familiar?) and required lots of slow exploration through its cavernous rooms to unlock an intricate three-part lock for a huge vault-like door at the rear of the lobby. The find-the-pieces-of-this-key and search-for-the-secret-room-unlock-button gameplay felt either hopelessly dated or charmingly retro, depending on how you look at it and how you feel about early survival horror games these days.
Outside of the gameplay, The Evil Within cranks up the creepy factor through frequent, difficult-to-process bouts of insanity in the world around you ("We must be collectively losing our minds," the protagonist helpfully and directly explains at one point). Doors explode open with a torrent of waist-high blood, Shining-style. Horrible, toothy Sarlaac-alikes pop out of nowhere and drag you to your death unless you have the presence of mind to shoot the door-release button. At one point, during a fall down a seemingly endless corridor, the world around you suddenly fades into an orthogonal hallway, pushing you down with a screeching thud on what was a wall just a second before. Some of these surprises come off as hackneyed, but overall it creates a strong impression that you can't really believe your own senses in this world.
The game definitely isn't above the gross-out school of horror, either. In addition to the room-o'-blood discussed above, one of the main motifs in the demo was puzzles that involved electrical poking and prodding into specific areas of exposed brain on half-living cadavers with the skulls removed. Recovered audio recordings seem to revel in the screaming of these tortured subjects, alongside creepily clinical descriptions from the mad scientist who initially set up the experiments. At one point an obviously disturbed butcher starts literally tearing off pieces of his face because of an overbearing itchiness. Both zombie and player deaths are rendered with a maximum amount of grisliness, reminiscent of The Last of Us (it was a bit much for me, personally).
It all adds up to a game that's much more intense to play than previous hands-off demos led us to believe, but it's also a game with some downright dated gameplay choices that still feels quite rough around the edges. With the release date on the PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows just pushed back to later October (just in time for Halloween), hopefully the developers will have enough time to refine this into a seamless, taut survival horror experience.


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The Monmouth County Park System was created in 1961 by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. In order to supervise the Park System's development and activities, the Board of Chosen Freeholders established, by authority of NJSA 40:12-1 et seq, the Monmouth County Board of Recreation Commissioners. This made it responsible for the operation, maintenance, and development of parks and recreation programs. In addition, the Board serves as a coordinating agency between the state and local municipalities.
Board of Recreation Commissioners
MANDEVILLE, Kevin (Chairman)
HARMON, Michael G. (Vice Chairman)
The Board Secretary also serves as the Park System's Director. The Board reorganizes each January when it elects the Chairman and Vice-Chairman and sets the meeting schedule for the coming year.
Board of Chosen Freeholders
The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders is the governing body of Monmouth County and consists of five Freeholders elected at-large for three-year terms. The Freeholders oversee the five mandatory functions of county government delegated to it by the state. In total, the Board is responsible for supervising more than 70 county departments. Current Freeholders are:
The Freeholder Board re-organizes annually in January. A list of Freeholder meeting dates is available on the County's Website at www.visitmonmouth.com.
The online reservation system is a quick and easy way to book at tee time at one of 6 golf courses.
From Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park to Historic Walnford, the Park System offers over 30 park areas to explore.
From pottery classes to nature walks, programs and activities are a great way to meet people and explore new interests.
Receive timely updates regarding Monmouth County Park System programs, special events & golf course promotions.


text:
First hint: It makes something delicious. If you're one to have a drink of alcohol every once in a while, that is. Whatever could it be?
"It" is version 2.0 of the EMSL's Drink Making Unit, and it does just that.
The bar-tending bot is about twice as big and complex as the one they created last year, and is otherwise similar in name only. The group explains:
Aside from the once-again-apt-but-not-very-descriptive name, Drink Making Unit 2.0 has very little in common with last year's machine. The mechanism is all new, and features elements borrowed from sources as diverse as pet stores, chemistry labs, and Japanese gardens. It dispenses any six fluids (up from three), in metered and selectable quantities, and also sports an all-new extra-snazzy control panel.
All I require are quality gin and tonic, my artificial friend. And don't dare skimp on that lime. [EMSL via MAKE]


text:
Top Items:
reddit goes open source — Today we're excited to announce that we're open sourcing reddit. We've always strived to be as open and transparent with our users as possible, and this is the next logical step. When we say 'open-source' we mean specifically that the code behind reddit …
Discussion: Open Sources, SitePoint Blogs, Startup Dunia and Startup Meme
Savio Rodrigues / Open Sources: Reddit goes open source
Bilal Hameed / Startup Meme: Early Digg Competitor Reddit goes Open Source
MG Siegler / VentureBeat:
Digg this: Reddit goes open source — In the arena of crowd voting sites there is Digg and then there is everyone else. Every once in a while a challenger will come up that looks promising, but it fades away. — For a while that was Netscape (now called Propeller), then it was Mixx …
Discussion: CenterNetworks, Mashable!, Ars Technica, Download Squad, The Last Podcast, CyberNet, Laughing Squid, TechConsumer and Pulse 2.0
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks: Reddit Goes Open Source With Their Code
David Chartier / Ars Technica: Reddit social news site goes transparent, open source
Frederic / The Last Podcast: Reddit Opens Up the Source
Scott Beale / Laughing Squid: Reddit Goes Open Source, Releases Code To Public
Bob Caswell / TechConsumer: Reddit Goes Open Source: What Does That Really Mean?
Amit Chowdhry / Pulse 2.0: Reddit Has Opened Their Source Code
Josh Catone / ReadWriteWeb:
Build Your Own Reddit With Reddit — Social news site Reddit's secret announcement — which people have been speculating about for the past 24 hours — is out of the bag: Reddit is open sourcing their code. "We've always strived to be as open and transparent with our users as possible …
Discussion: The Social Web and Brent Csutoras
Steve O'Hear / The Social Web: Reddit: open source not special sauce
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch: Reddit Tries To Compete the Open-Source Way
Caroline McCarthy / Webware.com: Conde Nast's Reddit goes open-source
Brent Csutoras:
Discussion: TechCrunch
In Pursuit of Mysteries:
IE Sends Mozilla a New Cake for Firefox 3 — 14678 people have read this post. — Sean from Microsoft came by just a few minutes ago to drop off a cake for the Internet Explorer team. As people may recall, the IE team sent Mozilla a cake after Firefox 2 shipped and it seems that they wanted to continue the tradition.
Discussion: Digital Daily, Lockergnome and Gizmodo
Ryan Paul / Ars Technica:
The cake is a lie: IE team bakes a treat for Mozilla
The cake is a lie: IE team bakes a treat for Mozilla
Percy Cabello / Mozilla Links: Sweet plugin: Microsoft Cake 2.0 for Firefox 3
Gina Trapani / Lifehacker:
Power User's Guide to Firefox 3
Power User's Guide to Firefox 3
Discussion: The Mozilla Blog, ReadWriteWeb, Pito's Blog, Laughing Squid, Technology Live, The Blog Herald, Marketing.fm and Digg
Sarah Perez / ReadWriteWeb: Get Firefox...If You Can
Scott Beale / Laughing Squid: Firefox 3 Released & Download Day 2008
Michelle Kessler / Technology Live: Pimp your Firefox — If you're one of the 6.9 million people trying …
Thord Daniel Hedengren / The Blog Herald: Firefox 3 is out now, looking good and doing its thing.
Stan Schroeder / Mashable!:
Firefox Reaches Its Goal Despite Site Problems — When the final version of Firefox 3 became available yesterday, it seemed they were going to have a hard time reaching their goal of five million downloads - an arbitrary number, since the record for most software downloads in 24 hours didn't exist before …
Discussion: The Register, Startup Meme, In Pursuit of Mysteries, Switched, InformationWeek and BerryReview.com
Kelly Fiveash / The Register: Firefox 3 downloads hit 7m despite server FAIL
Tim Stevens / Switched: Firefox 3.0 Released, Sets Download Record
Ronen Halevy / BerryReview.com: Firefox 3 Released - Worth A Download
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com:
Statistics show Firefox 3 spreading fast — Firefox 3 is spreading fast, claiming more than 4 percent of the share of Web browser usage less than 24 hours after its release. — According to Net Applications, which monitors browser usage at major Web sites, Firefox 3 rapidly ascended …
Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, LinuxWorld.com, TechBlog and Web Scout
Josh Catone / ReadWriteWeb: Firefox 3 Sets Download 'Record' - Are You Using It?
David Sarno / Web Scout: Bloggers: Why throw a wet blanket on FireFox?
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0:
Preliminary autopsy results on Mozilla's Download Day ...
Preliminary autopsy results on Mozilla's Download Day ...
Discussion: Open Source, Netcraft and Mozilla
PR Newswire:
Microsoft Announces Acquisition of Navic Networks — Navic enables Microsoft to work with industry partners to optimize the delivery and placement of television advertising. — Microsoft Corp. today announced the acquisition of Navic Networks, a leading provider of television advertising solutions.
Discussion: TechCrunch, Between the Lines, Startup Meme, 901am, Beyond Binary and Clickety Clack
Erick Schonfeld / TechCrunch: Microsoft Gets Into Interactive TV Ads; Buys Navic Networks …
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines: Microsoft buys TV ad firm Navic
Cristina Ledesma / 901am: Microsoft acquires Navic Networks
Ina Fried / Beyond Binary: Microsoft to buy TV ad service
Effective Cpms / Clickety Clack: Microsoft Acquires Interactive TV Tech Provider Navic
Michael Learmonth / Silicon Alley Insider:
Microsoft Grabs Navic, Stalks Google TV (MSFT, GOOG)
Microsoft Grabs Navic, Stalks Google TV (MSFT, GOOG)
Discussion: Xconomy, Search Engine Watch Blog, Seattle Times, Valleywag and The Inquisitr
Nathania Johnson / Search Engine Watch Blog: Microsoft Continues Pursuit of Google with Navic Acquisition
Benjamin J. Romano / Seattle Times: Microsoft steps big into TV ad world
Nicholas Carlson / Valleywag: Microsoft acquires Navic Systems to compete with Google TV advertising
Duncan Riley / The Inquisitr: Microsoft Acquires Navic Networks
Brian Morrissey / Adweek:
Microsoft Buys Navic for TV Push
Microsoft Buys Navic for TV Push
Discussion: NewTeeVee, Search Engine Land, MarketingVOX, paidContent.org and Bits
Chris Albrecht / NewTeeVee: Microsoft Acquisition Aims for TV Ads
Miguel Helft / Bits: Microsoft Buys TV Ad Technology Company
Owen Thomas / Valleywag:
Stewart Butterfield's bizarre resignation letter to Yahoo — Stewart Butterfield, the cantankerous cofounder of Flickr, has, as we've noted, tendered his resignation to Yahoo, as has wife and cofounder Caterina Fake. The two recently celebrated, along with Flickr's other original employees …
Discussion: Susan Mernit's Blog and WebProNews
Susan Mernit / Susan Mernit's Blog: Yahoo: The circle game
Doug Caverly / WebProNews: Cofounders Butterfield, Fake Leaving Flickr
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Flickr Co-founders Join Mass Exodus From Yahoo
Flickr Co-founders Join Mass Exodus From Yahoo
Discussion: The Register, Search Engine Land, Guardian Unlimited, The Inquisitr, broadstuff, BoomTown, CNET News.com, Search Engine Journal, /Message, Startup Meme, The Blog Herald, paidContent.org, Valleywag, Maple Leaf 2.0, The Technology Chronicles, Coop's Corner, Thomas Hawk's Digital …, Forbes, L.A. Times Tech Blog and Silicon Alley Insider
Kelly Fiveash / The Register: Yahoo! execs! stick! it! to! the! man!
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land: Flickr Founders Fake & Butterfield Latest To Leave Yahoo
Jack Schofield / Guardian Unlimited: Flickr's co-founders join mass exodus from Yahoo
Duncan Riley / The Inquisitr: 6 Alternatives To Flickr Now Yahoo Is In Full Control
Alan Patrick / broadstuff: Yahoo - a contrarian view
Kara Swisher / BoomTown: Yahoo Boardroom Brawl?
Stephen Shankland / CNET News.com: Flickr co-founders depart Yahoo
Arnold Zafra / Search Engine Journal: Flickr Co-Founders Say Goodbye to Yahoo
Stowe Boyd / /Message: Butterfield and Fake To Leave Yahoo
Sardar Mohkim Khan / Startup Meme: Flickr co-founders call it a day; add more to Yahoo's quit line
Thord Daniel Hedengren / The Blog Herald: Flickr Founders Jump Ship
Rafat Ali / paidContent.org: Flickr Founders Leave Yahoo
Jackson West / Valleywag: Flickr founders Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake abandon the good ship Yahoo
Verne Kopytoff / The Technology Chronicles: Flickr founders are the latest in Yahoo's exodus
Charles Cooper / Coop's Corner: Voting with their feet? File this one under 'stampede'
Brian Caulfield / Forbes: Flickr Founders Leave Yahoo!
Jessica Guynn / L.A. Times Tech Blog: Yahoo's Yang may be yearning for yesterday
Dan Frommer / Silicon Alley Insider: Flickr Duo Ditching Yahoo, Too (YHOO)
Verizon Extends Groundbreaking 50/20 Mbps FiOS Internet Service to Entire FiOS Footprint — Verizon President and COO Denny Strigl Announces Groundbreaking 50/20 and 20/20 Mbps FiOS Internet Services Will Be Available to More Than 10 Million Homes and Small Businesses
Discussion: Engadget, CrunchGear and Gizmodo
Darren Murph / Engadget: Verizon pushing FiOS internet to 50Mbps throughout US
Doug Aamoth / CrunchGear: Verizon to bump FiOS speeds to 50 Mbps nationwide
Karl / DSLreports:
50Mbps, 20/20Mbps FiOS Tiers Hit All Markets …
50Mbps, 20/20Mbps FiOS Tiers Hit All Markets …
Discussion: Electronista and Gizmodo
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Is LinkedIn Worth $1 Billion? — LinkedIn Worth $1 billion? — I think so — It is seriously overvalued — I don't care either way. — The big news tonight is business social network LinkedIn raised $53 million in Series D funding at a valuation of $1 billion.
Discussion: Beyond Search and broadstuff
Stephen E. Arnold / Beyond Search: The LinkedIn Bet: $1 Billion Social Valuation
Alan Patrick / broadstuff: IS LINKED IN WORTH $1 BILLION? WHO KNOWS....
Caroline McCarthy / The Social:
'New York Times' goes social with TimesPeople — CNET News.com's Caroline McCarthy interviews two NYTimes.com — software engineers for a video in collaboration with Beet.tv. — (Credit: Beet.tv) — The New York Times has added a new feature to its Web site that takes a few cues …
Discussion: Beet.TV, The Social Times, Homotron.net, Boing Boing and DigiDave
Andy Plesser / Beet.TV: New York Times Launches New Social Platform for Times Readers
Nick O'Neill / The Social Times: New York Times Goes Social With TimesPeople
Kristen Nicole / Mashable!:
OurSignal: Mashup of Digg, Reddit, Delicious and HackerNews — OurSignal is the latest site from the makers of CushyCMS, designed to bring you the freshest and most popular news from across the Web. It's a mashup of several social bookmarking sites focused on news, including reddit, digg, delicious and hackernews.
Discussion: The Social, CenterNetworks, Ajaxian, Web Worker Daily and creativebits
Caroline McCarthy / The Social: OurSignal puts the follies of social news all in one place
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks: OurSignal News Mashup Launches
Mike Gunderloy / Web Worker Daily: Oursignal's Patchwork Quilt of News
Daniel Langendorf / ReadWriteWeb:
The Coming World of Mobile Sensors — At Supernova 2008 this week we got a glimpse of what's next for mobile; and it has little to do with hardware like the iPhone, software like Google's open-source operating system Android, mobile platforms put forth by Apple, Google, Nokia, Research in Motion, and the carriers.
Discussion: All about Microsoft, Webware.com and GottaBeMobile
Mary Jo Foley / All about Microsoft: 'Sensing' more about what's coming in Windows 7
Rafe Needleman / Webware.com: Skydeck's cool mobile phone book site being undone by its CEO
Warner Crocker / GottaBeMobile: Are We Ready For Mobile Sensors?
Mark Sweney / Guardian:
Nokia to launch advertising 'ad labs' — Nokia is to open a series of "Ad Labs" to train traditional advertising agency staff in the "black art" of mobile advertising in a bid to more rapidly unlock the potential of the nascent £1bn sector. — The mobile phone producer's new Ad Labs …
Discussion: FierceMobileContent, Paid Content and mocoNews.net
Jason Ankeny / FierceMobileContent: Nokia to open mobile advertising labs
Dianne See Morrison / Paid Content: Mobile Content Bits: Nokia Rolling Out Ad Labs; EA Mobile Mulling Subs In Europe
Dianne See Morrison / mocoNews.net: Nokia Rolling Out Mobile Advertising Training Labs
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Irony: If Google Can't Reach Your Robots.txt File, It Might Not List Your Site — I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable this morning that Google said if your robots.txt is unreachable, your site might not make it into the Google index. By unreachable, Google means that if your server simply times …
Discussion: Search Engine Roundtable and The Stalwart
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Roundtable: Will Google Crawl Your Site Without a Robots.txt File? It Depends
Joseph Weisenthal / The Stalwart: Humans, Algorithms Disagree On Significance Of 'Lesbian' Search


text:
There's so much awesomeness in this new video from Jeorg Sprave's "Slingshot Channel" on YouTube I can barely stand it, but here's the rundown:
• Jeorg's shirt.
• The fact that the slingshot has an earguard so it doesn't tear off people's ears when they fire it.
• And, of course, the fact that IT'S A FUCKING SLINGSHOT THAT FIRES CHAINSAWS. The magic begins at 1:50 in the video above.
The only problem, of course, is that Jeorg is German. You know what that means, don't you? A CHAINSAW SLINGSHOT GAP.
[Via Geekologie]


text:
I upgraded an app to rspec2 and rails3 recently and ran into a problem. I run each test in a transaction which rolls back after each test has finished. This works fine normally, but It seemed that after the upgrade the first failing test would cause this per-test transaction to not get rolled back so all the subsequent tests would run in the same transaction.
This caused the tests so fail with validation errors as test data was getting re-inserted, and a validates_uniqueness_of validation was complaining each time, note the second failing test, this test should have passed but failed with a "Validation failed: Name has already been taken" error:
It turns out that what was actually happening was that an exception raised in the after(:each) block was causing the rollback to fail and the failing test was just masking the error. This was my after(:each) block:
This code fails when there is no directory to remove and though this worked fine in the older version of rspec (rspec just ignored the error) with rspec2 it caused the issues discussed above. The solution (because I don't care if the file exists or not before I delete it) is as simple as adding a condition:


text:
I recently added a resource file to my application to get around some issues of black backgrounds appearing in toolbar icons. That's all working fine now but I've encountered a new problem as a result.
The compiled application now displays the first icon in the resource file as the application's icon rather than the one that I specify on the Make tab of the project options dialog...
Any idea what's going on and how I can correct it?
I've considered recompiling the resource file with the icon I want used in the application listed first. But this strikes me as a desperate move -- to be saved as a last gasp.


text:
sciatica swimming - Sciatica Pain Relief ? Natural Lower Back Pain Relief
Sciatica Pain Relief ? Natural Lower Back Pain Relief
Sciatica pain relief in a few simple and very easy steps. If you know what to do, and most importantly, what to target, sciatica pain relief can be simple, easy and quick.
The deeper layers of the nerve then cause the sharper, definite pain. The deepest levels will cause actual numbness and loss of muscle power, strength and endurance. If you experience symptoms of the deeper layer disturbances, then professional help is essential.
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Almost all these treatments are accompanied or followed by physical therapy, under a physician's supervision or on his prescribed course. This kind of physical therapy concentrates on building the muscles around the sciatica nerve roots so as to strengthen the lower back.
Tip 4: Medication and Physical Therapy: If you are suffering from lower back and leg pain, you could start off with simple painkillers, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol. If the pain is severe, affecting your day-to-day activities and simple painkillers do not work, you could have an anti-inflammatory medication prescribed for you. At times, these too are not enough and your doctor may suggest an epidural injection. In this, the medication is injected into the spine, which directs it to the areas of the sciatic nerve roots, soothing them and relieving the pain.
Question 3... What caused your sciatica? If you have had a fall or injury then
needs attention. Sciatica at times is caused by disc injuries and spinal conditions that relate to joint instability. These need to be assessed and treated accordingly. Although the majority of sciatic nerve irritation comes after situations that appear completely normal. Your normal daily activity should not cause
, however a build up of tension can lead to sciatic nerve problems.
If you have not had trauma, if your general health is generally okay, your sciatica will most likely respond to some simple self help techniques you can use at home. It can ease and disappear quickly... but as the saying goes - if pain persists see your doctor.
Occasionally, the sciatic nerve roots - which start at the base of the spine and stretch all the way to the feet through the buttock and legs - get compressed or irritated causing pain not only in the lower back but also in the buttocks, thighs, legs, extending even to the feet.
Sciatica is often confused. It can be a serious condition or it may be an irritation that is easily corrected. How do you know? If know the answer to three questions, then you can decide whether you can correct your
yourself or you need to seek help from a structural specialist.
Question 1... How far does your
travel? The sciatic nerve can be irritated in the lower back, pelvis and as a result of muscular tightness in the buttock. If you have lower back pain and pain travels out to the buttock, this can still be
. It is just a lesser form and easily corrected with various lower back stretches, exercises and joint techniques.
Are you one of the thousands you have sciatica. Do you have that nagging back pain that now travels down your leg... making you feel tired, frustrated and grumpy?
See, these very simple, painless and quick ways to evade the
pain by keeping your pelvis and joints in a good shape.
Learn more about the various
pain relief methods. Discover what are the best physical therapy for
For more information on
issues just visit
- http://www.back-pain-advisor.com/sciatica.html
Receive a free e-book on back pain when you subscribe to our newsletter, just click here - Back Pain Adviser - http://www.back-pain-advisor.com/back-pain-adviser.html
For example, chiropractic treatment is one such method in which you are offered non-invasive and medication-free therapies, to treat your
. Chiropractic treatments can involve ultrasounds, TENS, spinal adjustments and cold therapies. Other alternative methods of treatment include acupuncture or acupressure, in which fine needles are stuck at specific points to help relieve pain; yoga, which involve stretching exercises and help a certain kind of
pain and biofeedback, which is said to be a mind-body therapy helping you train your mind and body in controlling your reactions to pain.
To have this goal is admirable... but you need to know 3 very important facts first. Or your sciatica may not disappear and you may suffer for a long time yet. Something you do not want... or need.
It is important that the patient and therapist share an open and healthy relationship as a therapist will have to modify his technique depending on how the patient is responding. The patient has to be comfortable with the therapist and stay in a relaxed state of mind during session to allow for the full benefits of the massage. They have to be constantly communicating with each other especially during massage sessions so that the therapist understands if the patient is finding the massage beneficial, if so, what area is it helping and how effective is it. This is true specially, at key points, like in the lower back areas where the therapist may prompt the patient to inform him of how he or she feels. With constant feedback, the therapist may adjust his style as also the technique to better benefit the patient.
Tip 5: Alternative Methods of Treatment: Other than medication and surgery, many patients suffering from sciatica have tried alternative methods of treatment and have claimed great success with them.
Tip 2: Lifting of Heavy Objects: Try to share the load of very heavy objects with others. If you have to lift something by yourself, hold it close to you and then bend your knees, rather than bending your back.
I get two common questions in my practice about
. If you know the answers to these will help you getting directions to solving your back problems. Although back pain may be a pretty complex issue it can be solved using very simple solutions.
Very rarely, though, sciatica pain can be extremely severe and debilitating for patients who are recommended surgery. New surgical techniques like microsurgery and percutaneous removals allow patients to undergo these procedures and come out of the hospital much faster than ever before, decreasing the loss of work time.
Joints must move correctly and your pelvis needs to be well balanced. Your muscular system will fail if your joints do not improve. The same thing goes for your pelvis ? if it does not improve your muscular system will continually fail.
Many people think of
, symptoms of which include pain down the leg, some numbness and weakness of the limbs as just another case of lower back pain and believe that with sufficient rest, the pain will go away. However,
is a little more serious than that.
Persons suffering from
seek pain relief in different ways. In some cases, where patients are suffering from acute pain, medications can provide relief. In extreme cases, epidural injections and even surgery may be suggested. Even after all these treatments, for long term relief from sciatica pain, people do turn to sciatic stretches as also look for various massage techniques for
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Nerves, when irritated, exhibit definite pain patterns. The outer fibers of the nerve create what is called paraesthesia - which mean altered sensation. You may experience tingling, the gnawing feeling and a sensation of numbness. The numbness is a sensation not a reality. You can check this by pinching the area or using a pin prick. If you still feel pain with these then you have paraesthesia not true numbness.
Tip 3: Exercise Regularly: Regular exercise will not only help you in your general fitness but also in the fitness of your lower back. Abdominal crunches are very helpful in strengthening your lower back. Swimming or Walking can also help with the lower back.
Tip 1: Posture, Posture, Posture: Maintaining a good posture while standing and sitting go a long way to avoid damage to the spine. Also one should avoid sitting or standing for very long periods.
Can you actually imagine being free of
? Do you really believe there is a cure, so you can enjoy all the activities you use to do? Wouldn't life be perfect again if that pesky
disappeared once and for all!
When it returns it usually gets worse with each episode and this is why so many people complain about constant nagging back pain.
commonly becomes more severe as the time passes and eventually surgery becomes the only valid option. If you fail to address all the factors that causes your sciatica you will suffer when you get older.
There may be many reasons for sciatic pain - it could be caused by some irritation in the 5 nerve points leading to the sciatic nerve, irritation or compression in the sciatic nerve itself or because of some tightening in the vicinity of the Piriformis muscle. Irrespective of the cause, it has been found that massage therapy helps all these conditions. Massage therapy helps in relaxing muscles and improving ones' posture. This also relieves the pressure on the various nerve points as well as the sciatic nerve. Depending on how acute the pain is as also what stage of treatment one is, there are different massage techniques that one can try.
Usually, the kind of massage you get will depend on the exact cause of your sciatic pain. So, before you start on a massage therapy, meet an expert who will understand your condition better and advise you on what massage techniques will suit you best. Massage therapy usually starts by hands-on assessment of the lower back area and buttock area. The main source of pain is usually the lower back muscles. The therapist will massage the lower back muscles as well as the hip rotators to relax them and bring relief from the pain. The Piriformis muscles are also concentrated on by slowly starting along the sacrum edge. The pressure and technique is adjusted depending on the person and how well he is responding to the massage. At times, such deep massaging is not required and just gentle vibrations on the sacrum and buttock also prove very effective.
Dr Graeme Teague is an expert in the structural field, and has been in practice since 1991. His newly launched web site The Back Pain Advisor - http://www.back-pain-advisor.com - strives to give you valuable and expert advice, tips and information on your back pain issues.
It has been found that for many people, even those with chronic
, massage techniques have provided significant and long-lasting relief. It has to be noted that for healing effects and long-term relief, these massage techniques have to be performed properly and regularly.
If you know the right answers to the 3 important Sciatica questions, sciatica can disappear quickly. If you fit the criteria of caution, then be cautious and seek professional intervention. Don't let sciatica "lay you up"... learn to get rid of
once and for all.
href="http://www.sciaticatreatment.org">sciatica treatment head to: http://www.
treatment.org today!
First question: What are the Simple Steps to Follow? If you want to get rid of the
pain you need to find the main factors that cause this. If you don?t find all the factors, the pain will return soon or will never leave.
To simply correct this type of
, you need to know this! If your lower back pain travels down the leg to your foot or ankle, then obviously the sciatic nerve is irritated at a greater level. The further your
travels, generally speaking, the worse the condition. In these situations professional advice and treatment is indicated.
Question 2... What type of sciatic pain to do you have? Knowing which type of pain you suffer helps to determine how severe your sciatica is. Most people with sciatica will experience pain, it may be a gnawing, and toothache feeling or it may throb or shoot down the leg. Others will have a numb feeling and some may experience the muscles not holding their strength. If you look at the type of pain, you can see how serious it is.
There are many ways of treating sciatica but there also many ways of preventing
in the first place. We will look at some of the best ways to prevent and treat
The solutions are simple: 1. Release tension in the muscles which can be accomplished by stretching (most important is to know when and how to stretch). You need to warm up a beat before doing any stretching because your muscles need to have their blood supply and nerve stimulated. This saves time and reduced the chances to get some minor injuries while stretching.
The techniques necessary to solve the sciatica problems and the lower back pain are easy to use, quick to apply, takes almost no time and ca be used daily and compared to back pains this surely won?t rule your life.
For more info on sciatica treatment head to: http://www.
treatment.org today!
About the Author:
for more info visit http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Neil_Jones
Learn More about
Natural Sciatica Back Pain Treatments
Natural Sciataca Relief
When it comes to trying to find the best natural sciatica relief treatment, it is important that people understand just what it is. Too often people will get sciataca muddled up with other medical conditions. The problem is that sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than it actually being a diagnosis in itself. Therefore before it can be treated using either traditional prescribed...
Ischias: Sciatic Nerve or Sciatica
On average, symptoms will only happen on one side of the body. This is a very common form of back pain, however the term sciatica actually applies to a set of symptoms rather than the diagnosis of what is irritating the nerve. Causes The cause of sciatica is generally the compression of the lumbar spine nerve root L4 or L5, or compression of the sciatic nerve itself, which is far less...
Exercises For Sciatica - 3 Simple Exercises For Sciatic Nerve Pain Relief
As anyone knows who has ever had sciatic nerve pain, it is extremely painful. Move in the wrong way and you will experience intense pain. Numbness and tingling may occur at any time. This makes it extremely hard to go about your daily activities or do productive work to support yourself and your family. As soon as possible, you need to begin stretching and strengthening your muscles for...
The Best & Quickest Exercise to Relieve Sciatica
Sciatica, I m sure you know, is a real pain in the butt . It affects your day to day life and stops you enjoying your work and leisure times. At times pin is constant and you may even get numbness in your legs. You may be frustrated that you can t even tie your own shoe laces, or play with your kids, let alone perform totally at work. You may have fears that it will become worse...
Diagnosing Sciatica Is A Complex Procedure
What are the causes behind the pain of sciatica? Sciatica is usually associated with compression of the sciatic nerve due to a slipped or a herniated disc. A degenerative disc disease is a condition that is brought about by the ageing process. The sciatic nerve is sometimes pinched by the piriformis muscle that is located deep in the buttocks. Sciatic pain can also be caused by conditions...
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text:
|Romanian Jewish Genealogy - Special Interest Group
| Click on a flag for official
country embassy details
Welcome to the JewishGen Romania SIG, a special interest group founded in 1993, and now hosted by JewishGen.
The countries known today as Romania and Moldova, as well as a southwestern portion of Ukraine and southern Hungary are the areas of interest to us. Included in these countries are the areas formerly known as Bukovina, Moldavia, Bessarabia, Transylvania, Wallachia and The Banat.
By combining our resources of time, expertise and funds we hope to be able to aid Jewish genealogy researchers with an interest in this region. To assist in achieving this goal we have established an Online Discussion List, a mailing list which is intended to facilitate the timely exchange of information among SIG members. There is no charge for participation in the mailing list. Reading the messages may enable you to discover another user who has uncovered a piece of information vital to your research, or who is linked to a family or town that you are also researching. You should be able to find users eager to share their information and quick to provide tips and feedback. The mailing list's archive is fully searchable here.
We are actively pursuing new sources of information, as well as entering materials that we have been acquiring into the searchable JewishGen Romania Database.
We strongly urge you to go to the JewishGen Family Finder site to register the surnames and towns you are researching. This will provide you with an unparalleled opportunity for contact with other researchers who have an interest in those same names and places. We also encourage you to submit your family trees to the Family Tree of the Jewish People.
Since we all benefit from the efforts of JewishGen and the free services it provides, we strongly encourage our SIG members to make donations to JewishGen-erosity, and if you desire, for specially earmarked Romania SIG projects.
ROM-SIG is always looking for volunteers to help with projects that we are working on. Many of you have talents that support our goals.
If you are interested in helping or if you have any suggestions, please email: Barbara.Hershey at comcast.net
If you are unable to volunteer, please consider donating to the Rom-SIG General Fund or for one of our projects at http://tinyurl.com/ROM-SIG-donation. (Because reports can take up to two months before we are notified of your donation, please let us know what you donated at http://tinyurl.com/R-S-Donations)
Thank you
This web site is dedicated to the memory of Sam Elpern


text:
Allison Macfarlane tapped to lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after Gregory Jaczko.
In a bow to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., the White House said on Thursday that President Obama plans to nominate Allison Macfarlane, an associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University, to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The announcement came just three days after Gregory Jaczko, a former aide to Reid, revealed that he would step down as NRC chairman as soon as a replacement is named by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Jaczko has been at the center of a growing controversy since late last year when the other four NRC commissioners challenged his management style.
Macfarlane is a well-known critic of the now-defunct nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada that Reid fought vigorously to shut down after more than a decade of studies and construction. She also served on the Obama administration's blue-ribbon panel that issued a report in January on finding solutions for storing the nation's spent nuclear fuel.
Reid, who unsuccessfully tried to get Macfarlane a seat on the NRC in 2007, immediately issued a statement of support for her nomination as Jaczko's successor.
"I am confident that like her predecessor, Dr. Allison Macfarlane will make preserving the safety and security of American citizens her top priority as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Reid said. "Dr. Macfarlane's education and experience, in particular her service on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future, make her eminently qualified to lead the NRC for the foreseeable future. The nuclear industry has a perfect opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to safety by supporting Dr. Macfarlane's nomination."
Democrats are relieved by the speedy appointment, especially after Jaczko suggested on Wednesday that he would be willing to remain on the NRC until his current term expires on June 30, 2013.
"I am thankful that the president moved quickly to nominate a new Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman to replace Chairman Jaczko," said Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del. "As only the second woman to ever be nominated as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Dr. Allison Macfarlane's expertise, experience, and past leadership on nuclear issues should make her a good candidate for this important position."
While Reid and other Democrats may be happy about the choice, Macfarlane may face a tough battle for a Senate confirmation, given her critical work on Yucca Mountain, including a book raising questions about the facility's safety.
"I think there's a lot to be said for … Macfarlane, but it would be a nightmare confirmation battle," said James Acton, a senior associate in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Still, the Senate is currently weighing the renomination of another woman already on the commission, Republican Kristine Svinicki, who has ignited a political fight in the upper chamber. Reid and Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., have openly criticized Svinicki, raising concerns among Republicans about her future at the agency.
Boxer has held off on announcing a hearing for Svinicki's nomination, but some senators—including Reid—say they could expect a one-two punch with the two nominees. Boxer confirmed on Thursday that will be the case. "I plan to have a hearing on both of them," she told National Journal.
"I believe the best interests of the public would be served by moving the nominations of Dr. Macfarlane and Ms. Svinicki together before Ms. Svinicki's term expires at the end of June, to ensure that we have a fully functioning NRC," Reid said in his statement.
"My hope and what I will be pushing for is quick action. Kristine Svinicki, her term is up end of the end of June," Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told National Journal earlier on Thursday. "I'm hopeful that we can use this as an opportunity to do what we do around here, which is pairing.
"Let's get Svinicki in and let's get whoever this individual may be," Murkowski added, "let's get them moving through the process, in their hearings, and have the commission at full capacity."
Still, some Republicans said they would not support Reid's floor plan to nominate both Macfarlane as NRC chairwoman and Svnicki to another term as commissioner at the same time.
"I think that might be an unfair bargain," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters shortly after the White House announced the nomination. "But I'm not surprised Senator Reid suggested it."
When asked if the plan could attract GOP support, McCain laughed and said, "Not right away."
Some senators also seemed generally unaware of who Macfarlane is at all. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, ID-Vt., both didn't know who she was when asked about her.
Asked about Reid's plan to bring the nominations to the floor simultaneously, Feinstein replied: "If the leader wants to do that, it'll get done. It might be a good pairing. I don't know because I don't know this person."
The nuclear industry on Thursday also indicated its support for a joint confirmation.
"We urge the Senate to confirm both Commissioner Svinicki and professor Macfarlane expeditiously," said Marvin Fertel, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's main lobbying arm.
Macfarlane, who earned a doctorate in geology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992, has held fellowships at the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. She also was an associate professor of international affairs and earth and atmospheric science at Georgia Tech University.
Macfarlane joined the faculty at George Mason in 2006, the same year that MIT Press published her book, Uncertainty Underground: Yucca Mountain and the Nation's High-Level Nuclear Waste, raising questions about the safety of storing high-level nuclear waste in the planned repository. Obama pulled the plug on the facility in his first year in office.
Amy Harder contributed to this report.