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Alcoba del Rey de Sevilla y Viajes and Trips te regalan una estancia de 3 noches…
Dear friends:
We would like to reward your fidelity and constant following on our page at Facebook with the first competition held by "Alcoba del Rey de Sevilla" in collaboration with the website "Viajes and Trips" by offering an excellent present to the winner.
Competition Features:
— Prize: The winner will get a 3-night stay (under request) for two people on bed and breakfast board in one of the rooms of our hotel.
— Period: From the 7th of March to the 8th of April 2012
— Valid for every country in the world.
— How to take part in the competition:
a) Become fan of the two following pages at Facebook:
– "Alcoba del Rey de Sevilla":
– and "Viajes and Trips":
b) Invite at least 20 friends to become fans of both pages on Facebook.
c) Upload to the hotel's page at Facebook a photo related to the "Alcoba del Rey de Sevilla" theme, history, culture, etc. or a picture of the hotel itself. After uploading the photo, please write a commenty on it letting know that the picture is for the competition
d) Invite all your friends to click "I like it" on the picture you uploaded.
— Goal:
Get as many "I like it" as possible on the picture you uploaded to the Hotel's page at Facebook. The picture displaying the largest number of "I like it" at 23:59 hours on the 8th of April 2012 will be the winner.
— Attention:
If any evidence of use of false profiles to get votes is achieved, the involved user will be automatically expelled from the competition. Playing fair will be rewarded.
The winner will be able to enjoy his prize any date from the 5th of May 2012 to the 31st of March 2013.
Yeah!!!! So easy and so plain!!!!
Good luck!!!
To go to the competition at Facebook, just click here or copy and paste the link below in your internet browser:
Alcoba del Rey de Sevilla Boutique Hotel and Viajes and Trips
Categories: Hotel


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Harper shows off cannon right arm with pair of assists
WASHINGTON -- Although he is primarily known for his bat, Bryce Harper also owns a cannon of a right arm.
The 20-year-old Nationals left fielder recorded two outfield assists Friday night against the Phillies, one from foul territory and another from the warning track. He now has 12 outfield assists this season, tied for second-most in the National League, despite missing a lot of time due to injuries.
"I like throwing guys out. I get fired up," Harper said. "It doesn't happen very often. Homers don't happen very often, but I get a little adrenaline rush when I throw guys out."
Harper's first assist came in the fifth inning, when Freddy Galvis hit a line drive down the left-field line. Harper raced to collect the ball and threw the ball to second baseman Steve Lombardozzi on one hop. Galvis was initially safe, but his momentum carried him off the bag and Lombardozzi applied the tag for the out.
Then, in the sixth, Harper fielded a Carlos Ruiz shot off the wall in left. He threw another laser to Lombardozzi just in time, robbing the Phillies' catcher of what appeared to be an easy double.
"As soon as the ball is hit, I'm kind of looking back and forth to check the runner," Lombardozzi said. "You never know with his arm. You've always got a chance. That was pretty impressive."

subset: commoncrawl


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AFN Goals and Aims
Autism Friends Network ( AFN ) is a solidarity and campaigning group that is raising public awareness of the autism rights movement. Our group, made up mainly of Aspies, welcomes anyone on the autism spectrum.
The impact of the neurodiversity movement, including Aspies for Freedom, in particular, has stimulated scholarly discourse on the subject and has been covered in depth by multiple peer-reviewed journals.
The aim of Autism Friends Network is to educate the public that the autism spectrum is not always a disability, and that there are advantages as well as disadvantages. Our group still supports and participates in the annual Autistic Pride Day. The group also campaigns against abusive forms of therapy, and against the idea of a cure for autism. AFN hopes to have autistic people recognized as a minority status group.
The board does belong to the community. It wouldn't be what it is without the contributions of members.
One of the main aims of AFN is to fight against the idea of a cure for us. We dont want to lose who we are, and have future autistics wiped out through genetic screening
And to prevent eugenic elimination of autistic people by opposing pre-natal testing for autism.
With the right support services in place, all autistic people are capable of living meaningful and fulfilling lives. However, negative media coverage and deliberate pity campaigning have created the public opinion that autism is a "tragedy", and that people with autism have no hope of achieving anything. As such, the availability of a pre-natal test would cause the majority of autistic people to be aborted.
And to oppose physically or mentally harmful "treatments" targeting autistic people.
Due to the public perception of autism, a large number of unethical treatments have become quite common. These include physically harmful treatments (such as aversive behavioural therapies or restraints), mentally harmful treatments (such as 20-40 hr/week ABA, restriction of non-harmful stimming and other autistic coping mechanisms), dangerous non-medically approved therapies based on discredited theories or religious beliefs (such as chelation or exorcism), and therapies that would be called "torture" if they were used on non-autistic children (such as the electroshock "behavioural" devices).
AFN advocates the removal of all physically or mentally harmful therapies.
And to emphasise the "spectrum" view of autism, and de-emphasise the differences between the various autistic spectrum labels.
Part of the problem with the "autism as tragedy" point of view is that it carries with it the idea that a person is somehow separable from autism, and that there is a "normal" person trapped "behind" the autism.
Being autistic is something that influences every single element of who a person is – from the interests we have, the ethical systems we use, the way we view the world, and the way we live our lives. As such, autism is a part of who we are.
To "cure" someone of autism would be to take away the person they are, and replace them with someone else.
Many problems associated with autism are caused, or worsened, by prejudice. The root of this is prejudice itself – if we deal with only the forms of prejudice that currently relate to autism, another form of prejudice will rise up to replace them.
Because of this, AFN chooses to oppose all forms of prejudice and bigotry.
Another extreme is the desire of some groups to ascribe mystical qualities to autistic people, which has the side effect of dehumanising autistic people.
Autistic people are everywhere. There's a good chance that you work with or know an autistic person without realising it. Autism isn't a tragedy, or a side-effect of genius – it's a difference to be valued.
As such, AFN will attempt to destroy stereotypes to create a positive and realistic idea of what it means to be autistic.
AFN is centered to cater primarily for people across the Autistic Spectrum, however we welcome any Unautistic allies of Autistic People with open arms.
contributed to by: AFN and AFF Staff
What's it Like to Be Autistic?
Here's one of the questions that an openly autistic person would do well to get used to answering. If you know any autistic people, you've probably wondered about it, even if you've never thought to ask out loud. What's it like from the inside?
Speaking as an autistic person, this is a very difficult question to answer. The simple answer is I don't know. Autism is the natural state for me, and as such, I have nothing to compare it to. Just like you wouldn't be able to tell me what it's like being neuronormal, having never experienced anything else.
While most people seem to understand that answer, I also realize it might be disappointing. Let me see if I can give you a more detailed answer. Please understand that I can only answer from my own experiences and I can only relate them to my own experiences. Some of what I describe here will seem different or foreign to you, and some may seem familiar. Since much of what I'll talk about are things that most people either don't think to share or are uncomfortable sharing, it's difficult to tell which is which.
Autism is a social disability, so experiences with attempted social interaction seems like a logical place to start. Throughout my school years, I was never really able to get the correct social behavior. The people around me would usually let me know somehow, usually by laughing at me. I never understood during that time exactly what I was getting wrong. All I knew was that, even when I was copying the behavior of others around me, it would still be wrong.
Human behavior is frequently difficult to understand for a naturally logical individual. One thing I've learned is that the neuronormal mind must be trained in logic in order to use it, meaning that there is very little logic involved in normal interactions with others. The autistic mind, on the other hand, is highly logical. This means that when we apply our own way of thinking to the behavior of others, most of it won't make sense. That isn't to say that we can't learn it.
Temple Grandin has described autistic people as being anthropologists from Mars. This is a description that has always made sense to me. I am, almost on an academic level, studying my own culture from the outside. In college, I took classes in psychology, anthropology, and even acting, all of which have helped me to better understand the world around me. Of course, having more experience, seeing more interactions between people, and being around less judgmental people have helped as well.
Despite some of the social difficulties I've had, I can think of three types of communities (outside the autism community) that I've felt very comfortable in. In no particular order, the first is hippies, who tend to be very accepting of diversity and non-standard social behavior. Second is nerds. Many of the characteristic autistic traits, such as obsessive interests, focus on details, and memorization of seemingly useless information, are considered normal in nerd culture. Finally, the martial arts community. Martial artists are taught that the skills they learn are dangerous, and therefore, to try to avoid conflict and get along with those around them. If done well, this can lead to some very open-minded people.
Perhaps the biggest reason for social difficulties in autism is a simple matter of where the focus of attention is directed. My understanding is that most people focus pretty intently on facial expressions, body positioning, and tone of voice, starting as infants. There is a strong emphasis placed on the importance of social conformity.
In contrast, for an autistic person, being excluded from the group, while unpleasant, is not completely devastating. However, there is a trade off. Most of us tend to direct our focus to how things work. Whether it's structural, mechanical, biological, ecological, or even linguistic, we tend to excel at looking at the individual pieces of something and figuring out how they work together. I would guess that this is why many of us learn about things that interest us very quickly. Now that I think of it, I've even had to learn about social rules through this lens.
One question you've probably had on your mind since you started reading this is what is the most frustrating part of being autistic? I would have to say that it's people who think they know something they don't. Throughout my life, people have frequently tried to explain how I experience the world, usually without asking me about it first. Of course, they're also frequently wrong.
This might seem harmless. So people think something that isn't true. So what? In fact, it isn't a problem until people start acting on it. Most of the time, it has been in the form of accommodations I didn't need. I remember one teacher that set up a private room for me for when I was overstimulated. It was my choice when to go there. That's an example of something that worked, and was based on ways I actually experienced things. On the other hand, people have also said before that touching me caused physical pain. It didn't. I just didn't care for it. All that belief did was cause people to be overly careful around me and create an unnecessary distinction between me and everyone else.
A related frustration is when I read studies that are based on false assumptions. For example, the use of some chemical has increased, and autism rates are skyrocketing, therefore there must be some connection. Even worse is when the researcher acknowledges that there might not be a connection, but says that we have to relate it to autism anyway to get people to act. I find that to be highly disingenuous, and likely to negatively affect the researcher's credibility later, and it's insulting to us, as it reinforces the view that we're damaged people.
Are there problems or frustrations that come along with autism? Absolutely. Would I want to do away with them? Not really. I've learned a long time ago that the problems I have getting through life come with benefits that I would never want to be rid of. We all have problems as we go through life, and we all have talents and skills that come along with those. Mine are just part of the autistic experience.
contributed by d_olson27
The Ugly Side of Autism Speaks
The first time I had ever heard of Autism Speaks was a public service announcement, in which the odds of an autism diagnosis were compared to those of your child dying in a car accident. That didn't sit well with me. But at the same time, I wondered if this organization was actually trying to help, and, like so many before them, had just missed the point. Sadly, this does not seem to be the case.
What followed was a long string of announcements and advertisements that continue to make offensive or dehumanizing statements about autistic people. A common theme within the Autism Speaks narrative has been that autism is more common than childhood AIDS, diabetes, and cancer, combined. While this is technically true, it is a horribly offensive comparison to make, as many of us on the autism spectrum do not feel that we are diseased, and do feel that we are capable of living a happy, and in many cases, normal life.
There are two videos in particular that have been made by Autism Speaks, and were distributed via the internet. These are titled "Autism Every Day" and "I Am Autism." Both of these videos are presented with disturbing background music, and portray autistic children at their absolute worst, providing no context to help explain their behavior.
In the Autism Every Day video, children are shown screaming, as if that's the normal state for them. Throughout the entire video, parents talk about their children right in front of them, as if they aren't there. You don't do this to a normal child, so why is it acceptable with an autistic child? Six minutes and twelve seconds into the video, one of the mothers even talks about wanting to drive off of a bridge with her daughter, and talked herself out of it by thinking of her neuronormal daughter. Her autistic daughter was right in front of her.
I Am Autism presents a sinister sounding voice to represent autism as an entity, trying to take away children. This has been almost universally criticized within the autism community. Frankly, there is nothing about this portrayal that I don't find offensive.
To their credit, Autism Speaks has pulled both videos, but only after much criticism. I could find no acknowledgement of either video on Autism Speaks' official website.
In an interview conducted in September of 2011, Dana Marnane, vice president of Autism Speaks, made the following apology for their offensive ad campaign:
"We are a young organization and we learn as we grow. Without a doubt we have made mistakes – and to those we may have offended we are truly sorry. We never set out to offend. We are sincerely trying to help all those struggling with ASD. The autism spectrum is just that – a broad spectrum – and we respect that there are many different points of view. What touches someone can offend another. What we ask of this community is to also respect that others don't think or feel the way they do – that doesn't mean their opinions and thoughts are wrong. We all need to learn to be respectful and compassionate."
I find this apology to be weak. It is not appropriate to ask for greater understanding of one's actions from a community that has been soundly offended and harmed by those actions. Further, I have seen little change in the tone of Autism Speaks' message since this apology.
So, we've established that, while Autism Speaks is spreading awareness through their public service announcements, that awareness is far from being beneficial to the autism community. But that isn't the only thing Autism Speaks does. What about the research department? Surely, more knowledge about autism must be beneficial.
Autism Speaks spends approximately $16 million per year on research. That seems respectable. But is that money being spent wisely in areas that are of benefit to the autism community? The short answer is no.
Much of the research that Autism Speaks pays for is oriented toward finding a cure or a cause. For significant portions of the autism community, these are irrelevant. Most autistic people do not want to be cured, and all of the likely non-genetic causes have been debunked. Further, Autism Speaks still continued to spread the idea that autism is caused by vaccinations, even after their own science department said that it's impossible.
The autism community would much rather have this money spent on supports and service, and research that will lead to improving the lives of existing autistic people. While Autism Speaks does devote some resources toward these areas, they sadly don't seem to be a high priority.
It may seem surprising that an organization would so aggressively act against the desires of the very people it claims to represent, but it goes even further than what I've said so far. Autism Speaks has a history of making legal threats against autistic people that speak against them. Most notably, Zachary Lassiter for designing a parody t-shirt, and a girl simply referred to as Kelly, the founder of a website called NTSpeaks, both in 2008.
Autism Speaks called off the lawsuit against Kelly after it was revealed that she was 14 years old at the time. They deny making any legal threats against Zachary Lassiter, despite the seller of the shirt confirming the source of the threat.
In 2012, a woman named Simone Greggs was being hired by Autism Speaks. She had completed five interviews, and had passed the background check and drug test. The offer was rescinded after she asked for schedule accommodations for her autistic son.
In addition, Autism Speaks has only had one autistic person on their board of directors, John Elder Robison. Robison has long been an advocate of autism acceptance. He joined the board to push Autism Speaks' actions in a direction more closely aligned with the desires of the autism community. He finally resigned in late 2013, after having made no difference at all.
What can possibly be the purpose of an organization that seems to be so aggressively opposed to the views of the people it represents? In the year 2012, Autism Speaks spent, as I said previously, approximately $16 million on scientific research and awards, and a whopping $2 million dollars on family services. That's $18 million dollars, or 28% of their revenue for that year, on their stated goal. $23 million dollars went to salaries, benefits, and payroll, including executive pay. I think this answers the question.
I'm not writing this to cause despair, or to make your blood boil. I'm writing it as a call to action. The autism community deserves representatives that speak our views, and that share our goals. How shall we push back against the ones that have so abysmally failed us? Leave your ideas in the comments below. Two weeks from today, on July 20th, I will write a follow-up, combining the best suggestion, some of my own ideas, and some things that are already being done.
contributed by: d_olson27
Autism with a Capital A
1. What is the Autistic Community?
The Autistic Community Consists of:
1. Autistic people.
This includes people from across the spectrum, including Aspies – people diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome
2. Unautistic Allies
Such as parents of Autistic People, Unautistic siblings of Autistic People, Unautistic Children of Autistic People, Partners and friends of Autistic People, and any Unautistic person who sees Autistic People as their equals; as their brothers and sisters.
2. What is the Autistic Rights Movement?
The Autistic Rights Movement is a practical activism movement, focused on actively improving the lives of people in the Autistic community. It is inspired by the philosophy of Neurodiversity: the idea that people of an uncommon neurotype (such as Autism, Synaesthesia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD or ADD) are not inherently 'wrong', rather that they are different and equal to people of more common neurotypes. Moreover, according to the philosophy of Neurodiversity, a person's neurotype is part of their own identity, and to mould someone's identity into a warped vision of 'normality' is to ultimately destroy a person's identity.
The basic aims of Autistic Rights Movement are:
1. To increase the services, and improve the accessibility of services, for the Autistic Community
These services include (but are not limited to), Psychology and Psychiatry, Speech Therapy, Occupational therapy, necessary early intervention, Counselling and extra support for parents and families, resources for Autistic Adults in regards to employment and accommodation.
2. To ensure that such services mentioned above are completely non-harmful (both physically and mentally) and are at the highest standard possible.
3. To push for education reform, so every child across the Autistic spectrum has access to education that is right for them as individuals.
4. To oppose all forms of eugenics and Autism 'cures', as well as oppose the organisations and public figures who support these ideas.
5. To completely de-stigmatise Autism by increasing awareness and educating the general public on the spectrum view of Autism.
We don't 'pretty' things up, but we acknowledge both the positive and the negative aspects of Autism
6. To unify and enlighten the Autistic Community
7. To ensure that all people on the spectrum, no matter where they fall in severity, are given the opportunities to live a happy and meaningful life
8. To revolutionise society's views on Autism Completely!
contributed by: black butterfly
Getting rid of the niche
Lets face it, not many people in the world are talking about the NDM (neurodiversity movement) or the ARM ( autism rights movement). Currently it is discussed only by individuals who are directly affected by these movements- in the case of the ARM- people on the spectrum, some professionals, some friends and family on the spectrum.
This is hardly enough to make a change in society.
This is all about AWARENESS, and COMMUNICATION; and more importantly, the RIGHT kind of awareness and communication that will attract the right people.
In essence, we need sell Autism to a larger market.
This seems very mad-men esque, i can already smell the cigarette smoke, taste the alcohol and i think i am begining to like like chistina hendricks more by the minute.
But unlike the people of mad men we cant sell lies. its all about getting the accurate truth out to a very large group of people- and of course, we are in it to win it- there is competition, namely autism speaks.
I think that in a way, previous groups of people involved in ARM have really overlooked the factor of communication- almost pigeonholing themselves because ' aspie's don't do communication'. I think that the main objective in ARM is media and communication- we need excellent PR, Marketing, and Journalism in order to get anything done.
I actually think that it is possible for us to do this- this is not above us- we can use media to our advantage to get rid of the niche.
I'm not sure if i made a clear point or not but here is a sort of flow chart that will summarise my point
1. If we want to make change happen, we need EVERYBODY talking about Neurodiversity and the Autism Rights movement- not just people who are directly involved.
What do we need to make this happen?
2. We need good MEDIA and COMMUNICATION to improve AWARENESS of this movement, as well as what autism is
3. We also need to be the best pick of the bunch- ie, Have BETTER media and communication than groups like JRC, Autism speaks and other Autism Cure groups
4. We also need ACCURATE yet POSITIVE information about Autism that is EASY FOR AN IDIOT TO UNDERSTAND
In short ,we need amazing communication and media skills
However, recently we have previously pigeonholed ourselves a bit too much, generally thinking that
This really bothers me because:
1. yes, generally speaking communication is not our forte, however, some Aspies are in/ interested in being part of the media and communications industry (hello yours truely), so we arent all bad at communication
2. We all have skills, and with enough ORGANISATION we can all pitch in to help with our movement communication and public presence.
Are you good at art? Perhaps you could design pro neurodiversity/ ARM graphics and posters?
Are you good at writing? Write essays about this movement?
Are you good at music? Make music for campaigns?
Are you good at technology? Increase social media presence of ARM and Neurodiversity
the list can go on. we all have things we can do to pitch in to this
contributed by black butterfly
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This is not the first, nor will it be the last, article on how to make money blogging. So why write it? Because people are always very interested when they hear that I make money online. Now I can just send them to this post :). Every story is unique, and so it contributes something new to the discussion. So brace yourself for around 7500 words on how I make money blogging. My three primary … [Read more...]
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I'm new in MS Access & VB programming. I was trying to make dependent combo box for a while and it worked after 3-4 days research. However, the next step got me stuck to retrieving data from a certain cell in a single table (no relationship tables done) as shown in the sample table below:
1...........ABU..... RES..........1..........Information A1
2...........ABU..... RES..........2..........Information A2
. . . . .
5...........ABU..... IND..........1..........Information A5
6...........ABU..... IND..........2..........Information A6
. . . . .
10..........DXB..... RES.........1..........Information D1
. . . . .
13..........DXB..... IND.........1..........Information D4
. . . . .
. . . . .
28..........SHJ..... IND..........3..........Information S9
I have attached an image of my GUI done in MS Access to simplify my explanation.
I have managed to create dependency combo lists and display unique names of three fields (Area,Type & Number) from the table. However, I couldn't get hold on the required command to display the the "Information" column corresponding to the three choices into a text box " txtInfo" as shown in the GUI Image. I want it to display whenever the user makes all combo selections & pressing the Accept button.
A sample of the command used for combo list dependancy was:
cboType.RowSource = "Select Distinct tblInfo.Area From tblInfo where tblInfo.Area = '" & cboArea & "' Order by tblInfo.Type;"
I'm avoiding using relationship tables therefore please if there is any possible way to display information in the text box after selecting the choices & accepting it, please write the whole command (if possible)
cboArea => Area Combo box
cboType => Type Combo box
cboNumber => Number Combo box
txtInfo => text box
tblInfo => table
Thank you


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Rescripting the Western in 'No Country for Old Men'
How the Coen Brothers' ostensibly faithful award winning adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men diverges from its creator's rather questionable politics.
Winning the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay along with other awards, the Academy and the film critics were quick to acknowledge the success of Joel and Ethan Coen's first adaptation of a literary work -- Cormac McCarthy's novel, No Country for Old Men, a crime thriller set along the southwest Texas border with Mexico. However, while admiring the film's superior acting, editing, cinematography and sound work, many critics ignored or minimized the extent to which the brothers' script revised the venerated author's novel. Observing that the book reads like a screenplay (which McCarthy has confirmed that it originally was) the common assumption was that the success of the film's script rested on the filmmakers' decision to let McCarthy's story tell itself, "resisting manfully", as Sight and Sound editor Nick James puts it, "the temptation to tinker" with the original. This assumption was supported by the good-humored rapport between the filmmakers and the author. On Oscar night, for example, McCarthy relates that Ethan Coen, after accepting the Academy Award for the screenplay, returned to his seat and told McCarthy, "Well, I didn't do anything, but I'm keeping it."
More than just humility, Ethan Coen's self-effacing genuflection reflects deeply held beliefs about the derivative status of the screenwriter's work when he or she adapts a "serious" work of literature. Elaborating on the process of adapting No Country for Old Men in an interview given at the film's premier at Cannes, the Coens repeat the expected pieties: they stress their verbatim transcription of the novel's dialogue, their gratitude to McCarthy for making their work easier, and they refer to the novel as, in the words of the French translator, "un trésor délicat". However, in response to a question about their ability to remain faithful to the novel while making a film that is so clearly their own, Joel Coen makes a crucial distinction. He talks not about being faithful to McCarthy's novel, but about being faithful to themselves and their original impulse to adapt the novel. It is the filmmakers' ability to remain faithful to themselves and that impulse, not to McCarthy's novel, that accounts for the film's success. From this perspective, it becomes easier to appreciate how the film critiques the novel, providing an extensive overhaul of its conservative politics as well as its reliance on the conservative gender roles of the conventional Western.
In differing ways, McCarthy's novel and the Coen brothers' film respond to a United States that began the 21st century as "Bush country". McCarthy's book, although originally written some years earlier as a screenplay that received little interest at the time, was rewritten as a novel and was published in 2005. This was one year before the Congressional midterm elections, wherein tremendous voter dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and the war in Iraq succeeded in giving the Democrats control of Congress, assuring Bush of a lame duck presidency and initiating what many had hoped would be an end to the war. Even more relevant to the novel's publication date, though, may have been the deteriorating situation in Iraq the year before. By 2004, if not earlier, the news coming out of that country would be enough to suggest to any thinking person, let alone someone of McCarthy's avid intellect, that the U.S. might have gotten itself into another Vietnam -- a war to which No Country for Old Men makes repeated reference.
Many critics assume the novel's conservative protagonist Sheriff Bell is expressing McCarthy's own political views. One of the least cautious of these, William Deresiewicz of The Nation, asserts that Bell is "clearly McCarthy's mouthpiece" and that the story's "single-minded effort to pile up the body count" results in little more than an excuse for "rubbing our tender little modern liberal noses in death's horror". McCarthy scholar David Cremean uses Deresiewicz's hasty and defensive review to argue against the notion that Bell's conservative politics could be a reflection of McCarthy's own. However, in his efforts to distance McCarthy from Bell, Cremean makes the same error as Deresiewicz, only in reverse. He uses the author's fiction to argue that McCarthy's personal politics must be something more than "stereotypical conservatism". Of course, the work of a complex writer should not be reduced to his or her political identification, whether it is, for example, the royalist politics of T.S. Eliot or the socialism of Upton Sinclair. On the other hand, a "judicious use of biocritism", as Cremean terms his approach, should not ignore or try to explain away what the public record has to offer.
Although lately McCarthy has been more forthcoming -- even going on The Oprah Winfrey Show after the talk show host selected his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road for her influential book club -- his refusal to give interviews and avoidance of the literary social world are a legendary part of what his earliest interviewer, Robert B. Woodward, terms a "masculine mystique". Ironically, the author's decision to let his work do the talking gives an outsized importance to the few allusive comments he makes. Unlike Sheriff Bell, McCarthy does not opine on abortion or other hot button issues of the day. Furthermore, Woodward applies the label of conservative to McCarthy with intriguing qualifiers, describing him as a "radical conservative" or "no typical reactionary", and in Woodward's second interview he is referred to as "a quiet 72-year-old-Southern conservative".
Despite these difficulties in piecing together a sense of McCarthy's politics, in his interviews one can easily find evidence of the "stereotypical conservatism" that Cremean denies. One example comes at the end of McCarthy's second interview with Woodward when he laments the "easygoing New Age enclave" that Santa Fe, New Mexico has become. In particular, he is bothered by "the people who have gathered [there] from the coasts" and because of whom he contemplates returning to Texas. "If you don't agree with them politically," McCarthy complains, "you can't just agree to disagree -- they think you're crazy." For a writer who has made a career explaining that life entails bloodshed, this is a rather anemic approach to politics and political dialogue -- although it may accurately reflect the polarizing effect of the country's present red-state/blue-state divide. If someone has an opinion different than your own, just agree to disagree, and if that doesn't work, move to a state where others with a different opinion can't bother you.
Another problematic aspect to McCarthy's personal politics appears in a Rolling Stone profile of the writer and his association with the Santa Fe Institute. In describing McCarthy's rigorous abstinence from the trappings of literary success, the profile reveals he "has never voted" and then gives in parentheses, as if in explanation, McCarthy's comment that "poets shouldn't vote". Cremean at least acknowledges this comment, but only in a footnote where he dismisses it as "a humorous allusion" to Plato's The Republic. Others might find McCarthy's arty aversion to voting less than humorous, even harmful. One does not need to be a recipient, as McCarthy was, of the MacArthur Foundation's "genius grant" to figure out how not voting amounts to voting for the status quo. Rather than succumb to the self-deluding idealism of participatory democracy -- while enjoying many of its benefits -- McCarthy seems to prefer the cold comfort of science that the Sante Fe Institute provides, where he can ruminate upon apocalyptic scenarios caused by things like the Yellowstone Caldera erupting or massive asteroids striking the Earth. However, for some, contemplating human life from the other side of extinction would make the exercise of voting even more necessary, not less.
Although Cremean cites the Rolling Stone profile, he overlooks parts of it that are pertinent to his discussion of McCarthy's conservatism and No Country for Old Men. For example, David Kushner directly connects the fictional Sheriff Bell's conservative anxiety over "bad manners" with McCarthy's personal "code of civility". Nor does Cremean mention the comment Kushner uses to illustrate McCarthy's resignation to "the fact that bad manners and violence are here to stay":
'There are a lot of people out there -- a lot who grew up in the Sixties and are still flower children -- who imagine you can just get people to stop being violent... They pretend that the world they live in is that world, but it's not. The world's not like the world they want to live in, and probably never will be.'
From my (admittedly liberal) perspective, it is hard to understand how anyone could single out the "flower children" as the main obstacle to dealing with the realities of a violent world. A far greater threat is those well-groomed "realists" from the '60s -- such as Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld -- who gave us the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A debatable point, perhaps, but what seems less debatable is that McCarthy sounds here very much like Sheriff Bell in his role as a "provincial conservative". Given the public record, I agree with Walter Kirn of The New York Times who says that while Bell's "red-state sentiments... may or may not represent the author's feelings" one gets the impression that they "probably don't violate them terribly."


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Click here to read 10 Things Never to Do in a Marriage, Part 1
6. Don't Use Silence As A Weapon
Silence is a deadly weapon. It's far better for a couple to engage in a non-violent, verbal fight where at least they can express what's bothering them than to resort to an icy silence where all they can do is imagine how many different ways they're angry with one other.
Silence is a form of emotional banishment. We punish our partners by cutting them off and refusing to acknowledge their existence. An angry silence communicates the message that my partner is the guilty party and if she wishes any further contact with me, then she will have to apologize and ask for my forgiveness. It is a powerful form of control and manipulation and has no place in a marriage.
Therefore, in order to resolve conflicts effectively, you need to learn how to express resentments in a way that can be heard, acknowledged and resolved. That skill is of utmost importance in a marriage; without it, small problems become major catastrophes.
So, how do you learn to say all those things that are so hard to say? And, how do you say them to a partner who may be reactive? There are no simple answers and like with the previous injunction of "Don't Say Yes, When You Mean No," you may need to seek professional help to learn how to resolve your marital difficulties. However, before you make that decision try the following exercise to help you to express your anger.
- Write a list of your resentments in the following way: "I resent you for x."
- Write a letter to your partner about what's bothering you. Try to start from a positive, loving place. Be careful not to blame or accuse. If you are aware of what your part is in creating problems, tell him. Your partner will be much more open to looking at his part if he feels you're doing the same. Here is a small sample of a potential letter:
Dear David,
I feel a real need to talk about us. I love you and want our marriage to work. What I'm about to tell you might hurt you. It's not my intention. What I want to do is for us to be close. But there are things I want to get off my chest. Please think about what I'm writing and try hard not to react with anger.
This is hard for me but here goes. I am upset with you for...
We all know that anger is a powerful emotion that can destroy a relationship. Thus, learning how to master your negative feelings is an essential skill for creating a wonderful relationship. The first step to controlling your anger, rather than having your anger control you, is to recognize your resentments and to express them before they reach a toxic level. When you give yourself permission to let go of these three obstacles to good communication, you will have made a giant leap toward creating a loving marriage.
7. Don't Act Out
Acting out is indirectly expressing feelings and emotions through behavior. For example, a teenage girl might act out by failing in school or using drugs or alcohol as a way of expressing her anger towards her parents. She's afraid to express her true feelings so she resorts to attention-getting behaviors that alarm and infuriate her parents. Acting out behavior, as provocative as it can be, is really an unconscious and awkward attempt at establishing a relationship.
There is no end to the ways that we have of saying, "I'm really angry at you."
In marriage, couples act out by making messes, by withdrawing, by being emotionally and physically abusive, by becoming depressed, by being irresponsible with money and even by attempting suicide. There is no end to the ways that we have of saying, "I'm really angry at you."
One of the most common forms of acting out behavior is by being passive aggressive. Some typical examples of passive aggressive behavior are promising to do something and then failing to do it, leaving your clothes strewn around the room, being irresponsible with money, playing helpless and being uninterested in marital relations.
So, what is the solution for acting out behavior? The answer, not surprisingly, is direct communication -- learning how to say to your partner what's really on your mind. Acting out behavior masks the real problem and instead focuses the couple on the behavior itself.
To practice your skill at direct communication, try the following exercise:
- Find a quiet, comfortable place where you will not be disturbed for 30 minutes.
- Close your eyes and breathe easily and effortlessly. Stay focused on your breathing. In a relaxed manner, observe your breath as you inhale and exhale.
- After a few minutes ask yourself the following question: "What is it that I do that bothers my partner?" For example, it might be the mess you leave; the way you spend money, or your lateness. Be honest with yourself.
- After you've become aware of these behaviors, write them down. Ask yourself if you wish to continue to use these methods to express your feelings. If the answer is "No," then ask yourself, "What purpose do these behaviors serve and what would be a more effective way of communicating the feelings that these behaviors are expressing?
- Be aware that this process might uncover some deep hurts and resentments. Remember that dealing with the truth is ultimately the only way to heal your relationship. Be careful not to dump all of your negative feelings on your partner at once.
8. Don't Discount
A discount is a remark designed to reduce your partner's self worth. Some examples of discounting statements are: "You're so lazy." "You're irresponsible and untrustworthy." "You're a terrible father and an awful husband." It's amazing how creative we can be when it comes to identifying our partner's blemishes. Most likely, each one of us can compile a detailed list of our partners' bad habits, unacceptable character traits and generally difficult behaviors. In the midst of an argument, the temptation to use this information can be overwhelmingly powerful.
Try to resist. If not, you can be sure your partner will react in one of two ways: he or she will either respond in kind or deny. Neither reaction solves problems or creates intimacy.
Instead of making angry statements that begin with "You," try making "I" statements. Examples of "I" statements are: "I feel angry when..." "I resent it when you do such and such a thing..." Not "You are such an idiot! "You are such a slob!" "You always leave messes!" "You're just like your mother. Both of you are disorganized incompetents." Her behavior won't change because of that piece of feedback.
However, it might, if you were to say, "You know, Greg, it bothers me when the house is not clean. I know you're busy and I know it's hard for you but I would appreciate it if you could clean it up." Now, I'm not promising that he won't be defensive, but I do believe he'll be less reactive than if you were to criticize him for his sloppy behavior.
- Make a list of all the angry "you" statements that you can think of.
- Change the "you" statements into "I" statements by writing "I feel x (your feeling) when you do y (your partner's behavior).
- Practice making "I" statements with your partner.
9. Don't Threaten
The creative and destructive potentials of a marital relationship are enormous. Even the most loving relationship can degenerate into a vicious struggle between bitter enemies. In this dangerous marital game, nothing is sweeter than getting even and the only thing that counts is winning. Verbal and physical threats and abuse become the weapons of marital discord.
Under no circumstances whatsoever will I at any time make a verbal or physical threat toward my spouse.
The only advice you can give to a couple that is engaged in such a struggle is: Seek professional help or, in the case of physical abuse, find immediate protection. Fortunately, most of us are not contestants in such a fierce and destructive battle. More than that, I'm assuming that each of you wants to learn how to create a peaceful and loving relationship. If so, let me be bold enough to offer a stern warning. Never threaten your partner or act in any way that frightens, intimidates or abuses her.
No matter how angry you are, make the following pledge to yourself: Under no circumstances whatsoever will I at any time make a verbal or physical threat toward my spouse. If it's not clear to you what a threat is, let me define it as any statement, gesture or act that is designed to create physical or emotional pain in your partner. A partner who threatens is a partner who feels deeply hurt and wounded by his spouse. The only way she knows to relieve her suffering is by making her spouse feel as miserable as she. If getting even seems more important than being heard, then you're one small step from a dangerous crisis.
If I were to ask most couples in an abusive relationship if they really want to hurt each other, they would invariably respond with the following answers: "No, I just get so frustrated when she doesn't hear me that I just lose it." Or, "I hate what's happening to us, but I've tried so hard to get him to understand me and he just refuses to listen. So, now all I want to do is hurt him." Out of pain and frustration, some couples resort to emotional and physical violence, believing it to be the only way they can protect themselves.
If you find yourself filled with anger toward your spouse, then do the following rage reduction exercise. However, before proceeding I want to offer a word of caution. It may be necessary for you and your partner to receive professional help in order to learn how to manage your deep resentments. Additionally, in the case of physical abuse, the only solution is to seek immediate help and shelter.
- Go into a room where you won't be disturbed and with either your hands or with a tennis racket beat a pillow until you feel your rage dissipating. It might be helpful to yell or scream as you're beating the pillow. I would only recommend you do that if no one will hear you.
- Next, list all the ways you resent your partner. Start each sentence with "I resent you for..."
- Write a letter to your partner and tell him or her what's bothering you. Try not to blame but write about your hurt and loneliness and about what's missing in the relationship.
10. Don't Triangulate
In some ways a couple in conflict instinctively behaves like two nations preparing for war. In each case, the warring parties create alliances in order to strengthen their respective positions. Where they differ is that a couple in conflict sometimes develops those alliances unconsciously.
In a relationship, the partner that feels the most discomfort eventually withdraws from the other and finds a third person who functions as a supportive ally. In the lingo of marital psychology, this is called triangulation. For example, a wife who is feeling lonely and cut off from her husband might increase her involvement with one or more of the children as a way of decreasing her unhappiness. A child who is especially sensitive to the suffering of one of the parents might decide to become that parent's "caregiver". A child in that role usually feels torn apart and on some level resentful about having to parent the parent.
As long as there are triangles, it's impossible for a couple to deal directly with the source of their problem.
Sometimes a teenager who is acting out will unconsciously stabilize the relationship between the parents. It is as if the teen has super radar that picks up on the parents' marital distress and responds by drawing each of them away from their marital problems toward his drug abuse or her school failure. There is no end to the creative ways children can act out in order to divert their parents from dealing with the uncomfortable truth about their marriage.
As long as there are triangles, it's impossible for a couple to deal directly with the source of their problem. It is an obstacle to intimacy and real marital love. However, it's difficult for the partner and the third person to withdraw from their involvement with one another.
The cure for triangulation is trust and intimacy. The question is: How does a couple whose relationship is marked by conflict, rejection and mistrust turn it around? If there's no trust, how do you develop a trusting relationship? I am going to propose the following steps to help you move in that direction:
- Identify with whom you are triangulated and make an effort to reduce the level of emotional involvement with that individual.
- Be straight about what's missing in your marriage. Write down what you would like to change in your relationship. For example, if you hardly spend any time with one another, you might write, "I would like to spend one evening a week alone with you."
- Write a letter to your partner and tell him or her what's bothering you about the relationship. Avoid blaming and write about how you would like to improve the marriage.
- After a few days, approach your partner and try to talk about what you've written. If the response is positive, then begin the work on improving your relationship. You may need professional help to succeed. If your partner is willing, look for a competent marital therapist.
There is a consistent, underlying assumption that forms the basis for the Ten Things: there are specific principles and skills in marriage and that everyone is capable of learning them. A beautiful marriage is within the reach of most couples who choose to make their relationship a priority and who are willing to commit themselves to a lifelong training program on how to create love and happiness in their lives.


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Bergen Climate & Weather
Bergen is the warmest and wettest city in Norway. Summers are pleasantly mild to warm and in winter temperatures generally remain above freezing, although stiff breezes may make it feel much colder.
Snow falls on odd days and is generally not more than 10cm deep. In summer, June to August, average temperatures range between 50°F (10°C) lows and 64°F (18°C) highs; and in winter, December to February, average temperatures range between 31°F (-0.5°C) lows and 39°F (4°C).
The best time to holiday in Bergen depends hugely on your desired activities, as many people plan cruises and outdoor excursions that are weather dependent. The most popular time to visit Bergen is in late spring or early summer, May and June, when the city receives the most sun and its best weather.
Become our Bergen Travel Expert
We are looking for contributors for our Bergen travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to Bergen or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.


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Jenny Levine over at theshiftedlibrarian provided some detailed posts on a variety of the presentations at Games + Learning + Society. The summaries are detailed and well worth the read. Many of you may have already seen Jenny's posts on GLS, but here are a few other worthwhile links for those interested in the sessions at GLS.
James Paul Gee kicked off with the conference at breakfast on Thursday morning. Headway Strategies has a summary of his comments that tie nicely into Jenny Levine's.
Mark Chen, who I've mentioned before, presented his paper at GLS, but he's also been blogging his experiences as well... check them out here.
Another presenter, Lisa Galarneau, posted her presentation slides over on her site socialstudygames.com. Her presentation was about online gamers and their learning abilities. Her work is a great resource and it opens doors for changes in lesson plan design and how we interact with students.
Here are some additional links on feedback and experiences from other attendees:
Dr.B's Blog has quick summaries of most of the presenters. The post is a quick resource and overview of some key ideas presented
Over at mamamusings, Elizabeth Lane Lawley posted her reflections on the conference as well.
There's a lot of content to sift through on this conference and hopefully we'll continue to hear discussions on the applications that can come out of this conference.


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Some things I've had to buy for 8th grade (Physical Science), that I don't just have around my house: aluminum pie pan (those disposable kind), Epsom salt, Hydrogen Peroxide, Tums. Here's a supply list for Physical Science (scroll down a couple of pages).hsm wrote:Do you purchase premade science kits? I am wondering if I should so that I know we have all the materials on hand. Are the experiments/labs truly only using things you normally have around the house? I tend to not have things around here that supply lists assume I do. Can you give me an idea of the types of supplies needed?
For 7th grade (General Science), the main thing was Alum... Oh, and a 4x6 mirror, and cork. Here's a lesson plan that has a list of supplies for General Science.


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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - "Mad Cow Disease"
- Are BSE and "mad cow disease" the same thing?
- Is BSE related to any other diseases?
- What causes BSEs and other TSEs?
- Where is the BSE agent found in cattle?
- Can BSE be transmitted from one cow to another cow?
- What is FSIS doing to protect the public from BSE?
- The four policies that Secretary Veneman announced
- Is there a BSE test for meat?
- How does one test for BSE?
- What are the clinical signs that cattle have BSE?
- Is there any cure for BSE?
- How long can BSE be in an animal before it shows signs of the disease?
- Are humans susceptible to BSE?
- How many cases of vCJD have there been and have there been any in the United States?
- How is variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease different from classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease?
- Can BSE be transmitted to milk and other dairy products?
- What do I do if I ate recalled meat associated with BSE?
- Will cooking (including microwave cooking) kill the BSE agent?
- Will irradiation kill the BSE agent?
- Are baby foods safe?
- Are meats used in the National School Lunch Program safe?
Are BSE and "mad cow disease" the same thing?
Yes. BSE stands for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and it is widely referred to as "mad cow disease." It is a chronic degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system of cattle. BSE is named because of the spongy appearance of the brain tissue of infected cattle examined under a microscope.
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Is BSE related to any other diseases?
BSE belongs to a family of diseases known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). TSE animal diseases found in the United States include scrapie in sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in mink, feline spongiform encephalopathy in cats, and in humans: kuru, both classic and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome, and fatal familial insomnia.
(Note: The one case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States is in a young woman who likely contracted the disease while living in the United Kingdom. Symptoms appeared after she moved to the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not found additional cases in the United States through its surveillance program.)
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What causes BSEs and other TSEs?
The agent that is responsible for BSE and other TSEs has not been fully characterized. Although other types of agents have been implicated, the theory that is most accepted in the scientific community is that the agent is a prion, which is an abnormal form of a normal protein known as a cellular prion protein. The TSE agents are extremely resistant to heat, ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation, normal sterilization processes, and common disinfectants that normally inactivate viruses and bacteria.
What about the possibility of BSE coming from other TSEs already in the United States, such as deer and elk with chronic wasting disease, or other sources such as the practice of feeding cattle parts to pigs?
As mentioned before, there are several TSEs in the United States. However, there is no evidence to date that BSE has emanated from TSEs in other animals.
Regarding feeding practices, it is known that cattle can become infected with BSE by eating feed contaminated with the infectious BSE agent. This is why in 1997 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibited the use of most mammalian protein in the manufacture of animal feed intended for cattle and other ruminants. For additional information on the feed ban, visit FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine Web site .
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Where is the BSE agent found in cattle?
Current scientific research confirms that BSE infectivity occurs in the brain, trigeminal ganglia, tonsils, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, and distal ileum of the small intestine of cattle experimentally infected with the BSE agent. Research also confirms that BSE infectivity is in the brain, spinal cord, and retina of the eyes of cattle infected with the agent under field conditions. Although bone marrow has demonstrated infectivity in experimentally infected cattle, these findings are not conclusive.
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Can BSE be transmitted from one cow to another cow?
No. BSE is not a contagious disease. There is no evidence that the disease is transmitted through direct contact or animal-to-animal spread. The primary means by which animals become infected is through consumption of feed contaminated with the infectious BSE agent.
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What is FSIS doing to protect the public from BSE?
While FSIS believes that the food supply is safe, the Agency has taken a number of steps to ensure that the public does not receive product that could have the BSE infectious agent - however remote that risk is to begin with. On December 23, 2003, after the discovery of a presumptive positive of BSE found in a Holstein dairy cow slaughtered at an establishment in Moses Lake, Washington (see recall release FSIS-RC-067-2003) , FSIS immediately issued a press release that announced the firm's voluntary recall of 10,410 pounds of raw beef. This product might have been exposed to tissues containing the infectious agent that causes BSE. The recall was made out of an abundance of caution, since muscle meat does not contain the high risk neural tissues such as brain and spinal cord, and is considered safe.
In addition, on December 30, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced new policies that would further strengthen an existing solid food safety system against BSE. On that date, an immediate ban was enacted to prevent all non-ambulatory disabled cattle from being used in the human food supply. This group contains the highest risk population of cattle that could possibly have BSE. However, even before this ban, FSIS inspectors at slaughterhouses were condemning all cattle they suspected of showing central nervous system disorders.
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The four policies that Secretary Veneman announced on December 30, 2003 were made effective by FSIS on January 12, 2004. These included:
- Product Holding - FSIS inspectors no longer mark cattle tested for BSE as "inspected and passed" until confirmation is received by FSIS and the plant that the cattle have, in fact, tested negative for BSE.
- Specified Risk Material - FSIS declared that skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, vertebral column, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age or older and the small intestine of all cattle are specified risk materials that are prohibited in the human food supply. Tonsils from all cattle are also not allowed in the human food supply.
- Advanced Meat Recovery - FSIS expanded a prior prohibition on spinal cord from being allowed in product produced from a technology called advanced meat recovery (AMR). This new regulation prohibits dorsal root ganglia, clusters of nerve cells connected to the spinal cord along the vertebral column, in addition to spinal cord tissue from being in AMR product.
- Air-Injection Stunning - FSIS banned the practice of air-injection stunning to ensure that portions of the brain are not dislocated into the tissues of the carcass as a consequence of humanely stunning cattle during the slaughter process.
FSIS has implemented these measures as further safeguards in an existing strong food safety infrastructure to protect public health. For more information about these regulations, visit FSIS' Web page at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/news/2004/bseregs.htm
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Is there a BSE test for meat? No. The only USDA approved testing for the agent is post-mortem analyses of brain tissue. This is a laboratory screening test for BSE.
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How does one test for BSE?
Currently, there is no test to detect the disease in a live animal or in muscle meat. Veterinary pathologists confirm BSE by postmortem microscopic examination of brain tissue using sophisticated laboratory techniques, such as a histopathological examination to detect sponge-like changes in the brain tissue and immunohistochemistry to examine the BSE fibrils. These are "gold-standard" tests, and they take more than a week to run. More rapid tests that provide results within 36 to 48 hours have been developed to detect the abnormal prion in brain or spinal cord tissue of dead animals. Rapid tests can be used to determine if BSE exists in a population and to obtain an indication of its prevalence or detect animals with the disease which are not yet showing clinical signs.
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What are the clinical signs that cattle have BSE? Cattle affected by BSE experience progressive degeneration of the nervous system. Affected animals might display changes in temperament, such as nervousness or aggression, abnormal posture, incoordination and difficulty in rising, decreased milk production, or loss of body weight despite continued appetite.
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Is there any cure for BSE?
No. There is no treatment for BSE. The course of the disease varies from two weeks to 14 months, usually resulting in death or humane destruction within four months in countries where the disease is present.
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How long can BSE be in an animal before it shows signs of the disease? The incubation period (the time from when an animal becomes infected until it first shows disease signs) is from 30 months to eight years with only a few rare exceptions in younger animals. Following the onset of clinical signs, the animal's condition deteriorates rapidly. This process usually takes from two weeks to six months. Most cases in Great Britain occurred in dairy cows between three and six years of age.
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Are humans susceptible to BSE?
Although not scientifically proven, there is strong epidemiologic and laboratory data linking a rare, degenerative, fatal brain disorder in humans called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) to the consumption of BSE-contaminated product. This type of disease begins primarily with psychiatric symptoms and affects younger patients (median age, 28 years).
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How many cases of vCJD have there been and have there been any in the United States?
As of December 1, 2003, a total of 153 cases of vCJD had been reported in the world: 143 from the United Kingdom, six from France, and one each from Canada, Ireland, Italy, and the United States.
(Note: The one case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States is in a young woman who likely contracted the disease while living in the United Kingdom. Symptoms appeared after she moved to the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not found additional cases in the United States through its surveillance program.)
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How is variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease different from classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease?
The classic form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is endemic throughout the world, including the United States. The median age at death of patients with classic CJD in the United States is 68 years, and very few cases occur in persons under 30 years of age. In contrast, the median age at death of patients with vCJD is 28 years.
The vCJD can be confirmed only through examination of brain tissue obtained by biopsy or at autopsy, but a "probable case" of vCJD can be diagnosed on the basis of certain clinical criteria developed in the United Kingdom. The incubation period for vCJD is unknown because it is a relatively new disease. However, it is likely that ultimately this incubation period will be measured in terms of many years or decades. In other words, if a person develops vCJD from consuming a BSE-contaminated product (not yet scientifically proven), he or she likely would have consumed that product a decade or more earlier.
In contrast to classic CJD, vCJD predominantly affects younger people, has atypical clinical features, with prominent psychiatric or sensory symptoms at the time of clinical presentation. There are delayed onset of neurological abnormalities, including ataxia within weeks or months, dementia and myoclonus late in the illness. Typically, the duration of illness is at least six months.
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Can BSE be transmitted to milk and other dairy products?
There is no scientific evidence to suggest that milk and dairy products carry the agent that causes BSE.
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What do I do if I ate recalled meat associated with BSE?
The recalled meat (class II from December 23, 2003) is considered safe by USDA, as the tissues that would carry the BSE agent were completely removed at slaughter and not used in meat cuts or products that might have been consumed by humans. The recall from December 23, 2003 was made out of an abundance of caution. If you have concerns that you might have contracted a foodborne illness, then you should contact your health care provider.
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Will cooking (including microwave cooking) kill the BSE agent?
Current scientific research indicates that cooking will not kill the BSE agent.
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Will irradiation kill the BSE agent?
Current scientific research indicates that irradiation will not kill the BSE agent.
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Are baby foods safe?
Beef products processed by mechanical separation may not be used in the formulation or production of baby, junior, or toddler foods.
Advanced meat recovery (AMR) products, which are processed by removing muscle tissue without breaking bones and do not include spinal cord tissue, is allowable for these products (However, there are further prohibitions of material allowed in AMR.
See FSIS rule which became effective January 12, 2004).
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Are meats used in the National School Lunch Program safe?
Yes. USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), by specification, does not allow beef that is mechanically separated from bone with automatic deboning systems, advanced lean (meat) recovery (AMR) systems, or powered knives for any commodity programs. USDA procurement specifications for beef specifically prohibit the use of meat from downer animals - animals too sick or injured to walk.
For questions concerning animal feed for livestock or pets, contact the U.S. Health and Human Service's Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Center for Veterinary Medicine
7519 Standish Place
Rockville Maryland 20855-0001
(301) 827-3800 or 1-888-INFO-FDA
For questions concerning animal health, surveillance, and BSE, contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
4700 River Road
Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 734-7799
For questions concerning vCJD or CJD, or any of the specific human diseases and technical terms mentioned on this Web page, contact the U.S. Health and Human Service's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-3534
(800) 311-3435
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March 2005


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Distributing digital goods
You can distribute digital goods either by sending data files over the wireless network from your own server, or by unlocking existing functionality from within the application's code.
If the digital goods for your application don't require dynamic updates, it's generally more efficient to include the functionality for those goods in the source code. For example, if you sell a game that offers additional levels as a digital good, your game logic can control access to the extra levels based on purchase logic.
If, however, you host your digital goods on a content server and deliver them to BlackBerry devices over the wireless network, you can update and add to your offering of digital goods without having to submit a new release of your application to the BlackBerry World storefront.
Distributing digital goods from a content server
There are two ways to keep your content server up to date on successful purchases: design your application to send a notification to the content server, or request a notification from the Payment Service.
To request notifications from the Payment Service, you must set up a dynamic license model when you register the digital goods in the BlackBerry World vendor portal.
The dynamic license model for digital goods requires an HTTPS URL for your content server. During each successful purchase, the Payment Service server sends your content server a request for a license key, and the following purchase parameters:
- The device pin.
- The email address associated with the user's BlackBerry ID account.
- The product name for the application that the digital goods are purchased from.
- The version of the application that the digital goods are purchased from.
- The transactionid, used as a unique identifier for the successful purchase.
- The product sku.
- The results of a true or false test that indicates whether the purchase was initiated using a BlackBerry ID account configured for testing.
Your content server needs to respond to the Payment Service server with a license key, which is then passed to the user's device as part of the purchase transaction.
Last modified: 2014-03-10
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This Honchkrow is a dark/ -type Pokémon that Paul caught in Johto before traveling in Sinnoh.
As a Murkrow, it was used when Paul battled Cynthia, the Pokémon Champion, and lost to her Garchomp. Murkrow also appeared while Paul was training Chimchar.
During a flashback of Paul's battle with Maylene it was revealed that Murkrow had evolved and had defeated Maylene's Meditite and fought her Machoke to a draw. Later Honchkrow was used in a battle with Ash's Turtwig and although Turtwig evolved during the battle, Honchkrow was still victorious. Ash's Staravia also evolved whilst battling Honchkrow in a PokéRinger contest. Earlier in this contest Honchkrow was shown to be powerful enough to knock out a Dragonite with one Sky Attack.
During Paul's first six on six battle with Ash, Honchkrow battled Grotle for the second time and was victorious once again.
Known moves
Voice actresses and actors
- Chie Satō (Japanese as a Murkrow)
- Chinami Nishimura (Japanese as a Murkrow)
- Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese as a Honchkrow)
- Bill Rogers (English)
- Two of Ash's Pokémon have evolved whilst battling Honchkrow; Turtwig and Staravia.
- Honchkrow, as a Murkrow, appeared in the opening theme of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl long before its actual debut in an episode.
|Paul's Pokémon
With Reggie
Given away


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Craniofacial Clinic
The Cedars-Sinai Craniofacial Clinic comprises an interdisciplinary team of specialists who provide clinical services to children born with craniofacial problems, such as clefts of the lip and/or palate, anomalies of the ear, nose, eye and periocular area and cranial anomalies including encephalocele and craniosynostosis.
Children with craniofacial problems require surgical care from a variety of specialists including Plastic Surgery, ENT, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Dentistry and Oral Surgery. Our care is distinguished by world-class expertise in Clinical Genetics, Nursing, Pediatrics, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Orthotics, Physical Therapy and Social Services.
For more information or to make a referral, please contact:
Craniofacial Clinic
116 N. Robertson Blvd., Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90048


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Safe abortion hotline Argentina July 2009
In Argentina abortion is illegal in most cases. There are about 500,000 abortions per year, most of them clandestine. About 68,000 women enter the public hospitals each year with post-abortion complications, and annually around 100 of these women die.
The goal of the hotline, "Abortion: more information, less risks" is to democratize access to information on the correct way to have a safe abortion using misoprostol.
Women needing help in Argentina can call: (011) 156 664 7070
Press information: 0054 911 57 37 9584 or email: email@example.com
The use of medicines to carry out safe abortions exists for more than twenty years as an established practice and is recommended by the World Health Organization and other agencies for its efficacy and low risk of death and complications when used correctly. Abortion using the medicine misoprostol is recommended by the World Health Organization as safe until the 12th week of pregnancy. There is no need for hospitalization; it involves little risk, with minimum subsequent medical care, equal to that following a miscarriage.
Click here to read the information about how to do a safe abortion with pills.


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Make war not peace! Make slander not encouragement! In this great discernmentalist war masterpiece we find some invaluable lessons on why we ust wage war against the ungodly and those who don't have the purist doctrines or whose culture is not like ours (ie the ONLY true biblical culture is here in North America). We will find our hero suspect of all Christians who seek to be peace-makers, and who dare to be reconciled with others (like in the movie). People like this make me sick – and our hero too! Gossip is used to disarm these unholy opponents (Orthodox, Roman Catholics, liberals, emergents, moderates) whereby they are slandered and attacked – just like they should be! Using the best of the online discernment ministry techniques we see our hero bring down many enemies!
Again, you will learn to be that much more angry after you view this fantastic masterpiece!


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Discussion in 'Wheels & Tires' started by CRKrieger, Oct 12, 2009.
Don't you guys know to never argue with a BMW owner, they know "everything" )
I understand the equation, what I don't understand the actual real life results. If what you said was the case, we would have still gotten tire pressure warnings on some of our loaners at some point over the past two years. If this was only checked over a few days I would see your point about recording temps over a long period and then evalutating, but this has been for 2 years now and that's long enough. No, I don't have the actual recorded temps in the shop and outside at those specific times but I think after 2 years it's fairly obvious. If you saw the line of people out the door before we even open up in the winter you'd see what I'm talking about first hand. In some way the oxygen has to be causing something to happen which sets off the monitor. Otherwise just as many cars with nitrogen would be lined up outside, and they'd all want a refund for the nitrogen.
The machine is approx 3ft sq. around and 5 ft tall and should produce a good sized flame. While we're over there, let's ask Bridgestone what they are using in their racing tires and why.
I suppose that's a possibility. I am not familiar with BMW's tire pressure monitoring system. If it uses something that measures oxygen content instead of pressure (They've done weirder things in the past), well there ya go! I guess one indicator would be whether you EVER get a low pressure signal with a nitrogen-filled tire, even if it's obviously down on pressure. Hmmm ...
Oh, hell, we can't burn anything that damn big! They'd probably call out the Plymouth F.D. How would you even haul it up here? Besides, the one chemical property nitrogen has that is supported by the science is that it doesn't support burning!
Another possibility is moisture content and condensation. Air compressors just grab whatever air is handy and compress it--trace gases, water vapor and all. A nitrogen generator produces dry nitrogen--near-zero relative humidity. (Compressed air dryers do exist but they're not common around auto shops. For most uses of shop air--running tools and whatnot--they'd be overkill as moisture content doesn't much matter.)
An air-filled tire could experience condensation inside the tire when the temperature drops (think: dew), depending on the temperature change and the relative humidity of the trapped air charge. It might be possible for that to have a temporary, adverse effect on a pressure sensor.
This is somewhat speculative--I don't know that TPM sensors are upset by condensation--but it's a plausible hypothesis that fits your data.
Pat Goss, MotorWeek's resident master technician, helps consumers understand car problems and how to speak the same language as their technician. As cars becoming increasingly complex, fewer repairs can be accomplished at home. Effective communication with a repair shop is vital to keeping consumer and operating costs under control. From rattles and squeaks to leaks and drips, Pat covers a myriad of issues designed to keep cars on the road and out of the repair shop.
Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems
Pat Goss
All cars now come equipped from the factory with tire pressure monitoring systems, and the majority of them use a sensor like this. This is the actual sensor; this is the valve stem. They go into the wheel like this-they fit through and you see the stem portion of it. The sensor portion is inside the tire.
They do a very, very good job, but they do have some problems. Number one is that many of these succumb to corrosion. The stem portion is made out of aluminum and it doesn't take much in the way of moisture to cause the aluminum to deteriorate, and many times when you have to have tire service performed - well, the sensor can't be salvaged and you have to put new sensors in the car.
Well, you always had to put the entire sensor in until recently, and now Dorman Products has this unit right here. This is a two-piece unit. It has the sensor just like it always has, but the stem is replaceable. It's held in place by a hollow screw. So, if the aluminum portion gets damaged, all you need to do is to buy the aluminum stem, not the entire sensor. This saves a lot of money. This comes in a kit with a whole variety of stems and repair parts and so on, and it is from Dorman Products.
Now, when you have service done-tire rotation or anything like that-in most cases, the sensors have to be re-programmed to the computer on the car. In some cars, it will simply require a round magnet like this that's designed specifically for that purpose, or on others you may have to use an electronic unit such as this that interfaces the computer on the car. The big thing here is, if you're going to have tire service done, make sure that the shop that you're using has the proper equipment to do everything without damaging anything on the car.
And, if you want to prevent a lot of the moisture problems, here's what you look for. You look for nitrogen, and you have nitrogen put in your tires just like they do on airplanes. Nitrogen from a good machine, like this Nitro-Fill machine, is completely dry, so you do away with all of the moisture-related problems. Not only that, but the molecules in nitrogen are bigger than oxygen, so what happens is, tire pressure remains constant longer and it's more stable. It's something that I would look for, because it can increase the life of your tires, it can prevent TPMS problems, and overall you might get a little better fuel economy.
As I mentioned in the very first post in this thread, it's a lot cheaper to put a moisture trap on a compressor to do this than to pay for bottled or generated nitrogen.
Also addressed in my very first post. Let's put it in a 'folksy' Pat Goss-type example:
Say you have one hundred footballs - because molecules of two oxygen and two nitrogen atoms are longer than they are around. Seventy-eight of 'em are 23.9 inches around the middle and the other twenty-one are 23.2 inches around. [One is a soccer ball we'll call 'trace'. It won't fit through the hole.]
Now, you're going to start randomly throwing these footballs at a hole in a wall that's 23.8 inches in circumference. Not carefully stuffing through the ones that fit, but tossing them from ten feet away - because that's how gases work. How many of those smaller footballs do you think you'll get through that hole? That's how much oxygen (73 picometer molecular radius) will escape compared to the nitrogen (75 picometer molecular radius). If that exercise alone doesn't convince you, then figure out what the odds are that you'd find a perfectly round hole smaller than 23.9 inches but bigger than 23.2 inches to throw them through. In terms of your tires, what are the odds that there are holes smaller than 75 picometers and bigger than 73 picometers? Even if this theory were true, simply refilling with regular air will do this:
The first time, you will be up to 94% nitrogen because the air refill will be 78% nitrogen, or 16% of the 21% you lost when the oxygen left.
The second time you refill (assuming you could actually tell that the tire lost 6% of its pressure), you'll be up to over 98% nitrogen in there - all without ever actually filling the tire with pure nitrogen.
The third time you refill, you'll know you have a hole big enough to let the nitrogen out ...
Now, let's say you start throwing baseballs at a slightly smaller hole, about 20 inches in circumference. None of the footballs will fit through, but you'll do reasonably well with the baseballs, especially if you keep trying. Eventually, you'll get most of them through. This is what happens with a helium-filled rubber balloon. Rubber's pores are smaller than 'football-sized' molecules like nitrogen and oxygen (so an air-filled balloon stays inflated for a very long time) but helium is baseball-sized by comparison - so your balloon goes dead in a day or two.
So, does that explain the 'escaping smaller molecules' myth away?
I can think of TWO uses for nitrogen in tires
A) Jet aircraft use it due to the friction created by coming in for a landing at more than 100 miles an hour. Nitrogen is a relatively inert gas not likely to ignite from the 21 percent oxygen of regular air when that jet comes in for a landing. Last thing you want when your plane touches down is for the friction to ignite and detonate your tires as soon as they hit the ground.
B) Plan on locking your car up in a museum for decades? All nitrogen in your tires is less likely to lose pressure over time and less likely to build up condensation due to temperature changes.
So if you're not going to be doing landings and takeoffs in your automobile, and you don't plan on storing your car away for decades, I'd say forget the nitrogen, keep an eye on your tire pressure, and enjoy your BMW along with the rest of your life.
While seeing the combined gas law on a car forum causes me to wretch and regret logging in, I do have to ask how you got from chemical researcher to lawyer?
You know, I've wondered the same thing. We may have our very own BMW CCA "Renaissance Man" (or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof).
Maybe we can rent him out for parties......
Quick, hand the man a drink (a double, at least) before the nitrogen subject bubbles up...........
Knob Creek with a splash of water.....
Drink? Bubbles? Nitrogen?
Why yes thank you, I will have a Guinness!
Whoa, this is rapidly becoming a full-service bar............. The plan was to legally anesthetize Krieger and avoid the subject. Now, everyone's going to be impaired and talking about nitrogen. That's just not right.
You'll have your chance at Siebkins in August.
To answer your question: BFGoodrich R&D paid my way through law school at about the same time as I came to the conclusion that I was done inhaling stuff that would probably kill me in a few years. Chemical research (I'm good in a lab.) was just a 'saleable skill' I had as I paused for a few years between college & law school.
Where was the BFGoodrich facility? Was it for tires or aerospace composites
Brecksville, Ohio. Additives & Specialty Polymers, at that time. Did basic research work on antioxidant and UV stabilizers for plastics.
Interesting. It's a small world.
Small and cryptic. Do I know you? Were you there, too?
Nope, but some of my current co-workers spent some time working for BFG, in the mid and late 80's.
I can understand the comments made by both sides...but I did have the tires in my '05 Focus filled with notrogen and the car was easier to steer around corners (less effort on the sterring wheel). Did not do anything else to the car. Can't explain it - have no idea why. But it something I noticed, and after a few days - I didn't notice it anymore. Makes no sense to me - and you probably think I'm crazy but that's my experience and I'm sticking to it.
Separate names with a comma.
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New Studies Dissect School Turnarounds
What makes one low-performing school turn around and build momentum over time, while another, seemingly similar school tries the same strategies but continues to struggle?
It's not just particular programs or practices, but the interplay of school implementation with district policies and support, according to the Institute of Education Sciences' Turning Around Low-Performing Schools project—the most comprehensive federal research on such schools to date.
"There's not a lot out there on how you know that a school has turned around—and will stay turned around rather than just jumping up for a year," said Rebecca Herman, a managing research analyst and school improvement expert for the American Institutes of Research. The AIR collaborated with Policy Studies Associates, the Urban Institute, and Decision Information Resources on the project.
While final reports will not be issued until later this year, researchers released the results of their four interconnected longitudinal studies of 750 chronically low-performing schools, in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas, during a symposium at the Society for Research in Educational Effectiveness conference here Sept. 6.
Comparing Apples
The project used an independent method to identify chronically low-performing schools and track them from 2002-03 through 2007-08; researchers developed their own identification system because other methods to identify persistently low-performing schools for the School Improvement Fund or No Child Left Behind Act accountability differed from state to state and did not include student growth. The study schools included the lowest 5 percent of schools in each of the three states, with achievement in the bottom 15th percentile for that state and less than 40 percent student growth over time in both reading and mathematics.
Student achievement was based on the performance in each school's highest grade—typically 5th for elementary schools and 8th for middle schools—and student growth was calculated on the basis of the change in students' performance between grades 3 and 5 for primary schools and 6 and 8 for middle schools.
"What one state may consider a low performer, another may not," said Michael Hansen, a member of the project team and a longitudinal-data research associate at the AIR, based in Washington. "We wanted to compare apples to apples ... and we wanted to find authentic improvement in performance, rather than statistical-measurement error or demographic changes."
About half the schools identified as initially low-performing were able to show some signs of improvement within three years; another 35 percent showed no increase in student-achievement status or growth.
But 15 percent of schools were considered true turnarounds: They improved the number of students reaching proficiency in math or reading by at least 5 percentile points, with student growth rates in the 65th percentile statewide.
The study looked back at performance during the last three years of the study to ensure early improvement continued over time.
Turnaround rates varied considerably by state and subject, with schools much more likely to improve poor performance in mathematics than in reading, and only 3 percent to 4 percent able to improve in both subjects at once. Those two-subject-turnaround schools were more likely than other schools to report low turnover of highly qualified teachers and more technical assistance with data use.
Need to Read
Still, the lower reading-improvement rates caused "serious misgivings" for Jennifer O'Day, an AIR principal research scientist not involved in the project.
"Let's face it, for kids to graduate from high school and do well in life, they really need to read, and read well, and if we aren't helping them do that, we have a real problem," Ms. O'Day said. "This is particularly true as we move toward the new Common Core State Standards," which have an increasing focus on literacy across the curriculum.
In another of the project's studies, Brenda J. Turnbull, a principal associate, and researcher Erikson Arcaira, both with the Washington-based Policy Studies Associates, conducted site visits and in-depth interviews at 36 of the schools identified as initially low-performing in 18 districts across the three states. Case-study schools did not know they had been identified as improving or not, and neither did those assigned to visit the schools.
Data use, targeted student interventions, and teacher collaboration topped the most common strategies at the schools deemed to be turnaround schools, while more schools that did not improve used new curriculum or professional development. A related study in the project found strategies such as extended content periods and schedule changes were more likely to be used at improving middle schools than primary schools.
Though strategies overlapped in both types of schools, Ms. Turnbull argued they were only surface similarities.
"There were some schools where there was a data wall, the numbers were in everybody's face all the time, …but when we asked them what was central to your improvement effort, there was variation," and teachers did not have a clear sense of how the data were being used, she said.
Working in Combination
Improving schools tended to combine strong leadership and data use with strategic teacher recruitment, management, and "intensive" professional development. Ms. Turnbull noted that most of the schools, regardless of whether or not they improved, said they used professional development, but researchers only counted that training as "intensive" if it was ongoing throughout the school year and designed to address the specific issues raised in the school's turnaround plan. For example, turnaround schools were more likely to provide professional development specifically on how to analyze and use student data to improve instruction.
"It's different from just saying 'professional development was our central thing'—there's so much drive-by professional development," she said.
The differences between improving and non-improving schools became clearer when researchers looked at groups of strategies and supports. For example, more than a third of the turnaround schools implemented a combination of data use and targeted interventions, compared with fewer than one in 10 of the schools that didn't improve, Mr. Arcaira said.
In fact, the researchers found turnaround schools implemented on average fewer improvement strategies, 2.3 during the period studied, than schools that did not improve, which used 2.6. Staff in 17 percent of the schools that did not improve reported "too many strategies" were being used.
"We found multiple interlocking strategies that formed a framework for improvement, rather than discrete strategies that one might call a silver bullet. The sense of coherence, collaboration, leadership, and support came across as different atmospherically in the way people described them," Ms. Turnbull said. "Certainly, just throwing multiple reform efforts at the school is not a good way to go."
Schools that made substantial improvement were more likely to have accountability pressure and support from their district leaders, and to have heard explicitly how their school's improvements fit into district reform. "It really confirmed the importance of these local factors at implementation and the complex network of policies, programs, practices, and supports in school turnaround," Mr. Arcaira said.
Vol. 32, Issue 04, Pages 10-11Published in Print: September 19, 2012, as Interplay of Strategies Seen as Key in Turnarounds
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