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For wine lovers, late October into November is the best time to visit Lyon, France's 3rd largest city which is centered among some wonderful wine regions. Wine regions which include Burgundy, Beaujolais, Jura, and the Rhône Valley.
One can take day trips from Lyon to all of these wine regions (and to nearby Switzerland, if so incined). And in Lyon, there are world-class restaurants featuring amazing wine lists as well as wine caves (shops) which hold vast troves of great French wines.
But these past 3 weeks (and the next two) have been special, even for Lyon. Three very large tastings of French (and only French) wines have been held. They are: Vinomedia Salon du Vin, Terre de Vins Grand Degustiation, and the Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants. I attended the last two over the past couple of weeks. (A fourth, Sous les Pavés la Vinge is scheduled for Nov 16 & 17.)
The Terre de Vins Grand Degustiation was held at La Bourse, a grand old building on La Presquille near the center of the city. 90 tasting stations offering about 300 wines, ranging from single vignerons to the large négotiants such as Louis Latour and Georges DeBoeuff. Here are some photos from that event:
The Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants was held in the huge Le Halle Tony Garnier in the 7eme Arrondissement of Lyon. This four-day event offered about 400 independent wine producers offering up to 8 wines each for tasting. Wines from every region in France are featured, the stands mixed together so that you have to walk past the Alsace and Sud-Ouest to get to the Burgogne or the Bordeaux. Regions have color-coded signs with the names of the winery and the sub-region.
The difference here is that all of the product is for sale right at the event. Lyonnaise folks show up in droves, often bringing the whole family to this event, and they stock up. We bought two cases on our first visit, and then I went back the next day with a cart and bought three more. Here are some photos of this event:
At this time of year, there are wine festivals all over the countryside as well, in Beaujolais, Jura, the Rhône Valley, etc. Once the harvest is finished, it is time to move the previous year (or most recent vintage to be released) out to the public, and these events help that to happen. A great time to be in and around Lyon!
Copyright 2019 – Jim Lockard


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Having spent a amazing four days in Macau courtesy of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and Tiger Airways, I was able to see for myself the wonderment that is packed into the 29 square kilometres of the tiny former Portuguese territory. It is for me a world certainly worth exploring, a world which is more than just that unique blend of east and west we have come to expect, but also a fascinating world where two other worlds, the glitzy new world has collided with the charming old world. With the two now forced into a tight embrace, it is in the compact territory where contrasts, and as one might see it the contradiction of new with old, are as apparent as black and white, black and white as is how it looks to me:
The celebration of the new world:
Windows into the old world:
The visit to Macau was made possible by the kind sponsorship of MGTO, flights were sponsored by Tiger Airways with check-in baggage allowances included.
Useful Links:
Macau Government Tourist Office
Tiger Airways
Note: this is a repost of my post on the omy.sg My Macau Experience 2012 site which sees 10 bloggers share experiences of their visit to Macau. Readers will get a chance to vote for their favourite My Macau Experience 2012 blogger and stand a chance to win $1000 worth of Macau travel vouchers. Voting starts on 28 September 2012 and details can be found at the My Macau Experience 2012 Voting page.

subset: commoncrawl


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If you had told me six months ago that a story about a killer organism that was essentially a giant head with arms and legs would be one of the best Secret Wars books, I would have laughed at you. Especially after I read and hated the first M.O.D.O.K. short story in Secret Wars Battleworld #1. (Though, in fairness, that was a different M.O.D.O.K..)
But here we are, and M.O.D.O.K. Assassin has really risen near the top of the heap. Especially impressive given my low expectations. I currently have it ranked 18th on the Secret Wars Power Rankings. M.O.D.O.K. Assassin got better with every issue and is one of the few books that successfully landed the ending.
After the cut I'll take a CliffsNotes (Coles Notes for my Canadian brethren) style look at M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #1, M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #2, M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #3, M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #4 and you guessed it M.O.D.O.K. Assassin #5.
Related links:
Secret Wars Power Rankings
Tom's Road To Secret Wars: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7.
Other parts of this series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
Continue reading Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars XXXI (M.O.D.O.K. Edition)


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Ten years ago, I was crammed in the back of a small car with my sister and her friend, driving to Punchestown race course to see our favourite rapper live in concert. During the drive down, we blasted the Marshall Mathers LP with the windows open, rapping along to all that vitriol. In my defence, he was super-talented. A further excuse is that I was 15. Eminem was rebellious because he used curse words and his CDs had parental advisory stickers. I won't lie – his music was a vehicle for my teen angst. We knew that his lyrics were a bit off. Like he wasn't serious about murdering those women right? He...he...that stuff was unreal. We didn't read into it.
Padded bra available in the girls section of Dunnes
The children's section of a department store should be filled with toys, clothes, and coloring books…so why is Dunnes Stores marketing lingerie to preteens? A walk-through of the kids section of Dunnes' Stephen's Green location yields several clear examples of padded bras and matching frilly knickers available in childish prints, a combination that seems incongruous and just plain disturbing.
The sexualization of children is an issue that crops up all too often these days, with the likes of baby beauty pageants and Bratz dolls routinely making headlines. Earlier this week, the Metro Herald reported that Take That singer and X Factor judge Gary Barlow had to ban music videos in his house because their content had become too racy for his three children to watch. Barlow linked this to the bawdy dance moves displayed by young X Factor hopefuls, presumably culled from such videos. Children imitating Beyonce or Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas seems harmless enough until you realize how much our society has latched on to these images and turned them into marketing tools aimed at what is arguably the most impressionable demographic. Dunnes peddling padded bras in the kids department is a prime example.
Padded bra available in the girls section of Dunnes
That a preteen girl is now expected to have (or look like she has) breasts is worrying. So is the lesson that a young girl's power is derived from her sexuality – now taught before she even fully grasps what sexuality is. We have somehow skipped from bras, which after all serve an anatomical function, straight to lingerie, which is intended for titillation. That's grand for adults, but when a girl who has not even started her period yet is expected to pad her bra, something is very wrong. When the first brassiere she ever wears is designed not for her own comfort, but to render her attractive under a male gaze, what is that telling her?
Furthermore, it teaches young boys that it's okay to regard girls as sexual objects. When I was a preteen back in the mid-90s our only option was the classic white cotton 'training bra'. Nothing else was made in our size, because, as my mother phrased it, 'you have nothing to put in it!' But I suppose my generation was lucky in that we didn't live with the expectation that girls of 10, 11, or 12 years of age face today to don frilly knickers and matching push-up bras. Of course there are some girls that age and even younger who genuinely need to wear a bra. This is not the issue. It is the design and the marketing of products that are indistinguishable from adult sexual attire wrapped in pink, bubbly, childish packaging and sold in the children's section next to fuzzy slippers and teddy bears.
This is hardly a new issue. In September the Irish Independent published this article citing Dunnes' (and Penney's) sale of children's padded bras. But considering that this week we found several sets of them prominently displayed in Dunnes' St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre location (though it should be noted that Dunnes did not appear to have such products for children as young as three as noted in the article), it doesn't seem to have done much good.
Blame who you want in Hollywood or the music industry for sexing-up the popular culture consumed by today's 'tweens' and teens; that is a far wider issue. The truly ridiculous thing here is that a popular family brand like Dunnes is participating in marketing such attire to girls who are simply too young for it. I know people will say we're grumbling here, that we have no sense of humour, or that it's simply a fashion statement, but you wouldn't see, say, men's boxer shorts adorned with lip prints in the boys section. Admittedly, there are few comparable products which could be aimed at young men to illustrate the point, which should only highlight their inappropriateness.
Unless people speak up and tell Dunnes Stores that selling padded bras to children and preteens is not acceptable, nothing will change. The IFN will be sending a letter to Dunnes Stores to voice our outrage over this issue and we'd encourage anyone who agrees with us to do the same. They can be reached at: email@example.com
Erin - IFN Co-ordinator
We welcome submissions to the blog, subject to editorial review, please contact us if you're interested. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IFN.
July 2017


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With every new tweeted disaster comes the same old question: what is the added value of tweets for disaster response? Only a handful of data-driven studies actually bother to move the debate beyond anecdotes. It is thus high time that a meta-level empirical analysis of the existing evidence be conducted. Only then can we move towards a less superficial debate on the use of social media for disaster response and emergency management.
In her doctoral research Dr. Sarah Vieweg found that between 8% and 24% of disaster tweets she studied "contain information that provides tactical, action-able information that can aid people in making decisions, advise others on how to obtain specific information from various sources, or offer immediate post-impact help to those affected by the mass emergency." Two of the disaster datasets that Vieweg analyzed were the Red River Floods of 2009 and 2010. The tweets from the 2010 disaster resulted in a small increase of actionable tweets (from ~8% to ~9%). Perhaps Twitter users are becoming more adept at using Twitter during crises? The lowest number of actionable tweets came from the Red River Floods of 2009, whereas the highest came from the Haiti Earthquake of 2010. Again, there is variation—this time over space.
In this separate study, over 64,000 tweets generated during Thailand's major floods in 2011 were analyzed. The results indicate that about 39% of these tweets belonged to the "Situational Awareness and Alerts" category. "Twitter messages in this category include up-to-date situational and location-based information related to the flood such as water levels, traffic conditions and road conditions in certain areas. In addition, emergency warnings from authorities advising citizens to evacuate areas, seek shelter or take other protective measures are also included." About 8% of all tweets (over 5,000 unique tweets) were "Requests for Assistance," while 5% were "Requests for Information Categories."
In this more recent study, researchers mapped flood-related tweets and found a close match between that resulting map and the official government flood map. In the map below, tweets were normalized, such that values greater than one mean more tweets than would be expected in normal Twitter traffic. "Unlike many maps of online phenomena, careful analysis and mapping of Twitter data does NOT simply mirror population densities. Instead con-centration of twitter activity (in this case tweets containing the keyword flood) seem to closely reflect the actual locations of floods and flood alerts even when we simply look at the total counts." This also implies that a relatively high number of flood-related tweets must have contained accurate information.
Shifting from floods to fires, this earlier research analyzed some 1,700 tweets generated during Australia's worst bushfire in history. About 65% of the tweets had "factual details," i.e., "more than three of every five tweets had useful infor-mation." In addition, "Almost 22% of the tweets had geographical data thus identifying location of the incident which is critical in crisis reporting." Around 7% of the tweets were seeking information, help or answers. Finally, close to 5% (about 80 tweets) were considered "directly actionable."
Preliminary findings from applied research that I am carrying out with my Crisis Computing team at QCRI also reveal variation in value. In one disaster dataset we studied, up to 56% of the tweets were found to be informative. But in two other datasets, we found the number of informative tweets to be very low. Meanwhile, a recent Pew Research study found that 34% of tweets during Hurricane Sandy "involved news organizations providing content, government sources offering information, people sharing their own eyewitness accounts and still more passing along information posted by others." In addition, "fully 25% [of tweets] involved people sharing photos and videos," thus indicating "the degree to which visuals have become a more common element of this realm."
Finally, this recent study analyzed over 35 million tweets posted by ~8 million users based on current trending topics. From this data, the authors identified 14 major events reflected in the tweets. These included the UK riots, Libya crisis, Virginia earthquake and Hurricane Irene, for example. The authors found that "on average, 30% of the content about an event, provides situational awareness information about the event, while 14% was spam."
So what can we conclude from these few studies? Simply that the value of tweets for disaster response can vary considerably over time and space. The debate should thus not center around whether tweets yield added value for disaster response but rather what drives this variation in value. Identifying these drivers may enable those with influence to incentivize high-value tweets.
This interesting study, "Do All Birds Tweet the Same? Characterizing Twitter Around the World," reveals some very interesting drivers. The social network analysis (SNA) of some 5 million users and 5 billion tweets across 10 countries reveals that "users in the US give Twitter a more informative purpose, which is reflected in more globalized communities, which are more hierarchical." The study is available here (PDF). This American penchant for posting "informative" tweets is obviously not universal. To this end, studying network typologies on Twitter may yield further insights on how certain networks can be induced—at a structural level—to post more informative tweets following major disasters.
Regardless of network typology, however, policy still has an important role to play in incentivizing high-value tweets. To be sure, if demand for such tweets is not encouraged, why would supply follow? Take the forward-thinking approach by the Government of the Philippines, for example. The government actively en-couraged users to use specific hashtags for disaster tweets days before Typhoon Pablo made landfall. To make this kind of disaster reporting via twitter more actionable, the Government could also encourage the posting of pictures and the use of a structured reporting syntax—perhaps a simplified version of the Tweak the Tweet approach. Doing so would not only provide the government with greater situational awareness, it would also facilitate self-organized disaster response initiatives.
In closing, perhaps we ought to keep in mind that even if only, say, 0.001% of the 20 million+ tweets generated during the first five days of Hurricane Sandy were actionable and only half of these were accurate, this would still mean over a thousand informative, real-time tweets, or about 15,000 words, or 25 pages of single-space, relevant, actionable and timely disaster information.
PS. While the credibility and veracity of tweets is an important and related topic of conversation, I have already written at length about this.


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It was not going well, or at least not as well as Martin Luther King Jr. had hoped. The afternoon had been long: the crowds massed before the Lincoln Memorial were ready for some rhetorical adrenaline, some true poetry. King's task now was to lift his speech from the ordinary to the historic, from the mundane to the sacred. He was enjoying the greatest audience of his life. Yet with the television networks broadcasting live and President Kennedy watching from the White House, King was struggling with a text that had been drafted by too many hands late the previous night at the Willard Hotel. King was on the verge of letting the hour pass him by.
Then, as on Easter morning at the tomb of the crucified Jesus, there was the sound of a woman's voice. King had already begun to extemporize when Mahalia Jackson spoke up. "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin," said Jackson, who was standing only a few feet away. At Jackson's remark, the preacher left his rather uninspired text a departure that put him on a path to speaking words of American scripture, words as essential to the nation's destiny in their way as those of Abraham Lincoln, before whose memorial King stood, and those of Thomas Jefferson, whose monument lay to the preacher's right, toward the Potomac. The moments of ensuing oratory lifted King above the tumult of history and made him a figure of history a "new founding father," in the apt phrase of the historian Taylor Branch.


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The impetus for my first personal, practical application of pure system dynamics modeling came from my sleep-deprived thoughts about Baby Diaper Service, which works as follows:
On your first and second deliveries you receive the full number of diapers you order. Thereafter, you will be on a rotation system. The number of diapers you turn in one week will be returned to you the next, up to your maximum order.
Simple? Sure, but complex enough to have two hallmarks of SDM: feedback and delay.
- Feedback: The number of diapers delivered depends on the number I turn in.
- Delay: The number of diapers I get this week is the number I turned in last week.
SDM, as developed in the early days of computer research, focused on "what if?" analysis. Not predicting the future that will be, but generating some range of ideas of the futures that could be.
This led to a very different sort of science that the contemporaneously developing field of econometrics. This divide is captured in a dialog I enjoyed in The Electronic Oracle (if I recall correctly, I don't have it nearby).
However, the futures that could be are just what I was concerned about in those sleepless early months. I kept worrying about a dirty diaper catastrophe, what if we forget to put dirty diapers out this week?
SDM can answer:
If I can make it through one tough week, I'll earn a free pass for when I forget again.
Needless to say, I was greatly relieved to have the results of this simulation in my back pocket. Thank you, System Dynamics Modeling!
Epilogue: eventually I did miss one week and failed to turn in diapers to the delivery service. I was all ready to tough it out for my reward. But it turns out that you just call up the service and get them to come by for a special pickup for a small fee. Thank you, Baby Diaper Service!


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Because I'm not Mexican, I hesitate to call sopa de fideo the ultimate Mexican comfort food soup — probably sopa de tortilla or caldo Mexicano de albóndigas gets the nod there — but it's certainly in the running for the propreantepenultimate Mexican comfort food soup. For those of you unfamiliar with fideo noodles, they're like a thin vermicelli (itself the Kate Moss of the spaghetti world), and usually cut in short pieces (generally somewhere between an inch and 4 cm).
Given that the bride is currently on a carb-cutting crusade, I thought spaghetti squash might suitably supplant the original fideo. Nestled in broth, it doesn't need to bear the weight of being the dish's focal point, which it does when being substituted, rather unsatisfactorily, for actual spaghetti under a blanket of Bolognese. The Instant Pot® pulls double duty here, both cooking the squash and making the soup. All you need to do between steps is to remove the steamer insert and squash, then dump out the remaining water. No need for cleaning along the way, since the squash that just came out is going right back in.
[This recipe, of course, can be made on the stovetop as well; the spaghetti squash can either be roasted or microwaved beforehand (fire up the Internet Machine and ask the Google for advice on that). Once that's done, you can pretty much follow the general directions under the "For the soup" section; allow about 30 minutes for simmering after all ingredients are added.]
As with many classic soups, recipes for this vary widely. While mine hews fairly closely to the down-the-middle basic version, I did add one exotic ingredient as a nod to the soup's probable Spanish heritage: pimentón de la Vera, the Spanish smoked paprika whose mere scent sends me off dreaming Gallego dreams. If you want to keep it more anchored to the New World, you could sub chipotle chile powder, regular chile powder, or even a diced jalapeño or two. Look, some people put cayenne, cinnamon, and allspice(!) in this soup, so feel free to follow your tastebuds.
Sin fideo, incidentally, means "without fideo."
Sopa de Fideo… sin fideo
(makes about 3.5 liters / 15 cups)
1 spaghetti squash (approx. 3 lb. / 1½ kg.)
2 spring onions (or 5-6 scallions), sliced thin
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. / 30 ml olive oil
½ teaspoon / 1.5 g cumin
1 teaspoon / 1 g oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
½ tbsp. / 4 g pimentón de la Vera (or smoked paprika)
½ tbsp. / 9 g salt
1 can (28 oz. / 794 g) diced tomatoes
6 cups / 1½ liters vegetable broth
chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
slice of lime for garnish (optional)
thinly sliced radish for garnish (optional)
slice (or chunk) of avocado for garnish (optional)
salt to taste
pepper to taste
For the spaghetti squash:
Take off store sticker, rinse squash and pat dry. Insert steamer trivet into Instant Pot® inner pot. Add 1 cup / 250 ml water. Place squash in Instant Pot®. Close and lock lid, making sure that release vent is set to "Sealing." Press button for Bean/Chili (set pressure to "high") and adjust timer to 18 minutes. When squash is finished, you can allow natural pressure release or use quick release; either works fine. Remove squash from pot, remove steamer insert, and discard steaming water when sufficiently cool. Cut squash in half, remove seeds and stringy debris. Scrape out "spaghetti" with fork, chop strands into short, fideo-like length (between an inch and 4 cm) and set aside in bowl.
For the soup:
Set Instant Pot® to "Sauté." Add olive oil to inner pot insert and allow to warm, then add garlic and spring onions. Sweat the onions and garlic until soft, stirring occasionally, for maybe 4-5 minutes. [No big deal if they begin to brown, but don't let them burn or stick to the pot.] Add spaghetti squash and spices, stir to mix. Add tomatoes (with juice) and vegetable broth (you can use the tomato can for measuring the broth if you wish; add two cans). Secure lid, making sure vent is set to "sealing." Press the "Keep Warm/Cancel" button once to stop the sauté function. The press the "Soup" button, adjust pressure to "high" (if necessary) and time to 10 minutes. When soup is finished, either natural pressure release or quick release work fine. Adjust seasonings and ladle into bowls. Garnish with cilantro leaves and the optional avocado, radish, and lime.


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BOCA RATON, FL – WWN correspondent, Dallas Commagreens, brings to the table the issue of which former or present athlete should be frozen for future generations to study! The world of sports and sports entertainment keeps evolving with every passing year. Advances in science and medicine helps athletes perform better and recover quicker. Regardless, there are a select few, that no matter what advances are made, have raised the bar to unreachable levels. These athletes, masters of their domains, should not only be revered for their accomplishments but also studied for what they brought to their respective fields. So let the debate commence.
We'll start off with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The Brahma Bull. Do you smell what he's cooking? The Rock ignited wrestling rings wherever he went. His charisma and personality made him an ideal candidate for the world of wrestling entertainment. But it was his athletic prowess that set him apart from the rest. Having played collegiate football at The U (Miami), The Rock possessed physical attributes unmatched by anyone else in the ring. Ever since his departure, there has certainly been a void left unfilled.


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Childhood obesity is a growing health problem. Since 1980, the proportion of overweighted children has almost tripled in the USA: nowadays approximately 17% of children and adolescents are obese. (Source: cdc.gov [6])
Common sense tells me that obesity is the result of too high calory intake without sufficient physical activity." – which is just what the CDC states. I'm not surprised that the CDC also mentions the greater availability of high-energy-dense foods and sugary drinks at home and at school as main reasons for the increased intake of calories among children.
In my teens I already realized that sugar in sodas were just "empty calories" and I replaced tonic and cola by low calory Rivella (and omitted sugar from tea). When my children were young I urged the day care to restrain from routinely giving lemonade (often in vain).
I was therefore a bit surprised to notice all the fuss in the Dutch newspapers [NRC] [7] about a new Dutch study [1] showing that sugary drinks contributed to obesity. My first reaction was "Duhhh?!…. so what?".
Also, it bothered me that the researchers had performed a RCT (randomized controlled trial) in kids giving one half of them sugar-sweetened drinks and the other half sugar-free drinks. "Is it ethical to perform such a scientific "experiment" in healthy kids?", I wondered, "giving more than 300 kids 14 kilo sugar over 18 months, without them knowing it?"
But reading the newspaper and the actual paper[1], I found that the study was very well thought out. Also ethically.
It is true that the association between sodas and weight gain has been shown before. But these studies were either observational studies, where one cannot look at the effect of sodas in isolation (kids who drink a lot of sodas often eat more junk food and watch more television: so these other life style aspects may be the real culprit) or inconclusive RCT's (i.e. because of low sample size). Weak studies and inconclusive evidence will not convince policy makers, organizations and beverage companies (nor schools) to take action.
As explained previously in The Best Study Design… For Dummies [8] the best way to test whether an intervention has a health effect is to do a double blind RCT, where the intervention (in this case: sugary drinks) is compared to a control (drinks with artificial sweetener instead of sugar) and where the study participants, and direct researchers do not now who receives the actual intervention and who the phony one.
The study of Katan and his group[1] was a large, double blinded RCT with a long follow-up (18 months). The researchers recruited 641 normal-weight schoolchildren from 8 primary schools.
Importantly, only children were included in the study that normally drank sugared drinks at school (see announcement in Dutch). Thus participation in the trial only meant that half of the children received less sugar during the study-period. The researchers would have preferred drinking water as a control, but to ensure that the sugar-free and sugar-containing drinks tasted and looked essentially the same they used an artificial sweetener as a control.
The children drank 8 ounces (250 ml) of a 104-calorie sugar-sweetened or no-calorie sugar-free fruit-flavoured drink every day during 18 months. Compliance was good as children who drank the artificially sweetened beverages had the expected level of urinary sucralose (sweetener).
At the end of the study the kids in the sugar-free group gained a kilo less weight than their peers. They also had a significant lower BMI-increase and gained less body fat.
Thus, according to Katan in the Dutch newspaper NRC[7], "it is time to get rid of the beverage vending machines". (see NRC [6]).
But does this research really support that conclusion and does it, as some headlines state [9]: "powerfully strengthen the case against soda and other sugary drinks as culprits in the obesity epidemic?"
Rereading the paper I wondered as to the reasons why this study was performed.
If the trial was meant to find out whether putting children on artificially sweetened beverages (instead of sugary drinks) would lead to less fat gain, then why didn't the researchers do an intention to treat (ITT) analysis? In an ITT analysis trial participants are compared–in terms of their final results–within the groups to which they were initially randomized. This permits the pragmatic evaluation of the benefit of a treatment policy.
Suppose there were more dropouts in the intervention group, that might indicate that people had a reason not to adhere to the treatment. Indeed there were many dropouts overall: 26% of the children had stopped consuming the drinks, 29% from the sugar-free group, and 22% from the sugar group.
Interestingly, the majority of the children who stopped drinking the cans because they no longer liked the drink (68/94 versus 45/70 dropouts in the sugar-free versus the sugar group).
Ànd children who correctly assumed that the sweetened drinks were "artificially sweetened" was 21% higher than expected by chance (correct identification was 3% lower in the sugar group).
Did some children stop using the non-sugary drinks because they found the taste less nice than usual or artificial? Perhaps.
This might indicate that replacing sugar-drinks by artificially sweetened drinks might not be as effective in "practice".
Indeed most of the effect on the main outcome, the differences in BMI-Z score (the number of standard deviations by which a child differs from the mean in the Netherland for his or her age or sex) was "strongest" after 6 months and faded after 12 months.
Mind you, the researchers did neatly correct for the missing data by multiple imputation. As long as the children participated in the study, their changes in body weight and fat paralleled those of children who finished the study. However, the positive effect of the earlier use of non-sugary drinks faded in children who went back to drinking sugary drinks. This is not unexpected, but it underlines the point I raised above: the effect may be less drastic in the "real world".
Another (smaller) RCT, published in the same issue of the NEJM [2](editorial in[4]), aimed to test the effect of an intervention to cut the intake of sugary drinks in obese adolescents. The intervention (home deliveries of bottled water and diet drinks for one year) led to a significant reduction in mean BMI (body mass index), but not in percentage body fat, especially in Hispanic adolescents. However at one year follow up (thus one year after the intervention had stopped) the differences between the groups evaporated again.
But perhaps the trial was "just" meant as a biological-fysiological experiment, as Hans van Maanen suggested in his critical response in de Volkskrant[10].
Indeed, the data actually show that sugar in drinks can lead to a greater increase in obesity-related parameters (and vice versa). [avoiding the endless fructose-glucose debate [11].
In the media, Katan stresses the mechanistic aspects too. He claims that children who drank the sweetened drinks, didn't compensate for the lower intake of sugars by eating more. In the NY-times he is cited as follows[12]: "When you change the intake of liquid calories, you don't get the effect that you get when you skip breakfast and then compensate with a larger lunch…"
This seems a logic explanation, but I can't find any substatation in the article.
Still "food intake of the children at lunch time, shortly after the morning break when the children have consumed the study drinks", was a secondary outcome in the original protocol!! (see the nice comparison of the two most disparate descriptions of the trial design at clinicaltrials.gov [5], partly shown in the figure below).
"Energy intake during lunchtime" was later replaced by a "sensory evaluation" (with questions like: "How satiated do you feel?"). The results, however were not reported in their current paper. That is also true for a questionnaire about dental health.
Looking at the two protocol versions I saw other striking differences. At 2009_05_28, the primary outcomes of the study are the children's body weight (BMI z-score),waist circumference (replaced by waist to height), skin folds and bioelectrical impedance.
The latter three become secondary outcomes in the final draft. Why?
Furthermore, the effect on weight is less then expected: 1 kilo instead of 2,3 kilo. And only a part is accounted for by loss in body fat: -0,55 kilo fat as measured by electrical impedance and -0,35 kilo as measured by changes in skinfold thickness. The standard deviations are enormous.
Look for instance at the primary end point (BMI z score) at 0 and 18 months in both groups. The change in this period is what counts. The difference in change between both groups from baseline is -0,13, with a P value of 0.001.
(data are based on the full cohort, with imputed data, taken from Table 2)
Sugar-free group : 0.06±1.00 [0 Mo] –> 0.08±0.99 [18 Mo] : change = 0.02±0.41
Sugar-group: 0.01±1.04 [0 Mo] –> 0.15±1.06 [18 Mo] : change = 0.15±0.42
Difference in change from baseline: −0.13 (−0.21 to −0.05) P = 0.001
Looking at these data I'm impressed by the standard deviations (replaced by standard errors in the somewhat nicer looking fig 3). What does a value of 0.01 ±1.04 represent? There is a looooot of variation (even though BMI z is corrected for age and sex). Although no statistical differences were found for baseline values between the groups the "eyeball test" tells me the sugar- group has a slight "advantage". They seem to start with slightly lower baseline values (overall, except for body weight).
Anyway, the changes are significant….. But significance isn't identical to relevant.
At a second look the data look less impressive than the media reports.
Another important point, raised by van Maanen[10], is that the children's weight increases more in this study than in the normal Dutch population. 6-7 kilo instead of 3 kilo.
In conclusion, the study by the group of Katan et al is a large, unique, randomized trial, that looked at the effects of replacement of sugar by artificial sweeteners in drinks consumed by healthy school children. An effect was noticed on several "obesity-related parameters", but the effects were not large and possibly don't last after discontinuation of the trial.
It is important that a single factor, the sugar component in beverages is tested in isolation. This shows that sugar itself "does matter". However, the trial does not show that sugary drinks are the main obesity factor in childhood (as suggested in some media reports).
It is clear that the investigators feel very engaged, they really want to tackle the childhood obesity problem. But they should separate the scientific findings from common sense.
The cans fabricated for this trial were registered under the trade name Blikkie (Dutch for "Little Can"). This was to make sure that the drinks would never be sold by smart business guys using the slogan: "cans which have scientifically been proven to help to keep your child lean and healthy".[NRC]
Still soft drink stakeholders may well argue that low calory drinks are just fine and that curbing sodas is not the magic bullet.
But it is a good start, I think.
Photo credits Cola & Obesity: Melliegrunt Flikr [CC]
- de Ruyter JC, Olthof MR, Seidell JC, & Katan MB (2012). A Trial of Sugar-free or Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Body Weight in Children. The New England journal of medicine PMID: 22998340
- Ebbeling CB, Feldman HA, Chomitz VR, Antonelli TA, Gortmaker SL, Osganian SK, & Ludwig DS (2012). A Randomized Trial of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Adolescent Body Weight. The New England journal of medicine PMID: 22998339
- Qi Q, Chu AY, Kang JH, Jensen MK, Curhan GC, Pasquale LR, Ridker PM, Hunter DJ, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Chasman DI, Hu FB, & Qi L (2012). Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Genetic Risk of Obesity. The New England journal of medicine PMID: 22998338
- Caprio S (2012). Calories from Soft Drinks – Do They Matter? The New England journal of medicine PMID: 22998341
- Changes to the protocol http://clinicaltrials.gov/archive/NCT00893529/2011_02_24/changes
- Overweight and Obesity: Childhood obesity facts and A growing problem (www.cdc.gov)
- NRC Wim Köhler Eén kilo lichter.NRC | Zaterdag 22-09-2012 (http://archief.nrc.nl/)
- The Best Study Design… For Dummies (https://laikaspoetnik.wordpress.com)
- Studies point to sugary drinks as culprits in childhood obesity – CTV News (ctvnews.ca)
- Hans van Maanen. Suiker uit fris, De Volkskrant, 29 september 2012 (freely accessible at http://www.vanmaanen.org/)
- Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Diet Coke & Health. Part I. (https://laikaspoetnik.wordpress.com)
- Roni Caryn Rabina. Avoiding Sugared Drinks Limits Weight Gain in Two Studies. New York Times, September 21, 2012
Related articles
- Studies more firmly tie sugary drinks to obesity (news.yahoo.com)
- Teens who cut out sugary drinks slowed weight gain (usatoday.com)
- Evidence against soda is piling up – Philadelphia Inquirer (philly.com)
- Can It! Soda Studies Cite Stronger Link to Obesity (nlm.nih.gov)


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After Beyonce was photographed hanging out with Kim Kardashian at a "Watch the Throne" concert in Birmingham, UK over the weekend, throngs of fans took to Twitter to express their outrage. "Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian in the same picture let alone the same sentence is tragic," said one. "if your role model is Kim Kardashian, I can't take you seriously, Beyoncé is a way better role model. She's respectful of herself," said another. The vitriol makes perfect sense, explains an "insider"—it's because Beyonce is a virginal downy lamb and Kim is a big, skanky, whorey, slut-whore: "Beyoncé has an air of class and sophistication to her, while Kim is famous because of a sex tape and a failed marriage." Whatever you say, dicks. In related news, Beyonce wrote an encouraging letter to a blind person. (It is well known that Kim Kardashian scorns and fears the blind.) [Radar] [TheGrio]
Today in I can't stop jumping up and down, Regis Philbin is in talks to join Kathie Lee on the Today Show if Hoda goes off to replace Ann Curry!!!!! First of all, this would obviously be the best thing ever and I would quit my job and watch it every day. Second of all, REGIS PHILBIN IS 80 YEARS OLD. HE IS PART OF GENERATION A. WHY DOES HE STILL WANT A JOB. (Now if only there were a way to reach through the cold, impenetrable shroud of death and orchestrate a Jim J. and Tammy Faye reunion. Alas.) [Radar]
On the third anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, the Jackson family did some grieving on Twitter. Daughter Paris wrote: "RIP Michael Jackson. Dad you will be forever in my heart. I love you." There were similar sentiments from LaToya ("Sad morning all. This day was the day that lead to the demise of my little brother. 'Michael We Love' May you RIP. Gone FAR To Soon.") and Randy ("3 yrs ago on this June 25th, my brother passed"). Condolences to all. [Radar]
Investigators have finally solved the murder of Dylan McDermott's mother, who was mysteriously shot when McDermott (now 50) was only five years old. Police have determined that the 45-year-old crime was committed by her boyfriend at the time. "I'd like to thank everyone for their amazing support today. It means so much to me," he tweeted today. In I-hope-not-too-tastelessly-unrelated news, I've never understood why Dylan McDermott isn't a bigger star. That dude is mega-handsome. [Radar]
- In perhaps her most shocking scandal yet, Lindsay Lohan was caught working on the set of Liz & Dick. [CaughtOnSet]
- Aubrey O'Day gets a note from her doctor certifying that she has "mental problems," so that she can sit with her "Emotional Support Animals" in first class. Click through and look at the fucking picture. [TMZ]
- "Tori Spelling dresses her pet chicken in a poncho," is an actual e-mail I received today, from a publicist who is really good at getting me to read e-mails. [Lucky]
- In case you were desperately searching for a reason to never hang out with Paris Hilton—first of all, you are terrible at searching. And second of all, here you go: apparently she's a DJ now. [Extra]
- Tyler Perry reveals that he pity-hired Bobbi Kristina at her mother's funeral ("I wanted to give her a job because I know how tough it is to grieve"), but announces that she's "shockingly good." Good work, TP. Nothing soothes a broken heart like a backhanded compliment from an opportunistic smug-monster. [Extra]
- Jennifer Lopez, vacationing in Rio with her "boy-toy," would like you to please check out her "caliente curves." [Radar]
- Megan Fox is pregnant in a bikini and she loves BAG sooooooo much and that makes me love her kind of a little bit. [PopSugar]
- Kelsey Grammer lost $1 million in a Ponzi scheme. Here's my question about Ponzi schemes: if something looks like a Ponzi scheme, has it ever not been a Ponzi scheme??? Stop losing all your money in Ponzi schemes! Are you new? (Alternatively, here's my scheme: You give me $1 million, and I will immediately give you $500,000 back. That makes me $500,000 more profitable than a Ponzi scheme! Do it! Doooooo iiiiit.) [E!]
- Ryan O'Neal would like to remind you that Farrah Fawcett died, because she got totally ripped off by Michael Jackson. (TMZ would like to remind you how Farrah Fawcett died, because they're TMZ.) [TMZ]
- Zooey Deschanel is dating screenwriter Jamie Linden, who is, according to a source, "into her." He also wrote We Are Marshall, which is a comedy about a horrifically tragic plane crash, directed by McG. [HuffPo]
- Here are some pictures of young Angelina Jolie looking hella like regular Angelina Jolie, only younger (I'm not a doctor, but I'm 99% sure that's how age works). [DailyMail]
- Duuuuuuude, I have never cared about any entertainment news story less than this thing about Christie Brinkley's divorce. [Yahoo!]
- Miley Cyrus drove her car to the pot store. [HuffPo]


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Matt Taibbi has a follow up to his Secrets and Lies of the Bailout article in the Rolling Stone. This one, called "One Broker's Story" is about the consequences of the bailout to ordinary brokers as a result of asymmetric information. Neil Barofsky hinted at this in his book Bailout when he described all of the money that the government let the banks have access to. It amounts to trillions and trillions of dollars. It's a little like opening the bank vault doors to people who have a habit of setting money on fire and telling them, "We know you didn't mean to burn up everyone's nest eggs. Now, don't do it again."
Trillions and Trillions. Imagine all of the money that the Republicans are constantly going on about in the deficit crisis hysteria and multiply it my several times over. The social security shortfall requires a minor adjustment, a teensy tweak. But the amount of money we have thrown at bankers and allowed them to access whenever they want is vastly, vastly larger. When it comes right down to it, the bankers pretty much own the money supply. They can tap into it whenever they want, charge interest on money they lend to others on money they got virtually interest free, and they don't have to tell you about it.
The hapless broker in Taibbi's story didn't know that the bank he worked for, Wells Fargo, had access to all this cash. He was looking at the fallout of the 2008 disaster, estimated the financial solvency of all of the major banks and decided to short them because he figured it was only a matter of time before they started falling like dominos due to the weight of all their bad assets. But the broker didn't know that all these banks had nothing to worry about because not only did the US government bail them out, it covered up their problems and then opened the money sluice to them in perpetuity. So, stocks continued to climb in spite of all evidence to the contrary and the broker lost his shirt and everyone else's shirts he did business with.
He only found out when Bloomberg filed a FOIA to obtain information on where all the bailout programs money was going. The banks and the Treasury (and the White House, I'm sure) were hoping to keep it a secret as long as possible.
What the stock market is showing everyday is an illusion. The banks are doing well because they're being propped up by our money. That is the observation. The question is, why? Why are we allowing the banks to have so much money? Why aren't we letting the market suffer?
I think it comes back to the 401K and IRAs again. So many of us have so much of our money locked into the market instead of pensions that if the government let the market sink to its natural level, there would be a social and political crisis. It is a vicious circle. And we can't take our money out to start new businesses or pay debts or just live without paying punitive taxes. Those taxes virtually guarantee that the money stays in the market. So, the government has to prop up the market until it can't be propped up anymore. That should happen when the next bubble bursts on Wall Street.
Taibbi finishes the post like this:
This is the real problem with the bailouts, and the issue we tried to underscore with the "Secrets and Lies" piece. With their hide-and-seek policies, bogus stress testing and stubborn insistence on calling failing banks healthy and publicly endorsing other such fibs, the architects of the federal rescue (from both the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as from the Federal Reserve) created a two-tiered market. The new economy has two classes of investors: those who know the real numbers, and those who don't.
So while the proponents of the bailout will argue they were a success, and the covert and overt federal support helped bring the Dow all the way back from below 7,000 to above 13,000 – seemingly a good thing no matter how you look at it – there's another bitter reality, which is that the bailouts officially created a sucker class.
When banks started making fortunes again in 2009 and beyond, it wasn't a victimless situation. There were losers in this trade, too. Hartzman and his clients are examples of the kind of people who lost when the government made decisions about who's entitled to the truth and who wasn't. As one former hedge fund manager put it to me recently, "Joe Sixpack has no chance in this market."
We are the sucker class. Well, some of us are suckers. Some of us weren't suckered into voting for Obama either time. Ultimately, the responsibility for this fiasco falls on his shoulders and those of the people he hired. And the people who unquestioningly supported him.
And about that $1Trillion platinum coin, mint the damn thing already. As Krugman pointed out yesterday:
There seem to be two kinds of objections. One is that it would be undignified. Here's how to think about that: we have a situation in which a terrorist may be about to walk into a crowded room and threaten to blow up a bomb he's holding. It turns out, however, that the Secret Service has figured out a way to disarm this maniac — a way that for some reason will require that the Secretary of the Treasury briefly wear a clown suit. (My fictional plotting skills have let me down, but there has to be some way to work this in). And the response of the nervous Nellies is, "My god, we can't dress the secretary up as a clown!" Even when it will make him a hero who saves the day?
The other objection is the apparently primordial fear that mocking the monetary gods will bring terrible retribution.
It sounds like another civility bluff to me. The bullies announce they are going to steal your lunch money, push you down in the dirt and stomp on your face but if you protest or come up with some clever workaround, they start heading to the fainting couch with the vapors.
Normally, I'd say that this kind of silliness with the coin is just going to make the matter worse because who in the world will take us seriously. But there shouldn't be any real economic fallout, so mint the damn coin.
On the other hand, maybe we should just call their bluff. Let them wreck the economy, pull down our credit rating, sow chaos and confusion and ruin people's lives. I'm sick of Republicans pulling this shit. They need to be terrified of the consequences of their actions for a change. If you mint the coin, they'll just come back with something else to hold hostage. So, let the babies have their way and get the end of the financial world over with. It's out of control and an unmitigated disaster and it's going down eventually anyway. Why prolong the suffering. Let's just lance the boil now and start over. I want a capitalism without exploitation.
Reboot. Do it now.
Filed under: General | Tagged: 401k, bankers, market, Matt Taibbi, Neil Barofsky, Tim Geithner, treasury, trillions and trillions | 38 Comments »


text:
First, this is not a homework problem. This is a problem from Matt Bishop's book "Introduction to Computer Security" which was used as one of the textbooks for a Computer Security class I took last year. This question never came up during the course. In hindsight I should have asked the course's professor to explain the proof, but again this textbook wasn't the main text for the course.
The theorem states:
Let the expected time required to guess a password be T. Then T is a maximum when the selection of any of a set of passwords is equiprobable.
The question is how do you prove this theorem?
I understand that if there are n possible passwords, that on average you can guess the password in n/2 attempts using brute force. Also, if each password is equiprobable then the probability of each password is 1/n.
Here's where I get stuck, if the probability of each password is not equal then obviously there is a smaller set of passwords to check and therefore a shorter amount of time required to perform a brute force attack.
However, if I don't know what the probability of each password is then I need to perform a brute force attack on all possible passwords and we're back at n/2 attempts.
Or is that the proof. If the probability of each password is not equal and you test the passwords with the higher probabilities, you are dealing with a smaller subset and therefore a shorter period of time than testing all of the possible passwords.
Is there a more formal way to state this?
Also, what happens if the password is a part of the subset of passwords with lower probabilities, by searching only the higher probability passwords you will fail to find the desired password. Or take longer than if you just tried all.
Thank you for your consideration to this question.


text:
Stephen Errity, who has occasioned a few pieces like this, prodded me to mark 10 years since the first spark of this blog in 2008.
Talking Movies proper began on Sep 1st 2009, but April 22nd 2008 saw the staking of this claim in the digital terrain; and there is an obvious topic to hang an anniversary post on. Just over a week later the first review went up – Iron Man… 10 years later, that bloated business plan known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to finally pay-off (HA!! Yeah, right…) in the shape of (The) Avengers (3): Infinity of Characters War. I will not be going to it. It's not just that I don't care about Thanos, of many of the other characters, or the Infinity Stones that have become a deadly serious 'Fetch'. Marvel Studios' omnipresence have made the last 10 years seem very long indeed, and have successfully killed off my interest in their characters, comic-book movies, and comic-books themselves. "Oopsies!"
I've charted my obvious decline of interest in the Marvel movies below. I saw the bold in the cinema, the italics on DVD, and the others remain unwatched.
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Captain America
The Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor 2
Captain America 2
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Avengers 2
Captain America 3
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Thor 3
Black Panther
The Avengers 3
Working my way through the archives in the last week I find myself complaining over time that the Marvel movies lack the outrageous fun of Mark Millar's comic extravaganza of these same characters, The Ultimates. I vividly remember being pedantically lectured by a bore on how audiences wouldn't accept a scene as outré as the ultimate Millar action movie fantasy beat where Black Widow jumps from building to building and calls for a gun to be dropped from a chopper above her so she can grab it in mid-air and crash into the next building spraying bullets to save Hawkeye. Clearly, audiences wouldn't accept this. I mean 3 movies into the MCU audiences had already accepted a bank vault being towed and used as a prehensile wrecking ball in Fast & Furious 5, and would later accept an endless runway in Fast 6, a man running up a falling truck at the same speed and so remaining in situ in Fast 7, and, oh yeah, cars driving out of one skyscraper, into another skyscraper, out of that skyscraper, and into another one. But yeah, Marvel actually adapting a panel from one of their own comics, clearly, audiences would rebel. Just as they howled in outrage and ripped up the seats when X-Men: First Class put the characters in their original yellow and blue outfits rather than the fetish leather that we were told was the only choice in 2000 because audiences wouldn't accept those silly costumes. Oh wait, they didn't.


text:
Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown (surround) him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
(Psalm 8:4-6).
It has always been God's intention to have a people who would rule over the planet – and the universe – on His behalf. Man was to begin with the garden God made for him, and then go on to fill the rest of creation with the image and likeness of God. What was in heaven would be manifested on earth, and we would bring that rule of heaven to earth through our lives. We are made in the image of God, and are to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus.
The word 'likeness' means 'to resemble', and the Greek word is 'icon'. We are familiar with that word in the context of computers and smartphones: the icon is not the program, but it is a representation of the program, and when you click on it, you engage with the program it represents. When people interact with us, that interaction should reveal the true nature of God Himself, and provide a means for people to engage with HIm.
Rebellion and sin distort and fragment the image of God, so that we do not represent Him effectively. But He desires to restore us and conform us back into His image.
DNA of God
Adam was a spirit light being, made in the image of God, and originally had 3 strands of DNA (the third strand being a strand of light, restored when we are born again). The DNA of God is His intrinsic spirit nature encoded in light. God has 3 x 3 strands of DNA (3 for the Father, 3 for Jesus, and 3 for the Holy Spirit), making 9 strands of light DNA.
The Father's DNA strands are Grace, Justice and Judgment (Psa 33:5),
reflected in us in three fruit of the Spirit: love, joy and peace (Gal 5.22).
Jesus' DNA strands are the Way, Truth and Life (John 14:6),
patience, kindness, and goodness.
The Holy Spirit's DNA strands are Righteousness, Peace and Joy (Rom 14:17),
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The 9 stones which covered Lucifer's body [Ezek 28:13] reflected the 9 light strands of God's DNA. As light-bearer, he reflected the nature of God out into the whole universe. When he fell, the universe was deprived of all that light. Perhaps that is why 70% of the mass of the universe is so-called 'dark matter'.
Twelve stones
Lucifer had 9, but the High Priest's ephod had 12 stones: 3 stones representing the 3 strands of human DNA now added to the 9 light strands of God's DNA.
The stones were arranged in a pattern, 3×4. 3 is the number of Kingdom government, and 4 is a doorway, portal or opening. When our DNA is joined to God's DNA, it creates openings for the Father, Son and Spirit to manifest through us on the earth, so that people can gain a full understanding of who God is. Our DNA needs to be restored to its original condition, to the eternal image and abilities we should have.
Joined to the Lord
And 4 + 3 = 7, the number of perfection, where earth and heaven are joined.
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17).
We can be joined to God genetically, His DNA entwined with ours; we can be transformed genetically, and be one spirit. This scripture speaks of an intimate relationship with God – beyond anything we can fully understand, but which God wants us to experience.
We can be baptised (immersed, filled) in the River of Life to experience the DNA of Jesus; in the River of Grace to experience the DNA of the Spirit; and in the River of Glory to experience the DNA of the Father.
Search me, O God
Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way (Psa 139:23-24).
When we ask, He will show us; and we will see our life reflected in the mirror of truth. Let's not run from what we see; instead, let's run to Him and embrace the transforming process He wants to bring about.
Eat this bread, live for ever
When we break bread, we apply the body and blood of Jesus to deal with these things. We take the body and blood of Jesus and eat it, applying life to our marrow (the source of life within our bones), and speaking words of life to accompany it.
We have previously shared the Communion Prayer we use here at Freedom Church, and we will add it to the end of this post too.
For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day (John 6:40).
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh (John 6:49-51).
There is a difference between eternal life and living for ever. The only reason I would die is if there is a record of sin within my DNA. I do not need to die, and neither do you. But we do need to undergo transformation by applying the body and blood of Jesus. Ian Clayton has met someone who is over 300 years old, still alive, but transformed and transfigured; translucent and shining. There are others too, and they do not look like you and me.
The body and blood of Jesus carry the record of the DNA of God. We can age and die, or we can take the body and blood of Jesus within ourselves, and live for ever.
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever (John 6:53-58).
Words: spirit and life
What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (John 6:62-63).
We apply the words of Jesus, the words He speaks as the Living Word of God.
The valley of dry bones
Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life…'" I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (Ezek 37:4-5,10).
The breath did not enter a physical, flesh body.The very breath of God entered into the bones. In the middle of the bones is marrow, the source of life and the source of blood. We speak to our bones, that the breath would enter into our marrow and transform us.
We apply the body and blood of Jesus. We speak into our bones and marrow at the genetic level. We say, 'be transformed into the image of Jesus; be genetically purified and transformed from one degree of glory to another; be transfigured and radiate glory'.
Whenever we eat, whenever we drink, we can take it as the body and blood of Jesus. With the words that are spirit and life, speaking to our marrow; we apply the DNA of God to transform our DNA into the eternal image of God that is our destiny.
Let's do this regularly, every day if we possibly can, because there is awesome power in it.
Applying the body and blood of Jesus
I engage in the DNA of God
I embrace the transforming power of the body and blood of Jesus
I engage the record containing the light, sound and frequency of God's image
I embrace the record of the dimensions of the kingdom released in my body by the DNA of God
I engage that DNA record and apply it to my bones
I speak to my marrow and command it to live
I apply the frequency of DNA to transform me into the image of Jesus
Transform every genetic record, re-sequence my DNA into alignment
I apply the blood of Jesus to transform all impure genetic material – be transformed
I apply the blood of Jesus to all iniquitous genetic patterns – be cleansed
I call all my genetic material to resonate with the DNA of God
and come into alignment with my eternal image
I choose to bear the image of my Father in heaven
I choose to bear the image of my Brother in heaven
Let the breath of God be breathed into my life, transforming me into a living being,
joined to the Lord and one spirit with Him
I speak creative words to my DNA to release the supernatural abilities of God
I trigger the ability to see in the realm of the kingdom
I trigger the ability to move in the realm of the kingdom
I trigger the ability to transform matter
[You can download a printable version of this prayer by selecting 'Communion Prayer' in the main menu, or click here].
Related articles by Freedom ARC
- Divine Nature Assimilated
- Sealed Up Until the End Of Time
- No Spot or Wrinkle
- Transformation Through Communion
Other resources from Freedom ARC
- Transformation 20-part audio series with slides
(this post is based on extracts from Mike's notes for session 18).
- Preparing For Destiny (audio series and blog series).
- Communion 2015 (mp3 audio teaching series by Mike Parsons with PDF slides, text-style PDFs and streaming YouTube videos)
Check out our website: Freedom Apostolic Resources
Resources from others
- Recalibration and Immortality – blog post from blissfullymystic
- Do You Believe The Radical Simple Gospel? – blog post by Michael King
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text:
Garden Classic
46 m² |
All our rooms with garden view are furnished in different styles. This bright room completely rebuilt is furnished with larch steamed wood, has bath with shower and bidet, separate WC, seating corner with satellite LCD TV, internet access and balcony with a wonderful view on the Mirabell Garden and the Valdaora Dolomites.
Prices shown will attract a tourist tax of € 2,50 per person (aged 14 years and over) per day, payable on departure.
Booking information & other useful information
- The price indicated is per person per day and includes the generous Dolomites-Wellness ¾ board comfort with numerous services included and the best price guarantee for direct bookings.
- For all people aged over 14 years, a municipal tourist tax will be charged of Euro 2.50 per person per night. This tax is paid on the spot.
- All rooms and suites have satellite LCD TV, telephone, internet access, hairdryer, WC with bidet, safe, minibar, wellness bag with towels for the sauna, bathrobes, flip-flops and a splendid view of the valley of Antholz, the Kronplatz or the Dolomites of Valdaora.
- Holidaypass Premium included
with the free use of all public transport and many included services
- Discount "early bird" for those who book early:
You will receive an advance booking bonus "early bird" of 10% on all the daily rates with a minimum booking of 7 nights, made at least 3 months before the date of arrival. The deposit must be paid within 4 days from the date of booking. (the "early bird bonus" is not valid during the peak seasons of Christmas/New Year & August and cannot be accumulated with weekly packages or special offers)
- Single Room Supplements:
- Supplements for the use of a double room as a single room (per night):
- Morgentau: +100 % in high season, otherwise 25,00 Euro (per night)
- Waldsaum and Frühling: +100 % in high season, otherwise 50,00 Euro (per night).
- the "Lots and lots of time … just for me" offer excluded
- Free iris diagnosis
For stays of 7 or more nights, you will have one free iris diagnosis per room.
- Room service
Our service team will bring you food and drinks in your room (at an additional cost).
No discount is given for unconsumed meals.
- für nicht konsumierten Mahlzeiten wird kein Preisnachlass gewährt
- Pets:
For dogs, we apply a fixed rate of 29 euros, per day (excluding food).
We ask you to bring your dog's blanket and a basket. Please indicate at the time of booking if your four-legged friend will be staying with you.
- Deposit
The bookings are considered binding if confirmed via fax, email or by post with Mirabell Dolomites. Luxury. Ayurveda & Spa.
A deposit of 400 euros is required, per room or suite.
The deposit can be paid by credit card (specify number and date of expiry), bank transfer or by means of online account (Click to pay) on our website (any transfer costs are the responsibility of the client).
Our bank details are as follows:
Raiffeisenkasse Brunico, Fil. Valdaora
IBAN No. IT 30 Z 08035 59040 000305008417
Swift-Code: RZSB IT 21505
Online deposit
- accepted payment methods
Payment in cash (Note the limits)
debit card (ED cards)
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- Price adjustments:
In the case of unforeseeable economic developments or variations to the current VAT rate of 10% and 22%, it may be necessary to adjust the prices.
Protection for cancellation & annulment of the trip
- Cancellation:
Cancellations are unpleasant – both for you and for us. Please inform us in good time and in writing.
30 % of the total rate will be charged for cancellations that are received between 21 days and 1 day before arrival. In the case of delayed arrival or early departure, we charge the total for the booked stay.
For cancellations of high season bookings received between 40 and 22 days before arrival in every case we charge the rate of the first booked night.
The cancellation of more than 3 rooms is covered by another cancellation policy. We thank you for your kind understanding.
- Insurance coverage for annulment service
For just €5 per person a day for booked holidays, you can cover all the costs of annulment in the event of accident, sickness or death of the person insured, their children, siblings, parents or grandparents.
Children's prices
The following rates for children are applied when the child stays with two paying guests in the same room or suite (except the "Single with Child" offer)
Aurora & Mirabell (with children's own room)
|07.08.2022 - 20.08.2022
23.12.2022 - 07.01.2023
17.02.2023 - 25.02.2023
05.08.2023 - 19.08.2023
all other seasons
0 to 11 Months
€ 58,-
1 – 5 years
|€ 95,-
€ 70,-
6 – 8 years
|€ 105,-
€ 80,-
9 – 13 years
|€ 115,-
€ 90,-
14 – 15 years
|€ 125,-
€ 100,-
from 16 years
-20% on the daily rate for adults
-20% on the daily rate for adults
Double room & Suite
|07.08.2022 - 20.08.2022
23.12.2022 - 07.01.2023
17.02.2023 - 25.02.2023
05.08.2023 - 19.08.2023
all other seasons
0 to 11 Months
€ 48,-
1 – 5 years
€ 83,-
€ 58,-
6 – 8 years
|€ 93,-
€ 68,-
9 – 13 years
|€ 103,-
€ 78,-
14 – 15 years
|€ 113,-
€ 88,-
from 16 years
-20% on the daily rate for adults
-20% on the daily rate for adults
Suggestion: free holidays for children up to 6 years
In low season (yellow season in our bookings calendar), children can stay for free in our rooms and suites up to their 6th birthday.


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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Dr. Dee Boersma' tag.
On Oct 4th after months of rehabilitation, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), along with members from Centro de Recuperação de Animais Marinhos (CRAM), Institute for Aquatic Mammals (IMA) and the environmental authority in Brazil, Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), 372 juvenile Magellanic Penguins, stranded because of inadequate food stocks, were loaded onto a military plane and airlifted to Southern Brazil for their release back to the wild.
According to Dr. Dee Boersma, a penguin researcher, the mass stranding of the penguins left them in extremely poor body condition. She states, there is a flow of warmer water (1° C higher than normal) which has caused the juvenile penguins to keep going north, past their usual range, where they are unable to find adequate food. There is always a high mortality rate for first year birds but this increased northerly range and lack of available food had increased the normal mortality rate for this group of penguins.
There is also the Penguin Network, which is works with The International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), that put a lot of work into this and other bird rescue projects.
I don't know what to say, but it seems like we might have broken something…


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The big-data landscape just got a little more interesting with the release of EMC's Pivotal HD distribution of Hadoop. Pivotal HD takes Apache Hadoop and extends it with a data loader and command center capabilities to configure, deploy, monitor and manage Hadoop. Pivotal HD, from EMC's Pivotal Labs division, integrates with Greenplum Database, a massively parallel processing (MPP) database from EMC's Greenplum division, and uses HDFS as the storage technology. The combination should help sites gain from big data a key part of its value in information optimization.
Topics: EMC, MapR, HAWQ, HDFS, Pivotal HD, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Cloudera, Hortonworks, Information Applications, Information Management, Location Intelligence, Cirro, Hive, Tableau Software, Strata+Hadoop


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All About Glass
All About Glass
This is your resource for exploring various topics in glass: delve deeper with this collection of articles, multimedia, and virtual books all about glass. Content is frequently added to the area, so check back for new items. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, send us your suggestion. If you have a specific question, Ask a Glass Question at our Rakow Research Library.
Glass windows are great, but they waste energy. A glass pane provides only slightly more insulation than nothing at all. Even so, builders were using more, and bigger, windows. Then, in 1973, the energy crisis hit. Harvard University chemist Roy Gordon knew that a tin oxide coating would make
Both companies were chasing the same thing: the enormous market for flat glass. While Pilkington was working to develop flat glass, Corning Glass Works was developing a process of its own. Fusion draw produced a continuous sheet of exceptionally thin, pristine glass, but it was too slow to compete.


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Earlier this month a court in Australia reversed a lower court's decision and ruled that the ads Google allows to run on its search engine are "misleading and deceptive". I wrote more about this in another post – click here.
After this ruling by the Federal Court, Google was caught completely off-guard (typical Google arrogance of course) and they definitely were not expecting it to go in that direction. It also extremely worries Google and could set a threatening precedent to their business model. Google is concerned that the Australian court's decision could be copied by other courts in different countries and it will hurt their bottom line. Google's ad revenue is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Australia alone.
Google will fight the court's decision tooth and nail to avoid this from spreading and to make sure their money-making machine is protected. The company has less than 14 days to appeal the decision to a High Court. What Google is most concerned about is protecting their money and not making sure that their users are protected. This isn't the first time that the company has gotten themselves in deep trouble over their ad business. The US government forced Google to pay up half a billion dollars for aiding and abetting a con artist commit his crimes (I will post an update story on this soon ,which I forgot to post).
The point is that Google has repeatedly shown that they are willing to accept money from every advertiser, every company, and even criminals if they can get away with it. They obviously have very little ethics and I sure wouldn't trust them. Be careful clicking on those ads.
This Australian legal battle against Google is a very interesting one to watch.
ABC News in Australia did a fantastic report on this story. The video is below and if you want to read the transcript, you can go to their website – click here
I have made the claim that the media doesn't give Google enough scrutiny and that the company often gets underserved favorable press. This is a major reason I started this blog in the first place, so that the average person out there can see what Google is really all about.
I remember seeing articles recently claiming that Google currently has the best reputation among any company in America. This is very disturbing considering all the sordid details I have been posting about Google's lack of privacy, their pitiful ethics, their lies, the incessant lawsuits, and even criminal investigations. It's disappointing and saddening that so many Americans put so much trust in this company – it just leaves me shaking my head and I think to myself "if only they knew better".
I came across three really great articles comparing Google to Microsoft. I want to share these articles with you, but please don't view this as me trying to sell Microsoft to you. I'm just using the articles to illustrate media bias and to show you how much Google has changed over the years.
The article published by InfoWorld's J. Peter Bruzzese is excellent and lays out evidence to argue that the media unfairly bashes Microsoft way too often while Google's errors are conveniently overlooked. He writes,
"I've noticed an unfair, ongoing trend: If Microsoft does something a little off, it gets bashed into the ground for it. But if Google… missteps, it generally gets mild reprimands and even support from the media and those drinking the Kool-Aid."
You can read the rest of his article – titled "Microsoft in the media: Unfair and unbalanced" – by clicking here
Ever since I started this blog earlier this year I have been reading about the comparisons people are making between Microsoft and Google. These comparisons argue that Google has really changed for the worse over the years. As some of you probably already know, Google's infamous unofficial motto is "don't be evil". In the early idealistic days of Google the company didn't want to be like other established tech giants (i.e. Microsoft) because they perceived them as representing negativity and as being old-fashioned. But now people are starting to notice that little ol' Google ain't all that different from Microsoft – actually, some argue, that Google is worse now.
The article published by Forbes gives you 7 similarities between Google and Microsoft – perhaps now the pot should stop calling the kettle black– to read the Forbes article, please click here.
Finally, a very interesting article appeared on The Daily Beast website by Dan Lyons. The author spent 30 days using nothing but Microsoft products to compare it with Google's products. He wanted to see if Microsoft can win him over and if Google's products are really worth keeping. To find out what he concluded you gotta read the full article for yourself – click here
Google is currently enjoying much of the general public's trust– but what is most hopeful is that this is slowly changing. As more people become knowledgeable and fed-up with Google's antics, their arrogance, their invasion on our privacy, and other wrongdoings we will finally see Google fall off its throne. As any good business person will tell you, the most important thing in business is rightfully earning the trust and admiration of the public – once you lose this you've lost everything.
Facebook has hit another important milestone in South America. Things are looking very promising in Brazil where the social networking giant is improving rapidly. Just this past January it was reported that Facebook is now the dominant social networking site in Brazil, beating Google's now struggling Orkut.
And now – Experian Hitwise, a digital intelligence tool, is reporting that Facebook has surpassed all of Google's properties to become the most visited site in Brazil. Over the past year, Facebook's popularity has skyrocketed while Google is experiencing a gradual decline.
Facebook dominated Google as the most visited site at least five different times this year, mostly on weekends when visits to social networking sites tend to increase. Nevertheless, this is a great sign for Facebook and a disaster for Google. Perhaps Facebook might eventually overtake Google in other countries too…
For more information:
AllFacebook, "Facebook Surpasses All Google Properties In Brazil" – click here
ZDNet, "Facebook passes Google as top site in Brazil, for now" – click here
TNW, "Hitwise: Facebook became the most visited site in Brazil over the weekend" – click here
The other day the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a strongly worded report condemning Google's privacy violations and the company's deliberate obstruction of an investigation into the gathering of sensitive data off personal computers.
The FCC was deeply disturbed by what Google did but they're hands were pretty much tied and couldn't take serious action against Google. The federal agency fined Google $25,000 for impeding their investigation and they said what Google did was technically not illegal. According to PCWorld, this is because the laws are not up-to-date with technology. What Google did was obviously an invasion of privacy and SHOULD be illegal but Google seems to have gotten away scot-free because there aren't laws that protect Americans from criminals who steal their personal data off unencrypted Wi-Fi networks.
Anyway, I came across an article yesterday by the Mercury News stating that Google is about to be hit hard by another federal agency, this time it's the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As you all should already know, the FTC has been in the middle of conducting their investigation on Google's illegal circumvention of Apple's Safari Web browser.
The Wall Street Journal exposed Google back in February for deliberately bypassing the privacy and security settings of Safari users. Apple set the default setting on its Safari browser to maximum security to protect their users from tracking companies – Google hated this and used a secret code to bypass this security setting. This exposed millions of Safari users to tracking for months without them every knowing about it. Immediately after the Journal released their story several lawsuits against Google popped up.
Now, according to the Mercury News, the major fine against Google is imminent. The newspaper spoke to a source who says that the FTC will take action against Google within a month. The FTC already has a consent order against Google which was put in place late last year. Google violated the privacy of their users when they launched their failed social networking tool called "Buzz". After an investigation, Google agreed to a settlement that would require the company to regularly submit a compliance report to the FTC and they agreed to two decades of close monitoring from the FTC. Google also promised never to violate the privacy of their users or any company's users – evidently they couldn't keep their promise.
Google faces a fine of $16,000 per violation per day. There were millions of Apple users affected and victimized by this invasion of privacy so you can imagine that the fine could be colossal. Let's hope the FTC puts Google in its place and hits them hard – Google definitely deserves it.
For more information:
PCWorld, "Google Says Snooping on Wi-Fi Networks Isn't Illegal" – click here
Mercury News, "Google target of new federal privacy probe" – click here
Computerworld, "Privacy watchdog, lawmaker push for Google probe" – click here
The Register, "Google faces WHOPPING FTC fine for Safari privacy gaffe" – click here
The Hill, "FTC official: Sharing on social sites 'can't be forced'" – click here
Google's top woman has been nominated to serve on the board of Walmart. The massive retailer corporation made the announcement today that Marissa Mayer could potentially take the board's 16th spot.
And yes, it's that same Marissa Mayer…you know…the same high-profile Google executive whose brother allegedly brutally beat up his girlfriend and threatened to throw her off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge…
At only 36, Ms. Mayer will be the youngest person on the board if elected at the company's shareholder's meeting on June 1st. I was reading through different articles about her nomination to board, many questioned whether she is the right fit for the company's board. She doesn't really have much experience outside of Google, if any at all. She was hired at Google straight out of graduate school in 1999 and shuffled around at that Google ever since.
Is she a one-hit wonder? Can her leadership skills at Google translate over to other companies that operate in a completely different way? Walmart seems to think that she can be useful in helping them with their online services. Google benefits from learning about how a retail giant does business.
Anyway, it's interesting news and I thought it is worth posting. She said this in a statement:
"I have long been a customer and admirer of the company. Walmart is an amazing story of entrepreneurship and, as one of the world's most powerful brands, touches millions of lives every day. I look forward to contributing to Walmart's continued growth, success, and innovation in the years to come"
And according to Forbes, she also serves on the boards of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Ballet, the New York City Ballet and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
For more information:
The Register, "Google's top female cheese nominated to serve on Walmart board" – click here
Wall Street Journal, "Wal-Mart Taps Google's Marissa Mayer for Board Seat" – click here
Forbes, "Wal-Mart Names Google's Marissa Mayer To Its Board" – click here
It was reported yesterday that the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Google $25,000 for not cooperating with an investigation over Google's massive invasion of privacy involving its Street View service.
The FCC said that Google "deliberately impeded and delayed" its investigation. Google made it very difficult for investigators to gain access to employees and hid important evidence. Google did not answer emails and the company even tried to hide the identities of the employees involved in the privacy violations from two years ago.
In 2010, Google's Street View cars collected very private information from unencrypted home computers. When Google was caught doing this it apologized and said that it didn't deliberately try to capture private data. Soon after the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated and sided with Google's explanation that it was a mistake. Although the US didn't take the massive privacy violation seriously, European countries were more concerned.
Now the FCC has come out and exposed Google's refusal to cooperate with the investigation. This is really embarrassing for a company that claims it's so transparent about everything it does and is cooperative with regulators. This is not the first regulators have complained about Google's secrecy, arrogance, and unwillingness to cooperate with investigations. The French data protection agency currently investigating Google's new privacy policy said that Google neglected to contact them before implementing their controversial and intrusive privacy policy.
The $25,000 Google is now forced to pay will do nothing to the company's bottom line. Google raked in about $40 billion last year. Over 90% of Google's revenues come from advertising – this means that Google makes money by selling your personal data to advertisers. This is the reason Google consolidated their privacy policies into a singular policy – it makes it easier for the company to figure you out and it's more profitable. A Google spokesman said that the company is on a mission to combat against "the faceless Web".
Google paying a $25,000 fine is like an average person paying a one cent fine – but don't get too hung up on the amount of that fine. The biggest hit Google received from this new report by the FCC is its reputation. Most people think way too highly of this company and if more reports like this come out to expose Google's dirt then the better it will be for the general public.
I love what Christina DesMarais, PCWorld, wrote in her article:
"…if Google's uncooperative behavior is true as the FCC maintains, the obvious question is, 'What is Google hiding?' Consumers and advocacy groups have often criticized Google's seemingly insatiable appetite for personal information, such as its recent consolidation of its privacy policies so as to have a better view into user behaviors and preferences. Because of the amount of attention those privacy concerns have garnered, you'd think a policy of transparency on Google's part would bode well with those who have doubts about whether or not the company can be trusted with increasing amounts of personal data."
Things that make you go hmmm…
For more information:
The New York Times, "Google Is Faulted for Impeding U.S. Inquiry on Data Collection" – click here
PCWorld, "Google Hit With $25K Fine, But FCC Finds Street View Data Collection Not Illegal" – click here
CNET, "FCC nails Google with $25K fine for dragging heels in StreetView probe" – click here
Last month I published an article titled "Victim of Brutal Beating Says She's 'Afraid' of Google Executive's Family". It was one of the most read and commented on posts I've published on my blog. I received great feedback and the vast majority of readers appreciate knowing about this disturbing story involving a major Google executive's family. If you haven't already read that article please do so before reading this one – click here
After I posted my article I received an email from a person who said they wanted to set the record straight about what happened to Mason Mayer's alleged victim, Kelli Trent. This person told me that they were troubled by false information being spread around and asked for my assistance in having Kelli's side of the story told.
This person told me lots of information about the Mayer family and the dysfunctional relationship between Mason Mayer and Kelli Trent. This person has politely asked that I not reveal their identity and so I have decided to respect their privacy. I will simply refer to this person as my "source" from this point on.
The information my source revealed to me is disturbing, to say the least. It will give you a greater sense of what happened before the night of the alleged abuse and what took place after that night.
Kelli Trent is an intelligent and hardworking young woman. She moved to San Francisco back in 2005 after completing college and has been consistently employed ever since. Her friends describe her as being very generous and she always tries to help out any way she could. My source wanted to point out that Kelli comes from "a decent amount of wealth herself" and that she often pays for the needs of loved ones without hesitation. She has held some jobs in banking and she even recently tried her hand in a startup company.
Kelli and Mason met back in early February 2011 on his birthday and they started dating immediately after that. Their relationship was very brief but even in that short time it was plagued with serious problems. My source alleges that Mason had been controlling and abusive toward Kelli on numerous occasions.
Mason had not lived in San Francisco for that long. He moved from Minneapolis in the fall of 2010 after his famous sister, Google executive Marissa Mayer, allowed him to live in her penthouse condo. My source alleges that the reason behind Mason's move is due to him getting in legal trouble in Minneapolis after abusing a "rebound" girlfriend. Marissa apparently wanted to keep him away from "psycho girls" and moved him close to her. Mason and his ex-wife, Kara Mayer, divorced in July 2010.
After he moved to San Francisco and started dating Kelli everything was fine for the first few months. My source alleges that the abuse on Kelli actually began in May after she wanted to leave the relationship. The source showed me a photo of Kelli taken in May with a badly bruised inner arm. The source also alleges that a few days before the night of September 24th Kelli and Mason were at a gym and he didn't like the way she was interacting with men. He allegedly threw her belongings around and got physically aggressive with her.
Finally the abuse escalated to what took place on night of September 24th. Kelli not only suffered physical injuries but she also sustained a concussion, was disoriented, and had fainting spells. After this incident, she took photographs of her injuries and sent them to Mason's parents and Marissa was soon notified. My source claims that Kelli was shown little respect by the Mayer family and that they never asked if she was okay. Kelli demanded that Mason get help and the Mayer family came up with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and therapy sessions – which Mason began two days after the family was notified.
The source claims that Kelli was never offered any financial assistance for her medical needs or for her therapy sessions, which she was badly in need of. Kelli pretty much had to suffer alone and isolated herself in the apartment she shared with a roommate. She didn't go out much since the beating and only confided in a few close friends.
The source says that soon after, in early October, the Mayer family booked Mason a trip on a European holiday for two weeks, which Kelli took as being insensitive and an insult to her. The source says that the Mayer family neglected to understand the magnitude of the problems between Kelli and Mason. The family also didn't hold Mason accountable for anything. This is when Kelli was starting to realize that she wanted out of the relationship and was pretty much done protecting the Mayer family.
Sadly, while the Mayer family was off on their European holiday, Kelli's grandmother passed away. After hearing about her loss, she left to go to Tennessee to be with her family. While with her family, the source claims that Mason phone called Kelli and told her that she was not invited to the Mayer family pumpkin carving party. Marissa allegedly did not want Kelli at the party, which Kelli took as a slap in the face. This was the straw that broke the camel's back and Kelli finally knew she was done with the relationship with Mason and done with the Mayer family.
Kelli came back to San Francisco on October 30th and Mason was at the airport to pick her up. This is when Kelli broke up with him. The source alleges that Mason was infuriated by this and showed up later in the day to Kelli's apartment threatening to release nude photos of her and allegedly vowed to smear her reputation. Mason then took the witness of the September 24th beating to the family party.
On November 11th Kelli went to the police to report everything that happened to her. Keep in mind that Kelli and Mason were not together often since the night of September 24th and up until the day she finally reported the alleged abuse to the police. My source says that it took Kelli awhile to come to the realization that she desperately needed to leave the relationship for good. This is consistent with many victims of domestic abuse who feel like they can change their partner's ways if they just stay in long enough and are often too afraid to leave.
Soon after a warrant was issued while Mason and the rest of the Mayer family were on their annual Thanksgiving holiday in Hawaii.
The source claims that this is when the campaign to discredit Kelli began and her reputation was torn to pieces. Kelli had her life investigated as Mason's legal team started subpoenaing texts messages, called her former employers, contacted her ex-boyfriends, etc. The source claims that Kelli depends on a good reputation to secure jobs but obtaining employment in her field has become nearly impossible and that her life is in shatters.
The source described to me one incident in January when Kelli was asked to interview at a company event hosted at Founders Den – this is the workplace of Marissa Mayer's husband, Zack Bogue. Kelli was in the middle of an interview at the event when suddenly Zack allegedly tapped Kelli on the shoulder and loudly told her to get out. Needless to say, Kelli was thoroughly shaken and embarrassed. She promptly left without finishing her interview. My source points out that Kelli had a stay-away order at the time which specified that any third parties related to Mason are not allowed to directly contact Kelli in any way, "so Zack had no right to speak to her that night".
Kelli has now left San Francisco. This is a woman who depended on her networking capabilities to get jobs but life is harder for her now. The source says that Kelli never wanted to have all this trouble surrounding her – Kelli fell into a brief and tumultuous relationship with Mason which is a mistake she thoroughly regrets.
While Kelli has been suffering for the past 6 months – Mason has gone on holidays and he's attended several San Francisco society events (thanks to his sister Marissa) such as the opening of a ballet and a Midwinter Gala. The source claims that Mason owns shares in Google, gifted to him by Marissa, and was invited to an exclusive Google company event featuring Lady Gaga back in March 2011. My source finds it revolting that Mason was being "flaunted" around by his family even after they knew what he did to Kelli.
Kelli has not retained a lawyer and is being represented by a District Attorney. The pretrial conference had been postponed three times since January and is now scheduled for April 18th – if found guilty Mason faces a maximum of four years and eight months in state prison.
Disclaimer: Everything in this post should not be taken as fact. They're allegations described to me by the source and it's from their point of view of what occurred. There are many sides to everything and this is just one. If there are any issues you have with anything written in this post please email me.
Hi guys:
Tomorrow I will be posting an exclusive article on my blog with more information about the domestic violence controversy surrounding the family of a major face of Google – Marissa Mayer. I have already posted on article about the case but the new article will give you more details about what allegedly happened.
It's going to be really interesting, to say the least. Make sure you take some time to visit the blog tomorrow. In the meantime, take some time to get to know who Marissa Mayer is and what she does at Google.
Three years ago, The New York Times published an article titled "Putting a Bolder Face on Google" and it's a fantastic read. It focuses on Marissa and really let's you know more about her character. Here are some interesting quotes about her in the article:
"Mayer, who is Google Employee No. 20…A popular guest on TV news programs and talk shows, a Google-booster often quoted in print, and a rapid-fire presence on San Francisco's social scene, she is the rare executive who has become — at least in the sometimes cloistered world of computer geeks — a celebrity"
"Ms. Mayer, 33, plays a pivotal, serious role at Google…She is one of the few Googlers with unfettered access to and influence over Mr. Brin and Mr. Page"
A 2009 Gawker.com article described her as "the best known Google executive outside the search engine's CEO, Eric Schmidt, and its billionaire founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin"
Ms. Mayer has even dated the current Google CEO Larry Page at one point. This is a woman very much part of the identity of Google and a recognizable face of the company.
I'm leaving you a video of her on the Martha Stewart show and I will see you back here tomorrow
For more information:
New York Times – click here
Gawker – click here