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Pubic service announcements are the substitute teachers of the advertising industry. They start with good intentions, but the impossibility of their job quickly robs them of their will to change minds, or really to make any goddamn sense at all. We asked our readers to try to come up with PSAs even worse than the real thing. The winner is below, but first the runners-up ...
28Entry by garretthalstead
27Entry by Corey Vaspasiano
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Hazel@Hazel active sometime ago
This is a group set up for people interested in helping to develop the Occupy LSX social platform.
We try to help improve communications between different parts of Occupy London (working groups, camps and the GA) and between Occupy London and the public.
We do this in the following ways:
1) Working on […]
The Occupy Nomadic Camp in London… reaching out to the London Boroughs.
Our main task is to communicate between Occupy London and other movements, assemblies and occupations around the world. This includes following up and digesting information, news, invitations to meetings and […]
Core (essential) Activities:
Collects funding requests.
Produces list of requests.
Holds Finance GA.
Distributes funds according to GA decisions.
Liaises with bank account signatories to access […]

subset: commoncrawl


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Freedom New Mexico
As part of his mission in the New Mexico National Guard, Sgt. 1st Class Terry Stevens of Portales is in Louisiana with 400 other New Mexico guardsmen deployed to regions affected by Hurricane Gustav.
The Category 2 storm made landfall Sept. 1, causing flooding and wind damage to homes in the state, according to Stevens.
While areas such as Alexandria, La. — where the Clovis and Portales guardsmen are based — have regained electricity and running water, Stevens said there are still parts of the state without utilities.
"The further south you go, closer to the coast, the more damage (there is). Some of the people were expected to be without electricity for upwards of eight to 10 weeks, and that means no running water 'cause they have no power in their municipalities whatsoever," said Stevens, who has been with the National Guard for 16 years.
Stevens said about 40 national guardsmen from Portales and Clovis are presently providing security and distributing supplies to hurricane-struck areas, including Baton Rouge and Shreveport.
"We have everything from transportation assets, to infantry soldiers to help with patrols and guarding of high-opportunity targets and areas that are without electricity, down to running distribution point where they distribute (Meals Ready to Eat packages) and water and even food stamps to the people that are in need," he said.
He said guardsmen have trained for disaster relief as part of their mission. He said eastern New Mexico guardsmen served in Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans causing the levees to break.
Stevens, the full-time readiness noncommissioned officer for the Clovis National Guard, said he expects his unit to stay in the hurricane-battered state until the middle of the month.
"There's people from Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio," he said. "It's a big, big effort and we do our little slice of what needs to be done."


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Evidence-Based Legislation? Lessons From Abroad
President Obama appears to be refreshingly pro-science in his outlook, publicly lauding objectivity and careful analysis. He has even been credited with saying that "we need evidence-based legislation" in regards to public policy. The New York Times reports:
Agencies will be expected to pick science advisers based on expertise, not political ideology, the memorandum said, and will offer whistle-blower protections to employees who expose the misuse or suppression of scientific information.
The idea, the president said in remarks before an audience of lawmakers, scientists, patients advocates and patients in the East Room, is to ensure that "we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology": a line that drew more applause than any other.
But when it comes to healthcare reform, many policy decisions put us in uncharted territory, with intelligent arguments on both sides of many legislative options and no American historical frame of reference to help us determine the best course of action. In times like these, perhaps the best we can do (to promote "evidence-based legislation") is to study similar policy decisions made by our Canadian and European counterparts.
Posted in: Politics and RegulationLeave a Comment (72) →


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You can create new Office documents directly from OneDrive for Business.
Not sure where to create your document? See Should I save my documents to OneDrive for Business or a team site?
Here are the steps from the video:
Sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account at http://portal.office.com. For example, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, or email@example.com. If you're not sure what your work or school account is, check the welcome email message that asked you to sign in the first time.
Tip: If you're having trouble signing in, see How to sign in to Office 365.
At the top of the page, select the app launcher , and then select OneDrive.
Click New, and then choose the type of document you want to create.
The new document opens in the Office Online program you selected. For example, selecting Word document opens Word Online.
Tip: There's no save button, because the document is saved for you automatically.
To rename the document, click its name in the title bar, type the new name you want, and then press ENTER.
When you're done and you want to go back to where the file is saved, click your name, next to the file name.
(Or, click the back button in your browser to go back to where your document is saved. If you click Back, click refresh to see your new document in the file list.)
Tip: If you want access to all app features, you can switch to the full Office app. For example, in Word Online, click Open in Word to continue working on the document in Word.
Create a document from an Office desktop app
You can also start in an Office desktop app, such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and create and save a document straight to OneDrive for Business.
Start a document as usual in an Office desktop app (File > New, and pick a template).
When you're ready to save the document, click File > Save As > OneDrive - YourCompanyName. For example, OneDrive - Contoso.
Give the file a name, and then click Save.
Tips: If you don't see OneDrive - YourCompanyName, click Add a Place > Office 365 SharePoint. Then sign in to Office 365 with your work or school account.
Once you add OneDrive for Business as a place in one Office app, you can save files from all your Office apps.
If you're signed in to Office 365, and your subscription includes Office, you can install the latest version of the desktop apps. At the top of the page in Office 365, go to Settings > Office 365 Settings > Software.


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In downtown Worthington, Rivage Atlantique continues to establish itself as a prime source of fresh seafood, thanks in large part to a direct connection with East Coast fisheries.
Because the catches can vary from day to day, Rivage has a dynamic list of specials that can change accordingly.
But one event is predictable: every Wednesday is New Orleans night.
The shrimp-and-crab gumbo ($25.50) is a sumptuous array of large gulf shrimp, crab meat and andouille sausage cooked with an authentic brown roux. The roux thickens the crab-based broth and is flavored by the New Orleans seasoning "trinity" of bell pepper, celery and onion.
The body of the gumbo is provided by Carolina gold rice and thickened with a judicious amount of sliced okra.
Monkfish from the Gulf of Maine ($28) also features gold rice, cooked in what chef Rich Flagg calls "ya-ya style," with gumbolike seasoning. It has attractive herbal notes.
The monkfish has been strikingly fresh. A fillet is given a corn-flour breading and pan-seared just enough to develop flavors and cook the "poor man's lobster" through. It's served in slices along with asparagus and a slightly spicy sauce of sweet and hot peppers and tomato.
The longtime favorite Charlestown she-crab soup ($5) is as good as ever. Sherry flavor permeates the base that's rich with cream and crab roe, while kernels of corn provide savory flavor and a contrasting texture. A generous amount of crab meat provides flavor.
The new version of the beet salad ($9) is substantial, with large slices of yellow beet garnished with arugula leaves mixed with a citrusy olive oil. A large ball of goat cheese is decorated with almond slices, while a halved cherry tomato seems to have a garlic-infused seasoning.
The house bread is often made-from-scratch biscuits accompanied by a sweetened butter.
Flagg makes several desserts each day from scratch. His cheesecakes can include one made with peach and raspberry ($6). It is substantial yet delicate, and an excellent raspberry compote is folded in.


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05-29-2012 02:10 PM - edited 05-29-2012 02:16 PM
USDA has stricter criteria. You need to be purchasing in a USDA-eligible area, and your income has to be below a specific limit, according to the size of your family. See the rural development website for more. (rurdev.usda.gov)
In terms of qualifying credit scores, my mortgage broker explained it to me this way: There may be exceptions to minimum FICOs, but you want to avoid them if at all possible. It makes underwriting more difficult, and there's no guarantee of the mortgage going through. That said, you should be in good shape with:
620+ FHA (minimum 3.5% down payment)
640+ USDA* (no down payment, but a 2% guarantee fee that you can roll into principal)
660+ FHA 203(k), aka the home improvement mortgage. Borrow an amount based on house + repairs and finance renovations to a fixer-upper directly in mortgage. Also has 3.5% minimum down payment.
*This is for the usda guarantee mortgage (low-moderate income). There's also a usda direct mortgage program (w/ lower income limits). I don't qualify, so I didn't bother to learn much about it.
See also the stickied post by shane the mortgage man
You can buy more house with USDA because their are no limits on how big the loan can be.
I ran into this, I cant go FHA because the home costs too much. But I earn just a tad under the income limits for USDA with my deductions.
If I had enough money down to get into the FHA limits I could go conventional. But I dont have enough down at the monent to go conventional lol.
Some credit specialists are saying that you can get a usda approved at 590, some are saying 620 and others 640. Who's telling the truth.
Let say I'm a first buyer buying a house for 220k, I'm making about 44k yearly with a score 590-592-631. Can I get approved?
Just tell me the way it is please.
Keep in mind what lenders are telling for scores are usually the lenders min.. FHA for example is 580 with 3.5 % down and I believe even lower with more money down but most lenders won't go under 620 but a couple will so its not FHA or USDA..
I'm going through USDA Guaranteed right now...it's much more difficult if you have below a 640.
Thanks now, in my situation, the house I want costs 220K. I have one card which I'm making payment on. I've never been late since I own this card but I've had a tons of collections in the past. My last late payment occurred 4 years ago. In my credit report only 2 collections are showing outstanding.
Brighthouse $312
Medical $368
both were assigned in 2008, do you think I should pay these two and forget about the rest.?
One more thing, if i keep paying my only card and keep the balance as low as possible do you think in 4 months my credit score will reach 620 on EX and TU?
I think you should get 2 more credits and not pay off the collections unless they will delete.
2 more credits? I'm not following
Sorry typo, 2 more credit cards.
This will bring up your score the quickest. You need some tradelines reporting some good history to rebuild and get your scores moving.
After a good 6 months I think your score will move into the upper 600s, but only with the new credit cards.
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Dear Mr. Atwater: I've been recovering from alcohol and drug problems and in AA for three years, and I have been having some misunderstandings with my sponsor.
I have the type of job that changes a lot, and I'm separated from my wife of 12 years at her suggestion. Whenever I talk about these things and not about being sober, which I am, my sponsor says I'm whining and feeling sorry for myself. The others in the group seem to agree.
I feel like I need to talk about these "other things" to stay sober. I feel like I have taken responsibility for my role in the difficulties at work and at home, but I feel like I'm being taken advantage of at work and feel sad about the breakup of the marriage. How's that whining and self-pity?
Dear Reader: I'm glad you asked this question because I think there's a lot of confusion about this issue. My take on it is that whining has to do with the way you talk about something more than the subject matter. Whining has a subtle blaming quality and a distinctly nasal sound. It generally is repetitive and not connected with any particular action or behavior.
I think, however, that it is both healthy and recommended for you to talk openly about your feelings about the job as long as you are doing this in light of how you are behaving rather than what is being done to you. Whining is about "them," honesty is about you. My impatience tends to come up when people continue to talk about the outside events and what's being done to them rather than how they feel or how they are responding to the behavior (good or bad) of others.
Self-pity is another touchy subject. My thinking about self-pity is it is a feeling to be expressed rather than a behavior to be modified. I think self-pity has a bad name – that, somehow, any form of self-anything carries the threat of getting drunk. Subsequently, people are scared of this feeling and its expression and try to outlaw it from existence.
I don't think self-pity is a good place to hang out, but it's a place most people pass through, and they'll pass through quicker if they can express it and accept it as a natural part of their emotional life. I think sadness sometimes gets mistaken as self-pity, too.
It might help you to develop a better emotional vocabulary so your sponsor doesn't get confused about what you're trying to express.
• Richard Atwater is a licensed clinical professional counselor. He can reached by email at email@example.com.


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Maple Syrup Gingerbread Boy Bottle
Catch Me If You Can: I Am the Vermont Maple Syrup Gingerbread Man!
Maple Syrup Gingerbread Boy Bottle
Catch Me If You Can: I Am the Vermont Maple Syrup Gingerbread Man!
Add a sweet touch to your breakfast table: our glass gingerbread boy filled with pure Vermont grade A maple syrup. Vermont has the strictest laws in the country when it comes to purity and grading of our Vermont maple syrup. Makes a perfect stocking stuffer, teacher's gift, or hostess gift. 8.45 oz. bottle.
- Reusable glass jar shaped like a gingerbread man
- Vermont grade A maple syrup has no fillers, additives, or preservatives
- Vermont has the strictest laws in regards to maple syrup grades
Maple Syrup Gingerbread Boy Bottle
100% Pure Maple Syrup
100% Pure Maple Syrup
Store at room temperature
Shelf Life: 1 1/2 Years
|Nutritional Item
|% of Daily
|Serving Size 1/4 Cup
|Calorie 200
|Calories From Fat 0
|Total Fat
|0 g
|Saturated Fat
|0 g
|Trans Fat
|0 g
|0 g
|0 mg
|5 mg
|Total Carbohydrate
|53 g
|0 g
|53 g
|Vitamin A
|Vitamin C
|* Percentages are based on a 2000 calorie diet
Manufactured In: USA
Material - Country Of Origin: USA
Rated 5 out of 5Â by 15 reviewers.
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Timmy Unique Gift This bottle made the day on Christmas morning as a thoughtful gift. I bought several of them and everyone thought it was the most original gift they got in years! January 16, 2015
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Hudda Cute And Mapley I love to have pancakes and French toast on Christmas. This gingerbread boy syrup bottle is whimsical and adored by the family. December 27, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Jug Part of my Family!! My son and family live in Vt., and they also make Maple Syrup......I collect and decorate my kitchen with the gingerbread boy and girl. These were the first cookies I baked with my young grandchildren, from Ohio, so they still remember.......When I saw this gingerbread man filled with maple syrup, I just had to have him. He looks so happy, just like my son and family in California, He's really heavy, and very sturdy looking. Every time I look at him, I think of my family, that all live away from me. He'll always sit in my kitchen. Thanks Country Store!!!!! January 31, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Marmee Hutch So cute! Can't wait to give them to my young grandchildren. January 29, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Ollie's mom So cute! I gave four of these as Christmas gifts this year, and although I haven't tasted the syrup (which I am sure is great), I can say that the bottle itself is even cuter than it looks on the website. It is really just adorable and very sturdy and heavy, which makes it even more appealing. All who received this were delighted with the gift. January 5, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Patio Gardener Will be ordering more I had been wanting to try some of The Vermont Country Store's maple syrup, so when these gingerbread men went on sale at Christmas time I ordered several as gifts. I kept one for myself and tried it the day they arrived. It is so good, better than I imagined! The flavor is sublime. The people I gave them to as gifts are starting to report back to me too, about how delicious is it. I will never go back to supermarket syrup. December 26, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Delighted in Florida He delighted some family members on Christmas day I gave a couple of these Gingerbread Boy syrup bottles to family members for Christmas (yesterday). They thought he was adorable and were delighted to have him. I'm sure the maple syrup will be delicious and have every expectation to receive more comments about that once they've had a chance to whip up some pancakes and try it out. The bottles are sturdy and so they can be stood upright on the table without fear of being easily knocked over. His little Santa cap really adds that special touch. December 26, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5Â by Moonfloweer Catch the Gingerbread Man!!! Fell in love with the Gingerbread Man Maple Syrup. Great fun for the younger ones and for stories from the older ones while you serve up pancakes, french toast or waffles......Refill the bottle for continued use and of course, continue using the Vermont Maple Syrup!! It's great!! January 23, 2013


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Not really in fairnessFebruary 11,2013
Not really in fairness
The Vermont Senate is about to pass out a bill that would require public sector employees who decline to become dues paying members of the Union to pay the union what they refer to as fair share fees. The arguments in support of these fees are strong: the union negotiates benefits and enforces compliance with the contract on behalf of all employees whether they are members or not; therefore all employees should bear their proportionate cost of representation. As it stands now, the employees who join the union and pay dues have borne all the costs of representation, while others have simply enjoyed the benefits at no cost.
The problem I see with the Fair Share bill, so-called, is that it does nothing to relieve dues-paying union members of some of the financial burden they currently carry, but merely provides public sector unions with a windfall of revenue from the paychecks of non-members.
If fairness is really the issue (one never knows), I have a suggestion. The money being raised now from the dues of union members is clearly adequate to support Union activities, as evidenced by the effectiveness and political clout of VT-NEA and other public sector unions in Vermont. Legislation which requires non Union members to pay their fair share of the cost of representation should also mandate that the unions who receive these revenues concurrently reduce the dues being paid now by union members by the same amount of new revenue collected from non-members. Fairness requires that the union members who have been paying too much all these years (because non-members received services but did not contribute) receive a reduction in their union dues. Otherwise, this bill is really nothing more than a massive financial windfall for public sector unions which will further distort the balance of power between the unions and Vermont municipalities and school boards.
As a matter of transparency, I negotiate collective bargaining agreements on behalf of numerous municipalities and school boards. Several of my clients have agency fee provisions in their contracts, several do not.
Scott Cameron
MontpelierMORE IN LettersA sixth-offense DUI gets plead down to a misdemeanor. A breathalyzer is refused. Full StoryBurr Morses recollection (Whats good for the goose, Nov. Full StoryMSNBC news analyst Rachel Maddows report on the election of Republican Rutherford B. Full Story
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Baby Bathing: Time to Sleep
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Baby Bathing: Time to Sleep
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Follow the arrows to get this baby ready for bed. Click on decorations around the room to change the look and feel of each area—and the baby!
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September 19, 2012 —
On the issue of fracking, where agreements about facts are scarce, there is never a shortage of passion and emotion.
So let's look at this fact: 557, as in 557 adult signatures on a petition to ban hydrofracking that was presented to the Cochecton Town Board. The petition drive was conducted by the anti-fracking group Keep Cochecton Green (KCG), who went door to door to each occupied residence. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the population of Cochecton is 1,372 people.
What that number 557 means varies among residents. For instance, town supervisor Gary Maas, who remains neutral on the matter while waiting for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to hand down its new regulations, had this to say about the petition, "It's impressive. 550. That's a good number. That's a big number."
Resident Alan Rubin, who presented the petition on behalf of KCG, viewed 557 like this, "The petition shows the town people in favor of a ban on high-impact industry are in the overwhelming majority," claiming 557 is twice as many names as a competing pro-fracking petition going around.
Pro-fracking resident Peter Grosser, views 557 with caution. "They are very passionate about what they are espousing. But I think it's a doomsday effect that everything is going to be contaminated that they are going for," which he says could have influenced how people feel about the issue.
A new Quinnipiac poll released last week shows New Yorkers as a whole approve of fracking 45% to 41%, with the margin widening upstate, 48% to 40%.
The pending DEC hydrofracking regulations are a key factor in whether the board should delay or hasten to vote on the matter. KCG wants the board to vote on the issue now, fearing that upon receiving the new regulations Governor Andrew Cuomo will approve fracking in the state, with no further public discourse, making it harder for towns to control what happens within their borders. Rubin said to the board, "If you say no, you can change your mind later; but you won't be able to change a yes to a no."
Then there's the trust issue. "The DEC has neither the manpower nor the will to protect us or the integrity of our communities," Rubin said.
Councilperson Larry Richardson shared his own personal story about a hazardous waste landfill the DEC was monitoring. As part of the Upper Delaware Council (UDC), Richardson was privy to reports the DEC agreed to send to the UDC for monitoring purposes. When the reports stopped arriving, the UDC contacted the DEC, "and the DEC said there's no money. So the monitoring stopped."
In response to a request by the town for a timetable on the regulations, Maas read a letter from Senator John Bonacic's office stating the governor has made it clear he will not put pressure on the DEC to expedite the process.
Maas said, "We should trust them [DEC] to some degree to make it right and make it safe for everybody. I think they have been somewhat responsible by not rushing it, unlike in PA. Maybe they do have a good plan."
"There are new technologies that are being developed day by day. I really believe it can be done safely. I truly believe that," says Grosser.
Five hundred and fifty-seven residents seem to disagree. Maas is contemplating putting the issue on the agenda to discuss again next month.


text:
Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA; Frode Forland, MD, DPH; Fergus Macbeth, MD; Günter Ollenschläger, MD, PharmD, PhD; Sue Phillips, PhD; Philip van der Wees, PhD, PT; for the Board of Trustees of the Guidelines International Network
Disclaimer: The 2010–2011 G-I-N board of trustees is responsible for the content of this article. This article does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the membership of G-I-N.
Acknowledgment: The authors thank the 2010–2011 G-I-N board of trustees.
Financial Support: From G-I-N's operating budget.
Potential Conflicts of Interest: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M11-2693.
Requests for Single Reprints: Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA, American College of Physicians, 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106; e-mail, mailto:firstname.lastname@example.com.
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Qaseem: American College of Physicians, 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
Dr. Forland: KIT Biomedical Research, Meibergdreef 39, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Dr. Macbeth: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, MidCity Place, 71 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NA, United Kingdom.
Dr. Ollenschläger: Ärztliches Zentrum für Qualität in der Medizin, Tiergarten Tower, Straße des 17, Juni 106-108, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
Dr. Phillips: National Health and Medical Research Council, GPO Box 4530, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.
Dr. van der Wees: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115-5899.
Author Contributions: Conception and design: A. Qaseem, F. Forland, F. Macbeth, P. van der Wees.
Analysis and interpretation of the data: A. Qaseem, F. Forland, P. van der Wees.
Drafting of the article: A. Qaseem, F. Forland, F. Macbeth, S. Phillips, P. van der Wees.
Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: A. Qaseem, F. Forland, F. Macbeth, G. Ollenschläger, S. Phillips, P. van der Wees.
Final approval of the article: A. Qaseem, F. Forland, F. Macbeth, G. Ollenschläger, S. Phillips, P. van der Wees.
Administrative, technical, or logistic support: A. Qaseem.
Collection and assembly of data: A. Qaseem.
* For a list of members of the board of trustees of the Guidelines International Network, see the Appendix.
Qaseem A, Forland F, Macbeth F, Ollenschläger G, Phillips S, van der Wees P, et al. Guidelines International Network: Toward International Standards for Clinical Practice Guidelines. Ann Intern Med. 2012;156:525-531. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-156-7-201204030-00009
Download citation file:
© 2016
Published: Ann Intern Med. 2012;156(7):525-531.
Reader Survey: Are standards needed for clinical guideline development? http://www.annals.org/content/156/7/525/suppl/DC1 Tell us what you think.
Guideline development processes vary substantially, and many guidelines do not meet basic quality criteria. Standards for guideline development can help organizations ensure that recommendations are evidence-based and can help users identify high-quality guidelines. Such organizations as the U.S. Institute of Medicine and the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have developed recommendations to define trustworthy guidelines within their locales. Many groups charged with guideline development find the lengthy list of standards developed by such organizations to be aspirational but infeasible to follow in entirety.
Founded in 2002, the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) is a network of guideline developers that includes 93 organizations and 89 individual members representing 46 countries. The G-I-N board of trustees recognized the importance of guideline development processes that are both rigorous and feasible even for modestly funded groups to implement and initiated an effort toward consensus about minimum standards for high-quality guidelines. In contrast to other existing standards for guideline development at national or local levels, the key components proposed by G-I-N will represent the consensus of an international, multidisciplinary group of active guideline developers.
This article presents G-I-N's proposed set of key components for guideline development. These key components address panel composition, decision-making process, conflicts of interest, guideline objective, development methods, evidence review, basis of recommendations, ratings of evidence and recommendations, guideline review, updating processes, and funding. It is hoped that this article promotes discussion and eventual agreement on a set of international standards for guideline development.
The health care profession relies heavily on the translation of evidence into clinical practice guidelines (1). The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines clinical practice guidelines as "statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care that are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options" (2). Over recent decades, the number of guidelines developed by government and private organizations worldwide has increased exponentially. Clinicians, patients, and other stakeholders struggle with numerous and sometimes contradictory guidelines of variable quality (3).
Development of guidelines within coordinated programs can facilitate meeting quality standards by enabling the efficient sharing of resources and expertise (4). International collaboration offers additional opportunities to enhance guideline development (4). Standards for guideline development can help organizations assure that recommendations are evidence-based and can help users identify high-quality guidelines. Although the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) instrument does not explicitly set standards for guideline development, it is a valuable tool to evaluate the process of practice guideline development (4).
Several groups, such as the IOM (2), World Health Organization (5), National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (6), Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (7), National Health and Medical Research Council (8), many medical societies (9–15), and others (16–24), have proposed standards for guideline developers. Of note, the IOM's recent reports identifying criteria for trustworthy clinical practice guidelines and systematic reviews (2, 25) have received both praise and criticism. Much of the concern about the IOM's criteria centers on the feasibility of implementing the long list of criteria and the applicability to diverse settings (26).
Founded in 2002, the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) (www.g-i-n.net) is a network of guideline developers composed of 93 organizations and 89 individual members representing 46 countries (as of January 2012) (27). Its online library currently comprises more than 7400 documents, including 3636 guidelines, with a wide range of variation in quality. The Guidelines International Network understands the critical need to minimize the quality differences among guidelines and to promote the development of trustworthy guidelines. In response to calls for international standards to help develop and appraise clinical guidelines (19, 28–30), the G-I-N board of trustees reviewed the current literature and used a consensus process to propose a set of key components for guideline development. The intent is to initiate global discussion and consensus about minimal standards for guideline development.
The G-I-N board of trustees includes clinicians and guideline developers with specific skills in evidence-based medicine and guideline development and implementation. The board represents diverse geographic locales, including North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The authors of this article are members of the G-I-N board of trustees who were not selected to represent particular organizations.
A search of PubMed, Web sites of organizations that develop guidelines, Google, and Google Scholar identified relevant manuals, protocols, and published articles about guideline development (2, 4–7, 9–25, 27–115). We searched reference lists of identified publications and documents for further sources of information. We applied no language restriction and searched through October 2011.
We identified components of guideline development critical to the development of high-quality guidelines. We also considered practical issues related to incorporating these key components into the guideline development process, as well as issues related to implementation and global adaptation. Only components for guideline development that were deemed essential were used to generate the list of key elements described in this article. We selected the key components by informal consensus, and the article was presented to the full G-I-N board of trustees for approval. Because the purpose of this article is to present components to initiate a debate for the future revision or development of standards for guideline development, we considered using an informal approach to allow inclusion of different perspectives and opinions.
Development of clinical guidelines involves several steps that can each be executed with differing degrees of rigor. We believe that the following 11 key components are important minimal criteria for high-quality guidelines. The Table presents an overview of the criteria. The Guidelines International Network recommends that guideline developers strive to meet these criteria and recognize that adaptation to local circumstances may be necessary and appropriate. Guideline development organizations should specify how they put each of these key components into effect in documents that detail their methods for guideline development.
Table. Key Components of High-Quality and Trustworthy Guidelines
A guideline development panel should include diverse and relevant stakeholders, such as health professionals, methodologists, experts on a topic, and patients or other health care consumers.
The guideline development group is responsible for reviewing the evidence, translating it into practice recommendations, writing the guideline, and assuring that the recommendations are not biased by being based on factors other than the best available scientific evidence. Groups without multidisciplinary membership can have been associated with recommendations that are not evidence-based (53, 72, 75, 80, 102). Thus, guideline development groups should include diverse stakeholders, such as health professionals; content experts; methodologists with skills in evidence appraisal and synthesis; and, ideally, health care consumers and health economists.
A dysfunctional group may also yield unreliable recommendations (90). Therefore, an effective and neutral chair should lead the group to ensure balanced contributions from all members. The primary role of the chair is to facilitate discussion and consensus. The chair should have general knowledge of the topic but does not need be a topic expert. In fact, a chair with topic expertise creates the risk that the chair's preconceived opinions could bias deliberations.
The size of the guideline development group is also important. Large groups may be difficult to manage, and small groups may lack relevant stakeholders. Although no good evidence supports the appropriate size of the guideline development group (2), our experience suggests that guideline panels of 10 to 20 persons usually work well.
Whether and how to best involve health care consumers in the guideline development process is a topic of debate (77, 84, 98, 116). Consumers' views about the quality of life experienced with different medical conditions and interventions can be valuable (77). However, lack of training in evidence-based medicine and limited scientific literacy can hinder an evidence-based process. If consumers are included as voting members of guideline panels, consumers may need training and support to fulfill their role. To help understand how to effectively include patients in the guideline development process, G-I-N PUBLIC (www.g-i-n.net/activities/gin-public) was formed to develop strategies to aid guideline developers to effectively engage patients, consumers, and their families.
A guideline should describe the process used to reach consensus among the panel members and, if applicable, approval by the sponsoring organization. This process should be established before the start of guideline development.
Guideline development, even when evidence-based, is a process that involves group consensus. Consensus is required to select and interpret evidence, translate evidence into recommendations, and determine how to handle situations when evidence is lacking to answer important clinical questions. Although some countries and organizations use formal consensus processes, many organizations use informal processes.
Examples of formal processes include the nominal group technique, Delphi, or formal balloting (50, 52, 109). "Informal process" means using no structured methods to come to a consensus. Formal methods have been shown to result in a less biased and more evidence-based process than informal methods (72, 80, 100). Regardless of the process, the guideline should clearly define a quorum and document the consensus process (50, 52, 109).
A guideline should include disclosure of the financial and nonfinancial conflicts of interest for members of the guideline development group. The guideline should also describe how any identified conflicts were recorded and resolved.
Conflict of interest (COI) disclosure and management policies of various guideline developing organizations vary widely (2). Conflicts of interest are "a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgment or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by secondary interest" (117). Members of a guideline development group should disclose any personal or household financial and nonfinancial COI relationships related to the guideline topic. If a member or someone in the member's household has a relevant potential financial, nonfinancial, professional, or other personal gain or loss associated with the topic of a guideline, any such conflicts should be disclosed and clearly stated in a guideline document.
Financial COI includes ownership of stocks or shares, paid employment or consultancy, paid board memberships, patent applications, research grants (from any source, whether restricted or unrestricted), honoraria, and gifts. Nonfinancial COI includes leadership or board or committee memberships, involvement with an advocacy group that may gain from a guideline, writing or consulting for an educational company, or having personal convictions (political, religious, ideological, or other) related to the guideline topic that may interfere with an unbiased evidence review or recommendation process. The guideline development group and sponsoring organization must actively and transparently manage COIs by assessing the level of risk and, if necessary, excluding the member with the COI from relevant discussions and decisions.
A guideline should specify its objective(s) and scope.
Guidelines should clearly state their objectives and the key questions that they address. The scope includes diagnostic criteria, benefits and harms of various treatment options, key outcomes that have been evaluated, target patient population, and intended users of the guideline (62, 101).
A guideline should clearly describe the methods used for the guideline development in detail.
A clear description of the development process should accompany all guidelines, either within the guideline document or in a separate, referenced document (118). The description of guideline development methods should reflect the key components as presented in this article and includes the process for choosing group members and a chair, methods of reviewing evidence, the process that the group used to deliberate about the evidence and formulate recommendations, dissemination and implementation of the guideline, and any pertinent review or approval processes.
Guideline developers should use systematic evidence review methods to identify and evaluate evidence related to the guideline topic.
Most experts agree that trustworthy guidelines are based on high-quality systematic reviews of evidence (2, 51, 103, 119). Systematic reviews use rigorous methods to identify clinical questions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and methods for rating the quality of available evidence. The Guidelines International Network has developed templates for summarizing studies addressing diagnostic and intervention questions, and templates for prognostic studies and health economics assessments are under development (22). There are papers, including the recent IOM report, that describe the standards for a good systematic review in detail (25, 120).
A guideline recommendation should be clearly stated and based on scientific evidence of benefits; harms; and, if possible, costs.
Guideline recommendations should be clear, evidence-based statements that aim to provide guideline users with clear directions for effective delivery of care. The recommendations should be supported by careful consideration of evidence; quantification of the magnitude of benefits and harms, as well as costs when possible; resource and feasibility issues; implementation considerations; patient and caregiver preferences and concerns; and ethical and legal matters. Recommendations related to interventions should use unambiguous, active language that reflects the strength of the evidence. A recommendation should be actionable and use the active voice (121). Guideline developers should aim to use such terms as "should" or "recommend" and to avoid using such vague words and phrases as "may," "can," or "consider," unless real uncertainty exists about the evidence effectiveness, because these terms are not helpful for practical implementation (122).
A guideline should use a rating system to communicate the quality and reliability of both the evidence and the strength of its recommendations.
Guideline developers should synthesize and grade evidence by using a standardized approach. The strength of recommendations should be assigned on the basis of evaluation of the evidence, benefits and harms, consistency, clinical effect, and generalizability and applicability, as well as patient preferences. Clear identification of the quality of evidence helps, and strength of clinical recommendations increases the trustworthiness and improves the implementation of clinical guidelines (32, 43, 76). Several grading systems are currently available, including the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system, which is increasingly being adopted by guideline developers worldwide (34, 66).
Review by external stakeholders should be conducted before guideline publication.
Guidelines should be reviewed by stakeholders external to the guideline group before publication. Reviewers may include outside experts, representatives of the sponsoring organization, and members of the public (4, 101, 105). The review should include not only content-related review but also methodological review of both the evidence report and the guideline. When selecting peer reviewers, it is important to consider those who are more likely to provide comments based on scientific and clinical knowledge rather than unsubstantiated views (101). A summary of the external review process should accompany a guideline.
A guideline should include an expiration date and/or describe the process that the guideline groups will use to update recommendations.
Guidelines become outdated at different rates depending on the availability of new evidence. Therefore, it is important to identify the expiration date of a guideline, as well as an update process, if planned. Developers should prospectively determine whether and when they will update a guideline or when it should be considered inactive if an update is not performed.
A guideline should disclose financial support for the development of both the evidence review as well as the guideline recommendations.
Guidelines should identify the sponsoring organization and its role in the development of a clinical guideline. In addition, any honoraria or financial support provided to the authors of a guideline should also be fully disclosed.
The Guidelines International Network's goal in proposing these minimum standards is to promote the development of high-quality guidelines that serve patients well. As a central repository for all clinical guidelines of our member organizations, it is critical for G-I-N to ensure that our members consider our guidelines library as a trustworthy and valuable resource. We currently do not require guidelines to meet our proposed minimum criteria in order to be listed in our library. However, the proposed key components presented in this article should help guideline developers and users assess the strengths and weaknesses of a guideline and thus clearly indicate which guidelines can be considered trustworthy.
We hope that this article will promote discussion and possible agreement among a broad array of guideline developers, although we recognize that small variations at the local level may be inevitable and appropriate. The Guidelines International Network provides a platform for international discussion and will use the organization's infrastructure to promote discussion among our members toward globally endorsed minimum standards for guideline development.
Jako Burgers (the Netherlands), Dave Davis (United States), Frode Forland (Norway), Minna Kaila (Finland), Fergus Macbeth (United Kingdom), Günter Ollenschläger (Germany), Sue Phillips (Australia), Keng Ho Pwee (Singapore), Amir Qaseem (United States), Rosa Rico (Spain), Jean Slutsky (United States), Sara Twaddle (United Kingdom), and Philip van der Wees (Netherlands).
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6-2-09 PNC Park
Today was the Mets' second of four games in Pittsburgh, and my second attempt at getting a commemorative ball.
I got to the gates a little after 4 PM and was second in line. When the gates opened, I jogged into the bleachers and was the first one there. I saw a ball as I entered one of the sections. I quickly ran down and grabbed ball #1, as other ballhawks were right behind me. Much to my surprise…
it was a Shea Stadium commemorative ball from last year. Nice! I still would've rather had a Citi Field ball, but I'll take it.
Moments later as I moved towards the foul pole, I found ball #2. Finding two Easter eggs is an awesome start, usually there aren't any.
Ball #3 came from Tony Beasley. He made sure that all of the regular ballhawks got a ball today. What a good guy.
When the Mets came out to hit, there weren't many pitchers shagging in the outfield. A ball was hit to the 410 sign in center field. It was very glove "trickable." I started to make my way over to get the ball. Just as I got to the bullpen, a deep ball was hit right at me. Mike Pelfrey ran back and made the snag. I thought, "Great. He's going to pick up that ball too." Luckily, Pelfrey didn't see it, and walked back to center field. Moments later, I reeled up ball #4.
I went back towards the foul pole when a fellow ballhawk and PNC Park regular, Dan, pointed out another ball to me. It must have rolled to the 410 sign when I was walking back to my spot. I went over and reeled in ball #5 after one failed attempt. I think I will need a new rubber band soon. The one I have might be getting to stretched out.
In the middle of the Mets batting practice, Gary Sheffield launched a deep home run to my left. I could tell it was a bomb, so rather than positioning myself in line with the ball, I ran back to the cross aisle that seperates the lower bleachers from the upper deck bleachers. The ball hit in the cross aisle and rolled partly under the overhang of the upper level bleachers. I reached down and gloved ball #6.
I made a huge mistake by heading over to center field for the last group. The final group taking batting practice was predominently left handed, so I figured I'd have a better shot. There was only one right handed batter.
Check out how empty batting practice was. There aren't many people in the left field bleachers.
Within minutes, he was surrounded by security guards. A man in a suit came out with a clipboard and the negotiating began. It lasted about an inning. I'm not sure what the kid asked for, but there were about 4 things written down on the sheet of paper on the clip board.
It got me thinking what I would ask for if I had caught the home run. I decided that I'd ask for a game ball signed by Jaramillo, the chance to deliver the ball to him in person, and his word that he'd toss me 1 ball at any batting practice I attended (if he was in the outfield and I asked for one.)
Later in the game, I was getting
thirsty. I decided to go fill up my water bottle. As I was passing this Nacho Express stand, something caught my eye.
Yes, you guessed it. Another Easter Egg.
I had to almost lay on the ground to get that picture. I had to reach around the side of the stand to get ball #8. People probably thought I was a big weirdo for laying on the ground and reaching under a Nacho Express stand, but when they saw I pulled a ball out, I saw a few surprised faces.
I went back to center field in the ninth inning to try and get Nate's warm up ball. His throw hit some guys arm, richoted right in front of me, but I wasn't ready and misplayed it. Some one picked the ball up 2 rows ahead of me.
I then headed to the dugout. I had to run half of the way there, because Matt Capps got 3 quick outs. I just barely made it to the dugout as umpire Ted Barrett was coming off the field, but was in a terrible spot, off to the side of the tunnel. He gave two balls away, but not to me.
That was it for today.
When I arrived home I had this waiting for me:
I had been waiting all day for it, since I was off work today, but it didn't arrive until after I left for the Pirate game. It was my Super Deluxe copy of Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, Dave Matthews Band's new album.
The CD was released today, and I had ordered it off of the Warehouse (fan club) so I could get some bonus items.
I spent the rest of my night looking through the booklets and watching the DVD. I didn't listen to the CD the whole way through until the next day because I wanted to blast it, and it was too late to do that. I'd reccommend picking it up at Target or Best Buy for $9.99 this week. It's their best album since 1998. Seriously.
Today's baseballs:
The sweet spots:
Game: 8 Balls (4 hit, 2 thrown, 2 device)
Season: 151 Balls (67 hit, 62 thrown, 22 device)
Games: 30 Games (26 with BP/4 without)
Average: 5.03 Balls Per Game
Career: 317 Balls
Attendance: 10,459
4 Comments
No more Nate McLouth warmup balls. He's been traded to the Braves.
So, Busted Stuff wasn't good enough for you, Erik? Jeez! That entire set-list had me groovin' when I first picked up a copy. Still does, but now that I know Best Buy is carrying it for $10, I'll be making a visit today. Good snagging day today man! Sorry about the lack of the Citi Field commemorative as of yet, but once you snag one (knock on wood), take a detailed look at the lopsided-ness of the logo and compare it to the beauty of the Shea Stadium Final Season commemorative. Still, being a Mets fan, I'm not too fond about it at all.
– Donnie
I love Busted Stuff. My favorite song of all time, Grey Street is on it. However, as you may know, those songs were all just re-done from the Lillywhite Sessions. They really weren't new to me when the album came out. I'd been listening to those songs since 2000. Everyday was a disappointment for me, and so was Stand Up. Big Whiskey gives me some hope that the band is back.
As for the Citi Field balls, I've heard that they're not that great, but I still just want to get one. I may make a trip to Citi Field soon, or possibly a Mets game at another venue.
Gotta love Dave Matthews Band. I agree, this new album is seriously awesome.


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Most retweeted tweets
Published On: Dec 13 2013 12:28:00 PM CST Updated On: Mar 03 2014 10:11:10 AM CST
Move over, President Barack Obama -- Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres now holds the record for the most shared tweet of all time. Take a look at the top retweeted tweets through the years.
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Special Education
- Overview
- Course Information
- Tuition
- Benefits
Special education is a unique field where leadership skills are a necessary part of everyday teaching. The Bachelor's Degree in Special Education (BEd) courses focus on the special needs of students, and related laws and requirements. NCU's partnership with Rio Salado College (RSC) will allow you to make a seamless transition into courses at NCU to complete your degree. You will complete ten NCU courses that will enhance your knowledge, competency and professional skills sets needed to excel in working with special needs students in the special education environment.
BEd Degree Completion Program
The Northcentral University Bachelor of Education program of study is an undergraduate articulation program designed for Rio Salado College (RSC) students interested in completing the degree work for the teaching profession in three specific specializations: elementary education, secondary education and special education.
Rio Salado College sponsors 39 credit hours in general education subjects and 51 credit hours in teacher preparation courses. The 90 credit hours from RSC are accepted as a block transfer to Northcentral University, which will only accept a maximum of 90 lower and upper division semester credit hours toward the bachelor's degree coursework completed at RSC with a grade of "C" or better. The BEd partnership program requires the successful completion of 30 credits at Northcentral University for a total of 120 credit hours.
The BEd transfer students come to Northcentral University with academic coursework in elementary education, secondary education and special education and continue to study within those three distinct areas while at Northcentral. Their NCU specialization will be geared towards their specific field of elementary education, secondary education or special education. Each course in the 10 course program is identified by a letter following the course number (A for Elementary Education, B for Secondary Education, and C for Special Education). The course content in each specialization has similar information focused on general leadership principles but is geared specifically for the different fields.
See below for specialization courses specific to this program. To learn more, fill out the request information form below or view the course catalog.
Course Code
Course Description
Dynamics of Schooling in Special Education
This course uses critical thinking exercises to examine research-based instructional practices and procedures that teachers use to guide classroom activities designed to maximize and enhance student achievement. Students will develop an awareness of instructional strategies that shape effective classroom pedagogy and have a profound influence on students, including differentiated instruction, teaching English Language Learners, and using technology and web resources in instruction. Students will also evaluate instructional strategies as well as the effects of standards, professional development, and licensure on teacher effectiveness.
Foundations of School Leadership in Special Education
ED4001C has been designed to introduce students to the field of educational leadership. Its purpose is to assist prospective educational leaders to understand the philosophical, historical, and organizational underpinnings of educational leadership. The course provides students with a theoretical base on which to develop sound practical applications in the educational leadership tasks of communicating, planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating strategies designed to develop effective learning communities. Further, it prepares the students to understand and choose the most effective leadership, motivational, and decision-making strategies for the educational environment in which the student is engaged.
The Role of Teacher Leadership in Special Education
ED4002B provides opportunities for students to investigate the implications of the leadership roles that teachers play as educators. As students explore various aspects of teacher leadership, including the roles of teacher leaders, leadership in effective secondary schools, supporters of optimal school cultures, and teacher initiatives, they will consider ways to implement and evaluate change in their classrooms and their schools.
Instructional Paradigms and Technology in Special Education
This focus of this course is threefold: 1) the student will examine the integration of technology in content-area instruction, 2) the student will investigate how authentic technology-supported student projects can be used in the classroom, and 3) the student will explore how technology can be used to support a cognitive approach to learning. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE REQUIRES FIELD EXPERIENCE.
Assessment of Student Learning in Special Education
In this course, students will examine the foundations of assessment for student learning and explore the underlying principles of how assessments can enhance the learning process. Students investigate the underpinnings of assessments to improve their own teaching practice. This course is designed to present issues, ideas, and strategies pertaining to assessment and learning that align with current educational practices. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE REQUIRES FIELD EXPERIENCE.
School and Family Partnerships in Special Education
This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the scope and magnitude of collaborative relationships with their students' families. Students will have the opportunity to examine case studies of typical families and teachers, and descriptions of real, family-centered programs. The case studies portray the challenges and successes teachers can expect. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own personal attitudes and experiences. With an emphasis not only on the theoretical approach, but also the practical approach, the student will gain the knowledge to employ suggested strategies for success.
Safe Schools in Special Education
ED4006C is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the scope and magnitude of school safety and violence prevention measures in schools and classrooms for special education. Students will have the opportunity to examine effective school-based intervention strategies and levels of prevention, link interventions to assessment results, as well as monitor changes during intervention. Students will also examine social validity components as they relate to intervention procedures. Students will investigate practical and strategic plans to address traumatic events and how they relate to safe schools.
The School as Learning Community in Special Education
The learning community paradigm is central to the development of improved pedagogy. Learning communities are effective models for improving schools and increasing student achievement. Professional development, collaborative groups, shared leadership, professional portfolios, and classroom evaluation all play a role in the design of a learning community. Once established, learning communities require work to sustain their value to the school.
Teaching as Reflective Practice in Special Education
Reflection is a critical process that informs decision making and involves experience, research, discussion, and implementation. Teachers who use reflective practice are committed to continuous learning and improvement. This course will provide the student with an overview of the reflective thinking process and model, and will invite the student to reflect on personal characteristics and skills in preparation for providing effective professional growth, teaching methods, classroom strategies, and student learning.
Educational Change Processes in Special Education
This course examines educational change and its implications and consequences for teachers and others involved in elementary education. Students will examine the change processes and understand the role teachers play in initiating, implementing or resisting educational change and reform. Participants will explore the key strategies and challenges of the change process in educational institutions and in organizations.
At Northcentral University, we pride ourselves in being completely transparent when it comes to tuition and fees. We have adopted an all-inclusive tuition model that gives you the cost of your Bachelor of Education Degree Completion tuition and fees in one flat program rate*. The only additional cost above your BEd program rate is books. Learn more about the NCU's BEd costs below:
- Per credit cost: $432
- Per 3 credit course cost: $1,296*
- Program cost: $13,310*
*There is a $75 placement fee for each of the field experience courses (ED4003-A, -B, and -C, and ED4004-A, -B, and -C) in the BEd program administered jointly with Rio Salado College. The fee is added to each of the respective course's tuition. However, students in this program may be eligible for a tuition reduction; consult your Enrollment Advisor for more information.
- Average Book cost per course: $110
- Application Fee: $0
- Learning Management Fee (one-time per program): $350
- Registration Fee: $0
Click here to learn more about payment and financing options.
*Program rates are subject to change and generally increase at the start of each calendar year.
Total program costs reflected are calculated based on standard degree program credits exclusive of the program's potential evaluation track. The actual cost of program is determined on the program and track student enters, transfer credits if any and other unique student factors. For more information: please contact Admissions or refer to the catalog.
If there's one thing we've learned about our students, it's that they are motivated and ambitious—but they are also busy! At Northcentral University, we've designed our education experience to work with you, not against you, so you can achieve your academic goals without sacrificing the quality, flexibility and support you need to be successful.
- Regionally Accredited
- No Physical Residency Requirements
- One-to-One Teaching
- 100% Doctoral Faculty
- Flexibility of Online Learning
- University Resources
To learn more, request information or call 1-866-776-0331 to speak with an enrollment advisor today. We offer new courses every Monday of the year so you can get started when it's best for you.


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"Thank you for the work that you do. This March will mark my third year back in the Catholic Church. By God's grace, he brought me back using Catholic Answers Live and EWTN. I will be forever grateful."
"I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile."


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Survey the risks of ignoring the survey
- published_in
- Guest Column
Boring, right?
However, particularly in transactions involving high-value vacant, commercial or even residential properties, the importance of the survey provisions should not be underestimated. Buyers and sellers of real estate who lack proper surveys can face unfortunate, avoidable and costly surprises, far exceeding the relatively small cost of the survey.
One example of such a costly surprise, involving property in Rhode Island, has been in the national news recently. In that case, the Rose Nulman Park Foundation owned a 4.5-acre parcel of oceanfront land which, by agreement, was required to remain an open-space park. A developer owned two adjacent oceanfront parcels, one of which abutted the Foundation's parcel.
The developer, ironically named Four Twenty Corp. (FTC), failed to survey the boundary between its parcel and the Foundation's parcel before completing construction of a home in 2011. FTC then entered into a purchase and sale agreement to sell the improved property for $1.9 million.
The cautious prospective buyer arranged for a survey. The survey revealed that FTC's newly built home encroached upon the Foundation's property. Ordinarily, such encroachments are relatively slight (such as a fence, some landscaping, or the edge of an improvement across the boundary line); that was not the case in this instance. The survey revealed that the entire home built by FTC was on the Foundation's property. The total encroachment was about 13,000 square feet, or three-tenths of an acre. The buyer terminated the purchase agreement.
Thereafter, the Foundation, bound by the open-space agreement, sued FTC for removal of FTC's trespass, declining FTC's offer to buy a portion of the Foundation's parcel and keep the house where it had been built. The Rhode Island Supreme Court, in its opinion dated June 13, ruled in favor of the Foundation and affirmed a lower court's order requiring FTC to remove the house from the Foundation's property, at an expected cost of at least $300,000. In this case, a relatively small expenditure by FTC for a pre-construction survey would have spared FTC the much larger costs incurred in legal fees, house-moving expenses, and a lost sale.
For example, in a 1994 case with a similar result, the Colorado Court of Appeals required the removal of a 1,800-square-foot home that was determined to be trespassing on the property of the underlying land owner in Weld County.
These kinds of cases reveal the important role surveys can play in real property transactions. In my experience, surveys commissioned by prospective buyers of commercial properties have revealed the existence of problems such as encroachments on adjacent property, encroachments into municipal or county rights-of-way, and improvements built right over the top of utility easements without those easements having been vacated. Because the surveys were completed during the buyers' due-diligence period, the problems could be dealt with prior to closing on the property transactions, and could have spared the buyers from unpleasant surprises after purchasing the real estate.
The Real Estate Commission's contracts provide options for survey requirements. The options include an "Improvement Location Certificate" (not a survey, and does not precisely locate boundaries or property corners), an "Improvement Survey Plat" (an actual survey showing boundaries, corners, improvements, visible encroachments, and the locations of many utilities), and a space to specify more rigid surveys, such as an American Land Title Association survey.
When buying or selling a property, you should carefully consider the appropriate survey needs. The cost of a survey, even one costing thousands of dollars, can be a wise investment to avoid unwelcome future surprises.


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Top AAAAA wrestlers
Tue, 03/04/2014 - 8:38am The Citizen
Five wrestlers from Starr's Mill and Whitewater finished in the top six in their respective weight classes at the recent GHSA state traditional wrestling tournament. From left are Whitewater senior Zach Thorne, sixth place at 132 pounds; Starr's Mill junior Cory Carter, sixth place at 220 pounds; Starr's Mill senior Alex Ashley, first place at 285 pounds and a two-time state champion; and Whitewater senior Alex Walker, fourth place at 160 pounds. Not pictured is Whitewater senior Reid Loveless, fifth place at 106 pounds. Photo/Special.


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Mill Creek man facing forgery, uttering charges
A Mill Creek man is facing three felony charges after he allegedly attempted to steal money from his mother via her personal checking and PayPal accounts.
Alan R. Taylor Jr., 25, is free on bond after being arrested Monday and charged with one felony count of forgery, one felony count of uttering and one felony count of fraudulent use of an access device. The charges stem from incidents that took place in April.
According to the criminal complaint in the Randolph County Magistrate Clerk's office, Sgt. P.B. Cork with the Elkins detachment of the West Virginia State Police received a complaint from Alan Taylor's mother, Maria Lynn Taylor, at noon on April 29. Maria Taylor informed Cork two personal checks had been removed from her residence on April 22.
Maria Taylor told Cork she confronted her son, Alan Taylor, about the missing checks. He first denied taking the checks, but then allegedly admitted to stealing them, the complaint states. Maria Taylor showed Cork a copy of a check on which her son had allegedly forged her signature before cashing it for $60 at Bob's Mini Mart in Mill Creek.
However, Maria Taylor said her son had since reimbursed her in the amount of $60, the complaint states. Alan Taylor returned a second check he allegedly stole from his mother. It was unused, although writing on it "had been scratched out and drawn through," Cork wrote in the report.
Alan Taylor allegedly gave Cork a statement in which he admitted to having taken both checks from his mother and cashing one at Bob's Mini Mart.
In her April 29 complaint, Maria Taylor also told Cork that when Alan Taylor had been at her home April 22, she thought he was using her computer to access his Facebook account. Maria Taylor later learned her son allegedly made several purchases on eBay, paying for the items – various four-wheeler parts – with her PayPal account, which is linked to her personal checking account, the complaint states.
Alan Taylor apparently gave Cork a statement in which he said he was using his mother's computer merely to check four-wheeler prices.
"Mr. Taylor advised he was on the eBay website, but did not know how it worked and the transactions 'accidentally' went through," Cork wrote. "Mr. Taylor advised he did not enter any passwords, and no one was helping him while he was on eBay." Alan Taylor reportedly told the sergeant he subsequently received several items in the mail, including a clutch cable, a front sprocket, a back sprocket and a chain.
Alan Taylor allegedly spent a total of $142.92 on four-wheeler parts using his mother's PayPal account, according to documentation provided by Maria Taylor, who also told Cork she didn't know how her son accessed her account since she hadn't given him her password.
Cork noted in the complaint that he is "aware that access to a specific eBay account requires a user name and password. (I am) also aware that access to a PayPal account also requires a user name and password."
The penalty for a conviction of either forgery or uttering is imprisonment for one to 10 years in the state penitentiary, or, in the discretion of the court, confinement in the regional jail for up to a year and a fine of up to $500.
The penalty for a conviction of fraudulent use of an access device is a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to 10 years in the state penitentiary or both.
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Silk Geo Print Tunic
Style: 570099559
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Silk georgette blouse combines utility and luxury in a chic popover style. Chest pockets, grosgrain ribbon and roll-up sleeves make it a year-round favorite.
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- 100% Silk. Hand wash. Imported.
- Hits below the hip (28" from shoulder to hem).
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INGREDIENTS:2 cups sweet red peppers, diced 1 cup green onions, minced 2 Tbsp. soybean oil 1 quart spinach leaves, thinly sliced 1 cup parsley, minced 2 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crumbled 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground pepper 3 lbs. silken tofu, crumbled 1 quart liquid lowfat egg substitute ½ cup bacon bits (optional) DIRECTIONS:Saute peppers and green onions in oil in large non-stick skillet until heated. Add tofu and egg substitute. Cook and stir until no longer runny. Sprinkle with bacon bits, ...
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He beat a genius in Jinin Akebono, who was a famous kekkei genkai user. He has proven that hard work overcomes natural abilities. He has made Gai Sensei proud
To bad its a filler.
My poor favorite character Rock Lee receives no screen time.
He needs more screen time
what ep is this?
Originally Posted by The 6th Hokage Kakashi
what ep is this?
This is the latest one (episode 284 i think but i could be wrong) oh and he didn't really beat him, Sai was the one who sealed him away.
Last edited by Dazuza360; 10-22-2012 at 06:35 AM.
He so owned that guy.
Without gates and with his weights on as well.
Originally Posted by Captain America
with his weights on as well.
That is really amazing. It's a freaking WAR and he's still using weights to challenge himself.
Imagine when he takes them off, and unlocks his gates....all eight
Originally Posted by Cigbeast
Imagine when he takes them off, and unlocks his gates....all eight
no need to imagine, he'll be dead~_~
Originally Posted by elmage
no need to imagine, he'll be dead~_~
haha true dat :D but he'll be a boss for that short period of time before he dies
I wish we could see lee fight some more just like the Chuunin exams. Lee was badass back then especially when he took the weights off. Id love to see more of that
Lee is the only true ninja in the entire show
I miss when their was other characters and story lines like in the chunin exams were everyone had their goals and struggles, naruto was cool back then and had so many characters to follow and enjoy.
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Chicago White Sox Offseason Recap and Preview
Remember when the White Sox were in first place? They went on a big surge and kept it up for a while even after this:
All was well on the south side of Chicago they were making fun of their neighborhood Twins fans because their team couldn't get them out of first even with a lost Peavy. Then… it happened, they went on a I don't know how many game slide and lost first place in their division almost as quickly as they had gotten there. For the rest of the season, all they would do is have their defecit increase as the twins were the best team in baseball over the second half of the season. So they needed to make some moves, right?
Grade: B+
Notable Additions:
Adam Dunn, Jesse Crain, Lastins Milledge
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It doesn't make a difference if you're donning this before or after another great surf session, this Metal Gascan O-Justable hat's gonna look good on yah. This New Era 9FIFTY snapback hat features a metal Oakley logo on the crown and is callin' your name, man!
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Slayton's distinctive gravelly voice has often been heard on animated shows like "Dr. Katz'" and "Family Guy," as well as many popular radio shows across the country including Howard Stern, Kevin & Bean, and Tom Leykis. The NY Daily News called Slayton "Armed and Dangerous", the Las Vegas Review Journal pointed out that "Slayton's refusal to comprise his art has always made him worth a special trip" and the American Comedy Awards voted him "Funniest Male Stand-up Comic of the Year".


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These two pieces of furniture were left in the house that my wife and I bought shortly after we got married. They are in great shape, simply ugly and dated.
Couch of roses...
By: goutermoutSubscribe Channel: Home & Garden
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says ... on Tuesday, Sep 29 at 5:59 PM
I agree...I give my vote to this couch...it should only be brought out at Christmas....if ever29869159
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says ... on Saturday, Oct 3 at 1:44 PM
I personally have seen the couch and love seat, they can induce nausea and pose a driving hazard because they can be seen through a large window.30079819
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