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WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials
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- Everything you need to know to develop your own plugins for WordPress
- Walk through the development of five plugins from ground up
- Prepare and release your plugins to the WordPress community
- Avoid common mistakes made by most plugin developers by learning more advanced development patterns
Book DetailsLanguage : English
Paperback : 300 pages [ 235mm x 191mm ]
Release Date : March 2011
Author(s) : Brian Bondari, Everett Griffiths
Topics and Technologies : All Books, CMS and eCommerce, WordPress
Table of ContentsPreface
Chapter 1: Preparing for WordPress Development
Chapter 2: Anatomy of a Plugin
Chapter 3: Social Bookmarking
Chapter 4: Ajax Search
Chapter 5: Content Rotator
Chapter 6: Standardized Custom Content
Chapter 7: Custom Post Types
Chapter 8: Versioning Your Code with Subversion (SVN)
Chapter 9: Preparing Your Plugin for Distribution
Chapter 10: Publishing Your Plugin
Appendix A: Recommended Resources
Appendix B: WordPress API Reference
- Chapter 1: Preparing for WordPress Development
- WordPress background
- Extending WordPress
- Understanding WordPress architecture
- Templating
- Introducing plugins
- Summarizing architecture
- Tools for web development
- WordPress
- Mac
- Windows
- Text editor
- Using an IDE
- FTP client
- MySQL client
- Coding best practices
- Basic organization
- Isolate tasks into functions
- Use classes
- Use descriptive variable names
- Use descriptive function names
- Separate logic and display layers
- Go modular, to a point
- Avoid short tags
- Planning ahead / starting development
- Interfaces
- Localization
- Documentation for the developer
- Version control
- Environment
- Tests
- Security
- Printing user-supplied data to a page
- Using user-supplied data to construct database queries
- Debugging
- Clearing your browser cache
- Updating your php.ini file
- Configuring your wp-config.php file
- Checking your syntax
- Checking values
- Exercise
- Summary
- Chapter 2: Anatomy of a Plugin
- Deconstructing an existing plugin: "Hello Dolly"
- Activating the plugin
- Examining the hello.php file
- Information header
- Exercise—breaking the header
- Location, name, and format
- Understanding the Includes
- Exercise – parse errors
- Bonus for the curious
- User-defined functions
- Exercise—an evil functionless plugin
- What just happened
- Omitting the closing "?>" PHP tag
- A better example: Adding functions
- Referencing hooks via add_action() and add_filter()
- Actions versus Filters
- Exercise—actions and filters
- Exercise—filters
- Reading more
- Summary
- Chapter 3: Social Bookmarking
- The overall plan
- Proof of concept
- Avoiding conflicting function names
- The master plugin outline
- The plugin information header
- In your browser—information header
- Adding a link to the post content
- Documenting our functions
- In your browser—linking to the post content
- Adding JavaScript to the head
- Making our link dynamic
- Adding a button template
- Getting the post URL
- In your browser—getting the post URL
- Getting the post title
- Getting the description
- Getting the media type
- Getting the post topic
- In your browser—title, description, and topic
- Checking WordPress versions
- Summary
- Chapter 4: Ajax Search
- What is Ajax?
- The overall plan
- The proof of concept mock up
- Hooking up jQuery
- Test that jQuery has loaded
- What happened?
- Using the FireBug console directly
- Writing HTML dynamically to a target div
- Multi-line strings
- Viewing the generated page
- Anonymous functions
- Adding a div on the fly
- Create a listener
- Fetching data from another page
- Creating our plugin
- Creating index.php and activating the plugin
- Creating our first PHP class
- Updating index.php
- Testing your version of PHP
- Testing for searchable pages
- Adding your own CSS files
- Adding your search handler
- Adding your own JavaScript
- Handling Ajax search requests
- Formatting your search results
- Summary
- Chapter 5: Content Rotator
- The plan
- Widget overview
- Preparation
- Activating your plugin
- Activating the widget
- Having problems?
- Parents and children: extending classes
- Objects vs. libraries: when to use static functions
- Add custom text
- Adding widget options
- Generating random content
- Expiration dates: adding options to our widget
- Expiration dates: enforcing the shelf life
- Explaining the $instance
- Adding a custom manager page
- Adding options to the custom manager page
- Randomizing content from the database
- Review of PHP functions used
- Summary
- Chapter 6: Standardized Custom Content
- What WordPress does for you: custom fields
- What WordPress doesn't do for you
- Standardizing a post's custom fields
- Creating a new plugin
- Removing the default WordPress form for custom fields
- Creating our own custom meta box
- Defining custom fields
- Generating custom form elements
- Saving custom content
- Having trouble saving data?
- Displaying custom data in your Templates
- Copying a theme
- Modifying the theme
- Granular display of custom fields
- Bonus for the MySQL curious
- Known limitations
- Summary
- Chapter 7: Custom Post Types
- Background: What's in a name?
- Understanding register_post_type()
- Customizing our post type
- Using shortcodes
- Testing our shortcode
- Customizing our plugin
- Creating a settings shortcut link
- Cleaning up when uninstalling
- Summary
- Chapter 8: Versioning Your Code with Subversion (SVN)
- Why Subversion?
- Understanding the terminology and concepts
- Checking out a local working copy
- SVN folder structure
- Checkout, revisited
- Setting up an SVN repository
- Checking out a local working copy of our repo
- Adding files
- Committing changes to the repository
- Overcoming errors
- Verifying the new state of your repository
- Adding more files to your repository
- Removing files from the repository
- Updating your working copy
- Tagging a version
- Reverting an entire project
- Reverting a single file
- Moving files
- Exporting your working copy
- Quick reference
- Summary
- Chapter 9: Preparing Your Plugin for Distribution
- Public enemy number one: PHP notices
- PHP short tags
- Conflicting names
- Modifying loader.php
- Testing WordPress version
- Testing PHP version
- Testing MySQL version
- Testing PHP modules
- Testing WordPress installed plugins
- Custom tests
- Unit tests
- WordPress limitations
- Health check page
- Storing test results in the database
- Death to clippy: Use sensible configurations
- Double check your interface
- Documentation
- Identify the purpose
- Learning to drive: Keeping it relevant
- Phrasebooks vs. dictionaries: Give examples
- Analogy: The three bears
- Analogy: PC load letter
- The decalog of documentation
- Summary
- Chapter 10: Publishing Your Plugin
- Internationalization and localization
- Processing each message
- Choosing a textdomain
- Best practices
- Working with formatting
- More advanced messages
- Plural vs. singular
- More complex messages
- Notes to translators
- Language files
- Creating a POT file
- Creating translations: .po files
- Loading a textdomain
- Updating a translation
- Format for the readme.txt file
- Section – installation
- Section – Frequently Asked Questions
- Section – screenshots
- New addition – videos
- Section – summary
- Requesting and using SVN access
- Publicity and promotion
- Summary
- Appendix A: Recommended Resources
- PHP reference
- Function reference
- The WordPress forums
- WebDev Studios
- Viper007Bond
- Kovshenin
- SLTaylor
- XPlus3
- WP Engineer
- Other plugins
- Appendix B: WordPress API Reference
- PHP functions
- dirname
- file_get_contents
- preg_match
- preg_replace
- print_r
- sprintf
- strtolower
- substr
- WordPress Functions
- __
- _e
- add_action
- add_filter
- add_meta_box
- add_options_page
- check_admin_referer
- esc_html
- get_option
- get_post_meta
- get_the_ID
- register_post_type
- remove_meta_box
- screen_icon
- the_content
- the_meta
- update_post_meta
- wp_count_posts
- wp_die
- wp_nonce_field
- Actions
- admin_init
- admin_menu
- do_meta_boxes
- init
- save_post
- widgets_init
- wp_head
- Filters
- the_content
Code Downloads
Download the code and support files for this book.
Submit Errata
Please let us know if you have found any errors not listed on this list by completing our errata submission form. Our editors will check them and add them to this list. Thank you.
Errata- 3 submitted: last submission 15 Jan 2014
Errata Type:Typo Page No:53
Second paragraph starts with "Our fist task" It should be "Our first task"
Errata Type: Code | Page no: 108
'description' => $this->widget_desc
should be
'description' => $this->description
Errata Type: Code | Page no: 47
<input id="[+seconds_shelf_life.id+]" name="[+seconds_shelf_life.name+]" value="+seconds_shelf_life.value+]" />
should be
<input id="[+seconds_shelf_life.id+]" name="[+seconds_shelf_life.name+]" value="[+seconds_shelf_life.value+]" />
Sample chapters
You can view our sample chapters and prefaces of this title on PacktLib or download sample chapters in PDF format.
What you will learn from this book
- Get to know the WordPress code base, WordPress' plugin architecture, and the application programming interface (API)
- Integrate with third-party APIs and web services
- Hook into the WordPress internals using actions and filters
- Customize your WordPress Dashboard with menus and administration panels for your plugin
- Streamline user interactions by using jQuery to make AJAX requests
- Expand your understanding of WordPress as a CMS
- Implement localization support for users of other languages
- Maintain and manage your plugin using SVN and publish it to the WordPress Plugin Repository
- Write tests into your code to ensure that it is always deployed properly
In Detail
WordPress is one of the most popular platforms for building blogs and general websites. By learning how to develop and integrate your own plugins, you can add functionality and extend WordPress in any way imaginable. By tapping into the additional power and functionality that plugins provide, you can make your site easier to administer, add new features, or even alter the very nature of how WordPress works. Covering WordPress version 3, this book makes it super easy for you to build a variety of plugins.
WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials is a practical hands-on tutorial for learning how to create your own plugins for WordPress. Using best coding practices, this book will walk you through the design and creation of a variety of original plugins.
WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials focuses on teaching you all aspects of modern WordPress development. The book uses real and published WordPress plugins and follows their creation from the idea to the finishing touches in a series of easy-to-follow and informative steps. You will discover how to deconstruct an existing plugin, use the WordPress API in typical scenarios, hook into the database, version your code with SVN, and deploy your new plugin to the world.
Each new chapter introduces different features of WordPress and how to put them to good use, allowing you to gradually advance your knowledge. WordPress 3 Plugin Development Essentials is packed with information, tips, and examples that will help you gain comfort and confidence in your ability to harness and extend the power of WordPress via plugins.
A step-by-step guide for creating feature-rich plug-ins for WordPress
This book will provide an easy to understand, step-by-step approach to building your own WordPress plugins from scratch. We will construct a variety of plugins from the group up, demonstrating how to tap into a number of WordPress' development aspects, as well as how to prepare and release your plugin(s) to the public.
Who this book is for
This book is for WordPress users who want to learn how to create their own plugins and for developers who are new to the WordPress platform. Basic knowledge of PHP and HTML is expected, as well as a functional knowledge of how WordPress works from a user standpoint.


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rss 95 weeks ago
Aperture Laboratories is the creator of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, or simply, Portal Gun. Heisenberg is the creator of the best meth in the south west, which is famously colored blue due to it's production from methylamine. This is an homage to Portal and Breaking Bad. The cracks in the aperture symbol represent shards of blue meth.
I'd appreciate any critique or suggestions on this design before I submit it to TeeFury. It's very simple, but I think that it should be. Thanks for any help.
AngryAdam93 weeks agoI watch "Breaking Bad" but know nothing about Portal so my initial reaction was that this looked like a real shirt that could be supporting a real company but I knew it was Breaking Bad.. but what's the blue design?
After reading your description, makes a little more sense but I was confused by it.
Good luck, sir.
kbbutcher92 weeks agoI actually really like this. It's very subtle
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Annie Dillard has written several
books, including the memoir of her
parents, An American Childhood; the
Northwest pioneer epic The Living; and
the nonfiction narrative Pilgrim at
Tinker Creek. A gregarious recluse,
she is a member of the American Academy
of Arts and Letters.
She was born in April 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Best known for her narrative nonfiction, she has also published poetry, essays, literary criticism, autobiography and fiction. She is married to the historical biography Robert D Richardson Jr (award-winning and bestselling author of biographies on luminaries such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and William James).
Dillard's childhood is described in detail in her 1987 memoir, An American Childhood. She is the oldest of three daughters of affluent and nonconformist parents who encouraged humor, exploration and creativity. She studied literature and creative writing at Hollins College in Virginia, and married her writing teacher, the poet R.H. Dillard, who "taught her everything she knows" about writing.
She graduated with a Masters in English in 1968. After a near-fatal bout of pneumonia in 1971 she spent four seasons living near Tinker Creek in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Roanoke, Virginia, where she wrote Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (perhaps inspired my Thoreau's Walden, which was her thesis topic).
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975. After which she wrote a number of narrative essays in a similar style before writing her first novel, The Living (1992), which grew out of a story she wrote fifteen years before. Published fifteen years after The Living, The Maytrees is her second novel.
Partial Bibliography
This biography was last updated on 07/23/2011.
A note about the biographies
We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate. However, with over 2500 lives to keep track of it's inevitable that some won't be as current or as complete as we would like. So, please help us - if the information about a particular author is out of date, inaccurate or simply very short, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors and those connected with authors: If you wish to make changes to your bio, please send your complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we can replace the old with the new.
Members read and review books ahead
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in First Impressions!
Visitors can view a lot of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only
The Angel of Losses
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Books you'll stay up all night reading; books that will whisk you to faraway places and times, books that will expand your mind and inspire you -- the kinds of books you just can't wait to tell your friends about.


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3/27/2013 by Luis Goncalves
While a successful Agile retrospective implies an open discussion in a team, many would agree that it's not always easy to have everyone in a team actively involved in an exchange of opinions. There can be a number of reasons why people feel retic...
3/25/2013 by Eric King
We all know that three key groups exist in both the creation and implementation of successful Agile teams. These groups serve basic functions that are important for the team's collective and ultimate success. Many of the functions that each group ...
3/22/2013 by Jingjie Wang
When we're working on software projects and following an Agile method, e.g., Scrum, our usual focus is on how we communicate with customers about the actual requirements, and how we manage (or empower) the Agile team so that deliverable software c...
3/20/2013 by Erwin Verweij
Agile can inflict a lot of irreversible damage to companies and teams and, in most cases, it cannot be repaired. I sometimes encounter companies that have implemented a form of Agile. Sometimes they use Scrum or Kanban, and on other occasions they...
3/18/2013 by Sridhar Peddisetty
It's not the methodology or the tool that fails to deliver quality software — it's the people involved. I strongly believe this and am here to share a case study of when Scrum was followed properly versus when it was not followed properly. B...
3/15/2013 by Manuel Borja
We know a fixed-price contract is maybe not the best alternative when applying Scrum to a software development project. However, some organizations will not change the way they approach contracts for software development projects. What if this org...
3/13/2013 by Alston Hodge
"IT as a Business" (ITAAB) has been a common marketing slogan and business model promoted by thought leaders from firms such as Gartner, Forrester, and Forbes in the past ten years.1 At its core is a philosophy of managing IT as a self-sustaining ...
3/11/2013 by Bill Ambrosini
Your team has been working together for several sprints. Things are going fairly well. You're delivering stories each sprint and the product owner is content. But there's always technical debt accumulating, or a problem lurking in software. How do...
3/8/2013 by Rex Lester
I recently completed a long assignment implementing Scrum and decided that, in the spirit of continuous development and learning, it would be useful to run a personal retrospective while between jobs.
This paper articulates some of ...
3/6/2013 by Jingjie Wang
In software development, we see different types of reviews in different organizations. For example, there can be architecture review, design review, and code review, and they can occur in different phases of development. The aims of these reviews ...
Transforming the world of work
Copyright ©2014 Scrum Alliance, Inc. – All rights reserved.


text:
Reppin' Women's Turquoise
Women's zip hoodie with ISPO award-winning STI Repel technology, 65% cotton / 35% poly
This item is archived and is NOT for sale. We wish we had stacks of old product lying around that we could surrender upon demand, but we don't. So please (I beg you, please) don't email us asking where to buy or obtain these. Check out our current stuff instead!


text:
Mineral Wells Index
— By CLINT FOSTER
Who doesn't love honey? It goes great on virtually any carb and, depending on who you ask, plenty of other foods, too. But have you ever considered the next time you feel "rumbly in your tumbly for something sweet," to quote the wise Winnie the Pooh, you could be getting your very own fresh honey from your own backyard?
As part of its monthly special Sunday programs, the W.K. Gordon Center, a Tarleton-State-University-owned industrial history museum and research facility in the once-booming company town of Thurber, Texas, will host the Dino-Bee Beekeepers club for a free public program about beekeeping in the Lone Star State.
The program, called "Bee Hives and Honey: Beekeeping in Texas," will take place Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. and feature beekeepers Earl Hillock and Lavonda Becker of the Glen-Rose-based Dino-Bee club.
Museum Assistant Lauren Giffin said the Gordon Center often hosts such events on Sundays, dealing with either the industrial history of Texas or just something related to Texas in general. In the past, they have hosted presentations on lawn care during droughts, book signings, visits from the Dublin Bottling Works and other educational programs and group tours.
"[Hillock and Becker] are going to be sharing the history of bees and beekeeping in this area," Giffin said. "They're also going to provide some information on how to start your colony, some of the best equipment, the cost of getting started and anything else that people would be interested in."
Dino-Bee Secretary David Lyons said bees are very important to society, suggesting that as much as one out of three foods people eat have to be pollinated by bees.
"To me, they're just fascinating little creatures," he said. "It's kind of an odd little addiction to mess with bees; I would have never guessed it. It's just real rewarding knowing that the bees, which to some people are poison, are in one of your boxes producing honey for you. We need bees around, so anything we can do to help them, we're helping ourselves"
Lyons said beekeeping is not particularly hard work because bees only need attention on a weekly to biweekly basis. According to the Dino-Bee website, which has copious amounts of information about the hobby, it costs roughly $350 to buy a hive and get started beekeeping. With all the necessary equipment purchased, beekeepers typically manage colonies of 30,000 to 60,000 buzzing honey bees.
But even with thousands of bees finding homes in the backyards of Dino-Bee club members, the bee population is in great danger and has been declining. According to a press release, the BeeAction campaign is raising money to help American bee populations. Furthermore, the campaign warns about many pesticides found on plants and in bottles at stores claiming to be "bee-friendly," are instead causing the black and gold insects to drop like flies. BeeAction hopes to put pressure on corporate chains to alleviate damage to the struggling bee community.
As for locals aspiring to be beekeepers, Lyons said joining a beekeepers association is the best place to start. He said Dino-Bee in Glen Rose is the most convenient one to Mineral Wells and the rest of Palo Pinto County.
"You can learn a lot from being in a beekeepers association," he said. "I've learned a lot."
For more information about Dino-Bee or becoming a beekeeper, visit their website at www.dinobee.com. Anyone interested in the Gordon Center can visit their website as well at www.tarleton.edu/gordoncenter or by calling 254-968-1886.
Follow Clint on Twitter @Clint_Foster55


text:
For only the fourth time in 25 years, a player participating in the La Vista Keno game won the progressive jackpot, worth $200,000.
The winner, from Papillion, does not wish to be identified.
La Vista Keno, operated by Rich Bellino and sponsored by the City of La Vista, is one of the last keno games in the area with a progressive jackpot.
"It's always exciting when one of our players hits a big payout," Bellino said. "And we congratulate this individual on a big night."
La Vista Mayor Douglas Kindig echoed Bellino's sentiment. "The City of La Vista has benefitted greatly from the proceeds of its keno game. We have used keno funds to construct public buildings and administer community betterment programs and events such as La Vista Daze."


text:
Found 16 additional ads in areas surrounding Lawrence Hill
Team Leader (Nurse)Kingswood, BristolTeam Leader (Nurse) – Kingswood, Bristol Job Ref: TL/455 To apply visit Milestones Trust website. We are unable to accept CVs without a completed application form....1SaveRemove
Nurse ( Registered Level 1&2)AxbridgeNurse (registered level 1 & 2) Location: St Michaels, Axbridge, Somerset Salary: £11.66 per hour (£13.99 per hour for weekend working) Hours: Full time and part...SaveRemove
Recruiting Now for Experienced Carers, Registered Nurses and Support WorkersBristol City CentreCarer and Support workers £9 an hour Monday to Friday during the day and night shifts £10 and hour. Saturdays are £11 an hour and Sundays £13 an hour. Nurses -...1SaveRemove
Support Worker required for Residential care home for adults with Learning disabilitiesKingswood, BristolA Support worker is required for a residential care home for adults with learning disabilities. The service users need support on a daily basis to promote...SaveRemove
Registered General Nurses RequiredBristol City CentreAllied and Clinical health care is seeking Registered General Nurses and Specialist Nurses to work with clients in the Salisbury area. We have shifts for nurses...1SaveRemove
Dental Nurse / Receptionist required for 25 hours a weekSea Mills, BristolDental Nurse required for 25 hours a week. Working hours are Mon 9 -5 Tues 9 - 6 Thurs 9 - 4 Fri 9 - 1 We are a small friendly team looking to recruit another...SaveRemove
SUPPORT WORKERS REQUIREDEastville, BristolAs a Support worker you will be expected to ensure the physical, emotional, intellectual and social needs of the people living in the home are met promoting...SaveRemove
RGN NurseCotham, BristolFull time and part time nurses required various shifts-morning shift from 8.00 to 14.00 or 16.00, evening shifts from 14.00 to 21.00. Occasional night duty cover....1SaveRemove
Fertility NurseClifton, BristolFull or Part time Senior Fertility Nurse for expanding Fertility Unit's busy satellite clinic in Bristol. This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of an...SaveRemove
RGN NurseBristolMy national client are looking for 2 full time RGN nurses to join on their night and flexible shifts in Bristol. Working 36 hours per week on 24hr patterns 8am-8pm...1SaveRemove
J89 - Care and Support WorkerKnowle, BristolCARE AND SUPPORT ENABLER AND HOMECARE £7.50ph Mileage paid at 40p per mile Location: Bristol Guinness Care and Support have Care and Support Enabler and Homecare...1SaveRemove
Qualified Nurses Required to cover Bristol and South WalesBS1 4DA, BristolWe require Qualified Nurses with up to date training, DBS clearance and verifiable work history. We are recruiting for a variety of settings across South Wales and...2SaveRemove
Care Assistants Full & Part Time positions available for day, night & weekend shiftsBathTo supports residents by providing personal care, toileting, dressing, mealtime supervisions & daily activities Complete care plans & risk assessments NVQ 2...SaveRemove
Deputy Manager Residential Dementia Care HomeBathAssist manager in day to day running of home Audits Liaise family members, GP's,DN's & other professionals Work as part of team, medication administration....SaveRemove
Nursing Home Manager Wanted - £50k +Frenchay, BristolI am very fortunate to be able to offer this job on behalf of one of my favorite clients – potentially your new boss and also one of the nicest, most supportive...SaveRemove
Registered General Nurse (nights)South Glos, ThornburyHours : 36 to 48 per week – 3/4 x 12 hour night shifts (8pm to 8am), We will also consider recruiting 2 nurses for 24 hours each. Salary: £11.50 to £13.00 per hour...1SaveRemove
Jobs in Lawrence Hill, Nursing Jobs (16 ads posted)


text:
Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Readalikes
Roshi Fernando: Rah-shee
Roshi Fernando grew up in southeast London and received her Ph.D. in creative writing from Swansea University. She was a finalist for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award in 2011. She lives in the Cotswolds, England with her family.
This biography was last updated on 07/01/2012.
A note about the biographies
We try to keep BookBrowse's biographies both up to date and accurate. However, with over 2500 lives to keep track of it's inevitable that some won't be as current or as complete as we would like. So, please help us - if the information about a particular author is out of date, inaccurate or simply very short, and you know of a more complete source, please let us know. Authors and those connected with authors: If you wish to make changes to your bio, please send your complete biography as you would like it displayed so that we can replace the old with the new.
Roshi Fernando gives readers a tasty recipe for octopus and briefly explains what cooking has come to represent for her culturally
A recipe for octopus by Roshi Fernando, author of Homesick
I love cooking. I love eating, actually. It's not a huge problem: I limit myself now to eat only foods that I love. Before, I had a habit of forcing myself to eat literally anything. It was a way of being a person of the world: adaptable and non-offensive. I wanted to feel accepted wherever I went. I guess it was the way we were brought up: we were trained not to leave a thing on our plates. My father told us that to leave even one grain of rice was a sin - and to this day, when washing rice, if I spill a single grain I think it an inauspicious sign.
We have traveled a lot as a family, and in all of these countries, I've picked up - not recipes - but styles of food, adding them to my repertoire of staple dishes that I make at home. We drink Turkish coffee at breakfast, eat many different paneer dishes, soups, and fish of every style under the sun. Today in my local supermarket deep in the olde English countryside, a surprise installation of a trolley displaying vegetables from around the world caused great joy to the burghers ...
Members read and review books ahead
of publication. See what they think
in First Impressions!
Visitors can view a lot of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only
The Angel of Losses
"Family saga, mystery, and myth intersect in Feldman's debut novel." - Booklist
Solve this clue:
and be entered to win..
Books thatinspire you.Handpicked.
Books you'll stay up all night reading; books that will whisk you to faraway places and times, books that will expand your mind and inspire you -- the kinds of books you just can't wait to tell your friends about.


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DISPATCH: Head Start for States on Immigration, Raising the Wage, and More
PSN on February 2, 2013 - 9:00am
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Welcome to the Stateside Dispatch, Progressive States Network's roundup of the latest state policy news. Here's what happened in the states this week:
States Get a Head Start on Immigration Reform
The same week that both President Obama and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators released proposals for comprehensive federal immigration reform, pro-immigrant policies continued to gain traction in the states on issues including tuition equity and driver's licenses for DREAMers. Nearly three years after Arizona passed SB 1070, anti-immigrant forces are clearly finding themselves increasingly isolated at both the state and federal level in 2013:
Mirroring the bipartisan support for reform in the U.S. Senate, four Republican state lawmakers in California announced their support for comprehensive immigration reform. [Los Angeles Times]
Why increased border security — a key demand in the announced Senate framework — is already "90 to 95 percent solved." [Wonkblog]
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the author of Arizona's SB 1070 and advisor to Mitt Romney, is now "marginalized on a national basis" on immigration. [Kansas City Star]
Colorado's ASSET in-state tuition bill gained more bipartisan support, setting off "shock waves" in the state. [Denver Post]
A tuition equity bill in Virginia cleared a House subcommittee by a 6-0 bipartisan vote. [Manassas Park Patch]
In-state tuition is also back on the front burner in Oregon, where Gov. John Kitzhaber recently announced he would sign a bill into law if passed. [Statesman Journal]
Illinois became the fourth and biggest state to allow all immigrants access to driver's licenses. [Colorlines]
Michigan's Secretary of State reversed a policy that prevented DREAMers from receiving driver's licenses following a challenge by a coalition of civil rights organizations. [ACLU]
Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signaled she would again push for repeal of her state's driver's license law. [Stateline]
Multiple States Mull Raising Minimum Wage
Many states are already considering action on the minimum wage in new sessions — by legislation or by ballot initiative. Polls and studies released this week continued to show both the broad and deep popularity and the positive economic effects of raising the wage:
Twenty-three states have either already increased their minimum wage or are considering increases this year. [USA Today]
After New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a wage increase, the issue is set to go to voters in a ballot initiative in November. [Politicker NJ]
A look at how Gov. Christie's veto will hurt New Jersey's economy as it continues to suffer from one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. [Demos]
A new study showed increasing the minimum wage in New York state to $8.75 would create thousands of new jobs. [The Post-Standard]
Support for raising the minimum wage exceeded 70 percent within "every income, age, educational, and regional group" in a new poll of New York state voters. [The Business Review]
For the second year in a row, increasing the minimum wage is back on the legislative agenda in Connecticut. [AP]
In Washington, the state with the highest minimum wage, an effort is afoot to allow employers to pay workers a lower "training wage." [Washington Policy Watch]
A "Progressive Tax Rebellion"?
As goes California, so goes the nation? The conservative anti-tax revolt that began in the Golden State over 30 years ago was rebuked by voters this past November when they approved Prop 30. Early in sessions in 2013, other states are showing signs of following a similar path and refusing to rely on economically destructive cuts:
An in-depth look at how the Prop 30 vote in California is resonating beyond state borders. [The Nation]
David Dayen on how progressives "achieved the impossible" by balancing California's books. [The New Republic]
A new report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy underscored how "the poorest Americans are subject to a tax rate at the state and local level that is twice as high as the tax rate paid by the wealthiest earners." [ThinkProgress]
With more states seeing unified control of legislatures and governors' seats, approaches to tax and budget issues may diverge even more sharply in 2013. [Christian Science Monitor]
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is proposing an increased income tax rate on the wealthiest earners offset by decreased property and sales taxes. [Reuters]
A bipartisan duo of Texas state legislators introduced legislation to "scrub, sunset and possibly repeal scores of preferential tax breaks" in the state. [Dallas News]
Conservatives in Michigan are looking at increasing either sales or gas taxes to pay for needed infrastructure repairs — and voters may be the ones who end up choosing. [AP]
Lawmakers Look to Take Down Barriers to Voting
With the long lines on Election Day still somewhat fresh in the minds of voters, and as the year kicks off with efforts to rig the electoral vote and lessen the impact of the votes of historically disenfranchised communities, lawmakers in some states are introducing proposals to expand and protect the vote:
Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner proposed a package of election reform legislation to protect and expand early voting hours and reduce long lines at polling places. [Columbus Dispatch]
Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to reverse his own policy and restore early voting days to "restore Floridians' confidence in our election system." [Miami Herald]
A South Carolina House committee advanced a bill that would allow a week of early voting, but end in-person absentee voting that is currently available for a month in advance of Election Day. [AP]
Many states have either enacted or are considering online voter registration. [Washington Times]
A voter ID bill in Montana was defeated after seeing bipartisan opposition. [Huffington Post]
How Minnesota defeated Voter ID. [The American Prospect]
Some lawmakers in Montana want to repeal election day registration, however. [Missoulian]
An election day registration bill was introduced in Vermont by State Rep. Suzi Wizowaty. [Vermont Legislature]
Why we should enshrine the right to vote in the U.S. Constitution. [The American Prospect]
Tips? Feedback? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Also this week:
Arkansas State Sen. Joyce Elliott helped launch a new coalition to defend public schools against a Walmart- and Koch brothers-backed push for privatization. [Arkansas Blog]
Illinois' State Senate may vote on same-sex marriage on Valentines Day. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Colorado advanced a civil unions bill to the full Senate for consideration. [ThinkProgress]
"What a difference a couple of years — and an election — makes." Anti-worker legislation "losing steam" in New Hampshire. [Nashua Telegraph]
Infographic: Oregon is the only state not to have in some way restricted abortion access for women. [Remapping Debate]
The new trend in anti-choice state legislation: "fetal heartbeat" bills. [ThinkProgress]
Who will legalize pot next? Possibilities include Alaska, Maine, Oregon, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Nevada. [The Nation]
Family leave is under attack in Washington state, as conservatives propose repeal. [Crosscut]
A Pennsylvania bill would ban employer discrimination against the unemployed. [The Employer Handbook]
A look at spreading efforts by some state lawmakers to attempt to nullify or otherwise criminalize the enforcement of federal gun laws. [The Atlantic]
Texas lawmakers proposed rewarding companies that refused to offer their employees coverage for contraception. [ThinkProgress]
Three states are pushing a bill backed by ALEC to require the teaching of climate change denial in schools. [DeSmogBlog]
Biotech firms are lobbying multiple states intensely to limit generic competition. [New York Times]
A look at the growing strength of non-union labor organizations across the states. [The American Prospect]
Paid sick days may be quickly becoming a key issue in the New York City mayoral race. [Capital New York]
Follow @PSNwire on Twitter for the latest state policy news.
Research Roundup
In this week's roundup: reports on the regressive nature of state tax systems, how states are making it easier to apply for Medicaid, voter registration modernization, federal budget cuts, corporations influencing education policy, the failings of GDP as a statistic, paid sick days in Philadelphia, public attitudes on Social Security, and how the state of the states is becoming (slightly) more liberal:
Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States. [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy]
Report: States Making It Easier To Apply For Medicaid [Kaiser Family Foundation]
The Case for Voter Registration Modernization [Brennan Center]
Budget Cuts Set Funding Path to Historic Lows [Center for American Progress]
Corporate Interests Pay to Play to Shape Education Policy, Reap Profits [In the Public Interest]
What's Missing From GDP? [Demos]
Valuing Good Health in Philadelphia: The Costs and Benefits of Paid Sick Days [Institute for Women's Policy Research]
Survey: Americans Make Hard Choices on Social Security, Prefer to Raise Payroll Taxes and Increase Benefits [National Academy of Social Insurance]
State of the States: Americans Slightly Less Conservative, Slightly More Liberal [Gallup]
Email us at email@example.com with research roundup suggestions.
Quote of the Week
"The tone has changed from one of hostility to a hiring fair. We no longer see these people as threats but view them as assets."
— Colorado State Sen. Mike Johnston (D), co-sponsor of a tuition equity bill, on the change in public mood on the issue of immigration compared to just a year ago.
Receive this email as a forward? Sign up to get the Dispatch in your inbox here.
Email us at email@example.com with feedback and tips.
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Progressive States Network engages and builds the capacity of state and national leaders to advance public policy solutions that uphold America's promise to be a just and equitable democracy.
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Manage your connections by assigning them to categories, link quickly to their profiles by clicking on them or remove them from your list by deleting them. Making connections allows you to easily find and communicate with other members of the site.
7/24/2014Supreme Court justice applicants to be interviewed Aug. 4-5
7/15/2014Gerald Green sworn in as 2014-15 KBA president
7/15/2014Edward Nazar sworn in as 2014-15 Foundation president
7/10/201414 apply for Kansas Supreme Court vacancy
8/9/2014Title Standard Meeting
8/27/2014Interaction of the Common Aspects of Military Law with Civilian Law
9/12/2014IOLTA Committee Meeting
9/18/2014 » 9/20/2014Annual Meeting 2014
KBA Bookstore Survey


text: This acclaimed bedtime recording has six vignettes that take the listener into scenes which bring about feelings of safety and love. Stories created and told by Jim Weiss include: "Tropical Island," "The Unicorn," "Mountain Cabin," "The Farm," "Treehouse in the Forest," and "Mermaid's Lagoon." 1 CD. 1 hour. Recommended for ages 3 and up.


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For the latest products, stock updates and info on all things pointy check out our New Arrivals.
We accept checks, money orders, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
The SCHOTF3 Viper Out-the-Front Assisted Opening knife from Schrade features a double-edge blade with a bead blast finish. The handle is dark gray finished aluminum with a safety, pocket clip and glass breaker. To deploy the blade, simply push on the slider near the base of the handle to get the blade moving and the spring assist mechanism will take it the rest of the way. To retract the blade, release the lock and pull down on the slider to lock it back in place. It is assisted automatic deployment and manual retraction.


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Many people feel an indescribable urge to follow in the footsteps of celebrities long passed—hoping that a connection to their genius or charm still lingers in the air of their apartments and favorite pubs. The guides of Esotouric understand and share this urge, though they prefer to roam the paths of history by bus. After scouring the famed neighborhoods of Los Angeles in search of interesting and outlandish locations, they share their findings on bus adventures that retrace the trails blazed by local artists, filmmakers, writers, and actors.
Esotouric's odysseys wind through haunts such as Raymond Chandler's favorite breakfast spot and the salon Charles Bukowski visited for his weekly knuckle-hair perm. Coloring their tours with anecdotes about the films adapted from his noirish stories, guides also visit locales captured in the cinematic landscapes of James M. Cain. Various tours explore Southern California's culture, literature, and architectural sides, giving history hounds the chance to sniff out sinister deeds in old-time tattoo parlors, burlesque shows, and crime scenes.
Ghostly Tours in History's passionate guides unlock a portal to the paranormal, leading visitors to haunted and eerie sites around San Diego's Old Town district and Gaslamp Quarter. Depending on the tour, stops include Victorian mansions, the Whaley House, known graveyards, and even unknown graveyards, below which lie the bodies of restless souls. Featured on both the Travel Channel and the Fodor's Top 400, the company offers walking tours as well as bus and limousine tours for guests tired from giving their assigned ghost a piggyback ride.
In keeping with the historical nature of the tours, each guide dons a period costume and alter ego, ranging from reformed vagabonds to pioneering entrepreneur cowboys. In reality, the cast of guides is equally as diverse, encompassing trained actors, students, a Navy serviceman, and past and present members of the San Diego Historical Society.
Named "Xaman-Ha," or waters of the north, by ancient Mayan inhabitants, Playa del Carmen still shelters scattered ruins along its Caribbean shoreline. Aquifer-carved, limestone caves known as cenotes earned the area a long-held reputation of wellspring of fresh water. Among the ocean adventures, the long arm of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef courts snorkelers and divers to explore vibrant subterranean wildlife, and closer to shore, panga boats with scoop-shaped bows hunt tuna, mahi-mahi, and snapper—any of which local restaurants will cook fresh to order for a successful angler.After meandering along palm-caressed Riviera Maya beaches at sunset, visitors can promenade on the pedestrian-only Quinta Avenida, or Fifth Avenue. A chorus of international languages mingles with the tunes of mariachi bands and street performers as revelers take in after-hours dining, drinking, and people watching along the cobblestoned route. Along the periphery of town, the tropical jungle bustles with a wild party of its own, as wandering tapirs, sereki, coatimundi, and iguanas are easily spottable even outside the many nature preserves and zoos.Room rates start at $204 per night (including taxes).
The thick September fog haunts the water like a lonely ghost, obscuring the boat's passengers' view of everything but their fellow riders. Convinced that they'll see nothing more that day, Captain Joe Nazar turns his vessel around and heads back to shore when suddenly, out of the brume, a graceful hulk breaks through the rolling waters. The boat has unwittingly happened upon a pod of humpback whales, and everyone––including the seasoned naturalist guides aboard––suddenly falls into a stunned silence as the majestic creatures spout water and dive into the mist. Fostering humbling, awe-inspiring interactions with nature such as this is Captain Joe's raisons d'être and the driving force behind the founding of San Francisco Whale Tours.
San Francisco Whale Tours demonstrates the beauty and diversity of the Bay's bustling ecosystem with regular nature tours that trawl the coast. Captain Joe––aided by his expert crew and sage naturalists––shares his passion for aquatic adventures with his guests via leisurely excursions through the waters of the Farallon Islands aboard the Kitty Kat, his trusted watercraft. The catamaran ferries its curious passengers in style with a sun deck and enclosed cabin, and its low wake and gentle underwater noise make it a model marine houseguest. Aiding the crusade to preserve whale populations, San Francisco Whale Tours donates a portion of profits to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Revolution Wine's skilled staffers give each batch of their hand-crafted red, white, and port wines a full body and lush feel. And while heavy machinery and wooden barrels help do the hard work of converting these wine grapes into libations, it's the winemakers who pour a little bit of love into each batch. In the winery's kitchen, a dedicated team of chefs churns out a menu of seasonal bistro food made from local and fresh ingredients. Small artisan plates of French cheese, mixed nuts, and savory bruschetta offer a lighter dining path, while larger entrees of housemade pasta and pork belly sandwiches with cheddar jalapeno biscuits present heartier fare. Revolutions Wines also offers a wine club that gifts members with limited-edition wines and grants access to the first sniff when each new barrel is opened.
Green grassy slopes, white-sand beaches, and gently waving palm trees give way to the cerulean surf of the Pacific Ocean. Along the sun-soaked highway, convertibles and SUVs topped with surfboards change lanes to make room for an English double-decker bus. Big Red Bus's drivers lead their tours from the helm of either an open-topped or close-topped bus with a converted lower-level bar. All buses are outfitted with stereo systems and painted bright red, signaling to monster trucks that they're poisonous.
Drivers may take passengers on tours of local breweries, pubs, and wine bars, excursions to kayak or surf along the beach, or tours of southern California—most often driving along the coast to offer unobstructed, panoramic views of the ocean and city skyline. They also let passengers customize their own excursions around topics such as special event shuttling, weddings, or beer and wine tours.
Explore handcrafted tours and things to do by Zicasso.


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IXL's math skills are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and the Maine Early Childhood Learning Guidelines, providing comprehensive preparation for the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). With IXL's state standards alignments, you can easily find unlimited practice problems specifically tailored to each required standard.
Even better, IXL automatically tracks student progress and displays proficiency scores in the state standards reports. These reports allow you to quickly evaluate student aptitude and identify trouble spots.


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Read the full excerpt
Neil LaBute is a critically acclaimed playwright, filmmaker, and fiction writer. His most recent works for the stage include This is How it Goes, Fat Pig (winner the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off Broadway Play), Mercy Seat, Autobahn, and The Shape of Things—all available from Faber and Faber.
Neil LaBute


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Kyle Collins
The Union-Recorder
MILLEDGEVILLE — A violent road rage incident, occuring Dec. 29, 2012, left two lucky victims unharmed and a father and son in Baldwin County jail.
Monday, a grand jury in the Superior Court of Baldwin County indicted Jimmy Scoggins, 46, and his son Christopher, 29, on two counts of aggravated assault and one count criminal damage to property in the second degree. Scoggins had additional single counts or DUI, open container violation and possession of firearm by a convicted felon.
Scoggins was convicted of possessing a Schedule II Drug back in 2003.
Multiple shots were fired into a 1999 Dodge Dakota from the Scoggins' Chevrolet Silverado. The male and female inside weren't touched.
Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said there is no evidence suggesting anything ticked off the Scoggins'.
"They did not know the victims before hand," Bright said. "Neither parties had any dealings with the other side."
The incident happened near the intersection of Lawrence Road and Highway 22.
Bright said the victims shot at by the father and son did nothing wrong, according to evidence.
"They are true victims. Nothing would have led a normal person to take a shot at them," Bright said.
Christopher did ask for bond, but was denied by Judge Wingfield.
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Suspected doc killer was patient with appointment
Wednesday - 1/30/2013, 8:52pm EST
Associated Press
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A retired barber accused of fatally shooting a California urologist was a patient who had an appointment with the victim and brought the gun with him to the exam room, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Stanwood Fred Elkus, 75, was charged with murder in the Monday attack that killed Dr. Ronald Gilbert.
The 52-year-old doctor was shot multiple times in the upper body at his office in the affluent city of Newport Beach in suburban Orange County.
Elkus, of Lake Elsinore, appeared in court Wednesday afternoon wearing an orange jumpsuit with his hands in his pockets, and told a judge he couldn't afford an attorney.
Superior Court Judge Craig Robinson postponed his arraignment until March 5, and said Elkus would be assigned a public defender in the interim. He was being held without bail.
Elkus had appeared at the office seeking an appointment on Friday, though it was not clear with which of the three doctors who worked at the Orange Coast Urology Group, said Matt Murphy, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case.
Elkus was told he could be squeezed into Gilbert's schedule on Monday, when he waited in the exam room with a handgun before opening fire when the doctor walked in, Murphy said.
He then gave the gun to another staff member at the medical office and was arrested quietly, authorities said.
Investigators have found no evidence that Gilbert ever treated Elkus prior to the appointment, Murphy said.
Elkus had long suffered from prostate problems and was upset about his incontinence after a recent surgery, his neighbors said. It wasn't clear who performed the surgery.
Elkus' health problems left him running for the bathroom constantly, sometimes in mid-conversation, neighbors said.
"One day we were talking about other things outside and he says, `Oh hold it right there!' and he was rushing to his house and when he came back, he said, `I have a problem with my prostate,'" recalled Miguel Soto, who lives across the street.
"He said, `I had surgery and now I am worse than before the surgery.'"
Another neighbor, James Lord, said Elkus mentioned Sunday that "he wasn't going to be around much longer."
"I told him, `No Stan, you're gonna outlive me,'" Lord said.
Gilbert worked in general urology, sexual dysfunction and related surgical techniques, including vasectomies, bladder and prostate cancer, according to his biography on the website of Orange Coast Urology, which he joined in 1993.
One of his specialties involved using a laser to vaporize prostate tissue blocking the urinary tract.
The biography said Gilbert had been a stockbroker and a singer in a rock band. He had worked for 20 years at Hoag Hospital and was its former urology chief.
Jablon reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Newport Beach and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York City contributed to this report.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
As teased last week, Jon Dawson, Justin "The Kid" Hill and I taped a podcast (which you can hear in full stereophonic glory here) in which we discussed the top pop music acts in history.
As you can hear in the podcast, there was much disagreement. I'm 43 and a hip-hop fan, so my top 10 was a bit different than 26-year-old Justin's list — although we agreed on more than our resident musical expert's list.
It was a fun show and the format is one we're going to copy in upcoming podcasts — doing lists and such. Let me know what you'd like to hear us rank.
Here's our top 10s:
1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. Michael Jackson
5. The Rolling Stones
6. The Who
7. Madonna
8. Aerosmith
9. Run-DMC
10. Chuck Berry
Top honorable mentions: Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, NWA and Queen
1. The Beatles
2. Michael Jackson
3. Elvis Presley
4. Madonna
5. Elton John
6. The Who
7. Stevie Wonder
8. Queen
9. The Rolling Stones
10. Mariah Carey
Top honorable mentions: Jack White, Nirvana, Billy Joel and The Pixies
1. Chuck Berry
2. Little Richard
3. Buddy Holly
4. James Brown
5. Otis Redding
6. The Who
7. Pink Floyd
8. Allman Brothers
10. Beck
Top honorable mentions: Link Wray, U2, Aretha Franklin, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Elton John
My take: REALLY can't understand how Dawson doesn't have The Beatles, Elvis or Michael Jackson in his top 15 … but he does know more about music than I do.
The only act all three of us had in our top 10 was The Who.
Bear in mind these aren't our favorite acts — it's who we thought were the top pop acts of all time.
I'd love to see yours — post them below or email them to me at firstname.lastname@example.com and I'll post them in the comments. Also, check out the podcast to hear explanations of our top 10s.


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1313 E 32nd StreetSilver City, New Mexico 88061
Phone: (575) 538-4000Fax (575) 538-9714
We are committed to providing quality care for you and your family. We want to deliver that care with respect to you as an individual at the high level of personal attention you deserve. That is why we use an independent company, Press Ganey Associates, to send you satisfaction surveys. We want to hear your genuine opinions and comments related to your experience with us.
The results from our patient satisfaction surveys help us focus on areas where we have the opportunity to improve your experience. Departments take actions for the specific areas surveyed which include admission, room, meals, nurses, physicians, tests and treatments, visitors and family, discharge and personal issues. We use the information to help us improve your care, safety, and satisfaction.
Check out what patients say about Gila Regional.
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The scores below reflect our patients' assessments of the overall quality of care they received during their visits. Current numbers below are for the last 12 month period (Jan 2012- Dec 2012). Scores are based on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the top score
GRMC = Gila Regional Medical CenterPTDH = Plantree Designated HospitalsUSA = hospitals nationwideNM = hospitals across New Mexico
Gila Regional is working to be part of a program happening all over the world called the
A Baby-Friendly(TM) Hospital does all it can to help you:
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Japanese Acupuncture
Below is a range of carefully selected textbooks discussing Japanese acupuncture.
Japanese Acupuncture
Chasing the Dragons Tailby Yoshio Manaka and Stephen Birch
Price: £33.75 £37.50
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Hara Diagnosis- Reflections on the Seaby Kiiko Matsumoto and Stephen Birch
Price: £40.50 £45.00
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Japanese Acupuncture - A Clinical Guideby Stephen Birch and Junko Ida
Price: £27.00 £30.00
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Japanese Classical Acupuncture: Introduction to Meridian Therapyby Shudo Denmei (translated by Stephen Brown)
Price: £25.65 £28.50
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The Practice of Japanese Acupuncture and Moxibustion: Classic Principles in Actionby Ikeda Masakazu (translated by Edward Obaidey)
Price: £29.99 £33.00
[more info]
Traditional Japanese Acupuncture: Fundamentals of Meridian Therapyby Society for Tradiotnal Japanese Medicine and Ko...
Price: £23.60 £26.20
[more info]
Japanese Classical Acupuncture: Introduction to Meridian Therapyby Shudo Denmei (translated by Stephen Brown)
Price: £21.99 £24.99
[more info]
KAMPO, 1st EditionA Clinical Guide to Theory and PracticeKAMPO, 1st EditionA Clinical Guide to Theory and P...
Price: £25.79 £42.99
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Former Supreme Court justice not surprised by Roberts' health care decision
- By Alex Roarty
- National Journal
- August 6, 2012
- Leave a comment
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Sunday said she wasn't surprised at Chief Justice John Roberts' decision to uphold the federal health care law and added that she didn't know if he – as reported – switched his vote.
"I don't have any information about the initial, tentative votes taken at the Court conference," she told CBS's Face the Nation. "I have not pried into it. I have not asked to be informed. Obviously it was a close decision because at the end of the day it was 5-4, so at the time of first discussion it may well also have been a close decision. I expect it was. That was a hard case."
But she doubted Roberts, pilloried by conservatives since, had signaled a new, centrist tack for himself.
"I don't, I don't see it at all," O'Connor said. "I see it deciding a very sensitive case with political connotations."
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Hoptologist DIPA - Knee Deep Brewing Company
Displayed for educational use only; do not reuse.
Ratings: 501 | Reviews: 106 | Display Reviews Only:
4.25/5 rDev +8.7%
07-12-2014 04:08:36 | More by metsfan1
North Carolina
4.25/5 rDev +8.7%
07-11-2014 17:40:36 | More by AngusOg
3.75/5 rDev -4.1%
07-11-2014 15:23:51 | More by MichiganderHB
3.63/5 rDev -7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Pours a pale bronze colour, quite a reddish tinge. Head is white, foamy, some lacing left behind. Decent; head could be more vibrant.
Smells piney and citric, with a touch of resin. Mild peppery spice at the back, maybe a hint of saffron. Intriguing sweet piquancy to the hops.
Taste is somewhat roasty, with plenty of resinous hop oils at the back. Touch of honey midway with some treacle and cinnamon leading into that bitter finish. Could use some more freshening up of the hops; it just feels a bit dour at the back, and too sweet at the front by contrast.
Smooth body, fairly big pull from the hops. Decent body upfront but finishes very dry.
Decent overall, drinkable enough. Could just be a bit brighter.
Serving type: bottle
07-11-2014 05:27:44 | More by laituegonflable
4/5 rDev +2.3%
07-10-2014 00:33:19 | More by GregDuB65
3.63/5 rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Poured into an IPA glass. The liquid is golden amber, with a moderate amount of bubbles lazily rising up. The pour kicks up a huge off-white head that takes several minutes to die down enough to take a sip and leaves blankets of lace the whole way down.
Aroma is dank resin, pine, and hints of onions with a solid caramel malt base.
Taste starts out with some resin and maybe some basil, then some caramel malt kicks in mid-palate along with some astringent, slightly soapy grapefruit pith. Caramel and resin dominate the finish, and a bit of orange comes in on the aftertaste. This is a little too caramelly for my taste - it hits the style notes, but I can't help wishing there was a bit more citrus in there, or if the dankness of the nose made its way through to the palate.
Body is relatively thick and nicely creamy, with a lot of carbonation to cut through it.
Overall, nice DIPA and remarkably well-balanced, but I probably won't seek it out again.
Serving type: bottle
07-08-2014 23:01:25 | More by MasterfulIdiot
4.25/5 rDev +8.7%
07-08-2014 08:46:34 | More by westcott
4/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 5/13/2014. Pours crystal clear deep orange amber color with a 2 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass. Aromas of big peach, pineapple, mango, tangerine, grapefruit, orange peel, lemon zest, floral, grass, pine, caramel, bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very nice aromas with good complexity and balance of juicy citrus/tropical hops and nearly balanced malt sweetness; with great strength. Taste of big peach, pineapple, mango, tangerine, grapefruit, orange peel, lemon zest, pine, floral, grass, caramel, bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Moderate amount of pine/grassy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of peach, mango, tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit, orange peel, pine, floral, grass, caramel, bread, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity and robustness of juicy citrus/tropical hops and fairly balanced malt sweetness; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a smooth, fairly creamy, and moderately crisp/sticky mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming present after the finish. Overall this is a damn good DIPA. All around nice complexity, balance, and robustness of juicy citrus/tropical hops and caramel/bready malt sweetness; and very smooth and crisp to sip on for the the big ABV. A very enjoyable offering.
Serving type: bottle
07-08-2014 00:38:34 | More by superspak
3.75/5 rDev -4.1%
07-07-2014 05:33:19 | More by Beernoobie
3.5/5 rDev -10.5%
07-07-2014 04:58:21 | More by TaylorIPA19
North Carolina
4/5 rDev +2.3%
07-07-2014 04:10:00 | More by jak
3.75/5 rDev -4.1%
07-07-2014 03:43:37 | More by GClarkage
North Carolina
3.75/5 rDev -4.1%
07-06-2014 19:39:51 | More by dmwcpa
5/5 rDev +27.9%
07-06-2014 05:42:20 | More by christianmoore
3.75/5 rDev -4.1%
07-06-2014 00:28:40 | More by Bonsall_Phil
4.25/5 rDev +8.7%
07-04-2014 05:33:56 | More by Sarmartay
3.5/5 rDev -10.5%
07-04-2014 02:26:16 | More by bcuz7
North Carolina
4/5 rDev +2.3%
07-03-2014 22:37:50 | More by woodchip
5/5 rDev +27.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
I simply just asked the guy at Bevmo for a good beer and he could tell I was serious and gave me something serious and this beer was it. I put this beer 2nd only to the Midnight Hoppyness which is from Knee Deep as well. The first few sips may throw you back because it is very strong but it's an incredible beer. And it gets you very pissed so be ready for that. Cheers!
Serving type: bottle
07-03-2014 22:18:54 | More by Northernsavvy
4/5 rDev +2.3%
07-02-2014 02:20:44 | More by SplitsAtoms
4/5 rDev +2.3%
07-01-2014 02:20:10 | More by memphischas
4/5 rDev +2.3%
06-30-2014 14:27:03 | More by NorCalAussie
3.3/5 rDev -15.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
This Hoptoloist is an enjoyable double IPA with drinkability but not much hop power. I appreciate the smoothness, which welcomes one to drink the beer, but the flavor is more funky malt than hoppy flower. Definitely appreciating the power of the beer -- it does not feel like a 9.0, but something in the sevens. The brewers have made a powerful and friendly double IPA.
A lot of it is the dominant bitter contrast that usually get's overrun with west coast hop-laden IPAs. This beer has a balance of bitter. Chocolate, whisky, and malty richness suffuse this brew. Other reviews have noted pine, which I don't really notice. It is closer to the crust of a well-baked sourdough bread -- malty almost-burned nuttiness.
The beer is dark orange in the glass and had very little head. Accessible, but not a stunner IPA. Probably better on a rainy day than a hot and sunny beach brew.
Serving type: bottle
06-27-2014 23:09:26 | More by kingmaxwell
4.5/5 rDev +15.1%
06-27-2014 21:08:26 | More by sammyg832
3.5/5 rDev -10.5%
06-27-2014 04:47:30 | More by Thomas_562
Hoptologist DIPA from Knee Deep Brewing Company
88 out of 100 based on 501 ratings.


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- Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
- Publish Date: April 2012
- Page Count: 336
- Reading Level: Ages 18-UP
Series: Inn Boonsboro Trilogy #1
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Publishers Weekly® Reviews
- Reviewed in: Publishers Weekly, page .
- Review Date: 2012-07-09
- Reviewer: Staff
Roberts' newest addition to her enormous body of work (after The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy) fails to uphold the dictum that practice makes perfect—or at least makes better. Though Roberts has authored over 200 books, this second installment in the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy falls flat. Owen Montgomery is responsible for seeing to it that the titular inn—recently restored by Owen and his brothers, Beckett and Ryder—opens on time. But then again, he wasn't planning on being sidetracked, especially by an old flame. Avery McTavish claims Owen as her first boyfriend, no matter that she was five years old at the time. Now Owen is determined to rekindle their love and make sure he's the last boyfriend she ever has. Helped along by the Inn's resident ghost, Owen's plan may work out in his favor, but a contrived plot and clinical romance leaves readers plodding along without excitement or seduction. Redeemed only by the mature manner in which the main characters handle their problems, this book is best left for the die-hard Roberts fans. (May)


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Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
It's a wrap on Cannes '09
The 2009 Cannes film festival reaches its finale on Sunday night when the coveted Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) trophy is awarded to the best film among the 20 in competition. That movie, and current frontrunner is French movie "Un Prophete" ("A Prophet") will likely find success in theaters around the world.
But critics have been widely mixed with their reaction to the overall slate of films screening at Cannes this year (read a wrap up here). The lack of a clear thumbs up, or thumbs down, also has been a hallmark of the Cannes' movie market in 2009, where buyers and sellers of film rights from around the world meet to do business. Read about that, here. And while 3D films were a big part of Cannes after the festival opened with Disney's animated "Up," the reality is that for independent filmmakers, making a 3D film is a mixed (there's that word again) proposition. For that story, clicke here.
What does it all mean? At the mid-point of '09, the worldwide independent film industry is in flux. After funding for movie production froze in the waning months of 2008, a glut of films is expected to work itself off by the end of this year, and that means that financiers — with a little more visibility on the future economic outlook — are once again beginning to look at movies in which to invest for 2010. But the capital flow into the market, for now, is just a trickle. If you're a seller and you have a good, "A" movie with marketable stars, then you might find theaters to screen it. If it's a straight to video title with "B" or "C" stars, times remain difficult because your primary market is DVD retailers (sales are down) or TV (ad revenues are dismal).
The next big meeting for the global, independent film industry is the American Film Market in Los Angeles, starting Nov. 4, and it will provide a fresh look at the business of indie movies. On the art front, look to the Telluride, Venice and Toronto film festivals that start in late August and run into early September to see what's on the minds of filmmakers.


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Swatting at pesky insects or air-borne particles its a common, everyday activity for nearly all living creatures. Its a way to keep clean and get rid of anything that might cause future problems.
But what about machines and vehicles that cant take a swing at annoying parasites, particularly ones submerged in water?
Continual biofouling the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or animals on wet surfaces has been a long-term problem for the global shipping industry. Now researchers at Duke Universitys Pratt School of Engineering have developed a strategy that could enable ships to rid themselves of creatures and substances that hitch a ride on their hulls.
Coating ships in a new material that shakes itself on command can eliminate several problems associated with keeping ships clean, said Xuanhe Zhao, a Duke mechanical engineering researcher.
If youve ever seen a horse or cow shake its skin or tail to get rid of flies, thats analogous to shaking off something thats bugging the ship, he said. Weve introduced a new mechanism that can deform, and that deformation can literally detach the biofouling materials adhering to the surface.
Why slough the ships?
Apart from being unsightly, barnacles and other biofouling substances can inhibit a ships ability to function. Even a small amount can cause difficulties, said Gabriel López, a Duke biomedical and mechanical engineering professor. He is also the director of Research Triangle Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.
Even a small layer of slime can significantly increase drag, and as drag on the ship goes up, the fuel consumption goes up, as well, he said. Pollution goes up, and more greenhouse gases are produced.
Leaving biofouling materials stuck to ships can also have another environmental impact. For ships sailing worldwide, there is a risk invasive species will be transferred from their native habitat to ones where they can be damaging. For example, nutrient-hoarding zebra mussels from Russia were brought via ship hull to the Great Lakes in the late 1990s. Within 10 years, these invaders had wreaked havoc on the regions fishing industry and levied more than $3 billion in damages.
Ridding ships of biofouling materials is also of military import, López said. The more barnacles and bacteria a ship carries, the noisier the vessel is, making it easier to detect.
How it works
Traditionally, the shipping industry used less-than-optimal means to protect vessels. For more than 40 years, global maritime companies coated their roughly 30,000 ships with paint containing tributyltin, an inexpensive, effective and poisonous barnacle- and algae-killer. An international treaty banned its use in 2007.
Another protection method has been a polymer coating that reduces biofouling substances ability to adhere to the boat. Its a temporary fix, though, because bacteria and barnacles eventually adapt to the polymer and attach themselves anyway, Zhao said.
This new solution, however, starts with an environmentally safe silicon rubber polymer coating on the ships hull. Running voltage through the flat polymer turns it into a capacitor a passive structure that stores energy and generates an electric field, he said. This cleaning strategy then relies on electrostriction, a property of electrical nonconductors that allows them to change shape when exposed to electricity, to slough away the offending substances.
There are patterned channels air channels beneath the polymer, and if you blow air into the channels, it will increase the hydrostatic pressure and buckle up the polymer surface, Zhao said. We basically form a wrinkle on the surface of the polymer, and the biofouling substances simply detach.
Although this strategy must be tested on the large scale, it does offer two advantages other cleaning solutions have lacked, Zhao said. The silicon rubber polymer could potentially last for years, and this method eliminates the need to dry dock a ship for cleaning. An electric current can be sent to the polymer anytime, anywhere, and the ship will slough off biofouling material.
Challenges, future uses
To date, Zhao and López have only tested this self-sloughing mechanism with areas only a few centimeters wide. But, according to Jan Genzer, a chemical and biomolecular engineer at North Carolina State, larger experiments are needed to prove its a valid cleaning solution.
Its a very clever, very different way to think about this problem like trying to stand on a trampoline while its being shaken, said Genzer, who created a different cleaning solution. The real question is, though, can it be applied to a ship? How will the research translate to application? Will the discovery need to be modified?
In his discovery, Genzer and his colleagues created a dense layer of molecules capable of repelling biofouling organisms by repeatedly hitting a stretched piece of rubber with reactive oxygen and allowing the rubber to rebound. The result, he said, was a roughness that helped prevent barnacle and algae accumulation.
Even though the self-sloughing mechanism has only been applied to shipping so far, both Zhao and Genzer agree that there are additional uses for this technology. Representatives from the food industry, lubrication companies, and medical device manufacturers have all expressed interest in this development, Zhao said.
Any time you have synthetic material in contact with some sort of water that might have bacteria or other microorganisms in it, you will form this biofouling layer, he said. So, its a very pervasive problem.
Ultimately, Genzer said, concentrating on strategies to remove biofouling materials rather than trying to create ones that prevent accumulation from even beginning will be a productive plan. Organisms adapt to survive when faced with foul-resistant substance, and that can do more harm than good to an ecosystem.
People are now realizing foul-resistant coatings are more realistic. They allow deposits to settle, but they can be cleaned by shaking or running the ship at particular speeds, Genzer said. You cant outsmart Mother Nature. Shes been around for millions of years, and shes developed ways for organisms to survive in different conditions. If we can get surfaces clean, we should be happy, and leave it at that.


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On June 2, Sudanese security forces reportedly attacked medical personnel participating in a peaceful protest march through Khartoum, organized by students of the School of Medicine of Khartoum University. Reuters news service reported that doctors, while peacefully protesting the arrests of Dr Walaa Alden Ibrahim and Dr Alhadi Bakhiet, were beaten by security officials armed with sticks.
Dr Ibrahim and Dr Bakhiet were arrested on June 1, then re-arrested following public statements made by the doctors, detailing the conditions of their arrests and alleging torture at the National Intelligence and Security Services head offices in Khartoum.
The June 2 demonstration was disrupted by the arrival of security officials, who reportedly beat and arrested many of the medical personnel participating, and prevented doctors from the Khartoum Teaching Hospital from joining the demonstration. The African Center for Justice and Peace Studies has reported that six medical students were charged under Article 77 of the Sudanese Criminal Code 1991, banning "public noisiness" – in contravention of freedom of expression, guaranteed under Article 39(1) of the Sudan Interim National Constitution.
As a membership organization of health professionals, Physicians for Human Rights calls for the release of the detained doctors, and condemns the torture and arrest of medical students involved in the organization of the peaceful protest.
(This blog post picks up from one written last week.)
Contrary to the agreement of UN and Chadian officials that the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) has "served its purpose," the BBC reported news of clashes between the Popular Front for National Resistance (FPRN) and Chadian security forces over the weekend. Unofficial reports from the area reference heavy losses of both troops and vehicles sustained by the Government of Chad (GoC)—raising concerns about the possibilities for continuation of humanitarian operations in the area.
The Secretary-General's speech yesterday continued to maintain that improved relations between Chad and Sudan would allow for a significant reduction of military troops in the volatile Eastern Chad border region; the speech did not respond directly to concerns from human rights groups regarding the financial and logistical components of the new security arrangement. More than 200,000 Darfuri refugees are dependent upon humanitarian operations by international and domestic NGOs for food, shelter, and medical care in the region.
Outlining the proposals advocated in his report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recommended the MINURCAT mission's military component in Chad now be reduced from 3,300 troops to 1,400 troops. In context, the remaining military troops would represent only 38 percent of the troops initially authorized by the UN as necessary to securing the displaced refugee population and humanitarian operations in Eastern Chad. (Even before this withdrawal, the MINURCAT deployment never approached its full authorized deployment of 4,900).
As noted previously, over the past year the region has remained among the most hazardous operating environments currently sustaining humanitarian operations. The disruption of humanitarian operations this weekend was not the first such occurrence. Multi-week suspensions of operations by agencies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in November-December and May 2009.
Without sufficient security in the area, NGOs are unable to provide services ranging from food distribution—a particular concern ahead of the rainy season; water and sanitation projects—vital to control the spread of disease among overcrowded and vulnerable refugee populations; and medical services, including mobile clinics serving rural populations.
The continued absence of a military capable of securing the area and deterring further attacks could threaten not only the refugee community, but the ability of the humanitarian NGOs to continue to operate in the area.
In addition to these concerns, the recommendations of the Secretary-General's report increase the informal role of the Détachement intégré de sécurité (DIS)—formed to provide security in the refugee camps and surrounding areas but increasingly relied upon to provide escorts to many UN agencies and some NGO convoys. The under-deployment of the MINURCAT military component, and its lack of troop-strength capable of providing military escorts, increased the role of the DIS (UN-trained Chadian police); this has diverted the focus of the force away from providing security to camp residents, including protection to women gathering firewood and animal feed and to those travelling to market of farming areas.
Along with replacing the lost 1,400 MINURCAT troops—the Government of Chad must also scale up the capacity of the Gendarmerie Nationale national police force of Chad in order to take over the security escorts required by humanitarians—a challenge considering the lower levels of operational and human rights training provided to this force.
Human Rights groups urged the Secretary-General to consider the security of NGO operations, as well as the need for consultation and transparency with refugee communities and humanitarian agencies on the ground. It is vital that the final recommendations, to be adopted by the UN Security Council later this month, are revised to include these concerns.
In sum, the Secretary-General's recommendations advocate for the withdrawal of 1,400 troops by 15 July (leaving only 1,900 international troops in Chad until 15 October 2010, when they are planned to cease all operations and commence their final withdrawal), while the Government of Chad must source the necessary financial and logistical resources to secure a volatile region hosting in excess of 200,000 Darfurian refugees, whilst sustaining renewed attacks from militia groups possibly associated with the Government of Sudan.
Next week, the UN Secretary-General's report on the future of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) peacekeeping force in Eastern Chad will be released, outlining the withdrawal of peacekeeping troops in the Chad-Sudan border region visited by PHR researchers in 2008. The report Nowhere to Turn: Failure to Protect, Support and Assure Justice for Darfuri Women, released by PHR in June 2009, outlined urgent human rights issues in Eastern Chad, including food insecurity, camp infrastructure, access to health and psychosocial care, and security for refugee families. Among the disturbing findings of our investigation was a 50% rate of rape or sexual assault reported by women interviewed by the PHR medical team.
Since the time of PHR's investigation, a number of security threats and human rights issues have been recorded — via international media reporting on hijackings and kidnappings of humanitarian aid workers, and reports such as that released by the Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH) on the continued need for the peacekeeping force.
Many large-scale infrastructure issues remain, such as the weak Chadian legal system, drought and food shortage, and the continued operation of militarized rebel groups in the area, as well as auxiliary practical issues such as low phone coverage (a key issue for reducing attacks against refugees and humanitarians, as emergency phone calls allow for MINURCAT forces to be alerted to security problems). The recent dispute over the continued presence of the MINURCAT force has detracted focus from these problems, which need to remain at the forefront of the diplomatic and humanitarian agenda in Chad. (Despite ongoing needs in Eastern Chad, the Chadian Government opposed the MINURCAT mission's renewal in January 2010.)
The withdrawal of MINURCAT transfers responsibility for the security of refugees and humanitarian operations to the Government of Chad (GoC) — a significant challenge for a state with low material wealth and incomplete infrastructure. So, what can be done, given the limitations of the current circumstances?
First, it is important to remember that the continued existence of the 200,000 Darfurian refugees in Eastern Chad relies on the efforts of humanitarian aid workers and UN staff on the ground: managing the refugee camps, distributing WFP rations and shelter items, and providing emergency medical care. Humanitarian agencies have continued to operate in Eastern Chad despite increasingly frequent security threats to NGOs and personnel, and rely on police escorts in order to operate in the Phase IV security environment. The current system of police escorts for NGO convoys must be taken over by the Chadian police force, and it is particularly important that NGOs are not obliged to pay or provide other compensation for the new security arrangements, and that the GoC accept responsibility for ensuring the security of the humanitarian operations.
Secondly, refugee communities and the humanitarian actors working with refugees must be consulted and kept informed of the transition and departure of MINURCAT and how the GoC will continue MINURCAT's security and protection activities. In order to ensure this takes place, the GoC should immediately establish a dialogue and consultation forum with refugee communities and humanitarian workers, and the international community should remain engaged in the transition process to ensure that this takes place.
Thirdly, it is of utmost importance that the MINURCAT withdrawal not be allowed to disrupt the humanitarian operations in Eastern Chad and/or detract from refugee security and protection. The continued monitoring of the human rights situation on the ground, and a specific focus on the security and protection needs of refugees, is paramount. The numbers of the civilian police force should be increased as the military component is phased out, and measures must be taken in the recruiting process to improve the conduct of police officers, sensitize police to human rights and gender issues, and dramatically raise the number of women police officers.
The disappointing withdrawal of the MINURCAT force — before the benchmarks of withdrawal have been met (see the Secretary-General's December 2008 reports) — should not distract the UN Security Council or the international community from addressing the ongoing problems affecting the Darfurian refugee population in Eastern Chad. The reduction of arms, sexual and gender-based violence and human rights abuses (demilitarization of camps) must remain a key priority, along with assisting the voluntary and safe return of communities. In addition to resolving security issues on a community level, it is vital that widespread problems, such as the capacity and training of national law enforcement agencies, judiciary and prison systems, are addressed, and that the Chadian military assigns a quick reaction force to take over from MINURCAT's civilian component.
Action Agenda: Realizing Treatment and Support for Women and Girls in Darfur (393.0 KB)
Last Thursday marked the end of General Gration's first 12 months as US Special Envoy to Sudan—an event that closely followed the one year anniversary of the Government of Sudan's expulsion of humanitarian organizations in March 2009.
In the course of the past 12 months, the humanitarian community and UN Country Team in Sudan have made significant efforts to rebuild programming disrupted by the expulsion of 13 international and 3 Sudanese NGOs—efforts that have been encouraged by the US Envoy's office. Now one year on, however, the loss of specialized programming continues to challenge NGOs and UN agencies working on the ground.
As Physicians for Human Rights and numerous other organizations pointed out in a public letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last November, multi-sectoral programming addressing the vulnerability and needs of women and girls has been affected seriously by this disruption in programs and services. But broader efforts to re-establish programming lost in the expulsions have been unable to rebuild the base of gender expertise in the humanitarian community prior to 2009.
The range of women-specific concerns spans all areas of humanitarian programming in Darfur: specialized health needs; different levels of education; cultural issues concerning sanitation and hygiene services; and, not least, the widespread incidence of sexual violence across Darfur. There is an urgent need to improve the coverage of relief distribution to target women effectively, expand programming into rural areas, and encourage the mainstreaming of gender concerns by NGOs and UN agencies.
Even prior to the expulsions, the breadth and consistency of women-focused programming had suffered a number of setbacks in 2008, including the closure of many women's centers, the suspension of psycho-social programming in some instances and increasing obstacles for NGOs to communicate with other agencies. In order to remedy this, we need strong sector coordination and the commitment of sufficient resources to the UN lead agency for Gender-based Violence (UNFPA) to implement the strategic plan designed to address these issues.
In response to this urgent crisis of treatment and services, Physicians for Human Rights has issued a briefing paper to the Special Envoy's Office: Action Agenda for Realizing Treatment and Support for Women and Girls in Darfur, outlining the conditions of this crisis and immediate actions needed to realize both responsive and proactive programming to reduce the vulnerability of women and girls in Darfur and provide support to survivors. The paper outlines the need for a commitment from the US Government to expend the necessary resources for women and girls in Darfur and to establish a consistent message in the Special Envoy's diplomatic relations.
Over the past 12 months, a number of humanitarian sectors—water, sanitation, shelter—have been restored and rebuilt, yet vital services such as psychosocial support, medical and legal outreach and livelihoods support for women and girls remain devastated by the impact of the expulsions. It is the duty of the Special Envoy's office to ensure that US engagement in critical events, such as the upcoming Sudan elections and the continuing Darfur Peace Accords, does not divert attention from the unmet needs of women and girls any longer. By March 31, 2010, General Gration should announce his office's strategy to address the following:
- US Government support for humanitarian programming to reduce the vulnerability of women and research to establish a recommended service provision model that can be replicated in under-served communities.
- US Government funding for sector coordination to the UN lead agency for Gender-based Violence in Darfur, UNFPA. This funding commitment will allow for UNFPA strategic planning to increase treatment and support and facilitate broader initiatives to reduce vulnerability to violence.
- US Government use of diplomatic leverage to ensure that the Government of Sudan take responsibility for managing and acting on information received through the Tripartite Reporting Mechanism and institute a Rapid-Reporting mechanism between State and Federal bodies of the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC).
- US Government encouragement of troop-contributing and police-contributing countries to boost deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping force; the provision of outstanding equipment, in particular military helicopter assets, remains critical to increasing the mobility and operational impact of the mission in a volatile security environment. A commitment is also needed to boost the number of female troops and police sent by police- and troop- contributing countries.
- US Government promotion or development of a multi-year funding mechanism for relief, early recovery and emergency projects through the 2010-2012, pre-election to post-referendum period, for projects to mitigate the risks of sexual and gender-based violence should complex emergencies arise in Sudan and to provide the necessary treatment and support for survivors.
As the largest donor to the humanitarian operations in Darfur, and as a key diplomatic player engaged with the Government of Sudan, the US Government has the opportunity to assure that the urgent needs of women and girls in Darfur are met. The US Special Envoy's office represents the political and diplomatic interests of the American people and has the ability to commit both the diplomatic and financial resources of the US Government to address the needs of survivors, and prevent further violence.
Physicians for Human Rights invites all individuals and organizations who wish to see these recommendations become a reality to contact the Envoy's Office and ask for a plan by March 31st 2010. Contact jread[at]phrusa[dot]org for more information.


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Located five minutes from Vancouver International Airport's main terminal and 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver, the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Centre Vancouver Airport will draw from 4.6 million British Columbia residents, the nearly nine million tourists to the region each year and the 17.9 million passengers who pass through YVR annually.
Feasibility testing conducted by Vancouver Airport Authority showed that the Designer Outlet Centre, which will be located on the northeast corner of Sea Island near the Templeton Canada Line Station, will have minimal impact on traffic flow. The preferred location provides direct access to the Canada Line rapid-transit line that connects YVR to Richmond and Vancouver.
Vancouver Airport Authority and McArthurGlen Group are committed to building the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Centre Vancouver Airport with minimal impact to the local environment. Some general infrastructure improvements will be made on and around the site, which may include an extension of the existing foot and cycling paths on Sea Island.
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