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#208867 - 01/09/13 05:37 PM Re: Cultural values [Re: Faldage]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 04/03/00
Posts: 10538
Loc: this too shall pass
I mentioned the use of English, complicating billiards. (Brits call this 'side'.) Side English complicates the game a lot, and makes many shots possible which would not be possible otherwise. The main effect of side English is the angle that the cue ball (and to a lesser extent, other balls) bounces off the rail. The second most important effect of side English is squirt; the cue ball does not go straight in the direction that the cue is pointing, it squirts off to the side a little. Left English makes the ball squirt to the right. The greater the side English, the greater the squirt. And squirt causes you to miss shots, and is the main reason that the pros tell you not to use side English unless you have a good reason. The third most important effect of side English is Throw, which is the effect that cue ball spin has on object balls. There is also accidental side English, caused by a bad stroke. And other balls gain side English, mainly by banking off rails (but also because of throw). The point being, this isn't just deterministic pool ball physics: it's very much about having a 'feel' for the game.
#208869 - 01/09/13 10:04 PM Re: Cultural values [Re: tsuwm]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/06/00
Posts: 2788
Loc: Seattle, Washington, USA
Culture is roughly anything we do and the monkeys dont Lord Raglan
#208871 - 01/09/13 10:23 PM Re: Lord Raglan [Re: Father Steve]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/15/00
Posts: 4757
impeccable judgement, as always padre!
oh, is that a Bugatti at the altar rail?
#208872 - 01/10/13 12:12 AM Re: Cultural values [Re: maverick]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 11/13/00
Posts: 3146
Loc: Northamptonshire, England
I just love these arguments about the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin. There are just so many assumptions!_________________________
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#208873 - 01/10/13 12:56 AM With First Man's sowing Last Man will reap. [Re: maverick]
Registered: 06/05/10
Posts: 1554
Loc: Lower Aberdeen, Mississippi
Man is a masterpiece of creation if for no other reason than, all the weight of evidence for determinism notwithstanding, he believes he has free will.
_____________________________________Georg C. Lichtenberg 1778
I call foul. Maverick, you bring a ringer to a honest game?
No matter; Father Steve, I think that the posters here are Determinists but don't know it. And they resent the inclusion of "their" words into the sausage mix that is Culture. Humph! Well, below are five statements. Agreeing with them makes you a Determinist and as a Determinist you will understand Culture.
1) Our brains are hard wired to operate in a cause and effect Universe.
2)Cause and effect requires Time to be progressive in order to function.
3) Words and thoughts are physical manifestations.
4) Atomic interactions are mechanical and determinate.
5) There is no number five statement.
#208880 - 01/10/13 08:48 AM Re: With First Man's sowing Last Man will reap. [Re: maverick]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13803
Some wise man once opined that we don't have free will but we do have free won't.
I am reading David Eagleman's Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, in which he explains that the conscious mind is just along for the ride. The first chapter, BTW, is titled There's Someone In My Head, But It's Not Me.
#208881 - 01/10/13 08:49 AM Re: With First Man's sowing Last Man will reap. [Re: maverick]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 11/13/00
Posts: 3146
Loc: Northamptonshire, England
Very Pink Floydian!_________________________
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#208893 - 01/10/13 12:33 PM Re: their folded faces to the floor [Re: Faldage]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/15/00
Posts: 4757
Is the book any good, Fong? Short tip for reading list welcomed.
#208903 - 01/10/13 03:02 PM Re: their folded faces to the floor [Re: maverick]
Registered: 06/05/10
Posts: 1554
Loc: Lower Aberdeen, Mississippi
Yeah,Faldage, please do give a report.
In the eighties I read a book entitled Your Little Man Inside (or something like that) and I have monitored his work ever since. Our relationship is ongoing but strange.
#208912 - 01/10/13 07:41 PM Re: their folded faces to the floor [Re: maverick]
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13803
I'm loving it. Ever heard of the Zen-Nippon Chick Sexing School?
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Phone: 503-823-4682
fax: 503-823-4019
1221 SW 4th Ave. Suite 210, Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503-823-4682
fax: 503-823-4019
1221 SW 4th Ave. Suite 210, Portland, OR 97204
January 25, 2013
Dear Fire & Rescue and Water Bureau Employees,
I just wanted to write to say how honored I am to be - even if only for a few weeks - the Commissioner in Charge of the Fire & Rescue and Water Bureaus. I was going to send a separate email to employees of each Bureau, but then it occurred to me that, in a way, you're all in the same business. You're all in the business of saving lives. For that I thank you, and am honored to be associated with you. Also - as you'll see at the end of this email - I have a small suggestion as to something each of us might do that will save some more lives.
I'm sure each of you knows the life-saving story of your own Bureau, but you might want to check out the statistics for your colleagues in the other Bureau. Going alphabetically, I'll start with Fire. According to FEMA, fire deaths in the United States have declined by more than two-thirds just since 1979, from 34 per million to 11 per million. In Oregon, we do even better than that: 7.8 per million. Stronger building codes (and enforcement of those codes), smoke alarms, and the tireless efforts of our firefighters have dramatically reduced the threat of fire to Americans, Oregonians and Portlanders.
And, of course, especially in recent years, firefighters have taken on an enormous life-saving load of non-fire medical calls - 40,000 in Portland last year. Heart attacks, injuries, diabetics in crisis. We spend 17 percent of gross national product on the health care industry in this country; you'd think that would reduce the number of health emergencies. But it hasn't. And the consequence of the failure of that massive spending on health care to reduce the number of health emergencies is to give firefighters an ever-rising medical workload ... which you have shouldered calmly, professionally, and effectively. Thank you.
Now to the Water Bureau. I think most Portlanders know that firefighters are in the life-saving business; I'm not sure they view the Water Bureau the same way. But the Water Bureau IS in the life-saving business. Here's what the Water Quality and Health Council says:
At the start of the twentieth century, high mortality rates and substandard living conditions were commonplace in urban America. Mortality rates in major cities were substantially higher than in rural areas, a phenomenon known as the "urban penalty." Yet by 1940, mortality rates had declined by a full 40 percent, mostly due to a reduction in infectious diseases. In addition, the urban penalty had largely disappeared, with life expectancy rising from 47 to 63 years.
What fostered this rapid and revolutionary change, the most dramatic reduction in mortality ever recorded in the United States? There has been much debate on this question, but relatively little empirical data provide a verifiable answer. However, a new study by two Harvard University researchers, David Cutler of the Department of Economics and Grant Miller of the Health Policy Program, finds the most compelling root cause for the drop in U.S. mortality rates in the twentieth century was the adoption of treatment technologies for public drinking water supplies.
In their recent article, "The Role of Public Health Improvements in Health Advances: The Twentieth Century United States," Cutler and Miller conclude that clean water technologies, filtration and chlorination, were responsible for nearly half of the total mortality reduction in major cities between 1900 and 1936, with even greater impact on infant and child mortality rates during that same time period. Significantly, these technologies led to the near-eradication of typhoid fever, the waterborne disease that was one of the major scourges of that era.
So, according to these researchers, the existence of clean, safe, reliable urban water systems such as Portland's may have increased life expectancy by as much as 16 years. Thank you, Water Bureau employees!
Now, if you've read this far, you might remember that I said at the start of this email that I would have a suggestion as to how to save some more lives. It's this. Please get your blood pressure checked, and urge your loved ones to get their blood pressure checked. And if it's high, get it under control. It could save your life or a loved one's life. Less dramatically, but still importantly, it could reduce the cost of health care to the City and make more money available to the City to preserve high-quality services.
According to a New York Times editorial a few months ago, 30 million Americans have uncontrolled high blood pressure even though they have health insurance. That's one in ten Americans - so it probably includes some of you. That puts them at risk for heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. And it's unnecessary. Many of us can control high blood pressure through diet and exercise - but even for those of us who can't, blood pressure medication is effective and (unlike, say, triple bypass surgery) really cheap. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/opinion/sunday/simple-treatments-ignored.html?_r=0
I am told that each fire station has blood pressure-checking equipment, and that the Water Bureau has blood pressure monitors on the 6th floor of the Portland Building and Interstate, and will shortly acquire equipment at Headworks, Lusted and Sandy River Station.
I offer this advice, by the way, as an overweight middle-aged guy who, over the past decade, has had moderately high blood pressure. Every time I went to the doctor, he told me it was a bit high. I kept on saying, OK, I'll eat better and exercise. But I didn't. Finally, I started taking the pills. Now, my blood pressure's under control. Recently, since my fiancee' got me a pedometer and we got a dog, I actually have been exercising more: walking to meet my target number of steps and walking because, well, the dog has to be walked. So perhaps my blood pressure would be OK even without the pills. I might try to figure that out this year. But I won't go back to ignoring it. It's too big a risk to take - and I don't want to unnecessarily add to those sky-high medical costs that burden the whole country generally and the City budget specifically.
Okay, I've gone on long enough. But again ... thank you, thank you, thank you for the vital, life-saving work you do.
My very best regards,
Commissioner Steve Novick
City of Portland, Oregon

subset: commoncrawl


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Theologian: Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930)
More about his theology: Harnack was a German Lutheran theologian. In 1900 he published a series of lectures into a book titled Das Wesen des Christentums (What is Christianity). This was a very important book at the time and still is for contemporary theological studies. In it he reduced Christianity to:
- God is Father caring for his children whereby things will go well and all are provided for.
- The idea of providence, there is a rule governing history whereby things will always work out for the good.
- The human is race is God's children in relation to God the Father who takes care of them.
- The universality of these three truths as all of us bear the face of the human family God thus sets forth what we need because we are in the face of our foolishness in order that we would be free.


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- 95% polyester, 5% spandex. Machine wash, cold. Imported.
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Read more… Read less…


text:
To hear Greg Jennings tell it, it all began at the Wisconsin Sports Awards in April.
That's when, after Jennings had left the Green Bay Packers as a free agent and signed with the rival Minnesota Vikings, his former quarterback was asked an on-stage question about the Packers' remaining wide receivers following Jennings' departure.
"Who?" Rodgers joked.
When the crowd at the Harley Davidson Museum responded with a collective "Ooooh," Rodgers added that there "must be some Vikings fans here."
Jennings, apparently, either read about the exchange in Lori Nickel's wrap-up of the event in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or someone told him about it. Either way, during a conference call with Wisconsin reporters Wednesday in advance of his first game against his former team Sunday night at Mall of America Field at the Metrodome, Jennings pointed to Rodgers' flip remark and then said that all his comments that followed were simply him joking around, just as Rodgers was.
"It was really messing around with the guys," Jennings told a group of roughly 20 reporters gathered around a speaker phone at Lambeau Field. "I have the utmost respect for that organization and the guys within that organization. He came out, Aaron said, 'Greg who?' [at the Wisconsin Sports Awards], so I was just messing with him with that."
That was Jennings' first answer during his conference call – he ended up repeating it after sound-quality issues forced him to call back – but it wasn't the first time he's used that explanation. It certainly sounded as if Jennings was simply trying to move on from the topic, and it was clear that he wasn't the only one.
Later in the conference call, Jennings said he called some of his ex-teammates to tell them he was joking. But asked specifically if he ever called Rodgers to tell him it was all a joke, Jennings replied, "No, we haven't (talked)." At another point in the call, Jennings said, "If Aaron knows me like he's known me over the past seven years, then he knows I'm not one of those guys that wishes ill will on anyone or tries to stand out and be apart from the team. Hopefully he knows that.
Rodgers, for his part, trotted out the same line he'd used throughout the offseason when asked about Jennings, about being focused on the guys in his locker room and not worrying about what outsiders might say.
But when a reporter skeptically wondered why Rodgers, who famously plays with a chip on his shoulder, wouldn't have a chip on his shoulder about Jennings, Rodgers replied, "I didn't say anything about forgetting. I just said focusing. It's about what you should spend energy focusing on and thinking about and worrying about. Those are things that are important to this team. Those comments by anybody out there, just aren't important to what we're trying to do. We're trying to do some great things here, our team is. That's what we're going to focus on and as a leader what I'm going to focus on."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy, meanwhile, wanted the whole thing to go away. One week after making Keep Calm and Carry On his team's rallying cry, the coach joked that this week's theme is Silence is Golden.
"It's really not a big deal," said McCarthy, who acknowledged that Jennings was among the potential media topics he addressed with the players to begin the week. "I'm not really worried about it. Greg Jennings was a fun player to coach. Obviously we had a lot of success here. He's moved on to his opportunity in Minnesota. I wish him, (his wife) Nicole and his family very well. It'll be fun to compete against Greg."
Wide receiver James Jones, who is the godfather to one of Jennings' daughters and was Jennings' teammate for six of Jennings' seven seasons in Green Bay, said he talks to Jennings "once in a blue moon." But it didn't take much reading between the lines to know that Jones wasn't buying the I-was-just-kidding defense.
"Oh, I'm not answering any of those questions about G. He made that decision and he has to live with it," said Jones, who may miss his second straight game with a knee injury. "He did call me and say he was joking. But those comments are old school, man. We're trying to win a ballgame. Greg said what he said, and now we've got to play.
"We've got to play. You can't really control what anybody else says, but that's on G. Hey, I'm just here to play some football, get my knee healthy and be out there to hopefully make some plays."
Asked if he believed Jennings when he said he was joking, Jones replied, "Oh, man, I don't know what to believe. The media is going to twist up whatever you want to twist up. G understands that you've got to watch what you say to the media. There's truth in a lot of that, and there's not truth in a lot of that. It is what it is."
Nonetheless, just to recap, Jennings' offseason comments began when he called Rodgers "the guy they have now" in an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press in early June, then went on SiriusXM NFL Radio and made similar comments shortly thereafter. Jennings then appeared on ESPN's First Take and again took his former quarterback to task ("You get respect when you give respect") and said that one of the reasons he left Green Bay was to give other receivers a chance to spread their wings.
In a Minneapolis Star Tribune interview in July, Jennings compared the Packers' environment to that of the Vikings and called the Packers' approach "cookie-cutter" and said players "walk on egg shells" in Green Bay. In the full interview published in the newspaper the following Sunday, Jennings claimed Rodgers made it about him and not the team.
Jennings later issued an apology ("I don't really recall saying anything negative about Aaron or anyone over there, but hey, I apologize") at training camp after Vikings coach Leslie Frazier gave him a talking-to. Jennings' last noteworthy public comment came in a KFAN radio when he claimed the Packers "brainwashed" players into thinking their franchise was better than everyone else.
Asked Wednesday if, given so many instances, his self-described joke might have gone too far, Jennings replied, "I probably took it a little too far. I was happy there. Obviously there's things that go on throughout life that you wish would be different. But it is what it is. You have to roll with the punches. Obviously, on my end of it, I feel like there were a lot of things that were kind of manipulated to appear a lot worse than what I was intending for them to be. That's just, as a player, you have to watch what you say, so you learn and you grow."
When it was pointed out to Jennings that Rodgers publicly lobbied for the team to re-sign Jones before the 2011 season and said after last season that bringing back veteran safety Charles Woodson, but never said anything publicly about bringing Jennings back, Jennings' answer was unconvincing when asked if he was disappointed.
"No, it is what it is. It is what it is. No," he said. "We went to bat for James, you know I went to bat for anyone in that locker room, but like I said it is what it is."
Perhaps the reason Rodgers never publicly lobbied for Jennings was that, according to three different sources, the Packers offered Jennings a deal that averaged in the neighborhood of $11 million per year before the 2012 season and Jennings turned them down, aiming instead for a deal that would average at least $15 million annually. He ended up with a five-year, $47.5 million deal from the Vikings, while the final offer from the Packers, according to sources, was for $8 million a year.
Jennings enters Sunday night's game having caught 24 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns (including a 70-yarder). With Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman, he's played with as many quarterbacks in the first six games of this season as he played with in all of his seven years in Green Bay (Brett Favre, Rodgers and two spot starts by backup Matt Flynn). On Wednesday, the Vikings announced that Freeman had suffered a concussion against the New York Giants on Monday night and that Ponder will start if Freeman can't go.
"I'd imagine it would be difficult for any receiver," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said in his conference call. "You want to know who your quarterback is so you can get in a rhythm and get comfortable week in and week out. We have had some fluctuation there for sure, starting with the injury with Christian. But (Jennings) is a pro."


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Include Aerobic Activities
Aerobic activity improves your cardiovascular health and helps protect against heart disease. It also improves your physical energy and produces endorphins that improve your mood.
What you do and how often and hard you exercise are determined by your goals, present fitness level and health, interest, and convenience. It is important to choose an activity you enjoy and that fits your lifestyle and tailor it to your fitness level. This will help you make exercise a habit. It's also a good idea to choose more than one type of exercise to give your body a more complete workout and to avoid boredom.
There are two great ways to increase aerobic benefits:
- Add more vigorous activities
- Add more time for aerobic activities
Add more vigorous activity
Instead of doing only moderate-level activities, consider replacing some with vigorous aerobic activities that will make your heart beat even faster. Adding vigorous activities provides benefits in less activity time. In general, 15 minutes of vigorous activity provides the same benefits as 30 minutes of moderate activity.
Have you been walking for 30 minutes five days a week? On two days, try jogging instead of walking for 15 minutes each time. Keep on walking for 30 minutes on the other three days.
Add more time
Already doing two hours and 30 minutes a week of aerobic physical activity? Good for you! Do you want to gain even more health benefits from physical activity? Slowly add more time to your weekly routine.
Strive to double your weekly activity time. Work to be active five or more hours each week for even more health benefits. A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that an hour of exercise each day can help adults maintain a healthy weight and avoid long-term weight gain.
You can do all moderate activities, all vigorous activities, or some of each. You should always start with moderate activities and then add vigorous activities little by little.
Would you like to have stronger muscles? If you have been doing strengthening activities two days a week, try adding an extra day.
Helpful tips to get started
One way to set your goals and monitor your level of physical activity is to know your target heart rate. Make your cardiovascular workouts hard enough to break a sweat and get your heart pumping faster. Learn how hard you should work out.
Walking is one excellent cardio-respiratory exercise that almost everyone can do. Walking 10,000 steps a day can improve health and fitness. (It takes a little more than 2,000 steps to walk one mile.) Many people discover when they begin wearing a pedometer that they only average between 900 and 3,000 steps a day. Learn how to start your own walking program.
There are many choices for cardiovascular exercise. Learn some of the pros and cons of each to help you make choices.
- Physical Activity & Fitness
- Diet & Nutrition
- Sleep
- Thoughts & Emotions
- Stress Mastery


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May 19, 2010 5
Dynasty League Players
Here's an early list of upside players that I would want to build my fantasy teams with (some obvious, some not so obvious) over the next 2-5 years (in no particular order). Some of these players have not "arrived" yet, but are on their way to fantasy prominence based on their talent and situation. Some players who did well last season are not included because their situations aren't looking as good (IE-Sidney Rice possibly without Brett Favre).
Aaron Rodgers/Green Bay Packers
Philip Rivers/San Diego Chargers
Kevin Kolb/Philadelphia Eagles
Joe Flacco/Baltimore Ravens
Matthew Stafford/Detroit Lions
Chad Henne/Miami Dolphins
John Skelton/Arizona Cardinals
Running Back
Chris Johnson/Tennessee Titans
Ray Rice/Baltimore Ravens
Chris Wells/Arizona Cardinals
Ryan Mathews/San Diego Chargers
C.J. Spiller/Buffalo Bills
LeSean McCoy/Philadelphia Eagles
Rashard Mendenhall/Pittsburgh Steelers
Felix Jones/Dallas Cowboys
Jahvid Best/Detroit Lions
Shonn Greene/New York Jets
Donald Brown/Indianapolis Colts
Wide Receiver
Greg Jennings/Green Bay Packers
Miles Austin/Dallas Cowboys
DeSean Jackson/Philadelphia Eagles
Mike Sims-Walker/Jacksonville Jaguars
Hakeem Nicks/New York Giants
Jeremy Maclin/Philadelphia Eagles
Robert Meachem/New Orleans Saints
Jordy Nelson/Green Bay Packers
Pierre Garcon/Indianapolis Colts
Tight End
Jermichael Finley/Green Bay Packers
Brent Celek/Philadelphia Eagles
John Carlson/Seattle Seahawks
Jimmy Graham/New Orleans Saints


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The IFS database contains approximately 32,000 time series covering more than 200 countries and areas and includes all series appearing on the IFS country pages; exchange rate series for all Fund member countries, plus Aruba and the Netherland Antilles: major Fund account series; and most other world, area, and country series from the IFS world tables. Time-series data is available back to 1945 for some countries.
Miami University has a long and proud tradition of student involvement in both radio and television productions. This exhibit will celebrate five decades of students in broadcasting. Many of these productions can be found online in the WMUB Archives. For questions about the exhibit, contact Marcus Ladd at email@example.com or (513) 529-0462.
More Options:
Classic Catalog |
OhioLINK |
Online Journals/Resources |
Lane Public |
WorldCat |
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Research by Subject |
Databases A-Z
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OhioLINK Catalog |
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Miami University Directory
Staff Spotlight—Thom Gerrish
New in November: Leisure Reading
ALA President Dr. Julie Todaro Releases Statement on Libraries, the Association, Diversity and Inclusion
Leonard Cohen (1934-2016): playlist and notable resources


text:
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Address: 1640 E. Washington Blvd.
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Phone: 1-800-945-7291
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text:
Summaries of EU Legislation
Summaries of EU legislation: direct access to the main summaries page.
Dialogue with associations of regional and local authorities
The European Commission is establishing a systematic dialogue with the European and national associations of regional and local authorities. The aim is to involve the local actors as far upstream as possible in the decision-making process so that fuller account will be taken of their opinions on Community policies with a significant regional and local impact. The Commission has spelled out the framework and arrangements for this dialogue.
Commission Communication of 19 December 2003 - Dialogue with associations of regional and local authorities on the formulation of European Union policy [COM(2003) 811 final - Not published in the Official Journal].
Since enlargement, the European Union now comprises some 250 regions and 1000 regional and local authorities. The Commission is establishing systematic dialogue with the European and national associations representing them. This more political and more structured dialogue will complement the other forms of consultation provided for in the Nice Treaty (Articles 137 to 139) establishing the European Community and in the specific Commission communication of December 2002 [COM(2002) 704 final]. Its aim is to involve local and regional actors, responsible for implementing Community policies, so that account will be taken of their opinions as far upstream as possible in the decision-making process.
When will this systematic dialogue take place?
The dialogue will take place prior to the formal decision-making process on two separate occasions:
- the presentation of the Commission's work programme.The Commission is intending to organise an annual meeting at the highest political level between the Commission President and/or Vice-Presidents and the representatives of the associations of regional and local authorities. The dialogue will cover the guidelines for European Union action;
- the launch of major policy initiatives with a significant territorial impact.These meetings with members of the Commission could be held annually if the timetable of initiatives justifies it.
The Commission will set the date of the meetings six weeks in advance and make the necessary documents available to the associations.
Dialogue will strengthen the Committee of the Regions' role of intermediary
The Commission regards this new dialogue as an opportunity for establishing closer links between the Committee of the Regions and the regional and local authorities which it represents. Concluded in Brussels on 20 September 2001, the cooperation protocol on the cooperation arrangements between the Commission and the Committee of the Regions recognises the role of intermediary of the consultation body.
The Committee of the Regions is best placed to assist the Commission in identifying the participants in the dialogue. For each planned meeting it will provide an indicative list of European and national associations relevant for the topics considered. Lastly, the Commission decides on the participants. It reserves the right to invite other organisations of its choice.
The Committee of the Regions, in cooperation with the associations of regional and local authorities, will lay down the selection criteria for participating in the dialogue. The organisations involved will be representative of the various levels of regional and local authorities directly affected by the policies being discussed, able to demonstrate their experience and level of expertise, capable of delivering a jointly produced opinion and in a position to pass on to their members the Commission's proposals and guidelines.
What is the justification for the systematic dialogue?
Ad hoc contacts exist already between the Commission and the local and regional authorities, both directly and through their associations. In response to the commitment given in the White Paper on European Governance, the Commission wishes to make this dialogue systematic. The following principles justify the need to involve the regional and local authorities in the formulation of European policies:
- OpennessImproved information and ownership of the Community's policy position are needed. Since they are democratically elected and close to the ground, the regional and local authorities are well placed to provide the citizen with information.
- ParticipationThe White Paper on governance affirms the need for the European and national associations of regional and local authorities to be involved with due regard for the institutional architecture of the Union and the Member States' internal organisation.
- CoherenceThe Commission acknowledges the need for better assessment of the impact at regional and local level of Community policies in areas such as transport, energy and the environment. Analysing the impact of measures proposed at Community level will contribute to informing the different actors of the effects of these measures and guide them in their implementation tasks.
- EffectivenessSome Community policies are implemented and/or have the greatest effect at regional and local level. Local government authorities are ideally placed therefore to assess the coherence and effectiveness of Community policies.
Last updated: 07.05.2007


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Ultra-fantastic, all natural skin care
Our moisturizing, all-purpose balm is made with plant waxes and nothing else. No petroleum jelly, no mineral oils - just natural goodness. Ultrabalm is versatile because we keep it simple, with only three naturally effective ingredients. We also believe in using the best quality organic, fair trade and vegan (whenever possible) ingredients in our products. Our mix of candelilla wax and organic jojoba oil is a vegan alternative to beeswax; it creates a protective barrier on the skin and locks in moisture, while rose wax soothes irritations. Apply to scrapes to relieve discomfort, to tame flyaway hair, or even as a lip balm.
VeganThis product does not contain animal products of any kind.
MeltThis product may melt if shipped to a warm location.
Fresh ingredients
Natural ingredients
Safe synthetics


text:
BSC Student's Energy & Imagination Provide Foundation for Writing a Fantasy Novel
CreatedWednesday, August 29 2012
Created byJim Nelson/Media Relations - (304) 327-4103 email@example.com
(Bluefield)—Perhaps there's something special in the water in Coalwood, West Virginia. Coalwood native Homer Hickham's autobiographical Rocket Boys became a best-seller and provided the substance for the hit movie, "October Sky." Now Daniel Caton, a Bluefield State College student whose experiences and active imagination provided the foundation upon which he has written a fantasy novel, Luke Brackins and the Rune to Midgard, which has been published and is available at Barnes & Noble bookstores.
Completing the book was no small feat for the 25-year old Caton, who concurrently juggled the responsibilities of husband, father, college student, and insurance sales representative while writing the 220+ page novel. In fact, Luke Brackins and the Rune to Midgard represents nine years' work that started while Daniel was a student at Big Creek High School.
"I was inspired by the 1984 movie "The NeverEnding Story," he explained during a break between fall semester classes at BSC. "The central figure in my book moves from a large city to a small West Virginia town, Galeswood, and he experiences culture shock while adjusting to life in a rural community." The novel's protagonist, Luke Brackins, is introduced to the region's strong work ethic and blue collar mindset. However, he's homesick and has difficulty making friends in Galeswood.
"Luke finds a book with a jewel embedded in its cover," Daniel continued, "and when he touches the jewel is transported to new places—some good, some bad." The dynamic of good versus evil is evident throughout the novel. "The book draws from my experiences in West Virginia as well as places I've never been but have read about," he added.
Moving the book toward its conclusion and getting it published took one final push. "After writing sporadically for several years," I had some faculty members at Bluefield State who really encouraged me to complete it," he recounted. "I submitted the manuscript to several different publishers, and AuthorHouse (a print-on-demand publisher) provided editors to work with and an illustrator for the cover. When I saw the book in print, it was like a part of my consciousness came to life. . . .someone else read it and took the time to visually depict it."
In the weeks ahead, the BSC student-author will embark on a book tour, visiting Barnes & Noble locations in Morgantown (September 23) and Christiansburg (October 20), while also participating in the "October Sky Festival" (October 6) in Beckley. "If sales go well, Tate Publishing Company (a Christian-based, family-owned, mainline publishing organization) will publish and distribute the book," he explained.
While walking toward his 2 p.m. Spanish class, he paused to recognize a few of the educators whose guidance and encouragement were important. "In school, I was blessed by the positive influence of my teachers and a principal. Although I got into trouble because of Attention Deficit hyperactivity, they saw that I worked hard in school. Roger Smith, the principal at Big Creek High School and Karen Crouse, an elementary school teacher, really helped. Mrs. Kraus reminded me of the Albert Einstein quote, "Your imagination is more important than your intelligence."
Preparing to graduate in December with a degree in Social Science, Daniel may revisit his passion for writing in the future. At present, he's looking forward to spending more time with his wife, Whitney, and their 21-month old son, Avan.
Additional information about Luke Brackins and the Rune to Midgard and Daniel Caton is available online at: www.runestomidgard.com.


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Note: This page is part of the Governor's News Archive, which holds press releases from January 2009 through September 2011. Since October 2011, recent news can be found in the Newsroom and archived news is available at news.delaware.gov.
August 18, 2011
Governor Markell, Governor O'Malley Announce New Information Sharing Initiative
SALISBURY, MD - Governor Martin O'Malley and Delaware Governor Jack Markell today launched an important new effort by both states to collaborate and share information across jurisdictional boundaries about violent or potentially violent offenders. Details of the new initiative were announced at a meeting today on the campus of Salisbury University.
"Criminals and crime have no boundaries," said Delaware Governor Jack Markell. "It's our responsibility to work together across state lines and share information that can benefit citizens of both states, especially as technology allows us to know more and do more. By working collaboratively and using our collective knowledge, we serve everyone by making our streets and our communities safer."
"In our continued effort to make Maryland a national leader in public safety and homeland security preparedness, we support effective communication and information sharing across all levels of government and state borders," said Governor O'Malley. "The most important responsibilities we have in government are to create jobs and protect the public's safety. Working together with our partners across the State, we have driven violent crime and property crime rates down to their lowest levels in recorded history. By reaching beyond our borders, using innovative technology and sharing information, we will continue to drive the levels down even further."
Governor Markell and key Delaware officials, including Elizabeth Olsen, Deputy Secretary of the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security; Colonel Robert M. Coupe, Superintendent of the Delaware State Police; and Alan Grinstead, Deputy Bureau Chief of Delaware Community Corrections, joined their counterparts from Maryland for the meeting that included Gary Maynard, Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services; Colonel Marcus Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Sam Abed, Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services.
The new strategic partnership will allow parole and probation officials and law enforcement in both states to exchange information with one another on arrests, enabling the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation to take appropriate action if a suspect from Maryland violates the terms of release while in Delaware. Additionally, law enforcement and public safety officials in both states will be able to prioritize warrant service.
Between January and June of this year, there were 389 people wanted in Delaware with Maryland addresses and just over 1000 people arrested in Delaware that had Maryland addresses. Additionally, in the past year, 22 youths from Delaware had contact with the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services. With this shared information, the Maryland State Police and local police will be able to move more effectively to get the most dangerous suspects off the streets and better track youth currently monitored by the Department of Juvenile Services. These initial steps could lead to other information-sharing opportunities including information from license plate readers to track stolen or suspicious vehicles and pawn shop databases to locate stolen property.
The new Maryland-Delaware effort is similar to the Safe Streets Program operating in Maryland and Delaware. Safe Streets programs have been launched in Salisbury, Annapolis and Wilmington. Safe Streets allows law enforcement officials to share data and hold offenders accountable for their actions through a cooperative effort of law enforcement at the federal, state, county and local level. Safe Streets uses an innovative security integration model of multi-agency collaboration with federal, state, local law enforcement, public safety agencies, and community partners to aggressively track offenders to reduce drug, gun, and other major crimes. Through a combination of improved police tactics and practices, modern and enhanced technology, and the integration of expanded community partnerships, the initiative has taken significant steps to reduce crime and promote safer neighborhoods and communities.


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Gluten Free Products Market Projected to Reach $6.8 Billion by 2019
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We've seen her acting chops in many roles – from the movie Crash to the TV shows Blue Bloods and the former Spin City. But now we're getting to know Jennifer Esposito in close-up, as a member of the celiac disease community. After many years of doctor visits and symptoms from stomachaches to frightening panic […]
New U.S. Gluten-Free Label Rule Takes Effect
As of Aug. 5, 2014, any packaged food with a gluten-free claim has to contain under 20 ppm of gluten.
Tips for Healthy Gluten-Free Eating
Steps to follow to ensure you're getting enough nutrients on the gluten-free diet. Choose naturally gluten-free and nutritious foods such as lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat milk and milk products. Increase your intake of whole grains including amaranth, buckwheat, millet, oats, quinoa, sorghum, teff and rice (black, brown, […]
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First, the good news: 64 percent of people with a family member who has celiac disease agreed to get tested for the condition – if that family member asked them to, according to a study conducted in 2012. Now, the not-so-good news: that means 36 percent wouldn't get tested. "It's not easy talking to your […]
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Celiac disease was ultimately behind a buildup of calcium discovered in a young man's brain, leading to years of medical problems


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Comeback Kids
What a weekend for Padres baseball. I'm telling you, this team has been just incredible. Wow…
- Friday: 8-7 Padres
Chris Young started the game, allowing five runs in the first inning to the Phillies. He ended up going only 3.2 innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits.
5-0 deficit by the second? No problemo for my Padres. In the third, we got our first run from a solo homer by Luis Rodruguez. Down 7-1 going into the fifth, the Padres got two more runs on a home run by Scott Hairston. They got two more in the sixth thanks to Nick Hundley's first home run of the season, driving in Kouz.
In the eighth, Jody Gerut singled in a run. Scott Hairston hit a two-run double to take the lead from the Phillies.
Meanwhile, the bullpen was incredible. Luis Perdomo, Luke Gregerson, Cla Meredith, Duaner Sanchez, all had scoreless outings. It was so great!
Heath Bell struck out two batters to get his sixth save of the season. Cla Meredith got the win.
It was such a great game. The Padres were behind 5-0, 7-1, and they came all the way back to win. How 'bout them Padres?!
- Saturday: 8-5 Padres
Shawn Hill started the game and gave up two runs in five innings. The first run he gave up was in the second, a solo homer to Raul Ibanez.
In the third, the Padres got that run back and added another on a two-run homer from Adrian Gonzalez, his fourth of the season. We got another one in the fifth on a double from Brian Giles.
But the Phillies got one in each of the fifth and the sixth to tie the game at three. The Padres took the lead by one in the top of the ninth, but the Phillies took that away with two in the bottom of the inning.
In comes Brad Lidge, who had 47 straight saves. Notice the word "had". Jody Gerut started the ninth with a double, followed by two groundouts. But the second one drove Jody in, and we had a tie game. Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley walked for my boy Kouz.
Anyways, Kouz came to the plate with two runners on, and he pounded that little ball with his big strong arms and sent it out of there to take an 8-5 lead. What a player!!
Heath Bell came in for the third game in a row, going 1-2-3 to earn his seventh save of the season. Cla Meredith got the win again.
It was a great game. We kept fighting, and we came out on top. Yay Kouz!! He was on front of the sports section in the newspaper yesterday, and it was such a cute picture!
- 5-4 Phillies
It was a good game for the Padres, but unfortunately, the bullpen did not get its job done.
Josh Geer, who just got called up in the place of Walter Silva, threw seven innings, allowing only two runs, only one earned. He had a great outing!
The Padres got three runs in the third on a Jody Gerut single, an Edgar Gonzalez triple, and a Brian Giles groundout. We added one more in the fifth on Adrian Gonzalez's fifth home run of the season.
But the Phillies got two in the sixth and one in the eighth. In the bottom of the ninth, with a 4-3 Padres lead, Edwin Moreno came in to save the game. Heath had pitched three games in a row, and he needed a break. But if Moreno hadn't pitched, I have a good feeling that we would have won.
Edwin gave up a single to Ryan Howard, and two pitches later, a walk-off homer to Raul Ibanez.
That was kind of sad, but we played hard, and the pitching was mostly great. It's really too bad that Heath wasn't able to pitch. I think he would have had that save, but at least he's still 6-for-6.
Today is the fourth game of the series, Kevin Correia against Jamie Moyer. It's going to be so cool to see how these Padres do.
Right now, they don't think they can be beaten. They don't think that they're going to lose. They are going out there every day believing that they can win, even if they are down 5-0, 7-1, 3-0. There's no stopping this team.
"We don't need to win every single day … but we have that confidence that we can beat anyone," Heath Bell said.
I am so excited about these Padres!
The retreat went really well. We stayed at a beautiful cabin right by a lake, and it was so beautiful and peaceful. It was a great trip. Nice to get away…
The weather was so perfect up there, and then we came back down. It was in the high 90s and it was miserable. It's supposed to be even hotter today. I HATE THE HEAT!!! Ugh. We don't have air conditioning in our house so we just about die when it gets this hot. AHHHHHH!!!
Let's get this game tonight, boys. GO PADRES!!!
(photo credit: Union Tribune)
6 Comments
Kaybee – Your Padres have come out strong! Let's hope your boys can keep it up!
Wow, the Padres have been surprisingly good to start the season. For how bad some of the preseason writeups said they were, they haven't looked it so far. Weather here tonight isn't looking good, but I imagine they're going to try to get it in somehow, as this is San Diego's only trip to Philly this season.
Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
We are on a roll! I love it. We were losing the other game but fought back. That's what I would like to see the same thing throughout the season. GO PADRES! I'm dying right now. It's 93 degrees!
When I saw Bell wan't being sent in for the 9th, I was like Whooo Hoo! We may win one of these…ha!! Your guys have been playing very well! Too bad we got rained out today :O(
Wow! The Padres are doing so well! I hope that they can keep it up🙂.
JULIA, I sure hope we can!!
SUE, it's been pretty amazing. I just hope it lasts. Oh – I hope we can get that game made up soon. I don't want to have to squeeze it in while my Padres are having a playoff run!🙂
HYUN YOUNG, the heat has been miserable. But these Padres are amazing!!
JENN, well if Heath had gone in there you might have still won. Heath was pretty worn out!!🙂
ELIZABETH, yeah I hope so too!!


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INGREDIENTS:3 ½ pounds Swiss cheese, julienne 1 ½ pounds red onions, julienne 2 ½ pounds Andouille sausage, thinly sliced as needed, olive oilFor Dressing: 10 ounces olive oil 5 ounces cider vinegar to taste, salt and pepper 5 ounces parsley, mincedFor Oven-Roasted Tomatoes: ¼ cup shallots 1 cup garlic 1 cup olive oil 2 Tbsp. dried basil 2 Tbsp. dried oregano 2 Tbsp. dried thyme 2 Tbsp. cracked pepper 1 tsp. salt 48 Roma tomatoes as needed, Belgian endive as needed, parsley for ...
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SECRETARY STEVEN CHU: And good afternoon. We'd like to unveil our 2012 budget overview.
So let me just begin. This budget is about winning the future. The president has spoken that it takes time to compete for jobs in the industries of our time. And he points out that the United States is going to be in a race with the rest of the world. And in order to win this race, a race for our future prosperity, our energy security, our security in general, "we need to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world." And so he goes on. But this is the crux of the budget and this is the crux of what I have to say today and how the Department of Energy will play a role in that.
The president again has spoken that some of the most promising innovations happening in the area of clean-energy technology, technology that is creating jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil and making sure our planet is a healthier place to live.
Again, taking our – note of what's going on in the rest of the world, if you look at what's happening in Asia, when you look at what's happening in Europe, you find that countries have decided – country after country – that the energy sector is going to be a key part in the future economic prosperity of those countries, that that is really a key part of what they need to do in the long-term future.
And it's because you're going to be needing clean-energy technologies; you're going to be needing to transition to more efficient ways of using our country's energy resources, that that is going to be a fundamental part of this. And so the Department of Energy's FY '12 budget request is really about making those strategic investments to unleash American innovation and promote economic competitiveness.
So the budget of FY '12 does a number of things. It supports cutting-edge science research. It marshals this nation's brightest minds to discover and deliver new energy solutions. And it develops and deploys the clean and efficient energy technologies the world will demand in the coming years. This also strengthens our security by reducing the – we are also going to be strengthening our security by reducing nuclear dangers and maintaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent.
So how it breaks out – we compare the budget of FY 2010, the current budget, with one proposed in 2012. As you see, there is a $3.0 billion increase. And it breaks out – it partitions as follows, where NSA is 11.8 billion (dollars), Science is 5.4 (billion dollars), Environment 6.3 (billion dollars), Energy 4.8 (billion dollars). There's others of loans at .3 billion (dollars), ARPA-E at 550 million (dollars), rounded up to .6 (billion dollars).
So in our commitment to fiscal responsibility, investing is what's needed and cutting is what's not needed. The president's budget estimates approximately $3.6 billion dollars in tax subsidies for oil, coal, gas industries are expected to generate more than $46 billion in revenues over the next 10 years.
We're going to be reducing our funding from the fossil energy program by 45 percent, 418 million (dollars). It's a tough choice but we're going to be concentrating on looking forward and developing the technologies needed for carbon capture and sequestration. We're going to be reducing funding of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's hydrogen technology program by nearly 70 million (dollars), about 40 percent.
And we've made a number of hard choices in this shared sacrifice. There's been a salary and bonus freeze for all our national lab employees, site and facility management contractors. And the money saved in that salary increase is being reinvested in the laboratories and a number of things.
Infrastructure, when properly invested, will actually reduce the total operating expenses of those labs, so we can save further money in years to come. That's an example of a much-needed energy investments.
We made a touch choice. We've ended the operation of the Tevatron that was debated whether it was going to be going for another three years. And we've said no, we're not going to do that to save money for future development at Fermilab. The Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility will also close down.
We're doing a lot to improve the management and operations. We're reducing the corporate management costs by 45 million (dollars) and reducing administrative expenses across all programs. We're trying to consolidate programs that carry out the same mission.
There is an Office of Cost Analysis and an Office of Engineering Construction Management and those have been combined so that we have a single but thorough review of projects. We're promoting good government improving the business practices. For example, the NSA supply chain management center saved about 200 million (dollars) in procurement costs since 2007.
Overall, let's put our budget in a context of what has been spent on Science, Defense, Environmental Management. This is the budget of the Department of Energy. And you see it evolving in a time where – well, I think it speaks for itself. And so, if there any questions on that.
Saving money by saving energy – this is very important to us. A new program – the budget calls for a new program, the Better Buildings Initiative, includes $100 million in loan guarantee programs so that institutions, for example, hospitals, universities, can make investments that would save them money. It also includes 320 million to weatherize homes for low-income families.
We want to lead in vehicle – electric vehicle technologies. Again, it's a worldwide race. This is helpful because of course, it will decrease our dependence on imported oil and promote leadership in what we think will be a very important growth industry. And so the budget invests $588 million in vehicles to support President Obama's goal of putting a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
We are leading in clean-energy technologies. There's R&D, research, development, demonstration, deployment. As one example, we have a new SunShot Initiative. This is an initiative that was designed to look at what we anticipate industry will be doing worldwide in reducing the cost of photovoltaics.
And industry was fairly confident that it could reduce the cost by about 50 percent over the – within this decade. And we asked, is it possible to reduce that not by 50 percent, but let's say, 75 percent, a factor four instead of a factor two.
And so there's a difference. If you reduce the cost by 75 percent, we feel that that crosses a magical threshold that – that means solar energy will be ubiquitous anywhere where there's sun. It will pop up without subsidy. And so what technological things could the Department of Energy do in order to really make this happen far sooner than we would expect?
And that's our SunShot Initiative. This is 425 million. It includes support from EERE, primarily, but also ARPA-E and the Office of Science have lended support to this and it is a unified program now within the Department of Energy.
Wind is mature, but offshore wind is not mature and so we're going to be adding $64 million to improve the reliability to make it happen that we can actually begin to install offshore wind, geothermal energy, 59 million. The budget also supports biomass, carbon capture and sequestration and nuclear, including $97 million for small modular reactors.
In deploying clean-energy projects, we still are on a path to restarting the American nuclear power industry. We're asking for an additional 36 billion in loan guarantee authority. Combined with the existing authority, this will support about six to eight projects. Some of those projects will be multi-reactors, just as the first one at Vogtle was a two-reactor project.
We're promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency projects with 300 million in credit subsidy to support three or $4 billion in projects. And we're calling upon Congress to allow us to build on progress made from the Loan Programs Office over the last two years. And so far, we've committed more than $26 billion in loans or loan guarantees to support 23 clean projects, estimated to create or save 50,000 direct jobs.
What we can do, as President Obama said, what America does better than anyone else is spark the creativity and the imagination of our people. In America, innovation doesn't change lives – doesn't just change our lives – it's how we make a living. This is true more so today than perhaps any other time. But to remind you, this is what a large part of what made America great and added to its prosperity.
Leadership in an automobile revolution at the turn of the century, leadership in transmission distribution systems, leadership in aerospace, leadership in the semiconductor and computer revolution, the Internet revolution, the biotech revolution. There's going to be – we need leadership in this new energy – sustainable energy revolution and this is our moment to assume that leadership.
The president's budget maintains commitment to double the investment in key basic research agencies, including the Office of Science. It provides $36 million, a 72 percent increase to support the development of a skilled scientific workforce and it positions the United States to maintain international leadership in scientific computing.
More specifically, we are asking Congress to approve of additional hubs. This is a total of 146 million to support, now, six hubs. And so in this – hubs, as again, President Obama said, we're issuing a challenge. We're telling America's best scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields and focus on the hardest problems in clean-energy, we'll fund the Apollo projects of our time.
So right now, we have existing programs in fuels, from sunlight, so sunlight directly making transportation fuels, a hub on energy efficiency in buildings and a modeling and simulation of nuclear reactors. What we're asking for is hubs on batteries and in energy storage, including just not the research in the battery modules, the packs, but an integrated system. We're asking for smart-grid technology and systems and a hub on critical materials that will be needed in the future energy of tomorrow.
Let me remind you that these hubs have been built upon the success of the Department of Energy's Bioenergy Research Centers and the combined 66 inventions in the patent process in the first three years of operation, many of these patents are now being exploited by companies in partnership with these bioenergy centers and it is being moved to commercialization. So this is a striking example of the success of these hub-like entities. And that is, in fact, a model for what we want to do in the future.
We're also asking for $550 million to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy. As you know, this is to fund the development of potentially game-changing, clean-energy technologies with a very short time scale, typically two years.
The budget request builds on – ARPA-E's already had some tremendous successes in ARPA-E. Let me go back. This is – you probably can't read the fine print, but it was – it's an article talking about the successes of ARPA-E. In many instances – I think there are least a half-a-dozen instances I know where small funding in ARPA-E then led to some research and that company was able to turn around and get far more investments from the private sector.
And in – let's say, in this – the investments talked about in this article in The New York Times, where they were talking about a 4-to-1 ratio. That is to say, a few million dollars in ARPA-E, then, a half-a-year or three-quarters-of-a-year later, they were able to turn around and say, okay, next step, work, and can raise that with the private sector. This is a big, big success and we want to continue that.
Energy Frontier Research Centers – we're asking for 100 million (dollars) to continue the support of 46 projects started in 2009. These are linking small groups of researchers, who normally don't work intimately with each other, to clear the scientific roadblocks. We feel that this has been also very successful in having people self-assemble into teams to do far more than they would have individually.
In terms of supporting the president's nuclear security agenda, the budget calls for $11.8 billion from the NNSA. And it's building on the momentum of last year, that we have negotiation, ratification and entry into force of the New START treaty. There has been a release of the Nuclear Posture Review and a historic nuclear security summit.
We have secured nuclear materials equivalent for more than 800 nuclear weapons. We have completed and began operations for the world's most secure highly enriched uranium source facility, the highly enriched uranium materials facility at Y-12 security complex. And we've installed radiation-detecting equipment in more than 65 border crossings, airports, seaports around the world to prevent nuclear smuggling.
So in reducing the nuclear dangers and environmental risks, the budget calls for modernizing our nuclear security enterprise, $7.6 billion and part of the $85 billion commitment over the next 10 years to promote stockpile management, infrastructure, science and technology, engineering.
A big investment in reducing the risk of proliferation of nuclear materials and weapons – $2.5 billion to support the president's goal of securing vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide – four years. And we'll continue with our responsibility in the environmental cleanup of 6.1 billion (dollars).
So with that, I'll turn it over to Steve Isakowitz. And he'll have more of the real numbers.
STEVE ISAKOWITZ: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here. Again, my name is Steve Isakowitz. I'm the chief financial officer.
The table here is an overall summary of the budgets request. And as the secretary said, we are requesting a $3 billion, or 12 percent, increase. One thing, it's important to note all the numbers that we're going to be quoting here today use the 2010 budget as the baseline for the changes.
We use 2010 because 2011 is still going through final passage. And right now, we are operating at a rate that's consistent with 2010. The only exception to that, as I will point out later, we do talk about the NNSA budget in terms of its comparison to the president's 2011 budget.
A few things to highlight from this chart, is the NNSA budget overall increases 5 percent against the 2011 requests, or 19 percent against 2010. Our Applied Energy Programs grow by 15 percent, Environmental Management by 2 percent, Science by 9 percent, ARPA-E by 41 percent when you compare it to the recovery act funding it had. And all others are down 5 percent.
Although this is a significant increase, I think it's very important to point out that this is against an overall administration domestic discretionary budget that is frozen over the next five years. And its savings would be at $400 billion over the decade. And it would be the lowest share of discretionary spending for domestic agencies since the Eisenhower administration. We believe this reflects the president's confidence in this agency, and that within that overall, frozen budget made the tradeoffs to see the increases that you see here today.
With regards to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the overall budget goes up 984 million (dollars), or 44 percent, and supports the president's clean-energy initiative. Some of the things I'd like to highlight are increases in solar, which is an 88 percent increase due largely to our efforts in the SunShot Initiative which is being done in collaboration with ARPA-E and Science. And overall in SunShot, we're proposing 425 million (dollars).
Wind is up 61 percent primarily to our investments in offshore research and technology. Biomass is up 57 percent due largely to our efforts in a cellulosic-biofuels reverse auction of 150 million (dollars), which provides a market-based outlet for demonstrating pilot plants.
Geothermal, 135 percent increase due largely from enhanced geothermal systems, including next-generation systems using waste carbon dioxide instead of water. Vehicle technologies, a 93 percent increase due primarily from the president's goal of 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. And building and industrial technologies, 114 percent and 239 percent increases respectively, including funding for a Better Buildings Initiative and a new hub in critical materials. Weatherization, also for a 52 percent increase.
One major decrease is in hydrogen technology, which is down 41 percent or $70 million. It's also worth pointing out that the administration is proposing still for the passage of the HOMESTAR program, which is requesting $6 billion to make all homes more energy efficient.
For Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, overall increase of 69 million (dollars) or 41 percent. The highlights include a new hub – smart-grid technology and systems hub, advanced modeling grid research for 20 million (dollars), 17 million for energy storage to support demonstrations of a suite of grid-level storage projects, 10 million to develop utility-scale power electronics. And finally it's worth pointing out for cybersecurity, although it shows a decrease there, in fact it's really flat funding because of a one-time expense in the 2010 budget.
Fossil Energy – as the secretary said, the decrease is – it's being decreased by 45 percent or $418 million. The decreases include $173 million for a one-time use of prior-year balances in oil-sale receipts. And I'll talk to that in a moment.
Also, it's 139 million (dollars) we're saving for zeroing funds in fuel cells, natural-gas technologies, old earmarks and unconventional fossil technologies and a decrease in hydrogen-turbine R&D. Also, the methane-hydrate research program is being shifted to Science for fundamental research.
Also, we're seeking no mandatory funding for the ultra-deep program. And this is consistent with the proposal to repeal that program. Increases include 22 million (dollars), or 65 percent, for post-combustion capture. And 49 percent increase for some crosscutting research such as computational-energy science.
With regards to our petroleum reserves, three things to highlight: one is that overall, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we are proposing the sale of oil from it. And we'll receive $500 million in receipts. It will reduce the inventory from 727 million to 720 million barrels – I'm sorry, from 727 to 720 in order to achieve operational flexibility in managing the reserve.
Also, for the Northeast Home Oil Heating Reserve (ph), we're looking to sell 2 million barrels of oil in 2011 and using the receipts to purchase 1 million barrels of ultra-low sulfur distillate heating oil. And for the Naval Petroleum Reserve, so-called NPR-3, we will be discontinuing that since its costs now exceed its oil revenue.
And nuclear energy – this table, it can be a little bit confusing because we've had significant budget-structure changes between the 2010 and the 2012 budget. So for example, Gen IV is not really going to zero. It's just that it's been changed and split among two other different programs.
To highlight a few areas, $97 million for nuclear-energy enabling technologies, which includes 24 million (dollars) for the existing modeling hub. And 97 million for the small modular reactors, including 30 million for R&D and 67 million for licensing and design certification, 95 million for reactor concepts, 115 million for fuel-cycle R&D.
We're showing NP2010 going to zero, but really, that was planned to be phased out. And program direction increases in part due to including additional staff to assume ongoing responsibilities under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
Office of Science – a 9 percent, or $452 million increase. This is consistent with the administration's plans to double Science. Highlights include a 22 percent increase for advanced computing, which includes 88 million (dollars) or 63 percent increase for exascale computing, positioning the U.S. to maintain international leadership in scientific computing, 24 percent increase in basic energy sciences, which includes funding for two hubs, fuel from sunlight and energy storage, 22 percent for biological and environmental research, which includes the bioenergy research centers, minus 4 percent for fusion energy which includes 105 million to maintain our participation in the ITER project.
And 1 percent increase in high-energy physics. And it's worth noting that the National Science Board did not approve development of NSF's Deep Underground Science and Engineering Lab (ph). However, we maintain funding in there and we'll be examining alternatives. Nuclear physics, a 16-percent increase. Science laboratory infrastructures, we have no new starts in 2011. And we have one new start planned for 2012.
As the secretary said earlier, we have two terminations, one at Tevatron and the other at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility. And lastly, it supports from the graduate fellowship program, 320 graduate fellows.
As for ARPA-E, the 550 million (dollars) will provide for five subprograms in stationary power, electrical infrastructure, and use embedded efficiency, transportation efficiency and hold 17 million for broad funding opportunity announcements. We're also showing 100 million in mandatory funding. This is a result of the administration's proposal to auction spectrum bands over the next 10 years. From those receipts, 100 million has been set aside for ARPA-E use.
The loan program – showing sort of two tables up here. It's important to view the loan program in these two ways. One is the credit subsidy itself, which is that first table. The second table is the loan authority that's available to us for committing to loans. With regards to nuclear, we're requesting $36 billion in additional loan authority. With the 18.5 billion existing authority, that would give us 54.5 billion total to support the near-term deployment of six to nine nuclear energy projects.
In the renewable area, we are seeking a credit subsidy of 200 million (dollars) that allows us to support one to 2 billion (dollars) more in loans for the 1703 innovative renewable energy. And in total, for FY '12 requests, this, as well as existing loan authority would provide 40 billion in renewable energy and energy-efficiency loans.
And finally, we have a new pilot program, 100 million (dollars) in appropriated credit subsidy to support a better buildings pilot loan guarantee effort through universities, schools and hospitals. It's also worth pointing out that as important as the loan program is to deployment, the administration is also building on the success from the recovery act for two other tax incentives.
One is the so-called Section 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit and the other is Section 1603 Energy Cash Assistance Program. For 48C, the administration is seeking $5 billion more and for 1603, extending that for another year.
For NNSA, for the weapons activities, it funds the stockpile requirements for the Nuclear Posture Review and the New START treaty. Requests constitutes a multiyear investment to modernize the nuclear security enterprise consistent with the president's proposal to spend more than $85 billion over the next 10 years. It also supports enhancements for science, technology and engineering and funds critical infrastructure, in particular, the UPF and CMRR.
And Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation? Its mission is to detect, deter and secure and dispose of dangerous nuclear material. The funding there shows a 5 percent decrease but again, that's against the president's 2011 budget, which was intentionally frontloaded with additional budget. If you compare it to the 2010, it's a 20 percent increase.
Naval reactors are seeking 1.2 billion (dollars), an 8 percent or $83 million increase over 2011 to support design work for their Ohio class ballistic missile submarine replacement, refueling of the land-based nuclear prototype and recapitalization of spent nuclear fuel infrastructure in Idaho.
In Environmental Management, the program will be in full compliance with the 2012 regulatory agreements. To highlight, we have a $150 million increase in 2012 for the waste treatment plant. This will enable the facility to complete its commissioning as planned by 2019 and keep the project within a total cost of 12.6 billion. Also worth highlighting is R&D increases by 63 million or 90 percent in 2012, which promises future cost reductions in life-cycle costs.
Lastly, for the Energy Information Administration, we have a – requesting a 12 percent increase to improve in the analysis. For Health, Safety and Security, a 3 percent increase. Corporate management, we have a 13 percent decrease which reflects, as the secretary pointed out, efforts to improve our operations while reducing our costs.
And then finally, the Power Marketing Administration, the decrease there just reflects mostly technical changes as result for how we collect receipts there. So that concludes my remarks and I guess now we could shift to question and answer.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I think this is the second time you've tried to cut funding for fuel sales and to get six energy innovation hubs instead of just three. And of course, the last budget went absolutely nowhere. What are the prospects of you getting what you want here?
SEC. CHU: Well, we still think it's a good idea to decrease the funding for fuel sales and the innovation hubs. I'm still very hopeful, you know, maybe it's optimism, continued optimism. I think going forward, I'm hoping that Congress can be convinced that – of the wisdom of these hubs based on the early track record of the first ones.
In terms of fuel sales, it's – look, that's a tough choice. Certainly, it's part of – what we want have happen is continuing, but we have to, again, make a tough choices on what to support. Industry is pursuing fuel sales, as I said before, last time, the fuel sale part is actually the easiest part in the sense that – and where the most progress is made and where you see a great deal of commitment from industry.
The unsolved problem is where the hydrogen's going to come from, you know, is still that – is not a solved problem. And so we think that you know, given the cuts we had to make and the emphasis, we still think that that's the right thing to do.
Q: Can you explain your – (inaudible) – small modular reactors – (inaudible)?
SEC. CHU: Sure. We think that the small modular reactors is an incredible opportunity where you can build reactors in a centralized factory and stamp them out and to serve markets, not on the United States, but the rest of the world. There are many areas, power plants, where you cannot – they don't have the infrastructure to do – sustain a one-to-1.5 gigawatt reactor.
And so to make them in sort of bite-sized chunks where the utility companies are – whoever's going to be investing in these don't really have to bet out some real fraction of the entire company's assets to make sure these go forward, it's something which we see as a world market. And so the Department of Energy is very, very positive about small modulars, both to help with the engineering design to get NRC licensing, and also for further research.
We think this is an opportunity where the United States can actually capture a leadership role in the nuclear sector. We had it once before, when we made the first nuclear reactor. We lost it to France and Japan and Korea. China is now wanting very much to be a world player in that market. But this is where we think the United States has a lot that we can offer.
Q: On your reactor concepts program, which is new, which will also include work on small modulars, I noticed there was a difference of like 30 million in the total. There was the small reactor project, which was 67 and SMRs are a part of the reactor concept. Will that include like 30 million (dollars) for work on that and could you give us a break –
SEC. CHU: Well, I think the breakdown you're referring to is the part where we're helping a few companies with the engineering design to get licensed approval. And then there's another 30 million (dollars) additional of R&D that we're funding directly. So we're both helping companies get licensed approval, hopefully in the next couple years, but that's in the purview of the NRC.
Q: And could you give us a breakdown of what you see or what the reactor concepts program, what the aim is, and what you hope it will –
SEC. CHU: That's more advanced concepts and this goes to, as Steve Isakowitz said, some of the more advanced designs. This is, for example, you know, the air-cooled reactors, so so-called Gen IV reactors, where the Gen III plus is something like an AP1000, where you have cooling within the vessel and pumps do that that are more, possibly, safe. The Gen IV would be different, really, could be a radically different design, like air-cooled reactors, air-cooled pebble bed reactors, things of that nature. Yes?
Q: Mr. Secretary, the oil that you plan to sell from the SPR, will you do that even without congressional approval? Do you need it? And second, when do you plan to do this? Actually sometime during the 2012 spending year, which starts October 1st or before that, earlier this year?
SEC. CHU: Yeah, what – yes, we actually have a situation here with the oil that one of the caverns has a technical difficulty and we're going to have to drain that cavern partially anyway. And so some part of it is prompted by that, but in this – timing, do you know, Steve? The exact timing? Does anyone know the exact timing?
Q: As part of the budget request was the immediate reauthorization.
SEC. CHU: Yeah.
Q: (We're going to need that ?) to do the sale. But because of the draining of the one cavern there, it'd have to be put into the other caverns and it's creating an overfill situation. So we need to sell that off so – (inaudible).
SEC. CHU: But yes, I mean certainly, you know, and that has a lot of congressional control and we're going to wait for that, but there is this other issue as well.
Q: But will it happen during the 2012 budget year or before? Will it happen after October 1st, when the new budget year begins? Or will it happen before –
SEC. CHU: Well, we hope that Congress can give us permission now because as we overfill some of those others, we don't want the oil to be spilling out. And so we'll work with Congress on that. But certainly, we need to work with Congress. Yes?
Q: On the dollar-per-watt goal of the solar shot, can you break out for us what fraction of that is sort of applied research? What role do you see the solution coming from? Basic research says that ARPA-E will play a role. How do you see us getting to that dollar-per-watt?
SEC. CHU: Sure. Well, we looked at the entire chain of what it costs now to install and this is – this dollar is (installed ?) at utility scale, it's a multi-megawatt field. And right now, roughly half of the costs are in what we call "balance of system." It's not in the module itself, but in the associated electronics, the mounting, the installation fees, you know, land rental, land-use fees, things of that nature.
And it also – it depends on what you call basic research because some of the things we fund are radically if – for example, we're funding research on silicon photo cells, polycrystalline silicon photo cells. But I call it research because this is not the usual way of doing it in terms of sawing it up into wafers, polishing and then doping.
This is a completely new system of taking molten silicon and dripping off and directly – and then removing that melted – molten, now solidified silicon off so you have something that is one-third, one-quarter the thickness. That's, if it works and it can be scaled to commercial systems, that's a totally different way of making what was a very old-fashioned silicon photo cell invented, you know, in the late '50s at the labs.
But that's a truly innovative possibility that we're funding. And so it's – so it's very research-y, but it's not in looking at a new material. It's taking tried and true material and just turning it upside down. It's like plate glass. You know, in the olden days, 200 years ago, glass, molten wiggly stuff you see in the old buildings. And all of a sudden, someone figured out you could float glass on another liquid and it could be flat and smooth and really inexpensive – revolutionized glassmaking.
So we are looking at many things, not only in silicon, but in various types of thin film, CIGS, cad telluride and other things. We're looking at the electronics. How do you make the electronics much more reliable? Even the installation costs, the cleaning of the reflectors, things like that, everything. So some of it, very applied, some it, very basic, some of it, basic, but a more radical manufacturing bend. So we think, you know, we're thinking about – before the end of this century, we can get down there.
Q: Secretary, some in Congress might make the argument that as you're increasing these fossil fuel subsidies, the price of energy can go up and there's a reasonable argument that as we transition to – (inaudible) – of the future, that the cost of the energy we use now – (inaudible) – interest.
SEC. CHU: Well, I – I think – I personally think that the cost – and these – there are fuel subsidies in the oil and gas industry that – I spoke about the $3.6 billion and you have to fold that into, you know, there's recent reports on what – you guys can all look up what the major multinational corporations are making in terms of their revenues and their profits and it's a very, very small fraction of that.
Q: Mr. Secretary, can you talk about the next generation nuclear power plants and specifically, how much funding is allocated for that and what will that funding be used for, for the program?
SEC. CHU: Let's see, what's the exact number on the new – the Gen IV – I think you're asking about the Gen IV or the small modular.(Cross talk.)
Q: Next generation nuclear power plants, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.
SEC. CHU: Yeah, that's in there – I forget – it's of scale, 100 million (dollars), but I don't know. Okay, 53 million for the next generation?
Q: For NGNPs
SEC. CHU: Okay, NGNP, okay.
Q: How will that be used?
SEC. CHU: I think this is, looking at – these are – these are reactors whose designs are not widely deployed, not – certainly, not on a commercial scale. And so this is looking at research that says, you know, so our feasibility studies. They have not been – and you can correct me if I'm wrong, they have not had NRC approval either. And so there's a lot of preliminary work that has to be done on these gas-cooled reactors. Pete Lyons, do you want – anything else to add? Okay. Yes?
Q: It looked as though – I just looked at it quickly as you went through – in terms of grid storage for the back of the grid, can you talk a little bit about what kinds of things you're looking at it? Is it batteries or is it other devices? Can you do a little breakdown?
SEC. CHU: Yeah. Yes, we're looking at batteries. We're looking at pump storage and then there's scales of – amount of storage. And what we're finding is that depending on what you want to store, whether you want to do load shifting, that's the biggest kind of storage and that would be appropriate for either pumped storage where you pump water up a hill or a compressed-air storage.
But there are scales of batteries storage that are very, very valuable for taking up – there's a very high-frequency transience in renewables like wind and solar, if clouds go by, things of that nature. And levelizing that – that will enable us to use the full output of, let's say, a wind farm.
Right now, what happens is if there's a burst of wind or there's a sudden lull, what we have to do is – the burst of wind – we feather the blades. We throw away that energy or we just dump it somewhere. And batteries are turning out to be a very valuable way of taking the full ability of that wind farm to capture all the energy and put it on the line and have it be used.
So we're looking at, first, how to interface the system with these batteries of various different scales. We're also funding very novel ways of increasing the batteries for this large-scale storage of the megawatt power – multi-megawatt power, megawatt-hour scale.
ARPA-E has funded a number of things along those lines, like the liquid battery we talked about. There's a couple of others. There's a wide open space here where if we improve the battery technology – and this also means driving the cost down, the cost of these larger-scale batteries.
Like, the sulfur-flow batteries are anywhere typically 400 (dollars), $500 per kilowatt-hour. There's a hope if we can get this down to 100, lots of things open up. And it's, again, making the energy infrastructure we have much more useful. We've become much more efficient grid system, so that's part of it.
Q: Mr. Secretary, why in this year's budget request did DOE choose not to seek to reauthorize payments into the uranium-enrichment D&D fund? And is DOE looking to increase the amount of uranium it uses to conduct environmental management work?
SEC. CHU: I think I'm going to hand it over to Inés.
INÉS R. TRIAY: We are looking to continue the transfer of uranium in exchange for cleanup services. And of course, we're going to do our market analysis. And depending on our assurances that we're not going to impact the uranium market adversely, we will continue to exchange uranium for cleanup services.
Q: Mr. Secretary, given the deep cuts that we just saw in the House C.R., including Energy, how confident are you that Congress will appropriate, you know, a budget like this, or anything that even resembles this budget –
SEC. CHU: Well, we'll take it a day at a time. I think this budget presentation and the president's request is really a budget about winning the future. This is a budget where the president has made some very tough choices.
If you look not only at the Department of Energy, but you look across the board at the other agencies, this, as Steve Isakowitz has said, is this is the first budget since the Eisenhower administration which has held flat. And we have a pledge to hold it flat for the next five years. So the priorities are laid out in this budget.
The fact that the Department of Energy has gotten a budget increase really reflects the deep commitment the president feels towards the part energy will be playing in winning the future, in actually creating jobs tomorrow and the following years, and making sure that the United States is going to be competitive as we go forward, and how important the energy sector is to that competition and you know, in part for the confidence he has that this department can carry that out.
There was another – yes?
Q: Hi. It's under fossil research and development. There's a number of programs in the – especially as regards to coal that have been sharply reduced or taken out entirely. And they get – all get the same reason. They say the decrease in funding represents a shift in focus towards technologies that have potential benefits towards both existing and new fossil fuel plants.
So what sort of technologies are, you know, being focused on?
SEC. CHU: So let me put it in context. We have just come over two years of recovery act, where a lot of money was invested in recovery act. That money has been invested in demonstrating technologies that have not been demonstrated at near-commercial scale, but where heavy private-sector partnership is involved.
Now, going forward, realizing the budget realities of what we are going forward, to – we're looking a lot at the technologies not that can be deployed today, but newer technologies that would totally change the landscape of how we can capture carbon at the stack instead of using amine or chilled ammonia, which are the present-day technologies that are now being piloted around the world and in the United States – a very different one where you might absorb the carbon dioxide in small particles, so when you release it you can take that away from the system – far less energy cost in releasing the particles.
In new separation techniques, if you want to go to oxyburn – oxyburn, you have to separate the oxygen from the air. Right now, that's done cryogenically – again, at great cost and great investment. Can you use novel nanotechnology membranes in order to do that? And so we're investing in things like that.
So a lot of the program now – and saying, okay, given the budget realities, what can we do going to the future? Because we are committed to driving down the costs of carbon capture and sequestration.
We are going to continue with the sequestration part of the program because that's also very important. We have to prove at a number of geological sites that it's going to be safe, and get the confidence of the American people that it can be stored safely and securely for very long periods of time.
So it's – again, it was a hard choice of what we decided we wanted to put an emphasis on. But we do remain committed that we have to drive down the costs of CCS. And we will drive down those costs. There's a lot of great ideas that I see out there.
Okay. One last question. And then – sorry to end. (Chuckles.)
Q: Yes. Could you give a little follow-up? You made a strong statement that the funding for environmental management in 2012 would be in full compliance. I was looking at the – at the figures, say, for Oak Ridge, and I think one was 401 million (dollars). I think the other was 384, I saw. And those don't seem to be very close to what would, based on earlier negotiations on the federal facility agreement there, would keep it in compliance. Can you speak to that?
SEC. CHU: Well, the details of whether it's 410 (million dollars) or 420, I think I'll let Inés talk about.
MS. TRIAY: What we have done is, we have been very efficient in terms to the recovery act funding associated with the Oak Ridge activities. So we have on the order of $90 million that we are going to work very closely with a state regulator, which added to the 400 million that we're requesting. We feel it's going to be sufficient to ensure compliance in Oak Ridge.
SEC. CHU: Actually, you should say, I'm going to pat her on the back a little bit. I think E.M. during the recovery act period has done amazing things. A lot of the things came ahead of – under budget and ahead of schedule. And so there was a little bit of leftover, okay? And we'll be glad to give you the details on that.
Q: Mr. Secretary, how is the Chrysler loan application affected by this budget? What is – do you have a status on that?
SEC. CHU: We're moving ahead with Chrysler. I don't think it's affected on that – by this budget. Okay, thank you.


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Going organic: Roger Hill helps O'Neill's Orchard make the transition
June 2, 2011 —
HONESDALE, PA — Weaning an apple orchard away from the synthetic products used to manage pests and disease is neither a fast nor an easy process. It's more like a labor of love and a work in progress. But orchardist Roger Hill is up to the task; orchard owner Dolores O'Neill has taken the necessary leap of faith, and they've spent the past four years working to prove it can be done.
Recently, participants in a program organized by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) toured O'Neill's Orchard in Honesdale to learn more about the process of replacing conventional orcharding practices with organic methods. O'Neill's orchard is part of a farm settled by her late husband Jim's great grandfather in 1842. Jim started the orchard as a hobby.
The tour was led by Hill, who has restored trees and orchards in the Upper Delaware Valley for more than a decade and brings the experience he gained while managing the certified Biodynamic orchard, vegetable gardens and medicinal herbs at the Himalayan Institute in Bethany, where he also taught soil remineralization and composting workshops for the organization's projects in India and Uganda.
Hill has been managing the O'Neill Orchard transition since 2008. The strategies for doing so are varied and require patience, fortitude and adaptability. The results require a willingness to accept imperfection as a sign of progress. "Getting off chemicals is tough when you're used to things looking nice," quipped Hill.
The process has included adopting a new pruning style that slows tree growth and builds structure while allowing enough air circulation to minimize diseases.
Pruning is an art, and much can be learned about the pruner by observing the trees. O'Neill said she has handed over the pruning to Hill, whose "calm and laid back" style is very different from her more "aggressive" pruning practices. "Neither is right or wrong," said O'Neill. "I see things I would have taken out. Sometimes I have to keep my hands in my pockets. But I'm very optimistic that it will work."
Weaning the orchard off chemical pesticides such as Glyphosate is another challenge. Hill suspects the cracked bark along the trees' upper surfaces is a reaction to the use of that popular chemical, which makes it easier for harmful organisms to attack the tree. "There are certain species of fungi being found now that are only associated with high Glyphosate use," Hill said. "The tree is compromised, much like humans are following a course of antibiotics."