text:
Letterbox Farm Introduces The CSA Meal Share
By Jamie Larson
With a long hard winter finally behind us (knock wood), it's time again to sign up for a CSA share from your favorite local farm. With regional produce and high-quality, ethically produced meats better and more widely available than ever, choosing a CSA has become an increasingly fraught, if enviable, dilemma.
Making that decision harder (or maybe easier) is the newest addition to the CSA scene in Columbia County, Letterbox Farm Collective. The three-year-old farm's new CSA has garnered a lot of deserved attention with a brand new idea — the "Meal Share." This thoughtfully engineered CSA will provide weekly offerings of produce and meats geared towards specific meal plans, timed with the seasonal growing schedule.
"It's really just based on the way we want to eat and how we get to eat as farmers," says Faith Gilbert, the Collective's founder and co-owner. "It's a beautiful and holistic cooking experience."
While this is its first year as a CSA, Letterbox's quality of both produce and protein has already been recognized and put to use in the restaurants of top local chefs at Fish & Game, The Crimson Sparrow, Swoon Kitchenbar, Hudson Food Studio, Bonfiglio & Bread, Panzur and others. They also provide ingredients for world-renowned Momofuku Ko in Manhattan. These are endorsements not to be taken lightly.
"I think we have a reputation for quality because of our scale and amount of preparation," Gilbert continues. "We know exactly what you're going to get every week. The age of just throwing stuff in a box is over. We are offering a particular experience in eating."
Along with a CSA schedule geared towards providing members with a seasonally balanced offering of vegetables, fruits, herbs, starches and extras each week, the Letterbox share also includes weekly chicken or duck eggs, a whole chicken every other week and 75 "points" that can be used towards the farm's meat options each week. Letterbox will offer cuts of pork, fowl and rabbit, and extra points can be used to supplement other things you might want beyond that week's allotment, including honey from the farm's own bees and soap made from the farm's goats' milk.
Here's an example of a meal share week CSA members can look forward to:
Letterbox founder Faith Gilbert.
August 8: Pizza Week
Choose your eggs (chicken, duck or quail)
Choose your meats (i.e., 1 lb. pork sausage and 2 pork chops)
Bundle of alliums and herbs: 2 onions, summer savory and oregano
Choose twenty-green salad mix or baby red spinach
1 Prosperosa eggplant
1 qt. Carmen peppers
2 lbs. heirloom tomato mix
1 lb. Sparrowbush Farm whole wheat flour
The idea sounds more complicated than it is. For the CSA member, picking up and cooking Letterbox goods is simple and intuitive by design. CSA members will also be supporting a farm with a modern sustainable ethos.
The Letterbox Farm Collective: Audrey Berman, Faith Gilbert, Nichki Carangelo, Laszlo Lazar and Moo.
"We share a lot of the values of other young farmers," Gilbert says. "For us, the continuation of sustainable food production is such an important issue. We want to live in a community of producers, not just consumers. It's important that we figure out how to keep farming this land while maintaining expectations for our quality of life."
Being able to pull off a plan like this is a testament to the hard work of the young but experienced Letterbox team. Laszlo Lazar and Nichki Carangelo worked a small livestock farm in Connecticut and as Army Corps of Engineers park rangers before coming to join the Collective with Gilbert, a long-time friend. Gilbert herself clearly uses her years of farming experience as well as her academic background in research and community organizing. She literally wrote the book on Cooperative Farming for The Greenhorns. The newest member of the collective is Audrey Berman, who previously worked as assistant manager for Sisters Hill Farm, a highly respected CSA farm in Dutchess County; she excels at systems and infrastructure design, skills vital to this formative year of development at the farm.
"We've built a great team. Everyone has something different to offer," Gilbert says. "We are career farmers."
This is also the first year the collective owns its farm outright, receiving funding assistance from regional ag organizations and Scenic Hudson, which supported Letterbox's philosophical goals to be responsible stewards of the unique acreage. The farm is set on a rolling slope with a beautiful view of the valley and the Catskills beyond, and the Collective plans to protect and enhance the beauty of the landscape as part of their long-term growth plan.
The members and staff of the Letterbox Farm Collective are excited about the potential for this season but also see this year's CSA as the start of a lifelong career in community-engaged farming. If their humble, hardworking and inventive approach to the Meal Share is any indication, the area — and especially CSA members — have a lot to look forward to for decades to come.
CSA Details:
Full meals for $52/week
Pickup location: Letterbox Farm, 4161 US 9, Hudson (2 miles from downtown)
Pickup schedule: Saturdays, 10 a.m.-noon, June 6-Oct. 17
Price: 20 weeks for $1,040, payable by June 1.
Letterbox Farm Collective
4161 US 9, Hudson, NY
(518) 828-1413
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Jamie Larson on 04/06/15 at 12:45 PM • Permalink
Mixing It Up: Connecting Farmer And Landowner
Picture this: a mixer — what they used to call dances — with farmers on one side of the hall, landowners on the other. They're staring at each other. Who's going to be the first to ask someone on the other side to dance?
Fortunately, we're not talking junior high sock hop, so there probably won't be any wallflowers at Berkshire Grown's Farmer-Landowner Mixer next week. The area's biggest local farming cheerleader has plans to spark some connections between those who want to farm and those who have the land to farm on.
"We've been trying to do this for years," said Berkshire Grown's director, Barbara Zheutlin. "Matching farmers and landowners is something that the Columbia County Land Conservancy does really well, and we've been learning from them."
On October 28 in Williamstown and October 29 in Great Barrington, these mixers will connect farmers seeking land with established farmers and farmland. The free events (which include a light supper and beer) will offer information and resources to help sustain and increase farming in the Berkshires. A panel of speakers from several land trusts, foundations and like organizations will get the conversations going. The events are part of the Berkshire Farmland Initiative, co-sponsored by Berkshire Grown, The Carrot Project and Land For Good in partnership with Berkshire organizations committed to supporting farming in the Berkshires, including the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College.
So far, the response has been good, Zheutlin says. She was receiving emails from farmers and landowners whom she didn't know, who aren't members of Berkshire Grown — and if she doesn't know them, that's a good indicator of the number of people out there ready to farm more, start farming or sell off some land.
"We're attending because we're looking for land to make hay on for our cows," says Suzy Konecky, manager of the creamery at Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown. "Open farmland can be hard to come by around here. A lot of farmers are on the lookout for more. I just hope landowners will be coming to the mixer!"
Deadline to RSVP (to reserve dinner) is October 24. Email firstname.lastname@example.com and let her know if you are a farmer seeking land, transitioning, or a landowner.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Lisa Green on 10/21/14 at 02:27 PM • Permalink
License To Support: Fresh & Local Gets Its Own Plate
By Lisa Green
Once a cause announces it has its own specialty license plate in the works, you know the issue has attained a critical mass. Readers of Rural Intelligence may not find it surprising to learn that the latest license plate initiative will champion Massachusetts food and farmers. The "Choose Fresh & Local" plate will benefit a trio of organizations dedicated to farmers, farmers markets and the Massachusetts food economy…if the campaign itself gets enough support from drivers.
The idea for a "buy-and-eat-local" license plate has been in the works for years; back in 2008, the Department of Agricultural Resources tried to push through a plate with the tagline "Go locally grown!" Whether it was because the design sported a cow with rather crazed eyes, or the timing just wasn't right, the organizers didn't reach their goal, and the plate was never produced.
Spearheading the current effort is New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, based at Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition, Science and Policy, which works locally, regionally and across the country to support and train new farmers. Jennifer Hashley, the director of New Entry — and a vegetable and livestock farmer herself — says they actually had their campaign started before the agriculture department's, but they waited to see how that one fared. When it faltered, New Entry stepped in and got its own proposal through the state registry.
These are not vanity plates. The mission of the "Choose Fresh & Local" plate is to raise awareness of local food and farmers. "We want to provide a sustainable source of support and training for new farmers across the state to insure the next generation of farmers," Hashley says. Proceeds from the license plate will support not just New Entry but Mass Farmers Markets and The Beginning Farmer Network of Massachusetts. (Berkshire Grown is a member of the latter group, and collaborates with all of them.)
"We were really struggling with the design for a while," she says. "We wanted to be sure it was attractive enough for people to want to put on their car." A variety of images, designed pro bono by Harry Bartlett of Bartlett Interactive, were vetted at winter farmers markets in Boston. And wouldn't you know it — shoppers at the markets chose the original design created nearly a decade ago.
So far, more than 400 people have signed up, but that's just a pledge, not a signature and accompanying check. The minimum requirement is 1,500 signups but the goal is to get 3,000 signups by December, after which organizers will have to collect the information and money from those who have expressed interest. The plates will cost $20 per year (in addition to regular RMV license fees) — which is tax deductible, by the way.
Signing up for the plate is easy; you can do it right here.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Lisa Green on 09/30/14 at 03:32 PM • Permalink
Food For Thought: Simon's Rock Brings Education To The Table
By Nichole Dupont
Maryann Tebben may have just landed her dream job, and she didn't even have to leave her office. Throughout the last 14 years, Bard College at Simon's Rock's French studies professor has incorporated all of the elements she loves most – food, culture, history – into what will become the college's next major offering. The Center for Food Studies, which has been slowly building thanks to strong student, faculty and community input, is an intellectual feast that incorporates classes in all disciplines, from French literature to agriculture to biology.
Maryann Tebben. Photo by John Dolan.
"It is prime time for food in the Berkshires and for the culture as a whole," Tebben says. "I've noticed just in the last few years here at the college that we have much savvier students in terms of eaters and academics. Many are doing internships on local farms or related to food, we have several alums who own farms in California and Vermont. They are literally hungry for this kind of knowledge."
The program will host its first (hopefully of many) major community event on Saturday, April 19 at the college's Kellogg Music Center. The daylong Thinkfood conference, co-sponsored by The Nutrition Center, brings together three major components of the food world: media, academia and food services. An impressive array of panelists and moderators from across the gastronomic spectrum – Dan Shaw, Matt Rubiner, Serge Madikians, Lisa Damon, Andy Cox – will converge to share their thoughts about the challenges and potential of the region's (and the country's) current love affair with all things palatable. The conference will also provide an opportunity to fill in some gaps in a dialogue which has been, over the last decade, largely focused on sustainability and food sourcing. Peter Stanton is the founder and director of The Nutrition Center which provides one-on-one nutrition counseling and cooking education and outreach throughout Berkshire County (including to dozens of public schools and community centers). He would like to see the conversation about food and agriculture (especially policy around both) expand to reach beyond niche truffle farmers and trendy locavore movements.
Future chefs of Berkshire County. Photo by Lisa Vollmer.
"It makes sense for an academic setting to be paying attention to these other elements of food culture, especially the media and food services," Stanton says. "I see journalism, writing and communications as a way to bring this to people who wouldn't otherwise see what's going on with food, and a way to drive the awareness forward. These stories, about the everyday farmer for instance, are real and they have an effect on everyone all the way down the chain."
If ever there was a place where every link on the chain was present, this region is the perfect testing ground for exploring all pieces of the food puzzle, from small-time vegetable growers to master butchers to big-time distributors. Even the 'lunch lady' (especially the 'lunch lady!) has a place at the table, and not just because Jamie Oliver said so.
"Food services is really interesting because here we have people talking about food and advocating quietly for better quality but then struggling with how that gets played out in the cafeterias," Stanton says. "It's a huge challenge, but there's potential with a studies stream like this to talk about where we want to be and how we want to get there and how far we have to go. The desire is there. Change is happening."
Sea urchins are the new "it" harvest of the sea. Photo: Janet Okoben.
Thinkfood and the new Food Studies stream is a testament to that change and Tebben knows that she is sitting on a veritable gold mine when it comes to being able to develop the program and provide Simon's Rock students with hands-on, community based experiences as well as rigorous academic exploration into the world of what we eat. One of the major challenges is timing: students leave on summer break just as the growing season kicks into high gear. But given the almost overwhelming level of interest in the new program, the campus – and the surrounding towns—may very soon be crawling with young farmers/interns/ecologists/ceramicists and their equally dedicated community mentors.
"I've already started encouraging the faculty to start dreaming up more courses that incorporate food studies in some way. We are finding new internships every day and this is slowly becoming a clearinghouse for all things related to food," Tebben says. "This generation is learning to feed themselves better. That's where it begins."
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Nichole on 04/13/14 at 10:35 AM • Permalink
AgriCulture: The Corn Is Green
It is harvest time. Tomatoes are starting to turn, green beans are weighing on the vine and it's almost to the point where you can't even give away your cucumbers anymore – there are just so many! Farmer's markets are in full swing and one of the things everyone is looking for is farm fresh sweet corn – maybe you've even tried growing some yourself. Corn itself, is very interesting. There's not quite another crop like it in the typical vegetable garden. To celebrate this summer staple, here are some things that you might not know about corn:
Corn should be planted in blocks – Because it is wind pollinated, corn should be planted in rows of four or more. This will give the plants ample opportunity, on all sides, to get exposure to the sperm germ coming from the male flower.
Corn silks are actually flower styles – the male flower is the tassel, or top of the corn and produces pollen. From there the pollen grains (or sperm germ) falls onto the silks of the young ears of corn that you have growing on the plant. Each silk is connected to an individual flower inside the husk. Pollen is carried by the silk via the syle to the pistil's ovaries where pollination occurs. These individual pistils, once pollenated, develop into kernels – every individual kernel on an ear of corn goes through this process.
Sweet to Starchy – With corn, freshness really matters. The quicker you can get it from the stalk to the pot (or the grill) the better. Once picked, the sugars in corn start to break down and turn into starch. A lot of the corn you see in supermarkets has been engineered to be SUPER sugary so that this process takes longer to allow for transportation. That's why "local," "fresh," or "picked today" are buzzwords you want to pay attention to at farm stands.
Each ear of corn has about 800 kernels
Farmers grow corn on every continent exceptor one; Antarctica.
A bushel of corn measure 56lbs consisting of more that 72,800 kernels of corn.
From just one of those bushels, you can sweeten 325 cans of Coke, get two pounds of oil for margarine, or get enough starch for 1 ton of paper.
Corn is America's largest crop and accounts for more than 90 percent of the total value and production of feed grains.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Scott Baldinger on 08/01/13 at 06:45 PM • Permalink
AgriCulture: Spinach Tales
AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Peter writes.
Our fava beans, spinach, lettuces, cabbages, and swiss chard have germinated, and many other seeds are planted and not far behind. The earliest spring greens are coming in—a time that often triggers a reverie of one kind or another. I usually enjoy writing about greens with a curious history or mythology. For instance, vegetables associated with the antics of the Greek gods that have played a role in mytho-historic droughts, famines, and disasters, or that have come to us as a result of strange doings in the Garden of Eden. It's not the goody-goody vegetables that grab my attention, but those that are reputed to act as amulets against evil, that are believed to ward off diseases, and that serve as aphrodisiacs—or, in some cases, cause madness—that tend to fascinate me.
Homely spinach is not one of these. Despite its ancient history (originating in Persia, spinach spread eastward by Arab traders to India, Nepal, and China, while also spreading westward by the Saracens to Sicily, Spain, France, and Britain) self-effacing spinach seems to have never taken on the associations and beliefs that have accrued to other more flamboyant vegetables.
Spinach probably reached China in 647 AD and Sicily in 827 AD, finally appearing in France and England in the 14th century. Apart from certain Arab medical and agronomical treatises in the 10th and 11th centuries, spinach doesn't seem to have gotten much press. While it's true that the great Arab agronomist Ibn al-'Awwam did in the twelfth century (by which time spinach had reached Spain) proclaim it the "captain of leafy greens," it's an accolade that's, sad to say, nothing to write home about.
Perhaps its most significant moment of historical recognition, the apotheosis of spinach so to speak, came in 1533 when Catherine de Medici became Queen of France. It's reputed that she so fancied spinach she insisted on having it served at every meal. What the French court thought of her passion is not known. But her influence continues to the present, as any dish including spinach, in honor of Catherine's origins in Florence, is described as "Florentine."
Strangely enough, it wasn't until the appearance of Popeye the Sailor Man in the 1920s that spinach took on mythic significance. While spinach didn't gain recognition as the food of the gods, it did achieve a kind of American fame as the food that fueled the exploits of a comic everyman kind of superhero. This myth was apparently the outgrowth of another myth: that it had ten times its actual iron content. The story, also apocryphal, was that in the 1870s a German scientist, Emil von Wolf, misplaced a decimal point when measuring spinach's nutritional value. Hence, those exploding cans that gave Popeye his great power in times of need.
While not living up to popular belief, spinach is actually very rich in iron. In comparison to most foods, it's extremely nutritious and high in antioxidants and folic acid. It also has high calcium content, so when Popeye popped those cans and chugalugged them down, he was not only receiving an energy boost but taking in food values that protected him from various potential illnesses.
But as rich as spinach is in food value, its values are easily dissipated since it loses many of them after being stored for little more than several days. Given the length of time that most of our supermarket vegetables spend in transit and being artificially "freshened" by mists in the cooled produce section, the likelihood of the food values of spinach surviving are remote. The message is: grow your own spinach or get it directly from the grower.
But even if you do this, the food values of spinach are also easily lost in cooking. Best, obviously, is to enjoy it raw in salads or boiled or sautéed very lightly.
In addition to positive values, spinach also carries certain dangers, as it's one of the most pesticide-retentive vegetables on the market. It's one vegetable, therefore, that it makes sense to buy organic.
It was neither Catherine de Medici nor Popeye who converted me to spinach, but as with so many foods, it was my time living in Turkey that opened my eyes to the delights of this homely vegetable. There, I was introduced to a form of sauteed spinach that definitely caught my fancy. And this is how they do it:
Wash a large bunch of spinach and remove tough stems. Put in spinner to dry.
Heat 4 or 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan at moderate heat. Add finely minced garlic. As it turns golden, put in the spinach leaves and turn, coating the leaves with oil. Salt and pepper.
Lowering the heat a bit, take a heavy wooden spoon and as the spinach wilts use the spoon in a downward motion breaking up the fibers. Continue doing this until the fibers are broken down but don't go so far as to make a puree. Take off heat and stir in a thick yogurt. Correct seasoning. This is best served at room temperature.
Afiyet olsun as they say in Turkey; or, in other words, bon appetit.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Scott Baldinger on 04/28/13 at 06:08 PM • Permalink
AgriCulture: The Herd Instinct
AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes.
We have returned from our glorious annual escape to the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans, with renewed energy to plunge back into the busy spring activities of the farm. Peter has written about New Orleans as a place isolated from an agricultural hinterland, with an inhospitable environment for cultivation of the sorts of flora and produce we're accustomed to. But there's an "on the other hand" to be noted about the city. Whatever its relationship to the vegetable, it has an infectious and lustily full-throated spirit of indulgence with regard to our own "animal" natures and elemental desires.
That elemental spirit is evident in the prodigious quantities of food and drink so extravagantly prepared and avidly consumed. The spirit is inescapable as one strolls past the honky-tonk strip joints on Bourbon Street. And you feel this outrageous spirit when you listen to music as it is experienced there. Unless you're going to rock concerts or mosh pits, a public musical performance in New York is likely to find the vast majority of the audience seated, attentively listening, making judgments about the performance and applauding politely. In New Orleans, a big proportion of the audience, and sometimes virtually everybody, will be up dancing or at least swaying and clapping their hands to the music. When a marching band passes in a New York parade, it usually leaves its audience standing where it found them; in New Orleans, likely as not, many in the crowd will peel off, form a dancing "second line," and caper off with the band. Their distinctive style of moving to the beat can be entrancing.
Festivals, which seem to occur in New Orleans every few weeks, are the sorts of events the city does best. All cultures have events in which people assemble to enjoy arts in crowds, but New Orleans has made a specialty of it. And watching the dynamics of the crowd is fascinating to me. Just as spending time with our animals has given me repeated moments of insight into how much like humans they really are, spending time with large herds of humans engaged in our collective activities has reminded me of the reciprocal truth: that is, how much like our animals we actually are. The human crowd, it turns out, has a dynamic not all that different from that of the sheep herd or turkey flock.
Perhaps one of the most memorable episodes of this trip was our dinner at Galatoire's, the old Creole war horse of a restaurant on Bourbon Street. It usually seems like a very staid place, where the New Orleans elite meet and everyone has their favorite waiters. On this visit, a "Pirate" social organization, perhaps a Mardi Gras crew, was having its annual dinner, and for some reason the management had seated the group not in an upstairs private retreat, but in the middle of the main downstairs dining room. A table of 42 middle to late middle-aged prosperous-looking men, some in pirate regalia or with false stitches pasted on their cheeks, sat at one long table. At two separate tables sat their wives, a few children, and other non-members, presumably business associates, friends or relatives.
At first this raucous gathering in the center of the dining room seemed quite intrusive, and we wondered whether we should have gone somewhere else. Periodically, for no apparent reason, the group would erupt and begin bellowing in unison, a few more members joining each time, in a deep sonorous "whoaaaaaah." They were attracting attention to themselves, and the bellows would arise at seemingly random intervals. But for us, coming from the farm, where a chorus of nonsense syllables arises from almost all assemblages of farm animals, only to die out a few moments later, it all began to seem strangely familiar, and far more entertaining than annoying. Looking at the "Pirates" table, I thought "cow pasture," the cows are bellowing for something they want. And as we enjoyed our gumbo and crab and watched, the group proceeded to a call and response routine, in which one "pirate" asked what their favorite letter was, and because the letter was, undoubtedly for reasons of the sound it made, "R," they replied with a sonorous, elongated arrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. And this reminded me of our turkeys, who gobble incessantly in response to particular oral cues.
As they finished their main course, the "Pirates" and guests began circulating around the tables, visiting one another in a happy babble of greeting, touching, and conversing. Again, I was reminded of our turkeys. The toms preen, strut, and dance to gain the admiration of the hens, and our "Pirate" toms and hens seemed no less engaged in that kind of socialization.
Ultimately, the "Pirates" united in song. One couldn't generally understand the lyrics, but then the content didn't really seem to matter that much. Seen through the prism of the barnyard, the entire event seemed more about display, demonstrating unity as members of the group, and simply soaking up the atmosphere of the particular time and place than it was about any substantive purpose. This is both basic animal and basic human instinct. The daily afternoon gatherings of our turkeys just before they are to enter their perching coop is hardly any different.
Next week our flock of Naragansett, Bourbon Red, Spanish Black, and Holland White birds will arrive by U.S. Mail as day-old poults from the hatchery. They will, within minutes of arriving, begin socializing and milling about in what Peter calls "the eternal slumber party," and within a few weeks will be vocalizing in unison expressing the deeply ingrained behaviors of their animal group. By summer, we'll be laughing at their Shriner-parade-like milling about and their display dances as if they are in some way incomprehensible activities. Yet the rhythmical ritual song of the human, the dance of the social group, is hardly any different.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Scott Baldinger on 04/21/13 at 12:39 PM • Permalink
AgriCulture: Land of the Lotus Eaters
AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Peter writes.
As much as I loved New Orleans when I lived there, it was, I am convinced (after living on Turkana Farms these past twelve years), one of the least agricultural places I have ever lived. It's true that you don't expect big cities themselves to be agricultural, but you do see most of them in the context of a larger agricultural setting.
New Orleans—with the Gulf on one side, the Mississippi on another, Lake Ponchartrain on yet another, and miles of bayous and swamps on what is the city's only tenuous connection to the mainland—is strangely isolated from any semblance of an agricultural hinterland. It is as detached from that kind of familiar world as Venice, for instance.
Living in New Orleans, as I recall, was like living on some exotic Caribbean island that had somehow drifted close to the American mainland but never really quite connected to it. I am thinking about all of this because Mark and I are off to New Orleans tomorrow for our annual celebration of Mark's birthday at the French Quarter Festival. A glorious event with jazz on every street, square, and levee, and Creole and Cajun food everywhere.
We will soon find ourselves in a world as far from farming as one can get. In New Orleans, as sophisticated as it is, one feels closer to a hunter/gatherer kind of world, a world dependent more on oystermen, shrimpers, crabbers, and crawfishers than on the agricultural world of truck farmers, ranchers, orchardists, and dairymen.
When I first moved to New Orleans in the early seventies I expected, because of its garden-city-like character and warm climate, to be able to really indulge my passion for gardening. I had always had, no matter where I lived, a flower and vegetable garden if at all possible. With the big double lot I had purchased in what was really the Irish Channel (but dubbed by real estate developers as "The Fringe of the Garden District") it looked to me that I would have plenty of scope for my gardening pursuits. Like my 1844 "shotgun-camelback" house, the grounds had not seen much care for a good half century, but I was, of course, game to bring it all back. So it was not long before I strode energetically to the back of the lot with a spade to turn the ground for a small vegetable plot. I knew that there had been an old wooden shed on that spot but was confident that everything had been cleared away, except maybe for some very rotted wood embedded in the ground. I sank my spade into the bog-like soil. As I turned the soil, I shrieked, suddenly leaping back. And stopped breathing, as hundreds, maybe thousands, of cockroaches erupted out of the ground. I was momentarily traumatized. My appetite for gardening was considerably diminished. After that, cockroaches seemed to become omnipresent. I was awakened on one of my first nights by a rustling sound and looked down to see a very large cockroach dragging a Mars Bar candy wrapper across the floor. One night, sitting out on my front porch enjoying the intense, almost overpowering burst of night jasmine, I was simultaneously grossed out by realizing that the wrought iron fence railing was from one end to the other a moving procession of cockroaches out for the evening to eat the oils left on the railings by human hands.
I soon realized that the prevalence of insect pests, together with the incredible heat and humidity of June, July, and August, were not conducive to gardens, gardening or gardeners. At least not the kind of gardening world I was familiar with. And I gradually became aware that no one around me in the city had vegetable plots. And there were no colorful herbaceous borders, not even in the Garden District, of the sort I took for granted. Instead, a narrow range of hardy subtropical plants, shrubs, and trees seemed to satisfy the tastes of the people of New Orleans: caladiums, elephant ears, camellias, liriope, vinca, bay laurels, banana trees, fig trees, and live oaks. So I reluctantly learned to do without homegrown vegetables and seeing a passing procession of flowering perennials.
One weekend afternoon I was on hands and knees transplanting caladiums into the border that ran along the front of the porch when I was confronted by Billie, one of the neighborhood kids.
"Mistah Pete," he said, this being what the neighborhood had decided to call me. "Mistah Pete, why are you growing flowers?"
"Well, why not, Billie," I replied.
"Because men is s'posed to only grow things they eat," he replied.
"But I eat flowers" I could not resist replying with a sly grin.
He looked a bit nonplussed and wandered off. I suppose I should have explained to him how all the conditions in New Orleans seemed to conspire against a man growing things to eat, but I could not resist the joke. And so I probably became "Mistah Pete, that strange Northerner who eats flowers." Ultimately, I would have to wait for my return to the north to do what a men are expected to do—grow things they eat.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Scott Baldinger on 04/15/13 at 04:03 PM • Permalink
AgriCulture: Boarish Behavior
AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes.
While spring is a time of new birth and a surging life force, sometimes it seems like farming during the season is at least as much about second takes, repairs, and responding to changes caused by winter's hard conditions. Tree limbs break and need to be sawed completely off or cut back even further; dead and fallen branches must be cleared. Water lines freeze and then need re-plumbing. Fence posts rot in the ground or get heaved up. Heaved up also are small boulders that last year were hidden in the soil but this year must be picked up and moved off to maximize pasturage for the grazing animals and to protect machinery. As you can imagine, this reality has its frustrations.
Nowhere are these so apparent to me as in our pig-raising operation. Pigs are, in my opinion, relentless sources of chaos. They take perfectly beautiful green pastures and turn them, in relatively short order, into plowed-up expanses of holes and hills, constantly burrowing and rooting in the earth. Two weeks ago, as our helper Kyle and I were carrying a pig trough up one side of the pig pasture, my left leg suddenly disappeared, almost up to the knee, in a sink hole they had created digging for Lord knows what. Peter says they are after grubs and such, things that like damp, wet places.
But they don't stop with digging up the earth. Working principally with their powerful snouts, their teeth, and the brute force of their weight, pigs upend whatever human-created structures they encounter. Their shelters are essentially small metal Quonset huts which we secure to the ground with metal stakes. We got these to replace an old wooden hut we had used at first, a good part of which they either ate or demolished. We place their metal shelters carefully on higher, dry ground, to face south or east, to catch the morning and midday sun, perfect for pig snoozing in a sun trap all through the winter. No matter how ideally placed this arrangement is, it is almost inevitably undone over time. We frequently find that the pigs have used their haunches to raise the hut from its moorings to the ground and shift it askew. Sometimes the hut moves from high and dry ground to lower, wetter ground, even though the latter is far less comfortable for them. The instinct that causes them to shift things around this way is mysterious. It seems it's the activity itself, not the end result, that they are pursuing.
While the moving of the huts is a sometime event, the attack on whatever vessels we use to provide them with water is a daily thing. In winter, we have tried numerous options to keep them with fresh water. Electric heaters are not even a possibility given what the pigs would likely do to the cord — and themselves — in the process. We've tried rubber water containers that we can turn upside down and jump on to break up the ice, remove it, and refill with fresh water; triangular plastic vessels that can be wired to their fence and from which we can chop out the ice to refill with water; metal containers dug partly into the ground. It doesn't matter. No matter what shape or how the water trough is secured, the pigs are adept at figuring out how to up-end it, empty it, and move it to an inaccessible part of their pen so that we have to climb in and retrieve it in order to keep them watered. Pigs are at least as intelligent as dogs, but there seems to be no training them to stop fooling around with the water vessels.
Our frustration over how they treat their water containers led Peter to fix on a traditional wooden design he found in that 1893 farm classic, Harris on the Pig, by Joseph Harris. The Harris design is a long (six to eight feet) v-shaped trough, made up of two thick planks, roughly 3" thick by 6" wide, assembled in a V shape, with a wooden divider in the middle, creating two compartments, one for food and one for water. The V-shaped trough is fitted with perpendicular boards attached at each end, which provide a straight surface so the trough rests upright on the ground. Because of their bulk, their awkward shape, and their weight (probably 60 to 70 lbs.) they would seem to me almost impossible to move, especially as they are often mired in mud. Yet the pigs, in their enthusiasm for their feed, may stand in them, tipping them askew, or may, with their snouts, nose them up and tip them in a different direction. Ultimately, as impossible as this may seem, they get broken up. We have had to replace three already this spring.
Above all else, what is at risk from the pigs is the fencing that is intended to keep them in some place or out of some other place. They push out fencing and gates that are not strongly secured. They burrow under fencing panels and then with their snouts push the panels upward, pulling the T-posts to which they are affixed out of the ground. Electric lines can be helpful, but the the pigs have been known to bury them by heaping dirt on top of them, thus shorting the electric charge. Last week I noticed that Jane's litter of six piglets was nosing about in front of the pen where they were supposed to be confined with their mother, and noted the major escape hatch, burrowed under some of our metal fencing, through which they had exited. Kyle fixed that during the week. Then on Saturday, I saw more escape hatches, some newly created since the week before, and spent an hour or so securing them with pieces of old broken wooden boxes. Yet Sunday, when I went down to feed them, all six piglets were out in the back pasture, having gone though even more escape routes in the fencing that had passed unnoticed before. Peter and I spent four hours Sunday morning re-pounding T-posts into the ground, re-securing fence panels to those T posts, and sometimes adding a second layer of fencing to the first or putting down mesh and small pieces of old paneling in gaps near the base, places that might tempt a piglet to dig out. How long this repair job will last is pure conjecture.
About three weeks ago, exasperated after moving the five feeder pigs born last year back to their summer pasture, and hearing that within hours they were rampaging around terrorizing the cows in the pasture, I told Peter I had had it with breeding pigs. Either they go, or I do. He said he'd weigh the pros and cons carefully and with due deliberation and get back to me. I'm still awaiting a decision.
In the event Peter decides, as I suspect he will, to keep the pigs, I will do my best to train Vernon, our people-friendly boar (pictured above), to take over my turn every other week doing an essay. Vernon is a charmer. It's not every 400-pound plus tusked board who comes over to be petted, to have his ears rubbed, and to smile at visitors. People love him, and I'm sure he has great insights to impart to you. But I dread to think what he will do to the office and the computer.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Scott Baldinger on 04/08/13 at 11:31 AM • Permalink
AgriCulture: Holy Cow!
AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes.
The momentous news on the farm this week is that Roxie the cow gave birth to a sweet, petite heifer calf on Friday morning. Nearly a week earlier I had become convinced that the birth was imminent, based on a variety of observations: that Roxie's udder had blown up to the size of a beach ball, practically dragging the ground; that she seemed as wide as a house; that she was lying uncomfortably a lot of the time and standing off by herself a bit. And that this most feisty of cows, who has nobody's favorite personality and who seems more unpredictable and aggressive than our bull, Titan, was suddenly docile and pliant. When I walked up to stroke the side of her face, she willingly accepted the attention rather than, as she usually does, butting her head to drive me off.
My pronouncement that the birth was imminent raised expectations all around. Peter and I spent a great deal of time tracking Roxie's movements and looking for signs of labor. Wednesday Peter observed Roxie going down into the woods at the bottom of the pasture, alone, and grew concerned that perhaps she was feeling ill because of trouble calving. Whenever Peter and I spoke, Roxie was the first order of business.
Thursday at midday, Peter, fearing that Roxie (at right) was carrying a dead calf, phoned our cow-savvy neighbor, Jordan Kukon (who has been helping birth cows since childhood on his family's dairy farm) to come over and examine her. Jordan easily drove Roxie into the corral, but getting her into the narrow chute where she could be locked in and examined turned out to be another matter. In the process, Jordan was almost knocked over, Kyle was butted up against the corral fencing, and Peter nearly trampled when Roxie smashed through the side wall of the chute and escaped. But not before Jordan managed to probe her enough to determine that the calf had moved down and appeared to be alive. His advice was to wait and see. Good advice, as it turned out.
Trooping out early in the morning to start chores on Friday, Peter and Kyle were pleased to discover that Roxie's calf, a tiny, snowy white female with black ears and kohl lined eyes, had been born. Her arrival induced not only a great sense of relief but also a sense of well-being and even prosperity. Although the calf may have started small, one can be sure that a year from now she'll weigh more than 500 pounds and, ultimately, that she may tip the scale at close to a half ton.
It is easy to understand why cows are so associated with wealth and comfort. Remember the story of the Exodus from Egypt, which Jews retell each year at this time (Passover), that a golden calf was the false god the Israelites worshiped while Moses was up on Mt. Sinai. And recall that one of the devastating plagues visited on the Egyptians in order to induce their release from slavery was, according to the Haggadah , "murrai," which is, as Wikipedia states, "an umbrella term for a number of different diseases, including Rinderpest, erysipelas, foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, and streptococcus infections" that kill cattle and other livestock. At this period, the welfare of livestock was synonymous with the welfare of the group.
Given how central the welfare of our cattle may be to the economic success of our farm, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about whether there's a better way for us to manage them. Roxie arrived here as a two-year-old, so I don't feel responsible for her personality. I don't blame her mother, Alicia, either. Alicia and Roxie arrived together, and Alicia is perfectly docile, friendly, and manageable. But Roxie's almost ceaseless resistance to us has led me to speculate about whether we could have done something to induce in her a friendlier, more cooperative disposition.
In considering the question, I was surprised to find myself thinking back to a classic work of ethnography, The Nuer, by E.E. Evans-Pritchard, which left a major impression on me in college. The author studied the Nuer tribal group in the far reaches of the Sudanese Upper Nile in the early 1930s and it's hard to imagine a people more dependent on their cattle. As Evans-Pritchard described it, the Nuers' diet was almost entirely cattle-derived — principally milk (which they used alone or in a porridge with their staple grain, millet), but also soured milk kept in gourds, and cheese made using not only the cow's milk but also its urine. They even let the cows' blood occasionally to use as a dietary supplement. The Nuer valued cattle for their meat, too, although they usually did not obtain it through deliberate slaughter but rather when the cattle died a natural death. As one informant described it, at a cow's death "the eyes and heart are sad, but the teeth and stomach are glad."
The Nuer were also dependent on various parts of the cow for their clothing and household implements. Cow dung was gathered as fuel and for use in plastering the outside of domestic structures. Dung ash was used in food preservation and as a white powder for ritual use on the human body. The cows were the Nuer's chief repository of wealth, and the Nuer lived in small encampments with their livestock kept closely among them.
As Evans-Pritchard's comments, "It has been remarked that the Nuer might be called parasites of the cow, but it might be said with equal force that the cow is a parasite of the Nuer, whose lives are spent in ensuring its welfare. They build byres, kindle fires, and clean kraals for its comfort; move from villages to camps, from camp to camp, and from camps back to villages for its health; defy wild beasts for its protection; and fashion ornaments for its adornment. It lives its gentle, indolent, sluggish life thanks to the Nuer's devotion. In truth the relationship is symbiotic; cattle and man sustain life by their reciprocal services to one another."
A corollary (we can't say if it's actually the result) of this assiduous devotion to the herd's welfare was, as Evans-Pritchard describes it, incredibly docile cattle. The Nuer then typically lived their lives barefoot and naked, and they could be perfectly comfortable and safe among their cows in that unprotected state, gently directing the movements of the herd. Evans-Pritchard saw this as living proof of how primitive the Nuer were. But to me it also says something about the tribe's recognition of the cows' value to them and an intelligent decision to devote themselves to effectively fostering that value. The reason the cows are so responsive to human needs and direction is that such unstinting attention and effort has gone into their comfort and well-being. A cow would not be so stupid as to defy or harm the source of her welfare.
Well, dear readers, don't expect to arrive at the farm to find Peter and me naked but for a few strands of beads. However, we may take at least a page out of the Nuer book and do more to establish a personal "best friend" relationship with our cattle — in particular the irascible Roxie. Oh God, give us the time and energy to do so.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Scott Baldinger on 03/25/13 at 10:43 AM • Permalink
View past AgriCulture articles.
View all past Food articles.


text:
Posted at: 06/25/2013 7:18 AM
By: The Associated Press
SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) - A furious wildfire torching through the mountains of southern New Mexico's Gila National Forest has grown to 125 square miles and is expected to keep expanding.
Fire officials said late Monday that the Silver Fire continued to burn to the north and west as crews battled the raging blaze amid dry and breezy conditions.
Officials say the fire remains 20 percent contained, mainly in the south toward the bottom of the inferno.
Meanwhile, Gila National Forest officials said that other parts of the park would remain open for the July 4th holiday.
While the Silver Fire burns in the Black Range Mountains and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness on the southeastern part of the forest, the remainder of the 3.3 million acres of forest land would be open to the public.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Health Care WiFi Spending Ushers in $1.3B Market
By: Brian T. Horowitz
Mobile devices and emerging technologies are fueling the creation of a $1.3 billion health care WiFi industry within the next five years, according to ABI Research.
The increasing use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as cutting-edge technologies, is pushing the health care industry to invest more in its WiFi infrastructure. In turn, these changes mean that the wireless market within health care is poised to grow to a $1.3 billion industry within the next five years, according to a new report by ABI Research.
A Better (Tech) Life/Future
Until recently, my wife and I watched rented movies on an ancient DVD player. Yes, we actually went to Blockbuster (when it still existed), picked out a movie and hoped to God our dinosaur of a DVD player would work. It usually didn't, though. It didn't recognize BluRay and buffered more than Youtube on dial-up. It was simply no way to live.
So we finally traded in our old unit for a newer, fancier version. And guess what? We're better people because of it. The new player connects to our Wi-Fi and allows us to stream Pandora and, most importantly, Netflix. No longer does an hour-long episode of Mad Men take us an hour and twenty minutes to watch. No longer do we need to drive to the movie rental store. No longer do we have to feel compelled to rent a movie we know we'll hate just because we're already there. But I digress. We love technology and, quite frankly, it finally loves us back.
So when we heard the news that Netflix decided to jack up its prices by 60% for the same services we were previously getting for around ten bucks a month, we were incensed. "Let's cancel!" I screamed. "How dare they?" she muttered. It took us a little longer than it should to come to our senses, but we did. Convenience (streaming) wins, especially with hectic work schedules and a new baby. Really, when are we really going to go to a movie or time travel to the stone age to actually rent a movie? So we're sticking with Netflix. For now. That doesn't mean we wouldn't consider another service, were another option to present itself.
Enter Dish Network. They spent a few hundred million buying Blockbuster and will spend a few billion more buying up a bunch of spectrum. As everyone knows, CALinnovates is a big proponent of expanded access to spectrum to keep the consumer experience moving in the right direction. Our members, including app developers and mobile gaming companies, want (need) more to continue to serve their customers' needs in an ever-demanding arena.
The Dish/Blockbuster marriage is an innovative and interesting strategy in a changing marketplace. Given the economic woes we are facing here in California and nationwide, fusing these two companies together may be a good call. We'll make sure the CALinnovates team monitors its success moving forward. Now, back to Mad Men….
Higher broadband adoption? The FCC will find an app for that
Arent Fox LLP USA
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established several broadband-centered initiatives in recent months that display the agency's appreciation for the tangible societal potential of high-speed connectivity.
Whereas previously the aim of FCC broadband policy has been enabling service providers to increase the supply of telecommunications service, à la the notion of universal service (both lowercase and capital "u" and "s"), these more recent initiatives aim at increasing demand. It appears that Chairman Julius Genachowski wants not only to spur carriers to deploy broadband, but he also wants to ensure that businesses and consumers will use it.
This intent came to light first in the National Broadband Plan, in which the FCC devoted a significant amount of energy to ascertaining how many Americans forego getting broadband, and why. That issue was not overtly teed up in Congress's mandate for a plan ensuring "access to broadband capability," but exploring the question whether Americans would actually use that "access" seemed a reasonable part of the exercise. The answers alarmed the FCC: only 65% of Americans use broadband at home, for reasons having little to do with its retail availability. As a result, the Plan became as much about encouraging broadband adoption as about laying transport cables.
So the Commission has, in addition to revamping Universal Service funding for the broadband era, turned its attention to what drives broadband use: applications. First was the Open Internet Applications Contest announced in January of this year. Programmers were invited to submit white papers, research, or actual applications to tell consumers how their broadband connectivity is functioning on a real-time basis. The project, which essentially commissioned the invention of an electronic watchdog against deliberate traffic disruption, was created in furtherance of the December 2010 Open Internet Order. But the Open Internet Apps Context is not only an innovative way for the FCC to ensure rule compliance – it increases consumer demand by assuring would-be subscribers that they will actually get what they pay for.
A few weeks ago, Chairman Genachowski announced the winners of the Open Internet challenge. Netalyzer was an Open Internet Research Award Winner, and proposes a Java-based applet that will link a computer to remote servers to measure several aspects of broadband-related performance, including HTTP caching and DNS manipulation. Another Open Internet Research Award Winner was the DiffProbe (short for "differential probing"), which detects whether an ISP has deployed mechanisms such as prioritization commands that alter Internet traffic. MobiPerf won both the Open Internet Research Award and the People's Choice Award, and enables mobile handset users (those with Android and iOS operating systems) to obtain network performance information, and compiles that information anonymously. According to the FCC contest page, the winners will present their work at FCC headquarters, with travel expenses paid up to $500 per person or $1500 per team, and the applications will be featured on the FCC website and social media outlets.
The Apps For Communities contest launched in April 2011, challenging developers to create an application that will make the Internet more attractive to users. With aspirational goals of a "personalized Internet" and obtaining "actionable information," the contest is another vehicle for the FCC to put its expertise – and up to $100,000 in prize money – behind ensuring that if telecom companies build more broadband, people will in fact come to broadband. Entries are due August 31.
The FCC's demand-side focus now also embraces the nation's overall economic agenda: jobs, jobs, jobs. At an event held August 4 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the Chairman announced a partnership with Jobs4America, a coalition of call center providers, to create 100,000 new call center jobs in the next two years that, he stated, will rely entirely on broadband connectivity. Coalition members located throughout the US will either build new centers or hire persons who, thanks to broadband, can train and work at home. The program seeks to bring these jobs back from foreign countries and give them to people who, for reasons such as a disability or lack of access to child care, need to work remotely. The announcement was a victory on many fronts, none the least of which was a clear message to industry that the FCC is working to prevent a repeat of the DotCom bust in 2000 that was sparked, in large part, by miles of stranded, unused telecommunications infrastructure.
These initiatives show that the FCC is not content to assume or to assert that the mere existence of broadband is a public good. Broadband as a theory will not play. It seems that unless measurable societal benefits are achieved through integrating broadband into our classrooms, our institutions, and our workforce, the Chairman will not feel that his broadband policy was a success. If the market cannot of itself create consumer demand sufficient to create these benefits, the FCC will find an app for that.
Micropreneurial Magic
I attended a great meetup earlier this week hosted by the Los Angeles Lean Startup Circle at CoLoft in Santa Monica. The guest speaker was Rob Walling, a well-known Solo Entrepreueur aka "Micropreneur". Despite the fact that the pizza delivery guy was over an hour late, Walling saved the day, providing colorful insight and helpful tips to a crowd generally comprised of coders and business guys.
So why was I there? I don't write code, though sometimes I speak in it. I am not hawking my latest app, but I like to use them. I was there to meet the crowd and learn about what makes this up-and-coming tech hub tick and, of course, to pimp CALinnovates and the great work done by our organization. Besides free beer, pizza, t-shirts and a few of Walling's books (and e-books loaded onto laser pointer pen thumb drives (how's that for innovative?), this youngish crowd was convinced that it will undoubtedly create the next big thing with the right revenue model, great code and brass knuckles marketing.
At the end of the day, Walling's words of wisdom will undoubtedly help the next set of entrepreneurs make their mark (and their money) if there is wider access to their products. How can we help these guys succeed? Well, right now, too many potential consumers are being left out in the cold due to limited or no connectivity. If we continue to implement common sense policies and encourage private sector investment in expanding access to high-speed mobile broadband while increasing spectrum to meet (or, better yet, EXCEED) data demands then many of these micropreneurs will succeed.
I'm going to continue attending meetups and conferences as often as possible to meet as many tech innovators as I can. They're the ones at the forefront of CALinnovates' mission of creating new jobs and spurring investment in tech-friendly policies across the state.
Thanks to @coloft and Rob for an awesome evening. Can't wait for the next session.
Healthcare creating IT jobs faster than other industries
By Ken Terry
Partially due to an infusion of federal funds, the healthcare industry is creating IT jobs faster than other industries, according to a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report. The number of IT positions in healthcare is expected to grow 20 percent annually through 2018, the report says.
Since 2009, the number of health IT jobs has increased 67 percent, according to an article in Computerworld. Online employment agency SimplyHired.com, lists 7,200 open positions in the field, the article points out.
Most in demand are CIOs and CTOs, but jobs in health IT administration also are growing rapidly, SimplyHired.com's database reveals. Since 2009, database administrator positions have grown 94 percent, and other administrative jobs in networking, systems and storage have also seen strong growth. In addition, the healthcare industry needs thousands of software developers and system analysts.
Overall, the BLS report notes, healthcare and social services jobs are expected to grow 24 percent from 2008 through 2018. Healthcare support jobs will increase by 1.1 million during that time period–more than any other service job category. However, healthcare employment took a nose dive in July, according to a report just released by The Conference Board.
In health IT, BLS predicts that a rise in medical testing, treatments and procedures performed, and electronic health record use all will be pivotal in terms of growth. "[M]ore technicians will be needed to complete the new responsibilities associated with electronic data management," the report notes.
The problem that many hospitals and other providers encounter in filling these jobs is the shortage of qualified, experienced health IT staff. While the federally funded training programs in 82 community colleges may help meet some of the demand, the majority of the available positions are not entry level, say consultants and CIOs.


text:
The Good Life
Friday, August 9, 2013
Security Innovation Values
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Vision Mission Values
As Security Innovation gets bigger we've realized we need some way to preserve what makes the company special, for our customers and for our employees. I think it all comes down to Values, since that's what describes the 'Why' of what we do. Why is so much more important than What since it is the foundation, the motivation behind everything we do and in the end I think its the best way to capture the magic of who we are as a company. I think many people would start an excercise like this by defining Vision and Mission first, a top down approach. We've found its more powerful to start with values and build upwards from there.
First some definitions:
- Vision: Where do you want to go? What's over the horizon?
- Mission: Who are you? What do you do?
- Values: What do you value? Why are you doing what you do? What's important and if you gave it up would destroy the value of the company?
- A world free of security vulnerabilities
- To be the most trusted application security partner on the planet.
- To enable the success of our customer's application security programs.
- Improve the security of every application we touch
- Provide the world's best combination of security expertise, trustworthiness, effectiveness, and technology to our customers
- Apply Standards, Education and Education (the Three Pillars of Success) to create a customized solution for each of our customers.
- Drive the success of each customer's application security program through a targetted set of standards, education and/or assessments based upon our understanding of their unique culture, process maturity and application security goals.
- We believe everyone has the right to secure software
- We believe everyone has the right to use a computer without fear
- We focus on the fix
- We believe developer education is a key means to achieving better security
- We believe increased awareness of security risks and mitigations will result in a healthier software ecosystem
- We believe 3rd party assessments of software can be used to keep development teams honest with themselves and their users
- We believe that can add the most value when our customers see us as a trusted advisor to improve security long term
- We believe in measuring and holding ourselves accountable to customer satisfaction in our services and products
- We believe in empowering our employees to learn and develop their skills
- We believe in an environment of trust and open communication amongst all members of the organization
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
I found myself having to go to Istanbul to meet with a customer and due to complicated rules of international chihuahua travel, I had to go alone. The plan was to leave home on a Wednesday, arrive in Istanbul on Thursday, meet with my customer on Friday (hopefully without too much jet lag), and then I had a day to myself on Saturday to see the city. After that I was to fly to Portugal, work from Lisbon for a few days and then meet the family, one week after I had departed, when we would all reunite in Portugal.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Getting Results
My friend J.D. Meier has written a new book focused on how to be more effective, entitled Getting Results.
I came to Getting Results with a history of effectiveness and success. I had a solid sense of what I felt were the best ways to get things done, a set of process and principles that had worked well for me over many years. I am a process guy, a details guy and a lover of great strategy. I sweat the small stuff and I look at the big picture in order to guide myself and my organization to maximum results. Then I met JD...
I started with JD on a project to build security guidance for the ASP.NET development platform. A huge undertaking that involved discovering, consuming, and analyzing a huge amount of information from a huge amount of sources both written and verbal and then turning that into specific, contextual, prescriptive guidance for Microsoft developers. The goal was nothing less than to change the way in which web applications were written on the Microsoft platform. In order to make consumers more secure, the applications needed to be more secure. In order to make the applications more secure, developers needed to know what to do. That's where JD and team came in. What I saw in the course of this project, changed my view on how to get things done. JD accomplished what seemed impossible. In too little time, with too little resources, with a staggering amount of chaos to deal with, JD coaxed the team into writing a masterpiece. I couldn't see how it was done, but I was curious. Luckily for me I had the opportunity to work with JD on a number of other projects over the course of several years. I learned the process as it was developed and maybe even had a chance to contribute to it a little here and there. Whether I had any impact on it or not, it had a huge impact on me.
Before I explain what I learned, I want to set some context to explain how I used to get results. I was a huge believer in up-front planning. For a new project I would spend a lot of time designing and planning what needed to get done, how it would get done, when it would get done, who would do it and in what order. I was a master of this style. I could plan a complex project with a dozen team members and have an 18 month plan with all of the tasks laid out to the day and then we could execute to that plan so that 18 months from the start we had accomplished exactly what I had laid out at the start. Impressive right? Well, not really. I learned, the hard way, that I was focusing on the wrong things. I was focusing on tasks and activities. I was focusing on what got done, which I thought were the results, but I was neglecting the real results. Most importantly, I had the wrong assumptions. I assumed that a rigorous planning process could remove risk. I assumed that I knew up-front what I wanted to accomplish. I assumed that my plan was helping me when it was actually a prison.
So what did I learn from JD and how did it change how I do things? What kind of a difference did it make? Here are the key lessons I learned, my most important take-aways:
- Focus on scenarios and stories. I'd always used scenarios and stories as a tool, but I hadn't used them correctly. They were something I considered, they were an input to my plan, just one more thing that mattered. What JD taught me is that they are the only thing that matters. If you get this one thing right you win. If you get it wrong you lose. Planning should be about determining the right scenarios and stories you want to enable. Execution is about making these scenarios and stories real. You know you are done, you judge your success, by measuring against these scenarios and stories. Everything else is a means to this end.
- Expose risk early, fail quickly. Planning is an exercise in risk discovery and mitigation. You plan so that you can create a path to success while imagining the pitfalls and avoiding them. Planning is a mental exercise, it is not doing, it is imagining. JD helped me realize that the world is too complex to plan for every possible problem and it is too complex for you to be able to plan the best possible path. I learned that I should be exploring and optimizing as I go instead of trying to do it all up front. If the price of failure is not extreme (lost lives, destroyed business) and I can afford the exploration, I discovered I am better off reducing my up-front planning and jumping into the 'doing' sooner. By 'doing' I can expose risks early and I can determine if my chosen path will fail so I can pick another. I think JD calls it "Prove the Path". I like to think that mistakes and failure are bound to happen and I'd rather discover it fast while I have the chance to correct than discover it too late when I'm over-committed.
- Ruthless effectiveness. I thought I was ruthless already. I thought I went after results like a Pit Bull and didn't let go till I'd chewed it to a pulp. I was right, but that's not the most effective path. Ruthless effectiveness isn't being a Pit Bull and never letting go. Ruthless effectiveness is knowing when something is good enough and knowing when it will never be good enough. Ruthless effectiveness is learning to let go. I am a perfectionist, I like things to be more than good. I want them to be great, exceptional even. I can forget the rule of diminishing returns once I have my teeth into something. JD taught me to let a project go, to ship the book, to release the software when you've maximized its value and when it will make the most impact. Let go when there are external reasons to let go, don't let your own internal attachment cause you to hang on to something too long. It felt crazy to me when I first saw it, almost irresponsible. But it works. Its a ruthless focus on results. Nothing personal.
I'm sure your take-aways from Getting Results will be different from mine. We are all different, have different goals and are all in different places in regards to our abilities and motivations to be effective. There is so much in this guide, it has so much to offer, that I think anyone who reads it will get something out of it. If you are lucky, it may even change your life like it did mine.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Our Brains are Wired for Seeking
I love this article on seeking from Slate magazine, I think it is one of those ideas that can help you gain a new perspective on human behavior (including your own). The article describes how the act of seeking is hardwired into our brains as an end to itself. The article then goes on to describe why this brain circuitry can be overactivated by Google, Blackberry and other common technologies
J.D Meier gives a great synopsis of the article in his post, Seeking is the Granddaddy of Emotional Systems. He boils the article down to five bullet points:
- You can't stop doing it. You have an insatiable need to search. It's stronger than the basic drives for food, sex, and sleep. We'll even seek at our own expense.
- Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems. "Seeking" is the master emotional system that influences the rest of our emotional systems.
- Each stimulation evokes a reinvigorated search strategy. It's self-reinforcing. Stimulating the lateral hypothalamus puts mammals in a loop of foraging, excitement, and craze.
- Seeking is the motivational engine that gets us out of bed. "Seeking" is the natural drive that motivates us each day.
- Abstract rewards excite us as much as tangible one. Our "Seeking" circuits are the ones firing when we get thrilled about the ideas or make intellectual connections.
The word seeking is overloaded with meaning, so it took me some thinking to parse out what the article means to me. I don't think it means people are seekers in the sense of seeking philosophical enlightenment, or amazing impactful results, or even new meaningful knowledge. Some people are, but that's not the norm. The people who do amazing things have channeled their base-level seeking to achieve more powerful results, plus they have the innate capabilities that allow them to get those results. As a species we are seekers for tidbits, like mice searching for nuggets of food. The base level seeking impulse is very simple. Search for something that fulfills a simple need (food, shelter, comfort, etc). Its the searching for something that matters. The acquisition matters less and wears off quickly. Then we are off to seek again.
Its the happiness conundrum. You think you will be happy if you get X. Where X could be money, partner, knowledge, results, reputation, house, status, etc. But this is where we are tricked by our own biology. We are not meant to be happy or satisfied for extended periods of time. We are restless creatures and our biology gives us the happiness 'high' for a small amount of time and takes it away. We go back to seeking. If we were truly happy and satisfied we would stop seeking and evolutionarily that is a very bad thing.
We think happiness is good, therefore we seek it (its a meta-search if you will :)). But the search for happiness is endless and we will never truly reach the goal. So what are we to do? I think there are two choices, not necessarily mutually exclusive. While its cliche, I think we can choose to enjoy the journey - the seeking - as much as possible. If you consciously realize you are seeking and are ok with that, not fooled into thinking this search will end your constant seeking, then I think you can choose to enjoy it for what it is. The other choice is to try to make a conscious decision to be satisfied. I think satisfaction means you are happy with what you have and what you are. You can rest for a while and maybe stop seeking. Careful though - stay satisfied too long and you may become like the little creatures in H.G Well's "The Time Machine" who have evolved into a state of feeble satisfaction due to having conquered all possible challenges in their environment.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Telling Stories
The way we think of our lives and how we fit into the world is in the form of stories. That's why narrative is so powerful, it taps into the essence of how we think about being human. Most of us have a subconscious narrative that runs through our lives, whose power we may not even realize. If you can tap into that narrative, understand what your story is, then you have the power to change it! Its like lucid dreaming. The power of a lucid dream is that you suddenly realize you are sleeping and you have the power to modify the dream in ways you hadn't previously realized were possible. Likewise, if you are conscious of your internal story you have leverage to change your life in ways that may not have seemed possible before.
Once you understand your own narrative, what's to stop you from learning others? If you can get a glimpse of someone else's story then you can gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives, their priorities, and their motivations. People can be motivated by a wide variety of things (money, approval, achievement, etc). Understanding someone's internal narrative can help you tap into their values and motivations in powerful ways!
Finally, you can use narrative and story to get your points across and share your perspective. Try this exercise sometime. Try to convince someone with plain facts and data and then try to convince them with a story that explains where you are coming from and how their decision or actions fit into that story. Which is more effective? By sharing stories not only can you get understanding you get the chance to modify your own understanding, your own story, as a result of the interaction.


text:
Cooking and Baking
Too Salty Ma Po Tofu
So I had this jar of Ma Po Tofu sauce that I used the other day, (I bought it before I learned how easy it is to make from scratch), added one pound ground pork, sautéed, and one pound cubed tofu as per the instructions. It is so salty as to be inedible, even just using a tiny bit with rice. I hate to throw it away, I'm looking for ideas to remove the saltiness, or reduce it by adding something.
Any ideas are welcome.
Talk is closed, but that doesn't mean the conversations have to stop!
Check out this post for a more thorough explanation, and jump onto our Facebook page or our Twitter feed to keep the conversations going!


text:
The wound protector comprises a base pad of a pliable fibrous or foamed non-allergenic material in an angular form which may be circular, rectangular, square, oval or triangular. Since the purpose of the wound protector is to prevent the wounded portion of the body from being contacted by anything other than medicants, the central opening of the base pad must be larger than the wounded area about which it is to be placed. A marginal ledge is formed in the top surface of the base pad around the inner opening for the purpose of receiving surgical gauze or sponge containing a medicant, should such be required, for treatment of the wounded area. As the wound protector is to be provided with a transparent cover, the top surface of the base pad between the marginal ledge and the outer vertical surfaces of the pad must be of sufficient width to support the transparent cover as well as provide adequate area for securing at least a part of the cover to the pad. The transparent cover is of a transparent plastic material having some flexibility but lying flat on the upper surface of the base pad when in the normal position. The transparent cover is of the same shape as the base pad and is secured at one side by a permanent adhesive material. While the transparent cover will normally lie flush with the upper surface of the base pad after it is adhered to the pad, a tacky adhesive may be employed on the side of the top surface of the pad opposite the side securing the cover thereto to permit the cover to be lifted up for treatment purposes and then held firmly but releasably to the pad after the treatment. The wound protector is applied to the body area by a non-allergenic adhesive material.
1. A wound protector comprising: a planar base pad having a central opening therethrough of an area larger than the wound area to be protected, a recess in the top surface of said base pad forming a ledge around said central opening, said ledge to receive a surgical sponge, said pad being of a non-allergenic material selected from the group consisting of felt-like, nonwoven and closed-cell foamed substances, said pad having a thickness such that a surgical sponge placed in said recess will not contact said wound area, said pad further having a non-allergenic adhesive on its undersurface for adhering said protector to the skin, and a pre-use, releasable foil covering the entire undersurface of said base pad including said central opening to protect said adhesive prior to use of the device; and a flat, transparent cover of the same configuration as said base pad, one side of said cover being secured to the upper surface of said base pad over the length of that side of the base pad and out to the edge of said recess, the opposite side of said cover having an outwardly projecting lip, said cover being semi-rigid and having sufficient flexibility so that when the lip is raised from the base pad, the cover will have a hinge-like action at the area of adhesive securement to the base pad, the undersurface of said cover in said lip area being coated with a second adhesive of a tacky type which will hold the other end of said cover on said base pad and will permit the said other end of said cover to be released from said base portion, said cover further having at least two ventilating openings through said cover, said openings being so positioned on said cover over said ledge.
2. The wound protector according to claim 1, wherein said recess has the same configuration as the exterior of the base pad.
3. The wound protector according to claim 1, wherein said central opening is circular.
4. The wound protector according to claim 1, wherein said central opening has the same configuration as the exterior of said base pad.
5. The wound protector according to claim 1, wherein the exterior configuration of said base pad is selected from the group consisting of rectolinear, circular, oval, multisided, and triangular.
6. The wound protector according to claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the vertical outer surface of said base pad is chamfered.
This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 131.153 filed Mar. 17, 1980, now abandoned.
The present invention lies in the area of bandages for wounds and sores and more particularly in the area of bandages which provide protection against the wound being touched or contaminated and which provides for visual observation of the condition of the wound without removing the bandage.
Wounds or sores on any surface of the body are generally treated by applying an appropriate medicant to the injured area and then generally it is the practice to cover the wounded area with sterile surgical gauze or "sponge" and then utilize bandaging to hold the surgical gauze in position over the wound, thus forming a bandage. Such a bandage forms a covering which protects the wound area from additional injury or contamination which might worsen the condition. However, such bandages do not readily reveal the condition of the treated wound or sore. With this type of bandaging, the condition of the treated wound can be determined only by removing the bandage. Often the surgical gauze has adhered to the wounded area and the removal of the gauze for examination and treatment is frequently very painful. Additionally, the contact of the surgical gauze with the wounded area frequently absorbs the medicant thus preventing maximum utilization of the medicant on the wound. If the surgical gauze does adhere to a wounded area, its removal aggravates the condition of the wound and thus retards the healing.
Prior disclosures which have addressed this problem are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,443,140; 2,367,690; 2,221,758; 697,637; 720,812; German Offenlegungsschrift No. 1,914,096; and German Pat. No. 120,402; and British Pat. No. 288,220.
The wound protectors in the foregoing disclosures generally provide for protection of the wounded area and visibility of the wound itself. Generally speaking, the wound protectors in the foregoing disclosures have rigid portions to protect the wound area. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,221,758 and 720,812 employ resiliant felt-like pads, but have the transparent covers firmly secured to the upper surface of the pad.
The present invention comprises a base pad having a central opening with vertical walls. The central opening may be oval, circular, rectangular, or square, and the exterior wall of the base pad may be vertical or at least a portion of it tapered inwardly to minimize the effect of clothing rubbing against the pad. The pad is of sufficient thickness to not only provide protection to the wound area, but also to provide for a ledge in the upper surface extending outwardly from the inner or central opening. This ledge may be optionally utilized to hold surgical gauze or similar hygienic material which may contain medicants for continual dosage of a wound area or may be employed to absorb some of the liquid. The bottom surface of the base pad is covered with an adhesive material which is non-allergenic and, while providing good bonding of the base pad to the skin, will permit direct removal of the base pad without further damage to the skin. The central opening of the base pad is provided with a generally transparent cover which is securely adhered to one side of the central opening on the upper surface of the pad, preferably the longitudinal axis. The cover should have some flexibility to permit the free end being lifted upward and yet sufficient rigidity to generally remain in the flat or planar state on the upper surface of the base pad. Selectively the free end of the cover may have its underside covered with a "tacky" adhesive which will hold it against the upper surface of the base pad in that area and yet will permit the cover to be raised.
The invention may be seen in the accompanying drawings in which the embodiment shown therein is illustrative only and is not limiting as to the configuration of the various components as shown therein.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cover of the present invention rolled at one side to expose an adhesive area.
FIG. 3 is a similar view of the base pad of the present invention to expose part of an entire adhesive area.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a protective film applied to the bottom of the base pad of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a surgical gauze or sponge which may be employed with the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the present invention along the plane 66 in FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is a partial plan view of the base pad of the present invention showing a variation in the outer wall.
Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that the present invention comprises two basic components, a base pad 10 and a cover 12.
The base pad 10 may be rectalinear as shown or may be oval, circular, octagonal, or any other shape as the wound area and the location of the wound may require. The base pad 10 is made of a felt-like material or a closed-cell resilient thermoplastic material, one primary consideration being that the base pad material be non-allergenic. The base pad material must be sufficiently flexible so that if necessary the undersurface of the base pad can conform to the shape of the body member upon which it is placed. The base pad must be of sufficient thickness to insure that when the wound protector is placed about the wound area, no part of the wound protector, including the surgical gauze or sponge to be described later will contact the wound area. Normally, the base pad would have a thickness of about an eighth of an inch, but large sizes of the wound protector covering larger portions of the body may require a pad of increased thickness. The undersurface of the base pad is covered with a non-allergenic adhesive 10a for adherence of the base pad to the skin surrounding the wound area. Until such time as the wound protector is used, the adhesive area 10a is protected by a releasable film 11 which not only protects the adhesive area, but also prevents contamination of the interior of the wound protector prior to its use. The base pad 10 has a central opening 10b of a size greater than the wound area over which the wound protector is to be in place. The central opening may be circular as shown or it may have the outer surface configuration of the base pad. The wall of the central opening is preferably perpendicular as would be the outer wall 10f of the base pad 10. In those instances where the wound protector may be in rubbing contact with clothing or any other article which would tend to push against the outer vertical wall of the wound protector, the outer vertical wall may be at least partially chamfered as seen in FIG. 7 at 10g. The upper surface of the base pad 10 also contains a recess 10c surrounding the central opening 10b thereby forming a ledge 10d.
The cover 12 of the wound protector is of a transparent, semi-rigid plastic material. The material for the cover must have sufficient rigidity to lie flat on the upper surface of the base pad and get sufficient flexibility so that one end of the cover can be raised. That portion of the cover opposite the end which is to be raised contains an adhesive 12a which securely fastens that portion of the cover 12 to the upper surface of the base pad as shown in FIG. 6. To facilitate lifting the cover 12 at the other end, there is provided an outwardly extending lip 12b. Since the cover 12 may be accidentally or inadvertently lifted as during sleep, the undersurface of that portion of the cover containing the lip is coated on the underside with a tacky adhesive 12b which will hold the cover in place and yet will permit the cover to be lifted without destroying the upper surface of the base pad 10. To facilitate the hinge-like action of the cover 12 at the area where the cover is secured by adhesive 12a to the base pad 10, a fine scoring of the top or undersurface of the cover or both, as shown in 12e may be accomplished prior to assembly. Controlled ventilation is generally beneficial for the healing of both wounds and therefore at least two fine perforations 12c are made through cover 12, the perforations being made in those portions of the cover over the ledge 10d.
In some instances the wound area 13 may require the application or constant contact with a medicant or it may be desirable also to provide a means for absorbing any excess secretion from the wound area. For this purpose there is provided a surgical gauze or sponge 14 which is sterile and is placed on the ledge 10d, the medicant required coating the underside of the sponge 14. The sponge 14 is made of material commonly used for surgical sponges and no particular material is a part of the invention.
To use the wound protector of the present invention, the wound area is treated as necessary, the raisable film 11 is peeled from the underside of base pad 10 which is placed about the wound area and pressed into contact with the surrounding skin. If necessary, the lip 12b is lifted from the top surface of the base pad 10, and the surgical sponge 14 inserted on ledge 10d and the cover 12 then closed, the tacky adhesion 12b holding the cover 12 sufficiently tightly to the upper surface of the base pad.
As shown and described, the present invention provides a wound protector having a low vertical profile with readyease of observation of the wound area and permits treatment of the wound area without removal of the wound protector until such time as the wound area has healed sufficiently. Variations in sizes, shapes and materials will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art, and they are encompassed within the scope of the following claims.
Citas de patentes
Citada por
Eventos legales
Imagen original


text:
And second-favourite Jose Mourinho, the man who has been backed into 4/1 to be the next Manchester United manager, was once a 100/1 shot to replace Ferguson at Old Trafford.
Sky Bet first opened a market on Sir Alex's eventual replacement back in 2005 and customers who placed a bet on the then Chelsea boss in November 2005 could soon reap the rewards for their patience.
Moyes, who is currently at his shortest price of 2/5 following some significant backing on Saturday and renewed interest this morning, was out to 20/1 in November 2011.
Click for Sky Bet's 'next Man Utd manager' market
Others once thought to be in the frame to follow in Fergie's footsteps include Martin O'Neill (2/1 in September 2005), Sven Goran Eriksson (9/1 in November 2005), Roy Keane (4/1 in April 2007), Carlos Queiroz (5/1 in April 2007) and Pep Guardiola (7/4 in December 2012).
Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is currently 25/1 to be the next Manchester United manager, but was just 5/1 as recently as February, while former Leeds manager David O'Leary is currently the worst result in the book.
Jurgen Klopp is the 7/1 third-favourite after his good work at Borussia Dortmund has seen them win the Bundesliga and get to the forthcoming Champions League Final at Wembley in the last few years.
Ryan Giggs is 33/1.
Sky Bet's Head of Trading Sandro Di Michele said: "It depends how much money the board have but I'm not sure they want to spend £13 million to get the Special One out of his Real Madrid contract. Jose doesn't generally build teams for the future however he will guarantee instant success.
"A more long term and cheaper appointment would be David Moyes, while there is talk of Solksjaer returning to Old Trafford, but it would be a big gamble to take someone with such little managerial experience and no experience in England, let alone at a club the size of United."
Click here for completely free £10 bet with Sky Bet


text:
Home Future StudentsCurrent StudentsFaculty & StaffPatientsAlumni
A-Z Index | Find a Health Care Provider
Contact Us | Maps and Parking
Contact Information:
University of Colorado DenverDepartment of PharmacologyMail Stop 8303, RC1-North12800 East 19th AveAurora CO 80045
Phone: (303) 724-3638Fax: (303) 724-3663E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com vitaeKennedy Lab Website
Affiliated Programs
A description of current research in Dr. Kennedy's lab can be found here: http://pharmacology.ucdenver.edu/kennedy/Research.html
View Dr. Kennedy's Publications on PubMed
© The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are registered property of the University. Used by permission only.


text: The The Baby God wiki last edited by Exile-616 on 02/15/14 04:39AM View full history The Orison GambitAfter The Luminals returned from an unauthorized mission into The Fault one of their members, a female powerhouse named Massdriver, went insane and began attacking Moondragon without rhyme or reason. As Moondragon was calling for backup, Massdriver grabbed Moondragon and came to a jarring halt as her cranium "bloomed" opened.From within Massdriver's body, a newly hatched infant xenomorphic alien of extradimensional origin emerged and pinned Moondragon to the floor using Massdriver's arms while the creature tried to take refuge inside of Moondragon's body. Using her telekinetic abilities, Moondragon threw Massdriver's corpse and the alien off of her and tried to contain it within a TK Field.However, the creature's presence had been sensed by nearly every member of the fanatical Universal Church of Truth who were currently present on Knowhere attempting to recruit new patrons to the Church. Due to their belief that The Fault is a gateway to paradise, they believed the creature to be a God and due to their overexcited reactions and attempts to get a look at the entity Moondragon failed in keeping the creature contained.Upon escaping the so-called "Divine Being" tore off the head of one of the Church's followers, which they believed was the creature's way of blessing them with it's benediction, and so the followers of The Church remained motionless while the monster ate head after head as it made its way through the crowd in an attempt to make Cynosure it's host instead.Knowing that Cynosure was nowhere near experienced enough to house a telepathic parasite of this caliber inside her body without her brain turning to mush, Moondragon pushed her way past The Universal Church of Truth's followers and tore the entity off of Cynosure and let it take refuge within her.After the creature had crawled its way up through her nasal passages and nestled up inside her womb, Moondragon was quarantined inside Knowhere's infirmary, where Star-Lord visited her shortly after. During their discussion, it was learned that Moondragon was being forced to use nearly all of her psychic abilities just to keep the creature calm and could only read surface thoughts as a result.However, with the creature inside of her and at such close range she was able to learn that the entity had come from The Cancerverse, the same dark and twisted parallel universe that Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) had recently visited when he ventured into The Fault on a data-gathering mission, and that it's home was a place in which Life had won and Death had lost.The Luminals soon interrupted Star-Lord and Moondragon's conversation and expressed their desire to have the entity removed from Moondragon's body so that it could be put on trial for murdering Massdriver. Despite Star-Lord's protests, Cynosure used Biometric Cuffs to genetically bind herself to Moondragon, thus allowing her to be within close proximity of the creature all the time.Later, when Drax went to go visit Moondragon in the infirmary he found The Matriarch, a Cardinal and several UCT followers in the process of kidnapping Moondragon and Cynosure. Despite his attempts to stop them, The Matriarch used her telepathic abilities to force Drax into submission.After he had been taken care of, The Matriarch and her accomplices teleported to the planet Orison where they would use the power of their faith to send Moondragon into labor and shortly after The Baby God's bloody birth would then go on to sacrifice Orison's nine billion inhabitants, all of whom were members of The Universal Church of Truth, to it thus allowing The Baby God to progress its own evolution into something far more terrifying.The Orison Gambit, as the incident was referred to, was eventually foiled by a rescue mission being co-coordinated by The Guardians of the Galaxy and every single full, reserve, retired, substitute, sidekick and honorary member of The Luminals. However, due to its exposure to the power of The Universal Church of Truth's belief engines, The Baby God remained in an agitated state of mind and was still trying to make Moondragon birth it.However, when a vision of Phyla-Vell appeared before her and told her to hold on, Moondragon found the strength to overwhelm The Baby God's telepathic abilities and force it back into a calmer state of mind. Sometime later The Baby God was safely removed from Moondragon's wound and was placed in a containment unit.The Baby God was then teleported into The Fault and was last seen struggling to get out of the containment unit as it spun and tumbled its way across The Cancerverse.