text:
It was the Basil Pesto with Lemon that inspired this uber-simple Easy Pesto Pasta Salad Recipe with Olives and Roasted Red Peppers. I used canned olives and roasted red pepper from a jar to round out the salad, but there are lots of other possibilities that would taste good here (check after the recipe for other ideas.) Actually pasta salad with pesto dressing is just a version of pasta with pesto, so how can this not be good?
Plus a 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, diced into small pieces.
Combine the pasta with dressing, diced red bell pepper, and olives.
Easy Pesto Pasta Salad with Olives and Roasted Red Peppers
(Makes 4-6 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)
12 oz. Dreamfields or whole wheat Rotini pasta
1 can black olives, drained well, then cut in half
12 oz. jar roasted red bell pepper, drained well and diced
1/3 cup vinaigrette dressing (I used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing, but use any vinaigrette with less than 3 grams of sugar per serving for South Beach Diet)
1/3 cup pesto (I used Basil Pesto with Lemon, but you can use purchased basil pesto as well)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Fill a medium-sized pot half full of water, add a generous amount of salt and bring to a boil. Add pasta, and cook 9 minutes (or check package for cooking time if you're using whole wheat pasta.) Drain pasta well, and let cool for 10 minutes while you prep other ingredients.
Combine vinaigrette dressing and pesto, whisking together.
Other things you could use in this salad:
-diced marinated artichoke hearts
-marinated mushrooms, cut in half
-cooked turkey Italian sausage, cut into small pieces
-turkey pepperoni, chopped
-grilled vegetables of any type such as zucchini, mushrooms, onions, or summer squash
-cubed fresh mozzarella cheese
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
More Pasta Salad You May Like:
Pasta Salad with Slow Roasted Tomatoes, Grilled Zucchini, and Basil from Kalyn's Kitchen
Pasta Salad with Italian Sausage, Zucchini, Red Pepper, and Olives from Kalyn's Kitchen
Shrimp and Macaroni Salad from Kalyn's Kitchen
Macaroni Salad with Fresh Tomatoes, Fresh Basil, and Feta from Kalyn's Kitchen
Pesto Pasta Salad from Simply Recipes
Pasta Salad from Humble Recipes
Roasted Garlic, Olive, and Tomato Pasta Salad from The Kitchn
Broccoli, Basil, and Pasta Salad from The Perfect Pantry
Wagon Wheel Taco Pasta Salad from Cara's Cravings


text:
Collectibles Insurance Covers Earthquakes and Hurricanes.
Collectibles Insurance Services took their first earthquake claim this morning... customer came home to find many of her dolls on the floor. Two dolls sustained damage of about $2,500. The Collectibles Insurance policy covers earthquake and hurricanes plus theft, fire, all natural disasters and breakage.
Take a few minutes to protect your collection - Get a quote today! Call 888-837-9537 (8:30-5pm ET) or CLICK HERE to get a quote online.
When calling or completing an application, be sure to indicate you are a member of Figures.com in order to receive 5% off your first term premium.
About Collectibles Insurance Services, LLC (www.CollectInsure.com)
Since 1966, Collectibles Insurance Services has been "insuring today's treasures from tomorrow's tragedy." As a company founded by fellow collectors, we understand that your collection is worth so much more than just money. And as experts in collectibles insurance, we know standard homeowners insurance alone isn't enough to replace your treasures.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Prize Recipient
Nicolas Lopez
My name is Nicolas Lopez. I'm from Harlingen, TX and this is will be my third year attending the University of North Texas located in Denton, TX. Ever since elementary school, I had a natural interest in science. So, I've spent all my education always knowing that I would study some sort of science. But it was during my sophomore year in high school, when I played around with a telescope, that I became very curious in astrophysics. During my senior year, when I enrolled in physics and calculus, I was very sure that I wanted to become a physicist. When I began taking all the required math classes in college, I decided to major in mathematics also. I enjoy it very much and I believe that having a strong math background will give me a great advantage in the physics world.
I spent this summer working with Dr. Shiner at the University of North Texas as a lab research assistant. We are dealing with mapping the structure of Helium-4 and Helium-3. I plan to attend graduate school to obtain my doctorate after my BS. In the far future I would like to become a professor at a university and do research, most likely in the area of optics.


text:
Did Miley Cyrus Come Between Selena Gomez + Justin Bieber?
It's almost a given that Disney stars come with drama, and even when they leave the Mouse House, it still seems to follow them. Case in point: Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. In light of Selena and Justin Bieber splitting up, rumors are circling that Miley may have had something to do with it — but not in the way you'd think.
Radar Online reports that when Biebs punked Miley on MTV's 'Punk'd' back in March, it was the beginning of the end for Jelena. "The first time Justin and Selena broke up, it was because Justin shot an episode of 'Punk'd' with Miley Cyrus," a source said. "Selena is repulsed by Miley!" Harsh, Sel! We're guessing this all stems from their feuding over Nick Jonas back in their Disney days (in which case we say the two of them need to move on — they're not children anymore).
"Justin did the show anyways, which didn't sit very well with Selena," the source added. "He's been continually choosing work over Selena and she's finally had enough."
To be fair to Biebs, a job is a job — and teen pop stardom can fade in the blink of an eye. We can't fault the guy for capitalizing on his fame while he has it. And dude, that 'Punk'd' episode was hilarious!
The source confirmed that the split was partly due to their schedules, but also due to Sel's trust issues, which have only grown over time as Biebs has grown up in the public eye. "When they originally started dating, Justin was a boy entertaining young girls, and now he's a man surrounded by Victoria's Secret models, and Selena doesn't like that."
Bieber was surrounded by Victoria's Secret models because he was performing at their fashion show for work. Sure, it's every man's dream job, but still! Sel, the boy adores you. Believe him! (Maybe she does.)
Watch the Justin Bieber 'Beauty and a Beat' Video
Subscribe to Hot 104.7 – KKLS-FM on


text:
The Better StingLanguage brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.
All answers end in sting and the whole word is obtained in the clues below.
eg: A sting that cures fatigue
answer: reSTING
1. A sting that cures hunger
2. A sting that cleans your room
3. A sting that makes you laugh
4. A sting that cooks your meat
5. A sting that spoils your tools
6. A sting that holds your attention
7. A sting that some observe in Lent
8. A sting that cooks are always using
9. A sting that browns your bread
Answer1. feasting
2. dusting
3. jesting
4. roasting
5. rusting
6. interesting
7. fasting
8. tasting
9. toasting
What Next?
See another brain teaser just like this one...
Or, just get a random brain teaser
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
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text:
PISCATAWAY, NJ--(Marketwire - August 01, 2012) - Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENZN) today announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2012. Enzon reported a net loss of $0.7 million, or $0.02 diluted loss per share, for the second quarter of 2012, as compared to a net loss of $7.1 million, or $0.13 diluted loss per share, for the second quarter of 2011.
Summary of Financial Results
Royalty Revenue
Royalty revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2012 was $9.8 million, as compared to $9.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011. For the six months ended June 30, 2012, royalty revenue decreased 4% to $20.1 million from $20.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011. Royalties on PEGINTRON®, marketed by Merck & Co., Inc., continued to comprise the majority of the Company's royalty revenue, and a decline in foreign sales of PEGINTRON was largely accountable for the overall decrease in royalty revenue.
Research and Development
The Company's pipeline research and development expenses were $5.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012, as compared to $10.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011. The pipeline consists of the following clinical programs: PEG-SN38 and mRNA antagonists targeting the Androgen Receptor (AR), Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1a (HIF-1a) and Survivin. In addition, the Company has other novel LNA targets in various stages of preclinical research. Clinical expenses for the second quarter of 2012 declined primarily due to a reduction in salaries and benefits expenses as a result of the restructuring implemented during the fourth quarter of 2011. In addition, Enzon completed enrollment in both of the Company's Phase II clinical trials of PEG-SN38, as well as Phase I trials for the HIF-1a and Survivin mRNA antagonists. At this time, we do not intend to proceed with the clinical development of the Survivin mRNA antagonist.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses decreased approximately 6% to $4.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 from $4.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011. The decline in 2012 from 2011 was largely the result of several restructuring programs implemented over the past year, as well as the Company's on-going cost containment efforts. In the second quarter of 2012, Enzon incurred an expense of $0.8 million related to the departure of the Company's former Principal Executive Officer. After considering this, general and administrative expenses declined by approximately 22% to $3.6 million versus the prior-year second quarter.
Cash and Investments
Total cash reserves, which consist of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, were $299.6 million as of June 30, 2012, as compared to $323.3 million as of December 31, 2011. The decrease was primarily attributable to the repurchase of $13.9 million of outstanding notes payable and the resumption during the second quarter of 2012 of the previously announced $200.0 million share repurchase program that began in December 2010 and was suspended during the third quarter of 2011. The Company repurchased 0.8 million shares of stock at a cost of $5.3 million during the second quarter. Since the inception of this share repurchase program, Enzon has purchased approximately 12.2 million shares of its outstanding common stock at a cumulative cost of $126.8 million.
Recent Highlights
About Enzon
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to the research and development of innovative therapeutics for patients with high unmet medical need. Enzon's drug-development programs utilize two platforms: Customized PEGylation Linker Technology (Customized Linker Technology®) and third-generation mRNA-targeting agents utilizing the Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) technology. Enzon currently has four compounds in human clinical development and multiple novel mRNA antagonists in preclinical research. Enzon receives royalty revenues from licensing arrangements with other companies related to sales of products developed using its proprietary Customized Linker Technology. Further information about Enzon and this press release can be found on the Company's website at www.enzon.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, or may contain, forward-looking statements within the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release, other than statements that are purely historical, are forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "potential," "anticipates," "plans," or "intends" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: (i) the statement that PEG-SN38 warrants further clinical study and (ii) the statement that Enzon does not intend to proceed with the clinical development of Survivin.
Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's present expectations, objectives, anticipation, plans, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: (i) the timing, success and cost of clinical studies for Enzon's product candidates, (ii) the ability to obtain regulatory approval of Enzon's product candidates, (iii) Enzon's ability to obtain a strategic partner to develop and commercialize PEG-SN 38, (iv) Enzon's ability to obtain the funding necessary to develop its product candidates, (v) market acceptance and demand for Enzon's product candidates, and (vi) the impact of competitive products, pricing and technology. A more detailed discussion of these and other factors that could affect results is contained in Enzon's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Enzon's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. These factors should be considered carefully and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that the future results covered by the forward-looking statements will be achieved. All information in this press release is as of the date of this press release and Enzon does not intend to update this information.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(Unaudited; In thousands, except per share amounts)
Three months ended
June 30,
2012 2011
------------ ------------
Royalties $ 9,771 $ 9,172
Sale of in-process research and development - -
Contract research and development 33 231
Miscellaneous income 427 196
------------ ------------
Total Revenues 10,231 9,599
Operating Expenses:
Research and development - pipeline 5,673 10,061
Research and development - specialty and
contracted services 28 184
General and administrative 4,358 4,627
General and administrative - contracted
services - 54
Restructuring charges (70) 674
------------ ------------
Total Operating Expenses 9,989 15,600
------------ ------------
Operating Income (Loss) 242 (6,001)
Other Income (Expense):
Investment income, net 523 386
Interest expense (1,364) (1,479)
Other, net (97) 31
------------ ------------
Total Other Expense (938) (1,062)
------------ ------------
Loss before income tax expense (696) (7,063)
Income tax expense 33 5
------------ ------------
Net Loss $ (729) $ (7,068)
============ ============
Loss per common share - basic and diluted $ (0.02) $ (0.13)
============ ============
Weighted-average shares - basic and diluted 48,176 53,054
============ ============
Other Comprehensive Loss:
Available-for-sale marketable securities:
Unrealized holding losses arising during
the period $ (57) $ (153)
Reclassification adjustment for realized
gains on sales included in net loss (16) (58)
------------ ------------
Total Other Comprehensive Loss (73) (211)
------------ ------------
Comprehensive Loss $ (802) $ (7,279)
============ ============
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited; In thousands)
June 30, December 31,
2012 2011
------------- -------------
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 59,441 $ 104,324
Marketable securities 69,705 58,188
Other current assets 3,057 2,749
------------- -------------
Total current assets 132,203 165,261
Property and equipment, net 14,240 16,802
Marketable securities 170,450 160,779
Other assets 156 367
------------- -------------
Total Assets $ 317,049 $ 343,209
============= =============
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 616 $ 1,572
Accrued expenses and other current
liabilities 8,425 13,692
Notes payable 115,849 -
------------- -------------
Total current liabilities 124,890 15,264
Notes payable - 129,499
Other liabilities 640 1,265
Total Liabilities $ 125,530 $ 146,028
Total Stockholders' Equity $ 191,519 $ 197,181
------------- -------------
Total Liabilities and Stockholders'
Equity $ 317,049 $ 343,209
============= =============


text:
[Krabi hotels]
中 文
日 本
Aonang Cliff Beach Resort
328 Moo 2, T. Aonang
A. Muang, Krabi 81000
Ao Nang
总评分 16 :
房间 :
设备 :
服务 :
地址 :
比率/ 预订
图片 / 设备
Travel reviews for Aonang Cliff Beach Resort
Date of stay:
Aug 16, 2017
Accommodation and facilities:
Very nice staff
Reservation service:
Aug 24, 2017
written by:
Johanna.A.M Tersteeg van Rooijen
Date of stay:
Jan 13, 2017
Accommodation and facilities:
Great Hotel with awesome swimmingpools.Booked for two moore nights than earlier planned. Location and rooms also great. Will go for sure again.
Reservation service:
No problems, as always.
Feb 01, 2017
written by:
Kilpinen Tapio
Date of stay:
Feb 05, 2016
Accommodation and facilities:
4 star hotel but not 4 star quality in room, food and staff. Breakfast poor and staff more interested in getting rid of you prior to end of breakfast serving time. Difficult to get coffee refill and treated as a nuisance if you ask. The guest information file s premier purpose is to tell you how much each item will cost if you break/damage it. No pleasant Thai welcome at Check-in. Aonang excellent place for a few days to start any holiday but choose another hotel.
Reservation service:
Very good. No problems at all.
Feb 20, 2016
written by:
J Penn
Date of stay:
Jan 22, 2016
Accommodation and facilities:
Room was okey but a bit worn out. But I would definitely stay there again! Breakfast was good, the staff was very nice and helpful. The ticket lady on the opposite side of the reception is super friendly and helpful! The view from the panorama swimmingpool and the top floor was amazing! Great location!
Reservation service:
Feb 03, 2016
written by:
Rolf Kenneth Daniel Sundberg
Date of stay:
May 20, 2014
Accommodation and facilities:
Very nice & clean hotel. Perfect location and friendly staff. Few minutes walk to the beach and breakfast was not bad.
Reservation service:
Perfect as usual
Jun 01, 2014
written by:
Murtadha Hasan
Date of stay:
Mar 14, 2014
Accommodation and facilities:
Had a great 5 days at the Cliff beach, beautifull hotel and superb staff.
Reservation service:
Mar 24, 2014
written by:
Mr Paul Rennie
Date of stay:
Mar 01, 2014
Accommodation and facilities:
Good location, can recommend the hotel. But i think its overpriced.
Reservation service:
Easy booking and payment. No probs at all. Good job!
Mar 04, 2014
written by:
Alexander Trescher
Date of stay:
Feb 08, 2014
Accommodation and facilities:
Well designed hotel with great location easy.access with everything in Aonang. Staff friendly and.helpful.
Reservation service:
good as usual.
Feb 12, 2014
written by:
Xumei ZHANG
Date of stay:
Feb 07, 2014
Accommodation and facilities:
The staff are nice and helpful. But the rooms have mosquitos so we couldn t sleep well at night.
Reservation service:
Feb 11, 2014
written by:
Siu Wai Han
Date of stay:
Oct 30, 2013
Accommodation and facilities:
An enjoyable stay. Staff very attentive. Room with bathtub on balcony good with nice view of the sea. Food decent.
Reservation service:
No problem with booking service
Nov 20, 2013
written by:
Date of stay:
Apr 08, 2013
Accommodation and facilities:
宾馆位置还可以,到海边10分钟吧,接待处需要爬上半山,而且没有门卫在下面帮拿行李,服务不好.累得我背包上山.气喘嘘嘘.希望他们在山下帮接行李好些. the location is ok ,need 10 mins walk to the beach .just the hotel is on the half mountain ,no guard under the mountain to help the laggage.cimb to the top very tired.
Reservation service:
很好,已经订过几次了 very nice
Apr 16, 2013
written by:
Date of stay:
Aug 11, 2012
Accommodation and facilities:
Our room had a nice bathtub in the balcony. The room was big, spacious and clean. The toilet was nice and big too. Hotel was located near many restaurants & cheap food stalls. Overall, a very nice place to stay. Would definitely go back again if we go back to Aonang.
Reservation service:
Very efficient and reliable.
Aug 15, 2012
written by:
THB ฿ Thailand
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附近其它酒店 Aonang Cliff Beach Resort
[ - ]
[ + ]
The Aonang Cliff Beach Resort
is Krabi's 4 star boutique resort with spectacular views of the cliff and Andaman Sea. Located in the center of Aonang, with easy access to the beach, shopping, Dining and night life.
97 newly refurbished, spacious guest rooms offer comfortable accommodation in Superior, Deluxe and Ocean View categories. The Ocean wing features sunset balcony for romantics and honeymooners.
The resort offers a unique Thai restaurant and a boulevard café in Aonang's most versatile and lively shopping plaza. Around the resort pool you will find a Bar & Bistro, wellness center complete with Thai Spa, Gym, Muay Thai, Yoga and Tai Chi classes. Social and business events are celebrated in style for up to 180 guests in the new event center and on the Cliff Panorama Terrace. Coupled with grace of our Thai service memories are made of this.
Ao Nang Cliff Beach Resort
is a four-star destination that houses 146 well-appointed rooms and villas which create sensual living spaces with a natural and modern twist. The rooms and villas feature all the latest amenities to ensure that the guests are well cared for. Inspired by the Tropical resort and contemporary design, guest rooms and residences, each creating sensual living spaces with a naturally modern twist.
:: Superior Room (48 sq.m.) - 38 Units ::
(Double: 16 / Twin: 22)
Room Amenities
Configuration: 1 King sized beds or 2 Single beds and one fixed day bed
Capacity: 3A OR 2A + 1C (Child under 12 years old)
Location: At the front building
Individual air-conditioning and thermostat control
Personal safe box in room
Refrigerator / Mini-bar
Electric kettle
Coffee & Tea Making facilities
Drinking Water
IDD telephone system & hi-speed internet access
Satellite TV., DVD / CD player
Beach bag with facilities
Rain Shower in all bathroom
Private balcony
:: Deluxe Room (47 sq.m.) - 13 Units ::
(Double: 9 / Twin: 4)
Room Amenities
Configuration: 1 King sized beds or 2 Single beds and one fixed day bed
Capacity: 3A OR 2A + 1C (Child under 12 years old)
Location: Floor 2 at Front Building
Individual air-conditioning and thermostat control
Personal safe-box in room
Refrigerator / Mini-bar
Electric kettle
Coffee & Tea Making facilities/Drinking Water
IDD telephone system & hi-speed internet access
Satellite TV., DVD / CD player
Beach bag with facilities
Rain-Shower in all bathroom
:: Ocean View Room (40 sq.m.) - 42 Units ::
(Double: 22 / Twin: 20)
Room Amenities
Configuration: 1 King sized beds or 2 Single beds and one fixed day bed
Capacity: 3A OR 2A + 1C (Child under 12 years old)
Location: Floor 2, 3, 4 At new building (Sea View)
Individual air-conditioning and thermostat control
Personal safe-box in room
Refrigerator / Mini-bar
Electric kettle
Coffee & Tea Making facilities
Drinking Water
IDD telephone system & hi-speed internet access
Satellite TV., DVD / CD player
Beach bag with facilities
Rain-Shower in all bathroom
Outdoor bath-tub at private balcony
:: Panorana Suite (45 sq.m.) - 32 Units ::
Each of the 32 rooms (45 sqm) present panoramic views of the Andaman Sea, luxurious King Size beds, and refreshing rain showers. Sumptuous breakfast buffet is offered to the sounds of local birds followed by the breathtaking sunsets luxuriating in your personal tub located on the balcony for romantic sunstes.
Room Amenities
King size or Twin
Non-Smoking Rooms
Bathtub on the balcony
Mood Lighting
Love seat lounge
Pillow menu
Signature Amenities
Rain Shower
Beach Slippers
Bedroom Slippers
Safety deposit box
Whisher quiet Air-Con
IDD Phone
Free high speed Wi-Fi
Flat LED TV.
Espresso Machine
:: Family Room, 2 adults + 2 children (60 sq.m.) - 4 Units ::
Room Amenities
Configuration: Each Family Deluxe Room has one king-sized bed
one queen-sized bed separated with a partition and one fixed day bed
Capacity: 2A + 2/3C (Child under 12 years old)
View: Limited Sea View
Location: Floor 2 At New Building
Kitchenette with kitchen equipment: Microwave etc.
Individual air-conditioning and thermostat control
Personal safe-box in room
Refrigerator / Mini-bar
Electric kettle
Coffee & Tea Making facilities
Drinking Water
IDD telephone system & hi-speed internet access
Satellite TV., DVD / CD player
Hair-dryer / bathrobes / slippers
Beach bag with facilities
Rain-Shower in bathroom
Outdoor bath-tub at private balcony
The Cliff Restaurant:
All day dining restaurant serving a wide-section of international and local exotic flavored cuisine.
Service Time: Buffet Breakfast 07.00 a.m. - 10.00 a.m.
International cuisine (Lunch, Dinner) 10.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m.
Orchid Bar & Bistro:
With cool refreshing tropical drinks or exotic cocktails prepared by our attentive staff.
Service Time: Snack & drink 10.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m.
The Plaza Buffet:
Daily International Buffet, Service Time: Dininer 06.30 p.m. - 10.00 p.m.
Room Service:
Service Time: 07.00 a.m. - 10.30 p.m.
For a more enjoyable holiday,
the guests can swim or lounge by the swimming pool or ask the tour counter of any sightseeing tour around the area. The children can also have fun at the playground. Other facilities include 24 hour reception, luxury car service, airport transfer, Wi-Fi internet access, IDD telephone, laundry service and all major credit cards are accepted.
:: Hotel Facilities ::
Kids studio
Fitness room
Room service
Laundry service
Andaman Beach Club Access
Tour desk services
Wedding Ceremony
Traditional massage and full service spa.
Elevator in Ocean View Room
Wireless Internet Access
International restaurant and cocktail bar
Pool bar, swimming pool with children's pool
E-station with Laptop and Printer
Infinity Spa
:: Andaman Beach Club ::
You are invited to experience a new one-of-a-kind ecological beach club created by the owners of Aonang Cliff Beach Resort and Spa. Our private beach of 150 meter natural sand is framed by a canopy of untouched mangroves and palm trees providing a beach experience you have been longing for. Cool down in our natural Lagoon Pool or have a relaxing beach massage. And for the activity seeking guests, we offer beach games, volley ball, badminton, petanque and water aerobics. Ready to watch the sunset on the beach to the soft sounds of birds and a little Reggae before you return to your hotel and possibly a wish to return to the Andamana Beach Club.
PLUBPLUENG Meeting Room:
U Shape Style
13.7 x 13.6 m.
186.32 sq.m.
50 - 120 seats
70 seats
150 seats
:: Equipment facilities ::
2 set of Stereo
2 wireless microphones
2 microphones (with wire)
11 pieces table top phones
11 pieces to combine the stage
2 CD / DVD players
1 screen built in Equator Meeting Room
1 projector / LCD
2 set of louder speakers
1 visual over head
2 microphone's stands
3 table microphone's stands
Aonang Cliff Beach Resort
, a serene paradise nestled on a lush green hill slope, provides a pleasurable ambience with stunning the panoramic views. The resort is conveniently located near to the tourist-sites, shopping and entertainment areas and Main Town of Aonang Beach. Guest can reach Aonang Beach within five-minute by walking distance.
All the conveniences of stylish modern tropical comfort on the very doorstep of one of the most beautiful and sought-after destinations in the world, the Aonang Cliff Beach Resort offers a social and vibrant location that puts you at the heart of Krabi legendry scenic wonderland. Approximate a 30 minute, beautifully scenic, drive from Krabi Airport, Aonang Cliff Beach Resort is situated at the foot of, and extending up into, the verdantly forested cliff side, above and behind a colorful plaza with a variety of shops and eateries.
[Krabi hotels]
[Aonang Cliff Beach Resort ]
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text:
Elizabeth M. Fairchild Donates Land
Oct. 5, 2009
News Highlights
More Information
During its regularly scheduled meeting today, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recognized longtime resident, entrepreneur and developer Elizabeth M. Fairchild for her donation of a nearly 8.5 acres of land along the Richmond Highway Commercial Revitalization District.
"Mrs. Fairchild's generous donation contributes greatly to the continued quality environment that encourages families to live, work and play in Fairfax County," said Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
A mother of five children, grandmother to 17 grandchildren and a well-known philanthropist, Fairchild sees the donation of the land as a prime opportunity to give something back to the community.
"Mrs. Fairchild's generosity provides a significant resource for Fairfax County residents," said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerald W. Hyland. "This park will provide a place for children to play and families to gather."
For more information on the contribution, coordinated by the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization and Reinvestment (OCRR), call 703-324-9300, TTY 711.
Contact: Merni Fitzgerald, Director, Office of Public Affairs
703-324-3189, TTY 711, Media Pager: 703-324-NEWS (6397)
To request this information in an alternate format, call 703-324-3187, TTY 711


text:
Classic Zebra Pin-It Pinboard
No longer available
- Overview
Zebra stripes give photos, postcards and important reminders a chic backdrop. The pinboard works as a changing wall display every time you post something new.
- 36" wide x 24" high x 1.5" thick
- Made of MDF and polyester.
- D-ring backing; mounting hardware included.
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Statistical Basis for Hemochromatosis Screening
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- How to Read a Study Record
|Blood Disease Hemochromatosis
|Study Type:
|Study Start Date:
|July 1997
|Study Completion Date:
|June 2000
Once considered to be a rare disorder, hemochromatosis is now recognized to be one of the most common autosomal recessive disorders in white populations. Substantial morbidity and mortality may result from untreated hemochromatosis; thus, early detection and treatment are essential. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the College of American Pathologists now recommend regular screening for hereditary hemochromatosis. Transferrin saturation is regarded as the best single screening test for the detection of individuals at risk for the disorder.
Statistical mixture modeling was used to develop guidelines for hemochromatosis screening regimes and to determine the frequency of the gene for hemochromatosis. The research was designed to provide a statistical foundation for the analysis of population transferrin saturations to assist in development of optimal screening regimens for hemochromatosis. To determine potential screening thresholds, probability methods were applied to data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), a cross-sectional probability sample weighted to represent the U.S. population. Statistical mixture modeling was used to determine potential transferrin saturation screening thresholds to identify individuals for repeat testing and possible further evaluation. The actual sensitivity and specificity of these screening thresholds was then assessed using data from a separate demonstration project, "Cost effective Hemochromatosis Survey in Primary Care", designed to identify individuals with hemochromatosis. In addition, the gene frequency for hemochromatosis for whites and ethnic subgroups was also determined by analysis of transferrin saturation data from NHANES III.
The study has two specific aims, as follow: (1) to develop guidelines for the use of transferrin saturation and related tests in detection of individuals at risk for hemochromatosis, and (2) to determine the frequency of the gene for hemochromatosis in the United States by statistical mixture modeling of population transferrin saturation data from NHANES III. Providing the statistical foundation for the analysis of transferrin saturations should facilitate development of optimal, cost-effective screening regimens for identification of individuals requiring further evaluation for hemochromatosis.
The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|up to 100 Years (Child, Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00005559
|Christine Mc Laren
|Moorhead State University
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00005559 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
R15HL058203 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|Study First Received:
|May 25, 2000
|Last Updated:
|February 17, 2016
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Hematologic Diseases
Metal Metabolism, Inborn Errors
Metabolism, Inborn Errors
Genetic Diseases, Inborn
Iron Overload
Iron Metabolism Disorders
Metabolic Diseases
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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A TIDAL WAVE of public opposition came crashing down earlier this year on the Transportation Authority of Marin and its plan to construct a massive, elevated concrete flyover and a huge retaining wall within the Highway 101 Greenbrae/Twin Cities Corridor.
In a desperate attempt to hang onto $48 million in funding from the extra $1 bridge toll Bay Area voters approved a few years ago, TAM promised to work with the public on developing a new project alternative that would be acceptable.
Seven local elected officials were appointed to a TAM Working Group to review alternatives and make a recommendation to the TAM Commission this summer.
After two months of meetings, there is no evidence that it will be allowed to select an alternative the public supports, rather than what TAM staff and its pricey consultants want.
Recently, seven project design alternatives for the corridor were officially presented to the Working Group. A standing-room-only crowd of interested citizens filled the room as each new alternative was described and explained.
None of them had the 33-foot high braided-ramp flyover and 400-foot-long retaining wall rising to a height of 24 feet, widely regarded as the most objectionable features in TAM's plan.
Most of the alternatives included some of the features that have strong public support: separation of local and highway traffic; an auxiliary lane both northbound and southbound; retention of the pedestrian-bicycle overcrossing; completion of the North-South Greenway; and safe access and connectivity within the project area for all travel modes.
However, immediately following each presentation, TAM staff stepped up to deliver disparaging comments from a pre-printed Final Assessment of Options suggesting there might be safety issues or inconsistency with Caltrans standards in each and every public option submitted.
Anyone who thought TAM had been making a sincere effort to find an acceptable alternative quickly realized that the current process is a total sham.
TAM has wasted six years and $7 million in public funds on creating a plan almost everyone opposes, and this latest tactic once again raises issues of trust and credibility that have continuously plagued TAM staff.
The truth is that traffic flows smoothly within this one-mile corridor between the Greenbrae interchange and the Tamalpais interchange, except during morning commute hours in the southbound direction, and evening hours in the northbound direction.
At other times, virtually no congestion and no problems exist.
Southbound, there are fewer accidents than the statewide average, and northbound congestion during evening commute hours is directly related to traffic trying to exit onto East Sir Francis Drake that backs up onto the freeway.
Our grassroots task force, Marin Deserves Better, has produced an alternative project design that addresses concerns through sensible and forward-thinking solutions. It is less massive, less intrusive and less costly than anything TAM has brought forward.
It eliminates weaving, adds capacity, and reduces congestion. It makes good sense and deserves to be evaluated by experts who aren't on TAM's payroll, followed by a full and free public debate on its merits.
So far, that isn't what's happening. The reason new conceptual alternatives are necessary is that TAM has a history of bad design and poor decision-making on this project.
TAM mishandled the process by which the Build concept was chosen, invested way too much money into refining a concept that it has known for years faced opposition, and inevitably it was forcefully rejected by the community.
We believe the people of Marin deserve much better results than they're getting from the Transportation Authority of Marin.
It's time for a change at the top.
Former Corte Madera Mayor Jana Haehl is a leader of Marin Deserves Better, a group of Corte Madera and Larkspur residents who have come up with alternative plans for the Greenbrae-Highway 101 interchange.


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Why, Skid Mark, Why?Logic puzzles require you to think. You will have to be logical in your reasoning.
After recent events, Question Mark is annoyed with his brother, Skid Mark. Skid thought it would be funny to hide Question's wallet. He told Question that he would get it back if he finds it. So, first off, Skid laid five colored keys in a row. One of them is a key to a room where Skid is hiding Question's wallet. Using the clues, can you determine the order of the keys and which is the right key?
Red: This key is somewhere to the left of the key to the door.
Blue: This key is not at one of the ends.
Green: This key is three spaces away from the key to the door (2 between).
Yellow: This key is next to the key to the door.
Orange: This key is in the middle.
AnswerThe order (from left to right) is Green, Red, Orange, Blue, Yellow.
The blue key is the key to the door.
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text:
Sign into our member site to view your information online.Forget your username or password? Not registered? Register here
bosentan (generic name)
It is used to treat a serious heart and lung disorder called primary pulmonary hypertension
(boe SEN tan)
Table of Contents
Top Learning Centers(Recursos en Español)
Where should I keep my medicine?Keep out of the reach of children.
Store at room temperature between 15 and 30 degrees C (59 and 86 degrees F). Throw away any unused medicine after the expiration date.
Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.


text:
Six of the seven Marines killed in a helicopter collision last week near Yuma, Ariz., were honored during a memorial service Friday at Camp Pendleton.
The six were all stationed at Camp Pendleton and received posthumous awards from Lt. Col. Stephen Lightfoot, the commanding officer of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469.
Two helicopters, an AH-1W Cobra and UH-1Y Huey, went down about 8 p.m. Feb. 22 during routine training on a military range along the California-Arizona state line, about an hour and a half drive from Yuma Marine Corps Air Station. The cause is still under investigation.
The six Marines honored Friday were Lt. Col. Thomas A. Budrejko, who was promoted posthumously; Capt. Michael M. Quin; Capt. Benjamin N. Cerniglia; Sgt. Justin A. Everett; Lance Cpl. Corey A. Little; and Lance Cpl. Nickoulas H. Elliott.
A memorial service was held at Yuma Wednesday to honor posthumously promoted Maj. Nathan W. Anderson, who was a pilot at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.


text:
feyer is a valid word in this word list. For a definition, see the external dictionary links below.
The word "feyer" uses 5 letters: E E F R Y.
Direct anagrams of feyer:
Words formed by adding one letter before or after feyer (in bold), or to eefry in any order:
d - redefy l - freely
Shorter words found within feyer:
eery ef er ere eye eyer eyre fee fer fere fey free fry re ree reef ref rye ye
List shorter words within feyer, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in feyer, plus an optional blank or existing letter
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text:
LANSING (AP) -- The state Capitol in Lansing is filling with demonstrators, hours before the House and Senate are expected to resume work on so-called right-to-work legislation.
Crowds of protesters are shouting slogans such as "No Justice, no peace" and "Hey hey, ho ho, right to work has got to go." The hallways and rotunda area are protected by dozens of state police armed with riot clubs.
Spectators lined up in the dark Tuesday morning before the building opened, shouting and stomping their feet in below-freezing temperatures.
Four large inflatable toy rats were set up on the Capitol lawn. They bore the names of Gov. Rick Snyder, House Speaker Jase Bolger, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and Dick DeVos, a Grand Rapids businessman whom union leaders believe is pushing the right-to-work bills.


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my friend who is an apple retail manager said that his district manager told him there would be an announcement on march 7th
I'm so happy this is not as crazy as the iPhone 5/4s rumors
Siri gets old can't even remember the last time I used it
I hope this has Siri, considering it will be my first iPad ever.
PS. Not to mention how fragile the A5 jailbreaks are. Once a new firmware is updated you better hope you don't have to restore because unless I missed something there's no way to downgrade on those devices yet.


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Once a graduate and doctoral student at the University of California, Davis, Helene Dillard is returning to the campus as the new dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. She will assume her new role Jan. 27.
Dillard succeeds Neal Van Alfen, who held the position from 1999 to 2012.
Dillard is a plant disease expert and the associate dean and head of Cooperative Extension at Cornell University. Since receiving her doctoral degree in plant pathology in 1984, she also has worked as an associate professor, a professor, and an associate director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Along with her university career, Dillard has continued her research in biology, ecology and the management of a wide variety of fungal diseases in vegetables. Her major research projects have involved studies of fungal diseases in beans, tomatoes, corn, cabbage and other crops.
Other industry accomplishments include the 2013 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Faculty award at Cornell, the 2013 New York Farmers Medal from the New York Farmers Association. She was also named a National Women of Color STEM All Star in 2008 and a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 2006.
Associate Dean Mary Delany, an avian geneticist and professor in the Department of Animal Science, has served as interim dean while the college looked for a permanent leader.
Provost and executive vice chancellor at UC Davis, Ralph Hexter, believes Dillard is arriving at a decisive time for food science.
"Phenomenal challenges related to global climate change and food production face the research and higher-education community. I know that the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will continue to rise under Dr. Dillard's leadership to equip California and the nation to meet these challenges," Hexter said in a news release.


text:
BP Comment Quick Links
|Strength of Schedule Report
October 4, 2013
BP Daily Podcast
Effectively Wild Episode 300: Brian Kenny on Sabermetrics, Broadcasting, and Confrontation
Ben and Sam talk to Brian Kenny about the reaction to his campaign to kill the win and why sabermetrics needs a confrontational face.
Download Here (29 MB; 31:52)
Ben Lindbergh is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @benlindbergh
2 comments have been left for this article.
BP Comment Quick Links
Ben and Sam: thank you for reminding me why I got rid of my television.
Oct 04, 2013 10:31 AM
Kenny comes off as an egotistical, confrontational, self-absorbed twit here. However, his kill-the-win campaign deserves some rational discussion. (In a nutshell, I think he's wrong; a tool that is inadequate for doing precision work is not necessarily inappropriate for looking at the big picture.) Any chance of a BP article to consider that in greater, more detached detail?
Oct 05, 2013 09:19 AM
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text:
Investigational Vaccine for the Prevention of Disseminated Tuberculosis in HIV Infected People
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- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
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- How to Read a Study Record
|Tuberculosis HIV Infections
|Biological: SRL-172
|Phase 2 Phase 3
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Prevention
|Official Title:
|DARDAR Health Project (Disseminated Tuberculosis and HIV Infection)
- safety and efficacy of a prime-boost immunization strategy for the prevention of HIV-associated dTB and pTB [ Time Frame: every six months ]
- Risk factors for HIV-associated dTB and relative contributions of primary infection, reinfection, and reactivation in its pathogenesis [ Time Frame: every six months ]
|Study Start Date:
|September 2001
|Study Completion Date:
|May 2009
|Primary Completion Date:
|December 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
|Placebo Comparator: B
Biological: SRL-172
5 doses of 0.1mL vaccine or placebo given intradermally over 12-months
|Experimental: A
Biological: SRL-172
5 doses of 0.1mL vaccine or placebo given intradermally over 12-months
Detailed Description:
Disseminated infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (dMTB) has been documented in 10% to 25% of patients with HIV infection in Africa. Unlike pulmonary tuberculosis (pMTB), most cases of dMTB are not recognized and death ensues rapidly. Therefore, dMTB may be a more important cause of HIV-associated mortality than pMTB in developing countries. Mycobacterium vaccae (MV) is an investigational vaccine prepared by heat inactivation of a nontuberculous mycobacteria. MV immunization may reduce the risk of HIV-associated dMTB. The purpose of this study is to define risk factors for HIV-associated dMTB and to assess the safety and effectiveness of an MV vaccine for the prevention of HIV-associated pulmonary and disseminated tuberculosis.
HIV positive patients with prior BCG immunization and HIV negative controls will be entered in a 5-year study in Tanzania. Participants will be randomized to receive a 5-dose series of MV or placebo over 12 months, with a repeat skin test at Month 14. Baseline evaluation will include medical history, chest x-ray, skin tests with purified protein derivative (PPD), and blood tests to evaluate interferon-gamma production. Participants with PPD reactions greater than or equal to 5 mm will receive 6 months of prophylaxis with isoniazid. Participants will be followed every 3 months for 3 to 5 years to assess new pMTB (microbiologic or clinical diagnosis) or dMTB (microbiologic diagnosis). Potential risk factors for dMTB will also be assessed.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- HIV infection
- CD4 count more than 200 cells/mm3
- BCG scar
Exclusion Criteria:
- Active tuberculosis. Patients will be deferred from study enrollment until they show no signs of active disease.
- Serious underlying disease (e.g., congestive heart failure, advanced cancer)
- Life expectancy of less than 2 years
- Pregnancy. Women who are pregnant may be eligible for the study after they give birth.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00052195
|Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences
|Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
|Principal Investigator:
|C. Fordham F von Reyn, MD
|Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|C. Fordham von Reyn, Professor of Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT00052195 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
1R01AI045407-01A2 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
3R01AI045407-02S1 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
5R01AI045407-03 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
U01AI045407-06 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
U01AI045407-07 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
U01AI045407-08 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|Study First Received:
|January 24, 2003
|Last Updated:
|February 17, 2016
Keywords provided by C. Fordham von Reyn, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center:
Mycobacterium vaccae
Disseminated tuberculosis
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
HIV Infections
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Lentivirus Infections
Retroviridae Infections
RNA Virus Infections
Virus Diseases
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes
Immune System Diseases
Slow Virus Diseases
Mycobacterium Infections
Actinomycetales Infections
Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
Bacterial Infections
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 25, 2017


text:
DINGESS — Troopers fatally shot a Mingo County man after he "raised [a] handgun in a threatening manner toward them," according to a release from West Virginia State Police spokesman Lt. Michael Baylous.
Troopers were investigating a single-vehicle traffic accident involving Randy Matheny, 31, of Dingess, when the shooting occurred Sunday night.
State police Matheny say fired a gun into the air at the scene of the accident on Moses Fork Road and then fled before troopers arrived.
The vehicle had two other occupants at the time, Matheny's wife and child.
A family member gave Matheny and his child a ride to their residence, and his wife a ride to Logan Regional Hospital.
Troopers responded to Matheny's home and found the front door open and a shotgun and ammunition on the porch.
Matheny was standing in the living room just beyond the open door holding a handgun, police said.
The troopers ordered Matheny to drop the handgun but he refused, according to the release.
State police said three troopers discharged their weapons in response to an immediate threat to officer safety.
The child was found unharmed with family members a few hours later.
Monday afternoon, Baylous posted links on the state police official Twitter and Facebook accounts to a PoliceOne.com article on why "shooting to wound," or aiming for a limb, is not a common police practice.
Baylous said the post was in response to comments on the state police Facebook page Monday, as well as similar questions officers encounter on a routine basis.
He said it was not meant to justify any particular incident, but meant to provide a "law enforcement perspective" on the issue.
"I really wasn't putting this out there for the media to pick up a story on it," he said. "It's not different than sharing any kind of report on social media."
— Staff and wire reports


text:
John Elder Robison,
Author of Look Me in the Eye, a book about growing up with Asperger's Syndrome and finding success, has written a second book Be Different, a guide for those with Asperger's, autism, and other disabilities to achieve success by discovering and building on unique skills while minimizing social disabilities.
In the videos above, Robison discusses the message of Be Different, including:
- Who he wrote Be Different for, and why
- What is different about the way Aspergian's think, and the importance of learning "nypical" rules of social behavior
- What it's like to be an Aspergian and the dad of an Aspergian
- How to find the right line of work and be successful at it
- How to overcome bullying and bullies
- Gaining Social Acceptance while Living with Asperger's
- His process of writing Be Different
- Preparing Employers for Employees with Asperger's
- Recognize signs of Asperger's in your child
- Being Diagnosed with Asperger's
- Conversations and Interacting in Social Settings
- Asperger's Struggles with Romantic Relationships
Have you read Be Different or Look Me in the Eye?
We're joined today by John Elder Robison author of "Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian" and previously, "Look Me in the Eye." John is an accomplished Aspergian having worked in the rock music industry, creating some wonderful guitar, pyro-technic, and other musical effects as well as building his own very successful car repair company based up in Massachusetts. John, we are pleased to talk with you today. Talk a little bit about who you wrote the book for? What was the audience you were looking to reach?
When I wrote "Look Me in the Eye" it was a story of my life that illustrated how Asperger's had maybe shaped me, how I was influenced by this autism thing… but mostly it was just a story of me and the things I did. After I wrote that book, so many people came up to me and they would say things like, "I wish you could tell us how you did this or you did that in your book. You just say in one paragraph, "I taught myself to do this and there it was." And I'm trying to do that, but I can't do it myself. And then people would say things to me like, "my son can't tolerate flashing lights and I don't understand how you could work with rock and roll bands with all those lights." And I didn't know the answers right off but I thought real hard about all those questions and I decided that I should write a new book that showed through stories all of the ways in which autism has affected me, and showed how all of the facets of autism, as described in the DSM manual, manifest themselves in me, and what I did about it, and in some cases I built upon strengths and other cases I minimized a disability. Some things were good for me, some things were bad, and some were like a mix. And I think that's probably how it is for everyone, so I wrote the book for people who want more insight than "Look Me in the Eye" gave them.
People talk about how I was always a smart kid and I'm supposed to be a smart grownup and as smart as I'm supposed to be, look at how long it took me to figure that out. So if I can share that knowledge with young people today, I feel that they can have a tremendous advantage in life if they can hear that a person who's different, like they are, could benefit from that, then they think, "maybe I should try it," and maybe they'd get ahead faster.
I'm pleased to be joined here today by John Elder Robison, author of "Be Different" and "Look Me in the Eye." As you think back on the different stages you went through in your life and some of the different nypical rituals that you've learned and adapted your own thinking about things, what was the hardest kind of behavioral ritual to learn?
The hardest thing for me to learn in general was the need to be considerate of other people and that a tricky thing to understand for a nypical person, because one of the traits of autism is that we have a really hard time seeing the other person's point of view and we are often perceived as aloof or arrogant or indifferent and the truth is we're not generally being any of those things, what we are is we're oblivious to other people. So I would have problems where I would like walk into a room and change a TV channel, when I wrote about that in one of my stories in "Be Different" and it's not that I'm trying to be rude it's that I didn't notice the other people, even though they were plain to see and they were right in front of me. Somehow I just didn't perceive it. And I have had to really work to teach myself to be mindful of other people and how things I do might affect them. And I believe, although I have never been one so I can't know, that nypical people sense these things instinctively and when that behavior is lacking in me, it's a serious impediment to social success with folks. So that's been really the hardest thing to learn and it's just affected so much of my life. The better I've gotten at that; the better I'm accepted.
Well, my grandparents were the ones that taught me manners and when they were raising me, they would tell me to mind my manners. A lot of those things didn't make any sense to me and it was very hard for me to comply with their requests when it seemed like total nonsense. But, as I learned more about the function of manners, I learned that even though they don't make any sense, if I adopt some resemblance of what nypical people call good manners I get along better in the world, because it's what people expect and it's what makes them accept me. And by following some of these manners, I find myself welcomed into society and it's transformed the way I've been accepted in the world, and that's one of the messages in "Be Different." That somebody who's young as I once was, may welcome you the same as me, and they may look at some of those requests… that they behave in a certain way even though they think it is crazy and doesn't make any sense. Why should I do that? And I'm here to tell you as a grown up that if you do that, you'll have more friends and you're going to get jobs and you're going to have opportunities that will be denied you if society judges you to be a rude boor.
Did that realization come to you over time or were there specific events that sort of came to you?
Well it was sort of a trial and error process. I had a period where I was just probably rude as hell. Like, my grandfather would tell me… and of course people still say that about me now… but it's really all a matter of degree… I'm a whole lot better than when they said it about me when I was sixteen. And so sometimes I would be rude or ill mannered and I might see a consequence to it and sometimes I didn't' see a consequence to it and gradually as I got older and I became somewhat more wise from age, I was able to look back and see how I could have achieved things faster had I fit in with other people. I mean the real key to manners is that manners are this superficial but important set of behaviors that cause other people to welcome you into their circle. And I now realize that being welcomed into other people's circles is essential for my own success. I didn't really grasp that as a teenager.
I'm pleased to be joined here today by John Elder Robison author of "Be Different" and "Look Me in the Eye." How does a young Aspergian or somebody who's on the spectrum who's fifteen or sixteen and not sure about what their strengths are, find their strengths?
The way I found my strengths was again just really a strike of luck. My parents taught in a big state university – University of Massachusetts – and I had the run of the campus from when I was a small child. So I was able to study dinosaurs and the history of Greece and read literature in the library and study electronics and computers –whatever I wanted was there at U Mass. I think that if you accept the premise that every child has some unique strength and nobody knows how big of a gift they might have, every kid's got to have areas where they are better then others. And our job as grownups in these kids lives is to expose our kids to the maximum number of opportunities to learn new things in the hope that they're going to latch on to one thing or another and that could lead them to a good life. And that kind of stuff may not be obvious, a kid can be 12 years old and he can get interested in cockroaches and all he wants to study is roaches and people laugh at him in school, but a kid like that can grow up to be a scientist at a company like Ortho and he'll be a star and it's a great thing. So really the interest in something like cockroaches is a disabling trait in a little kid, but it's a great gift if that's your interest once you become a grownup.
I'm pleased to be joined here today by John Elder Robison, author of "Be Different" and "Look Me in the Eye." In "Be Different" you relate some of your experiences in school, particularly around bullying and it's an unfortunate situation that some kids bully other kids. We're here at Ivymount School today, you also mention the Monarch school in "Be Different." What should schools do to help kids who are being bullied and what should kids do to help themselves who are being bullied?
One real concern that I have is that kids today are often isolated from other children, and their parents bring them to school and their parents whisk them home and they don't have group play at recess in a lot of schools. One of the things that I learned very early on is how to not make enemies. In my first book, "Look Me in the Eye," I talk about how lonely I was because I didn't have any friends. When I wrote that passage, I didn't understand that I didn't have friends and that I didn't have the friend making skill. What I did have was the 'how-to-not-make-enemies skill'. Because what you don't read about in any of my books is how I got beat up day after day, because that didn't happen. And I think the reason that didn't happen is I developed the skills early on to not antagonize other children. I might have been a weirdo and I might have been a freak, but I was able to be my own freak, and I didn't attract unfavorable attention. So I think that's a really important thing that kids have to learn to co-exist peacefully and I think the challenge that we see in some of these schools, like here at Ivymount, is that some of the kids just really can't learn that and that's a really hard problem that concerns me and I wish I had an answer for it.
I'm pleased to be joined here today by John Elder Robison, author of "Be Different" and "Look Me in the Eye." You're the parent of an Aspergian as well as being an Aspergian. How did that change your perspective on Asperger's and what you needed to do as a parent?
Well, when I saw my kid have the same sort of social failures that I had when I was little, I would pick him up and I would tell him what he could do different. I would say, well, if you did this instead of that he would share the truck with you instead of hit you with it. And at first I was shocked by the belligerence and the stubbornness of that kid of mine. And he was really difficult to train. You didn't just pick him up and say something and he would say "yes wondrous dada" and sit back down and do it, he would like hit me with the truck. And eventually I would have to like pick him up and dangle him by one foot at a safe distance and tell him stuff. And it took me thousands and thousands of repetitions but it eventually took. And by the time he was sixteen, Cubby had so many more friends than I ever had. Cubby as a tenth grader would have five and six friends come over and they'd watch movies and eat popcorn and stuff on Saturday nights. And I couldn't even have dreamed of that! And I think a significant part of that was how I would sort of show him stuff and of course he's a kid so he wouldn't give me any sort of credit at all for that, but I think I can take pride in having done that even though he probably wouldn't say so.
Are there things that kids just have to learn for themselves in their experiences in growing up? And how did you draw some of those lines in terms of things where you said "ok he's just got to learn this himself?"
Well, I think you've got to learn how to not be a complete fool of yourself and you've got to learn those things by experiencing some consequence from doing the wrong thing. And the thing about Cubby and the thing with many of us with Asperger's is he would do the wrong thing and he would just be stuck. He wouldn't have a path to go from doing the wrong thing to having any inkling of what the right thing might be to do. And that was where picking him up and dangling him and telling him the right thing could have an effect because you might pick him up and tell him what the right thing to do is and for the first hundred times he might just argue with you then on the hundred and first time try it and then if it worked it would become self- reinforcing. And that's kind of how it was.
Let's talk for a few minutes about relationships, which are often a difficult subject. You have some wonderful lines in the book and in one line from the book you said… "I may seem robotic and mechanical sometimes but there is nothing mechanical or cold about my internal feelings. I'm just as sensitive as anyone. I cried fifty years ago and I still do today." It's a wonderful line. Do you feel frustrated sometimes that people can't see what you are feeling inside in the same way that they do with other people who emote in a more nypical kind of way?
It makes me sad and it makes me realize that no matter how far I come and no matter how well accepted I am in nypical society, in some ways I am always going to be that kid sort of looking through the window at the party on the inside. I'm never really going to make it all the way in and that does make me kind of sad sometimes but most of the time I don't really think about that and I try and just look at what I've been successful at. I write about, for example, how people like me may be weak in our ability to go out and actively choose other people as it were, but we can learn to act in ways just to make ourselves choose able and the people that tend to choose us are more likely to be true friends for us and I've written stories about them and the power of that and I believe that to be true and I guess that's the best path to getting on the inside that I know.
How do you feel you made yourself more choose able? What were some of the things that you did?
I taught myself these rules of behavior, as irrational as some of them are, and I taught myself not to talk too much at people and to not be rude to them in certain ways, and I taught myself to dress the way the other people are dressing at things. Like see here today, see I knew that you were going to come here with a button-up shirt and I have a button-up shirt instead of having a t-shirt on, so that's an example of how I have taught myself to fit in. Because ten years ago I probably would have come here with some other kind of shirt on and I wouldn't have fit in. And so those are all little things and no one thing makes the difference, but collectively they mean a lot.
Let's talk a little bit about "Be Different" and the process of writing the book. What was different in the way you wrote the book compared to how you wrote "Look Me in the Eye"?
Well "Be Different" has more what you might call "intimate stories" in it, because people asked me for more insight. And that required delving more deeply into how I might have thought or what I thought and what I felt and it was frankly stuff I just wouldn't have said in "Look Me in the Eye." I never represented "Look Me in the Eye" as a comprehensive guide to autism for example. So people would come up to me and would say, "Well, my son can't really wear clothes because it scratches on him, he just can't do it, and I don't understand why you didn't talk about it." Well it's like when you go on a first date with a girl, you don't tell her what troubles you have with your underwear. You tell her about the cool job you had with a rock-and-roll band, and that's how it was in my book. So having heard those requests about wearing clothes and all that, I felt if they asked for that then I'll write those stories, and I have a story in "Be Different" called "Underwear with Teeth." I think that the meaning of that is probably self evident from the title. So I guess I felt that that's what people wanted and that's a fundamental difference between the two.
One thing I noticed between "Look Me in the Eye" and "Be Different" is "Be Different" has an incredibly uplifting, positive message about how people can find their strengths and have great successes in life. I found "Look Me in the Eye" was a little bit starker particularly when you were talking about growing up and some of the challenges in growing up that you've talked about here. Did you feel differently looking back on your life writing "Be Different" then in fact it turned out when you were writing "Look Me in the Eye"?
No, I felt like "Look Me in the Eye" came to a good ending. I just felt some of the parts in my early life totally sucked and I guess you got that same sense from reading them. And when I wrote "Be Different" one of the things I had in mind is that life probably sucks for a lot of young people today, just as it did for me. And I wanted to show them through all of these different stories, ways in which my life got better either because of or in spite of the different autistic traits that I described in each of the chapters. So it may be that in "Look Me in the Eye" it's a sad beginning and a happy ending and maybe in "Be Different" with every story where I talk about something, maybe there's a happy ending to each of those stories. Maybe that's the difference you perceive, but I'm not actually sure.
Last question, with the growth in diagnosis and the growth in population of folks and younger folks on the spectrum, obviously in the next few years, there are a lot of Aspergians and people on the spectrum who are entering the work force or taking on jobs – what should employers do to prepare? How can they invite Aspergians and make work places accommodative to people who have wonderful skills but also interact differently?
I think that employers first of all can train their staffs so that behavior, which might in the worst extreme be considered say harassment by an employee, is understood not as harassment but ignorant or foolish behavior on the part of someone on the spectrum who doesn't necessarily know any better. I think that a lot of employment issues arise when people on the spectrum don't know how to act but then the response from the nypical population is inappropriate in the sense that the malicious motives that the nypicals describe to the person who does the inappropriate thing are just not real. And so I think understanding can be tremendously beneficial for companies because it can reduce that kind of strife. I think that there are accommodations that employers can offer people, like folks with sensitivity to noise can be given quieter work places, and they can be given work places with high frequency florescent lighting that doesn't flash and cause trouble. That's a big thing! I think that people on the spectrum often want to work at strange hours or work alone and we are now evolving to the sort of work place where if your job is to write software code, for example, companies can accept that someone might want to start writing code at 6:00 PM and stop at 3:00 AM and it's not necessary for them to be in the workplace to do that. So there are many things that companies can do to accommodate people who are different. They can also award and recognize achievements from people who are different and I think you are going to see, probably in the world of technology, companies rise to the fore front where they are going to see them and set the standard for everyone else and I think the industry in general will be dragged along and I think that will be a major advance for what you might call disability acceptance in the United States, the acceptance of the geek and proto-Aspergian, Aspergian and autistic populations in the work force.
Another area of interest that I have with employers is how we might find employment for people with more severe autistic disability. There are some folks in Europe who are experimenting with having people with more severe autism, who have not been able to find good employment up until now, doing software testing. It's interesting because skills among institutionalized people with severe autism were found in a study to be one in twenty, which is shocking to me and it shows you how these skills may be hidden in people and you never even knew it. So the idea that we'd be able to take people with skills like that and have them work, say breaking software today, that's a potentially very important task and I'm hoping that we will see career opportunities like that open up. I also hope that if we do more to accept and welcome proto-Aspergian geeks and people at the lower functioning or less impaired end of the autism spectrum end of the work force, when those people are welcomed into the work force, it's going to change the general publics' understanding and recognition of autism and really disability and how we might define it. I believe that that's going to lead to career opportunities for people with greater challenges who can't find work now. I also am highly hopeful that some of this work that scientists are doing now is going to lead to the development of tools to help those people become more functional and better able to find work. So I guess I feel that the prognosis for the future for those of us with autism on all levels is very much more hopeful than it was five years ago.
John, as a parent talk a little bit about the importance of early intervention and recognizing the signs in your child as well as what you should do at that point, if you have worries?
One of the things that I have been privileged to see through my work on the science review boards for the federal government and for Autism Speaks is the overwhelming body of evidence in support of the power of early intervention. Time and again, I see studies that show how children who are not verbal when they're four and five years of age grow up to have substantially normal speech when they are in their twenties, but only if we intervene aggressively and early. What that speaks to is the tremendous importance of the early detection of autistic differences in children though screening tools, like for example M Chat and through tools that are being developed now. And that's got to be followed up with different kinds of therapies, mostly we're talking about behavior therapies here, speech and language pathology; speech therapies. There's this window of opportunity when children are little and it's the same window of opportunity that allows some kids to learn five languages when they grow up around the world but when they're in their thirties they could never do that. So we have this chance to take kids who have substantial challenges and work them out of that, but we've got to work hard at it. We're talking twenty, thirty, forty, fifty hours a week of intensive intervention. And that is a tremendous challenge that our school systems face today getting the budgeting and the man power to deliver those services but it's just so vitally important because when you look at studies that have followed children now over ten, fifteen years, you can see that providing those studies at an early age is one of the primary factors in helping those children emerge from disability. Clearly when you look at the need for services in our schools to provide these kinds of things, you can see that there are a lot of career opportunities for college students right now who want to go into speech and language pathology, special education, and occupational therapy. There's a tremendous and growing need for all of that and it's obviously not going away with all of the kids moving into school now with different diagnosis. So I think that is very important. Another thing that I think is important to remember is that not all of this therapy needs to be administered by a professional, like I talk about how I taught my son to behave differently so he could be more successful, and I did that on the basis of my own social failures as a child with Asperger's forty years before. If you're a parent who didn't grow up with Asperger's, you might not have those memories, but you certainly can yourself get training in how to help your kid. And parents are in the best position to render these kinds of therapies continuously and I just can't over state the importance of that for the children. It's a really, really big deal.
When you were first diagnosed and introduced to the notion of Asperger's, the doctor or friend who spoke with you talked about your diagnosis, and you mentioned in your book that you had some thoughts comparing it to a sickness, cancer, and those kinds of things. Being that Asperger's is about how your brain works, do we need a different kind of language that we talk to people about when we get diagnosed, that isn't about sickness or those kinds of things?
Well, when you tell somebody that they have something, whether it's autism, it's depression, or it's pneumonia… mostly when a medical professional tells you that you have something, you either have to cure yourself of that something or you are going to die of that something. So Asperger's and autism are one of those relatively rare things that you'll hear from your medical professional where it isn't really cured and it isn't going to kill you. But at the same time that doesn't mean that aspects of it can be disabling… more so for some people than others. So I think some of us, like me, need compassion and understanding, but there are other people that are touched by different forms of autism and those people need some serious help remediating their disabilities. So I think there is a very broad mix in the autism spectrum.
One of the very profound lines in "Be Different" that you have talking about conversations and interacting in social settings, is that most of the conversation isn't auditory and I think that's something that a nypical person would find surprising. What did you mean by that?
What I mean by that is conversations consist of you know, people are closer or farther, they lean in or they make gestures or they have facial expressions… so there is this exchange of messages between people and like a typed transcript of the words doesn't convey a lot of the sense of the conversation. So, I never really knew that. I didn't know there was this non-verbal undercurrent to one-on-one human exchanges between humans. That's a disability component of autism. And not knowing that, I made so many blunders as a young person and it's like being color blind, you know? If you can't see it, how can you possibly imagine it's there? And all my life I grew up an ignorant serf of autism and how it affected me, and I was never able to surmount that problem but when I learned about my own Asperger's and how autism makes us different. That's when I made these tremendous strides that I share in the stories.
Tell me about relationships with girls and women. You've talked about making yourself more choose able and so on, talk a little bit about some of the ups and downs particularly the ups and some of your relationships with women and how you were able to have more intimate kinds of relationships.
Well, I don't know that I can answer that in just thirty seconds but I will say that I have stories about a girlfriend acquisition and then ultimately a wife acquisition and sort of relationship management in both "Look Me in the Eye" and "Be Different." Of course some people say, "Well, what do you know? you just ended up getting divorced," and that's true. But I at least got there first and I have knowledge from the experience and so I think again it's being choose able it's learning how to act in ways that will attract other people. Because I think if we do that, a lot of us that are different, whether it's autism or whatever it is that makes us different, I think that's potentially charming and interesting to girls and I don't fully fathom why that is but I've observed it to be true. And so if we can take that as a strong positive and we can get rid of the negatives like never changing our socks and stuff like that, then we can have a winning combination.
Learn more about life with autism and Asperger's, as well as discussions on the latest research, treatment, and issues affecting individuals with autism and Apserger's.
John Elder Robison's blog, Look Me In the Eye:
- A Visit to the TMS Lab, and Some Questions Answered
- A Summary of My TMS Posts
- Asperger's and Autism: The Value of Neuro-psychological Testing
- Autism: The Danger of Diagnosis - Part 2
- A Return to the TMS Lab
- Autism and Art as a Window into the Mind
- Brain Plasticity and TMS
- New Autism Book: Gravity Pulls You In
- New from the TMS Lab and Autism Research
- Autism Speaks Announces Five Million in Funding for New Research
- What happens to autistic kids when they grow up?
- Reflections on Brain Stimulation and Communication
- My beliefs about autism, research and more…


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Legacy Families Celebrate AU Commencement
While American University gained more than 2,400 new alumni at its 128th commencement ceremonies this past Mother's Day weekend, graduation also brought a significant alumni group back to campus: legacy families.
"When I first started in the fall of '77, the cafeteria was not open on weekends. We started off only taking four courses a semester, the library was still being built, and the red line only went up to Dupont Circle," says legacy alumna Susan Goldring Rubinstein , SOC/BA '81, reminiscing about her experiences at AU.
Susan is a legacy alumna because her daughter, Sara Rubinstein, CAS/BS '14, also attended AU. Sara graduated with a degree in mathematical statistics from the College of Arts and Sciences this month. Of course, Sara's experience was somewhat different than her mother's in the '70s. They agree that the food is much better now and staying in touch, especially while studying abroad, is significantly easier than three decades ago. "I was halfway across the world in Australia video chatting on my laptop with my family," says Sara.
The Legacy Alumni Network is a new AU network that includes over 1,300 alumni and students who are the children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents of an American University alumnus/a. It recognizes those families who've made AU a family tradition. This network officially launched last October during All-American Weekend with a breakfast and pinning ceremony. This spring, legacy seniors were given a special gift at Toast to Graduates as well as two VIP seats and a reserved parking space for family attending commencement.
Rachel Annunziata, CAS/BA '14, is another legacy who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences. She says she's proud to claim both her parents as legacy alumni - Lauren Annunziata, Kogod/BSBA '84, and John Annunziata, Kogod/BSBA '84, who met while in the same program at AU.
Like the Rubinsteins, the Annunziata family commented about the ease of staying in touch compared to 30 years ago. "When my dad studied abroad, he had to write letters to stay in touch. But when I was abroad, I could speak with anyone at a moment's notice through Skype or an app on my phone," said Rachel.
Both legacy families also marveled at what they shared in common while attending AU. They say that AU has grown in size but retained its beauty and its supportive faculty. "We fostered relationships with our professors, which helped throughout our college years and beyond," reflects Lauren. Lauren and John Annunziata both mentioned close relationships with Professor Emeritus David Martin, who helped them obtain internships and first jobs while at AU. Similarly, their daughter, Rachel, added, "I am really proud to be graduating from SETH [School of Education, Teaching and Health], as I have learned from some of the most passionate and caring professors who have helped to create a supportive community of wonderful, future teachers."
Both generations reflect on the strong friendships they made while at AU. "I am a member of Phi Sigma Pi, the national co-ed honors fraternity. Most of my great memories involve that group, and most of my lasting friendships will be with other members," says Sara. Similarly, John Annunziata, a member of AU's Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, recounted how his friendships with his fraternity brothers have lasted several decades. "My brothers have shared most significant events of my life: my wedding, the births of my children, birthdays, and many other significant milestones in our lives," says John. It is clear that AU plays a strong part in the lives of these legacies.
Next fall, these families can reconnect again at the second annual Legacy Breakfast and Pinning ceremony scheduled during All-American Weekend, on Saturday, October 18. This event will encourage legacy alumni and students to network with others who make attending AU a family custom.


text: Joliet Man Wins Toyota Prius at Chicago Auto Show February 20, 2011 10:17 AM Justin McNally, a 27-year-old resident of Joliet, has won a 2011 Toyota Prius, courtesy of the Chicagoland Toyota Dealers. "The Toyota 2011 Chicago Auto Show Prius Giveaway" was conducted on the dealers' Facebook page - www.facebook.com/chicagolandtoyotadealers, a site that informs visitors of Chicagoland Toyota Dealer promotions, contests and events throughout the area. The 30 dealers who comprise the Chicagoland Toyota Dealers sponsored the online contest in January and February, with 10 selected semi-finalists invited to attend today's final day of the Chicago Auto Show. This morning, the semi-finalists met at the Toyota exhibit and were provided identical envelopes. McNally's envelope contained the picture of a Prius, making him the grand prize winner. Nearly 3,000 contest entries were posted on the Facebook page this year. The contest was limited to Chicagoland residents, many of whom took the opportunity to re-enter on multiple occasions. Back to News


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A little over two weeks ago, AgProfessional posted an editorial from Maurice Hladik, who claimed that urban farming is an urban myth. This editorial garnered several responses from people debating the need for urban farming vs. the greed of giant agribusinesses.
The responses were varied and yet many brought up the same issues again and again. To read the original commentary, click here. A synopsis of the comments AgProfessional received are listed below. My response to the comments are in italics.
1. Anyone who speaks against urban farming as the potential to feed the world is either misguided or misinformed or both.
Not everyone is going to agree with the merits of urban farming, but that is why this is a free country and people have the choice to farm or not. People who choose to farm in the city are not superior to farmers in the country. This elitist attitude will not garner the spirit of cooperation needed to truly feed the world.
2. The burden of feeding the world is not solely the job of agribusiness. It is the job of every person. Big Ag cannot feed the world alone. Urban farming is part of the solution.
Agribusiness is in the best position to offer large amounts of healthy, nutritious food to the world. If these companies had not pioneered methods and products to help farmers improve the way they farm, all of us would not be free to choose jobs other than farming. Not everyone wants to farm. Thanks goes to large farming operations and agribusiness because not everyone has to devote their entire lives to producing their own food to survive. Although there is a place for urban farming, until the culture of the United States changes, most people will not be returning to a mostly agrarian lifestyle.
3. Everyone should emulate various models of urban farming, including Russia, where 51 percent of the nation's food supply is produced by small family farms; the Growing power model; Occupy the Dirt; and other movements.
People in Russia had to have small family farms because under their government's regime, there was not enough food to go around. They had to have these farms or they starved. Romanticizing their efforts is misguided. Multiple models of getting "off the grid" and growing one's own food so as not to be reliant upon others are easy to find, but hard to implement without a significant change in lifestyle, which most in the United States are not ready or prepared for.
4. Urban ag feeds the hungry, educates urban populations about where their food comes from, examines and changes food policy and offers environmental remediation. It promotes local agriculture.
Conventional agriculture also feeds the hungry, teaches urban populations and children where food comes from. For example, the Mid America Crop Life Association has an Ambassador Program where people who work in agriculture volunteer their time to go into classrooms and teach children where food comes from. The idea that only urban farmers, organic farmers or local farmers can teach about agriculture is absurd.
5. Traditional agriculture promotes and perpetuates the problems of our food system.
That issue is a matter of perspective. Thanks to advances in modern, conventional agriculture, this country has not seen a return to the Dust Bowl in a year of significant drought that is comparable to the 1930s. Yes, this country has experienced significant drought, but there have not been reports of dust storms destroying fertile croplands like in the 1930s. That is due to improved efforts of farming including conservation methods that protect the soil and create wind breaks, to name a couple.
6. Urban farming allows people to have control or engage in one's food and health system. People have a right to grow their own food independently.
Conventional farming allows farmers to control their own food. Many conventional farmers will tell you how proud they are to grow food. No one is claiming to take away anyone's right or ability to grow a garden. Like many things in this country, it is everyone's responsibility to choose the best foods for themselves.
7. Unique and alternative approaches to growing food should be celebrated and lauded. Conventional methods are old, environmentally unfriendly and totally uncool.
The idea that conventional agriculture is suddenly uncool is untrue. Just take a look at the two YouTube videos posted this summer by young farmers. The first video, "I'm Farming and I Grow It," was a parody of "I'm Sexy and I Know It." Those three brothers' video received more than 6.5 million views and made the mainstream media circuit including "Good Morning, America!" The second video, "Farm It Maybe" has received more than 694,000 views. These young farmers have captured the spirit of farming life in a cool, unique and fun way that also has crossed over in appeal to mainstream America.
8. World War II Victory Gardens produced more than 40 percent of people's food at the time. Urban farming is economical.
Similar to Russia's family farms, World War II Victory Gardens were out of necessity during a time when food was scarce due to war. Agriculture is in the business of looking forward. A return to old style methods and ideologies seems backwards and counterproductive. However, home gardens can and do provide an alternative food source during the summer and early fall months. Urban farming is a poor substitute for food during the winter months, which many pro-urban farming proponents seem to neglect mentioning.
9. Feeding the world has to be sustainable. "Furthermore, feeding the world should be about empowerment and sovereignty of individual countries and communities to be able to feed themselves instead of dependent on strangers from thousands of miles away. … It's definitely not sustainable to spray massive pesticides, utilize GMO's, and make thousands of people dependent instead of independent."
Traditional agribusiness is becoming more sustainable as technology and enhancements improve farmers' understanding of caring for crops. Many conventional farms have been in their families for multiple generations. Conventional farms allow many people to lead independent lives away from farm fields and food production. Thanks to genetically modified crops, fewer crop protection chemicals are being used. The more toxic crop protection chemicals are being phased out of production, and the Environmental Protection Agency is approving products for use that are the most environmentally friendly that the industry has ever seen.
10. Urban agriculture threatens giant agribusiness corporations who only want people to buy their heavily marketed, nutritionless products.
It is everyone's choice as to what food to buy. No one is twisting anyone's arm when they go to the grocery store or farmer's market. Agribusiness is not threatened by urban agriculture. In fact, conventional farmers are a great resource for urban agriculturalists to use for learning the intricacies of growing food. In the end, we all need food to survive.


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