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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
CMR: Chief Middle-management Resident's LiveJournal:
As I participated in the Hope Street Group project to Re-Invent Primary Care, I came to think about how medicine is at a unique opportunity to both converge and diverge at the same time. This creates some tension as different stakeholders favor going in opposing directions. However, I think there is a framework that will enable us to strive for a healthier society. To do so, we should recognize that "health care" is really two things: 1) maintaining health and 2) treating illness.
Maintaining health should be primarily the responsibility of patients and communities. Physicians are, let's be honest here, not really trained to think about maintaining and promoting health and healthy behaviors. These behaviors should be taught in school, supported by the design of communities, and re-enforced by cultural ideals. The health care system (clinics, hospitals, etc) is not the ideal place to instill such education about health. It would be best to decentralize the way we promote health and healthy behaviors. Instead, these should be "outsourced" to families and communities in order to create a culture of health. As a society, we should emphasize that maintaining health is the responsibility of patients.
How? Tough question, for sure. But social and personal media can help -- just think if your cell phone kept track of how far you walked every day, or if your grocery discount card also provided feedback on your diet (in comparison to ideals and other people). This is a realm of huge potential for innovation, particularly if patients/consumers know it is their responsibility to find the tools that work for them.
This is the divergence -- maintaining health as the responsibility of the individual and community. There will be roles for policy changes related to food subsidies, zoning codes for fast food, etc, but the bulk of the power still lies with the individual (which can be encouraged through social interactions).
The opposing tension is the "sick care" system: how we treat individuals when they do become ill. Appendicitis will still happen, as will infections and heart attacks. When they do happen, patients should be treated in integrated, comprehensive care systems that know their past medical history, have a full range of treatment options available (acute primary care appointments all the way up to the ICU and cardiac surgery). When people develop acute illnesses, our system should be consolidated and coordinated to care for them.
This means the era of the solo practice - the "cowboy physician" - is coming to an end. Physicians are more likely to be leading health care teams that care for patients, seeing the patients when needed due to acute illnesses or complex cases, but coordinating care with nurse practicianers when able and appropriate.
We need an integrated, vertical health care system that can treat everything from a minor ailment to highly complex illnesses. This will require consolidation of the health care system, but not every patient and every appointment will need to be seen at a major academic institution. There is still a role for the local provider, but that provider should be connected to (no, integrated with) secondary and tertiary care centers that can pick up the care of patients that exceeds the capacity of the local provider.
So, that's how I see the future of medicine: empowering individuals with the tools and instilling them with the sense of responsibility to maintain their health, while integrating and consolidating the treatment of acute illnesses into multi-specialty health care organizations when they do occur.
So, it's been a bit of an eventful week in politics, and I wanted to weigh in on one of the more profound announcements that will potentially affect politics for years to come. I speak, of course, of the confirmation that Quinn Hunter's father is John Edwards.
Just kidding.... Well, actually Edwards *is* the father, but I'm joking that I would actually offer commentary about that National Enquirer scoop.
The big news today was the Supreme Court ruling on the Hillary Movie. Well, the ruling was about campaign finance laws, but it stemmed from the production and distribution of an anti-Hillary documentary.
I think the Supreme Court got it right.
I agree with the detractors who worry that this is furthering the "personification" of corporations, but I think it would eventually prove impossible to separate political speech by individuals and that of corporations. After all, a corporation could easily pay people to speak on its behalf. Okay, so we'd try to ban the exchange of money for speech (insane!), but that would only restrict unions and politcal action groups without barring political speech by the rich. Bill Gates doesn't have to solicit money from anyone to express his opinion widely, if he so chooses. I guess you could try to limit how rich people spend their money ... but that'd be a strikingly un-American way to promote an un-American idea of limiting speech.
It's a very slippery slope from blocking commercial speech to blocking the speech of individuals with a commercial interest in an election (like, say, tax-payers).
But this issue has more slippery slopes than Vail. As it was discussed in this case, what *is* the difference between releasing a movie before an election and releasing a book? Is it coherent to give written media broad protection, but not other forms of media? What are blogs, then? We often forget why broadcast media were once treated differently than other media: the radio frequency spectrum is "limited" and requires government regulation (in the form of protection of frequency ownership) to allow it to have value. (Without protection, we'd end up with cacophony where broadcasters would interfere with each other on every frequency, making all worthless in value.)
Perhaps what irks me most about the campaign finance issue is the fact that those that want to limit it seem to believe that people are unable to think, analyze and come to their own opinions. They are merely sheep that do what the talking box tells them to do. In the end, our democracy is founded on the decision that happens behind the voting booth curtain. No amount of money can "buy" an election with absolute certainty. Just ask Steve Forbes. (There is actually empiric evidence behind this.)
I agree that there is a worry that politicians would become (or appear) encumbered by donations by the wealthy, but that *can* be regulated. I'd like to repeat my simple campaign finance rules:
There. That's all. The first rule would still restrict donations by corporations and unions (they aren't people, and so can't register to vote). Yes, monied interests could pay someone in a district to donate to a candidate, but that would have to be reported both by the candidate in the disclose. (And, curiously, to the IRS as income for that individual.)
The disclosure rule would let voters know who supports a candidate - which may not be a good thing. And the third rule exists to prevent candidates from coordinating with corporations/unions/etc. Corporations, unions, foreign governments, etc would all be allowed to buy ad time, publish books, film documentaries that push their political view -- they just couldn't coordinate with campaigns to do that.
So, rather than trying to divine if it is a corporation (not protected) or an individual (protected) speaking ... rather than trying to determine if the media is a protected form (books) or regulated (television) or something else (Internet) ... rather than flooding the courts each election with hair-splitting cases ... let's just open the flood gates.
And let the people sort out the truth, and render it behind the curtain in the voting booth.
As we speak, a few select members of the Democratic leadership are hammering out the final language for the health care reform. In very much the back-room dealing-making manner that they said they wouldn't resort to.
One of the signs of partisanship is the double-standard -- it's okay when my side does it, but not when the other side does. Sure, everyone attempts to explain away this by saying that this situation is different than that other situation, but just watch The Daily Show on any given night, and you'll see how flimsy those arguments are. But that doesn't stop them from being made. And if anyone does actually raise an issue with their own side's behavior, they risk being ostracized by the whole group, thereby punishing those who seek to consistently apply principles in a just way. (Aren't these the "factions" that George Washington warned us about?)
Well, that being said, I'm going to call a foul on my own team. While I (generally) agree with what we're going to get out of the health care reform, as we enter this final endgame, the methods are disappointing. Back in my LAD days, I used to show the entire "I'm Just A Bill" cartoon -- it's great entertainment, and surprisingly accurate for a 70's cartoon. But it does leave out one key step in the legislative process: the conference committee to reconcile differences between versions of legislation passed by each house. However, as we are currently learning, that conference committee isn't actually required -- using procedural steps and backroom agreements, they can get the same bill to each chamber without the official conference committee.
Why skip the conference? Well, from what I can gather, it's not because it could derail the process -- it's generally agreed that whatever came out of conference committee would get through Congress in one final vote. However, it would require several more of those hairsplittingly close procedural votes in the Senate, plus more time. So, in short, the Democrats are skipping the conference to save time, not to change the end result.
But the process matters. Or, it should matter. That's why we have laws, rules and regulations -- to establish the *way* we get things done. One of the significant strengths in our country is that while we may disagree with the content of a law proposed by the "other" side, we agree with the process for that proposal to become law (or die a quiet death in committee). It's that underpinning and consensus that lets us have debates and discussions. But it should be respected, because the desire to etch away at it for the need of political expediency is always present. And if your side contributes to that erosion, there's less there to hold the "opposition" back when it's their opportunity to make changes.
This does raise an interesting political and sociological discussion that I haven't entirely settled for myself: why are back-room discussions bad? In general, debates and decisions that are made by "representatives" should be public. Back in the day when only white men with land could vote, ballots were not secret because it was felt that since they were voting on behalf of their women and their property (both physical and human), that it was appropriate to know how they voted. As we wised up and figured out that both the woman, the landless, and the previous slaves might actually have an opinion of their own that was not represented by the pale penis people, the ballot became secret because it was now an act of self-interest to cast a ballot (what do I think is best for me and my country?).
Congressional votes are always public because this is a representative democracy -- we need to know how our representatives are voting to know if we want to keep them in office. But there is also a role for private discussions, particularly in the early stages of legislation as deals are made. Imagine how productive the process would be if everyone witnessed how their favorite project or ideal was offered up as a sacrificial bargain during negotiation? Those bargains not taken need not be know (but those that are made final should and must be publicly discussed and debated).
So, there is a role for private, backroom bargaining to hammer out the details. But the reality is that there will not be a full, public debate with back and forth negotiations and compromise in a public forum -- are we bypassing a necessary part of representative democracy? (For the most part, no -- the bill was debated in the open for weeks, but should there still be an opportunity for us to see who offered up what parts for compromise? That's the open question in my mind ...)
In terms of process, I see this as a foul on the Dems ... but not a reason for ejection from the game. There were many more flagrant fouls that were considered (using Reconciliation to pass the health care reform -- now that would have been a serious erosion of the process). But when the Dems are in the minority again (and it will happen, though probably not in 2010), they will have less trust established with their colleagues and less mutual respect for the agreed upon rules. When you are "the other side", it's best to be able to say, "Look, we followed the rules and the process to get our goals achieved ... you should too."
As we enter the final stretch of the legislative process for health care reform, we are beginning to get an idea of what the final bill will look like based on the five existing bills: definitely regulation of the insurance industry (no more "pre-existing conditions"), most probably an individual mandate to obtain insurance (enforced by a fine or a tax), and maybe (?) a government-run public option to compete with the private insurers.
Is there any other place in our lives where the government mandates that we purchase a good which is only available from private vendors? Car insurance is similar, but there is no mandate to purchase car insurance unless you wish to be licensed to drive -- and many people are not licensed because they don't drive. Businesses often have requirements to carry certain kinds of insurance, but businesses aren't endowed with individual rights.
We do have laws in this country that compel mandatory attendance in school (with exceptions for home-schooling, etc). However in this case, the government also provides the means to meet that mandate: the public school system. (We are so lucky that Horace Mann lived in a different era ... in today's world, we'd have bitter partisan fights about creating a public school system and a "right" to a basic education, and we'd probably end up with a multitude of profit-seeking private schools who used their political influence to stop the creation of public schools.)
Is it ethical to institute a mandate for everyone, but not provide the means for filling that mandate? I'd argue no ... if we believe as a society that everyone should have health insurance (which is what the legislation does, via a democratic process), then it is also our obligation as a society to ensure that health insurance is obtainable. And the only way to *guarantee* the availability of insurance is to have a public-sponsored program.
Private companies are not permanent, nor are they necessarily stable. It's not a far stretch of the imagination to see a world where due to, say, a fiscal meltdown, all private health insurance companies suddenly go insolvent and are unable to offer new policies. Suddenly, we have a law that requires coverage, but the marketplace is unable to offer a product to satisfy that law. The failure is with the insurance companies mismanagement, but the penalty is enforced on the consumer. Through no choice of their own, Americans are penalized by the law.
I'd argue that it would be unethical to write a law that allows citizens to be put in such a bind. That's why I'd argue that a public-sponsored insurance option is a necessary part of any health care reform that also includes an individual mandate.
I realize that a focus on the individual mandate opens up libertarian arguments against it. However, I believe we have a right as a society to determine that some things are social goods, and that the state can use its power to tax and/or fine in order to enforce that social good. Again, education is similar. And so are the police and fire departments -- people are required to pay taxes (under penalty of imprisonment) to support those endeavors because there is a public good generated by having those services available to everyone. And it is much more efficient to have everyone paying into the system to support those departments than to have, say, a "fee for service" police department. ("Welcome to Cops 4 Less: Filing a robbery claim will cost $500, charging someone with assault will cost $350 and don't even ask about investigating white-collar crime -- that'll cost you an arm and a leg.")
Finally, turning to the perpetual argument against the public option: it'll drive private companies out of business. First, I doubt it -- private firms will find markets where they can deliver value to customers (perceived or real), and people will pay for that additional service above what the public option offers (see: MediGap policies). Secondly, even if it did, that would be only because the public option was more efficient than private firms (they couldn't offer additional value, so they went out of business), so we'd be doing that same task of providing insurance to the population at a lower overall cost to society. What isn't to like about being more efficient in 16% of our economy? Oh, that's right, there's less room for profit-seeking enterprises to capture profit without providing additional value.
Which brings me to my concluding point: health insurance reform with an individual mandate but without a public option is nothing more than the "Health Insurer Bail-Out Act of 2009" -- we'd be giving tax dollars straight to the private firms, who have a market guaranteed by law. Shouldn't we demand that they at least compete for our tax dollars?
The heat of August has settled in, and the Congress has fled the swamp of Washington, DC. After the townhall forums this month, I suppose a few wished they had never left.
We knew the debate would get ugly and heated, but what I think has truly caught me off guard is the degree at which the discussion is occurring about topics completely disconnected from reality. There are no "death panels" in the legislation (or even effectiveness review boards, which could become "death panels"). There is no plan to socialize the health care system (let's recall the definition of socialize: place it under government control, like GM or banks that are taken over by the FDIC). The public health insurance option, which isn't even expected to be in the Senate Finance legislation, wouldn't have the support of the government and would have to function like a private insurer in the private market (minus the profit-seeking). And even that is about to be abandoned. (Apparently, winning an election and a majority of Congress, while running on the domestic issue of health care reform, isn't enough of a mandate to actually pass the ideas that were talked about during the campaign.)
I understand the political process, and how winning in the public relations battle can be more important than the actual legislation (Harper's has an article about how the PR battle has replaced the actual wording of the Durban Accords on race in many minds). But our public servants (elected officials like Senators, former Alaska governors, etc) are not correcting out and out lies being circulated about the legislation by the conservative commentariat. That is highly disappointing, and I'm having a hard time coming up with similar examples of liberal politicians promoting demonstrably false statements for political gain. Liberals lie about sex scandals, but so do conservatives.
I would actually expect liberals to have multiple "truths" -- they are the ones of "relative truth" after all, where no culture, society or group has a monopoly on the Truth. But I am disappointed in the conservatives: they are the ones of "absolute truth" -- and what is written in legislative language is pretty much absolute, provable and undeniable. Where are their principles? (You know, those things you stand by even when it isn't immediately to your own self interest to do so?)
Despite my personal political leanings, I tend to respect conservatives for the role they play in ensuring that liberals don't go off the deep end with their "brilliant" ideas. You know, a sounding board, a cooling chamber, a parental voice of reason when the kids want to have candy for dinner. I think this was expressed well by a founding father of the modern conservative movement, William F. Buckley, when he founded the National Review: "It stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it." (Full disclosure: I have subscribed to NR for a dozen years - I'm often amazed that it hasn't undergone spontaneous combustion when it has been placed in my mailbox next to Harpers, Atlantic Month, New Republic, the Nation, etc.) Buckley made the Republican party respectable by ousting the influence of the John Birch Society and bringing it back to reality.
But recently, there was an insight into the Buckley family that I did not expect at all. Christopher Buckley, William's son, recently wrote about his life in the Buckley household. Now, it stands to reason that he did not have a wonderful childhood (he did, after all, endorse Barack Obama for President), but his description of his mother stunned me:
"Over the years, I heard Mum utter whoppers that would make Pinocchio look button-nosed .... I remember the time I first caught Mum in some preposterous untruth, as she called it... I looked at Mum and realized — twang! — that she was telling an untruth. A big untruth. And I remember thinking in that instant how thrilling and grown-up it must be to say something so completely untrue — as opposed to the little amateur fibs I was already practiced at, horrid little apprentice sinner that I was, like the ones about how you'd already said your prayers or washed under the fingernails. Yes, I was impressed. This was my introduction to a lifetime of mendacity. I, too, must learn to say these gorgeous untruths. When Mum was in full prevarication, Pup would assume an expression somewhere between a Jack Benny stare and the stoic grimace of a 13th-century saint being burned at the stake. He knew very well that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth did not routinely decamp at Shannon. The funny thing was that he rarely challenged her when she was in the midst of one of her glorious confections. For that matter, no one did. They wouldn't have dared. Mum had a regal way about her that did not brook contradiction.
So, the founder of modern conservativism, who launched a magazine - and a movement - to stop history from running over the facts, lived with a serial speaker of "untruths" and had given up trying to stop it.
I think I'm beginning to understand conservatives, after all...
But why does it work for conservatives to completely make things up? On one hand, we go back to the fact that their opponents are the believers in multiple truths: there is always some piece of truth in a statement, right? Even if that "truth" is only the fact that the person saying it thinks what they are saying is true, despite all evidence to the contrary. It is important to acknowledge that truth, or else we might hurt someone's feelings and self-esteem.
Secondly, we are witnessing the failings of the profession that sees itself as the seekers of truth in our lives: journalists. As a commentator in the Washington Post wrote today:
Conservatives have become adept at playing the media for suckers, getting inside the heads of editors and reporters, haunting them with the thought that maybe they are out-of-touch cosmopolitans and that their duty as tribunes of the people's voices means they should treat Obama's creation of "death panels" as just another justiciable political claim. ...It used to be different. You never heard the late Walter Cronkite taking time on the evening news to "debunk" claims that a proposed mental health clinic in Alaska is actually a dumping ground for right-wing critics of the president's program, or giving the people who made those claims time to explain themselves on the air. The media didn't adjudicate the ever-present underbrush of American paranoia as a set of "conservative claims" to weigh, horse-race-style, against liberal claims. Back then, a more confident media unequivocally labeled the civic outrage represented by such discourse as "extremist" -- out of bounds.
(Side note: that mental health clinic in Alaska was one of the things that WFB brought up as an issue with the Birch Society ... see, conservatives used to actually care about the truth.)
One of the reasons I pay such close attention to the travails of the profession of journalism is that they are another profession that have their role in society undermined when profits are the sole pursuit (in their case, via the pursuit of sensational stories to drive up viewers rather than a discussion of facts and issues of the day). Actually, the very definition of a "profession" implies that as a class, the group provides a service to society that cannot be fully marketized; same goes for lawyers, clergy, police, etc. Democracy needs a profession to seek the truth of what is happening to real people, not to spout talking points generated by those who are currently in power. You know, the whole "Power to the powerless and afflict the comfortable."
I am worried that journalism as a profession will not survive our adoration of "the marketplace". And I'm worried that my profession will be next.
I skimmed through a 41-page summary (PDF) of the House version of the Affordable Health Choices Act (PDF, 1018 pages) looking for the sections most relevant to physicians. There are lots of details that will be of interest to physicians in various areas of medicine, but I tried to capture the key portions.
Below is that provider-specific summary of that summary. I've tried to ensure accuracy, but if there's something that isn't right, please let me know. I encourage you to read the original sources if you have any questions about the details.
(Cross-posted at the National Physicians Alliance Blog.)
The major battle lines in the upcoming debate about health care reform will likely be drawn around the idea of creating a choice of a public health insurance plan to compete in the market with regulated insurance companies. Republicans have made it clear they will not support such a plan, and many Democrats have announced they will oppose reform that lacks this option.
Compromise is as American as motherhood, apple pie and the creation of the US Senate. Undoubtably, our political leaders will attempt to find compromise on this issue as well. While it is less important for the House (where the majority party has near total control), it will be necessary to obtain the 60 votes that may be needed in the Senate. However, the two positions appear mutually exclusive at the moment.
But I think there will be proposals that will attempt to find a middle ground. I anticipate they will be focused on the area of competition, since that is a linch-pin of modern GOP talking points. In particular, they are many places in the country with only one or two private health insurance providers, so the creation of a public health insurance plan would engender competition in those markets. (These areas also tend to be rural, which may attract the votes of Senators from important states such as Iowa and Maine.)
One approach that has been suggested for similar debates in the past is to create a public plan only for people who live in areas that lack competition among private plans. Thus, the public health insurance option would create competition and choice for those who currently don't have it.
Is this a compromise we could live with? Or should every American have the option of enrolling in a public-sponsored insurance plan, regardless of how many private options they also have?
Now, consider the alternative proposal that will be suggested to stimulate competition: allow Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines. Currently, health insurance is regulated at the state level. Some states have passed laws requiring health insurance to be quite comprehensive; other states have only minimal requirements. However, if people could choose insurance from any carrier in any state, it would create more options for everyone to choose from.
I would call this type of proposal the "UnderInsure America Act". It would lead to many more people purchasing inexpensive and, too late for them to realize, inadequate coverage.
Now, how does that first compromise look in comparison? Maybe it is something worth considering ... it would create public plans for some people, allow us to work out the details, have a model to expand to other markets as insurance companies exit, etc.
On the other hand, the public insurance plans would likely exist only in rural areas, which have a much different population than urban centers. It may be harder for those plans to build the numbers necessary to demonstrate efficiencies over private insurers.
Is this a compromise we could consider?
So, Obama has nominated Hillary for Secretary of State. Umm, I guess my political musings haven't been particularly prescient. Hillary for SoS? I didn't think so. And now it seems Sarah Palin is the face of the GOP, as opposed to a one-hit wonder who would drop off the ticket within two weeks.
Yeah, I'll keep my day job. Hopefully, I'm slightly better at it. Current Mood: Humbled
Indiana? And Nebraska's second district? Wow ... I thought I was going on a limb when I called North Carolina for Obama.
But now the warm, fuzzy, post-election feeling is starting to fade. And reality sets in. This country is in a deep, deep hole. And we're still sinking deeper by the day. President Obama has his work cut out for him.
(As an historical aside, President Reagan also started his first time in a deep recession, but as I recall, things had turned better by the time the '84 election around. Will Alaska be the only remaining red state on the 2012 map?)
The hot gossip of the moment is whether Hillary will be part of Obama's Cabinet. Don't count on it. There is no place in the Cabinet that would meet her goals and agenda. And Hillary subordinate to Obama? I can't imagine it.
I suspect their clandestine meeting in Chicago was to allow Obama to talk with Hillary about who she would suggest for Cabinet positions. As Bill did many years ago, Obama will fill his Administration with the best-qualified, not just the best-friends. But even if Hillary were the most qualified person for Secretary of State (and I don't think she is), I don't think she'd want the position.
No, Hillary's seat in the Senate is a nice place to be. As a member of the Senate HELP Committee, Obama's health care plan has to go through her. Plus, she's on the Armed Forces Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee. She has a lot of power just where she is now. And unless she's the Decider, I can't see her working in the Executive Branch.
There's another issue that is beginning to come up from the left-wing of the Democratic Party: what to do about Bush and torture. This is the single issue that most disturbs me about the Bush Administration and his legacy. He has immensely damaged the image of America as a nation of laws and justice. We must forcefully condemn those actions as antithetical to everything America stands for.
However, how to do that? Put Americans on trial? When they were instructed that their actions were legal ... by the Justice Department itself? That doesn't seem right, and in fact, violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. I think the best response is to clearly state that the rules have changed, and we will never allow Americans to torture again. This change in policy could in theory be reversed by a future administration (since it appears the current administration is impervious to laws passed by Congress), but I hope that no administration would ever go into that dark place again.
We need to move on and move forward. We should relegate the Bush administration to the dustbin of history, where it belongs. Current Mood: Hopeful
I'll be on call tomorrow, on the eve of the election, so I won't be going to a Bruce Springstein concert this time. (Apparently, though it didn't work for Kerry in Ohio in 2004, he's doing it again for Obama.) Instead, I'll be doing emergent pre-operative evaluations on the elderly who fall and break their hips on Election Eve. There are worse things to be doing in my distracted state of mind (MICU?).
But before I disappear into the hospital for 30 hours, I wanted to toss out a few disconnected pre-election thoughts.
I wonder if she'll support a movement to shift the primary season so it is closer to the general election, as to lessen the chance of the issues changing so dramatically from the primaries to November?
But he won't take Missouri.
Here's a crazy notion: how about a democracy where everyone who wants to vote, gets to vote. (Once.)
It seems like an obvious way to run a representative democracy, but 2008 is looking like one of the first years where that is actually happening. But not in every state. Just the 30-some with early voting.
Early voting appears to be the solution to the historical mistake of voting on Tuesdays. Lots of people, you know, "real Americans" have jobs (sometimes two or three) on weekdays (and weekends). They often can't make it to a polling place between 7am and 7pm on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. In 2000, I asked one of the cafeteria workers at my dorm if she had voted. She hadn't because she had been swiping our meal cards from 6:45 am until 7 pm. Sure, she had breaks, but probably not enough time for her to go back to her precinct and vote. Apparently, her vote wasn't important enough to count. (Actually, since it was Chicago, there's a chance that she did "vote", but that's another story I'll touch upon below.)
Previously, people like her were told: too bad -- you should have planned ahead and jumped through three hoops to get an absentee ballot.
But now states are providing early voting. What a concept: Vote when it is convenient for you! There are necessary limitations (a week, or a month, and not after Election Day), but this seems to implement the ideals of our democracy: The People Decide.
Not just some of the people, or those with jobs that allow time to vote (or those now without jobs). Everyone. (Except ... foreign nationals, people under 18 and those incarcerated. But those are appropriate limitations.)
Remember photographs of polling places in South Africa during its first open election? I get goosebumps looking at similar pictures from here in the US. And this is during the *early voting*! Will there be anyone left to vote on Tuesday? I hope so, I hope so.
The concern for voter fraud is, well, a fraud. And here's why: yes, there have been fraudulent registrations turned in by voter drives. And while that creates a hassle for the county to verify or invalidate dead fish, live puppies, or cartoon characters, the vote itself is not disturbed. Unless said dead fish shows up to vote.
What about people voting multiple times? Yes, it could (and probably does happen ... rarely). Yet, to have a significant effect on the outcome of the election, it would have to be a coordinated effort with lots of people. And by that very nature of having to be large to be effective, it would be easy to detect -- those kinds of efforts tend to leave a paper trail, disgruntled participants, people with loose lips, etc. It would be exceedingly difficult to secretly tip an election by a coordinated effort of multiple voting.
No, the better way to sway an election is to purge the voter rolls of people with names similar to felons. To supply inadequate quantities of ballots to certain voting locations. To use machines and ballots that are confusing to the average voter. Turn off the "overvote" detection in some precincts but not others. Do you get my drift?
Everyone who wants to vote, should vote. Period. Current Mood: Patriotic
Between May 1st and November 1st, I estimate that I will have biked to work about 120 times (out of a possible 130 opportunities). At about 10 miles round-trip, that's 1200 miles that I haven't driven. My car gets about 25 miles per gallon in the city, so that's 48 gallons of gas I haven't burned. Gas averaged about $3.60 this summer, so that's about $170 in gas savings. On the environmental side, a gallon of gas produces 19 pounds of CO2, so I've reduced my emissions by 930 pounds of carbon dioxide.
However ... I don't hold my breath while biking to work. How much CO2 does biking produce? A quick Google search shows that most estimates say that a person exhales about 2.2 pounds of carbon dioxide daily. That CO2 comes from the food we eat, so if we assume 2200 calorie diet, then for every 1000 calories burned, about a pound of CO2 is produced.
Biking consumes about 500 calories per hour. It takes me 45 minutes to bike to and from work each day (20 minutes in and 25 minutes home -- it's downhill going in and I'm usually tired from rounds when going home). So 120 trips lasting 45 minutes amounts to 90 hours of biking. That's 45,000 additional calories consumed to propel myself to work. (For reference, a single gallon of gas has about 31,000 calories.) At 1 pound of CO2 per 1000 calories, it looks like I'm exhaling about 45 pounds of CO2 on my way to work.
My primary source of those additional calories is the slice of toast that I add to my breakfast during the summer. A slice of bread has about 100 calories, and there are 24 slices in a loaf, so I eat about 19 loaves of bread to power myself. At $2 per loaf, that's $40 that I spend in groceries for those additional calories.
So, to summary the savings and expenditures for biking to work:
Sarah Palin ended the debate by including a quote from Reagan: "Someday, we will be telling our children, and our children's children, what it was once like in America when men were free."
I know that quote. In fact, it was a highlight of my Failure of the American Health Care System that I gave as AMSA Legislative Affairs Director.
Want the full context? Listen to it. Reagan was speaking out against Medicare in the 1960s, paid by the AMA. It gets good starting at about the 7th minute. The quote comes at about 10:50. Current Mood: Flabberghasted


text:
Energy Trading
54 Ijaiye Road, Ogba Bus Stop, Ogba, Lagos
Contained Energy specialize in Sales, Maintenance and Installation of Inverters and Solar solutions for Homes, Offices and Industries.
9 Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria
01 7769820
Green Fuels Limited (GFL), a natural gas distribution company engaged in the business of supplying natural gas to industrial consumers who use it for power generation and fuel need and are located in areas where piped natural gas is not available.
Plot 11, Kolex Avenue, Ajao estate, Apakun, Oshodi, Lagos, Nigeria
0802 336 7741, 0802 301 3839, 01 436 2798
Major Gas and Industrial Limited is a Nigerian energy trading company for the sales of LPA products.
23 Creek Road, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria
01 460 0164
Nidogas Company Limited is a Nigerian centre for provision and marketing of natural gas products.
8th Floor, Bank of Industry Building, Off Herbert Macaulay Way, Central Business District, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria
09 4605630
Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) is responsible for buying power from IPPs and reselling the power to the distribution companies (DisCos) and eligible customers.
8, Kajola Street, Mende, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria
Paramount Heights Nigeria Enterprises is a leading energy marketing supplier in Nigeria and West Africa and specialists in energy trading.
1a Olagunsoye Oyinlola Road Osborne Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria
01 269 7612
01 269 1260
RAK Energy Resource Limited offers supply and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas.
188, Old Road, Kuje-Amuwo, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, Nigeria
0802 304 0114, 0802 334 2376
Reams Nigeria Limited provides services on storage and sales of natural gas products.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Panty, Stocking and Garterbelt 01
I am going to be happy enough with this show if they do this once a week.
Impressions-wise, this is probably waaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of the field from what I was going to expect from this show. It's like Powerpuff Girls, only with tons of sexual innuendos. But hey, I can't deny that all those fans of PPG are right in to their highly hormone-charged teen years right now so I think Gainax has got a real winner with this one.
Also, Gainax doesn't compromise on the entertainment value and this whole show just gets crazier and crazier. The second half of the episode was pretty much a long, permanent car chase scene of epic proportions.
One thing I like is the highly stylized animation, and honestly, it's a refreshing change from the current crop of anime.
Overall, I hope to enjoy this show as it goes along. And hope my dick doesn't explode.


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Young Janice was resting with her boyfriend at her home for a weekend break. Janice and her partner Dan were on the sofa playing around when her mother arrived unexpectedly from her work. She had forgotten some papers at home.
Dana, her step mum, was pissed at first. Janice was giving him a blowjob truly badly. Thus when her step mom gandered at his big dick she resolved to direct her step daughter how to best suck a dick. Janice was not pleasing her boyfriend during sexual intercourse. She explained to Janice how to take a cock down her throat without gagging.
The plan worked perfectly. Janice was happy and so was her boyfriend. Not only did Ms. Griffith jizz but so did Dana!


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Mari and Jill asked me to be their doula fairly late on. They had a wonderful IM Susan booked and as Mari is also a fellow doula, it was a family and birth I was very much looking forward to supporting.
Antenatally we worked through some of the feelings Mari and Jill had been left with after their youngest son's birth which ended in an unnecessary c section. Both Mari and Jill had been left very traumatised by everything which had happened and in quite different ways but they were both absolutely certain things should be different this time.
Mari put a great deal of thought and effort in to trying to cover all bases to ensure if labour headed down a path they really didn't want to walk, things would still be on her terms. She had a few knock backs along the way, some of which were pretty shoddily timed as the family were also coming to terms with losing Charlie, their foster babe.
Despite all of this one thing remained as plain as the nose on your face. This was a very strong couple and Jill's desire to 'get it right' and protect Mari was unquestionable and heartwarming.
As we moved towards (and as predicted, past!) Mari's due date we had worked through as much as we could, come to a place of what felt to me like deep understanding and were all very much looking forward to and focusing on what we wanted – a peaceful family home birth.
Mari text me on the 25th April to say she had felt some 'twinges' but nothing major. I saw Mari the next day when she came to covet my garden, eat Devonshire Splits and collect a bigger birth pool. We saw each other again on Tuesday 30th at the One To One midwives open day and I knew that would be the last time I saw her before she birthed. She let me know again later that evening she was twinging – a bit stronger than previously but again nothing major. She must have taken them a bit more seriously because she rang me to get 'the bat phone' number that evening and we exchanged our usual banter texts and she said she would check in with me in the morning. My other client was due to head to the hospital for induction on Wednesday morning so the other thing I was going was constantly updating Hannah, Mari's back up doula, on the situation with my other client and Mari. Jill also texted excitedly as she sensed things were probably starting. I told her to get Mari a stiff drink, leave her to it (she said she was 'oof and breathing through it'!) and get to bed. She seemed surprised but I told her this could be VERY early on and to think back to last time and that they needed to ignore things for as long as humanly possible. I sent her this text:
"If I were with you now I'd give you a big squeeze, flash my (easy now…) winning smile and tell you this. It will be amazing. You will be enough xx"
Mari updated in the morning that things had simmered over night and that they would be going about their normal day. Jill expanded that this meant a trip to get Mari's eyelashes permed….
By this time my phone was beginning to look like an extra digit to my hand. My day was spent checking in with Hannah the back up and updates from Mari and Jill and also from my other client who by now was in hospital and had started the induction process.
I told Jill to make sure Mari was as rested as poss, took a nap and ate and drank well. Jill said the plan was to go to the osteopath then home to bed at 6pm and I told her to check in with me before she went to bed.
Just before 5pm Jill text that things were 'proper hotting up' and that Mari had some bloody show. I put Hannah our back up doula officially on stand by at this point but I had a strong feeling I would be at the birth and that things would be further along than they realised or than Mari would dare to admit to herself. Jill and I kept in touch on text which was funny. I was giving Jill things to do but obviously too many!! My favourite being 'fucking hell, nap or count?! Which one please?'. Eventually we established her contractions were probably about 2 in 10. Just as Jill had been given permission by Mari (and me!) to nap she text to say Mari wanted to speak to Susan as the contractions were feeling pushy. All I could think was I will piss myself if this is an unplanned Freebirth because Mari is doing so well going into denial about it being proper labour!! I offered to set off as I thought to would probably be positional and would be able to make some suggestions. Jill let me know that Susan had confirmed she suspected the same and they would try her suggestions to help the baby turn. I suspected Mari was thinking waaaayyyy too much but wouldn't be able to do anything until I was there. I sent this message to Jill:
"Keep doing what you're doing. I agree with Susan. Baby turning into a nice position. Try encourage Mari to stop 'thinking' and just let it happen. Tell her I said she's to switch off her doula brain and get out of her neocortex and in to the airing cupboard – she will know what I mean. Here when you need x"
At 8pm Jill text to say Mari wanted me to come and maybe try some rebozo. On my way I checked in with Hannah and also my other client. Nothing to report so I headed to Hebden.
I let myself in at 8.30pm. Jill made some tea and we all chatted about where they felt they were up to. I sat down and observed for about 10 mins or so over a brew. Mari was not yet in 'labour land' but her contractions said to me we could easily get her there. She was standing for the contraction, with her back against the wall lifting her bump and Jill supporting her in front. She looked quite tense and was trying to 'get away' from the peak of the contraction as it was becoming expulsive. The baby was definitely turning! The she would sit and yawn in between, then get up again and lean on the wall….this wasn't going to facilitate her going into labour land. I asked for her rationale behind the standing and leaning on the wall and she was talking about the angle of her pelvis and things being too much to the left in this position and not far enough forward in that position……woooooaaaahhhh….. Too much thinking! I told her (bossy doula) that she needed to stop over analysing and I let her finish her brew (kind doula) and then said I think we need to change tac. The main things that needed to happen were a position she could rest in between contractions in and her brain needed to be off! So I said were going to all stop talking for starters – cue Jill looking scared. I also said its too light in here even with lamps on so they needed to go off. I said her if its not working we will try something else (compromising doula) but I wanted to try her on all fours over the ball or sofa. She opted for a nest of cushions on the floor and head into pillows on the sofa. We wrapped her in blankets and she soon got warm and started to really rest in between. I also wanted her to try to focus her breathing more which we did together a couple of times stood then again continued with when kneeling. This seemed to help her too.
By 10.10pm she was well into established and active labour and starting involuntary pushing with the whole contraction rather than just the peak. She was in good spirits and Jill massaged her back while I started to get the pool sorted. I honestly wondered would we get it filled as the new boiler was proving to be fabulous at providing hot water but there was bugger all cold! Jill and I faffed about and Mari did lots of contractions with us bobbing in and out to the pool and me thinking how to get round the pool issues. I think it was around this time I told Mari I would shortly make her dreams come true by asking her to take her knickers off for me. She said 'that's your dream honey'…touché! All the time she was very calm and focused in between, politely asking how long the pool would be. Had it not been for me and Jill tramming up and down stairs with buckets of cold water it would have been a very serene atmosphere! Jo woke briefly and I went to him as Jill was downstairs getting water. She then went up and settled him. When I was in the room I would occasionally look to see if there were any signs of baby coming with Jill looking eagerly at me and there started to be some anal gaping…in a moment in the kitchen Jill dared to ask if I thought this was it and I said I wouldn't be surprised if Flower would be born today….cue big grins!
About 10.30pm Mari asked if it was too soon to call Susan….erm…no. So Jill text Susan and she said she would be 20 mins or so. She arrived with her little basket of tricks at about 11pm and quietly observed the scene. I was in the kitchen seeing to the pool which was almost ready and Jill was by Mari's side. Susan felt the babies position (perfect!) and listened in (more perfection!) and we all just let Mari keep doing what she was doing….it was working exactly as it should.
The pool was ready and Mari was relieved to get in. I had turned all the lights of except the main kitchen one and the fairy lights. Mari's blessingway banners hung above her in the pool as she pushed her baby earthside.
Susan observed with a mirror (not the massive bike mirror Jill had kindly provided) and the signs were it wouldn't be long. She encouraged Mari to feel how close Flower was as she could see his head was just inside. Mari felt inside and said 'wow' and how she was going to do it. Jill was thrilled and excited and Mari asked if she wanted to feel. Susan said to Jill to come round to where she was standing and she would be able to see Flower's head when Mari pushed. Her face was an absolute picture when she saw the head appearing and she came back to Mari to tell her how amazing it looked and carried on supporting her by her side as she hung over the pool. She offered sips of water to Mari and I offered sips to her…Susan quietly watched and waited.
Jo woke up about this time so Jill went to bring him down and settled him on the sofa with a blanket and snack while I was with Mari. I said to her that she had only gone and done it and she was saying how amazing everything was. Susan told her she was an amazing woman. We were almost there.
Flowers head would almost crown then slip gently back so Mari was stretching beautifully. She was a bit concerned that the head wasn't quite coming and wondered if she should change positions (get back in the airing cupboard you!) Susan said she could try standing a little and jiggling but that wasn't an option so I suggested swaying her hips a bit which she did gently. She suddenly got cramp in both thighs and Susan and I quickly leaned in the pool to try to massage it out….I almost joined her in there…
I continued taking photos and we all gently encouraged her. Jo decided he was joining us at that point which was actually perfect timing. He sat watching from the kitchen sofa as the head was born. Mari knelt back on her legs (almost sitting on the Flower's head!) as his head was born and Susan told her 'that's the head out'. Jill was so excited and Jo came forward to join her as Mari pushed out her baby's body. There was a little fluffy cloud of blood and she reached down to bring him up to the surface. 12.01am. She did it.
Flower baby was in perfect condition and let out a little pussy cat cry quite quickly and we were all thrilled. Kisses all round.
The cord was quite short so after it had finished pulsing Susan cut it at Mari's request and Jill and flower had some skin to skin while Susan and Mari were talking about the third stage. I got the kettle on, washed up and got towels for Mari and baby.
Mari and Susan headed upstairs to the bathroom so she could sit on the loo to encourage the placenta to come while I stayed downstairs and started the pool clean up. Jill and Jo sat on the sofa snuggling their new baby boy then Jo decided it was chocolate biscuit time so we all got stuck in with a brew.
Jill took flower babe up to Mari so she could breastfeed to help the placenta which apparently did the trick. There were some membranes left behind which Susan careful removed. The placenta was sent down to me and I got on with the business of making a smoothie. Once prepared I took it up to Mari who was showering and continued the clean up operation downstairs while talking to Jo and Jill as they were in and out. I kicked Walker out for a wee too as I remember my dogs getting forgotten at my homebirth and pissing all over the floor…(proactive doula).
Once everything was reasonably ship shape downstairs I was conscious I could be called out to my other client any time so I went and asked Mari if I could take my leave. She was snuggling with her babe who I then was told was Pip. We had a natter then I said my goodbyes and left…..job done 🙂
I got home and into bed at 2.15am (happy doula)…..then the phone rang at 3.15am….(waaaaaaaa!)
Follow me @LisaTheDoula


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Free Agency: Shopping for Experience
Free Agency: Shopping for Experience
When free agency rolls around, people tend to get quite obsessed with youth, as if the only players worth adding are the 25-year-olds who can be on your team for the next 10 years. The average player lasts in the league less than four years and the average contract is even shorter, so why ignore players that are still at the top of their game just because they may not be on your roster come 2019?
That's not to say all teams should load up on aging veterans just looking for one last payday or one last shot at a ring, and youth is definitely the foundation of any long-term success, but if a team is a contender that needs to patch a hole or two without bedding in raw rookies or out-of-their-depth backups, why not look to the over-thirties?
Below we're going to take a look at a few players the wrong side of 30 who can still get the job done for a new team in 2012. As with our other free agent pieces, I'm going to ignore certain players that I don't feel will ever hit the open market, and in the case of the over-thirties, there are a few more who will either remain with their current team or retire.
Vonnie Holliday, 3-4 Defensive End
Age (On opening day 2012): 36
2011 PFF Grade: +6.1
Key Stat: Graded positively in all four facets of play PFF tracks for 3-4 linemen.
Vonnie Holliday is the prototype forgotten 30+ player. Every season he seems to get picked up by a 3-4 team as a situational player for their rotation before performing extremely well and then doing the same thing all over again. For some reason, none of these teams ever seem to put two and two together and bring him back for another go at it. Maybe they always believe they can get a similar amount of snaps and production out of a younger, cheaper backup, but it isn't always that easy. Generating interior pressure from the 3-4 is not as simple as you might think, and though the second- or third-year player with a veteran minimum contract that might be half of what Holliday is due seems like an attractive option, they rarely produce the way you know Holliday will.
Holliday is 36 years old, but can still be a significant part of a team's rotation, and is a consistently capable pass rusher from the 3-4 defensive line, a trait that is more of an issue to find than you might think. He may have gone without a sack last season, but he did generate three quarterback knockdowns and four more pressures from his 82 pass-rushes, which is not an insignificant figure. He also chipped in with a batted pass and 14 tackles, 11 of which were defensive stops. The bottom line with Holliday, as with all of our 30+ players, is that he may not be a glamorous signing, and he certainly isn't a long-term solution, but he can do a good job for somebody for a season or two to plug a hole in the D-line.
John Abraham, 4-3 Defensive End
Age: 34
2011 PFF Grade: +35.9
Key Stat: Abraham generated pressure every 7.2 pass rushes last season.
There hasn't been a more productive pass rusher in the four seasons that PFF has been analyzing games than John Abraham. If age weren't a factor, he would be arguably the single most desirable pass rusher in the league hitting the open market. Of course, age is a factor, and at 34 the slow-down has to come at some stage, but there has been no evidence of it so far. This is in part because the Falcons have done an extremely good job in recent years in spelling Abraham and keeping him fresh over the course of the season, meaning he is constantly at his best when he rushes the passer and can have the most impact.
Last season his +31.7 PFF grade for pass rushing was the second-best mark among 4-3 DEs, trailing only Trent Cole. Despite many fewer sacks than either of the big-hitting sack artists from last season, Jared Allen and Jason Babin, Abraham had a better pass-rush grade than either because of the speed and devastating impact of the pressure he was applying. Abraham is still rushing the passer at an elite level, as well as anybody in the game, and though everybody knows that will tail off, there has been nothing to suggest it is happening any time soon. If a team is willing to spell Abraham in the same way the Falcons have been and do their part to extend his shelf-life, then he could have several more productive seasons left as an impact player, especially as he is well versed in rushing from both the left and right side of the D-line, as well as being dropped into coverage more than any other 4-3 DE in recent times. Don't expect Abraham to be the same weapon he is now at the end of a five-year contract, but he shouldn't be seen as just a one-season stopgap either.
Sione Pouha, Nose Tackle
Age: 33
2011 PFF Grade: +30.1
Key Stat: Topped the 2011 PFF DT/NT rankings by a hair over Bengal Geno Atkins.
Aging defensive tackles scare teams. All too often the big men in the trenches hit a wall late in their careers where they cease to be impact players and simply become large obstacles that teams have to negotiate in order to move the ball. Not necessarily a problem, just a mild inconvenience. The thing that makes these big guys different, though, is that it's not necessarily age that dictates this drop-off, rather miles on the clock. Pat Williams was able to be a run-stuffing monster late into his 30s for the Vikings, in part because he had Kevin Williams beside him, but also because he came to the Vikings with remarkably little use, having barely played early in his career in Buffalo. Williams himself always pointed to that as the reason he was so effective late in his career.
Sione Pouha may be 33-years-old, but he was a 26-year-old rookie thanks to spending time on a Mormon mission, and has never been an every-down player for the Jets. In the past four seasons, he's averaged fewer than 450 snaps per season, and never topped 700, well under the rate of the top defensive tackles in the league. Pouha is a run-stuffing specialist, able to two-gap and ride blocks down the line of scrimmage, and too strong and tough at the point of attack for just a single blocker. A team could transform a problematic run defense by overlooking his age and working from the tape instead.
E.J. Henderson, Inside Linebacker
Age: 32
2011 PFF Grade: +5.4
Key Stat: Henderson's 50 defensive stops in 2011 trailed only 11 other ILBs, only one of whom played fewer snaps.
The league has a downer on two-down linebackers. For some reason plenty of teams are prepared to play with situational pass rushers, nickel corners and safeties, even a third-down right tackle, but they don't like having to use linebackers on just two downs–even if they're very good at it. E.J. Henderson has always been far better coming forward than he was moving backward in coverage, and in an injury-hampered season in 2011, that split was never clearer. His +18.1 PFF grade against the run trailed only NaVorro Bowman and Derrick Johnson among ILBs (i.e. topped that of Patrick Willis, Brian Cushing, and Ray Lewis), but his -9.7 coverage grade was the worst mark in the league for ILBs with any significant playing time.
In the past few seasons, Henderson has battled some significant injuries, including a broken femur so horrific some speculated that it would be a career-ender, but he can still excel as a downhill, thumping linebacker. The Vikings' defense last season was at its best when E.J. became a two-down player and his younger brother took over the middle linebacker duties on nickel-snaps, and that situation could work again for a new team. If the market is prepared to see Henderson as a two-down player in a league heading ever more pass-heavy, then there is no reason some team couldn't pick themselves up a major upgrade in the run game for a few seasons, and potentially increase Henderson's longevity by reducing his snaps at the same time.
Juqua Parker, 4-3 Defensive End
Age: 34
2011 PFF Grade: +7.3
Key Stat: Every time Parker brought the ball carrier to the ground, it was for a defensive stop.
The Eagles are loaded on the defensive line, and have been for a while, so much so that they can afford to let go of bit-part players who have only ever been situational for them, but who then go on to start and succeed elsewhere. It happened with Chris Clemons, and I think there's a chance Juqua Parker may be next in line. Parker isn't the sensational athlete many elite-pass-rushers are these days, and he can't deal with the apex of athletic quarterback that you find at times (Vikings QB Joe Webb made him look foolish in the backfield on more than one occasion), but he is an accomplished and polished pass rusher who will consistently generate pressure for a team.
Parker, like many of these players, has also been kept relatively fresh by a limited number of snaps, and doesn't have the tread on the tires you might expect of a player of his years. Teams can never have too many pass rushers, and while the Eagles might actually be at the point where they can disprove that, there aren't many teams like the Eagles. While Philadelphia will likely see Parker as surplus to requirements, there are pass-rush starved teams out there that should jump at the chance to upgrade their defensive front for a few seasons.
Todd McClure, Center
Age: 35
2011 PFF Grade: +10.9
Key Stat: Did not allow a sack all season.
Unusually, there's a trio of ageing centers who all played well last season coming up as free agents. Of the three, McClure is the only one that I think has a chance of hitting the open market. Jeff Saturday and Matt Birk both showed last season that they can still play at a high level, but I believe both will either be back with their current teams or find their way to retirement (or in Saturday's case, upstairs to the Colts' front office somewhere), but McClure might give it a go elsewhere if just because the Falcons have a lot of free agents to try and retain.
McClure has shown last season that he can still play well, allowing no sacks all year, and grading well in the run game too. But for a nightmare of a game in Week 3 against Tampa Bay, his grade would look even healthier, and be up among the Pro Bowl spots on the season. He may be turning 35 soon, but he is the kind of savvy player who can anchor an offensive line for a team for a couple of seasons and improve dramatically what can be a troublesome spot to nail down. If the Falcons can't find a way to get the dollars together to keep him around then another team would be wise to pounce.
Five more 30+ players who can still play:
Andre Carter: Miscast in a 3-4 in Washington, Carter was dominant in the Patriots' 4-3 before injury ended his season.
Brandon Lloyd: Will be 31 by the start of the year but his best two seasons have been his last two.
Robert Mathis: Another player who will be 31 come opening day, Mathis is still a force as a pass rusher and has always played the run better than people think.
Leonard Davis: Davis will turn 34 in the days before opening day and was a powerful run blocker before signing with the Lions where he did nothing beyond warm a (large) portion of the bench.
Reggie Wayne: I feel Wayne is slowing down at 33, but he still has more than enough veteran savvy and route-running skills to produce at this level.
Follow @SamMonson on Twitter … and give our main feed a follow too: @ProFootbalFocus
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Sam Monson | Senior Analyst
Sam is a Senior Analyst at Pro Football Focus, as well as a contributor to ESPN and NBCSports.
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Moselio Schaechter of Small Things Considered has authored a post about the work of Maria Dominguez-Bello of the University of Puerto Rico who has been studying Opisthocomus hoazin, a unique bird who is known to carry out a pre-gastric (ruminal) fermentation. Dominguez-Bello has been investigating the microbiome of the bird's crop, an enlarged area of the esophagus, and how it changes from infancy to adulthood.
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Fox: Obamacare Rollout Is Worse Than Shutdown That Drained Billions From Economy
Blog ››› ››› ELLIE SANDMEYER
Fox News claimed the Obamacare rollout has "clearly" been worse for the American people than the government shutdown, because the shutdown's "biggest inconvenience" was a few closed national parks and memorials -- ignoring the shutdown's cuts to domestic violence centers, women and children's food and health care, stalled scientific research, and severe economic losses.
On the November 11 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy and Fox legal analyst Andrew Napolitano held a "pop quiz" to determine "[w]hich was more harmful to your personal freedoms," Obamacare or the government shutdown? Both decided that there was no contest: Doocy proclaimed that Obamacare was "clearly" worse than the "slimdown," and Napolitano agreed that it was "[n]ot even a close call." As evidence, Napolitano pointed out that "the biggest inconvenience" of the government shutdown was "a couple hundred well-intended people trying to get into national parks and monuments and the government had closed them." In contrast, he claimed that Obamacare hurts people by forcing them to buy expensive "high end, one-size-fits-all" health insurance policies.
Fox's faulty comparison ignored the significant impacts of the government shutdown, which harmed the economy and slashed funding to necessary programs for low-income Americans.
Because of the shutdown, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a program that helps provide health care for at-risk babies and "helps new mothers feed themselves and their babies properly," saw its funding slashed, and states that were unable to lend the program local funds were forced to stop accepting enrollees. The shutdown also cut federal funding to at least 2,000 shelters for victims of domestic abuse, workplace safety inspections were halted, federal workers stopped inspecting toxic waste sites, and the CDC stopped monitoring the spread of the flu. National Geographic further reported that the shutdown caused long-term setbacks in scientific research, and The Washington Post detailed how the shutdown's fallout cost low-income workers their economic stability.
The shutdown also did lasting damage to the U.S. economy. Moody's Analytics estimated that the shutdown "cut real GDP by $20 billion, shaving half a percentage point off growth in the fourth quarter," according to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report. CRS also noted that "JP Morgan Chase's chief economist was quoted as estimating that the shutdown reduced fourth quarter growth by 0.5 percentage points, with half the reduction attributable to lower government spending and half to 'spillover effects and lost activity' in the rest of the economy." The shutdown also eroded consumer confidence and may have derailed our gradual economic recovery, and economists argue that the shutdown will have lingering effects on the labor market and overall economy for several months.
Napolitano's argument that "5,500,000 innocent Americans were told they don't - they won't have health insurance on January 1st" is also inaccurate. Fox has repeatedly worked to hide the fact that rather than losing coverage outright, most of these consumers are simply being offered new, often better, options because policies will be required to include basic standards of care. Moreover, the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, though rocky, has successfully allowed hundreds of thousands of Americans to sign up for Medicaid.
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Quite an interesting story. Thanks for sharing some of it during one of the hardest days of your life. Best thoughts to you and yours.
This is a discussion on My Dad Passed Away Yesterday Morning. within the Bob & Terry's Place forums, part of the The Back Porch category; A few months after his 91st birthday and a few weeks shy of his and my mother's 65th wedding anniversary. My mind is mush right ...
A few months after his 91st birthday and a few weeks shy of his and my mother's 65th wedding anniversary.
My mind is mush right now. I have thoughts coming from the heart and others coming from the head.
My head thoughts say he was 91 and had led a great life. Born in England, joined the British Army at 14 as a trumpeter and was on active duty at the age of 15 on the border between Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan. He was dispatched to France at the beginning of WWII and served there until the Dunkirk evacuation. He was a sergeant by the age of 19. He served with the Royal Horse Artillery (very elite in the British Army) and attained the rank of Captain by his 21st birthday. He served as a forward observation officer in combat with the Japanese Empire in Burma and was awarded the Military Cross (think one notch below your Medal of Honour) for bravery in combat on the battle field. They were very poorly equipped and averaged only one rifle for every 10 men with only 5 rounds per rifle. He was in command of a regiment of Gurkhas, a group of warriors he had nothing but the highest respect for. After serving in India, France, Belgium, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma, Germany, and England, he left the army in 1946 when he married my mother. They emigrated to Canada in 1951 where he became a hospital administrator and consultant. For anyone interested he even wrote a book about his experiences that can be viewed here Amazon.com: Pick Up Your Parrots and Monkeys...: The Life of a Boy Soldier in India - A Brilliant Memoir of the Last Days of the Raj (Cassell Military Trade Books) (9780304365647): William Pennington: Books. He had several battles with cancer over the years including one about 15 years ago that I still remember vividly. His Dr. looked him in the eye and said "You will be dead within 6 months". She was wrong, and we were blessed with the extra time together.
The thoughts from my heart? My Dad's gone. He took me fishing, camping and helped me through scouts. He mentored me and made sure I persevered and succeeded in life. And now he's gone. I walked into the hospital room yesterday morning to see the shell of a once great man. Now weighing maybe 90 pounds, ashen, with lifeless eyes staring out the window. I always thought the nurses would close them once he was gone.
Thanks for letting me post this here.
CCW permit holder for Idaho, Utah, Pennsylvania, Maine and New Hampshire. I can carry in your country but not my own.
Quite an interesting story. Thanks for sharing some of it during one of the hardest days of your life. Best thoughts to you and yours.
Sorry for your loss. Sounds like a great life.
Very sorry for your loss Gunny. And my deepest condolences go to you and your family. I pray for his soul and may the Lord comfort your family.
Your father lived though some interesting times and I have no doubt he is now having a grand old time being reunited with many of his comrades of yesteryear. May he rest in peace.
And may you find peace and joy in the many great memories that a man of your father's caliber leaves behind with his loving family.
Peace be with you and God Bless.
Semper Fi
"The gun is the great equalizer... For it is the gun, that allows the meek to repel the monsters; Whom are bigger, stronger and without conscience, prey on those who without one, would surely perish."
-Blackstones Commentaries 145146, n. 42 (1803) in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008)Americans understood the right of self-preservation as permitting a citizen to repel force by force
when the intervention of society... may be too late to prevent an injury.
Sorry to here it GunnyBunny. My condolences.
Thanks for the writeup.
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Sorry to hear about your loss, you and your family are in my prayers. When his story is told along with others from his generation it is not difficult to see why they have been called "The Greatest Generation". If you need to talk please do, there are many here who are willing to listen. Take care.
Sorry for your loss.
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"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon the world" Albert Camus
Sorry for your loss. Prayers sent.
Sorry for your loss. Prayers sent.
Gone but never forgotten,He will live on in your memories,my Dad passed at 70,hardest day of my life,he was here as long as he needed to be to teach us the life skills we would need and to pass on to our children
"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .
I'm sorry for you and your family's loss. He sounds like he had a great life and made a tremendous impact while he was in this world. God bless to you and your and I hope the Lord provides His comfort to help you through this difficult time.
Losing a dad is a sudden realization that a generation is passing...i understand your loss.
Condolences to you and yours...
Proverbs 27:12 says: The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
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Sorry for your loss. He lives on within the hearts of all who knew him. Thanks for the story.
Liberty, Property, or Death - Jonathan Gardner's powder horn inscription 1776
Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.
("Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.")
-Virgil, Aeneid, vi, 95
Your dad was a rare warrior; may he rest in peace.
Assault is a behavior, not a device.
"Don't never take no shortcuts." Patty Reed, Donner Party
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text:
Your Dog, Your Life
The Scoop
Dog News, Politics
Bark-Out-Loud Humor
Doggie Style
Gear and Glam
Wildebeest creates the perfect present for new dog parents.
Dog Breeds
Foods & Treats
Health & Care
Behavior & Training
Dogs & Cleaning
Dog of the Day
Photo Comments Age: 12 Years Sex: Male Weight: 100+ lbs
Photo Comments
It was cold outside, even if it was a sunny winter afternoon. It was so much time I was wandering on the streets, lonely and every day more and more hungry. I was friendly, but too smelly for a human nose, I had some wounds on my face that reminded of some terrible days of fights with other dogs for food. I had a collar, I still remember it was a chain collar, and God! how much it hurted! It was too tight for me, so tight that it was already inside my neck skin. I could barely remember the human that put that collar on me, I was a puppy then, then something happened, don't know if I got lost or the human just got ride of me, but it didn't matter that afternoon, all I knew was I was too weak even for walking. Some human hands tied me to a fence, they said for me not to be hit by a car, and went away. For some reason I found myself untied and started to walk again, but..a few steps and down to the floor, other steps and down to the floor again, I was too weak and tired but couldn't rest, my tongue was in fire, I was too thirsty and had a very bad diarrhea and needed some water.
Suddendly there she was, a lady accross the street staring at me with a smile on her face. She crossed the street and tried to touch me, I went away. She went after me, I went away again. I entered the park, didn't see her around, thought I was as usual too smelly for humans, but after a while there she was, carrying a leash, food and water. She came to me, I tried to get up but felt to the ground. She talked to me and petted me, how good it felt to have some soft human hands touching my head! Strange, I thought, it seems she doesn't care about my smell, and my white fur is getting all over her black coat and
she's not complaining! She put a bowl with food next to my head, I tried to eat, couldn't. She offered me water, I was too weak even to drink by myself. Softly she made me drink with her fingers, drop by drop, while a group of humans were there, staring at that strange lady who wasn't afraid of putting her hands into the mouth of that huge dog. Someone said something about calling the pound (still don't know what pound means, but sounded scary to me), the lady refused the idea and said she was going to take care of me.
Kindly she helped me to stand and slowly drove me to the park exit, she gave me more water and some food with her hands, I ate just a little, very little, she looked happy. A man arrived with a car and both him and the lady tried to convince me to enter it, no, no, no, I was too afraid of car rides, they understood. She said she was going to walk me to the vets and so she did, a very long and slow walk, since I was going down to the ground every three steps, and many times I pooped, I was so sick, but the lady didn't seem disgusted, she looked worried. We arrived to the place she called "the vets" and a very nice man came to see me at once, and once again a human didn't seem to care about my smell. He told the lady I was a maremma, and a very good looking one, even if out of shape and sick. Then the lady told me to be wise, that she had to leave me in that place for two days, but that she would be back to pick me up. She told me also that she had a senior dog called Portos and that he was the one who would determine if I could stay with them or not, but that in any case I was not going to be a stray anymore. They took me to strange smelly room, where the man called "vet" took a deep look to my neck and collar, my neck looked awful, the vet said I was needing kind of surgery to take the collar out, it was so inside my skin it couldn't be taken out
in a normal way and it was too little to pass my head through it. Vet told the lady not to worry and after petting me for a while she went away.
I don't remember very well what happened during those two days, I remember some needles into my paws, the sound of a chain being cut off, many hands touching my neck. But I was feeling better, much better. I was feeling stronger, the hunger were not there anymore, I had water, and I was in a warm place. Then a man took me to a place that smelled of clean, all my fur was wet, fleas were not there anymore, and finally, after 4 baths, I was ready to meet the lady again.
Sudendly I heard her voice, and a man took me to her. My tail was dancing, I was so happy to see her, and she seemed so happy to see me!!! After few seconds her long black coat was covered by my white fur, she didn't care, she was hugging me and telling me how beautiful I was and how happy she was to see I was feeling better.
We went away from vets (thanks, dear Federico, I'll always remember you!) and we walked for a while, the lady told me I was going to meet Portos at the doggies park. We arrived and there he was, a very serious and handsome german shepherd. He looked at me, he wasn't hostile, he just smelled me and that was all, I was accepted. After a while the lady and the man took us home. Home!!! I have a home!!! And I have a mom, a dad, a human bro and sisters!!! Mom still remembers I slept for about 3 days, only waking up for eat and go to the bathroom. I started to gain weight and started to play, and after many
attempts I finally got into the car (it took to my family 6 months to convince me, and one trip to the seaside with me screaming into dad's ears), now a day if you open a door's car there I go, I love car rides!!!
No, I'm not a stray dog anymore, I'm a spoiled, sometimes naughty dog, very protective of his family, human and canine. Those days are far away and will not be back, and I hope for every lonely abandoned pup in the world to find a loving forever home, paws crossed for all abandoned pups!!!
My great friend Eder Azukre (Zuke) has tagged me...
Now, I get to choose 7 of my pals to tag! So, here are the rules I was given for the game: Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names in that diary entry. Don't forget to bark them a p-mail that they have been tagged and tell them to read your Diary, or send them a fun Rosette announcing they've been Tagged!
So, here are 7 facts about me!
1. I'm a totally happy dog, sad days of loniness are gone forever and never be back.
2. Even if I'm HUGE, I'm convinced I'm a lap dog, so I behave as expected for a lap dog.
3. I still don't know why every time I run and jump, my family screams "earthquake, earthquake!!!"
4. When playing with Luna, I always let her believe she can knock me down, so she is convinced she's bigger and stronger than me.
5. When mom found me, my weight was 100 pounds. Now I'm 140 pounds, and I have heard mom saying that she'll never put me on diet because I suffered too much when in the streets; you're a great thinker, mom!
6. I'm very friendly unless...someone tries to enter my home. Then I can be very dangerous, after all I'm a maremma!
7. My favorite things to do: to bark, to play with Luna, and to ask to be petted!
Off to tag:
1. Oz, NPC
2. Rocky Rocco
3. Hope, NPC
4. Sirius Black, NPC
5. Captain Jack
6. Shiloh
7. Shaela
Copyright © I-5 Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
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The advice on our website is prepared without knowing your personal financial circumstances. Before you act on this or any advice, please consider if it's right for you.


text:
Breaching the standardised assessment boundary : assessment for learning as a field of exchange
Connolly, Stephen (2011) Breaching the standardised assessment boundary : assessment for learning as a field of exchange. In AARE Annual Conference, 2011: Researching Across Boundaries, 27 November - 1 December 2011, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart, TAS.
Accepted Version
(PDF 521kB)
The introduction of the Australian curriculum, the use of standardised testing (e.g. NAPLAN) and the My School website are couched in a context of accountability. This circumstance has stimulated and in some cases renewed a range of boundaries in Australian Education. The consequences that arise from standardised testing have accentuated the boundaries produced by social reproduction in education which has led to an increase in the numbers of students disengaging from mainstream education and applying for enrolment at the Edmund Rice Education Australia Flexible Learning Centre Network (EREAFLCN). Boundaries are created for many young people who are denied access to credentials and certification as a result of being excluded from or in some way disengaging from standardised education and testing. Young people who participate at the EREAFLCN arrive with a variety of forms of cultural capital that are not valued in current education and employment fields. This is not to say that these young people's different forms of cultural capital have no value, but rather that such funds of knowledge, repertoires and cultural capital are not valued by the majority of powerful agents in educational and employment fields. How then can the qualitative value of traditionally unorthodox - yet often intricate, ingenious, and astute - versions of cultural capital evident in the habitus of many young people be made to count, be recognised, be valuated? Can a process of educational assessment be a field of capital exchange and a space which breaches boundaries through a valuating process? This paper reports on the development of an innovative approach to assessment in an alternative education institution designed for the re-engagement of 'at risk' youth who have left formal schooling. A case study approach has been used to document the engagement of six young people, with an educational approach described as assessment for learning as a field of exchange across two sites in the EREAFLCN. In order to capture the broad range of students' cultural and social capital, an electronic portfolio system (EPS) is under trial. The model draws on categories from sociological models of capital and reconceptualises the eportfolio as a sociocultural zone of learning and development. Results from the trial show a general tendency towards engagement with the EPS and potential for the attainment of socially valued cultural capital in the form of school credentials. In this way restrictive boundaries can be breached and a more equitable outcome achieved for many young Australians.
Impact and interest:
Citation counts are sourced monthly from Scopus and Web of Science® citation databases.
These databases contain citations from different subsets of available publications and different time periods and thus the citation count from each is usually different. Some works are not in either database and no count is displayed. Scopus includes citations from articles published in 1996 onwards, and Web of Science® generally from 1980 onwards.
Citations counts from the Google Scholar™ indexing service can be viewed at the linked Google Scholar™ search.
Full-text downloads:
Full-text downloads displays the total number of times this work's files (e.g., a PDF) have been downloaded from QUT ePrints as well as the number of downloads in the previous 365 days. The count includes downloads for all files if a work has more than one.
|ID Code:
|Item Type:
|Conference Paper
|Assessment, Assessment for learning, Bourdieu sociology, sociocultural theory, Assessment for learning as a field of exchange, HERN
|Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000) > CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY (130200) > Curriculum and Pedagogy Theory and Development (130202)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000) > CURRICULUM AND PEDAGOGY (130200) > Humanities and Social Sciences Curriculum and Pedagogy (excl. Economics Business and Management) (130205)
|Current > Research Centres > Office of Education Research
Current > QUT Faculties and Divisions > Faculty of Education
|Copyright Owner:
|Copyright 2011 [please consult the author]
|Deposited On:
|28 Feb 2012 22:17
|Last Modified:
|27 Oct 2014 09:20
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Learn more about treatment, prevention and other resources by exploring the options on the left sidebar.


text:
They believe that as few as one in 100 cells within a cancer have this capacity.
This may explain why current treatments sometimes fail.
The key cells, like the body's immature stem cells, have the ability to make copies of themselves, and to produce all the other kinds of cells in the original tumour.
Although similar cells have been identified in human leukaemia, these are the first to be found in solid tumours.
Tell-tale markers
The cells were isolated from breast cancers removed from nine women at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
They were identified by a specific pattern of proteins on their surface membranes.
They were then injected into laboratory mice where they stimulated the development of new tumours.
Each time cells were taken from a newly grown tumour and injected into new mice they stimulated new cancer growth, and each new tumour was found to have the same cellular make-up as the original sample.
However, many thousands of cancer cells failed to stimulate cancer growth when taken from the original tumour and injected into the animals.
Researcher Dr Max Wicha said the results might explain why some current therapies fail to work.
"The goal of all our existing therapies has been to kill as many cells within the tumour as possible," he said.
"This study suggests that the current model may not be getting us anywhere, because we have been targeting the wrong cells with the wrong treatments.
"Instead, we need to develop drugs targeted at the tumour's stem cells.
"If we are to have any real cures in advanced breast cancer, it will be absolutely necessary to eliminate these cells."
Other cancers
The researchers believe similar cells drive the development of other types of cancer too.
They plan to establish a new research programme to identify stem cells in other cancers and to develop new therapies to destroy them.
Dr Wicha said: "What we are working on now is finding out what makes these tumour stem cells different from the other cells in a tumour.
"Now that we can actually identify them, we can start developing treatments to specifically target and hopefully eliminate them."
Dr Elaine Vickers, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said deaths from breast cancer have fallen by 22% in the last decade, largely due to better treatments and earlier detection.
But she said: "For many women current treatments are unable to halt the spread of the disease, leading to advanced cancer that is much more difficult to treat.
"This research suggests that breast cancers may contain a small number of particularly aggressive cells that determine whether the cancer will spread or not.
"It's an intriguing finding which may ultimately aid the design of new cancer treatments that target these aggressive cells and stop the devastating spread of the disease."
The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


text:
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The giveaway ends on Tuesday, August 2nd at midnight.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday, August 3rd.


text:
Using the Internet to administer more realistic vignette experiments
Caro, Francis, Ho, Teck Hua, McFadden, Daniel, Gottlieb, Alison, Yee, Christine, Chan, Taizan, & Winter, Joachim (2010) Using the Internet to administer more realistic vignette experiments. Social Science Computer Review, Online(Online), pp. 1-18.
Impact and interest:
Citation counts are sourced monthly from Scopus and Web of Science® citation databases.
These databases contain citations from different subsets of available publications and different time periods and thus the citation count from each is usually different. Some works are not in either database and no count is displayed. Scopus includes citations from articles published in 1996 onwards, and Web of Science® generally from 1980 onwards.
Citations counts from the Google Scholar™ indexing service can be viewed at the linked Google Scholar™ search.
|ID Code:
|Item Type:
|Journal Article
|Stated Choice Methods, Vignette, Internet, Fractional Factorial Surveys, Older People, Residential Choices
|Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES (080000) > INFORMATION SYSTEMS (080600)
|Past > QUT Faculties & Divisions > Faculty of Science and Technology
Past > Schools > Information Systems
|Deposited On:
|13 Jul 2011 13:07
|Last Modified:
|21 Jan 2014 04:10
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text:
hi fellas!
its this time of the year again and the eurotrip to wörthersee is on its way again.
enjoy my travel diary and our adventures car and not car related pics and so on.
since last years thread (in my sig) got a little pic heavy i decided to put up all vw pics into the subforums and have the main thread running here.
i started in FÖRDE/ NORWAY and had some nice weather to drive the mkIV wintercar.
my ex took me for all my money again and i sterted driving with 25euro in my pockets to a 2000km drive!
mission: save fuel poor sucka!!
here some landscape pics of norway
the 2nd of together 4 ferrys i had to take, time for an ice cone
in the backround you see a norwegian salmon farm (with the green fences)
i challenge everyone to beat that in a 11 year old 2.0/8v on WINTERTIRES!!
new personal best in mpg and reach
the nothern coast of danmark! (hirtshals)
border danmark-germany
in the backround behind the 1 million flys you spot the berlin tv tower
i made it to berlin, the price for 45km/h more average speed is 2.5l fuel more on 100km.
i wonder what i could reach with a tdi i am longing for
i will update this thread as soon as i have more pics and i can go online
my bro paul (chromosexual) is on his way to the airport in philly right now and will land here in berlin tomorrow
you may know that my mk1 is ready and i have these here, stay tuned!!!


text:
Chocolate Hotel Features Cocoa-Themed Rooms
Luxury accommodations that offer slumber parties, midnight snacks and mountains of sweets opens in the UK.
If you're a chocolate fiend and proud, you'll be happy to hear the first chocolate hotel will be opening in the UK this year. The Chocolate Boutique Hotel is a family run business based in Bournemouth that has 13 cocoa-themed rooms, with chocolate fountains, cocktails and cooking classes being just some of the highlights.
A typical stay at the hotel involves checking out the kitchen and taking part in a cooking workshop on your arrival. To get your juices flowing – gastronomically and creatively – guests are encouraged to paint a portrait using dark, white and milk chocolate. The afternoon offers up a martini of the chocolate variety, along with the usual alcohol offerings. If you think you can handle even more chocolate after the day is done, the hotel can sneak a midnight snack up to your room as well, just to top it all off.
You can be sure you're in good hands, as the hotel team are often called upon as the chocolate experts for celebrity events even the occasional movie premiere. The hotel is sure to become a prime attraction for the cocoa connoisseurs of the world.


text:
Hi all,
New guy here. I just purchased the Tissot T0444302605100 T-Sport PRS 516 Black Day Date Dial Watch last week and I find that as long as I wear it, it stays wound for me. But, it will not be running in the morning. It seems to only keep working for about 4-5 hours while not being worn. This is my first automatic movement watch so I don't know if my expectations are too high, but I seem to remember reading that it should last 24-48 hours. Any education you can provide would be helpful.