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Ladies and Cigars
Aficionadas: Women and Their Cigars
"These gentlemen gave us some seegars...these are leaves of tobacco rolled up in such a manner that they serve both for a pipe and for tobacco itself. These the ladies, as well as gentlemen, are very fond of smoking."
-John Cockburn, English traveler in Costa Rica, 1735
"A cigar numbs sorrows and fills the solitary hours with a million gracious images."
-George Sand, 1867
"For me, cigar smoking is part of the ritual of the fine art of living."
-Helena Stigeler, president and cofounder, Michel Perrenoud International, Inc., 1995
"I smoked my first cigar during a business trip to South America," says Dallas-based businesswoman, inventor, author and patent-law expert Tomima Edmark. "I had just returned from a dinner given by one of the embassies in Santiago, Chile, and I was sitting in the hotel lobby with a group of 12 American businessmen when they, en masse, began lighting up Cuban cigars. I was intrigued by the sight. One of them offered me a cigar, but in a very teasing way, never expecting me to accept."
Having grown up with five brothers, Edmark knew a dare when she saw one. "They were surprised at first when I said, 'Sure.' But they loved the fact that I joined them, and they loved showing me the ropes. I have to say I didn't enjoy the taste right away, but I immediately understood the pleasure in the ritual--cutting it, holding it, gesturing with it."
Edmark says that her cigar smoking attracted the attention of a number of other men in the hotel lobby that evening. "Some of the men in our group called my attention to a Latin gentleman who they said had been staring at me amorously for some time," Edmark says with a laugh. "The man eventually approached me and said, 'I've been looking all my life for a woman who smokes a cigar.' I declined his invitation to dinner."
Edmark's story may resonate with other cigar aficionadas. It sums up the whole range of reactions that a cigar-smoking woman is bound to elicit. Confronted with a woman smoking a cigar, men
may fall back on familiar ways of relating with women in an attempt to "normalize" a disorienting experience: "Let me show you how," like a boss or father; "Let me tease you," like an older brother; "Let me sweep you off your feet and seduce you," like a macho man; and occasionally, "Let me do this with you," like a co-conspirator and a buddy. A woman's desire to smoke cigars is threatening to some men, comical to others. Some men find it titillating and sexy; for other men it can be an initiation rite, a way to break down gender barriers and welcome a woman into the group.
It can also be just plain shocking: Author and editor Colleen Mogil, 31, of Philadelphia's Main Line, once caused a car crash by smoking a cigar. "I was driving home, cigar in hand. I stopped at a light and noticed a man in the next lane staring at me with a look that said, 'Is that lady smoking a cigar, or am I seeing things?' As he tried to figure it out, he drove right into the car in front of him."
In the words of journalist/supermodel Veronica Webb, "It's fascinating to see a woman with a cigar because it's about staking a claim. And it often takes people off guard." Webb should know: The BBC-affiliated reporter, who smoked her first cigar with Cigar Aficionado editor and publisher Marvin Shanken, recently wrote an article on cigars for Esquire. "I was intimidated," she says. "Cigars are one of the great male secrets, and here I was writing about them."
Women, it seems, just aren't supposed to like cigars. We all know the cliché: An exasperated wife looks at her husband and demands, "Are you really going to smoke that vile thing?" Almost 100 years ago, Rudyard Kipling's short story, "The Betrothed" (1899), laid the foundation for today's stereotypes about cigars and the war of the sexes. In it, a fiancée tells her husband-to-be, "Darling, you must choose between me and your cigars."
Less than 50 years later, Hollywood portrayed a woman with a cigar as a provocative novelty in the film version of Colette's Gigi. The eponymous heroine (played by Leslie Caron) is transformed from ragamuffin to the "ideal woman." Significantly, her training includes learning how to select, unwrap and clip a good cigar--and then offer it to her escort. Of course, she wasn't supposed to smoke it. Gigi might appreciate cigars, even be an expert at handling them, but the pleasures of a smoke were still reserved for men. The message was clear: A woman who reveres cigars, knows how to appreciate them, but leaves them to the guys is a dream come true.
Since the days of Kipling, and onto the legacy of Gigi, cigars have belonged to men. Or so it would seem. Think about it: With a cigar, men celebrate the birth of a child, cement business deals and affirm friendships. They smoke them in clubs and secret societies. Cigars are an integral part of such cherished guy-rituals as the poker game and the stag party.
If the association between men and cigars in American culture is strong--indeed, as overpowering as Cohiba smoke in a windowless room--the link between women and cigars is, well, shrouded in smoke and mystery.
Pushing beyond the smoke screen of cliché, however, it's obvious that Edmark, Mogil and Webb are not alone. Increasingly, women are starting to smoke cigars, or are coming out of the closet as longtime cigar smokers. They're enjoying the aroma and taste and ritual--and why shouldn't they? It's not an anomaly or a coincidence--in fact, it turns out that the "masculinization" of cigars is a recent historical development, and that there is as much precedent for women loving cigars as hating them.
At trendy clubs such as Manhattan's Le Cigar at Tatou and Cigar Bar, at Big Smokes where traditionally the only women were miniskirted "spokesmodels," and at George Sand Society events, where women outnumber men three to one, cigar aficionadas are a visible new presence.
But are women smoking cigars in sufficient numbers to exert a significant influence on the marketplace? Diana Silvius-Gits sits on the board of directors of the Tobacconist's Association of America, is former president of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America, Inc., and owns the Up Down Tobacco Shop in Chicago. "Women are our next big market," Silvius-Gits says. "We are seeing a tremendous surge of women smoking cigars. They're educated, they know what they want and I see more of them every day in my store." Helena Stigeler, president of Michel Perrenoud International, says that three times more women than men buy Perrenoud's pyramid-shaped humidors.
Market research conducted in the late 1980s determined that women comprised one-tenth of one percent of the total cigar market in the United States. Norman Sharp, president of the Cigar Association of America, says that the market has clearly changed in the eight years since this study was done. Based on anecdotal reports from cigar manufacturers and retailers, women appear to be smoking cigars in significantly greater numbers.
For these women, cigars are a relaxing ritual, a meditative experience and a reflection of the level of status and success that they have achieved. Take the case of Cynthia Ekberg Tsai, who runs two East Coast venture capital firms (Tsai Globus Bioventures and MassTech Ventures) and is founder and director of NuGene Technologies, Inc., a gene therapy technology company based at New York University. Tsai started smoking cigars 10 years ago.
"My life is high-stress," she says. "A cigar, for me, is about relaxation. It allows me--requires me--to sit still for an hour! I savor the taste, watch the smoke, get lost in my thoughts." She prefers a smaller ring gauge Davidoff and smokes three or four times a month, on special occasions or with business associates.
Like many of the women interviewed for this article, Tsai says she is more likely to smoke cigars in Europe, where it is common for women to do so. In her experience, many Europeans are downright blasé about women with cigars. She recalls taking a friend to an elegant luncheon in Paris where, "completely unsolicited, the waiter came over and offered us a cigar after our meal. That made quite an impression on me."
Sharp says that statistics support Tsai's observations: There are more women cigar smokers in Europe, with Denmark having the highest per-capita consumption. In Tsai's opinion, the United States has been slower to accept women cigar smokers in a business context as well. Every year she attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and doesn't think twice about lighting up a cigar alongside some of the world's top businessmen. Here in the States, Tsai is much more hesitant in doing so.
Tsai may feel that way because she has had a few awkward moments involving cigars. On a 1991 trip to South Africa, for example, she caused a commotion by lighting up in a restaurant. "Everyone, including the chef, came to my table, saying they were so excited--they had never seen a woman smoking a cigar!" Tsai concedes that "it is inevitably a statement for a woman to smoke a cigar--you know you'll attract some attention if you're doing it in public." But, she adds, "It's hardly ever a negative response. And it's also simply about enjoying the pleasures of living."
Edmark (who in 1989 created a popular women's hair accessory called the TopsyTail and is now marketing her new product, the "Bowrette Collection") says she knows that people may assume she is trying to make a statement by smoking a cigar. But she insists, "I smoke them because I enjoy them. The taste and the smoke are really pleasant." Still, she concedes that being a businesswoman who smokes a cigar hasn't hurt her professionally: "I know that by smoking cigars I have created an image and an ambience of success around myself. If people think I'm a mogul, fine!"
Julie Ross, cofounder of the George Sand Society, Santa Monica--a cigar-smoking club that welcomes women and men (there is now a chapter in Manhattan)--has been smoking cigars for 10 years. She prefers Montecristos and Avos, and says she picked up the habit from a friend visiting from Europe. "It's common to see women smoking cigars in Italy," she notes. "And women have always smoked cigars in Holland and Denmark, maybe because historically, equality between men and women has always been the rule there."
Whatever the reason that aficionadas are more common in Europe, Ross notes that cigar smoking is catching on in Southern California. "Our membership is about 60 to 70 percent women, with most of the women successful professionals in their mid-30s and up. But there's another group that's growing--women in their 20s, most of them college and graduate students." Ross says she is especially gratified that the GSS draws both men and women. "In an unusual twist, women are bringing their husbands and boyfriends to our events," she says. "At our last formal dinner, almost every woman in the room was smoking a cigar, even male members' wives."
Far from alienating men, cigar smoking is a ritual that can bond women with each other and the men in their lives. As Ross puts it, "When a man and woman share the love of cigars, it creates a unique intimacy." For example, Michael Sirgado, an attorney with Waters, McPherson, McNeill, often goes to Dunhill's and Davidoff's Manhattan stores with his wife, Jo Anne, also an attorney: "I enjoy a cigar more when my wife picks it out. Going together is a sort of ritual we share."
After her South American adventure, it was a boyfriend who showed Edmark the etiquette of selecting, cutting and smoking a cigar. "I found it endearing that he wanted to show me how to go about it," she says. So endearing, in fact, that the two are now married. "We smoked Romeo y Julietas to celebrate the night he proposed. I saved the butts and bands and am having them framed," she says with a laugh. In a reversal of the Gigi dynamic, husband Stephen Polley, chairman, president and CEO of the Dallas-based Interphase Corporation, selects and prepares Edmark's cigars for her. Edmark doesn't like "little ones"--she tends to go for Churchills. "If you're going to smoke a cigar, don't be scared of big ones," she advises women who want to experiment. "They're actually milder."
Women aren't just smoking cigars in record numbers; they have also made successful careers in nearly every facet of today's cigar marketplace. Helena Stigeler develops and markets elegant and innovative cigar-smoking accessories. Cigar manufacturers such as Emmanuelle Marty, cofounder, co-owner and president of Sublimado Cigar Corp. in Miami, have dispensed with the notion that women cannot thrive at the highest echelons of the international cigar industry. For these women, enjoying cigars is an integral part of their work.
"Cigars are my livelihood, but I also find them relaxing and elegant," says Marty. "Smoking is like having a conversation with myself. I love to play with the smoke and savor the aroma of quality tobacco. For me, it's an event. And I think women can look very elegant with a cigar." She prefers her own Cognac-mellowed Sublimados, but also smokes Cuban Montecristos and Bolivars.
Stigeler, who smokes Avo Belicosos, concurs. In fact, she thinks cigar smoking is about complementarity between the sexes. "Women becoming cigar smokers and going to events in recent years has allowed men to feel more comfortable with their own elegance."
Perhaps no one has met with greater success in blending business with pleasure than Silvius-Gits. She markets her own line of cigars (the Dominican-manufactured Diana Silvius). She also flexes her political muscle through her involvement with national tobacco organizations (she recently joined Cigar Aficionado's Lafayette Park smokers rally before the Big Smoke in Washington, D.C.), and speaks with boundless enthusiasm and knowledge about smoking cigars. Silvius-Gits, whose motto is: "If it doesn't smoke, I don't want to have anything to do with it," describes the Davidoff Double "R" in the reverential language Keats used to describe his Grecian urn. About her encyclopedic cigar knowledge, she says simply that "women who work in the industry really know their stuff."
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Teaser Inside...
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with Collectibles Insurance, the official insurance company of the Figures.com network. Say "Figures.com" to get 5% off your first term premiums.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, RedfordFilms.com, Toynk.com, PastGenerationToys.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, and MonkeyDepot.com.
With The Dark Knight Rises hitting theaters soon, Hot Toys keeps the 1:6 scale movie figure teasers coming. Hot Toys writes in:
Riding on the desert camouflage painted Tumbler, the one-of-a-kind military vehicle, Bane is about to come soon! Stay tuned!

subset: commoncrawl


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Elbow inflammation may cost Phelps a start
BOSTON -- David Phelps was removed from Sunday's start against the Red Sox with right elbow inflammation, and the right-hander is scheduled to be further evaluated this week in New York.
Manager Joe Girardi said that Phelps has been pitching through discomfort near his triceps. Phelps said that it started after a July 18 start against the Reds, when he had an MRI administered by team physician Christopher Ahmad.
"After we got the first MRI, we sat down with [Ahmad] and he said, 'Listen, as long as it's not getting worse, we're good,'" Phelps said after New York's 8-7 victory. "The ligament was clean, everything was good. Today was what really set me off is today was the day it was worse. I had to say something. We'll find out what it is tomorrow and go from there."
Phelps was hit hard by the Red Sox on Sunday, surrendering five runs on six hits in two innings, including a two-run Dustin Pedroia homer. Girardi suggested that Phelps could miss his next turn in the rotation.
"I believe he's going to pitch again [this year]," Girardi said. "I don't know if it'll be his next turn, but I believe he's going to pitch again. He had the MRI before and it came back clean. He might need a little time-out."
Phelps started the year in the bullpen before being moved to the rotation due to injuries; Phelps is 5-5 with a 4.24 ERA in 26 games (17 starts) this season.
If the Yankees need a spot start, they could turn to right-hander Esmil Rogers, who hurled three scoreless innings in his Yankees debut on Sunday and had been starting at Triple-A Buffalo in the Blue Jays' chain, where he was 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 12 games (seven starts).
The Yankees could also consider giving a start to left-hander David Huff, right-hander Chase Whitley or Triple-A right-hander Bryan Mitchell.
"It's frustrating. I felt like coming into this start I was throwing the ball the best I had in my career consistently," Phelps said. "Anytime we're talking about a DL stint, it's frustrating. I was really enjoying helping the team win ballgames. It's frustrating. We're playing better baseball and I feel like we're about to go on a run."
Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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oushi wrote:purestsoul wrote:To get out of the cycle of samsara of rebirth and death, one has to eliminate all traces of emotions from one being, no love no hate no thoughts absolutely nothingness.
And it is done through love.
If not internet dharma can be sold through dividing pain in war as well and it will be great sounding.


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|Baltimore, Md.
|High School:
|Deerfield Academy
2014: Started all 20 games on Duke's first midfield line … USILA Honorable Mention All-America … Finished the season with 22 goals and 26 assists for 48 points … His 48 points were second most of his career and ranked fifth on the team … Was key component in the top scoring midfield in Duke history … Had at least one point in 19 outings … Registered 11 multiple-point games and seven with three-plus points … Had a career-high six assists and seven points in win over Syracuse (3/23) … Six assists were most by a Blue Devil since 2010 … Followed that with a five-goal outing against Harvard (3/29) … Added three goals and three assists at Virginia (4/11) … Tallied a goal and three assists in NCAA Semifinal win over Denver (5/24) … Finished with a goal and an assist in NCAA Championship game … Also had three GBs against the Irish in the title tilt … Picked up a season-high five ground balls in loss to Syracuse (4/25) … Compiled 37 points in the final 11 games after totaling just 11 in the first nine … USILA Scholar All-America … All-ACC Academic Team … ACC Academic Honor Roll.2013: Played in 21 games and started 19 … Started season at attack before moving to the first midfield line … Finished the year with 33 points from 16 goals and 17 assists … Part of a midfield line that accounted for 134 points and nearly 30 percent of the scoring for Duke … Had a point in 17 games and multiple points in 11 of those … Tallied three goals and an assists in the season opener against Denver (2/9) … Scored three-plus points in four games … Had a goal and two assists in NCAA semifinal win over Cornell (5/25) … Added a goal and an assist versus Syracuse (5/27) in the NCAA title game … Handed out two assists against Georgetown (3/23), Virginia (4/12) and at Rutgers (4/20) … Netted a pair of scores in High Point (4/5) victory … Picked up a season-high four ground balls against Jacksonville (2/10) … All-ACC Academic Team … ACC Academic Honor Roll.
Personal: Son of Chris and Stacy Walsh … Has two brothers, Luke and Jake, and one sister, Meghan … Grandfather was a lacrosse All-American at Maryland … Father played soccer and basketball at Union College … born July 27, 1991.


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We've had some interesting conversations about the "as a Service" business model in our office over the last couple days. What sparked it was a phone call Jim Roddy, Business Solutions' president, had with a consultant who focuses on helping managed services providers grow so their businesses are worth more when it's time to sell.
As we've talked about in the past, if you're on a break-fix model, when it's time to sell your business, you're probably going to be disappointed when you discover all your years of hard work didn't do much to increase the value of your business. On the flip side, businesses with a heavy book of recurring business are worth a lot more. In fact, this consultant advises not to worry about your profitability with customers in the short-term. Rather, price yourself to be less profitable and therefore more attractive (cheaper) to customers to build up your book of business and increase your company's value for when it's time to sell.
What struck me about this gentleman's line of work was that it put a spotlight on something I never really noticed. Specifically, it's common for us to interview successful MSP owners who are on their second or third company. A typical managed services story is one where someone builds a successful business and then sells it. They then start up or take a leadership role with another company to build that one up. For them, it's about the challenge of growing a successful business. And, because they've been successful, they have a financial safety net to work the type of job they want to work.
The POS industry couldn't be more different. It's typical to speak with a second- or third-generation business owner who most likely doesn't even think about selling their business. Rather, they're building something their kids will inherit.
I can't fault POS VARs on looking to take care of family by passing on their business. But with the way the industry is changing, what's going to get passed on to future generations is a struggling business with a dim future. That is, unless there are some significant recurring revenue components.
If you're a retail or restaurant IT VAR thinking that an "as a Service" model isn't for you or that you can't afford to make the switch, you're wrong. If taking care of family is what you want to do, why not adopt a services model, build up a large book of recurring revenue business, and then turn your family into millionaires?
If you're interested in learning more about the "as a Service" model, check out our latest Annual Guide To POS & Payment Processing (arriving in your mailboxes this week), which has a special focus on this business model shift and what you need to know. It's also online here:


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Don't miss out on a lower price on this hotel
Get an overview of this hotelUpscale condominium resort on the beach, with 2 outdoor swimming pools
Popular property highlights
Located in Grace Bay, this beachfront condominium resort is in the entertainment district and within 1 mi (2 km) of Salt Mills Plaza and Grace Bay Beach. Turtle Cove is 3.1 mi (4.9 km) away.
Property Features
At The Somerset on Grace Bay, spend the day on the beach where you can enjoy sailing. Then return for a meal at one of the condominium resort's 2 restaurants.
Room Amenities
All 53 condos feature kitchenettes with refrigerators, stovetops, microwaves, and dishwashers. Free WiFi and iPod docks are standard, as are plasma TVs with cable channels.
Guest Highlights
- Good location
- Beach
- Pool
- Helpful staff
The Somerset on Grace Bay
Property Amenities
Property Amenities
Hit the beach and work on your tan in the sun loungers (chaise longues) or relax in the shade with complimentary cabanas and umbrellas. Bring your whole family to The Somerset on Grace Bay for summer fun including 2 outdoor swimming pools, a complimentary children's club, and windsurfing.
Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast. Dining is available at one of the condominium resort's 2 restaurants. A poolside bar is on site where guests can unwind with a drink. Public areas are equipped with complimentary wireless Internet access. This luxury condominium resort also offers a steam room and a fitness center. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
- Beach umbrellas
- Free beach cabanas
- Beach sun loungers
- Beach towels
- Babysitting or childcare (surcharge)
- Children's club (free)
- Babysitting or childcare
- Concierge services
- Free breakfast
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Fitness facilities
- Front desk (limited hours)
- Children's club
- One meeting room
- Number of floors - 5
- Total number of rooms - 53
- Picnic area
- Poolside bar
- Porter/bellhop
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Free self parking
- Number of restaurants - 2
- Steam room
- Wedding services
- Elevator/lift
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Free WiFi
- Pool umbrellas
- Number of outdoor pools - 2
- Spa services on site
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Private bathroom
- Kitchenette
- Slippers
- Dishwasher
- Stovetop
- Cable TV service
- Free WiFi
- Plasma TV
- iPod docking station
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Bathtub or shower
- Air conditioning
- Bathrobes
- DVD player
- Ceiling fan
- In-room childcare (surcharge)
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free newspaper
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Daily housekeeping
- Hypo-allergenic bedding available
- In-room safe
- Iron/ironing board
- In-room massage available
- Microwave
- Pay movies
- Refrigerator
- Separate sitting area
- Turndown service
- Room service (limited hours)
Where to Eat
Guests are offered a complimentary continental breakfast.
Pavillion - This fine-dining restaurant specializes in international cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Guests can enjoy alfresco dining (weather permitting). Open select days.
LunaSea Pool Bar and Gril - This poolside restaurant specializes in Caribbean cuisine and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Guests can order drinks at the bar and enjoy alfresco dining (weather permitting). Happy hour is offered.
Room service (during limited hours) is available.
Nearby Things to Do
2 outdoor swimming pools are on site along with a steam room and a fitness center.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
- Yoga classes/instruction on site
- Golfing nearby
- Snorkeling nearby
- Scuba diving nearby
- Free bicycles on site
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Parasailing nearby
- Water skiing nearby
- Surfing/boogie boarding nearby
- Scooter/moped rentals nearby
- Kayaking on site
- Sailing on site
- Volleyball on site
- Windsurfing on site
- Ecotours nearby
- Golf lessons available nearby
- Personal motorized watercraft on site
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
Property Policies
Check-in time ends at 11 PM
Check-in time starts at 4 PM
Minimum check-in age is 21
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Kids stay free! Children 12 years old and younger stay free when using existing bedding.
- Free cribs (infant beds)!
- No pets or service animals allowed
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
- Resort fee
Property Name
- Grace Bay Somerset
- Somerset Condo Grace Bay
- Somerset Grace Bay
- Somerset On Grace Bay Hotel
- Somerset On Grace Bay Providenciales
- The Somerset On Grace Bay Hotel Providenciales
- The Somerset On Grace Bay Turks And Caicos/Providenciales
- Somerset Grace Bay Condo
We should mention
A resort fee is included in the total price displayed. Children 12 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property.


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It's a frenzy at the mental asylum as the inmates have been infected by secret experiments, your mission is to regain control of the facility and restrain the patients. In a terrifying yet thrilling horror experience, you will need to be brave as you face the crazed subjects and walk through dark corridors in this frightening battle. The thrilling experience will begin with a safety briefing and signing a safety waiver, after which you'll be kitted out in full body protection.
Basic training will be given in teams of 4 to 6 people, where you'll learn how to deal with the criminally insane and the undead, whilst understanding the importance of teamwork, courage and determination. Then follows your 3 missions:
Mission 1 - Clearance Op: This phase involves searching a mega complex of rooms and corridors to search out and identify the threat. Your instructors will offer hints and encouragement, but it's up to you and your team to deal with whatever comes your way. Be prepared to come into contact with some pretty fearsome characters, and watch out for the infected clowns! Not everyone in the group will survive contact, so be warned!
Mission 2 - Containment: Once you have rested and been re-briefed, prepare to re-enter the fray. The infected inmates need to be locked back in their cells - this sounds easier than it is! They will bite, scratch, spit and kick as you attempt to force them into individual cells. Be careful - someone may get kidnapped, and guess who has to free them?
Mission 3 - Search and Destroy: The final mission - you have been ordered to mount up on the vans and sort out a lapse of security at the research facility, using lethal force. Break out the tranquiliser guns and head into the unknown, making sure to listen to advice from the medical team as you locate, restrain, and then administer a lethal injection. Make sure you get the dose right though, otherwise you may create a turbo-zombie!
Important Information:
Your voucher is valid for 10 months. This package is for one person. This experience is available on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only. The experience will last approx 3 -4 hours. Minimum age is 16. You must be reasonably fit as this experience requires a lot of movement and involves a lot of action. Please note the experience is very kinetic and is designed to be scary - be prepared for a bit of pushing and shoving, as well as the occasional knock or bruise. There may be some grappling with other people and there is a residual threat from slips, trips and falls. Please note you may be subjected to loud noise and dark, confined spaces and you may have to deal with bloody, realistic scenarios.
You are required to advise the supplier if you suffer from claustrophobia, asthma, are suffering from an existing medical condition or are recovering from an injury. Pregnant ladies may not take part in this experience. Please note that you cannot take part in this experience under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs - if you do not respect this rule you will forfeit your voucher. On arrival you will have to sign a safety waiver. All participants must adhere to the supplier's health and safety policy. You are advised to wear closed toe shoes, work walking boots and robust outdoor style clothing (i.e. cargo/combat trousers, long sleeve sweatshirt - no hoodies). All dates are subject to availability.
Please remember to add postal time (2-3 working days) to obtain a complete estimate of delivery to your door.
You will receive an email to confirm when your item has been sent.
You can also check the status of your order and individual items by accessing My Account details and following the prompts.
Please allow 10 working days from dispatch of your order before notifying us of any late deliveries.
It may be advisable to check with your neighbours to see if a parcel has been left with them, check any outhouses you might have where it may be left if it cannot fit through your letterbox and contact your local sorting office to see if the item has been returned to the depot as undelivered and awaiting collection.
Please see our returns policy.
There are currently no reviews.


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BEST WESTERN Hotel Master disposes of 74 comfortable and renowed rooms, the ideal accommodation for a stay in the sign of relaxation both for business and leisure travellers.All rooms offer many facilities combining the comfort of a four star hotel with the warmth of a familiar welcome. Rooms Superior and Junior Suite, more spacious and of a refined design, also dispose of numerous other services, achieving the best quality standard of a Hotel ****.
Special attention is paid daily to cleanliness and hygiene: the hotel relies on high specialized companies for the supply and cleaning of bed linen and towels, in order to ensure the the best international standards.
Sleep quality
A good night's sleep is essential to deal with the commitments of the day in the best way!


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Wiltshire households will benefit from a freeze on the police element of council tax during the next financial year.
The proposal from Angus Macpherson, the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, was formally confirmed by the Police and Crime Panel yesterday.
It means that for the 2013/14 financial year the average Band D household in Wiltshire and Swindon will pay £157.77 for policing services as well as community safety services Mr Macpherson can commission.
This is the same amount as last year and the year before that.
Mr Macpherson said: "I am very pleased that residents will benefit from this cap on the policing part of the council tax, especially in the current economic climate.
"I am confident that we can keep the cost of policing down for households while maintaining effective frontline services."
The commissioner promised not to increase the policing part of the council tax for the 2013/14 financial year during his election campaign.
He has now consulted with the business sector, via chamber of commerce groups, and the voluntary community sector on the proposal.
He is also continuing to consult with the voluntary community sector on his forthcoming Police and Crime Plan, with a wider public consultation on the plan due to start later this month.
The Police and Crime Panel, the body set up to scrutinise the actions and decisions of the commissioner, formally agreed the police council tax proposal at a meeting in Chippenham yesterday.


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Emma Stone + Andrew Garfield Play 'Never Have I Ever' on 'Ellen' [VIDEO]
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Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield have already revealed some, shall we say, "intimate" details while doing press for 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2.' The adorable on- and off-screen couple had no problem talking about Garfield's package — so of course they were totally down for a game of 'Never Have I Ever' when they stopped by the 'Ellen DeGeneres Show' this week.
The happy couple, who were also joined by their co-star Jamie Foxx, sat down with the cheerful host, who asked them some probing questions. If you've never played 'Never Have I Ever' the premise is simple: someone makes a statement about something they have never done, and the others have to answer whether they have done that particular thing or not. (Of course, in DeGeneres' case, she's just reading the questions/statements, not making a comment on if she has participated or not.)
Among the questions were "Never have I ever had a one-night stand," "Never have I ever sexted," (Garfield needed some clarification on this one) and "Never have I ever been to a nude beach." So, which actors said yes, and which actors answered no? Watch the clip above to find out — and be warned, their answers may surprise you!


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This week was my first time leading the High School Cross Country Team practice by myself. Not that it was all that new, I've helped with both Middle School and High School CC for 4 years now, and I'm just coming off of Track, but I wasn't given any kind of guide by the Coach, and I'm not sure what he is looking for.
Monday there were a lot of kids, mostly Freshman girls. Most of these girls have no experience running, so finding something for them without holding back my main runners is a challenge. That and the coach had a long run planned. So I went through a progression, I started with the newest kids and grouped them, and gave them an easy flat out and back, and told them that if they felt like they could go further when they got back to finish on the track, but to at least walk until everyone was back. Then I had some of the guys that are still in shape from other sports or had more experience, these I gave a 4 and 5 mile out and backs. My son was up to 6, and then I went with the top 2 runners. We did a loop course with a class 5 climb right in the middle of it. I did 7 with the #2 runner, and the #1 runner did 8 with the last 1 by himself. We finished with a 7:28 average pace, a little fast for a long run, and my top boy was a little faster yet. Then we did an Ab workout, followed by a cool down, and stretching. I thought the workout went very well.
Tuesday I worked a mid so no practice for me. I did get up at 6:00AM and went and did my hill repeats. 6x200 hill sprints. I finished that with 4.47 miles in 40.54. No splits for the repeats, but I ran them hard.
Wednesday was another practice. I wanted to keep it easy, so again I split the kids up by ability and we were off. That day the longest runs were 4 miles, and again we did them a bit fast, I ran with #2 again, and we averaged 7:05 next week we will work on running a little slower on the slow days.
Thursday was voluntary, I had a track workout planned, and I told them that anyone who wanted to participate was welcome. I had 7 boys show up, and 1 girl. I again split up the workouts by ability. The 1 girl did fast on the straights, slow on the curves 8 laps. The 1 freshman boy did 4x400's at a hard pace. Anther boy did 6x400's at just under 5k pace. Everyone else was 8x400's at 5k pace. I wanted to be at 1:25. Our top boy stayed with me, everyone else slowly dropped back. 1:20 was the first one, a bit fast but normal when doing this. 1:24, 1:25, 1:25, 1:26, 1:24, 1:25, 1:26. That last one I was sure was going to come in at 1:29, I just kept falling further behind my top runner, but really he was just pushing it harder because it was his last one, me that was all I had today. I got them all together and did a 1/2 mile cool down, then we stretched. It was a tough workout, but again it was successful. Tomorrow we will run easy, I had a talk with my top guy about slowing down the easy runs, and told him that it was important to be a good example and do the slow paces as well as the fast. I told him I didn't want these guys burning out before the season even started, or even half way thru. We want a team that can compete all the way thru State if need be.
Tonight I will get to run with my Wife, she needs to do her long run. We should do 6 ether today or tomorrow, and then 3 the other day. Today the temp is supposed to go up to 80, and tomorrow be even warmer. We will work that out.
So I'm all caught up again, and I am still on track with Marathon Training. Long run for the week done, hill repeats done, 8x400's done, and 2 out of three cross training workouts done with the last one tomorrow.
Have fun!


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When you were a kid and attended family reunions, there were always a bunch of uncles around because Granddad needed a bunch of sons to help with the farming. There were only a couple of boys needed in the last couple generations because tractors and bigger field equipment could cover ground more efficiently and livestock operations were becoming automated. Today, well, it is much different, and there are some reasons why.
About every farming family used to have a senior generation member who could tell tales of hard times, but they have passed on, along with the days when work was laborious and mules kicked hard. Modern farms have expanded in size, while the number of operators and hired labor has diminished. USDA economists only had to go back to 1982 to find significant changes in farm structural trends. They looked at the Ag Census data from the last five times it was collected, which ranged from 1982 to 2007. They found that US farms remain an important segment of the global economy, saying, "Although U.S. agriculture has maintained productivity increases while reducing resource use, expected world population growth and increasing energy demands could soon outstrip its capacity to meet these needs." They wanted to find out if the rate of progress in US agriculture would be up to global expectations.
In the wake of continually changing policy, farming has continued to evolve with farmers being more educated, managing larger operations, relying on production contracts, and larger business structures. However, 98% are still primarily a family business. There are several resources required by every farm:
1) Labor varies because of the nature of the farm. The median farm has 0.7 annual person equivalents, which means the median U.S. farm can be managed by someone who spends only 70% of his or her time. .While larger farms needed hired labor, those numbers have declined even as output has increased, that is because of biotechnology and increased productivity of those working on the farm.
2) Demographically, 83% of farmers where Caucasian men in the 2007 Ag Census, but that number has declined from 93% since 1982, reflecting increases by minorities and women. 30% of principal farm operators are over 65 years of age, and those under 35 make up 5% of principal operators. The latter is down from 16% in 1982. Regarding the older farmers, USDA says most of the assets of older operators are on retirement or lifestyle farms that produce only 2% of US output.
3) Early in the 20th Century farmers had less education than the general public, but by 2007 90% of farmers had a high school diploma, compared to only 87% of the general public. College degrees are more prevalent in the general public, but the gap is closing.
4) Off farm work was recorded by 40% of U.S. farmers who spent 200 days per year working at a second job, up from 35% in 1982. Much of that can be attributed to the growth of small farms, which are subsidized by off-farm employment. 75% of off farm income is from wage and salary positions.
5) Land, which is a considerable percentage of US resources, is used to produce only 1.3% of US GDP. About 1.16 billion acres are used for some agricultural purpose, which is 52% of total U.S. land area, and that declined about 5% from 1982 to 2007. Currently, cropland is at its lowest level since being tallied first in 1949. Between 2002 and 2007, 14 million acres of cropland went out of production and four million acres entered cropland production, and that dynamic was recorded in every different sector of the nation.
6) The crop mix has remained steady with the 8 major crops consuming a majority of the cropland. That was 316 million acres in 1982, dropped to 276 in 1992, and rose to 286 by 2007. Between 1982 and 2007 11 million acres of cropland, 12 million acres of pasture, and 16 million acres of forest was converted from rural to an urban use.
What will the future bring? The USDA economists say while farmland has been declining, there is a limit on how much land is productive as cropland, and the supply of land is fixed. The number of farms had declined for many decades, but has stabilized, and agricultural production has continued to grow due to greater productivity. They believe that increased commodity prices from global demand will shift more land into crop production and entice people into agriculture. But they admit, "Nevertheless, future growth in farm production is likely to arise from continued productivity growth if historical trends continue."
Among other changes in the structure of agriculture, the USDA economists said farmers would rely more on contract arrangements, linking them with vendors on one side and with buyers on the other, which help to spread out risk. Risk is also being managed more frequently by Federal Crop insurance, which saw covered acreage double to 200 million from 1989 to 2007.
Another trend is the continuing shift to larger farms which can adopt new technology more easily, and are favored by those food processors that use marketing contracts. Farming is still expected to remain a family enterprise on 98% of farms.
And a final trend is the growth in productivity, which increased 45% between 1982 and 2007, yet with little change in input use. Such productivity has kept food prices stable during that period of time.
Agriculture is continually changing, but the change has to keep up with global food needs. In the past 30 years less U.S. labor and land have been used for food production, but productivity has increased 45% with no change in inputs.
Source: FarmGate blog


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Yanks win their first replay challenge this spring
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Yankees won their first replay challenge of the spring during the third inning of Saturday's 5-4 win over the Twins. With Aaron Hicks on first and Pedro Florimon facing Masahiro Tanaka, Florimon struck out looking with Hicks breaking for second. The throw from catcher Francisco Cervelli to second baseman Dean Anna was in time, but it appeared Hicks evaded the tag.
Hicks was initially called safe on the play, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi challenged the ruling. As Girardi walked slowly out of the dugout -- "very slowly compared to what I usually do," he said later -- to talk with second-base umpire Marvin Hudson, Yankees baseball operations assistant Brett Weber was watching the replays on TV. Weber relayed his thoughts on the play to bench coach Tony Pena, who signaled to Girardi to challenge the call.
Hudson and home-plate umpire Jeff Kellogg listened on headsets that were brought to the field by a member of the TV production crew, as the play was reviewed in a production truck close to the field.
After just 44 seconds, the ruling was reversed -- marking the first time this spring the Yankees were successful on a challenge.
"It feels pretty good, actually," Girardi said. "The great thing about it is, no one wants to be wrong -- whether it's me or them. I can remember as a player complaining about strikes and balls, and I [would] go watch it and ... say, 'You know what, I was wrong.' It's just the heat of the moment, everyone has to make a quick decision. There's been a lot of times I've argued calls [where] I thought for sure I was right, and I was wrong. But now we have replay to reassure everyone."
Despite some glitches in the system this spring, Girardi is an advocate.
"I haven't lost faith in the system," he said. "I actually think it's going to work good. I do. There'll be some glitches once in a while, and some things might take a little bit longer than they want. But I actually think it's going to work good. It took 45 seconds or whatever from the time I asked. They don't have all the replays that they're going to have during the season, so it was pretty quick."
Because he was successful, Girardi retained the challenge.
Maureen Mullen is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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All winter I've been making some of my favorite soup recipes from the past and updating photos for the blog, and this delicious White Bean Soup with Ham and Chard was first posted in February 2007 when my friend Alanna of a Veggie Venture was collecting soup recipes. I made a couple of different soups for Alanna's month of soup, and since I have a weakness for soups that combine beans with greens, this is one I've made many times since. If you don't have chard, any kind of greens will work, but I do think chard deserves more respect, and I love it in this soup.
White Bean Soup with Ham and Chard
(Makes 8-10 servings, recipe created by Kalyn. This will freeze very well.)
3 cups dry white beans, soaked 8 hours or overnight
2 tsp. olive oil (for sauteeing vegetables and seasonings, optional)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced carrots
1 T minced garlic (I used garlic puree in a jar)
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. ground fennel seed (optional but recommended)
10 cups homemade chicken stock or 6 cans chicken broth (1 can is just over 1 1/2 cups)
4 cups water
3-4 dried bay leaves2 cups diced ham plus ham rind if available
1 bunch chopped red chard (about 4 cups)
Goya ham bouillon if needed (depends on how flavorful your ham is)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
Soak dried beans in cold water for 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the soaked beans and pick out any broken ones and discard. Chop up the ham, saving the rind if there is one.
Chops carrots, celery, and onion. Heat the olive oil in the bottom of the soup pot, add vegetables, garlic, dried sage, and ground fennel and saute 3-5 minutes. (This is completely optional, but it gets the flavors of the sage and fennel into the vegetables.) Add the soaked beans, chicken stock, water, bay leaves, and ham rind if available. Simmer on low heat for one hour.
Add diced ham and cook 30 minutes more, or longer if needed, until beans are quite soft.
Trim center stem from chard leaves and discard, then cut each leaf in fourths lengthwise, and slice crosswise into strips about 1/2 inch wide. Wash chard after chopping if needed. (If the leaves are big, cut the pieces in half again.)
Add chard to soup with one cup additional water. Taste for flavor and add ham bouillon if desired. (I nearly always add a small amount.) Cook about 20-30 minutes more, until chard and beans are starting to break apart. Season with fresh ground black pepper and serve hot.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This soup is loaded with low-glycemic ingredients like beans, ham, and chard, but with the carrots it would be limited to Phase 2 or 3 for the South Beach Diet. I think the soup would also be delicious without carrots if you wanted to make it for Phase One. You could make this a lower-carb soup by using more ham and vegetables and less beans.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Nutritional Information?
(White Bean and Ham Soup with Chard was updated with better photos and step-by-step instructions, February 2014. And just for laughs, here's the original photo of this soup from 2007!)
More White Bean Soups You Might Like:
Slow Cooker Kielbasa and White Bean Stew with Tomatoes and Spinach ~ Kalyn's Kitchen
White Bean and Ham Soup from Simply Recipes
Cannellini Bean and Kale Soup with Ham and Sherry Vinegar ~ Kalyn's Kitchen
Tomato, Zucchini, White Bean, and Basil Soup ~ The Perfect Pantry
White Bean Soup with Ham and Rosemary ~ Kalyn's Kitchen
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Innovative Products Make Transporting and Organizing Your Clix Easy...
Everyone knows that one of the most dangerous times for your HeroClix figures is when you're moving them around between games at a tournament. You've got fistfulls of figures, dice, objects, cards, and more, and it's so easy to drop something or lose someone. Thankfully, one dedicated fan has come up with an interesting (and affordable) answer to that dilemna: the HeroTray! Available in three configurations, these durable PVC trays feature drilled holes specifically sized for HeroClix figures as well as slots for cards, objects, dice, and other necessities. Choose from a standard tray with 9 figure slots, the Peanut tray with 6 standard slots and 3 duo slots, or the Resource tray with 6 standard, one duo, and a 2x2 slot for resource dials or colossals. Each tray comes in either white or black and is easily painted or customized. There are also Quarrior trays available and at least one stretch goal! Check it out HERE.
- Scott Rubin
To insure your action figure collection, get in touch with Collectibles Insurance, the official insurance company of the Figures.com network. Say "Figures.com" to get 5% off your first term premiums.
To buy action figures, take a look at BigBadToyStore.com, PlasmaInfusion.com, Toynk.com, BriansToys.com, ToyWiz.com, and MonkeyDepot.com.


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Rook isn't just a clothing company—it's a clothing brand defined by its art. Childhood friends Joe King and Jon Garcia founded Rook six years ago, and have since attracted attention for their eye-catching tees, sweaters, jackets, hats, and more. The two co-founders have much more than six years of experience under their belts, though. King and Garcia are veterans of the streetwear industry, having been involved in so many projects over the past decade that you probably know their art without even realizing it. Rook is a chance for the two artists to take their own approach to clothing design, without needing to fit another brand's image. With two of the industry's best designers at the helm, Rook celebrates art as a lifestyle, striving to embody the individuality within all of us.
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PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, today kicked off the first NovoLog® Community Star contest. As part of the program, type 2 diabetes patients successfully managing their blood sugar with NovoLog® (insulin aspart [rDNA origin] injection) are invited to visit www.novolog.com and tell us how they're giving back to their local communities.
To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/59947-novo-nordisk-first-novolog-community-star-contest-type-2-diabetes-patients
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130122/MM43084 )
Now through March 15, NovoLog® patients can submit their story and photo online for the chance to be crowned a NovoLog® Community Star.* Finalists will be selected by a panel of judges, and each will receive a $5,000 donation to a local diabetes-related organization of their choice. One grand prize winner will also receive a one-year online subscription to Weight Watchers®to help with their diabetes management.
Two-time NFL Super Bowl Champion and NovoLog® patient Kendall Simmons has partnered with Novo Nordisk to encourage people to get involved. Diagnosed in 2003, Kendall has been very active in his Alabama community, hosting an annual "Swing4Diabetes" charity golf tournament to raise money for a nearby diabetes and nutrition center.
"There is an army of unsung diabetes heroes out there, and I'm thrilled to partner with Novo Nordisk to find them," said Simmons. "Whether coaching a little league team, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or fundraising for charity, whatever it is that you're able to do to give back to your community, then we want to hear from you."
All NovoLog® Community Star finalists will have the choice of a $5,000 donation made in their name to one of several third party organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, Produce for Better Health Foundation, and Insulindependence. Entries will be accepted for approximately eight weeks, and finalists will be announced later this year.
"We are excited to launch the first nation-wide NovoLog® Community Star program," said Camille Lee, corporate vice president, Diabetes Marketing. "Our company was founded for people with diabetes and this contest is a great way to shine a local light on all of the positive work they can accomplish."
Official Rules for submission are available by visiting www.novolog.com. If you have type 2 diabetes, or know someone who does, go online to share your inspiring story and learn more about insulin treatment and delivery options today.
Weight Watchers® is a registered trademark of Weight Watchers International, Inc.
Indications and UsageWhat is NovoLog® (insulin aspart [rDNA origin] injection)?
Important Safety InformationWho should not use NovoLog®?
What should I tell my healthcare provider before taking NovoLog®?
How should I take NovoLog®?
What should I consider while using NovoLog®?
What are the possible side effects of NovoLog®?
*Certain restrictions apply. See official rules for entry information.
Please visit www.novolog.com for Prescribing Information.
About Novo Nordisk Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with 89 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. For more information, visit novonordisk-us.comor follow our news in the US on Twitter: @NovoNordiskUS
About DiabetesIn the United States, 25.8 million people have diabetes[i], a condition in which the body does not produce enough or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life.
NovoLog® is a registered trademark of Novo Nordisk A/S.
[i] 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet. Centers for Disease Control Website. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2011.pdf. Accessed November 28, 2012.
© 2013 Novo Nordisk All rights reserved. 1112-00012570-1 January 2013
SOURCE Novo Nordisk Inc.


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Also, co-authored by Joseph Goldstein. It is an excellent choice. Let me also recommend for a beginner Jack Kornfield's A PATH WITH HEART. While being strictly not 100% Buddhist, it is well worth the read. Anything by Joseph Goodstein is good.Bodharma wrote:
I plan read Jack kornfield's book, "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation."
Bodharma wrote: Due to my illnesses, I will not be able to go to any Temple or attend retreat and meditation classes.
Bodharma wrote:As far as keeping the precepts, I take some narcotic pain meds. When you take drugs as prescribed by a Dr. And you really need them to move about and function, is that considered an intoxicant? Honestly I do not feel impaired. I just get some relief of the pain, usually 20 %, and that is the difference between me moving around and staying in bed all the time. This illness kicks my butt at times physically and emotionally. I have noticed I can deal much better now that I am meditating again. It has helped me stay present with the pain and not become anxious.
Reductor wrote:
The preliminary practices depend on the person. I practice something called Buddhanussati, or Recollection of the Buddha. You can find a lot about it from the Visuddhimagga, Chp VII.
A simpler discussion of it can be found here.
Personally, I just light some candles around my Buddha statue and then look at it a bit. I imagine what the Buddha might have looked like, then consider that he was free of mental turmoil of every kind, unlike me, and had attained such a state by considering ever more closely the nature of his own mind and body. I smile a bit, and three times recite: Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa
...the focus on what Buddha taught...
I have read a bit online about vipassana, believe this type of meditation would be most beneficial to me in dealing with chronic pain and illness. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, Ulcerative colitis! and fibromyalgia.
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Thursday afternoons at the Museum of Natural History is our weekly Natural History Storytime, or also known as "Nat Time."
In the back room of the museum, under the broad wings of a golden eagle, the fixed gaze of a poised mountain lion, and in front of two wily coyotes, children and families listen to stories, sing songs, and connect with nature through museum artifacts and specimen.
November-appropriate, the theme is wild turkeys. "Old McDonald had a forest, E-I-E-I-O. And in that forest there was a WILD TURKEY, E-I-E-I-O." We talk about how local wild turkeys are much different from their domestic, farm-bred counterparts.
Wild turkeys are powerful and intelligent. Remember, Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird instead of the bald eagle. He claimed they are "much more respectable birds." Wild turkeys can stretch their long, slender necks to reach 4 feet tall. They are powerful flyers. With a wingspan up to 6 feet, they are able fly 50 mph. They are fast runners, reaching speeds of up to 25 mph.
Mottled feathers allow the foraging birds to blend in well with the patchy light in the forest.
The birds are commonly observed scratching in the duff for insects, seeds, acorns and mushrooms. They travel in family flocks, or flocks of older males.
They roost overnight in the trees, away from predators such as coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and opossums. Only in the early winter and spring as a mating ritual, do the male "toms" puff up their body feathers, spread their tails into fans and make their "gobble" call.
Turkeys were not in California during European settlement. The native turkey's range during colonial times was only as far west as Wisconsin, and south to Arizona. There is evidence though that a now extinct species of turkey was abundant during the Pleistocene Epoch, 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.
In the early part of the century, the national turkey population was alarmingly low -- a 10th of its original population, as few as 30,000 birds in the U.S.
Game managers made efforts to set up preserves, limit hunting and reintroduce wild stock to new places. The first reports of introducing wild turkeys to California are in 1877. A recent estimate of the California turkey population is around 242,000 birds. And the U.S. population: 7 million. E-I-E-I-O.
Join us at the museum for our December weekly Nat Time programs. Themes for the month include: snowflakes, bears and hibernation and winter solstice. For information, go to santacruzmuseums.org.
Deborah McArthur is the education manager at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, a nonprofit organization that provides education programs to school groups and the public. Visit www.santacruzmuseums.org.


text: Trying to locate scrap metal buyers near you? Not to worry we can help you find what you are looking for. We have the resources you will need to find local scrap metal recycling facilities as well as businesses that purchase scrap metal. Check out our listings to locate a California scrap metal buyer close to you.


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'The big question is whether they are the best right now. Buffalo has become the model team for the new NHL, with speed to burn, the ability to roll four lines without losing any offensive potential, a solid group of defenseman and excellent goaltending. And they have home-ice advantage in this series. But the Sabres' scoring in these playoffs has not come from as many sources as they'd like, and despite the excellent shutdown work by defensemen Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman, Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller has faced more challenging shots than he'd like.'
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a lot of this is the 3 stages of shoulder rotation.
180 to 90. disc pulls across chest. 90 to open.
As I'm at the point of max reach back , my plant foot has yet to land, and my shoulders are approximately at 180 degrees (mine are a little less, but that's not really the point). It seems that as my plant foot begins to hit the ground, my shoulders have to turn to approximately 90 degrees before I begin my pull though.
Is this correct, or should my shoulders still be near the 180 mark when my plant foot hits?


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Part three of our Demystifying Label Terms Series will cover Gluten Free. Part four will cover Kosher.
Gluten Free: Another term not regulated by a governing agency and one that is appearing on more and more labels. When a product states "gluten free" it can mean any number of things specific to that product: it may be tested to ensure the absence of gluten (such as all Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free products); it may simply not contain any gluten-containing grains (wheat, rye or barley); it may be inherently free of gluten, but not tested (such as milk). It does not mean that the product is safely gluten free, however.
At Bob's Red Mill, it strictly means that the product has been produced in a gluten-free facility, procured in a manner that minimizes the chance of cross-contact with gluten and tested to be under 20 [gluten] parts per million in our gluten free laboratory. Until the government releases a regulation (due any time now) regarding the use of "gluten free", it behooves the consumer to investigate the company and what they mean when they use the term "gluten free".
At Bob's Red Mill, we use the above symbol to indicate whether the product is gluten free. Even if this symbol does not appear front and center, it may appear in the bottom left corner of the package. If a product does not have this symbol, it is likely not gluten free. If you're unsure, please contact our customer service team at 800-349-2173 for help or consult our handy gluten free product listing here. For more information about Bob's Red Mill gluten free products, find gluten free resources and to watch a tour of our gluten free facility, click here.


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ASU Water Polo Takes Fourth At MPSF Championships, Best Finish in HistoryPosted: Updated:
The No. 3 Arizona State University water polo team fell in the third-place game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Sunday, dropping a 10-7 decision to No. 4 UCLA at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Berkeley, Calif.
The two teams exchanged goals early as things were netted at two after eight minutes of play. The Sun Devils (26-7, 4-2 MPSF) gave up the first four goals on the second period, however, as the Bruins pulled out to an insurmountable lead by the time Shannon Haas was able to stop the bleeding with her goal just before the end of the half.
Senior Alicia Brightwell had three goals in what might be her final game as a Sun Devil, giving her 84 on the season to set the ASU all-time scoring record for a single season. Brightwell also claimed the MPSF scoring title for the second consecutive season.
Redshirt freshman goalie E.B. Keeve was stellar yet again, scoring 19 saves from the cage to break her own ASU freshman MPSF tournament record while logging the most regulation saves of her career in the process. It was also the second-most saves by a Sun Devil goalie in a game in the program's history.
Keeve added on to her school record of single season saves as she finished the year with 372 breaking Sun Devil great Caylinn Wallace's previous best by nearly 30 saves.
Ao Gao added three goals to the Sun Devil cause as well.
With the fourth-place finish, the Sun Devils earned their best MPSF finish in program history while Friday's win over San Jose State provided the team with a new school record in single season wins as well.
UCLA Goals: Rachel Fattal 2, Becca Dorst 2, Kodi Hill, India Forster, Giselle Naranjo, Danielle Ferraro, Alys Williams, Emily Donohoe.
ASU Goals: Ao Gao 3, Alicia Brightwell 3, Shannon Haas.
UCLA Saves: Sami Hill 10.
ASU Saves: E.B. Keeve 19.
-- First quarter --
6:56: Ao Gao (1-0 ASU)
5:59: Giselle Naranjo (1-1)
5:47: Alicia Brightwell (2-1 ASU)
1:58: Emily Donohoe (2-2)
-- Second quarter --
6:03: Alys Williams (3-2 UCLA)
5:15: India Forster (4-2 UCLA)
4:40: Kodi Hill (5-2 UCLA)
1:51: Danielle Ferraro (6-2 UCLA)
05: Shannon Haas (6-3 UCLA)
-- Third quarter --
4:55: Rachel Fattal (7-3 UCLA)
4:35: Ao Gao (7-4 UCLA)
2:21: Ao Gao (7-5 UCLA)
1:22: Becca Dorst (8-5 UCLA)
1:01: Alicia Brightwell (8-6 UCLA)
-- Fourth quarter --
7:22: Becca Dorst (9-6 UCLA)
6:01: Rachel Fattal (10-6 UCLA)
1:56: Alicia Brightwell (10-7 UCLA)
Copyright 2013 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.


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How do families living in poverty stay cool during summer?
As the weather temperatures keep climbing in Kansas City, we're taking note of the creative and ingenious ways that sponsored children and their families beat the heat!
1) Using hammocks (El Salvador)
In Sonsonate, one of the hottest places in El Salvador, the average temperature is 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius).
During the summer season, sponsored friends like to take naps during the day and sleep in hammocks at night.
They feel less heat in their hammocks than in their beds. They also say it's more comfortable sleeping in a hammock in the back yard with the fresh air.
Hammocks come in many sizes, materials and colors.
In the case of Nancy, who was sponsored as a child through CFCA, her hammock is made of nylon string and was woven by a relative.
Whenever the weather gets hot, or when Nancy is tired after coming home from school (which is 13 blocks from her house), she takes a nap for a few minutes in her hammock.
There's one important tip that Nancy's cousin, Dinora, wants to share: Never run to the hammock and look very carefully before sitting on the hammock.
Dinora remembers one story so well that she can't stop laughing when she tells it. One day Nancy was running to sit with her grandmother, who was in the hammock.
She ran so fast that the hammock flipped around, and both fell down!
2) Drinking coconut water (India)
Coconut water is a popular drink during summertime in India.
It gives immediate relief from the heat and keeps people cool. It works like a tonic for elderly and sick people and helps them avoid heat stroke.
Coconuts are widely available in India, especially in the south.
The price for the coconut is also extremely affordable. According to the breed and variety, the rate ranges from approximately 18 to 45 cents USD (10-25 Indian rupees).
The summer temperature in Hyderabad is around 105 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius).
In this situation, coconut water is the best remedy to escape from the heat.
Personal note from Sreekanth, CFCA communications liaison in India: "Last year when I felt sick because of heat stroke, my mother gave me coconut water as a home remedy. At that time, I used to drink more than five coconuts a day. Those helped me recover quickly. Now I drink coconut water whenever I feel sick."
3) Visiting the beach (Guatemala)
If families live near the sea or a river, they enjoy swimming and having a good time together. For them, it's the best way to beat the heat.
On especially hot days, children and their parents will go to the seaside multiple times in a day. They love playing all day with their family and friends!
4) Building a shade (Kenya)
June and July are actually the coldest months of the year in Kenya.
However, when the weather is very hot during other months, families will construct makeshift shelters for some quick shade.
Eva, the mother of sponsored child Victor in Kenya, writes that during her workday in the fields she will often build a shade and work underneath it.
"We usually build a shade using materials like grass, makuti (reeds) or even an iron sheet," she wrote.
5) Using saris as head covers (India)
Not only are saris beautiful to wear, but they are also extremely practical in hot temperatures.
They're lightweight and made of a single piece of fabric such as cotton, silk, polyester or nylon.
A common practice in India is for women to slip a portion of their saris over their heads to protect themselves from the hot sun.
Aneta Mazurkiewicz, a CFCA sponsor who went on a 2012 mission awareness trip to south India, demonstrates this time-honored technique in the photo to the right!
Interested in how to wear these saris? See our "How to wrap a sari" video.
Have you ever asked your sponsored child or aging friend how they keep cool during the summer? If not, it might make a great topic for your next letter!


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Helping you get the most out of your application portfolio, with the power of New IT.
We combine deep industry knowledge, technical know-how and unsurpassed delivery capabilities to drive breakthrough results. We can help your business leverage SAP S/4HANA across all business functions and in areas such as analytics, cloud, and mobility, to deliver value and innovation.


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A British Columbia fruit growers' cooperative has changed its name.
Kelowna-based Okanagan Tree Fruit Cooperative, a group of 580 grower-shippers, is now the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative, according to a company news release.
In addition, the coop's marketing arm, BC Tree Fruits Ltd. Trading, is now BC Tree Fruits Industries Ltd.
The daily operations and corporate structure of the organizations will not change.
"The name change is part of a larger move to consolidate operations and subsidiaries to achieve that result," Alan Tyabji, the company's chief executive officer, said in the release. "Our new name reflects the organization we have become, a competitive company focused on operating globally as a supplier of choice, and to bring all our efforts of our business under one name."
The coop's shippers grow apples, pears, cherries, peaches, apricots, prune plums and blueberries.


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KATHERINE Grainger is still oscillating about whether or not she should get back in a boat or not.
The Marlow rowing legend ended her own Olympic heartbreak at London 2012 when she finally won gold after taking silvers in the three previous Games.
But despite that fairytale finish, or perhaps because of it, the 38-year-old has grave reservations about coming back to defend the double sculls title she won so spectacularly with Anna Watkins at Dorney Lake.
Watkins has already ruled herself out after becoming a mother, and although Grainger was meant to make up her mind last autumn, she is still undecided.
The six-time world champion said: "I'm in my own massive crisis in my own little world. In all honesty, I haven't decided what I'm doing.
"The deadline was last September but I couldn't come up with an answer. I met with the decision-makers in British rowing and I was very honest.
"It takes over your life and your commitment has to be absolute. If I'm in, I'm in. I don't want to go back just to get the kit. I want to go back and get the gold medal.
"But I know what that would take. It's such a huge commitment and such a precarious thing. You're in a team and if anything happens to one of those people, then it's game over.
"That's the thing about team sport, you put your hopes and dreams in others and that's why the bonds become unbreakable, but it's also a risk."
Grainger's win two summers ago was one of the stories of the Games. She is already Britain's most successful ever female rower and her place in the history books is secure.
A second Olympic gold would obviously deepen her legacy, but she fears that failure in Brazil might tarnish it.
She said: "At the moment I have this lovely story from London 2012 and this very happy ending and do I want to compromise that by coming back and not winning again?"
That said, Grainger would never have won what she's won and achieved what she's achieved if she wasn't inspired by a challenge.
She said: "There is something quite magical about being out on the river, but things get very rose-tinted after a big success and now I don't remember a bad day in four years.
"It was marvellous. The mind plays tricks. But I know if I go back in a boat the first few months are going to be horrific.
"But the other thing is that another gold is possible and it's hard to think I would chose to walk away from it. I'd have to live with that decision.
"Everyone who is sensible and smart and whose opinion I would respect all say it's a risk.
"You're risking your reputation and leaving on a disappointment.
"That's what they say. So I don't know. But I'm going to need to know very soon."


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The Third World War (2167-2174) came with a cost that not even the grimmest of warmongers could have predicted.
Years of tensions, treaties, counter-treaties, cross-over alliances and mistrust and jealousy boiled for decades and in the end, like the Great War, it took a relatively small infraction to kick things off...and lead to 573 million casualties.
China perceived a slight from the world when the other security council nations voted to consent to the wishes of the UN to allow the dissolution of permanent membership. Never mind that this applied to all nations, this sat very unwell with the by far largest and most powerful economy in the world and China saw it as necessary to reclose it's borders, after years of gradual opening, and call in it's debts.
Russia seized the opportunity of China's diminished world status by reigniting a border dispute and moving peace-keeping troops into the disputed oil rich lands. China sent their own peace-keepers but blitzed the Russians from above sparking war between the nations.
Non-nuclear ballistic warfare erupted leaving many border cities and towns in a permanent no-go status.
Attrition was the order of the day and both sides fought to a standstill on the Great Northeastern Front. Russia sued for peace and with further demands on China's military elsewhere, China agreed to a peace on condition that the Russians refuse asylum to China's enemies. Russia agreed.
Brazil wished to affirm its place as the biggest economy in South America at this time also, and in repaying its debt to China, it extracted debts from the surrounding nations that had borrowed heavily to elevate themselves from poverty, but with Mexico reluctant to pay, feeling that if they did, they would also have to pay back the US, refused to entertain Brazil's demands.
Mexico had long unofficially run the Central American trade routes and they took a stand with their superior numbers in Panama and Guatemala to cut off some of the supplies to Brazil with the counter-demand that Brazil stick to the original repayment plans of the borrowing nations.
Brazil, backed with the Argo-Uruguayan Federations approval declared Mexico's sovereignty forfeit and war was upon all this continent that had so carefully and painstakingly taken itself out of the relative dark ages. Sao Paolo, Monterrey and El Salvador all had the nightmare of nuclear weapons visited upon them. Neither side wanted further nuclear activities, but both sides kept their fingers not too far from the button.
Vietnam was the first nation to outright declare it's inability to repay the Chinese and the Chinese declared war.
Vietnam was of course a member of the Indochinian Peninsular Council and its neighbors stood in solidarity.
So it happened that Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia found themselves besieged until the USA and Japan voiced their objections. China tried to barricade Japan by sea, they could not have predicted the Oceanic nations to rise towards the end of the War as they did and led by Australia they achieved quite a coup with the demolition of the Siege of Japan.
China sought help and received it from the United Arab Council, which provoked tensions from the EU and the ongoing negotiations and all progress between the EU and the UAC was evaporated. The UAC's alliance with the United Eastern Africans gave superior numbers, but inferior fighters and blood was drawn all over the Middle East, Northern Africa and Southern Europe. Chaos.
Ireland was obliterated due to its strategic position on the Westernmost part of Europe and the Netherlands lost half of its land to the sea. The Holy Land was left in an unholy mess as the EU concentrated it's long range attacks on Jerusalem and the borders of Croatia and Romania saw some of the heaviest artillery conflicts in the entire conflict. This was bad but this was war, and thus far the rules of engagement had been held true, but that didn't last.
The war escalated from a most unlikely source. France were the first to drop the nuclear weapon in this conflict, against the wishes of the EU Council of War and almost crippled Turkey completely. Britain and Germany joined with the Scandinavian nations along with the US and in an effort to appease the United Arab Council of The Middle East and Africa, they removed all protection from France and expelled her from the Union.
France was crushed. Their former Allies let the East have free reign at them without any hindrance. This was under the condition that no nuclear weapons were used. France was almost an empty shell, with only Paris remaining firm. The Turks biggest ally, again against the host Unions wishes finished Paris off for good with the biggest nuclear bombardment in the history of Mankind.
The EU and the UAC called a truce and consolidated their lines and the bombing of Paris led to the beginning of the end of the War.
Once equilibrium was restored to central Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. An uneasy peace, but peace none-the-less.
With China having agreed peace with Russia, the Oceanic nations joining with Japan and the US to present a firm united naval front, completely controlling the Yellow Sea, with Europe no longer sending troops to Asia and with the UAC and the Northern Africans consolidating and withdrawn from all open conflict, a much expected impasse was reached and China sat down for the Zurich Conciliatory and signed a binding peace agreement.
Brazil and Mexico with the eyes of the world upon them withdrew hostilities and needed arbitration to settle their disputes but eventually the final conflict raging was too quenched. The world had yet another victory to cheer.
The newly formed Untied Nations reinstated China as a member, the new format required 3 delegates from every nation with each having an equal vote on global concerns, again with all decisions binding to all nations.
PEACE! But the butchers bill was extremely high
The devastation visited upon the continents left very little unscathed completely.
Australia and New Zealand were largely untouched despite their combined forces lifting the Siege of Japan in the later years of the War. The United Global Front was established to systematically rebuild and was financed by tithes from every country.
Ireland was sunk almost completely into the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean became nothing but a grave for the masses as the millions of Southern European and Northern African combatants paid the ultimate price for their regions involvement.
France never fully recovered and the United States lost a fifth of their population. China suffered the biggest losses, totaling 150 million whilst the Russians were hit as badly if not worse than they had been in the First 2 World Wars combined.
The US had never found itself as stretched as it was and like an elastic band, slammed its troops back home, bar a nominal force in each area to help keep scavenging and other post-war maladies at bay.
Canada, Switzerland, South Africa, Iceland...some of the few nations that were left in peace during these earth shattering years.
A lot has happened since then, a lot, but it has happened peacefully. With terrestrial natural resources diminishing, Space Travel became a revisited global fascination. Oh for sure there were nations such as the US, Germany, China and Russia that had never completely abandoned their pursuit of Space travel, but their larger focus was domestic, and it was this domestic focus that ironically forced them to look above for answers, for the planet was starving, and replenishment was essential.
Necessity is the Mother of invention, indeed so.
Interstellar travel was eventually achieved, and mining colonies on rich but undesirable, desolate moons and plants from neighboring systems were set up, and suddenly Earth had all it needed for sustenance for the next 40,000 years.
Then First Contact was made. But it wasn't made by us. A delegation from the Galactic Federation had arrived at Earths nominal capital, the New United Nations Headquarters in Geneva. All they wanted was to talk...and to give us a warning
This is the personal page of jayo and does not represent the views or opinions of Braingle.


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FROM THE GROUND UP ... A free workshop, "Bay-Friendly Gardening from the Ground Up," will be held on Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The workshop will cover backyard composting, sheet mulching and other soil techniques. The program is made possible by the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition. Information: www.cityofpaloalto.org/workshops or 650-496-5910 to pre-register and find out location.
REVISIT A GARDEN ... Ken Schoppet, the Los Altos-based landscape architect who designed Hannaston (which was on the recent Gamble Garden spring tour), will talk about the garden on Wednesday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to noon. Size of the class is limited because it will be held in a private garden, and the address of the garden will be given after registration. The class will deal with how existing plants were enlarged after the home was renovated, why specific plants were selected, and the color palette. Cost is $35 for nonmembers, $25 for members. Information: 650-329-1356 or www.gamblegarden.org
FREE E-WASTE RECYCLING ... GreenCitizen, at 161 Homer Ave., Palo Alto, will accept almost any old electronics — including monitors, TV sets, desktop and laptop computers, printers, fax machines, copiers, cell phones, stereo equipment and microwave ovens — through May 31. Smaller-scale items, such as printer cartridges, CDs, DVDs and compact fluorescent light bulbs can also be dropped off. Information (and complete list of acceptable items): www.greencitizen.com


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Protecting ICSs from Electronic Threats, Part 1
It Takes a Team of Experts in IT Security, Telecom, Networking, ICS and More to Understand Cyber Security
By Joe Weiss, PE, CISM Applied Control Solutions
The following is the first section of a three-part "Security Spotlight" series, which consists of portions of Joe Weiss' Protecting Industrial Control Systems from Electronic Threats, Momentum Press, 2010. Parts 2 and 3 will run in the August and October issues of Control.
The fundamental reason for securing industrial control systems (ICSs) is to maintain the mission of their overall production systems, whether they generate or deliver power, produce or distribute oil and gasoline, provide clean water or operate any other process application or facility.
I don't believe it's possible to fully electronically secure ICSs. However, we can make them more secure and also minimize the possibilities of unintentional incidents that have already cost hundreds of millions of dollars and a number of lives.
From a cybersecurity perspective, ICSs are very brittle and attacking them isn't rocket science. On the other hand, it can be rocket science to protect them and maintain their missions at the same time.
Unfortunately, while the first two legs of the three-legged security stool—physical and IT security—are well understood, the third leg, ICS security, is much less understood, has few experts and is often not considered critical. Those working in this area are generally from the IT security community and have little knowledge of ICSs, or are ICS experts who know operations, but not security. Operations alone can't secure ICSs. It takes a team of experts in IT security, telecom, networking, ICS and IT vendor support, and senior management, most of all.
Presently, many issues are coming together that are making ICS electronic security of paramount importance. These include growing smart grids for electricity distribution and generation, government stimulus money, cybersecurity funding, terrorism threats, chronically sick economies and emerging green ones and the need to reduce carbon footprints. All of these can be impacted by ICSs' electronic security or lack of it.
Definitions, Descriptions and Differences
From an ICS perspective, it's very important to understand what could compromise a control system. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (www.NIST.gov) defines a cyber incident is "an occurrence that actually or potentially can jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity or availability (CIA) of an information system or the data it processes, stores or transmits, or that constitutes a violation or imminent threat of violation of security policies, security procedures or acceptable use policies." What's important about this definition is that cyber incidents can be intentional or unintentional.
For the ICS community, there's a need for additional definitions of cybersecurity and cyber incidents. So, the following terms for compromised ICS modes are suggested:
- Loss of view (LOV), which consists of incidents that blind operators and put them at risk of taking harmful actions due to inaccurate knowledge of ICS status.
- Manipulation of view (MOV), which is intentionally manipulating HMIs by changing displayed states on intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), so an operator will unwittingly perform potentially dangerous actions.
- Denial of control (DOC), which prevents operators from interacting with process control points. These include operator accidents, hardware failures, network failures or improper network capacity.
- Loss of control (LOC) is a sustained event or the creation of unstable conditions in which operators can't take alternate action before a potentially catastrophic condition occurs.
Fortunately, while ICS networks and HMIs are similar to IT systems and may be subject to their usual vulnerabilities and threats, ICSs can benefit from using IT security technologies too.
Similarly, enhanced SCADA protocols, namely IEC 61850 and Distributed Network Protocol (DNP3), are being modified to run over TCP/IP, Ethernet and possibly other protocols. These improvements make them more vulnerable to security risks because they're running on utility networks and not on isolated, dedicated circuits, but they could be further enhanced to use security countermeasures developed for these networks.
In addition, there's been a blurring of the differences and similarities between ICSs and IT. For example, some of the functions of routers in IT and remote terminal units (RTUs) in ICSs have migrated toward a common area occupied by SCADA servers. This has big implications for security, as IT personnel may attempt to use inappropriate policies, technologies or testing of these systems that appear to be IT.
The use of mainstream operating system environments, such as Windows, UNIX and Linux for running ICS applications can leave them just as vulnerable as IT systems. At the same time, the application of mainstream IT security solutions and methods will help to secure more modern ICS host computers and operator consoles, also known as PCs. IT technologies use virtual private networks (VPNs) to secure communications to and from ICS networks. IT security focuses on the strength of the encryption algorithm, while IC security focuses on what goes into the VPN.
For example, one of the U.S. Dept. of Energy's National Laboratories showed how a hacker can manipulate widely used "middleware" software running on current mainstream computer systems without much difficulty. In this sobering demonstration, vulnerabilities in OPC code were used to make it appear that the system was functioning properly, even though it was not, because it displayed incorrect information or withheld correct information from system operator consoles.
General and Administrative Security Recommendations
Based on the experiences of myself and others, I provide the following general recommendations:
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A short staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the federal government shutdown limits the organization's ability to track existing or emerging outbreaks of food borne illness.
Quoted on National Public Radio, Chris Braden, director of the CDC's Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases says a team of eight people overseeing the critical foodborne illness tracking database PulseNet has been reduced to three. PulseNet compares the "DNA fingerprints" of bacteria from patients to find clusters of disease that might represent unrecognized outbreaks.
PulseNet was launched in 1996 in response to the 1993 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, associated with Jack in the Box restaurants in the Western United States. More than 700 people became ill and four died during that outbreak. According to the PulseNet website, the system identifies outbreaks by connecting the dots, in this case DNA fingerprints of bacteria making people sick. Once PulseNet makes these connections and an outbreak is identified, PulseNet can work with teams at the CDC and state and local health departments to figure out what is causing people to get sick. Each year PulseNet identifies:
- About 1,500 clusters of foodborne disease at local or state levels.
- About 250 clusters that span multiple states.
- 10-15 multistate outbreaks of foodborne disease that are widely dispersed.
Since the creation of PulseNet in 1996, more than one-half billion pounds of contaminated food have been recalled due, in part, to PulseNet activities.
According to the NPR story, the CDC is currently monitoring about 30 clusters of foodborne illnesses around the country, which is typical at any given time. Braden says his reduced staff is focusing on areas of highest risk, but he expresses concern over their ability to respond to a large outbreak, as about half of CDC staffers involved in surveillance and outbreak response are furloughed.
Braden says he has authority to bring this staff back to work in an emergency, but adds that the process likely would slow the response time.


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Fearless Cannes Lions: What Marketers Need to Know
July 17, 2013
Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez, Rupal Parekh, editor at Ad Age, and Laura Krajecki, chief human experience officer at Starcom MediaVest Group, shared highlights of the 2013 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
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In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
I can't decide which I like more: the housemade spiced chips that accompany Seersucker's Catfish Po'boy or the sandwich itself. The chips are sliced paper-thin, a consistent crunch dusted in a very addictive "secret" mix that, I'd guess, contains a loving dose of paprika. And the sandwich itself? Shredded lettuce and aioli on a toasted bun, served open-face to highlight the cornmeal-battered catfish. Consistently fresh and never the least bit muddy in flavor, the catfish is fried to a healthy crisp and delivered hot to the table. There's a little salad on the side if you must be healthy, but I'll trade that in for more chips next time around. All this for for $10? It's a sandwich I can get behind.
329 Smith Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (map)
About the author: Originally from Honolulu, Kathy YL Chan writes A Passion For Food, where she chronicles her eats and travels adventures between Hawai'i, New York and beyond. She firmly believes that there is always room for dessert.


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Have you ever been playing a video game that you just stopped for a moment in an area just to enjoy the music that is playing at that particular moment? I have caught myself doing this on many occasions, and wished I could just play that song for the next couple hours. One of the first games that really grabbed me with its soundtrack was Phantasy Star Online. I know there were other games with great music before this, but maybe I just didn't pay that much attention before that.
Here is what triggered this random thought. I had just finished reading a review for Transistor and was thinking about how good music can make or break a game. While reading the comments, a poster brought to my attention some music from the game Bastion, which I have never played. I decided to search for other music from the game and found it is really good. Because of this, I will most likely end up purchasing this game at some time, even though I know nothing about the game.That brought me to the thought that a great game can be ruined by bad sound direction, and vice-versa. NBA 2K13 comes to mind as a game that really benefited from good sound direction. Usually I'm not a big fan of hip hop or sports games, but Jay Z did a really good job at making the game appealing.
So what's the point? Well, what I wanted to do was feature some music from a game that I really enjoyed that many others may have never heard of, or that is just really close to the heart. One favorite of mine is Steel Empire form the Sega Genesis. I owned that game as a kid, and never realized how good the music was until I was older. It has to be one of the best sounding games on a system that has been picked on for it's sound chip compared to the SNES. It's a game that really shows it wasn't so much the chip as it was bad sound design of many Genesis games. The FM sound chip could produce some great sound if developers knew what they were doing.
Another game that I really wanted to bring to the attention of those that have not played it is Edge. It was originally a PC game and was ported to iOS, android, and more recently the Wii U. I picked up the game not knowing what to expect, and the sound floored me when I started playing. I sat there and played the game until three in the morning because the music was so great. It's a puzzle based platformer with some interesting concepts and a great neo-retro soundtrack. If not for the music the game may not be that great, but the sound really made it special for me.
Anyway, I hope this isn't too link heavy with all the youtube videos. Feel free to share music of an obscure game that others may have missed out on, or your thoughts on what I posted. I will post one more great video game music link just for good measure.
EDIT: Because of my decision to use youtube links, you can view this blog on your Wii U or any other game system that allows you to play youtube videos from the browser. That way you can crank it up on your home theater if you like. This was completely by accident. I tested it myself, and it works great.