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Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room
>> Monday, April 12, 2010
Venue: Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room, Sunway Pyramid
Occasion: Gathering with uni friends
Overall comment: Pretty good food although the prices are slightly high. I find their braised pork rice really good & I can just have that for a meal!
Halal: No
Xian Ding Wei is located at the new wing of Sunway Pyramid. It's quite easily spotted, & the restaurant gives a pretty good first impression.
The interior of the restaurant is no doubt very "Chinese", or more like oriental - a very soft & cozy touch :) I kinda like the ambiance of this restaurant & am planning to bring my family here soon to try this place out (again!).
The Taiwanese are well-known for their pearl milk tea, so we ordered a glass each. It's alike what you can get from the night market (pasar malam), just that it's tagged with a restaurant-price. I believe you can find good pearl milk tea at the night market for a minimum of RM2.50, depending on the area of the night market. I actually love pearl milk tea, especially if the "black pearls" are chewy & slightly sweetened! What I would deem as bad pearl milk tea is when the black pearls are crusted/not well cooked & are tasteless *bleagh*
At first sight, I felt that I ordered "Dynamo", the detergent for washing clothes...eeuw...there was of course ZILCH champagne taste, so I have no idea why it carries that name in the first place. It just tastes like the usual milk tea + blue colouring (loads of it!).
Slightly sour, slightly salty, slightly sweet - it's quite an appetizing drink, but you've gotta fancy the taste of sour plum drink. If not, this is certainly not your call...
Each rice set comes with 1 bowl of braised pork rice, 1 bowl of soup, some side dishes, & a plate of meat. It's quite a good deal :) The portion is quite generous, so if you're not a big eater, 4 persons can share 3 sets!
I enjoyed the braised pork rice here. I never knew how it's like & what it really is, even when my colleagues were telling me about such a dish when they came back from their trip to Taiwan. With my limited competency in the Mandarin dialect, I certainly didn't know what they were really describing when they tried to describe this braised pork rice to me! Hahaha...this braised pork rice is so flavourful & it blends well with the rice that I could have just the braised pork rice alone! Yes, it's THAT good (in my personal opinion & preference)
It's quite an expensive set. There was nothing very expensive in the hot pot. You will just find a great load of Chinese cabbage, fish balls, squid balls, mushrooms, & vegetables. If not for the assorted balls (which there aren't many), it may as well be a vegetarian hot pot. As for the teppanyaki seafood, the prawns (2) were rather large, but they were 'old' and over-cooked. Thus, the "springy" texture of the prawn is not present anymore & you'll only get a rough-&-tough large prawn. There was quite a generous amount of chicken pieces in the teppanyaki though :) The flavour is quite delicious - sweet, spicy, salty.
I love this. I really do. I just find that there wasn't enough chicken to go around! Pungent & fragrant stir-fried chicken with 3 types of sauces, placed into this small claypot to be presented. I will recommend this if you're to dine here :)
Due to the fact that we ordered almost every other meat except fish, we randomly decided on this set. There's nothing much to shout about - it's basically Dory fish fillet, cut into medium bite-size pieces, & cooked with tomato sauce, onions, & egg. It feels like some cheap dish, but we just had too much chicken & pork. The girls don't eat beef...
There was an ongoing promotion when we were there not too long ago. For every RM60 & above spent in a single bill, you'll get to enjoy a meat dish (if I remember correctly, it's either the sweet & sour pork or the 'sam pui' chicken only) for RM1.00. Not too bad a deal especially if you're dining here in a group of 4 persons or more. The sweet & sour pork is quite delicious.
It was a great catch up session since we haven't met up for almost half a year!! *faints* I wonder where we'll meet next for another round of catch up & good food!
I'm thinking of bringing my family here sometime soon. It's quite a safe bet for families & older people...hahaha...especially for the generation who prefers rice to chops or anything fancy. The price is definitely higher than the usual 'dai chow', but for the taste + portion + ambiance, I think it's worth it to have a family meal here :)
Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room - 鲜定味
OB 3, LG1.7 and 1.8, Oasis Boulevard
Lower Ground Floor
Sunway Pyramid Mall(Right next to Jusco)
Tel: (+603) 5631 3322
Fax: (+603) 5631 8866
Presentation: * * * 1/2
Price: * * *
Environment: * * * 1/2
Taste: * * *
Service: * * * 1/2
- Ruth


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Sanctions, voters drove Iran to negotiating table
I had the chance this past week to take part in two press meetings with Iran's new president, Hasan Rouhani, and they left me with several distinct impressions:
1) He's not here by accident. That is, this Iranian charm offensive is not because Rouhani, unlike his predecessor, went to charm school. Powerful domestic pressures have driven him here. 2) We are finally going to see a serious, face-to-face negotiation between top Iranian and U.S. diplomats over Iran's nuclear program. 3) I have no clue and would not dare predict whether these negotiations will lead to a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear crisis. 4) The fact that we're now going to see serious negotiations raises the stakes considerably. It means that if talks fail, President Barack Obama will face a real choice between military action and permanent sanctions that could help turn Iran into a giant failed state. 5) Pray that option 2 succeeds.
Let's go through these. Think about Iran's recent election that brought Rouhani to the presidency. Iran's Guardian Council approved only eight candidates, and two dropped out before the balloting. All were considered "safe" from the regime's point of view — no authentic liberals — but as the election approached, it became clear that Rouhani was a bit more liberal than the others. So Iranians had a choice: Mr. Black, Mr. Black, Mr. Black, Mr. Black, Mr. Black or Mr. Gray. And guess what happened?
On June 14, Mr. Gray, Hasan Rouhani, won by a landslide, garnering nearly 51 percent of the votes, with the second-place finisher, the mayor of Tehran, getting about 16 percent. Clearly, many Iranians are fed up and used the sliver of openness they had to stampede toward the most liberal candidate. Again, Iranians have now had enough democracy to know they want more of it, and they've had enough Islamic ideology and sanctions to know they want less of them.
I am not alone in that view. The Iranian rial, which had lost some two-thirds of its value in the past two years of sanctions, shot up after Rouhani's election, and Iran's stock exchange rose 7 percent, on hopes that the new president would negotiate a nuclear deal to end the sanctions. In a country with rampant unemployment and nearly 30 percent inflation, is this any surprise?
No, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, did not allow Rouhani to run and win and start negotiations by accident. The power struggle in Iran is no longer just between the Revolutionary Guards, with their vast business network and illegal ports that they use to break the sanctions and enrich themselves, and the more pragmatic clerics. The Iranian silent majority is now empowered and is in this story, and Rouhani's charm offensive was dictated as much by them as by the supreme leader.
I had a chat with Rouhani's very sharp chief of staff, Mohammad Nahavandian, and asked about his background. He is an economist, earned his Ph.D. at George Washington University, and recently led the Iran Chamber of Commerce and Iran's negotiating team to join the World Trade Organization. He's Rouhani's closest aide. Interesting.
To put it another way, Rouhani is here because Iran's regime is both overextended and underintegrated.
Ten years ago, America was overextended in the Middle East — mired in Iraq and Afghanistan and vulnerable to covert attacks by Iran and its allies. Today, Iran's regime is overextended, expending men and money and energy every day to keep the Syrian regime alive, Hezbollah on its feet in Lebanon and its allies fortified in Iraq and Afghanistan. But while the regime is overextended, Iranians under age 30 — some 60 percent of the population — feel underintegrated with the rest of the world. They want to be able to study, work and travel in — and listen to music, read books and watch films from — the rest of the world. That means lifting sanctions.
The fact that Rouhani could not shake Obama's hand (they did speak by phone, in the end) because he feared a photo-op would be used against him by hard-line Revolutionary Guards back home — before he had gains to show for it — tells us how hard it will be to reach the only kind of nuclear deal Obama can sign on to. That is one that affirms Iran's right to produce fuel for civilian nuclear power, but with a nuclear enrichment infrastructure small enough, and international oversight and safeguards stringent enough, that a quick breakout to a bomb would be impossible.
Geopolitics is all about leverage: who's got it and who doesn't. Today, the negotiating table is tilted our way. That is to Obama's credit. We should offer Iranians a deal that accedes to their desire for civilian nuclear power and thus affirms their scientific prowess — remember that Iran's 1979 revolution was as much a nationalist rebellion against a regime installed by the West as a religious revolution, so having a nuclear program has broad nationalist appeal there — while insisting on a foolproof inspection regime. We can accept that deal, but can they? I don't know. But if we put it on the table and make it public, so the Iranian people also get a vote — not just the pragmatists and hard-liners in the regime — you'll see some real politics break out there, and it won't merely be about the quality of Iran's nuclear program but about the quality of life in Iran.

subset: commoncrawl


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March 15, 2013 Editorial: YMCA
Sarah Smith, KMBC and KCWE President and General Manager
The YMCA of Greater Kansas City plans to build a new facility downtown and renovate its Linwood Boulevard and Atchison properties. They also intend to close three other Ys in Raytown, Independence and Kansas City, Kan.
The decision to close these branches was made with a great deal of thought, following two years of extensive research. The result is a comprehensive plan and a continued commitment to develop our youth and serve the social needs of our community.
For over 100 years, the YMCA has been a safe haven for youth in Kansas City. The new facility and improvements at other branches will allow the Y to reach out to even more youth and families.
The critics who say the new Y is just a move to bring a fitness center downtown should be mindful of the fact that downtown is a critical bus transfer point for all of the metro area. The new location will allow thousands of people without personal transportation to access the important social services the Y provides.
For KMBC and KCWE, I'm Sarah Smith.


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World AIDS Day 2020, Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Resilience and Impact
Learn more about self-testing for HIV.
See if you qualify for Ready, Set, PrEP.
Learn more about the importance of viral supression.
Learn more about self-testing for HIV.
See if you qualify for Ready, Set, PrEP.
Learn more about the importance of viral supression.
As the seasons begin to change in the Mountain West, we paused recently to share our efforts to pursue the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) in the States in our region (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming). On September 29, we held a special meeting of the Region VIII NHAS Federal Interagency Work Group to reflect on our progress and identify opportunities and priorities for the months ahead.
I wrote about the launch of our work group in a post last spring. The group is comprised of regional representatives from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Justice (Federal Bureau of Prisons), Labor, Veterans Affairs (Veterans Health Administration), and the Social Security Administration, along with regional representatives of several operating divisions within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services including the Administration on Aging, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office for Civil Rights, Office of Minority Health, Office on Women's Health, Office of Population Affairs and the Office of the Regional Health Administrator. Colleagues from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Education have also participated. I am pleased to report that this multi-agency group has continued to confer and collaborate for the past six months, strengthening our HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment efforts across the region and modeling the type of cross-agency, cross-program collaboration and innovation called for in the NHAS.
In addition to the work group members, several guests joined our September meeting, including:
During the conversation among the nearly 30 participants, we heard updates on NHAS-related activities from each work group member and discussion of their agencies' priorities for the year ahead. These updates painted an encouraging picture of how the Strategy is unfolding in our region and various agencies' efforts to align activities with the NHAS and support our State, tribal and community partners in doing the same.
During our dialogue about how the NHAS is unfolding in our region, we identified the following accomplishments:
We also identified several priority activities that we will pursue together in the months ahead including:
Dr. Valdiserri shared an update on the NHAS from a Federal perspective, giving us an encouraging national context for our regional efforts. He noted that many of the same agencies represented in our work group recently met in Washington, DC, to discuss their NHAS implementation efforts and that it is apparent that our region has had many successes with new inter-agency partnerships. He also stressed the importance of feeding regional, State and local information upwards to inform decision-making at all levels, noting that he and his colleagues in the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy find this particularly helpful at the Federal level.
The discussion was both gratifying and motivating for all the stakeholders. Mr. Wilmoth remarked afterwards, "I have to compliment the work group on their ability to assemble such a room full of decision makers to address this topic." Similarly, our regional colleague from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Karen Clark, noted, "what impressed me was the active engagement of the Regional staff as well as the Regional Administrator and several Agency Department Heads for although we, as work group members, understand the importance of meeting, it is important to know how much support there is beyond the active members."
The work group members left with a renewed sense of purpose and support from the other stakeholders and leaders present. The diversity and dedication of the work group members is an important strength of this partnership and will contribute tremendously to the continued success of our collaborative efforts to implement the NHAS in Region VIII.
We wanted to share this update with the readers of HIV.gov to let you know that although there is relatively low HIV prevalence among the States in our region, we are all working to find ways to better coordinate our programs and activities, and align them with the NHAS. We hope that some of our approaches or the collaborative activities we've identified might be adaptable in your community.


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COY Swede & Camila Carballo Reveal Single Arriving In 2021 — Interview
1upboy Talks New Track "Digital Aesthetic World" — Interview
Steve Marinangeli Reveals Details On Debut Album, 'Hidden Thoughts' — Interview
Exclusive Interview: The Story Of DJ/Producer Jacob Colon
CDJ Discusses Music Career And His Newest Song "Mama" In Interview
Dapper Dressing For A Man's First Date — Top 5 Tips
How To Accessorize With Face Masks
Categories And Benefits Of Heat Press Printing
5 Important Facts About Basketball Shoes
Fade Hairstyle Ideas For Travel Lover Men
How Music Can Give You A Competitive Edge
DJ Memes That Perfectly Celebrate The Victory Of Joe Biden
Ways To Boost Your Energy Before A Big Night Out
Discover How Good Are You At Lip Syncing Thanks To Artificial Intelligence
1 Simple Rule To Boost Your Musical Creativity Is By Walking
Get Your Bass House Fix With Teamworx And DØBER's "Complete Me"
401 WST Releases Debut EP That Blends Hip-Hop With House Music
Maximals Release 'Reset' EP Full Of Funky House Grooves Via Protocol
YARO And Trilane Are Back On Protocol With "Unlove You" Ft. EEVA
Radical Right-Wing Pastor Goes Viral With This House Remix Video
Find Out Why Dani Kristina's New 'Aura' EP Is So Relatable
Kasi Opi Makes A Grand Debut With "Rain," Stream It Now!
Watch The Lyric Video For Steve Marinangeli's New Love Song "It's You"
Beautiful Spanish Music You Should Check Out, Meet Marina Matiss
Shannon Has Taken The Pop Music World By Storm With "Do You Know"
Stereo Amp Surfer Remakes "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" In A Synthwave Aesthetic
Steven Jones & Logan Sky Immerses You In Trippy Visuals For "Sons Of Hallucination"
Gay Music Artist Rocki Mara Drops Halloween-Themed Music Video
Gated Reverb Made An 80s Remix Of "Around The World" By Eivind Husebø
A Must-Watch Funny Music Video, "Feels Right" By Roosevelt
"Crying At The Discotheque," Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Newest Hit
Sick And Tired Of Your Boring Cycling Playlist? Get Funky With This One
Do You Believe In "Magic"? Watch Here Kylie's Fantastic Music Video
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Video Premiere: Kylie Minogue – Say Something
4 Multi-Genre Remixes Of Nicky Romero & Sick Individuals' "Only For You"
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Subscribe Today! Tempo Waves YouTube Channel Offers Top Trending Songs
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New Music Producer From London, AINT Captivates With Downtempo Techno
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Bam Richie defines himself as an artist who is breaking down boundaries, and he is 100% right. Get ready to tap your feet with his latest...
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Registration Information
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(Payment must accompany registration by deadline to qualify for discount.)
Government/Non-Profit, Corporate & Student Attendee Fee: The registration fee, combined with funds contributed by our generous sponsors, provides full participation in the conference, conference materials, an eco-friendly tote along with all functions indicated on on the conference on the agenda, including morning, mid-day and afternoon networking breaks, and a Poster Session & Networking Reception on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
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Guest Fee: Allows guests 21 years of age and older to attend the Tuesday & Thursday Poster Session & Networking Receptions.
Refund Policy: All refund requests must be received in writing by July 1st, 2013. A processing fee of $150.00 will be deducted from all meeting participant refunds, including one-day fees, $25.00 from all guest refunds and $25 from each field trip refund. After July 1st, no refunds will be issued.
Special Needs: Participants with special needs man be reasonably accommodated by contacting the Office of Conferences & Institutes at least 21 working days prior to the conference. We can be reached by phone at 1-352-392-5930, by FAX at 1-352-392-4044, or by calling 1-800-955-8771 (TDD). The TDD number can only be accessed from within the State of Florida.
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The Cairns Domestic and International Airport is located 7kms from Cairns CBD. After, arriving you can get your holiday started by booking a taxi, shuttle bus or Uber from the airport to your accommodation.
You can also find accredited door-to-door airport shuttle service to hotels, city centre and the northern beaches including Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and south to Mission Beach.
There are remote airports throughout Tropical North Queensland for when you're travelling into smaller towns and regions.
Catch the Sunlander – This high-speed train can deliver you from Brisbane to Cairns. Once you're in Tropical North Queensland, you can choose your own way to get around. Or, hop on board the Sun Bus. It can get you around the local Cairns area. Private bus companies can get you further afield.
Heading across to Green Island, Fitzroy Island or the Great Barrier Reef? Ferry transfers and tours operate from the Cairns and Port Douglas Marinas.
Tropical North Queensland includes a lot of hot places to visit like Cape Tribulation, Port Douglas and Mission Beach. If you're planning to see as much as possible in your own time, car hire is the way to go.If you are planning something more remote like a road trip to Cape York make sure you hire a four-wheel-drive or other appropriate transport.


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Karl Denninger covered this event well, so I'll send you over to read up on what happened at his Market Ticker: US 5yr Bond Auction Effectively FAILS . Make sure you read and understand that!
But here's the real deal… the money to purchase all those Treasuries DOES NOT EXIST. It particularly does not exist if we are simultaneously going to push equities higher. It is my contention that we are on the edge and that there is a game being played by the Fed, the Treasury, and by the Primary Dealers to mask over reality.
As I've said, foreigners are not buying, so the money has to come from somewhere and the math is NOT adding up. The latest Bloomberg article on the subject this morning seems to confirm the fact that foreigners are still not buying as reflected in the TIC data, "Interest from an investor class that includes foreign central banks declined at each of the auctions from last month."
Treasuries Decline Before $28 Billion Seven-Year Note Auction
By Daniel Kruger and Gavin Finch
July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell, pushing the yield on seven-year notes to near the highest level in more than a month, as the U.S. prepares a $28 billion offering of the debt amid concern the deluge of supply will overwhelm demand.
Ten- and 30-year debt fell for the first time in three days before the auction, the last of four this week totaling a record $115 billion. Sales in the past two days drew higher-than- expected yields. The Treasury will announce on Aug. 5 the amount of money it intends to raise at its quarterly refunding. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits fell in the week ended July 18 to the lowest level since April.
"The auctions certainly haven't helped sentiment any," said Ira Jersey, an interest-rate strategist at RBC Capital Markets in New York, one of 18 primary dealers that trade directly with the Federal Reserve. "We're going to get the refunding announcement next week, and I think some people are a little nervous about that at these levels."
The yield on the seven-year note rose four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 3.34 percent at 8:45 a.m. in New York, according to BGCantor Market Data. The 3.25 percent security due in June 2016 fell 1/4, or $2.50 per $1,000 face amount, to 99 14/32.
The 10-year note yield rose four basis points to 3.70 percent. The 30-year bond yield increased five basis points to 4.55 percent.
The MSCI World Index of shares gained 0.7 percent. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures advanced 0.7 percent.
'Knocked Violently'
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment rose 25,000 last week, higher than forecast, to 584,000. The level of continuing claims decreased by 54,000 to 6.197 million in the week ended July 18.
The Treasury sold $39 billion of five-year securities yesterday, $42 billion of two-year debt on July 28 and $6 billion of 20-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities on July 27.
Interest from an investor class that includes foreign central banks declined at each of the auctions from last month. Indirect bidders bought 36.7 percent of the five-year notes sold yesterday, down from 62.8 percent at the June sale, which was the highest since December 2004. The same class of investors purchased 33 percent of the two-year notes offered this week, compared with 68.7 percent in the previous auction in June.
"For the second successive session, the Treasury market was knocked violently out of its stride by a weak auction, with low indirect bids," said John Wraith, head of sterling-rate product development at RBC Capital Markets in London.
The seven-year securities scheduled for sale today yielded 3.38 percent in pre-auction trading, compared with 3.33 percent at the previous sale of the maturity on June 25.
Quarterly Refunding
The Treasury's Aug. 5 announcement will detail the amount it plans to raise at its quarterly refunding through the sale of debt maturing in 3-, 10- and 30 years. Sales of those maturities have become monthly, raising $65 billion in July, as the U.S. tries to fund a record budget deficit. The next sales will be held on three consecutive days beginning Aug. 11.
The U.S. raised $1.02 trillion this year selling Treasuries, government data show. The budget deficit is projected to reach $1.85 trillion in 2009, equivalent to 13 percent of the nation's economy, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a primary dealer, predicts the U.S. will sell about $2.9 trillion of debt in the two years ending September 2010 after it cut its estimate for Treasury auctions by 28 percent on the nation's economic prospects.
Treasuries pared losses as the Federal Reserve prepared to buy notes maturing from May 2012 to November 2013 today.
'Extremely Attractive'
Longer-maturity debt gained yesterday as the Fed purchased $2.999 billion of Treasuries maturing between February 2021 and February 2026 as part of its plan to cap borrowing costs. The central bank bought $222.719 billion in Treasuries since its purchases began March 25.
Treasury two-year notes may rise because policy makers are likely to leave interest rates unchanged for a prolonged period, according to Daiwa Securities SMBC Co., a unit of Japan's second-largest brokerage.
"Two-year yields are extremely attractive as we cannot expect a rate hike," said Yasutoshi Nagai, Tokyo-based chief economist at Daiwa Securities. "The yield is too high."
Two-year note yields are 94 basis points above the upper range of the Fed interest rate, the widest spread in more than a month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That spread may narrow to 65 basis points, Nagai said.
BlackRock Favors TIPS
BlackRock Inc., the biggest publicly traded U.S. money manager, favors U.S. TIPS with maturities of 10 years or more and U.K. index-linked gilts due between 5 and 10 years, said Brian Weinstein, a fund manager based in New York.
Federal-funds futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade show a 57 percent chance policy makers will leave borrowing costs unchanged by year-end. The odds were 50 percent a month earlier.
Investors should favor debt and stocks of "strong" companies because U.S. economic growth will be closer to 3 percent than the range of 5 percent to 7 percent for the past 15 years, said Bill Gross, who runs the world's biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co.
"There is no investment potion for this new environment other than steady income-producing bond and equity investments in companies with strong balance sheets and high dividend yields," Gross wrote in his August investment outlook on Pimco's Web site.
U.S. corporate bonds rated A to AAA by S&P returned 7.3 percent this year, according to indexes compiled by Merrill Lynch & Co., as the economy improved and investors sought higher yields than those offered by government debt. Merrill's U.S. Treasury Master Index posted a 4.9 percent loss.
LOL, I love watching the games Bill Gross plays. He's a seller, no, he's a buyer. You should own bonds… no, bonds are destined to go down. Clown. Here's a tip – whatever Bill Gross says, just do the opposite, that's what he's doing.
And I love that quote from Nagai… "The yield is too high." Ha, ha, too high! That's a good one. Listen, those who read my bond article back in January and taken action would have done quite well (Bond Market Hide & Seek – A Domed House & 3 Peaks...).
Interest rates hit ZERO.
While they can technically go slightly lower than zero, we are at the end of an era. Sure, interest rates can stay low for quite some time, but NOT when you can't pay your debts. And trust me, we cannot possibly pay $235 billion per week forever. We are bankrupt, and interest rates are going to rise at some point, that's why TLT is down over 24% from its peak. Rates are being held artificially low, and that simply cannot be sustained.
What I don't like is that the numbers are not adding up and there is no transparency as to where the money is coming from. This is no joke, this is a very, very serious issue, one with criminal and traitorous implications. The Fed, the Treasury, and the Primary Dealers need to be audited, and it needs to happen NOW.
The pumpers and pundits see such massive debt auctions go off "successfully" and without bothering to add up the math mistakenly conclude that all will be well with the world and that equities will rise on the back of such money pumping. Sure they will, just like a drunk or a drug addict will get really high just before they hit the floor.
The Animals - The House of the Rising Sun (1964):
Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk
Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun


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Quintessence wrote:Can someone help confirm the following or provide other info?
Prior to Pet Battles, the shadeling DID spawn only at night, but it's about 6 AM (server time) and I'm seeing 3 spawns in the cellar. The weather is clear and sun is rising.
- Restless Shadeling - Deadwind Pass (Master's Cellar)
- Spawns only late at night (starting around Midnight). Note: The cellar is underground and can be accessed from the ruins outside of karazhan.
It's about 11:00 AM server time on Lost Isles and I'm not seeing any of the Restless Shadelings. Been flying around for a few minutes and I also went into the cellar and nothing. So, they might still spawn late at night.


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White House to review equipment program for local police
A senior Obama administration official said Saturday the White House is weighing whether the federal government should continue to arm local police departments with military equipment in the wake of fiery protests over the past two weeks in Ferguson, Mo.
"It makes sense to take a look at whether military-style equipment is being acquired for the right purposes and whether there is proper training on when and how to deploy it," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement released to USA TODAY.
"This equipment flowed to local police forces because they were increasingly being asked to assist in counterterrorism,'' Holder said. "But displays of force in response to mostly peaceful demonstrations can be counterproductive.''
The administration review was first reported Saturday by the New York Times.
The Defense Logistics Agency estimates it has transferred $5.1 billion in surplus equipment including weapons, vehicles, office equipment, clothing, helicopters and boats to state and local police agencies under a 1991 law designed to combat the illegal drug trade.
Although the agency says only 5% of the equipment are weapons, there has been limited oversight on how the equipment is being used.
President Obama has asked whether state and local law enforcement are provided with the necessary training and guidance on the equipment they receive and whether the federal government is sufficiently auditing their use, the senior official told USA TODAY.
"The review will be led by White House staff including the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and relevant U.S. agencies including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Treasury and in coordination with Congress,'' the senior official said.
Members of Congress are planning hearings to investigate the program — known as the Law Enforcement Support Office — after lawmakers return from their August recess.
Images of heavily armed police officers firing tear gas and pointing rifles at protesters have inflamed debate over the practice.
"The whole country and every representative and senator have seen the visuals, and at some level, it made all of us uncomfortable," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., told the Times.
McCaskill will lead a hearing in September into police use of military-style equipment.
"It's a moment where we can take a timeout and look at these policies," she said.


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Isy Suttie: Love Lost In The British Retail Industry
Note: This review is from 2007
Isy Suttie is a modern-day Victoria Wood – and it's a similarity that extends beyond the soft Northern twang, or the fact that they are both talented musicians as much as stand-ups. They also both find touching comedy in the world of the frustrated dreams of working folk, seeing art in the trials and tribulations of ordinary people, things that are mundane in the eyes of the world, but dramatic enough for them. It may be a romanticised view of life, but the affection makes for a feelgood hour.
Suttie's show revolves around Lisa Marsden, a Somerfield checkout girl happy with her lot but nagged by ideas of what could have been. She wanted to be a singer, and find love rather than a succession of meaningless one-night stands. When Carl Butcher, the shelf stacker, starts work at her supermarket, she thinks it could be the solution to at least one of these desires, and tentatively makes her approach.
This modern romance is set in Matlock, the Derbyshire town from where Suttie hails, and which has a sleepy, unambitious atmosphere which she conjured up by repeating the inconsequential chit-chat with a neighbour that her mother feels a worth mentioning in a letter to her daughter.
Suttie tells the bumpy romance almost entirely in song, a one-woman musical in which she plays Lisa, Carl, a struggling American folk singer in the Alanis Morissette mould, an aging fairy godmother actress and a few others beside – even to the point where she duets with herself. The joy is that all the songs are proper ones; not wacky comedy tracks but the sort of thing you can imagine a whimsical indie band playing in an acoustic session. Only Suttie's verses of yearning and confusion are infused with a wit as well as warmth.
This is comedy with heart and soul, and just enough bite to stop it sliding into sentimentality. Jokes haven't been forgotten, either – not especially in clear punchlines, although there are a handful, but in Suttie's skilfully evocative language. In just two examples of her literate, inventive turns of phrase, Avril Lavigne is described as 'a skeleton dressed as a clown' while Butcher 'has the look of a middle-class man wanted for a minor crime'.
There are wry parodies of folk music and bad stand-up, and the peripheral characters provide a well-balanced level of comic relief, providing laughs without compromising the poignancy behind the yarn. Lovely stuff.
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Review date: 1 Jan 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett


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Injured Crain making most of time at All-Star Game
White Sox reliever hopes to meet Yanks' Rivera; Sale excited to pitch
NEW YORK -- It is an unhappy coincidence for White Sox reliever Jesse Crain that, after waiting a decade to make his first All-Star team, he is unable to pitch in it due to a sprained right shoulder.
But Crain plans to make the most of his time at Citi Field. He jokingly referred to his week in New York City as a "vacation" with one primary goal: introduce himself to retiring Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
"Being a relief pitcher and playing for now -- this is my 10th season -- I've never had a chance to meet him," Crain said. "To be able to be here on the same team with him in his most likely last year, it's a pretty cool experience."
Though Crain will not take part in Tuesday's All-Star Game (6:30 p.m. CT on FOX) due to injury, teammate Chris Sale will be a healthy participant at Citi Field. Sale, 24, is making his second straight All-Star appearance in his second year as a starter, thanks to ranking in the top 10 of almost every American League pitching category but wins.
Even with a recent 0-6 stretch over seven starts from June 2-July 6, Sale still posted a 3.10 ERA, 62 strikeouts and a .212 opponents' batting average over those 49 1/3 innings. The fact that Sale received a total of nine runs of support during that stretch helps explain the record. Thanks to a win over Detroit on Thursday, Sale enters the Midsummer Classic with a 6-8 record, 2.85 ERA, 131 strikeouts and just 27 walks over 120 innings.
"Winning and losing is kind of everything in sports," Sale said. "I know everyone said a won-loss record for a pitcher is not the most important stat or even like a pointless stat, but at the end of the day you want to win games. That's what you're sent out there to do. At the end of the day, you still want to win."
It was AL manager Jim Leyland who picked Sale for the team, after the players voted on Sale last year. It also was Sale who drew the Tigers' ire in Thursday's game when he threw high and tight to Prince Fielder on the ensuing pitch following a Miguel Cabrera opposite-field homer. Sale swore postgame that there was no intent behind the pitch -- he was just trying to muscle up in frustration and throw one 120 mph. He planned to convey that point in New York to Fielder and Leyland, after thanking Leyland for taking him to another Midsummer Classic.
"It's still kind of surreal seeing some of these names around here and having my locker in the same locker room with some of these guys," Sale said. "I wouldn't say it's mandatory for me to be here. There are some guys that have some pretty good bodies of work and some great resumes and are working toward the Hall of Fame, and I'm just starting out. So it does get surreal sometimes, but I just try to handle it the best I can."
The 32-year-old Crain posted a franchise-record 29 straight appearances without allowing a run, breaking J.J. Putz's previous mark of 27, and 31 straight games without allowing an earned run to make an extra impact. He also has a 0.74 ERA entering the All-Star break and 46 strikeouts over 36 2/3 innings.
Whether he will still be pitching for the White Sox past the non-waiver Trade Deadline, or whether he will even be healthy enough to pitch by then, remain questions to be answered for the veteran.
"It's crossed my mind, but I'm not really thinking about that right now," Crain said. "I'm just trying to get healthy. I was thinking about all the trade stuff when I was pitching before, but now that I've been on the DL, before anything can happen, I need to get healthy anyway. That's what I'm thinking about. I'm happy to represent the White Sox here. That's who I've had my success with and that's the reason I am here. So I'm glad it's with them."
Until he does get healthy, the only question surrounding Crain is how much fun can he have at one of baseball's more storied events.
"I'm extremely excited," Crain said. "Chicago is a great city. Being able to represent the White Sox is a dream come true. This is my third year and they've treated me awesome, and the fans are great. To come here on this big stage and be able to represent them is a great feeling."
The final phase of All-Star Game voting will again have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining the recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
The 2013 All-Star Game will be played at Citi Field on Tuesday. Come to MLB.com for extensive online coverage of the All-Star Week festivities.
The 84th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network and SiriusXM also will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.


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Hitman1386, on May 22 2012 - 21:16, said:
The British and Canadian armies had little resistance on the beaches and through the hedgerow country COMPARED to the Americans. I am not saying they didn't encounter heavy resistance. But compared to U.S. forces, they encountered much lighter resistance, U.S. casualties totaling 5,000 on Omaha ALONE compared to 2,500 British, Canadian, and Polish forces on their 3 Beach-heads COMBINED.


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Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Clara
Telephone: (408) 615-2210 Fax: (408) 241-6771
Pursuant to State legislation ABx1 26, the "Dissolution Act," the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) of the City of Santa Clara was dissolved effective February 1, 2012. The City has elected to become the Successor Agency for the RDA non-housing functions, responsible for paying off the former Redevelopment Agency's existing debts, disposing of the former Redevelopment Agency's properties and assets to help pay off debts, returning revenues to the local government entities that receive property taxes, and winding up the affairs of the former Redevelopment Agency. The City has also elected to retain the former Redevelopment Agency's housing functions, including retaining all of the housing assets, rights, power, duties, obligations and functions previously performed by the Redevelopment Agency in administering its Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund.
The Dissolution Act further requires each RDA to prepare an Enforceable Obligation Payment Schedule (EOPS) setting further specific information about the RDA's Enforceable Obligations. The Redevelopment Agency, prior to dissolution, prepared and adopted an Amended EOPS pursuant to Part 1.8 of Redevelopment Law which will allow the Successor Agency to continue to pay all of its enforceable obligations.
Under the Dissolution Act, the actions by a Successor Agency will be monitored, and in some cases approved, by an Oversight Board. The Oversight Board will consist of seven members appointed by and representing the following:
- County Board of Supervisors (two members)
- Mayor (one member)
- County Superintendent of Education (one member)
- Chancellor of California Community Colleges (one member)
- The Santa Clara Valley Water District, as the largest special district taxing entity (one member)
- A former RDA employee appointed by the Mayor
Below is the information on the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Clara as it existed prior to its dissolution on February 1, 2012.
The Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Clara was created through City Council ordinance in 1957. It was legally and technically a state agency existing under the Community Redevelopment Law of the State of California. The Agency existed as a public body, separate and distinct from the City, and was activated for the purpose of redevelopment of blighted areas of the state, identified by appropriate proceedings set forth in the Community Redevelopment Law. The Santa Clara City Council served as the Agency Board of Directors and the City Manager served as Executive Director. Agency Members and Officers, immediately prior to dissolution.
Santa Clara had two Redevelopment project areas - the Bayshore North Project area, formed in 1973, and the University Project area, formed in 1961. The Redevelopment Agency also administered a Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund, but these responsibilities were assumed by the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Clara through the adoption of a Resolution on February 22, 2011.
Bayshore North Project
Major projects in the Bayshore North area included streets and utilities, the Santa Clara Convention Center Complex (location of the Santa Clara Convention Center, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the TECHMART office building) and Great America Theme Park (now California's Great America). Redevelopment also funded major infrastructure in the project area including the Tasman Drive Bridge over the Guadalupe River, expansions of the Santa Clara Convention Center, construction of Fire Station No. 6 and the Youth Soccer Park, and the extension of the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail to provide alternative commute options. Planned and underway capital projects in the Bayshore North project area included the construction of a new parking structure to serve the Convention Center and other nearby needs, a branch library to serve residents in the area, contribution of a not-to-exceed $40 million towards construction of a football stadium; and another underway project, the Presidio El Camino affordable housing project. The Bayshore North Redevelopment Project Area created significant economic development, jobs and affordable housing for the City of Santa Clara and region.
University Project
The University Project Area was established as a traditional urban renewal of eight blocks of what was, at that time, Santa Clara's downtown. The first phase of that redevelopment, the Franklin Mall project, was completed in 1966. More than 30 years later, the area again needed revitalization, and the City of Santa Clara and the Redevelopment Agency, through a Cooperation Agreement, provided funding for the second phase of revitalization in 2001, which included renovation of landscaping, signage and parking lots in the City-owned common areas of the project, re-named "Franklin Square." The revitalization in 2001 led to new restaurants, a Business Improvement District (BID) was formed by the Merchants Association, and the BID established a popular Farmers' Market now open year-round. Prior to the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency, the Council had set as a goal a new revitalization of the Downtown area.


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When we talk about HIV treatment, the issue of resistance almost always comes up. HIV drug resistance can seem to be a hopelessly complicated topic. But having a basic understanding of what resistance is, what causes it, and how it's measured can have a big impact on the success of antiretroviral treatment.
This overview is intended to help people better understand the basics of drug resistance (hopefully without being too complicated) in order to get the full benefit of treatment.
Drug resistance isn't anything new and certainly isn't limited to HIV. Most of us are familiar with drug resistance in situations outside of HIV. You may have experienced or read about wide-spread resistance to antibiotics, drug-resistant tuberculosis, or vaginal yeast infections that don't respond to conventional treatment.
The goal of any pathogen -- or germ -- is to survive and reproduce. Most medications are designed either to kill the offending germ or to stop it from reproducing, ideally resolving the infection. But if a germ continues to reproduce while you're on treatment, it may change -- or mutate -- so that the treatment can no longer kill the germ or stop it from reproducing. Over time, the treatment no longer works.
This is called drug resistance.
HIV Replication
The goal of HIV treatment is to lower the amount of virus in your body (viral load) and increase your CD4 cell count so that the immune system is better able to deal with infections.
Many complex steps are necessary for HIV to make copies of itself. Two of these steps involve specific enzymes -- reverse transcriptase and protease. All but one of the antiretrovirals approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat HIV interfere with the virus's replication process by attaching -- or binding -- to one of these enzymes, effectively stopping HIV from replicating.
Without treatment, HIV usually reproduces very rapidly in the body, creating billions of new viral particles every day. Since HIV replication involves so many complex steps, the virus makes a lot of mistakes. And as sophisticated as HIV is, it's also a somewhat messy virus. It isn't able to correct mistakes it makes as it reproduces. These mistakes in HIV's genetic structure are called mutations.
Up to 90% of new viruses end up with a mutation (or mutations) that keep them from being able to infect a new CD4 T-cell or complete the replication process. Unfortunately, that still leaves millions of new viruses that go on to produce new copies of HIV. Many of these viruses also contain mutations, but they aren't harmful enough to interfere with HIV's ability to replicate.
HIV Drug Resistance
Simply put, HIV drug resistance means that an antiretroviral drug -- or combination of drugs -- can't prevent or reduce HIV replication. Our main concern is the mutations that affect currently available antiretrovirals. Specific mutations that stop a drug from being able to bind to either the reverse transcriptase or protease enzyme can make the drug less effective. This can have a negative effect on how well treatment works.
Reverse transcriptase inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors bind to HIV's reverse transcriptase enzyme. Protease inhibitors bind to the protease enzyme.
Drug resistance doesn't happen because HIV is smart. The virus doesn't have a brain and can't think about how to get around a drug. Mutations that cause resistance occur naturally and randomly. We sometimes think of HIV as intelligent and cunning, but, in fact, it survives simply because it can. It uses what it needs to replicate -- white blood cells (usually CD4 cells), certain enzymes, and other materials it brings with it.
Drug Resistance Before Starting Treatment
Mutations in the genetic structure of the reverse transcriptase and protease enzymes can occur before you begin antiretroviral treatment and, more often, when you're on treatment.
When HIV enters your body, it makes both perfect copies of itself -- called wild-type virus -- and copies with random mutations. As both the wild-type and mutated HIV continue to replicate, populations of mixed viruses develop in your body.
Wild-type virus is the most fit and best able to replicate, so most of the HIV in your body is wild-type virus. Even though mutations continue to randomly occur, most of them are harmless and will have little or no effect if and when you begin treatment.
Unfortunately, many people who have never been on treatment have HIV that's resistant to one or many HIV drugs. If you're HIV-negative and engage in risk behaviors with someone whose virus is resistant to one or more antiretroviral, you could be infected with your partner's drug-resistant HIV.
Recent data show that 10-30% of new infections (generally defined as having been infected over the past three years) involve HIV that's resistant to at least one drug. As many as 10% of new infections involve HIV that is resistant to at least two drugs. And a recent study found that 3% of new HIV infections involved strains of HIV that were resistant to drugs in three classes of antiretrovirals (reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleosides, and protease inhibitors).
It's also possible for someone with HIV to be infected again, with drug-resistant HIV, possibly HIV that's resistant to many drugs. This is called superinfection. We don't know how often superinfection occurs, but there are several reports showing that it's possible.
If you're infected with drug-resistant HIV -- either initially or through superinfection -- you have fewer treatment options even before you start therapy. This could affect the likelihood of treatment being successful.
Drug Resistance While on Treatment
Most mutations that can influence the effectiveness of combination therapy happen while you're on treatment. When you first start antiretroviral treatment, the amount of HIV in your body goes down dramatically.
No combination completely stops HIV from reproducing, but treatment significantly lowers levels of all viral populations in the body, both wild-type and mutated virus. Just as wild-type virus is the most fit and most able to replicate, it's also the most sensitive to antiretroviral treatment.
When you have a viral load test soon after you begin treatment and see a dramatically lower number, most of that decrease is due to the affect of the drugs on your wild-type virus.
The flip side of wild-type virus's sensitivity to antiretrovirals is that any HIV in your body with certain mutations in the reverse transcriptase or protease enzymes has a survival advantage. Depending on the mutations, the drug can't bind to the enzyme and can't interfere with HIV's replication process.
This is called selective pressure. Drug-resistant virus is able to replicate despite the presence of the drug.
Even though there's less HIV in your body, the virus with the relevant mutation(s) can become the dominant strain over time. As the mutated virus continues to replicate, it makes copies of HIV with that same mutation and other mutations can also develop.
The Xerox Machine
The HIV replication process is a bit like using a Xerox machine. You start with a nice, clear original of your document (the wild-type). You make a copy of the original and, in the process, you may copy a speck of dirt (a mutation) that's on the glass of the copier.
When you make a copy of the copy, that speck of dirt is copied, too. As you go on to make copies from each copy, the mutation continues to show up -- along with many others. After a while, your original document has become an unreadable blur, complete with many Xeroxed specks of dirt (multiple mutations).
As discussed above, most mutations harm the virus, making HIV unable to complete the replication process (an unreadable blur). But other mutations severely limit a drug's effectiveness. The drug can no longer bind to the enzyme that HIV uses to replicate. As a result, the amount of drug-resistant virus increases and so does your viral load.
Drug resistance would usually happen very quickly if you took only one antiretroviral. For example, only one mutation (called the M184V) in the reverse transcriptase enzyme makes HIV completely resistant to both Epivir (3TC, lamivudine) and Emtriva (emtricitabine). If you took either of these drugs alone, your virus would develop resistance within just a couple of weeks.
Resistance to the non-nucleosides is similar. One mutation (the K103N) in the reverse transcriptase enzyme can cause HIV to become highly resistant to all three non-nucleosides -- Viramune (nevirapine), Sustiva (efavirenz), and Rescriptor (delavirdine). This is an example of cross-resistance. Depending on the mutation, if HIV develops resistance to one drug, it can be resistant to other drugs in the same class because of the same or similar resistance patterns -- even if you've never taken those other drugs.
Some antiretrovirals require more than one mutation in the relevant enzyme to cause resistance to that particular drug. This is especially true with protease inhibitors.
Each antiretroviral is associated with at least one mutation -- called the primary mutation -- that causes the most drug resistance. Other mutations -- called secondary mutations -- sometimes make HIV less sensitive to a drug, but they don't usually cause complete resistance unless the primary mutation is also present.
As more mutations -- both primary and secondary -- occur, the likelihood of HIV becoming resistant to a given antiretroviral increases. The concept of multiple mutations can be difficult to understand. This is about when many of us throw up our hands in surrender. Some people dutifully track the primary and secondary mutations of every available antiretroviral and those that are in development, but it isn't necessary for everyone to do that.
You don't need all of that information in your head in order to make informed decisions about treatment or to develop treatment strategies. Coming up with good questions to ask your healthcare provider and knowledgeable advocates can be as valuable as memorizing the mutations that keep a drug from working.
Now some good news. Having resistance to a drug doesn't necessarily mean that it can't still be useful. A drug that your virus is resistant to may still work for you, just not as well as it used to. There are varying degrees of resistance -- partial and complete. And although mutations like the ones described above can cause complete resistance to one (or more) drug, mutated HIV is almost always sensitive to the other drugs in a combination. That's why we use multiple drug regimens.
HIV with specific mutations may be resistant to one of the drugs in your combination, but the other antiretrovirals in the regimen bind to the protease enzyme or to a different part of the reverse transcriptase enzyme and successfully stop HIV replication.
The bottom line concerning the development of drug resistance is that the less virus there is (the lower your viral load), the less likely it is that HIV will develop mutations.
Peak and Trough Levels
- This graph shows levels in your body of an antiretroviral that's dosed twice a day.
- The first dose is taken at 7 am.
- The amount of drug quickly rises to the highest level (peak) and then slowly begins to fall, reaching the lowest level (trough) before 7 pm -- time for the next dose.
- Cmax is the maximum concentration of the drug in your blood. The Cmax should be low enough to keep short-term side effects like nausea or headaches from being intolerable.
- If drug levels rise above the peak (Cmax) -- because you took more than the prescribed dose, for example -- the side effects can be serious.
- Cmin is the minimum concentration of a drug in your body between one dose and the next.
- If drug levels fall below the trough (Cmin), the drug may not be effective. If drug levels drop too low, HIV can replicate freely and may develop resistance to the drug.
- When doses are taken at the right time, drug levels stay within the therapeutic range -- between the Cmax and the Cmin -- ensuring that there is enough drug in your body to slow down or stop HIV from reproducing.
- But if you miss your 7 pm dose (dotted line), the trough level gets way too low (see the colored area).
- The chance of developing resistance to the drug increases greatly, since there isn't enough drug in your body to control HIV replication.
Adherence, Absorption, and Pharmacokinetics
Often, a combination stops working no matter how adherent a person is. This doesn't usually happen quickly -- certainly nowhere near as quickly as it would if you took only one or two drugs. But it can still happen. When it does, some healthcare and service providers assume that the individual isn't adhering to his or her regimen. That's sometimes the case, but other things can also contribute to the development of resistance while you're on treatment.
If the amount of drug in your body falls below therapeutic levels -- for any reason -- you won't have enough of the drug in your system to stop or slow down HIV replication. The drug may inhibit wild-type virus from replicating, but it won't have an effect on HIV with mutations that keep that drug from binding to the relevant enzyme. This allows the mutated HIV to continue to reproduce, creating more viruses with that same mutation.
Poor adherence can cause drug resistance to develop. Adherence means taking your medications on time, taking the prescribed dose, and taking them the correct way (with or without food, for example).
After you take a dose, levels of the drug quickly rise to the highest level (peak) and then slowly begin falling, reaching the lowest level (trough) before you take the next dose. Skipping doses or not taking a drug correctly can cause the trough level to get too low.
When the amount of drug in your body falls below the trough level, the chance of developing resistance is increased since HIV can reproduce more freely and accumulate more mutations. (See graphic.)
Some people who are meticulous about adherence get very nervous if they miss even one dose, afraid that their HIV will immediately become resistant to their regimen. Missing the occasional dose isn't a big problem. Resistance develops when you regularly miss doses.
According to estimates, you need to be up to 95% adherent in order for your regimen to be most effective. This degree of adherence is very high. For example, if you're on a twice-a-day regimen, it means missing fewer than four doses a month. And if you're on a once-a-day regimen, it means missing one dose a month -- at most. Poor adherence can cause drug resistance and, possibly, cross-resistance, too.
If you have trouble sticking to your schedule, be honest with your healthcare provider about it. He or she may be able to prescribe a simpler regimen or help you come up with strategies that work for you. If not, in the long run it may be better for you not to be on antiretrovirals until the reasons for your difficulties with adherence have been addressed.
Poor absorption can also affect levels of a drug. If a drug isn't properly absorbed into your bloodstream, drug levels can be too low. This would allow HIV to reproduce without interference and, in the process, accumulate drug-resistant mutations.
If you vomit or have diarrhea shortly after taking your dose, for example, the drug you just took could be expelled from your gut right away, reducing or eliminating the amount of drug absorbed.
As mentioned above, some antiretrovirals have food restrictions, most of which are necessary for the drugs to be absorbed properly. If these food restrictions aren't followed, drug levels can become too low to be effective. Most antiretrovirals don't have any food restrictions these days, but some do. For example, both Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir) and Viracept (nelfinavir) should be taken with a meal or light snack. Reyataz (atazanavir) should be taken with food, ideally a complete, nutritious meal.
Drug absorption can also be reduced if you have an intestinal infection. So if you're having nausea, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, or any other symptoms of a possible infection, have it checked out.
Pharmacokinetics -- the way that a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated from the body -- can also affect the development of HIV drug resistance.
Some people process drugs faster or slower than other people do, which can speed up or slow down the rate at which a drug clears your body. So if two people take the exact same dose of a drug, the level of drug may be higher in one person than it is in the other one. Factors that can contribute to this include weight, height, age, and, possibly, race and gender.
We all know that people metabolize food differently -- some of us eat as much as we want and stay thin, while other people carefully watch their diet and continue to gain weight. These differences in metabolism are similar to the way we process other substances, including drugs.
The prescribed dose of an antiretroviral is based on the dose that was found to be safest and most effective in clinical trials for most trial participants. Some people may be able to take a lower dose and keep their viral load low or undetectable, while others might need a higher dose to get the same response. There's a lot we don't know about this issue, including how to figure out who may need a dose that's lower or higher than the one that's prescribed.
Finally, many over-the-counter and prescription medications, illegal drugs, herbs, vitamins, and supplements interact with a lot of the antiretrovirals and shouldn't be taken together. Many antiretrovirals also interact with each other. Interactions are complex. Some lower antiretroviral drug levels, which could allow the development of mutations. Pay attention to possible interactions and tell your provider about everything that you're taking.
Drug Resistance When Stopping Treatment
People sometimes stop treatment -- because of toxicity, because another health problem requires a treatment interruption, because they've been responding well and decide to discontinue therapy for a while, or because they're just plain tired of taking medication. If you stop treatment for any reason, work closely with your healthcare provider. Careful planning is important.
Depending on your regimen, if you stop all of your antiretrovirals at once, your virus could develop resistance to one or more of the drugs you were taking. This is most likely to happen if one of your drugs has a long half-life, meaning that drug levels stay high in your body for a long time after you take a dose.
For example, it can take up to three weeks for Sustiva (efavirenz) to be eliminated from your body after you stop taking it. If you stop Sustiva at the same time as you stop taking other antiretrovirals with shorter half-lives, it's like being on Sustiva by itself for a while. This gives a survival advantage to any virus in your body with the mutation that makes it resistant to Sustiva. During that short time after stopping your drugs, much of your HIV could become completely resistant to Sustiva and become resistant to Viramune and Rescriptor, too.
If you plan to stop a regimen that includes Sustiva, it's probably safest to stop the Sustiva one or two weeks before stopping the other drugs in your combination. It may also be possible to switch from Sustiva to a drug with a shorter half-life for a while before stopping everything.
Most antiretrovirals have relatively short half-lives -- including most of the ones that are dosed once a day. But the half-life of Viramune, for example, is also long enough to require careful planning with your provider to avoid the development of resistance if you're stopping a regimen that includes that drug.
Figuring Out if Your HIV Is Drug-Resistant
Regular viral load testing is the quickest way to tell whether treatment is working. If your viral load doesn't reach very low or undetectable levels within a few months after you begin treatment, it's a sign that something's off. Similarly, if an undetectable viral load becomes detectable and continues to go up while you're still on treatment, it's a sign that your regimen isn't working properly.
Viral load tests can't tell why your regimen isn't working. A detectable or increasing viral load doesn't necessarily mean that drug-resistance has occurred. But it could mean that you're at risk of developing drug resistance because there's more HIV replication going on. It's important to find out what's happening.
Viral load tests can't tell whether your HIV is resistant to one drug or, perhaps, your whole regimen. They can't tell which drug or combination may be most effective for you in the future, either.
This is where drug resistance testing comes in.
Resistance Testing
There are two types of drug resistance tests. Genotype tests look for specific mutations in the genetic structure of your reverse transcriptase and protease enzymes that could cause drug resistance. Phenotype tests measure the sensitivity of your HIV to specific antiretrovirals.
If your regimen isn't working, genotype and phenotype tests can help you and your provider figure out which drug or drugs your virus is resistant to and which ones you're most likely to respond to. This information can help you put together a new regimen that's likely to be effective.
Resistance tests are recommended in many situations. The Department of Health and Human Services' Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents suggest that HIV drug resistance testing should be done:
- If you're switching regimens because your current regimen is failing;
- If your viral load doesn't drop significantly shortly after beginning treatment;
- Before starting treatment during acute (initial) HIV infection if the test is done within a few weeks after infection; and, possibly,
- Before starting treatment if you may have been infected with drug-resistant virus.
Avoiding HIV Drug Resistance
There are many ways that you can slow down the development of drug resistance:
- The more you know about antiretrovirals, the better prepared you'll be to make treatment choices that can help you avoid drug resistance.
- The first regimen you take may be your best chance to suppress HIV the most and prevent drug resistance from developing.
- It's also important to take your medications as prescribed. Missing doses, not taking the right number of pills, not taking them at the right time, or taking medication on an empty stomach if it's supposed to be taken with food, can cause viral load to increase and drug-resistant mutations to develop.
- A good relationship with your healthcare provider can help with all of this. Communicate honestly with your provider. Ask questions, talk about any problems you're having, and tell him or her everything you're taking -- including over-the counter medications, herbs, and any other legal or illegal drugs.
Taking these steps can help avoid drug resistance from getting a chance to develop and leave you more options in the future.
James Learned was Director of Treatment Education at AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA) until June of this year. He writes for various community-based publications and conducts trainings on HIV and viral hepatitis treatment issues. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Letters & Numbers
When we read about mutations that cause resistance to HIV drugs or look at the results of a genotype test, mutations are listed as a letter followed by a number and then another letter. This way of describing a mutation may seem confusing, but it's really very straightforward.
HIV is made up of proteins, and proteins are made up of amino acids. A codon tells us which amino acid is found at a specific spot in a protein chain. The reverse transcriptase and protease enzymes are protein chains made up of codons. The amino acids in a protein chain are numbered starting at one end of the chain.
With reverse transcriptase, for example, the 184th amino acid in the protein chain is called position 184. A mutation in reverse transcriptase means that a different amino acid has replaced the one that would be located at that place in wild-type virus. Each mutation is given a specific name to tell it apart from other mutations.
The first letter in a mutation stands for the amino acid that's found at that position in wild-type virus. The number in the middle is the codon, where the mutation is located. And the final letter stands for the amino acid that's there instead of what we'd find in wild-type virus (the mutation).
Some examples:


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Spiced Carrot Salad with Olives Recipe
Check out other recipes from Serious Entertaining: Memorial Day »
- Yield:makes 4 servings
- Active time: 20 minutes
- Total time:25 minutes
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces or 1 pound baby carrots, cut into thirds
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half
- 3/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
In a medium saucepan, combine garlic, coriander, red pepper, and carrots. Cover with water. Let come to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook until carrots are crisp but can be easily pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes.
Pour carrots into a large bowl. Add red onion, olives, and cilantro. Toss to blend.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, toast cumin until fragrant, 1 minute. Take off heat and add lemon juice and olive oil. Pour cumin mixture over carrots and olives. Toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.
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- Palladino and Sarmiento named Players of the Week, Appel named Rookie of the Week -
New York, N.Y. - The Skyline Conference released the Fall weekly report #7 on Monday, October 14, including Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, Honor Roll and Conference statistics for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's tennis and women's volleyball.
Women's Volleyball Update (10-16, 6-0 Skyline) - Full Report
The Rams increased their winning streak to eight games with victories over York (NY), Mount Saint Mary College and Mount Saint Vincent. Farmingdale State (6-0) is tied with The Sage Colleges for first place in the Skyline Conference.
Junior outside Sarah Palladino (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) was named Skyline Conference Player of the Week. Palladino averaged 4.50 kills and 1.58 digs over 12 sets this week for Farmingdale State. She registered 12 kills versus York (NY) and compiled 23 kills with a .419 attacking percentage against Mount Saint Mary College. Palladino tallied 19 kills against Mount Saint Vincent as she averaged 0.50 blocks on the week.
Freshman middle blocker Maia Cadle-Hinton (Huntington, N.Y.) was named to the Honor Roll. She led the Rams with a .409 attack percentage and added five solo blocks and four aces
This week the women's volleyball team will play in the St. Joe's Invite on Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th.
Men's Soccer Update (7-6, 3-2 Skyline) - Full Report
The men's soccer team posted conference wins over both Maritime and NYU-Poly this past week.
Sophomore midfielder Diego Sarmiento (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) was named Skyline Conference Player of the Week. Sarmiento netted four goals on five shots in a 2-0 week for the Rams. His goal versus Maritime marked his first of the season, before adding three against NYU-Poly. He is second on the team with four goals this year.
This week Farmingdale State will host Mount Saint Mary College in a Skyline match on Friday, October 18th at 4:00 p.m.
Women's Soccer Update (9-7, 5-0 Skyline) - Full Report
The Rams won a pair of Skyline Conference games this week with wins over St. Joseph's and Maritime.
Freshman midfielder Ashley Appel (Bellmore, N.Y.) was named Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week. Appel's goal with 3:49 remaining on October 11th proved to be the difference as Farmingdale State edged St. Joseph's, 1-0. That score marked her second game-winning tally of the season.
The women's soccer team will host Purchase on Wednesday, October 16th at 4:00 p.m. and travel to Old Westbury on Saturday, October 19th at 2:30 p.m.
Men's Golf Update
Senior Adam Larkin (Bellmore, N.Y.) was the runner-up at the St. Joseph's Golden Eagle Invitational after posting a 77.
This week the golf team will travel to Panther Valley Golf and Country Club on Wednesday, October 16th for the Centenary College Invitational. The Skyline Conference Championship will be held at the Bethpage State Park - Red Course on Sunday, October 20th and Monday, October 21st with the winning team earning the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Championships.
Women's Tennis Update (6-2, 2-0 Skyline) - Full Report
The Rams did not compete last week and this week will play four matches...At Yeshiva (Tuesday @ 8:00 p.m.), home against Brooklyn (Thursday @ 4:30 p.m.), at St. Joseph's (Friday @ 5:00 p.m.) and home versus Purchase (Saturday @ noon).
Cross Country Update - Full Report
The women's team placed third and the men finished in ninth place at the CCNY Cross Country Invitational.
Senior Melissa Bonilla (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) and freshman Jacob Kashani (Roslyn, N.Y.) were each named to the Honor Roll. Bonilla finished in sixth place (26:08.80) out of 85 runners, while Kashani took 17th place in 31:02.00.
This week the Rams will compete at the St. Joseph's Invitational at Sunken Meadow State Park on Saturday, October 19th


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E-Learning Opens Real-World Doors
Virtual courses give Grand Rapids students time for internships and on-site experiences
For many schools, mixing online courses with face-to-face learning is primarily a method for serving struggling or advanced students while keeping them inside school walls.
But for several hundred high school students in the Grand Rapids, Mich., school district, blended learning is the key that unlocks the door to the real world.
In 2008, the district launched the first of five Centers of Innovation, one at each of the 17,000-student district's high schools. They are designed to give students a pathway to in-school internships and fellowships that could eventually lead to careers. Two of the centers now use online courses from e2020, a provider located in Scottsdale, Ariz., for students' core academic subjects.
"The overwhelming factor [in building a blended program] was the flexibility of being able to pull [students] out of class" for internships or college coursework, said Misty Stallworth, the assistant principal of the Academy for Design and Construction, one of those two centers. The academy serves roughly 120 students in a small wing of the much larger Union High School.
"We have a lot of students who just crave the flexibility of being able to work on what they want and when they want," Ms. Stallworth added.
The blended models within the Academy for Design and Construction and the School of Business, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship, housed within the district's Ottawa Hills High School, were not a result of a district emphasis on online learning when the district launched the initiative, however. And the district's first Center of Innovation, Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy at the district's University Prep High School, was created in response to a group of local businesses that originally wanted to open a charter school with the aim of arming students with the skills needed to succeed in four-year colleges.
"A charter gets into many different areas of a system we hadn't explored yet, including teachers' unions," said Mary Jo Kuhlman, the district's executive director for organizational learning, when explaining why the district resisted the charter proposition in favor of school-based innovation centers. "We really wanted to be collaborative."
Online Study Schedules
So instead of stopping at the creation of one center, the Grand Rapids district used the momentum from University Prep to charge each high school with creating a separately focused Center of Innovation by partnering with community players in separate vocational sectors. Career readiness is especially relevant in a community that has seen increasingly difficult economic times in the past two decades.
Because of the exodus of students from more affluent families to private schools and a local industrial economy that was slowing long before the recession that officially began in the final quarter of 2007, the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in the district had climbed steadily to 87 percent by the 2009-10 school year, from about 40 percent in 1991-92.
"Our goals were to expand school choice, increase student achievement, and also reduce the racial achievement gap," said Ms. Kuhlman. The 2006 measure of adequate yearly progress, or AYP, found fewer than half the district's schools to be meeting the standard under the federal No Child Left Behind law, the most recent version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
"Our other important factor was to be able to design and influence curriculum that was specific to that particular industry," Ms. Kuhlman said.
With each high school developing its innovation-center idea organically, only the Academy for Design and Construction and the School of Business, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship chose to use online courses to cover core academic subjects when those centers were launched in 2009.
While the Grand Rapids school district reports that students in its Centers of Innovation are, on average, getting better grades than students not in the program, it's difficult to gain more isolated data on the results of the blended programs at the Academy of Design and Construction and the School of Business, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship. Neither host school—Union High School nor Ottawa Hills High School—made adequate yearly progress, or AYP, in 2012, according to reports released in August and available on the district's website. Both schools, though, showed double-digit percentage-point gains in the number of students meeting or exceeding their growth targets on the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, assessments in reading. Both schools have shown marginal increases in student retention since the centers were launched in 2008.
Their blended approaches were more structured than what some other online students would encounter in a self-blended model, in which students select courses to supplement their brick-and-mortar studies to fill gaps in their schedules.
Freshmen and sophomores at the Academy of Design and Construction study both design and construction in a vocational technology classroom, while usually completing their core academic courses online and their electives in courses mixed with other Union High School students.
Their online study occurs in labs of 30 to 40 students of the same grade level. The labs are staffed by a lead teacher, a special education teacher, a paraprofessional, and a student advocate. That team combines to monitor students' progress, gives optional mini-lessons when needed on particular subjects that a number of students may be tackling at the same time, delivers required one-on-one assessments to allow students to pass units of a given course, and intervenes whenever students run into academic difficulties.
Freshmen and sophomores are generally scheduled for no more than two consecutive hours of online coursework—a policy established as a result of lessons learned earlier in the center's operation."Our students in the first couple years were screaming that we take too much time on the computer," Ms. Stallworth said. "Even now, it takes until about halfway through the students' freshman year for them to say, 'You know, this is kind of good. This is working to my advantage.'"
Measuring Progress
Melissa Gorman, a special education teacher for the Academy of Design and Construction for the past four years, previously taught special education in a more traditional classroom for five years. She said the transition to the computer-lab model took some adjustment for her as a teacher, but has since become second nature.
"I really didn't know what it was going to look like, and I couldn't quite wrap my head around it, until I was in it and doing it," said Ms. Gorman. She spent several summer days before her first year in professional-development sessions learning how to instruct with e2020's content, as well as observing other schools in the state that incorporated online courses.
"We are given liberty," she added. "Because it's our fourth year working with this program, we've kind of figured out what is working best with us."
By their junior year at the Academy of Design and Construction, students choose either a design path that involves a nearly full-day, twice-weekly internship, or a construction path, in which students spend two days a week working on houses being constructed or renovated through the Kent County, Mich., chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Students in the School of Business, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship take a similar path toward increasing specialization in their junior and senior years.
The result for Academy of Design and Construction students like junior José Ruelas is an increased amount of time spent working with the e2020 content during days he is not on the Habitat for Humanity job site. Because Mr. Ruelas has worked through some required classes, he spends the second half of his Monday taking a college-level introductory construction course, Ms. Stallworth said.
That still leaves him three hours on Mondays, and five on Wednesdays and Fridays, to work solely online, either on material in his Algebra 2 and English/language arts courses, or in other online electives, such as economics. He also has a one-hour early release those days.
"It does take some practice," Mr. Ruelas said of the need for self-discipline. "You've been going to middle school and you've never been taking a class this way, asking for checks and for help from a teacher. But you get used to it. You pay attention to your lectures, take notes, and you get used to it."
It's tricky to measure the success of the blended programs of the Academy for Design and Construction and the School of Business, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship, in part because both Centers of Innovation will only be graduating their first seniors during the spring of 2013, and also because it's hard to separate their results from those of their host schools.
Neither Union High School nor Ottawa Hills High School made AYP in 2012, according to progress reports released in August and available on the district's website, with the latter school missing out because it did not attain target achievement goals for all subgroups of students in math and reading. Both schools, though, showed double-digit percentage-point gains in the number of students meeting or exceeding their growth targets on the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress, or map, assessments in reading.
There is, however, some evidence that the Centers of Innovation and, more broadly, increased school choice options across primary and secondary grade levels, are working in a holistic sense. The number of Grand Rapids schools making AYP has increased for five straight years, according to the district's 2011 strategic plan, and in 2010, rose to 47 of the district's 59 schools total.
"I think what's important here is what the intent was, and the intent was that we knew we had academic-achievement gaps and we knew we needed to make greater gains in academic achievement," Ms. Kuhlman said. "When you looked at the data [in 2006], it told you, you needed to do something different. It was a natural fit."
Vol. 32, Issue 09, Pages s6, s7, s8Published in Print: October 24, 2012, as Online Opens Real-World Doors
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The project consists of a comprehensive five day domestic violence train-the-trainer seminar that will be piloted in Tetovo SVR. The seminar is designed to promote a multi-discipline evidence based approach to handling domestic violence investigations. Beneficiaries will be Police Officers, Social Workers and NGO's with a family and or women's focused agenda.
The overall goal of the project is to instigate the gender issue in the Ministry of Internal Affairs through advocating for increasing the female participation in police work and emphasize importance of focusing on security risks faced by female citizens.


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New Nexus 7 Packs Quite a Pixel Punch, Landing a Blow at Apple
While Apple watchers are still waiting for an iPhone-style Retina display to make its way to the iPad mini, Android lovers got such a screen with the redesigned Nexus 7.
The second-generation Nexus 7 is capable of showing full HD content, thanks to a screen that shows a whopping 323 pixels per inch — well into the territory of screens where the individual pixels are too small to be recognized by the human eye from a reasonable reading distance.
Numbers aside, that means that the Nexus 7 can show movies in full 1080p high definition, a feat Apple's iPad mini can't match.
While the larger iPad has a greater-than-HD Retina display, it uses a totally different type of screen technology from the iPhone, and the mini is still in the less-than-Retina category. The Nexus 7, meanwhile, uses a similar display to the iPhone — part of what allowed Google and manufacturing partner Asus to make the device so thin and light.
Managing to secure such a screen — and to pack it into a relatively low-cost device — was no small feat.
Google's Hiroshi Lockheimer said the company has been working for quite some time with Japan Display — the company that makes the screens, which are known as LTPS (low-temperature poly-silicon) displays.
But in managing to incorporate such a screen, Google now has a strong selling point over both the iPad mini and other Android tablets with lower-resolution displays.
"They are using a lot of high-end technologies in an entry-level device," said DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim.
Shim said that Apple may be able to start producing later this year the components for a Retina-level iPad mini, but said volume shipments of such a device won't come until the first few months of next year because of the challenges of producing such a display.
Android and Chrome head Sundar Pichai said that, even at its $229 starting price, there is still room for retailers, Asus and Google itself to profit from the product.
The other big coup of the Nexus 7 was managing to create a single LTE model that can sell unlocked and work with carriers around the globe. In the U.S., for example, the same Nexus 7 can be connected to the networks of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
Pichai said that is part of the company's aim with its Nexus devices, and that doing so will help the cellular-equipped model be more attractive to retailers leery of having to stock multiple different products.