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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Menlo Park, CA, United States, 2012/12/17 - New skin cream is the first to contain gallium maltolate, a compound shown to be anti-inflammatory and analgesic in scientific studies - Gallixa.com.
After several years of research and development by Harvard- and Stanford-trained scientist Dr. Lawrence R. Bernstein, a skin cream is being introduced that contains the novel compound gallium maltolate. This compound, which consists of the rare element gallium and the naturally occurring, sugar-like molecule maltol (abundant in many baked foods), has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties that have been documented in scientific publications.
The pain-relieving properties of the skin cream, which is being marketed under the name Gallixa, were discovered fortuitously, when it was applied to a 99-year-old woman who was suffering agonizing, intractable facial pain that persisted after a bout of shingles (postherpetic neuralgia). Despite four years of treatment with dozens of drugs, including morphine, the patient had experienced little pain relief. Gallium maltolate skin cream nearly eliminated her pain within ten minutes, and she used the product everyday for more than five years, frequently telling people that it saved my life. Since then, many others have found that the product provides pain relief for a variety of problems, including minor scrapes and burns, insect bites, arthritis, and neuropathic pain, with no reported side effects of any kind.
In addition, many physicians and other individuals have found that Gallixa can eliminate or greatly improve numerous skin problems, including psoriasis, acne, seborrhea, eczema, and actinic keratosis (pre-skin-cancer). Walter Lewis, a physician in Santa Barbara, California, who uses Gallixa on himself and his family, said,The gallium [maltolate] cream is nothing short of magic. It is prompt in action, devoid of side effects, easy to apply, non-greasy and non-staining and has no unpleasant odor to it, an altogether wonderful and efficacious product. A dermatologist in Flagstaff, Arizona (Therese Holguin), who also uses the product on herself and her family, said this about a 16-year-old boy: In my opinion, gallium [maltolate] cream works better for this patient with resistant acne than any of the other products he has used for his acne. No side effects have occurred with its usage. And Daniel Jacobs, a plastic surgeon in San Jose, California (who has used Gallixa on his skin), says,I honestly think that you may have an important contribution to a significant unmet clinical need.
Gallixa is being sold as a cosmetic skin cream, with no medical claims: it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Gallixa is a product of Gallixa LLC and is currently available through the website.
About Gallixa, LLC
Gallixa LLC (Gallixa.com) is dedicated to introducing novel and safe products that enhance health and beauty. Its research and development activities are focused on natural, mineral-based substances.
Written by / Agency / Source: Gallixa, LLC
Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)
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AT&T said it will take a $4 billion pre-tax charge in the event that its acquisition of T-Mobile USA collapses, in a move that would seem to be an acknowledgement of odds stacking up against the proposed merger.
The communications giant for the time being withdrew its application from the US Federal Communications Commission, but said it would continue its efforts to gain anti-trust approval from the US Department of Justice
The Justice Department says the buyout of the Deutsche Telekom-owned company could have a damaging effect on competition and jobs numbers within the mobile telecommunications industry.
AT&T issued a statement Thursday saying: "AT&T Inc and Deutsche Telekom AG are continuing to pursue the sale of Deutsche Telekom's US wireless assets to AT&T".
The DOJ and the FCC are both against the deal, which would see the second-largest and the fourth-largest US wireless carriers join forces, cutting back the number of national carriers to three. "The record clearly shows that, in no uncertain terms, this merger would result in a massive loss of US jobs and investment," a top official from the FCC told Reuters Thursday.
The FCC will have to approve AT&T's application withdrawal and can also impose conditions on new merger applications between the two companies in the future.
AT&T and Deutsche Telekom said they would bring their application back to the FCC if the Justice Department approves the acquisition.
Dwindling Hope
If the deal falls through it would be a huge setback for AT&T, which offered a massive $4 billion break-up fee in March to bring Deutsche Telekom on board.
Industry analysts Espirito Santo said AT&T's $4 billion accounting charge was a clear indication the company's hopes of winning anti-trust approval were dwindling.
"AT&T may decide to walk away at the first opportunity (March 20, 2012) rather than waiting for the ultimate September 20, 2012 deadline," Espirito Santo communicated to clients.
The DOJ has brought court proceedings to block the acquisition, with the hearing set to get underway on February 13. If the merger gains approval, the FCC will then have its chance to argue that consumers will suffer from higher prices and job numbers will fall.
Contrary to the FCC's premise, AT&T said the deal between the two companies could create tens of thousands of new jobs, even promising to relocate 5,000 overseas jobs back to the US.
AT&T employs around 260,000 staff, with a further 36,000 at Deutsche Telekom's US offices.
Key Statistics – Global Wireless Telecommunications Industry (source: MarketLine)
- In 2010, the global wireless telecommunications services industry saw revenue of $890 billion, growing at an annual rate of 8.8% from 2006.
- Between 2006 and 2010, market consumption levels grew at an annual rate of nearly 16% to reach over 4.08 billion subscribers.
- The industry is expected to slow between 2010 and 2015, with annual growth levels falling to 7.5%, which will push the market value up to $1.28 trillion by the end of 2015.

subset: commoncrawl


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Another year and another Central Arkansas Swim League championship for the powerhouse Sherwood Sharks.
Sherwood won the league's Meet of Champs handily on Saturday, scoring 745 team points and more than doubling second-place Cabot's total of 372. Sherwood and Cabot were easily the two top teams in the league. Their combined score beat the other six teams in the league combined by over 100 points.
For the Sharks, they scored enough points to win the meet just from their swimmers who won first place points. Sherwood's girls won 41 races, while the boys won 40 races.
For the girls, Alaya Smith was as dominant as possible in her 11-12 platinum division, winning the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley. Michael Potts almost equaled that feat for the boys 7-8 platinum division, winning everything except for the back, where he finished second by four hundredths of a second.
Noah Hughes was the winner in three races, taking the gold free and breast and the silver fly.
Tyson Pfeiffer won the silver free and bronze breast. Jacob Dunn won the gold IM, Drake Miller the silver back, and Russell Lipsey the bronze free.
While Potts was the star, several other Sharks had good days as well. Jacob Robinson won the gold free and back, while Maddox McCrory won the gold IM. Kaden Patterson won the silver breast, and Caleb Thomas won the bronze breast.
Dillon Wood had a pair of wins, taking the platinum breast and fly. Blane Godbee won the gold free, Brock Godbee the gold back, Nicholas Bromley the silver breast and Blake Dunn the bronze free.
Nicholas Heye and Joseph Potts seemed to take turns winning platinum races for the Sharks. Heye won the back, IM and also the gold fly. Potts won the free and fly.
Phillip Stanley won the gold fly, Lawson Ashley the silver back, Chris Geater the silver fly, Garrett Haitley the bronze fly, and Elijah Keen the bronze IM.
KJ Royal took first in the silver free and back, while Ian Heye won the gold back, and Daniel Ashcraft the bronze free.
Quanderrius Doss looked like a torpedo in the platinum free race, winning by well over a full second. He also won the platinum fly.
Jayson Simmons won the gold back, and Skyler Lancaster won the silver back.
Sophie Gaylord gave the Sharks a ton of points, winning the gold free, back and IM, and taking second in the breast and fly. Sami Stafford added wins in the silver free and gold fly.
Madelynn Morrow had a strong day against the best competition, winning the platinum free and back, while finishing second in the breast, fly and IM.
Meredith Lipsey won the gold free and fly, while Aubrey Nelson won the silver IM and bronze back, and Skylee Hartley won the silver fly and bronze IM.
Emma Browning won the gold breast, Lillie Ballany the silver free, and Lilly Mosely took the silver back.
Avery Ballany came close to a clean sweep in her races, winning the platinum free, back and fly, winning the gold IM, and taking second in the gold breast.
Pierson Richart took first in the platinum breast, Hailey Enggano won the gold free, Elea Blakely the silver back, Carly Morrow the silver IM, Sarah Rounsaville the bronze back, and Kathryn McCrory the bronze breast.
Betsy Ponder won the silver back, Audrey Nony the bronze back and Claire Morrow the bronze fly in addition to the banner day by Alaya Smith.
Jordan Godbee won the silver back, while Maddy Barth and Rebecca Housley added bronze wins in the free and breast, respectively.
Avery Godbee won the gold back and silver IM for the Sharks. Leila Kerr took the gold breast, while Hanna Detar won the bronze fly.


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The FAA has awarded Pratt & Whitney a one-year contract under its Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (Cleen) program to develop engine technology aimed at reducing specific fuel consumption, noise and engine emissions. This funding will support Pratt & Whitney 's ongoing development of its PurePower geared-turbofan engine.
The goal of the Cleen program is to develop and commercialize technologies for civil aircraft and engines to achieve the goals of the FAA's Next Generation air transportation system (NextGen). The intent is to increase airspace system capacity by making a significant reduction in the impact of noise and air quality. Cleen program specifics call for technology introduction starting in 2015.
Goals include a reduction of aircraft fuel burn by 33 percent over current technology baseline, a reduction of noise by 32dB below Stage 4 levels and a lowering of NOx emissions by 60 percent below CAEP 6 standards. Pratt & Whitney will work to achieve further advancements in fuel burn, emissions and noise through 2025. The company claims the combination of its gear system and advanced core will allow for double-digit improvements in efficiency and exhaust emissions while providing a 50-percent reduction in noise over current engines. The company expects fuel burn savings of 25 to 35 percent by the 2020s.


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July 13th, 2013 04:53 AM #7
Do you know what to teach? If not, why not nutrition related subject?
Apparently I'm only few years older than you and still struggling with somewhat similar issue. Am a college junior right now, but not 100% sure this is what I want. I enjoy being in my major and my current job, but I still think that maybe, there is something else I will enjoy even more. When I chose my current path, I thought about something challenging, out of my comfort zone, and "something-that-I-imagine-myself-can-do-that-for-a-long-time-in-my-life/hopefully forever". Well, you know what I mean.
My family was okay with any options I considered that time, except medicine (more expensive, longer time to finish, you name it).
Choose something you love, Cara dear. Consider what your parent said but do not let them make the decision for you. It's your life, not theirs.
If you still not sure, try both. Learning is never a waste of time. Apply double major if you can manage that (okay, maybe I'm not the best adviser, lol) but only if you still love nutrition as well. Otherwise, being rebellious sometime can be necessary. Debate him, negotiate with him, anything that can make him understand your p.o.v. Good luck.Cynthia/Luna
twenty-something name nerd. infj
Seraphina Juliette Audrey. Evangeline Laetitia Odette. Catalina Ariadne Helen. Valentina Bellatrix Yvaine
Violetta Catherine Lenore. Isabelle Faustina Clare. Rosalind Anna Belphoebe. Guinevere Cassia Ottilie
Vanessa Rose Aphrodite. Helena Edelweiss. Talitha Caroline. Aurelia Madelief
Peregrine Lysander James. Gavriel Alexander Callum. James Luca Auberon. Edmund Frederic Altair
Perseus Arthur Flynn. Cassius Jason Alaric. Damien Alexei Orion


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AUGUSTA, Ga.
They did not come to forgive. They came to approve. They came to applaud. They came to shout their devotion in the direction of Tiger Woods.
It was 1:35 p.m. Thursday, and the fans jammed against the ropes on the first tee of Augusta National as if they were attending a church revival on Easter Sunday. They stood, jammed shoulder to shoulder, row after row, lined all the way down the fairway on an afternoon that felt like a clay oven. Their necks were craned. Their faces were adoring. Their voices were reverent.
Soon, Tiger would come.
Soon, he would be a golfer once more.
The applause began — and the small jokes in the gallery ceased — as soon as the marshal slid Woods' name into a standard at the tee. It rose as Woods worked his way through the crowd, and by the time he pulled the tiger's-head cover from his driver, the noise had escalated into that full-blown roar that is usually reserved for great shots that have been guided into the hole by golf angels.
Overhead, a plane circled with a banner that read "Tiger: Did You Mean Bootyism," a reference to Woods' comments about Buddhism, but on the ground, there was no disapproval of him to be found. No one heckled. No one booed. As near as anyone could tell, no one even frowned.
Woods smiled widely, and he touched his cap, and he silently mouthed "thank you." This was his place, and these were his people, and they cheered him as if he were their crown prince returning to the palace. In a way, perhaps he was.
Then Woods addressed the ball, fidgeted three times and launched a Nike golf ball down the middle of the fairway.
That was when it really got loud.
A thousand psychologists could spend a thousand years debating the deep inner meanings of the sound that rose for Woods. It was the sound of faith being restored. There was love in the applause, and glee, and maybe a bit of defiance aimed toward Woods' critics. There was a warmth and wonder, and a large portion of allegiance. Despite all Woods' scandals, despite all his flaws, this was his crowd, and it was there to watch a wayward son carry on.
"We love you, Tiger," one fan yelled.
"Welcome back, Tiger," yelled another.
"Make us proud," yelled a third.
Really, what would you expect? These were golf fans. They were not moralists. They were not protesters. They were not critics or jurists or, goodness forbid, sports writers. They were people who are entertained by great golf, and after 144 days, the best golfer on the planet was back.
"The people were just incredible," Woods said. "Incredible all day."
Believe what you will about Woods, but this was one of the incredible displays of focus in recent sports memory. If Woods had shown rust, if had seemed bothered by the scrutiny, it would have been understandable. Instead, he was Tiger. A day after the National Enquirer ran screaming headlines about yet another mistress, a day after being admonished by Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, a day after being lectured by his late father in a Nike ad, Woods threw up 4-under 68. He had two eagles. He had never broken 70 in his first round.
"It felt normal," Woods said.
It looked better than that. Even with a scoreboard chocked with familiar names, Tom Watson and Phil Mickelson and Freddie Couples, no one could match the love affair Woods had with his followers.
"I'm a golf fan," said Neil Rabb, a college student from Asheboro, N.C. "The rest of it doesn't have anything to do with my life."
Agree with them or not, that seemed to sum up the feelings of most of the fans who followed Woods around the course. There did not seem to be a dissenting voice in the crowd. Not even Payne's.
"I think everyone has screwed up," said Jeff Crouch, 35, an industrial engineer from Lexington, S.C. "And now Tiger has screwed up. But you don't give up, and he hasn't given up.
"I think most men will be a little envious of Tiger. You just have to remember all the temptations in front of him. I hate that it got out, because it has nothing to do with what he does for a living. He's a man. He's a damned good golfer, but he's a man."
Funny thing. The more fans seemed to love Woods, the more he loved them back. And maybe that's a thing for Woods to keep in mind. For a long time he has been distant, almost robotic. Few players in any sport have had Woods' focus, but sometimes perhaps he shut out too many things.
Not Thursday. Thursday, Woods set a personal record for the number of times he tipped his hat. As he walked the fairways, he smiled as if he was running for office. He chatted with his playing partners. For a day, at least, he didn't seem to be chasing Jack Nicklaus. He seemed to be channeling Arnold Palmer. After all the reasons he had given his fans to turn away, they loved him still. And he loved them right back.
Even in disappointment, Tiger kept his famed temper in check. When his tee shot on the fourth hole carried over the green, he doubled over, grimaced and said, "Oh, come on." On No. 11 he banged his club and uttered "damn," but that was it.
All in all, it was one of the great comebacks of Tiger's career. The swing is still there. The courses are still conquerable.
And the fans, with their unadulterated love, are still here to embrace him.


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To try the thousands of add-ons available here, download Mozilla Firefox, a fast, free way to surf the Web!Close
Welcome to Firefox Add-ons.
Choose from thousands of extra features and styles to make Firefox your own.Close
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My Reviews
Freaking Awesome!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars
I don't know what some of these other folks are talking about - this add-on performs exactly as advertised and perfects my Firefox experience. It saves me a TON of memory when I start Firefox, and if I go a bit tab-crazy, it will indeed unload them after the specified time and the memory usage of firefox.exe goes down. Windows Task Manager wouldn't lie about this. I'm using XP with FF 3.6.13. And the "alcohol reference" won't break anybody. Sheesh, some people shouldn't leave church. Five stars, two thumbs up, totally awesome!
messes up BarTab Rated 4 out of 5 stars
I've used this in the past to help me quickly identify tabs. I'm dropping it now though because it doesn't play nicely with BarTab.This review is for a previous version of the add-on (0.9.6).
Menu Editor
was awesome until it broke Rated 3 out of 5 stars
I used to really like this extension, I soon had my menus nicely trimmed and pretty. At some point over the last few months, however, I noticed my contextual tab-click menus were broken. I finally got around to looking for the problem and it seems to be this extension since removing it has removed the problem. Too bad, great idea, perhaps it'll work for me again sometime....This review is for a previous version of the add-on (1.2.6).
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Well, I'm still using FF 3.5 but I just found this add-on and I'm thrilled with it. I discovered that it plays nicely with the "foxiFrame" add-on (plus the many others i use) so anyone using 3.5 who wants to maximize their screen has a good option with that combo. Five stars! :)
foxiFrame basic
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Well I'm still using FF 3.5, but I just found this add-on and I'm thrilled with it. I discovered that it plays nicely with the "disablemenu" add-on, so if anyone using 3.5 wants to reclaim their screen real-estate....This review is for a previous version of the add-on (3.6.1).
Tab Mix Plus
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
THIS IS THE BEST EVER. This addon alone would make Firefox #1 for me. If you're using 3.0.1 get a beta copy off the site listed in the description, it probably works fine.This review is for a previous version of the add-on (0.3.6).
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
It's a good idea that is catching on widely. Unfortunately, the incompatibility with TabMixPlus means I cannot use it.
Auto Timer
Good for Dates? Rated 3 out of 5 stars
This add-on seems like it could be very useful for someone who wants to remember upcoming dates. However, I am disappointed that there does not seem to be any way to track the number of *hours* until a certain time or (time on date). I'll set a timer for a month from now, and check back to see if the hours have been added! :)This review is for a previous version of the add-on (0.17.25).
Toggle Search
Can be useful Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Toggle Search does do what it says - it minimizes the space taken by the search bar, which can be nice. It seems incompatible with another search bar tool, though: "SearchLoad Options", which is much more useful to me. If they played nicely together I'd use them both.
SearchLoad Options
Excellent Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Excellent little addition, does what it says. I can't use "ToggleSearch" anymore, as ToggleSearch breaks SearchLoad, but that isn't a big deal.This review is for a previous version of the add-on (0.5.1).
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What are you looking for in a School?(34 Posts)
What are the priorities?
Academia, Sports, Pastoral care , Arts or Music
or anything in between.
I'm just curious how your decision was made..and why?
My DC all went to their catchment area schools (and before anyone asks, no we didn't choose our home on the basis of the schools)
We had a choice of 2 for our dd and chose the one with the slightly better local reputation, which is pretty middle class of us.
All of it Kenlee, with the main emphasis on Academia (on the right level for our ds) and in close proximity to our home.
depends a lot on child, your expectations, and schools available.
ds is quite clever. he could do well academically, but he is also very peer driven (if it isn't 'cool' he won't do it) so we looked for a school where being bright and doing well was an important part of the culture.
he is actually probably going to go to the grammar school (we will know in march)
he also likes sport, but is no future England player, so a school where he would get lots of sport for fun/team experience was important too.
dd is musical, and very clever in 'non girls' subjects- especially maths she is also quiet in the class and tends to get overlooked. She is only year 4, but I think we will try and get her into the girls school.
My friend's dd is not really an academic type. But she loves her music and drama. They have looked at a school with a big emphasis on performing arts, and at the same time good solid results.
Another friend has a daughter who wants to be a doctor, they went purely by the highest results on the league table.
We visited loads of schools, atmosphere, behaviour and how well the staff interacted with parents and kids was important too.
We looked for pastoral care, a good level of academics for our level of child, quality of life, and general ethos of the school.
By quality of life I essentially mean commuting method / time.
Ethos of the school e.g. overtly pushy, 'whole child centred', 'have to be sporty to get on' etc.
If looking now I would also wish to be aware of:
- do they set or stream
- who gets to do triple science for GCSE
- how flexible are options choices
- how to contact teachers
Just curious, those of you who have visited loads of schools - these are private, right?
Mintyy, not all. We visited our local comprehensives, not so local faith schools, and a few private schools.
Both DS1 and DS2 were fortunate enough to meet the admissions criteria for three different state secondaries.
We chose the one we chose because:
The journey was manageable.
The pupils seemed articulate, polite and enthusiastic about the school.
It is known for good discipline and a lack of low-level disruption, so the pupils who want to learn can do so without distraction.
(For DS2 only It was the only school out of the three that promised to differentiate for his level of giftedness, and the only school of the three that had existing plans in place to help those with Asperger's.
I have friends who had had negative experiences of the other two schools (bullying not dealt with).
DS1 has now been there for over two years and DS2 has been there for a term. Based on our experience so far, I would give the school 5 stars, 10/10 etc.
We didn't discover this at the time, but the two schools we rejected both stream children (one stream across all subjects) from Y7, which I disapprove of. *
The school we chose does setting in certain subjects, mixed ability teaching for the rest until Y10.
* Streaming can be disastrous for some children, especially those who are very able in some subjects but struggling in others.
The in my first comment was an accidental by-product of punctuation, but DS2 does make me smile daily.
we visited loads of schools - not one of them is private.
We live in a large city. Our 2 nearest schools are rubbish, most of the rest of the schools in the city are accessible. This year there are more places than kids, so we stand a very good chance of getting into pretty much any of the schools, bar one, which is very popular and so you would need to live within about 1 mile.
Our favourite local school is actually in a small town 20 minutes drive away. They run buses from our city. Next favourite is in a small town in the other direction. They run buses.
The grammar school is selective, done on results not distance, so he will go on the train.
So yes, we get a wide choice.
dd2's year (she is onl year 1 so don't have to worry yet!) is a massive bulge year, so then we will be relying on sibling place if we end up at local school
we did look at which subjects were streamed (we wanted subject streaming not whole class streaming)
one school didn't stream at all for anything until year 9, we rejected it.
and asked about how they dealt with discipline issues
and asked about which languages were on offer,
and whether triple science was an option.
and noted that the children showing us round on open evening we nice, articulate, charming kids, that \i want my child to be.
Having decided that we wanted a super selective for DS2, we then looked at opportunities outside of the main curriculum, his slightly niche sport, regular lectures, talks, concerts, plays and other extra curricular activities that we thought might interest him, we talked informally, listened and watched lots of pupils and staff at our two chosen schools, we were not looking for a sausage factory but one where my eccentric lone wolf DS could actually be himself and most importantly be accepted as himself. As we were looking for full boarding (for us another important must have lots of) pastoral care is also very important, we are hands off parents so the HM in particular has to be someone we can trust and relate too. Distance and convenience also played a part in our eventual decision I have a no more than 1 1/2 hour (one way) drive rule preferably on good roads no windy back lanes or even worse half the M25 and and I nearly forgot no ridiculous outdated uniform. Finally we looked at other super selectives (both state and independent) but didn't go any further than the initial look round, I personally like to feel comfortable at these schools, there was nothing wrong with them but I just didn't feel comfortable. I also hate the slightly gushing smarmy sell some schools give you makes me want to run from the hills. I'm frequently write that I'm proud to say I've never looked at a bathroom or a loo and am only moderately interested in dorms. I also pay scant attention to manicured playing fields, library's, swimming pools, science labs and gyms I just assume that they are there and they will be of satisfactory standard.
My DS wanted to be based in a biggish town/city I can understand that because we've always been very rural.
In both cases I was looking above all for the school where they, and I, felt they would be happy. I didn't particularly bother about sports etc facilities, we were primarily looking at London selective indies and they all offer amazing extra curricular activities and facilities. My oldest DD is a Science geek and wanted to see the Science labs (I wouldn't know one from another ) my younger DD is a drama queen but that said, she didn't pick the school with the best facilities. I didn't particularly worry about academic results because though local parents have a notional league table in their Heads, the reality is that all the schools we were looking at enable bright DCs to get strings of A/A* and to the best universities.
We did look at state schools, the local ones and the super selective. We were attracted by the social mix in the local outstanding comprehensives but the non selective ones are hugely oversubscribed and we were going to have to make a late application. We did not get offered a place in a local school initially and when we did, three weeks into term my DD was settled elsewhere. My DD hated the super selective because the staff were extremely cold (perhaps not surprisingly since they have 10 applicants for every place) and openly stated that they expected those who came bottom in yearly exams to leave. That didn't make DD feel as if they had any interest in or care for individuals, and on top of that the Science labs were limited and dingy. She said it felt a bleak depressing place. She did manage to get into the required top 3 percentile in the admissions test but completely refused to go there.
It was during the admissions process that she finally realised where she wanted to go, and it wasn't the most selective school she was offered a place at. She found them arrogant and patronising during the interviews whereas at the school she choose she clicked with the Headmistress. It was not just that interest was shown in her and her experiences overseas but that it was done in a way that was intellectually challenging but also with a sense of humour and fun. Another school that offered her a place sent the wrong exam paper overseas and then insisted she sat the right one when back for interviews so she wasn't impressed by them either!
Sadly come DD2s admissions process all she wanted was to get selected for the same school as her sister. She does not find it as easy to show her ability as her sister, though in some areas she actually has greater ability, and she had a diagnosis of SpLDs so we were looking for schools with good support, and that showed their commitment by giving extra time. She did get offered a place at her sister's school and accepted it, though I just felt that another school would be better for her, one that was coed (she doesn't handle girly politics well) and (slightly) more mixed academically. I even had dream about it. And that is where she choose to go at 16 after coping with a very difficult cohort, and exclusive and manipulative behaviour at the other school for 5 years. She is very happy, popular and doing very well academically.
So there it is, a combination of the practical and the intangible, that the schools just "felt right" .
DS school is highly selective and this was one of the main reasons we chose it.
We didn't want him to be able to coast along at the top of a mixed ability school. We wanted a sense of ordinariness for him IYSWIM.
We didn't want him to board and he fancied being in central London. There was also the choir.
For DD I would have chosen the selective girls school nearest to us, but DD hated it. She wanted the small, nurturing, mixed ability school that put high value on the arts.
We went for it and it was the best decision I (n)ever made.
Probably should add that DD is going to transfer to DS school for sixth form.
I'm very very sad about this as her school is lovely and she has been very happy. But for her it's the right decision.
My DD will be moving up to secondary in 18 months' time and I have drawn up a shortlist of schools to which we will be applying come the autumn (in Paris applications for secondary start 9-12 months ahead of start date).
My criteria are:
- general quality of academics, but in particular of maths and science (since these are the only subjects in which France reliably meets or exceeds the highest international standards of attainment at secondary school - we need to do well at what school does best IYSWIM)
- quality of bilingual language teaching provision
- quality of other MFL teaching and whether the French NC is abandoned in favour of CEFR-linked curricula
- premises and facilities
- location
- size of school (am not overly keen on very large schools)
- a French NC school (so no international schools)
I am almost totally insensitive to the cost, whether the school is state or private, to whether or not there is a uniform, to whether the school is secular or religious, single sex or mixed.
Bonsoir your post reminded me that I also wouldn't even consider an RC school or a high Anglican one either, secular would be my preference but not easy to find.
We've chosen single sex and in fact all the super selectives we considered we're single sex at least to their 6 th forms. This was not intentional but rather just lack of choice.
OP in my now long and extensive experience you can never find all you want in a school or in fact in life in general!
There were 3 local schools we had a very good chance of getting places in: 2 dead certs and 1 good chance. We could also have submitted DS for selective schools within public transport distance (1 easy journey, others long).
There are other local schools we could have got into but didn't apply to as the ones we did visit are closer, have better SATS, better ofsteds and better local reputations.
I was interested in:
Curriculum - triple science, more than 1 MFL possible at GCSE, ditto Geog PLUS history (in some you can only do one).
The way the school dealt with different abilities - through setting, streaming, techniques for mixed ability - and at what stage these were introduced and how often adjusted.
Attitude towards inclusion / SENCO (some mobility issues)
Ethos - evidence of aspirational and inspirational work and projects, opportunities the school took for partnership with external organisations, 'right path for each child' provision - e.g BTECs and other qualifications alongside GCSEs etc, focus of Heads speech, happiness of children showing us round.
Behaviour, enthusiasm, team spirit - amongst children and teachers alike!
We put our nearest school first because it offered the best fit for what we were looking for under all those categories.
We didn't bother with the selective route because we decided that the education on offer at the nearest walkable school would suit our DS very well and that the top sets were comparable to the selective.
So far it has worked out v well and we and DS are happy.
I visited a number of local schools: all non-selective state ones.
My priorities: primarily academic - I wanted triple sciences and a range of MFL (as it happens DD1 also does Latin) - and I wanted these delivered by teachers who clearly liked teaching and good at it. I wanted setting, not streaming. I also wanted evidence of decent pastoral care and I wanted a school that's broadly representative of the wide socio-economic and ethnic richness afforded by living in SE London (a benefit I feel v strongly about).
Size wasn't too much of an issue but I do actually like big schools, a lot: I think they allow a wider range of subjects and a much greater chance of being yourself, an individual.
I wasn't, in fact, keen on single sex but I walked into the local girls' comp and thought wow, I want a piece of that.
She's doing really well
happygardening - I wouldn't in practice consider an über-Catholic school nor would I consider a Jewish school (DP is Jewish) because they wouldn't meet enough of my other criteria, in particular for languages (the schools that are good at languages/more cosmopolitan are rarely very religious). The DSSs' school is Catholic-lite and has the good bits of Catholicism (kind and caring, community ethos) without the bad.
I am going to sound very odd probably but for 2 of my children I didn't really choose the schools at all. I chose my eldest DCs school after loads of research. After 18 months I took her out as she was desperately unhappy there. Couldn't fault the school but the dynamics for her weren't right. She ended up in a school I had dismissed initially, simply as was desperate for her to move. She has absolutely loved it there.
However as a consequence, my DS ended up having to go the closest boys school to my DD's simply due to logistics of getting kids to school. He has loved his school too!
I would put academic enthusiasm and pastoral care on about an equal level of priority.
Even if my child had no known problems, good pastoral care signals a good ethos, the kind of values I would want my child to be surrounded by.
Besides, ime a can-do attitude covers a lot of essentials. The schools that went oooh-I-don't-know-about-that-I'm-not-sure-we-could-do-anything about dd's health problems probably went oooh-I-don't-know-about-that about a lot of things. oooh-I-don't-know is basically not a good look.
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iHerb Customer Reviews
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This powder is good, but a little gritty in texture. I also expected a stronger coconut smell. I appreciate that it does not contain talc or any caustic ingredients.
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NO GIRAFFE BOTTLE! Got a creepy baby instead! :(
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I collect giraffes and I bought this strictly for the packaging. Instead, I got a bottle with an unattractive label of a very creepy baby photo on it! YES, a silly photo of a human baby, not a cool drawing of a giraffe! If you're a man, would you enjoy having a powder in your cabinet that says "BABY" with such a photo! I wanted the giraffe now I don't have a giraffe. To make matters worse, it smells really bad to me. Very floral cookie smell. Weird! It's not a coconut smell at all. I would not have paid over $7 for this. Previous labels specified that the coconut part used was "dextrose" and that is coconut sugar, now no longer disclaimed, but I wonder how good this powder can be since sugar breeds bacteria, namely yeast and ringworm, the skin fungal infection. I have severe MCS, this smells very strong & "perfumey". Did not trigger my symptoms so it must be natural but, personally, I dislike the smell just about as bad as I do the label photo. 1 very generous star, because I can't give any less. I would have gone with Country Comfort at under $4 if I had seen the photo! If you're one of these puzzling people who finds babies "cute" you might just hit the jackpot by buying this.
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This powder is good, but a little gritty in texture. I also expected a stronger coconut smell. I appreciate that it does not contain talc or any caustic ingredients.
I LOVE it!!!
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I've been using this as a dry shampoo, and like the smell better than that of other baby powders.
fantastic alternative
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the scent is lovely, yet totally subtle. zero negative reactions from any of the ingredients listed. i even find myself using it on unbearably hot days, outside playing sports, or performing an intense workout. works like a charm


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The Quart System combines the Softie 3 Merlin with the TS-1 Liner and Bivvi bag. It can be used as a one or two season sleeping bag. There is a waterproof housing built into the stuff sack to keep the bivvi separate after use in case it is wet, so you keep your sleeping bag and liner dry. With this system, you get all three components for a reduced price, rather than purchasing them all separate.
Technical Information
Outer Material: Paratex Steelplate
Liner Material: Paratex Light
Temperature Rating: 41 degrees
Dimensions: 32" x 87"
Packed Dimensions: 7" x 11"
Shape: Mummy
Total Weight: 3.625 lbs


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Cape Town - Armed robbers shot their way out of a Mitchells Plain Town Centre jewellery shop "just like in the movies", witnesses said on Thursday.
It was the second time this week that Sterns jewellery shop in Eastridge was targeted.
On Monday, Mark van der Brook, 38, a security guard at the centre, was chasing suspects away from Sterns when he was shot dead.
On Thursday, a witness said the robbers walked in "like normal people" and closed the door.
"One of the hawkers saw the man close the door and he immediately told us the place was getting robbed."
Shaied Davids, a hawker with a stall close to the shop, said one of the suspects had stopped to ask him the price of danya (coriander) on his way towards the jewellery shop.
"Two guys came from my left and two from the right. One locked the door. Then I heard an auntie scream that there's a robbery."
He added that he heard several shots fired and that two women were held hostage.
The shop windows were littered with bullet holes.
John Anthony Damons, a resident and witness, said he saw one gunman shoot the windows from inside the shop. "They shot their way out."
Another witness said the robbery was "just like the movies".
Affer the drama, yellow police tape cordoned off the scene while officers combed the area.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said the Mitchells Plain Tactical Response unit had responded to the armed robbery after noon.
When they arrived they found the suspects holding the staff members hostage.
The National Intervention Unit managed to defuse the hostage situation, he added.
"Four suspects aged between 19 and 36 were arrested. A 9mm pistol was recovered."
The suspects are expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on charges of armed robbery, attempted murder, and pointing of a firearm.
Riedewaan Jumat, from Community Crime Stop, said the war in the centre would never stop.
"I've been working in this community and fighting crime for many years. It's getting worse. This place is like a beehive for criminals, because all the criminals from Mitchells Plain come to sell their goods and drugs."
He added that there had been several robberies within the centre since the beginning of the year.
A 45-year-old hawker, who has been selling her wares at the centre for more than 28 years, said everyone felt unsafe.
"I don't ever feel safe, but I'm forced to work to pay my bond and my son's varsity fees."
She was sitting at her stall when she heard several shots fired.
"People say it was the same robbers who came here on Monday because they didn't get away with any diamonds or money on that day."
She added that the residents felt they deserved protection because there wasn't enough policing in the area.
"On Monday they shot Mark the security guard. He was like a hero to everyone, because he was the only one who stood up to the criminals and chased them away."
Moegamat Saadique Bury said the residents made a citizen's arrest as one of the suspects tried to get away. "We as the community are fed up."
Shops closed for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, just a block away, the body of a man lay covered on the ground in 4th Avenue.
Van Wyk said a suspect fleeing from a house-breaking was being pursued by a security company when he was shot dead.
Cape Argus


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Van Halen star David Lee Roth is puzzled about reports he suffered a near-fatal allergic reaction to nuts recently - because the incident didn't happen.
Two Canadian police officers claimed they helped to save the rocker's life last month (Jun08) after finding him suffering from anaphylactic shock in a car by the side of a highway in Ontario.
The Jump singer had reportedly suffered a severe allergic reaction to a nutty snack. One of the cops, Chris Thompson, told reporters he had no idea he was dealing with a rock star when he and his partner helped to calm Lee Roth down until paramedics arrived.
But Lee Roth insists the cops have the wrong guy. He tells TMZ.com, "I was in Canada only from July 1st through (to) the 4th for a performance at the Quebec City Summer Festival. I had no encounters or incidents with the police (and) the only thing I'm allergic to is criticism."
The rocker's representative confirms Lee Roth is not allergic to nuts. (KL/WNWCMZ/MJ)
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International Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 324549, 5 pages
Dispensabilities of Carbonic Anhydrase in Proteobacteria
1Life Science Research Center, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa 252-0880, Japan
2Agricultural Bioinformatics Research Unit, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Received 10 February 2012; Accepted 14 March 2012
Academic Editor: Hideaki Nojiri
Copyright © 2012 Kenji Ueda et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Carbonic anhydrase (CA) (E.C. 188.8.131.52) is a ubiquitous enzyme catalysing interconversion between CO2 and bicarbonate. The irregular distribution of the phylogenetically distinct classes of CA in procaryotic genome suggests its complex evolutionary history in procaryotes. Genetic evidence regarding the dispensability of CA under high-CO2 air in some model organisms indicates that CA-deficient microorganisms can persist in the natural environment by choosing high-CO2 niches. In this study, we studied the distribution of CA in the genome of Proteobacteria. While a large majority of the genome-sequenced Proteobacteria retained a CA gene(s), intracellular bacterial genera such as Buchnera and Rickettsia contained CA-defective strains. Comparison between CA-retaining and CA- deficient genomes showed the absence of whole coding sequence in some strains and the presence of frameshifted coding sequence in other strains. The evidence suggests that CA is inactivated and lost in some proteobacteria during the course of evolution based on its dispensability.
Carbonic anhydrase (CA) (EC 184.108.40.206) is a ubiquitous enzyme catalysing interconversion between CO2 and bicarbonate () [1, 2]. CA is fundamental to various biological functions including photosynthesis, respiration, and CO2 transport. To date, the existence of 3 major classes (alpha, beta, and gamma) of this enzyme has been known. Interestingly, no significant structural similarities are observed among these classes. Based on this feature, CA is recognised as an excellent example of convergent evolution [1, 2]. Most of the mammalian and plant CA specifically belong to alpha and beta class, respectively. On the other hand, the distribution of CA in procaryotes is irregular; some retain multiple classes of CA or multiple enzymes from the same class, and others do not retain any class of CA. Hence, it is likely that the evolution of CA function in procaryotes has a complex historical background [1].
Recently, a significant insight into the role of procaryotic CA has been provided by genetic studies in some model organisms such as Ralstonia eutropha [3] Escherichia coli [4], and Saccharomyces cerevisiae [5]. Knockout mutants for CA of these microorganisms are unable to grow under ambient air but normally grow under an atmosphere with high levels (1–5%) of CO2.
This phenomenon is explained by the necessity of bicarbonate in the reaction catalysed by several housekeeping enzymes such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, carbamoyl phosphate synthase, and acetyl-CoA carboxylase [4, 5]. CA-positive microorganisms can generate bicarbonate from environmental CO2 by the catalytic reaction of CA and supply it to these enzymes, but CA-negative ones cannot. Hence, the former can grow even under ambient air containing a low level of CO2 (0.035%), but the latter cannot initiate growth unless they are supplied with a sufficient concentration of bicarbonate. The latter organisms, however, can grow under a high-CO2 atmosphere since it generates a high concentration of bicarbonate to maintain natural equilibrium. This in turn indicates that CA is not essential for microbial growth under high-CO2 environments, such as in soil, seawater, intestine, and some other syntrophic and commensal situations. Our previous study showed that an E. coli CA mutant was able to grow even under ambient air when it was cocultured with Bacillus subtilis [6].
The above-mentioned knowledge makes us speculate that the study of CA distribution in microbial genome will provide an insight into the history of adaptation of microorganisms to environment. Recently, we described that Symbiobacterium thermophilum, a unique syntrophic bacterium that effectively grows in coculture with a cognate Geobacillus stearothermophilus [7], lost CA in the course of evolution [8]. Our studies have shown that S. thermophilum grows on high CO2 supply from environment and that this could be the reason for the absence of CA from its genome [6]. The phylogeny of CA distributed in Clostridia to which S. thermophilum belongs indicated that the common ancestor of this group of bacteria retained a CA gene and that S. thermophilum lost CA in the course of its adaptation to high CO2 environments [8].
To deepen our insight into the correlation between CA deficiency and adaptation to high CO2 environments, we studied the distribution of CA in the phylum Proteobacteria. Proteobacteria consists of five distinctive classes (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon) and unclassified classes including the genus Magnetococcus (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/). To date (February 1, 2012), complete genome sequence information is available with regard to 649 strains of 249 genera (supplementary Table S1 in Supplementary Material available online at doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/324549). Our search for the presence of CA by using the pathway database available at GenomeNet (http://www.genome.jp/) and BLAST searches (protein-protein searches based on BLOSUM62 scoring matrix) using known protein sequences annotated to be CA (corresponding to the protein encoded by the intact CA coding sequences shown in Figure 1) as queries showed that 39 strains of 20 genera (Table 1) of the genome-sequenced Proteobacteria do not retain any gene encoding CA.
Among the CA-deficient 20 genera, 4 genera (Buchnera, Blochmannia, Rickettsia, and Orientia) contained multiple CA-deficient strains (Table 1). These were obligate intracellular bacteria. It is known that endosymbionts lack genes involved in primary metabolism. For example, Buchnera sp. lacks amino acid biosynthesis genes, which are compensated for by the activity of the host organism [9]. Such genetic defects in symbionts genome have probably occurred after establishing a tight, symbiotic relationship with the host organism. Presumably, the intracellular environments contain a high level of CO2; hence the catalytic function of CA is not necessary for the bacteria habituating in such environments. On the other hand, some intracellular bacteria such as Wolbachia retain a putative CA gene (supplementary Table S1). This suggests that intracellular environment does not always compensate for CA deficiency.
13 out of the 20 CA-deficient genera contained only a single genome-sequenced strain (supplementary Table S1). They include intracellular Candidatus bacteria and lithoautotrophic and sulfate-reducing bacteria. It is not yet known whether the defect is a common feature of the genus or not, but it is possible that the CA deficiency is widespread among those intracellular bacteria as in the abovementioned genera.
Contrasting to the genuswide deficiency, the other 3 genera (Actinobacillus, Acidithiobacillus, and Bartonella) harboured strain-specific defect of CA (supplementary Table S1). In Acidithiobacillus, all strains except for Acidithiobacillus caldus retained the CA gene in the conserved gene cluster (the corresponding region of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270 is shown in Figure 1(a)). Contrasting to this, A. caldus partially retained the conserved genes. While the genes upstream of CA were conserved, those downstream of CA including CA gene were not (Figure 1(a)). This makes us think of the possibility that the CA deficiency in A. caldus is due not to simple deletion but to a genetic rearrangement that has occurred in a relatively large scale.
Lack of CA gene in a conserved gene cluster was also observed with respect to the two species of Helicobacter, Helicobacter felis and Helicobacter bizzozeronii. All the genome-sequenced Helicobacter strains except for the two species contained the conserved gene cluster consisting of 6 coding sequences including CA gene (the corresponding region of Helicobacter pylori 26695 is shown in Figure 1(a)). Contrasting to this, the genome of the two Helicobacter spp. retained the conserved cluster lacking the coding region for CA (the corresponding region of H. felis is shown in Figure 1(a)). H. felis and H. bizzozeronii retained a CA gene in a different locus (corresponding to HFELIS_06160 and HBZC1_14670, resp.).
The other case of strain-specific CA deficiency was based on mutations in the coding sequence. Frameshift mutations inactivating CA gene were identified with respect to the four strains, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae JL03, Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, Rickettsia japonica, and Bartonella quintana (Figure 1(b)). These organisms retained a frame-shifted coding sequence exactly at the position corresponding to the locus where the intact CA ortholog is located in related strains (Figure 1(b)). The coding region of A. pleuropneumoniae JL03 and R. japonica contained a single-base deletion in the middle part (supplementary Figures S1 and S2). The coding region of R. heilongjiangensis lacked 95 bp corresponding to the N-terminal part of CA (supplementary Figure S2). B. quintana contained multiple mutations including two single-base deletions, one 8-base insertion, two single-base insertions, and one non-sense (ochre) mutation (supplementary Figure S3).
It is most likely that the abovementioned mutations inactivating the CA gene have been introduced into the ancestral intact coding sequence during the course of evolution. The diverged mode of mutation may reflect the process of how dispensable genes are lost from the bacterial genome. The existence of the strains carrying the inactivated coding sequence strongly suggests that the CA gene is not necessary for their persistency. It is not yet known how these mutant strains compensate for their CA deficiency, but we may reasonably speculate that it is correlated with the environmental CO2 content.
The CA-deficient genera described in this paper are usually handled under a microaerobic or anaerobic atmosphere containing 1–5% CO2 [10]. Hence, the conventional isolation method for these organisms has made possible isolation of strains requiring high CO2. On the other hand, the standard isolation procedure for aerobic proteobacteria using ambient air prevents isolation of CO2-requiring strains. This makes us think of the possibility that the very high proportion of CA-positive strains (610 out of 649 strains) (supplementary Table S1) is due to the limitation of isolation condition and is not appropriately reflecting the true distribution of CA in Proteobacteria.
The evolution of microbial genome reflects the history of environmental change. We expect that comprehensive analyses regarding the distribution of specific adaptive functions in microbial genome will provide deep insights into the constitution of the ecosystem.
This study was supported by the High-Tech Research Center Project of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.
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After a weekend trip to Maryland, Shaquille Cleare headed south this week to take part in the NBPA Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, Va.
The second day of camp was going "pretty smooth" for Cleare, who reflected on his visit to College Park in a phone interview Thursday.
"It was nice," said Cleare, a 6-foot-9, 285-pound center from The Village School in Houston. "I met the coaches, spent time with the players. They showed me around a little bit. … I just liked spending time with some of the players. They're pretty good guys."Cleare said he enjoyed bonding with the Maryland players, and chatting with Mark Turgeon. The first-year Terps coach – who recruited Cleare when he was at Texas A&M – had a clearly stated vision for the four-star prospect.
"He just wants me to come in and play hard," Cleare said. "He knows I'm going to bring energy and fill in Jordan Williams' spot. [Turgeon said if I], 'Come in and work hard, you've got a spot playing right away.'"
Cleare said he's also considering offers from Arizona, Baylor, Florida, Texas and Texas A&M. But after visiting College Park, Maryland stands out to Cleare above the rest.
"There's a good chance I'm going to be there," Cleare said. "They're No. 1 on my list right now."
Cleare said he plans to make his decision by "the end of July or the first [week] of August." He doesn't know if he'll be able to visit any other schools before then.
"My schedule is pretty tight right now," Cleare said. "I don't know if I've got time."


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Our NFL previews for 2011 roll on. Did you miss Jason Lisk's wicked cool statistical analysis of your team? Scroll to the bottom.
If the Indianapolis Colts make the playoffs in 2011, they will set the record for most consecutive playoff appearances by a franchise in NFL history. The Colts have made the playoffs in nine straight seasons, tying the NFL record with the Dallas Cowboys from 1975-1983 (and Dallas actually made the playoffs in 17 or 18 seasons). It is a testament to the consistency of Peyton Manning and the Colts organization that you could pencil them in for double digit wins and a playoff appearance every season for almost a decade.
This year, though, Peyton Manning has yet to make an appearance in a game as he is still recovering from a 2nd neck surgery in the offseason. While we think Manning will be back, he is 35 and it has led to speculation as to whether he will be ready to open the season. While the team isn't among the oldest in the league by average starter age, most of the best players are. On offense, center Jeff Saturday is 36, and Reggie Wayne turns 33, and as we've seen with other star receivers, it's about at that age that they can start to slow down. The Colts must hope he lasts as long as Marvin Harrison, who went strong through age 34. Dallas Clark is 32 and coming off a season-ending wrist injury.
Bookend defensive Ends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney have been instrumental in the Colts' run over the last decade, and both will be over 30 this year, along with MLB Gary Brackett. The Colts have churned over their corners in the Cover-2 scheme, and go through outside linebackers as well. The constants over the last five years, though, have been Mathis and Freeney. They both played 16 games last year, but will that continue as age creeps in?
The Colts are a veteran unit, and so they have often seemed to disregard the preseason. Still, is the preseason meaningless? If we look at point differentials for the previous year's playoff teams in just the first quarter of Game 1, the first half of Game 2, and the first three quarters of Game 3 (the parts of the preseason when the starters and top reserves are most likely in the game), we see a positive relationship with whether they return to the postseason.
Here is a summary of the 60 playoff teams from 2005-2009, how they performed by point differential in those 6 quarters for the preseasons in 2006-2010, and how they did during the following regular season.
By point differential, the Colts aren't the worst of the 2010 playoff teams during those 6 quarters (-19) this preseason. Seattle (-34) and Chicago (-21) both have been worse. But no one expects much of Seattle, who made the playoffs at 7-9, and Chicago is probably on a lot of lists for teams due to regress after reaching the championship game a year ago. Baltimore (-14) and Kansas City (-11) also join that -11 to -20 group with the Colts. Kansas City was another likely decline candidate even before the preseason, while Baltimore would be a little more of a surprise.
Still, the Colts seem to be the team where we are willing to completely ignore what is going on in the preseason, because a) Peyton Manning is out; and b) the Colts always mail in the preseason. As to the second point first, while the Colts don't try to win in the preseason, it's not true that they have been horrible in the six quarters I measured. Here is how they did the previous five preseasons in those quarters most likely to be played by starters and top backups:
- 2010: -7
- 2009: +14
- 2008: -17
- 2007: +24
- 2006: +2
In both Super Bowl seasons, they had a positive point differential, and in 2007, they had their best preseason performance and won 14 games. The Colts may not try to win games in the preseason, but they have been worse when "going against the 1's" this year than in recent times. They were a combined +18 over the previous 5 preseasons.
Now, the obvious explanation is no Peyton Manning, and though the dropoff from Manning to Curtis Painter certainly is a big part, I'm not convinced that's all of it. Colts fans better hope that is the only explanation, though. I think it calls into question whether this team is doing as good a job at finding depth of talent with young draft picks and free agent pickups to fit the system as they were 3-5 years ago, when the Colts dominated in finding replacement parts late in the draft.
You don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, and over the last decade, you don't pick against the Colts in the regular season. Still, everything must end. The Colts may get one last hurrah out of the currently comprised core group, if Manning's neck surgery is an afterthought by week 2 and the other key veteran parts stave off the aging effects for one last time. Or we may look back and see that the run had already begun grinding to a halt following Tracy Porter's interception return, and this team made the playoffs despite a big dropoff last year, because they played in an easy division where they had to merely outduel Jacksonville down the stretch, and it continues this year as the veterans decline.
I think the Colts are a lot closer to missing the playoffs in 2011 than to being strong Super Bowl contenders. They may still break that playoff streak record because the division is still pretty soft. They are not going to completely fall apart if Manning is under center, but they might slip to more of a league average team. If Manning wants to make a John Elway-like run to Super Bowls late in his career though, I suspect it will have to be with a new set of impact playmakers on offense and defense.
2011 NFL PREVIEW: New Orleans Saints
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Tennessee Titans
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Denver Broncos
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Arizona Cardinals
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Buffalo Bills
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Carolina Panthers
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Cincinnati Bengals
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Cleveland Browns
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Jacksonville Bengals
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Minnesota Vikings
2011 NFL PREVIEW: New York Giants
2011 NFL PREVIEW: Pittsburgh Steelers
2011 NFL PREVIEW: St. Louis Rams
[photo via Getty, table courtesy Mark Mize]


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Deaf get purpose-built Wharenui unit
Deaf and hearing-impaired children are benefiting from a new purpose-built facility at a Christchurch primary school.
The Ministry of Education has spent $526,320 on the van Asch Deaf Education Centre satellite unit at Wharenui School, which opened yesterday.
The two-classroom building, specially designed for children who are deaf or hearing impaired, has special acoustics, sound systems and lighting.
Van Asch Deaf Education Centre assistant principal James Townshend said the satellite unit was set up after the February 2011 earthquake as an interim arrangement because its Sumner base had been temporarily closed.
The unit had worked so well, it had become a permanent fixture at Wharenui, but up until this year had been operating out of temporary facilities.
The unit was based in a classroom, but roll growth at the school meant it had to shift into a meeting room.
Eight primary school-aged children attend the unit and the building can cater for up to 14 pupils.
The new building is in the middle of the school so children from both schools can interact.
Parent Annette Stocker said her daughter, Aimee, 9, was thriving in the new environment.
The Press


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Gran Turismo 6 will get a a downloadable demo next week, Sony has announced. While obviously giving you a chance to play GT6 early, the demo will give you a chance to take part in the GT Academy competition.
The demo is structured as a GT Academy-style driver training concept where you progressively learn the skills required to push very expensive track monsters at full speed round impossible apexes. The course where the action takes place is Silverstone, the spiritual home of GT Academy (and one of the brand new confirmed GT6 track locations in GT6).
In GT Academy regions, once you've cleared the earlier rounds you will then have your shot to post your time to the leaderboard and see if you have got what it takes to progress to the next stage.
Regardless of whether you are in one of the GT Academy eligible countries or not, once you have proved your skills and made the grade through the initial rounds you will unlock special bonus content.
According to the announcement, the demo will arrive on Tuesday, July 2 and will be removed from the PlayStation Store on August 31.