text: By KRISTINE PHILIPST-G Staff WriterPictures of flowers and lake scenes line the hallway of Brethren Care Village Center's Nursing Center. This is how Noell Hammer helps treat degenerative diseases of the residents. The Ashland native developed the special therapy regiment, called mnemetecnic therapy to increase awareness combat the effects of degenerative diseases. It was never my attention to create something that would help people in a way other than to make them feel good, said Hammer. She discovered the effects of the treatment when she was working as an executive director of small Alzheimer's Association Chapter. After helping several people create paintings, she began to hear reports of peoples conditions getting better. She noted a depressed woman began to be sociable again and a person with frozen limbs began to have movement again. Though, she claims she's not a scientist, she explained the regeneration with a theory of brain plasticity. People's brains were damaged, said Hammer. We can change things so another part of the brain can help pick up the slack. No one has ever tried to ask the brain how to do that. We just stumbled on a way to ask.Named after the Greek Goddess of Memory, Mneme, short for Mnemosyne, the mother of the nine muses, the therapy tries to incorporate elements from the muses including storytelling, drawings, movement, comedy and dancing. These various elements make the therapy different from art therapy, which seeks to make patients aware of their feelings according to Hammer. Through her work with Art Without Boundaries, the organization she founded based in Florida to further the therapy technique, she trained artists to provide the therapy regiment, something she hopes to do with Ashland artist Cinda Motter, who assisted Hammer during her therapy at Brethren Care Thursday and Friday. So far, Hammer has trained four artists, two in Florida, one in California. and one in Iowa. She has four more artists in training. She hopes to spread the word to artists and nursing homes about the benefits of the program. She notes the program will pay for itself through galas nursing homes can have with the paintings done by the residents. She notes one nursing home raised $11,000 from paintings done by residents. I've just started working with her this week, noted Motter. The improvement I have seen with the patients has been remarkable.The two assisted resident Genevieve Wehinger paint a picture of a lake scene from Charles Mill Lake, a place she used to frequent when she was younger. Hammer notes the images they paint help patients unlock memories from long ago, something that provides the building blocks to counter the effects of degenerative diseases. Before and after the painting Hammer sings songs and moves with the patients, stimulating different parts of the brain. With these diseases, family members and caregivers may look at their loved ones and see what they are not and what they have lost, said Hammer. We look at them and see what they do.n Kristine Philips is the summer reporting intern and can be reached at 419-281-0581, ext. 241, or email@example.com.


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A review of four hot issues from the Jacksonville Jaguars' 29-27 victory over the Tennessee Titans:
Simple success: Apparently, simpler is better for the Jaguars' defense. Coach Gus Bradley and defensive coordinator Bob Babich spent part of the bye week going over the defensive game plans from the first half of the season and decided that trimming the amount of coverages, blitzes and personnel groups would help. The result was the defense's best performance of the season. The Jaguars forced four turnovers -- the most they'd had in a game in three years -- and held the Titans to just 83 yards rushing. The Jaguars were last in the NFL in rush defense (161.8 yards per game) entering the game. "We got back to basics," linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "Early on or even the last couple weeks ... we had games we were trying to do a little too much, and we scaled our package down for this week. I think we had a really good plan going into the game, very basic, not complex. It was stuff that we knew really well and we felt like we could play really fast with."
Special teams: Kick returner Jordan Todman nearly got benched this week after bobbling three kickoffs against San Francisco, but he responded with a huge game against the Titans. He averaged 33 yards on three returns, including a season-long 46-yarder. That came on his final return and it helped set up another big play on special teams, when LaRoy Reynolds downed Bryan Anger's punt at the Tennessee 1-yard line. The Jaguars got a safety two plays later on a holding call in the end zone, which ended up being the winning margin. The Jaguars' special teams have improved markedly since training camp, thanks mainly to an overhaul of the bottom of the roster and the addition of players such as J.T. Thomas and John Lotulelei.
No stupid penalties: Did the Jaguars make mistakes on Sunday? Plenty, such as Chad Henne's terrible throw to Marcedes Lewis that got intercepted and Brad Meester's shotgun snap that bounced off receiver Ace Sanders. But the Jaguars didn't commit the stupid penalties that were a regular occurrence during the team's first eight games. They were penalized four times for a season-low 19 yards. Meanwhile, the Titans did commit a couple of costly penalties: a holding call in the end zone for a safety and a roughing-the-passer flag on Bernard Pollard that extended a drive that ended with a touchdown.
Commitment to the run: The Jaguars didn't have a lot of success on the ground, rushing for only 54 yards and averaging just 1.8 yards per carry, but offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch stayed committed to it all day. The Jaguars had only 56 offensive snaps and Fisch called 30 runs, including 21 by Maurice Jones-Drew. That's the kind of balance Fisch wants in terms of runs and passes. Obviously the production needs to increase on the ground.

subset: commoncrawl


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Papaya, Snow Fungus and Almonds Soup
Check Out: Papaya Milk Recipe
Papaya, snow fungus and almonds soup (木瓜雪耳糖水) is a Chinese dessert which I tried at a famous dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong last month. When I tried the dessert, I thought this is something I can try to recreate at home since I have made something similar before – snow fungus with ginkgo nuts soup. I thought the combination of papaya, almonds and snow fungus is really nourishing and beautiful. This soup has health benefits such as improving blood circulation, strengthening respiratory system and improving complexion. I love to drink this dessert chilled.
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This is the papaya I used for the recipe. Was surprised when I cut it open to find that it is yellow fleshed but it turned out still tasty in the dessert soup. I would have preferred orange flesh papaya though, I think the dessert will look prettier in orange :)
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34 Responses to "Papaya, Snow Fungus and Almonds Soup"
You have great pictures! I just made snow fungus soup as well and took a picture but it turned out not appetizing at all. I'm inspired by your picture! Oh, it's interesting you add pandan leaves. I have never tasted it before and was really curious!


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It's fitting, in a way, that Jon Stewart will host Sunday's Academy Awards.
Not only is he bright, funny and good-looking, but at 5 feet, 7 inches, he's two inches shorter than the average American male.
And in Hollywood, that puts him in good company.
Studies find the taller, the better
Hollywood may not exactly be the land of Lilliput, but it does seem to be a place where official heights are enhanced every bit as much as egos, salaries and selected body parts.
It's not so much that famous movie stars are a lot shorter than the average American. It's more that many actors -- particularly male stars -- are shorter than they would like you to believe.
Ralph Keyes, a Yellow Springs, Ohio, author, developed a theory about this when he was writing his 1980 book, "The Height of Your Life."
"Here's the deal as I finally figured it out," Keyes said. "Entertainment in general is a haven for smaller guys. I think you have to be able to present yourself and be expressive to be an actor, but if you grow up average size or taller, then you don't grow up with such a need to be forceful or expressive.
"I think that's why so many of our actors are smaller guys. It's no fun being a smaller guy and being given short shrift, so you want people to know that you may be small, but you're not weak."
Movies, in particular, are "a nirvana for smaller people," Keyes said, "because if the camera's on you and there's nothing beside you to be measured against, the person watching has no way of knowing how tall you really are."
Frank DeCaro, host of a daily talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio, agrees.
"I think that an actor's job is to get people to see what you want them to see as opposed to what is really there," DeCaro said. "So it would seem that men who are not particularly tall can certainly rise to the occasion.
"I think the camera is very kind to people who are not particularly tall and much thinner than you could possibly imagine. People with a toned swimmer's build look amazing on camera."
DeCaro, who is 5-feet-8, worked for several years on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and so he can testify that Stewart is indeed an inch shorter than he is.
He's also had his picture taken with many other celebrities, giving him a sense of who is surprisingly tall -- and who is surprisingly not.
Penn Jillette, of the Penn and Teller comedy team, "is a redwood," DeCaro said. "It's shocking how tall he is. He could call Shaq shorty, that's how tall he is."
(Truth disclaimer: Penn Jillette is 6 feet 6 inches tall, while Shaquille O'Neal is, conservatively, 7-feet-1.)
On the other end of the scale, DeCaro said, "I was amazed when I was in the same room as Sylvester Stallone -- he's not very tall at all. Not that I'd want to take him on, but he's shorter than I am."
Screenwriter William Goldman has a story about that.
In his 2000 book, "Which Lie Did I Tell? -- More Adventures in the Screen Trade," Goldman ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Princess Bride") made a confession.
"I am hopelessly smitten with finding out the truth about how tall performers are," he wrote. "Especially male performers. Most especially male action performers."
"Most movie stars are short," wrote Goldman, who is 6-feet-1. "Stars' stumpiness is the beginning of my obsession. But when you throw action stars into the blend, guys who slay legions, well, it's just too yummy for me to resist."
Which is why Goldman dropped everything he was doing one day at the Cannes Film Festival when he heard that Stallone was about to enter the pool at a hotel where they were staying.
Stallone, now 59, has talked recently about starring in a Rocky VI sequel. He is listed on two Web sites as being either 5-feet-10 or 5-feet-9.
The pool opportunity excited Goldman, he wrote, because "you see, stars have lifts in their boots -- why else, pray tell, do you think they wear them all the time? They have lifts in their shoes, their loafers, their slippers. I know one who has lifts in his socks."
Based on his discreet face-to-face in the pool, Goldman said, he now knows that Stallone is "67 inches (5-feet-7), dripping wet."
It's not just insider screenwriters who obsess over celebrity heights, though.
The Web site Celebheights.com" shows there's a legion of people out there who are willing to spend time and energy debating the stars' stature, and there's always someone willing to organize a forum for them on the Internet.
Headed by the motto "In the land of Hollywood Pygmies, the elevator-shoed Dwarf is King," the site has compiled 3,449 celebrities' heights and attracted 26,154 visitor comments.
One recent entry zeroes in on a favorite target: action star and Oprah couch jumper Tom Cruise.
Linking visitors to a photo of a diminutive Cruise shaking hands with Japanese baseball star Alex Cabrera, a writer asks: "What do you reckon ... did Tom forget to wear something that day? He certainly looks no more than 5-feet-7 standing beside that 6-feet-1 guy, even accounting for a slight slope in Alex's favour. He just doesn't look the 5-feet-9-or-10 some people have him listed at ..."
Celebheights.com is run by a man named Rob who describes himself as a multimedia worker based in Glasgow, Scotland. In an e-mail, Rob said movie actors seem larger than life partly because directors "frame them to appear as tall as possible and purposely cast them with shorter co-stars."
On the other hand, after assembling more than 3,000 height records, Rob has concluded that actors are taller than many cynics might believe.
"As a group, the average height of actors ... is 5-feet-10 for males and 5-feet-5 for females ... and the average height of best actor winners [in the Academy Awards] is 5-feet-11 and of best actresses is 5-feet-5 1/2 inches.
Steven Goldsmith, a 5-foot-2 New Jersey resident who runs a Web site to support short people, said his problem with Hollywood is that shorter actors -- with the notable exception of Cruise -- almost never get to play the leads in action films or romantic comedies.
"One of the main complaints short men have is that they don't have a lot of romantic possibilities," said Goldsmith. "That's also the way it's portrayed in movies and on TV." Short actors "either don't have a relationship or they tend to have one-night stands."
Complicating this whole picture is that Americans aren't as tall as some might assume. The average American male is only 5 feet, 9 1/2 inches tall, and the average female is just 5 feet 4 inches.
For decades, Americans were easily the tallest people in the world, fueled by their wealth and nutrition. But that began to change around 1955, and today, the tallest average populations are in northern Europe.
The leading nation? The Netherlands, where the men now average 6-feet-1 and the women 5-feet-8.
This year's Oscar nominees bracket the U.S. averages, according to Celebheights.com. The best actor nominees range from Joaquin Phoenix at 5-feet-8 to Health Ledger at 6-feet-1. The best actress nominees go from tiny Judi Dench at 5-feet-1 to statuesque Charlize Theron at 5-feet-9 1/2.
Whether any of those heights is accurate remains the big question.
Final case in point: The Terminator himself, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Internet Movie Data Base lists Schwarzenegger at 6-feet-2. Celebheights.com has him at 6 feet even. Anecdotal reports often claim less.
The Internet seems to offer one way out of the fog, because it contains a candid photo of the governor standing next to a man of exactly the same height -- chiropractor Bob Cox of Omaha, Neb.
Cox was glad to get on the phone. If you could just tell us your height, Mr. Cox, the mystery of the Schwarzenegger stature would be solved.
"Well, you know," he said hesitantly, "the governor is pretty careful of his reputation when he lets his picture be taken like that.
"I guess I'm just not comfortable telling you my height. Have a nice day."
Mark Roth can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or at 412-263-1130


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Having kids is expensive to begin with, but the shaky economy and rising college costs seem to be pushing even the most prepared parents backs to the wall.
BabyCenter reveals in its annual U.S. Cost of Raising a Child report that a whopping 76 percent of moms are stressed about money.
And not having enough is an obvious concern when the current cost of raising a child in America is "an average of $226,920 per kid. (And college is extra!)." Factor in living in a pricey city and it's more.
Anyway you look at it, $200K-plus is a daunting number. And after surveying 1,300 moms, BabyCenter found that 2 out of 3 say money will affect how many kids they have. On average, these moms of the recession generation want to have three babies, but plan to stop at just two.
Nearly half of the moms waited to start or expand their family until they felt financially stable. Seventy percent waited until they or their partner had a stable job; half waited until they had health insurance.
More than 70 percent of moms say they're worried more about money now than ever before and are working more than they'd like to make ends meet.
More than 63 percent of moms say they wish they could work less than they do and 59 percent would quit altogether if they could. Their biggest splurge if money were no object? More family vacations. Looks like we're craving time with our kids.
Unfortunately, all the time away from the kids seems to brings with it another problem: high childcare costs. Moms say that paying for childcare is a major financial strain, with those who use daycare reporting "an average monthly tab of $755, though costs range wildly depending on location and type of care."
If there's a bright spot in BabyCenter's findings, it's that the majority of the moms say that regardless of the situation they're facing, their children are still getting more than they got as kids. And 70 percent say it doesn't take a lot of money to make kids happy.
Just because times are tough, parents aren't turning a blind eye to the future. Half are saving for their child's college education.
While BabyCenter can't necessarily make the cost of raising a child smaller, it has brought in key advice and tips from financial expert Jean Chatzky.
But what about you: Are you ready for the cost of your child?
To get the full story on family finances in 2011 and all of the tips for making the most of your money, read the full U.S. Cost of Raising a Child report. To find out what your child will cost you, use BabyCenter's "Cost of Raising a Child Calculator."
Photo: "Sakurako gets money from a cash register!" by MJ/TR


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A lot has happened in hip-hop since Atmosphere dropped Overcast in 1997. Kanye West went from obscure Chicago producer to celebrity superstar. Rhymesayers grew into one of the most important independent labels in hip-hop history. Yung Lean was born. Through all these things, Atmosphere is still Atmosphere.
Slug has always had a way of touching on the ugly and the beautiful, relatable and poetic at the same time. Ant has always been a master of balancing the gritty with the melodic. On the duo's new album, these things have not changed.
Atmosphere's eighth studio album Southsiders comes out on May 6. "It's a natural progression from the last record, The Family Sign, which was about growing my family," says Slug, now a father of three. "I'm starting to think, 'What is post–family man? What am I supposed to rap about now?' I'm sticking to my roots, rapping about what I'm doing, what I think about. This record is—much like the other ones—a very detailed look at my life."
When we first saw the tracklist for Southsiders, the title "Kanye West" had a lot of people wondering. Well, here it is. "I wanted to write a song about loving something so much that you submit to the moment," says Slug.
Pre-order Southsiders now and get "Bitter" and "Kanye West" instantly. Listen to Atmosphere's "Kanye West" below.
Atmosphere also announced that they will be playing two very special, intimate record release shows on May 6 at New York's Highline Ballroom and May 8 at Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre. Release party tickets go on sale this Thursday, April 10 at 11am CST for NYC and 12pm CST for LA. See full list of tour dates below.
April 18 – Boulder, CO @ eTown Hall (live radio show taping – SOLD OUT)
May 6 – New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom (Album Release Party)
May 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre (Album Release Party)
May 14 – Saskatoon, SK @ O'Brian's Event Centre
May 15 – Calgary, AB @ Flames Central
May 16 – Calgary, AB @ Flames Central (second show added!)
May 17 – Edmonton, AB @ Union Hall
May 18 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange
May 20 – Winnipeg, MB @ Garrick Centre
May 25 – Shakopee, MN @ Soundset Festival
May 28 – Kitchener, ON @ Wax
May 29 – London, ON @ London Music Hall
May 30 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
May 31 – Montreal, QC @ S.A.T.
June 1 – Ottawa, ON @ Ritual Nightclub
June 4 – Halifax, NS @ Marquee
June 6 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre
June 8 – Boston, MA @ Blue Hills Bank Pavilion (w/ Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley)
June 7 – Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall
June 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage @ the Mann Center for the Performing Arts (w/ Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley)
June 11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
June 12 – Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot
June 13 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
June 27 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
August 10 – Squamish, BC @ Squamish Festival
July 11 – Saugerties, NY @ Hudson Project Music and Arts Festival
*New dates in bold


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One of the summer's sleeper hits, "The Way, Way Back" is an aggravating coming-of-age trifle about a misfit that feels like it was put together for a very well adjusted audience.
For Valentine's Day, Niles shares some thoughts on love — and madness — in moviegoing and moviemaking.
Another New Year's, another "Best Of" list. The Niles Files offers his top 10 movies of the year list, plus his picks for the most disappointing, annoying and worst films of the year.
Upon the 30th anniversary of "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," Niles looks back on Steven Spielberg's warm suburban love story between a lost alien and a lonely middle child – and wonders if this film, of all films, is the central one in his life.
Niles reacts against the Internet's echo chamber of so-called "once-great" directors, and defends Oliver Stone and his most recent film, "Savages."
Niles Schwartz waxes poetic on summertime and Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," as definitive a summer movie as it gets.


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Groundless Paths: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, the Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Nyingma Tradition (Hardcover)
The Prajnaparamita Sutras, the Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Nyingma Tradition
Snow Lion Publications, 9781559393751, 904pp.
Publication Date: August 14, 2012
Groundless Paths contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries from the perspective of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. This study consists mainly of translations of Maitreya's famous text and two commentaries on it by Patrul Rinpoche. These are supplemented by three short texts on the paths and bhumis by the same author, as well as extensive excerpts from commentaries by six other Nyingma masters, including Mipham Rinpoche. Thus this book helps close a long-standing gap in the modern scholarship on the prajnaparamita sutras and the literature on paths and bhumis in mahayana Buddhism.
Arya Maitreya's Ornament of Clear Realization, with its Indian and Tibetan commentaries, presents the complex dynamics of the path to liberation as a succession of realizations of the empty nature of all phenomena. This presentation is a powerful antidote to whatever two-dimensional views we might hold about spiritual experience and the journey to enlightenment.
About the Author
Praise For Groundless Paths: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, the Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Nyingma Tradition…
"Groundless Paths completes Karl Brunnhölzl's brilliant three-volume study of Tibetan commentaries on the Ornament of Clear Realization. In this volume, the great nineteenth-century master Patrul Rinpoche adds a Nyingma perspective to the Kagyü viewpoints found in Gone Beyond. Altogether, this collection is a marvelous resource for scholars and practitioners who wish to understand the depth and breadth of the Buddhist path."—Andy Karr, author of Contemplating Reality
"Groundless Paths contains Dza Patrul Rinpoche's brilliant commentaries on the Abhisamayalamkara, masterfully translated and annotated by Karl Brunnhölzl. This third volume completes the presentation of the major Kagyü and Nyingma works on the prajñaparamita literature in English for the first time."—Elizabeth Callahan, translator of The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Six, Part Three


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JUDY WOODRUFF: Much of the action around Occupy Wall Street and similar movements was centered on marches and demonstrations today, but police and protesters clashed in several cities.
Life proceeded as normal inside the New York Stock Exchange this morning. But outside, a day of action dawned for the Occupy movement, marking two months since its inception.
PROTESTERS: Occupy Wall Street!
JUDY WOODRUFF: More than 1,000 demonstrators wanted to protest in front of the Exchange and at nearby intersections, but were stopped short by police.
TODD MURTHA, protester: I say these guys make too much money, way too much money. And there's ladies there cleaning toilets for nothing. It's wrong, and everybody here knows it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Some of the protests tried to stage sit-ins, blocking access to the Financial District. At least 175 were arrested as the day wore on.
MAN: We don't have the money. We don't have the resources. And we have to come out here on the street.
MAN: If you don't have your I.D.s out, you will be arrested.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The protesters also hoped to block subway hubs throughout the city. Police stood guard this morning as commuters pushed by on their way to work.
And plans also called for a march across Brooklyn Bridge this evening. About 700 people had been arrested in an earlier march on the bridge.
MAN: Stay calm!
MAN: Do not give in!
MAN: Do not give in!
JUDY WOODRUFF: The day of action had been planned for some time, but it took on increased urgency for the movement after Tuesday. That's when protesters were kicked out of their encampment at Zuccotti Park in a predawn police raid ordered by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Occupiers vowed today they would not be deterred.
P.J. O'ROURKE, protester: Bloomberg has really put gasoline on the flames. And in every inch that he pushes us back, we're going to go forward a foot. And nothing's going to stop us, no matter how many times you try to shut us down. We're going to figure out a way to be heard.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And protesters did crowd back into the park this morning, albeit without their tents and sleeping bags. Some tried to remove the barricades that police had erected around the park.
This afternoon, Mayor Bloomberg warned against violence.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (I) mayor of New York: Most protesters have, in all fairness, acted responsibly. But those that break the law, those that try to assault other people, particularly our first-responders, are going to be arrested. That's behavior that has nothing to do with the First Amendment.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The confrontations in New York were preceded by early-morning evictions in Dallas. City police cited public health and hygiene issues as they cleared the grounds in front of City Hall. As in other cities, protesters who didn't leave voluntarily were forcibly removed. By the end, 18 were arrested.
In Los Angeles, Occupy L.A. joined forces with some 500 labor union members and other community groups to march. At least 23 were arrested without incident after sitting in a downtown street.
In the nation's capital, protesters gathered to march across the key bridge spanning the Potomac River.
JOHN BUTLER, protester: Right now, this is totally unacceptable. That's why we're here, to declare this is an economic emergency for the 99 percent.
JUDY WOODRUFF: They were being joined by other demonstrators to form a human chain along the Virginia side of the bridge.
Meanwhile, at the University of California, Berkeley, student protesters had just rebuilt their encampment on Tuesday, when police tore down the tents today and arrested two people.
And in nearby San Francisco, almost 100 people were arrested on Wednesday, when they tried to Occupy a Bank of America office, demanding money for schools and education.


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Facing environmental challenges, promoting green development.
Human society has been challenged by overpopulation, unbalanced development, resource depletion, and environmental degradation, while creating unprecedented material wealth since the industrial revolution. For this consideration, the international community has been seeking a global solution to environmental and development issues, from the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm to "Rio +20" Summit and from the Declaration on the Human Environment to The Future We Want.
China, the world's largest developing country, is also experiencing unprecedented environmental challenges during the fast economic expansion. Environmental issues that occurred to developed countries towards industrialization in 100-200 years have exposed themselves in China in 30 years and show remarkable structural, compression, and complex features. New environmental issues become increasingly prominent before old ones are solved. Generally, the country faces more complex and difficult environmental issues than any other in the world.
As a responsible country, China has always followed the national strategy of sustainable development. It has made the overall layout of development integrating ecological, economic, political, social, and cultural aspects, and envisages the vision of a beautiful country. Ecological civilization philosophy and strategy is a major achievement of the Chinese Government in creative response to the relationship between economic development and environmental issues, but also the localization and escalation of sustainable development. To push ahead the ecological progress, Chinese Prime Minister highlighted in the Government Work Report this year that the Chinese Government will resolutely declare war against pollution and fight it with the same determination we battled poverty.
In China, the newly revised Environmental Protection Law marks a milestone in the environmental protection history with the adoption by the legislature on April 24, 2014. It maximizes the cohesion and absorption of consensus in all aspects and breaks through difficulties in promoting the green development model based on environmental carrying capacity and promoting the modern multi-party environmental governance system. For example, the law clearly defines the concepts of ecological civilization construction and sustainable development, and requires the establishment of environmental and public health monitoring and evaluation system and the rights of citizens to have access to environmental information, participation and supervision. Meanwhile, to address outstanding environmental problems threatening human health and improve environmental quality as soon as possible, the Chinese Government directs the attention to air, water and soil pollution prevention and control in the "resolute war against pollution". It has formulated and implemented in depth the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution and is stepping up the preparation of Clean Water Action Plan and the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution, which highlights the firm determination to control pollution, improve environmental quality, and protect the health of the people.
Looking back, the international community has exerted massive efforts to address environmental issues, but expect for a few ones, the overall situation is deteriorating. Biodiversity loss, climate change, water crisis, chemical pollution, and land degradation have not been effectively resolved. In most developing countries, the deterioration of environmental quality is exacerbated by population expansion, industrialization, and urbanization, as well as transfer of pollution from developed countries, adding difficulty in control.
Looking ahead, we expect a green and prosperous world which is free from the excessive requests and ravages of humanity and strikes a harmonious balance of economic, social and environmental development. This should be the long-term vision of efforts to face environmental challenges and promote green development.
It necessitates a sound system for international environmental governance with the concerted efforts of all nations. In this respect, the international community should strengthen cooperation, consensus and mutual trust. United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) should fully play its leadership role in the field of environment, such as improving instruction, coordination and implementation capacity, strengthening the voice and decision of developing countries, removing barriers in capital, technique and capacity building in developing countries, and forging new partnerships with international organizations, governments and the public.
It requires the thought of fair, just, open, and inclusive development. Nations should have the courage to take joint responsibility for protecting the earth, but also face the objective reality of development stage and levels, and comply with the Rio principles, in particular common but differentiated responsibilities. Developing countries should develop and implement sustainable development strategies based on national realties, while developed countries should fulfill the commitments by changing unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and assisting developing countries to build up capacity for sustainable development.
It needs to set reasonable and feasible goals of sustainable development. In relation to the direction of future environment and development around the world, these objectives should help developing countries to achieve their development goals with full consideration to their development stages and difficulties, and drive ahead the common progress of all countries. UNEP should provide scientific support for environmental goals and act a coordinating role in the implementation, so as to effectively help developing countries to build up capacity and accomplish the goals.
As the specific initiatives to implement results of the "Rio +20" Summit, UNEP UNEA will draw a new green blueprint for the world. I look forward to this meeting fruitful. China would like to strengthen cooperation with UNEP, share opportunities and face challenges with countries around the world on green development, environmental governance capacity, and international environmental cooperation, and write a new chapter for global environment and development.


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Five years have passed since the hurricanes devastated New Orleans, yet there are still over 570 families still living in temporary FEMA trailers! Until those families have rebuilt their lives, our job isn't over. And the recent oil spill has only made the situation throughout the Gulf Coast worse. But we won't give up on a better future. You can join our efforts. Give, Advocate, Volunteer…Live United! We invite you to join us.
Our Stories
St. Bernard Project
Rebuilding the Lives of Katrina Survivors, Family by Family.
St. Bernard Project Construction Updates
The official twitter feed of St. Bernard Project Construction
United Way for the GNO Area
United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area is advancing the common good.
Randy Rivault
Randy is the VP of Management Information Systems for United for the Greater New Orleans Area.
Mary Pendarvis
Mary Pendarvis moved to New Orleans 6 years ago to attend college and fell in love with the city's vibrant culture.
Leigh Thorpe
A New Orleans native, Leigh Thorpe is United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area's Director of Corporate Partnerships.


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MultiTV, the multi-channel digital television service of the Multimedia Group Ltd, will undergo a frequency change today November 27th between 7pm and 8pm due to satellite upgrade.
This change will require customers to input the new FREQUENCY (12522) and new SYMBOL RATE (27.000) and rescan their digiboxes in order to receive continued services on the new frequency. This upgrade will extend MultiTV's coverage beyond West Africa into parts of Southern, Eastern and Central Africa including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Chad, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Zambia and Malawi.
In an interview with Edwin Annan, Technical Service Manager of Multi TV, he says the rescan has become necessary because of the company's desire to provide compelling content not only in Ghana but in Africa, the sub-region and beyond.
Multimedia Group Ltd is the largest private commercial media Group in Ghana. The Group also owns and manages six of the nation's leading radio stations and six on-line media sites.
MultiTV is the Group's multi-channel digital television service with nationwide free-to-air television in Ghana, offering world class news and entertainment through multiple TV channels: Joy News, Joy TV, Adom TV, Cine Afrik, 4Kids, Joy Sports, The Jesus Channel, Hitz TV and Real TV.
For more information about the rescan process and instructional manual visit the MultiTV website at www.multitvworld.com/upgrade. MultiTV urges customers to call its help desks at (+233) 302 211697, (+233) 302 211698, (+233) 302 211699, (+233) 302 211 680 or (+233) 302 211 688 for assistance. Customers may also communicate with MultiTV via Facebook at www.facebook.com/multitvworld.


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Lightning from recent thunderstorm started a small fire July 12 inside the northern boundary of Yellowstone National Park, along the Montana-Wyoming border. At about the time this footage was recorded at 6 pm, the fire had grown to about five acres.
The Blacktail Fire was reported shortly after 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon. It is located a little over a mile north of the entrance to Blacktail Plateau Drive, which is along the road linking Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction.
Due to its location, dry conditions, and a forecast for dry thunderstorms Friday, the decision was made to suppress this fire.


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Back in February Nokia and Sanyo announced a joint venture where together the two companies would be developing and producing CDMA devices. Well, the unfortunate news is that this venture is now dead in the water before it even took off. Nokia will be pulling out of the CDMA phone manufacturing market because lack of interest and declining demand.
America is one of the lone places that the CDMA standard is still popular and used. Nokia will continue to sell its current CDMA handsets but will be reducing its own research and development of new CDMA devices. Nokia and Sanyo just need to hug it out. Hugging it out solves everything.
Nokia Drops CDMA Join Venture with Sanyo [Mobiledia]


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ALLENTOWN, Pa. (Oct. 7)
U.S. Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon today told the United Jewish Appeal's Eastern Pennsylvania Regional Conference here that "to aid the United Jewish Appeal means to aid Israel and to aid Israel means to bolster the free way of life." He was addressing more than 300 leaders of Jewish communities throughout Eastern Pennsylvania at the Americus Hotel.
Other speakers at the all-day meeting included Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the Jewish Agency, who has just returned from Israel; Moritz M. Gottlieb, national chairman for Regions of the United Jewish Appeal and Mrs. S. Alexander Brailove, chairman of the U.J.A. National Women's division. Dr. Goldmann told the conference that Israel faces a new year and a new challenge. "The outcome of the race between the rains of winter and the flow of immigration is not one that can be postponed. Nor can we postpone without fateful results the ingathering of Jews from countries whose gates, open today, may close tomorrow," he pointed out.
Mr. Gottlieb announced that delegates to the conference from communities throughout Eastern Pennsylvania brought a total of nearly $700,000 for the United Jewish Appeal to the meeting to be used for immediate needs in Israel.


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by Jake Aryeh Marcus Find Sustainable Mothering on Facebook and Jake on Twitter.
A recent episode of the PBS program Frontline was called "The War on Vaccines." The title alone should have been the tip off that the producers' goal was to inflame and incite – to assume this was an entirely adversarial discussion between diametrically opposed viewpoints. But I knew that my colleague Jennifer Margulis, Contributing Editor at Mothering where I am Politics Editor, was interviewed on the program so I felt obligated to watch. I knew also the show would feature pro-vaccine zealot Paul Offit – as famous for his vehement opposition to all questioning of vaccines as he is for the money he takes from vaccine manufacturers.
Imagine I insert an ominous voiceover here. In case you don't have time to watch the entire Frontline report, I can give you a feel for the experience. For all fifty minutes, you are constantly reminded the discussion – oh, just suspend your disbelief and accept there is a discussion – is life or death for every child. Make sure you are really worked up about dying toddlers because the Frontline producers want to make sure you have an opinion about vaccines at the end of the show that is linked to the images you see on the screen and hear in the voiceover. We are moved and motivated by the sights and sounds in film. Having worked in television production I know how this works but I think any discerning viewer can figure that out. If this were not so, we would all just read the paper.
One of the opening scenes in Frontline's "The War on Vaccines" is about a helpless innocent baby coming into the world waiting for mommy to do all she can to keep her safe and healthy. You see through a car windshield the sign for Doylestown Hospital but, if you watch this online, the section is called "A Visit to Ashland, Oregon."
"A new life begins," says the ominous voiceover. Little Rachel Murphy is coming into the world. But wait. Mommy is on her back in an operating room at Doylestown Hospital with a curtain between her and the birth. Yup, she is having a cesarean section. "It's a girl!" says a member of the team pulling Rachel out of her mother's uterus which has been surgically lifted from her body. "AW!" says Rachel's mother who can not see her own child. The very serious narrator comes back and explains that little Rachel had been born into "a world filled with countless germs." Then we have a series of camera shots of Rachel being handled by medical staff, in a cart being wheeled down the hall, getting her first vaccine at an hour old (according to the ominous voiceover) for Hepatitis B (a form of Hepatitis contracted primarily through sexual intercourse or I.V. drug use, so use of this vaccine assumes either Rachel's mother is infected or Rachel has been pretty busy in her first hour outside the womb). Some time more than an hour after all of this has taken place away from Rachel's mother, we finally see a camera view of Rachel and her mother together – her mother still flat on her back post-surgery.
Wow. The joy of birth in America. Strangers will handle you, wheel you around, and pump you full of chemicals – some of which are toxic – before you even get a chance to meet your mother. That world full of countless germs? Well, that would be the hospital. Some of Rachel's protection against these germs have been washed off of her before she can get a whiff of her mother's breast where the colostrum is waiting for her. A hat has been put on her head which she does not need because her mother's body could provide warmth and the exchange of scent between Rachel and her mother could help an already challenged breastfeeding relationship.
Next we have some Centers for Disease Control party line on the benefits of vaccination followed promptly by, with a dark lowering of the voiceover's tone, the announcement that some communities in America are resisting the CDC advice and have much lower rates of vaccination. I could be wrong about what appears to me to be a misleading connection between little Rachel Murphy's birth and Ashland. If you didn't see the hospital sign, you don't know where Rachel was born. I think one could easily think, hearing Ashland, Oregon named as a pocket of vaccine renegades, that Rachel was born in that community. So in case you were confused, here is a little geography lesson Mr. Ominous Voiceover omits.
Doylestown Hospital is in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Doylestown is about an hour north of Philadelphia. Now I don't necessarily have a preconceived notion about any particular hospital's c-section rate. And I will look carefully if a hospital offers a birthing center. Birthing centers often (though with decreasing frequence nationally) have midwives and lower rates of c-section. However, if you hit the home page link on the Doylestown Hospital website for what purports to be that hospital's "birthing center," you come to a page with a huge graphic of people in white coats and surgical scrubs under the headline "Maternity Care Reinvented." Below the cluster of white coats and surgical scrubs is the tag line, "Doylestown Hospital Welcomes CHOP Newborn Care at Doylestown Hospital." CHOP, for those of you closer to Ashland, Oregon – that renegade town that is 3000 miles away from Doylestown – is Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, the professional home of … you guessed it, Paul Offit.
As a not so amusing side note, I glanced over at the "birthing center" physicians to see the name of the surgeon who cut my third son out of me at a different hospital. I have two profound memories of that man. One was the frightening tower of formula cases behind him in his office. He was such an unpleasant man I tried to mentally will the boxes to fall and crush him. I asked him about all that formula and whether it wouldn't be better to encourage women to breastfeed their babies rather than assume they will formula feed. He snarled his response: "Would YOU want to nurse quadruplets?" He was a specialist in multiple births (the reason I had been coerced into being seen by him). I replied, "I certainly would want to try." He made a disgusted sound and refused to discuss it with me anymore. The other memory I have of that doctor is what he shouted to me as he was scrubbing in for that dreaded third c-section. "This is a tubal as well, right?" He and I had never had any discussion of his performing a tubal ligation and I had hoped to have more children. "NO!" I shouted back, more than a little frightened that he might have asked this question after I was unable to respond. His response was his usual sneer. "You would do this again?" I think I will remember forever glancing over at the array of scalpels a nurse was counting while I was being prepped, thinking violent thoughts along with "what an asshole."
Back to Frontline.
Jennifer Margulis has written a blog post I highly recommend about what she sees as the failings of "The War on Vaccines" and I highly recommend you read it. At least two of her complaints are mine as well. All of the doctors and government officials shown in the final cut of this Frontline are opposed to any variation from the CDC recommended vaccine schedule. The conclusion one is forced to draw is that there are no physicians – particularly no respected physicians – who challenge the statements made by Offit. Not only is that untrue but if you read Dr. Jay Gordon's blog post concerning this Frontline piece, you find out that he was interviewed for hours as was Dr. Robert Sears. As Gordon describes in great detail, the producers made a deliberate choice to exclude these respected doctors who offer a different viewpoint from either extreme presented by Frontline.
Another dangerous and professionally irresponsible choice made by the Frontline producers was to entirely exclude discussion of the ideological space in between Offit's "all vaccines on the CDC schedule no matter what" position and the "no vaccines ever under any circumstances" position erroneously attributed to Margulis. There are many parents and professionals, like me, who believe that every parent must examine each vaccine and each child and decide whether the benefits of a particular vaccine outweigh the risks. This is called "selective vaccination" and I have been practicing it with my children since my eldest son was a year old.
I allowed doctors to vaccinate my now nearly sixteen year old son on the CDC schedule when he was born. There were many fewer vaccines on the schedule back then, I trusted my carefully chosen pediatrician and did as I was told. But, as is my nature, I did my research and as I read more studies I began to question whether he needed all of the shots and whether he needed them at the times they were being given. Tetanus may have been the first one I questioned. I have a particularly violent physical reaction to the tetanus vaccine so I was worried that he might as well. I researched how one gets tetanus and wondered whether my child, with his access to clean water, disinfectant and a tetanus shot if he has an injury so deep one can't be sure washing alone will protect him – well, why did my son need to risk the reaction I get to the vaccine? Then I read a study about the MMR vaccine. I don't even remember what it was about but I remember it was in Lancet, a journal one's pediatrician should be expected to read. I asked my pediatrician a question about the study and he said he knew nothing about it. I wanted to discuss my concerns with him before making the decision to give the vaccine to my son. The pediatrician was surprised I thought the decision was mine to make. And then he said it. With a patronizing laugh he said, "Your Medline privileges should be revoked." I was not amused. That was the day I decided my children would be selectively vaccinated. I would be the one who decided whether my children needed a particular vaccine at a particular time. I would do something public health officials can't do. I would look at just one child in his own unique environment with his own unique biology and family history. I would assess the risks and benefits of each vaccine for each child.
If you let the imagery and ominous tone of Frontline's "The War on Vaccines" wash over you, you would never know that parents could make intelligent and safe decisions for their own children. You would never know there are doctors who support parents' ability to do this. You would think that I make my parenting decisions based on what I see on YouTube. In fact, I chose selective vaccinating before I had even heard of YouTube. I read peer reviewed medical journal articles and consider the advice of a wide range of medical specialists including Dr. Jay Gordon and Dr. Robert Sears. The Frontline producers would have you believe that parents taking control of the medical care their children receive is a bad thing.
In between the interviews portraying extreme and irreconcilable views, along with the frightening images of sick children, there is interspersed B roll of children in a gymnastics class. Hmm. Is gymnastics there to lighten the mood by showing happy children at play? Or is it there to suggest the metaphor of risky behaviors parents encourage their children to engage in? After all, the chances of my child dying of chicken pox is far lower than the chance of my child being seriously injured as a gymnast. Or are the producers trying to leave us with that uncertainty – is that child flying through the air going to land safely or break her neck? Regardless, it is just manipulative.
So what do you think? I am not going to give you a poll and don't encourage you to participate in Frontline's two choice poll. On my blog as in life, you have more than two choices. I'd like to hear how you make your decisions about vaccination. If you saw the Frontline episode, I'd like to hear how balanced you think it was. And if you just want to to write about vaccine decision making and/or how media portrays it, let's hear it.
Tags: Birth, Dr. Jay Gordon, Mothering, Offit, Sons, Vaccines
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on Friday, April 30th, 2010 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Birth, Mothering, Sons, Vaccines.
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Etanercept Therapy for Sjogren's Syndrome
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- How to Read a Study Record
This study will test the effectiveness of etanercept (Enbrel) for treating Sjogren's syndrome-an autoimmune disease that affects the secreting glands. (In autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks the body's own tissues.) Reduced lacrimal (tear) gland function causes dry eyes with a scratchy sensation, and, in severe cases, vision be may impaired. Reduced salivary gland function causes dry mouth, resulting in greatly increased tooth decay. Dry mouth also makes chewing and swallowing difficult, which may lead to nutrition deficiencies. Sjogren's syndrome can also cause dryness of the skin and of mucous membranes in the nose, throat, airways, and vagina.
Patients with Sjogren's syndrome who have had oral and eye examinations under NIDCR's protocol 84-D-0056 may participate in this study. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either etanercept or placebo (an inactive look-alike substance) by injection under the skin twice a week for 3 months.
Patients will be seen for evaluation before treatment begins (baseline) and again at 1, 3, and 4 months. The baseline and 3-month visits include a physical examination, eye examination, saliva collection from salivary glands, blood tests, and evaluation for changes in symptoms and treatment side effects. The 1- and 4-month visits include saliva collection, blood tests, and review of symptoms and treatment side effects. In addition, blood will be drawn every 2 weeks for safety monitoring. Patients will also be surveyed weekly (by telephone or during the clinic visit) about symptoms and treatment side effects.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Enbrel for treating certain forms of arthritis, which, like Sjogren's syndrome, are autoimmune disorders of the connective tissue. Laboratory studies also indicate that etanercept may be an effective treatment for Sjogren's syndrome.
|Sjogren's Syndrome
|Drug: Etanercept
|Phase 2
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|Etanercept Therapy for Sjogren's Syndrome
|Estimated Enrollment:
|Study Start Date:
|December 1999
|Estimated Study Completion Date:
|November 2003
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|Child, Adult, Senior
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Documented primary or secondary SS.
Absence of confounding health problems.
No contraindications to etanercept therapy.
SS patients cannot have sarcoidosis, HIV infection, or lymphoma.
Patients must have one of the following abnormal autoimmune serologies associated with SS (i.e. positive ANA, RF, and anti-SS-A, or anti-SS-B).
Patients may use pilocarpine provided that they hold their dose on visit days when saliva is collected.
Patients taking DMARD's, such as hydroxychloroquine, must be on a stable dose.
Participants may take NSAIDs or acetaminophen.
Patients must not have physical or mental conditions that may make them unable to comply.
Subjects may continue their other long-term medications with the exception of tricyclic antidepressants and anti-cholinergics, which may affect salivary gland function.
Patients cannot take experimental drugs during the duration of the protocol.
Children will be excluded due to additional risks that may occur with etanercept.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00001954
|United States, Maryland
|National Institute of Dental And Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
|Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00001954 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|January 18, 2000
|Last Updated:
|March 3, 2008
Keywords provided by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC):
Clinical Trial
Disease Activity
Salivary Glands
Sjogren's Syndrome
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Sjogren's Syndrome
Dry Eye Syndromes
Pathologic Processes
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
Joint Diseases
Musculoskeletal Diseases
Rheumatic Diseases
Salivary Gland Diseases
Mouth Diseases
Stomatognathic Diseases
Lacrimal Apparatus Diseases
Eye Diseases
Connective Tissue Diseases
Autoimmune Diseases
Immune System Diseases
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
Analgesics, Non-Narcotic
Sensory System Agents
Peripheral Nervous System Agents
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Anti-Inflammatory Agents
Antirheumatic Agents
Gastrointestinal Agents
Immunosuppressive Agents
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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Washington - Airline, rail and other transportation and shipping networks along the storm-battered East Coast struggled to resume operations on Sunday but most would not return to normal until Tuesday at the earliest.
Flooding, wind damage and power outages from Hurricane Irene and related logistics impeded efforts to get the biggest systems back on line for tens of millions of people, especially in New York, where airports and the subway remained closed.
As skies cleared, Washington and Philadelphia handled some flights. Airline cancellations topped 11,000 since Friday - virtually the industry's entire schedule for the region.
"We need time to put airplanes back in place and hope for a limited startup on Monday at those airports," said Todd Lehmacher, a spokesman for US Airways, which has heavy operations in the East. "We're focused on the goal of normal operations on Tuesday."
The Federal Aviation Administration said all three airports serving greater New York would reopen on Monday morning.
New York officials could not say when its subway system, the nation's largest, would fully reopen. Their initial plan announced on Friday was to begin restarting operations on Monday afternoon. Like other big city transit lines crucial for suburban commuters, the system will be brought back gradually.
Limited New York bus service was to resume later on Sunday and the PATH trains from New Jersey, important for Wall Street, should be running by Monday morning. New Jersey Transit was expected to operate a limited train schedule on Monday.
Subways in Boston were also closed on Sunday, but were expected to resume operations in time for the morning commute.
Other regional transportation infrastructure came back to life along the mid-Atlantic. Busy tunnels and bridges heavily used by commercial trucking reopened.
Interstate 95 through the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast was clear but a 160km stretch of the northbound New York State Thruway, including that side of the Tappan Zee Bridge, were closed due to storm-related problems.
Many secondary roads throughout the Northeast were blocked by fallen trees, downed power lines and flooding.
Virginia State Police responded to 300 traffic accidents related to the storm, officials said.
Commuter trains around major cities and passenger railroad Amtrak were halted in the Northeast. Amtrak crews inspected nearly 640km of track and overhead wiring, and reported areas of flooding, track debris and power outages.
The FAA said airport control towers in the Northeast escaped damage and were staffed. Runways were inspected and cleared for operation.
However, controllers had to wait for airport terminals to reopen and airlines to restart their schedules. About half of the total cancellations were at New York-area airports - Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark - that handle about 6 000 flights per day and 100 million passengers a year.
Airports in Boston, Manchester, New Hampshire and Providence, Rhode Island were expected to reopen Monday afternoon, according to Delta Air Lines, which cancelled 13 percent of its systemwide flight schedule between Saturday and Monday.
"The extent of this is a multiple of what you've seen in the worst snowstorms," said Bob Mann of R.W. Mann & Company, a former airline executive and now a consultant.
"Once the (Port Authority) says they're open for business, you've got to repopulate the operation. Take aircraft and crews and plug them back in."
Carriers heavily affected other than Delta include US Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines, and JetBlue Airways
JetBlue, which is based at Kennedy airport and alone cancelled 1 200 flights due to the storm, planned to restart Northeast operations on Monday afternoon.
But normalising operations depends as much on resumption of rail, road and transit services as it does flight schedules and runway conditions.
JetBlue has 4 000 crewmembers living or based in New York or Boston. Other airlines face similar problems.
New York air traffic controller Dean Iacopelli expects airlines will spend Monday repositioning planes moved to other cities during the storm. Traffic will be coming from different directions that we do not normally see."
Container ships that rode out the storm at sea waited for US Coast Guard approval to head for mid-Atlantic ports that were closed. Terminals gradually reopened and hoped to resume normal operations by late on Sunday or Monday.
Cruise ships adjusted schedules as well. Carnival Corp pushed back departure of the Pride on its weekly cruise from Baltimore by one day to Monday. - Reuters


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FBI arrests man with gun, armor at Grand Blanc Twp. movie theater
Wed, 31 Jul 2013 22:14:59 GMT —
Police say Delavergne had a concealed weapon permit.
The FBI says a Flint man in body armor, carrying a gun and rounds of ammunition was arrested Tuesday night after he told police he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Cassidy Delavergne was charged in federal court Wednesday with possessing a phony CIA ID card.
Grand Blanc Township police officers responded to the Trillium Theater Tuesday evening after someone noticed Delavergne's vest and gun. Police say Delavergne also wore the fake CIA badge around his neck. He reportedly told an FBI agent he displayed the ID to minimize any concerns about his 9 mm beretta.
Delavergne was watching a movie when police arrived and questioned him. He was arrested and interviewed by township police and FBI agents. He is currently in custody.
â??After the Aurora [Colo.] incident at the theater, after Boston and all the other things going around in the country, with the mass shootings, people get concerned when they see someone dressed out of the norm like that with body armor and a handgun,â?? Grand Blanc Township Det. Matt Harburn said. â??That, not in itself being illegal, does bring attention to that person.â??
The FBI says Delavergne had an additional 111 rounds of ammunition in his car.
He was not charged with crimes related to the gun or ammunition.
Police say Delavergne had a concealed weapon permit.
***End update***
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP (AP) --- The FBI says it arrested a man who appeared at a Flint-area movie theater wearing body armor, possessing a gun and carrying 34 rounds of ammunition.
Cassidy Delavergne was charged Wednesday with possessing a phony card that identified him as an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency.
In a court filing, the FBI says Delavergne told an agent that he displayed the badge Tuesday at Trillium Theater in Genesee County's Grand Blanc Township to minimize any concerns about his firearm, a 9 mm Beretta.
The FBI says the Flint man had 111 rounds of ammunition in his car. He told the FBI that he has a concealed weapon permit and didn't want to leave the gun unattended.
Delavergne was in custody Wednesday and couldn't be reached for comment.
(Copyright ©2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


text: Bought this house new 12 yrs ago with a builder installed Majestic UVC36, NG Non-vented fireplace. The heater works great but there has always been an annoying smell when lit. It sort of smells "sour" and we have been putting up with it since new. Filters cleaned every year per the mfg instructions, logs carefully placed as instructed etc. Last year, I even called the local gas company to come and check it out, his inspection revealed nothing wrong, took sniffer/meter readings, all were well within specks. We have a Co-2 monitor installed, never has alarmed, but I have always had to remove a normal smoke detector in that room to keep the whole house from alarming. After 11 years, changed all the smoke detectors to an "improved version", and within a minute, the SD will alarm. So...I think I would like to change this insert out to a vented version, this summer, hopefully some will be on sale???. The vent is the biggest question to muddle through. On top of this heater is a cove that is the same width as the stove and about 2 feet high, 2 feet deep. Hate to have to run a vent up through the middle of this (to the roof, approx 15') as the wife is giving me the "eye" about it, can run to an outside wall, on a porch and either leave it there??or elbow it up through a 4 ft wide soffit to the roof. In either case, what type vent would I use, double inner/outer (one for input air and one for exhaust)??. Just in the planning stages right now, appreciate any thoughts.


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Diane Downs' daughter – Rebecca Babcock's moving testimony on 20/20, plus VIDEO
An intriguing story was told on last night's ABC 20/20 report Children Now, about the legacy of being the secret child of a killer. In 1983 the case of Diane Downs became infamous in the U.S. as it involved a mother (Downs), who shot her 3 children, injuring two and killing another. When it evolved that she'd done it as she was involved with a married man who didn't want to take on her children, the country was even more shocked and horrified.
Diane Downs was convicted of the shootings and just before she started her prison sentence, she actually gave birth to another baby who was taken away for adoption, as reported by Gather.com. Rebecca Babcock was that baby and she is now 26 years old and spoke last night for the first time, about how it felt to hear that her birth mother was an infamous child killer.
When Rebecca was very young her adoptive parents had to tell family and others close to Rebecca, exactly who she was, as Diane Downs had escaped from prison, but Rebecca didn't actually find out herself until she was a teenager. Today Diane Downs still declares her innocence but was denied parole in 2008 and remains in jail.
Rebecca's moving testimony will have amazed many as she spoke with dignity and eloquence; her upbringing with her adoptive family certainly looks as though it was the best thing that could have happened to her. You can see her on the video below this story. For more on this go to gather.com. We'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this story.
Leave a comment below or follow us on Twitter.
Tags: tv shows
This report does not tel what happens to the two surviving children diane tried too kill. Im curious to know what happened to her son as well as the daughter that actually testified.
I agree with jennifer this report say's nothing of the two children that survived that horrible night!!! I remember like it was yesterday……. many of us went out to try and find the gun!!!!! I'm thrilled that rebecca has wonderful parents…. but would really like to know what happened to the children that survived…. GOD BLESS TO ALL OF YOU!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/shurrie.kurman Shurrie Kurman
The 2 surviving children were adopted by the prosecuting attorney and his wife. Danny is a parapalegic due to the shooting. Both of them grew up and graduated from college. Christie is now married with children of her own and does social work and Danny is a computer whiz.
I am really glad that she is dooing well. Cutting off contact with Diane is probably a good idea unless she is the only one who knows her father. He was name in Ann Rule's book "Small Sacirifies" and I believe he was a teacher or instructor. In the book he seemed liked a nice man that knew when to run. But with Diane behind bars probably for life, he might be open to a meeting. Good luck meeting your brother and sister. Christie was adorable so was Danny.
The true fact of the matter is that the father was a reporter for one of the smaller newspapers in Lane County. She met him in the park, seduced him to his house and had sex with him so she could get pregnant. I ghost wrote the book that Diane's father published under the name "Best Kept Secrets" and this reporter's lawyer threatened to sue me if I named him in the book, and I did not, and won't here, though I do recall his name after all these years. He was basically an "innocent bystander" in the hurricane that was Diane Downs.
Christie and Danny have gone on with their lives and chose to not have anything to do with Rebecca…and I'm sure it was nothing personal but they need to live their lives. I do know that Christie went to see her mother when she was 18 very briefly..More than likely so she could put the episode to rest
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NEW YORK ( TheStreet) - It was a barrel of fun trying to wade through the plethora of bad news coming from troubled teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF) on Tuesday. Shares slumped 5.5% to $36.20 in post-market trading after Abercrombie pre-announced dismal third-quarter earnings and sales as well as the decision to close all of the stores under Gilly Hicks, its intimate apparel and active wear brand. The New Albany, Ohio-based company said that net sales for the 13 weeks ending Nov. 2 declined 12% to $1.03 billion compared to the year-earlier quarter. Total comparable sales for the quarter, which includes direct-to-consumer sales, dropped 14%. U.S. comparable sales declined 14%. International comps were even worse, down 15%, Abercrombie said. Total direct-to-consumer comparable sales increased 11% for the quarter. The company will still host an analyst meeting on Wednesday, which will be webcast live. The poor sales follow a difficult summer. Abercrombie reported in August that earnings were challeged by soft traffic. "Our results for the third quarter reflect continued top-line challenges, with overall spending among younger consumers remaining weak," Chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries said in a statement. "Until we have seen a clear trend improvement, we are continuing to take a cautious approach into the fourth quarter and are working to end the year with appropriate levels of fall carryover inventory." "During the quarter, we completed our long-term strategic review, and believe that we now have a clear roadmap for sustainable growth in sales, profitability and return on invested capital. We look forward to sharing the results of our review in our analyst meeting," Jeffries added. Abercrombie says it will close the Gilly Hicks stores and sell the brand's intimate apparel through Hollister stores and online and expects to complete the closures by May 2014. "In connection with our long-term strategic review, we have decided to focus the future development of the Gilly Hicks brand through Hollister stores and direct-to-consumer channels," Jeffries said. "We believe it is critical to focus our efforts and resources where we have the greatest opportunities to drive profitable growth for our brands."
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text:
The company produces skin care products and a number of nutricosmetic supplements under the brand name Melem Secret.
Hard to Treat Diseases, the previous owner of Collagenna, was said to be divesting the company in order to concentrate on its pharamaceutical portfolio.
Collagenna is currently concentrating on its international expansion and recently formed a distribution agreement with Switzerland-based company Alphaderm Body and Wellnesss.


text:
Sex and the City 2 hasn't even hit theaters, and there are already rumors Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte are coming back for a third.
Not so fast.
"This is not true," a New Line Cinema rep tells UsMagazine.com.
PICS: How much all those clothes cost in SATC 2
According to the UK Sun, the studio wanted to move quickly to film a third flick before the Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon got too old.
"It's under wraps for publicity reasons," the paper quotes an insider saying. "It makes sense to film the second and third movies back-to-back... They're keen to look as young as possible because that movie will be their last."
SATC 2 hits theaters May 28.


text: The agents, all in their 30s, were taking part in Operation Snowcap, a seven-year-old U.S. effort to dismantle cocaine networks. TIME Washington correspondent Elaine Shannon says the program -- which tries to wipe out air landing strips in the area that produces 60 percent of the world's coca leaves -- is under fire within the agency for showboating and has faced increasing budget cuts under the Clinton Administration: some top D.E.A hands "say a lot of agents have been having a good time playing war. But they think the money ought to be spent closer to home."


text:
I sit here in the cell of my creation
A grim dark world that my mind,
Has laid out for no one else, but me.
I can feel the cold seeping in my soul
As a shudder runs full length of my spine,
Eyes sewed shut so I may not even see.
I recall a trauma to my being and tears
Then nothing until this moment now,
I don't understand how this came to be.
Movement is restricted to just a finger
My arms and legs held tight and fast,
As if they are afraid to set me free.
What haveI done to deserve this hell?
I can't recall or remember can you help,
Me escape from this obvious atrocity.
Oh dear God! no I don't believe what you say
I must look deep within and here I must stay
I cry as I realise there is no-one here but me
Sitting in my eternal complicity!
© Copyright 2017 Ian Dawn. All rights reserved.
Add Your Comments:
A call explanasion of traum, sadness and what it's like. Well done! :)
I don't know why, but this reminded me of one of my patients, this was good, as usual :) "eyes sewed shut so I may not even see" this is when you see without sight :) Excellent job
Eyes sewed shut so I may not even see, definitely was the "eye-catcher".
It was really a good description of someone numb on the edge of insanity, liked it.
Good job, keep me posted on more :]
wow, such a unique way of expression. Very tight, forever locked up with darkness. You are soooooo good writing this grimness, pure prison of the mind, soul!! I truly felt the tightness being stuck in the madness, TREMENDOUS VIVID EFFORT, GREATLY TOLD!!
This is really compelling Ian. What i get from this is someone who has undergone intense therapy and then much later on has a complete meltdown as the therapy brings uncertain and unpleasant truths to the surface! A cheery interpretation eh?!! Great stuff mate - had me hooked.
Graeme, not Ian ... sorry!!
This is deep and beautiful.
Sorry I have took so long Ian' deeply apologise.
first request I'm tending to(:
love how unique this is heartfelt and honest.
Proud very proud.
I like that
very cool poem Ian!!!
I simply love it.
Everyone gets stuck in madness, i love this poem. Definitely a like for me.
Truly incredible work, Ian. Your poems never fail to instill a feeling of dread in me, and the atmosphere is just overall dark....nice job!!!
This is amazing! The poem somewhat reminds me of an earlier poem I did called "A War With No End" because it plunges in the same subject matter so this poem really hits me.
Excellent work and thanks for the invite!
a dark deep intense and powerful write enjoyed reading this piece
The poem cuts deep, exploring further that deep abyss that longs to swallow you if you linger there for just a tad too long. You're amazing and your description of a personal hell is painful. Keep it up.
this is so good, i mean you just totally added the feelings you wanted to into it! wow so lub it
=) ?
this reminded me of a catatonic mood often found in the deepest stages of depression x
Madness with a side of darkness at a lonely table for one. You really put together some profound thoughts with this one. Well done!
I thought I had commented this the first time I read it! Ooops! I better do it now! :-)
Very insightful!
Stunnig piece, gave me goose bumps and shivers as I read it! Thank you for recommending I read this!
Clem ";
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text: Show Hide image Politics 31 January 2013 Commons Confidential: A donkey stalks Westminster Why has supposed Tory leadership hopeful Adam Afriyie been popping in to visit Liam Fox? Sign up for our weekly email * Declarations of loyalty to David Cameron from Adam Afriyie were undermined by an admission he had discussed the "long-term future of the party" with other Tories. The hapless Windsor MP may be more stalking donkey than stalking horse but his wealth, reportedly as large as £100m, buys him clout. He might never wear the crown, but one so rich could finance a coronation. Which office did my snout see Afriyie popping in and out of in the weeks before the great plot was publicly alleged? None other than the Commons den – an office along a corridor called the North Curtain, a short cut from the hairdressers – of Dr Liam Fox. Afriyie may not harbour leadership ambitions but I'm not sure the same could be said of the right-wing former defence secretary. The "Nazi stag party" MP Aidan Burley continues to confound colleagues on the Commons work and pensions committee with his poor grasp of government programmes. Hurly-Burley interrupted a discussion of Disability Living Allowance with a question about Employment and Support Allowance. My informant said it was rather like raising India during deliberations on South America. The more I hear about Burley, the easier it is to grasp how he failed to understand that an SS uniform would cause offence. I suspect he isn't overwhelmed with bids when pub quiz teams are formed. Interesting to note how peers' attendance in the House of Cronies is going up with their expenses. A parliamentary answer disclosed that the average daily turnout in 2010 was 397 unelected lawmakers, who claimed a mean (in the arithmetical sense) of £270. Fast-forward to 2012 and the typical attendance was up to 488 and the average payout had risen to £287. Meanwhile, Lords staff are heading for their fourth successive annual pay freeze. Food for thought after Ed Miliband and Mervyn King got into a stew by claiming that Brendan Barber would be going on a Jamie Oliver cookery course after he retired from the TUC. The Labour leader and the governor of the Bank of England, I gather, both got the wrong end of the ladle at the general sec's farewell party. Barber is no union chef. The recipe for confusion is blamed on a half-boiled rumour. The Pizzagate photograph of the upper-crust Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson enjoying a Davos dinner on the eve of hard cheese for the British economy has been labelled, as William Cash notes on page 13, the Bullingdon Club on tour. Despite its familiarity, the idea that the three most powerful Tories were members of the same Hooray Henry society at Oxford retains the ability to startle. I'm told Boris boasts privately that his £389,625, including Torygraphmoney, exceeds the salaries of Dave and George combined. They're not all in this together. Kevin Maguire is associate editor (politics) of the Daily Mirror Kevin Maguire is Associate Editor (Politics) on the Daily Mirror and author of our Commons Confidential column on the high politics and low life in Westminster. An award-winning journalist, he is in frequent demand on television and radio and co-authored a book on great parliamentary scandals. He was formerly Chief Reporter on the Guardian and Labour Correspondent on the Daily Telegraph. Subscribe from just £1 per issue This article first appeared in the 04 February 2013 issue of the New Statesman, The Intervention Trap More


text:
Columbia man kills wife and daughters
Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:01:42 GMT —
Former Columbia Water and Light Director James Kraig Kahler is being held on 10 million dollars bond, charged with three counts of capital murder.
He was arrested on Sunday after a 12 hour manhunt. Kahler is accused of shooting and killing his wife Karen, and their daughters Emily and Lauren at Karen TMs grandmother's house in eastern Kansas. He also faces charges of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of his wife's 89-year-old grandmother Dorothy Wright. She remains in critical condition. Authorities said Kahler's son Sean escaped and called for help.
Karen's attorney Daniel Pingelton believes the ten-year-old boy did not escape, but was spared. (Watch an extended interview with Pingelton)
"I am going to be brutally honest with you, Pingelton said. I wasn't surprised that Sean was the only one to escape. His dad let him go. His dad could have killed him. He chose not to for a reason."
Pingelton said the reason is that Kahler wanted his son, but never wanted his daughters. Both daughters were excellent students at Columbia TMs Rock Bridge High School. 18 year old Emily recently graduated from Rock Bridge and was attending pharmacy school at St. Louis University. 16 year old Lauren was a Rock Bridge junior.
The tragic news of Emily, Lauren and their mother, Karen, quickly spread across the Rock Bridge High School campus. Just before 11 a.m. the entire school stopped for a moment of silence.
"Even if someone didn't personally know one of these young ladies, knowing that this has occurred and knowing that this was someone in our family, I think we all hurt for that, Rock Bridge Principal Kathy Ritter said.
The Kahlers were going through a divorce. Kahler lost his job as Columbia TMs Water and Light Director after city manager Bill Watkins requested his resignation because of difficult family issues.
Karen, who worked as a fitness trainer at the Columbia ARC, got a restraining order against her husband after Kahler was charged with third-degree assault.
"The guy shows up and kills three people, Pingelton said. No piece of paper going to stop that."
Pingelton said his main priority is assisting the Kahler family in establishing a legal guardian for Sean.
Because both Kraig and Karen Kahler worked for the City of Columbia, City Manager Bill Watkins released a statement offering his condolences and offering counseling services to any employee who needs them.
The following is Watkins' statement:I issue this statement on behalf of the City of Columbia with stunned sadness. The tragedy involving former Water and Light Director Kraig Kahler, his wife Karen, their children and her grandmother is almost beyond comprehension. Our thoughts and prayers are with the survivors, the extended family and their colleagues and friends. As the family makes arrangements for services and other remembrances, we will act in accordance with their wishes. Many of us knew Kraig and Karen well. Karen and the children continued to live in Columbia. She worked at the Columbia Activities and Recreation Center, on a contract basis, as a personal trainer and fitness coach. Both of them were part of the City family. This loss affects all of us. Counseling is available through the City TMs Employee Assistance Program for those employees who wish to use the service, and I am available to any employee who needs additional help or information. We have clarified with the Kansas Attorney General TMs office that they prefer to be the source of any comments on the case that they are handling. Out of respect for the family, and to avoid jeopardizing any further legal proceedings, whether here or in Kansas, I decline further comment at this time.To restate the conditions of Kraig TMs employment with the City, I asked for and received his resignation last September. His difficult family issues, in my opinion, affected his focus on the Columbia Water and Light Department in a way that was not likely to change in the near future Watch an extended interview with Dan Pingelton


text:
Connections of Fort Knox insist there is no hurry to decide upon his Classic target.
The three-year-old made a successful debut for trainer Tommy Carmody when running out a comfortable winner of the 2,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday.
Previously a Newbury maiden winner for Richard Hannon, Fort Knox has a clutch of Classic entries, beginning with the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on 4 May.
Jockey and assistant trainer Johnny Murtagh believes all options are still open for the Andrew Tinkler-owned colt, but they will take their time in deciding a target.
Murtagh told At The Races: "I spoke to Andrew last night and there's no real rush.
"He's in all the Guineas - the English, Irish and French - and we'll probably make a decision in the next couple of days.
"He's very straightforward, but I'd be hoping he'd go on better ground.
"He's small, but he's very sharp - probably a mile is as far as far he'd want to go."
Meanwhile, Kieren Fallon will be back in action for the big meeting at Newmarket on Wednesday, despite suffering food poisoning over the weekend.
The six-times champion jockey has given up his six rides at Redcar on Monday, but intends to be back in the saddle for the Nell Gwyn fixture at the Headquarters of British Flat racing.


text:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bank of America is giving some of its most troubled mortgage borrowers relief from the threat of foreclosure.
The bank, the largest mortgage servicer in the country, said Wednesday it will forgive up to 30 percent of some customers' total mortgage balances. The homeowners must have missed at least two months of mortgage payments and owe at least 20 percent more than their home is currently worth.
The plan is the newest provision of an agreement the bank reached 18 months ago with state attorneys general to settle charges over high-risk loans made by Countrywide Financial Corp. before Bank of America acquired the mortgage lender in mid 2008. The bank has since stopped making those loans.
Although the motivation for Bank of America's announcement was to resolve legal problems, it has the potential of putting pressure on other banks to also forgive principal on loans that are in danger of failing.
Some banks said they have already reduced principal on some mortgages. Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday it has modified more than 52,000 adjustable-rate mortgages that it inherited through its acquisition of Wachovia Corp. in late 2008. As of the fourth quarter, the bank also had reduced the principal on those mortgages by more than $2.6 billion.
Citigroup Inc. would not say whether it planned a similar program, but it did issue a statement that said in part, "Citi does reduce principal for borrowers on a case-by-case basis after other options to address affordability are exhausted."
A spokeswoman from JPMorgan Chase & Co. declined to comment on whether it planned a similar program.
Bank of America estimates that about 45,000 customers will qualify for its plan, which begins in May. The offer will cut total reduced principal by about $3 billion.
It's not clear how big a financial hit Bank of America will take by reducing mortgages. But the move will likely be less costly than having homeowners walk out on their mortgages or opt to do a short sale, banking analyst Bert Ely said, referring to when a seller owes more than the house is worth and the lender is willing to accept less than the mortgage balance.
"This is about loss minimization," Ely said. "There's going to be losses (for Bank of America). The question is what's the easiest way out."
The plan does carry risks. For starters, borrowers who aren't 60 days behind on their mortgages may stop making payments so they can qualify. The more borrowers who try to qualify, the bigger the potential loss for Bank of America. The bank will also have to absorb the costs of renegotiating the loans.
According to the new plan, Bank of America will first offer to set aside a portion of the principal balance, interest free. That principal can be forgiven over five years, if homeowners don't miss any payments. The maximum decrease in principal will be 30 percent.
The forgiveness allows a homeowner to bring a mortgage balance back down to 100 percent of the home's value, the bank said.


text:
3 Suicide Prevention Tips for the Holidays
So, I'm a member of the Nevada Coalition for Suicide Prevention and this is an article I submitted to them to be used in a statewide newsletter, but I also wanted to make sure it reached my readers first. Please share these suicide prevention tips with as many people as possible. You never know who might need them.
The holidays are meant to be a joyous time for all, but let's face it, it's also when a lot of emotions get stirred up for many of us. Whether it's memories of those we've lost, a family gathering gone wrong or the disappointment of not being able to afford gifts. But I'd like to offer a new perspective on this. What if instead of viewing these events as wrong or bad, we allowed the memories to surface and gave ourselves permission to express how we truly feel? And what if this created opportunites for forgiveness and deeper connections with those we love?
Perhaps this holiday season can be a time for healing and connection. Maybe our love and presence and choice to uplift others will lend hope to those who need it most. And maybe when we allow others to uplift us, we'll give them a sense of purpose and belonging. You never know.
Here are three simple guidelines to experience more joy and connection for the holidays – two things that may just save someone's life.
#1 – Have keen awareness.
This is a time to be really tuned in. To yourself. To the world around you. And to all those you love. Each person you encounter is a reflection of you. Every human being on this earth is unique and offers value to the world. When we choose to look at our life in this way, it appears a little brighter and in turn has a positive impact on those closest to us. So, be present to the gift each moment has to offer. And be aware of the gift that is you. As you know and feel your own worth, you inspire others to find it within themselves. YES, you are that powerful!
#2 – Let connection be the priority.
Before your interactions with others, set the intention to connect and experience more love, laughter or anything you'd like. For example, if you're about to have a conversation with your best friend, first make it clear in your mind (and your heart!) that you want to feel connected – imagine the two of you laughing and enjoying one another's company. You can also make your intentions known by sharing them with your family and friends. Tell them what you want and how you feel and ask them what they'd like to see and feel more of in their life. A lot of the time we assume others know what we want, but the only way to be abolutely certain is to speak up. You might be surprised to discover it's all the other person wanted too, but he or she was afraid to ask.
#3 – Let love be what fuels you.
Actively look for evidence of love in all people, including yourself. If something is going on with someone you love, you can feel it. If you notice something is up, don't take it personally, but definitely take it seriously. Offer to help (not fix) in any way you can and ask for help when you need it. Find little things you appreciate about yourself and everyone you encounter. At the grocery store, while you're waiting for your food or even by offering a smile to the person sitting in the car next to you at a stop light. When you make a point to put love at the top of your list and are driven by the desire to love and be loved, anything is possible.
As you keep these three concepts in mind and practice them on a daily basis you'll create healing for yourself and your entire family. You are such an asset to this world. We all are. And we're all in this together. So this holiday season give those you love something greater than presents or the "perfect"occasion – give them the gift of being seen and heard and allow others to see you and hear what you have to say.
Journal Time:
As a journaling exercise for today, write about some other ways you can deepen your connection with those you love…and even those you don't.
How can you deepen your connection to YOU?
As always, thank you for reading and please leave your comments below. How did this article impact you?


text:
|Genetic analysis in a Dutch study sample identifies more ulcerative colitis susceptibility loci and shows their additive role in disease risk.
|Festen, E.A.; Stokkers, P.C.; Diemen, C.C. van; Bodegraven, A.A. van; Boezen, H.M.; Crusius, B.J.; Hommes, D.W.; Woude, C.J. van der; Balschun, T.; Verspaget, H.W.; Schreiber, S.; Jong, D.J. de ; Franke, A.; Dijkstra, G.; Wijmenga, C.; Weersma, R.K.
|Publication year:
|American Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 105, iss. 2, (2010), pp. 395-402
|Publication type:
|Article / Letter to editor
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item : http://hdl.handle.net/2066/88519
|IGMD 2: Molecular gastro-enterology and hepatology
|UMCN Extern
|Journal title:
|American Journal of Gastroenterology
|vol. 105
|iss. 2
|Page start:
|p. 395
|Page end:
|p. 402
OBJECTIVES: Genetic susceptibility is known to make a major contribution to the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). Recently, three studies, including a genome-wide association study (GWAS), reported novel UC risk loci. METHODS: The top-20 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the first UC-GWAS were genotyped, as part of the study's replication phase, in 561 UC cases and 728 controls from our Dutch UC study sample. We genotyped eight SNPs identified in two more studies, in these individuals, and replicated all significantly associated SNPs in an additional 894 UC cases and 1,174 controls from our Dutch UC study sample. A combined analysis for all patients (n=1,455) and controls (n=1,902) was performed. Dose-response models were constructed with the associated risk alleles. RESULTS: We found 12 SNPs tagging ten loci, including HLA-DRA, IL10, IL23R, JAK2, S100Z, ARPC2, and ECM1, to be associated with UC. We identified 10q26, flagged by the UC-GWAS but not confirmed in its replication phase, as a UC locus and found a trend toward association for GAS7. No association with disease localization or severity was found. The dose-response models show that individuals carrying 11 or more risk alleles have an odds ratio of 8.2 (confidence interval 3.0-22.8) for UC susceptibility. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed the association of multiple loci with UC in the Dutch population and found evidence for association of 10q26 and a trend suggesting association for GAS7. Genetic models show that multiple risk loci in an individual increase the risk for developing UC.


text:
Welcome to E-Books Directory
This is a freely downloadable e-book.
Lectures on Linear Algebra and Matrices
Read this book online or download it here for free
Lectures on Linear Algebra and Matrices
by G. Donald Allen
Publisher: Texas A&M University 2003
Number of pages: 238
Contents: Vectors and Vector Spaces; Matrices and Linear Algebra; Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors; Unitary Matrices; Hermitian Theory; Normal Matrices; Factorization Theorems; Jordan Normal Form; Hermitian and Symmetric Matrices; Nonnegative Matrices.
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