text:
Panel gets wastewater treatment plant update
By Kim Walter -- email@example.com
FRONT ROYAL -- The Town Council heard a presentation and discussed plans for the upgrade and expansion of Front Royal's wastewater treatment plant during a Monday night work session.
GHD, an engineering and architectural firm, proposed a change in design that deals with a treatment process called BioMag.
The original process slated for use at the plant is proven technology that is already approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. However, the BioMag process technology allows nitrogen and phosphorus removal in a single system, according to GHD's principal manager, Thor Young.
There are also lower construction costs associated with the new alternative, because it requires very few additional tanks and other equipment.
"There's less of a footprint," Young said. He added that the system is far easier to operate.
While the BioMag process has yet to be implemented anywhere in Virginia, it can be found in surrounding states like Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The Department of Environmental Quality needs to not only approve the process in Virginia, but also decide if a pilot period needs to take place. During the pilot period, one tank would be outfitted with the BioMag system to serve as a test.
Several other BioMag sites have used a pilot period, Young said. However, the test period could push the project back another 15-20 months.
Unfortunately, GHD representatives are unable to know if the Department of Environmental Quality will insist on the pilot period. While it can look to results of the process in other places and see positive results, the department might not be convinced since the plant's placement and environment are unlike the others.
At this point, town officials can agree to go with the new treatment process, Young said, but the rest is up to DEQ.
Council members asked Town Manager Steve Burke of his opinion on BioMag from an engineering standpoint.
"BioMag produces a process that is repeatable, a process that is simpler to operate and a process that will allow new people to come in and be trained," Burke answered. "I recommend the BioMag process."
Young noted that the new alternative would help to cut costs, but the project has a whole would still be a $45 million expense.
The proposed change will be an agenda item at Town Council's next meeting.
Other items expected on the agenda at the council's Jan. 9 meeting include:
• Gazebo parking lot modifications.
• Costs associated with a pavement management program.
• Town banner poles ordinance amendment to establish regulations for banner displays.
• Regulation of the town's social media i.e. Facebook and Twitter pages.


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So far this has been a VERY GOOD Show!I was surprised by how well they put this together. The storyline fits in with what was shown on Smallville and with certain parts from the comics.I will keep watching this one for sure.
Really? I think it sucks. I'm thinking of removing it from my TiVo recording queue.
It's like watching a soap opera with arrows...
The ending was good. I didn't expect that.
The ending was good. I didn't expect that.
The ending was good. I didn't expect that.
That was probably the best part of the episode. The rest of the episode, especially the part about the detective's two daughters, seemed pretty soapy.I figured he was starving on the island and learned to hunt to stay alive, but going up against an archer seems like it would be a much better story. spoiler--"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats." - H. L. Mencken
the part about the detective's two daughters, seemed pretty soapy.
I agree but it's annoying to see one guy being involved with every person in the family. The police had to be the father of the daughter he got killed while cheating on his other daughter. If they had a mother he'd probably be involved with her too.--I found the key to success but somebody changed the lock.
Yeah. I had no idea he was copying someone. Always figured he learned those moves trying to survive, hunting and shit.
'Arrow' gets full season»tvline.com/2012/10/22/arrow-full···-the-cw/
quote:The CW has picked up Arrow for a full, 22-episode season, TVLine has learned.
Yeah, the arrow that can magically drain a safe of electronic cash.
It's not a bad show, I like the flashbacks, if you will, which begin to explain what happened to him on the island. The show certain has potential, but will it last 10yrs like Smallville? Not a chance in hell. Green Arrow is not Superman(or the blur),But as someone said, Revenge for guys (but nowhere near as smart) using a superhero genre.I personally can't stand a 22 episode season, simply because the writers and producers can't get enough content together and give us a BS epsiode, or cobble together a "best of" in the disguises of a new episode.--No, I didn't. Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake.......
tonights episode was pretty good. some more flashbacks of the island which lead to more questions. who are the other people on the island? They are obviously modern based upon the trap (materials of the trap) spoiler So at least one other now knows his secret. I had a feeling he would find out. Anyone else notice that deadshot had Digg's brother's name on him?Interesting that he can have electronic arrows but needs someone else to get the computer going. Also he seems to have a good handle of russian. Where did he learn that? The other guys on the island? spoiler--Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war
I'm starting to like this show. It has potential. The other people was an interesting twist.Also, it kind of makes sense because when he was on the boat the notebook with the names of bad guys was empty. His dad is dead, so where did he get the names? The island must be an elite society of people that lookout for the world?Also, I like how he had a ready-made cure for the poison he was shot with in his war-chest. Exactly the thing needed at that time. spoiler
ok, my original post was a tad creepy. I'm liking this show for some reason, I dunno why.--Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.
I think in a flashback scene from the first episode, his father told him the names and he wrote them down then--Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war
ok, my original post was a tad creepy. I'm liking this show for some reason, I dunno why.
I had a second thought or two, and felt maybe I should "clean it up".. lol.
A bummer CW doesn't just rebroadcast it's shows over the weekend.
I'm starting to like this show. It has potential.
1 recommendation
When are they going to bring in some comic book baddies? I'm tired of the evil corporate asshole of the week.--An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. - Sir Winston Churchill
When are they going to bring in some comic book baddies? I'm tired of the evil corporate asshole of the week.
How do figure they'll have her end up with super powers as Black Canary?
well, there are several distinct periods in Black Canary's history when she had no sonic scream, but still kicks all kinds of ass.so i'm not particularly concerned if they choose not introduce super powers. they could quite easily take the Christopher Nolan approach and say that this version of DC continuity has no "superheroes", only highly skilled and unique individuals.
Yeah, it's growing on me, too. Some interesting stuff going on... Such as the boat being sabotaged, and mom trying to have her son kidnapped to find out what Oliver's father told him, and everything going on on that island in the flashbacks. spoiler
they certainly escalated the overall plot by apparently outing Oliver spoiler. the mother said the boat was sabotaged in episode 3 i believe spoileralso, i know my inner fanboy is showing, but i'm pretty excited that Deathstroke The Terminator spoiler will be in the next episode.

subset: commoncrawl


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So a dude who loves my Texture Pack over at PlanetMinecraft decided that he wanted to say thanks by making me a very personal, custom skin.
Really shocked too!
I of course pointed out Pi drew the source picture!
Sometimes communities can be awesome places!
Thanks, HitiGamer!
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- buraketto said: AWESOME
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- atapi said: that is adorable
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[ Réquiem from Mesic ]
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (Official Video Subtitulada Español…
Proyectar amor 💕
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Naturellement Mesic
junk in the trunk…lol - http://pinterest.com/pin/230598443392576708/
Amor on Flickr.
(by - Dave Morrow -)
Click to Enlarge An evocative new image from ESO shows a dark cloud where new stars are forming, along with a cluster of brilliant stars that have already emerged from their dusty stellar nursery. The new picture was taken with the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile and is the best image ever taken in visible light of this little-known object (Read more) | image: ESO
| image by sd@blog of all
Queen's Garden Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah | image by danfay1009


text:
Bonjour jai une tres bonne caravan 32" Pursuit 1996,tres bonne etat,tres propre,seulement
Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec » Dodge
renewed 2 days ago
2000 Prowler 5th Wheel Camper /Trailer, perfect vacation home , fully equipped with front
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renewed 1 week ago
minibus hire with driver in Basingstoke. Basingstoke is a large town in northeast Hampshir
Bedford Corners, New York » Dodge
posted 2 weeks ago
1985 Freeport by Midas Chevy C-class RV in good condition. Email or call 256-572-2913
Boaz, Alabama » Executive
renewed 1 month ago
we are selling are 1972 camper 23 foot sleeps 6 everything works for 1,000.00 or best off
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text:
Dr. Steven R. Wolfe, DO
Family Medicine, Forbes Family Medicine
- 2550 Mosside Blvd Ste 500
Monroeville, PA 15146
- 1 Office Location
- Email a Friend
- (412) 457-1100
Dr. Steven R. Wolfe has been practicing medicine for 12 years. Dr. Wolfe graduated from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie Campus in 2002. He practices medicine in Monroeville, PA and specializes in Family Medicine. Dr. Wolfe is affiliated with Forbes Hospital and Western Pennsylvania Hospital. He speaks English and Spanish.
Gender: Male
Years in Practice: 12 Years
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish
Medical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie Campus
Graduation Date: 2002
Hospital Affiliations: Forbes Hospital, Western Pennsylvania Hospital
Specialties: Family Medicine
©2005-2014 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
WebMD does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.


text: Matuba is the best sushi place in town. Their sushi is great, I've been going to Matuba for years and have never had a bad experience. Go to Matuba once and Robert (the sushi chef and owner) will remember you. He is very friendly, makes great sushi, and is a very hard working local business owner (I have not been... More


text:
Ben McKenzie and Kerry Bish� star in 'Goodbye World.' (Jeff Bollman)
Still, give director and co-writer Denis Hennelly some credit for ambition. It�s not often people are trying to live down a decade-old college love triangle as the world ends. Obviously, the potential for shifting tones here is great; unfortunately, those tones shift rather erratically.
Meet James (Adrian Grenier), a wealthy, retired, former tech tycoon now living a sustainable hippie existence atop a remote northern California mountain with his wife, Lily (Kerry Bishe), and young daughter, Hanna (McKenna Grace).
Coming to visit them is Lily�s former beau and James� former partner Nick (Ben McKenzie) with his new wife, Becky (Caroline Dhavernas), a woman they barely knew while attending Stanford.
This awkward reunion is made even more awkward when their old anarchist friend Benji (Mark Webber) motorcycles up with a college cutie (Remy Nozik) and announces the world is ending; there are riots in the streets and the government has lost control because of an Internet mishap. Oops.
The group is filled out with the arrival of disgraced political aide Laura (Gaby Hoffman) and offbeat master hacker Lev (Kid Cudi). The gang�s all here! Let�s break out some wine, get in the hot tub and dredge up old hostilities while Rome burns.
Soon enough, though, the heat travels up the mountain as neighbors realize James has a huge stash of food and medicine. So the film begins flipping back and forth between �The Big Chill� and �Red Dawn� � not exactly an easy balance to maintain.
The uneasy reunion part ends up seeming very secondary, but then the apocalypse isn�t that much of an imposition either. Ultimately, each story undercuts the other. Ouch.
'Goodbye World'
Not rated
Running time: 101 minutes
More Tom Long
- Review: Tense 'The Guest' is a killer of a movie
- Review: 'My Old Lady' deftly juggles somber, silly and sweet
- Jennifer Aniston up for an Oscar? Toronto film festival shows the possibilities
- Review: 'The Drop' rises on its talent and affection
- Good, great movies are showing at Toronto International Film Festival
- Fall film schedule offers a range from serious to silly
- Review: 'Last of Robin Hood' is a tawdry tale too familiar to fly


text:
Rick Talbert: County Council, Pierce County
Although Rick Talbert has been a strong proponent of economic development within Tacoma, he has shown during his last four-year term on the Tacoma City Council that he recognizes that sustainable growth policies, including urban green space preservation, are necessary to make the City a viable livable community. His votes on the City Council were vital to the passage of legislation to promote mixed-use center developments, "complete streets" to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists and transit systems along with cars, and the establishment of a City Office of Sustainability and Sustainable Tacoma Commission. Furthermore, his campaign is in excellent condition with ample resources and support for him to win this open County Council seat. He will provide a strong voice for economic and environmental sustainability in Pierce County.
For more information, please visit the Citizens for Rick Talbert page on Facebook.


text:
That Is So Fetch
Brooklyn's the besties may not have lived up to its name yet, but the band's definitely trying.With celebrity blogs and shows like The Hills giving credence to new slang—"besties," after all, means best friends—the quartet might seem a little too twee for its own good, based on the name alone.
Not your typical keyboard-laden Brooklyn band (and not actually named after the annoying buzzword), this group is named for the idea that they're the best band in the world. Indeed, if you're are a fan of Green Day songs shot up with syrupy synthesizers and sung by members of Heavenly, the name just might have some truth behind it.
Beginning in South Williamsburg, where longtime friends Kelly Waldrop and Marisa Bergquist share a room, the Besties wrote its first songs on a forgotten organ that was left over from a previous tenant.The band practiced in the loft space and even played some of its first shows there. Although the band, which has been playing together since 2004, has moved out, that didn't stop its members from penning a love song to the spot: "79 Lorimer."
It's a touching recollection of what it's like to rent a space, live there like you own the place (read: trashing it), all the while assuring your parents that you're doing fine.The house, now belonging to someone else, has the spirit of The Besties lingering, as well as an oversized organ to be utilized or neglected as the new tenants see fit. The band's new record, featuring "79 Lorimer," is called Home Free and is actually based on an in-joke between the band members and the guitarist's father.They were holed up in Ricky's parents' house in Connecticut over Christmas last year when his father good-naturedly teased Marisa about being homeless. In response, Marisa exclaimed, to the delight of her band mates, "I'm not homeless. I'm home free!" Without the responsibility of having a lease and rent to pay is empowering to the group's members, and it can be heard on the new record, which is packed to the brim with fun and loose tracks about their struggles to keep things together. But the music is so upbeat that you assume it was written by happy people.
"There's no Eeyore in this band," Bergquist says. "There are no fights."
It's also apparent in the band's touring schedule, which plays whenever it can, in basements and bars alike, whenever Kelly and Ricky aren't traveling the country selling posters to college students as part of an organization that sets up shop in quads across the country, peddling cheap art to dorm dwellers.
"I'm happy being a basement show kind of band," Marisa says as we discuss an upcoming New Brunswick, NJ, house show and the notion of becoming a big touring group. "It's so personal. It's such a compliment for [people] to invite you into their homes."
Home Free is just that: a celebration of the homes they once had, and those not yet visited. For this band, however, home seems to be anyplace where its best friends are.
Twee the people: The Besties.
> The Besties
Feb. 26, Union Pool, 484 Union Ave. (at Meeker Ave.), 718-609-0484; 8,


text:
New Van New Member (Small Problems)
New Van New Member (Small Problems)
First off it needs a tune up... how hard is it to do and what is the best way of doing so? Second what is the normal oil pressure reading during idle and high way operation? At idle it reads dead smack in the middle of L and H BUT at high way speed it reads in bettween the top marker in the middle of the guage kind of like 3/4 to 4/5's the way to hot or high whichever it is. Third the fuses for the radio AND the cruise control are both fine (all the fuses are) but they dont work is there a realy or something that these share or is it to seperate problems. And is there something in the engine compartment I'm missing or somewere in the van that I've overlooked. I hate that it dosen't have a OD but I'll deal with it, gas is pretty good though AMAZINGLY. And whats up with the air blowing thing from under the wheel ner nthe floor when you have the passenger side window down. I about froze my butt off the other nite.
The tune up is pretty basic, just pull the doghouse off to access the engine. The front two plugs can be a bit tight to get to, but nothing a universal socket can't handle.
You gave your reading for the oil pressure but asked if the reading was "way to hot"? If you're asking about oil pressure the reading are fine. If you're asking about coolant temperature then it's too high.
For the radio and cruise, you'll first need to check for power at the connector going to each of them. If there is power, then both units are blown. If there isn't power, then you'll need to start tracing the wires back until you find where the power stops.
The air blowing from under the wheel is the steering column seal being cracked, loose, or missing. The reason it's doesn't blow when the windows are up is that there is no cross ventilation. Once you open the window the air can come in because it now has a place to exit. You'll want to fix that problem before winter hits. :)
The air in the foot well could be coming from a vent. My 1993 had a manual slide vent in the driver's foot well. Check down near the parking brake pedal. Maybe Chrysler changed this with the new body style in 1994. :2cents:
Yes I just seen the vent on the outer kick panel today. Didn't see it before. secondly I am having some squeaking from the rear brakes I think. It only squeaks AFTER I let off the brakes any ideas?????
A dab of grease where the metal bracket of the brake shoe slides across the backplate will quiet that right down.
A dab of grease where the metal bracket of the brake shoe slides across the backplate will quiet that right down.
Thanks it was a possibility I haden't really thought about. I need to get a good look at the rear drums and shoes anywho.....
ty again.
Automotive Network, Inc., Copyright ©2014


text:
Last updated: Tue, Jun 5
Kaiser Health News' Mary Agnes Carey talks to Jon Kingsdale about the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the health law and its implications for the future of health care. Kingsdale, who helped implement the Massachusetts health law, divides states into three camps when it comes to the 2010 federal law: Some are preparing in earnest to be ready on time, some are taking steps but waiting on others until the Supreme Court rules and the fall elections occur, and other states have done nothing, with hopes the law will be struck down. Kingsdale now consults with states and others on the federal health law (6/4). Watch the video. This is the first installment of KHN's video series "Supreme Uncertainty: What's Next After The Court Rules."
This Story: Print | Link to | Top
In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "Colorectal cancer screening can cut a person's risk of dying from the disease in half, yet about 40 percent of those who should get tested don't do it. One reason is that the 'gold standard' for screening, an optical colonoscopy, requires a rigorous preparation to empty the colon, and it gives many people pause. A new method that doesn't require patients to take laxatives to empty their bowel beforehand could boost screening rates. But some experts question whether it's a good solution" (Andrews, 6/4). Read the column.
Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Capital Public Radio's Pauline Bartolone, working in collaboration with KHN and NPR, writes: "Pre-existing conditions would not prevent a Californian from buying health insurance on the individual market in 2014, if state lawmakers succeed with a push to make sure the main tenets of the national health law survive in the state – no matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules later this month" (Bartolone, 6/5).
Susan Jaffe reports: "The number of Medicare patients who enter the hospital for observation rose dramatically even though Medicare enrollment and hospital admissions declined slightly, according to a study by gerontologists at Brown University in Providence, R.I." (Jaffe, 6/4).
Also on the blog, David Schultz writes: "Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to the massive storm cloud that is Medicare's spiraling health care costs. … But the silver lining is that the problem's gravity is inspiring many doctors, researchers and hospital administrators to conjure outside-the-box business models that could rein in these costs" (Schultz, 6/4). Check out what else is on the blog.
Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "It's The Real Thing" by Nate Beeler.
Meanwhile, here's today's health policy haiku:
I cannot "recall"
Such an election of note
Of the Cheesehead vote
- Anonymous
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please send it to us at http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/ContactUs.aspx and let us know if you want to include your name. Keep in mind that we give extra points if you link back to a KHN original story.
Since GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney chose former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to be his transition chief, news outlets have re-examined Leavitt's policy positions when he was the Health and Human Services secretary in George W. Bush's presidential administration, his support for elements of the 2010 federal health law and his work as a health care consultant advising states on the measure's implementation.
The New York Times' The Caucus: Conservatives Attack Romney's Choice To Lead Transition
Mitt Romney's choice of Michael O. Leavitt as his transition chief has spurred loud opposition from some conservatives over Mr. Leavitt's support of a crucial part of President Obama's health care plan. Mr. Leavitt, a former governor of Utah who was secretary of health and human services in George W. Bush's cabinet, is now a health care consultant who advises states on how to implement Mr. Obama's health law (Shear, 6/4).
Modern Healthcare: Romney Taps Leavitt For Transition Post
Mitt Romney appointed former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to head the transition team that would lay the groundwork for his presidency if he wins Nov. 6, according to his campaign. ... [Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda] Henneberg did not respond to questions about whether Leavitt's appointment was in any way related to Romney's promises to roll back much of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Romney has repeatedly said he would issue waivers to all states on his first day in office, as part of a push to repeal the law (Daly, 6/4).
CQ HealthBeat: Leavitt In Transition: Manager First, Health Wonk Second
As head of the transition team if Mitt Romney is elected president this fall, former Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt could be in a strong position to further the health policy agenda he pursued as Health and Human Services secretary under President George W. Bush, particularly in promoting health information technology and marketplace changes to make health care more efficient. Leavitt's first responsibility as head of the transition team would be to recommend top appointees throughout a Romney administration. However, he made clear in his last days as HHS secretary how anxious he was to continue pushing his market-based ideas for improving the quality and efficiency of health care (Reichard, 6/4).
Politico Pro: Leavitt Role, Stance Stirs Conservative Distrust
Leavitt, a former Utah governor who led HHS during President George W. Bush's second term, has been less than militant about repealing all of President Barack Obama's health care law. Now a health care consultant, his firm advises states on how to implement portions of the ACA, which is sacrilege in right-wing circles. "This sends a very troubling signal to the grass roots. We're concerned by the choice of someone who has personally profited from Obamacare," Dean Clancy, vice president of health care policy for FreedomWorks, said Monday (Cheney, 6/5).
Denver Post: Mitt Romney Supporters Talk About Uncertainty Under President Obama
The new buzz word from Mitt Romney's presidential campaign apparently is "uncertainy," a word that was used by each Coloradan on a conference call today to talk about President Obama's "hostility" to business. U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, said the president's health-care plan is creating "uncertainty" (Bartels, 6/4).
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports on how a cache of emails has emerged that demonstrates how involved Romney was in the efforts to pass a state health reform law when he was governor of Massachusetts -
The Wall Street Journal: How Romney Pushed State Health Bill
But a small cache of emails survived, including some that have never publicly surfaced surrounding Mr. Romney's efforts to pass his now-controversial health-care law. The emails show the Republican governor was closely engaged in negotiating details of the bill, working with top Democratic state leaders and drafting early copies of opinion articles backing it (Maremont, 6/4).
Today's recall election in Wisconsin represents the "culmination" of a political firestorm that began when Gov. Scott Walker proposed ending most state workers' collective bargaining rights and requiring them to pay more for health insurance and pension benefits as a way to address the state's budget shortfall.
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Wisconsin Holds Recall Targeting Gov. Scott Walker After More Than A Year Of Political Turmoil
The recall effort against Walker began bubbling last year, shortly after the rising Republican star took office. Just a month into his first term, Walker took the state by surprise with a proposal to effectively end collective bargaining rights for most state workers and pay more for health insurance and pension benefits as a tactic to deal with the state's budget shortfall. The proposal created a firestorm of opposition, and protests drew tens of thousands to the state Capitol (6/5).
USA Today: Wisconsin Gov. Walker Recall Vote
The recall election is the culmination of a bitter battle that began in February 2011 when Walker announced his plan to erase a $137 million budget shortfall in part by requiring state workers to give up collective-bargaining rights and pay more for health insurance and pension benefits (Keen, 6/5).
News outlets report on how stakeholders -- ranging from state governments to safety-net health care facilities -- are taking steps to prepare for the health law's implementation as well as the Supreme Court's decision on its constitutionality.
Kaiser Health News: Kingsdale: 'People Are Aware that There Are Huge Problems' (Video)
Kaiser Health News' Mary Agnes Carey talks to Jon Kingsdale about the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the health law and its implications for the future of health care. Kingsdale, who helped implement the Massachusetts health law, divides states into three camps when it comes to implementing the 2010 federal law: Some are preparing in earnest to be ready on time, some are taking steps but waiting on others until the Supreme Court rules and the fall elections occur, and other states have done nothing, with hopes the law will be struck down. Kingsdale now consults with states and others on implementation of the federal health law (6/4). Watch the video. This is the first installment of KHN's video series "Supreme Uncertainty: What's Next After The Court Rules."
Boston Globe: Looking Ahead At Options If Health Law Falls
As the country awaits this month's Supreme Court decision on the fate of President Obama's sweeping health reform law, sharp negative questioning by justices during oral arguments has supporters and opponents girding for the possibility that the entire bill could be overturned. … Even if the court were to strike just the individual mandate and keep the rest of the law intact, some health care advocates, insurers, and lawmakers fear that these consumer protections would be unable to stand on their own (Jan, 6/5).
CQ HealthBeat: Medicaid DSH Payment Cuts Could Add To Financial Woes Of Safety Net Hospitals
Cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments required by the health care law could leave safety net facilities unable to pay for necessary modernizations in health care delivery, experts said Monday. No matter how the Supreme Court rules on the law, according to Arthur Gianelli, president and CEO of NuHealth System in New York, payment changes in the health care system have already begun and will not stop. In response, hospitals, including safety net facilities, are reducing admissions, forging partnerships with other providers, expanding primary care and care management and entering into quality-based shared savings arrangements with payers (Bristol, 6/4).
Meanwhile, the anticipation regarding high court's ruling continues to play a role in politics --
Politico: Axe: Not The Time To 'Speculate' On Health Care Redo
President Obama's top campaign strategist David Axelrod is pushing back on reports about the president telling top donors that he may revisit health care in his second term. "Our hope and our expectation is that the Supreme Court will affirm the health care law," Axelrod said on a conference call Monday. "Now is not the time to speculate on that. We believe that the law is constitutional" (Tau, 6/4).
National Journal: Poll: Mixed View On Health Care, Farm Bill
If the Supreme Court strikes down part or all of the Affordable Care Act, a strong plurality of the public wants Congress to try again to come up with a comprehensive health care law to guarantee insurance for all Americans. Forty-six percent of respondents in a new poll favor that ambitious approach, while 18 percent say that Congress should be content to "pass smaller measures that will cover some people without insurance but not as many as the original law." Meanwhile, 28 percent of respondents said that Congress should simply do away with all of President Obama's 2010 law, including any parts the Supreme Court may decide to uphold (Cooper, 6/4).
Reuters reports that even last week's poor jobs report did not spur Congress toward a compromise. As it stands, Republicans are pushing for major cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid while Democrats want to preserve these programs and ask people with higher incomes to bear more of the tax burden. The partisan divide, meanwhile, is also evident regarding women's issues and health policy.
Reuters: Poor Jobs Data Fails To Spur Congress Into Compromise
Democrats demanded that new tax revenues be part of any deficit reduction and tax reform deal, while Republicans demand major cuts in so-called entitlements such as the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and the poor. In fact, these positions form the basis of key campaign themes for each side -- for Republicans, to slash Washington spending and lower all tax rates, and for Democrats, to preserve Medicare benefits while asking the wealthy to shoulder a greater share of the tax burden (Lawder, 6/4).
Los Angeles Times: Congress Shifting Attention To Women's Issues, Health Care
Congress returns its attention this week to women's issues, with the Senate voting on legislation to ensure paycheck equity as GOP front-runner Mitt Romney tapped a Republican congresswoman to be his campaign liaison in the House. … The House this week is expected to take another turn at trying to dismantle Obama's health care law with legislation that would repeal a tax on medical device manufacturers. Democrats have largely supported the tax, but Republicans argue that it is stifling job creation (Mascaro, 6/4).
Also on Capitol Hill --
Bloomberg: Cancer Doctors Push Congress To Help End Drug Shortages
U.S. regulators and the country's top cancer doctors urged Congress to help end the shortages of more than a hundred drugs, including those for deadly tumors. The House and Senate are working to merge bills passed last week that would require drugmakers to notify the Food and Drug Administration when they expect a disruption to production of medicines. The number of shortages have tripled since 2006 and include cisplatin for ovarian cancer and paclitaxel, a therapy given to women with breast cancer (Pettypiece and Langreth, 6/4).
The program in Albuquerque also lowered costs while providing some patients acute care at home.
Politico Pro: Hospital At Home Adopted In New Mexico
Very sick patients given hospital-level care in their homes through a New Mexico integrated health care system had as good or better outcomes, higher satisfaction and lower costs than similar patients in a traditional inpatient hospital setting, according to a study published in Health Affairs on Monday. Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque adapted the Hospital at Home model developed at Johns Hopkins, which includes daily doctor visits and nursing visits at least once a day, to patients getting hospital-level acute care at home (Kenen, 6/4).
Modern Healthcare: Advanced Home Health Model Yields Savings, Study Finds
An advanced form of home health care offered by Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Albuquerque, N.M., provided care that was 19 percent less than the cost for similar inpatients, while clinical outcomes were comparable or better, according to a study published in the June issue of Health Affairs. Most of the savings came from the 323 home health care patients in the study having lower average length of stays and lower use of clinical testing than the 1,048 inpatients studied (Barr, 6/4).
Kaiser Health News: To Curb Spending On Elderly, Hospitals Try New Business Models
Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to the massive storm cloud that is Medicare's spiraling health care costs. … But the silver lining is that the problem's gravity is inspiring many doctors, researchers and hospital administrators to conjure outside-the-box business models that could rein in these costs" (Schultz, 6/4).
Baltimore Sun: Treating Patients At Home May Be Cheaper, Better
A program that allows patients to be treated at home instead of the hospital can improve care and satisfaction, new research from Johns Hopkins shows. The model called Hospital at Home reduced costs by roughly 20 percent and had equal or better outcomes among patients in New Mexico who participated in a study, published in the June issue of Health Affairs (Cohn, 6/4).
See related Kaiser Health News story: Some Patients Can Choose To Be Hospitalized At Home
Although patients don't often know the difference between observation and inpatient care, observation care leaves them on the hook for a much larger bill. A study published in Health Affairs finds this circumstance becoming more common.
Politico: Hospital Billing Shifting Costs
A hospital billing practice that can leave Medicare beneficiaries on the hook for large medical costs is becoming increasingly common, according to a report released in Health Affairs on Monday. Three researchers from Brown University examined how frequently patients are placed on "observation status," meaning they're getting treatment in a hospital but are not technically admitted. That means their care is covered by Medicare Part B rather than Part A, which can leave patients responsible for a greater share of their costs (Feder, 6/4).
Kaiser Health News: Study: Hospital Observation Stays Increase 25 Percent In 3 Years
The number of Medicare patients who enter the hospital for observation rose dramatically even though Medicare enrollment and hospital admissions declined slightly, according to a study by gerontologists at Brown University in Providence, R.I. (Jaffe, 6/4).
California Watch: 'Observation Stays' For Medicare Patients Create Coverage Problems
Advocacy organizations have criticized the practice of classifying patients who are treated in a hospital over several days as observation stays, which has left some Medicare patients with large, unexpected expenses. "If you're in a hospital for a week, what do mean you're not an inpatient?" said Toby Edelman, a senior policy attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy, who is one of the attorneys representing Jackson in the class-action lawsuit. "The (financial) consequences are serious" (Yeung, 6/4).
Other outlets reported on two other studies in Health Affairs -
National Journal: Report: Even When Free, Many Seniors Skip Checkups
Even though Medicare offers a free "welcome to Medicare" checkup for seniors who enter the program, about one in eight still wait two years or longer to seek a physical, a study in Health Affairs finds. The report did not find that those who delayed care were any sicker as a result. In fact, patients who waited were less likely to have chronic disease and more likely to believe they would live at least another decade (Sanger-Katz, 6/4).
The Hill: Study: Caution Needed In Handling Care For Dual Eligibles
Policymakers must be cautious in formulating plans to streamline care for some low-income elderly and disabled patients, according to an analysis published in the journal Health Affairs. Estimates about savings from new plans and demonstration projects must also be approached with skepticism, the authors wrote (Viebeck, 6/4).
The Associated Press: Health Insurer WellPoint To Buy 1-800 Contacts
WellPoint Inc. plans to buy contact lens retailer 1-800-Contacts Inc. in a deal that would give the insurer its first direct-to-consumer business outside selling individual health coverage. … 1-800 Contacts currently has about 3.3 million customers. WellPoint Chairwoman and CEO Angela Braly said in a statement that the business comes with a significant growth opportunity because there are more than 38 million people wearing eye contact lenses and more than 140 million people wearing eye glasses in the United States (Murphy, 6/4).
Half of New Yorkers say the proposal by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to limit the size of sugary drinks goes too far, but analysts say legal challenges to the limits might not be able to stop the policy.
Reuters: Legal Challenges To New York Soda Ban Face Uphill Climb
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on large-size sugary soft drinks in New York isn't winning him many new friends in the beverage and restaurant industries. Trouble is, they may not be able to stop him, at least in the courts. The mayor's proposal would change the city's administrative code, giving the health department the power to levy fines on most restaurants, movie theaters, food carts and delis that sell sugary soft drinks larger than 16 ounces (Ax, 6/4).
The Associated Press: Poll: Half Of NYers Oppose Drink Restrictions
About half of New Yorkers say Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban of sugary drinks over 16 ounces from the city's eateries is an example of government going too far, while 42 percent say it would be good health policy, according to a poll released Monday. Of the 500 adults surveyed Sunday for the NY1-Marist poll, 53 percent said the proposal is a bad idea, while 42 percent praised the concept -- which would make New York the first American city to so directly attempt to limit portion sizes in an attempt to fight obesity (Gross, 6/4).
In the meantime, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering dumping a sales tax exemption for soda and candy --
WBUR's CommonHealth blog: Soda Tax Proposal Survives Near-Death. Up For Debate This Week
We've been hearing for many months about a brewing proposal to lift the state sales tax exemption on soda and candy. … But in the bubbling political ferment in the State House over cutting health costs, nothing is a done deal until it's a done deal. So though many public-health-oriented personae have come out in favor of lifting the soda tax exemption -- including the Healthy People/Healthy Economy coalition way back in late 2010 -- for a while it was looking last week like the actual soda-tax amendment might not be filed and the proposal might not even come up for debate this legislative session (Goldberg, 5/4).
NPR: Caring For Aging Relative: 'To Give Her A Good Life'
Over the last two months, NPR's Morning Edition has been following three families who make up the growing number of multigenerational households in this country. All became multigenerational unexpectedly, when elderly relatives could no longer live independently and the families took them in (6/5).
Modern Healthcare: CMS Queries N.H. On Medicaid Rate Cuts
The CMS requested that the New Hampshire health department provide detailed information about reductions in Medicaid reimbursement rates in recent years. In a May 23 letter, CMS Deputy Administrator Cindy Mann asked the state's Department of Health and Human Services to submit specific data and analysis about Medicaid rate and payment reimbursements within 30 days (Lee, 6/4).
The Union Leader (New Hampshire): State HHS Commissioner Says Federal Claims About Data Are Wrong
The commissioner of state Health and Human Services Department has reacted angrily to allegations from the federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid that the department is not providing data on residents' access to services. In a letter to commissioner Nicholas Toumpas, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asserted that the New Hampshire department has not furnished data to refute charges that access has been greatly diminished (Siefer, 6/4).
Meanwhile, other outlets reported on Medicaid news in California and Georgia:
California Healthline: State Health Officials Intrigued By New Medi-Cal Data
Last week, the California HealthCare Foundation, which publishes California Healthline, released a survey of the attitudes and concerns of Medi-Cal beneficiaries. It has been a relatively long time since a similar survey was completed in 2000, so state health care officials were extremely pleased to get updated information, (Len Finocchio, director of the Department of Health Care Services) said. ... One of the main general findings in the current survey is that beneficiaries are pretty happy with Medi-Cal. According to survey results, about 90 percent of the Medi-Cal insured have a positive view of the program and 78 percent said the program covers the care people need (Gorn, 6/5).
Contra Costa Times/McClatchy Newspapers: Challenges, Opportunities Lie Ahead For Medi-Cal As It Readies For Major Expansion
As California's Medi-Cal program readies for an influx of 2 million to 3 million people when national health reforms kick in, major challenges lie ahead, including finding enough specialists who will see participants. The state's existing 7.5 million Medi-Cal recipients already have difficulty accessing specialists, according to a study by the California HealthCare Foundation. And adults on Medi-Cal are twice as likely to visit the emergency room as people with other coverage, the study reveals. This may be an indication of greater difficulty in seeing primary care doctors (Kleffman, 6/4).
Georgia Health News: New Plan For Medicaid Is Weeks Away
The state's Medicaid agency Monday announced an updated timeline for its decision on how the health program will be restructured. A press release said the state's decision about the new model for Medicaid and PeachCare will come this summer, as experts had anticipated. And the Department of Community Health said it is projecting that it will begin the vendor procurement process with a Request for Proposals sometime this fall (Miller, 6/4).
A selection of health care stories from California, Arizona, New Jersey, Michigan, Texas and Kansas.
Los Angeles Times: Unusual Partnership Offers Students Birth Control
Throughout the school year, students visit the on-campus clinic to get birth control, pregnancy tests, counseling and screening for sexually transmitted diseases. The services … are offered through a unique collaboration between Planned Parenthood and the Los Angeles Unified School District designed to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies among teenagers at the Boyle Heights high school. Although nonprofit groups frequently offer reproductive health care on school campuses around the nation, the partnership involving Planned Parenthood -- long a target of antiabortion lawmakers in Washington -- is the only one of its kind (Gorman, 6/5).
Philadelphia Inquirer: In N.J., The County Nursing Home Is An Endangered Species
County-run nursing homes in New Jersey could be headed for extinction. Four have been sold to private operators in the last 18 months, including Buttonwood Hospital in Burlington County, and Camden County now is considering selling its facility. And some within the industry suspect that the remaining 16 aren't far behind. With local government budgets shrinking, county-run nursing homes -- the government's traditional means of caring for seniors who lack money for a private facility -- are steadily being privatized. … The main cause, industry experts say, is decreasing Medicaid subsidies (Osborne, 6/5).
Los Angeles Times: Six Southern California Hospitals Fined For Health Care Violations
State regulators have fined six Southern California hospitals for health care violations that included an emergency room nurse's sexual assault on a patient at Chapman Medical Center in Orange. The penalties, announced Friday by the California Department of Public Health, included the eighth assessed on Southwest Healthcare System in Murrieta, which has been fined more often than any other hospital in the state since financial penalties were adopted in 2007 (Boxall, 6/5).
Arizona Republic: Arizona Prisons Can Be Deadly For Sick
A review by The Arizona Republic of deaths in state prisons over the past two fiscal years found at least four inmates, in addition to Dix, whose medical care was delayed or potentially inadequate leading up to their deaths. The records of these cases, together with interviews of officers, medical staff and inmates point to a system in which correctional officers routinely deny inmates access to timely care, and in which treatment sometimes falls short of accepted standards (Ortega, 6/4).
Detroit Free Press: Michigan Urges Collaboration, Lifestyle Changes To Combat Obesity Problem
A statewide public health plan calls on schools, street planners, park districts, private businesses, insurers, restaurants and others to tackle the state's growing obesity problem. "We have a real public health crisis on our hands," said Olga Dazzo, director of the Michigan Department of Community Health, which released the plan this morning at an Ypsilanti senior center and park. ... Nearly one-third of adults in Michigan are considered obese -- a problem contributing to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, stroke and dementia. Additionally, nearly 12 percent of Michigan's high school students are considered obese, public health officials say (Erb, 6/5).
CNN (Video): Opting Out Of Vaccinations Could Get Tougher In California
The re-emergence of some vaccine-preventable diseases has prompted the California legislature to consider a bill that would make it more difficult for parents to opt out of vaccinating their kids. The legislation would require that parents get counseling from a doctor before opting out of immunizations for their children (Roope, 6/5).
Texas Tribune: Facing Accusations in CA, Hospital Company Looks to TX
Despite more than a year of bad press and an apparent FBI inquiry, Prime Healthcare Services, which owns and operates more than a dozen hospitals, most of them in California, acquired ownership of South Texas' 112-bed Harlingen Medical Center in December, then bought Pampa Regional Medical Center, a 115-bed hospital in the Panhandle, this month. Prime spokesman Edward Barrera said in a statement that the allegations -- which he called a labor union's fictitious smear campaign against the company -- have prompted the company to "look outside the state for expansion" (Ramshaw, 6/5).
Kansas Health Institute News: Drug Disposal Program Enrolls 32 Pharmacies In First Month
After its first month of operation, the Kansas Medication Disposal Program has 32 participating pharmacies statewide that can collect unneeded or unwanted prescription drugs. A map showing the locations of the pharmacies and household hazardous waste facilities was released today by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Debra Billingsley, executive secretary for the Kansas Board of Pharmacy, said the level of participation in the voluntary program so far is what officials expected when it was launched in April. There are 287 chain pharmacies and 289 independent pharmacies in Kansas (6/4).
Kansas Health Institute News: Southeast Kansas Collaborative Seeks $11M Grant For Virtual Health Center
The plan is to create a rural health network that would connect providers via computer to create a "virtual" federally qualified health center, or FQHC, serving Labette, Neosho and Wilson counties. FQHCs typically are bricks-and-mortar facilities offering primary care services in underserved communities. Led by Labette Health, the hospital in Parsons, and its Chief Executive Officer Jodi Schmidt, collaborative members hope the idea is unique enough to earn funding through the new Health Care Innovation program administered by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They have an $11.4 million grant request pending before the agency that would allow them to develop and implement the plan (Sherry, 6/4).
The New York Times: The Trouble With 'Doctor Knows Best'
This deluge of do-less recommendations results from research into tests and procedures that have been arguably overused. You'd think these pronouncements would bring a sea change in the way patients are treated in this country. But my guess is that little will change. Many doctors, maybe most, will ignore these findings and keep doing what they have been doing all along. ... It's the culture of doctors, and that will be very hard to change (Dr. Peter B. Bach, 6/4).
The New York Times: Asthma By The Numbers
Federal health officials recently issued a gloomy report noting that the percentage of Americans suffering from asthma reached a record high of 8.4 percent in 2010, up from 7.3 percent in 2001. An estimated 25.7 million people had asthma in 2010, including 18.7 million adults and seven million children below the age of 18. It is a frightening disease in which sufferers struggle to breathe. In severe attacks, victims can die (6/4).
The Wall Street Journal: Inside ObamaCare's Grant-Making
Early this year, I was briefly involved with one of the Affordable Care Act's bureaucracies called the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, or CMMI. Despite its lofty ideals, it is one more pork program and venue for political cronyism, as I learned firsthand (Steven E. Greer, 6/4).
The Wall Street Journal: Fannie Med
Perhaps you thought that the Affordable Care Act is all about making insurance more affordable. Too bad no one told Americans that the law also turned the Health and Human Services Department into a giant venture capital investor for health care. This won't turn out well. Awash in ObamaCare dollars, HHS has a growing investment portfolio that includes everything from new insurance companies to health-care start-ups to information technology (6/4).
CNN: Bloomberg's Visionary Move Against Obesity
Nobody seems to have a positive word for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to ban oversized servings of sugary drinks in New York's food-service establishments. The mayor has been decried as a nanny. ... So let's defy the trend here and say: Good for Bloomberg. ... There is little doubt about the serious health effects of sugary soda. Just one soda a day doubles a woman's risk of diabetes, according to the Harvard Journals of Public Health. Two sodas raises her risk of heart disease by 40% (David Frum, 6/4).
CNN: Forget Large Sodas, How About Banning French Fries?
Critics are crying that the move is an infringement on personal freedom. But the bigger question is: What's the rationale behind targeting a single dietary factor in the sea of unhealthy foods and drinks that barrage us every day? Is it scientifically sound? A typical 16-ounce soft drink contains about 180 calories, nearly all from sugar. It doesn't contain any fat. While Bloomberg's ban will make it illegal to sell large-sized sugary drinks, it's perfectly legal to sell plenty of other beverages (milkshakes, anyone?) and foods (how about some ice cream?) that pack far more calories per amount served as well as very high levels of fat, sodium or other laboratory-engineered chemicals (Mark A. Pereira, 6/4).
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: FDA Right To Take A Look At Prescription Opioids
Some doctors are urging federal officials to make it illegal for drug companies to market (prescription opiods) to treat chronic, long-term pain, a step we believe the FDA should consider….. Heather Pierce, who has a genetic connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, said she is worried about limiting the approval of opioids to just severe pain….. The FDA needs to consider that point. But the rising use of prescription opioids should be the bigger concern, as doctors writing in last week's New England Journal of Medicine pointed out (6/4).
The Wall Street Journal: Illinois Blows Smoke At Taxpayers
Such a warning might be especially instructive for Illinois. There the Democratic legislature (with the help of Republicans in the state House) has just raised cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack. Gov. Pat Quinn says everyone wins: The higher tax means more revenue for Medicaid from those who continue to puff, while the higher price will encourage some to quit, lowering smoking-related health costs for the state (William McGurn, 6/4).
Arizona Republic: State Needs A Permanent Solution
It's the right thing for the right reasons. But Arizona's new version of a safety net for uninsured children raises questions about how long the state can substitute patches for long-term solutions. … Dubbed KidsCare II, the program is part of a larger plan that allows the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to use money from the hospitals to take advantage of a federal match. This will help defray the hospitals' uncompensated costs of caring for adults and kids who have been cut from health-care coverage in Arizona in recent years (6/5).
Miami Herald: Wayward Government
At the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, the state's largest public facility for mental care, workers ignored a woman's cry for help as she felt the onset of birth. She eventually delivered a brain-injured child who will likely require lifelong medical care. Immediate responsibility for this appalling incident last December rests with unresponsive hospital workers. But an 88-page report issued last week by the Inspector General of the Department of Children & Families found ample reason to point the finger at the real culprits — an uncaring system and incompetent administration (6/4).
San Francisco Chronicle: Outdated CA Mental Health Law Serves No One
Many of the mentally ill end up in jail rather than in treatment. Thus, acute bed cuts billed as savings have simply shifted costs to the criminal justice system…. California needs to revise its 45-year-old Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, a civil rights law designed to extract persons with mental illness from state hospitals with the expectation that they would receive care and treatment in their home communities. This expectation failed (Fred Martin Jr., 6/5).
Stephanie Stapleton
Andrew Villegas
Lisa Gillespie
Shefali Luthra
The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. (c) 2014 Kaiser Health News. All rights reserved.
© 2014 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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23rd Oct: It's time for the Second TV Tropes Halloween Avatar Contest! Details here
main index
"Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine."A story so memorable they filmed it thrice.A Star is Born was first made in 1937, co-written and directed by William A. Wellman and staring Frederic March and Janet Gaynor. The second time was in 1954, directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Garland and James Mason. The third time, it was in 1976, and Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson starred and Frank Pierson directed.In all three versions, a young starlet named Esther Blodgettnote meets has-been star Norman Maine note . He helps her get a career in show business, under the name "Vicki Lester." Just as importantly, the two fall in love and get married. However, Norman's dependency on the bottle gets in the way of their marriage, leading to tragedy and despair.
Vicki Lester, delivering the first two versions' classic last line.
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Pastor's Wives: Enjoy Your Lives
- Thursday, February 24, 2005
Make your children a top priority. Give yourself permission to place your responsibilities as a mother before your responsibilities at church. Understand that being a great mom is an extremely important ministry. Don't feel like you have to take a one-size-fit-all approach to parenting; realize that each child is unique. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you should parent each of your children. Protect your kids from the burden of unrealistic expectations other people might place on them because they're pastor's kids. Don't expect them to be perfect; allow them to go through the natural process of making mistakes and learning from them. Don't force certain types of behaviors on them at church just so they'll look good to others. Instead, be concerned with how they're doing in their quests to genuinely get to know and love God. Strive to model an authentic faith for them by living honestly and openly yourself.
Enjoy friendships with other women. Realize that you need friends to become the woman God wants you to be. Don't distance yourself from the women in your own congregation and limit yourself to friendships with other pastors' wives. Develop friendships with women in your same church family who share your life and purpose. Don't worry about appearing to show favoritism by forming friendships with some women in your church and not others; know that it's natural to be drawn to some people over others. Just be sure to be friendly to everyone, regardless of how close you are to them.
Lead with grace. Recognize that you have great influence as a pastor's wife, and how you use that influence can positively or negatively affect your church. Know that your leadership will be received most effectively if you are gracious and kind in the way you relate to people. Strive to use your influence for the good of others, and to strengthen and support your husband's ministry. Gain the respect and love of people in your church by treating them as you would like to be treated. Don't live behind a façade of perfection; be willing to let people see your weaknesses so they can also see how God's strength is working in your life and be inspired to seek Him themselves. Set healthy boundaries on how much you can do and be honest about those limits with other people rather than trying to attend every wedding, funeral, and baby shower in your church, sing in the choir, lead the women's Bible study, receive phone calls at home at all hours, or anything else that's unreasonable for you.
Adapted from A Life Embraced: A Hopeful Guide for the Pastor's Wife, copyright 2004 by Gayle Haggard. Published by WaterBrook Press, Colorado Springs, Co., a division of Random House, Inc., www.randomhouse.com/waterbrook.
Gayle Haggard has been married for 26 years to Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Since the time their church was founded in 1985 with just a few people meeting in their basement, through its growth into a megachurch of 11,000 people, Gayle has worked alongside her husband in building the ministry. As director of women's ministries at New Life, Gayle oversees more than 100 women's small groups. In recent years, she has coordinated the National Day of Prayer event in Colorado Springs, helping to make it into one of the largest annual celebrations in the nation. She and Ted are the parents of five children, including one who is disabled.
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Podcast: Making Sense of Kid Rock
Never change, New Yorker:
This week in the magazine, Kelefa Sanneh profiles the genre-jumping musician Kid Rock, who got his start in hip-hop, went platinum with rap-rock, and then transitioned into country music. Here Sanneh listens to Kid Rock's music with Curtis Fox and talks about how his early years in Detroit's hip-hop scene shaped his identity as a country-rocker. Also, Donald Hall on what reading poetry has in common with oral sex (spoiler: vowels). Listen.
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Never change, New Yorker:
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Kid Rock's country turn confused the hell out of me … oh yea .. and uber pissed I bought whatever album American Badass...
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There's so much to do near the Hampton Inn® hotel in Mt. Pleasant. Have dinner by the Chippewa River or explore its reaches by canoe, kayak, or inner tube. Visit the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's Soaring Eagle Casino, just a mile from our hotel in Mt. Pleasant. While you're here in town, don't miss the tribe's Ziibiwing Center, dedicated to Anishabe culture. If you happen to be here in August, you'll love the Saginaw Chippewa Powwow, a festival of Native American dance, food, crafts, and culture. Golf nut? You're in the right place. The area around our hotel in Mt. Pleasant boasts 15 championship courses. Lastly, for those coming to a graduation, we're just two miles from Central Michigan University.
Book your room today at the Hampton Inn hotel in Mt. Pleasant, and be sure to drop in at the front desk for some tips on how to enjoy all of the outdoor and cultural attractions our Michigan town has to offer.
MI=Miles BLK=Block KM=Kilometers MT=Meters YD=Yards
Whatever the reason for your visit, we hope you'll enjoy these fun ways to relax and keep in shape.


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BC News
Mill shooter could get severance
A man charged in a mass shooting at a Vancouver Island sawmill where he was laid off six years ago may now be entitled to severance pay as part of a settlement involving a group of former workers.
Kevin Addison, 47, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder after a shooting at the Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo on April 30. The company has said the suspect in the shooting was a former employee.
CTV Vancouver is reporting that former co-workers have said Addison was among roughly 160 workers laid off from the downtown sawmill in 2008, most of whom were not hired back when the facility reopened in 2010, setting off a long-running labour dispute over severance. The case also involves more than 100 workers at another mill on the outskirts of the city, which was shut down in 2009 and also later reopened with a fraction of the staff.
The labour dispute ended last week, when an arbitration settlement worth $1.2 million was reached between Western Forest Products and its union, United Steelworkers Local 1-1937.
The money will be divided between qualifying employees from the two mills, said union business agent Chris Cinkant.
Cinkant said it's too early to say whether Addison will qualify for severance. He said the union will now begin the process of creating a list of qualified employees.
"It'll take a little while in case anyone has slipped through the cracks or that kind of thing," Cinkant said.
"People have moved on here and there so we need to find them. ... This should provide some closure for all those who have been waiting and wondering whether or not they're going to get money."
Western Forest Products plant chairman Michael Lunn, 62, and supervisor Fred McEachern, 53, were both shot dead, while supervisor Earl Kelly and vice-president of manufacturing Tony Sudar were wounded.
Lunn was a union steward who attended hearings when the United Steelworkers took the company to court in 2011 over allegations that were described as "severance pay avoidance."
A labour arbitrator ruled in favour of the company in 2012, prompting the union to launch an appeal.
The process was delayed further when the arbitrator fell ill.
Cinkant said the union and the company recently agreed to end the dispute by allowing a mediator to decide how much money should be paid out.
Mediator John McConchie issued a binding report that said $1.2 million will be divided proportionally, based on years of service, to eligible employees who were on seniority lists at the time of the mill closures.
"We were hopeful for more money, of course, but at the end of the day this is best for everybody," Cinkant said.
"This has gone on now for what seems like forever, especially to those affected. People are frustrated. I'm just happy it's all finally over."
Western Forest Products spokeswoman Amy Spencer said the company is also relieved "and we're looking forward to moving ahead."
Meanwhile, Addison has made several appearances in Nanaimo provincial court.
His next court date is set for Sept 2.
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ATLANTA — Unbeaten Atlanta scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Dallas Cowboys en route to a 19-13 win at the Georgia Dome Sunday night.Atlanta moves to 8-0. Dallas falls to 3-5. The Cowboys play at Philadelphia next week.We didnt do enough to win this game, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. We have to find a way to make enough plays to win. They are a very talented team. They won eight games for a reason."Michael Turner scored on a 1-yard run and Matt Bryant kicked two field goals in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.Turner finished with 102 yards on 20 carries, including a long of 43 yards. Matt Ryan threw for 342 yards, but no touchdowns. Roddy White had seven grabs for 118 yards and Julio Jones had five catches for 129 yards.They have a lot of weapons, Garrett said. They did a good job making moves in the open field and the yards after catch.Tony Romo passed for 321 yards and no interceptions. Miles Austin and Jason Witten each had seven catches and Kevin Ogletree had three for 96 yards and one touchdown.The Cowboys defense, similar to the previous weeks, controlled the game, but wilted late with a couple of missed key tackles.I thought our defense did a good job early forcing them to kick field goals, Garrett said.Dallas got off to a good start when the defense forced a punt on Atlantas first possession.Dwayne Harris returned the punt 33 yards to the Atlanta 31.Seven plays later, Dan Bailey made a 23-yard field goal to make it 3-0 at the 10:46 mark.Atlanta drove to the Cowboys 18, but on a third-and-2 play, Bruce Carter dropped Michael Turner for a 1-yard loss. On fourth down, Matt Bryants 37-yard field goal was wide right.Dallas took over and struck quickly when Romo completed a 65-yard pass to Ogletree at the Falcons 18. Four plays later, Bailey made a 32-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead at the 3:42 mark.Atlanta finally got on the board with a 45-yard field goal by Bryant on the second play of the second quarter to make it 6-3.Dallas tried to answer by moving to the Falcons 37. On third-and-7, Ogletree dropped a pass from Romo. Then Bailey missed a 54-yard field goal wide left.Taking over on its own 44, Atlanta drove to the Cowboys 36, but was forced to punt.From their own 3, the Cowboys moved to midfield where they punted on fourth and inches.Atlanta moved from its 12 to the Dallas 28 in 48 seconds where Bryant made a 47-yard field goal on the final play of the half to tie the game at 6-6.Obviously, we rather have touchdowns than field goals, Garrett said.Dallas punted away its first possession of the second half after working out from its 14 to the Atlanta 44.Atlanta drove from its 13 to the Dallas 25 where Bryant barely missed a 43-yard field goal to the right at the 6:43 mark.Dallas was on the move and faced a third-and-13 play at the Dallas 41, but a wide-open Miles Austin dropped the pass and the Cowboys punted.Atlanta countered with the first touchdown of the game. The Falcons drove 81 yards in six plays with Michael Turner scoring on a 1-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 13-6.After another Dallas punt, Atlanta drove to the Cowboys 18, but a sack, short run and an incompletion forced Bryants 36-yard field goal to push the Falcons lead to 16-6 with 7:49 left in the game.Now running out of time, Dallas went to its hurry-up, no-huddle offense and it paid off.Dallas drove 78 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Romo threw 20 yards to Ogletree for the touchdown to make it 16-13 with 5:21 left in the game. Romo completed all six of his passes, including two to Jason Witten, who became the Cowboys all-time leading receiver on the drive, passing Michael Irvin.With 5:21, Atlanta began its victory march by converting three third downs, including two on short passes to Jacquizz Rodgers, to put the game away. Bryant made a 32 yard field goal to make it 19-13 with 17 seconds left.Four plays later, the game ended with a completion to Felix Jones at the Atlanta 21.We have to stay together and go back to work, Garrett said.Follow our coverage live on the Cowboys Corner blog and join in the conversation through Twitter, Facebook and in the comments.
Should Jason Garrett be on the hot seat?
On doorstep of Cowboys history, Jason Witten stands alone in this Dallas era
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When I first watched Glee, I didn't really grow onto it.
And as time went by, I watched another four episodes.
I then started to like it.
Then, I watched 13 episodes of Glee on discs.
I then found how Glee really gets to me.
today yesterday, I watched the following three episodes, 14/15/16 and I thought, wow, I think Glee is something I can watch whenever I'm down. Plus, i think the songs sang are excellently sung. Anyways, Imma go sleep soon, 'Night!


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- Capacity: 1.8 cu. ft.
- 13 lb wash capacity
- 6.6 lb dry capacity
- Dimensions: 33.44" H x 23.44" W x 23.63" D
- Shipping Dimensions: 36.22" H x 25.91" W x 23.91" D
- Capacity: 1.8 cu. ft.
- 13 lb wash capacity
- 6.6 lb dry capacity
- Dimensions: 33.44" H x 23.44" W x 23.63" D
- Shipping Dimensions: 36.22" H x 25.91" W x 23.91" D
- Compatible with 24" units
- Six (6) gallon water reservoir
- Meets ADA height requirements
- Weight: 13 lbs
- Dimensions: 5.25" H x 24.5" W x 24.5" D
- Solid wood natural finish clothes hamper
- Bowed front design for added style
- Removable canvas bag included
- Weight: 13 lbs
- Dimensions: 24" H x 20" W x 14.25" D
- Contemporary design
- Solid wood construction
- Comes w/ removable canvas bag
- Weight: 12 lbs
- Dimensions: 24" H x 20" W x 13.5" D
- Reduces wear and tear on appliances
- Model: VA1
- Brand: B Green Innovations
- Prevents washing machines from " walking"
- 30 day money back guarantee
Combo Washer Dryers, Portable Washers, & Premium Washing Machines
Laundry doesn't have to be the daunting dreaded task it usually is if you equip yourself with the right tools to tackle the chore. Washers and dryers come in many more shapes and sizes than they used to, and no matter what kind of space restrictions you're working around, there is sure to be a laundry solution to meet your needs.
In addition to front loading and stackable units , which are common in most homes and apartments, combination washer dryers are becoming increasingly popular because of how much space they save. Combo units are capable of washing and drying in the same cycle and can be a great solution for homes lacking the space for full size units.
Portable washers are small laundry units that typically come on casters so that they can be easily rolled into place when needed. All you need to operate them is a faucet which can be easily connected to the portable washer with a hose. Some portable washers are extra small and can be a great addition to RVs or you can take them along camping or on road trips.
With our wide selection of washers and dryers, you are sure to find a unit to meet your needs and suits your home.


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Can You Help Identify this Vintage Lamp?
Good Questions
Q: I came across this image on the web a little while ago, and am trying to find information about the vintage tripod floor lamp in the background. After an exhaustive web search, I'm coming up empty handed. It looks to be of the Pierre Guariche, Stilnovo, high-style 50's European ilk, but I am unsure… many thanks for your help!
Sent by Invisible Rabbit
Editor: Leave your suggestions for Invisible Rabbit in the comments — thanks!
• Got a question? Send us yours with pic attachments here (those with pics get answered first).
5 Comments
Maybe the owner of "Just L" out of Littleton, NH could help you...? He has a facebook. The store is all retro 50's, 60's, and 70's. Absolutely fantastic!! He has a lot of similar pieces to that and I bet he could probably help you out. :)
If you want the exact lamp email email@example.com. The picture came from that blog. I bet they can steer you in the right direction.
I've seen stuff like this at restoration hardware too
No clue where it originated, but I WANT IT NOW!
meeeee tooooooo!!!!!


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The Vikings got a third man on the PFF Top 101. Running back Adrian Peterson locks down the #38 spot, joining Phil Loadholt (98) and John Sullivan (87) on the website's run down of the league's top-graded players for 2013.
PFF said of Peterson:
It was always going to be hard for Peterson to follow up his remarkable 2013 campaign and so it proved. Now that's not to say he had a bad year, and without injuries limiting his playing time (and performance at times) he likely would have finished much higher. Still forced a very healthy 58 missed tackles that were second most of any running back while ending the year our third ranked runner. For most that would bring smiles to their faces while we suspect for Peterson it's just extra motivation to finish higher next year.
Adrian may be only #38 on the PFF list, but he is still #1 in our hearts.
And he's overpaid but that's an argument for another time.
Just a hunch, but I bet Peterson's ranking on the NFL Network top 100 will be higher than 38. Peterson's respect level around the league is off the charts and that factors in to the voting. He'll be ranked higher than his actual production suggests he should be.
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Related Photo Galleries
If rust has eaten up your frame, it's a good bet that the trunk floor and rear quarters will also be bad, so go ahead and remove them first. You don't need to be neat with the trunk floor. You're just getting it out of the way to make it easier to access the various spot welds and other attachment points, and to remove some weight from the assembly to make it easier to handle later since it will be done as one unit.


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Depression Day
[Content note: the obvious]
Today is a Depression Day, like Wednesday and Thursday were. I'm quite sure I don't qualify for an official diagnosis of depression anymore and haven't for about a year and a half, but I still experience the same symptoms pretty often.
My actual moods and activities vary, but the constant is fatigue. No matter how much or how recently I've slept, fatigue. Whether I'm hungry or full or neither, fatigue. Whether I've been working out a lot lately or not, fatigue. I possess an amazing ability to fall asleep at any time, given enough comfort and quiet, and wake up feeling as tired as I was when I fell asleep, or more so. My sleep isn't about resting; it's about biding time.
If I wanted to, I could probably just keep sleeping, waking and falling back asleep every hour or two, for who knows how long. I could stop going to school or work and just sleep. Maybe it's my body's way of helping me adapt. When you sleep, you don't think, and my dreams, while unsettling, are often at least a little nicer than reality. At least in dreams I can see the people and places I miss, some of which I might never see again.
There is no "feeling good" for me, ever. There is only feeling better than usual, and there is a brief period of time after I've just exercised when I feel like a person my age should feel. There are also occasional times when whatever I'm doing or whoever I'm with is occupying my attention to such an extent that I no longer notice the leaden feeling in my body.
Since I want my friends and partners to at least sort of understand me and not expect things I can't do, I have to do an annoying amount of explanation. If someone asks me if I'd like to go do something and the truth is that the only thing I can do at the moment is sit in my room and be sad, I'm probably going to tell them that, because I don't like lying and I don't like making it seem like something it's not (i.e. "Sorry, I have plans," or "Sorry, I'm not into [activity]").
But then I inevitably have to deal with people asking me if I "want to talk" or telling me they're available if I "want to talk" and I imagine they do this out of a sense of obligation or so that I don't off myself or because there's a script in which that's What You Do When A Friend Is Going Through A Hard Time. Problem is that my depression is chronic, so my entire life is A Hard Time. If I came to you every time I was feeling bad, I would be doing it several times a week. Nobody wants that. (It's not that they're bad people for offering to listen. Of course they're good people. You have to be a very good person to even entertain the notion of listening to a depressed person's bullshit, unless you just don't know what depression is.)
More to the point, I don't want that. I think people think that depressed people are always looking for A Shoulder To Cry On, maybe because that's the stereotype: all we want to do is talk about our stupid problems to anyone who's willing to pretend to listen, wearing people out until they can't handle it anymore. I've worn out a number of people this way, who always ended up admitting to me that they'd just felt so bad for me and ended up feeling an obligation to listen and feeling guilty when they got frustrated at me, and I've always been like, then whyyyy would you ever offer to listen if you didn't really want to. So nowadays I pretty much don't take anyone seriously when they offer me A Shoulder To Cry On.
And neither do I still feel any real desire to unburden myself upon other people. Not out of shame, but just out of apathy. What do I care who knows about my stupid depressed thoughts? It literally makes no difference whether I tell people about them or not. It makes so little difference that I'm continually shocked when people confide in me and tell me that just talking to someone made them feel a lot better. God, how I wish it helped me at all.
Writing this helps a little because I imagine at least one person with depression will read this and think, "Hm, maybe I'm not the only one who fails this fucking hard at being happy." Of course, none of you are failures. All of you are amazing human beings. But I know you can't see it a lot of the time, just like I can almost never see it in myself.
I see it so little that sometimes I feel a terrible disdain for all the people who love me, for being naive enough to fall for my bullshit. The fact that I'm unloveable seems to obvious to me that I wonder how oblivious someone would have to be not to see it. But in a way, I'm also giving myself an inordinate amount of credit. It's almost grandiose. What makes me think I'm such a masterful impostor?
Today I was feeling shitty and worthless compared to a friend of mine, who I've for whatever reason decided is Just Better. (I don't think this in a grudging way at all; I think my friend deserves all of their success because I think they're a better person than me and even if they weren't, success is not actually a zero-sum game.) So I decided to make a list of all the ways in which I think I'm inferior to this person and I came up with 21 reasons. 21 things that are important to me but that I think I'm worthless at. I have failed in almost as many ways as there have been years in my life. And I realized that it was never really about my friend at all; they were just the accidental trigger for a reminder of all the things I hate about myself.
Just out of curiosity, I tried to list any ways I can think of in which I'm better than them. I came up with only one: I think I'm a better writer. (Don't worry, what you're reading right now is not meant as a representative sample of my best work.)
Writing is the most important thing in my life. There have been times when it was the only thing I lived for. Friends and partners and communities and other hobbies have come and gone, but I have never gone a single day without either actually writing down words, or at least imagining poems, stories, essays, journal entries in my head. I can't separate writing from my life itself, because the way I process events both small and large in my mind, both as I live them and after the fact, is imagining how I would write about them. I am engaged in never-ending narration. That's what I was doing, alone in a room, my eyes constantly trying to close, my mind trying so hard to dream of something better and failing, when I took out my laptop to write this.
I suppose the only comfort I can find right now is that if I'm going to be inferior to my friend—or, rather, inferior in general—in almost every possible domain, from personality to intelligence to interests to achievements to interpersonal stuff, except writing, maybe that's enough for me.
Writing can, at least sometimes, light a candle in an otherwise-pitchblack room. And writing will never go away. Of how many other things can that be said?
Depression, at least for me, looks nothing like it does in the movies and in literature. There are no tearful scenes on bridges or on top of buildings. There are no electroconvulsive therapy treatments. There are no borderline-pornographic shots of self-injury. There are no heartbreakingly beautiful paintings or sonatas or novels borne of mental anguish.
There is lots of sitting and looking off into space. There is thinking that it's at all a good use of my time to make a list in my notebook of all the reasons I'm a failure; now I'll have to see that shit every time I flip through it. And there is constantly, desperately wishing I could just sleep.


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Consciousness, Causation and Coordination
A blow on one's head cannot possibly be the cause of one's consciousness of pain; for there can be a world in which there is a blow, say a moderately strong blow, on one's head – the head of a perfectly normal, living human being – but there is absolutely no consciousness of pain. A can be considered to be the cause of B if and only if A is (logically) necessarily followed by B; the way, for example, the exclusive act of removing one apple from a basket of two apples would necessarily result into the basket containing only one apple, in any possible world, with any possible logical or physical laws. It can be said in this case that the result of the basket of two apples now containing only one apple is caused by the (exclusive) act of removing one apple from the basket. In the case of consciousness, however, it is not (logically) necessary for B (i.e. consciousness) to follow A (i.e. any bodily, spatial process that is normally and wrongly considered the cause of B); for B is (logically) absolutely distinct from A. A can exist without B and B without A.
Suggested Citation
Kedar Joshi. "Consciousness, Causation and Coordination" 2011
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kedar_joshi/44
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Word: Petitjean
Added on: 2011-04-26 Listened: 199 timesin: names in French
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Dillied Chicken
- Yield 4 servings
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup halved small mushrooms
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 whole English-style cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 cup diagonally sliced scallions, white and green parts included
- 1/2 cup minced fresh dill, divided
- 1 -- container (8 oz.) sour cream
- Cut chicken breasts part way through and flatten. In large heavy frypan, place 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat to medium temperature. Add cucumber, scallions and 1 tablespoon of the dill. Cook, stirring, about 1 minute or until cucumber is translucent. Remove from pan and sprinkle with salt. In same frypan, place 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat to medium temperature. Add mushrooms and 1 tablespoon dill; cook 2 minutes and remove from pan. In same frypan, place remaining 2 tablespoons oil and again heat to medium temperature. Add chicken and cook about 6 minutes or until chicken is brown on both sides. Add remaining dill, pepper and wine. Simmer, turning occasionally, until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease. Remove chicken from pan and place on serving platter. To pan drippings, add sour cream, cucumber mixture and mushrooms. Stir until heated through. Pour over chicken.


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This apartment is in Tampa.
17455 Madison Green Drive has a Walk Score of 54 out of 100. This location is Somewhat Walkable so some errands can be accomplished on foot.
Nearby schools include Clark Elementary School, Wharton High School and Turner Elementary School.
The closest grocery stores are GNC: New Tampa Center, Publix Super Market at New Tampa Center and Natural Health.
Nearby coffee shops include La Cubanita Cafe, Las Palmas Cafe and CHURROMANIA. Nearby restaurants include Zekos Express Grill, McDonald's and Sushiko Japanese Restaurant.
17455 Madison Green Drive is near University of South Florida, WellCare Health Plans Headquarters and University of Tampa.
There are good bike lanes and the terrain is flat as a pancake. 17455 Madison Green Drive is bikeable, there is some bike infrastructure.
For more properties like this visit GoSection8.com.