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Handy, W.C. 1873-1958
W. C. Handy 1873-1958
(Full name William Christopher Handy) American composer, autobiographer, editor, and nonfiction writer.
The self-proclaimed "Father of the Blues," Handy was the celebrated composer of the blues classic "St. Louis Blues" (1914). A well-known performer and bandleader, Handy wrote "Memphis Blues" (1912), one of the first published songs in the blues genre, which features musical laments and mournful jazz improvisations derived from African-American folk music. In all, Handy published some 150 spirituals, blues, and folk songs. Additionally, Handy edited two works on the Harlem Renaissance, The Blues: An Anthology (1926) and Book of Negro Spirituals (1938), and wrote a noted autobiography, Father of the Blues (1941).
Biographical Information
Handy was born in Florence, Alabama, where he attended the Florence District School for Negroes for eleven years. As a child Handy secretly purchased a guitar, but when his disapproving father, a Methodist minister, discovered the instrument, he forced Handy to return it. The two came to a compromise, and Handy was allowed to study the organ; meanwhile, he clandestinely learned to play the cornet. By the age of fifteen, Handy was touring with a minstrel troupe. After determining to become a music teacher, he enrolled at the all-black Agricultural and Mechanical College in Huntsville, Alabama. Handy completed his studies in 1892, only to realize that he could make more money as a day-laborer; he found work in a pipe works and performed other odd jobs while pursing music independently. By 1896, however, he had landed a job in Chicago as a cornetist and arranger for W. A. Mahara's Minstrels. He taught music in Huntsville between 1900 and 1902, then began to tour the South again with his band. In 1908 Handy and the singer/lyricist Harry H. Pace formed the Pace and Handy Music Company. The following year, he composed what was to become his first published blues song. Originally entitled "Mr. Crump," the song was written for the Memphis mayoral campaign of Edward H. Crump. Later, when Handy sought a publisher for the work, its title was changed to "Memphis Blues." He eventually succeeded in 1912, selling the song copyright for $50. The work proved a modest success and was followed by Handy's breakthrough piece, "St. Louis Blues," which earned him nationwide recognition in 1914. Many more blues arrangements followed. Meanwhile, Handy and his partner moved the Pace and Handy Music Company to Chicago and then to New York City in 1918. The company's songs were popular but earned disappointing financial rewards until blues music began to grow in popularity by the mid-1920s. During this time, Handy was increasingly troubled by failing eyesight, although this had little effect on his accelerating career. He edited Blues: An Anthology in 1926, and in 1931 the now-celebrated musician was honored in Memphis, Tennessee, with the construction of W. C. Handy Park. He published his autobiography Father of the Blues in 1941. In his later years Handy's temporary bouts with blindness became permanent. The well-known entertainer continued to perform when possible until his death in 1958.
Major Works
Handy cannot be credited with the invention of blues music; the genre instead had its origins in woeful black folk-songs that were being performed in New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta region long before Handy's compositions. Nevertheless, as a blues composer and performer, Handy wrote a number of popular songs using a twelve-bar pattern and three-line verses of melancholy lyrics; Handy's famous blues song "St. Louis Blues" began with the lyric "I hate to see de evenin' sun go down." Musically, the form contains flat third and seventh notes—called "blues" notes—and features so-called musical breaks, which allow for improvisation and other variation. In addition to Handy's many compositions, he edited Blues: An Anthology, a significant document concerning Harlem Renaissance musicians. Handy's autobiography Father of the Blues recounts the details of his life and the development of his career, as well as describing black-white relations in America at the turn of the century. His other short nonfictional works on African-American music include Negro Authors and Composers of the United States (1936) and Unsung Americans Sung (1944).
Critical Reception
Commentators have acknowledged that Handy's long and difficult rise to success as a blues composer culminated in a significant infusion of African-American folk music into mainstream culture. Both a popularizer and a musical innovator, Handy is regarded as a seminal figure rather than an inventor of the genre, which is derived from older sources. Still, critics consider his "St. Louis Blues" a masterpiece of popular music. And while some dispute the appellation "Father of the Blues"—notable among them, Handy's rival Jelly Roll Morton—most regard him as one of the great figures of American music.
Principal Works
The Blues: An Anthology [editor] (nonfiction) 1926
Negro Authors and Composers of the United States (nonfiction) 1936
Book of Negro Spirituals [editor] (nonfiction) 1938
Father of the Blues (autobiography) 1941
Unsung Americans Sung (nonfiction) 1944
Jelly Roll Morton (essay date 1938)
SOURCE: "I Created Jazz in 1902, Not W. C. Handy," in Down Beat, Vol. 61, No. 7, July, 1994, pp. 10, 12-13.
[In the following essay, originally composed in 1938, Morton claims that blues music predates both himself and W. C. Handy, and maintains that he—rather than Handy—was the originator of jazz.]
Dear Mr. Ripley:
For many years I have been a constant reader of your (Believe It or Not) cartoon. I have listened to your broadcast with keen interest. I frankly believe your work is a great contribution to natural science.
In your broadcast of March 26, 1938, you introduced W. C. Handy as the originator of jazz, stomps, and blues. By this announcement you have done me a great injustice, and you have also misled many of your fans.
It is evidently known, beyond contradiction, that New Orleans is the cradle of jazz, and I, myself, happened to be creator in the year 1902, many years before the Dixieland Band organized. Jazz music is a style, not compositions; any kind of music may be played in jazz, if one has the knowledge. The first stomp was written in 1906, namely "King Porter Stomp." "Georgia Swing" was the first to be named swing in 1907. You may be informed by leading recording companies. "New Orleans Blues" was written in 1905, the same year "Jelly Roll Blues" was mapped out, but not published at that time. New Orleans was the headquarters for the greatest Ragtime musicians on earth. There was more work than musicians. Everyone had their individual style. My style seemed to be the attraction. I decided to travel, and tried Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and many other states during 1903-'04, and was accepted as sensational.
In the year of 1908, I was brought to Memphis by a small theatre owner, Fred Barasso, as a feature attraction and to be with his number-one company for his circuit, which consisted of four houses, namely Memphis, Tenn., Greenville, Vicksburg, and Jackson, Miss. That was the birth of the Negro theatrical circuit in the U.S.A. It was that year I met Handy in Memphis. I learned that he had just arrived from his home town, Henderson, Ky. He was introduced to me as Prof. Handy. Who ever heard of anyone wearing the name of Professor advocate ragtime, jazz, stomps, blues, etc.? Of course Handy could not play either of these types, and I can assure you he has never learned them as yet (meaning freak tunes, plenty of finger work in the groove of harmonies, great improvisations, accurate, exciting tempos with a kick). I know Mr. Handy's ability, and it is the type of folk songs, hymns, anthems, etc. If you believe I am wrong, challenge his ability.
Prof. Handy and his band played several days a week at a colored amusement park in Memphis, namely, Dixie Park. Guy Williams, a guitarist, worked in the band in 1911. He had a blues tune he wrote, called "Jogo Blues." This tune was published by Pace and Handy under the same title, and later changed to "St. Louis Blues." Williams has no copyright as yet. In 1912 I happened to be in Texas, and one of my fellow musicians brought me a number to play—"Memphis Blues." The minute I started playing it, I recognized it. I said to James Milles, the one who presented it to me (trombonist, still in Houston, playing with me at that time), "The first strain is a Black Butts' strain all 'dressed up.'" Butts was strictly blues (or what they call a Boogie Woogie player) I said the second strain was mine. I practically assembled the tune. The last strain was Tony Jackson's strain, Whoa B-Whoa. At that time no one knew the meaning of the word jazz or stomps but me. This also added a new word to the dictionary, which they gave the wrong definition. The word blues was known to everyone. For instance, when I was eight or nine years of age, I heard blues tunes entitled "Alice Fields," "Isn't It Hard To Love," "Make Me A Palate [sic] On The Floor"—the latter which I played myself on my guitar. Handy also retitled his catalogue "Atlanta Blues." Mr. Handy cannot prove anything is music that he has created. He has possibly taken advantage of some unprotected material that sometimes floats around. I would like to know how a person could be an originator of anything, without being able to do at least some of what they created.
I still claim that jazz hasn't gotten to its peak as yet. I may be the only perfect specimen today in jazz that's living. It may be because of my contributions, that gives me authority...
(The entire section is 1914 words.)
David Ewen (essay date 1944)
SOURCE: "W. C. Handy," in Men of Popular Music, Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, 1944, pp. 65-76.
[In the following essay, Ewen summarizes the blues technique employed by Handy, recounts the musician's life, and calls his "St. Louis Blues" "one of the undisputed masterpieces in our popular music."]
To the texture of what soon was to be known as jazz had been added the element of ragtime. Other elements in harmonic and melodic color and in tonality were to be contributed by the blues of W. C. Handy. For years before Handy wrote his classics, "The Memphis Blues" and the "St. Louis Blues," music similar in general character to the later blues had been in...
(The entire section is 3356 words.)
George W. Kay (essay date 1971)
SOURCE: "William Christopher Handy, Father of the Blues," in Jazz Journal, Vol. 24, No. 3, March, 1971, pp. 10-12.
[In the following essay, Kay examines the early publication history of blues songs other than Handy's, but concludes that "the greatness of William Christopher Handy remains unchallenged."]
The place was a Harlem Baptist Church. The time was Wednesday afternoon, April 2, 1958. A trumpet solo to his favourite hymn Holy City, played by jazz trumpeter Cootie Williams, closed the funeral service for William Christopher Handy, 84, internationally acclaimed 'Father of the Blues'.
From his pulpit, Reverend Adam Clayton Powell,...
(The entire section is 2633 words.)
Thadious M. Davis (essay date 1987)
SOURCE: "From Jazz Syncopation to Blues Elegy: Faulkner's Development of Black Characterization," in Faulkner and Race, edited by Doreen Fowler and Ann J. Abadie, University Press of Mississippi, 1987, pp. 70-92.
[In the following essay, Davis investigates the influence of Handy's music on William Faulkner's characterization of blacks in his novels.]
Listening to W. C. Handy's 1916 blues song "Ole Miss," recorded by jazz pianist James P. Johnson in 1922, I am reminded of the way in which blues and jazz intermingled in the music of that period. Southern-born Handy, called "the father of the blues," and Northern-born Johnson, father of the hot piano, did not...
(The entire section is 7789 words.)
Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff (essay date 1996)
SOURCE: "'They Cert'ly Sound Good to Me': Sheet Music, Southern Vaudeville, and the Commercial Ascendancy of the Blues," in American Music, Vol. 14, No. 4, Winter, 1996, pp. 402-54.
[In the following essay, Abbott and Seroff trace the origins of blues music in southern vaudeville and consider the growth of popular blues.]
The era of popular blues music was not suddenly set into motion by Mamie Smith's 1920 recording of "Crazy Blues." By the time Mamie Smith was allowed to walk into a commercial recording studio, the blues was an American entertainment institution with an abounding legendry and a firmly established father figure. The history of the...
(The entire section is 21158 words.)
Carol B. Gartner (essay date 1996)
SOURCE: "Faulkner in Context: Seeing 'That Evening Sun' Through the Blues," in The Southern Quarterly, Vol. XXXIV, No. 2, Winter, 1996, pp. 50-58.
[In the following essay, Gartner explores William Faulkner's portrait of a blues singer in "That Evening Sun Go Down" in the contexts of Handy's "St. Louis Blues."]
When Faulkner published "That Evening Sun Go Down" in the Spring 1931 American Mercury, his readers would have immediately recognized the reference to W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues." When the story appeared that fall with the shorter title, "That Evening Sun," in Faulkner's first short-story collection, readers must still have...
(The entire section is 5560 words.)
Further Reading
Aschmann, Charles O., Jr. Review of Blues: An Anthology, edited by W. C. Handy. The Reprint Bulletin: Book Reviews XXXII, No. 1 (1987): 10.
Positive assessment of Handy's historical and critical anthology of blues music.
Edmonds, Anthony O. Review of Father of the Blues. The Reprint Bulletin: Book Reviews XXX, No. 3 (March 1985): 54.
Mentions the significance of Handy's autobiography as a social history of black-white relations.
Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues. New York: Viking Press, 1981, 310 p.
Study of blues music history; includes a...
(The entire section is 82 words.)


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Gallup: America's views on abortion largely unchanged
The Columbus Dispatch - May 14, 2013 10:46 AM
Polls conducted since 1975 show that Americans' positions on the legality of abortion have held relatively steady, according to a recent Gallup report.
The most recent Gallup survey shows that 26 percent of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal under any circumstances, while 20 percent say it should be illegal under any circumstances. Another 52 percent say it should be legal only under certain circumstances.
In polls conducted since 1975, the percentage favoring full legal abortion has ranged from 21 to 34 percent, and the percentage saying it should always be illegal has ranged from 13 to 22 percent. Those favoring partial legality have ranged from 48 to 61 percent.
The recent survey was part of Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll. It was conducted May 2-7, when a Philadelphia jury was considering criminal charges against Dr. Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor.
Gosnell was convicted yesterday of several counts, including first-degree murder in the deaths of three infants who prosecutors say were delivered alive then killed with scissors.
The telephone poll of about 1,500 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

subset: commoncrawl


text: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has placed an unprecedented funding resource in the hands of DOE, resulting in the Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program and the Smart Grid Demonstration (SGD) program ("Smart Grid Programs"). As part of the Smart Grid Programs, DOE will award approximately $4 billion to utilities, equipment suppliers, regional transmission organizations, states, and research organizations to jump start smart grid deployment and demonstration on a massive scale. The projects to be undertaken by these recipients will support critical national objectives. As the steward of this tremendous public trust, DOE is duty bound to make sure that the money awarded to recipients is invested in a way that maximizes the public benefit in both the near and longer terms. To answer the questions about the development of the smart grid, DOE will collect information from each of the award recipients ("Project Teams"), and analyze the information to determine the progress of smart grid implementation and the resulting impacts. This guidebook describes the type of information to be collected from each of the Project Teams and how it will be used by DOE to communicate overall conclusions to the public.


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The CUBRID DATETIME data type differs a bit from the MySQL DATETIME field.
There are several acceptable formats, such as YYYY-MM-DD hh:mi:ss.fff or mm/dd/yyyy hh:mi:ss.fff. For more information check the DATETIME manual page.
Here is the same command (SELECT SYSDATETIME) in CSQL and CUBRID Manager:
Note: As you can see, the values are not displayed using the same format.
Even though CUBRID supports 4 formats, the standard format used by CUBRID is hh:mm:ss.fff AM/PM mm/dd/yyyy (Example: 04:33:51.596 PM 10/29/2012). This is the format used when applying String functions such as SUBSTR on the value. Below you can see an example on how the month or year can be obtained using the SUBSTR function.
Of course, there are other ways to do this, but the point of this tutorial is to help you understand how CUBRID stores the DATETIME data type.
Take note that the same problem occurs for the DATE data type, where csql returns 10/29/2012 (which is the default CUBRID DATE format), while CUBRID Manager returns 2012-10-29.


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Every day is the anniversary of something. The date on the calendar ripples with other dates, other stories.
It's now a month since the tenth anniversary of 9/11, when, two days earlier, a dozen of us marched into Manhattan's Bryant Park wearing somber black vintage clothing, clutching manual typewriter boxes in our hands. Our up-dos and pearls lent us an air of Old New York secretarial efficiency. We were not to appear casual or chatty; we would not be using our cell phones.
When we first took our seats on the plaza, tourists snapped photos as if we were museum specimens. Gradually the first hesitant talkers sat down across from us, then a few more, until the hours passed quickly in an exchange of words and a clattering of keys.
The model for Sheryl Oring's Collective Memory project was simple: a row of typists, dressed in early 60's vintage, on the plaza of Bryant Park would take dictation from anyone who wanted to respond to the prompt, "What would you like the world to remember about 9/11?" The responses would be collated and become part of a traveling exhibit. I volunteered to help Sheryl because I am a writer and always dreamed of being a village scribe. Set me up with a carton for a desk and a duffel for a stool; sit across from me and tell me your story so I can write it down for you, clean up your grammar, make sure your words meet their intended destination. This scribal role is not so different from the best moments of writing fiction or poetry; the surprise of inspiration and the work of crafting precise transmission are here, albeit in a diluted form. But what I did not expect was how privileged I felt being the recipient of a stranger's words. Sit down and open your heart because I am here. My ancient and efficient Underwood will write it all down for you. The illusion of the past will carry your words into the future. What were you doing that day?
We were to receive every narrative with interest; we would be occasionally moved and often not. Some told stories of where they were when the planes hit. Many narrated pithy sentences, as if there was a moral to be found:
Live in the moment.
Do not hate.
Care for one another.
Be compassionate.
One woman said, "I am a New Yorker and we did not intend for this to cause a war, we did not want a war." A young woman blatantly told me how the event seemed unreal to her all these years, like a movie, and, now that she is older, she is beginning to consider the import of what really happened. One woman narrated her words for the typewritten record and then told me the real story of how volunteering at Nino's Restaurant down at Ground Zero in the weeks and months after 9/11 changed the course of her life. Another spoke of how the falling grey ash that day made all the survivors appear the same; all differences were blotted out. Some responses were defiant and political. Many speakers paused between sentences, considering the flow of their words.
Most willingly gave their names, first and last. There was a quiet satisfaction in being heard, in one's words being recorded on these ancient keyboards.
Thank you for doing this.
Thank you for stopping by.
The act of inviting the telling was beautiful to me, and as fitting a memorial as anything could be.
After two hours I returned to the Bryant Park offices, combed out my up-do and exchanged my somber black dress for jeans. My co-typist slipped on a motorcycle helmet. We found our cell phones, checked email, rode the elevator down to the street, and descended further down into subways.
Sitting on the 1 train, I was once again an ordinary passenger, but what I most wanted to do was turn to the person next to me and ask her to tell me what she was thinking. Not because it was the anniversary of 9/11 but because the words of a stranger speaking through the cracks of her heart felt necessary, and remains necessary every day. I have a typewriter. Tell me a story:
Where were you when something big happened and what are you thinking about now?
Amy Gottlieb is a writer and editor living in New York City. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in the Forward, Lilith, Puerto del Sol, Zeek, and other publications and anthologies. She is the 2010-2011 Poetry Fellow and Resident at the Bronx Council on the Arts and is finishing a novel.
We welcome your reflections, essays, videos, or news items for possible publication on the Being Blog. Submit your entry and contribute to the conversation.
Lead photo by Dhanraj Emanuel.


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On Dec 11, 2012, the Pogonip East Multi-Use Trail (EMUT) was officially named the Emma McCrary Trail in honor of one of the most prolific trail builders in Santa Cruz County.
Emma McCrary passed away on June 17, 2011 after a battle with cancer. She was known by many members of MBoSC and in the trail building community.
MBoSC submitted an official statement to the Santa Cruz City Council honoring the occasion:
Emma McCrary was an equestrian and prolific trail builder in Santa Cruz County. She built a lot of the trails that mountain bikers enjoy in Santa Cruz County. Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) unequivocally endorses "The Emma McCrary Trail" as the official name of the Pogonip East Multi-Use Trail (EMUT).
Emma was a huge proponent of multi-use trails and believed that trails provided a gateway to connect people with the land and would foster an appreciation of nature by providing trail users access to our natural environment. She was firmly in the equestrian community but she recognized that mountain bikers were good allies and trail builders. Those who worked on trails with her recall a woman who worked harder than anyone else on the crew.
One of her last acts as a healthy person was to attend the Parks and Rec Commission meeting back in July 12, 2010 to speak out in support of the Poginip EMUT project. Unfortunately, she had to leave early because she wasn't feeling well but a member of the Santa Cruz County Horsemans Association (SCCHA) spoke on her behalf. That evening she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
She was a kind person and passionate about trails. She would have loved this trail and would have been proud to see the community support for the construction of this trail. This is the spirit of the Emma McCrary Trail.


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great for smoothies
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I add a teaspoon to a blueberry smoothie for a mega dose of antioxidant. It mixes very well and a bag goes a long way.
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When you can't live in Brazil, then this is the only good option to pure acai! It's supergood for you and the powder is the only concentrated acai to get. The bag last a long time, you only need a teaspoon a day.
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Hanging In The Balance
The future of the Chautauqua County Home could change after Tuesday's elections.
In January, the county legislature will downsize from 25 to 19 members. In the new legislature, 13 votes would be needed for the supermajority required by the county charter to sell real property owned by the county. In previous years, in order for the sale to take place, 17 votes were needed when the legislature was comprised of 25 members.
This could affect the future of the skilled nursing facility, especially if new legislators have differing views than their predecessors.
Six uncontested incumbents have voted to sell the County Home previously, and both candidates in two districts have stated their intention to sell.
Two uncontested incumbents have voted against the sale, and in another district, both candidates have voted against the sale previously.
District 5 candidate Terry Niebel, R-C-I-Sheridan, said he wasn't surprised by the outcome of Wednesday's voting session in Mayville.
"Nobody had really announced that they were going to change their position on the vote," he said. "From what I can tell from the constituents in District 5, it's about 60 percent in favor of keeping the county home and 40 for selling it. I would reflect the sentiments of my constituents, and if it were me I would vote to keep the home. Now that we've had that last vote, (which took place Oct. 30 and prevented the sale for the third time) now it'll be up to the new legislature. I'm sure after they do their due diligence, they'll vote accordingly."
Both candidates for District 10, incumbent P.J. Wendel, R-C-Lakewood, and Sharon Lisciandro, D-Lakewood, are in favor of selling the home.
Lisciandro said she was surprised at the outcome of Wednesday's vote.
"I'm in favor of selling the County Home, and that would be my vote (if elected). I was very surprised that it didn't turn out that way Wednesday," she said.
District 12 candidate Fred Larson, D-I-Jamestown, said Thursday, "If I became convinced that the county home could not break even, then I would be OK with selling it. If I'm a county legislator, come Jan. 1, I'll do my best to find out what the real financial facts are surrounding the county home as soon as possible."
Larson's opponent William Prieto, R-C-Jamestown, said, "If my district's wishes are to sell the home, then I will support that wish. If the voters say, 'Don't sell the home,' then my vote will reflect the district's choice."
In District 11, Bob Whitney, D-Working Families-I-Jamestown, voted against the sale, while David Wilfong (R, C-Jamestown) said he is in favor of selling the home.
"After a careful review, I was able to determine that the home is presently losing well over $9,000 a month while being operated by the county," Wilfong said recently in a news release. "What was even more surprising to me was that, during my review, I discovered that not one person in Jamestown is presently a resident of the home. In my opinion, Chautauqua County can no longer afford to run a facility that continues to operate in the red and which continues to be a drain on the taxpayers of this county. If elected, I will vote to sell the facility."
If elected for District 16, candidate Ron Lemon, R-C-Frewsburg, would vote to sell the county home, just as incumbent Tom Erlandson, D-I-Frewsburg, voted on Oct. 30.
Lemon said he was disappointed in the outcome of the third vote.
"I think if you're losing money with something, it doesn't make sense to keep it," he said, adding that a private owner could expand and possibly create more jobs. "It makes complete sense to sell it. Anybody with any business sense knows that if you're losing, that's just not feasible."
Candidate for District 4 Janet Keefe, D-Working Families-I-Fredonia, said, "I believe that the County Home can be saved, and I believe that with Ron Johnson that will happen. I would vote to keep it."
As for Keefe's opponent Michael Sullivan, R-C-Fredonia, his stance on the sale is unknown as he could not be reached for comment.
District 18 incumbent David Himelein, R-C-I-Findley Lake, is in favor of selling the facility. His opponent Edward Carutis, D-Working Families-Sherman, could not be reached for comment.
Incumbent candidates for District 7 are John Runkle, R-C-I-Stockton, who voted in favor, and Tom DeJoe, D-Working Families-Brocton, who voted against the sale.
Incumbents Bob Scudder, R-C-Fredonia, and Bill Coughlin, D-I-Working Families-Fredonia, are running to represent District 3 and have both voted against the privatization.
Uncontested incumbents who voted against the sale include Keith Ahlstrom, D-Working Families-Dunkirk, in District 1 and Sean Heenan, D-Dunkirk, in District 2.
Uncontested incumbents who have voted for a private sector to buy the County Home include George Borrello, R-C-I-Irving, in District 6; Chuck Nazzaro, D-I-Jamestown, in District 9; Paula DeJoy, D-I-Jamestown, in District 13; Mark Tarbrake, R-C-I-Jamestown, in District 14; Jay Gould, R-C-Ashville, in District 17; and John Hemmer, R-C-I-Westfield, in District 19.
Candidates who could not be reached for comment include Amy Farnham and Susan Baldwin, D-South Dayton, in District 5; Lisa Vanstrom, R-I-West Ellicott, in District 15; and Pierre Chagnon, R-C-Bemus Point, the uncontested candidate for District 8.


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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. "
Flying carpets
When you spend millions for an airplane, its carpet shouldn't look like the nondescript shag rug in your grandmother's living room.
A couple of decades ago, it might have. Back then, the carpets that adorned business jets were pretty similar to the ones homeowners installed. In those days, airplane carpet typically consisted of one ply of textured yarn and two plies of non-textured yarn; and the pile, or thickness, was often as long as five eighths of an inch. Pile was a measure of luxury, and the longer the better.
Some say this approach culminated in the so-called "shag" carpet, with pile so high it sometimes choked off air vents in the aircraft. And it had virtually no "memory," so that once it was crushed, it tended to remain in that position.
Today, everything is different. The most popular carpet fabric in business aviation these days is two-ply 100-percent wool. Its pile rarely exceeds three eighths of an inch and it has excellent "memory," so after it has been pressed down, it returns readily to its original state.
You can also buy silk carpet, but while silk has marvelous luster and shine, it crushes easily and has less memory than wool. It is also more difficult to maintain and considerably heavier. When customers insist on silk, most aircraft interior designers urge that it be blended with wool or used solely for design accents.
The average wool carpet for a business aircraft costs $400 to $500 a square yard, and if properly installed and maintained, lasts three to five years. Highly customized blends of silk and wool with unique designs and carvings-company logos, government seals and the like-may cost $1,200 per square yard or more. Carpeting a typical corporate Gulfstream will run $50,000 to $75,000, according to Penny Rickett of Glen Eden Wool Carpet in Calhoun, Ga.
Not all sheep are created equal and neither is their wool. Scottish wool differs considerably from Australian wool, and experts generally agree that the highest quality wool today comes from New Zealand. Even among wool from that country, quality varies, depending on the sheep's type, age and gender and even the time of year chosen for shearing.
Beyond design and color, say manufacturers, buyers should look primarily for carpet that will stand up to wear and clean up easily (see box). Still, some manufacturers work on the assumption that carpets will be replaced every five years-not necessarily because they'll be worn out but because, on average, business aircraft change hands that often and one of the first things a new owner typically does is refurbish the interior and install new carpet.
While most corporate aircraft owners opt for a top-of-the-line machine-made carpet, private owners tend to prefer unique designs, accents and hand-cut carvings as well as silk blends.
Glen Eden, for example, offers a collection of six animal patterns, including cheetah, leopard, antelope and zebra, as well as custom designs. For Michael Jackson's jet, the company produced a one-off carpet it dubbed "Jackson Purple."
Dallas-based Kalogridis International created an equally distinctive carpet for a Turkish Global Express owner. "It was a traditional design, a blend of wool and silk, primarily in blue and burgundy, and the silk made the carpet glimmer in a way you couldn't imagine," recalled president and CEO George Kalogridis.
His company is currently working on a carpet that Kalogridis described as "more like a tapestry for the floor." It replicates a rain forest as seen from the air.
Equally remarkable is a carpet created by Scott Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., for a Falcon 50 owner who wanted a Florida Everglades theme. Designed and hand-sewn of 100 percent wool with silk accents, the green-and-tan carpet features images of alligators, sea turtles, a fox, a heron and Everglades plants.
While something new often represents a welcome challenge to carpet makers, Kalogridis isn't fond of what appears to be a trend toward having fiber-optic lighting woven through the carpet. "It can be beautiful, but it has to be done carefully to avoid breaking the fibers," he said, "and because there are electrical plugs, the airframer has to plan for it differently than for normal carpet."
In the end, the choice of carpet depends on the buyer's preferences and the aircraft in which it will be installed. "It not only should represent the customer's taste or that of the company but should complement the overall cabin design," said Rich Ruggeri, president and co-owner of Scott Group.
Keeping It Clean
Botany Weaving Mill of Dublin, Ireland, includes a cleaning manual with its carpets but states that "the only reason for removing a carpet is to replace it, never for cleaning." Other manufacturers, though, recommend that for a thorough cleaning, a carpet should be removed.
In fact, many jet owners buy a second carpet to be installed while the first is being cleaned. (Other customers buy a second carpet to eventually replace the old, because purchasing both at once saves money. This is particularly true if the carpet is a highly customized, one-off design.)
For general cleaning, use a dry "host" agent (usually dust derived from corn husks) that will make it easier to vacuum dirt and debris, advised Penny Rickett of carpet maker Glen Eden.
Other carpet manufacturers disagree. Rich Ruggeri, president and co-owner of Scott Group, prefers a warm-water/shampoo extraction method "to thoroughly clean the fiber and restore it to its original state."
Experts warn against steam cleaning and emphasize the need to use an upright, beater-brush vacuum after every flight. As for stains, these should be cleaned as soon as practicable.
Red wine is particularly worrisome, but it's actually not so difficult to remove, said George Kalogridis of carpet maker Kalogridis International. As soon as possible after a spill, he advised, apply a clean, dry towel to soak up most of the liquid. Then apply club soda and soak that up with another clean, dry towel.
Kalogridis emphasized that any cleaning product must have a neutral pH balance, represented by the number 7. Most commercial cleaners have a pH balance of 8 or 9 and will strip out the wool's natural proteins, resulting in faded colors.
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text:
A Conspiracy of Kings
A Conspiracy of Kings
Greenwillow Books, Hardcover, 9780061870934, 336pp.
Publication Date: March 23, 2010
Sophos, under the guidance of yet another tutor, practices his swordplay and strategizes escape scenarios should his father's villa come under attack. How would he save his mother? His sisters? Himself? Could he reach the horses in time? Where would he go? But nothing prepares him for the day armed men, silent as thieves, swarm the villa courtyard ready to kill, to capture, to kidnap. Sophos, the heir to the throne of Sounis, disappears without a trace.
In Attolia, Eugenides, the new and unlikely king, has never stopped wondering what happened to Sophos. Nor has the Queen of Eddis. They send spies. They pay informants. They appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less certain that they will ever see their friend alive again.
Across the small peninsula battles are fought, bribes are offered, and conspiracies are set in motion. Darkening the horizon, the Mede Empire threatens, always, from across the sea. And Sophos, anonymous and alone, bides his time. Sophos, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the magus and Eddis sets out on an Badventure that will change all of their lives forever.
Praise for The Thief:Newbery Honor Book"This is an uplifting book, a literary journey that enhances both its characters and readers before it is over."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Tantalizing, suspenseful, exceptionally clever."
-Horn Book (starred review)
Praise for The Queen of Attolia: "The intense read is thoroughly involving and wholly satisfying on all fronts."
-Horn Book (starred review)
"Turner's storytelling is so sure that readers will want to go along with her—and discover whatever it is that Eugenides will do next."
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Readers will be spellbound."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Praise for The King of Attolia: "Turner has outdone herself here: The King of Attolia is one of the most fascinating and original children's fantasies to appear in years."
-Horn Book (starred review)
"Eugenides, the former Thief of Eddis, is back and just as clever as ever."
-School Library Journal (starred review)
"A winner."
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Megan Whalen Turner is one of my all-time favorite writers. A Conspiracy of Kings is impossible to put down."
-Holly Black, author of the Modern Faerie Tales Series
"The world Turner creates is so tangible that not only do I believe in its characters, I almost believe in its gods."
-Kristin Cashore, author of Graceling
"A Conspiracy of Kings brings the sweetest, sharpest kind of reading pleasure. Megan Whalen Turner's books are pure joy."
-Rebecca Stead, author of When You Reach Me
"Romance, intrigue, mystery, surprises, and sheer beautiful writing make this a worthy successor to the previous volumes."
-Cassandra Clare, author of the Mortal Instruments Series
"Turner's knotting of plots and counterplots, battle tactics, diplomatic skullduggery, and the tensions of state business and personal desire is masterful…having finished the book, one just wants to open it up and read it again."
-Horn Book (starred review)
"Turner's plotting remains deft, and the subtlety with which she balances her characters' inner and outer worlds will delight both series newcomers and fans, who will be waiting to grab this stand-out, stand-alone adventure, filled with all the expected intrigue and political machinations, from the shelves."
-Booklist (starred review)
"Turner's imagined world [is] a realm in which her founding mythology is as impressive as her descriptions of the land itself."
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A well-constructed and intricate tale of action, adventure, and assuming the mantle of leadership."
-School Library Journal (starred review)
"Elegant and sure-footed."
-Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
-Horn Book (starred review)


text:
>Runner's World - My Event Ratings>
In short: Superb eventIn full: Last year I supported a friend who ran this race and vowed to run it myself, as I was so impressed with the organisation and atmosphere of this event. I wasn't disappointed. Superbly organised, very friendly, good route with definite potential. I achieved a season's best and the closest I've been to my marathon pb in 4 years! Will definitely return to this one!Date of review: May 12, 2014
In short: The marshals were great!!In full: A very successful first-time marathon for GYRR. The docks part of the course was awful, but what the course and the weather lacked was more than made up for by the faultless organisation of GYRR and the tremendous encouragement of the marshals, who stood out in the cold and rain for many hours. Big city marathons could learn a lot from this event. Date of review: October 23, 2012
In short: I quite enjoyed it!In full: My clubmate and I did the full marathon option, and found it similar to LDWA events. A mixture of road and off-road, very muddy in places due to the horrible weather, which wasn't the organisers' fault. Some of the course markers got washed away, but we didn't go off-course at all. Some marshals would have been good on the busy road crossings, but no major hassles. Overall a good value training run, but I wouldn't do it again unless the weather was better!!Date of review: March 6, 2012
In short: Friendly road race on quiet country lanesIn full: First half was quite undulating but did flatten out eventually. Good warm-up race for a spring marathon.Date of review: February 28, 2012
In short: Fantastic first 50-milerIn full: Second year of running this, but did the whole thing this time. Weather was wet and cool but that was perfect!! Organisation, friendliness and facilities for such a small event were excellent, will be back next year to knock some time off my new pb!!Date of review: July 19, 2011
In short: A fabulous first ultraIn full: A fantastic first ultra. Great organisation and camaderie, everyone is looked after so well, the marshals at the drinks station are very friendly and supportive. Will definitely be back next year. Date of review: March 23, 2011
In short: Excellent race despite the coldIn full: Excellent race, gently undulating with just one killer hill at 19 miles. Very cold day but marshals were very encouraging.Date of review: March 8, 2010
In short: Excellent race despite the weatherIn full: I've never run such a cold, wet, snowy, windy race - well not all at once anyway. Despite the weather it was an excellent event, organisation superb and the free soup helped thaw me out at the end. Will definitely try again next year.Date of review: February 22, 2010
In short: Like the change of courseIn full: Definitely prefer the change of course. CONAC have worked hard to iron out the problems of previous years, they even managed to arrange good weather this year :) Date of review: November 30, 2009
In short: Good run on a lovely September dayIn full: Did the two-lapper for the first time, enjoyed it but weather warmed up on the second lap which slowed me down. Quiet country roads so the second lap was a bit lonely. Last mile took 2 minutes longer than expected - maybe the measurement was a bit out?? Overall a good race and would definitely do it again, excellent value for money.Date of review: September 28, 2009
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text:
CISAT's Ph.D program prepares students to participate in the academic IS&T research community. It is a demanding program focused on IS&T research. Ph.D graduates from CISAT are prepared to conduct rigorous and relevant IS&T research, as well as to apply what they know about IS&T research to teaching, consulting, and other activities.
The completion of at least 76 units is required for Ph.D students. Though most of these units will be taken at CGU, it is possible that certain units may be waived or transferred. Students may also specialize in one of our sub-field areas - GIS , Cyber Security and Networking, Health Informatics, Data Science and Analytics, and IT Strategy and Innovation - or design their own specialization.
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The Screening Exam must be successfully completed before a student is allowed to advance to Ph.D candidacy. The exam is integrative, and thus does not focus on the topics of any single course, but requires proficiency in topic areas of all required courses.
Details on the Screening Exam.
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text:
Connecting your CherryPy server to a database
There are a number of python modules for most databases (MySql?, PostgreSql?, Oracle, Sybase, ...). To connect your CherryPy server to one of these databases, all you have to do is import the corresponding module in your code and use that module.
Usually, a good place to connect to the database is before the HTTP server starts. Then you can just use that connection from within the methods used when rendering pages.
However, some database modules are not thread-safe, so if you're running CherryPy in thread-pool mode, you can't share a database connection across multiple threads. Each thread has to have its own database connection. The way to have one database connection per thread is like this:
- Use cherrypy.engine.subscribe to tell CherryPy to call a function when each thread starts
- In that function, create a DB connection for this thread
- Store the DB connection in cherrypy.thread_data, which is a thread-specific container
- From your methods, use the DB connection that you stored in cherrypy.thread_data
The following example shows how to do this using the MySQLdb module (which doesn't seem to be thread-safe):
import cherrypy import MySQLdb def connect(thread_index): # Create a connection and store it in the current thread cherrypy.thread_data.db = MySQLdb.connect('host', 'user', 'password', 'dbname') # Tell CherryPy to call "connect" for each thread, when it starts up cherrypy.engine.subscribe('start_thread', connect) class Root: def index(self): # Sample page that displays the number of records in "table" # Open a cursor, using the DB connection for the current thread c = cherrypy.thread_data.db.cursor() c.execute('select count(*) from table') res = c.fetchone() c.close() return "Hello, you have %d records in your table" % res[0] index.exposed = True cherrypy.quickstart(Root())
Tip: By default, CherryPy's builtin HTTP server creates 10 threads. Because all 10 threads will be created almost at the same time, the function "connect" will be called 10 times very fast. This means that 10 connections will be opened almost at the same time. Some databases have a hard time keeping up with that, so you might want to put a try/except statement around the "connect" call, and if the call fails, just sleep for a while and try again ... Alternatively, you can use a line like "time.sleep(thread_index*0.5)" to make sure there is at least 0.5 sec between each database creation
(Note: if you are using SQLObject it handles creating the individual connections for you, as well as the threadsafety issues)
Older versions
|replace this
|with this
|cherrypy.engine.subscribe('start_thread', func)
|import cherrypy
|from cherrypy import cpg as cherrypy
|cpg.root = Root()
gregjor said on 2007-01-07 15:07
The application I'm working on uses PostegreSQL, and even though pgdb is minimally thread-safe you can't share connections across threads if you are using transactions. What I've done is create a wrapper around the database code that manages a pool of open connections using a Queue. When my module loads it allocates a queue to hold database connections:
import Queue
dbq = Queue.Queue(10)
When a function or method needs a database connection it requests one from the queue. If the queue is empty a new connection is opened:
def opendbconnection(): try: conn = dbq.get_nowait() except Queue.Empty: try: conn = pgdb.connect(host=xxx, user=xxx, password=xxx, database=xxx) except: # failed to open a database connection raise return conn
The calling function/method uses the database connection, then releases it when it's done. If the queue is full the connection is closed.
def closedbconnection(conn): try: dbq.put_nowait(conn) except Queue.Full: conn.close
In my application this is done with decorators, so functions that need a database connection are decorated and an open database connection is passed to them. The decorator takes care of making sure the connection is released back to the queue.
@usedb def somefn(db, ...):
Our application also has a timed thread that periodically goes through the queue and closes connections that haven't been used in a while, because the connections seem to go stale after a while for reasons I haven't tracked down. There's also a function called when CherryPy shuts down or restarts that closes all connections in the queue.
We've used this fairly simple scheme in a couple of live applications with no problems. The beauty of the Queue is that it is a simple thread-safe mechanism for managing a pool of connections. If a connection is in the queue it's available for use, and connections are opened and added to the queue as needed.
WimS said on 2006-09-23 00:59
SQLite (which is part of python 2.5) restricts use of a connection to the database to the thread that it was created in. I posted a recipe to use SQLite from cherrypy, without the need to connect to the database for every SQL-command.
It lets databaseconnections live in their own thread and queues are used to communicate with them.
Eli Courtwright said on 2006-08-26 13:56
The problem with this approach is that the connections aren't closed when threads are shut down. In particular, they aren't closed when the server automatically restarts when a file is changed.
And you can't just add a similar function to the on_thread_stop_list either, because that function won't be called by the thread being stopped and thus won't have access to the cherrypy.thread_data of that thread.
Is there an elegant way around this? The only approach that I can figure out is to store the thread_index in cherrypy.thread_data and store each database connection in a dictionary, indexed by the thread_index. I can provide some code examples if this is unclear.
artifex said on 2006-05-08 11:27
Psycopg is thread safe... so this is largely unneeded for psql.
Vishal Patel said on 2006-05-07 13:02
It would be nice if someone could state the corresponding modules for Oracle, SQL Server 2000 / 5.0 / Express, and Postgresql.
Rob Cowie said on 2006-03-14 13:12
The (old) MySQLdb website suggests that it is in fact thread safe.
This is still a useful example though!
I had problems using cherrypy.thread_data.db.cursor(): it is unreliable when running some heavy SQL queries. There were plenty of malloc errors (double free), dropped connections etc, even when running with 2 CherryPy threads against local database.
May I suggest following code:
import cherrypy import MySQLdb from DBUtils.PersistentDB import PersistentDB class HomePage: @cherrypy.expose def index(self): sql = "select max(whatever) from bigtable;" #long running query c = persDb.connection().cursor() c.execute(sql) res = c.fetchone() c.close() return ' '.join( ['', repr(res), ''] ) cherrypy.tree.mount(HomePage()) if __name__ == '__main__': persDb=PersistentDB(MySQLdb, 10000, host='localhost', db='db', passwd='****') cherrypy.config.update({'server.thread_pool': 10}) cherrypy.server.quickstart() cherrypy.engine.start()
Alexandru Toth
The above document may be a bit misleading as to when a database connection may be safely shared among threads. If you are using a thread safe database, such as psycopg2, then you can feel free to use a shared connection, but only if you never use that connection to update the database. I wonder how realistic this scenario is though. I cannot imagine a very fun website that doesn't allow the webserver to update the database at all.
The problem is as follows. When the database is updated with a cursor, assuming a standard DB-API interface, a commit is required on the connection. If there are multiple threads using that connection, the commit will apply to all open cursors -- not just the one you want it to. This can lead to unexpected and hard to predict behavior.
To be safe, there needs to be an independent connection per thread. This can be achieved in the following ways.
- (Best/Slowest to code) Use Connection Pools (like psycopg2.pool).
- (Good/Decent to code) One connection per thread as in the above article.
- (Ok/Quick to code) Use a per-cursor commit extension (like psycopg1 has with serialize=False in connect).
David Sankel


text:
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emerged from a meeting with Russia's top diplomat with a renewed sense of confidence there may be a diplomatic solution to the crisis engulfing Ukraine and Crimea. But the top American diplomat stressed the need for patience
Secretary of State John Kerry hinted on Wednesday that the crisis in Ukraine might be inching closer to a diplomatic resolution after he met with Russia's top diplomat.
"We agreed today, both sides and the Ukrainians also, that we are all better served if this can be resolved through dialogue," Kerry told reporters in Paris after meeting there with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Ukraine's territorial integrity must be restored and must be respected," Kerry said.
While signaling that progress may have been made, Kerry cautioned that no one expected "that we were suddenly going to resolve [the Ukraine crisis] this afternoon."
"I want us to be realistic," he said. "This is hard, tough stuff."
Kerry's comments came after his first meeting with Lavrov since Russian forces sparked an international crisis by seizing control of the Crimea region of Ukraine last week.


text:
This heart-healthy pie crust is made with vegetable oil and skim milk.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 slice
Calories 147
Saturated Fat less than 1 g
Cholesterol 40 mg
Sodium 98 mg
Ingredients and Preparation
Ingredients Measures
Flour 1¼ cups
Sugar ¼ teaspoon
Skim milk 1/3 cup
Vegetable oil 2 tablespoons
Ingredients Measures
White sugar ¼ cup
Brown sugar ¼ cup
Salt ½ teaspoon
Nutmeg ¼ teaspoon
Large eggs, beaten 3
Evaporated skim milk, canned ¼ cup
Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
Sweet potatoes (cooked and mashed) 3 cups
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl.
- Add milk and oil to the flour mixture.
- Stir with fork until well-mixed and then form pastry into a smooth ball with your hands.
- Roll the ball between two 12-inch squares of waxed paper using short, brisk strokes until pastry reaches edge of paper.
- Peel off top paper and invert crust into pie plate.
- Combine sugars, salt, spices, and eggs. Add milk and vanilla.
- Add sweet potatoes and mix well. Pour mixture into pie shell.
- Bake for 60 minutes or until crust is golden brown.


text:
Research Report: 2013 ANA Q1 Member Benchmarking Survey
May 16, 2013
This report is based on questions posed by ANA members. Topics covered in this survey include: marketing financial management and procurement (budgeting and pricing and adjustments), agency relations (governance), and media (in-house media buying/planning and radio).
Members Only Content
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text:
Maintenance of Ruby 2.0.0 ended on February 24, 2016. Read more
Stats printer that prints everything documented, including the documented status
Returns a marker for RDoc::CodeObject
co being undocumented
# File rdoc/stats/verbose.rb, line 10 def nodoc co " (undocumented)" unless co.documented? end
Commenting is here to help enhance the documentation. For example, code samples, or clarification of the documentation.
If you have questions about Ruby or the documentation, please post to one of the Ruby mailing lists. You will get better, faster, help that way.
If you wish to post a correction of the docs, please do so, but also file bug report so that it can be corrected for the next release. Thank you.
If you want to help improve the Ruby documentation, please visit Documenting-ruby.org.


text:
>Runner's World - My Event Ratings>
In short: Great race, good tea and cakes, great weatherIn full: Yet again a great women only raceDate of review: May 2, 2013
In short: Hard work on a very hot day but still very enjoyableDate of review: September 12, 2012
In short: Challenging but worth while for the viewsIn full: Enjoyed this run even though it was muddy and hilly. Great marshalls and signposting, glad to see 2 water stations.It will make me practise proper hills more often so they are not so hard.Date of review: June 25, 2012
In short: Norbury Park hills were just as hilly as last time but enjoyableDate of review: October 10, 2011
In short: well organised off road race that caters for the slow as well as the fastDate of review: September 12, 2011
In short: Great Ladies only raceIn full: Well organised and marshalled. Friendly atmosphere and tea and cakes after finishingDate of review: May 8, 2011
In short: Friendly, slightly challenging hills, great bread pudding at the endIn full: Very well organised and marshalled. The cakes and tea at the end are brilliant.Date of review: November 15, 2010
In short: The new course makes a good race even betterDate of review: May 10, 2010
In short: cold, muddy, hilly challenge that I managed to run all the wayDate of review: February 7, 2010
In short: Challenging but very friendlyDate of review: September 9, 2009
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text:
We want to help you to protect your home against earthquake damage by speeding up the application process for Home Retrofit Permits. We also provide you with suggestions, called prescriptive plansets, on how to retrofit your home. These plansets help you obtain the Home Retrofit Permit quickly and easily. They also eliminate the need to hire a design professional to develop drawings.
Our home retrofit plans address two common kinds of earthquake damage: the wall between the foundation and first floor collapsing or the home moving off its foundation.
Our fees are based on your estimated value of work, labor, and materials. Use our fee estimator to calculate your permit fee. Some projects may qualify for reduced permit fees.
We usually do our initial review of this type of project in two weeks.
Determine if your house qualifies. Complete the checklist in the How to Complete the Home Assessment Checklist booklet to see if you can use prescriptive plansets to retrofit your home. If your home does not qualify, you can still do seismic retrofitting, but you will need to work with a structural engineer.
Prepare your plans. Follow the instructions in the Guide to Completing an Earthquake Retrofit Plan for Wood-frame Residential Buildings to prepare your plansets.
Bring your plans to the Applicant Service Center. Bring 2 copies of your plansets, your home assessment checklist, and a completed Earthquake Home Retrofit Permit Application to the 20th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower at 700 5th Avenue.
Pay fees. Approximately 75% of your permit fees are due at intake. The fees are calculated based on your project value.
Pick up or print permit. You will be contacted when your plans are approved. You can pick up your permit and approved plans at the permit issuance counter in the Applicant Service Center.
Pay fees. You will need to pay all outstanding fees to pick up your permit.
Display your permit. Place your permit in a visible location on the project site.
Get related permits. You may need to get additional permits or approvals from other departments.
Know when to call. We need to inspect your project:
Contact us. Call our 24-hour inspection request line at (206) 684-8900 before 7:00 a.m. on the day you need the inspection. You can also request an inspection online.< /p>
Close your permit. Your permit information will be archived in our electronic document management system.
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text:
Check out this story from foxnews.com today (4/11/03):
Imagine: John Lennon Is Coming to Broadway
Good morning. I can tell you exclusively today that Yoko Ono has approved a musical version of John Lennon's life -- and it's headed to Broadway.
Details are still sketchy, but director Don Scardino will helm the project. Lennon's many songs from his solo career will fill the show, although insiders say it's not clear how the Beatles will be handled.
You may recall that Ono excised all mention of the Beatles or Paul McCartney at the TNT tribute show to Lennon in November 2001. Even though the Lennon musical will have a book -- as yet unwritten -- the story may be less about his early years and more about his time with Ono.
Get ready for an onstage bed-in, which will at least be fun to gossip about.
Of course, the biggest part of this process will be the casting -- and no one knows who will play John and Yoko yet. One thing's for sure: we're not likely to see Lennon's eldest son, Julian. For years, Ono has prevented him from sharing in his father's fortune. Julian now lives quietly in France, away from the madness that surrounded John's celebrity.


text:
by Anton Shilov
Intel Corp. on Thursday reaffirmed plans to start commercial shipments of its code-named Oak Trail platforms aimed at tablets and ultra-thin netbooks in the first quarter of next year. While the chip will not support PCI Express bus, it will support Microsoft Windows operating system as well as other software platforms.
"[We are] shipping [Oak Trail] for revenue in Q1 2011. [...] Oak Trail takes the Lincroft SoC (CPU + GPU + memory controller) and pairs it with a new PCH, codenamed Whitney Point. Whitney Point adds PCI support, enabling Windows support. We will most definitely be supporting Windows 7 with Oak Trail," said Suzy Ramirez, a spokeswoman for Intel.
Earlier this week the Federal Trade Commission and Intel reached agreement under which the company may omit support of PCI Express interface from its code-named Oak Trail system-on-chip aimed at tablets. PCI Express, which is compatible with PCI on the program level, could allow tablet makers to install additional up-to-date peripherals as well as Windows 7 OS onto tablets, something that is not possible with the current-generation low-power Atom Z600 "Moorestown" system-on-chip (SoC). As it appears, Intel decided not to include modern PCIe controller into Oak Trail, but stick to legacy PCI.
Oak Trail will deliver up to a 50% reduction in average power consumption with full HD-video playback (MPEG4-AVC, VC-1), according to Intel. Compared to the first-generation processor for ultra-slim netbooks - Atom Z500 "Menlow" - the new platform offers 40% smaller and 35% thinner package. The SoC will target a choice of operating systems including MeeGo, Windows 7 and Google Android or Chrome operating systems.


text:
Following a hint from The Loop's Jim Dalrymple suggesting that Apple's "iPad mini" will be introduced at a second media event following the next-generation iPhone event all but confirmed for September 12, AllThingsD now backs up the claim with its own sources saying that Apple is planning for an iPad mini introduction in October. [read]
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|The Dalai Lama has reasons to smile too!
|Photo © Joanna Wilson Photography
|One of Steve's biggest reasons to smile.
|The Dalai Lama has reasons to smile too!
|Photo © Joanna Wilson Photography
|One of Steve's biggest reasons to smile.
That's nice, Lindsay. But there is a small problem. he eats hamburgers. I am not here to play devil's advocate or to make trouble, just saying that it is incredibly frustrating to see the disconnect between what he says and what he does. And worse, everyone thinks he is vegan.
I mean, we are all on a continuum, and he is, also. So he should go vegan and show people what compassion means.
Hell's Kitchen Gal
I hear you - I had the same issue yesterday when I was looking at a book called "The Ahimsa Life Diet." In it, the author talks about nonviolence and compassion and promotes a (mostly) vegan diet. The place where I began to shut down was where she talked about cow's milk being important for nurturing our souls, and that we should buy cow's milk from organic dairy farms, because it's better for the cows. I just got more and more frustrated with her as I read, even going so far as to talk angrily back to the book! Then my hubby stopped me and said that even though he couldn't agree less with her, he's taking the parts of the book that speak to him and using them in a positive way in his life. And I didn't understand him yesterday. But after sharing this today, I do more. Yes, he's not vegan - but his words spoke to my heart, because I completely and totally live what he says. Every single day. And I'm sure you do too. I completely understand your frustration, though, Hell's Kitchen Gal. Thank you for bringing to light another side to this issue, and I hope you'll continue sharing your thoughts!
I'm so surprised to learn that the Dalai Lama is not vegan or vegetarian! I've always had a problem with "do as I say, not as I do." Just to make sure, I Googled this surprising bit of info, and Hell's Kitchen Gal is correct.
You can read lots about his choice on line....
Here is one discussion about it:
He claims that he was ill and had to eat meat....but I don't know what illness is cured by him wearing leather shoes.
For the most part I understand that none of us is a perfect example of compassion. And, on the other hand, he is an example to millions of people around the world and what he does give people permission to not live in alignment with their values.
Lindsay, thank you for acknowledging the complexities of this issue. This particular issue offends me deeply and even wounds me, because I know so many people adore this man and he wields such power. So when he is equivocal or rationalizes such fundamentally important issues, I get so upset that I have to step back from it and not lash out. I continue to realize that we are all on a continuum and I look forward to the day when he renounces exploitation of other beings.
Hell's Kitchen Gal
I just stumbled across your blog and it is beautiful. I never thought I'd call a blog beautiful, but it is. What you post is so inspirational. I am adding you to my blog roll and will continue reading.
Love and light.
Thank you ladies for all of your contributions! I appreciate your feedback so much and will take it to heart when I post quotes in the future and beyond that. And thanks so much for your support Chelsea!
Maybe the Dali Lama has not been able to wrap his head around complete compassion for all living things yet.
There are many people that lack compassion in many areas. But, in my experience compassion for every living thing is taught either through experience or through another person. Usually in steps. So, if any one person is teaching even one area or step of compassion to anyone, that is usually the beginning of ultimately having compassion for all living things. Maybe the Dali is still taking his steps toward compassion for all living creatures while teaching others compassion for the areas he has mastered......a good interview question to ask him Lindsay :). xoxo
There are a lot of reasons to be happy!.
One of that reasons is to see that day by day, there are more vegan people...
nice to meet you! :)
Nice point Mom - I love that. And nice to meet you too, Newvegangoddess!


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Are you looking for an Italian surname? Do you need more information about your family heritage?
This is the right place to start your genealogy search.
This is the right place to start your genealogy search.
Post Reply
8 posts • Page 1 of 1
I am at present trying to trace my family tree. My 3rd great grand farther was from Trieste called Antonio Ceclich he had a son called Nicholas George who came over to Liverpool UK.

Could anyone tell me how I go about getting records for my family tree in Italy or could you recomend any websites.

Kind Regards,
GUK

Hello Peter,

Thanks for your reply.

I dont know if Antonio was born in Trieste, The only info I have is that on his sons marrige certificate Nicholas George Ceclich his farther was Antonio & He was a shop keeper. Nicholas came over to Liverpool from Trieste.

Regards,
GUK.
The town that issued the marriage certificate was Liverpool UK.

Regards,
GUK.
Hello Again Peter,

Just to say thanks for all the help, I do know about Nicholas George Ceclich. There are 3 of them down the line but was after how to get info on Antonio without having to goto trieste could you help.

Kind Regards,
GUK.
Post Reply
8 posts • Page 1 of 1
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Either there is a God who created the universe and sovereignly rules His creation, or everything was caused by blind chance. The two ideas are mutually exclusive. If God rules, there's no room for chance. Make chance the cause of the universe, and you have effectively done away with God.
As a matter of fact, if chance as a determinative force or a cause exists even in the frailest form, God has been dethroned. The sovereignty of God and chance are inherently incompatible. If chance causes or determines anything, God is not truly God.
But again, chance is not a force. Chance cannot make anything happen. Chance is nothing. It simply does not exist. And therefore it has no power to do anything. It cannot be the cause of any effect. It is an imaginary hocus–pocus. It is contrary to every law of science, every principle of logic, and every intuition of sheer common sense. Even the most basic principles of thermodynamics, physics, and biology suggest that chance simply cannot be the determinative force that has brought about the order and interdependence we see in our universe—much less the diversity of life we find on our own planet. Ultimately, chance simply cannot account for the origin of life and intelligence.
One of the oldest principles of rational philosophy is ex nihilo nihil fit. Out of nothing, nothing comes. And chance is nothing. Naturalism is rational suicide.
When scientists attribute instrumental power to chance they have left the realm of reason, they have left the domain of science. They have turned to pulling rabbits out of hats. They have turned to fantasy. Insert the idea of chance, and all scientific investigation ultimately becomes chaotic and absurd. That is precisely why evolution does not deserve to be deemed true science; it is nothing more than an irrational religion—the religion of those who want to sin without guilt.
Someone once estimated that the number of random genetic factors involved in the evolution of a tapeworm from an amoeba would be comparable to placing a monkey in a room with a typewriter and allowing him to strike the keys at random until he accidentally produced a perfectly spelled and perfectly punctuated typescript of Hamlet's soliloquy. And the odds of getting all the mutations necessary to evolve a starfish from a one–celled creature are comparable to asking a hundred blind people to make ten random moves each with five Rubik's Cubes, and finding all five cubes perfectly solved at the end of the process. The odds against all earth's life forms evolving from a single cell are, in a word, impossible.
Nonetheless, the absurdity of naturalism goes largely unchallenged today in universities and colleges. Turn on the Discovery Channel or pick up an issue of National Geographic and you are likely to be exposed to the assumption that chance exists as a force—as if mere chance spontaneously generated everything in the universe.
One Nobel laureate, Harvard professor George Wald, acknowledged the utter absurdity of this. Pondering the vast array of factors both real and hypothetical that would have to arise spontaneously all at once in order for in–animate matter to evolve into even the most primitive one–celled form of life, he wrote, "One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of a living organism is impossible." Then he added, "Yet here we are—as a result, I believe, of spontaneous generation." How did Wald believe this impossibility came about? He answered: "Time is in fact the hero of the plot. The time with which we have to deal is of the order of two billion years. What we regard as impossible on the basis of human experience is meaningless here. Given so much time, the 'impossible' becomes possible, the possible probable, and the probable virtually certain. One has only to wait: time itself performs the miracles." Given enough time, that which is impossible becomes "virtually certain." That is sheer double–talk. And it perfectly illustrates the blind faith that underlies naturalistic religion.
There is no viable explanation of the universe without God. So many immense and intricate wonders could not exist without a Designer. There's only one possible explanation for it all, and that is the creative power of an all–wise God. He created and sustains the universe, and He gives meaning to it. And without Him, there is ultimately no meaning in anything. Without Him, we are left with only the notion that everything emerged from nothing without a cause and without any reason. Without Him, we are stuck with that absurd formula of the evolutionist: Nothing times nobody equals everything.
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Is there a God who has among other things created the universe? It is not by its conclusions but by its methodological starting point that modern science excludes creation.
-- C. F. von Weizsacker
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I grew up going to public school. Boy was it a shock to realize that everything I was taught was more or less and assumption. Praise God for his perfect plan and evidence of it!
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It amazes me, (that is the scripture),in it's detail. For instance take Matthew's Gospel,chapter four (4), and verses thirteen and fourteen (13-14). It reads: "And leaving Nazareth, he came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:" The Scripture leads us to believe that Jesus did this in order that he might fulfill one of the prophets sayings. Just think for a moment, if Jesus Christ was willing to go to a place like Capernaum to fulfill the word of a prophet, why should we think that he would be any less concerned about the creation account.
It also mystifies me that otherwise intelligent folks would believe in a system which believes anything but God created the universe and fabricates the evidence to prove it. Much of the "evidence" that I have seen really speaks against every aspect of evolution. The evidence against evolution is so vast that it boggles the mind.
R.C. Sproul wrote a book called "Not a Chance," on why chance has no causal power since it has no being. Good stuff. He also argues "If anything exists, then something (someone) has always existed." Classical apologetics has its uses after all! Personally, I think that's one of the best reasons for believing in a self-existent God.
Excellent article and I agree with it. The naturalist's Achilles heal is their own prepositional view that the universe could ONLY be explained by purely natural principles. I believe it was Al Mohler who made that comment on a Q&A session of the 2007 Ligonier Conference Contending for the Truth.
Also, speaking of R.C. Sproul, he made an excellent comment towards chance and he mentions that classical apologetic argument.
This is exactly what John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul are stating; chance is nothing.
We have a "reasonable faith"...For since the creation of the world His INVISIBLE attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly SEEN, being understood through what has been made, so that they are WITHOUT EXCUSE. (Romans 1:20).
I also posted this on the "Evolutionary Trinity"...
On CNN.com this morning...
"DNA show humans, Neanderthals mated"
...Did Neanderthals ever exist?
Of course they existed. And the fact that they "mated" with "humans" demonstrates all the more that they were human beings, not some soul less hominid. I believe the Neanderthals were our ancestors from after the dispersion at the tower of Babel. Their odd skeletal features represent the impact of long age, perhaps even over 200 years of age, as the table of nations genealogy makes reference too in Genesis 10 and 11. Here's a good article on the subject:
The post, "Breakthrough: Second Genetic Code Revealed", over at www.crev.info is a must read. Humans will never even scratch the surface of the intelligence that is God. I have been exposed to a lot of debate lately on this blog and others about genetics and evolution. I have grown weary of the arrogance of those who constantly use fancy language, and claim to know how it all works. Yet, "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh". With loving kindness I say to stop your rebuttals and clever retorts and start praising God. To those who work diligently at GTY to keep ever wandering humans focused on the scriptures I thank you.
-- C. F. von weizsacker
It's through Methodological naturalism that the conclusion should speak loudly to all scientist that life had to be created by a Intellegent designer, in which Christian Believe to be God, the Father, the creator of the whole universe.You can't put God in a test tube but you can put all your conclusions and theories in one and the conclusion is, CREATION NOT CHANCE, WAKE UP!!!
GTY, I thank God for the work you do. Great article!!
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Why MarketIQ?
Experian MarketIQ provides the broadest and deepest source of corporate, deal, financial and business information on a single, accessible and easy-to-use platform. It helps to keep you one step ahead of your competitors and so make the most of more opportunities.
Experian MarketIQ is an essential market intelligence platform for any accountancy firm requiring access to accurate and up-to-date business information.
Specialist support and advice
As well as a dedicated Account Manager, you have direct access to Experian MarketIQ product specialists and research analysts committed to helping you make the most of the detailed insight available.
Target prospective clients
Improve new client acquisition by targeting and profiling potential clients using intelligent search options. For example, you can target businesses that are similar to your existing client base, use company director intelligence to uncover further business interests or relationships which could lead to new introductions, or analyse the activity of your competitors to identify potential new clients.
Profile businesses
Enhance the detail of forensic accounting reports to deliver more accurate business valuations and deeper analysis of corporate ownership and directorships. Use the full range of modules to combine credit, financial, corporate and share ownership data in a single report.
Monitor entire segments
Stay ahead of your competitors and provide better advice by monitoring the performance and activities of whole sectors or individual businesses, and pre-empt pitches or acquisitions by spotting opportunities before others do.
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Identify new business opportunities by setting up alerts so you are notified the moment something happens, and your business development teams know which businesses and people are the best targets to contact.
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Improve the effectiveness of your due diligence with much deeper financial data and real-time risk profiling. Gain direct access to original scanned Companies House documents, and leverage director and corporate tree information for deeper market-based insight.
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Previous Topic
What should you ask your doctor about stomach cancer?
What happens after treatment for stomach cancer?
For some people with stomach cancer, treatment may remove or destroy the cancer. Completing treatment can be both stressful and exciting. You may be relieved to finish treatment, but find it hard not to worry about cancer coming back. (When cancer returns, it is called recurrence.) This is a very common concern among those who have had cancer.
It may take a while before your fears lessen. But it may help to know that many cancer survivors have learned to live with this uncertainty and are leading full lives. Living with Uncertainty: The Fear of Cancer Recurrence gives more detailed information on this.
In other people, the cancer may never go away completely. These people may get regular treatments with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or other therapies to try to help keep the cancer in check. Learning to live with cancer that does not go away can be difficult and very stressful. It has its own type of uncertainty. When Cancer Doesn't Go Away talks more about this.
Follow-up care
If you have completed treatment, your doctors will still want to watch you closely. It is very important to go to all of your follow-up appointments. During these visits, your doctors will ask questions about any problems you are having and may do exams and lab or imaging tests to look for signs of cancer or treatment side effects. Almost any cancer treatment can have side effects. Some last for a few weeks to months, but others can last the rest of your life. This is the time for you to talk to your cancer care team about any changes or problems you notice and any questions or concerns you have.
Most doctors recommend careful follow-up, with a physical exam and review of symptoms every 3 to 6 months for the first few years, then at least yearly after that. Lab tests might also be done. Scans are not usually needed at each visit, but should be done if there are any suspicious symptoms or physical findings.
If you have had surgery, your health care team may suggest that you meet with a nutritionist, who can help you adjust to changes in your eating habits.
People who have had surgery — especially if they had the upper part of their stomach removed (in either a subtotal or total gastrectomy) — will probably need to have their vitamin blood levels tested regularly and may need to get vitamin supplements, which may include B12 injections. (The pill form of vitamin B12 isn't absorbed if the upper part of the stomach has been removed.)
It is important to keep your health insurance during this time. Tests and doctor visits can cost a lot, and even though no one wants to think of their cancer coming back, this could happen.
Should your cancer come back, When Your Cancer Comes Back: Cancer Recurrence can give you information on how to manage and cope with this phase of your treatment.
Seeing a new doctor
At some point after your cancer diagnosis and treatment, you may find yourself seeing a new doctor who does not know anything about your medical history. It is important that you be able to give your new doctor the details of your diagnosis and treatment. Gathering these details soon after treatment may be easier than trying to get them at some point in the future. Make sure you have the following information handy:
- A copy of your pathology report(s) from any biopsies or surgeries
- If you had surgery, a copy of your operative report(s)
- If you stayed in the hospital, a copy of the discharge summary that doctors prepare when patients are sent home
- If you had radiation therapy, a copy of the treatment summary
- If you had chemotherapy or targeted therapies, a list of the drugs, drug doses, and when you took them
- Copies of your x-rays and imaging tests (these can often be placed on a DVD)
Last Medical Review: 05/20/2014
Last Revised: 02/10/2016


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BALLPOINT // 7th July 2014
wang2mu is a Shanghai-based illustrator who creates very complex and detailed illustrations using only ballpoint pens. His consistent use of red and blue pens give his artworks their own identity and personal style. Wang2Mu works around themes of technology, childhood nostalgia, and domestic culture of Ghuangzhou.


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Less than a year ago, President Obama announced a National Action Plan (NAP) to implement commitments on Women, Peace and Security. It was a historic moment and the product of a tremendous collaboration between the White House, USAID, the Departments of State and Defense, other agencies, and civil society groups at home and abroad. It was also the first step.
Immediately following this announcement, the real work began as each agency began creating an implementation plan, a roadmap to how we would make these commitments real. Last week, I was thrilled to participate in the release of USAID's Implementation Plan for the NAP. This plan was crafted to provide guidance on how to both address the needs of women and provide them with the tools to empower themselves to be forceful change agents within their communities.
This critical step could not come soon enough. For advocates focused on the empowerment and protection of women in conflict situations, these are heady times. From graphic images of women being raped in the eastern Congo to young girls in Afghanistan having acid thrown in their faces for daring to return to school, the past few years have seen a growing international awareness of the tragic personal costs women pay for our failure to protect them in the context of armed conflict. We also now know the tremendous collective costs we pay as a global community for failing to draw on women's talents for making and building peace, pursuing development, and reconstructing post-conflict societies.
But we are responding. Through this Implementation Plan, we are working to ensure that we have impact on the ground by integrating and institutionalizing a gender-focused approach to peace and security; promoting women's participation in peace processes and decision making; strengthening protection of women and children from hard, discrimination and abuse; and promoting women's roles in conflict prevention.
Perhaps the most exciting about this plan is that it's packed with programs that will have an impact on the ground. For example, USAID will support new programs in the Philippines, Nepal, Yemen and elsewhere to strengthen women's participation in peace-building and political processes. USAID will also establish a fund to catalyze implementation of the NAP through innovative activities that advance women, peace, and security in priority countries.
That said, we know the success of our efforts will not be measured by the policies we adopt, the resolutions and legislations we pass, the publicity we generate, or even the money we spend. It will be measured by the degree to which we protect the well-being of women and girls faced with the horrors of war, empower them to play their rightful role in peace process and post-conflict reconstruction, hold government security forces and warlords alike accountable for acts of abuse and sexual violence, build strong civil society networks of women and for women, and end the stigma of victimization that confronts women leaders around the world.
Editor's Note: This entry appeared first on the USAID Impact Blog.
Vee in Zimbabwe writes:
its a great development but America really has double standards when it comes to conflicts doesnt considering the fact you turned a blind eye to the marikana shootings of the innocent miners in south africa by the south african police. stop making it look like you having Africa and you care about our problems when you dont treat all violence the same


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26 Amazing Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System
flickr: wstryderSince it implemented huge education reforms 40 years ago, Finland's school system has consistently come at the top for the international rankings for education systems.
So how do they do it?
It's simple — by going against the evaluation-driven, centralized model that much of the Western world uses.


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The challenges of world hunger and poverty seem, at times, insurmountable. More than 800 million people – nearly one in seven – face chronic hunger or malnutrition. In Africa alone, at least 30 million are threatened with starvation due to drought, and an estimated 200 million will be malnourished by 2020 if current trends continue. [1] Why, then, did Zambian government officials reject about 17,000 tons of donated U.S. corn last October with hungry Zambians standing nearby, groping at the lifesaving food? [2] Apparently, heeding the European Union's (EU) ban on biotechnologically altered crops was more important than preventing famine deaths for the African country, and continues to be for many others.
The EU has banned agricultural biotechnology, the splicing of genes in plants that allows breeders to develop (or eliminate) traits in plants to increase productivity, since 1998.
Despite assurances from the United Nations and the World Health Organization that there is no evidence of any danger from the crops, and use of the technology for over a decade by the U.S., the EU maintains that biotech crops are unsafe to eat and destructive to the environment. However, these exaggerated claims emphasize the speculative risks wealthy Europeans foresee, and can dangerously delay or reverse the economic development necessary to improve not only human life but also human stewardship of the environment. Furthermore, citizens of developing nations are often forced to suffer longer in poverty with its attendant high rates of malnutrition, disease, and mortality; as a consequence, they are often the most injured by such misguided, though well-intentioned, policies. [3]
First of all, the EU urges that biotech foods are unsafe to eat, and pushes for increased regulation of bioengineered crops across the board, regardless of the level of risk individual varieties may pose. However, if the evidence that Americans have been eating corn flakes made with biotech corn for more than 10 years without incident isn't enough, the EU should look at the differences between traditional breeding methods and biotech breeding. Numerous scientific bodies, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, and others, have concluded that gene splicing techniques themselves are safer than traditional breeding methods, because breeders know which new genes are being added to plants and exactly which functions these genes perform. [4] Furthermore, the EU would never ban traditional breeding, which has been used for millennia; why would it ban a safer, more specific method that further utilizes human ingenuity to achieve the results it desires?
Second, the EU cites the potential negative impact on the environment that biotechnology may cause, and warns against pushing risky science on developing countries. However, decreased quality of life and low productivity damage the environment more than the any risk posed by the exaggerated claims of the EU. For instance, splicing a natural pesticide into a plant that it doesn't naturally produce increases yields, saves raw materials and fuel used to produce synthetic pesticides, eliminates industrial waste and runoff into nearby land, and saves farmers millions of gallons of water and tens of thousands of days of labor every year. [5] In less developed nations where pesticides are typically sprayed on by hand, biotech crops have been even more beneficial, saving the lives of more than 400 farmers a year who would have otherwise died from acute pesticide poisoning. [6] Similar benefits are derived from the proper stewarding of creation through manipulating genes for natural weed management and natural fertilizer.
Although biotechnology alone will not solve all of the complex problems of hunger and poverty in Africa, the EU's release of its moratorium on biotech as requested by the US to the World Trade Organization on March 15 would allow Africans to take full advantage of aid from the U.S. and increase agricultural productivity for its people. Government officials fear that the EU's protests will cost them votes if they accept U.S. aid, and unfounded fears perpetuated by the EU have caused them to be wary of the technology. Furthermore, stringent regulation has resulted in constrained innovation, especially in smaller laboratories, as well as a significant decline in funding for public sector research from the World Bank and so many bilateral donors. [7] This violation of human rights cannot continue.
In the meantime, the U.S. must continue to develop global partnerships, tailor research to local needs, promote regulations on biotech based on sound science, and emphasize the importance of productivity for the betterment of our world. Dennis Avery, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues, puts it this way: "Is it worth asking whether humanity achieved its capacity for learning by accident or through divine will? Should we have stopped learning at the bow and arrow? After the printing press? After hybrid seeds? Before Biotechnology? Do we dare to stop the knowledge process while more than 800 million humans are hungry?" Now, that would be hard to swallow.
- 1. Avery, Dennis T., "Hunger for the Holidays," American Outlook Today, January 1, 2003. http://www.hudson.org/general/popup_print.cfm?id=2129 .
- 2. Avery, Dennis T., "Environmentalists to Africans: Drop Dead." American Outlook Today, October 10, 2002.
- 3. See The Cornwall Declaration , /ppolicy/environment/cornwall.html
- 4. Conko, Gregory, "The Benefits of Biotech," Regulation, Spring 2003.
- 5. Id.
- 6. Id.
- 7. "Nobel Peace Laureate Urges Adoption of Agricultural Technology to Feed the Developing World." June 24, 2003. http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2003/06/0230.htm


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Vitamin E increases prostate cancer risk in middle-aged men relative to placebo: no significant association observed with selenium, either alone or in combination with vitamin E
- College of Nursing, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
- Correspondence to Gwen Wyatt
College of Nursing, Michigan State University, 515 W Fee Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; gwen.wyatt{at}hc.msu.edu
Implications for practice and research
■ Clinicians should inform patients that vitamin E significantly increased the risk of prostate cancer among healthy men, and should be avoided.
■ Extended follow-up of common doses of vitamins and supplements may reveal new and critically significant findings.
The lifetime risk for prostate cancer in the USA is currently estimated to be 16%. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term effect of vitamin E and selenium on the risk of prostate cancer in healthy men who had participated in the …