text:
Is your tablet capping?
Last week we had some really good participation for our Tablet Capping webinar…thanks to all that attended. This is one of those defects that can be really frustrating because once you feel you have a product figured out, and have it fine tuned, suddenly capping occurs. Getting the air out from between particles without moving the "fines" to the "air evacuation point is the key to success". During compaction as the upper punch tip enters the die, air is being pushed out of the die. The design of the upper punch tip being smaller than the lower creates an avenue for air to escape. I call the point between the upper punch cup edge and the die wall the point of "air evacuation". As the air moves and evacuates it takes with it many of the dusty, fine, dry, light, non-compressible particles. These particles can form a line along the point of air evacuation between the top of the tablet (aka the "Cap") and the "Band" of the tablet, forming a line of non-compressible particles, which results in the "cap" not adhering to the rest of the tablet. The use of pre-compression is to lightly tamp or lock the small particles in place so they cannot migrate during final compression. Upper punch penetration is another tool most modern machines have; adjust it as high as possible and the air will have a shorter distance to travel allowing for more complete air evacuation. Machine speed can also play a roll to prevent capping because the time to evacuate the air is related to the clearance between the upper punch tip and the die wall and the depth of punch penetration…basically slowing the press gives the air more time to leave without pushing the fines to the air evacuation line which will result in capping. If you want to fix capping…1.Optimize weight control, 2. Reduce Punch Penetration (2-3mm), 3. Use pre-compression to lightly tamp, 4. Slow the press down until capping stops, 5. Add a taper into the die, 6. Change the radius of the upper punch tip to a compound radii, 7. Use a machine with 2 pre-compression stations (like a Manesty Nova), 8. Reduce the percentage of fines within the formula. Never change more than one item at a time and test to see the result. Call or write to me if you need me to clarify any of this information.
Posted by Mike on November 10th, 2008 :: Filed under On line seminars,Tableting
Tags :: band, cap, capping, fines, tablet
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
46 Responses to "Is your tablet capping?"
November 30th, 2008
Nice post u have here 😀 Added to my RSS reader
December 10th, 2008
Thanks for post. Nice to see such good ideas.
Zakir Hossain
February 2nd, 2009
Is there any process to get the information like article or discussion through my mail
February 2nd, 2009
The article on Optimal Tablet Press Operation within our webite under Tech Articles should be helpful. You can also listen to a webinar in our archives on Capping go to http://techceuticals.webex.com recorded sessions and click on Capping. Let me know if this helps…we can always setup a webex meeting with your operators and techs to dicuss.
September 2nd, 2009
Hey Mike,
We have a product with a good dust control during compression. It is outsourced for packaging. What would be the recommended filling process (Cremer, slats,..) to minimize generation of dust during packaging and prevent dusting the sensors or camera ? Some dust has been observed from the bottom portion of drums, most probably generated by transportation and handling from the manufacturing site to the packaging site.
October 29th, 2009
This is really very good post and its very informative.You have given nice suggestions.Thank you very much for giving such a good information.You have done a good job.
December 4th, 2009
Dear Milke,
Would you have a possible root cause for a product compressed on a 35-stn stokes (double-sided) on which we have a lot of variability in CU depending on the side – around 93% on the left and around 103% on the right. Weight variation is typically 105-113mg on the left -107-113mg on the right (limits 105-116mg) and the dosage is 1mg API. Any ideas are welcome. We are thinking of some wear on the tablet press.
December 18th, 2009
Dear Pilule,
If the segregation is really happening at the press the likely culprit is the difference in feed frame clearance settings. What is probably happening is that one side is segregating granules because it is slightly lower than the other side. This difference is not allowing larger granules to flow with all of the smaller granules; the larger ones are being segregated because they cannot sweep under the feed frame. A typical feed frame clearance between the die table and the feed frame base is .003″ – .005″ (as specified in the Stokes manual) which is the same as 200 mesh – 120 mesh. See if you can relate this segregation to your particle profile by doing a sieve analysis. A slight change in the feeder clearance setting up or down could net a completely different result. To make it more difficult the Stokes 35 station machines are some what temperamental when setting up the feed frames…it is flat out difficult if not impossible to get both sides the same…you don't have to do this. What you need to do is to make certain that the side with the lower feed frame is increased slightly to allow the granules to not segregate.
Remember no machine is perfect, even when they are new. A typical Stokes machine with several years of service can have a die table run out of .002″- .004″. This means that as the die table rotates there is a natural high spot. When setting up and checking the clearance of the feed frames the first step is to rotate the die table under the feed frame to the highest spot. To determine the high spot use a dial indicator and measure the die table run out. Then set the feed frame up at this location, then rotate the die table 180 degrees and set up the other feed frame on the high spot of the die table run out.
December 23rd, 2009
Thanks Mike for the helpful tips. For the feed frame clearance did you rather mean .03″-.05″ ?
December 23rd, 2009
I'm glad you find our information helpful. The clearance between the bottom of the feed frame and the top of the die table is about the thinkess of a piece of notebook paper, which is equal to a 200 mesh particle size. The idea is to get the feed frame as close to the die table as possible without it touching, but high enough so it does not wedge or compact powder onto the die table….the .oo3″ – .005″ range is correct.
December 24th, 2009
Mike, maybe one more question. Some people mentioned to me the lower punch spring retainer as a possible cause, especially on these old BB2 presses but I can't relate it to segregation but rather to a wider weight variation. Long life to your blog.
December 26th, 2009
First off I had made an error in my first blog response to you regarding the feed frame clearance as it relates to the particle size distribution. The proper gap between the feed frame and die table is .003″-.005″ which is equal to particales in the range of 200 mesh – 120 mesh.
My reasoning for potential segregation due to varation in feed frame clearance has a relatioship to particle size. If the feed frame clearance prevents larger particals from flowing with all the other particles it will cause segragation. I see this all the time. The quick fix is to change the clearance by decreasing or increasing the clearance.
Now to answer your question regarding lower punch retainers; A retainer is meant to restrain the punch, preventing it from bouncing which should result in improved weight control. A loose or worn restainer does not relate to segregation but it does relate to weight variaion as you have pointed out.
Segreation on the tablet press relates to flow, density variation, particle size distribution, cohesiveness, and feed frame setup.
I hope have cleared this up, I did go back and correct the previous staements to make certain everyhting is now how I see it.
January 5th, 2010
Thanks again Mike and Happy New Year 2010.
I really appreciate this interactive technical forum, the first one on the Web, as far as I know.
This is making Techceuticals a pioneer !
Best regards
January 5th, 2010
We get calls everyday for help with a formula, equipment, tooling and a host of challanges people run into. For the most part if one person is experiencing it is most likely someone else is having a similar issue. At least this way we can all share in the solution. I'm happy to know this is helpful…thanks for the kudos!
Denis Delaney
February 10th, 2010
Nice to see these helpfull suggestions. They are always what I try when having issues! However, this time I have tried all these with a trial batch of tablets but capping still occurs which is quite a pain. Any1 any suggestions
Mike Tousey
February 20th, 2010
Tell me more, what is the shape of the tablet, machine type, punch penetration depth, speed. Is the product granulated for direct compression? Is the tooling new or old, what kind of conditon is it in. Have you inspected the dies? Doe the product cap all all speeds? Does pre-compression help or hurt the issue. Please send me photos of everything; tooling, press, powders, and capped tablets.
Packaging Equipment
July 8th, 2010
Capping is the term used, when the upper or lower segment of the tablet separates horizontally, either partially or completely from the main body of a tablet and comes off as a cap, during ejection from the tablet press, or during subsequent handling.
July 8th, 2010
Capping is when the upper cap seperates from the rest of the tablet. If the lower cap seperates it is not capping, it is splitting or lamination. This point is very important because to the actions to correct capping are not the same actions that would be taken for lamination or splitting. When a tablet caps it is directly related to how the air moves fine particles to the line between the cap and the rest of the tablet. This line of fine particles that were moved along the cap edge creates a weak, non-compressible collection of fines which causes the top of the tablet to cap.
B Doddamani
July 14th, 2010
We are observing inconsitant batch problems of Sticking and Capping, means in a compagin of 15 batches we observe 3-4 batches of sticking and capping how to avoid even though we are following wet granulation method for hygroscopic active.
July 14th, 2010
Powders that stick are generally over wet and powders that cap are dry, non-granulated, and fine. Focus to make certain the solution delivery is uniform. Do not rely on the mixing step to evenly distribute unevenly wetted powders. Why is it happening on 3-4 batches of 15? There is some inconsistency and usually it is related to the solution addition, batch volume variations, solution prepartation, or different operators.
B Doddamani
July 26th, 2010
Dear Mr Mike,
we are studied the Particle size and moisture content of those batches compared with validation batch, the results of those batches were good in case of particle size and moisture content, and one more thing the operators were expirenced one so please suggest me the possible root cause other than particle size and moisture content leading for capping. please mail me if possible.
July 26th, 2010
I have seen many formulas that have passed moisture content testing but continue to cap. I do not believe that current instrumentation can adequately measure moisture levels in particles for compression. So telling me it matches a validation batch confirms once again I can have good testing information but bad results, what does that tell you?
Capping is a compressibility issue; the particles along the top cap are not locking together. Most of the time the dryer lighter particles are aligned along the cap by the evacuating air during compression. So saying your particles are not a problem does not begin to address the issue. We are looking for a small percentage of fine particles that move during air evacuation.
Slow the machine down; if capping decreases with longer dwell time and slower air release than you do have a particle /moisture issue. If you slow the machine down and capping gets worse than you have a compressibility issue. Meaning the locking mechanism between particles is broken by too much force. The problem becomes that reducing compression may stop the capping but then the tablet hardness is usually not acceptable. This comes back to fine tuning the press, and if that doesn't work you must look back up stream at the poor quality of granulation or the components within the formulation itself.
This problem can be solved, and I'll bet that it is related to moisture and particle size….provided that you have tablet press operators that know how to run a press and make adjustments for this type of problem. Tell me what press you are using, the tooling design, the press setup parameters, the formulation, granulation process, and send me some photos of the capped tablet.
The bottom line is that there are many Band-Aids to fix the problem at the tablet press, but the problem is within the formula and the granulating process.
I cannot begin to tell you how many formulations are poorly granulated or poorly processed and blamed on the press operation. I get calls all the time with this very same issue "It worked fine in validation and now it does not work the same". If material tests are the same and the nothing else changed than it tells us the tests are not worthy.
January 3rd, 2011
I have severe capping problem and having particle size distribution data indicates around 70 % of granules are 120 mesh passsed
Iam using concave capsules shaped punches and iam getting maximum hardness 11Kp beyond that capping starts, at 11 kp also friability is 0.4 and below 9Kp fraibility fails
so please advice me to avoid capping
Mike T
January 3rd, 2011
You say the tablet is good until 11kp, more pressure and the tablet breaks apart and looks like capping. You have reached the point of maximum compressibility, any more pressure and the tablet breaks apart. Further evidence is the friability issue. Though the particle size is good the moisture content and cohesiveness of the powders is weak and limited. Slow the machine down and the hardness will go up only slightly before you have a failure again.
In the old days this is when they would add some steric acid, which would increase hardness and reduce friability.
So tell me how close are you to success? What is the condition of your tooling? What kind of accuracy are you having with tablet weights? Are the dies tapered, do youhave pre-compression. What percentage of the tablet are capping? I'd like to see a photo of the defect.
Thnaks again for your contribution to our blog!
February 25th, 2011
Thank you for very nice and useful information…but if
What if punch is deep concave,shallow concave or standard concave? Which should prefferable and why?
Mike T
March 9th, 2011
Hi Navneet, Capping is the inability for the top cap of the tablet to compress to the rest of the tablet. The deeper the concavity the greater the issue becomes with removing air and forming a good bond without moving the fine particle along the top cap which causes capping. The shallower the better when it comes to capping. The deeper the cup the more likely capping will occur.
S Narayana Reddy
April 11th, 2011
Good information to find out the rout cause for this problem, and also required more information.
August 15th, 2011
i have problem of capping for my last 4 batch
September 30th, 2011
I found lots of infrmations on ur blog…i want to know that we have gliclazide tablet formulation . and at every batch we have got capping probs and hv to mix moisture each time…can u suggest
Dhananjay Pai
November 1st, 2011
Its quite well established that capping is not due to entrapped air. Entrapped air is a old theory discarded already. Capping happens due to residual wall stresses. It can be reduced by increasing press dwell time.
November 8th, 2011
Hi Mike,
Our 3rd validation batch failed at compression stage due to capping.
The first 2 validation batches were perfect. And even the first 80 kg of the 350 kg 3rd validation batch was ok. But after 80 kg, the 3rd batch has capping problem such that its about 1 or 2 tabs per 20 tabs. We have changed all tools even replaced with virgin tools (never used before) but the problem exists.
Any comments for root cause would be appreciated.
December 21st, 2011
dear mike.
article is really nice to read. but i have an issue regarding capping. see when i start compression initial capping observed. i slow down the compression machine, increase the thickness, LOD of the lubricated blend was 2.7%, fines are just 25% in blend. Now suggest me what else we can do to remove capping. one more thing do tell me what is "Add a taper into the die".
yogesh. bansal
January 9th, 2012
Capping issues?? The process of making a tablet is to first attain uniform weight (volume of fill), then compress the powder into a tablet, and then eject the tablet. My question is…do you really have capping or do you have a form of de-lamination. Are the particles locking together to begin with? Capping is a collection of fines along the air escape vent created between the upper punch tip and the die wall. During compression air is released at this point and as the air leaves it often pulls the fines light dust particles with it…forming a line of non-compressible particles which results in capping. If you slow the press down and you can never eliminate capping even at very slow speeds you have a compressibility issue: if all other things are equal. If punch tips have a "j-hook", the dies have a "die wear ring", or the blend is not uniform, then these issues must be addressed first. Some products need a bigger air vent: this can be gotten by adding a taper into the die. A taper is commonly added to the top of the die bore to allow more air to escape during compression and it reduces the amount of force needed to eject the tablet…another possible reason you are seeing capping.
January 11th, 2012
i am sunny .i am chemist in pharma compney. but i face more problems of capping in compression.more capping in diclo & serra granules.plz give me solution ,how to solve this problems.
Prasad Kanitkar
February 29th, 2012
Dear Mike,
I am an ardent reader of your articles on art of tabletting. They are really informative, and provide practical advice on trouble shooting different aspects of tabletting.
I have a doubt about 'land on tablet punch.
Will you please elaborate role of 'land' on the punch?
Does it help in reducing friability of tablets as compared to the tablets made with punches that do not have 'land'?
Warm regards,
February 29th, 2012
Hello Prasad, Thank you very much for your kind words! The "land" on a punch adds strength, which in turn allows for higher compression forces and less likely hood of the cup edge curling inward and making the tablet look like there is a capping issue. Allow me to explain: when a cup is formed the punch tip cup edge is the weakest area of the punch. If we then grind the edge down and polish it, it becomes a "land" or a "blended land". A land is a flat spot along the cup edge. The bigger the land the stronger the punch tip becomes. The 2nd half of your question is regarding friability. A blended land allows air to escape during compression, thus improving friability because air is not trapped between particles, when air is removed from between particles then the particles can lock together reducing the likely hood of friability issues. However, friability may also be a formulation issue and changing tool designs, adding a larger land, may not correct the problem. I hope this helps…stay in touch….Mike T
April 16th, 2012
hey Mike,
im thahera, im facing problem of capping for mefenamic acid, will u please suggest me how can i will try to avoid it.
Prasad Kanitkar
June 26th, 2012
Hello Mike,
I would like to have your view on validation of lubrication stage in tablets.
More often than not, samples from lubricated blend are analyzed for content of 'Acitve'.
But then, I guess when uniform distribution of active is achieved at dry mixing stage in the granulator (it could be high or low shear, or mass mixer). Once that uniform dry mass is subjected to wet granulation, uniform distribution of acitve is only reassured and consolidated due to formation of granules.
Hence, I do not see any value addition happening by testing content of 'active' during lubrication stage.
What really matters, I feel, is that the granules after mixing with lubricants should be tested for their effective 'run' on compression machine, producing tablets that meet the specifications of hardness, friability, weight variation, and flow of granules from hopper. And these tests must be conducted at various time points of blending with lubricants. It will be only then, that we can 'Validate' lubrication as a unit operation in tabletting.
may I know your views please !
Prasad Kanitkar
May 2nd, 2013
we run comprima 300,s have done for year,s now we have problems capping on are last 4 batches nothing has changed with m/c settings or blends i have been told
May 3rd, 2013
Hello Aidy, Those words "nothing has changed" are the hardest part of the challenge. There are many reasons that a tablet will cap. If nothing has changed with the blend or machine settings then it is possible that the dies have wear rings in them. I would first slow the machine down until capping goes completely away or improves significantly…only as a test. If the capping goes away it is probably not the dies. Now we are back to something has changed! The next thing I would do is to reduce punch penetration. If you are already higher than 2mm then I doubt that any further reduction in this setting will work without product loss. Next I would look at adjusting pre-compression force. Often times too much pre-compression force or not enough force can be the cause. I prefer to reduce pre-compression force as a first step, and then I would go the other way. There is a relationship between rpm and pre-compression force. If the problem still continues I'm now more inclined to think I have a tooling issue or too many "fines" (dusty particles). If it was a "fines" issue then you should have seen improvement with longer dwell time when you slowed the machine down. However if the blends is considerable dryer and dustier than other batches this could be the reason. Finally, I'm always concerned with segregation. When you use the words multiple batches this tells me that you potentially have an older blend. All products have an optimum blend hold time. When a blend is fresh it usually flows really good and when it gets old (usually after 4-6 days) it has settle and de-aerated and the air moves the fines to the top as the air releases from the blend. This change effects the lubrication which in turn creates capping. Run a few tests and let me know you findings.
December 20th, 2013
Thanking for your Blog ! It is very informative. I am facing capping for a Direct compression of water soluble drug (67% of the formulation) using magnesium sterate as lubricant. I add MgS towards the end of blending for 5 min. Can insufficient blending with powder blend and lubricant be one of the reasons for the capping?
January 30th, 2015
1. MgS should always be added very last, by itself!
2. Mgs can be over-blended or under-blended.
3. MgS will lower hardness.
4. Variation in uniformity can resulting in capping
February 1st, 2014
Capping of one tablet when performing friability test would be one tip on a punch correct?
January 30th, 2015
Maybe! Not always! Capping occurs for many reasons. When a tablet caps in the friability tester are you sure it's the top of the tablet or the bottom. Capping only occurs on the top. It is Delamination when it occurs on the bottom cap. I will assume you know it is the top because of an embossing or some other indication. In which case I go back to looking for all root causes. I'd refer to my articles on capping…there is a lot to discuss and consider before we blame a punch tip.
February 23rd, 2015
I want to know capping test not to capping so if you know then please comment
June 27th, 2015
I'm not sure I understand your question. If you are asking how do you know if your tablet is capping? There are a few methods used; the most common indicator of capping is to see how the tablet breaks a during the hardness test. Years ago and still to this day I place a few tablets in a bottle and shake it hard, tablets that might cap often appear after a good hard shake.


text:
Home > Categories > Category
you are not logged in. [log in]
additional search options
sorted by:
Alphabetical: A-Z
Alphabetical: Z-A
Newest (by date approved)
Newest (by date created)
Smokey Bear - Logan, UT
in Smokey Bear Sign Sightings
This Smokey Bear Sign can be found near the Logan Ranger District Offices on East Highway 89. This is the entrance to Logan Canyon and the Cache National Forest in Logan, Utah.
posted by: Siren Hunter
location: Utah
date approved: 9/3/2014
last visited: never
Smokey statue -- Kaibab Forest Visitor Center, Jacob Lake AZ
A statue of Smokey bear outside of the Kaibab National Forest Visitor Center at Jacob Lake AZ
posted by: Benchmark Blasterz
location: Arizona
date approved: 9/2/2014
last visited: 7/31/2014
Smokey the Bear Sign at NC Forestry Station, Rockingham, NC
Smokey the Bear reminds us that only you can prevent forest fires.
posted by: NCDaywalker
location: North Carolina
date approved: 7/28/2014
last visited: 8/1/2014
Smokey at a Fire Hall - East Hope, ID
Here's Smokey at Sam Owen Fire Station 1, just over a mile southeast of East Hope, ID on Highway 200.
posted by: BK-Hunters
location: Idaho
date approved: 6/27/2014
Smokey Bear - Route 66 - Williams, Arizona, USA,
This 3D Smokey Bear is located in front of the 'Williams & Forest Service' Visitor Center, which welcomes over 125 thousand visitors a year, through its doors, to view interactive exhibits Including, Kaibab Forest, Americana, and Route 66.
posted by: veritas vita
last visited: 4/26/2015
Smokey the Bear, Mountain Springs, NV
Smokey the Bear statue out past Las Vegas.
posted by: The 2 Newlyweds
location: Nevada
date approved: 6/21/2014
last visited: 3/6/2016
Smokey The Bear - St. Ignace, MI
This marker is located at the side of the I-75 rest stop truck parking area at the north end of the Straits of Mackinac Bridge.
posted by: model12
location: Michigan
date approved: 6/13/2014
last visited: 12/27/2015
Smokey Bear - Meeker, OK
Smokey Bear takes a stand against Oklahoma's high-wind fire danger.
posted by: hamquilter
location: Oklahoma
date approved: 6/3/2014
Smokey Bear - Cedar Ridge, CA
A Smokey Bear sign in front of Ophir Fire District in Cedar Ridge, CA.
posted by: saopaulo1
location: California
date approved: 4/30/2014
Smokey Bear Sign - Colfax, CA
A Smokey Bear sign in Colfax, CA.
Mill Creek Ranger Station Smokey the Bear - Riverside, CA
The Smokey the Bear greets visitors on their way to Big Bear as they enter the ranger station.
posted by: bluesnote
date approved: 4/1/2014
last visited: 4/1/2014
Smokey at Prairie City Ranger Station - Prairie City, OR
Smokey is at the Malheur National Forest Prairie City Ranger Station.
posted by: WR7X
location: Oregon
date approved: 2/27/2014
Smokey in the Park - Chewelah, WA
Smokey sure gets around. We caught up with him yet again in Chewelah, where he was just hanging aimlessly around the city park.
location: Washington
last visited: 6/2/2014
Smokey Bear at Doublehead Ranger Station - Tulelake, CA
Smokey Bear is located at Doublehead Ranger Station, along Hwy 139 and just south of Tulelake, CA.
posted by: thebeav69
date approved: 1/5/2014
Smokey Bear near the Mexican border in southern Arizona
This Smokey Bear is at the junction of Montezuma Canyon and Sunnyside Roads near Parker Canyon lake in SE Arizona.
posted by: tugies
date approved: 12/14/2013
last visited: 12/25/2013
Benhaven Fire Department - Olivia, North Carolina
Smokey Bear sign located in front of the Benhaven Fire Department on NC HWY 87.
posted by: david28377
date approved: 10/26/2013
last visited: 10/26/2013
Diamond Lake Smokey - Newport, WA
One of many Smokeys found along US 2 through Washington, Idaho and Montana.
posted by: ChapterhouseInc
date approved: 10/22/2013
last visited: 9/6/2013
Smokey - Rt. 395 - CA
Smokey is locted on Rt. 395 - CA.
posted by: tatie
date approved: 10/21/2013
Smokey Bear – Port Wing, WI
Smokey Bear stands guard over Port Wing's city park to remind people of their responsibility to prevent forest fires.
posted by: wildernessmama
location: Wisconsin
date approved: 10/19/2013
Live Oak Camp Smokey
This Smokey warns travelers about wildfires along California Highway 154 (San Marcos Pass Road) southeast of Live Oak Camp in the Los Padres National Forest.
posted by: brwhiz
date approved: 10/14/2013
Cenex Smokey - Marion, MT
Located in a gas station parking lot along US 2.
location: Montana
date approved: 10/2/2013
last visited: 9/5/2013
Woodland RV Smokey - Libby, MT
One of many Smokeys found in the area.
Kootenai Smokey - Troy, MT
One of several Smokeys found along US 2.
Crystal Lake Smokey - Fisher River, MT
Located in front of the local fire station, Smokey advises of the fire conditions.
Camp Ole Fire Station Smokey
This Smokey stands guard at the entrance to Camp Ole Fire Station on the outskirts of Mount Laguna in the Cleveland National Forest.
date approved: 9/28/2013
Copyright (c) 2016 Groundspeak, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
2012 Old Spice Jason Taylor and Reggie Bush Football ProCamp
This item landed in my email box, and as a parent I know other parents are always looking activities to fill their summer calendars.
This one will appeal to Miami Dolphins' fans.
Six-time Pro Bowler Jason Taylor and current Dolphins star running back Reggie Bush will co-host a football camp July 23-24 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Dolphins training facility in Davie.
The 2012 Old Spice Jason Taylor and Reggie Bush Football ProCamp is offered to boys and grils ages 7-14 at a cost of $199.
According to a press release, Taylor and Bush will attend the entire two-day session directing activities, providing instruction and giving daily talks about football and other topics.
Campers will receive a T-shirt, and will have opportunities to participate in prize contests.
For more information, visit www.TaylorBushCamp.com or call 888-389-CAMP (2267).


text:
Pastor - Sovereign Grace Baptist Church
Texarkana, Texas
Dear Brother:
Greetings in the name of our Sovereign Lord, and merciful Savior, Jesus Christ.
I thank you for your letter of March 22, 1984, and for the literature you sent along with the letter. I am also grateful for the candid manner in which you presented your doctrinal postulates, nevertheless I take exception to them, and trust by Holy Spirit enablement to refute them in this epistle.
Let me say at the very outset, I am not as you assume a Calvinist. By the grace of God, I am a Baptist, and Baptists preached the gospel of free and Sovereign Grace fifteen hundred years before John Calvin was born (John Calvin: 1509-1564). Baptists and Calvinists are poles apart on ecclesiology, i.e., the origin of the church, the ordinances of the church, the government of the church, etc. Then too, Baptists strenuously oppose the Calvinistic doctrine which teaches there is soteriological benefit in the sprinkling of infants. Calvinism's pedobaptism is a compounding of heresy, first: it teaches sacramental salvation, and secondly, it is an utter departure from the Scriptural mode of baptism.
Thus it is, your presupposition that Baptists are Calvinists, is groundless, and a stigma that Baptists have for over four hundred years carefully avoided. Calvin's Calvinism is more than the Scriptures can bear, and is therefore rejected by all knowledgeable Baptists.
Salvation Of Dying Infants
1. First you ask: "Could you imagine how a holy, perfect, just, righteous, sovereign God who is also (not a respector of persons) just let a poor helpless innocent baby be cast into hell and the lake of fire because God did not elect that one before the foundation of the world?" I do not want to be, and will not be uncharitable toward you, but must say, your query concerning the destiny of infants who die in infancy manifests one of two things or both, and that is, you did not think the question through before you asked it, or you are grossly ignorant of the Sovereign grace missionary Baptists position as to the eternal destiny of all who die in infancy.
Sovereign grace missionary Baptists have never had the least room in their doctrinal structure for the infant damnation theory, and affinity with those who propagate this prevarication is on the part of true Baptists, nonexistent. You ill assume because Sovereign grace Baptists teach that human volition or will has nothing to do in bringing about the salvation of the soul, that they must of necessity also teach, all who die in infancy are forever damned.
I beseech you, and tell me please if you can, in what Sovereign Grace Baptist periodical did you find the doctrine of infant damnation taught, or even implied? Moreover and more importantly, I ask, in what Missionary Baptist confession of faith is found the least inference which gives credence to the infant damnation doctrine?
The oldest Baptist confession of faith in America (1742), the Philadelphia Baptist Confession explicitly states: "Infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit; Who worketh when, and where, and how He pleaseth; so also all elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word" (Chapter 10—Effectual Calling).
John Gill, a soteriological scholar of incomparable ability, said; "There may be the principle of faith implanted, where there is not the opportunity of showing it by a series of good works, or a course of godly living, as in elect infants dying in infancy, and in those who are converted in their last moments" (Commentary on James—Page 789).
You speak of a "poor helpless innocent baby." In the spiritual sense, babies are "poor and helpless," but innocence is not one of their characteristics. There was only one infant born on this earth Who was innocent, and that was the sinless Son of God, all others are born of corrupt stock and in the image of their fallen parents.
There is not a doctrine in all of Holy Writ that is more plainly taught or more irritating to human nature than the doctrine of absolute depravity of mankind. When Paul said: "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10), he did not append it with the words; "except babies," but he spoke indiscriminately of age. There is no age stipulated in Scripture this side of the saints final glorification in Christ, where man by nature is anything less than a total sinner. (Rom. chapters 1 & 3; Ps. 39:5, 58:3; Isa. 64:6; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 8:7,8, etc.).
Sovereign grace Baptists do no believe that infant mortality is proof of reprobation, but of Divine election. In an attempt to get around the Bible doctrine of hereditary depravity, Romanism and Protestantism (including Calvinists) invented pedobaptism, and the Freewill so-called Baptists did them one better by coming up with the infant innocence and age of accountability theory. But God's covenant of redemption needs no such props or human augmentation, for the God of the Bible is absolutely sovereign, and His gracious decree of election includes the dying infant the same as it does the believing octogenarian.
Infants do not die as a result of an ancestor's sin who is some six thousand years, and untraceable generations removed. Adam's federal head ship, whereby he represented all of his posterity was mandated by God, and when Adam sinned, the whole family of man sinned in him (Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:22). Since the works covenant of Eden was voluntarily broken by all men, for all acted in Adam, sin has not been so much an overt act as it is a state in nature.
Yet, antedating the creation of Eden by an infinite duration, there was another Headship, immutable, and eternally well pleasing unto His Father (Matthew 3:17; Heb. 13:8; 1 Cor. 11:3). This glorious Head is none other than the sin conquering Son of God, Who in the date less past became the Representative and Mediator of all whom the Father had given Him in the eternal covenant of redemption (John 17:2,9; Heb. 13:20). In His office as Mediator between His covenant people and God (1 Tim. 2:5) He stood as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20). And in view of His vicarious suffering (2 Cor. 5:21), we can say without reservation or hesitation, all whom He represented in the blessed covenant of grace shall without the loss of one be with Him in glory, for all was as yet unborn, much less having infancy of days.
Infants are the children of wrath the same as others, but God can and does effect regeneration in the hearts of all who die in infancy. The God of the Bible, Who is verily the God of sovereign grace Baptists, cannot know a problem; for He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). So, He can and does communicate to His elect and dying infants all that is needful for their heavenly entrance.
From the womb to the tomb, God has never had but one way of saving His people, and that is by the atoning blood of Christ (Heb. 9:22). We can most confidently say of all infants who have gone through the door of death, "Beloved, knowing your election of God, ye shall eternally enjoy all that was procured for you by the person of your substitute, in the suffering of your curse" (1 Pet. 3:18).
One of the horrible and hateful things of the Arminian heresy is, it consigns all who die in infancy to the everlasting burnings. The Arminian system teaches no person goes to heaven unless the person by his own freewill and volition chooses Jesus to be his personal Savior, and then with the same stroke of the pen teach that infants do not have sufficient discernment to correctly distinguish between good and evil and cannot prefer the better over the inferior. So, it unavoidably follows according to their own theology, all infants who die in infancy; owning to the utter impotence of their will and intellect are eternally damned.
However, Arminianism has from its very beginning been double tongued, and with the duality of this organ can speak from both sides of their mouths at the same time. Seeing they were faced with an inextricable dilemma their genius was set in motion, and after much exertion of their extraordinary intellectual power, they came up with the religious invention of infant innocence and age of accountability.
This insidious invention did not in the least free them from their own self entrapment, but only served to aggravate and compound their insuperable dilemma, for if infants are innocent and unaccountable unto God, as the Arminian theory contends, then it may be irrefutably concluded that Christ did not die for them, for where there is no sin; there is no need of atonement.
Furthermore, the infant innocence theory is seen by the briefest Holy Spirit given reflection to be a glaring denial of the Divine inspiration of the scriptures, for it is plainly a disavowal of the Scriptural doctrine of hereditary depravity of mankind, and relieves an infinite number of Adam's fallen posterity of their responsibility to the holy, just and sin avenging God.
David, speaking of infants said: ". . . They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Ps. 58:3). That is, as soon as they are born, they painfully manifest what they were in the womb, and that was a sinner by nature. Thank God for His sovereign grace, and for all who teach it. God's grace is never less than absolutely sovereign, it never leaves His August throne limping, and can never be enfeebled by the mock resistance of the puny and utterly depraved will of man. It is the sovereign grace of God that reaches the dying infant with quickening power, and translates its blood washed soul to its Christ merited place before God.
Foreknowledge Of God
2. Secondly, concerning the foreknowledge of God, you stand on a faulty and uncertain foundation, a foundation conjured up and laid by Arminianism, and made compatible with every false system of theology. God hates Arminianism, for He hates every "false way" (Ps. 119:104).
I ask: Is the God of the Bible omniscient? Surely, your answer to this question is in the affirmative. There is no room for ambiguity concerning the omniscience of God, for the inspired record unequivocally states: "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18). So, without reticence, I contend God possesses infallible knowledge of every creature, and of all events of time and eternity. You take variance with my contention, by saying, "God does not know beforehand who will accept Jesus as their Savior."
Let us consider the term "foreknow" in Romans 8:29, and in reading the whole text we are confronted with the inviolable truth that the foreknown of Romans 8:29 are predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's Son. Having correctly conceded that the one eternal mind is perfect in the absolute sense, and all comprehensive. That is to say: Adam and all of his posterity are forever and fully known of God. However the term "foreknow" of Romans 8:29 has an exclusive feature, for otherwise we are forced to conclude all men are predestinated of God to be conformed to the image of His Son. They who advocate the theory of the ultimate restoration of all mankind embrace this fallacious conclusion, but no Holy Spirit tutored mind is deceived by it.
The foreknowledge of God referred to in Romans 8:29 is more than mere pre-science or precognition. It is more than knowledge of people and events. It has a characteristic which does not infringe upon His omniscience, but teaches there are a people whom God foreknew in a peculiar sense, and only those whom He foreknew in this special or peculiar sense are predestinated unto the image of God's Son.
While God knows all there is to know about all men, He only knows some of all men intimately, affectionately, and with preference. All men were not included in the covenant of election, and all whom the covenant decree passed over are strangers to the covenant, and aliens to the loving foreknowledge of God. To all whom God does not have any covenant knowledge of, to those whose names were never in the Lamb's book of life, to those who are the spiritual children of the devil (John 8:44), He says: ". . . Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22).
God's covenant love does not reach these "workers of iniquity," and where His redemptive love is absent, His eternal wrath is everlastingly present, and brings to pass their merited and woeful judgment. God does not know the "workers of iniquity" as children of mercy, He does not know them as penitents, nor as children of truth, but He knows them as unmerciful, impenitents, and children of soul damning error.
Christ, ". . . Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). Was there ever a time when Jesus did not love His own? Certainly not! So it is, Jesus not only knew them in the sense of perfect cognition, but He also foreknew them in the sense of forelove or covenant grace. Christ prayed for "His own which were in the world," saying unto His Father: ". . . Thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as Thou has loved me" (John 17:23). How long has the Father lovingly foreknown His Son? There is only one true and honest answer, and that is, eternally. With the same love, and for the same beginning less and endless duration has the Father foreloved all who are convenantly in His Son.
The Lord said unto Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jer. 1:5). Later it is recorded that the Lord said unto Jeremiah: "... Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee" (Jer. 31:3). It is seen from these scriptures that God's loving knowledge of Jeremiah antedated time, and that his being drawn to God is a direct result of God's foreknowing love.
In Romans 8:29 Paul tells us that God predestinated, called, and justified all the foreknown referred to in this verse, and seeing all men are not thusly blessed, the word "foreknow" in the text must mean something more than apprehension or mere comprehension of the senses. In and by His infinite counsel, God has numbered every hair on every head, counted the steps of every man. He knows the down sitting and uprising of every person. He knows every man's thoughts long ere they ever reach the human intellect. Divine omniscience applies equally to all men, for God knows all there is to know about all of His creation. Thus it is, we are driven by honor of God's word to conclude that the "foreknow" of Romans 8:29 is not restricted in its meaning to the infinite understanding of God, but has another and more important meaning which the effects of the term testify of, and that glorious meaning is, FORELOVE.
". . . The Lord knoweth them that are His . . ." (2 Tim. 2:19). Surely, no man indwelt by the Holy Spirit would be so crass as to construe these words to mean the Lord does not know those who are not His covenant children. To say in one breath, God is omniscient, and then say with the second breath, God does not know all things, is not only a glaring contradiction, but it also reveals a critical and urgent need for a closer familiarity with God. Yet, this is precisely what Arminianism teaches concerning the counsel of God. According to Arminian theology the Lamb's book of life is incomplete, and God does not know who will be the next person to exercise their freewill and elect Jesus to be his Savior. Owing to this flaw in His wisdom, God must play the wait and see game before He can add another name to the Lamb's blood bought book. O' inconsistency, thou are a curse. The Scripture leaves no doubt as to the antiquity of the book of life (Rev. 17:8), and all the names written therein have Christ for their eternal Surety (Heb. 7:22; 13:20).
God spoke to Israel, saying: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth . . ." (Amos 3:2). God knew at the time and yet knows every family or nation that has or shall ever dwell on the earth. So, it must be a peculiar and restricted sense in which He knows numberless elect within Israel, and that sense is one of forelove. All whom God knows today, He has known eternally, and all whom God loves today, He has loved eternally. There is no way to separate God's omniscience from His forelove.
God does not decree an event because He knows it will come to pass, but the event comes to pass because God decreed it. The "whom" of Romans 8:29 are synonymous with the "glorified" of Romans 8:30, and their glorification is not realized because God foreknew it, but because God decreed it. Please note the past tense of the verbs in Romans 8:30, this declares more than omniscient fixation of events, for it is "whom He did foreknow," and not merely what He did foreknow.
Arminianism's Volitional Salvation
I quote
from your letter: "In order for one to acquire life an individual must
believe God at His word and of his own self choose to have life." A casual
scrutiny of your words in the above quote reveals that in your notion, God is
utterly passive in the salvation of souls, and that man accomplishes his own
redemption. However, the Scripture emphatically declares that Jesus is the
Sovereign and unassisted Savior of His people (Matthew 1:21; Acts 4:12; etc.).
Christ actually procured life for all whom He represented in His substitutionary
death, and it borders on blasphemy to say His intercession on the cross needs to
be underwritten by the volitional power of man. God never acts except
sovereignly, and He needs not nor solicits the approbation of man upon any of
His works.
In an effort to validate your notion of salvation by the freewill of man, you refer to the Old Testament account of the brazen serpent lifted upon a pole. In reference to this type you say: "To 'look and live' was a matter of a choice of their will to exercise." The brazen serpent of Numbers 21 is a vivid type of Christ lifted up on the cross, where He bore the penal judgment of His people. I do not agree with you that the type teaches salvation by human volition.
Did the snake bitten Israelites look at the serpent in order to believe, or because they already believed? Can a man by carnal intellect see the true Christ before He believes in Him, or is his looking to Christ the effect of a previous Divinely imputed faith? Did not Christ, the Anti type of the brazen serpent in dialogue with Nicodemus use this very type to remind him: ". . . Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3)? The new birth is not wrought by man seeing Christ, but seeing Christ is the immediate and blessed effect of the new birth.
The Israelites (Num. 21) were saved from physical death by a look of God given faith toward the brazen serpent, their looking and healing was the result of their faith, and not the cause of it. Saul of Tarsus saw the Lord when utterly destitute of physical sight (Acts 9:9,27). It was by the eye of faith that he saw the Lord, for at the time he was both spiritually and physically blind (1 Cor. 2:14). It is God Who opens the hearts of His people, and plants saving faith therein, so as they may see Christ, their eternal and glorious redeemer (Acts 16:41).
Your love for the Arminian fable of self salvation has not only deceived you as to how God saves His people, but it has also made you careless in the handling of Scripture. You quote God as saying through the medium of Joshua: "I have set before you this day life and death, but why will you die, therefore choose life." Would you please cite the text or immediate context where these words are recorded? You have, and I believe unintentionally, taken words from two different books of the Bible, and from four different chapters and put them together as a singular text of Scripture. I will not at this time accuse you of deceitfully handling the word of God, but it is obvious that your exercise of undue liberty in bringing together the words of your quote, was an attempt by you to defend your indefensible and beloved Arminianism.
In Deuteronomy 30 Joshua is speaking to Israel as a theocratic body. His words had to do with civil matters, with temporal blessings or cursings, and not with eternal life or eternal death, i.e., heaven or hell. Israel's stay in the promised land was conditioned on their obedience to the law of Moses, but their salvation typically wrought by the blood of the passover lamb was unconditional. When any person interprets the words "Why will you die?" which are addressed to Israel to mean, "Why will you go to hell," they flaunt all exegetical propriety, and thereby show gross disrespect for the word of God.
Our variances on the doctrines of sovereign grace and human freewill has not gendered any malice in my heart toward you, for if it were not for the unmerited favor of God wherein He caused me to see myself as the suppliant, and Himself as the Sovereign, I would be found in the Arminian camp. Whatever knowledge of God we have is owing to the Spirit of truth, and not to our vain and puffed up wisdom, for "no flesh shall glory in His presence" (1 Cor. 29,30).
Brother Oscar B. Mink
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6)
Baptist Ministries ©


text:
"Mad Men" star Jon Hamm who plays the notorious womanizer Don Draper has just revealed some intriguing information about his personal life just as his "Mad Men" role has changed direction. Considered one of the sexiest men in Hollywood today, Hamm opened up about his career in showbiz and how it wasn't always as glamorous, according to MSN Wonderwall on May 6.
It seems as if Hamm was about 25 when he was trying to break into showbiz anyway he could. That is when he took a job in the "soft-porn" movie industry. Wow, Hamm doing soft porn? No, he was behind the scenes as a "set-dresser," but he called this a "soul-crushing experience." According to ABC News today, he actually hated the job in the soft-porn industry!
Recently a 20-year-old video surfaced of Hamm being rejected by the girl on a "Dating Game" knock-off, called "The Big Date." This is way before he grew his suave-like wings, because he sounded like a bit of a geek when answering the questions. He was one of three men vying for a date. You can see why the girl didn't pick Hamm after watching the video above.
If only the girl had a crystal ball and could look into the future. She would have realized she just pass-up one of the sexiest men alive a few decades into the future! It is Hamm's interview in Vanity Fair that is due out in June that is supplying all this little-known information on the "Mad Men" star.
Unlike his alter-ego Don Draper, Jon Hamm is a one-woman-man. The 43-year-old has been with his girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt for 16-years and the key to keeping their love going in this business is as simple as a promise they made and kept a while back.
Hamm and Westfeldt never go more than two weeks without seeing each other. He calls his home bi-coastal as he shuffles back and forth from L.A. to New York so the two can spend time with each other.
Once that two-week mark is drawing near, either Hamm or his girlfriend have to get on a flight and fly out to spend time together. Hamm says "physical presence is a big part of it." He also adds, "home is where the dog is."


text:
Neighborhood Find of the Week: One of the blocks in our neighborhood has this lovely mini lending library. I noticed that one of the residents had contributed a stack of academic theater journals: a theater geek just like me!
Theater & Kids Links of the Week:
- I absolutely love this two part series from New Victory: Anytime's a Good Time to Introduce Your Child to the Arts. (Part 1, Part 2)
- Let's Lasso the Moon has 5 Tips for Fostering a Lifelong Love of the Theater
- Read this post on Why Children's Theater Matters
- This article argues that taking your kids to the theater improves brain performance. I agree!
- Hennepin Theatre Trust has 6 Tips for Taking Children to the Theater
Show of the Week:
This week I took Kiddo to see Mummenschanz and I'll be writing a review for the blog shortly. Two years ago he pronounced it, "the best show I have ever seen!" and it's safe to say that sentiment has not changed. Check out their touring schedule to see if they will be performing in your area.
Books of the Week:
Mom: A Tale Dark and Grimm. I'm finally getting to this much-lauded middle grade twist on the fairy tale world. The sequel is already out.
Kiddo: Most Valuable Skills in Chess. Chess is part of the NYC 2nd grade curriculum and Kiddo is loving it! (On the other hand, chess is one of the few games I don't like!)
New Kid: This Moose Belongs to Me. This might have made my best picture books of 2012 list had we read it in time. A tantalizing blend of absurdity, cuteness and pathos.
This post contains affiliate links.


text:
So that out of the way we've got some Alyson Hannigan fakes for your maturbatorial pleasure. I found metric shitloads of fakes of the cute American Pie star at Celeb Defamer. Plenty of them go beyond just nude pictures too. There were a whole series of them with Alyson sucking cock, getting her red haired pussy slammed and getting a cum facial like this one.
Wanna see more Alyson Hannigan porn pics? Become a member of Celeb Defamer and get access to their giant database of over two hundred thousand celebrity fakes.


text:
BREMERTON, Wash. - The No. 14 University of Oregon men's golf team opened action in seventh place Monday in the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational at the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain.
In their fall season opener, the Ducks (300-300-600) stood at 24-over on the par-71, 6,707-yard course. No. 5 Washington (283-290-573 (-3)) owned a six-stroke on the field and was followed by No. 10 Texas A&M (second, 292-287-579).
Other teams ahead of UO included St. Mary's (third, 291-296-587), UC Davis (298-291-589), No. 17 San Diego State (fifth, 294-297-591) and Washington State (sixth, 291-302-593).
For the Ducks, sophomore Rak Cho (fifth-tie, 74-69-143) led UO in a round for the fifth and sixth times of his career, and also staked his 11th collegiate round of par or better.
Other Oregon team entries included freshman Sulman Raza (30th-tie, 76-75-151), redshirt senior Robbie Ziegler (33rd-tie, 74-78-152), freshman Brandon McIver (44th-tie, 76-78-154) and sophomore Jonathan Woo (59th-tie, 78-80-158).
Three other Ducks played as individuals and all stood in the top 35 overall - freshman Ryann Ree (ninth-tie, 74-72-146), Tyler Parker (17th-tie, 77-71-148) and Jack Pennington (31st, 80-81-161).
On the individual leaderboard, Drew Evans of Texas A&M (71-66-137 (-5)) sported a four-stroke lead. Caston Roberts (69-72-141) and Gerit Chambers of Washington (71-70-141) followed in a tie for second place at one-under.
Complete results are available at the www.Golfstat.com website, and more tourney information is at the www.GoHuskies.com website.
Looking ahead, the third and final round will be held Tuesday morning.
- www.GoDucks.com -


text:
Munni badnaam hui
29 Munni badnaam hui Articles
Mallika Sherawat's item song 'Laila' fails to sizzle4 years ago 2
After making the nation groove on her Jalebi bai tune a year back, Mallika Sherawat has returned with her latest item song Laila for the film Tezz… Read Article ▶
Giselli Monteiro to do a rustic item number!4 years ago 1
The Brazilian model will go desi for a sexy song in Pranam Walekum The quietly beautiful Giselli Monteiro, who had millions falling in love with her… Read Article ▶
Did Malaika Arora Khan annoy Salman Khan?4 years ago 8
Malaika surprised everyone when she danced to Shahrukh Khan's songs at the Bigg Boss 5 finale, including Salman The Bigg Boss 5 grand finale was… Read Article ▶
Salman Khan goes 'Dhinka chika' at Golden Petal Awards5 years ago 1
The actor capitalises on his successful run at the BO and performs on his hit songs Salman Khan had a good run at the box office lately with three… Read Article ▶
Veena Malik shoots for 'Channo' item song refused by Nicole Kidman5 years ago 1
The Pakistani babe has shot for an item number in Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai which had been offered to the Hollywood actor It seems Nicole Kidman has… Read Article ▶
What does Malaika Arora Khan's 'Munni' say?5 years ago 2
Remember Mera naam Chin Chin Chu? That was probably the first time an 'item girl' introduced herself. While Chin Chin Chu does sound 'different', the… Read Article ▶
Happy birthday, Malaika Arora Khan!5 years ago 8
She is the queen of item numbers, has been voted the sexiest mom in B-town and makes it to the covers of almost every style mag. Here's wishing the… Read Article ▶
Sex, booze, Bollywood films…and a kid5 years ago 2
You are at a cinema theatre. A sexy lady is gyrating to a hot number. And someone else is using cuss words. So what, you may ask. We know it's just… Read Article ▶
Salman Khan's 'Dabangg' sweeps GIMA with six awards5 years ago 1
Milan Luthria's Once Upon a Time In Mumbaai finished a close second with four awards Salman Khan's Dabangg continues its winning spree. The National… Read Article ▶
Nayanthara, not Shriya to be Munni in 'Osthi'?5 years ago 0
Buzz is that the soon-to-be married actor will now do the item number in the Simbu film Nayanthara, it seems, is keen on keeping her fans in a… Read Article ▶
Shriya Saran to do a 'Munni'?5 years ago 0
The actor is likely to step into Malaika Arora Khan's dancing shoes in the Tamil remake If there was one song that had the entire nation rocking… Read Article ▶
Caterina Lopez: I dance to 'Munni' in my living room5 years ago 4
The latest import from America says she is here to do more than just shimmy, seena taan ke Caterina Lopez is enjoying her Indian experience. "I am… Read Article ▶
Nilaanjana to sizzle in Munni-like item number5 years ago 3
The Bengali model takes her first steps in south cinema with the song Bengali model-cum-actor Nilaanjana Bhattacharya has now set her sights on… Read Article ▶
VIDEO: Mallika sizzles in 'Shalu ke thumke'5 years ago 38
Mallika Sherawat threatens to oust Sheila ji jawaani and Munni badnaam hui with her latest item number Shalu ke thumke from Bin Bulaye Baraati… Read Article ▶


text:
The automotive industry started the year slower than expected after harsh winter weather froze sales at dealerships across the nation. As sales slowed, a growing number of analysts wondered if it was a sign of weakening demand after years of consistent growth. That sentiment reversed quickly as sales rebounded strongly in March, and if April goes as planned, it should further reinforce that new vehicle demand remains healthy. Here's what automotive investors can expect when April sales are released Thursday, May 1, and one key segment to watch.
April forecast
New vehicle sales in the U.S. market are expected to rise 8.5% in April, compared to last year, as a typically strong spring selling season is under way, according to J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. The forecast expects annualized sales to reach 16.1 million vehicles in April, which is far ahead of last year's 15.2 million level.
A separate forecast from Edmunds.com expects sales to increase slightly higher, a 9.1% increase for an annualized rate of 16.2 million vehicles. Using this forecast, you can see the rebound from this year's initial sales decline.
Edmunds expects America's two largest automakers, Ford (NYSE:F) and General Motors (NYSE:GM), to post sales increases of just under 5% in April, compared to last year. On the other end of the spectrum, Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Nissan are expected to post significant sales increases of 14% and 17.9%, respectively.
"Auto sales are hitting their stride as the spring selling season begins, and the pace has returned to the level expected at this stage of the recovery," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive, according to Reuters. "Fueling the growth further as the year progresses is a very robust level of new-model activity, with 63 new or redesigned models expected to hit showrooms, a 60 percent increase from last year."
What to watch
One vital sales segment investors should be watching in April is the full-size truck segment, which will likely continue to outpace the overall industry in growth. Through the majority of the first quarter General Motors refused to increase its incentives on its newly redesigned Silverado and Sierra, and it caused sales to spiral double digits.
That changed in March when America's largest automaker decided to unleash steep incentives on the two full-size trucks. The strategy sent sales of the Silverado and Sierra up 7% and 22% last month, respectively. GM apparently liked the look of that sales increase and decided to offer its "truck month" a second time, in April.
It will be interesting to see if GM's full-size trucks stole the thunder from Chrysler's Ram trucks for the second straight month and it will be of high importance to investors, as full-size trucks represent significant profits for automakers. Also, not to be forgotten, is Ford's F-Series, which remains the best-selling vehicle in America despite being the oldest design of competing full-size trucks. Ford's F-Series will soon be the freshest redesign when its 2015 model is launched at dealerships shortly. It is possible increased incentives on the older F-Series models, in preparation to clear lots for the new model, could also eat into the Ram's and Silverado's piece of the pie.
Are you ready to profit from this $14.4 trillion revolution?
Let's face it, every investor wants to get in on revolutionary ideas before they hit it big. Like buying PC-maker Dell in the late 1980s, before the consumer computing boom. Or purchasing stock in e-commerce pioneer Amazon.com in the late 1990s, when it was nothing more than an upstart online bookstore. The problem is, most investors don't understand the key to investing in hyper-growth markets. The real trick is to find a small-cap "pure-play" and then watch as it grows in EXPLOSIVE lockstep with its industry. Our expert team of equity analysts has identified one stock that's poised to produce rocket-ship returns with the next $14.4 TRILLION industry. Click here to get the full story in this eye-opening report.
Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool recommends Ford and General Motors. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ford. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
Birthplace: Elmhurst, Illinois
Member Since: 1983
Rick Snyder has assumed the position of Artistic Director at The Theatre of Western Springs where he directed The Devil's Disciple. Additionally, Rick is an Artist in Residence at Profiles Theatre in Chicago. Some of his recent directing credits include, God of Carnage at the Goodman Theatre and A Behanding in Spokane at Profiles Theatre where he also directed Killer Joe (Jeff Awards for Outstanding Production, Actor, and Director) by fellow ensemble member Tracy Letts. At Steppenwolf, Rick directed Tavern Story, Things Being What They Are, The Fall to Earth, Last of the Boys, Betrayal and Art. Rick's production of Orange Flower Water received critical and audience acclaim both at Steppenwolf and at the Galway Arts Festival (Ireland).
Rick Snyder appeared on stage at Steppenwolf in August: Osage County and The Unmentionables. Other memorable Steppenwolf credits include Man From Nebraska, Time of Your Life, Molly Sweeney, Beauty Queen of Leenane and A Walk in the Woods.
Rick teaches in the Film and Video Department at Columbia College and has taught advanced acting classes at Northwestern University, DePaul University, and The School at Steppenwolf. Rick has directed a new film, Mother of War, about the life of revolutionary Anita Garibaldi.
The Grapes Of Wrath
Road to Nirvana
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Man From Nebraska
The Unmentionables in Production
Betrayal in rehearsal
Betrayal in Production
Art in Rehearsal
Rick Snyder on Art
The Tuskegee Airmen; Heart of Love; Soul Survivors; U. S. Marshalls; The Net; White Boys; The Human Stain.
A Christmas Carol, As You Like It (Goodman Theatre); The Rear Column, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe (Northlight)
Art, Betrayal, Last of the Boys, The Fall to Earth, Orange Flower Water, Things Being What They Are, Tavern Story (Steppenwolf); The Actor; Jolly and The Disappearance of the Jews (Goodman); Killer Joe, The Men of Tortuga (Profiles Theatre); The Lion In Winter, Bus Stop (Writers's Theatre); Oleanna, Speed the Plow, St. Scarlet (ATC); Aristocrats (Strawdog Theatre); Cadillac (TWS)
Chicago Hope (CBS); Missing Persons; Early Edition (CBS); Profiler (NBC); The Untouchables (ABC).
Hover on an ensemble member to view their collaborations with Rick Snyder.
Podcasts featuring Rick Snyder
Articles featuring Rick Snyder


text:
Alterna Hemp Seed Thickening Compound 5.1 oz.
Alterna's Hemp Seed Thickening Compound delivers dramatic volume, fullness and control with a unique dual-action formula.
Powered by advanced volumizing and styling agents, Alterna's Hemp Seed Thickening Compound increases the diameter of the hair shaft while improving shine, texture and humidity resistance. This ultra-hydrating hemp seed oil and nutrient-activating enzymetherapy complex ensure optimum nutrient and moisture balance for stronger, thicker-looking hair.
Guaranteed AuthenticGuaranteed Authentic
Folica is an authorized distributer of this product and guarantees its authenticity.Close
- Soft, Full Volume
- Control Factor: Light
- Hemp seed oil is THD (drug) free
- UV protectant guards against sun damage.
Squeeze a quarter size amount of Alterna's Hemp Seed Thickening Compound into palm and emulsify. Apply where desired for added thickness and texture, on either wet or dry hair. Style as desired.
Water (Aqua), Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, Polyquaternium 11, SD Alcohol 40B, Dimethicone, Polyacrylamide, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Laureth 7, Quinoa protein (Chenopodium Quinoa), Cocos Nucifera Oil (Coconut), Gardenia Tahitensis Flower, Hemp Seed Amino Acids (Cannabis Sativa), Dimethylcetylamine Hempseedate, Hemp Seed Oil (Cnnabis Sativa), Fennel Extract (Foeniculum Vulgare), Saccharomyces Ferment (Lysate, Copper, Zinc), Superoxide Dismutase, Lactoferrin, Retinyl Palmitate Polypeptide, Phospholipids, Corn Oligosaccharides, Copper Oxidase, N Acetyl Methionine, N Acetyl Serine, Amino Acyl Transferase, Lotus Flower Extract (Nelumbo Speciosum), Panthenol, Cinnamidopropyltrimethyl Ammonium Chloride, Adipic Acid/Diethylene Glycol/Glycerin Crosspolymer, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Glycolipids, Hyaluronic Acid, Polysorbate 20, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Fragrance, Green 6 (CI 61565), Yellow 11 (CI 4700)


text:
Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles: Marbles
Carlos Santana (guitar) and Buddy Miles (drums)
Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles Live (Columbia Legacy CK 66416)
Carlos Santana (guitar), Buddy Miles (drums),
Robert Hogins (organ), Neal Schon (guitar), Ron Johnson (bass), Gregg Errico (drums), Coke Escovedo (timbales), Victor Pantoja, Michael Carabello, James Mingo Luis (Lewis) (possibly congas).
Composed by John McLaughlin.
Recorded: Oahu, Hawaii, January 1972
Rating: 88/100 (learn more)
I write this a few short months after drummer Buddy Miles passed away. It's funny how life works. Buddy Miles was in the famous rock group Electric Flag. He went on to play important roles in the music and albums of Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin. He even had a solo worldwide rock hit with his tune "Them Changes." But he was probably best known, and made the most money, from his turn as the voice and creative power behind the California Raisins, a made-up band that recorded three albums based on their successful mid-'80s claymation TV commercials for the California Raisin Advisory Board. The most memorable commercial featured Miles singing "I Heard it Through the Grapevine."
In the late '60s and early '70s, it appeared that Miles was on his way to jazz-rock stardom. When he got together with Carlos Santana for Live, he had just finished a recording gig with John McLaughlin for McLaughlin's Devotion. He had been joined on that record by organist Larry Young and bassist Billy Cox, his cohort in Hendrix's Band of Gypsies. It only made sense that Miles would play McLaughlin's tune "Marbles" with Carlos, who was also beginning his fascination with McLaughlin's music.
This concert was held in the crater of a Hawaiian volcano in 1972. You think there was any paca lolo floating around? I can only imagine. Santana and Miles pretty much copy the original McLaughlin performance. Santana's solo is different from McLaughlin's acid trip because he is Santana. But he is rocking. The catchy scalar riff that is the core of the piece remains thoroughly intact as Miles pounds away. Robert Hogins on his B-3 does a good job being Larry Young. This is a very crowd-pleasing performance but has even more value as a historical look into the beginnings of Santana's fusion interest and Miles's early career.
Reviewer: Walter Kolosky
Tags: 1970s jazz · fusion
Comments are closed.


text:
Formula for Future Investments Value
Original post by Dennis Hartman of Demand Media
Understanding what an investment will be worth in the future, or how much it's likely to be worth, is a key part of investing. An educated estimation of what something will be worth can help you decide what to invest in. In some cases, investors can calculate with a high degree of accuracy what an investment's future value will be. This relies on a basic formula and several pieces of data.
Future investment value calculations rely on a number of different variables, each of which uses a standardized notation. Future value is represented as F or FV. The present value of the same investment is noted as P, V or PV. An investment's interest rate is represented as r and the duration of the investment is n or t, for time. Time must be measured in the same terms as the interest rate. For example, a bond with a 5 percent annual interest rate must use t in years to calculate future value, while a savings account deposit that earns monthly interest uses t to represent the number of months that the investment lasts.
The basic formula for a future investment value uses all of the variables that describe the interest rate and duration. The first step of the formula is adding 1 to the rate r and raising the sum to an exponent of n, or time. Future value equals present value times the result of the first part of the equation. So, FV = P (1+r)^n.
Accounting for Interest
The basic formula for future investment value covers many of the simplest cases of investments that have set interest rates and fixed durations. However, those who use continuously compounded interest require a different formula. This is the case when an investment earns interest, which is added back into the principal of the investment to make more interest in the next period. In cases of continuously compounded interest, the formula for future value is, FV = Pe^(rt). The lower case e refers to Euler's number (approximately 2.718) while r and t refer to the interest rate and time, respectively.
Determining future investment value allows an investor to compare two investment opportunities to calculate which will be worth more on a given date in the future. It can also tell an investor whether a particular investment will earn enough for an intended purpose. For example, a parent investing in a college savings plan for a child can place $10,000 in the account, which has an annual interest rate of 5 percent, when the child is eight years old. When the child is 18, without compounding interest, the account will be worth $16,289. If the parent wants to have $20,000 to give the child for college, this savings plan isn't an adequate investment and one with a higher rate, and possibly more risk, may be a better option.
- Free Math Help: Future Value
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Investment Decisions - Capital Budgeting
About the Author
Dennis Hartman is a freelance writer living in California. His work covers a wide variety of topics and has been published nationally in print as well as online. Hartman holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University and a Master of Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Photo Credits
- Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images


text:
This weekend, make family reading a priority! March 2nd is Read Across America Day ; the National Education Association's goal is for every child will be read to by a caring adult. Of course, that's the goal every day - but this special occasion is a fun reminder of the importance of family read-aloud time. Many events are taking place this Saturday so the whole family can get in on the fun.
All Target stores will host Dr. Seuss-themed events this Saturday from 9-11 a.m., including games, activities, giveaways and read-aloud sessions featuring Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Lakeshore Learning Stores will also host reading celebrations this Saturday from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. The free in-store events will include hourly storytimes, face painting, games, kid crafts and a special two-day promotion: buy one regular priced item, get the second item for 50% off. Click the link above for the coupon.
Photo by PhotoXpress


text:
By Richard Doyle
WOOSTER — The Wadsworth boys basketball team is young and talented. All season long, there have been players who have demonstrated phenomenal skills in short spurts, but there was always one key ingredient missing: leadership.
The Grizzlies took a huge step forward in filling that piece of the puzzle Saturday with the emergence of shooting guard Barry Fernholz in a thrilling
62-55 non-league victory over a solid Wooster team.
Fernholz (8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) matured as a leader in front of the Wadsworth faithful.
"All year Coach (Mike Schmeltzer Jr.) has been asking me to be a leader and step up," Fernholz said. "Being down at halftime (31-25), somebody had to step up, so I took it as a challenge."
While certainly putting together a well-rounded performance on the stat sheet was satisfying, Fernholz's calm demeanor against an athletic press and his emergence as a "coach on the court" pleased Schmeltzer the most.
"We know, because we see him in practice every day, that Barry is a special player," Schmeltzer said. "His strength is when he attacks the basket, and he did a great job of that tonight. Leadership was big for him tonight, and he took control."
The first half was not pretty, as the Generals were able to force 14 turnovers via a mixture of full-court and half-court presses. Things began to worsen as another of Wadsworth's young guns, big man Kyle Prunty, was relegated to the bench midway through the first quarter after picking up his second foul.
"Losing Kyle early changed our game a bit," Schmeltzer said. "We talked at halftime about the need to get the inside-out game working."
Wadsworth worked the plan to perfection, outscoring the Generals 16-3 after falling behind seven just before halftime. Prunty (16 points, 5 rebounds) contributed mightily by scoring eight points from the inside, while sharpshooter Austin White (12 points) nailed three of his four 3-pointers.
The Generals managed to claw back, taking a 46 – 45 lead in the first minute of the 4th quarter.
Enter Fernholz, as the junior hit a critical three-point play. The teams exchanged baskets until a timeout was called by Wadsworth with the Grizzlies up 55-52 and only 3 minutes remaining.
Schmeltzer could be heard in the huddle instilling confidence into his young men, "We are going to finish this game. Now go out there and execute."
Execute they did, as the ballhandling trio of Anthony Palecek (9 points), Patrick Long (8 points) and Fernholz protected the ball to near-perfection, and the Generals were scoreless for the rest of the game.
"That felt great," Fernholz said.
Contact Richard Doyle at email@example.com.


text:
Get a Better Night's Sleep
Wake Up With Fewer Morning Aches and Pains. It really is rocket science! Memory Foam as it is better known is a bi product of the NASA space project dating back to the seventies,although never used by them.
The advantages of Tonix4u Memory Foam Toppers and Mattresses
See also:


text:
Last Update: 5/7/2013 2:08 PM
Saturday, May 18th, 2-4 p.m.
San Francisco Main Public Library, Latino/Hispanic Rooms A
100 Larkin St, San Francisco
Grove Street entrance at Market Street - Civic Center BART/MUNI stop
Please RSVP: http://bit.ly/10Mb0EV
Calling all NorCalPCA mentors, mentees, and interested others for a special event designed to expand, exchange and extend support and resources for RPCVs. Current Peace Corps nominees are also welcome.
This event will be a great opportunity for RPCVS who may be interested in mentorship, or in providing one-time or short-term resource information to readjusting RPCVs! Mentees and recent RPCVs will meet with mentors and RPCVs who understand the adjustments of returning home. Activities will include time connecting with each other, hearing from mentorship pairs, and table topics related to reentry including career choices and changes, resume review, mock interviews, networking, graduate education, and information on many Bay Area community resources. This event includes focus on preparing RPCVs for the upcoming RPCV Career Fair on Friday, June 21, 2013.
To RSVP for Mentoring Matters and More!, and for more information on the Career Fair, see our website and events calendar at www.norcalpca.org, or email email@example.com.
Learn more about the NorCalPCA Mentoring Program:
The NorCalPCA Mentoring Program provides valuable information and support to RPCVs. Recent RPCV mentees receive a welcome and helpful support through the initial readjustment, including receiving resources for jobs, graduate education, and often a new community. RPCV mentors provide a sounding board for advice, supply key networking contacts, review resumes and assist with career planning, and help mentees with the transition home from serving abroad to serving at home. Mentors provide connections to the Northern California RPCV community, including Third Goal activities. In addition, when RPCVs are considering possible shifts in their career direction, mentors can be identified to provide specific information from their own related experience.
Mentors and mentees sign up at www.rpcvmentoring.org. The NorCal Mentorship Coordinators review profiles and contact mentees and mentors to explore and develop matches.
NorCal Mentoring Program Coordinators: Martha Stein, RPCV Ecuador, 01-03 (heymarth[at]comcast[dot]net) and Madeline Wu, RPCV Peru, 09-11 (madelinewu[at]gmail[dot]com).
Your membership donation supports our mission of bringing a human perspective to world events. Become a member today.
Global Presenters Program
Last year the Global Presenters Program matched over 100 RPCVs to schools and community groups in 21 cities. Due to the success of last year we are receiving record numbers of requests for RPCV speakers. If you are a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer please help bring to life the Third Goal of Peace Corps by volunteering to speak toady View Requests>>
If you would like to have a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer come speak to your group or classroom Click Here>>


text:
I learned two "different" Fourier transforms in the real analysis course.
- For any function $f\in C({\bf R/Z;C})$, and any integer $n\in{\bf Z}$, we define the $n$th Fourier coefficient of $f$, denoted $\hat{f}(n)$, by the formula $$\hat{f}(n):=\langle f,e_n\rangle=\int_{[0,1]}f(x)e^{-2\pi inx}dx.$$ Here $C({\bf R/Z;C})$ donotes the space of complex-valued continuous ${\bf Z}$-periodic functions. The function $\hat{f}:{\bf Z}\to {\bf C}$ is called the Fourier transform of $f$.
- If $f\in L^1({\mathbb R}^n)$, its Fourier transform $\hat{f}$ is a bounded function on ${\mathbb R}^n$ defined by $$\hat{f}(\xi)=\int_{{\mathbb R}^n} e^{-2\pi ix\cdot\xi}f(x)dx.$$
I learned that this technique is usually needed in PDE.
Here are my questions (which may be vague):
How do I know which transform I should use when solving a PDE? Does it totally depends on the properties of $f$? Is there a rule of thumb?


text:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Psstt. KFC wants to share a secret. No, not THAT secret.
Colonel Sanders' herbs-and-spices recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken is still safely locked away, but the chain unveiled a new TV ad Thursday that allows viewers to crack a hidden message if they play the spot back slowly on a digital video recorder or VCR.
The gimmick is aimed at countering the rise of technology that enables television viewers to skip past commercials faster than ever before.
"This is taking the exact opposition approach -- rewarding viewers for taking the time to engage and be interactive with television," said Tom O'Keefe, an executive at Foote Cone & Belding, the advertising agency that created the KFC spot.
For those savvy enough to solve the secret, the prize is a coupon for KFC's new, sauce-drenched Buffalo Snacker chicken sandwich. The 99-cent Snacker debuted a year ago and is credited in KFC's earnings rebound.
"We're trying to create a little fun," said Scott Bergren, chief marketing officer at KFC, a unit of Louisville-based Yum! Brands Inc.
The ads will air on NBC's Winter Olympic telecasts as well as on several other networks. The secret message explaining how to redeem the free sandwich offer is planted in just a few of the spot's frames and revealed when replayed in slow motion.
© 2016. All Rights Reserved. Contact Us


text:
To shed light on these underregulated drugmakers, More decided to test the quality of the bioidentical hormones they produce. We asked Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Oregon, which specializes in -natural-products research, to evaluate 12 prescriptions we collected from compounders throughout the U.S. Flora's analysis revealed that these hormones are of unreliable potency and that they would not come close to meeting the FDA's requirements for commercially manufactured drugs. Doses in the pills we tested fluctuated in a way that could increase the risk of uterine cancer because of a shortfall of the hormone progesterone. (For details of Flora's methodology, see "How the Drugs Were Tested," below.)
"More's testing suggests that women are wasting their money on hormone treatments that may not be effective and might put their health at risk," concludes Bruce Bouts, MD, RPh, a Findlay, Ohio, internist who was one of the first physicians to bring compounding pharmacies to the attention of the FDA and the Ohio state pharmacy board. Notes Margery Gass, MD, executive director of the North American Menopause Society and a consultant at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Specialized Women's Health: "The research by More indicates that women are taking a gamble when they purchase compounded estrogen and progesterone." Why, then, are these drugs more popular than ever? Here's what More found.
What makes bioidenticals so appealing
Prempro, a combination of conjugated equine estrogen (synthesized from pregnant mares' urine) and a synthetic progestin called medroxyprogesterone, used to be the best-selling commercial hormone therapy; it offered an effective way to relieve much of the discomfort of menopause. But in 2002, Prempro, the only drug used in one arm of the large-scale Women's Health Initiative (WHI), was linked with serious medical problems—such as an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots and invasive breast cancer. Faced with such alarming results, many doctors told patients who were already using hormone therapy to give it up, and they advised younger women just entering the menopausal transition to forget about HT. Sales of Prempro and similar drugs plummeted. From 2001 to 2008, the number of adult women filling one or more commercial HT prescriptions annually fell, from 17.9 million to 5.8 million, a decrease of 68 percent.
Perimenopausal and postmenopausal women still experienced disruptive symptoms and still needed relief. Consequently, in 2002, bio-identical hormones, marketed as safer than commercial HT products because they were more natural, started to take off.
Bioidentical estrogen and progesterone are made from diosgenin, a plant-derived sterol found in wild yams, and are identical in molecular structure to hormones produced in a woman's body. Bioidentical estrogen is believed to fit into the body's estrogen receptors perfectly, without causing the bio-chemical disturbance sometimes created by the conjugated equine estrogen used in commercially formulated HT, which is a less perfect molecular match. A similar situation exists with bioidentical progesterone. However, researchers have not published a head-to-head comparison of bioidenticals and conventional HT in terms of risks for stroke, cancer and other illnesses. At this point, the safety advantages of BHT are only hypothetical.
Nor is it accurate to say that compounded bioidenticals are more natural than those in FDA-approved commercial HT formulations; both are heavily synthesized products. You can't simply pluck a yam from the dirt, cut it open and rub it on your skin; the manufacture of bioidenticals involves multiple levels of processing in a sophisticated laboratory. A better name for such products would be bio-available hormones (since the sterol is available in plants), or plant-derived sterol hormones. But the term bio-identical has the appeal of sounding completely safe, so it stuck.


text:
Sep 5, 2013 9:55 AM
The White Trash iPhone Case ($35) used to have a really cool design on it, but then it got screwed up and they had to toss it. Remember not to throw out your phone when you tidy your purse!
If you've got a product or service that you'd like to promote on Outblush, click here to find out about our advertising opportunities.
Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop. Our staff digs up the best clothes, home stuff, beauty items, and more. New items are posted every day — bookmark us and check out:


text:
I'm three weeks down, one to go. Serving justice in Brooklyn has kept me quiet, but here's what I'm reading between testimonials:
Jane Iwamura at The Scoop on Tupac's undead appearance at Coachella.
One wonders if Mark Oppenheimer just didn't have any critical thinking to apply to his recent review of Ross Douthat's new book, Bad Religion, or if the NYT editors just sliced it right out for the sake of their home-base columnist. (Regardless, I send a shout-out to one beat man who knows what real bad religion means, Pete Finestone. Hey Stone, wanna write a review for us? Word.)
Ahem! Mennonites are exploring their "martyr complex," a trait "many Mennonites carry—especially ethnic German and Swiss Mennonites—and the consequences of that mindset."
Remember when Sojourners backed away from the gays? Becky Garrison does. It was a true grit moment, one the "faith in action for social justice" magazine sadly failed to pass, a turning point in our desire to like Sojourners for all their ramble, an end to our guilt for never really getting Jim Wallis' swagger.
New crits on the religion chopping block. Religion & Politics launched this week.
The Grand Mufti of the Republic of Tatarstan recounts his version of the past year.
Church artwork is moving to where the devout are; from Europe to Latin America, Africa and Asia.
What do atheist billboards do?
Fredrick Clarkson writes at Women's ENews about the latest doings of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.


text:
More than 33% of women and 20% of men over age 65 develop dementia, and many more develop a milder form of cognitive impairment. I think we can all appreciate the huge impact dementia has on the medical system and more importantly on the individuals and family members involved. Many of my patients who have loved ones experiencing cognitive decline ask me: Is there any way to prevent this from happening to me? Is there truth to the old adage "use it or lose it?" While there are risk factors for dementia we can't change (such as family history and age) we should focus on those risk factors we can change.
Does using your mind an hour a day really help prevent inevitable cognitive decline and dementia?
Well, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, data from a large trial suggests this may be the case. Older adults with normal cognition (memory, attention, perception) who participated in a mental fitness program for 1 hour a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks demonstrated significant improvements in memory and nonmemory tasks. Simply put, we should promote mental activity in our older family members including lifelong education.
Which risk factors for Dementia can we modify?
Obesity, cardiovascular disease, and physical and intellectual inactivity are areas patients can work on with their primary care doctors. Here are some simple strategies:
1) Your doctor should screen for depression and start effective treatment promptly: depression is a common and unrecognized cause of "concentration difficulties" which can look like early mental decline and forgetfulness and can be reversed with treatment of depression.
2) Reduce cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity, especially during midlife.
3) Prevent head trauma (this is never good).
4) Promote mental stimulation.
5) Encourage physical activity (this is always good).
Which supplements, medications or diet changes will help prevent Dementia?
While there aren't any new preventative treatments for Dementia, we are working on it. Two recent studies have shown that a Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of Alzheimer's disease. There is no ONE Mediterranean diet but this is a diet typically high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds, and olive oil with LOW TO MODERATE amounts of fish, poultry, and dairy products, and LITTLE red meat. We no longer recommend Vitamin E because of the evidence that came out in studies that Vitamin E supplementation increases the risk for all-cause mortality. Clinical trials are underway to explore the benefits of ginkgo, selenium, simvastatin (Zocor), estrogen (which looks like it will be of no benefit), and NSAIDs (motrin, ibuprofen) on dementia and cognitive decline. Stay tuned.
Dr O.


text:
I see there is a girl's name post so why not a boy's name post!?
What will you be naming your little one if it's a boy?
Haven't decided for sure but the front runners are Lincoln Winferd and Able Winferd. Winferd is my deceased granfathers name.
Alexander Felipe 1/23/2013
I love my 3 boys!
Married DH 6/1/2005, Gery 3/28/2006, Alexander 1/23/2013
Silver ( o )( o )
James Joseph or James Francis or James Vincent. Very traditional, and honoring my husband's grandfather.
Henry Jasper - honoring my grandfather and my husband's grandfather-both in heaven :)
Bronwyn~Mommy to Jordan 05/2000,Rainbow Logan 6/2011, Rainbow Kaiyus 09/2013
"Maby you should eat makeup so you can try and be pretty on the inside"


text:
I've never really been a fan of plastic handguns. But, several years ago, I bought a NIB Glock 21C. It's been a great gun and I don't have any issues with it.
I was quite sure that it would be my first and only polymer handgun.
Then, several years later, I picked up a NIB Sig P250C in .40 cal. Again, a great gun and no issues what-so-ever.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna go and try to close a deal on a like new Springfield-Armory XD-45 at a pawnshop. I went in last week with a possible trade and they wouldn't bargain with me.
I sold what I was gonna trade in, so now I have cash. They're are asking $499.00 for it. It is the dark earth color, and at first, it kind of put me off. But, the more I handled it and gave it a good close inspection, the more the gun and the color appealed to me.
Anyways, if I do get it, it will be my third plastic handgun. I'm not sure what to think about that. I know polymer guns don't hold their value compared to their traditional metal counter-parts.
But, the way things are going, who knows what will be in place a year or two from now. I'm hoping that by having cash, they'll be willing to come down some and give me a good OTD price.


text:
Leah Calvert and Jeremy Calvert are seen going through hard times on the currently airing season of Teen Mom 2. But despite the hardships, it was thought that they had gotten through them after Leah did several interviews in which she claimed that they were okay.
Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case any longer.
Last week, Leah tweeted several cryptic messages, one of which spoke about being a single mother, and another which suggested that a fan ask her husband about a possible divorce.
Days later, the telling tweets have continued.
On March 3, Leah re-tweeted two messages, both of which seemed to hint that she is ready to move forward as a single mother.
"What happened has happened. what's done is done. the past it the past. I'm living in the present. and bettering my future. #truth," the first message read. The second said, "Let it go, it's not worth it anymore."
From the sound of things, Leah is definitely going through something, but as for whether or not it is a divorce, that has yet to be confirmed. Sure, it seems that way, but with no word from Leah or Jeremy, there's no way to know for sure.


text:
Several months ago I was approached by the UK/FIAP liaison officer, asking me to send a small selection of my monochrome portraits so that one of them could be used as part of a 10 image panel from the UK in the forthcoming FIAP monochrome biennial, to be held in Spain, 2012.
Just to be asked was a great honour for me, let alone have work chosen. Nonetheless, my multi-award winning image, "We Can Make It" was chosen to represent the UK.
The biennial competition was judged on the 14th March, 2012.
1st Ireland (World Cup) with -188 pts
2nd England (Gold Medal) with – 172 pts
3rd Spain (Silver Medal) with – 167 pts
Other participating photographers in the England panel for the 31st FIAP monochrome biennial were:
Sue Moore, Steve McDonald, Dave Butler, Leigh Preston, Bob Moore, Peter Gennard, Denise Kinch, Robert Powell and Alan Millward.