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This is a great competition run by Taylor Wimpey, all you have to do is describe your perfect dinner party menu, and you don't even have to make it – probably just as well as I am not a very good cook at the best of times!
(Above – me messing about in my kitchen!)
I often think dinner party food is terribly over-complicated and the host ends up spending the whole time cooking which leaves very little time to chat or to do the grand tour of the house, which everybody loves doing. For this reason all of the food I am choosing is easy and simple to prepare, which is great for 'not so good cooks' too. For main course I have gone with salmon, its delicious, locally farmed, highly nutritious and above all super yummy. I have also gone with a non-alcoholic drink as I am a non-drinker and at every dinner party someone has to be the driver, so instead of someone missing out everyone can enjoy the special non-alcoholic cocktail I have chosen!
Safe sex on the beach cocktail
3oz cranberry juice, 3oz grapefruit juice, 2oz peach nectar, 1 cherry, pour over ice in a chilled glass and stir, pop a cherry on the top!
Crispy garlic mushrooms
local mushrooms, heaps of garlic, natural yoghurt and black pepper
Fettucine with salmon and blue cheese
fettucine tossed with a creamy sauce, salmon, peppers and topped with crumbled cheese
chocolate and coffee profiteroles
dark chocolate sauce is complemented by the light crust of the choux pastry
Most of the ingredients can be bought locally from our farmers market, and none are hard to find. I have chosen a range of different foods which are making me hungry just writing this – this is my entry for the Taylor Wimpey Dinner Party Competition.
bon appétit

subset: commoncrawl


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CLDFND: Cisco ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall
The ASA has been a firewall technology that is known and loved by security admins and network admins for quite a while. And, being able to provide that same functionality for a cloud-based environment, the ASAv is extremely appealing. All right, this is good news to be able to deploy this – it's also called the ASA 1000V. So, our cloud firewall, our software-appliance, virtualized firewall that's going to give us the tools to be able to control the behavior of access.
So, whether we're talking about edge security amongst our tenants, providing the ability to route out with a default gateway, and the elements that we look to a firewall to provide – to say, 'Okay, shield's up', protect me against various different types of network attacks, to be able to recognize those things. Those are the elements that we expect from an ASA, and we're going to get them here, protecting our tenants inside of our virtualized infrastructure, all right. So we're following the same kind of thought process that we looked at before. We're now…we're looking at it inside of a virtualized system.
So again, here we see this idea that we've got a couple of tenants, and each tenant…all right, let's look at the big picture here. With each tenant, we know that everything's being managed by hosts, and that means hypervisors. Deployed to all those hosts, we have consistent Cisco Nexus 1000V. So we're all plugged into the same kind of switches as we're all initially connected to essentially – this fabric. We have vPath that is going to be responsible for ensuring that we have the most efficient forwarding decisions made by those Cisco devices throughout our network. Within each tenant, we utilize the VSG. And, remember, that's going to be what provides the framework for security between the virtual machines, governs the policies for VM-to-VM communication within a tenant that is actually applied, remember, at the Cisco Nexus level.
Then, we have the virtualized ASA for this tenant. And so, when these VMs need to get out of their tenant-based environment, which is recognized – again by vPath, then we can apply those Cisco ASA firewall rules and definitions. So, it integrates with the switch, recognizes the path, and this can be managed with a Virtual Network Management Center. Then it complements the VSG because of that extra layer of security – providing the security that we need to control access out of our network and keep things, again, secure and consistent. So, acting as a gateway for VXLANs, right, when we're controlling that behavior – it can be dedicated as we can put this on a specific server and manage it to ensure it has the best performance because, again, everything is going to funnel through it, just like in a physical firewall. So we have to be considerate of that, but it's going to essentially give me all the tools I need to have the administrative deployment of edge support.
So, notice in here, we've got a couple of Virtual Device Contexts, so we can create essentially two separate virtual firewalls, as necessary, with one software deployment of the ASA. So we've just subdivided that to create two worlds – they're isolated, still within our tenant though. So, each one of those separate worlds is going to be managed by their own VSG for the tenant, but then is also governed by the ASA for the access out, right. So it is always the big picture of leaving the tenancy, leaving the boundary of administrative functionality that you've created within this environment.
Our goal is, of course, end-to-end security, right, and so that means being considerate of the physical appliances and modules and the software virtual appliances that we can deploy. So, again, familiar with the ASA, familiar with Cisco devices and cards and components. Again, great to have those – I'm not saying we're going to get rid of those – those are already performing great functions. But, as we look to cloud deploy our environment, what we often find is they are too rigid for all of our needs. So, to create a more virtualized end-to-end environment, that's where we start allowing for…essentially delegated control at the VSG level for what happens within each of these virtualized networks and then egress control at…with the Cisco ASA.
So, again, same technologies really for the most part. We're talking about policies and controls, which should be very familiar to someone who has managed Cisco Security. Automated policy-based provisioning, right, so workflows are going to roll these out, allow us to templatize the process to get us up and started with. Okay, here's a new tenancy, here's going to be the network infrastructure that you need. So this is something that we can automate using our administrative tools to be able to roll this out consistently. But this is…the plan is to have a secure environment guided by the integration of all these products. And, again, remember how fast this is going to actually perform as we look at the underlying communication plane being very much separated from the concerns that we have in the physical plane, right, with a lot of crossover, high availability, virtualization-based communication that's occurring that gives us a kind of a single-unit reward for deployment.


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Worst Week in Washington
Always wish you could know the one person, place or thing that had the absolute worst week in Washington? Us too!
Starting this week, we will be choosing who (or what) had the "Worst Week in Washington" (or WWW for short -- no one has used those initials for anything else, right?).
Our pick will run in the Sunday Outlook section of the newspaper and will post online on Fridays.
But, as always, we want Fixistas help!
Every Wednesday we are going to post an item asking for your nomination of the Democrat, Republican, West Wing dweller, Capitol Hill insider, K Street dealer, business guru, sports hero, think tank scribblers and any other inhabitant of Planet Beltway who experienced the absolute Worst Week in Washington. (Trust us, the competition is intense.)
If we use your pick, you'll earn our undying gratitude -- and maybe even a Fix T-shirt!
Nominate away. And don't forget to give us not just the "who" or "what" but the "why" too.
Chris Cillizza
May 12, 2010; 11:09 AM ET
Categories: Worst Week in Washington
Save & Share: Previous: Danger Incumbents Danger!
Next: The Uncertainty of Incumbents: What do you say to voters?
CC, sorry I meant John Cornyn in my entry yesterday. I get the GOP senators mixed up all the time.
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Posted by: itkonlyyou56 | May 12, 2010 10:08 PM | Report abuse
Who? GOP Incumbents.
Why? Tea Bag contesters running against them in the Primary.
Where? Everywhere in America.
Runner up: Karzai.
America has grown tired of his excuses and even President Obama knows we won't permit our troops to stay there past July of 2010.
Forget 2011, our patience has run out and the pocketbook is closing.
Posted by: WillSeattle | May 12, 2010 8:28 PM | Report abuse
Bob Bennett's the obvious choice, but there are plenty of reasons he's the obvious choice.
Posted by: SeanC1 | May 12, 2010 7:44 PM | Report abuse
Clearly Arlen Specter. Looking ahead to next Tuesday makes this a worse week than actually experiencing next Tuesday. The SCOTUS pick, the surging polls... On the upside, hopefully a guy with his amazing record of beating cancer three times probably has some perspective on what really matters in life. Life goes on either way after Tuesday.
Posted by: fairfaxvoter | May 12, 2010 7:35 PM | Report abuse
Its easy to pick Allan Mollohan, given he essentially lost his seat via the primary.
However I have to go with Arlen Spector. The last week has seen his formidable lead in the polls dissolve as Sestak hammers him for his party switch. He's also fallen behind Sestak in the head to heads against Toomey, meaning its harder for him to use the 'electability' argument (he's still trying too, of course).
And, to top it off, the President picked Kagan for the SC, meaning Arlen has to justify his vote against her as Solicitor General (back in the days when he was trying to prove he was a loyal Republican).
Posted by: JayPen | May 12, 2010 4:59 PM | Report abuse
"Ah, the infinite flexibility of English."
Yeah, well its like that and its like this*
*rip easy e
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 4:14 PM | Report abuse
Ah, the infinite flexibility of English. It truly is a mongrel language and I do mean that as a compliment. At least it's got hybrid vigor! As opposed to rigor(mortis).
Posted by: FairlingtonBlade | May 12, 2010 4:08 PM | Report abuse
It is a transitive verb,as in,
"Those Greeks peeved me," or,
"I sure got peeved by those Greeks."
but I don't think it is intransitive.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 4:01 PM | Report abuse
"Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that the federal government will have to spend an additional $115 billion implementing the law, bringing the total estimated cost to over $1 trillion."
But, but i thought the CBO were liars? So if you admit they are now telling the truth then we only reduce the deficit by $65 billion over ten years with this bill.
Posted by: JRM2 | May 12, 2010 3:59 PM | Report abuse
I didn't know that peeved was a verb.
Posted by: FairlingtonBlade | May 12, 2010 3:52 PM | Report abuse
A very bad week for the Minerals Management Service, that is for sure.
Now that we know what they don't do, you may wonder, what do they do?
"Coast Guard Capt. Hung Nguyen, a co-chairman of the investigation panel, repeatedly asked Michael Saucier, the regional director for the Gulf of Mexico for the Minerals Management Service, about testing and regulation of the blowout preventer.
In seemingly exasperated disbelief, Mr. Nguyen repeated the conclusions back.
"Designed to industry standard, manufactured by industry, installed by industry, with no government oversight of construction or installation, is that correct?" he asked Mr. Saucier.
"That would be correct," Mr. Saucier said.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 2:58 PM | Report abuse
It has to be Arlen Specter, switches parties to get re-elected and now he's taking it on the chin in his re-election efforts.
Posted by: johnrobbins84 | May 12, 2010 2:56 PM | Report abuse
No, there are valved ports in the stack that can be used to inject golf balls, chopped up tires, etc. (junk), but the pressure needed to inject that stuff will have to be higher than the pressure in the system already and the fear is any increase in pressure could tear that small hole there already torn at the kink, wide open. So now I heard they are experimenting with different formulas to see what can work (flow at the lowest pressure possible but still form a plug) at that depth and temperature. But yeah, no one wants to be the person with the idea that made a bad situation far worse. As for trying "all sorts of new things" at the full flow rate, I can't imagine what that means.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 2:22 PM | Report abuse
Barry had the worst week. He peeved that the Greeks are way ahead of his time table.
Posted by: leapin | May 12, 2010 2:21 PM | Report abuse
It's hard to beat Bob Bennett. But, I'm going to go with Mitch McConnell. Florida's gone from a solid pick-up to probable loss. Losing Bennett is going to hurt and Orrin Hatch has a target on his back. Rand Paul's looking like he will give McConnell and embarrassment in his own back yard. The Republicans will probably gain seats, but he's got to be wondering if he'll face a leadership challenge from a reshaped caucus.
Incidentally, I prefer Zouk this way. Insults directed at the President are much more preferable than personal insults directed at other Fixistas.
Posted by: FairlingtonBlade | May 12, 2010 2:14 PM | Report abuse
12B, I'll bet they don't try the top kill, but the "junk shot" is a definite maybe. As I understand it, adding even a small amount of pressure to the system could blow that kink open, the place where a hole already exists. For awhile people thought the flow was as slow as it is because the BOP may have worked to some extent. Now, I think the thinking is the kinked pipe at the top is what is impeding full flow.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 1:59 PM
The techie blog you recommended seems to think it is only the kinked pipe that's keeping the spill down. Anything that involves drilling into that pipe definitely puts the whole thing at risk to blow apart. Isn't junk shot effectively drilling into the pipe?
Someone on the blog made the interesting point, that if the well suddenly started pumping out 60,000 bbl/day, then "all sorts of new things" would be tried. But, that BP doesn't want to be the one who is blamed for touching the pipe.
Posted by: 12BarBlues | May 12, 2010 2:04 PM | Report abuse
12B, I'll bet they don't try the top kill, but the "junk shot" is a definite maybe. As I understand it, adding even a small amount of pressure to the system could blow that kink open, the place where a hole already exists. For awhile people thought the flow was as slow as it is because the BOP may have worked to some extent. Now, I think the thinking is the kinked pipe at the top is what is impeding full flow.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 1:59 PM | Report abuse
it's not funny, shrink. right now there is a cap on liabilities for this kind of oil spill -- and more than that has been spent by US already. Obama is trying to raise the cap so we american taxpayers don't have to foot this gargantuan cleanup.
Posted by: drindl | May 12, 2010 1:39 PM
BP indicated at the hearings that the $75m limit is not a limit and they would NOT be using the trust fund $1b.
Seems like the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, which established the $75m limit and the trust fund, is a good example of tort reform. We all like tort reform, until WE are the injured party.
Posted by: 12BarBlues | May 12, 2010 1:45 PM | Report abuse
You can trust me when I say I know none of this is funny.
But if you think the taxpayers are not going to pay for this, you have not been paying attention to politics for the past few hundred years. Let's ask people who live around Prince William Sound whether Exxon cleaned up the mess and made things right again.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 1:45 PM | Report abuse
it's not funny, shrink. right now there is a cap on liabilities for this kind of oil spill -- and more than that has been spent by US already. Obama is trying to raise the cap so we american taxpayers don't have to foot this gargantuan cleanup.
Posted by: drindl | May 12, 2010 1:39 PM | Report abuse
Seems like the present status of the BP gusher is this:
1. No hope in the BOP ever working.
2. Small cofferdam is at the site. This is the size of a barrel of oil. They are trying to get everything all hooked up to the cofferdam, quick put it over the leak, cross fingers. This is a Hail Mary pass.
3. Next idea--topkill. Shoveling debris into high pressure pipe, hoping it plugs up before being blown back out. Another Hail Mary pass.
4. Wait 3 months for cross drilling to take pressure off. Hope that the present piping doesn't blow off in the interim and allow the well to pump 60,000 bbl/day instead of the present rate of 5,000 bbl/day.
Number 4 is what we're looking at, realistically. Sad, sad, sad.
Posted by: 12BarBlues | May 12, 2010 1:37 PM | Report abuse
"Are BOP's on working wells? Or only on exploratory wells? In other words, how many more disabled BOP's are down there?"
Heh, heh, today everybody is a comedian.
Yeah, this is why I was making fun of the administration for holding off on awarding new offshore leases two years from now.
Well what about current operations!?
But then someone in the industry said some government regulators were flying around to make sure this couldn't happen anywhere else...and I felt safe again.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 1:37 PM | Report abuse
"...otherwise american taxpayers get screwed for billions..."
You are joking, right?
Besides, look at all the jobs that are being created...more proof of the job creation capacity of the private sector. Another case of less government regulation turning into more jobs. Sport fishing was dying out anyway, now those guys can lay booms and wash birds and each others' boats and stuff hair into pantyhose.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 1:32 PM | Report abuse
The important thing is to raise on the cap on how much Halliburton/BP is going to pay for this, otherwise american taxpayers get screwed for billions.
Posted by: drindl | May 12, 2010 1:24 PM | Report abuse
I'm just getting my coffee this morning. For weeks, BP has been trying to get the disabled BOP to work (with the ROV's)? Did they know all this time, it was disabled? I understand that Sandia Labs has been analyzing the BOP's internals. Is this how the disabled status was determined?
Posted by: 12BarBlues | May 12, 2010 1:24 PM | Report abuse
"[Stupak] confirmed that the blowout preventer had been modified so that one of its ram drivers could be used for routine testing and was no longer designed to activate in an emergency."
Then there is Haliburton's work, the failed negative pressure test. Oh this is really, really bad.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 12:52 PM
This really is looking bad. Systemic risk when BOP's are being installed that are disabled. There will be blame placed on EVERYONE.
Are BOP's on working wells? Or only on exploratory wells? In other words, how many more disabled BOP's are down there?
Posted by: 12BarBlues | May 12, 2010 1:21 PM | Report abuse
Zouk, don't be obvious...of course anyone who says they thought the Great Health Care Industry Stimulus bill was going to somehow "pay for itself" was lying. The bill was passed to drive massive amounts of money into creating and using health care. It was written by the industry, for the industry.
The only difference between the two parties now is the extent to which this or that industry or interest group regulates their politics...with free speech. Whether AARP, Haliburton, Pharma, Boeing, Cigna, SEIU, Trial Lawyers, politicians are liberal with their own interests and conservative with the others'.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 1:17 PM | Report abuse
"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it," Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told us just weeks before Congress passed President Barack Obama's health care plan. Well, the nation's post-passage Obamacare education continued yesterday when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that the federal government will have to spend an additional $115 billion implementing the law, bringing the total estimated cost to over $1 trillion.
Wasn't this "under a trillion" charade something a bunch of Libs shrouded themselves in when they took this vote?
all the loons that chanted "bush lied" can now take to the streets and begin with a new call to alms: "Berry lied"
Posted by: bumblingberry | May 12, 2010 1:01 PM | Report abuse
WWW for offshore oil drilling, turns out the sex and drugs for oil royalties (the Bush/Cheney plan for American energy independence!) had greater consequences than a political scandal.
We learned the blowout preventer that failed disastrously in the Timor Sea a few months ago was disabled for repairs and never fixed...and the BOP on the Deepwater Horizon was also disabled...so it could be used for routine testing!
"[Stupak] confirmed that the blowout preventer had been modified so that one of its ram drivers could be used for routine testing and was no longer designed to activate in an emergency."
Then there is Haliburton's work, the failed negative pressure test. Oh this is really, really bad.
Posted by: shrink2 | May 12, 2010 12:52 PM | Report abuse
He lies all the time He lied about how often he attended services at Jeremiah Wright's church; he lied about how his parents met; how his uncle liberated Auschwitz; how his dad came to this country. The guy just lies about his own background and life. What a phony...and, btw, for someone who decries people's use of IPODs, why did he give one to Queen Elizabeth as a diplomatic gift - one filled with his own speeches. How priceless!
Obama appears to save his most consistent lying, in his background information. He knows that if his ordinary, unremarkable life were to be exposed, the mystique he has so carefully built up over the years would be damaged, perhaps even destroyed.
Posted by: bumblingberry | May 12, 2010 12:39 PM | Report abuse
How about that lying weasel berry:
Mr. Obama is also the person who, when he was running for the presidency, promised all health-care negotiations would be broadcast on C-SPAN (They weren't.), that he would accept public financing for his campaign (He didn't.), that he would put an end to "phony accounting" (He hasn't.), that lobbyists will not work in his White House (They do.), that he would slash earmarks by more than half (He has not.), that he opposed giving Miranda rights to terrorists (He favors them.), that he was against an individual health-care mandate (He supported it.), and that he would resist the temptation "to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long" (He succumbed to the temptation.).
Where, I wonder, does Mr. Obama rank these statements on his cherished Truth Meter?
And what are we to make of the fact that the very paragraph from Obama's speech where he laments the lack of truth in public statements includes - you guessed it - a false statement by Obama?
In his commencement address, Obama insists he doesn't know how to work an iPod. But here's an item that appeared on the Huffington Post on June 25, 2008:
WASHINGTON - Bob Dylan. Yo-Yo Ma. Sheryl Crow. Jay-Z. These aren't musical acts in a summer concert series: They're artists featured on Barack Obama's iPod.
"I have pretty eclectic tastes," the Democratic presidential contender said in an interview to be published in Friday's issue of Rolling Stone.
Is that distant sound we hear the Truth Meter going off again?
Posted by: bumblingberry | May 12, 2010 12:38 PM | Report abuse
I'm going to have to jump on the Bob Bennett Express this week. Reliable old school conservatism apparently just isn't enough for the 3,500 people who apparently get to decide who the next Republican senator from Utah will not be.
And, with apologies to the hopeful, it won't matter who the Republican nominee is -- he will win in Utah against whatever Democrat runs. Even a resurrected Joseph Smith couldn't win in Utah right now if he had a D next to his name on the ballot.
Posted by: Gallenod | May 12, 2010 12:29 PM | Report abuse
Sen Specter: the reason why is that it looks like he will lose his primary. He has come off as a opportunist, which the video that tpm made shows. He is the the reason people are fed up with Washington, politicans who say anything to get ahead. Also he flip flops so much he forgets what party he is in! earlier he said thank you to a group of college republicans for supporting him.
Posted by: dee150586 | May 12, 2010 12:29 PM | Report abuse
It might not have been the worst week in Washington, but it was sure the worst week in politics in any country for Gordon Brown. Not only did he lose his job, but he was humiliated in the process, and, with his own remark about a constituent being racist, he humiliated himself.
Posted by: maris9 | May 12, 2010 12:22 PM | Report abuse
My vote is for Tom Coburn for WWW. Bennett is the obvious choice, but this was a long time coming for him. Coburn on the other hand has had two locks for the Senate (Crist and Bennett who has been his collegue for like 12 years or so) go down to upstart Tea-party folks in the recent weeks. Both of these races have made his job for the next 6 months a lot more difficult. For example does he give money to Rubio to bash Crist running the risk that if Crist wins he will vote with the Dems? And the Utah race is now no longer a lock to stay in Red column. On top of that he is still down the Chuck Schumer and DSCC in the money chase. On top of that McCain is only up by ten on a joke of candidate, and his handpicked challenger in Nevada wants to go back to bartering chickens with your doctor. Pass that guy some Excedrin he needs it.
Posted by: AndyR3 | May 12, 2010 12:05 PM | Report abuse
the gulf. from sky blue to oily black.
Posted by: doof | May 12, 2010 12:03 PM | Report abuse
The Afghan War is having the worst week - now that Karzai is trying to get Obama to join the Taliban.
By the way, if al queda is out of Afghanistan, and in Pakistan, we should leave Afghanistan, right? But then Karzai would fall, right?
Isn't that a Catch-22? Classic definition?
Posted by: 37thand0street | May 12, 2010 11:49 AM | Report abuse
Definitely Bob Bennett. While I am one of the few Democrats in Utah, I feel he has spent his time in the Senate honestly trying to represent his constituents as he felt they wanted to be represented. Now some opportunists saw an opening and were able to drum up enough anti-incumbent, anti- big government fervor to thank him by throwing him out. Thanks for your years of service!
Posted by: eggsaladnose | May 12, 2010 11:34 AM | Report abuse
Establishment favorite choice: Senator Bob Bennett. Spend your career as a conservative Republican in a conservative Republican state and get voted out on a breeze of anti-incumbency and an odd convention nomination system. Seems like politics in 2010 is like preparing for a hurricane: you know it's coming but there's only so much you can do to prepare for it. In Bennett's case, it clearly wasn't enough.
Posted by: F4poet99 | May 12, 2010 11:33 AM | Report abuse
Joe Biden, if you're counting family issues.
Otherwise oil company execs, for first experiencing the joy of a senate hearing, then learning that the Sec of the Interior is splitting the MMS into two groups to minimize the shenanigans.
Posted by: bsimon1 | May 12, 2010 11:16 AM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.


text:
Everything seems to be tentative about the Pakistan Army's Rah e Nijat (Path to Salvation) operation. It was launched after several months of dithering and carried out after the Army cut deals with two powerful Taliban warlords. Even now, it is not clear as to whether the Army launched the operation to salvage its wounded pride after the recent Taliban attack on the General Headquarters at Rawalpindi, or it is acting under American pressure. Or, that it has now finally come to believe that Pakistan's deliverance lies in abandoning the sponsorship of terrorist groups.
At the start of the operation, the Pakistan Army chief General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani has tried to wean away the Mehsud tribe from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan by appealing to their patriotism. He can be forgiven for his caution. You don't make war with your people lightly, especially if they happen to be Mehsuds who have in the past several years compelled the Pakistan Army to sue for peace thrice, and in the past century given great grief to a succession of armies.
Reasonable people will agree that the operation is truly Pakistan's path to salvation. For years now the writ of the state has ceased to run in large parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Craven peace deals with various Taliban factions have ensured that while Pakistan's garrisons in towns like Razmak, Wana and Miramshah remained untouched, the surrounding country- side fell under the control of the Taliban.
No war goes according to plan. Most likely this war, too, will end up with unanticipated twists and turns. But the goal that the world community seeks is the destruction of the Taliban as a whole. That is where there are worries about the Pakistani action.
Last year a similar operation was launched against Baitullah Mehsud and then called off suddenly without any explanation.
This time, too, there are questions about the Pakistani goals. They have; for example, made peace with two major Taliban factions led by Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur and ignored the Haqqani network which has been operating out of North Waziristan for close to a decade now.
As is well known, the Pakistani authorities retain close links with the Haqqanis - Jalaluddin and his son Sirajuddin - who were involved in the Kabul bombing of the Indian embassy last year.
If the deals are tactical - aimed at keeping these powerful warlords out of the battle temporarily - they are understandable. But if they are aimed at destroying the anti- Pakistani Taliban, even while preserving the others as part of the Pakistan Army's "strategic" depth, then we have reasons for concern.
The US cannot be too happy about these deals because it knows that nearly fifty per cent of the Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders it has killed through drone strikes were in the areas controlled by Maulvi Nazir and Hafiz Gul Bahadur. As for the Haqqanis, they lead the most effective Taliban forces operating against the US in Afghanistan.
The Pakistan Army has to beware that it does not become the Taliban's "strategic depth". The Taliban of today are not those of 2001. The war they have fought for the last decade has, if anything, deepened their fanaticism and hatred of the US and the West. They no longer require the services of the ISI to lead them into battle as they once did. Not only are they a much more seasoned fighting force, one that is deeply intertwined with the Al Qaeda, they have also expanded their sway across large parts of Pakistan which was not the case earlier.
The recent attacks in Lahore and at the GHQ indicate that there is very little wriggle room left for the Pakistan Army and establishment.
The recent spate of terrorist attacks in the Pakistan Punjab have showed that the Taliban have the capacity to attack at will across urban centres of Pakistan's heartland. It also indicated that the outfit had developed links with the so- called Punjabi Taliban - the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad and the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. These organisations have in their own way eaten away at the vitals of the state.
Despite a spate of terrorist attacks, some whose authorship the Pakistani Taliban has openly acknowledged, there are people ready to point fingers at India or the US. Last week in the wake of the Taliban attack on three police targets in Lahore, the city's police commissioner Khushro Pervez declared, "The enemy has engaged us in the North West Frontier Province and other areas? There is a lot of evidence showing the involvement of a neighbouring country." Interior Minister Rehman Malik, too, hinted at the Indian connection. Important sections of Pakistan remain in denial about their predicament.
Savage terrorist attacks have hurt Pakistan grievously. The country is stunned and confused. The reason for this is that its leaders, political and military, are not willing to change the discourse of jihad that they encouraged for the past two decades, leave alone dismantle the jihadi armies that have a free run of the country.
Meanwhile there are also military questions about the ability of the Pakistan Army to prevail in Waziristan.
Pakistan has a competent and capable army, but one devoid of any counter-insurgency experience. This was evident in its actions against the Baloch separatists in 2006 and, recently in Swat where it used air and artillery strikes liberally.
In Waziristan, too, Pakistan is relying on aerial bombardment to overwhelm the Mehsuds. This will only result in great destruction and a hardening of attitudes, without any diminution of Taliban military capabilities.
This has been the experience of air power since the Great Blitz of London in 1940 and most recently in Gaza.
Perhaps the most accurate instruments of aerial bombardment are the American Predator and Reaper drones being used in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan. Yet a New America Foundation analysis released in Washington this week suggests that of the 1000 or so people killed in drone strikes since 2006, as many as 320 or one-third, have been innocent civilians.
You can make your own back-of-the-envelope calculation about the number of civilians being killed by the less accurate aerial bombardment currently under way in Waziristan.
Islamabad is using air and artillery fire-power to minimise the use of boots on the ground. But insurgencies can never be defeated this way. Mountains and insurgencies gobble up human resources in large quantities - camps and supply lines need to be guarded, convoys, administrative offices and centres protected. Search and destroy operations require ridgelines and passes to be held and so on.
As of now the Pakistani strategy seems to be to capture Hakimullah Mehsud's hometown Kotkai, probably flatten his home and declare victory.
If that is so, then it is going to be a much longer war than what the Pakistan GHQ has anticipated.


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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A potentially lifesaving trip to the emergency room could result in exorbitant and unexpected bills, even if you have insurance.
Consumer Reports explains why you can be socked with surprise emergency room bills and how to protect yourself.
Watch the video player above for the full story.
Consumer Reports is published by Consumers Union. Both Consumer Reports and Consumers Union are not-for-profit organizations that accept no advertising. Neither has any commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor on this site.
(All Consumer Reports Material Copyright 2014. Consumers Union of U.S. Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Moses the Lawgiver, Michelangelo product
Twice Freud strayed away into a by-path off the high road of psychoanalytic investigation—once, many years ago, when he he wrote a study of aesthetics, and the second time in his eighties, when he undertook an inquiry into biblical history. Both times the prophet Moses was the object of his investigation. In the first instance it was Michelangelo's statue of Moses, selected out of all the work produced by Michelangelo and from all the other creations of the plastic arts. Later it was Moses the law-giver, whose historic figure exercised a compelling effect on the spiritual vision of the creator of depth psychology.
Is this accidental? A man may accidentally meet another twice at the same spot, but it is not accidental when an old man returns to the place where once, in the full vigor of his manhood, a figure held him enthralled. What compelled the man who maintained that he was ignorant of the "oceanic feeling" of religious experience to approach the great religious founder and attempt to illuminate his spiritual aspect as well as the traits of his appearance? He said that religion was a neurosis; was he seeking the traits of neurosis in Moses? In not a single line has he given any indication of this. "I decided to put it away [the work], but it haunted me like an unlaid ghost." (1) Something profoundly personal is hinted at in such a confession.
Freud's work on Moses, the Egyptian, is not a psychoanalytical or psychological study. But we shall proceed in the manner of Freud when delivering over the author of a literary work to the tribunal of psychoanalysis.
Unless one follows the traditions which have been handed down, a reconstruction of the personality of Moses is not possible on the basis of the remainder of the available historical material. When such an attempt is made to mold anew a statue of this giant from the scraps of relevant history—to give not an analysis of the tradition, but a synthesis of the personality—then we have before us an artistic creation, just as Michelangelo's prophet with the tablets is an artistic creation. But by referring to such a statue we should not attempt to make an analysis of what is hidden in the mythical past, but rather an analysis of the artist.
Whatever is alien to Freud in the traditional figure of Moses will be regarded in his inquiry as alien to Moses; whatever there is in the figure of Moses that fails to reflect Freud's concept will be found in historical and exegetical excursions and bound up with the inquiry.
In analysis this is called projection. In order to project one's inner world onto some personality of the outer world, some similarity must first be found. The associations which lead to this may be positive and also negative. Correspondingly, the associations will be colored by love or negatively charged with hate, everything depending on which unconscious impulses are being outwardly projected. The projections may be on occasion divided up into two personalities: one is taken over by the "good" ego, the other by the "evil" ego; one is idealized and the other hated. Everything which does not correspond to the good or evil ego will either remain unseen or be denied.
"Moses is an Egyptian." How is this proved? Two explanations are given in the first of the three essays, which bears the title of "Moses an Egyptian." One is historical and philological, the other is psychological and folkloristic. The first one is: "Moses" is an element of many Egyptian names, such as, for example, Ramses (Ra-mose), Thut-mose; Mose in Egyptian means child. Hence, Moses was an Egyptian.
A man who is not an Egyptologist enters on a difficult excursion in order to demonstrate that an Egyptian name is a proof of non-Hebrew descent, but the very man making this endeavor bears the name of Sigmund and is a Jew. Is he aware of the striking inadequacy of his proof? On the basis of such a demonstration, anyone by the name of Sigmund is a Teuton; therefore this demonstration may be rejected, for the same reason that a child of Jewish parents born in Moravia may be called Sigmund.
In a footnote on page 23, Freud cites Eduard Meyer: "The name Moses is probably . . . Egyptian. This does not prove, however, that these generations were of Egyptian origin, but it proves that they had relations with Egypt." To this Freud appends a remarkable question: "One may well ask what kind of relation one is to imagine."
The other, psychological, demonstration that Moses belonged to the Egyptian people is as follows: In many legends about the origin and adulthood of famous men of the past, a stereotype is retained: the hero is of exalted descent; even as a child he is recognized by his father as a future danger to him, is compelled to flee, and is rescued and brought up by poor people; when he is fully grown his noble descent comes to light. Such is the echo resounding through the folk-tales. Since, according to the legend, Moses was born among humble people of an oppressed race, and rescued and brought up by the king's daughter, Freud associates himself with Eduard Meyer's idea that the legend was falsified and must be set right; and he arrives at the contention that the historic Moses was of higher descent, of the royal house of Pharaoh, and possibly even the son of the Egyptian princess.
Freud undertakes a detailed psychological demonstration with reference to folkloristic research into the legends of various peoples and heroes—without noticing that the emendation cannot be equated with the legendary stereotype, if he himself does not regard Moses as a legendary prince but as a real one. The fictional element is the princely origin of the hero. It is true that on the basis of history it can be proved that a legendary hero was no prince by blood, but on the basis of a legend about a non-prince can a scientific proof be adduced that the hero was, nevertheless, an historical prince?
In the countless folktales the lowly origin of the hero is denied and a nobler one poetically ascribed to him. Accordingly, in revision and correction doubt must be cast upon the princely blood of the hero. If Moses had been named as the son of royal blood in the biblical tradition, then skepticism would be in place and a suspicion justified that the legend had undergone a conventional distortion. But Freud recognizes Moses as an historical prince by blood, and so it is he who composes the legend according to its usual stereotype. He would like to maintain that Moses was the son of a princess.(2) This anecdote is taken from Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams, published in 1900.
Freud quotes Rank: "As a result of 'national motives' the legend was reconstructed into the version we know."
Freud is aware that the theory of Moses' Egyptian descent lacks a strong foundation.
. . . Further thought tells us that an original Moses myth of this kind, one not diverging from other birth myths, could not have existed. For the legend is either of Egyptian or of Jewish origin. The first supposition may be excluded. The Egyptians had no motive to glorify Moses; to them he was not a hero. So the legend should have originated among the Jewish people; that is to say, it was attached in the usual version to the person of their leader. But for that purpose it was entirely unfitted; what good is a legend to a people that makes their hero into an alien? (p. 20)
The only thing left was to assume that "in a later, and rather clumsy treatment of the legendary material, the adapter saw fit to equip his hero Moses with certain features appertaining to the classical exposure myths characteristic of a hero."
Posted by lexis art lover at 1:32 AM
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Thanks to our sponsor
Our latest tournament was the season ending Classic tournament on Lake Mohave out of Cottonwood Cove. A nice breeze from the north and water levels about six feet low greeted the six anglers who came out for a shot at a classic win.
Reaching that goal of a first place finish was John Mackey who brought in the tournaments only limit weighing in at 9.82 pounds. Second place was taken with the only keeper Mick Ratcliff caught all day, a 6.20 Mohave Monster. Third place was Dave Hoovers 3 fish which tipped the scales at 6.15. Good Job Fellas!
The complete results are as follows...


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Introduction :
Every customer complaint gives us an opportunity to make him a loyal customer. The more customers complain, have their problems resolved, and feel positive about the resolution experience, the stronger is the chance to repurchase & recommend. Seventy percent of complaints are caused by faulty communication. In any typical business only 4% of dissatisfied customers 'make a noise' and the company gets to know about it. The other 96% quietly goes away. And 91% of the dissatisfied customers will never come back. This represents a serious financial loss.
The most dissatisfied customer is our best teacher. We get to learn from him about our lacunae, areas to improve. The complaining customer gives us another chance to satisfy him and to retain that customer. Rarely does any one appreciate customer complaints. Even if you say verbally 'your complaints are welcome' your body language indicates your annoyance, irritation which the customer can easily note. This will send a wrong message about your company.
Even in the finest run businesses, problems, mistakes, or even bad luck can cause customers to be dissatisfied with your products or service. Therefore managing 'customer complaints' is of utmost importance. A complaining customer will tell 8 to 10 people about his problem. Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you if you resolve the complaint in their favour. If you resolve it on the spot, 95% will do customer with you again.
We should be sensitive to different ways customers say good bye and determine if the customer is worth winning back then recapture these lost customers. Recapturing such lost customers and keeping them loyal to the company makes business sense.
Objectives :
1. To sensitize participants about the importance of loyal customers for business and the implications of customer complaints.
2. To develop in participants a truly positive attitude towards customer complaints.
3. To sharpen their understanding of Benchmarks of Quality Customer Service.
4. To strengthen their skill to retain customer loyalty and Knowledge of the 'Why' of customer complaints.
5. To equip participants with tools of 'How' to deal with customer complaints in person (face to face), over the phone, through emails & letters.
Topics Covered :
1. Business savvy attitude towards customer complaints
2. Importance of loyal customers for profitability
3. Benchmarks of Quality Customer Service
4. Understanding 'Why' & 'How' of dealing with customers complaints
5. Responding to customer complaints in
i) Person (Face to Face),
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iii) Writing – Emails & Letters
6. Golden Rules for Processing Complaints – 8 Steps
7. Winning back a lost customer – uncovering customer's real reasons for leaving, creating win back communication plans to regain customers trust.
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Active, retention oriented training methods like Role Play, Case Study, Discussion, Simulation and Games will be used.
Dr. Lata Shetty, is the Director, Mainstream Training Centre, which offers Soft Skills Training Programmes in a variety of settings. Qualifications: B.Sc., M.S.W., Ph.D., a gold medalist throughout her academic career and holds a Doctorate from the prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
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in the meantime…
Oh, hi! I've been working hard this past little while at finishing this lovely wedding. Hop on over to my Photography site and check out the rest of the shots! It's a good'n.
Meanwhile…I sit and drink gallons of water in preparation for my ultrasound today. I'll probably post later on today the results! Stay tuned, fellow internetters.
#projectrodda2013 Mexican getaway
At the end of May, Dave and I took off on our very last big solo Rodda vacation before the little critter arrives. We decided to go to Mexico for two reasons: 1, We don't normally vacation in resorts and thought it might be a nice change (considering I wasn't planning on doing a lot of trekking around) and 2, I had been to this area of Mexico twice before with my family and it was familiar to me. I (surprisingly) didn't want a vacation where I had to figure out too much about the area/culture (chalk it up to being tired and pregnant). We ended up at the same resort in San Jose del Cabo where my brother and his wife took their honeymoon (another easy choice, so there wouldn't be as many surprises). Most of our time was spent reading/swimming/laying by the pool/eating. We did do a couple things in town though…where I quickly discovered that I am a wimp when it comes to being overly hot.
Dave read three novels. The Kobo has been good to him.
We took a sunset dinner cruise. It was lovely, up until the very end when they decided to make it into a dance party booze cruise. Not exactly my scene…
There was a cruise photographer who took our picture and tried to sell it to us. Pff. I can do better…see? Most of our faces are in the shot. (Her picture did suck anyway…even if it had our whole bodies in the shot)
When the cruise turned into a dance party, I very much longed to be on one of these boats.
The church in downtown San Jose.
The best food we had the whole vacation. Beautiful little sunken courtyard restaurant in San Jose called La Panga Antigua.
Chips and Salsa. A lot was had.
Here it is. The halfway point.
I promise to put up something other than bump shots/pregnancy stuff soon, but we just got back from vacation in Mexico, I'm busy trying to finish a wedding and I've been feeling a bit sick today…so things are moving at a slower pace.
I can't believe I finally get to start counting down now. It feels good to be on the other side of the countdown.
Yay for 20 weeks!


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- Research
- Open Access
Factor structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in German coronary heart disease patients
- Jürgen Barth†1Email author and
- Colin R Martin†2
© Barth and Martin; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2005
- Received: 26 January 2005
- Accepted: 16 March 2005
- Published: 16 March 2005
Depression and anxiety in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) are associated with a poorer prognosis. Therefore the screening for psychological distress is strongly recommended in cardiac rehabilitation. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a widely used screening tool that has demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity for mental disorders.
We assessed mental distress in in-patient cardiac rehabilitation in Germany. The factor structure of the German language version of the HADS was investigated in 1320 patients with CHD. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the underlying factor structure of the instrument.
Three-factor models were found to offer a superior fit to the data compared to two-factor (anxiety and depression) models. The German language HADS performs similarly to the English language version of the instrument in CHD patients. The German language HADS fundamentally comprises a tri-dimensional underlying factor structure (labelled by Friedman et al. as psychomotor agitation, psychic anxiety and depression).
Despite of clinical usefulness in screening for mental disturbances the construct validity of the HADS is not clear. The resulting scores of the tri-dimensional model can be interpreted as psychomotor agitation, psychic anxiety, and depression in individual patient data or clinical investigations.
- Confirmatory Factor Analysis
- Exploratory Factor Analysis
- Cardiac Rehabilitation
- Coronary Heart Disease Patient
- Underlying Factor Structure
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is of profound interest to health and clinical psychology due to the high levels of anxiety and depression observed in patients following the occurrence of a coronary event [1–5]. CHD was the most leading diagnosis for treatment in hospitals in Germany for men (320,000 patients per year), and, after childbirth and breast cancer, the third reason for in-patient treatment for women (150,000 patients per year) [6]. Most in-patient rehabilitation hospitalizations in Germany for men (about 60,000 per year) were caused by CHD [7, 8]. Recent research showed, that at least one in five patients in cardiac rehabilitation suffer from a psychological disorder [9]. Accurate identification of significant anxiety and depression as soon as possible following a cardiac event is essential in order to facilitate delivery of an effective and comprehensive treatment package which takes into account psychological as well as coronary disease symptoms [10]. This is particularly relevant since anxiety and especially depression have been demonstrated to be predictors of mortality in this clinical group [11]. The availability of easy to administer, reliable and valid screening tools would logically be a critical component of a clinical protocol seeking to identify CHD patients with psychological disturbance. A suitable measure would readily identify those patients for whom additional referral to a clinical psychologist or to a liaison psychiatry service would be more appropriate.
A candidate screening tool that has been widely and increasingly used with CHD patients is the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS: [12]), an easily administered 14-item self-report measure comprising 7 anxiety items and 7 depression items from which separate anxiety and depression sub-scale scores are calculated [13]. The HADS was designed to exclude symptoms that might arise from the somatic aspects of illness such as insomnia, anergia, and fatigue, therefore the instrument has been designed for use within the clinical context of general medicine. The HADS has been used for screening purposes in a diverse and broad range of clinical groups [14–24]. A number of investigations have suggested that the HADS is a suitable instrument to accurately assess anxiety and depression in CHD patients [10, 17, 24–27]. A fundamental assumption underpinning the clinical usefulness of the HADS across a broad range of clinical groups, including CHD, is that the instrument reliably assesses anxiety and depression as two distinct and separable dimensions [28].
On the other hand, recent psychometric evaluations of the HADS in a range of clinical populations have suggested that the proposed factor structure of the instrument may indeed be compromised by the physiological aspects of the disease or by changes in health status [23, 29, 30]. Conversely, there is accumulating evidence that the fundamental factor structure of the HADS comprises three factors instead of two [24, 26, 31–33]. The finding that the three-factor structure offers a superior fit to clinical data than the two-factor (anxiety and depression) model formulated as part of the original instrument development by Zigmond and Snaith [12] has implications in terms of the use, scoring and future development of this assessment tool.
Characteristics of each factor model tested in earlier studies.
Model, author, year
Number of factors
Clinical population
Factor extraction method #
Allocation of items to scales
Zigmond & Snaith (1983)
No Factor analysis conducted
anxiety: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13
depression: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14
Moorey et al. (1991)
anxiety: 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 13
depression: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14
Dunbar et al. (2000)
autonomic anxiety: 3, 9, 13
negative affectivity: 1, 5, 7, 11
anhedonic depression: 2, 4, 6, 7,
Friedman et al. (2001)*
psychomotor agitation: 1, 7, 11
psychic anxiety: 3, 5, 9, 13
depression: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
Razavi et al. (1990)
All items included
Caci et al. (2003)
anxiety: 1, 3, 5, 9, 13
restlessness: 7, 11, 14
depression: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
There has been little systematic investigation of the factor structure of the translated HADS in German cardiac patients, though interestingly a German language version of the instrument has been developed in Germany using cardiac patients within the context of the original assumed two-dimensional (anxiety and depression) structure [37]. To date, the HADS has been found to comprise a two-factor structure consistent with the anxiety and depression sub-scales proposed by Zigmond and Snaith [12] in cardiac [38] and non-clinical [39] populations in Germany. However, these large studies did not investigate the possibility that alternative factor models may provide a better explanation of the data.
Identification of a coherent three-factor underlying structure of the HADS has a number of significant implications in terms of the validity of the tool as a screening instrument. Firstly, referral to mental health services could be undermined based on a two-dimensional (anxiety and depression) interpretation of HADS scores in cardiac patients. Secondly, further replication of a three-factor structure of the HADS in a German cardiac population would be valuable in determining if the HADS should be more effectively used as a screening instrument when comprised of three sub-scales in this group. Thirdly, replication of a consistent three-factor structure in the German-translated version of the HADS would provide strong evidence that the three-dimensional structure is implicit to the instrument and not a language-based artifact. Finally, the widespread international use of the HADS provides a compelling rationale to establish the psychometric properties of the instrument not only in broad diagnostic categories, but also across culturally-diverse groups.
- 1)
Do exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) techniques concord to the proposed bi-dimensional structure of the HADS in German CHD patients?
- 2)
Does a three-dimensional factor structure provide a superior fit compared to competing bi-dimensional factor structures?
The study used a cross-sectional design with all measures taken at one observation. The dependent variables were sum scores obtained on the HADS (all items), and the anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D) sub-scales. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) methods were used to address the research questions using a pooled HADS data set from all patients. Ethical approval for the study was given by the local ethical committee of the University Hospital of Freiburg. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to the commencement of the study.
The study was conducted in three German cardiac rehabilitation hospitals. The patients stay in these hospitals for three to four weeks for a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program consisting of medical advice, exercise, patient education, relaxation and psychosocial interventions. All cardiac patients who agreed to take part in the PROTeCD-study (Psychotherapeutic Resource-Orientated Treatment for Cardiac Patients with Depression) were screened for mental distress with the German version of the HADS [37] at admission to hospital. Sociodemographic data were collected by self report and somatic data were reported by physicians at study entry.
Statistical analysis
Exploratory factor analysis
Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the full 14-item HADS using SPSS 12.0 statistical software. The criterion chosen to determine that an extracted factor accounted for a reasonably large proportion of the total variance was based on an eigenvalue greater than 1. A maximum likelihood factor extraction procedure was chosen since this method of factor condensation is consistent with our previous research [22] and is particularly useful for extracting psychologically meaningful factors [40]. An oblimin non-orthogonal factor rotation procedure was chosen [40] due to the possibility that extracted factors are likely to be correlated. Determination of a significant item-factor loading was set at a coefficient level of 0.30 or greater, this level based on a rationale of generating a more complete psychological interpretation of the data set, this being a level consistent with investigators who have used EFA [22, 30, 36, 41].
Confirmatory factor analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 4 [42] statistical software package. Eight models were tested. These were Zigmond and Snaith's [12] original two-factor model, Moorey et al.'s [43] two-factor model, Razavi et al.'s [44] single-factor model, two versions of Clark and Watson's [34] three-factor model as evaluated by Dunbar and colleagues [32], Friedman et al.'s [33] three-factor model and two versions of Caci et al.'s [31] three-factor model. The characteristics and the allocation of the items to the factors in each tested modelare shown in Table 1. For all models, independence of error terms was specified. Factors were allowed to be correlated where this was consistent with the particular factor model being tested. Multiple goodness of fit tests [45] were used to evaluate the eight models, these being the comparative fit index (CFI; [46]), the Akaike information criterion (AIC; [47]), the consistent Akaike information criterion (CAIC; [48]), the normed fit index (NFI; [45]), the goodness of fit index (GFI; [49]) and the root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA). A CFI greater than 0.90 indicates a good fit to the data [50]. A NFI and GFI greater than 0.90 indicates a good fit to the data [51]. A RMSEA with values of less than 0.08 indicates a good fit to the data [52], while values greater than 0.10 suggest strongly that the model fit is unsatisfactory. The AIC and CAIC are useful fit indices for allowing comparison between models [32]. The Chi-square goodness of fit test was also used to allow models to be compared and to determine the acceptability of model fit. A statistically significant χ2 indicates a significant proportion of variance remains unexplained by the model [45].
1320 patients (1035 male) enrolled in an in-patient cardiac rehabilitation programme in three hospitals in Germany provided complete HADS data sets for analysis. Inclusion criteria for participation in the study was a confirmed diagnosis of CHD; for details see [53]. The patient group comprised patients with a diagnosis of myocardial infarction (N = 666), coronary artery bypass graft (N = 382), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (N = 303) and unstable angina pectoris (N = 40). It is noted that diagnostic N exceeds total cohort N because many patients will have multiple CHD diagnoses. Patients were required to have had a diagnosis of CHD and had a recent cardiac event (MI, CABG, PTCA) in the past weeks. Female patients (mean age = 62.88; SD = 12.14) were significantly older, (t (401.14) = 4.14, p < 0.001) than male patients (mean age = 59.58; SD = 10.59).
Descriptive findings
The mean HADS-A sub-scale score was 6.14 (SD = 4.15, range 0–20) and the mean HADS-D sub-scale score was 5.41 (SD = 4.00, range 0–20). Using Snaith and Zigmond's [28] cut-off criteria of HADS-A and HADS-D scores of eight or over, 467 participants (35%) demonstrated possible clinically relevant levels of anxiety and 373 participants (28%) possible clinically relevant levels of depression. Adopting Snaith and Zigmond's [28] higher threshold for sensitivity of HADS-A and HADS-D scores of eleven or over, 204 participants (15%) demonstrated probable clinically relevant levels of anxiety and 161 participants (12%) probable clinically relevant levels of depression.
Exploratory factor analysis
Factor loadings of HADS items following maximum likelihood factor extraction with oblimin rotation
HAD Scale item
Factor 1
Factor 2
Anxiety sub-scale
I feel tense or wound up (AGI)
I get a sort of frightened feeling as if something awful is about to happen (ANX)
Worrying thoughts go through my mind (ANX)
I can sit at ease and feel relaxed (AGI)
I get a sort of frightened feeling like 'butterflies' in the stomach (ANX)
I feel restless as if I have to be on the move (AGI)
I get sudden feelings of panic (ANX)
Depression sub-scale
I still enjoy the things I used to enjoy
I can laugh and see the funny side of things
I feel cheerful
I feel as if I am slowed down
I have lost interest in my appearance
I look forward with enjoyment to things
I can enjoy a good book or TV programme
Confirmatory factor analysis
Factor structure of the HADS determined by testing the fit of models derived from factor analysis. All χ2 analyses were statistically significant at p < 0.01 (χ2 degrees of freedom in parentheses).
Zigmond and Snaith (1983)
Moorey et al. (1991)
Caci et al. (2003) model 1
Caci et al. (2003) model 2 *
Dunbar et al. (2000) model 1
Dunbar et al. (2000) model 2 #
Friedman et al. (2001)
Razavi et al. (1990)
The findings of the current study offer a further important contribution to the evidence base regarding the underlying factor structure of the widely used HADS. It is worthy of note that high levels of HADS assessed anxiety and depression were observed in the study. This finding is consistent with investigators using this instrument in cardiac populations in other parts of the world [22, 24, 26] and verification of the need to screen for psychological disturbance in patients presenting with CHD.
The findings from the factor analyses conducted on the HADS data are of pertinent methodological as well as clinical interest. EFA of the HADS revealed two factors, the loadings of individual items being consistent with the anxiety and depression sub-scale domains. However, it was also observed that the HADS-A item-7 'I can sit at ease and feel relaxed' was jointly loading on both anxiety and depression factors, this split-loading slightly in favour of the depression factor. A recent EFA of the HADS conducted with patients with significant facial disfigurement [35] also revealed item-7 to be split-loaded between anxiety and depression latent domains. Martin and Newell [35] suggest that in circumstances of split-loading such as those observed in the current study, a two-factor solution may offer the most parsimonious solution in EFA, but may not provide the best identification of factors in terms of model fit. Martin and Newell's [35] rationale for this is that EFA is not a model evaluation technique, therefore identification of factors based on arbitrary cut-points such as eigenvalues and scree plots is likely to produce a psychometrically reductionist account of sophisticated relationships between observed and latent variables. Martin and Newell [35] proposed that the lack of apriori model specification in EFA provides a convincing psychometrically plausible explanation of inconsistencies between EFA and CFA in extracted factors and interpretation of data. Indeed, Martin and Newell [35] found a similar finding to that of the current investigation, EFA support for a two-factor model and CFA support for the superiority of three-factor compared to two-factor models. Interestingly, Dagnan et al. [55] and Mykletun et al. [56] identified three-factor initial solutions within the HADS but chose to dismise the third-factor, without a sound psychometric rationale. It is likely that an expectation of a presumed two-factor model makes it difficult to reconcile an unexpected three-factor model emerging from the data, therefore it is explainable why these researchers might choose to dismiss a third factor.
The findings from the CFA revealed the best model fit to be provided by Friedman et al.'s [33] three-factor mode (see figure 1). The 'next best' fit to the data is offered by Caci et al.'s [31] three-factor model 2. It was also observed that the remaining three-factor models tested [31, 32] not only offered a good fit to the data but also provided a superior fit to the data compared to the two-factor models evaluated on a number of estimates of model fit. The two-factor models of Zigmond and Snaith [12] and Moorey et al. [43] did however offer an acceptable fit to the data. The uni-dimensional model of Razavi et al. [44] was found to offer a poor fit to the data, a finding consistent with previous research on the HADS across a variety of clinical groups [19, 24, 26, 30, 35]. There remains little doubt from the CFA analysis that the best fit to the data is offered by three-factor models irrespective of the clinical population from which the three-factor model was derived. The findings from the CFA have furnished compelling support of the HADS as a tri-dimensional instrument, consistent with contemporary research with this instrument across diverse clinical presentations [19, 26, 30, 31, 33, 35].
In conclusion, the current study found the German language version of the HADS to have an underlying three-dimensional factor structure following CFA in CHD patients, an observation consistent with UK [26] and Chinese [24] CHD populations. The traditional interpretation of the HADS as a two-factor (anxiety and depression) structure was also found to offer an acceptable fit to data, though inferior to that of the three-factor models. It can be concluded that the HADS may serve as useful screening purpose by being scored as two sub-scales of anxiety and depression. The clinical utilisation of the HADS continues to be invaluable in screening for mental disorders. Our results suggest that the assessment of the efficacy of interventions in evaluation studies by the HADS may be biased by problems in construct validity. Two decades have passed since the HADS was introduced to the clinical screening battery. The findings of this study and those of others, suggests that despite the clinical usefulness in screening the individual results of the HADS could be interpreted more precise in clinical routine. The differentiation of the anxiety scale in "psychomotor agitation" and "psychic anxiety" in the best fitting model may be helpful in the interpretation of individual results of patients. These results may improve our understanding of the process of adaptation in patients with somatic illness. A separate analysis of subscales in clinical trials may reduce bias caused by somatic medical conditions of the patients. Agitation might be more likely biased by the medical status of the patients.
The study was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany; Regional Pension Insurance Institute, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, LVA 02 804 and is part of the Rehabilitation Research Network South-West (Germany).
We would like to thank the cooperation clinics (Klinikum für Akut- und Rehabilitationsmedizin Bad Krozingen, Germany, Prof. Bönner, Prof. Holubarsch; Theresienklinik Bad Krozingen, Germany, Prof. Jost) and all participating patients. Our thanks goes also to all members of the PROTeCD working group (Prof. Dr. Dr. Bengel, Dipl. Psych. Nicole Englert, Prof. Dr. Dr. Martin Härter, Dipl. Psych. Juliane Paul) for their work in study design and patient recruitment. We thank also the reviewers of HQLO for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.
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|Since the summer sales began I'd bought a fair few things. I ended up returning the majority of them - which I'm sure my bank balance is very happy about - but the brand I was most impressed with was Dorothy Perkins. I have to admit, it's not my 'go to shop' when it comes to clothes but I'm always impressed by their sales - and this season is no different.
|Which brings me on to this post. I got this navy jacquard shell top in their sale for less than £15. I really like the shape of it and the colour as it will glide effortlessly from a summer piece to be autumn wearable. In the warmer months I'd wear with a black pair of shorts but in chillier climates, I'd wear as I am now with a black cigarette pant.
Dress: ASOS


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This abstract depiction of a city offers a chaotic aerial view of an unknown place. While we are accustomed to seeing sections of green in the middle of densely packed cities, Kimura uses shades of blue and asymmetrical lines to create a place unfamiliar to us.
Made in Japan.
Artist: Risaburo Kimura, Japanese (1924 - ). Title: City 89. Year: 1969. Medium: Silkscreen, signed in pencil. Edition: AP. Size: 25 inches/63.5 centimeters x 19 inches/48.26 centimeters.
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Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Be the first MLive.com user to add photos or videos of Renaissance Community Homes
Renaissance Community Homes is located at 3485 Oak Grove Rd, Howell, MI. This business specializes in General Contractors.
Reiaissance Community Homes was founded in 2010. Reiaissance Community Homes specializes in Single-family Housing Construction. Reiaissance Community Homes has 1 employees and estimated revenues of $88,000.00.


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OFRF released its analysis of organic research funded by the USDA Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and Organic Transitions (ORG) competitive research grant programs. This in depth analysis of programs funded from 2002-2014 offers an unprecedented assessment of the progress these programs have made in addressing critical research needs, and also provides recommendations for future research investments by USDA.
For the report, OFRF and a team of advisors analyzed 189 organic agriculture research, education, and extension projects on a range of organic farming topics, finding that many of the projects delivered valuable information and tools to organic producers, while others laid the groundwork for future outcomes, including research data, new methods, and advanced plant breeding lines.
"Most of the OREI and ORG projects reflect the same organic research priorities OFRF identified in our 2007 National Organic Research Agenda, as well as the 2016 update we will be publishing in the coming weeks," said OFRF Research Program Director, Diana Jerkins. "Based on feedback from the organic farmers we interviewed in the U.S. last year, soil health and fertility continues to be the top priority research investment." Together, the results from OFRF's evaluation of USDA research and the organization's 2016 National Organic Research Agenda are expected to be highly influential in future research investments made by OFRF, USDA, and other research funding entities.
Brise Tencer, Executive Director at OFRF, added, "OREI and ORG represent a long-term investment that needs to be sustained with increased funding in order to ensure the continued growth of the organic sector. At a time when the demand for organic food is increasing, it is critical that we continue funding the research needed to produce a healthy and sustainable organic food system that supports the economic success of organic farmers across America."
A digital version of the report, "Taking Stock: Analyzing and Reporting Organic Research Investments,
2002 - 2014" is now freely available online at ofrf.org.
The project was funded by a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) OREI grant. OFRF would like to thank the organic farmers, researchers, and advocates who served on the advisory committee for their contributions to this report.
The full report and executive summary are available here.


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SPA stay for cardiac disorders in Teplice Above the River Becva
The political changes in 1989 resulted in a new chapter in the history of the spa. After the first wave of privatization had ended a shareholders company Spa Teplice above the Becva was founded. The water from the springs is fed directly to the bathtubs. Because it has an almost ideal temperature it is only necessary to increase the temperature of the water by a few degrees. Special gas bathing facilities are available for cardiac patients. Almost all modern treatments for cardiacs are available. The mineral waters are also for drinking - and why not, since they are refreshing and give a boost of energy. Cardiac and blood circulation problems are treated here, together with problems relating to the locomotory system and metabolic disorders, and allergy and skin problems with children and adolescents. The spa has ten buildings available for the accommodation of spa visitors. The most luxurious services are offered by the Moravan Bath House, during the last reconstruction of which, a rehabilitation swimming pool was added. However all the bath houses offer a high standard of accommodation? The main spa building, with a promenade, is situated on an embankment near the chapel of St. Peregrine. Marks on the walls witness the level of the flood waters during the catastrophic floods of 1997. Most of the spa buildings date from the 20th century, some of which are typical examples of functionalism.
The goal of the stay in the SPA is not only the healing of the body, for example cardiac disorders, but also the healing of the spirit. In this spa great emphasis is placed on physical activity and relaxation. The spa park is an ideal place to visit for a short walk and to clear one's head. The park was developed in the course of the 19lh century and it covers both the banks of the river. The oldest part of the park is around the Moravan Sanatorium. It is interesting from the dendrological point of view: there are 55 different kinds of fir trees and 73 kinds of deciduous trees. Walks in the park are educative since the trees bear informative descriptions. The park is also adorned by statues sculpted in sandstone, laminates, bronze and tin attribute to the eternal beauty of woman. The rich cultural and social programme includes regular Sunday proms, an annual musical festival Novak's Teplice. Visitors have at their disposal a library, a reading room, a social centre and of course a restaurant, a bar and a cafe. Sports lovers can hire a tennis court, mini-golf, a bicycle or a horse.


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Ever since I was a boy I've been dreaming about a cream-yellow Volvo 850 T-5R. Now the time has come to drive one, virtual, but still. Volvo and Simbin have released Volvo, the game. This racing game gives you an idea how it is to race with some well-known Volvo's. You can choose from a […]


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In an emotional, poignant reaction on the day of the resolution of the Mike Richards contract saga, Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi called what happened to Richards "a tragedy" and said he was devastated that Richards became caught in "a destructive spiral."
"Without a doubt, the realization of what happened to Mike Richards is the most traumatic episode of my career," Lombardi said in a written summation he provided to The Times on Friday. "At times, I think that I will never recover from it. It is difficult to trust anyone right now-and you begin to question whether you can trust your own judgment. The only thing I can think of that would be worse would be suspecting your wife of cheating on you for five years and then finding out in fact it was true.
"Anyone close enough to me knows how much I loved Mike Richards. I believed that when I had acquired him, I had found my own Derek Jeter. But the fact is that he was never close to the player that he was after his best seasons in 2008-09 and 2009-10 in Philadelphia. His production dropped 50% and the certain 'it' factor he had was vaporizing in front of me daily. This is a player that in 2010 was instrumental in Canada's gold medal run and by 2014, while still in his prime, was not even in the conversation for making the team."
Anyone close enough to me knows how much I loved Mike Richards.
The Kings and the NHL Players Assn. avoided going to arbitration in the Richards matter, reaching an agreement Friday.
His salary cap charge will stay on the Kings' books until 2031. There were five years and $22 million left on his contract, but the Kings have not disclosed the dollar figure on the final settlement.
On June 29, the Kings terminated the contract of Richards for a "material breach." Richards was arrested at a Canadian border entry stop on June 17 and later charged with possession of the controlled substance, Oxycodone, after a two-month investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Lombardi revealed the steps he and the Kings organization took as their concerns about Richards intensified. Richards was part of the Kings' two Stanley Cup champion teams, in 2012 and 2014, and by last season, the Kings sent him to their minor-league affiliate after the All-Star break because of how badly his play had faltered.
"I tried everything with Mike — meeting with him constantly, sending him to concussion specialists, traveling in the off-season to visit with him at his summer home — and everything failed," Lombardi wrote. "I heard the rumors that Mike might have some off-ice issues, but I refused to believe that they were true despite some obvious signs.
"The reality is that I was 'played.' My only regret, though, is that I wish Mike had been able to come to me with his problem — and that was the last message I left for him on his cellphone when I learned of the incident and all the history leading up to the incident."
After the domestic violence case involving former Kings defenseman Slava Voynov and the two drug-related arrests of Richards and former Kings center Jarret Stoll, Lombardi has initiated educational programs for his players. The team also hired former player Brantt Myhres, who was once banned by the NHL for drugs, to help assist players and coaches throughout the season.
Lombardi indicated those steps were only the beginning
I believe that what happened to Mike Richards is a tragedy and I cannot let it go.
"I believe that what happened to Mike Richards is a tragedy and I cannot let it go. My short-term goal is to win championships; my long-term goal is to eventually become more involved with groups studying the changing values that are becoming increasingly evident in sport and their root causes," he wrote.
"I certainly believe that Mike Richards must be held accountable for his actions — but when a player who at one time symbolized everything that was special about the sport can become caught in such a destructive spiral, then I believe the institution of sport must begin to examine its level of culpability."
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