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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:55 am
Post subject: chocolate type questions
What do you mean when you state 70% dark chocolate? Does that mean the chocolate I use should be at least 70% cocoa? I went to the Dagoba website and did not see any that said 70%. There were certainly alot of different kinds of chocolate. What kind of Dagoba chocolate did you use? Thanks for any help you may give. I always use Hersheys cocoa when I bake a cake. I want to try it with a different chocolate to see if I can taste a difference.
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Michael Chu
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:39 pm
Post subject: Re: chocolate type questions
Nannette wrote:
What do you mean when you state 70% dark chocolate? Does that mean the chocolate I use should be at least 70% cocoa?
Yes, 70% cocoa or cacao content is what you're looking for. Dagoba carries a several varieties of chocolate ranging from 68% to 74% in blended and single origin. Any of these will be fine (and will have different flavors depending on which origin you select).
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 2:28 am
Post subject: Amazing!
I have made this recipe twice now. I am an absolute wreck of a baker, and for me to get any baking recipe right twice in a row is one heck of a compliment to your instructing ability! Thank you so much, Michael!
As a side note - the baking time for standard sized cupcakes is almost exactly 15 minutes at 350F (tins filled 3/4 full did not rise as much as I wanted, so I went ahead and filled them all the way to much success).
Also, I turned my cakes into German Chocolate cake using this disgustingly good recipe for coconut pecan frosting. Don't even bother looking if you're counting calories.
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 stick butter (.25lbs)
1tbsp vanilla
1 can condensed milk
pinch of salt
1 can coconut
1/2 cup (chopped) pecans
1tsp cornstarch
throw the sugar, butter, vanilla, eggs, condensed milk, salt and cornstarch into a saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until everything is melted together and looking smooth. turn the heat up to med-high and stir constantly until flakes of brown begin to appear as the sugar caramelizes along the bottom of the pan. I haven't burned it yet, just keep stirring and pay attention. When you have a pretty brown tinge to the whole mix, turn off the heat, throw in the coconut and pecans, stir it up a bit more and pour warm over your cake or cupcakes. yum!
South Carolina
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Engineer turn baker
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 8:01 am
Post subject: What is what?
I would like to know if all purpose flour = plain flour
cake flour = self raising flour, why do you need sour cream? Another question what is buttermilk in other recipe?
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1235
Location: central PA
Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:02 pm
Post subject:
well, "plain flour" is not a defined term. but, "all purpose" is probably not far from whatever definition you are thinking about.
flours are classified by their protein aka gluten content.
soft to hard.
soft is low gluten - this is the "cake flour" type - you don't want a lot of (toughing) gluten developing in yer cakes....
hard aka "bread" flour has higher gluten - gluten makes for an elastic dough that holds the bubbles that the yeast burps out.
self rising is two turns unrelated to any of the above; although it is typically "all purpose." self-rising contains pre-mixed leavening - usually baking powder - and a dash of salt.
why do you need sour cream? well, baking powder and baking soda are both base compounds. mixed with acids - sour cream, buttermilk, and a ton of "others" - that combination produces a chemical reaction which releases co2 which makes for bubbles which get labeled "leavening"
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Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:48 am
Post subject: sour cream in the cake
Thank you for this discussion. My question is: what can I use instead of sour cream? Creme fraiche? Yogurt? Non-fat or whole? Thanks. KT
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1235
Location: central PA
Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2008 12:52 pm
Post subject:
Creme fraiche? Yogurt? Non-fat or whole?
yes, yes, either. <g> watch the batter consistency - it may be slightly looser - you may need a bit more flour and/or bake time adjustments.
keep in mind, when you alter a baking recipe, you will probably get slightly different results. some people take their chocolate cake real serious! and a little or this or that is used to modify consistency, crumb, moistness, etc.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:26 pm
Post subject:
kindly tell me , as i really need to know this, i do not have a conventional oven but a microwave convection grill oven. pls tell me how i can cook the same recipe in my microwave convection grill oven.
pls do reply. and pls give clear instructions.
awaiting your reply
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1235
Location: central PA
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:09 pm
Post subject:
apparently you have some kind of "combination" oven?
if you could give the make and model number, we might be able to look it up and provide more informative answers, but:
the oven has at least two modes of operation:
microwave - I have never attempted to microwave cook a cake. there are microwave recipes for chocolate cake on the web - but I suspect the ingredients are different to accommodate the microwave method.
grill: grilling a cake is not something I would recommend.
convection: does the oven have the ability to set a baking temperature?
not grilling, just "hot" ? a convection oven uses a fan to circulate the air inside the oven; typically this means foods cook faster. "standard" recommendation is to reduce the oven temp by 25F' (i.e. 162'C vs 177'C)
and check on the cake more frequently for doneness - don't just go by the clock.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:01 am
Post subject:
well, about the technical specifiactions, i have a Samsung C103FL , (CONV+MICRO+GRILL) . It has output power of 100W/900 W-6 levels ( IEC-705), The microwave power consumption is 1400 W, GRILL 1300 W , CONV 1700 W, if that helps. about baking temp setting , in the convection mode the micowave gives me 220 deg c, 180, 160, and other lesser options. there is a micro+convection mode as well.
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Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1235
Location: central PA
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:24 pm
Post subject:
according to page 16 of your instruction manual:
"The convection mode enables you to cook food in the same way as in a traditional oven...."
so, select the convection mode, set the temperature, bake the cake - seems simple enough, no?
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:30 am
Post subject:
ok, maybe thw writer of this recipe will have a better idea about how exactly to go about with the cake in the microwave.
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Michael Chu
Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)
Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:39 am
Post subject:
Anonymous wrote:
ok, maybe thw writer of this recipe will have a better idea about how exactly to go about with the cake in the microwave.
The writer of this recipe just wants to say that this recipe doesn't work in a microwave oven... you're better off with Dilbert's advice
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:28 am
Post subject: Chocolate Cake
I tried your cheesecake recipe, and it's heavenly good. Tonight, I will bring it over for my mother-in-law. Thank you so much for the detail recipe.
I have a question. If I am only using an thick 8 inches pan to bake the chocolate cake (usually bake with sponge cake), do you think i have to bake a longer? like an hour or more?
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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:05 am
Post subject: Delicious!
Forgot the sour cream, but still came out moist and incredibly delicious! We used Michael's buttercream frosting recipe as well.
Try with raspberries on the top and around the base for a great compliment.
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The art that fascinates me is the art created by an someone who has an idea and follows it. Even if other people don't love it, even if others don't understand it, the creative force that changes the world and how we understand it continues making art.
Li Hongbo works in Beijing. He turns pure white paper into art. Pure White Paper is the name of the exhibition you want to see if it comes your way. He creates amazing sculptures that expand and collapse. They look like porcelain, and move like magic. Here's the video.
Li is a book editor and designer, and spent thousands of hours gluing sheets of paper together to form shapes inspired by the Chines paper gourd children's toys. After that, it became art. You can see more photographs by seeing the exhibition at the Dominik Mersch Gallery in Australia.
—Quinn McDonald is amazed at the inspiration that makes art.

subset: commoncrawl


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Netflix service gets a TV makeover
SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix today launched a makeover of the streaming video service, a move that comes after a succession of new entertainment titles.
The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company has redesigned its interface for better discovery of its catalog on TVs. The new look will display three large slide-show images, a teaser synopsis and one personalized detail chosen by Netflix.
"We want discovery to be richer," says Chris Jaffe, vice president of product innovation at Netflix "I knew one of my personal frustrations was I felt like today's Netflix experience didn't give me enough reasons for why I should watch this vs. that."
Netflix's old look gave viewers less detail and was dated. The streaming service's titles appeared much like rectangular images of VHS boxes, with descriptions, information on the number of episodes and ratings. The new version has taken two large Netflix-selected still images from scenes and added them to the studio art.
Netflix says the redesign to its user interface is the biggest update to its TV experience in the company's history. The company has been quietly testing it out on several hundred thousand U.S. customers, and changes have resulted in greater member engagement, according to Netflix.
Netflix has also launched predictive and visual search. That allows for members to type in just a few characters, as done with Google searches, to get at titles. Results will be served with images from titles, as well.
"Improving the search is certainly going to help people connect with more content that they enjoy. But there is still more improvement they can make if they want to compete against the growing number of apps that people are going to find on their new game consoles, Rokus, Apple TVs and mobile devices," says Gartner analyst Brian Blau.
While it's been a few years since Netflix has remodeled its look, the Internet streaming service has been steadily marching out new deals for content. Last week, Netflix announced a deal with Disney's Marvel to bring original programs to the service in 2015. Netflix also announced last week that it would launch its original documentary The Short Game to its service in December as part of a larger push of first-run material from Netflix.
The service has won viewers with originals such as Emmy-winning House of Cards and Orange is the New Black in a bid to become an original programming powerhouse.
The Netflix service redesign will affect game consoles, smart TVs with apps, set-top boxes and Blu-ray players. The makeover isn't intended for mobile devices. Netflix has done back-end work that will enable new features to appear simultaneously across platforms. Also, members will be able to find and launch titles more quickly.
The new service will be available worldwide in two weeks.


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ApacheCon was a success, even if the plot didn't go as planned for the WinNT/Security presentation (need to generate an entire set of side-by-sides to follow this mess called the Win2000 GUI shell.)
Douglas Adams was as entertaining as anyone could hope, and made for a great evening of sitting in an auditorium for yet another hour at the end of the day.
Now I can truly state I've met nearly everyone I've certified, although I've certified them by their works, not their faces. highgeek, get search working on the list archives so certification bumps up to master :-)]
And now that 1.3.14/Win32 binaries are out the door (correctly, this time) it's off to the last three fixes of the 1.3 tree and onto 2.0. London was ... incredible


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Google has decided that hackers could probably be better at finding its security vulnerabilities than its own engineers and has launched a reward program that pays up to $3,100 for each security flaw found.
The tech titan announced its expansion of its Patch Rewards program, which will enable hackers to find any security bugs in Google's properties including Android. "The goal is very simple: to recognize and reward proactive security improvements to third-party open-source projects that are vital to the health of the entire Internet," according to Michal Zalewski of the Google Security Team.
U.S. & World
Those looking to make a little cash on the side (the bounty for each bug ranges from $500 to $3,133.70) should be looking at these projects:
- Core infrastructure network services: OpenSSH, BIND, ISC DHCP
- Core infrastructure image parsers: libjpeg, libjpeg-turbo, libpng, giflib
- Open-source foundations of Google Chrome: Chromium, Blink
- Other high-impact libraries: OpenSSL, zlib
- Security-critical, commonly used components of the Linux kernel (including KVM)
- All the open-source components of Android: Android Open Source Project
- Widely used web servers: Apache httpd, lighttpd, nginx
- Popular mail delivery services: Sendmail, Postfix, Exim, Dovecot
- Virtual private networking: OpenVPN
- Network time: University of Delaware NTPD
- Additional core libraries: Mozilla NSS, libxml2
- Toolchain security improvements for GCC, binutils, and llvm
Of course, there are rules, and they tend to be very specific, including how hackers must notify Google "maintainers" in order to be paid. Google is hoping that cash can crowdsource a solution to its security bugs, and in the meantime give bored hackers an incentive to help out.


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9650 Atlantic Blvd
Directions Jacksonville, FL 32225
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When it's time for your next scheduled maintenance service, stop by Coggin Ford Jacksonville and experience the Coggin difference. Take a moment to browse our service specials for even more savings, and schedule your next appointment online. We hope to see you soon!


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Due to manufacturer restrictions, Wayside cannot display our everyday low price online for this item.
Please Contact Us for our best price.
This twin over twin bunk bed comes with a guard rail on the top bunk and a ladder with grooved steps to keep kids extra safe. The removable top-bunk tray works like a mini nightstand, holding alarm clocks, bedtime beverages, eyeglasses or jewelry. The arched moulding and linear slats on the headboard and footboard create a balanced transitional look. Whether sharing a room or entertaining sleepover guests, this twin bunk bed is the perfect solution. Attached with sturdy metal pegs, these bunks can break down into two twin-size beds.
The Classics 4.0 Twin Over Twin Bunk Bed with Guard Rail & Clock Shelf by Smartstuff at Wayside Furniture in the Akron, Cleveland, Canton, Medina, Youngstown, Ohio area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
Classics 4.o is an innovative bedroom set for kids incorporating sophisticated transitional design characterized by timeless styling and traditional Louis Philippe details into sturdy, safe pieces ideal for children's rooms. This bedroom collection is full of surprises. Hidden storage can be found in every dresser and even in one of the mirrors. Many pieces come with built-in touch lighting or electrical outlets. Optional storage and trundle units slide conveniently beneath every bed in this collection, providing versatile storage or sleeping space perfect for smaller bedrooms. Created with today's tech-savvy kids and teens in mind, this collection is infused with creative ways to plug in. From flip-down media drawers in every dresser to charging stations on the tilt mirror and desk, this collection accommodates a wide variety of electronics while maintaining a classic, relaxed feel. With anti-tip hardware on all pieces over 30 inches tall, lead-free finishes, softened edges and cord management, your child will be extra safe with Classics 4.0. Available in the warm Saddle Brown finish, crisp Summer White finish, or Classic Cherry finish, this one-of-a kind collection fills any space with style and function.
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These images are representative of this group as a whole and may differ from this item.
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Gender matters
Darrel J Wiens, Dayna J Depping, Stacey R Wallerich, Emily S Van Larr, Angela L Juhl
Sep/Oct 2003
Journal of College Science Teaching v 33, no. 1, p. 32-36
Do females and males choose science for different reasons? In this study 271 college biology students were surveyed to learn when they became interested and what factors determined their origin and maintenance of interest in biology. One finding was that females were more likely to cite a positive influence with a teacher as a factor for becoming interested in science, which has implications for teacher behavior in fostering an interest in science among female students.
This resource is referenced here:
Cutting Edge:Enhance Your Teaching:Affective Domain: Motivating Students
: Education
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Pedagogic Resources:
Research Results, Journal Article
Research on Learning
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Gender Differences
affective domain, motivation
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Zara and Mike's wedding looked such a lovely occasion with lots of smiles and all that beautiful warm-looking sun – wish I'd been there ! Even if only to watch the passing parade along with the rest of the crowd. And lots of fun was had judging from the happy dishevelment of exiting guests next morning (hello Harry!). Zara looked beautiful in her simple but elegant gown, and despite being a sporty, no-nonsense kinda gal, I note she didn't pass up the opportunity to don a tiara – no girl can resist a blingy piece of head jewellery when she can get away with it.
Speaking of crowning glories, lots of festive hats on display, and I have to say for my money the mature ladies led the pack with the Queen's pink number – loved the gorgeous combo of pink and orange feathers, and Camilla in her flamboyant feathery-flowery-grassy-meadowy thingy… whatever you call it, it's a style she certainly favours for her formal headwear, and I think it suits her very well. I like how she co-ordinates the colour of the headpiece so nicely with her hair-colour, and indeed, on this occasion she co-ordinated quite nicely with the colours of the bridal flowers, too.
Zara exudes such a bright and breezy energy, as though nothing phases her. I guess she gets her down-to-earthiness from her mother who's straightforward style made quite an impression on me as a child. I recall a newspaper report about Princess Anne telling a press photographer to 'naff off' or some such as she competed in an equestrian event. Of course, it was all very controversial, but I was full of admiration for this attractive, long-haired princess (i.e. my childhood idea of how a princess 'should' look) who said it like she thought it. Although she seems to manage the press attention without 'naff-offs' (she is one step removed from the frontline than Princess Anne was as a young woman), 'Mrs Tindall' seems to have inherited her mother's straightforward, down-to-earth ways.
Anyways, may she and Mike enjoy a long and fruitful marriage – although not so much chance of little Tindalls anytime soon judging by Zara's 'not broody' comments. Lucky QEII and Prince Phillip have Wills and Kate to rely on for great-grandchildren….
Meanwhile, the Duchess has topped Vanity Fair's Best Dressed List, which is a nice confidence boost for her in her challenging new role. And interesting that Hello readers fave was the purple Issa number. Interesting in the sense that although the divinely rich purple was more of an out-there colour for her, the style was very typical of Kate's traditionally favoured look than many of the other tour frocks.
Well, I thought that was interesting, anyway…..


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Global Citizens Network & Stipend Program
We know that it can be challenging for students to balance dreams of traveling with academic goals, part-time work, campus engagement, volunteering and social life.
The Global Citizens Network & Stipend Program is your passport to do it all!
It is generous funding for your time (over $30 an hour) as well as a model to support engagement in the global campus community and intercultural skill development, before, during and after your Education Abroad experience.
What can you expect by becoming a member of the Global Citizens Network?
√ Increase your intercultural competence through research and reflection
√ Engage in the global campus community
√ Expand your perspective by engaging in the global campus community of students, scholars and visitors
√ Grow your network & experience by volunteering with internationally-focused events and programs
√ Reflect on your learning and plan your next steps
√ Earn $500 for 15 hours of your time, towards your VIU Education Abroad experience!
How to Join: Email us!
Join the Global Citizens Network & Stipend Program by emailing your full name, student ID and Education Abroad program to firstname.lastname@example.com with the subject "Please add me to the Global Citizens Network & Program". *Ensure you have met the eligibility requirements before requesting to join.
You will have up to 1 semester after you return from your Education Abroad program to complete your hours and submit your completed Activity Log Form. Use the Activity Log Form as a Guide, through these steps:
1. Explore
Complete the exercises on the Explore web page, and create a plan for how you will engage, which you can add to your activity log and count an hour of time for.
2. Engage
Participate in events from the opportunity directory or propose your own.
3. Take Action!
Take initiative and go beyond a passive audience member to volunteer or take a leadership role. Select from the listed programs from the opportunity directory or propose your own.
4. Reflect & Submit
Complete a final reflection about your experiences.
Submit the completed package by email to firstname.lastname@example.com. Once approved, you will receive a stipend cheque of $500 as recognition for your time, engagement in the Global Citizens Network and your intercultural learning in preparation for your Education Abroad experience!
This program is one of the ways that VIU Education Abroad supports student mobility!
In order to participate in the Global Citizens Network & Stipend Program and receive the award towards your education abroad experience, please ensure that you:
- Are enrolled at Vancouver Island University in the semester immediately preceding the Education Abroad program in a minimum 60 percent course load (9 semester credits).
- Have the Education Abroad program (Exchange, Field School, Practicum, Internship) as part of your program of studies at Vancouver Island University and must be taken for credit (those in trades programs such as Baking and Culinary are exempt from this).
- Are in "good standing" at VIU.
- If you are on probation, have a GPA lower than the minimum required over the previous Fall and Spring semesters, or have a "registration services withheld" flag on your student record, you will not be eligible for the stipend;
- Apply and commence the experience BEFORE the Education Abroad program
- Complete the hours and submit the required Activity Log Form up to 1 semester after your return from your Education Abroad program OR before you graduate - whichever comes first.
Those who engage in multiple Education Abroad programs may be eligible to participate in the Global Citizens Network & Stipend Program more than once, with advance approval from the Education Abroad team. Please contact us to discuss.
IMPORTANT: If you do not successfully complete the Education Abroad program or the associated academic course(s), you will be required to return the stipend to International Education.
Those who have outstanding fees, holds or fines owing to VIU will not be eligible for the stipend until their account is in good standing.
Expectations & Volunteer Etiquette
Stipend Student Responsibilities for Volunteering:
- Arrange the placement.
- Be clear about your availability.
- Practice being flexible. You may be assigned specific tasks either before you attend or once you get to your placement.
- Ask the sponsor at your placement if you have any questions about the tasks assigned.
- Remain on task and be present in the activity you are volunteering for.
- Be respectful of the sponsors and students that you interact with.
- Remember that you are representing your program and VIU.
Common Courtesies
- Be on time. Contact your placement if you are going to be late.
- Show up. If you have let someone know you are coming, then you must attend.
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Use this opportunity to practice your professionalism and accountability.
You will use these important skills in your study abroad experience.
Pre-Approved Event & Volunteer Opportunities
Members of the Global Citizens Networked may select from these pre-approved internationally focused events and programs on campus, in order to complete their Activity Log hours.
Or Propose Your Own: If you are already involved in an initiative with an international focus on campus or have heard of an event you think is a good fit, please contact us so we may assess it for use towards your hours. See restrictions at the bottom of this page.
When & Where
1- 2 hours per event
(max 4 hours for stipend)
Cultural Couch Series
This program runs weekly in the Fall & Spring semesters. No advance registration is required to attend.
To volunteer, Contact firstname.lastname@example.com with interest in becoming a Global Ambassador. Global Ambassadors can earn 3-5 hours towards their stipend log by presenting a Cultural Couch session.
More information: See the Cultural Couch Series website & the Cultural Connections Facebook page.
1.5 Hours per post
Education Abroad Blogger
Contact: email@example.com for information and to apply
See your post featured on the Education Abroad blog and shared on social media! A great addition to your portfolio.
Education Abroad Promotion and Outreach
Contact: email@example.com or call (250) 753-3245 x 2494
1- 2 hours per event
WorldBridger Film Series
We believe in learning from a diversity of experiences, therefore student's can put a maximum of THREE Worldbridger films / 4 hours towards their stipend hours.
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
1- 2 hours per event
Lunch and Learn Events
The 'Bring Lunch and Learn' series is a great opportunity for presenters and attendees to share, learn, and discuss a variety of topics.
For more information, visit the Lunch and Learn website or to inquire about presenting, contact firstname.lastname@example.com
|1- 2 hours per event
(max 4 hours for stipend)
World Cafe
Earn Engage hours by attending one of the World Cafe events on campus and listening to presenters speak on various topics related to the theme of global citizens.
Check the Campus Events page for upcoming dates.
VIU Student Union Clubs
More Information: See the VIUSU Club webpage for a list of the clubs and their contact information.
2-4 positions per semester
English Language Centre – Learning Centre
Contact: email@example.com ext. 2965
WorldVIU Days
Culture influences the way we make sense of the world - our world view. At Vancouver Island University, WorldVIU Days is a week-long annual event, and one of the mechanisms we use to explore this concept. The purpose of the week is to raise awareness and build appreciation for the cultural diversity that we have on our campuses. It is also an opportunity to celebrate culture and to recognize the richness that diverse perspectives bring to our campus and community.
Global Citizens Week
IDW is held annually in February and provides an opportunity for Canadians to celebrate the difference they are making around the world. Planned activities help increase awareness of issues related to international development - poverty, human rights, war zones, globalization and the impacts these events have on marginalized people such as children, indigenous communities and women. It also provides an opportunity for people to find out how they can become global citizens who are actively involved.
Propose Your Own
Propose Your Own
The above activities are pre-approved. If you know of an activity that you feel is international in focus and related to the VIU community, email us the details and we will make an assessment and confirm if it can be counted towards your Activity Log.
Activities that are not eligible include:
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You may use more than one page for each section, should you for example have more than five events that you engage at or volunteer at.
Tips for completing a fillable PDF form:
- If needed, download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC: click here.
- Save the document to your computer BEFORE you edit it or you will lose your work.
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Carter Administration's Dilemma: Iran's Theocracy
June 1, 2009
"I did not know it then - perhaps I did not want to know - but it is clear to me now that the Americans wanted me out. Clearly this is what the human rights advocates in the State Department wanted ... What was I to make of the Administration's sudden decision to call former Under Secretary of State George Ball to the White House as an adviser on Iran? Ball was among those Americans who wanted to abandon me and ultimately my country."
These were the words uttered when, grieving, the Shah reflected on his downfall just before his demise in exile. The tormented former "King of Kings" ardently nurtured a deep-rooted conviction that the Carter Administration, in cooperation with the British Secret Intelligence, ordered and ensured his fall.
During World War II, England and the Soviet Union jointly invaded Iran, dividing the nation into two zones of occupation as the English and Russians had previously done in 1907. In the North, the Soviets secured a viable supply route and in the south the British placed their oil interests under their direct protection. Reza Shah, father of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the Nation of Iran were humiliated by the subjugation of Iran's domestic and foreign affairs to their conduct by foreign powers. King Reza Shah, who had implemented numerous progressive social and economic reforms, was ousted by British and Soviet forces and replaced by Mohammad Reza Shah, his twenty-year-old, inexperienced son. The British and Soviets, wielding little sympathy for the mass populace, occupied Iran.
Increasingly, Iran became dependent on the United States as a counterinfluence to the Soviets and British. As early as December 1954 the Shah noted, "The potentialities of friendly and close relations between the people of Iran and the United States are immense. There is a deep and fundamental identity of national interests which overshadows everything else. We both believe that the individual is the central figure in society, and that freedom is the supreme blessing. . . Iran has a great deal in common, in convictions with the Western world regarding freedom and democracy."
He branded his regime's politics as "positive nationalism."
In January 1963, the Shah announced democratic reforms as part of a six-point program called the White Revolution, a program of reforms to divide landholdings such as those owned by religious foundations, grant women the right to vote and equality in marriage, and allow religious minorities a greater share in governmental offices. Ruhollah Ayatollah Khomeini led a movement among radical fundamentalists to oppose equal rights for women and minorities and the reform policies of the Shah. On January 22, 1963, Khomeini dictated a vigorously worded declaration denouncing the Westernization of Iran and economic reforms and human rights as anti-Islamic.
However, the Shah did not per se attempt to "Westernize Iran." Iran was since its inception a Monarchy. Instead the Shah sought a pro-Western policy to counter the Communist Soviet Union. Iran's socio-economic and foreign policy objectives were closely tied to the capitalist world, in direct conflict with the communist ideology of Soviet Union and fundamentalism of surrounding nations.
In contrast, the Iranian fundamentalists sought to eradicate pre-600 A.D. Iranian culture and history and supersede it with an exclusive focus on post-600 A.D. This is in line with Khomeini's decrees, such as one issued on March 21, 1963 in which he declared that Persian New Year ("Norooz") celebrations be cancelled and that references to pre-Islamic Iran be eliminated. In 1964 Khomeini was arrested and exiled to Turkey. On September 5, 1965 he left Turkey for Najaf, Iraq, where he spent 13 years as an exile out of touch with the Iranian people and culture. On October 3, 1978 he left Iraq for Kuwait, but was refused entry at the border. After a period of hesitation in which Algeria, Lebanon and Syria were considered as possible destinations, Ayatollah Khomeini embarked for Paris. Once arrived in Paris, Khomeini took up residence in the suburb of Neauphle-le-Chateau in a house that had been rented for him by Iranian exiles in France. Subsequently, journalists from across the world visited the cleric, and the image and the words of Ayatollah Khomeini soon became a daily feature in Iran and across the world. The BBC and other agencies broadcast nightly interviews with Khomeini beamed into Iran, which incited the people against the Shah.
In November 1978 then President Carter nominated George Ball as a member of the Trilateral Commission. The commission acted under the direct control of the National Security Council's Zbigniew Brzezinski, an ardent opponent of the Shah of Iran. This commission cultivated a clandestine Iran task force. While serving on this commission, George Ball championed cessation of United States support for the Shah and clandestine support for Ayatollah Khomeini who, albeit in exile, led a proletariat Islamic opposition. Pursuant to this agenda George Ball sought to garner the support of Robert Bowie, who was at that time the Deputy Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
Meanwhile, Iran and British Petroleum commenced negotiations in Tehran, Iran concerning the renewal of a twenty-five-year-old extraction agreement. These talks collapsed because the British demanded exclusive rights in Iran's future oil output and refused to guarantee purchase of the commodity. The disintegration of these negotiations was domestically branded as a step towards nationalization of Iran's oil for the first time since 1953. Subsequently, the Shah turned to prospective buyers in Germany, France, Japan and elsewhere. The Shah had increased Iran's control over its oil resources, implemented progressive economic and social initiatives, undertook speedy process of capitalist reforms that focused on industrialization, increased Iran's military capabilities and sought to build a strong, prosperous and independent Iran; however, his goals and policies became the bases for his eventual downfall.
In mid-January 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned and the monarchy collapsed on February 11, 1979. Subsequently, Iranians, many of whom believed in Ayatollah Khomeini's promises of freedom and democracy, voted by a national referendum to become an Islamic Republic on April 1, 1979. They also approved a new constitution, and Khomeini became Supreme Leader of Iran. But Khomeini did not fulfill his pre-revolution promises to the people of Iran. Instead, he started to marginalize and crush the opposition groups and those who opposed the clerical rules. He ordered establishment of many institutions to consolidate power and safeguard the cleric leadership. During his early years in power he launched the Cultural Revolution in order to Islamize the whole country. Many people lost employment, and books were revised or burnt according to the new Islamic values. A newly established Islamic judicial system sentenced many Iranians to death and long-term imprisonment, as they were in opposition to those radical changes. The current regime continues many of the policies of the regime of the now-deceased Ayatollah Khomeini, including revising and eradicating Iranian history, culture and identity.
Perhaps the revolution and subsequent consequences would have never occurred if the Carter Administration had not taken the helm. No doubt, neither President Richard M. Nixon nor President Ronald Reagan would have paved the way for the arrival of the current theocracy. Criticizing the Carter Administration's handling of the crises in Iran, President Reagan said "I did criticize the President because of his undermining of our stalwart ally, the Shah. I do not believe that he was that far out of line with his people." Former United States President Richard Nixon was the sole United States representative to attend the Shah's funeral in Egypt.
To the present, many Iranians believe that the Carter Administration and the British intervened in 1979 and paved the path for the Shah's demise. Sympathetic remarks about the revolution by high-level Democratic American officials, such as Bill Clinton, who dubbed Iran a "democracy," and several former members of the Carter Administration, indicate the pretentious attitude of these officials. They should be reminded that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, erroneously labeled by foreign journalists as the "Leader of Iran," exerts minimal control in Iran. Rather, pursuant to the Iranian Constitution virtually absolute power is in the unelected "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Khamenei.
Iran is an absolute theocracy and lacks the basic foundations of even a limited form of democracy. Perhaps, if the Carter Administration had not undermined the Shah of Iran, the regime itself would have implemented the proper foundations for a modern democratic republic or constitutional monarchy. Modern Iran could have been an "island of stability" in the Middle East. Without the Carter Administration's misguided foreign policy initiatives, Iran, similar to Japan, Denmark, Spain or England, could today be a close U.S. ally with a hereditary monarch and a democratically elected President or Prime Minister.
Slater Bakhtavar is an attorney, journalist, author, and political commentator. He is the author of "Iran: The Green Movement". He has appeared on hundreds of network radio shows, including G. Gordon Liddy, Crosstalk America, Les in the Morning, NPR, Jim Bohannon Show, and VOA.


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By Sheila Kaplan and Corbin Hiar
Investigative Reporting Workshop, American University
Millions of Americans may be drinking water that is contaminated with dangerous doses of lead. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knows it; state governments know it; local utilities know it. The only people who usually don't know it are those who are actually drinking the toxic water.
The problem stems from a common practice in which water utilities replace sections of deteriorating lead service lines rather than the entire lines, commonly known as partial pipe replacements. It is a course of action that can do more harm than good.
"It's scary and the magnitude of this problem is huge," said Dr. Jeffrey K. Griffiths, a Tufts University professor of medicine and public health, who recently chaired an expert panel advising the EPA on the problem. "I didn't realize how extensive the lead exposure still remained. … EPA is really deeply concerned about this …. This was not something they expected."
Since the 1970s, lead has emerged as the most dangerous neurotoxin known to man, potentially damaging the developing brain and nervous system, causing life-long learning disabilities and other serious problems. It has been taken out of gasoline, removed from paint and banned from children's toys. Yet practices developed to keep lead out of water, under an EPA rule, have backfired and can actually increase the hazard, a fact that led the agency to create Griffith's group to study the latest science on the issue.
The problem stems from the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule, a regulation designed to protect Americans from the nation's network of aging
lead water service lines, which connect water mains to customers' taps. Most of these lead service lines were installed before the devastating effects of this heavy metal were fully accepted. Seeking to reduce the amount of this poisonous metal leaching into drinking water from old lead pipes, the regulation required utilities to test water from local homes for lead. If 10 percent of the samples exceeded 15 parts per billion, the utility was then ordered to try to reduce the lead contamination through chemical corrosion control techniques. If that failed, water utilities had to replace 7 percent of their lead service lines each year, or until follow-up samples showed the lead levels were reduced.
But after a review of recent studies and interviews with dozens of scientists as well as state and federal water officials, the Investigative Reporting Workshop found that the regulation has become a case study in unintended consequences.
"EPA tried to do something good and was thwarted. We should recognize that," said Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a preeminent lead researcher and professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, who served with Griffiths on the EPA Science Advisory Board's Drinking Water Committee.
A plan derails
The regulation began to derail as early as 1993, when the American Water Works Association (AWWA), which represents more than 4,000
public and privately-owned water systems, sued EPA. The trade group argued that EPA had adopted the Lead and Copper Rule without proper notice about how it planned to define "control" of — responsibility for — the service lines. The group also claimed that utilities did not have authority to replace the sections of lines on private property, and that ordering them to do so exceeded EPA's mandate.
A federal appeals court ruled that EPA had, in fact, not provided enough notice for public comment on the issue of control; but the court did not rule on the question of EPA's authority to require the utilities to replace the portion of the pipes on private property. Following the decision — that the EPA made a procedural error — and after years of industry lobbying, the agency amended its rule in 2000 to permit the utilities to perform so-called "partial pipe replacements," from the water main to the private property line. In the vast majority of cases, homeowners would be responsible for paying to finish the job.
Few homeowners have done so, to their detriment. As Griffith's panel wrote in a little-noticed report last year, "[B]ased on the current scientific data, PLSLRs [partial lead service line replacements] have not been shown to reliably reduce drinking water lead levels in the short term, ranging from days to months, and potentially even longer. Additionally, PLSLR is frequently associated with short-term elevated drinking water lead levels for some period of time after replacement, suggesting the potential for harm, rather than benefit, during that time period." The panel found "the available information is broadly suggestive that PLSLR may pose a risk to the population
How tap water flows
When water leaves a treatment plant, it is usually lead-free. From the plant, water flows into large pipes, called mains, which are usually made of cast-iron or concrete and run under streets. From the main, water flows through a smaller pipe called a service line, which carries it to the customer's tap. That service line is where contamination can begin. Lead service lines are found in many states, but are especially common in older neighborhoods in the Midwest and Northeast. Most water systems stopped installing them in the first half of the last century. And there is generally less lead in water now than in years past.
But, if the service line is made of lead, as are between 3.3 and 6.4 million, according to a recent report from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, fragments of corroded lead can chip off and be swept into tap water. Additional lead can also get in as the water runs across lead-soldered joints or comes into contact with brass or bronze fixtures. Until recently, such hardware was allowed to be advertised as "lead-free," even if it contained up to 8 percent lead. A federal law reducing the acceptable amount of lead in these plumbing fixtures to .25 percent will take effect in 2014, although Vermont and California have already adopted such rules.
Partial pipe replacements can physically shake loose lead fragments that have built up and laid dormant inside the pipe, pushing them into the homeowners' water, and spiking the lead levels, even where they previously were not high. In addition, the type of partial replacement that joins old lead pipes to new copper ones, using brass fittings, "spurs galvanic corrosion that can dramatically increase the amount of lead released into drinking water supplies," according to research from Washington University. Similar findings have been
published by researchers at the Virginia Tech and elsewhere.
So why are these partial pipe replacements still commonplace? The reason is twofold: Replacing the customer's portion of the pipe, from the property line or meter to the home, is expensive — averaging $2,300 but going as high as $7,000 or more.
And the Investigative Reporting Workshop found another reason: Notification about the health risk of partial pipe replacement is inconsistent around the country. Residents are not always told that partial pipe replacements have been shown to raise the risk of lead poisoning. It is a fact that might make the cost — and hassle of tearing up one's lawn and patio or cutting down trees — seem worth it.
Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, ran an investigation into lead-in-water issues last Congress, and has more recently raised concerns about partial lead pipe replacements.
In a letter to EPA last September, Miller wrote, "Under the LCR [Lead and Copper Rule] homeowners are warned in general about the dangers of lead, particularly to young children, babies, pregnant women and their fetuses." But, he wrote, "they are not notified about the grave impact that 'partial' lead line replacements may have and the significant unintended public health risks this partial replacement may pose to their families. … These PLSLRs have cost local water systems tens of millions of dollars and in many cases have elevated, not decreased water lead levels for extended periods of time in cities around the country."
Miller, citing information from EPA, said at least 38,000 mandatory partial replacements have been completed or are planned in water
systems that serve 1.4 million people — although he said this figure is likely underestimated because of what he called poor reporting by utilities and state agencies and weak tracking by EPA.
One EPA water specialist, who asked not to be named, said there are 100 to 1,000 times more voluntary pipe replacements, which occur
during routine pipe maintenance or emergency repairs on water mains or broken pipes, than there are mandatory ones.
The rule requires water systems that are performing partial pipe replacements under EPA order to inform customers of the risks that their
lead levels might temporarily increase. But the agency provides only "guidance" as to what utilities should say. Adherence to that requirement and interpretations of this suggested language vary widely.
An Investigative Reporting Workshop survey of notifications sent out to customers in the 13 water systems identified by EPA as recently
having done mandatory partial pipe replacements, or still working on them, found that nearly a third of them didn't mention the potential for lead levels to spike after the procedure.
The level of warning the 13 water companies made dropped even further when the same utilities were conducting routine voluntary replacements during roadwork or to fix leaks — essentially the same procedure, but not ordered under the law. Only around half of the utilities alert residents to the potential for lead levels to spike after a voluntary partial pipe replacement.
Part of the reason these utilities don't give the same warnings when doing basically the same procedure is that they're not required to. EPA offers no guidance for these far more common voluntary partial lead service line replacements done by utilities across the country.
Likely as a result, the vast majority of other U.S. cities that are not under EPA orders to replace their remnant lead pipe systems rarely
give any warnings to their customers about lead levels spiking after they do voluntary partial service line replacements.
The Investigative Reporting Workshop interviewed representatives at the largest utilities in the country by customer base about whether or not they notified customers about the potential for lead spikes after repair work had been done on the public portion of the pipe. The top five water utilities with lead service lines said that they did not notify customers of the potential health risks after repairs or maintenance. Those utilities are New York City Water Supply System, City of Chicago Department of Water Management, Miami-Dade Water and Wastewater Services, Philadelphia Water Department, and City of Phoenix Water Services Department. A Phoenix water utility
representative, however, said that lead pipes in their system are extremely rare.
The Workshop also surveyed other water utilities with lead pipes around the country, many of which do not notify customers about the
potential for harm with the partial pipe replacement. Denver Water was the only utility we spoke with that indicated they did full pipe replacements of all lead pipes through the customer property to avoid dangerous lead spikes. Madison, Wis., and Washington D.C. warn residents about the potential for lead levels to spike after work on the public portion of their pipes.
In Cincinnati, residents are warned when partial pipe replacements are done, but not when water mains are being replaced – which also can cause spikes. After the Workshop raised the issue, Jeff Swertfeger, assistant superintendent of Greater Cincinnati Water Works, said he did not realize that they did not provide this information and that they planned to change their notification to warn of the threat of raised lead levels. Other major cities that said they do not inform residents that lead in their drinking water may reach dangerous levels after a partial pipe replacement are Columbus, Ohio; Boston; St. Louis; Newark, N.J.; Louisville, Ky; New Orleans, and Pittsburgh, Pa.
Although the local water utility in Providence, R.I., stopped doing mandatory partial pipe replacements after the neighborhood of Mount Hope protested, the utility continues to do voluntary replacements for maintenance purposes and does not notify customers about the health risks.
"If a child drinks from the bathroom tap or water tap," it can be dangerous, Lanphear said. "Lead in water is usually very bio-available and this is a direct ingestion." Lanphear estimates that children get about 20 percent of their lead exposure from water. For newborns on baby formula, he says, the amount is closer to 40 to 60 percent.
That news does not seem to have reached all the nation's water companies. In Louisville, Ky., for example, the Louisville Water Company
has been conducting voluntary partial pipe replacements for decades. The utility plans to finish replacing its portion of all lead service lines by 2020 — about 19,700 services in all, according to a "Lead Information Sheet" published on its website.
That same information sheet gives customers no indication of the potential threat posed by what the company calls its "aggressive initiatives." Tests conducted throughout the system "all confirm that lead in drinking water does NOT pose a health threat to our customers," the handout states. Despite that, in 2011, about 10 percent of the Louisville samples exceeded EPA's action level.
In Pittsburgh, Stanley States, director of water quality and production for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, said the utility
frequently does partial replacements when working on the city's pipes, but does not disclose the risks residents run if they don't pay to replace their segment other lead service lines. "We're waiting for better guidance from EPA on what to do about that," States said. "We're not going to act on our own and go off half-cocked."
Action level not protective of public health
Jeffrey Kempic, an environmental engineer with EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water in Washington, D.C., noted in a presentation to EPA's advisory panel that the action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) is not health-based, but was chosen for the practical reasons of feasibility and economics.
Advisory panel chairman Griffiths said, "That doesn't mean if you are at 14.9 that's not bad for you." In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its definition of lead poisoning in response to a CDC advisory panel report declaring that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. The CDC lowered the threshold for intervention in children from 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood to five.
EPA water specialist Michael Schock said there is reason for concern. "The research up to this point … is that any kind of disturbance of an
in-place line can cause elevated lead levels," said Schock. "[Lead] may persist from days to years. So long as the lead pipes are in there, or any part of the lead pipe, there is a potential for a lead level that used to be low, to be considerably higher. And since there's no safe level for lead, the remnant pipe remains a continued exposure source."
Schock also worried about lead exposure for children and complained to the Workshop in a telephone interview from Cincinnati, Ohio, with
an EPA public relations representative on the line, that there is no requirement for anyone to track children who have been exposed to lead in water from so-called voluntary replacements.
Indeed, there are no testing or reporting requirements when partial pipe replacements are conducted as a matter of routine maintenance.
Miguel Del Toral, an EPA water specialist in Chicago, expressed frustration with the lack of information and the prevalence of partial pipe replacements, both required and voluntary. "How many partials have been done? We don't even know how many lead service lines there are out there. None of that is reportable," Del Toral said. "In some cases they say they notify the residents, but all they do is notify them that their water is going to be cut off while they replace the lines. There is not any kind of educational material to inform them that their lead levels will go up."
Problems date back decades
Heath-risks from partial pipe replacements should not have been a surprise. As far back as 1988, when the Lead and Copper Rule was in
discussion, Schock's division warned that partial pipe replacements were likely to expose more people to dangerous levels of lead. At the time, the alternatives were thought to be too burdensome to the utilities. Later, in 1997, he wrote a memo to his colleagues noting, "[T]he bottom line is that EPA is promulgating a policy that KNOWINGLY INCREASES LEAD LEVELS for an UNKNOWN DURATION," he wrote to EPA environmental engineer Peter Lassovszky. Schock's counsel was not followed.
Although public health officials have been concerned about the impact of partial pipe replacements for years, Griffith's advisory committee was convened by EPA only after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completed a study in 2010 noting that children living in houses in Washington, D.C., where partial pipe replacements were carried out were three times as likely to have elevated levels of lead in their blood as children living in houses in which the old lead service lines remained undisturbed, or were not made of lead. The advisory committee reviewed the current science and said past research, which showed that partial pipe replacements either did not cause spikes or caused only brief ones, studied too small a sample size to be valid.
"There has been a lot of research over the years that has called [partial pipe replacements] into question," said Paul Niman, environmental engineer for the state of Massachusetts. "It's always been suspected, this was more my understanding, that partial lead service line replacements would lead to short-term elevated lead levels, but then they would settle down."
When the advisory committee looked into it, Niman said, "They found, 'Guess what? It doesn't really settle down and might make things
Massachusetts has eight water systems conducting mandatory partial pipe replacements, mostly in the Boston suburbs. Niman has been waiting for guidance from EPA.
"We'd like to see EPA take a position to say, 'Let's discontinue doing the partial lead pipe replacements," Niman said. "We want them to focus on full lead pipe replacements …We've asked EPA to create some type of funding so that homeowners who couldn't afford to have it done could get some low interest or no-interest loan to assist them, but I don't know [that] we're going to see that."
Some cities, such as Madison, Wis., have ordinances requiring homeowners to pay for their part of the new pipes, and also offering
financial help, as does Boston, but this is rare.
Missing the danger
Marc Edwards, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and an expert in home plumbing and drinking water systems, was instrumental in resolving a 2004 lead-in-water contamination scandal in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of homes there had tested at more than 300 ppb, and, in a few cases, the utility measured lead above 24,000 ppb, Edwards said in an email. The city's lead problem was ultimately traced in part to the EPA-directed use of chloramines, a disinfectant, which made lead more likely to leach into the water, as well as the partial pipe replacements, which were stopped in 2008. Edwards and a U.S. congressional investigation led by Miller
called CDC complicit in downplaying the health risks to residents when the CDC wrote a controversial report in 2004 claiming that there was no evidence of childhood lead poisoning from the elevated lead levels in water.
Edwards, who won a 2007 MacArthur genius award in part for his work to discover and expose problems with lead contamination, and EPA's Schock accused some water utilities of "gaming the system" in various ways, including testing homes in newer neighborhoods where pipes have less likelihood of becoming corroded and failing to test enough houses. The regulation itself gives utilities this loophole, requiring the testing of only up to 100 homes, no matter the size of the district. "It all comes down to which houses you pick," Edwards said. "If you don't pick the worst houses, you don't find the problem."
Schock said, "Gaming is trying to skew a sampling program to not uncover potentially risky lead or copper sites." He didn't point to specific examples, but he told the Workshop that he, too, believes it goes on.
One example Edwards points to is Chicago, where the city continued to install lead pipes until 1986, when lead was banned in new plumbing and plumbing repairs. Edwards said that in 20 years of testing Chicago never produced samples exceeding the 5 parts per billion limit. From March 2011 through October 2011, however, EPA did its own tests using a few different sampling protocols, and found lead levels as high as 36.7 ppb.
In these studies, EPA conducted sequential sampling, which consists of taking multiple samples at each site, one after other, to assess the level of corrosion throughout the plumbing network. It was in these sequential samples that EPA found the high results. Currently, sequential sampling results are not allowed to be used for compliance monitoring under the current Lead and Copper Rule.
EPA's Del Toral said the purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the current sampling protocol in capturing the level of lead corrosion that is occurring. All public water systems, including Chicago, are required to use the current sampling protocol. All sampling was completed as of October 2011 and EPA is in the process of writing up the study findings, an effort that may lead to changes in the sampling methods required under the law.
Water utilities develop a new tactic
For the past year, EPA has been holding public meetings to discuss partial pipe replacements as the agency considers revamping the Lead
and Copper Rule. Science Advisory Board committee members, EPA staffers and utility officials say that some of the changes under consideration are: a possible moratorium on partial pipe replacements; new ways to help customers pay to replace their section of the pipe; increased public warnings of the risks of partial pipe replacements, especially for those done on a voluntary basis; possible changes in test methods and house selection; and conducting definitive studies on the health risks of partial pipe replacements.
But faced with the prospect of new EPA rules, and increasing evidence that the partial pipe replacements pose a hazard, water utilities have developed a new tactic: "gifting" the lead service lines to property owners. According to a survey of 90 utilities of varying sizes and from different regions, published in a 2008 report by the industry-funded AWWA Research Foundation and EPA, "77 percent of utilities
responding claimed ownership of the service line from the main to the curb stop [property line]…." Yet shortly before the Griffith's advisory committee report was released three years later, the water association conducted another survey, which found that of its 805 respondents, 69 percent said they did not own any of the lead service line.
Niman said, "We have had that occur in Massachusetts.'' Some communities around the nation, Niman said, "have passed bylaws saying this city or town is no longer responsible for the pipe. It's now the responsibility of the homeowner."
In Washington, D.C., the Water and Sewer Authority, now called DC Water, has made great strides in accountability under new leadership,
scientist Edwards and his research partner, Yanna Lambrinidou, a local activist, said. But they have one concern: DC Water can escape responsibility, they said, for the remaining thousands of lead pipes by having "gifted" them to homeowners.
Indeed, DC Water recently changed its wording about ownership on its website. Until March, the utility's website noted, "To encourage pipe replacement on private property, DC WASA is offering homeowners the chance to replace their lead service pipe at the same time that contractors replace the lead pipe on public property."
The website now reads: "During water main replacement projects, the portion of the water service pipes in public space are replaced
in order to connect each household to the new water main. This includes the replacement of any existing lead pipes in the public space. The water service pipe connects the water main to your household plumbing and is owned by the property owner. … However under certain conditions, DC Water is authorized to repair, maintain or renew the portion of the service pipe in public space."
Asked about the change, DC Water's principle counsel, Gregory Hope, said, "Questions were raised as to who is responsible for doing what in public space, whether or not the property owner is responsible. Are they responsible for doing everything, if they do their own half?"
Hope declined to say who raised the questions. He said he researched the history of the relevant codes, and found that an 1896 statute
passed by Congress gave property ownership of the entire line, from the water main to the tap, to the property owner. The District of Columbia enacted revisions in 1977, he said, to "maintain, renew and replace the portion in public space." Hope said the D.C. City Council's policy is that the utility will still pay to replace the public portion of the service line, but that his review of the law says the D.C. code, "did not transfer ownership." But as recently as 2004, the DC water utility published a news release saying "… in the District, as in most U.S. cities, homeowners own the portion of the service line that runs from the edge of their property line to their house…"
Lambrinidou, president of Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives, said that DC Water ultimately was shifting liability for the lead pipes to the
homeowners. "Utilities cannot pass on the burden of leaded pipes to consumers and politicians," she said. "This reflects a more systemic trend among water utilities, that is that their priority is to get rid of their responsibility for lead in water."
The researchers have raised this issue with EPA. "Is each homeowner in the U.S. 'gifted' a lead line going to sue them to say, 'I don't
own it?'" Edwards asked. "It's crazy. … If the approach is successful, they've just absolved themselves of their major responsibilities under the Lead and Copper Rule." An EPA staffer, who asked not to be named, said, "We know about it, but we have no statutory authority to do anything about it."
Steven Via, regulatory engineer at water association said, "We ought to get the lead out to the extent that we can. … Getting lead out is
a shared responsibility, so that the water system can take out the lead that they are responsible for, and the homeowner should take responsibility for what they own."
Via acknowledges that when utilities replace water mains, especially in an emergency, they may not advise residents of the risks. "We've
been working on information to get out to customers so that they fully appreciate the nature of lead and that they take steps that are appropriate if they are concerned about it," he said.
An EPA spokeswoman said the agency plans to publish its proposed revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule by January 2013. The agency has been working on revisions since 2007.
Hilary Niles and Julie Stein contributed to this report.


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I am in love.
I made these cupcakes Monday night and I have to say this is officially my new favorite frosting. The cupcake was pretty tasty on its own, but the real star was the frosting. Whenever I make something super tasty (in particular, my pie crust) my husband Zack likes to say "I would eat a shoe covered in that". That is how I feel about this frosting. Put it on anything and I am eating it. In other news, I am still pregnant with baby girl. She is supposed to make her debut on April 23rd, but I wonder if we will make it that long. Only a few more weeks and we will know! Now go make this frosting and thank me later.
Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting
cupcake recipe from How Sweet Eats and frosting recipe adapted from Recipe Girl
makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar1 large egg1 tablespoon vanilla extract3/4 cup milk1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, stirring to mix. Set aside. Line a cupcake tin with liners.
In a large bowl, whisk brown sugar and egg until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and milk, again mixing until combined. Slowly pour in melted butter, continuing to whisk. Add in the flour, soda and salt, mixing with a large spoon until batter is smooth.
Using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to liners. Bake for 16-19 minutes, or until tops are puffy and golden, and don't jiggle when touched. Let cool completely.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting
makes enough for 12 cupcakes
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1-2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1-2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips
In a medium bowl, beat together the butter, salt, and sugars until smooth and creamy. Beat in the flour and vanilla until well combined. Add milk to reach desired consistency. Stir in chocolate chips or use as garnish.


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Quality products and excellent customer service: Two things that you can count on at your next visit to Zachary's Pastry Shoppe.
Our family-owned and operated pastry and bakery business located in East Greenbush, New York is driven by the founding belief that cakes and pastries should taste as good as they look. Zachary's Pastry Shoppe has never waivered from our unparalleled commitment to use only the freshest ingredients available. Our cake and pastry decorators are continually reinventing our bakery selections – keeping it fun and exciting to come back to Zachary's Pastry Shoppe time and time again.
Work in downtown Albany or cannot get to our store in East Greenbush, visit our satellite store on 54 State Street, Albany, NY 12207 - hours are Mon-Fri: 7:30am-3:30pm, Phone: (518) 813-9557.
As a full service pastry and bakery shop, Zachary's Pastry Shoppe offers patrons a variety of bakery offerings including: coffee cakes, cookies, pies, cupcakes and cakes for all occasions. Zachary's Pastry Shoppe offer daily specials including breakfast pastries, coffee, soup, sandwiches and wraps. Large platter orders and special orders are a specialty. From corporate orders to home parties we can create an impressive platter of goodies to please the most disciminating palate.
Here at Zachary's Pastry Shoppe we are happy to serve you and are confident we have the best cakes and pastries around. We love to be creative in customizing your most interesting challenges. We know we are the best – because our customers tell us so. Don't hesitate to contact us with a question. Call us today!
Albany NY | Bakery | Troy NY | East Greenbush NY | Cupcakes | Birthday & Wedding Cakes | Cookies | Capital Region | Capital District | Schenectady NY
Zachary's Pastry Shoppe© • East Greenbush • Albany
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Vaginal candidiasis is a yeast infection usually caused by Candida albicans. Candida occurs normally in the mouth, digestive tract and vagina of a healthy person, but can overgrow and cause symptomatic infections, a common occurrence in persons with HIV infection. Candidiasis of the vagina occurs in women with or without HIV infection, but is more common in women with HIV infection. This yeast infection can occur in HIV positive women with relatively high T-cell counts, but the prevalence of vaginitis increases as T-cell counts decline, especially below 200. All women with frequent, recurrent, or persistent vaginal candidiasis should be tested for HIV infection.
Symptoms of vaginal candidiasis include a thick, white/yellow vaginal discharge (often described as "cottage cheese" in appearance) associated with mild to severe itching, burning discomfort, and pain with urination. Though many women "self-diagnose" yeast infections, and many providers diagnose the infection by its appearance, diagnosis can be confirmed by looking at a smear of the discharge under the microscope, or sending it to the lab to be grown in culture.
Yeast infections can usually be treated topically, with a cream or suppository that is inserted in the vagina before bed nightly for 3 to 7 nights. Several are available over the counter (without prescription), such as Monostat-7TM or Gyne-lotriminTM. If such treatments fail to relieve symptoms and eradicate signs of infection, women should be checked for the possibility of a different infection. If no other infection exists, and yeast infection is confirmed, then oral azole agents (such as ketoconazole or fluconazole) may be required.
Frequent use of the azole agents for treatment in women with very low T-cell counts, however, can be problematic. Research has shown that these women are at risk for development of infection with resistant strains of Candida. These so called "resistant" infections will fail to respond to treatment with azole drugs, and may require treatment with topical or intravenous amphotericin B, a drug with multiple and sometimes severe side effects. For this reason, it is felt that it is best to use topical treatment for vaginal candidiasis first, and limit the use of azole drugs as much as possible to avoid development of resistant strains.
Use of fluconazole in low weekly doses for prophylaxis of candidiasis showed success in one study, without evidence of development of resistence. In a clinical trial CPCRA 010, which tested 200 mg of fluconazole per week as prophylaxis in 323 HIV positive women showed a 50% reduction in the incidence of thrush and vaginal yeast infections.


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DEA Circumventing Oregon State Law To Grab Medical Records Without A Warrant
from the you-can-only-take-my-information-for-so-long,-until-you-take-it-all deptJust in case you had slipped into some sort of uneasy comfort thinking maybe, JUST MAYBE, the government had already gathered as much personal information as it "needed" (all without warrants), along comes the news that another agency is looking to get just a little more.
Via Reason comes the news that the DEA is attempting to bypass state law in Oregon in order to access private prescription records without a warrant. Some might argue that the DEA has some sort of right to know who's taking what considering its position as "drug war enforcer," but as the ACLU points out, prescription records can reveal some very sensitive information.
Records of the prescription medications we take can reveal some of the most private and sensitive information about us. Knowing that a person self-administers prescription testosterone injections can reveal that he is a transgender man undergoing hormone replacement therapy. Knowing that someone takes Xanax, Valium, or other anti-anxiety medications can reveal a diagnosis of mental illness. If a person is on Marinol, a medication containing synthetic THC, she is likely fighting weight loss associated with AIDS. A prescription for a narcotic painkiller such as codeine or oxycodone might indicate a chronic or terminal illness. Ritalin and Adderall are associated with treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.The state of Oregon tracks prescriptions like these for several good reasons: to prevent drug overdoses and cut down on substance abuse. While it would seem the DEA should be able to access the records carte blanche because of the latter concern, Oregon has made the right move and added a warrant requirement in order to protect patients' information. The DEA, like many other government agencies (*coughFBI*), has been using administrative subpoenas to circumvent this requirement.
Fortunately, the state of Oregon is fighting back, with some help from the ACLU.
The State of Oregon sued the DEA in federal court to defend its right to require law enforcement, including federal agencies, to obtain the warrants required by state law. Today, the ACLU filed a motion to intervene in the case on behalf of several patients and a doctor whose prescription records are contained in the PDMP. Our clients are concerned that the privacy of their medical information will be violated if the DEA is allowed to search through prescription records without a warrant. If the DEA can demonstrate to a judge that it has probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and that prescription records will provide evidence of that crime, then it can legitimately obtain records from the PDMP. Because prescription records and the medical information they reveal are such a sensitive matter, protecting their privacy is vital, and we argue that obtaining private and confidential prescription records without a warrant constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.The ACLU points out that the "third-party doctrine" is being used to portray information provided to a doctor or pharmacist as exempt from warrant requirements. Courts have shown in the past that information turned over to a third party is no longer protected by the "reasonable expectation of privacy." This is a false equation, the ACLU states:
We disagree with this principle—but even on its own terms, the third party doctrine should not apply here. Medical records are different than the trash we put out on the curb, or the canceled checks we provide to our bank, or the electrical usage records we transmit to the power company. The information we share with our doctors and pharmacists can be some of our most private information. Just because we trust our doctors with our medical information doesn't mean the DEA should be able to easily access it too.In case you were wondering what sort of harm could come from unfettered access to medical records by law enforcement, here's a splendid example that combines prescription records with the domestic wing of the War on Drugs into one horrible (and horribly stupid) incident.
Barbara Alice Mahaffey died of colon cancer in her bedroom last May. [Vernal, UT resident] Ben D. Mahaffey, 80, said he was distraught and trying to make sure his wife's body would be taken to the funeral home with dignity, when he says officers insisted he help them look for the drugs.Yep. If your loved ones use certain painkillers, you can expect to be raided at any time, especially if they've just passed on, leaving behind a treasure trove of highly marketable controlled substances. But don't worry, Vernal City Manager Ken Bassett would expect nothing less than a raid by Vernal's finest during the final moments of his loved ones' lives:
"I was holding her hand saying goodbye when all the intrusion happened," he told the Deseret News.
Barbara Mahaffey died at 12:35 a.m. with Mahaffey, a Navy medic in the Korean War, and his friend, an EMT, at her side. In addition to police, a mortician and a hospice worker arrived at the home about 12:45 a.m., Mahaffey said. He said he doesn't know how police came to be there.
Mahaffey said he was treated as if he were going to sell the painkillers, which included OxyContin, oxycodone and morphine, on the street.
In his suit, Mahaffey alleges that Vernal City Manager Ken Bassett told Mahaffey he was being "'overly sensitive' and that police were just trying to protect the public from illegal use of prescription drugs." The suit also alleges that Bassett then told Mahaffey "his own parents had recently died and he wouldn't have cared had police searched their house for drugs."Also noted: this is "common practice" for Vernal police, although it's often "selectively applied." Yay! A badly written law, randomly enforced and noxious from any angle, that latter of which perfectly describes the DEA's attempt to circumvent patient privacy by exploiting a few loopholes.
Filed Under: dea, medical records, oregon, privacy


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Someday, I will stop talking about my iPod prediction of 2001 – the one Gizmodo called "the best iPod prediction ever made."
Today is not that day.
In that column, I predicted that not only would the iPod be a hit (despite criticism that it was way too expensive among other things), but that the iPod's descendants would replace the PC. This seemed fairly insane at the time — just a week after Apple had announced the iPod, before the world had fallen in love with digital music, and way before the iPhone would usher in the current era of connected devices.
There's one part I thought I got wrong, in the intervening years — that hardware peripherals would enable these iPod descendants to replace computers. Instead, I thought, it ended up being software, in the form of apps both on the phone and in the cloud.
Now I think I was right all along, and that hardware peripherals will indeed play a big role in how the iPod descendants known as smartphones will replace computers.
In terms of digital audio, Audiobus provides a particularly good example of how "smart" portable devices are becoming more like computers — in that case, by being able to route musical signals from one app to another, the same way people have done for years on PCs.
Here are some points in favor of smartphones becoming the center of our digital lives — in a hardware sense:
1. AirPlay (and the Wannabes)
Apple is winning the race to connect smartphones to living room devices like televisions, stereo systems, and speakers — and it's doing so via AirPlay. In fact, I think this may have been what Steve Jobs was talking about when he said he had "finally cracked" the code for uniting smart devices with the television.
Now, Microsoft and Google are finally waking up and trying to employ similar strategies (tailored to the strengths of each) for piping tunes, videos, and other stuff into rooms that don't have traditional computers.
At the center of all of this hardware stuff is a smartphone, acting as a remote control or even the conduit through which the content flows. (You can even watch television with an Android app over Apple TV).
2. Tablet keyboards
I wrote this story in a bar on an iPad that had a keyboard as its stand. That keyboard stand works with the iPhone too. You don't need to sacrifice a full-fledged keyboard when the PC goes away. Yes, I know, this point is obvious, but it belongs on this list.
3. Moore's Law
Stuff like this is a joke. Nobody uses it:
But it won't be a laughing matter for too much longer. As you know, Moore's Law dictates that processor speed doubles every 18-24 months. That trend applies to smartphones, mo(o)re or less. Already, early iPhone models cannot run many of today's apps, in part because they're too slow.
Not only that, but smartphone manufacturers face a big marketing issue: It's not easy to market a glowing rectangular touchscreen without some other sort of differentiation. What, are they supposed to put a third camera on there? A fourth? Make it a triangle?
By delivering faster performance and more storage capacity, Apple, Samsung, and the rest can keep us all in upgrade cycles — and themselves in business. And as this happens, the difference in speed between a smartphone and today's PCs will be indistinguishable, and then the smartphone will inevitably become faster.
At that point, the idea of docking a smartphone into a desktop, laptop, or even tablet won't seem so ridiculous, and it will already have all your passwords, apps, bookmarks, preferences, and so on — and probably, as I wrote 11-plus years ago, some security measures, like biometrics.
4. The PAN Is Here
Let's play buzzword bingo. Do you remember the Personal Area Network? For a while there after the turn of the millennium, people were talking about PANs, which are sort of like LANs, except instead of connecting devices to each other in a home or office, they would connect various devices on a person's person.
Bluetooth headsets, the Nike+ iPod Sensor, and portable cellular hotspots are early examples of PAN entering the mainstream.
Now comes word (from Bloomberg) that Apple has about a hundred designers iWatch. Meanwhile, Google Project Glass runs Android, but probably won't have modems on them. Would you really want a 5G modem pressed up against your brain all day? How do you think these and other newfangled things are going to connect to the internet? Most likely through a smartphone.
How are you going to update their firmware? Maybe in the beginning with a PC, but eventually, OTA (over the air) via the smartphone modem. How will they talk to other apps, and how will you adjust their controls and preferences? Smart money says it's the smartphone.
5. Hardware Peripherals Can Power, Charge Smartphones
Moore's Law, mentioned above, notoriously does not apply to battery life. When you push a Lithium Ion battery too hard, planes can catch fire, as can laptops and, ostensibly, smartphones.
Once we start docking smartphones into computer shells, speaker docks, car cradles (more on those below), and other peripherals, the opportunity exists to give the phone's battery a boost, either from AC power or from the peripheral's own Lithium Ion battery.
It's easy to make fun of internet refrigerators… but if all it takes to make your refrigerator generate a shopping list is that you've docked your phone there to charge it, wouldn't you look at that list at the grocery store? Of course you would.
6. The Cloud Needs Connections
When Pandora drove me around Las Vegas to see its early integration with the car at CES 2011, I asked CEO Tim Westergren whether he thought cars would have modems pretty soon. He said no.
His reasoning: People already have a modem in their pockets: their smartphones. In a sense, you might think of a smartphone as an internet connection with a touchscreen. Everything mentioned here — your PAN, television, stereo, speakers, refrigerator, car, and so on — might occasionally need an internet connection, and that internet connection is on your phone.
(image of early NexPhone via overclock; photo by Ria Fuentes)


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Denis Misanger
On Friday, the first day of May 1705, about five o'clock in the evening,
Denis Misanger de la Richardiere, eighteen years of age, was attacked
with an extraordinary malady, which began by a sort of lethargy. They
gave him every assistance that medicine and surgery could afford. He
fell afterwards into a kind of furor or convulsion, and they were
obliged to hold him, and have five or six persons to keep watch over
him, for fear that he should throw himself out of the windows, or break
his head against the wall. The emetic which they gave him made him throw
up a quantity of bile, and for four or five days he remained pretty
At the end of the month of May, they sent him into the country, to take
the air; and some other circumstances occurred, so unusual, that they
judged he must be bewitched. And what confirmed this conjecture was,
that he never had any fever, and retained all his strength,
notwithstanding all the pains and violent remedies which he had been
made to take. They asked him if he had not had some dispute with a
shepherd or some other person suspected of sorcery, or malpractices.
He declared that on the 18th of April preceding, when he was going
through the village of Noysi on horseback for a ride, his horse stopped
short in the midst of the _Rue Feret_, opposite the chapel, and he could
not make him go forward, though he touched him several times with the
spur. There was a shepherd standing leaning against the chapel, with his
crook in his hand, and two black dogs at his side. This man said to him,
"Sir, I advise you to return home, for your horse will not go forward."
The young La Richardiere, continuing to spur his horse, said to the
shepherd, "I do not understand what you say." The shepherd replied, in a
low tone, "I will make you understand." In effect, the young man was
obliged to get down from his horse, and lead it back by the bridle to
his father's dwelling in the same village. Then the shepherd cast a
spell upon him, which was to take effect on the 1st of May, as was
afterwards known.
During this malady, they caused several masses to be said in different
places, especially at St Maur des Fosses, at St Amable, and at St
Esprit. Young La Richardiere was present at some of these masses which
were said at St Maur; but he declared that he should not be cured till
Friday, 26th June, on his return from St Maur. On entering his chamber,
the key of which he had in his pocket, he found there that shepherd,
seated in his armchair, with his crook, and his two black dogs. He was
the only person who saw him; none other in the house could perceive him.
He said even that this man was called Damis, although he did not
remember that anyone had before this revealed his name to him. He beheld
him all that day, and all the succeeding night. Towards six o'clock in
the evening, as he felt his usual sufferings, he fell on the ground,
exclaiming that the shepherd was upon him, and crushing him; at the same
time he drew his knife, and aimed five blows at the shepherd's face, of
which he retained the marks. The invalid told those who were watching
over him that he was going to be very faint at five different times, and
begged of them to help him, and move him violently. The thing happened
as he had predicted.
On Friday, the 26th June, M. de la Richardiere, having gone to the mass
at St Maur, asserted that he should be cured on that day. After mass,
the priest put the stole upon his head, and recited the Gospel of St
John, during which prayer the young man saw St Maur standing, and the
unhappy shepherd at his left, with his face bleeding from the five
knife-wounds which he had given him. At that moment the youth cried out,
unintentionally, "A miracle! a miracle!" and asserted that he was cured,
as in fact he was.
On the 29th of June, the same M. de la Richardiere returned to Noysi,
and amused himself with shooting. As he was shooting in the vineyards,
the shepherd presented himself before him; he hit him on the head with
the butt-end of his gun. The shepherd cried out, "Sir, you are killing
me!" and fled. The next day this man presented himself again before him,
and asked his pardon, saying, "I am called Damis; it was I who cast a
spell over you which was to have lasted a year. By the aid of masses and
prayers which have been said for you, you have been cured at the end of
eight weeks. But the charm has fallen back upon myself, and I can be
cured of it only by a miracle. I implore you then to pray for me."
During all these reports, the _marechaussee_ had set off in pursuit of
the shepherd; but he escaped them, having killed his two dogs and thrown
away his crook. On Sunday, the 13th of September, he came to M. de la
Richardiere, and related to him his adventure; that after having passed
twenty years without approaching the sacraments, God had given him grace
to confess himself at Troyes; and that after divers delays he had been
admitted to the holy communion. Eight days after, M. de la Richardiere
received a letter from a woman who said she was a relation of the
shepherd's, informing him of his death, and begging him to cause a
requiem mass to be said for him, which was done.
The Pied Piper
Queen Ulrica And The Countess Steenbock