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Well here is the rest of the story. But before I tell it, I must admit that sitting tight and waiting for the next day would be the most mature decision. However, after a week of watching those bucks at a distance, I was not very mature.
I unclipped my harness and climbed down. The wind allowed me to follow him. I skirted the field edge in a low crouch. As I rounded the bend to the west, I spotted him, following the doe. I had to pick up the pace. I hugged the trees and used the overhanging limbs to hide. He was on higher ground, which allowed me to glimpse his silhouette from time time, while remaining shielded. I caught a good look of the buck cresting the field, 60-80 yards in front of me. I looked at my watch, I had less than 15 minutes. I had to pick it up, so I broke cover and scurried up the little hill behind him.
[/align]As I reached the crest, I lowered myself and looked over. There he was! He was walking into the tall grass on the far side of the field. He would be gone in seconds. I grunted and he froze, at less than 40 yds. I rose to my feet in order to gain a better view of his vitals, took aim and squeezed.
[/align]A direct heart shot lead to a short but violent death run, ending in a steep gully. He was a true hog body with a field dressed weight of 210 lbs. and a tall, 142", ten point rack.
[/align]My stalk could have ended in failure if one deer had tried to enter the field as I snuck by. But it didn't and I got lucky.


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Coastal regions generate around 40 % of EU GDP. Europe is a major player in many intensive maritime industries, including shipping and ports, fisheries, energy and coastal tourism. However, this has come at a cost - habitat destruction, overfishing, pollution, coastal erosion, and infrastructure development have damaged coastal ecosystems.
Moreover, climate change is likely to make these regions – and the societies in them – more vulnerable, the report says. Seas and coasts are currently considered to be drivers for the European economy with great potential for innovation and growth.
Approximately 40 % of the EU population lives within 50 km of the sea, and this is growing – in some parts of the Mediterranean coast in Spain and France, the population has increased by up to 50 % between 2001 and 2011. Growing demand for living space and other needs means that impervious areas such as concrete increased by 5 % between 2006 and 2009, the report says, further breaking up coastal habitats. This expansion was fastest in coastal areas in Cyprus, Norway, Malta and Spain, where areas with sealed soils increased by more than 10 %.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director, said: "Europe's coastline is vital for its economy. But in many areas, its resources are at risk because short-term gains have been prioritised over longer-term sustainable management. For example, some endangered coastal habitats act as natural protection from storm surges. One thing that can help safeguard these habitats is better data and knowledge, particularly as there is a pressing need to adapt to the effects of climate change."
If coastal regions are to continue to power European economies, provide ecosystems services, and remain home to millions of people, they must be managed more cohesively, the report says. This management must also be based on integrated policy, aiming to balance competing interests of human development, while ensuring healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems that much of this development relies on.
The European Commission has recently proposed a framework for integrated coastal management and for 'maritime spatial planning', to better manage competing claims and resources at sea. Within this framework, plans and strategies will require high quality data to measure the health of the coastal environment.
The lack of quality‑assured spatial data hinders effective management, so EU Member States need to make more effort to harmonise their data and make it consistent with the data reported by other countries, the report says. When coastal data is shared across borders and enhanced by coordinated indicator sets, it can give a larger and more refined picture of the wider ecosystem issues, making it easier to implement an ecosystem‑based management approach.
]]>However, water basin management should be more closely integrated with spatial planning, the report argues. This would bring a strategic focus to planning, highlighting decisions which affect water resources.
The current situation means that costs can fall on those who do not benefit – for example, water pollution from agriculture in one territory that flows downstream to others. Also, benefits may go to those outside the territory who have not paid for them. An example of this is forests in one territory that regulate floodwaters in a different territory downstream.
Water bodies are under pressure in many parts of Europe from multiple demands, including tourism, industry, agriculture, power, transport and public supply. A recent EEA report argued that the natural world also needs water to carry out the 'ecosystem services' which underpin the European economy, such as water purification, soil retention, and food production. By integrating basin-level water management and spatial planning, these direct and indirect human demands can be better weighed up.
And it's not just human interests which should be considered. Approximately 250 species of macrophytes and 250 species of fish live in European inland surface waters and a significant number of birds, fish and mammals depend on wetlands for breeding or feeding. These all need sufficient water to survive. In addition, many species also require water bodies to be in a 'natural' state – for example many species of fish need uninterrupted migratory routes.
]]>• The landscape reflects how we meet our resource demands
• How and where we use land affects ecosystem resilience
• Consumption patterns are key drivers of resource use
• Spatial planning is central to managing landscapes and ecosystem resilience
Chapter 11. Progress towards ecosystem resilience and resource efficiency
• Europe has made considerable progress but many challenges remain
• Time lags between improving resource efficiency and ensuring ecosystem resilience
• Setting targets to support ecosystem resilience and resource efficiency
• Environmental indicators to support the transformation to a green economy
Human health and well-being ultimately depend on well-functioning ecosystems. Human land use is a major factor influencing the distribution and functioning of ecosystems, and thus the delivery of ecosystem services. The impact of human society on ecosystems and natural capital respectively, can be most easily appreciated at the landscape level, as the landscape in many ways embodies how human society meets its resource demands.
The natural resources that society relies on for production and consumption can be roughly classified into four major categories: food, water, energy and (other) materials. All are of direct relevance to human well-being, and their supply is therefore subject to strong policy interventions. Exploiting one resource type often results in impacts on the environment and the other resources. For example, producing food requires land as well as water and energy.
These interdependencies lead to trade-offs and indirect effects on health and human well-being (Figure 10.1). Measures to boost agricultural productivity, for example, may have negative effects. Irrigation adds to water stress, particularly in southern European regions, potentially jeopardising water security (EEA, 2010a). Pesticide residues end up in surface water and groundwater bodies, threatening drinking water safety (EEA, 2010b).
Producing bioenergy involves similar trade-offs. Energy crops compete with food production, renewing concerns about food security and prices. Where energy cropping replaces extensive farming systems, negative impacts on biodiversity and landscape amenity values can also be expected, affecting, for example, recreation opportunities. Efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by shifting from fossil fuel to bioenergy can even be counterproductive if associated with deforestation and reduced carbon storage in vegetation and soil.
Matching natural resource use with human demands is thus a complex spatial puzzle, with many interdependencies and environmental feedbacks. This puzzle is further complicated when the external perspective is considered: analysing how European resource needs and the ways we meet them affect regions outside Europe.
Figure 10.1 Key natural resources supporting human health and well-being
Source: European Environment Agency.
Generally, increasing resource use has profound impacts on the landscape. Food and fibre production require large areas of land for agriculture and forestry. Extracting minerals, metals and fossil fuels turns substantial areas into quarries and mines. Our water use results in changed hydromorphology and river flows. And our settlement, infrastructure and construction patterns translate into further land use changes (Figure 10.2 and Map 10.1).
Population growth and changing lifestyles are apparent in our settlement patterns, transport infrastructure and land use. Europe stands out as one of the regions where human use of ecosystems is highest. Approximately one third of Europe's land is covered by forests, 25 % by arable land and permanent crops, and 17 % by pastures and mixed mosaics. About 4 % is covered by artificial surfaces, such as urban areas and man-made infrastructure (EEA, 2010c) (15).
Figure 10.2 Land take per activity, 2000 to 2006
Source: CSI 014, based on Corine land cover database, 2000–2006 data.
Map 10.1 Fragmentation of the European landscape, as measured in terms of land take, 2000 to 2006
Source: CSI 014, based on Corine land cover database, 2000-2006 data.
Urbanisation is the dominant trend in Europe, with a growing concentration of people living in urban areas and decreasing population densities in rural areas. The total urban area in Europe grows faster than the human population size, indicating an increasingly diffuse urbanisation process and continuing landscape fragmentation (EEA, 2010c).
With many people seeking alternative employment and adopting urban lifestyles, agriculture is becoming less important as an economic driver. Environmentally it is still very important, however, covering nearly half of the European land. The total area of farmland in Europe is slowly decreasing as the result of land abandonment in marginal and low-productive regions. Management in the remaining farmland is typically intensifying, with around 4% of European farmland being under organic production in 2007 (Eurostat, 2009).
As a result of these combined trends, the area of natural and semi-natural habitats has declined and is increasingly fragmented by built-up areas and transport infrastructure. These changes affect the amenity value of the European landscape and are also associated with reduced biodiversity. Loss of habitats as the immediate result of land conversions has led many species populations to decline. The remaining habitat patches become increasingly vulnerable to diffuse external pressures, causing further reduction of critical plant communities and species.
Agriculture plays a major role here through its increasing reliance on drainage and external inputs over the last 50 years (fertiliser, pesticides and water – see previous chapters). It not only exerts environmental pressures at field level but also affects major regulatory services, notably those related to water, carbon and nitrogen. Animal species additionally suffer from the increased fragmentation, as reduced dispersal rates, mortality on roads and exposure to noise increase the risk of (local) extinction (EEA, 2010d).
Ultimately, our resource use, both in Europe and beyond, is driven by our consumption and production patterns. Analyses of consumption patterns in EU Member States indicate that the majority of key environmental pressures related to national consumption can be allocated to eating and drinking, housing and infrastructure, and mobility and transport (EEA, 2010e). Food and housing alone cause around 60 % of all material resource use (Figure 10.3).
Average consumption expenditure per person increased by more than 30 % in the EU-27 between 1990 and 2010, with the 12 countries that have joined the EU since 2004 (EU-12) recording a relatively higher increase amounting to more than 75 % during the same period. Nevertheless, on average private consumption expenditure in the EU-15 is more than twice of that in the EU-12 (EEA, 2010e).
Figure 10.3 Share of Total Material Requirement (TMR) needed by household consumption category (8 EU Member States, 2005 data)
Source: EEA, 2010e.
Total energy use related to housing, for example, has increased by around 10 % since 1990, despite an increase in heating efficiency of approximately 10 % in the same period. A determining factor is the floor space per person, which between 1990 and 2007 has increased by more than 20% in the EU. The average area of a dwelling unit rose from 86 to 92 m2 in EU-15 Member States and from 62 to 71 m2 in EU-12 Member States. At the same time the number of people per household decreased. These trends have largely offset the gains made in the energy efficiency of buildings (EEA, 2010e).
Similarly, in the transport sector increased car fuel efficiency has not compensated for growing demand resulting from increased commuting and recreation. Although cars on average have become more fuel-efficient, overall fuel consumption for private cars does barely go down, mainly because more kilometres are driven (EEA, 2010e).
In the past decade, European expenditure on food and non-alcoholic drinks increased only by around 10 % in absolute terms. While total consumption of food in Europe is relatively decoupled from income, the types of food we eat has changed with increasing wealth, falling household sizes, globalisation of food markets and changing tastes – resulting in mixed trends in food consumption (EEA, 2010e). Mixed trends in food consumption have differing consequences for environmental impacts and their combined effect is difficult to estimate.
The carbon, material and water footprints of different types of food vary considerably (the footprints associated with beef and dairy products, for example, are relatively high), which hints at potential to reduce some environmental impacts by shifting consumption patterns. To improve resource use efficiency, there is also scope to address food wastes, as waste generation in production, distribution and consumption of food accounts for approximately 89 million tonnes of food yearly (roughly 180 kg per citizen) (EEA, 2010e).
Overall, growing resource demand has driven environmental pressures, for example, through greenhouse gas emissions, emissions of acidifying substances or ozone precursors, our material use and waste production (EEA 2010e). Meanwhile, our settlement patterns have affected our personal exposure to the consequences of this resource use — air pollution, food and water quality, access to green spaces, flooding risks and so on.
European landscapes are being shaped at an unprecedented pace, with little thought to these cumulative impacts. Their importance is not yet fully reflected in decision-making on urban development, energy supply, agriculture, forestry, water management and transport. Considerations such as biodiversity and landscape quality are likewise often marginalised in decision-making processes.
With most EU citizens living in urban areas (currently 73% and projected to grow to 80 % by 2030, EEA, 2010f), urban density and the design of the built and natural environments of cities play a crucial role in shaping consumption patterns. Urban design is particularly relevant in two areas: urban transport, which accounts for 40 % of GHG emissions and 70 % of air pollutants, and housing (EC, 2007).
Optimising land use in response to consumer demands has implications for carbon storage (bioenergy production and greenhouse gas emissions), water resources (droughts and floods) and biodiversity conservation (impacts on species and habitats). The main alternative principles of land planning in this regard are 'land sparing' or 'land sharing'.
'Land sparing' focuses on compact urbanisation and intensification of agriculture (increasing yields per hectare), with a view to reduce the area needed for housing and agricultural production. This is in principle beneficial for energy efficiency and carbon storage and leaves space for natural ecosystems and nature development. On the other hand it may increase local pressures on soil, water and air and affect human health in urban areas.
'Land sharing' does the opposite: it tries to accommodate multifunctional land use, supporting extensive agriculture in marginal areas and attempting to achieve biodiversity goals on farmland. In a European context this approach applies to the conservation of high nature value farmland and the adoption of agri-environment measures. The area of non-cultivated ('natural') areas is of less concern than cultural and landscape amenity values.
The choice between the two involves complex trade-offs with regard to ecosystem resilience and resource efficiency that require careful consideration. For example, whereas low-input farming appears essential to tackle pollution, it enhances the need for changes in our consumption and behaviour. Dietary shifts, more effective distribution chains, and food waste prevention could potentially compensate for lower yields.
Given the interactions between agricultural land use and European and global environmental processes, appropriate management and policies in the agricultural sector are crucial for achieving EU environment policy targets. The EU common agricultural policy is currently undergoing a fundamental reform, offering a big opportunity for further integrating environmental concerns into this policy.
Similarly, integrating fragmentation considerations, including monitoring methods, into transport and regional planning policies, can further help to mitigate the environmental impacts of landscape fragmentation.An integrated development perspective is needed to take into account the considerable regional variation, in both environmental and socio-economic terms. The structural funds under the EU cohesion policy aimed at territorial cohesion are instrumental in this respect.
Box 10.1 Ecosystem integrity — an experimental integrated indicator
The Convention on Biological Diversity has identified ecosystem integrity as one of four thematic areas for monitoring policy progress towards significantly reducing biodiversity decline. It is a key determinant of the potential of ecosystems to deliver over time the multiple services needed for societal development and human wellbeing.
A proxy for ecosystem integrity at the macro scale is landscape fragmentation, and particularly the fragmentation of natural habitats. The Natural Landscape Ecological Potential (NLEP) indicator takes protected area designations, land cover characteristics and density of road and rail transport infrastructure into account. Datasets are combined using land and ecosystem accounting methods and spatial analysis techniques, anchored by a 1 km2 grid.
For the period 1990–2006, the NLEP indicator ecosystem integrity has either been stable or in slow decline for most of Europe. Where improvement appears it is largely the effect of farmland abandonment in this period (Map 10.2).
Map 10.2 Changes in ecosystem integrity based on changing landscape characteristics, 1990 to 2006
Source: European Environment Agency.
Europe has made considerable progress but many challenges remain. Some of the environmental indicators analysed in this report reveal encouraging trends, others less so.
In some areas, significant progress has been made. Over the past decade, for example, European greenhouse gas emissions have decreased; some air and water pollution indicators show improvements, although this has not yet necessarily resulted in good air and water quality; and materials use and waste generation, although still increasing, are now growing at a slower rate than the economy. However, developments in different European countries may differ considerably from these broad trends.
In other areas, trends are less positive. Environmental objectives and targets have not been achieved or progress has been insufficient. The target of halting biodiversity loss in Europe has not yet been reached, although large areas across Europe have been designated as protected areas and the rate of loss for some species has decreased. Fish continue to be harvested beyond sustainable yields and many freshwater bodies suffer from over-exploitation and are not expected to achieve good ecological status by 2015.
Based on such environmental indicators, a summary analysis of the main trends and progress over the past ten years shows a mixed picture. If indicators are broadly grouped in two categories either addressing 'ecosystem resilience' (here approximated by 'state' indicators) or 'resource efficiency' (here approximated by 'pressure' indicators), then a pattern emerges: European environmental policies appear to have had a clearer impact on improving resource efficiency than on maintaining ecosystem resilience (Table 11.1).
Table 11.1 Indicative summary table of progress towards meeting environmental targets or objectives, based on indicators presented in this report
Table 11.1 Indicative summary table of progress towards meeting environmental targets or objectives, based on indicators presented in this report (cont.)
It is worth noting that several important environmental issues are either not covered or only partially addressed in this summary analysis. This is either because they have only emerged on the policy agenda in recent years or because they lack explicit targets and indicators. Such issues include, for example, ecosystem health, ecosystem services, noise, chemicals and hazardous substances, and natural and technological hazards. These, and other environmental issues, are instead addressed or under preparation in separate, dedicated EEA assessments.
This summary analysis underlines that while improved resource efficiency is necessary, it is not sufficient to conserve the natural environment and the essential services it provides in support of economic prosperity and social cohesion.
Many factors and complex interactions underlie the contrasting performance in improving resource efficiency and ensuring ecosystem resilience, as presented in this summary analysis. These include:
• the relatively specific cause-effect relationships and policy design involved in reducing environmental pressures and increasing resource efficiency in relevant economic sectors (such as energy, transport, agriculture);
• the often more complex, multicausal factors contributing to reductions in natural environment quality with consequent implications for ecosystem resilience (multiple causes, multiple pathways and multiple effects that are difficult to disentangle);
• the resulting shorter time frames needed to show efficiency gains (often less than two decades) against the longer time it takes for these gains to translate into restored environmental condition and ecosystem resilience (often several decades).
The relatively short time frame for this summary analysis is therefore biased towards showing progress in improving resource efficiency over ensuring ecosystem resilience. This in turn highlights the value of investing in consistent long-term monitoring of sentinel chemical and ecological parameters that allow us to track broader changes in the natural environment: atmosphere and climate, soils and land, freshwaters and oceans.
Over recent decades, EU environmental policies have regulated the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere, soils and waters, typically through targeted policies or restrictions. Such regulatory approaches have intentionally pushed firms to find substitutes through technical innovations and other routes.
It often takes years for these policies to take full effect. Consider, for example, the time span that occurs between a substance being identified as harmful and it being restricted. Causes of delays include lags in national transposition and implementation of EU laws, and the need to allow sufficient time to identify and adopt viable substitutes.
Despite these obstacles considerable efficiency gains have been achieved and environmental pressures have been reduced. Looking forward to reduction targets for 2020 and beyond, however, it is apparent that in areas such as climate change mitigation, energy, material, water and waste Europe will need to continue (and in some cases drastically increase) its resource efficiency improvements just to meet current policy targets. Achieving the even more ambitious targets needed to ensure a resilient environment will require even greater efforts.
This dynamic is further complicated by the often even longer time lags between recognising an environmental pressure and this being addressed, and the ability of natural ecosystems and people to then recover from the impacts these pressures may have caused. In other words, once the environment has changed as result of an environmental pressure, it may take much longer to reverse, especially if and when this has resulted in a change in ecosystem resilience.
A case in point is the depletion of the ozone layer, where the relatively rapid progress to remove harmful chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) from production processes and reduce their emissions (which took about 20 years, globally), contrasts with the rather longer timeframes foreseen for repairing the atmosphere and reducing to zero excess skin cancer rates from ultraviolet radiation (estimated to be 70 to 100 years). Similar time lags are known for other environmental issues, such as climate change or acidification.
It should be stressed that in some cases, negative effects of reduced ecosystem resilience may even be irreversible, for example where biodiversity loss leads to species extinction, or where environmental or climate tipping points are passed.
EU environmental policy includes many more objectives and targets than those discussed in this report. When fully implemented as a coherent package, how far would existing measures ensure ecosystem resilience and improve resource efficiency, given the clear differences in the challenges and the contrasting time lags for achieving success?
This report cannot and does not aim to answer this question. It does, however, highlight that the interplay between improved resource efficiency, decreased environmental pressures and maintaining ecosystem resilience is often ill-defined. And this jeopardises the coherence between different environmental policies and between environmental policy and other policy areas. Existing European environmental policies have proven effective in many cases but less so in some instances.
Air pollution, climate change mitigation, energy, water and waste are arguably the environmental policy areas where objectives and binding targets are most developed. Other policy areas like chemicals, land use, nature and biodiversity, and sustainable production and consumption are characterised by ambitious strategic objectives and few binding targets. While the former are often incorporated into European legislation (such as regulations, directives and decisions), the latter are generally set out in other formats (such as European Commission communications, EU environment action programmes or the European Council conclusions).
At the EU level, arguably the clearest links between objectives to ensure ecosystem resilience and objectives to ensure resource efficiency have been established in the area of climate change. An example is the ambition to limit the rise in average global temperatures to 2 °C compared to pre-industrial levels and the related target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 % by 2020, and the vision to reduce them by more than 80 % by 2050. Clearly, however, meeting the global temperature objective depends not only on actions within Europe but also internationally.
Such links are also apparent for air pollution. The success of much of Europe in meeting efficiency targets by cutting emissions has played a vital role in reducing critical loads and resulting pressures on sensitive ecosystems. At the same time, however, concerns about pressures on biodiversity — including those resulting from nitrogen pollution — have increased. More positively, greater attention is now given to understanding the co-benefits for the atmosphere of achieving climate change and air pollution efficiency targets as a package.
For other policy areas such as freshwater, oceans and biodiversity, recent EU initiatives have sought to strengthen objectives for ecosystem resilience, such as achieving 'good ecological status' in water bodies or maintaining ecosystem services. Alongside these, there are also resource efficiency targets either established or emerging in those sectors related to biodiversity loss. However, the relationship between resilience and efficiency targets in the area of biodiversity is arguably less well defined than, say, for air pollution and climate change.
For all the above examples and for other issues, ensuring coherent environmental policy demands explicit reflection on how objectives related to ensuring ecosystem resilience (or, simpler put, maintaining a good state of environment) can be translated into targets to improve resource efficiency. In addition, it is worth considering how a more combined approach to ecosystem resilience and resource efficiency would influence human well-being, access to environmental benefits and other social policy objectives.
Thus, in striving towards a 'green economy' — that is an economy in which environmental, economic and social policies and innovations enable society to use resources efficiently, thereby enhancing human well-being in an inclusive manner, while maintaining the natural systems that sustain us — there would be value in considering objectives and targets in integrated packages around key environmental topics. In setting objectives, such packages should explicitly recognise the relationships between resource efficiency, ecosystem resilience and human well-being as well as the different time lags for policy actions to succeed.
Such relationships might be considered both within an environmental policy area, such as biodiversity, and between policy areas, such as between biodiversity and climate change, taking account of issues such as differences in geographical scale when considering problems, solutions and trade-offs. Mapping the many interlinkages between areas and related policy targets would be a prelude to the design of policy measures and indicators that make environmental policy implementation stronger and more coherent, and enable existing objectives and targets to be achieved more effectively.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, environmental concerns motivating indicator choices were mostly related to the specific challenges of industrialised countries: air and water pollution, waste generation, environment and health impacts, landscape amenities and nature conservation in terms of protection of endangered species and habitats. Since the 1990s, the recognition of more diffuse challenges has driven demand for indicators to support integration of environmental considerations into the sectoral domains with the greatest environmental impacts, e.g. energy, transport, agriculture, industry (Table 11.2).
Table 11.2 Reflecting on environmental challenges
Source: European Environment Agency.
At the same time, more complex, systemic environmental issues such as climate change impacts, biodiversity loss, resource scarcities and cocktail effects on human health have come to the fore driving demands for more integrated indicators across the entire DPSIR chain (see Chapter 3). The globalisation cycle since the 1990s has been a major reason for this. For example, good performance in Europe in reducing pressures has sometimes resulted from the shift of polluting industries to less industrialised countries.
Related to this, in Europe and elsewhere, the need to account for natural and human resources as capital, in the same way as we account for economic and financial resources, is becoming more apparent. The multiple crises Europe and the world currently face — financial debts, economic recession, demographics, energy security, climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystems degradation — have raised the profile of issues such as systems resilience, transparency and accountability, debts, distributional equity, fairness and liability. The transition to a green economy can contribute to resolving many of these issues.
What could we consider as suitable indicators for measuring progress in the transition?
The demand for more integrated environmental indicators measuring overall progress has driven many trials (16). All fall short of the requirements, however, largely due to their partial coverage of and partial correspondence to European policy priorities. Thus, among the 225 indicators currently managed by the EEA (see Annex) there is no indicator that responds to this political demand (i.e. indicator type E — total welfare indicators).
The task to develop macro level metrics that can complement GDP is not trivial, as reflected most recently in the report of the 'Stiglitz-Fitoussi-Sen Commission' initiated by the Government of France (2007), or the European Commission's related 'GDP and Beyond' process (2008). These initiatives share common features. For example, in the short term, a basket of interlinked, coherent indicators to measure progress across the environmental, social and economic domains is regarded as feasible.
Such a basket of indicators that can address the systemic, interlinked challenges of resource efficiency, ecosystem resilience and human well-being would ideally feature key environmental resource dimensions such as materials, carbon, land and water individually, their uses as well as their respective interactions (see, for example, the schema offered in chapter 10 of this report). As such, it would be diagnostic rather than comprehensive.
This report demonstrates that several relevant indicators are already available to address both ecosystem resilience and resource efficiency by proxy. Additional ones can be constructed using environmental accounting, for example using NAMEA (17), or life-cycle methods, with the aim to produce indicators that can cover national, sectoral, product and trade perspectives.
In addition, a link to human well-being can be ensured in two principal ways. The first is through an explicit link between resource efficiency and how we are meeting our needs for food, water, energy and materials resources. The second is through establishing links between natural capital parameters and where people live, to better understand their access to nature or vulnerability to environmental change.
All the aforementioned baskets of indicators address physical changes. Changes in stocks of natural capital might also be evaluated in monetary terms and incorporated into the System of National Accounts (SNA), to complement GDP. Indeed, the architects of the SNA identified this approach as desirable as far back as the early 1950s. Also the EU Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe includes a milestone whereby public authorities and businesses will properly value and account for natural capital and ecosystem services by 2020.
However, the task of establishing credible links between the different capitals is complex, and fraught with conceptual difficulties and ethical concerns.
As noted above, indicators available to date offer only a sub-set of those ideally needed to address coherently systemic and interlinked environmental challenges. Nevertheless, the assessment presented in this report also highlights that those environmental indicators already available offer some basis for considering strategic objectives and targets with regard to both ecosystem resilience and resource efficiency.
(15) The remaining European land area is classified as semi-natural vegetation (8 %), open spaces and bare soils (6 %), wetland (2 %) and water bodies (3 %). >back
(16) Examples include the index of sustainable economic welfare, the environmental pressure index, the ecological footprint, and the OECD better life index, to name a few. >back
(17) NAMEA — National Accounting Matrix for Environmental Accounting. >back
Protecting the Earth's surface is also one of the priorities of the National Environmental Policy for 2009–12 and Its 2016 Outlook, which adopts as the medium-term objectives for the year 2016:
According to the Environment Protection Law, the protection of the Earth's surface can be summarised as the cross-sectoral activities aimed at maintaining a high quality of surface soil by the rational use of management techniques, conservation of natural values and the possibility of productive use, limiting changes in the natural formation, maintaining soil and land quality above or at least at the level of required standards, bringing the quality of soil and land to the required standards if they are not met, preserving cultural value, including archaeological treasures.
According to the Act on the Protection of Arable and Forest Land, the protection of agricultural and forest land must include:
Results of the CLC 2000 and CLC 2006 projects (http://clc.gios.gov.pl/).
Elżbieta Bielecka 'Charakterystyka głównych kierunków zmian pokrycia terenu w Polsce w latach 1990-2006' (Characteristics of the main directions of land cover change in the years 1990–2006), Warsaw 2009, unpublished material.
GIOŚ 'Raport o stanie środowiska w Polsce 2008' (Report on the State of the Environment in Poland 2008).
GIOŚ report 'Stan środowiska w Polsce na tle celów i priorytetów Unii Europejskiej. Raport wskaźnikowy 2004' (The state of environment in Poland vs. European Union objectives and priorities. Indicator report 2004). http://www.gios.gov.pl/zalaczniki/artykuly/rap_wskaz2004_pl.pdf
Experts' design of the country spatial development concept by the year 2033, Warsaw, December 2008 (http://www.mrr.gov.pl/rozwoj_regionalny/poziom_krajowy/polska_polityka_przestrzenna/prace_nad_KPZK_2008_2033/Documents/PE_KPZK_STYCZEN_z_ERRATA_NA_STRONIE.pdf).
The updated concept of National Spatial Management (Warsaw, October 2005).
The concept of national spatial policy (MP No 26, Item 432, p. 502) (http://www.mrr.gov.pl/rozwoj_regionalny/poziom_krajowy/polska_polityka_przestrzenna/koncepcja_polityki_przestrzennego_zagospodarowania_kraju/Documents/7a49ee2589b4472c822ff9cec186b4f9KPPZKMonitorPolski1_1.pdf).
The National Environmental Policy for 2009–12 and Its 2016 Outlook (http://www.mos.gov.pl/g2/big/2009_07/2826c539c3015384e50adac8fe920b0b.pdf).
CSO Environment Protection Statistical Yearbooks (http://www.stat.gov.pl).
'Polska 2030. Wyzwania rozwojowe' (Poland 2030. Development challenges), the document presented on June 17 this year and prepared by the Strategic Advisory Group of the President of the Council of Ministers chaired by Minister Michał Boni, Warsaw, 2009 (http://www.zdp.kprm.gov.pl/index.php?id=243).
The necessity to improve spatial planning systems and increase local government capacity in spatial planning is recognised by the Spatial Planning System Development Concept. The spatial plan at local municipality level is the most important planning document for influencing future land-use trends.
The Spatial Planning System Development Concept also states that it is essential to define the spatial structure of state territory in order to ensure a sustainable settlement structure and polycentric development. This will also prevent urban sprawl. Latvia has developed Sustainable development strategy to 2030 which includes a spatial development perspective.
Substantial legislation has also been developed on land-use and ownership. After the re-establishment of Latvian independence, land reform aimed to restitute property rights to former owners, or their heirs, and to establish a legal basis for private land ownership. Several legislative acts will come into effect in 2011 to conclude the land reform process. This will significantly ease development activities involving land expropriation and land transactions.
The Ministry of Agriculture manages EU and state support and initiates legislative changes in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, food and veterinary science, rural development and fisheries. The Ministry has developed a rural development programme for Latvia (2007–2013) which focuses on the following priorities:
The Land Policy Guidelines for 2008–2014 recognise the necessity to coordinate policy relating to land issues across different sectors. The objective of the Land Policy Guidelines is to ensure sustainable land use and protection, including the protection of the soil, forests and waters, and to prevent land degradation. The resulting Land Management Concept is developed. It covers principles of land use, the rights and responsibilities of land-users, the competence of the state and local municipalities in land management, landscape protection, planning and management and measures to prevent land degradation. It is envisaged to include these topics in Land Management Law which is currently being developed.
Information on land use is collected in many ways and monitoring of the living environment and urban structure is one of these. At the moment, monitoring of the living environment covers
In the future also natural environment and landscapes, recreational areas, community development and energy, environmental nuisances as well as social environment will be included in the monitoring.
The monitoring of the urban structure[1] aims to collect information on the state and trends of the urban structure. Monitoring addresses the physical and functional entity formed by dwellings, workplaces, services and green areas as well as the connections between them.
Land-use planning has a central role in the development of the living environment. As importantly, land-use planning also promotes sustainable development. In Finland, land-use planning has several levels.
The regional land use plan is created and approved by the Regional Council and confirmed by the Ministry of Environment. The local authorities create and approve the local master plans and the local detailed plans. All these three types of plans are drawn up in a participatory process. The provisions in the higher plans are binding for the lower plans.
The Government defines the national land-use guidelines[3]. The national land-use guidelines are a tool for Government to steer policy on land-use issues that are important for the whole country. The guidelines relate to the regional and urban structure, the quality of the living environment, communication networks, energy supply, natural and cultural heritage and use of natural resources. The national land-use guidelines were revised[4] in November 2008.
In the revision, the main emphasis was put on a more coherent urban structure, reduction of the volume of traffic, energy issues in land-use planning, adaptation to climate change, and housing production, transport and land use in the Helsinki region.
The most important legislation controlling land use, spatial planning and construction in Finland is contained in the Land Use and Building Act[6], which came into force in 2000. The general objectives of the Act are, among others, to organise land use and construction to create the basis for high quality living environments, and to promote ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable developments. The more specific objects are related to controls over land-use planning and construction.
More detailed regulations and controls on land use and construction are included in the Land Use and Building Decree[7]. The Land Use and Building Act is complemented by the National Building Code[8].
See also: Living environment and urban structure, Eco-efficiency and energy consumption in buildings, and International co-operation on spatial planning (Ministry of the Environment)
[1] Monitoring of the urban structure, Ministry of the Environment (in Finnish)
[2] Land use planning, Ministry of the Environment
[3] National land use guidelines, Ministry of the Environment
[4] The Revised National Land Use Guidelines of Finland, Ministry of the Environment
[5] Legislation on land use and building, Finnish Environmental Administration
[6] Land Use and Building Act (132/1999) - Unofficial translation of the original Act, PDF format in Finlex, the Data Bank of Finnish Legislation
[7] Land Use and Building Decree (895/1999) - Unofficial translation, PDF format in Finlex, the Data Bank of Finnish Legislation
[8] National Building Code of Finland, Finnish Environmental Administration
It is essential to preserve still balanced spatial network of cities and towns, and wealth and diversity of biological characteristics, some of which are rare even on an European level (natural forests, uncontaminated fertile soil, and considerable reserves of quality drinking water).


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November 26, 2013
The Newcomers, Lily Poritz Miller, Sumach Press, trade paperback $19.95.
When last seen, the Hoffman family of widowed Sara and her children had survived and triumphed — in their way — in a strange new country: post-war, racist South Africa.
We... full story
November 25, 2013
I'm well aware this review will annoy many readers, but I offer it nonetheless.
Let's start with the observation that the humble hamburger, once consigned primarily to the likes of McDonald's, has taken a huge leap forward. These days it has... full story
June 24, 2011
Brian Baker's column has moved. For further articles dating from the August 2011 issue as well as past articles visit http://mytorontotoday.ca.
There might be a blemish on the memory of three North Toronto seniors — Greg Gott, Spencer Cook... full story
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text: what ripndip black paisley?oh fasho then. yeah i bought the black paisley camp they got. dope as fuck, i always felt bad for missing supreme's black liberty cause i aint gunna drop 100+ on a camp, then i saw this paisley and yeah no regrets. cant wait for it to come in.... just got into this brand cant wait for spring too mang


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I N S I D EBuilding Bridges what's hot eventsyouth & tech
q&a |
Over the past 30 days free internet has been installed at Interconnection, 124 N. 35th St.; Community Day School, 135 32nd Ave.; and Sojourner Place, 5071 8th Ave. N.E.
It's not too late to get free cable Internet and modem for your local CTC. These free connections are currently only available in the Comcast service delivery area and within the Seattle city limits. For more information and to download a short form to make application, go to our tech web. If you have questions, email Derrick Hall or call (206) 233-5061.
Back issues of Brainstorm including techtips and linkages are now available in our online archives. Click to revisit all previous issues.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to Brainstorm, please email us, and we'll add you to our email notification list, or subtract you per your request. If you have ideas for future stories, please let us know and we'll try to accommodate them. We encourage you to visit the City of Seattle's Community Tech pages, seattle.gov/tech.
"We�re one of the most wired cities in the world, but there�s still much we can do to bring the benefits of this technology revolution to all segments of our city." -Mayor Greg Nickels
Greg Nickels, Mayor Department of Information Technology BILL SCHRIER chief technology officer RONA ZEVIN director, office of electronic communications DAVID KEYES manager, community technology program staff D.H. CASS MAGNUSKI editor |
The conference room was packed as more than 125 technology educators and program providers gathered in Redmond for our first Building Bridges of Opportunity Community Technology Conference on March 8. Attendees from around the Puget Sound, inland from Ellensburg and south from Portland shared challenges, best practices and prized resources and worked to impact future software development. Akhtar Badshah, Microsoft Senior Director of Community Affairs, presented their vision and work on digital opportunities and shared resources available through their Unlimited Potential campaign. Mike Donlin from Seattle Public Schools talked about the role of CTCs in enhancing educational achievement.
The day was a starting point for what we intend as a stronger give and take between software developers and the frontline community technology programs staff. The conference provided a rich opportunity for an expert audience of community trainers to provide rich feedback to Microsoft developers on the needs of first time users, and tell Microsoft, the City and PSACT how they can best help the community tech centers. A public access computing configuration tool, presented at the conference by Microsoft, is expected to be available soon. Participants also received copies of Microsoft�s Unlimited Potential Office skills curriculum. PSACT is continuing to help distribute the curriculum in our area. The event was organized by Sandra Mears from the Puget Sound Alliance for Community Technology (PSACT), ethnographers Nelle Steele and Tracey Lovejoy from Microsoft, and David Keyes from the City of Seattle, with support from Rodney Hines of Microsoft Community Affairs. The results and resources collected at the conference will be made available, so stay tuned.
The Washington State Supreme Court has adopted the Access to Justice Technology Principles (Bill of Rights), the first in the nation. The initiative was led by the Washington State Bar Association Access to Justice Committee and was initiated by King County law librarian Jena Holcomb, and led by retired Judge Don Horowitz with Richard Zorza. Marilyn Sheck from Seattle Public Library and David Keyes worked with a wide range of law and technology experts on this landmark accomplishment. The Bill of Rights provides a set of principles to guide the adoption and use of information technology in a manner intended to ensure "that current and future technology both increases opportunities and eliminates barriers to access and effective utilization of the justice system. and thereby improving the quality of justice for all persons in Washington State." For more information, go here.
The 14th annual Community Technology Center Network (CTCNet) conference will be held June 17-19 in Cleveland, home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The conference offers a wonderful opportunity to build skills, collect resources and network at the largest international gathering of community technology organizations, programs, and experts focused on harnessing technology to meet human and social needs. For more information about this year�s CTCNet "Making Connections, Strengthening Communities" conference, see ctcnet.org.
Green Maps are locally created maps that chart the natural and cultural environment. It�s also an international movement that has created a shared visual language of Green Map Icons to highlight green living resources and produce maps in a variety of formats, each tailored to the local community. Green mapping started in New York City in the mid 1990s and has grown tremendously. Green Maps cultivate citizen participation and include environmental, social, economic, and cultural features that are locally significant from a green, or sustainability, perspective. Local communities also create their own new icons to add to the map language. Some of these are available online. supremes adopt tech bill of rights
rock, roll and learn
greenmap rollout coming
To deliver interactive mapping, they will be using �scalable vector graphics� or SVG, SVG is an emerging standard for vector graphics for the Web as recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Learn more at their web site.
This spring, the Homewaters Project in Seattle is working with Nathan Hale and Cleveland High School students to create green maps in their neighborhoods. This was funded by the City of Seattle Technology Matching Fund.
In Seattle, African Americans are one-third less likely to have Internet access, 10 percent less likely to buy products or services online, and almost 25 percent less confident in online financial transactions. Source: 2004 IT Residential Technology Survey.
Grassroots.org Offers Free Web Hosting
Deadline: Ongoing
Nonprofits registered as 501(c)3 and public schools are eligible for free web hosting, email and other Internet services through grassroots.org. This initiative is designed to help make nonprofits more efficient and better able to serve their communities. Areas of interest include education, public health and youth advocacy.
ThinkHost offers free Webhosting
Deadline: Ongoing
ThinkHost is a privately-owned company providing high performance website hosting services to a global market. The company assists many community organizations with sponsored web hosting through their free hosting initiative. Organizations that focus on the environment, grassroots democracy, peace, social/economic justice or human rights are eligible to apply. Other community groups are eligible for free setup and an ongoing 10 percent discount on the monthly fees of any hosting plan.
Deadline: Ongoing
Grantee Exchange Fund (GXF) provides discretionary small grants to build bridges between grassroots organizations throughout the United States. The purpose of these grants is to encourage social change organizations to seek technical assistance from one another, and to help build regional and national networks among organizations.
Southern Poverty Law Center: Mix It Up Grants Program
Deadline: Ongoing
The Mix It Up Grant program, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Study Circles Resource Center, provides grants of $500 to youth-directed activist projects that focus on identifying, questioning and crossing social boundaries in schools and communities. Preference is given to projects that show youth leadership; collaborative efforts across social boundaries; and continuing efforts to identify, cross or challenge social boundaries.
Seattle neighborhood groups and organizations are invited to apply for funds for projects which increase technology literacy and access in their communities. The City is also encouraging civic participation projects which increase resident involvement in problem solving and use information and communications technology to support their effort.
Check out the new map service at Google. Example searches include going to a location, finding a business, and getting directions. After you take a peak at maps.google.com, learn more about how the technology is done, here.
Seattle.gov: Services | Departments | Staff Directory | Visiting | Mayor | City Council |
News | Events | Traffic | Weather | Maps | Jobs | Get Involved | Seattle Channel | ||
Questions/Complaints | Privacy & Security Policy | ||
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Quick note – I will be there today, Sunday, as the weather seems to be cooperating. We're expecting hit or miss showers and if they were like yesterday, except for two, ten minute showers, they were all miss.
I will be collecting donations for the Wallingford Fireworks Fund. Hope to see you there. We did good yesterday and I am hoping to add to the total today
The collection goal for the 2013 event is $35,000.00.
As published in the supplement to the Record Journal on Friday October 5, 2012
By Elizabeth Landow , Executive Director, Wallingford Center Inc.
Once again, it is time for CELEBRATE WALLINGFORD!! The first weekend in October marks the biggest event of the year. It is the time of the year that we can truly appreciate this wonderful town we live in!
After five years in our Hall Street location, we are excited to be holding the event up at the South and North Main Streets location.
This is a wonderful opportunity to 'taste' the specialties of many of Wallingford's finest restaurants and recognize the civic and non-profit organizations that help make this town what it is! Please stop by and admire the handicraft of the many participating crafters and be sure to check out the businesses that are participating this year – there are several new local entrepreneurs who have decided to showcase their businesses at the festival.
For the fourth year, we will be hosting a Homemade pie contest – the judges can't wait to taste the wonderful entries this year and as always we have a delightful selection of music scheduled to entertain you.
WCI is thrilled once again to join forces with the Health Department and the Wallingford Family YMCA to present the 3rd Annual Activate Wallingford Health Walk and we are happy to announce that theca will be hosting a 'Fitness Fun Zone', in the Holy Trinity School parking lot. Please stop by to see what all the excitement is about!
A new addition this year is the 'New' Car Show!! Several of Wallingford's car dealers will be displaying the exciting new models of cars in the parking lot behind Simpson Court.
Another exciting feature this year is the 'Harvest Fair' down at the gazebo – please walk down to the railroad station green where you can find several of the local farmers selling pumpkins, mums and all sorts of things to get you into the Autumn mood and along the way be sure to stop by the local stores and shop a bit and pay special attention to the youth groups that will have a tent on the sidewalks – these kids will be showcasing their organizations and selling their fundraisers.
And last but not least – please walk through the Cemetery and view the wonderful artwork done by area adults and children and organized by Easel Works and take a moment to admire the beautiful Cemetery that is so well – maintained and is a truly a treasured part of Wallingford's history.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Wallingford Center, Inc., I would like to thank our major sponsors, Stop & Shop, Mid-State Medical and Ferguson &McGuire As well as our other sponsors: Nucor, John J. Kovacs Insurance and Plunske's Garage for their continued support to Celebrate Wallingford. WCI is fortunate to have the support of Mayor Dickinson and the town officials. If not for the help of our volunteers and dedicated town employees this event would not be possible. On a personal note – I would like to thanks all the WCI Board members who selflessly dedicate their time and energy to do whatever is needed to make this a successful event year after year.
Please come down and spend the day with us and CELEBRATE WALLINGFORD!!


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Herschel Supply Co.
Eighteen Over the Shoulder Pack
Herschel supplies backpacks and bags that are modern in shape with loads of crafted detail. Inspired by the old-school American mountaineering heritage and world travel, their collection is a new twist on all your vintage favorites.
- 100% poly
- Measures approx 11" W x 7.5" H x 2.5" D
- Adjustable strap with buckle closure
- Zip top closure
- Exterior zipper pockets
- Revolve Style No. HERS-UA93
- Manufacturer Style No. 10018
- Can't find your size? Place a special order inquiry for this item.


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KNTV Helps Spread Word About Stolen Guitars
Machine Head's Robb Flynn discusses priceless guitars stolen from his home on September 7th. Aired 09/08 on the NBC Bay Area 11 O'Clock News in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you have any information regarding one or both of these guitars, please contact us immediately at email@example.com
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Act by December 31 to Reduce Your 2013 Income TaxesIf you are 70½ or older, you can make a difference, and support Israel by transferring up to $100,000 from your IRA directly to Jewish National Fund without recognizing those funds as income for federal tax purposes. The IRA charitable rollover is only available until the end of 2013, so act now! Bring A Speaker to Your Community for Tu BiShvatDid You Know? JNF has many wonderful speakers right in your community, some available free of charge, and is here to accommodate your request. Please complete the speaker request form and return it to Rebecca Zuck at firstname.lastname@example.com by December 20, 2013. #GivingTuesday HUGE Success for JNFWe are so proud to announce that on #GivingTuesday, JNF raised $150,295 even before a generous gift match from the Gene and Marlene Epstein Humanitarian Fund. Thank you to everyone who donated, shared, posted, and pitched in to help Giving Tuesday such an incredible success. Google+ Hangout Series: Conversations with the CEOIn the most recent installment of Conversations with the CEO, Russell discusses JNF's National Conference, the Shlomo Artzi concert at the amphitheater in Be'er Sheva, and the many free options available for bringing speakers to synagogues and community centers through JNF's Speakers Bureau. Israel: Making the World a Better PlaceIsrael is changing the world - for the better. Through hard work and determination, this young, desert nation is a global leader in renewable energy, agricultural innovation, and medical breakthroughs that improve quality of life all over the world. This is the conversation that the world must have about Israel. The time has come to show the world how Israel makes the world a better place. And it starts with you. Learn how you can help. Featured Mission: Spirit of Israel Mission Whether it's your first trip to Israel or your tenth, join JNF for the trip of a lifetime. The Spirit of Israel Mission is a luxury experience with access to exclusive sights, inspirational leaders and unique opportunities to witness and participate in Israel's extraordinary history and future as it continues to grow in the 21st Century. Sign up today!
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Log InFind us on:Earn up to 9.5% on your money.Choose from one of the many planned giving options and consult with a JNF Planned Giving specialist by filling out an information request. Other Initiatives |


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Pass your sense of style to the next generation with classic and current kids Nike shoes, clothing, and gear. Kids sizes include the following, from bigger to smaller:
• Grade School (3.5-7)
• Preschool (1-13.5)
• Toddler (2-10)
• Infant (1-3)
Iconic names, current and past, dominate some of the most popular choices among Nike's kids footwear.
Present stars such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant headline some of Nike's top options. The Air Max LeBron line honors the NBA champion and four-time MVP who jumped to the league right out of high school and became the 2004 Rookie of the Year. Grade School sizes tend to feature the same cushioning technologies as their grown-up counterparts. With the Air Max LeBron shoe, that includes a Hyperfuse upper that is both seamless and strong, and a full-length Max Air cushioning unit.
The Kobe line is designed to be an extension of your kid's foot, just the way five-time NBA champion and 2008 MVP Kobe Bryant wants it. It always features a low cut, and the Kobe 8 System introduced an engineered sock to further enhance the fit, and the look.
Nike's KD line represents the NBA's 2008 Rookie of the Year and four-time All-Star. Like the LeBron, it features a strong, seamless Hyperfuse upper. It also includes a mix of Max Air under the heel and lower-profile Zoom Air in the forefoot, as well as an injected Phylon lightweight-foam midsole.
Teach your kids about some of the stars you watched, whose legends may have been forged before your young ones were even born.
Such stars include Ken Griffey, Jr., a 13-time major league all-star between 1989 and 2010 who won 10 Gold Gloves for his defense and, on offense, was a four-time American League home run champion. Nike originally released the Air Griffey Max 1 in 1996, when "The Kid" was still rocking the Kingdome in Seattle. The street (non-cleated) version has been re-released periodically, including May 2013, in a variety of colorways.
Another popular classic is the Nike Air Force 1. Originally released in 1982 as a basketball shoe, it's been re-released in countless color schemes since then. While available color schemes can match virtually any outfit, staple colorways include all-white and all-black, and a black patent leather is available as well.
Running styles include past classics as well, namely from the Air Max line. Teach your kids that the Air Max was on the leading edge of Nike's "Air Revolution" in 1987. Subsequent Air Max models – such as the Air Max 90 – have been reissued over the years. This throwback features a synthetic overlay that swoops from back to front, as well as "Air Max" printing on the lateral (outer) side, and most notable is the visible Max Air unit under the heel.
A current runner of choice is the Nike Free series. Built on a 0-10 scale with 0 representing a true barefoot feel and 10 representing a fully cushioned shoe, the Free series is a step toward a natural stride for grown-up and child alike. The midsole/outsole unit features deep flex grooves that enable the shoe to flex naturally with the foot.
Remember the days when Mom's idea of a hookup for you was whatever t-shirt, shorts, and socks she could find on clearance? Color and style are a lot higher on your radar than they ever were on Mom's, so check Footlocker.com for kids Nike styles.
A variety of play-ready shorts include Dri-Fit or mesh, and a spectrum of colors that hook to any number of Nike's kids shoes, or basic blacks and grays to hook to anything. Footlocker.com has Nike Pro Combat compression shorts for the young athletes, and Nike's game-style shorts include drawcord waists for those changing waistlines.
This variety carries over to shirts as well, with simple classic Nike Swoosh t-shirts and Pro Combat Core compression shirts, both styles coming in a variety of colorways. Other performance options include sports bras in grade-school sizes.
Other top-side options include grade-school size NFL jerseys and player t-shirts. Check Footlocker.com regularly to see what teams and players are available.
Mom was right about one style thing: you can't be without a clean pair of socks. While Nike offers the tried-and-true cotton cushioned crew and no-show socks, the Swoosh also appears on performance socks with Dri-Fit moisture-management properties.
Shin guards, both standalone and shin sock models, help any kid gear up for soccer season, and with youth-size footballs, you can help your young ones learn the mechanics with a ball that's appropriate for their smaller hands.


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Newegg.com - A great place to buy computers, computer parts, electronics, software, accessories, and DVDs online. With great prices, fast shipping, and top-rated customer service - once you know, you Newegg.
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Great camera, wonderful starter kitPros: Lens is perfect for "all around" use and nearly full sky astro-photography. Massive amount of features, but very easy to navigate menus and use them all. Vibration reduction works flawlessly and doesn't degrade the image like digital VR on cheaper cameras. Huge range of compatible lenses available. Cons: Doesn't come with the simple IR remote for required for bulb mode and some other features. Other Thoughts: The remotes are cheap and readily available, but; When you're charging this much for a camera, why lock your customer out from a bunch of features over such a cheap remote? It's such a good camera that it's not enough to deduct any stars :-) 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
FantasticPros: Wonderful camera. For anyone looking to get into a DSLR who knows a little bit about photography or who is just learning, this is the perfect camera for you. A step up from the D3200 with more features and amazing images, its just a great camera to learn on. Cons: It doesn't make me dinner. Other Thoughts: I took this camera with me on vacation and shot everything in site. I used full manual and shot in raw and the pictures came out amazing. You cannot go wrong with this camera. 2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Good Camera, old techPros: Cheap Cons: old tech Other Thoughts: They are trying to sell these now since the 3200 is coming out in a matter of weeks, once it does, you can get the 3200 at almost the same price as this. I would wait and get the 3200 and get a camera that's 2x better, or, wait until the 3200 is out, and the price on the 5100 plummets. 1 out of 12 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Please get this Nikon D5100, you wont be regret.Pros: Good quality image, easy to use, light, good for travel and for someone who just switch from a digital camera to a first dslr. Cons: The view finder is little small but it is worth the price. 2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
n/aPros: Very nice. Cons: none. 0 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Newegg hatcherPros: Very nice. Cons: none. 0 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Great bang for the buckPros: Light weight and durable Cons: Lousy strap. Typical. Other Thoughts: If you couple this camera with good glass you will most likely be very happy with your purchase. The kit lens is okay to start with but save your pennies. I picked up a 70-300 and a 35mm 1.4 to accompany my 5100 and am happy as a clam. 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Great for Video Work and not a Bad Still CameraPros: Price, swivel LCD and the sensor, image quality and relative ease of use. For 750 even the included kit lense is not bad. I have a D2X and D200 and a lot of good Nikkor glass. I am 6-7 years behind the curve in DLSR bodies, so I am very excited what the Nikon sensors (not Sony sensors in the D2s and 200s) can do. I also have large format printer and print quite often. Not shooting for money anymore, so I saved 750 over the D7000. I usually go for the motto get it right the first time but that would mean getting the D3 and I do not have $6000 lying around or even 3K for the D300. The image capturing is good enough and I have 24" prints to prove it. Video is better than any handycam I've used. Cons: Not good for older lenses, that's my only beef. And the manual operation is not that great. But my D2 and d200 still works. But really, I bought this camera so I can shoot video. My wife is happy too. Also the color is not as neutral as the other high end models. I have my own glass and they look ridiculous in this camera. A 55-200 was part of the deal and to be honest that works better for video work any way than the big 2.8 lenses. I am sure one can argue about the autofoucs and the exposure database but it is 750 dollars. I have not dropped it hard yet but the plastic body may be suspect. Battery also does not last as long. Other Thoughts: I miss the control I have with the D2 and D200 but my wife does not. also because it is small it does not look like you are a press photographer. If it gets stolen 750 is an easier pill to swallow. The swivel LCD is really a good thing for video work and Nikon did this right. For parents who need to take photos/videos of their kids in badly lit gyms, this with a couple of VR lenses really makes it very useful and fulfilling. 7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Amazing upgrade from D3000Pros: - Swivel Screen Cons: - slow shutter, My D3000 had a faster shutter.. Other Thoughts: I noticed my Girlfriends (SAME EXACT CAMERA) has a slower View Screen, and it render's the pictures ALOT slower. 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? |
Solid body, good quality pics, proprietary batteryPros: Solid construction Cons: Proprietary battery with no 3rd party alternatives Other Thoughts: I've been snapping a lot of pics over the past few days, and I'm impressed with the amount of control the d5100 allows. If you want a fully automatic mode, fully manual, or anywhere in between, the camera has a setting. Some of the settings take a little digging to find, but in general the options are well laid out. 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? |


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buy it you won´t sorry after , great wood!!
If you are building guitars with fanned frets, or starting with a zero-fret, this is a nice way to start...straight pieces of quality wood, at a good moisture, ready to use.
Compre uno de cada uno simplemente para ver cual me gustaba más. El ébano es bastante bueno, aunque he visto mejores. Sin embargo, requiere el tinte, porque tiene pequeñas manchas claras que no se ven bien. El de palorosa no me salio muy bueno. Demasiado claro para mi gusto, y la veta de la madera no era muy bonita. Al final me quede con el ébano.
Just received this ebony fingerboard incredible wood very beautiful, thought it would suit for a 7 string neck but needed to be 7,5 mm and this was 7,00 mm. Well any way, it will suit for another project later on. Thanks StewMac.
exelente precio calidad.....
The only thing I'd prefer to have them wider, i.e. 70mm. Otherwise, this is good material.
I received a replacement fingerboard today after having been unsatisfied with a previous order. The replacement was perfect the full length of the board, which is what I needed on this occasion. I was so impressed with the service, I thought I'd write a review. The package arrived (in Ireland) within a week of sending my email to stewmac customer service. I have been ordering from them for years and they have a company model others could really learn from. Thank you.
Just perfect! And fast too...
The boards I received are of good quality; nicely quartered and straight. The lightest colored one of the group has a nice figure and some spider-webbing that offsets the fact that it is nearly blond. To get 5 stars they would need to be much darker. At $4.00 more each than my other supplier it might get harder to justify my preference for untapered blanks.
These are great blanks with nice figure and the best quality, definitely reccomended. Stew mac has a great business with quality and customer service in mind and has made my first guitar build into an addiction not to mention superb shipping.Hands down the best.
To add items to your order, select the check box next to the item you want. You can edit the quantity you wish to purchase here, or in Your Order.
To add items to your saved list, select the check boxes next to the items you want. You can edit the quantity you wish to save here, or in your Saved List.


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Gronk's out, but fans stay confident
Tags: Rob Gronkowski Patriots NFL playoffs
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (WHDH) -- The Patriots get the win on the scoreboard but suffer a big loss on the field when Rob Gronkowski left the game in the first quarter.
The pro-bowl tight end fell onto his left arm when he caught a pass out bounds. It's the same forearm that he broke on Nov. 18 that caused him to miss part of the season.
Gronk is down and out, but fans aren't losing confidence.
"They've done alright without him," said a fan.
"We played without him for 3 to 4 weeks, we'll be alright," said another fan.
Rob Gronkowski re-injured his forearm in the first quarter when the Patriots were down 3-0.
Gronk caught the pass-albeit out of bounds-and never returned to the field.
The pro-bowl tight end was clearly in pain when he walked off the field to get x-rays, only to learn his post-season was done.
Fans, bumming over the loss, know other players can step up.
"It's awful, but I think we have everything else, we have Hernandez, we have Welker, I think we're gonna be okay," said a fan.
"They rely on Gronk a lot but they have a lot of options that get you to the end zone," said another.
Gronk's teammates feel the same way and know it's possible because they've done it before.
Gronk first fractured his forearm in November in a blow-out win against the Colts.
In his absence, the Patriots still averaged more than 30 points a game, a reassuring stat for fans.
"Gronk is a beast, but our whole team is a beast, I'm not worried, bring on Baltimore," said a fan.
However confident a fan can be of these talented back-ups, they all know what they're missing.
"He's a great athlete, it goes to show, we have enough depth and talent, but I'd rather them do it with him," said a fan.


text: "An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as inoperative as though it had never been passed." Norton v. Shelby County, 118 U.S. 425, 426 (1886). That's a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. We [ Read more ]


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Formerly "French Kitchen in America," this kitchen is located on the outskirts of an old French Canadian neighborhood in the Upper Great Lakes. The menu is eclectic and the topics are varied.
04 February 2007
Gingery Pear Crisp with Salted Almond Topping
When Grandma Annie wanted fruit, she usually chose a juicy pear. Her mother, Mémére, loved them, too. It took me years to develop a taste for pears, but now I've got it.
After reading Christine's original recipe for Roasted Celeriac and D'Anjou Pear Soup, I was craving pears Saturday night. It was too cold to go out, even to the grocery store so, as is my custom, I took stock of leftovers, and uncovered one D'Anjou pear and a trio of Boscs. The latter are best for eating fresh, but they were looking a bit scruffy so it was time to use them. While rummaging through the cupboards, I spied some salted almonds that were about to get old and my newly-purchased jar of candied ginger.
The thought of salted almonds with a hint of buttery sweetness, coupled with juicy pears tempered by ginger galvanized me. Here is my original (I hope) recipe:
Pear-Ginger Crisp with Salted Almond Topping
6 D'Anjou pears, peeled and cut into small chunks
one tablespoon candied ginger, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup Splenda or other sweetener
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup salted almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cold cup unsalted butter or Smart Balance, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup Spenda/Brown Sugar Blend
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop the pears and ginger and combine with sweetener, cinnamon and vanilla extract in medium bowl. Toss to ensure each piece is well coated. Set aside.
Chop nuts, and blend with flour, butter and sugar. You may start out with a pastry tool, but I find there is nothing like plunging your hands into the mix until it is coarse and grainy.
Pour the fruit into a greased 8-by-8 inch baking pan. Tamp down. Spread the crust mix evenly over the top; again tamping down. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until crust turns golden brown. Garnish with candied ginger.
Note: The crust smelled so good while I was making it, and I sampled a fair amount before I put the crisp in the oven. I love the mix of sweet and salty.
The flavors here are subtle and delicate. That was my intention. I really did not want any single taste to overpower the others. This would be good with Celestial Seasonings' Pefectly Pear White Tea.
This light dessert passed the Ultimate Taste Test, and I ate it for breakfast with a hunk of low-fat cheddar cheese.
29 comments:
- Lydia said...
I am lucky, I guess, that I developed a love of pears early in life. My grandparents had a pear tree -- the only tree -- in their backyard in Brooklyn, and every Sunday when we went to visit, my cousins and I would climb that tree. In the fall, of course, we'd harvest the pears, and my grandmother would make pear sauce (like apple sauce) from the ones we didn't eat on our way to the kitchen. I like the sweet-salty combination, too. Will definitely try this recipe.
- 04 February, 2007 11:50
- Mimi said...
As with most originals, it might need some tampering, according to individual tastes.
But I like the subtley of it.
Pear sauce! I should try that.
I was in my 20s before I appreciated pears. Now I cannot get enough of them. - 04 February, 2007 11:59
- Rachel said...
- 04 February, 2007 12:11
- L Vanel said...
Mimi, it looks delicious. The idea of taking a couple of pieces of fruit and making a dessert from it is very French too. Bravo.
- 04 February, 2007 16:33
- sandi@ the whistlestop cafe said...
This looks wonderful. Pears and ginger compliment each other~ I may have to top mine with pecans.
Love your blog, I'll visit again! - 04 February, 2007 16:37
This sounds delicious, Mimi! And you and I seem to be on the same wavelength--I did something original this week with pears too, that will be my coming Wednesday post.
- 04 February, 2007 19:42
- Mimi said...
Bonjour, Lucy, it was delicious.
Sandi, that sounds good, too. I love pecans, especially roasted.
I adore fruit desserts and have made them so many different ways, my head spins when I think about it.
Cherry with almonds, peaches with pecans, so many possibilities...
Terry, great bloggers think alike! I can't wait for Wednesday! - 04 February, 2007 19:45
- Jann said...
this looks really delicious-i was just thinking about pears today, too-I like your recipe better than what I planned to post!
- 04 February, 2007 19:52
- Mimi said...
Isn't it weird how we are all in sync?
And Christine started it all. - 04 February, 2007 20:01
- Kristen said...
I'm a sweet and salty lover too. I'm also a nibble while I cook kind of gal!
Your crisp looks so good! - 04 February, 2007 20:08
- Mimi said...
Kristen, I nibble while I cook all the time. I am sure I owe an entire hip to that habit.
- 04 February, 2007 20:28
- FarmgirlCyn said...
I DO love pears, but they are so incredibly pricey in the winter. Anytime they go on sale, I get a bunch, but since my kids like them as much as me, I rarely get more than one. This sounds really good. I have a couple of "crisp" recipes, but always find the topping too sweet. I think the salty would be a nice addition. The ginger would give it a nice bite, I would think.
- 04 February, 2007 20:51
- Christine said...
Thanks so much for the mention (twice!) Mimi. I love your creation - pears, ginger and salty almonds sound divine.
I like Sandi's idea of using pecans too.
I think it's wonderful when the "channeling" begins. It's happened to me so many times I can begin to count them.
And get this: while watching Emeril the other night, HE made a soup/stew concoction that was similar to one I've been making since before he was on TV! Now where did he get that recipe? Hmmm? - 04 February, 2007 20:55
Mimi--I'm not always a huge pear fan either but that sounds absolutely divine! Nice pics too.
- 04 February, 2007 21:28
- Mimi said...
Cyn, I am just so pleased with this little experiment! I guess pears are a bit pricey.
I love it, Christine: Are you sure there is no Emeril spy in your kitchen? Great cooks (and I do like him) get the same ideas I guess.
Glenna, pears have a bite to them — almost a metallic taste — I think boscs less than others. - 04 February, 2007 21:39
- f2b said...
oh, D'Anjou's are the only pears I like to eat. they are so good in and of itself, especially the ones that are just ripe enough. Yummy!
- 04 February, 2007 21:40
- Mimi said...
I love them, too, F2B — in fact, I never met a pear I did not like, now that I have acquired the gene.
I was just looking through a huge French cookbook of pear recipes for the future.. - 04 February, 2007 22:26
- MyKitchenInHalfCups said...
I haven't got salty almonds but I really would like to try this one.
- 05 February, 2007 05:07
- Patricia Scarpin said...
I ate so many pears as a kid! My mom used to dice them and place the pieces in small plates around the house, and I would eat some while playing - since I didn't eat any food, I would at least eat some fruit.
This crisp looks great - I like salty/sweet combinations, too. - 05 February, 2007 07:32
- Mimi said...
Tanna, I think any salted nut would be interesting.
Your mother was very enlightened, Patricia. - 05 February, 2007 07:50
- Elizabeth said...
Mimi - I am a fan of pears, but never think of them when baking. Thanks for bringing them back to my consciousness! Love, love, love the photograph of the pears, too.
- 05 February, 2007 18:48
- Mimi said...
Thanks, Elizabeth. I thought they looked like three geese trotting in the same direction.
- 05 February, 2007 18:53
- Julie said...
This sounds wonderful. Just the thing to warm and brighten a wintry evening. And that sounds like my kind of breakfast too!
- 06 February, 2007 08:19
- Mimi said...
Well, I don't normally do that for breakfast.
But t was fun to do it once in a while. A little decadent. - 06 February, 2007 08:41
- Linda said...
sounds delicious. pears are my favorite fruit and always seem to concoct the best desserts!
- 06 February, 2007 11:12
- Mimi said...
Anyway you eat it, a pear for dessert is great. Even with cheese. I know Silton is what you always associate with a pear but I have been happy with other combinations.
- 06 February, 2007 16:58
- Katie said...
I love pears as well. We are lucky enough to have 4 pear trees. I have made ginger-pear preserves which we love, but, mostly I just eat them.
Your dessert looks wonderful! - 07 February, 2007 14:40
- Mimi said...
Lucky you, Katie! I would love to have fruit trees.
- 07 February, 2007 16:26
- Carole said...
Thanks for linking this in to Food on Friday. Cheers
- 10 January, 2013 21:29


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Makes dinner for two, with leftovers for lunch.
Approximate cooking time: 40 minutes
- 2-3 egg, beaten
- 6 Tbs water
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3 strips each
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Combine egg and water in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
- Place nut flour on a plate, and mix in sea salt (optional) and black pepper.
- Dip chicken in egg mixture, then pat moistened chicken in nut flour.
- Coat chicken with flour on both sides. For thicker coating, repeat above procedure.
- Place coated chicken on a metal baking sheet and bake for about 25-35 minutes, or until fully cooked.
29 Comments
What is nut flour? Different than almond flour?
Just made this w cyan pepper, Italian seasoning mixed in the nut flour to liven it up. YUM!!!!
I'm using the sample paleo plan meal plan to try out paleo for fun this week. I knew I would spend about 20% more than usual on groceries this week (on meat), so skipped buying the nut flour called for in this recipe. Instead, I used the unsweetened coconut flakes called for in the sample shopping list for another recipe. I also used finely diced ginger root (also called for for another recipe) and added that with the coconut flakes, along with salt and pepper. DELICIOUS. So, so good! Already looking forward to lunch tomorrow!
when I read this recipe, I got very excited. It remindes me of a recipe I created in my pre-paleo days "yogurt chicken". Soooooo, after reading negative reviews, on the recipe as written, I combined the 2. Yummy, crispy, and my kids asked for 3rds!
in the egg wash: add 2T honey and 3T dijon everything else as the recipe states.
Spray with a light mist of EVOO
Bake as directed but cook til just underdone and change the oven to broil and place under the broiler for about 2 minutes to brown and crisp.
Perfect honey dijon almond crusted chicken!!! -
nut flour is the flour made of nuts so almond flour is a nut flour
I make this recipe at least once a month. I alternate between almond flour & coconut flour. I generally bake for a little more than recipe states. Turns out very well & crispy. My family loves it!
I make a chicken similar to this but I marinate the chicken in mustard, lots of it, before coating it in the nut flours. Seriously a lot of it. I use a cup of mustard slathered all over the chicken. Sounds crazy, but the mustard taste of the final product is not strong. I would do the mustard, one coat of flour, then the egg, and then a second coat of flour. Adds a nice kick!
Definitely need to put it on a 425 oven temp. I added oregano, basil, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese to the dry ingredients along with flax seed and coconut flour. This stretches the expensive almond flour. Leftovers I will make chicken parm. Tomato sauce and topped with mozzarella bake again at high temp to melt cheese. P.S. this is the first time I made it.
I just made this tonight and it was delicious!!! My husband and I both went back for seconds. The trick to getting this crunchy/crispy is to cook it at 425 as others have tried. I also added some lemon juice to the eggs and left out the water which made it more flavorful. After dipping it in the egg mixture, I coated it in the almond flour and then in coconut shavings and then repeated. It made a nice, thick crust and added more flavor. Also, instead of putting the salt and pepper in the flour mixture, I just sprinkled it on both sides after it was coated. That way, more of the seasoning makes it into the chicken. Delicious!
What can I say, another good recipe. Soaked the chicken strips in dijon mustard as suggested, added some paprika and oregano to the flour and it was great. I did the 425 for 25 min then tried to broil for a couple more minutes, but didn't want it to burn. Just need to find a way to get the crispyness on the breading, without it falling off :) And for the the kiddos I added parmesan cheese to the almond flour, it was a hit!
Cut two large chicken breasts the long way into strips about half an inch in width. Used tapioca flour, Italian seasoning, pepper and sea salt for the dry mix. Used the egg wash mentioned above. Baked in the oven for 25 minutes and them fried with EVOO for a bit to crisp up the outside. Delicious.


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- Northern New York Newspapers
- Watertown Daily Times
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- Malone Telegram
Lights on the River would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincerest thanks for making our spaghetti dinner on Nov. 17 such a success. The generosity and hard work helped to raise more than $1,000 for the Lights on the River 2012 Christmas Lighting Event.
Thank you to every person who purchased a dinner.
Scott Wilhelm
The writer is president of Lights on the River Inc.


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Nine people were displaced Monday after a fire heavily damaged their residence off Strickland Bridge Road, according to the Fayetteville Fire Department.
The fire at 1922 Pavilion Drive was reported at 5:40 p.m., said Battalion Chief Brian Mims.
Firefighters arrived to find smoke pouring from the single-story house, Mims said.
The fire started in a bathroom at the back of the house, Mims said.
The fire was under control in about 15 minutes, Mims said.
The fire was determined to be accidental, Mims said, but the cause was not given.
No injuries were reported.
Damage to the house was estimated at $10,000, Mims said.
The Red Cross is assisting the family, Mims said.
The house is owned by Lakhiani Builder Inc. at 1800 Skibo Road, according to Cumberland County Tax Records, and is valued at $65,100.
- Nancy McCleary
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Fed proposes new gift-card rules
Fees and expiration dates would have to be disclosed clearly.
By Elizabeth Strott
With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, the Federal Reserve this morning announced proposed rules that would restrict fees and expiration dates on gift cards.
The rules would protect consumers from hidden fees and costs and would require that gift-card terms and conditions be stated clearly.
"Gift cards are easy to give, but they are also easy to forget. If the card has a monthly fee or expiration date, these can become costly little pieces of plastic," Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com and co-author of "The Credit Card Guidebook," told WalletPop.com.
"Even though gift cards take the hassle out of holiday shopping, you want to use them wisely. It is important to know the terms of the card you are buying," Hardekopf said.
The proposed rules would prohibit dormancy, inactivity and service fees on gift cards, the Fed said, unless there has been at least one year of inactivity on the certificate or card, no more than one such fee is charged per month and the consumer is given clear and conspicuous disclosures about the fees.
Expiration dates for funds underlying gift cards must be at least five years after the date of issuance, or five years after the date when funds were last loaded.
Sales of gift cards approached $25 billion last year, according to the National Retailers Federation, and a new NRF study shows that 55.2% of adults hope to receive one this year. The study shows that 12.6% of people are concerned about expiration dates or fees, with 5.3% worried that the recipient will lose a card or never use it.
According to a survey from Consumer Reports, 25% of adults who received gift cards in 2008 have yet to redeem at least one card.
American Express (AXP) recently announced it would drop the $2 monthly fee it had charged on its gifts cards, after having gotten rid of the $5.95 fee it charged to replace a lost or stolen gift card. The decision took effect Sept. 30 and applies to new and existing cards.
"This is the (response to) feedback from customers, that having fees was a frustration for them," American Express spokeswoman Marina Norville said. "We do hope other issuers will follow suit. It is the right thing to do for customers."
Under the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, new federal credit card rules will ban gift-card fees before one year from purchase, and expiration dates for at least five years. But the new rules won't take effect until August 2010.
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Aug 5, 2011
Comwave ePhone for the BlackBerry PlayBook has just been released by Commwave
Now your you can do more with your playbook since this app allows you to make and receive phone calls using your PlayBook from anywhere. You can make and receive calls just like a regular phone and additionally, you can make Video Calls to other ePhone users as well at no additional charge.
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Comwave ePhone is currently free for 30days with 100 minutes to call anyone in over 60 countries. Once the free trial has expired, you have the option to purchase the app for $20/year. check it out at BlackBerry App World. currently not available for Indonesia