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Thursday, July 30, 2009
Playing Fair is Overrated
No, I know it's not my usual day, but Michelle and I are switching blog dates this week . . .
At the Midwest Writers Workshop last week, I taught a session called, "Quit Whining and Send Another Query," in which I shared what I know about the mechanics and emotions of finding an agent and dealing with rejection along the way.
Students expressed huge frustration with the snail's pace at which the process unfolds. You submit a query and you wait weeks for a response. Sometimes the response never comes, so the wait stretches out interminably. I suggested that they just forget about that one and send another query. Oh, no! they cried. At a previous conference a visiting agent said that when agents request sample chapters or an entire manuscript, they expect exclusivity; they expect that no other submissions will be made to other agents until the requestor makes up his or her mind. If you send out other queries during the exclusive period, you'd be breaking the rules.
Huh? When did business become such a genteel sport? When did it become one party's responsiblilty to make the other party comfortable during a negotiation? "It's only polite," a student told me. Okay, I can buy that. It's certainly more polite than waiting five or six weeks to finally send a form rejection letter that might or might not have a hand-written signature. If the manuscript is rejected, how has the writer benefitted from losing momentum on his submissions? It it's accepted, how has he benefitted from not knowing if there's another agent out there who's even more passionate about his work?
Sorry, folks, but this is business; an "implied exclusive" means as little as an "implied million-dollar advance." Implications, like assumptions, have no place in a competitive marketplace.
Please understand that, as I told the class, my word is my bond. I unfailingly deliver what I promise. I never lie. I'm a terrible liar anyway, and I jealously guard my integrity. That said, where there's silence in a business negotiation, there's also a poker game in progress. Agents know that, and publishers know that, and they play the game accordingly in every negotiation.
So where is it written that the writer is supposed to sit politely and observe implied exclusivity? Did I miss a meeting? A memo?
Maybe—maybe—if the implied arrangement included a 5-day turn-around, I could buy into it; but I've heard too many horror stories of eight-week responses and year-long silences to see anything but a woefully stacked deck.
"But publishing is a small community," someone said. "If you break the implied rule and submit partials to more than one agent, won't they get angry?" In a perfect world, hell yes someone will get angry. Well, maybe not angry, but at least disappointed. That's what happens when you're rejected. Welcome to our world, Mr. Agent.
Let's say for the sake of argument that three prospective agents have requested manuscripts from you. There are only three ways for the scenario to play out, and all of them are either neutral or they play to your benefit:
1. All three reject you. No one's the wiser, so no harm, no foul.
2. One accepts you, the others reject you. No one's the wiser, so no harm, no foul.
3. More than one accepts you. Woo-hoo! Now you get to go shopping. You get to decide which agent is your preferred choice. You accept one, reject the others. You don't have to tell the losers why they lost, but even if you do, and the rejected agents get pissed, what do you care? You got the agent you wanted.
Let me emphasize that I am not talking about deception. If an agent asks for an exclusive and you agree, then you honor your word, pure and simple. Short of that, I think you're free to submit at will. Want to really play hard ball? Consider this: if the prospective agent tells you outright that he expects an exclusive and you say nothing, he might assume that the deal is closed, but there's still no contract. There has to be an offer and an acceptance. One does not guarantee the other.
I would love to hear from people who think my position is unreasonable. What am I missing? Are we writers truly honor-bound to play politely in an industry that fights dirty?
23 comments:
I very much like your viewpoint. I've been wondering how long to wait before submitting an article to another magazine. I think I've waited long enough. Do you think the same rules apply to article submissions?ReplyDelete
I agree with you. Here's another option: If an agent asks for an exclusive for 3,4,6 months and you don't want it tied up for that long, send it in and say in your cover letter how long s/he can have it exclusively.ReplyDelete
Straight From Hel
You are absolutely right!ReplyDelete
Most agents assume that you are querying other agents, and if they expect exclusivity, they're not agents I want to deal with. I agreed to one exclusive on a full manuscript once but for a set period of time--4 to 6 weeks. Granting exclusives on queries or partials is just ludicrous.
I wonder what those students expect to do when they query one of the agents who go by no response means no?
Multiple queries are perfectly acceptable, and agents know (or should know) this. See here for one view on this, as well as on exclusive looks.ReplyDelete
First, true story. When I was last shopping for agents, I had an agent ask to read the manuscript and asked for 30 days exclusivity. Reluctantly, I said yes. I had been sending queries out by the dozens without a lot of positive. About a week later another agent contacted me asking to read the manuscript. I politely and very business-like informed her that another agent was currently reading it and had asked for a few weeks exclusivity, if he passed, could I still contact her? She said yes. (And if she'd said no, then she wasn't very interested, was she?)ReplyDelete
He passed on the manuscript a week or so later. I e-mailed the woman back and told her the other agent had passed, was she still interested? She said yes and asked for 2 weeks exclusivity. I said yes. She responded in about 7 days with a positive, that novel was The Devil's Pitchfork, the first in my Derek Stillwater series (3rd book, The Fallen comes out in April 2010), and the lady's still my agent.
I don't think I would grant more than 30-days exclusivity to anybody. If they're interested enough to ask for exclusivity, they can damn well put it toward the top of their to-be-read list and get to it in a month. If an agent (or anybody, as far as I'm concerned) asked for open-ended exclusivity, the answer is: No.
In what other business would you behave like that? None, is what comes to mind.
Of course agents want things stacked in their favor. So do publishers. And they know that aspiring authors (and most published authors) are total pushovers.
Don't be.
John, I NEVER assume I'm sending an exclusive. I was asked once to submit to an agent exclusively. I agreed to a 4 week turn-around. Never again.ReplyDelete
I remember "breaking" the rule once. An agent I met at a conference asked for some chapters. She handed me a card with her details. Later, in reading the directions was an expectation of exclusivity. The other agent I met at the conference also asked for chapters. "What a quandry!" I sent to both agents and sweated it out. Now I look back on that and chuckle at my naivety.
I still believe in playing nice, but I also play smart. I agree with you wholeheartedly.
John, I love the idea of not addressing the request for exclusivity when you send the manuscript. I once agreed to a four-week exclusive, and then freaked out when another agent indicated strong interest in the manuscript. I felt I had to hold off sending it to her until I heard from the first agent. Never again!ReplyDelete
- Karen in OhioJuly 30, 2009 at 11:21 AM
You're right, and the lesson here is clear: When the other guy, someone who has your future in their hands, is allowed to have all the power in YOUR business life, you lose.ReplyDelete
I'm definitely in your camp here. One of my very first publishing experiences, back in 1992, still leaves a bitter taste. I had sent an MS (non-fiction) to someone who swore to me that she was publishing it. Didn't hear from her, didn't hear from her, I finally called her to see what the hold up was in the contract (this after about eight months of waiting). Oh, she decided it wasn't for her. Thanks for nothing. In the meantime, I could have been getting rejected by dozens more publishers.
Eventually I just self-published, which worked out well for me, although it's not much of an option for fiction writers. But you should all remember this: NO ONE cares more about your work than you do. No one.
I remember sending a manuscript to a large distinguished literary agency after they read my query letter. I sent a stamped self-addressed envelope along. Not only did they never send my MS back, (they sent a "not for us" note. Never got the MS back. And I've always thought they stole my postage.ReplyDelete
Plus, that exclusive look is their ploy designed to keep themselves from competing with other agents for the same clients. Imagine that in any other business. That way they can take their sweet time.
You asked.
I have always been curious what they are doing with these manuscripts we send in. So I coated my last few submissions with nano-technology bots disguised as the dot above the letter 'i'. They transmitted back images of the agents and what they do with our work. For the most part the data was pretty boring, they just looked at it for thirty seconds then clicked their auto-respond button to send the form rejection.ReplyDelete
But there were a few who...
let me just say that those whom one would probably not mind, perhaps even enjoy, the thought of knowing they work in their underwear (or less) generally work fully clothed. On the other hand, those whom we do our best to always imagine fully clothed seem to be most relaxed in the buff. Unable to close my eyes fast enough my body went into instant self preservation mode. It took several attepts for the surgeon to get the chopsticks out of my orbital sockets.
Submit far, submit wide, just submit and hope for the best and don't think about what they are or are not wearing.
Great post, John- thanks again for swapping days! We seem to have a theme going, in my post tomorrow someone from my agency will analyze my query letters. It promises to be cringe-worthy, at least for me.ReplyDelete
I gave an agent a month-long exclusive for The Tunnels, which turned into a three-month exclusive since apparently everyone at the agency had to read the book before agreeing to sign me (this is true).
In retrospect, I never should have done that. In the end I was signed, but if they had turned me down, it would have set me back months. I think 2-4 weeks should be the absolute max.
Thank you, JOhn, et al. I once had a small publisher string me along the exclusivity train for almost two years before sending me a two sentence, grammatically incorrect rejection. In retrospect, I see that was my fault. I should have told them to defecate or get off the porcelain long before.ReplyDelete
Now anyone who requests exclusivity can have 30 days, unless there's something else involved. (Such as the revision scenario mentioned in the blog post JSB linked to.) Simultaneous submissions should be assumed. (If a publisher or agent specifically states they do not want simultaneous submissions, I'll honor that by not sending them anything until everyone else I'm interested in has passed.)
I'll hang onto this post for common sense guidelines for future situations.
John, you're right. You're more than right. You are 110% right. Everyone should follow your advice.ReplyDelete
I have NEVER heard that an agent "expects" exclusivity. Never. They have to ASK for it when they request the full. I've never granted exclusivity even when they did ask. Guess what? They all read my manuscripts anyway!!!
My first book: I sent out over 50 queries, had one request for a full, rejected.
My second book: I sent out over 50 queries, had three requests for fulls, two rejects, one agent I jumped at (only one who wanted me!) and I terminated the relationship once I joined RWA and realized she wasn't the right agent for me or my work.
Third book: No queries because the book sucked and I only finished it because I felt I had to.
Fourth book: 2 queries, one request for full (that I never sent because I queried this book simultaneously with book five and got an agent with that book before the request came in)
Fifth book: 12 queries, 5 requests for fulls (and 2 partials I pulled when I got an agent.) Of the 5 requests, 2 were still reading when I signed, 1 had rejected me, and 1 requested it a full month after I SOLD off a query that was FOUR MONTHS OLD.
It rarely, if ever, benefits the author to grant exclusivity and if you consider it, no more than 2 weeks.
And almost always they know within the first 5 pages if they're going to read it or not.
Totally, totally agree John. No agent ever asked for exclusivity when I sent out query letters and it was obvious they expected me to have sent multiple queries. I agree that if asked give 2-4 weeks maximum. If they're interested they'll get back to you quick-smart. If not, why the hell have the process drawn out any longer than it needs to be? I think it's time to say enough to author torture.ReplyDelete
I like your position. Now, if I just pluck up courage to act on it. Trouble is, I spend so long researching the agent, it almost feels like throwing my effort away if I don't wait, even though I know the "if you don't hear we don't care" clause is never in my favor.ReplyDelete
I totally agree and can't emphasize too much the danger of granting exclusives. When I was seeking representation, I had two agents ask for an exclusive. Both I granted 30 day exclusives to. One responded in a month to ask for an extra month. I said no dice. She took a total of three months to reject the manuscript. The other agent who asked for the exclusive *never* responded.ReplyDelete
Exclusives slow you down as you hunt for an agent and you shouldn't assume that the agent will adhere to the thirty day limit. I never granted exclusives after that and never had an agent refuse to read the manuscript because I didn't wouldn't offer them one.
Exclusives stack the deck for the agent and there is no upside for the author. Be upfront about the fact you're querying elsewhere, but that's all you owe the agent--honesty.
Exclusives stink.ReplyDelete
Don't offer them.
Any agent who says agents expect exclusive submissions is wrong. Flat out wrong.
Exclusives are not in a writer's interest. Why you'd want an agent who does things that aren't in your interest eludes me.
If I'm in the scrum with four or more agents, I fully expect to persuade you of the value of my agency and the merit of signing with me. Snatching a hot prospect out from under the claws of my slithery competitors is fun!
I recall a conference where an agent on a panel said she expected exclusivity and normally responded within nine months!ReplyDelete
Another agent, who spoke in her defense (but didn't say he agreed with her), simply said, "She CAN. She's not making any money until she sells your book, and if she doesn't have time to read it because she's doing things for her clients, that's her right."
I've granted exclusive reads to two agents, with a specific time limit.
And I had a request for a full from an editor at a conference; I sent it off per his request without looking at their 'guidelines' which said they wanted exclusive reads. I'm not sure about the 'ethics' of that one, since there was nothing in writing with his request for the full; it was a verbal, "send it".
He did offer a contract, but at that time I had just returned from another conference where another editor asked to see the full. Luckily, I found an agent based on my offer on the table, and she was able to juggle reads from three different editors.
But my biggest pet peeve is still with those who say, "we only respond if we want to see more."
How are we supposed to know if our query even made it through cyberspace?
- AnonymousJuly 30, 2009 at 4:22 PM
On a connected issue, what do you think of the prevailing rule of having to disconnect from (fire) a current agent before approaching a new one? Do you feel there's any ethical way to sidestep that risky release of the "bird in hand"?ReplyDelete
You are absolutely on target. The Christian Writers Market Guide by Sally Stuart even allows multiple submissions and those agents or publishers who don't won't get my queries or proposals. Writing is hard work, it's business just like selling widgets against competitors. I say blast out as many queries or proposals as seem good to you.ReplyDelete
Wow. Seems I struck a nerve. I love all the give-and-take. Thanks for all your contributions.ReplyDelete
MzsLily, I don't know how to answer your question about magazine submissions. I've never done that, so it's way outside my expertise.
Anon, I don't think there's a way to ethically shop for another agent while still stringing the existing one along. What's more, I don't think there should be. For me, the agent-client relationship is the business equivalent of a marriage, and there's no level of cheating that is anything other than cheating.
Here's where the benefit of networking comes in. When you attend conferences and such (and I think that every writer should), get to know a wide variety of people in the industry--agents, editors, publishers, other writers. First of all, they're typically fun folks to hang out with, and second, it's nice to have a full Rolodex when you need one.
John Gilstrap
I can actually take the magazine question, since that's the field I originally hailed from...feel free to submit pitches to multiple magazines, there's nothing barring it. Ideally you want to build a relationship with editors at different magazines who will start keeping you in mind for particular stories (I still get calls sometimes), or who you can pitch multiple ideas to at once. In general, I pitched 10 ideas for every one I sold. The website Mediabistro is well worth joining for magazine writers, their "how to pitch" articles tell you exactly which editor at which magazine would be interested in which topics.ReplyDelete
And as far as keeping a bird in the hand, when I switched agents all of my prospects refused to "officially" talk to me until I had severed my contract with my current agent. I did have a tacit understanding with two of them that were I to switch, I had a safe place to land. Not sure I would have made the jump otherwise.
Great post, John. JSB, thanks for Twittering about it.ReplyDelete
I recently signed with an agent. At the time she read my full, she did not have an exclusive. She called me w/in a week of receiving it and only then did she ask for one. I had received a rejection the week before and was set to start querying other agents (I'd just done them a few at a time from conference and contest requests), so no one else had it at the time. Because she felt my story needed some revisions, she was reluctant to sign me at that point. I was happy to give it to her because 1) she was excited about my characters, the story, and my voice and 2) she had some very valid suggestions to make the story stronger. It wouldn't have seemed fair for her to take all that time with me if I was going to keep sending the thing out. I figured, hey, even if she ultimately rejected the story, it'd be much better.
I turned the changes around quickly (according to her) and she gave me a date (I think it was 3 weeks) when she'd get back to me. And she did.
I considered this process sort of like an interview for both of us. Would I like working with her? Do I like how she communicates with me? Is she accountable? Do I understand what she wants? On the changes I didn't agree with, how would she react to me not doing them?
During this short little back and forth, I discovered that I'm really going to like working with her and I believe she feels the same about me.


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According to analysis, China's tablet PC market grew 62.5 percent in the third quarter from the previous year. Apple's iPad had more than two-thirds of sales, which is a little odd as they are extremely expensive on the Chinese market. Some people have been reported as selling their kidneys to get one.
For the quarter, 2.6 million tablet PCs were sold in China, up from 1.6 million a year ago. Apple had 71.4 percent of the market, down a percentage point from the second quarter, ahead of Lenovo with 10.5 percent. Chinese firm Ereneben was third with 3.6 percent, edging out Samsung on 3.5 percent.
Tablet and smartphone sales in China have soared in recent years as prices drop and users look for cheaper gadgets to allow them access to the Internet.

subset: commoncrawl


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Why Bank of America (BAC) Stock May Fall Today
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LeeNina19 Reading
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Viewing entries tagged with ' ASADA'
Shane Flanagan files no appeal against suspension
SHANE Flanagan, head coach of the Cronulla Sharks, has decided not to appeal against the NRL CEO's decision
Roosters statement regarding blood tests
THE Roosters have released a statement following reports published in the Sydney Morning Herald
I Have a Dream!
THIS week on A View from the Hill we dream of a competition where players are judged not by the colour of their jersey but by the content of their character!
Statement from ASADA
AUSTRALIAN Sports Anti-Doping Authority has today released a statement following the NRL media conference
Sandor Earl suspended from NRL
THE NRL today issued Canberra player Sandor Earl with an Infraction Notice and has accepted an immediate provisional suspension for breaches of the Leagues Anti-Doping Policy.
Sharks statement regarding salary cap
IN relation to the matter of salary cap breaches and the allegation of improper payments to players
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THIS week Rob, Daniel, Nathan and Steve from A View From The Hill run their slide rule over this week's games and come up with some fearless predictions. It's a "must listen" for anyone looking for an edge in their tipping comp, or chancing their arm in the murky world of sports betting.
Off the Wall
THE Sharks debacle - the NRL must accept some of the blame!
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CANBERRA Raiders CEO Don Furner said the Raiders can feel vindicated about their involvement in the recent ASADA investigation and knew they had little to worry about from a club perspective.
Off the Wall
THE Greatest Game of All faces disruption that would even put the Super League War in the shade!
ASADA Investigation Update
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Statement in response to media speculation about ASADA investigations
THE Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have received no formal request from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to interview players.
Sharks appoint Glenn Coleman as new chairman
THE Board of the Cronulla Sharks Football Club today announced that former first grade player Glenn Coleman had been elected as the Club
NRL Statement on the Sharks
THE National Rugby League has reassured fans that the Cronulla Sharks will take the field in the opening round of the season and that the NRL will support the club and its Board throughout the current ASADA investigation.
Sharks Statement regarding ASADA
SHARKS fans and all rugby league supporters can be assured the club has been very proactive in fully cooperating with ASADA


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Did the "check-in thing" affect your life so far? Or not yet! When they were first presented, location based services didn't seem to be the next big thing! But now, I think they are.
This has changed a lot in how we use technology. Few years ago, we used to say that technology keeps you at home, and creates a virtual social network where you meet or interact with lots of people every day in different ways, but in reality, you're still at home sitting on that same chair!!! Now things have totally changed.
Using our smart phones, we can now use technology on the go in our real-world social and professional life! That virtual world is kind of merging with the real world!! It's like augmented reality but for social media.
I would like to call it the "Augmented Social Life", because now our virtual social activities were added as a new layer on top of our real-world social life. Where ever you go, you can share "where you are" and "what you do" and all types of content using your smart phone that is with you all the time.
Foursquare (with 2.6m users up to last month) started this by simply allowing people to share "where they are" to get local tips of discounts and special offers from places they"check-in" to. Then Gowalla (less than 0.5m users) introduced the same service but was more travel oriented with its passport stamps to "discover the world around you".
Then comes the MyTown (2.5m users), that introduced a Monopoly-like game around this!! So you can virtually own and rent places you check-in to and earn virtual and even actual money!!! Moreover, there are service providers inside the game who provide you with paid services to save you time and effort such as collecting your rents!!
Later on, Yelp, the famous review site introduced its own check-in service (with more than 2m users now). This makes much more sense than Foursquare and Gowalla because Yelp already has a wide base of clients (restaurants and shops) to offer discounts and special offers. I am sure that TripAdvisor and Expedia will soon provide the same.
Add on top of this the latest addition of Facebook, "Places"! Facebook (with 500 million users) , is offering its own basic check-in service in addition to an API that allows all other third parties (Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, MyTown, etc…) to offer more additional features .
Facebook Places is not only for check-ins, it lets you tag friends and share all kinds of content related to places that are special to you and your friends!
Back to the "Augmented Social Life", facebook-places add your social life as a new layer on top of your physical world.
However, the biggest surprise for me was introducing the "Check-in Thing" to websites!! Yes, with Marginize you can check-in to a website and share your comments and reviews about it. It simply treats a website as a place you visit!
In the near future we may see a special check-in service for e-commerce websites to get discounts and special offers, and another one for Blogs, or for new websites, etc…
We may also see new MyTown-like games but for websites instead of places with a totally new in-game advertising mechanism of pay-per-check-in where players have to check-In specific websites to go to next levels of the game.
So isn't this a next big thing?


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Narrow your search
All the latest Apple news, featuring developments on the iPhone, iPad, Macbooks, OS X and much more.
Bridget Carey looks back at technology we lost in 2014, including products from Microsoft, Facebook and Apple.
The iPhone 6 is an exceptional phone in nearly every way except its average battery life: it's thin and fast with a spacious screen and the smoothest payment system we've seen. It's the best overall phone of 2014.
One of last year's best, the iPad Mini 3 is still a compelling choice despite the lack of upgrades. However, the nearly identical and significantly cheaper iPad Mini 2 is a smarter buy.
Apple skips 4K and goes directly to what the company calls a 5K display in this expensive, extravagant all-in-one iMac desktop that will appeal to photo and video professionals -- or anyone else looking for the best possible screen resolution.
With new CPUs, rearranged ports and improved graphics, the Mac Mini can be either a set-top media streamer or a budget OS X desktop.
Released with Mac OS X Yosemite, iTunes 12 gets some small interface changes that make your music, movies, and other content easier to navigate.
Pricing not available
With the latest version of iOS and an NFC-equipped iPhone, you'll finally be able to pay for transactions with Apple Pay.
Pricing not available
The latest upgrade to Apple's mobile operating system comes with a ton of new features that will be appreciated across the board, but the best features may still be yet to come.
Pricing not available
The iPhone 6 Plus is too big for everyone to love it, but it's Apple's best phone this year. If your budget and your pocket can make room for it, give the iPhone 6 Plus serious consideration.
Apple's first big leap into wearable tech comes next year. Here's all you need to know, and how it feels.
Pricing not available


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Request a live demoof the Acquia platform
By almost any measure, Drupal, an open source content management system/Web platform, should be a poster child for open source success. The PHP-based CMS, the first version of which was released by Dries Buytaert in 2001, powers the Web presence of a number of major organisations, including, since 2009, Whitehouse.gov.
When it comes what other open source projects can learn from Drupal's success, Buytaert, who is now chief technology officer of Acquia and remains Drupal's project lead, says that although he doesn't have all the answers — and that "there's no one right way" to do things — there are some lessons to be learned.
Read full article at: http://www.techworld.com.au/article/411929/road_successful_open_source_p...
We offer many tools and services to help you succeed with Drupal, learn more and get started for free.
Get started today


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Updated: January 2, 2014 6:34AM
Is this Jim Durkin's first test by fire?
"That's one way to look at it," dryly said the 52-year-old state rep from Western Springs.
We were on the phone Thanksgiving morning talking about pension reform while others in our families were cooking turkeys. I was not his first phone call that day, nor would I be his last.
Durkin is the newest member of the Four Tops.
Not the '60s singing group, of course.
But the leadership of Illinois' General Assembly. A quartet of two Republicans and two Democrats representing the House and the Senate. A group believed to be incapable of harmony thanks to the overarching power of one of its members, House Speaker Mike Madigan. Add to that the soloist, Gov. Pat Quinn, who often sings from a separate, populist songbook.
As Sun-Times' Springfield Bureau Chief Dave McKinney first reported on Wednesday, the seemingly impossible happened this past week. A pension reform deal was finally struck by the leaders and Quinn.
But the brutality of the upcoming vote on Tuesday in Springfield cannot be underestimated.
Not only are public employee unions fiercely opposed to any reduction in cost-of-living formulas, among other provisions they regard as poison pills. But ironically, one of the unions' most outspoken critics is joining them in reportedly wanting the deal to die. That would be Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, whose spokespeople are willing to be quoted but not him.
What does Durkin think about that?
"Everyone who is running for governor has a right to opine and give their thoughts," said Durkin. "I'm not running for governor. I'm not going to focus on gubernatorial candidates. I was sent to Springfield to resolve this. I want it done."
Only one GOP candidate, Sen. Bill Brady, has offered support. A conservative, Brady was part of the bipartisan committee charged with crafting the component parts. Two other Republican candidates, Kirk Dillard and Dan Rutherford have not weighed in, though Dillard's running mate, state Rep. Jil Tracy, like Brady, was deeply involved in the design of the details.
Illinois' problems are a national embarrassment. We are notoriously $100 billion underfunded in our pensions and our bond ratings are rock-bottom. Then again, the so-called economic recovery has not reached nearly as many in the working class of this state as it has our richest citizens. And most government employees earn less than astronomical wages. And so they have reason to worry about their state-funded retirements.
Durkin is no lap dog for the Democrats whom he readily criticizes.
"Do I trust Democrats in Illinois with spending habits and reigning in deficits," he asks. "No."
But bipartisan distrust — and there's plenty to go around — hasn't done anything to solve Illinois' most pressing problem.
And so Jim Durkin, in his first crucial test in the leader's circle, is aggressively making the case that everyone has to put some skin in this game.
And now.


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Tecmo has released new Ninja Gaiden 3 screenshots. There are 19 in total each with enough blood to drown a vampire.
What's more is that every shot is really close-up to the horrifically violent action, as if whoever snapped them was having a particularly angry day.
We haven't seen this much blood since the Ninja Gaiden 3 E3 gameplay trailer that was released yesterday.
You'll probably want to give it a look if static blood flow isn't enough for your de-sensitised inner child.
Still, may as well give the shots a butcher's first (pun intended).


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If you support fair but free market competition, you should be concerned about the regional anti-trust workshops being conducted by USDA and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
At least you should be concerned if the prepared comments of Christine Varney are any indication. She's the DOJ assistant attorney general in the antitrust division. At the first workshop in Iowa in March – aimed at crop producers – she said, "According to USDA's most recent figures, net farming income fell by 35% last year, leaving many to scramble to make ends meet or to cover their loans….
"The vast majority of American farms are owned by small family farmers, a large share of overall production comes from these small farms, and they hold almost 70%
of all the farm land and farming assets. The upshot is that unexpected years like the last may not just erase a portion of family income, but a family's way of life…."
Those numbers aren't wrong per se, but they are misleading.
According to USDA's 2007 Census, 5.7% of U.S. farms accounted for 75% of the value of U.S. ag production. The Census accounted for 2.2 million farming operations – defined as having $1,000 or more in gross annual sales. So, 125,400 farms generated 75% of the value of U.S. ag production.
Meanwhile, "Farms, Land in Farms and Livestock Operations" reported that 17% of farms had $100,000 or more in sales for 2009, accounting for 64.2% of U.S. farm, pasture and rangeland.
None of this denigrates the production of the other 94.3% of producers. But the fact is that the ag industry, the one defined by markets in search of the greatest profit and efficiency, is populated by a relative few. That 75% of production makes the market.
The same applies to the beef cattle industry. Last year, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 20.6% (155,000) of operations with beef cows (herds of 50 cows or more) accounted for 71.7% of the nation's beef cowherd.
Yes, antitrust rules must be enforced, but mustn't be used to cleave industries into something they aren't. If DOJ and USDA equate small farms to the industry that makes the market, and falsely believe smaller producers merit artificial and unequal protection, then folks on both ends of the production spectrum should be spooked.
For the cattle business, following the market has generally meant growing herd size in order to accommodate customers – packers and feedlots – growing in size to accommodate wholesale and retail customers also growing in size. It's meant figuring out how to exploit competitive advantages via vertically cooperative management and marketing arrangements. As in all commodity businesses that are breakeven by definition, economy of size continues to offer advantages in cost efficiency.
For astute, progressive cattle producers with smaller herd sizes, this reality has meant the opportunity to play both ends of the game. They can play bigger by working cooperatively with like-minded peers. Arguably, they also can more consistently build and manage cattle capable of fitting the narrowest, highest dollar niches.
Market forces define what it will reward and how. Everyone with a cow and an acre of ground has the right to compete and is free to exploit market-defined opportunities, relative to their resources. Likewise, everyone can ignore market realities and subsidize their involvement.
Neither the largest nor smallest producers will be served if USDA and DOJ attempt to prevent the market from adapting to evolving realties. That includes government-imposed policies, be it the beef price freeze of the 1970s, broadened food safety liability or the artificial supports for ethanol.
The antitrust workshop aimed at livestock production is scheduled for Aug. 27 in Fort Collins, CO (see
details at http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/workshops/ag2010/).
The unfettered opportunity to compete – not success – should be the right guaranteed for all.
- Wes Ishmael's blog
- Beef demand results continue to be positive
- Genetic Rut Gets Deeper As Cattle Industry Ignores Crossbreeding
- Log In or Register to post comments


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Career Highlights:
Earned second-team all-conference accolades as a senior.
Combined with three other pitchers to toss the ninth no-hitter in school history on April 10, 2009 at UT Pan American.
Had a career-year as a senior in 17 appearances.
Was 5-0 on the year in a career-high 57.2 innings pitched.
Totaled a career-high 37 strikeouts.
Posted a career ERA of 2.79 in 58 appearances.
Tallied four saves (vs. Air Force 4/7/06; @ Utah 5/6/07; @ UT Arlington 4/30/08; vs. UT Pan American 5/12/08).
Combined on three shutouts (vs. Air Force 3/16/07; vs. Prairie View A&M 3/12/08; @ UT Pan American 4/10/09).
Was a combined 8-0 (2-0 in 2007, 1-0 in 2008 and 5-0 in 2009).
Racked up 84 strikeouts in 119.1 career innings pitched.
Held opponents scoreless in 36 of his 58 appearances.
TCU was 38-20 in games he pitched over the course of his career.
Only allowed 18-of -42 inherited runners to scored.
In 2008, allowed runs in only two of his 14 appearances.
Closed out the campaign without allowing a run in his last nine appearances spanning 14.1 innings to post an ERA of 1.61.
Made 18 appearances in conference play and notched a 3-0 record and two saves.
Posted a 3.89 ERA in league play over the course of his career.
Graduated with a business degree.
2008 (Junior):
One of the top relievers on the team, posting the staff's lowest ERA at 1.61.
Went 1-0 on the season with two saves in 14 appearances.
Fanned 14 batters while walking just three in 22 1/3 innings pitched.
Held opponents scoreless in 12 of his 14 outings.
TCU was 11-3 overall in games that he pitched.
Was touched for three runs in his first appearance of the season against Pepperdine on March 1.
Followed that outing with nine straight scoreless appearances, lowering his ERA to 1.84.
Scoreless streak spanned 14 1/3 innings in which he racked up 13 strikeouts and allowed 10 hits.
Earned his first save of the season on April 30 at UT-Arlington with a scoreless inning pitched.
Tossed three scoreless innings against UT-Pan American on May 11.
Picked up a two-inning save against the Broncs on May 12, surrendering two hits and striking out two.
Streak came to an end at New Mexico on May 16 in which he allowed a run on two hits in an inning of work.
Finished the season with three scoreless outings spanning 6 2/3 innings.
Was instrumental as the Frogs staved off elimination in the MWC Tournament with 5 1/3 scoreless innings against New Mexico on May 23.
Earned his lone win of the season in that contest.
2007 (Sophomore):
Put together an impressive sophomore campaign with the third-best ERA on the squad at 2.42.
Totaled 13 appearances and was 2-0 with a save.
Surrendered 21 hits in 22 1/3 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts and just eight walks.
First appearance of the season was a one-inning stint against Vermont on March 2 in which he struck out the side.
Did not allow a run in his first three outings before being touched for a run in four of his five outings.
Put together the most impressive streak of his career, holding opponents scoreless over three appearances spanning seven innings.
Earned his lone save of the season with a one-inning scoreless stint at Utah on May 6.
Best performance of the season was a 5 1/3 innings outing against UT-Arlington on May 19 in which he surrendered just three singles and struck out two.
Earned his first career victory in that contest.
Was instrumental in the Frogs' come-from-behind victory against Baylor in the NCAA Houston Regional, earning the win.
Tossed four innings of three-hit, one run ball with four strikeouts.
TCU was 11-2 in contests that he pitched.
2006 (Freshman):
Finished with a 5.82 ERA in 14 appearances.
Tallied 12 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.
Held opponents scoreless in seven of his 14 appearances.
Made collegiate debut on Feb. 14 against Texas State, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings with a strikeout.
Didn't allow an earned run in his first four outings, spanning three innings.
Tossed four solid innings against Air Force (April 7) to earn his first career save.
Didn't allow a run in his next three appearances, spanning three innings.
Pitched 2 2/3 solid innings against Wichita State (June 3) at the NCAA Regionals in final appearance of the season.
Friendswood High School:
Name all-district as a junior and senior.
Honored as the team MVP following his junior campaign.
Was the 2005 Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year at Friendswood.
Led his squad in wins as a senior.
Parents are Michael and Joyce.
Has two younger brothers, Connor and Garrett.
Career Highs:
Innings: 5.1 vs. UT-Arlington 5/15/07
vs. New Mexico 5/23/08
Long Relief: 5.1 vs. UT-Arlington 5/15/07
vs. New Mexico 5/23/08
Hits: 5, twice
vs. Wichita State 6/3/06
vs. New Mexico 5/23/08
Strikeouts: 6 vs. Air Force 4/7/06
Runs Allowed: 5 @ New Mexico 5/19/06
ER Allowed: 4 @ New Mexico 5/19/06
Career Numbers:
Held opponents scoreless in 26 on his 41 appearances


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That time again- join us TONIGHT at Crowfoot Library at 6:30 for our fifth movie night. As always, due to copyright restrictions I can not put here what the title is, but a quick phone call to us at 221-4122 and all will be revealed. This is rated PG 13 and runs 124 minutes.
As with our previous choices of Real Steel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Puss 'n Boots, and last months Adventures of TinTin, this too will be a current, popular selection. Seating is first come, first served, and once we have reached our maximun seating allowance (60), we close the doors. Avoid disappointment and come early! Doors open at 6:00.


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15282 Jason Circle, Huntington Beach
714-892-6699 or ocrcraceway.com
To race, it costs $20 for members and $25 for nonmembers. To practice, it costs $15. To rent a car, a short-course truck, it's $20 per hour. Employees do not recommend racing with rented cars. Memberships cost $40 for a year. There are 1,500 active memberships at OC/RC Raceway.
•Each race has a turn marshal who overturns flipped cars. Employees and members take turns as turn marshals; they stand in cordoned off sections near areas that tend to have a lot of accidents.
•To keep the field moist and compact, sprinklers hover on suspended wires across the clay field and let out a mist from time to time.
•Every six weeks, to instill fresh excitement for drivers, the employees change the layout of the main track field. They reuse the clay and make new courses by using a bobcat tractor. This is usually done on Mondays. The crew starts at 8 a.m. and closes the shop until the new track is finished. The smaller field, which is a quarter of the size of the main one, gets changed every few months.
•OC/RC Raceway is a family-operated business that's been open since 2008. This place is the only remote-control race car track in Huntington Beach. There used to be one called SoCal RC Raceway on Brookhurst, but it closed down.
Source: OC/RC Raceway
HUNTINGTON BEACH – At the signal, race cars take off on a clay terrain, zooming on an irregular track that's loaded with obstacles. As they fly into the air from jumps or make turns, they periodically flip over, but no one becomes worried about the driver's safety. Some spectators even laugh at the accident.
That's because the driver is standing on an elevated platform, overlooking a scaled-down race car. The driver directs the car's movements using a radio transmitter device that has a trigger and wheel for steering along the 8,500-square-foot field.
The OC/RC Raceway is where radio control car aficionados can race, practice, build and work on their battery-operated cars.
"I used to make fun of remote control racing as a dorky activity, but now I see it as a great hobby," said Michael Desmond, 35, a sign language interpreter. "Besides fun, there's a technical aspect that constantly challenges me, like assemblage, maintenance and repair of the cars."
Desmond has been a member since January and now calls OC/RC Raceway his home.
"I'm here pretty much every day, sometimes staying from open to closing time," Desmond said. He owns two Kyosho two-wheel drives, one of which he built from scratch in three days. He is proud to note that within a month of racing, he graduated out of the rookie class by ranking fourth in a heavy class race.
OC/RC Raceway is open seven days a week, usually from noon to 11 p.m. Racing, which costs $25 for nonmembers, takes place three times a week at 7 p.m. Each race lasts about five minutes and there are several categories, determined by type of race car (such as buggies and trucks) and whether they are two- or four-wheel drive. The objective is to complete as many laps as possible around the track.
The facility uses RC Scoring Pro, a simplified version that NASCAR uses. It involves a wire that's embedded in the dirt field under the finish line, and each car has a transponder device planted inside.
Nick Black, track co-owner, said that an ordinary race night has eight races, which all together take about four hours. Each race is preceded by qualifying races to determine the starting order.
If there are enough cars in a race, like 10, then the top three winners get voucher money of $15, $10 or $5 to spend at the in-house Hobby Shop, a supply store of radio control car gear.
The Hobby Shop also sells fully assembled race cars, ranging from $270 to $500. Starter kits with cars that have higher quality parts and upgrades run from $800 to $1,500. Jake Thayer, general manager, runs the shop.
"We are a full-service facility. We can assemble cars for $100 and make minor repairs for free, depending on the task," Thayer said. "If it takes longer than 10 to 15 minutes to fix, then we charge a service fee."
One member said that OC/RC Raceway provides a service to the community.
"This place has served a really good purpose in my life, like keeping me out of trouble," Desmond said with a chuckle. "The shop is very helpful; the community here is like family, and you meet so many walks of life, from the wealthy to those who can barely get by."
Black said that the facility has on a daily basis about 60 visitors, mostly men, but that doesn't intimidate one racer.
"Everyone is nice and helpful and friendly," said Angel Durant, 39. Besides racing, she accompanies her husband and son to OC/RC Raceway. "It's a great place for the family to spend time together as well as learn Electronics and building cars," she said.
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Normally I have a decent grasp on headline titles but this post simply is not the place to make my usual references or jokes.
[warning]TW – Just In General This Will Make You Mad[/warning]
In New South Wales (Australia) it has come to public attention that Chiropractors have been entering hospitals to treat patients without permission.
In one particular case they have been entering paediatrics and neo-natal wards.
Subluxation is pure quackery. There is no benefit from it. You want to manipulate a nerve and see what it feels like? Bang your elbow on a table. Hurts doesn't it? Why do you think your spinal cord is any different? The chiropractor stretches ligaments. You know what else stretches those ligaments? Stretching exercises.
And it's cheaper too!
And safer. People are often terrified by the way doctors handle babies. I fear the idea is that doctors seem a bit "rough" around them. There is a "reason" for that. Some of the tests to determine a baby's health are a tad rough. Like rocking the baby a bit to see how it's eyes open. Or dropping the head of the baby a little to see it's reflexes. Many of these are vital to determine the health of a child but at all times we know what we are doing.
IMHO you should be hit by an adult at only one time in your life. And by your mother's obstetrician at that.
Many a patient is astonished by how robust an infant really is. Of course they are tougher than you think! They are tough enough to live! And our ancestors had none of the luxuries that we have.
But robust or not we still hold a child's head when we pick it up. Because we know that it cannot hold it's head up.
In NSW, a baby's neck has been broken by a chiropractor.
The injury was reported to the Chiropractic Board of Australia, which closed the case without reporting it to the public and allowed the chiropractor to keep practising as long as they undertook education with an "expert in the field of paediatric chiropractic".
This is an outrage. No seriously. This is the fact an untrained quack walked into a hospital and severely injured a patient with no scientific oversight and his peers effectively gave him a slap on the wrist.
The 4 month old baby was injured after one of her vertebrae was fractured during a chiropractic treatment for congenital torticollis. This is a harmless condition that usually resolves itself by 8 months and can be treated when the child is older by physiotherapy. As the child's neck muscles develop the condition ceases to become apparent.
As with any spinal cord injuries, the baby was extremely lucky to survive and make a full recovery. A few more mm of damage either way could have transected the spine and resulted in death or neurological impairment or even quadriplegia.
There is no scientific evidence for ANY chiropractic let alone to be applied to children and neo-nates.
But the Chiros are fighting back.
ANGRY chiropractors are demanding a retraction of claims that a baby's upper cervical vertebra was
fractured during an adjustment.
Because when your entire field is incapable of producing scientific research and instead spends it's time treating using the placebo effect and unscientific and nonsensical claims then you are forced to worry about slander. Remember this is a group of people who routinely encourage patients to not vaccinate and has lead to some pretty hefty tragedies where unvaccinated children have died from preventable causes on their advice. Advice they refuse to take responsibility for.
The Chiropractors' Association of Australia (CAA) said it was "outraged" at Fairfax newspaper reports of an investigation into the case of a four-month-old Melbourne baby. The complaint was made to AHPRA by Dr Chris Pappas, a paediatrician at the Cabrini Medical Centre, who reportedly treated the baby following a chiropractic treatment for torticollis. "Another few millimetres and there would have been a devastating spinal cord injury and the baby would have either died or had severe neurological impairment with quadriplegia," he was reported as saying.
Of course it's outraged! Dr. Pappas is making them look like the quacks they are by telling people the damage caused by these idiots.
Dr Pappas received a response from AHPRA earlier this month indicating that the case, which was referred on to the Chiropractic Board of Australia, had been closed after the chiropractor committed to completing further education, Fairfax reported.
It's not enough that Chiro's are already quacks it's that we have to watch them harm kids too with their nonsense. This was not harm by exclusion of genuine medical care this is something that I have been telling people for ages. You can hurt your back carrying weights so why is it impossible to understand that someone placing pressure on your back can damage it too.
And this is not education. One of the most amusing things was a Chiropractor demonstrating the "time" he spent learning. He said it took him 500 hours plus 300 hours to become what he called a Chiropractic Neurologist. Which to me sounds like "Tartan Paint Maker" and "Left Handed Screwdriver Manufacturer".
So I sat down and worked it out. How many hours have I worked and studied in order to not know all the things I don't know and to realise how little of Medicine I actually know.
I work around 2400 hours a year on a conservative estimate (40 weeks at 60 hours a week.). Even if I was in the UK it would be around 1600 hours a year. No matter what the entire course of Chiropractic can apparently be taught in under a year if we push the education system to be like Medicine.
Dr Pappas described the decision as an endorsement of "inappropriate" chiropractic treatment for infants without supporting scientific evidence.
I completely agree with Dr. Pappas. I would go so far as to use the word "Bullshit".
The CAA, however, wants AHPRA to release full details of the investigation. CAA president Dr Laurie Tassell (Chiro) said there was no doubt the baby had a hangman's fracture. "The official report made it quite clear that the chiropractor did not cause the injury but unless AHPRA releases the report we can't use those findings," he told Medical Observer, adding that no adverse events involving a qualified chiropractor treating a child had been recorded in medical literature since 1992.
Actually there are plenty of known cases. If we include the deaths caused by the anti-vax bullshit flogged the number of injuries skyrockets.
Oh and fracturewise? Children are harder to fracture. Children's bones are not completely solid so flex and bend more. Any fractures caused can be silent but later on produce worse effects due to a lack of proper treatment at the time.
In every case Chiropractors have had extremely mild punishments. In one case of a young woman who's "adjustment" caused her carotid arteries to be damaged resulting in haemorrhage and death? The Chiro got a fine of $1000 and just 12 (TWELVE) hours of training to correct his lack of knowledge.
"The CAA is outraged that rather than clearing the chiropractor's name, as appropriate, the newspapers have smeared the chiropractor and the profession with such an allegation," a CAA statement read. "Chiropractic care can be remarkably gentle. Being a five-year, university-trained spinal health expert, a chiropractor will modify their adjustment techniques to suit the age and spine of each individual child," Dr Tassell added.
To do so without an x-ray/CT-Scan or MRI is not just incredible but verging on magic.
I had a chiro case of a woman who had difficulty walking come into my orthopaedics OP (If you must know? I intend to qualify in Orthopaedic and Trauma surgery…). 5 years after a accident she has been getting regular subluxations.
For a broken tibia that had malunited causing osteoarthosis. If she had come in earlier we could have prevented all that. Instead she couldn't tell the difference. Because Chiropractors call themselves Doctors when they don't deserve that.
The Fairfax article also alleged there was evidence that chiropractors had been treating patients without the necessary permission at Sydney hospitals. "We will certainly find out what truth there is in that and if anyone has acted outside the rules or code of conduct then they deserve what they get," Dr Tassell said.
A Slap On the Wrist and A Few Hours Of Training!
"I think they have put the chiropractor's interests before the interests of the public," Dr Pappas said. "[Treating infants] is inappropriate and it carries a very small but real risk of causing damage, and in some cases, devastating damage." A review published in the Pediatrics journal in 2007 also found serious adverse events relating to spinal manipulations in children, including a brain haemorrhage and paraplegia.
Remember that 1993 quote? There is a lot of stories about injuries caused by Chiropractic. The problem is many of those injuries are treated by the Chiropractors and blamed on other things.
The Chiropractic board has effectively meted out a paltry punishment to protect it's reputation.
However, the president of the Chiropractors' Association of Australia, Laurie Tassell, says chiropractic treatment is as safe for children as it is for adults, and chiropractors should be able to treat patients in hospital, if authorised.
No. They should not. We should not allow quacks to play with our patients. There is no evidence for Chiropractic treatments ever working beyond the placebo. And in many cases Chiropractors treat self resolving conditions.
My personal favourite is a proud Chiro telling me he treated a case of Serum Sickness over 5 years.
It takes 3 weeks to recover from Serum Sickness. In effect he either kept someone sick for 5 years or was bullshitting for 4 years and 49 weeks.
"Chiropractic care can be remarkably gentle," he said. "Being a five-year, university-trained spinal health expert, a chiropractor will modify their adjustment techniques to suit the age and spine of each individual child." President of the Australian Medical Association Steve Hambleton said the board needed to either produce evidence supporting chiropractic treatments for children or rule out paediatric care. "The AMA is not aware of any evidence that chiropractic manipulative treatment of infants and children offers any benefit at all," he said.
Well done AMA! It's high time we stopped letting quacks call themselves doctors and offer up "sage medical advice" pretending to be them.
The Sun-Herald has seen Facebook conversations in which chiropractors discuss methods of sneaking into hospitals. Images, obtained by blogger Reasonable Hank, include one of a baby being adjusted in a hospital. AMA NSW head Brian Owler said it was "absolutely outrageous" for chiropractors to treat patients in hospital without permission. "None of us can go into an emergency department of a hospital and start treating patients without proper credentials and medico-legal coverage," he said.
Which goes back to the reason of liability and responsibility.
A spokeswoman for NSW Health said treating patients without notifying the hospital may be improper conduct and it could be reported to the Health Care Complaints Commission.
That's the thing. The medical profession has oversight. It is extremely well policed and not only is it in the interest of doctors to improve care but also to ensure sub-par and bad doctors are struck off.
There is no such thing with the Chiropractors.
And that's the ultimate problem and the cost this time was nearly paid by gullible parents who let this untrained, uneducated fool (And let's face it, any idiot who thinks playing with a 4 month old's spine is sensible is a fool) with a faulty education in a quack field pretending to be a real doctor…. they let this man treat their child in trust.
And it was trust that was undeserved.


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|This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2009)
A biomarker, or biological marker, generally refers to a measurable indicator of some biological state or condition. The term occasionally also refers to a substance whose presence indicates the existence of living organisms.
Biomarkers are often measured and evaluated to examine normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention. Biomarkers are used in many scientific fields.
The use of the term "biomarker" has been dated back to as early as 1980.[1] In 1998, the National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Definitions Working Group defined a biomarker as "a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention."[2][3]
In medicine, a biomarker can be a traceable substance that is introduced into an organism as a means to examine organ function or other aspects of health. For example, rubidium chloride is used as a radioactive isotope to evaluate perfusion of heart muscle. It can also be a substance whose detection indicates a particular disease state, for example, the presence of an antibody may indicate an infection. More specifically, a biomarker indicates a change in expression or state of a protein that correlates with the risk or progression of a disease, or with the susceptibility of the disease to a given treatment.
Biochemical biomarkers are often used in clinical trials, where they are derived from bodily fluids that are easily available to the early phase researchers. A useful way of finding genetic causes of diseases such as schizophrenia has been the use of a special kind of biomarker called an endophenotype.
Other biomarkers can be based on measures of the electrical activity of the brain (using Electroencephalography or Magnetoencephalography), or volumetric measures of certain brain regions (using Magnetic resonance imaging) or saliva testing of natural metabolites, such as saliva nitrite, a surrogate marker for nitric oxide.
One example of a commonly used biomarker in medicine is prostate-specific antigen (PSA). This marker can be measured as a proxy of prostate size with rapid changes potentially indicating cancer.
Cell biology[edit]
In cell biology, a biomarker is a molecule that allows the detection and isolation of a particular cell type (for example, the protein Oct-4 is used as a biomarker to identify embryonic stem cells).[4]
In genetics, a biomarker (identified as genetic marker) is a DNA sequence that causes disease or is associated with susceptibility to disease. They can be used to create genetic maps of whatever organism is being studied.
Geology and astrobiology[edit]
A biomarker can be any kind of molecule indicating the existence, past or present, of living organisms. In the fields of geology and astrobiology, biomarkers, versus geomarkers, are also known as biosignatures. The term biomarker is also used to describe biological involvement in the generation of petroleum.
Biomarkers are used to indicate an exposure to or the effect of xenobiotics which are present in the environment and in organisms. The biomarker may be an external substance itself (e.g. asbestos particles or NNK from tobacco), or a variant of the external substance processed by the body (a metabolite) that usually can be quantified. (See also: Bioindicator.)
See also[edit]
- Bioindicator
- Biomarker discovery
- Biomarkers (journal)
- Biomarker insights - a journal
- Molecular marker
- Saliva testing
- Endophenotype
- ^ Aronson, Jeffrey (2005). "Biomarkers and surrogate endpoints". British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 59 (5): 491–494. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.2005.02435.x. PMC 1884846. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ Strimbu, Kyle; Jorge, Tavel (2010). "What are Biomarkers?". Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS 5 (6): 463–466. doi:10.1097/COH.0b013e32833ed177. PMC 3078627. PMID 20978388. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ "Biomarkers and surrogate endpoints: preferred definitions and conceptual framework.". Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 69 (3): 89–95. 2001. doi:10.1067/mcp.2001.113989. PMID 11240971. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
- ^ Biomarkers for Psychiatric Disorders. Publisher: Springer U.S. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-79251-4 Copyright: 2009 ISBN 978-0-387-79250-7 (Print) 978-0-387-79251-4 (Online)
External links[edit]
|Look up biomarker in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


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|9:55 -- 10:00
|10:00 -- 10:50
|Anna Cadoret (Univ. Bordeaux 1)
|Representation over finite fields of etale fundamental groups of curves. (joint work with Akio Tamagawa)
|11:00 -- 11:50
|Kazuaki Miyatani (University of Tokyo)
|Finiteness of crystalline cohomology of higher level
|12:00 -- 12:30
|Manabu Yoshida (Kyushu University) Takashi Suzuki (The University of Chicago)
|Fontaine's property (Pm) at the maximal ramification break
|14:00 -- 14:50
|Shin Hattori (Kyushu University)
|Ramification correspondence of finite flat group schemes of equal and mixed characteristic
|15:00 -- 15:50
|Ahmed Abbes (CNRS)
|Ramification and cleanliness
|16:10 -- 17:00
|Takeshi Saito (University of Tokyo)
|l-adic Riemann-Roch formula
|10:00 -- 10:50
|Takashi Hara (University of Tokyo)
|On non-commutative Iwasawa main conjecture of totally real fields
|11:00 -- 11:50
|Tatsuya Ohshita (Kyoto University)
|On the higher Fitting ideals of Iwasawa modules of class groups over real abelian fields
|12:00 -- 12:30
|Yoshitaka Sasaki (Kinki University)
|Poly-Euler numbers and the related L-function
|14:00 -- 14:50
|Byoung Du Kim (Victoria University of Wellington)
|Two-variable p-adic L-functions for modular forms at non-ordinary primes
|15:00 -- 15:50
|Florian Sprung (Brown University)
|The p-parts of Tate-Shafarevich groups of elliptic curves
|16:10 -- 17:00
|Shinichi Kobayashi (Tohoku University)
|The p-adic Gross-Zagier formula at supersingular primes
|9:30 -- 10:20
|Takahiro Tsushima (University of Tokyo/Keio University)
|Stable model of the modular curve X_0(p^4)
|10:30 -- 11:20
|Keisuke Arai (Tokyo Denki University)
|Galois images and modular curves
|11:30 -- 12:20
|Yasutaka Ihara (Kyoto University)
|Automorphy of Galois representations; where it is helpful and where not.
|10:00 -- 10:50
|Tsuyoshi Itoh (Chiba Institute of Technology) Yasushi Mizusawa (Nagoya Institute of Technology) Manabu Ozaki (Kinki University)
|On the Z_pranks of tamely ramified Iwasawa modules
|11:00 -- 11:50
|Keiichi Komatsu (Waseda University) Takashi Fukuda (Nihon University) Takayuki Morisawa (Waseda University)
|On lambda-invariants of Z_l-extensions over real abelian number fields with conductors of 2-powers
|12:00 -- 12:30
|Akiko Ito (Nagoya University)
|On the 3-divisibility of class numbers of certain quadratic fields
|14:00 -- 14:50
|Ryoko Oishi-Tomiyasu (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization)
|On a correspondence between the relative class group of a CM-field and equivalent classes of Pfister forms
|15:00 -- 15:50
|Yifan Yang (National Chiao Tung University)
|Cuspidal rational torsion subgroups of J_1(N)
|16:10 -- 17:00
|Teruyoshi Yoshida (University of Cambridge)
|On the global Langlands correspondence for GL(n)
|18:00 -- 20:00
|Conference dinner
|10:00 -- 10:50
|Ken-ichi Yoshikawa (Kyoto University)
|Analytic torsion and automorphic forms
|11:00 -- 11:30
|Michitaka Kojima (Waseda University)
|p-adic numbers and continued fractions
|11:40 -- 12:10
|Kenichi Shimizu (Kenmei Girls' Junior and Senior High School)
|Imaginary quadratic fields whose exponents are less than or equal to two
|13:30 -- 14:20
|Iwao Kimura (University of Toyama)
|Sage for number theorists
|14:30 -- 15:20
|Takuya Konno (Kyushu University)
|Proof of the fundamental lemma in automorphic endoscopy
|15:40 -- 16:30
|Ki-ichiro Hashimoto (Waseda University)
|Some results on Jacobsthal sum dentities


text:
A Hadith of Rasul (SAW) says that, "Whosoever knows himself knows his Lord. Man 'arafa nafsahu faqad 'arafa Rabbahu." Please confirm that above Hadith is true.
Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,
In his al-Hawi lil-Fatawi, Imam Suyuti mentioned this hadith and that it is not authentic.
He also cited Imam Nawawi who declared it to be unauthentic and Imam Ibn Taymiyyah who declared it to be fabricated. As well, Imam Suyuti cited Imam Zarkashi who in turn cited Imam Ibn al-Sam'ani as attributing the statement to Yahya b. Mu'adh al-Razi.
And Allah knows best.
Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.


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This Junk Food Dude Loses 40 Pounds By Juicing
What made me happy in 2012? Buffalo wings at The Seminole Hard Rock Cafe. The Hot Italian sub at Mazzaros. Deep dish Chicago style pizza at Cappy's in Brandon. Chicken Parmesan at The Laughing Cat in Ybor. Taco Bus runs at 2AM.
What's making me happy in 2013? All of the above, plus kale, broccoli, carrots, ginger root, apples, lemons, strawberries, and cucumbers. This weekend, I had to run to Publix and my $20 basket had nothing but fruits and vegetables. You know, it's possible the Mayans were just off by a few weeks.
Juicing is exactly what it sounds like… grinding out the juice of fruits and vegetables…including ones I would never eat. That supermarket run I just mentioned? Yeah I didn't eat any of that stuff. I drank it. And no, it wasn't gross.
How It Began
This all started after some weight loss. Between July and December, I had lost about 30 pounds. This was with the help of 2 apps… MyFitnessPal and SongPop. MyFitnessPal simply counts calories. You just tell it what you've eaten. It tells you when to stop. SongPop kept me away from boredom eating. It works! (By the way, I'm undefeated… challenge me… username is "genogeno." Fair warning, I'll beat you.)
So why mix things up if my weight loss was going well? I was eating junk – just less of it. I was still sluggish often. And I was hungry more than I wanted to be. After watching a few food documentaries on Netflix, I decided to get the credit card out and drop over $200 on an Omega 8004 juicer. Best believe I kept the receipt for what I figured would be an inevitable return. I've since lost it and don't care.
This is the movie that really kicked me in the butt. This guy went way too hardcore for me… no food, just juice for 90 days.
Those YouTube Lying Fools
By the time UPS dropped the juicer at my front door, I had already watched a dozen or two YouTube clips of professional and amateur juicing demonstrations. They were all the same. A smiling host drops item after item into the chute and when time came for them to actually consume their concoction, they took a little sip and said "mmm, delicious" in unison before saying goodbye and ending the video. So when I finished my first batch of kale, strawberries, apples and ginger, I braced for the worst. And no, it wasn't delicious. But it wasn't horrible either. My reward to myself… a Reese's cup. Not a bad chaser when you're first starting out!
About an hour later, I was already feeling the effects… I felt more mentally alert. I had real energy. I didn't feel hyper like a Starbucks caffeine rush. And it wasn't a sugar high like you get after popping a Reese's cup. I just felt… good.
I realized that kale is for the hardcore juicers. I'm not one of them yet. So I'm just using it once a week. Broccoli is a great green to start with for us amateurs. The rule of thumb… darker the green, the better it is for you to juice. But mix in the fruit to defeat the grassy taste of the greens… lemons and apples are perfect. Those Plant City strawberries flavor it up well too.
3 Weeks Later
I'm still a juicing infant, but I'm sold… and I still can't believe it. My mood is constantly stable to good… I don't drag. Ever. I am never hungry. Why? Because you can eat all the tasty junk food in the world, but your body will still tell you it wants more food because you're not giving it the stuff it needs. When you give it the vitamins and minerals, it won't tell you it's hungry.
I'm finding myself now not really even wanting a lot of the junk I used to crave. Today was especially weird. It's 3pm and I've already juiced twice. I'm almost starting to think I could become a vegetarian. (I won't… I'm a fan of Bern's on Facebook and in real life.)
This is when new year's resolutions start to become a memory. I'm telling you… juicing will give you the smack in the butt you need. I've now lost over 40 pounds. I haven't exercised (although I have the energy to do so if I wanted to). I'm still eating junk food almost daily – just not as much. I feel great. And I like the idea that by eating this stuff, I'm supporting local farmers. I buy most of my stuff from a fruit and vegetable stand.
Want to give this a go? Hit me up if you have a question. Leave a comment here or get at me on Facebook or Twitter!
Here are my tips if you want to give juicing a shot:
- -Don't go cheap on the juicer, but keep your receipt. Here's my logic. If you drop $50, you won't feel bad if you give up! Plus the slower grinding juicers give you more of the good stuff.
- Don't look at what you're about to drink. It looks disgusting. It's swamp green, no matter how many apples or strawberries you put in. The batch of juice I made yesterday was way over the top sweet… it was almost candy.
- Mix it up. I've never had the same juice combo twice. Today was the first time I used lemon and I loved it. Almost made the batch taste like lemonade.
- Don't stop eating junk! Keep your routine going. Don't start out 100 MPH on this. The juicing will start to do its job. You'll find yourself WANTING to eat better. It's freakin' weird. Some people juice all 3 meals a day to start. Definitely not a good idea in my opinion. Keep some normalcy in your life!
- Work your way up to the hardcore vegetables like kale, wheat grass, spinach, etc. I went hardcore day 1 and it could've easily discouraged me. But as I said in Tip 1, the $225 spent helped me continue on to day 2.


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ChordsChords v2Ukulele
Done in regards to the Earthquakes in China. A beautiful song with beautiful vocals. Peace. Sarah Mclachlan "Arms of an Angel" Capo 1 C F x2 intro Dm F Spend all your time waiting for that second chance C G For the break that will make it ok Dm F There's always some reason to feel not good enough C G And it's hard at the end of the day Dm F I need some distraction, oh beautiful release C G Memories seep from my veins Dm F They may be empty and weightless, and maybe C G I'll find some peace tonight C G In the arms of an Angel, fly away from here Dm C G C G You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie Dm C G You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn There's vultures and thieves at your back The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies That you make up for all that you lack It don't make no difference, escaping one last time It's easier to believe In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness That brings me to my knees In the arms of an Angel, far away from here You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here C F x2 intro Dm F C G X4 verse C G Dm C G X2 chorus
Popular Sarah Mclachlan tabs & chords
Song lyrics
↑ Back to top | Tablatures and chords are parodies/interpretations of the original songs. You may use it for private study, scholarship, research or language learning purposes only


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Welcome International Customers
We're excited to share our jewelry collection with you!
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.50 ct. t.w. Diamond Multi-Row Ring in Sterling Silver
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Turquoise and 2.60 ct. t.w. Ruby Ring in Sterling Silver
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Item#: 794306
Designed to celebrate the unique nature of cultured Baroque freshwater pearls, our Baroque cultured pearl and glass-filled ruby ring is one-of-a-kind and crowned with a radiant 8 x 6mm oval glass-filled ruby. 18kt yellow gold over sterling silver ring.
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18kt 18KT: Karat (abbreviated kt or K) is a unit that indicates the purity of gold in the metal. 18kt is 75% gold. In Europe, 18K yellow gold is most favored and used in jewelry. Gold Over Sterling STERLING SILVER: Also known as "Standard Silver," sterling silver is silver alloyed with other metals to increase the hardness and durability. Generally, sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals. Some sterling silver jewelry is plated with 14kt-18kt gold and referred to as "vermeil," or "gold over sterling." Silver
Polished POLISHED: A buffed-out finish used to produce a mirror-like shine.
Stone 2:
Glass GLASS: A delicate, translucent to transparent noncrystalline material made by fusing sand with other materials , such as soda and lime, and then cooling it quickly. Glass is used in anything from windows to drinkware. In jewelry, glass is used for ornamentation, to make doublets, and to simulate gemstones. Filled Ruby RUBY: A bold fiery stone, the ruby is a symbol of wealth, vitality and love. When cut and polished, the ruby's high luster is as dazzling as a diamond's. Ruby jewelry makes the perfect gift for loved ones and is the birthstone for July. GLASS-FILLED RUBY: Rubies that are filled with glass in order to enhance their clarity and appearance. (Color: Red, Quantity: 1, Shape & Cutting Style: Oval OVAL: An elliptical shape that resembles an egg. Cabochon, CABOCHON: A style of cutting gemstones to achieve a smooth, domed surface with an absence of facets. Size: 8X6 mm)
All weights and measures are approximate.
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