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OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know
Are you sure your patient has an infection and is a recipient of a hematopoietic cell transplant? What should you expect to find?
Neutropenic fever symptoms: Fever is often the only finding. Rigors may be present. Hypotension is infrequently present and is a sign of more serious infection and sepsis. There may be localizing findings such as oral pain or pleuritic pain (suggestive of pneumonia), diarrhea or abdominal pain (suggestive of typhlitis or C. difficile colitis), skin lesions (suggestive of infectious emboli), pain or eythema over indwelling venous catheter (suggestive of soft tissue infection, dysuria (suggestive of urinary tract infection [UTI]).
Non-neutropenic fever physical findings: same as with neutropenic fever, except findings more prominent because patient can manifest an inflammatory response.
Pneumonia symptoms: fever, cough, sputum, pleuritic pain
Continue Reading
Pneumonia findings: rales, rhonchi, pleural rub
Diarrhea symptoms: diarrhea, perianal pain, abdominal cramps
Diarrhea findings, loose stools, perianal cutaneous breakdown
Rash symptoms: vesicles, erythema, painful nodules
Rash findings: echthyma, vesicles, maculopapular erythematous lesions, cutaneous or subcutaneous nodules
How did the hematopoietic cell transplant recipient develop an infection? What was the primary source from which the infection spread?
Neutropenic fever: This occurs primarily during the first 3-4 weeks after transplant during the "pre-engraftment" period. Neutropenia less commonly occurs later as a result of multiple factors, including myelosuppression from various drugs, viral infections, secondary graft failure, or relapse. Neutrophils are key defenses against bacteria. Mucosal injury from chemoradiotherapy allows easier entry of commensal gut bacteria and fungi into bloodstream. Implanted central venous catheters breech the cutaneous barriers and allow colonizing bacteria and fungi entry into the bloodstream. In many instances, no pathogen can be identified early after the onset of neutropenic fever. Prior studies demonstrated that waiting eventually results in demonstration of a pathogen in most patients, and is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality.
Neutropenic fever epidemiology: Bacteremia is the most common infection, but blood cultures are positive in only about 20% of episodes. The majority of bloodstream isolates are Gram positive bacteria, mostly Staphylococcus epidermidis and much less commonly viridans streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus. With the exception of S. aureus, the Gram positive organisms are generally less virulent. In contrast, the less common Gram negative organisms are highly virulent and are the principal targets of empiric treatment regimens. The most common Gram negative pathogens are Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, Enterobacter spp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and less commonly Citrobacter spp, Acinetobacter spp, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. When neutropenia is prolonged, Candida spp increasingly cause fungemia. Aspergillus can be a cause of pneumonia if neutropenia persists beyond 14 days.
Non-neutropenic fever: This occurs at neutrophil recovery as the so-called engraftment syndrome which is a non-infectious syndrome, presumably caused by inflammatory cytokines. Infection needs to be excluded quickly, and corticosteroids are the preferred treatment, not antibiotics. Central venous catheters typically remain in place for long periods, and catheter-associated bloodstream infections are common causes of non-neutropenic fevers. The profound deficits in B and T cell immunity make patients vulnerable for viral and fungal infections. Graft versus host disease (GVHD) necessitates use of corticosteroids and other T cell immunosuppressive therapies that prolong the T cell deficiency. T and B cell immunity gradually recover over the 6-12 months after transplant. This occurs more quickly after autologous transplantation; after allogeneic transplantation, the occurrence of GVHD slows recovery, and persistent B and T cell immunodeficiency can be present for years.
Non-neutropenic fever epidemiology: Non-infectious causes have been mentioned due to engraftment syndrome or occasionally related to drugs. Catheter-associated infections frequently are due to Gram positive bacteria, especially S. epidermidis, but other Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and occasionally Candida also cause catheter infections. Other causes of fever include cytomegalovirus viremia, especially after allogeneic transplantation, candidiasis, and aspergillosis. Aspergillus is particularly problematic if the patient experiences GVHD. In patients with chronic GVHD, severe infections due to encapsulated bacteria can occur.
Pneumonia epidemiology: Pneumonias can be divided into diffuse and nodular patterns based on their radiologic appearance on computed tomographic (CT) scan and may have non-infectious and infectious causes.
Diffuse: approximately half are non-infectious and half are infectious. Non-infectious causes include hemorrhage, pulmonary edema, cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, and drug or radiation toxicity. Infectious causes include cytomegalovirus, Pneumocystis jiroveci, respiratory viruses, and Legionella.
Nodular: Most of these are infectious. Bacteria and fungi are common causes of pneumonia after transplant. The bacterial pathogens are a broad mix of Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens in roughly similar proportions. Approximately 40-50% of pneumonias are due to molds. Aspergillus is by far the most common pathogen in this group, accounting for 70-80% of mold infections after transplantation. About 20% are due to Mucorales, Scedosporium, and Fusarium. Late after transplant, Nocardia is an occasional cause of nodular pneumonia
Diarrhea: Mucosal injury from chemoradiotherapy, along with neutropenia, contributes to typhlitis. Use of antibiotics and the use of drugs to suppress acid contribute to C. difficile disease.
Diarrhea epidemiology: Rarely are pathogens identified in typhlitis. Pathological studies suggest typhlitis to be due to principally Gram negative bacteria, with possible contributions from anaerobic bacteria, Candida, and possibly staphylococci.
Rash epidemiology: Rashes are common after transplantation, present with many different appearances, and can be due to non-infectious and infectious etiologies. GVHD is the most concerning. Drug reactions are also common. Infectious causes include varicella-zoster with the typical vesicular appearance although infrequently, nodules with central ulcerations can occur. The onset of zoster is typically 4-9 months after transplant but can occasionally occur earlier and more often can occur later. Although the dermatomal distribution is characteristic, dissemination can occur especially in those on intensive immunosuppression. Cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules result with transplantation, but can occasionally appear earlier and frequently occur much later. Dermatomal distribution is characteristic, but dissemination can occur in those on intensive immunosuppression. Cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules with ischemic centers and surrounding inflammation are often signs of disseminated fungal and bacterial infections.
Which recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation are at greater risk of developing an infection?
Neutropenia: neutropenic fever and typhlitis
Antibiotic use: C. difficile, antibiotic resistant bacteria
Implanted venous catheters: bacteria and Candida
Intensive transplant conditioning regiments: neutropenic infections
Graft versus host disease: Mold infections, encapsulated bacteria (with chronic GVHD), zoster, Nocardia
Cord blood as stem cell source: EBV and HHV6 infections
T cell depletion of stem cell graft: fungal and herpes viral infections
Use of anti-thymocyte globulin: EBV and HHV6 infections
Use of methotrexate as GVHD prophylaxis: neutropenic infections
CMV seropositivity before transplant: CMV infection
CMV viremia: subsequent CMV pneumonia
VZV seropositivity before transplant: zoster
Beware: there are other diseases that can mimic infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation:
Neutropenic fever: drug reactions
Non-neutropenic fever: drug reaction, engraftment syndrome, GVHD
Diffuse: hemorrhage, pulmonary edema, cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, chemotherapy or radiotherapy toxicity
Nodular: rarely chemotherapy toxicity
Diarrhea: chemotherapy or other drugs
Rash: GVHD, multiple drugs.
What laboratory studies should you order and what should you expect to find?
Results consistent with the diagnosis
Neutropenic fever: blood cultures (positive in only 20%); cultures or biopsy of any site of suspected infection, If respiratory infection suspected, chest CT; if GU infection suspected, urine culture; if diarrhea, C. difficile toxin assay, and if negative parasite, screen and viral studies.
Non-neutropenic fever: blood cultures, plasma CMV PCR or pp65 antigen test, serum Aspergillus galactomannan assay (for suspected Aspergillus pneumonia). Peripheral WBC with differential.
Pneumonia: CT scan; nasal and/or throat swab for respiratory viral PCR and cultures. Plasma CMV PCR or antigen assay, bronchoscopy with BAL for CMV, respiratory viruses, including adenovirus, Pneumocystis PCR or cytology, BAL Aspergillus galactomannan (less likely as cause of diffuse infiltrates), BAL cultures for bacteria, mycobacteria, and fungi, transbronchial biopsy (only if non-neutropenic and adequate respiratory reserve due to risk for pneumothorax and hemorrhage); urine for Legionella antigen; mycobacterial blood cultures.
Diarrhea: stool for C. difficile toxin assay, parasite screen, adenovirus, and enteric viruses; if persistent then colonoscopy with biopsy for histopathology (for GVHD) and CMV-specific immunofluorescent stain.
Rash: if vesicles present, do scraping for VZV and HSV DFA and viral culture; for nodules, biopsy for histopathology, fungal stains and bacterial and fungal cultures.
Results that confirm the diagnosis
Blood cultures document bloodstream infections.
Positive plasma CMV PCR documents CMV viremia. This may be positive in asymptomatic as well as symptomatic patients. Viremia is a risk factor for subsequent CMV pneumonia
Immunofluorescent stain or PCR for PCP; indicates PCP pneumonia
BAL stain for CMV: indicates CMV pneumonia
BAL PCR for respiratory virus: indicates presence of virus and infection if pulmonary infiltrate present; does not differentiate upper from lower tract infection.
Serum or BAL Aspergillus galactomannan: documents invasive Aspergillosis (if clinical picture compatible)
Stool C difficile toxin positive: indicates C difficile infection
What imaging studies will be helpful in making or excluding the diagnosis of infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation?
CT scan of chest: most important initial test for pneumonia; divides pneumonias into diffuse and nodular. $$$
CT scan of sinuses: helpful to detect sinusitis; if bony erosion present strongly suggestive of fungal etiology rather than bacterial. $$
CT scan of abdomen: important in assessment of diarrhea or abdominal pain; diagnostic features of typhlitis (bowel wall thickening, especially in cecum. $$$
($ = 60-125, $$ 125-500, $$$ 500-1,000, $$$$ > 1,000)
What consult service or services would be helpful for making the diagnosis and assisting with treatment?
If you decide the patient has an infection, what therapies should you initiate immediately?
Neutropenic fever: prompt history and physical exam focusing on infections, perform blood cultures, and initiate empiric antibiotic therapy to cover Gram negative bacteria.
Non-neutropenic fever, at time of engraftment, identify any sites of suspected infections from history and exam, perform blood cultures; if no infections identified within 24 hours, initiate corticosteroids for presumptive engraftment syndrome (start steroids immediately if respiratory compromise while evaluating for infection). If CMV viremia demonstrated, initiate pre-emptive antiviral therapy.
Pneumonia: CT scan and consult Pulmonary Service for bronchoscopy. If diffuse and bronchoscopy is done promptly, await results of testing; if patient severely ill, coverage for PCP, CMV and respiratory viruses is acceptable until results known. If nodular infiltrates, bacteria and molds most likely. While evaluation is proceeding, initiate antibiotics to cover Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and antifungals to cover Aspergillus. If sinus infection noted, mucormycosis is more likely and antifungal agent should cover mucormycosis as well as other molds.
Diarrhea: if neutropenic, get CT scan and if typhlitis seen, use broad antimicrobial coverage for Gram negative bacteria, Candida, and anaerobes. If non-neutropenic and if C difficile toxin assay positive, treat with metronidazole; if negative perform colonoscopy and respond to diagnostic results.
Rash: if vesicular, initiate acyclovir; if nodular, get biopsy results to determine etiology and act once results known.
1. Anti-infective agents
If I am not sure what pathogen is causing the infection, what anti-infective should I order?
Neutropenic fever: Prompt initiation of empiric antibiotics is key. Coverage against virulent Gram negative organisms is the foundation of empiric therapy. Several regimens are acceptable (See Table I)
Table I.
|Neutropenic fever
|Piperacillin/tazobactamImipenemMeropenemCefepimeCeftazidime (less acceptable due to growing resistance)
|4.5 g Q8H500 mg Q6H1 gm Q8H2 gm Q8H2 gm Q8H
|For penicillin allergy, most patients tolerated cephalosporins, however if history of urticaria, lip swelling or bronchospasm, alternative regimens should be considered such as aztreonam or ciprofloxacin plus vancomycin
|Non-neutropenic fever
|Treat specific pathogen identified on assessment
|Bacterial Pneumonia
|combination of vancomycin +cefepime (Once specific pathogen known tailor therapy appropriately)
|1 gm Q12H2 gm Q12H (or Q8H if neutropenic)
|azithromycin plus levofloxacin
|Aspergillus pneumonia
|6 gm/kg Q12H x 2 dose, then 4 gm Q12H thereafter; once stable can change to oral 200 mg BID
|Lipid formulation amphotericin B 3-5 mg/kg/day
|PCP pneumonia
|15-20 mg/kg/d in 3-4 divided doses
|If allergic, dapson, atovaquone, pentamidine
|5 mg/kg Q12H for 2 week induction
|Valganciclovir 900 mg Q12H
|C difficile colitis
|Metronidazole (oral preferred)
|500 mg Q8H
|Oral vancomycin
|2 gm Q8H7.5 mg/kg Q12H or qd500 mg Q8H400 mg qd
|70 mg on day 1, then 50 mg qd200 mg on day 1, then 100mg qd100 mg qd
|If C. albicans, fluconazole is acceptable if susceptible
Antibiotics typically used for treatment of various infectious syndromes are noted below. Please note the doses are for adults with normal renal function and adjustments need to be made for impaired renal function; levels should be measured for vancomycin and amikacin and doses adjusted accordingly. Also take note that there are multiple drug interactions with chemotherapy and immunosuppressive drugs; doses of these various drugs need to be taken in consideration. For example, cyclophosphamide and vincristine should not be co-administered with voriconazole. Voriconazole potentiates the levels of cyclosporine, tacrolimus and sirolimus, and those drug doses need to be adjusted simultaneously with initiation of therapy. Consult the manufacturers' packet for specific guidance.
2. Next list other key therapeutic modalities.
G-CSF has been shown to shorten neutropenia and reduce the risk for neutropenic febrile episodes, but it has not been shown to benefit neutropenic fever or infections once they occur.
Reduction of steroids and other immunosuppressives if possible improves the outcomes for fungal and viral infections.
Monitoring renal and liver function and blood counts are important to identify antibiotic toxicity
Normal saline is generally given to reduce renal toxicity of amphotericin products
Acetaminophen and diphenhydramine are frequently given prior to administration of amphotericin B infusions to reduce rigors
Red man's syndrome can occur with vancomycin. Antihistamines before dosing and slowing the infusion can reduce recurrence of reactions
What complications could arise as a consequence of infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation?
What should you tell the family about the patient's prognosis?
Neutropenic fever: this is an expected complication, most respond well to empiric antibiotics; patients who deteriorate should be vigorously evaluated for resistant organisms (such as extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Gram negative bacilli (ESBL), vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE), carbapenemase producing Klebsiella (KPC), methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and fungi.
Non-neutropenic fever: depends on specific etiology. Engraftment syndrome can be life threatening but usually responds to prompt administration of high dose steroids.
Pneumonia: Prompt assessment that includes invasive diagnostic procedure (usually bronchoscopy) is necessary for optimal treatment to achieve the best outcome.
Diarrhea: establishment of correct diagnosis is key to proper therapy. If due to GVHD or CMV this can be life threatening. If due to C. difficile, it should be amenable to treatment.
How can infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation be prevented?
Antibiotic prophylaxis is not beneficial for patients receiving chemotherapy regimens that cause short-term neutropenia (less than or equal to 7 days) (Table II). This would include most chemotherapy regimens used in solid tumor patients. In contrast, prophylaxis should be considered in patients who are receiving more intensive chemotherapy regimens expected to cause prolonged severe neutropenia expected to last at least 7-10 days. This would include treatment regimens typically used in the management of acute leukemia and patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant using intensive myeloablative conditioning, and some intensive regimens for aggressive lymphomas. The antibiotic choices are discussed in consensus guidelines.
Neutropenic bacterial infections: Meta-analyses of several dozen randomized trials in neutropenic patients demonstrate a reduction in bacteremia, and recently mortality with fluoroquinolone prophylaxis. Accordingly, consensus statements generally recommend consideration of quinolone prophylaxis. However, concerns remain regarding emergence of drug resistance and association with resistant organisms, such as C. difficile and VRE. This is an especially great concern in particular institutions in which these infections are common. Caution is needed and longitudinal follow up with infection control is needed since patterns of resistance may change over time.
HSV: Acyclovir has been demonstrated to reduce the occurrence of HSV reactivation; in seropositive patients reactivation with oral ulcerations occurs in 70%, but this can be reduced to nearly zero with prophylaxis given until time of engraftment. Resistance to this short term use has been rare.
Zoster: Acyclovir, now more commonly valacyclovir, for one year has been shown to reduce the risk for zoster in seropositive patients from 40% to less than 5%. It should be continued beyond one year if the patient remains on immunosuppressive therapy.
PCP: Prophylaxis for 6 months (or longer if still on immunosuppressive therapy) is effective in prevention of PCP. Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim is most effective; breakthrough infections have been noted with the alternatives.
Fungi: Fluconazole has been demonstrated to reduce Candida infections and improve survival in randomized trials and is generally the antifungal prophylaxis of choice. However, in patients with prior mold infection, coverage for mold pathogens is important. Voriconazole has been best studied for this. Long term prophylaxis with itraconazole, voriconazole and posaconazole to cover both yeasts and molds, has been studied, but the benefit has been less well demonstrated and routine use of these agents is not regarded as standard. However, there are certain high-risk situations where consideration for use of these agents should be given: patients transplanted for acute myelogenous leukemia, longstanding antecedent neutropenia, iron overload, the occurrence of GVHD are such situations.
Table II.
|Neutropenic fever
|5 mg/kg/d750 mg/d
|5 mg/kg IVQ8H or 400-800 mg POQ12H
|valacyclovir 500 mg PO QD
|500 mg PO QD
|Acyclovir 800 mg PO Q12H
|200-400 mg PO or IV QD
|200 mg BID PO
|posaconazole, liposomal amphotericin or ABLC
|PCP pneumonia
|1 DS tablet PO 3-4 doses per week
|If allergic, dapsone, atovaquone, pentamidine
WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE for specific management and treatment recommendations?
Freifeld, AG, Bow, EJ, Sepkowitz, KA. "Clinical practice guidelines for the use of antimicrobial agents in neutropenic patients with cancer: 2010 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America". Clin Infect Dis. vol. 52. 2011. pp. 427-431. (IDSA Guidelines for clinicians regarding all aspects of prophylaxis and treatment of infections in patients who are neutropenic.)
Tomblyn, M, Chiller, T, Einsele, H. "Guidelines for Preventing Infectious Complications among Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients: A Global Perspective". Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. vol. 15. 2009. pp. 1143-1238. (International guidelines for prevention of infections among hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.)
Copyright © 2017, 2013 Decision Support in Medicine, LLC. All rights reserved.
No sponsor or advertiser has participated in, approved or paid for the content provided by Decision Support in Medicine LLC. The Licensed Content is the property of and copyrighted by DSM.
- OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know
- Are you sure your patient has an infection and is a recipient of a hematopoietic cell transplant? What should you expect to find?
- How did the hematopoietic cell transplant recipient develop an infection? What was the primary source from which the infection spread?
- Which recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation are at greater risk of developing an infection?
- Beware: there are other diseases that can mimic infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation:
- What laboratory studies should you order and what should you expect to find?
- What imaging studies will be helpful in making or excluding the diagnosis of infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation?
- What consult service or services would be helpful for making the diagnosis and assisting with treatment?
- If I am not sure what pathogen is causing the infection, what anti-infective should I order?
- What complications could arise as a consequence of infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation?
- What should you tell the family about the patient's prognosis?
- How can infection in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation be prevented?
- WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE for specific management and treatment recommendations?


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I ran across this article in a copy of The Clare Sentinel that was written sometime around 1894. It's one of those stories that I'd love to know what happened beforehand to spark the incident, and what happened afterward. However, it does show just how tough men were back then. Or maybe just plain lucky.
Saturday evening about 8:30 o' clock, Rosa Smith, an inmate of a dance house at Meredith, deliberately shot Benjamin Villeneuve while he was passing along Main street. She was at once arrested and committed to the county jail. The bullet struck Villeneuve in the mouth and knocked out three teeth but did no further damage otherwise than to scare him and the crowd, but it was probably a love affair.
(Note: The article is posted as it appeared in the newspaper, complete with grammatical errors.)

subset: commoncrawl


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Even what has died is beautiful. —Seyi
It's autumn, and here in Montréal, even if you decide to pay no heed, you will find it hard not to see a beautiful transformation taking place. Stealthily and quietly, nature is at work as the Earth continues its journey to complete yet another trip around the Sun and though there may not be any fresh garden flowers to pick, there is still great beauty to be found.
Today's post shows two examples of autumn-inspired gift wrapping. As well, down below, I show you how to make your own beautiful, hand-torn ribbon, as the one used in the photo below.
How to Make Hand-torn Ribbon
- Using a lightweight fabric is a must. I always use a 100% cotton fabric but other fabrics, such as rayon and silk, may work as well (though you'll need to experiment for yourself).
- Assuming you start with a rectangular piece of cloth, the length of your ribbon will be equal to the the longest side of your fabric.
- Once you've selected the fabric that you would like to use for making ribbons, using sharp fabric scissors, make a cut, about one inch from the edge, of about 2 inches long along the grain of the fabric, parallel to the longest side of the fabric.
- Firmly hold the two sides of the fabric that are on either side of the cut and pull apart until you reached the selvage (the finished edge of the fabric). The fabric will rip along the grain (quite easily), and you will see the first finished edge of your ribbon. Use a scissor to cut through the last connecting bit at the selvage. You may discard the strip of fabric that you have just torn off.
- Make a second cut parallel to the first cut and at the distance equal to your desired width of the ribbon and proceed in the same manner. You will now have your first ribbon. As you can see, it's the ripping of the fabric that creates the beautiful edge of the ribbon that you just can't get if you were to use a scissor.
- Continue in the same way to make more ribbons.
- Cut the ends of each ribbon at a diagonal to prevent fraying.
Note and apology: I tried my best to explain… and I'm sorry if it's not very clear. If you need photos, feel free to let me know in the comments and it will be my pleasure to make a separate post with photos on this! If you do try it… do let me know how it goes!


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It's pretty unusual for us podcasters to venture out of our comfortable armchairs, let alone venture into the great not-indoors. Last weekend, however, we donned our cagoules, stocked up on wet-wipes, and took in a lungful of folk-laced fresh air at the Green Man festival – where we had such a smashing time, we decided to record Answer Me This! Episode 189 right there:
This classic episode is available to BUY NOW for just 79p at the Answer Me This! Store, through a secure server, without DRM restriction. CLICK HERE to find out more and support our podcast. (This helps keep our most recent episodes free)
In a field in Wales, we talk about:
camping with Charlotte Church
Batman: Arkham City
talking trains
the sexy Green M&M
the 9 1/2 Weeks fridge
the Cadbury's Caramel Bunny vs. Jessica Rabbit
Cadbury World vs. Kraft World
George W. Ferris
Mrs Fat Controller
local anaesthetic.
Plus: Olly fears the revenge of Kris Marshall; Helen discovers a sport she IS interested in: topless frisbee; and Martin the Sound Man sees a future where Batman and Catwoman give birth to Dustin Hoffman.
As you'll hear, we were joined this week by some unexpected guests in the shape of wasps. (They weren't just shaped like wasps; they were wasps.) Next week, we should be joined by a much less stingy and stripy special guest in the shape of Jon Ronson. (He's not just shaped like Jon Ronson, he is Jon Ronson.) So concoct some QUESTIONS for the fan of psychopaths, goat-starers and Robbie Williams, and send them in the form of voicemails to the Question Line (dial 0208 123 5877 or Skype answermethis) or emails to firstname.lastname@example.com.
We do hope that Jon remembers to turn up, but whether he does or not, we'll deffers see you next Thursday,
Helen & Olly


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Eric Harrington – PLATFORM FOR FAIR TAXATION
Eric Harrington – PLATFORM FOR FAIR TAXATION
It seems strange to me, that in a country founded on personal liberty, the method of enforcing taxation is exercised through the use of threats of seizure of property, or imprisonment. Also, thses things are done in direct violation of the Bill of Rights, with a presumption of guilt and the burden of proof of innocence placed upon the citizen.
It is easy to see that the most equitable and efficient manner of taxation would be one which did not require active participation by the taxpayer. In this system, the taxpayer would not be responsible for reporting income or calculating taxes, for the taxes would be collected as involuntarily on all transactions. This process would eliminate any opportunity for ones personal liberty or property to be compromised for errors in accounting or judgment.
The problem with this idea unfortunately lies in a deceptive and false interpretation of tax laws themselves. The fact is, that to date, the U.S. tax law still only allows for voluntary taxation of citizens. Non-payment of taxes is not illegal, only presenting fraudulent information to the government in this supposedly voluntary process. Only aliens and government employees are subject to mandatory tax under a literal interpretation of the 16th amendment, which was technically never ratified into law and railroaded through in an "emergency" session on Congress. The wording of the law is quite clear.
Yet the mechanics surrounding the law and collection of taxes have provided great power of intimidation to the IRS, and allow them to virtually act outside the constraints of the legal system.
It can be argued that the government could possibly operate without personal income tax at all. It did so for over 200 years with no debt whatsoever. But it would be difficult to sustain the level of military spending currently the norm without some kind of taxation on the populace.
Even if we declared the highly publicized, and misrepresented national debt to the Federal Reserve illegal, some personal income tax would still be necessary, at least until major changes in government policy and organization were instituted. The priorities for government spending in the minds of the general population vary greatly, however, there is one thing everyone can agree on; no one should have to pay for something that they don't use, and peoples liberties should not be threatened in the pursuit of taxation.
Amidst the sea of apparent complexities encountered when examining the taxation process, I will attempt to present a simplified approach to taxation; one that collects taxes in a fair and ample proportion, and yet eliminates the possibility of evasion or fraud.
Federal Transaction Tax
Because taxation was (and is) voluntary, the entire tax system is built around the taxpayer having to account for, and report his income, and either pay his taxes in increments, or all at once at the end of the year. This system unfortunately ignores a basic nature of human beings; that given the chance, they will always fudge a little. Our personal lives are always more important than a nebulous duty to country and thus most taxpayers lie about something on their returns every year.
Confucius once said, that it was foolish to attempt to socialize human beings through the use of laws, since such an approach simply reduced what should be a moral decision to a weighing process; i.e. what do I get if I get caught, and what do I get if I get away with it. In the same light, requiring people to account for they're earnings and report them simply enters them into the same weighing process.
It seems to me, that it would be much simpler to charge the tax when ever money changes hands, like a sales tax. Whenever a person is paid wages, 10% would be charged, no negotiation, no refund. The money is gone from the beginning, and there is no chance for errors in accounting or judgment.
Whenever a company sells a product in the U.S. or abroad, whether it is a manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer, 10% would be charged of the sell price. No negotiation, no refund.
There is a trick called creative pricing, used by many foreign companies to escape U.S. business taxes. It works as follows:
A foreign company named X Corp. manufactures a car in their home country which charges taxes. They however, sell the car for no profit to they're subsidiary located in Taiwan. Now Taiwan provides a moratorium on taxation for 15 years to encourage new business in Taiwan. X Corp. Taiwan now sells the car to X Corp. U.S. for the full sticker price, and X Corp. U.S. sells the car "below sticker" for no profit. In this fashion, X Corp. shows now profit in their home country, thus paying no taxes, shows all the profit in Taiwan, where there are no taxes, and then sells the car for a loss in the U.S. thus paying no taxes again.
Considering it is estimated that Japanese companies alone escape over 50-100 billion dollars in taxes each year by means of creative pricing, this would provide substantial revenues escaping us now.
In addition, when our country was founded, most of the government income was due to tariffs. Tariffs have been used until recently, to provide U.S. companies with price assistance in the U.S. market when competing with countries who have extremely low labor costs, many times approaching slave labor. Although such slave labor conditions still exist, most equalizing tariffs have been abolished to encourage trade with the U.S.
This is however, a smokescreen, which has only benefitted the international banks that have investments on both sides. With the tremendous imbalance of trade between the U.S. and countries like Japan and Korea, Such tariffs should be reintroduced, for such countries cannot afford to not do business in the U.S. and yet buy very little from us already.
Whenever a product is imported into this country, said national sales tax or tariff should be charged at the docks, regardless of where the profits are earned, as opposed to at the end of the year, where enforcement and investigation can be difficult or impossible. This again eliminates the opportunity for errors of accounting, judgment or ethics.
I am sure, that if it were carefully analyzed, such a program would result in greater tax revenues, while providing substantial relief to the already over taxed middle and lower class.
With the recent stock market crash and credit crisis, such a system would have great benefit. By taxing all stock transactions, this system would discourage speculation and day trading and encourage long term investing and market stability. Market volatility on serves those who day trade and make the US economy more of a Casino than a business environment. Stocks were created originally to generate capital for production and government programs, not traders making money off of leveraged to the hilt money.
Finally, with transaction based taxes, purchases, not income would be taxed. Thus it would be a better financial decision to save money, instead of buying things. Now the free-marketeers will cry out, "But that will suppress the economy! We need consumers to CONSUME," and this is true in one respect. But a major problem with America's economy is the trade deficit. We buy most of our good today from other countries. Not only would such a system allow for fair tariffs to help American businesses be competitive with goods made with slave labor in China, but the financial pressure to buy "better" goods that last longer would again drive consumers towards buying higher quality goods made in America. Over time even the high tech manufacturing that has become the almost exclusive province of Asia would begin to come home.
Sounds like a LOT of taxes doesn't it? I can hear the Conservatives sounding off about another "Tax and Spend Liberal". Strangely, it is not more taxes. It would in fact generate the same income to the Government as does the present system with a significant reduction in taxes paid. How can that be? Something for nothing? Not at all.. It simply eliminates maybe 80% of everything the IRS does. Now there is one company I would LIKE to see lose some jobs! With taxes paid at the point of transaction the cost is passed down and there is not enough advantage to fudge, to make it worth while. And it is small bits over time instead of a big chunk and once it's gone it's gone. While some oversight and enforcement would be necessary it would be infinitely less than required now.
Many states already charge sales taxes and enforcement of the collection of these taxes is just a fraction of that necessary for income tax. This system would all but eliminate tax related court cases, fees for tax preparations, and get the IRS out of our lives forever. I for one would pay MORE for that luxury. But the IRS consumes a significant portion of the tax dollars it collects (some estimates put the total cost of tax collection including personal accounting at around 50%!) with its own internal operating costs, most of which would be gone, as well as the costs of tax accountants and personal time spent in Quicken. And all those savings go into OUR pockets.
But Best of all, you would never have to worry about the IRS taking away your home, or throwing you in jail, ever again. The IRS has the power to treat you as though you are guilty before being proven so, and that IS unconstitutional. I am certain, if the founding fathers had a choice they would prefer this system which truly preserves civil liberty and simply charges a toll on financial transactions for the use of US infrastructure and security.
The simple concept of paying for what you use when you use it could be applied to other areas of American life. Everyday someone somewhere gets hit by a driver that has no insurance. This creates an inherent inequity in the system. Because it is voluntary, people can chuff their responsibility and it is the law abiding citizen who pays.
The concept of a transaction tax could be applied here in the form of a national gasoline tax and accompanying no-fault insurance program. I have never understood why things like insurance, which provide no real value, cause hardship, and are simply a function of aggregating losses over large numbers, couldn't be done better by the government. Again the Conservatives chime in "The government doesn't do anything as well as the free market!" But this is simply not true. Medicare COSTS 8% to operate. Most Insurance companies make at least 20-30% in profit ON TOP of their costs! There is simply no comparison as to which system is more efficient. But the savings are not a reflection of greater efficiency, just less PAPERWORK. When there is no question if something will or will not be covered or what devices, drugs, or operations should be performed, a HUGE chunk of bureaucracy is removed. A nationally provided baseline safety-net of healthcare coverage akin to the cheapest plan provided by Kaiser could be delivered for less money than in the private sector. Remember, insurance companies bring no value to the table, and only amortize costs of many people. And in the end, when a major calamity strikes, who actually ends up covering the expense? The GOVERNMENT of course. I don't see insurance companies paying the big losses, it always falls back to the government, so why not just let it be there period.
All "mandatory types of insurances, i.e., health, home and car insurance could be more efficiently handled in a national no fault, no denial system. Sounds a lot like socialism doesn't it? No more than we have now, for in the end it is still the government who covers the difference, i.e. the ones who don't have insurance, the losses that are too big, etc. etc.. Let them run it all, and throw out the paperwork. And this system would not preclude consumers from purchasing additional private insurance to cover elective operations, or allow them to go to the doctor of their choice, unlike the socialistic systems in other countries. The national plan would just be a minimum safety net.
Getting back to the car insurance question I started with, Car insurance also should be nationalized, minimum coverage only, with the opportunity to "buy" additional coverage privately. The cost of this insurance should be paid for with a national gas tax of roughly $.50 per gallon. Sounds like a lot doesn't it? But it adds up to approximately $500 for 15,000 miles per year. People who drive more pay more, and rightly so because nothing increases you risk of an accident more than the number of miles you drive. It is the law of averages. Even the best drivers, can get caught in a confluence of bad luck, and the chances are higher the more you drive. Such a plan would have to be national as otherwise people would simply drive to another state to fill up. But in this way everyone would have insurance, all the time. They would buy it with every fill up. No-fault, no questions asked insurance. "But how would that discourage bad drivers etc…" you ask? The function of penalizing a driver for accidents or dangerous driving is already in place. You simply take away their license after a certain amount of misdeeds. Simple, clean, efficient government- run systems. Vendors are FAR less likely to try to avoid paying taxes as they simply pass the costs down.
Best of all, it would strongly encourage people to change over to more efficient cars and ultimately electric ones. It is estimated that a simple mandate of all cars getting a minimum of 35-40mpg would eliminate ALL of our need for middle east supplied oil. Such a system of gas taxes would expedite that mandate without a law even being necessary. For those who drive excessive miles or commercial drivers, there would be a rebate at the end of each quarter. Or maybe a code on a gas card that charges a different price for commercial drivers. There would have to be adjustments for those who have to drive excessively for work. Finally, it would also promote the use of mass transit, a necessary transition in the coming decades.
So a large portion of government services could be changed over to a system of use taxes charged at the point of transaction or use, far too many to go over in this forum, but suffice to say, it would be a major portion of those services we now pay for indirectly, with the caveat that the government can often use the money intended for services like schools (a common bait for taxes bonds) for other things they know we would not voluntarily pay for.
I strongly believe this system will dramatically change the lives of every American for the better, and get us back to the kind of free life the founding fathers intended us to have. Many will call it socialism, but the fact is we already HAVE socialism, but it only kicks in during a crisis, and often skips the little guy. No where can this be more obvious than the recent credit crisis.
Socialism isn't appropriate for everything, but for amortizing costs of unexpected losses, it is the perfect system, because the government is already in the end still on the hook, the free market only plays the game when it works for them. The minute they loose, they cry "Crisis" or "thousands of lost jobs!" and look for a handout.
But whether you are talking about insurances, or taxes, all of these necessities, should be charged at the point of use or transaction and save a WORLD of Overhead, risk of personal freedom, and crime.


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Nominal GDP targeting makes a lot of sense for large currency areas like the US or the euro zone and it make sense that the central bank can implement a NGDP target through open market operations or as with the use of NGDP futures. However, operationally it might be much harder to implement a NGDP target in small open economies and particularly in Emerging Markets countries where there might be much more uncertainty regarding the measurement of NGDP and it will be hard to introduce NGDP futures in relatively underdeveloped and illiquid financial markets in Emerging Markets countries.
I have earlier (see here and here) suggested that a NGDP could be implemented through managing the FX rate – for example through a managed float against a basket of currencies – similar to the praxis of the Singaporean monetary authorities. However, for some time I have been intrigued by a proposal made by Jeffrey Frankel. What Frankel has suggested in a number of papers over the last decade is basically that small open economies and Emerging Markets – especially commodity exporters – could peg their currency to the price of the country's main export commodity. Hence, for example Russia should peg the ruble to the price of oil – so a X% increase in oil prices would automatically lead to a X% appreciation of the ruble against the US dollar.
Frankel has termed this proposal PEP – Peg the Export Price. Any proponent of NGDP level target should realise that PEP has some attractive qualities.
I would especially from a Market Monetarist highlight two positive features that PEP has in common in (futures based) NGDP targeting. First, PEP would ensure a strict nominal anchor in the form of a FX peg. This would in reality remove any discretion in monetary policy – surely an attractive feature. Second, contrary to for example inflation targeting or price level targeting PEP does not react to supply shocks.
Lets have a closer look at the second feature – PEP and supply shocks. A key feature of NGDP targeting (and what George Selgin as termed the productivity norm) is that it does not distort relative market prices – hence, an negative supply shock will lead to higher prices (and temporary higher inflation) and similarly positive supply shocks will lead to lower prices (and benign deflation). As David Eagle teaches us – this ensures Pareto optimality and is not distorting relative prices. Contrary to this a negative supply shock will lead to a tightening of monetary policy under a inflation targeting regime. Under PEP the monetary authorities will not react to supply shock.
Hence, if the currency is peg to export prices and the economy is hit by an increase in import prices (for example higher oil prices – a negative supply shock for oil importers) then the outcome will be that prices (and inflation) will increase. However, this is not monetary inflation. Hence, what I inspired by David Eagle has termed Quasi-Real Prices (QRPI) have not increased and hence monetary policy under PEP is not distorting relative prices. Any Market Monetarist would tell you that that is a very positive feature of a monetary policy rule.
Therefore as I see it in terms of supply shocks PEP is basically a variation of NGDP targeting implemented through an exchange rate policy. The advantage of PEP over a NGDP target is that it operationally is much less complicated to implement. Take for example Russia – anybody who have done research on the Russian economy (I have done a lot…) would know that Russian economic data is notoriously unreliable. As a consequence, it would probably make much more sense for the Russian central bank simply to peg the ruble to oil prices rather than trying to implement a NGDP target (at the moment the Russian central bank is managing the ruble a basket of euros and dollars).
PEP seems especially to make sense for Emerging Markets commodity exporters like Russia or Latin American countries like Brazil or Chile. Obviously PEP would also make a lot for sense for African commodity exporters like Zambia. Zambia's main export is copper and it would therefore make sense to peg the Zambian kwacha against the price of copper.
Jeffrey Frankel has written numerous papers on PEP and variations of PEP. Interestingly enough Frankel was also an early proponent of NGDP targeting. Unfortunately, however, he does not discussion the similarities and differences between NGDP targeting and PEP in any of his papers. However, as far as I read his research it seems like PEP would lead to stabilisation of NGDP – at least much more so than a normal fixed exchange regime or inflation targeting.
One aspect I would especially find interesting is a discussion of shocks to money demand (velocity shocks) under PEP. Unfortunately Frankel does not discuss this issue in any of his papers. This is not entirely surprising as his focus is on commodity exporters. However, the Great Recession experience shows that any monetary policy rule that is not able in someway to react to velocity shocks are likely to be problematic in one way or another.
I hope to return to PEP and hope especially to return to the impact of velocity-shocks under PEP.
Links to Frankel's papers on PEP etc. can be found on Frankel's website. See here.


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The hype surrounding 'Bagani' has been on a high for the past few months.
On the good side, this upcoming ABS-CBN drama series will be led by Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, one of the Philippines' most popular love teams today. On the bad side, however, 'Bagani' has been beset by controversy from the start.
When the trailer for 'Bagani' first popped out, netizens immediately compared it to 'Encantadia' due to its similar themes and landscape. The discussion even spread to the writers of the two shows, namely Suzette Doctolero and Mark Duane Angos.
'Bagani' also drew flak for its questionable casting choices. While the series was inspired from pre-colonial Philippines, some of the cast were not pure-blooded Filipinos, particularly the LizQuen tandem and co-star Matteo Guidicelli.
Writer Mark Duane Angos defended 'Bagani"s casting decisions and setting in a series of tweets.
Notwithstanding the controversy surrounding 'Bagani', fans can't help but be excited over the return of LizQuen to the small screen. This time, however, the duo will be engaged in plenty of action as fight scenes will become the norm in 'Bagani'.
That doesn't mean any moment of 'kilig' will be nonexistent. There will still be occasional cheesy scenes that make viewers gush, just not much due to the serious physicality involved.
So far, the confirmed lead cast of 'Bagani' include Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, Sofia Andres, Makisig Morales and Matteo Guidicelli. An extended cast is yet to be revealed.
Star Creatives will handle the production duties for 'Bagani'. It will be directed by Richard Arellano and Lester Pimentel.
With the impending debut of 'Bagani', ABS-CBN has entered the world of epicseryes (for which the likes of 'Encantadia' were derived). But unlike GMA whose production of 'Encantadia' drained much of their finances, ABS-CBN should pose no concern for 'Bagani' as far as money as concerned, and if the series rates well, it will not be a big problem.
Still, it remains to be seen if the various controversies will affect 'Bagani' in any way. LizQuen may give this series a boost, but it may also cost them some disgruntled viewers in the process.
'Bagani' airs weeknights after 'Ang Probinsyano' on ABS-CBN Primetime Bida. In the meantime, here is the full trailer for the series.


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Yesterday, we agreed to sell my parents' house. Over the next few weeks, we'll dispose of the furniture, dishes and cutlery, books and VHS video tapes, and other sundries that remain. Soon, all that will be left of my parents are their names, photographs, and a few possessions each of us children took away.
In many ways, that house was their lives. It was the third house they owned together, and was meant to be their last residence. Some of the furnishings had been with them as long as I can remember. There are bowls in that house from which I ate breakfast cereal as a child. And almost every square foot of the house was ornamented with knickknacks they had picked up in their lives: souvenir spoons, reproduction art work, even a collection of delicate china cups. If anyone ever drank out of those cups, the occasion escapes me, but my mother valued them and always had them on display in each house that was her home.
They'd moved to that house, a "mobile home" (although it wasn't mobile, really), to secure a financially stable retirement. Which they did: so long as they lived there, their expenses were less than their income. They were able to live out their retirement without constant financial worries, without dipping into capital except to buy a car every so often.
They expected to die in that house. Having been generally healthy most of their lives, they hoped to remain that way until their death. Fate was not that kind to them. My father spent the last few months of his life in a nursing home, afflicted with various ills that made even eating difficult. My mother fell and seriously injured her back, and so had to spend her last two years in an assisted living facility.
During those last two years, I would visit her every week. And, if she were feeling up to it, we drove up to that house, and she spent a few hours sitting in her living room. As far as she was concerned, that was still her home, and rarely did a week go by that she didn't suggest that she ought to move back there. What could I tell her? That she had physical problems that required the help of another person often enough, that her cognitive skills had declined to the point that we couldn't trust her to take her medication? That it would be a disaster? So I temporized, and put her off, and let her hope. I still wonder if that was the right thing to do.
When she first moved to the assisted living facility, I remember walking through the house. With the detachment of a professional historian, I marveled at how fascinating it would be to simply preserve the house as is, leave this way for a few centuries, to let future historians delve into its contents, to give them the physical household of a working class couple circa 2000. However, even then I realized that much would be a mystery to those historians. Without my parents alive and living there, so much of the personal content would be meaningless. What would they make of the stuffed kiwi bird toy sitting on the top kitchen shelf? No way could they guess how that came to be there.
I have only a few more times to walk through it now. Those will be the last I see of many old familiar possessions. Some I've not seen in years, hidden away in cupboards. Some I saw every time I visited. Some bring back memories; some don't. It doesn't matter. We have no room for them, so they must go. The new owner will get a house stripped of its furnishings, of its memories. He can build new ones, if he wants.
And my parents' last household will be gone. In a lot of ways, it's like saying goodbye to them all over again. Silly. These are just things they owned, not the family members I loved. And yet, and yet, I can stand in any room and bring back memories of them. For a few more days. And then never again.


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User talk:Cepekas
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Welcome to The Sims Wiki
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To catch up on how popular culture represents Vikings (and no, Marvel movies featuring Thor don't count . . . well, they shouldn't), I sat down the last few weeks to watch the History Channel's show Vikings, first broadcast in 2013, and now scheduled for a fourth season. I was able to get hold of only the first season on DVD, so that's mostly what I'll talk about here. Bottom line, if you want to skip the rest of the review: so-so entertainment, so-so history, but useful for all that, and the series does have its moments.
The History Channel has had some dubious times, having swung from the "Hitler channel" due to the prevalence of World War II features, to exploring the fringes of the alien UFO theories. My expectations for this series were appropriately low. And right from the first episode, there were historical howlers. Was I really supposed to believe that the Norsemen had never sailed west before? Or that they stumbled on Lindisfarne monastery simply by chance? I won't even get into the outfits, which one historian described as more appropriate for a leather fetish bar in the 1980s. Why is it that historical dramas about rough men love leather so much? Okay, stupid question.
And then there's the pacing. One can see the struggle between Ragnar and Earl Haraldson shaping up from the get-go, but it takes six episodes to come to a climax. Doesn't sound so long? The Earl's been killing Ragnar's allies dishonorably since episode 2. The show wants us to think Ragnar is some wise, far-sighted man, and Travis Fimmel, the actor who plays him, can sometimes make me believe, but he's a pussy for putting up with friends and family being killed as long as he does.
A large part of the problem is TV's tendency to turn historical dramas into soap operas. I first noticed this in the HBO series Rome, which should have been called Desperate Roman Housewives. The producers of these series think that the way to hold our attention is to drag every major character into labyrinthine plots. For example, Ragnar's brother Rollo is simultaneously envious of his brother, carrying a torch for his brother's wife, considering betraying his brother to whichever powerful man offers him a deal, bedding Earl Haraldson's widow, and banging anything else in a skirt that he can reach. It's all supposed to create dramatic tension and develop Rollo's character. But it's all so unreal in its relentless complexity that I end up not caring about Rollo at all. In fact, by the time I finished watching the first season, he was just "the irritant who's supposed to make Ragnar's life more complicated." And the same could be said for many another character.
And yet . . . in between the de rigueur battle scenes and the plot complications, the characters do actually get some chances to develop. Ragnar's pseudo-wise silences don't impress me, but his battle smarts in setting up battles to favor his side do. His romance with a woman other than his wife and his son's unfavorable reaction to this don't move me, but Ragnar's way of dealing with his son's disapproval does.
And probably the most affecting moment in the entire first season is a side show to the main event: not the duel between Ragnar and Earl Haraldson, but the funeral afterwards. Ragnar's willingness to honor his foe and the grief of Siggy, Haraldson's widow, provide some genuine emotion, because they are human reactions to events that don't seem contrived. It's not Euripides' The Trojan Women, but the episode exists for the same reason: human grief is real and understandable.
But what of the history? Again, Rome provides a reference. The series took painstaking care to get some details authentically correct, while doing great violence to the actual historical events and people. And Vikings is doing much the same, by reweaving history to make what the producers think is a more dramatic story, blending the authentic (e.g., the raid on Lindisfarne) with the inauthentic (e.g., the church at Uppsala). In both cases, just viewing the episodes won't tell you what's accurate or a guess or anachronistic or simply wrong.
Yet, in both cases, the series can provide an entry to learning more about history, so long as you start with the question "Was it really like this?" Did the Vikings really worship their gods at a church like the one shown in episode eight? Well, no. But then where and how did they worship? At that point, the historian and folklorist and archaeologist can step in and provide some answers. Most viewers won't even get that far. But let's treasure and encourage the ones that do, and help others along the same path.
My own interest in the Vikings began with watching the movie The Vikings from 1958. It was like the TV series, accurate in some details, but doing serious violence to the history. The Vikings started me on the road to trying to find out what the Vikings were really like. I hope Vikings will do the same for others.


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Several weeks ago, I got an email from Kenji Alt, a food writer for Cook's Illustrated magazine: "Have you seen Heston Blumenthal's burger recipe in his new book?" The recipe, it turns out, was quite involved, requiring you to make your own buns, create custom cheese slices, and grind the burgers in a most ingenious way. Kenji wanted to try the recipe and write about it for A Hamburger Today. Here are the results. Grab a coffee and start readin'! --Adam
England's Heston Blumenthal follows in the footsteps of Spain's legendary Ferran Adrià, in that he attempts to create a cuisine that places a high value on innovation and stimulation of the senses beyond taste. So what happens when one of the most highfalutin' chefs in the world tries to tackle the hamburger, one of the most well-loved yet humble foods in the world?
The Fat Duck, Blumenthal's restaurant one hour west of London, employs molecular gastronomy to produce such dishes as Nitro-Green Tea (a sphere of tea frozen into a capsule tableside in a vat of liquid nitrogen), or drinks that are hot when you sip from one side, cold when you sip from the other.
Interesting, to say the least, but what's it have to do with hamburgers?
Well, two years ago, BBC Four collaborated with Heston in the modestly titled series In Search of Perfection. Where I come from, "perfection" is a handle you generally don't self-apply. Anyhow, in each hour-long episode, the bespectacled, shaved-headed Blumenthal (who looks like the love child of Poindexter from Revenge of the Nerds and one of WWE's Bushwhackers) reinvents a classic British dish.
So a dish like fish and chips turns into turbot coated with a batter made with vodka (its high volatility helps it evaporate faster, creating a crisper crust) shot out of a charged whipped-cream canister (to make it lighter). Roasted chicken becomes chicken injected with a brown-butter flavored chicken jus, blanched twice (to render fat, à la peking duck), air-dried, roasted at a low temperature, and finished in a skillet. You get the general idea.
In Further Adventures in Search of Perfection, his second book, Blumenthal tackles the hamburger, which from here on out will be dubbed The Blumenburger. And when someone claims to have created the perfect hamburger (a quest I've personally been on for almost a year now), I listen.
While I can't say that it's a particularly well-written book (the most interesting part—the science of cooking and his experimental methods—are sorely lacking in description and follow-through), it still has plenty of interesting ideas and is worth a read.
So in the name of science, research, and saturated-fat intake, I followed Blumenthal's recipe for the ground beef sandwich nonpareil. All 12 pages of it. Here's what I found.
Interesting Figures
- Number of ingredients to make a cheeseburger: 3 (meat, cheese, bun)
- Number of ingredients to make a Blumenburger: 32
- Cost of average homemade half-pound cheeseburger: $3
- Cost of Blumenburger: $9
- Time required to make average cheeseburger: 7 minutes (3 minutes of prep, 4 minutes cooking time)
- Time required to make Blumenburger: 30 hours, 4 minutes (30 hours of prep, 4 minutes cooking time)
And Now, Step by Step
Wednesday, 4:19 p.m.; Shopping All ingredients except for beef are accounted for. Found the brisket and chuck, but can't find the 30-day dry-aged short ribs the recipe calls for. I'm pretty sure they don't exist. Who the hell ages short ribs? 99 percent of the time you're going to braise them, and you don't need the tenderizing effects of aging if you're going to braise something until it falls apart anyhow.
I end up buying 24-day aged rib-eye, which is within a few inches of the short rib on the cow.
6 p.m., Pre-ferment for Homemade Buns Mix together the flour, yeast, and water that forms the 24-hour bun pre-ferment.
6:15 p.m., Testing I perform more research on my own burgers. Today, I'm testing umami-rich ingredients ground in with the meat (marmite, dashi, anchovies). Anchovies are a keeper.
11 p.m., Retire Go to bed, 4 1/2 burgers later.
Thursday, 3 p.m.; Salt the Meat In my own tests, I've found that salting meat before grinding does the opposite of what you want—it breaks down some proteins in the muscle (myosin), which then cross-link with each other, making your burger dense and sausagelike. For me, the looser a burger is, the better. But Heston wants you to salt the chuck for 6 hours (why only the chuck and not the other two cuts is beyond me), so I do it.
5:30 p.m., Preparation Gather remaining ingredients for the burgers. My lovely assistants Addy, Yvonne, Meredith, and Kira arrive, as chipper and willing to help as ever. They bring beer.
Unfortunately for Kira, she had given up meat for Russian Orthodox Lent, which was in full swing as I made The Blumenburger. She brings a Boca Burger (All-American Flame Grilled flavor). This will be my first (and last) experience with these flaccid hockey pucks.
6 p.m., Make the Dough for Buns This requires 11 different ingredients, including butter that has been melted, browned, and strained; skim milk powder; shortening; and 200 grams of egg yolk (apparently British eggs come in grams). The dough resembles opaque ectoplasmic residue à la Ghostbusters, but I trust Heston when he says it'll firm up after a stay in the fridge.
6:58 p.m., Make the Cheese Slices While Yvonne diligently grates $20 worth of Comté and Addy steeps thyme and garlic in precisely 750 mg of sherry (250 mg of which bafflingly gets tossed out in the recipe—we find stuff like this occurs several times throughout the course of the recipe: "Gather 10 pounds of this, then use only 2 pounds of it and discard the rest." I'd hate to see the waste that goes on in his restaurant), I weigh out sodium citrate.
Here's what's going on: The beauty of American cheese is that it's packed with emulsifiers that help it melt without breaking, so that every crack and crevice in your burger gets filled with fatty goodness. Flavorful aged cheeses don't melt so well. Heston's solution is to make a fonduelike sauce with the cheese and infused sherry (emulsified with sodium citrate to keep it smooth) then chill the sauce on a silicone sheet, and cut it into slices. Voilà: cheese that tastes like Comté but melts like American.
We'll find out after letting it chill.
7:20 p.m., The 58th Variety Is anyone too good for ketchup? Apparently so. Rather than use the ubiquitous spicy-sweet-vinegary condiment, Heston opts to make a tomato concentrate by cutting open 6 1/2 pounds of tomatoes and carefully spooning out just the seeds and jellylike pulp. This jelly is then pressed through a strainer, and carefully reduced over low heat.
No word on what I'm supposed to do with 6 1/2 pounds' worth of hollowed-out winter tomatoes.
7:36 p.m., Check the Cheese Cheese sauce is still liquid. Instant read thermometer shows that it's at 48 degrees. It's got 10 degrees left to get from goo to sliceable (my fridge keeps at 38 degrees). Not holding out hope.
7:41 p.m., Fooling with Foil The bun dough is so wet that it can't hold its shape on its own. Heston calls for the help of 1/2-inch-tall foil-ring molds (which require 10 square feet of aluminum foil to make). Addy, keen on improving her origami skills, wholeheartedly goes at the job. She lasts four rings then tag-teams off to Kira.
Forming the dough into balls is a problem (it has a consistency somewhere between warm tar and used bubble-gum), but we manage to get them in them in their molds to proof.
8:15 p.m., What Hydroponic Tomatoes Are Good For Tomato concentrate is just about done. I decide the best thing to do with 6 1/2 pounds of hollowed-out winter tomatoes is to put them in the vegetable drawer of my refrigerator and forget about them until they turn into green slime, at which point I can throw them away without feeling like I've wasted them.
8:29 p.m., Problem Three more guests arrive, bearing more beer. They're hungry. That may be a problem.
8:31 p.m.; Solution Problem solved. With the scraps from trimming the meat for the Blumenburgers, we make four White Manna–style burgers. Delicious. The bar for burgers tonight has already been set high. Heston better deliver. I also find a package of Sabrett's Hot Sausages, Sabrett's Sauerkraut, and Sabrett's Brown Mustard in my fridge next to a tray of still-gooey, un-set Comté cheese. I live in Boston, but I grew up in New York. I have to have my dirty-water dog fix now and then (before anyone points it out, I know that the photos show top-split rolls—hardly an authentic choice for a New York Sabrett's dog. Apparently New England is the only place in the world where you can get top split rolls. I believe it's also the only place in the world where you can't get normal rolls).
I write myself a note to pick up more hot sausages the next time I go to New York to eat a burger (Boston is also apparently the only major city in the world without a decent hamburger). Having refueled, we press on.
9:14 p.m., Grinding the Meat First I preheat the oven for the buns, then start on the meat. The brisket and short rib first get ground through the small plate of the grinder, then get mixed with the chunks of chuck and reground through the large plate (to allow some steaky chunks of chuck to remain). I handle the preliminary grind. Addy and Meredith want in on the action, so I let them take on the second. Two girls, one meat grinder. My heart skips a beat.
"The process is a major pain in the ass"
Here's the trickiest, and maybe the most useful part of the recipe. Normally, you'd let the meat fall directly into a bowl and gather it into burgers afterward. Instead, Heston instructs you to align the strands of meat as they come out of the grinder in parallel rows on top of a piece of parchment (I use foil), eventually forming a pile of aligned meat strands about 12 inches long and 5 inches wide. The whole thing is rolled up torchon-style, and then burgers are cut out of it in slices. The process is a major pain in the ass.
The idea is that the grain of the burger will be running in the same direction as your teeth, making it seem more tender. We'll see if the theory holds.
9:47 p.m., Buns in the Oven Buns go into the oven, and then get brushed with egg wash and sesame seeds 7 minutes later. Another 7 minutes and they emerge looking beautifully golden brown. Unfortunately, the beauty of its top is mirrored by the ugliness of its burnt bottom. In fairness, I do have a horrible oven that may have had something to do with the burning.
10:30 p.m., Final Preparations Time to get all the condiments ready. Heston recommends shredded iceberg lettuce, onions that have been blanched for 15 seconds, mayo (oddly enough, not homemade), mustard, and pickles (he doesn't specify, but we use homemade just the same).
Another snack attack strikes my guests. I valiantly try to save the pickles but fail.
10:43, Laugh at the Veggie Burger We do a side-by-side visual comparison of the regular burger and the All-American Flame Grilled Boca Burger, precooking.
Now, although I'm an atheist, I perfectly respect Kira's thinking that God doesn't want her to eat meat during Lent and all that. But whatever God's intention is, I'm fairly certain that yeast-extract-flavored soy protein pucks don't fit anywhere into his master plan. But who am I to judge?
At least she'll have a nice bun.
"Meat without pepper is like a bath without bubbles."
10:45 p.m., Burger Time The instructions don't say to use pepper, but I do anyway. Meat without pepper is like a bath without bubbles. In frying, Heston follows a technique proposed by food scientist Harold McGee: By flipping the burgers every 30 seconds (or faster, if you can manage it), the meat cooks much more evenly than it would if you only flipped it once, developing a nicely browned crust while maintaining an interior that's more evenly cooked from edge to edge. It's a good technique that's worth employing on small-scale burger-making operations like this. It's a little harder when you have a whole griddle full of them.
While I tend to my meat, Addy, Meredith, and Yvonne butter the buns. The recipe calls for brushing the buns with browned butter, placing cheese slices on top, then broiling them. Unfortunately, the cheese is still soupy. We debate whether to ladle it on anyhow, then determine that Comté makes better fondue than hamburger topping, and resolve to forge on, cheeseless.
10:53 p.m., Assembly
Each burger gets the following (from ground up): bottom bun, tomato concentrate, mustard, mayo, pickle, lettuce, tomato slice, blanched onions, patty, top bun. Then we eat. Yum.
The Verdict
The burgers are good. Damn good. Very beefy, with a nice loose texture, and little chewy bits of chuck (not chewy in a gristly way, but chewy in a steak way). Can't say that the fastidious arranging of several hundred parallel strands of meat did much for them—I've had freshly ground and packed burgers that were just as tender. But nonetheless, definitely top ten burger patties I've ever made.
Tomato concentrate is a wash-out. Heston claims that its intensity means you only need a little bit. We can't taste it at all. Everyone reaches for the ketchup bottle. Maybe these burgers are the kind that are only good in late August, when you make the concentrate from tomatoes you've grown yourself. At least Heinz is in season year-round.
Other than the burn, the buns are pretty good. Nice and soft with a kind of melty, fatty texture. A little too eggy and brioche-like for my taste (the gold standard for me is the Shake Shack's potato buns), but not bad, nonetheless. Worth the 28 hours they take to make from start to finish? No chance. With that much time, I can drive down from Boston and hit Louis' Lunch, Shake Shack, White Manna, and Burger Joint, with time for a late night Wendy's drive-through (and it wouldn't cost me much more than these burgers cost).


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Choosing GNOME and not something else
I personally like GNOME and more so with GNOME 3. I have created a poll for you to vote for KDE or GNOME. Please go ahead and vote here
Update (Aug 18, 2011): My feelings for GNOME 3 is starting to change a bit :-) So, I have also created a KDE based Scientific spin, which I think I like more.
Update (Sep 8, 2011): I shall have a XFCE based Kickstart file ready as well.
Packages currently Shipped
I should point out here that my idea is to have a generic toolset made available. The number of tools currently available in different domains- Physics, Chemistry, Biology is just too many. Including them all in one big spin may not make a lot of users happy, simply because if I am a engineering researcher, the Biology tools are just useless to me.
I haven't actively looked into applications which may not be available in the repository and is important to a spin such as this. Needless to say, I am going to take upon the responsibility of packaging such software, when I come across one, or its pointed to me.
If you come across a package which you want shipped, please add them here.
Science wallpapers? (For example, see here)
Suggestions for packages (already incorporated in the current KS file which was updated on August 7, 2011)
The current kickstart file includes most of these packages. (Those which have not been included are mentioned with some comments below)
Texlive 2009 or later (AMIT : IIRC, Texmaker pulls them in)
Kile (AMIT: Included in the KDE based spin)
Lyx (some people like it) (AMIT: Will be added)
dia (AMIT: Already in)
GGobi (AMIT: Will be added)
coqIDE etc (AMIT:IMO a little "niched" for Math folks?)
G3Data (AMIT: Will be added)
xfig (AMIT: Already in)
cantor (AMIT: Included in the KDE based spin)
scilab (AMIT: See [1])
rkward (AMIT: Will be added)
yacas (AMIT: Not yet packaged?)
euler (AMIT: Not yet packaged?)
ksnapshot (AMIT: Included in the KDE based spin)
gimp (AMIT: Will be added)
vpython (Proposed by AMIT)
referencer - a Bibliography manager (Proposed by AMIT)
mendeley-desktop - Manuscript library organisation. (Proposed by Cameron McPherson in a private discussion)
wine (Proposed by Cameron McPherson in a private discussion)
shutter - Screenshot grabbing tool (Proposed by Cameron McPherson in a private discussion)
pdf-shuffler - PDF manager (Proposed by Cameron McPherson in a private discussion)
backintime - Backup utility (Proposed by Cameron McPherson in a private discussion)
Packages to be added in the "next" Kickstart file
root (and associated tools - root, root-gui-fitpanel, root-physics, root-mathmore, root-minuit2, root-python) (Suggested by Lukas Middendorf)
PathScale EKO Path compilers (whenever they are ready for Fedora)
Torque and associated utils
(Notes to self: Check the dependency of the various packages, especially for dependencies on any specific DE libs)


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- This event has passed.
Exploration 2017
November 3, 2017 - November 5, 2017
EXPLORATION is a three-day event for young adults age 18-26 to listen, discern, and respond to God's call to ordained ministry and to explore their gifts for service as a deacon or elder in The United Methodist Church. This year it takes place November 3-5 in Portland, Oregon!
If you have sensed God might be calling you to ordained ministry, wondered what ministry in The United Methodist Church is all about, would like help sifting through issues involved in an ordained vocation, or want to learn more about The United Methodist seminaries and theological schools, this gathering is for you.
Exploration seeks to respond faithfully and effectively to The United Methodist Church's focus on increasing the number of young adult clergy in our denomination by creating sacred space to challenge the most gifted and promising young people of our denomination to hear God's call to the ordained ministry.
Exploration creates sacred space for young adults to be in meaningful fellowship, passionate worship, theological reflection, and practical workshops as they discern whether God's call on their life is to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church and what faithful steps they can take in response.
Click here to learn more and to register for this event!


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Chinese officials appear relentless after an attack on a Christian construction left the building in shambles and several of those guarding the site severely injured, reports MNN.
Church members of a Chinese home church network in Linfin, Shaxi were sleeping at the construction site of a new building when 400 officials attacked the site at once. The attack began at 3 AM on the morning of September 13, 2009 and lasted for several hours, leaving numerous believers unconscious, heavily bleeding or with severe injuries. When church members arrived at the hospital, they discovered that the emergency room had been ordered to withhold treatment.
This intense crackdown against believers has come as an outrageous shock to many. The orders to attack the building clearly came with government involvement. The building in question, however, was fully within their rights. The construction site is owned by the Christians who own the "Good News Cloth Shoes Factory," a Christian-run factory that was building a chapel room for the factory.
"They called it a worship center. It's a part of the factory owned by the Christians, and the government regarded it as a church, so that's why they started attacking," explains ChinaAid Association President Bob Fu. According to Fu, the government would likely not have given approval for an actual church building to go up, but since the factory was erecting the building on their own property, they were within their rights to use it for their own purposes. The government was clearly not pleased by the prospect of a gathering spot for a home church network that consists of about 80,000 believers total, and they reacted.
"[The government is] very nervous about the rapid growth of the Christian church over there," Fu explains.
Of course this nervousness does not justify the atrocious behavior of the officials on Sunday. The building was destroyed, people were left bloodied and injured, and several items were stolen, including the factory's business license. Before the attacks were over, officials erased any evidence and cleaned the site enough to ensure their involvement would go unnoticed.
In the meantime, believers are being called upon to pray. "Several thousand church members gathered at the church construction site at a special prayer meeting for four to five hours under the heavy rain," says Fu. "The government sent officers to prevent church members from getting into the church site." As the crackdown—which is being called "worse than the Wenchuan earthquake" by some—continues, your prayers are seriously needed.
Report from the Christian Telegraph


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Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior; and my hope is in You all day long. – (Psalm 25:5, NIV)
Guide me and teach me Your truths. You are my God, my Savior. You are the One I have been waiting for. – (Psalm 25:5, ERV)
Lead me; teach me; for You are the God who gives me salvation. I have no hope except in You. – (Psalm 25:5, TLB)
This is a critical reminder when we walk through difficult seasons. We must be led and guided by truth; rooted in our hope in God, who is our salvation. Circumstances change, situations ebb and flow, and emotions are not trustworthy. Even the people whom God gifts to us, are not who we are to place our trust upon. Yes, we can appreciate their presence as they walk beside us, but ultimately, we must rely on God. Today, as I prepare to head home for six days, the longest stretch I have been home in more than six weeks, I have to allow God to lead and teach me, and place my hope and trust in Him. When I arrive home, I will have one evening to spend with my husband before he leaves for a week-long motorcycle trip with some of his best buddies. The trip has been planned for six months, and it is important that he goes. For me, it is a bit heartbreaking to not have time with my husband, yet I have to recognize that my boys need their mom, and the time that we will have, just the three of us, is likely a much-needed gift. Also, I will finally have time with my best friend, who will be home the entire time. God knows what we need, and I trust that He will use the time the way that is best. I will be able to teach the final three days of the school year, and worship together with my church family on Sunday. Sadly, my running bestie will be in Belize, leading a team of nurses as she orchestrates a blood drive and various village outreaches, yet again, I know that there is a plan waiting for me.
As for mom, yesterday was a bit of a recovery day. In the morning, she was greeted by a quick visit from her best friend. We had quite a leisurely few hours, prior to her first in-home visit by the nurse, so it was a mellow morning. The doctor called to let us know the findings from the heart monitor. Thankfully, the results removed the mystery surrounding mom's stroke, and provide clearer guidance as to how to actively prevent any further such occurrences. Answers aid in annihilating fear, and help us find footing to forge forward in faith. Another dear friend of mom's stopped by for a quick visit and hug after lunch, and by the time she left, mom was ready for a solid siesta. Physical therapy took on a whole different look in the late afternoon, as mom is a morning person, and that time of day was not ideal. Victor was excellent at encouraging and adapting, and adjusted the exercises she worked on to meet her where she was at, and she finished the session feeling phenomenally successful. Her strength in her right leg is increasing daily, and it is incredible to watch her recognize what she is capable of doing.
May God guide us in His truth and teach us His ways; as He is our hope forever.
Grow where you're planted,
Find hope each new day;
For God's word is truth,
And He lights the way.
We must trust in Him,
And not what we see;
Now is a moment,
Not eternity.
Trust that there is good,
Though it seems unclear;
For God is greater,
His presence is near.
God's ways are higher,
Than what we might think;
He's our safe harbor,
When we fear we'll sink.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You guide us and teach us, and that You are our Savior and our hope. Thank You that hope is not dependent on what we see nor feel, but rather on who You are. Forgive us for losing sight of the truth. Teach us to trust You more, especially when we are hoping in things other than You. Show us how to love those around us in a way that shares hope in spaces where it is absent. May many come into a lasting relationship with You. Be glorified O God, as we seek You to guide us and teach us, trusting You to be our hope alone. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:6


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There is a subversive plan to slow the Internet, and it must be stopped. The new plan, now being contemplated by the Federal Communications Commission, could alter the Internet forever. It could slow speeds, limit the content and applications consumers can access, and create a two-tier system that favors some companies over others. The plan even has a code name: it's called "Title II."
The "slow lane" critique could not be more backwards. For many decades we regulated the telephone network as a public utility, with predictable results: it strangled competition, limited innovation in devices and services, and elevated political lobbying to the detriment of investment and consumer welfare. Then the Internet came along, we broke out of this public utility framework, and innovation exploded. We moved from a single slow lane to multitudinous fast lanes, from a sleepy-time utility world to an Internet-time digital economy.
The Telecom Act of 1996 was clear: the Internet should be "unfettered by Federal or State regulation." In the most recent Verizon case, the court explicitly said the FCC cannot treat the Internet (which, since the Clinton Administration, it is has classified as an unregulated "information" network) as a heavily regulated, Title II, common carrier, "telecommunications" network. The solution according to the fundamentalists is simple: reclassify the Internet, or at least parts of it, as a Title II telecom network. Voilà. Now we can regulate it as an old style public utility.
The stated goal of a Title II reclassification is to circumscribe the behavior of broadband service providers —
Title II regulates prices. It requires government permission to supply new products and services, or to terminate old products and services. It often requires approval for marketing campaigns or new technologies. It would open the door to regulation of the Internet by the 51 state public utility commissions and by every nation around the globe — imagine the fragmented confusion. Title II would blow up the existing technologies, business models, and voluntary interconnection agreements that have resulted in so much Internet success. More ominously, it would dramatically slow the pace of advance in the technologies, business models, and network and service innovations of the future.
Because Title II traditional applied to the transmission of information, as opposed to its storage or processing, any bit-moving function could be exposed to Title II's heavy hand. Most big Web firms, many of whom signed a letter asking for stronger regulations (though, notably, not explicitly asking for Title II), perform lots of transmission.
The "transmission" distinction is itself thoroughly obsolete, which is why all these networks and products should be considered information services. Even within a microchip or a data center, data is transmitted. It is also stored and processed. The three fundamental acts we perform on information cannot meaningfully be distinguished — especially not by three commissioners and committees of lawyers.
For all of Title II's potential for catastrophic harm, it offers no upside, even for its most hearty proponents. The bête noire of the neutrality fundamentalists is so called "paid priority," where some bits (like high resolution videos that require fast and reliable delivery) are prioritized over mundane applications (like data backups or routine emails, where it doesn't matter if the bits arrive now or a few milliseconds later). But common carrier regulation of phones or trains (of which Title II is an example) explicitly allows service discrimination (paid priority) as long as all similarly situated customers get the same offer.
Title II thus doesn't even solve the supposed problem — but would cause new problems of its own. Far from a burden on small Web start-ups, paid priority could be an inexpensive and crucial tool. Behemoths like Google, Amazon, and Netflix have built out vast networks and content delivery systems of their own — to speed the delivery of their own bits. But small firms focusing on a first time product don't have the wherewithal to match that physical infrastructure. They often use CDNs to deliver static content. But for other real-time services like gaming, or education, or health care, they may prefer to pay a network provider to move their bits and provide their customers with a first-rate experience. Prohibiting paid priority and other network services could thus harm start-ups and reinforce the big Web firms' position of dominance.
Because Title II's backers know all this by now, it is difficult to take their proposal as anything more than a play for government control of the Internet. The existing hands-off regime has been a boon for Web firms and broadband providers, for software and hardware companies, for cloud and carrier, for content and conduit. If the FCC really thinks we need extra rules to formally codify the open Internet principles that all firms across the ecosystem already support, we should rely on Section 706, which at least emphasizes investment and growth.
Title II regulation was the slow lane. Thank goodness we've left it in our dust.


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Variety Box 24 count (Wholesale)
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At Indulgent our goal is to offer you the best shipping options, no matter where you live. Every day, we deliver to customers across the world, ensuring that we provide the very highest levels of responsiveness to you at all times. The time frame for order delivery is divided into two parts:
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To start a return, you can contact us using the contact us form above. If your return is accepted, we'll send you instructions on how and where to send your package. Items sent back to us without first requesting a return may not be accepted and result in a declined refund.
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Configuring the Mondrian Engine for Large Data Warehouses
There are several mondrian.properties options that control how the Analysis engine interacts with large data warehouse volumes in conjunction with Pentaho Analyzer:
- mondrian.result.limit=5000000
- mondrian.rolap.iterationLimit=5000000
- mondrian.rolap.queryTimeout=300
- mondrian.native.crossjoin.enable=true
- mondrian.native.topcount.enable=true
- mondrian.native.filter.enable=true
- mondrian.native.nonempty.enable=true
- mondrian.rolap.maxConstraints=1000
- mondrian.native.ExpandNonNative=true
- mondrian.expCache.enable=true
Below are explanations for each property.
Controls the largest cross join size that Mondrian will handle in-memory. Ideally, no queries should involve large cross joins in-memory; instead, they should be handled by the database.
This is similar to mondrian.result.limit, except this applies to calculating aggregates in-memory such as SUM, MAX, AGGREGATE, etc. This should be set to the same value as mondrian.result.limit.
If any query runs past this number of seconds, then the query is immediately cancelled. The total sum of all SQL statements to process a single MDX statement must be less than this timeout. Setting this to zero disables query timeout, which is not recommended because runaway queries can deprive system resources from other necessary processes.
If this is set to true, when Mondrian needs to cross join multiple dimensions in a report, if the cross join is non-empty, meaning a fact table relationship has been defined, then the join operation is done using SQL. The resultant SQL query returns only combined dimension members that actually have fact data. This reduces the amount of tuples that need to be processed and is critical for performance on high-cardinality dimensions.
If set to true, when fetching the first set of records for the filter dialog, Mondrian will only read that set of records into memory. If set to false, all records from the dimension level will be read into memory.
If set to true, Mondrian will validate each member in the MDX via SQL. If set to false, Mondrian will traverse from parent to child tokens in the member. For high-cardinality dimensions, this must be enabled to avoid reading all members into cache.
This should be set to the largest number of values that the data warehouse database supports in an IN list.
Works in conjunction with native evaluation of cross joins. If set to true, Mondrian will expand cross join inputs to simple member lists that are candidates for pushdown.